Saturday, June 30, 2018

Scrapping for Less ~ At the Beach Card Kit ~ Bonus Cards!

Hello again! I'm back with a couple of bonus cards using the At the Beach card kit and an A La Carte item... Sunny Studio Ocean of Joy.


My first card uses the rainbow stripe paper from Collection Three that I paired with this sweet turtle and some balloons in a rainbow of colors. The sweet sentiment is also in the Ocean of Joy stamp set. A simple but colorful card that was quick and fun to make!
I used the following copic markers for this card ~ BG000, BG10, BG15, BG18, YG0000, YG01, V05, V06, B02, B05, YR15, YR68, Y06, Y11.


My second card is a faux shaker card... it looks like a fun shaker but the elements of the card don't move. I used a stitched scalloped rectangle frame die from Gina Marie Designs to frame out my 'faux shaker'. I stamped out a bunch of fish to add as part of the sequin 'faux shaker' element and also the turtle and dolphin... all using memento tuxedo black ink so I could color them in using copic markers. The background is another piece of patterned paper from Collection Three and the sequins are also from Collection Three. I popped up a couple of fish, the dolphin, and the turtle to give them some dimension on the card. 
I used the following copic markers for this card ~ YR15, YR68, Y06, Y11, B02, B05, C1, C3, C5, C7, YG03, YG91, YG93, YG95.

Here's a look at the whole adorable stamp set.


It's available here ---> Oceans of Joy.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal



Friday, June 29, 2018

Scrapping for Less ~ June Flavor of the Month ~ At the Beach!


Ahhhhh! My most favorite place in the entire world to be! 
Salt air in my hair, sand in my toes and the sound of crashing waves, what more can a girl ask for to be totally relaxed? Well, the next best thing to me is to grab some summer-themed products and make beach themed cards! And do we ever have that on the agenda for today! So grab yourselves an island cocktail (not coffee this time) and lay back in your lounge chair and browse through the wonderful creations the design team and guest designers have to offer you today. Our fabulous “At the Beach” card kit is available now, but don’t fall asleep in that chair or you just might miss out!

Here's a look at the Banana Split subscription for this month's kit.



I was super excited when I saw the Beach theme for this months card kit! Let's get to the cards!



For my first card I used Sketch #4 with Collection One. 
As soon as I saw the shark in this set, I knew I had to use him for my focal image. He's such a happy shark... look at that grin! I followed the sketch pretty closely with this one, adding the strips of patterned paper and banner directly to the Nightshift Blue card base. I stamped the sentiment from the At the Beach Sentiment set by Scrapping for Less and die cut it with a stitched banner die.
I used the following copic markers on this card ~ Y06, Y35, C00, C1, C3, C7.


For my second card I used Sketch #1 with Collection Two.
I wanted to give the fish some room to swim so for this card I flipped the sketch so the focal image could be wider. I used the Vitamin Sea patterned paper for my layers in the background. I colored the background by blending a few distress inks. I stamped the fish, crab, and coral on scrap pieces of white card stock and fussy cut them out. I stamped the school of fish a few times on the background and then ran the background through my big shot with the Lawn Fawn Ocean Wave die from the Banana Split subscription. I adhered all the pieces to create my scene and then popped it up on the card. I stamped the sentiment on Nightshift Blue card stock using Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed ultra fine white embossing powder. I trimmed it into a banner and popped it up on the card.
I used the following Distress Inks on this card ~ Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Carved Pumpkin, Spiced Marmalade.


For my third card I used Sketch #3 with Collection Three.
I had a blast creating the scene for this card... it's so wonderful when your idea for a card actually works out! Once I had my layout figured out with the patterned papers I stamped the castle with Tea Dye distress ink and the sun with Wild Honey distress ink. I masked the castle and blended the background using Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass, and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks. I added some dimension to the castle with copic markers and also colored in the seal, bucket and shovel that I had stamped on a scrap piece of white card stock. I fussy cut those pieces and set them a side. I die cut the chair from Blu Raspberry card stock using the Adirondack Chair die in the collection. I adhered the patterned papers to the panel and then die cut the whole piece with a stitched rectangle die and then adhered it to a Blue Raspberry card base. I layered my partial circle with the same size circle that I die cut from Blu Raspberry card stock. I adhered that piece to the card and created my little scene with the seal. I had planned to stamp the sentiment but I thought it would be fun to use the puffy sticker included in the collection and naturally, the little crab just had to play along too. These puffy stickers have a glossy finish to them that made it difficult to photograph the card, unfortunately, but I do think they add a bit of fun to the card.


And since I used the puffy sticker for the sentiment on the front of the card, I decided to do a little bit of stamping on the inside.
I used the following Distress Inks for this card ~ Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey. I also used the following copic markers for this card ~ C00, C1, C3, YR02, YR15, YR68, BG000, BG15, E30, E35.


For my fourth card I used Sketch #2 with Collection Four.
I had some fun using the patterned papers to create the layer on the card base. I used another bit of patterned paper (the brown layer) which is hard to see in the photo but it has palm trees all over it. I created the focal scene using distress inks and a bunch of masking. I stamped the palm tree on a scrap piece of white card stock and colored it in with copic markers. I fussy cut it out and adhered it to the scene. I stamped the sentiment on the 'sun' with Memento tuxedo black ink. I adhered the scene to the brown layer and popped it up on the card base. I added three gem stickers and called this card done.
I used the following Distress Inks for this card ~ Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye, Antique Linen.
I used the following copic markers for this card ~ G03, G14, E55, E57.

I hope you enjoyed the cards I shared today. I had so much fun creating them to share with you all.
Let's get to hopping and see what the other members of the design team created!


~ Blog Hop List ~



Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Tina













Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter on the Scrapping for Less Blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal



Monday, June 25, 2018

Inspired By Challenge ~ Backyard BBQ

Hello! I'm playing along with the Inspired By Challenge ~ Backyard BBQ.
When I saw the inspiration for this challenge I was hooked... I just cut pockets off of some of my old jeans to hoard for a project that I've had in mind since I got the jeans. Honestly, the pretty pockets was the whole reason I bought the jeans. LOL! 
One of these days, I'll get to that project but for today I'm sharing a card that I created inspired by the picture below.


Isn't this a fun image?! I was really drawn to the colors - blue, red and white, but I also liked the wood in the background. So I grabbed some of my paper packs from The Paper Studio to find just the right papers. I decided to go with Against the Grain... the colors and the wood texture in the paper was perfect!


I stamped the pocket from Unity Stamp Company's Pocket and Patches set using VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I fussy cut the pocket out and set it aside. 
I cut a white doily in half and folded it up to add behind the pocket. I then die cut the tab from Americana card stock from Papertrey Ink using the My Favorite Things Blueprint 15. I blended some Vintage Photo distress ink to the tab and then stapled it to the pocket. I adhered the doily to the back of the pocket and set it aside. 
I stamped the heart from the Pocket and Patches set on white card stock using Americana ink and then blended some Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges. I fussy cut it out and stapled it to the pocket. 
I die cut the zig zag dots directly on my kraft card base and adhered a strip of white card stock behind it. I die cut another piece of kraft card stock with the stitched rectangle die in the same Blueprint 15 die set. I popped that up on the card base and then popped up the pocket on that layer.
I stamped the sentiment on kraft card stock with Memento tuxedo black ink and cut around the sentiment. I colored in the heart with a R27 copic marker and then blended some Vintage Photo around the edges. I adhered the right side of the sentiment with some liquid glue and popped up the left side.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

CTS Challenge #275 ~ What's Shakin'?

A quick post tonight to share the card I just finished up for the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge #275.


I wanted to make a card with a summer feel but then I saw these cute salt and pepper shakers from Unity Stamp Company called What's Shakin'?... so it got me thinking, why not make a summer card with these shakers? I also wanted to make these shakers shake so I grabbed another mini action wobble and used that to make these shakers shake! 



Here's a quick little video to show them shakin' it up!





Here's the products that I used:
Stamper's Select White card stock (Papertrey Ink)
Pretty in Pink card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Summer Mood Collection (Bo Bunny)
Standard Circle Large die (Spellbinders)
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)
Copics - RV0000, RV02, Y02, YR02
Mini Action Wobble (Art Impressions)


Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Scrapping for Less ~ SugarPea Designs ~ Novel Birthday!

Hello! Today I'm sharing an adorable card using SugarPea Design's Reading Friends... oh my goodness... this set is so sweet! Reminds me of when I was a kid... I was always reading! Now I'm always card making... lol... well, when I can!


I started off by stamping the image on white card stock with my go to ink - Memento tuxedo black - and then I colored and colored... I loved coloring this image! I used the following Copic markers ~ Tree - E55, E57, G14, G17; Girls - E0000, E000, E00, R20, E99, YR23, YR24, E11, E31, YR02, YR16, Y000, Y13, B000, B12; Books - N0, Y06, Y35, R14, R27, E55, E57, G12, G14, B000, B02, B24; Sky Background - B0000, B000. I die cut the image and then mount it on a die cut yellow scalloped rectangle. I set that aside.


I cut the diagonal rainbow paper from Lawn Fawn's Really Rainbow paper pack and mat it on white card stock. I then adhered that piece to a blue card base. I cut the blue notebook paper from the same Really Rainbow paper pack and adhered it to the card. I then popped up the main image on the card.


I used the EK Tools Powder Tool Applicator on a scrap of white card stock to keep any static from messing up my stamped sentiment and then using VersaMark watermark ink I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed ultra fine black embossing powder. My last touch was to add a few sequins from my stash. So cute! I love how this turned out! I hope you do too!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal




Thursday, June 7, 2018

Let's Have a Pignic!

Hay there! It's been awhile since I've played along with the CASology challenge... when I saw the Cue Card is Farm, I just knew I had to use my Scrapping for Less Piggy Picnic set from the Countryside card kit.


I started by die cutting a post it note using a Spellbinders Labels Three die so that I could mask my area for a little scene. I stamped the little piggy, sun, and picnic basket using Memento tuxedo black ink and then colored them in using the following copic markers ~ RV0000, RV10, RV21, R000, R14, R27, Y000, Y06, Y35, E55, E57, N0, G14.


I then masked the images and blended Tumbled Glass and Mowed Lawn distress inks. I stamped the pun-tastic sentiment from the set and called this card done!


Be sure to go check out the CASology blog for this fun challenge! There's still some time to play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Inspired By Challenge ~ Happy Birthday!

 Inspired By challenge

Hello! I'm sharing a quick post today for my entry to the Inspired By Challenge...


I've had this beautiful daisy stamp from Unity Stamp Company's May Hope Sustain You sentiment kit on my desk for awhile. I've been itching to ink it up but just haven't had a chance... today was the perfect time! I pulled the greens and yellow from the Inspired By image to color the daisy stamp, using the following Copic markers ~ Y000, Y06, Y11, Y35, G14, G17, N0, N1, 0. I was also inspired by the 'shadow stripes' in the background and so this pretty striped paper in my stash from The Paper Studio's Pink Lemonade paper pack was a must!


Since I'm always in need of birthday cards, I decided to use the 'happy birthday' sentiment from the Abundant Blessings sentiment kit. I stamped it on kraft card stock with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed ultra fine white embossing powder. All that was left was adhering my layers. I popped up the main panel and the sentiment with foam tape. Voila!

That's it for me! Such a fun summery challenge... there's still lots of time to play along so head on over to the Inspire By challenge blog to check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Scrapping for Less ~ Stamping Bella ~ A Wobble Happy Dance!

Hello! Today, I'm sharing an interactive card using Stamping Bella's Happy Dance Squidgy stamp set. So when I saw this adorable set, I just knew she needed to 'dance'!!


My original idea was just to do the repetitive stamping using a mask to show her 'dancing', but then I thought I'd take it another step and add a mini action wobble to the main image and really let her dance! 


Here's a little video showing her dance.


The layout of this card is pretty simple... the repetitive stamping was made very easy by using a mask and the Tim Holtz Travel Stamp Platform. I just shifted my piece of card stock to the right by 1/8", shifting the mask as I went along. The main image was stamped using Memento tuxedo black ink and I used the following Copic markers to color it in ~ E0000, E000, E00, R20, Y21, Y23, Y26. I stamped the image again on the polka dot patterned paper and fussy cut it out. I adhered it to the image and then fussy cut the entire image. I stamped the sentiment onto the front panel. I adhered the wobble mechanism to the image and then adhered it to the card.


You can purchase this sweet set here ---> Stamping Bella Happy Dance Squidgy.

That's it for me today. I sure hope you got a kick out of this card! I had fun making it to share with you all. 

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal




Saturday, June 2, 2018

Scrapping for Less ~ La-La Land Crafts ~ Make a Splash!

Hello! I'm here with another birthday card featuring the beautiful mermaid stamp from La-La Land Crafts called Sitting Mermaid Marci. Isn't she the sweetest mermaid?! Oh my goodness... so much fun to color!


I started with my background by blending Mermaid Lagoon, Picked Raspberry, and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide inks on a white card base. Once I had it blended how I liked, I stamped the bubbles in Mermaid Lagoon ink. I gently rubbed my background with my embossing buddy so the embossing powder wouldn't stick to the distress oxide ink. I then stamped the bubbles some more with Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed some ultra fine white embossing powder.

On a separate piece of white card stock, I stamped the mermaid image with Memento tuxedo black ink and I colored her in with the following Copic markers ~ V04, V09, V12, RV06, RV10, RV21, E000, E00, E34, E50, E53, E57. I fussy cut her out and set her aside. I die cut my stitched circle window on a piece of white card stock measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches... a piece big enough to cover the entire cardfront. I adhered the piece to my card base and then stamped the two fish and sentiment. I colored the fish in with the following Copic markers ~ B02, B16, V04, V09.


I decided at this point that I wanted to go with a Faux Shaker design... so I searched through my sequins and found these pretty ones in my stash. That's it for this card!

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal





~ Friends of Unity June Blog Hop ~

Hello! It's my favorite time of the month... the first Saturday ~ that means my friends and I are hopping with creations from our favorite stamp company... Unity Stamp Company!


Our cue for this month is Masculine... my first thought was a Father's Day card but since our wedding anniversary is also this month, I thought I'd make a Masculine Anniversary card. 


My husband and I both have a love of old trucks... we don't quite agree on the make and/or model that would be our favorite, but we do agree that they are all fantastic vehicles! So I naturally decided to use Slowly Turning Classic. I stamped the image with Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed fine black embossing powder. I used ZIG Clean Color Real Brush watercolor brush pens to color in the image and then I fussy cut it out leaving a bit of a colored border. I added some glossy accents to the windshield and the headlights and set it aside to dry.


 I stamped the 'tread' stamp from Unity Stamp Company's March 2018 Kit of the Month called Stay Classy on another piece of watercolor paper with Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed it with the same fine black embossing powder. I watercolored the background to match the truck image and then die cut the whole piece using Gina Marie Design's Big and Little Chain Rectangle die set. I stamped the sentiment from yet another stamp set called Authentic Man using the same ink and embossing powder. I mat the die cut piece on True Black card stock and then popped up the whole panel on a Kraft card base.


I popped up the truck image with dimensionals and adhered it to the card. You can see the glossy accents and heat embossed shine in this photo. So fun!


I really like how this turned out! I hope my husband does too! 

Now, before you all get back to hopping... I have a giveaway... I have a brand new Kendra Girl stamp set up for grabs! All you need to do is keep hopping and be sure to leave a comment on each blog. We sure appreciate and love all of your fun comments! The winner will be announced during our next hop! There may even be another giveaway... you never know unless you hop. ;)


Now let's get back to hopping!




Crystal O. Minkler <---you are here

up next ---> Dawn Fields



Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal

Friday, June 1, 2018

But First... Coffee!


Hi! I'm back with my 8th... and sadly, last... card for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. I love these hops so much... it's so sad it has to come to an end. I agonized over which coffee set to use for my final card... and this cutie won out!


This sweet stamp is from Love Cynthia... isn't she darling!? The stamp set is called Lili C. Series #07.
I started off by wanting to make an eclipse card but the patterned paper was a little too busy for that so I left the die cut negative as is with the Dark Chocolate card stock showing from behind. I adhered the bottom strip of patterned paper and then adhered the whole piece to a kraft card base.


I stamped this sweet girl on white card stock with memento tuxedo black ink and colored her in with the following copic markers ~  RV0000, RV06, RV63, Y11, E21, E31, E43, E47, E49, E55, N1. I die cut her out with a circle wonky die. I stamped the sentiment from another Love Cynthia set called Coffee Addict and then die cut it using a stitched banner die. I trimmed the banner and then popped up both the circle piece and the sentiment. And that's it for my final card for this hop!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.
~ Crystal