Making a Fun Background ~ That's a Wrap ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend! 

Today I'm sharing a fun holiday card I made with the awesome new That's a Wrap stamp from Unity. 

I love this new ribbon stamp! It would be great with pattern papers, too! I thought I'd make a fun background since we have the Creating a Background Challenge going in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group... why not play along with a fun holiday card!

You can check out my process video here... Making a Fun Background | That's a Wrap | Unity Stamp Co. or click on the video below.

A little ink smooshing, ink blending, ink swiping, water spatters, and water stamping, plus regular stamping all happening to create this background. SO fun to  make! I used the beautiful Linen background stamp and Christmas Over Again background stamp. And I used Candied Apple, Lumberjack Plaid and Barn Door Distress Inks.

I stamped the beautiful That's a Wrap ribbon and sentiment on white card stock. I colored the shaded parts of the ribbon with a little Copic marker {C0 and C2}. I die cut the sentiment using a tag die from the Scalloped Tags die set. I fussy cut the ribbon leaving a white border. I share a fun trick for cutting inside the loops on my video.

It's like the card is a gift! I just love how this whole card turned out. Hope you've been inspired to play along with the Creating a Background challenge. We'd love to have you join in the fun! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky hugs,

Crystal

Backwards Fun Fold ~ Fluff Squad ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend! 

Today I'm sharing a cute Fall themed fun fold card I made with the awesome new Fluff Squad stamp from Unity. Love this squishy pile of kitties!!

I'm calling this fun fold design the Backwards Fun Fold, not sure if anyone else has played with a card opening the opposite direction or at least an element of the card opening the opposite direction since I adhered the panel to a white A2 top fold card that does open on the right side.

You can check out my process video here... Backwards Fun Fold | Fluff Squad | Unity Stamp Co. or click on the video below.

I used a few different papers from the Fall Tones {paper pack}. I am just smitten with the colors in this paper pack! So beautiful! I die cut the kitties using a die from the Make a Tag {die set}. I also die cut a scrap of the polka dot papers using the same die to cover the top of the tag.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color up the kitties and birdie:

Dark Gray Kitty: N2, N4

White Kitty: C0, C2

Orange Kitty: YR20, YR15

Light Gray Kitty: N0, N2

Medium Gray Kitty: N0, N2, N4

Dark Orange Kitty: YR20, YR15, YR27

Eyes: C0, C2

Kitty Noses: R00, R20

Bird: BG000, BG10, BG34, YR20, YR15, Y11

Ground: BG000

Here you can see the Backwards Fun Fold with a little secret panel under the focal image. I thought this was a fun idea. The panel is die cut using a die from the Scallops & Squares {nesting dies}.

I added a bit of ribbon to the tag and stapled it with the mini stapler from Tim Holtz. I love it! Hope you've been inspired to play. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky hugs,

Crystal

Snow Day ~ Mini-Remix Winter ~ The Greeting Farm

 Hello there crafty friend!

Today I 'm sharing a sweet snow day card. A fun no layer card using stencils from my stash and cuties from a sweet Mini-Remix stamp set.

I'm continuing to use some of my TGF stash that has yet to see ink and these two cuties from the Mini-Remix Winter stamp set caught my eye. So I thought I'd make a fun wintry card for them. Unfortunately, these cuties aren't currently on the website. But if you'd like to add this sweet stamp set to your collection, you can check out the Farmers Market and submit a request via email... maybe it'll be available for the next Farmers Market. Fingers crossed!

First I created a fun background using Christmas Tree Edger stencil and a fun Heartflakes stencil from A Colorful Life Designs for my scene that were both placed over a fun Watercolor Wash Rectangle stencil from My Favorite Things. I just used residual ink on my brushes for the blue of the sky and green for the trees. I went around the edge of the watercolor wash stencil with a tiny bit of Hickory Smoke distress ink. Once the background was dry, I spattered some white acrylic paint for my snow. 

I inked up this sweet couple with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them up with Copic markers. I fussy cut them on the line and then I used a Memento Tuxedo Black marker to color the edges of my fussy cutting. This makes the fussy cutting look nice and neat. I adhered both of them directly to the card and then I added a bit of a shadow underneath them with the C2 Copic marker.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, R00, R20

Anya's Hair: E70, E71, E77

Anya's Hair Barrette: RV10, RV02, RV14

Anya's Scarf / Boots: BV00, BV02, BV17

Anya's Sweater: RV10, RV02, RV14

Anya's Skirt: N2, N4, BV00, BV17

Ian's Hair: Y21, E43, E44

Ian's Coat: BG10, BG34, C0, C2

Ian's Shirt: B000, B00

Ian's Jeans: B93, B95, B97

Ian's Shoes: N2, N4

I stamped the sentiment from the Snow Day stamp set. I thought it worked well for my snowy scene. I trimmed it and adhered it directly to the card. I sure hope I've inspired you to get inky! Have a wonderful day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 37 ~ Christmas Critters ~ Not 2 Shabby

 Hello there crafty friend!

Today I'm sharing another card for the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch Challenge 37 in the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Facebook group. Another quick card for this challenge... the holiday season hasn't even officially started and life is busy!

I used some cute scraps from the Christmas Critters 6x6 Paper Pad from Not 2 Shabby to make my background for the card. I love all of the cute critters in these papers!

I combined three pieces of ephemera from the Christmas Critters Ephemera from Not 2 Shabby for my focal image for this card. Super easy peasy!

Here's a look at the fun sketch for Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch Challenge 37. The sketch, as always, is meant to inspire not require. So let the sketch lead in your design, but don't feel limited by it. I used the measurements from the sketch for the strips and adhered them to a red A2 card base.

The cute sentiment is from the retired Gingerbread Hugs stamp set, also from Not 2 Shabby. And it's die cut using the coordinating dies. I love how quick this card came together. And I got to use up some scraps too. I hope you can find time to play along. I can't wait to see what you create. Have an INKredible week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

~ Friends of Unity November 2025 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is another fun one! 

Our cue this time is Creating a Background! So fun! And even more fun because we're hosting another fun challenge in the Unity {Show & Tell} Facebook group! Be sure to hop along with us to see inspiration for the challenge. I sure hope that you can play along with us. Three lucky winners will each win a $25 gift card to Unity! Yippee!!

For my first card I created a fun wintry background for the new deer stamps from the November 2025 KOM called Tinsel, Toasts & Truth (the website should be updated with the new KOM on Monday). It's also available separately in the Where Treetops Listen stamps. 

I started the background by ink smooshing Salty Ocean Distress Ink. And then I swiped the ink pad down the card front leaving fun streaks of ink. I dried the panel with a heat tool. And then I heat embossed the Grit & Glint Snowflake background stamp using white pigment ink and white embossing powder. Such a fun background! It was hard to cover any of it up. 

I had used this technique back in August with the fun Ghastly Gourds stamp. It's a really quick way to add color to your background. You can check out the details for this card here... Have a Spooky Day card. You can see more of the ink smooshed background in this one.

I cut a simple hill from white card stock to ground the scene. I fussy cut the trees and deer leaving a white border around them and adhered them to the card. And then trimmed the sentiment and adhered it too. Love how this turned out!

My second card also has some ink smooshing. Ink smooshing is my go-to technique for backgrounds! This time I used Candied Apple and Lumberjack Plaid Distress Inks. Once I was happy with the ink smooshing, I blended some more Candied Apple over the panel to cover all the white spots. I did a bit of water spatters by spritzing some water in the palm of my hand and clapping over the panel. I dried the panel completely with a heat tool.

 And then I did some stamping! I stamped the ink smooshed background with the Linen background stamp using Candied Apple Distress Ink. Can you see the texture in the background? I love it! I then stamped the background with the Buffalo Plaid background stamp using Black Soot Distress ink. I love the technique of using two background stamps together. I've shared some fun cards with this technique in the past. You can check them out here... Fun with Background Stamps {there's also a video}. I die cut the background using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} and adhered it to a black A2 card base.

I stamped the cute Santa from The List Guy stamps and colored him up with Copic markers. I fussy cut him on the line {except around the fur trim and pom pom where I left a white border}. I adhered Santa to the card covering up the edge of the scallops on the bottom right corner. To finish off this card, I heat embossed the sentiment, trimmed it and adhered it to the card.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used for Santa:

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Beard / Mustache / Fur Trim / Pom Pom: C0, C2

Hat / Coat: R20, R14, R37

Belt: N0, N2, N4

Buckle: Y11, Y15, Y28

Now before we get to the hopping, I chose a lucky winner from the comments on last month's hop to win a fun prize and the lucky winner is...

... Meghan Kennihan!! Congratulations, Meghan!!

Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize. 

Please claim the prize before November 26th, 2025. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Be sure to hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from our friends! I can't wait to see how they all were inspired by this month's cue. I will be doing another fun giveaway this month!! Be sure to hop along and comment for a chance to win. {When you comment please leave your name just in case it posts as anonymous.} I'll announce the winner next month! 

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Doreen

Amber

Jane

Dawn

Toni

Rachel

Jenni

Joyce

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 63 ~ Believe in the Magic, Santa ~ Angie Blom Digital Designs

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for a new sketch challenge over in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group! Today I'm sharing a fun Christmas card featuring a cute digital stamp set from our awesome Sponsor Angie Blom Digital Designs! This month's prize is a $25CAD e-gift card to Angie Blom Digital Designs! Yippee!

I combined and resized the cute Santa and sentiment from the Believe in the Magic, Santa digital stamp set in a Word Document and printed it off onto white card stock. I colored up the Santa with Copic markers and fussy cut him on the line. I colored the edges of the fussy cutting with the edge of a black marker. This technique helps to make the fussy cutting look nice and neat.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Skin: E000, E00, E11, R00, R20

Hair / Mustache / Beard / Fur Trim: C0, C2

Hat / Coat / Pants / Bow: R20, R14, R29

Mitten / Belt: N0, N2, N4

Belt Buckle: Y11, Y15, Y28

Santa's Bag: E30, E31, E33

I paired up Santa with some fun papers from my stash... the Christmas 6x6 paper pad from Carta Bella. I was drawn to the colors in this paper pack. Not your typical color scheme and I love the Kraft, black and red. It works so nicely with Santa.

The background paper measures 5-1/2 x 4-1/4". The black paper measures 2-1/2 x 4-1/4". The paper strips were cut apart strips that were in the paper pack. They measure 5-1/2 x 1/4" {approximately}. I trimmed the sentiment and adhered it to the card to finish this one off.

Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 63 for the month of November. If you're interested in seeing a bunch more inspiration for this sketch, check out the amazing inspiration from the design team over on the {BYSH} Cardmakers blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky hugs,

Crystal

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 62 ~ Joy of the Season ~ Gina K. Designs

Hello there crafty friend!

I'm back with one last card for the {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 62 hosted in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group! Celebrating Blue Christmas with this one! My mom loved that song by Elvis Presley. She played it all the time! So naturally, I love it because it reminds me of her.

Anywho, I had a lot of fun making this card! I started by heat embossing the beautiful trees on white card stock with white pigment ink and white embossing powder. I wanted to be sure the trees would stay a nice, bright white. The beautiful trees and deer are from one of my favorite Gina K. Designs stamp sets, a collaboration with Simon Says Stamp for STAMPtember back in 2018 called Joy of the Season. Good news though... the trees are available in the Tall Pine stamp set. I don't see the same deer on the website but there's a pretty deer silhouette in the Holiday Silhouettes stamp set and a similar one in the Season's Greetings stamp set.

Once my trees had cooled off, I started ink smooshing with Salvaged Patina, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Inks. It's not super easy to ink smoosh with heat embossed images. The raised images tend to keep the paper from reaching the ink pools, so I do tend to do more ink and a bit more water so the pool of ink is a little deeper. Once I was happy with the ink smooshing, I started blending with the inks until I was happy with the background. Lastly, I spattered the background with white acrylic paint that I thinned with a spritz of water. And then I ended up trimming the background way down to fit the sketch. That actually hurt after all that work on the background. But I made another background and adhered it to a black A2 card base. I trimmed the tree panel into three segments following the design of the sketch and adhered it to a black mat. I popped it up on the card base with foam tape.

I heat embossed the sentiment from the Christmas Cheer stamp set on black card stock again with white pigment ink and white embossing powder. I die cut it using the coordinating Christmas Cheer die set, and then I popped it up on the card with foam tape. I stamped the pretty deer using the three distress inks. I started with the lightest, Salvaged Patina, and worked my way down with the Chipped Sapphire and then Black Soot inks. Hint: to keep from getting harsh lines between your inks use a blending brush along the edge of the ink on your stamp. It's a wonderful way to stamp silhouette stamps!

Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 62 for the month of October. Today is the last day to enter the challenge! If you're interested in seeing a bit more inspiration for this sketch, check out the amazing inspiration from the design team over on the {BYSH} Cardmakers blog! I'm always blown away by the creations from the DT... they are amazingly talented cardmakers!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky hugs,

Crystal

Happy Halloween Everyone ~ Trick or Treat 2 ~ The Greeting Farm

 Hello there crafty friends and Happy Halloween Everyone! Today I'm sharing one last Halloween card with you all before the big day tomorrow! 

I went a little nuts with this one building a fun scene using stamps and a digi stamp set. I inked up a few fun trick or treaters using the Trick or Treat 2 and Trick or Treat 3 stamp sets. Unfortunately, I don't see either of these sets on the website currently. But if you'd like to add either of them to your collection, you can check out the Farmers Market and submit a request via email... maybe they'll be available for the next Farmers Market. Fingers crossed! If you don't want to wait, you can check out the Trick or Treat 4 digi stamp set and/or the Trick or Treat 5 digi stamp set. Lots of fun trick or treaters in these sets!

I inked up the adorable trick or treaters with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them up with Copic markers. I fussy cut them on the line and then I used a Memento Tuxedo Black marker to color the edges of my fussy cutting. This makes the fussy cutting look nice and neat. I adhered a couple of them behind the scene and popped up the others with foam tape.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Brown Hair: E51, E23, E25

Green Hair: YG00, YG11, YG23

Mouths: R00, R14

Ghost: YG00, YG11

Moon Bucket: V12, V06, Y11, Y15

Monster: C0, C2, V000, V12, V06, YG00, YG11

Wonder Woman: Y11, Y15, Y28, R00, R14, R37, B00, B02, B28

Scientist: C0, C2, N2, N4, YR20, YR15, V000, V12, V06

Glass Beaker: YG00, YG11, C2

Batman: N0, N2, N4

Clouds: C0, C2

Moon: Y11, Y15, C2

Tree: E23, E57, E18

Pumpkin: YR20, YR15, YR68, Y11, Y15

Bush: YG11, YG23, YG67

House: N0, N2, N4, E21, E23, E25, R00, R14, R37, V12, V06, Y11, Y15

I inked smooshed my background with Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks. I then blended over the background with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I trimmed the background to 6-3/4 x 4-3/4" and then I blended some Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges. I adhered a strip of black card stock across the bottom and then adhered the background to a black A7 card measuring 7 x 10"; scored at 5". I combined a few digis from the Halloween Nite digi stamp set to create my scene.

The fun sentiment is a digi stamp from the Hallo Sentiments digi stamp set. I printed it off with the other digis, trimmed it, and popped up the sentiment with foam tape to finish this one off. A spooky cute Halloween card for my stash! I sure hope I've inspired you to get inky!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Membership Wednesday ~ October 2025 KOM Frost & Folklore Snowman ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend!

Happy Membership Wednesday! Today I'm sharing a sweet wintry card I made using a cute stamp from the October 2025 Kit of the Month membership from Unity. 

I played with my Copic markers and white Prismacolor pencil and colored up this cute duo on some Kraft card stock. SO fun! 

Copic markers used:

Snowman: B000, B00, R20

Nose: YR20, YR15, YR68

Arms: E21, E25

Buttons: N0, N2, N4

Scarf: R20, R14, R29

Bird: Y11, Y15, Y35, B000, B00, B02

Heart: R14

I decided to keep the card simple with just some torn edges and a white layer peeking through the Kraft layers.

But I couldn't help adding some spatters to the card. Did I go a little overboard with the spatters? Maybe... but I love how it turned out! What do you think?

Here's a quick look at this month's Kit of the Month membership!

This adorable duo stamp is also available separately in the Frost & Feathers stamps.

That's it for me today! I hope you've been INKspired to play with your membership stamps! 

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 37 ~ Merriest Christmas ~ Newton's Nook Designs

 Hello there crafty friend!

I hope you're having a great day! Today I'm sharing my first card for the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch Challenge 37 in the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Facebook group. I have had a fun filled weekend with my family and just remembered I needed to make a card for this challenge... LOL! So I made a quick one with pretty papers and dies.

I just LOVE the new holiday release over at Newton's Nook Designs. So many new goodies! I had to have the awesome new Christmas Party 6x6 Paper Pad. The designs on the papers are so lovely and I don't know what it is, but I just love pink for Christmas. Naturally, I went all in on the pink for this card!

The Merriest Christmas Die Set helped me make this quick card. I die cut a piece of the pattern paper for the shadow layers. I love how it helps the sentiment to stand out. I die cut the sentiment from white card stock two times and adhered the layers together to give the sentiment some dimension.

Isn't that font just gorgeous! I love it!

Here's a look at the fun sketch for Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch Challenge 37. The sketch, as always, is meant to inspire not require. So let the sketch lead in your design, but don't feel limited by it. I used the measurements for the strips on my card and they fit just perfectly on my A2 card base.

 Lots of possibilities with this fun sketch! And it'll work great for scraps too. I hope you can find time to play along. I can't wait to see what you create. Have an INKredible week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{BYSHC} Falling for the Holidays 2025 Linky Party ~ Sketched Florals Poinsettia ~ Pajama Crafter Stamps

 Hello there crafty friend!

I have one last card {I promise!! It's the last one!} for the {BYSHC} Falling for the Holidays 2025 Linky Party!! I just HAD to ink up the gorgeous Sketched Florals - Poinsettia from our BRAND NEW and wonderful Sponsor Pajama Crafter Stamps.

My first thought was to color up the Sketched Florals - Poinsettia in pink, but I saw my yellow copics and thought... hmmm... so here we have a yellow and pink poinsettia. Whatcha think? I'm thinking it needs more pink, maybe. But I love it! I stamped this beautiful poinsettia with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. My go-to for clear photopolymer stamps.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Poinsettia: Y11, Y15, Y28, RV10, RV02

Leaves: YG11, G12, G24

Boughs: YG11, G12, G24, G46

When I was playing the A Little Something card kit from Sponsor Gina K. Designs, I embossed this background but didn't end up using it for the penguins. So I thought it would be a lovely background for the poinsettia. I trimmed it to 4 x 5-1/4" and adhered it to a white A2 top fold card base.

I adhered the background and the sentiment using iCraft UltraBond Adhesive from Sponsor Therm O Web. I added a bunch of iCraft 3D Foam Tape Jumbo Roll (white) to the back of the poinsettia and popped it up on the card. And then I finished it off with a little confetti from Sponsor A Colorful Life Designs that I got in one of my orders as a thank you so I'm not actually sure which card bling it is.

If you haven't already, stop by the {BYSHC} Falling for the Holidays 2025 Linky Party to check out all the wonderful Holiday inspiration being shared!! Today is the last day to enter!! The inlinkz will close at 11:59pm. Have an INKcredible day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inky Hugs,

Crystal