Polka Dot Orchard ~ Spread Your Wings ~ Happy Mother's Day

Hi crafty friends!

I have my first Mother's Day card of the year to share with you today! I just love how this mixed media card turned out... but guess what? It's using digi stamps and copic markers! Yes! So... I guess it's more of a faux mixed media card LOL! Anyhow, I love it! 

The Spread Your Wings digi stamps by Polka Dot Orchard can be found... here!

When Jessica, the owner and artist of Polka Dot Orchard, shared a little sneak peek of this new digi set I fell in love! I love the designs of the stamps included and the possibilities are endless when combining them together in a word document. 

I started by adding the scribbled background stamp keeping it to one side of what would be my card front and then added the flowers stamp over top adjusting the size so a good amount of the scribble background showed through. I included some more digis on my page and then printed it off. I trimmed my cardstock down to four card fronts and then for this particular one, I ran it through my big shot with the MFT In & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die.

I had so much fun coloring the flowers... I decided to go with warm oranges and yellows. I used the following Copic markers ~ Y000, Y06, Y15, Y17, Y28, Y38, E15, E97, YR14, YR21, YR24, YR27, G99, YG93, YG95.

I then colored my background alternating between the B000 and BV000 copic markers. I also added some V000 and some colorless blender to take away some color. To finish off the background I made a mask to cover up the flowers and then I added some Martha Stewart Metallic Champagne acrylic paint splatters, as well as some white splatters.

I wrapped some black metallic thread around the die cut panel and adhered the ends in the back with some tape. I adhered the panel on a black mat and then adhered the entire panel on a white card base. The sentiment... also included in the digi set of stamps... was also printed on my sheet of digis and I just trimmed it down and popped it up on the card. I added a skinny strip of black card stock underneath the sentiment to break up the white. My final touch was a few Nuvo glossy black drops.

I have plans to make a few Mother's Day cards this week to share. I hope 

you'll come back to check them out.

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ April 2019 Flavor of the Month Card Kit ~ Spring Critters

"Spring is Here! Finally! 

I know some of you in the northern states and other parts of the world may not be experiencing warm weather, so you can pretend with these beautiful stamps and spring papers. 

Our April Flavor of the Month kit is all about "Spring Critters" cute ones at that! So hop on along and get inspired to make some spring cards with this adorable kit. Head to the brand new website's Subscription page and see what we have to offer this month. Make sure to check out our Blog Hop so you can join in our Rafflecopter. All winners are announced each month in the Teresa Talks post on the blog on the first of the month." ~ Teresa, SFL Owner

If you are just starting hopping, we're so glad to have you join us!! Here's a quick look at the April 2019 Spring Critters card kit...

Double Dip Subscription...

Banana Split Subscription...

Aren't those just the most adorable stamps and papers!?! I love this kit so much! 

Let's dive right in and check out the cards I created...

Collection One: Spring Bees

I started my first card by adding paper layers to an Applemint card base. On a scrap of white card stock I stamped the beehive and then colored a tree limb and leaves freehand using Copic markers. {If you click on the picture above, I hope you can see some of the detail in the tree limb}

I colored the beehive and die cut the beehive scene with a stitched oval die and then mat it on a larger stitched oval die cut out of Applemint card stock. I colored the bees on a scrap piece of white card stock, fussy cut the bees and then adhered them to the scene, popping one bee up on the card with foam adhesive. To finish off the card, I stamped the sentiment and trimmed it down to a banner and adhered it to the card. Oh, and I added a cute little bumblebee sticker from the collection. So cute!

I used the following Copic markers on this card:

Bee ~ Y06, Y17, N2, N4, N7

Beehive ~ Y06, Y17, Y38

Tree Limb/Leaves ~ E55, E57, E59, YG05, YG17

Sky Background ~ B0000, B01

Collection Two: Spring Birds

This collection is my absolute favorite!! I love the bird folk art feel to the stamp set in the collection... love, love, love!!! The papers in this collection are also amazing... I had a hard time cutting into them! LOL! I did end up cutting the floral paper and I mat it on Red Velvet card stock. I adhered that layer to a In the Navy card base that I had adhered this beautiful navy script paper. Such pretty papers! I chose the clip board ephemeral from the collection but I stamped the heart and little flower from the Pink Fresh stamp set using Candied Apple, Wild Honey, and Scattered Straw distress Ink; also coloring in the center of the flower with a Walnut Stain distress marker. On a scrap of white card stock, I stamped the bird and colored it in with the following Copic markers: YR12, YR15, YR21, R14, R27, and YG17. I fussy cut the bird and adhered it to the popped up clip board.

Collection Three: Spring Frogs

Every once in a while I get a crazy idea to attempt No-Line Coloring again... and in this case, I really love how this little frog turned out! Some of the smaller parts were tricky but I was careful to use just the tip of the Copic marker. I colored the entire scene using the following Copic markers:

Frog ~ YG05, YG11, YG17, R000, R20, N2, N4, N10

Lily Pad ~ YG03, YG61

Reeds ~ YG23, YG63, YG91, YG93, YG95

Sky ~ B0000

Grass ~ G03, YG45

Water ~ B000, B00, B01, B02

Assembling the card was very simple... 

I adhered two strips of patterned paper from the collection to a Blue Lagoon card base and also mat my focal image to a piece of the same card stock. To finish off the card, I adhered the three wood butterflies using the Multi Matte Medium in the Banana Split subscription.

Collection Four: Spring Ducks

The patterned papers in the fourth collection are absolutely beautiful... I especially love the ombre dot papers that I used for my card. I loved it so much I paper pieced the little ducks umbrella with the paper too! I colored in my background using Copic markers and then added the cute cloud sticker... now I didn't want the cute ducky to cover up the rain drops so I decided to cut them out and stuck them around the image that I fussy cut and adhered to the main panel. I popped up the main panel on the card and realized I forgot about the sentiment... lol... so I had to get creative because I wanted the sentiment on the main panel. I masked each side of the sentiment in turn and stamped the portions using a Stamp Platform. Voila! 

I used the following Copic markers on this card:

Duck ~ Y000, Y02, Y06, Y13, Y17, YR15, YR16

Hat/Grass ~ YG01, YG06

Sky ~ B00, B000, B0000

Umbrella ~ R11, RV95

I sure hope that you've enjoyed the cards that I've shared with you today.

Your next stop is...  Courtney

Be sure to head back over to the Scrapping for Less blog to enter the Rafflecopter once you've finished hopping!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Pink & Main ~ Pretty Jars

Hello crafty peeps!

Today, I'm sharing a lovely card using the Pretty Jars stamp and die bundle set by Pink & Main. Oh my goodness... I absolutely love this bundle!! The stamps are so beautiful and the dies make cutting out this intricate floral stamp super easy peasy!!

I still had the beautiful Echo Park Spring Fling papers on my desk so I decided to use them again for this card. I cut strips of a few different papers to create the pattern underneath the focal image. The background greenish/blue paper is also from the paper pad. 

I stamped the flowers twice because I wanted to fussy cut the flowers to pop them up on the focal image for a bit more dimension. Working with colors that coordinated with the papers, I colored both sets of the flowers. I used the following Copic markers ~ RV00, RV21, Y13, Y35, YG11, YG23.

I then die cut the flowers and fussy cut the one set... cutting it on the black line. I colored the outer edge of the fussy cut flowers with a Memento tuxedo black marker to clean up the edges and then I popped them up on the other flowers.

I then adhered the flowers to a white die cut stitched oval and popped the oval piece up on the card. I knew I wanted to use the 'sweet friend' sentiment from the set but I wanted to add a little somethin' somethin' so I pulled out the 'hello' die from Pink & Main that was included in a past card kit and die cut three times out of white card stock. I colored one of the die cut hellos with Copic markers in an ombre style and then adhered all the die cut layers. I stamped the 'sweet friends' sentiment on white card stock and then die cut it with a banner die and layered it on a strip of pink paper from the Spring Fling paper pad that I also die cut with the same banner die.

In retrospect, I kinda wish I had stamped the 'sweet friend' sentiment in a dark pink... but at the time, I was packing my studio and my supplies were limited. I am still very happy with how this card turned out! The design is definitely one that would work to use up some of those scraps of patterned paper that we all have laying around!!

You can find the Pretty Jars stamp & die bundle in the shop!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Heffy Doodle ~ Gnome Matter What

Hello crafty peeps! 

Today, I'm sharing an adorable card using Heffy Doodle's Gnome Matter What stamp set. 

How cute are these gnomes!?! 

I just adore them! I inked them up along with a bunch of other images from this set using Memento tuxedo black ink and then colored them in using the following Copic markers: Y06, Y35, YG11, YG23, RV000, RV00, RV14, RV21, RV29, E000, E00, E11, N0, N1, N2, N5, N8, B000, B00, B02.

To build my scene I die cut a piece of white card stock using the Memory Box Wrapped Scalloped die and then I blended a little Tumbled Glass distress ink for my sky. I then cut a strip of patterned paper for my 'ground' from the Echo Park Spring Fling paper pad and also die cut the grass from the same paper pad. I adhered the grass to the back of the 'ground' paper and then adhered just the bottom portion of the combined papers to the scene so that I could be free to place things in amongst the grass, like the cute mushroom. I adhered all the images to create my scene and then popped up the focal panel on a white card base. To finish off the front of the card, I stamped my sentiment using my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform. Now, just a little tip... I should have stamped the sentiment before I popped up the focal panel, but because I used the Stamp Platform I was able to stamp the sentiment a few times to get the crisp sentiment I wanted.

The sentiment on the front of the card just keeps you hanging so I just HAD to add to the inside of the card. I combined the patterned papers again to continue the design on the inside of the card. I added another gnome... I colored several since I was on a roll. LOL

And then I stamped the sentiment for the inside of the card. I decided to add the little clock to this gnome's hand to tie in the sentiment... so cute! Now, I got to thinking you could leave the card like this basically saying that the card is the recipient's birthday gift. Or...

You could slide a gift card in there for just a little something... a quick gift idea!

Here's a close up of the scene on the front of the card... I went a little crazy with the flowers, but couldn't help myself! So many cute images to color in this set!

You can find the Heffy Doodle Gnome Matter What stamp set available in the shop!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Past Card Kit ~ April 2018 Colors of Spring

Hello crafty friends! Oh my goodness... am I ever glad to be back!! I took a bit of a hiatus from my regular posts with Scrapping for Less while my family has been moving across the country from cold New Jersey to warm and sunny California! What an adventure! 

We're still slowly getting settled and my studio is a bit of a disaster, but thankfully I was able to work on some projects before the move. Today, I have some inspiration for you using a past card kit called Colors of Spring from April 2018. Here's a link to the original reveal and hop for the kit April 2018 Colors of Spring card kit Reveal & Blog Hop.

And I have four cards to share today using the stamps and leftovers scraps entirely from the card kit! The only thing I supplemented was the white card bases for the cards. I used white card stock from my stash, but everything else is still from the kit. The value of these kits is amazing!!

Sadly, I don't have my ingredients sheets so I can't tell you all the products I used. All I wrote down on my little post it note is the Copic markers I used so, for this sweet card 

I used the following Copic markers:

Mouse ~ N0, N2, N4, R00, R20

Flower ~ R00, R20, R32, YG0000, YG93, YG95

Grass ~ YG05, YG17, YG95

Rain/Sky ~ BG000, BG01, B0000

I just adore this beautiful Stamping Bella stamp! So fun to color her up!

I used the following Copic markers:

Skin ~ E00, E000, R20

Hair ~ E41, E42

Dress/Hairband ~ V000, V06, V09

Background ~ B0000

Here's a close up. Isn't she the sweetest!?

Are you noticing a similarity in the cards?! I used the same sketch with all of them. I love to do that! It makes for an easy variety in cards with little thinking because the design is done.

For this card I changed things up by adding a second circle... I adore the wellies!! I need these in my life! I did have some fun paper piecing the umbrella for this card.

I used the following Copic markers for this card:

Frog ~ YG05, YG23, YG25

Raincoat ~ Y06, Y13, Y17, Y35

Grass ~YG17, YG67

Sky ~ B0000

Puddle ~ B0000, B000, B02

Umbrella Handle ~ R20, R32

Wellies ~ R000, R00, R20, R32, Y06, Y17, Y35

Here's a close up. I used the sentiment stickers in this collection for an easy sentiment... just adhered them to a strip of white card stock that I die cut with a banner die.

My last card uses the exclusive Brutus Monroe stamp called Bloom. 

I used the following Copic markers:

Flowers ~ YR0000, YR12, YR21, R00, R20, R32

Stems ~ YG63, YG67

Background ~ B0000

I didn't color the dandelion very much. I just added some touches of white Prismacolor pencil to lighten the black ink. I really love the way the daisy turned out! So pretty!

Well, that's it for me! I hope you enjoyed the cards I've shared today. Hopefully, if you have the kit I've given you some inspiration. And if you don't already own the kit, there are some in the shop available right here ---> April 2018 Colors of Spring card kit.

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

Crystal

~ Friends of Unity April Blog Hop ~

Hello there! It's time for another hop with Friends of Unity and I can't wait to see all the fabulous inspiration for this month's hop. Why?! Well, because our cue for this month is Rainy Days and I absolutely love the rain!! So, my stamp pick for this hop was super easy... Rain or Shine. 

Perfect, right?!

I adore this stamp and I thought it would be so fun to create a scene using some paper that I've been trying to finish off  *GASP*… I know, I know! This paper hoarder is trying to finish off a paper pad, but really it's all thanks to my friend and fellow Friends of Unity hopper Bobbie Sue!! She put out a little challenge to use up those papers and I've been really trying to. I focused on just a couple paper pads to start and I'm doing pretty well. Anywho… enough about that, let's get back to the card I created. Shall we?

To create the background scene, I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders to create the hills. I then adhered the cloud paper and the hills to a piece of thin white card stock. I was then able to die cut the entire panel with a stitched rectangle die. I adhered the background scene to a pink piece of paper from the paper pad and then I adhered the entire panel to a white card base.

Now for the fun part! I stamped the cute image on white card stock and then stamped the different parts of the image (umbrella, dress, pants, etc) on the scraps of paper I had set aside to paper piece this image. I then fussy cut all the pieces and colored the edges of the cut pieces with my Memento tuxedo black marker so the edges would look nice and clean. I colored some parts of the image with the following Copic markers:

Guy's shirt ~ BG01, BG15

Ribs of Umbrella ~ G82

Girl's Legs ~ E000, E00

Guy's shoes ~ E55, E57, E59

And then I adhered all the paper pieced items to the image. I even colored directly on the patterned paper of the umbrella to add some dimension to the ribs of the umbrella. All that was left was fussy cutting the entire image out. I decided to leave a little bit of a white border around the image to help it pop off the card. I used a Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife to cut out the white pieces between the guy and the girl. Talk about scary! I was so worried my hand would jerk and I'd cut into the image. Phew! But, alas, nothing bad happened. 

Once it was all trimmed down I popped it up on the card and got to work on the sentiment. I went back and forth on where to place it and how... do I cut it into a banner? No. I just decided to go simple... I stamped it on white card stock and mat it with the same pink paper from the Echo Park Everyday Eclectic paper pad that I mat the scene with and then I adhered it to the card. I didn't even pop it up! I wanted the main focus to be on the sweet image of the couple. That's it! This card was a great way to use up some of those papers!

I sure hope that you've enjoyed my card!

There's a few giveaways throughout our hop, as usual, so be sure to hop along and comment on each blog for your chance to win some fabulous Unity Stamps!

On to the hopping... 

~ Blog Hop List ~

Crystal <--- you're here

Eileen

Jeanie

Bobbie Sue

Dawn

Joyce

Kim

Robyn

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal