Unity Stamp Company ~ Holly Jolly Critters Ornament

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm sharing an adorable ornament today that I created using the newly release Holly Jolly Critters from Unity Stamp Company! This is such an adorable set... you have to check it out ---> Holly Jolly Critters!! I've just been itching to make some ornaments for the holiday season coming up and these little critters were absolutely perfect!

I die cut the sentiment directly with the Papertrey Ink Center Style: Feminine Die and also die cut the beautiful Holiday Intrigue papers... also from Unity!! I die cut the top piece four times with a coordinating red card stock. I adhered all of my pieces together with some liquid glue and then set the base of the ornament aside. I then colored up this cute penguin... love his little knit scarf!

I used the following Copic markers:

Penguin ~ C00, C1, Y06, YR15

Scarf ~ R000, R14, R27

I fussy cut him out and popped him up on the ornament. I added a few red enamel dots! Bam!

Here's a look at the back with the beautiful Holiday Intrigue papers... loving these gorgeous papers designed by the fabulous Angie Blom for Unity!! To finish off the ornament I added some sheer white organza ribbon. Now, I made this to be an ornament, but this could easily be a Christmas tag with just a little white piece of card stock on this back side and a quick To/From stamp. Easy peasy!

Be sure to check out the Unity website for a bunch of fun new releases 

including papers and stamps!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Pinkfresh Studio ~ Great Joy!

Hello there crafty friend! 

Today, I'm sharing a couple of Christmas cards using the wonderful Great Joy stamp set by Pinkfresh Studio. I love a beautiful wreath stamp and this one is just too cute! 

I knew that I wanted to use Kraft card stock with white embossing, but I couldn't decide if I should color the images in the wreath or not. So, I made two cards!! Let me know in the comments which one you like better. I like both... there's something about that clean pop of white and then there's also something about those sweet colored images. I really can't pick!

I stamped the wreath on the Kraft card stock using my Stamp Platform so that I could easily make two cards. I stamped them with VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed them with a fine white embossing powder. I then stamped the bow using a red ink and then I stamped it again with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed a fine clear embossing powder. That gives it that pretty shine, but also gives it that touch of color that I wanted. I colored a few of the images in one of the wreaths with a few Prismacolor Pencils. I fussy cut the wreaths and blended on some Forest Moss Distress Oxide inks around the inner and outer edges. I set the wreaths aside to start on the card bases.

 I chose the beautiful Christmas Wishes papers by Amy Design to pair up with these cards. I die cut two pieces of the pretty plaid paper with a large stitched rectangle die and adhered them to kraft card bases. I then trimmed two pieces of kraft card stock down to 4-1/4 x 2". I stamped the sentiments using the Stamp Platform again so that I could stamp with the red ink and then the VersaMark watermark ink. I heat embossed the fine clear embossing powder again to make the sentiments shine.

I then adhered the wide sentiment strips to the card and popped up the wreaths with foam tape. To finish off the cards, I added a few red enamel dots. I just love the touches of red with kraft and white! So... which card do you like better? Leave a comment with your thoughts... I'd love to hear!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ September 2019 FOTM Card Kit Fall is Coming ~ More Inspiration!!

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm back with more fabulous inspiration using the September 2019 Flavor of the Month Card Kit called Fall is Coming!! I'm so excited to share the cards that I created! I had so much fun with this card kit! Once I started creating, I just couldn't stop!! Lol! 

I have 8 cards to share with you all today! I'm going to warn you now, this post is a tad bit long, but I hope you'll stick around and check out all my cards! Let's get to it!

If you've followed my card making journey you'll know that I adore making Halloween cards, so it's no surprise I made a couple extras with the fabulous Frightful Cuties Collection!!! Love it!! I almost used up all the gorgeous papers in the kit... too cute!

My first card is from Collection Two: Cozy Fall

This collection is so beautiful! The papers are absolutely stunning! If I get a chance, I do have plans to make another card or two with this collection... but for today's card, I kept the design kind of simple. I instantly fell in love with the gorgeous rose papers... the colors are amazing so I HAD to use it for my card and I also wanted to use the mug... well, because I love my coffee!! I used the following Copic markers to color the mug and flowers:

Mug ~ R000, R20, R39, R85

Flowers/leaves ~ YG0000, YG01, YG03, YR15, YR21

I fussy cut the mug and went around the edges with my Memento tuxedo black marker to clean it up a bit. I then set it aside and started die cutting the Autumn Blessings die from the Banana Split subscription. I die cut it three times and then adhered the die cuts together. A little tip for this intricate die... it's not one piece, it cuts into four separate sections. I used Press n' Seal wrap to hold my die cut pieces in place. I then added the liquid glue and placed the die cut layers on each other. It was a little time consuming but so worth it!! I love this fabulous font of this sentiment! It's perfect paired up with these gorgeous papers! To finish off the card, I adhered the fussy cut mug just above the sentiment and added a few enamel dots included in the Banana Split subscription.

My second card is from Collection Three: Fall Foliage.

Another fabulous set of papers in this collection and they honestly made this card super quick!!

I cut the gorgeous flourish paper at 4-1/4 x 4-1/2" and popped it up on a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" piece of the yellow paper. I adhered those to a white card base and set them aside. I stamped the beautiful sunflower from the Thankful Floral stamp set by Trinity Stamps... such a gorgeous flower! I colored it in with the following Copic markers:

Flower ~ Y11, YR14, YR15, YR21, YR24, E25, E27

Leaves ~ YG01, YG03, YG63

I stamped the Thankful sentiment on a scrap of white card stock and trimmed it into a strip. I adhered it to the card and then adhered the sunflower using liquid glue on the top portion and some foam tape on the bottom since that flourish paper was popped up. To finish off the card, I added a few of the rich yellow enamel dots to the card and one sweet ladybug! Love it!!

My third card is from Collection Four: Woodland Critters.

For this card, I used one of the fun sketches from the September 2019 FOTM Sketch Sheet. I cut all my pretty papers and adhered them to the Chocolate Brown card base. I die cut a medium sized circle of white card stock and blended a little Tumbled Glass and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide inks for my background. I popped up the circle die cut on the card using foam tape. I then set that aside and stamped the moose and snail images on a piece of white card stock. I colored those in with the following Copic markers:

Moose ~ E21, E23, E25, E27, W00, W2, W4, W5, N4

Snail ~ YG0000, YG01, YG03, YR15, YR21, YR24

I fussy cut these adorable Woodland Critters and adhered them to the little scene I created. I originally planned to make two cards with these critters but when I saw them together I just knew they would be the best of friends so I kept them together and stamped the Friends Forever sentiment on a scrap of white card stock. I trimmed it down to a banner and adhered it to the card using liquid glue and foam tape. To finish off this card, I wrapped the twine around the card and tied a bow.

My next five cards are from Collection One: Frightful Cuties.

Now, this collection is absolutely my favorite of the whole kit... that's kind of why I left it for last and also didn't share the collections in order. The papers in this collection are too cute and the colors are awesome for Halloween! Love them! My first card features the adorable Scaredy Cat stamp by Sunny Studio Stamps that's included in Collection One. I stamped the little kitty in the pumpkin along with the moon and stars using my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform. I knew I was going to die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die so I laid that on the white card stock to help guide me in positioning the stamps. I then colored in the images, as well as the background, with the following Copic markers:

Kitty ~ N0, N1, N2, N3, N5, R000, R20

Pumpkin ~ YR15, YR21, YR68, N0, N3, N5

Moon/Stars ~ Y06, Y11, Y35

Sky ~ BV000, BV00, BV20, BV23, BV25

Grass ~ YG03, YG17, YG23, YG67

Once I was done coloring, I die cut the panel and stamped the sentiment with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed it with a fine white embossing powder. I adhered all of my layers to a Black Licorice card front measuring 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" and then adhered that to a white card base from my stash. I punched out a piece of the spider web paper using a 1-1/2" circle punch. I die cut the banner from the purple spider web paper. I adhered those two pieces together and then popped them up on the card using foam tape. To finish off this card, I added the fun stickers to the circle and one near the moon. So cute!

The next four cards were so quick and easy to make!! I used the adorable Kiddie Ephemera by Simple Stories that are included in Collection One... these little kids are just TOO cute!!

I blended some Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink on a Stitched Arch STAX die cut piece cut from white card stock and adhered this adorable kid directly on it. I popped up the die cut on the card using foam tape. I added a few of the fun green enamel dots to finish up this card.

I used more of the fabulous papers from the kit with this little vampire!! I added foam tape to the little vampire, as well as the sentiment, and popped those up on the card.

I used more of those fabulous stickers on this card... it was absolutely perfect with this little witch. I blended a bit of Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink on the white die cut circle to make it look like she's conjuring up some Halloween magic fun!! I then popped her up on the card to give her some dimension. Such a great way to add interest to a card!

My last card just might be my favorite! I had fun creating a little background with some purple skies and grey/black road... just like Halloween night! Or close to it anyway! I used a cloud stencil along with Wilted Violet, Hickory Smoke, and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks to create my background. I set that aside and adhered some more pretty papers to a Black Licorice card front measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" that I adhered to a white card base from my stash. I then die cut my background piece with a small stitched rectangle die and mat it with some Black Licorice card stock. By the way, I was actually out of Black Licorice card stock so that mat piece is actually from the card front piece that's adhered to the card base... a neat little trick I sometimes use when my card stock becomes limited in supply. The 'stolen' piece of card stock is hidden by a layer of patterned papers so no one knows... well, unless you tell them! Lol! Back to the card... I adhered the background  panel to the card and then popped up the little Trick or Treater with some foam squares. I then stamped the sentiment from the Scaredy Cat stamp set, trimmed it and mat it on literally my last little scrap of Black Licorice card stock... I definitely like the black card stock for Halloween cards this year!

Here's a little look at all the Halloween cards together! So much fun!! I love this kit so much... I believe there are still a few kits remaining!! 

Don't miss out on this one! Get it here ---> September 2019 Fall is Coming Card Kit

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

~ Friends of Unity October Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friends!

It's my favorite time of the month... time to hop with Friends of Unity!! And it just so happens to also be World Card Making Day!! The perfect time for a little Unity inspiration!! I sure hope you have the opportunity today or this weekend to get inky!

Back to our hop and this month our cue was a big challenge...

Not an easy cue, for sure!! But not impossible with the fantastic stamps available at Unity Stamp Company! I had a rough idea of which stamps I wanted to use for this hop so I took them along with me on vacation and had a blast relaxing and coloring!!

I die cut this beautiful image from the No Time for Guilt kit with a stitched rectangle die. I colored it with the following Copic markers:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E21, R00, R14, R20

Hair ~ E23, E47, E55

Sweater ~ BV000, BV00, BV23

Background ~ B0000

A very simple card design! I die cut a piece of the brand new Rustic Wood paper pack with a slightly larger stitched rectangle die. Isn't that paper just gorgeous!! My favorite color!! I adhered that layer directly to a white card base. I added a couple pieces of random washi tape to my main panel and then popped up the panel with foam tape. To finish off the card, I added a sweet little heart. 

I know several people in my life that have had an opportunity to start over in their lives and such a change in someone's life should not bring them guilt. So, that was my thinking on my first card... and how I used it for a Change cue! Now onto my second card...

My second card uses the fabulous A Walk in the Woods kit by Angie Blom! 

I didn't actually have a sentiment picked out for this card, but I knew that I had to color this image with the sun making it's appearance on a new day. A bit of a challenge working on shadow and such with the copics but... I truly enjoyed it!! I hope that you like it too!

Here's a list of the Copic markers I used for this card:

Trees ~ W00, W1, W3, W6, Y06, Y17

Grass/Flowers/Path ~ YG03, YG63, BV11, E35, E37

Mushrooms ~ R000, R14, R39, W3

Sky ~ YG93, YR0000, YR21, YR31, Y06, Y11, B0000, B14, B41

Now... isn't that sentiment just perfect!! It's from the fabulous Bravely Change kit!

It was seriously meant to be with this card!! I love when that happens!

Before we get to the hop list, I will be having another giveaway since my last two prizes weren't claimed and I still have these two duplicates in my stash...

 I'll be picking two lucky winners and I'll announce them during next month's hop! So be sure to check out all the fabulous creations along the hop and comment on each blog for a chance to win!! As always, I'm super thankful for your support of our little hop!

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Kim

Eileen

Alaine

Dawn B.

Joyce

Dawn F.

Thanks so much for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ September 2019 Flavor of the Month Card Kit Inspiration

Hello there crafty friends!

Today I'm sharing some inspiration using the September 2019 Flavor of the Month Card Kit called Fall is Coming!! I am so happy that I finally have this beautiful kit in my inky hands!! 

I'm sure that you have heard of the delays in the Design Team receiving the kits this month and mine was even more delayed because my family was on our annual Fall vacation. I got home late on Wednesday and was hoping to play with the card kit but there was yet another delay... a mix up with the post office and our held mail was not delivered. I finally received it yesterday and was able to get a couple cards made so let's have a look, shall we?!

Knowing that my time was limited to get my DT post up and ready for the morning, I decided to focus on the wonderful Color In Cut A-parts by Photo Play that are included in Collection Four. I colored in the first Cut A-part using the following Copic markers ~ Y11, Y15, Y17, Y35, YR15, YR21, YR68, R14, R29, R59. I just adore this image!! 

I trimmed down the Cut A-part and set it aside. I cut my layers for the card and adhered them to the Chocolate Brown card front measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2". I ran a piece of Tangy Orange card stock through my Big Shot with the Eyelet Elegance Rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs. I adhered the Cut A-part panel to the orange die cut piece and popped up the entire panel on the card with foam tape. To finish off the card I added a few of the gorgeous enamel dots also from Gina Marie Designs that are included in Collection Four.

Since I had the Cut A-parts on my desk and the Copic Markers, I decided to make another card with a similar design. I love how fast I was able to make these cards using these wonderful Cut A-parts!! I hope that you've enjoyed my cards and that I've inspired you to use these Cut A-parts from your kit.

And if you haven't yet seen this month's wonderful card kit, here's a look at the 

Double Dip Subscription...  

... and the Banana Split Subscription... 

Go purchase your card kit before they are all gone ---> September 2019 Fall is Coming card kit!

Be on the lookout for more inspiration using the fabulous September 2019 Fall is Coming card kit!!

I will have a couple more cards to share next week here on my blog and also on my Instagram <--- click on the link and be sure to follow me for more inspiration!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Polka Dot Orchard ~ National Coffee Day Blog Hop

Hello there crafty friends! Happy National Coffee Day! 

Today, I'm super excited to be sharing some fun inspiration along with my teamies from the Polka Dot Orchard Design Team! Polka Dot Orchard has joined in with several other companies to hop along in honor of National Coffee Day. This fun event is being hosted by the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Facebook group.

Not only are we hopping along with so many lovely companies, we are doing a hop with our very talented design team to show off many amazing projects created from our newest release. Polka Dot Orchard is doing a few giveaways too. For more information on the giveaways and the full line up for both hops head over to the Polka Dot Orchard blog.

My first card using one of my newest digi designs for Polka Dot Orchard, Merry Little Coffee digi set, has a subtle background using some pretty Christmas papers by Moda Scrap called Christmas Holidays. For this card, I kinda went rogue because I wanted my background subtle and my main image to pop so I pulled the colors from the background papers but brightened them up for the colors on the mug.

I used the following Copic markers for this card ~ YG11, YG23, RV0000, RV00, RV14, RV63, YR21, YR30, E23, E35, E37, E51, N0, N1.

I think the brighter colors really make the mug pop on the card... and I just adore this sentiment!!

I sure hope you like my card too!

My next couple of cards also use new releases for Polka Dot Orchard that I recently designed. This first card features Poinsettia Greetings... a fun small digi set with one poinsettia flower along with a few sentiments. I combined a bunch of the poinsettia flowers in different sizes along with the sentiment in a Word document so that I could just die cut it out with a stitched rectangle die.

This card was so fun to color and I just love coloring poinsettias in pinks!! I used the following Copic markers for this card ~ YG11, YG23, RV0000, RV00, RV14, RV63, B0000. The ribbon is a white wide organdy ribbon from my stash... pretty sure it's retired Stampin' Up! The pretty pearls are from Ink Road Stamps... Donna Pearls Flat Back Half Beads... so pretty!!

My last card features the Halloween Luck digi set... how sweet is this little kitty in a jack-o-lantern?!

I paired him up with some fun jack-o-lantern papers from the American Crafts Spooky Boo paper pad. I kept with a simple orange and black color scheme.

Isn't that font on the Happy Halloween just amazing!! I love it so much!

That's it for me! Be sure to check out the Polka Dot Orchard blog and the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog for more information on this hop and all the fun giveaways!!

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Unity Stamp Company ~ Growing in Unity September Blog Hop ~ Masculine and a Bit of Autumn

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm so excited to be blog hopping with some Growing in Unity gals!! I'm always super happy to share my love of Unity Stamp Company!! I have a couple of cards to share that I've recently created.

My first card is a quick masculine card that I made for my husband's birthday. He just recently got a new Jeep and the Having Fun Itty Bitty stamp was perfect to pair up with Roger Guy for my guys birthday card!! I used some masculine papers from Stampin' Up! called Classic Garage (I'm not sure if these are still available) for my background along with the jeep stamp that I just heat embossed in black on a piece of the patterned paper. I die cut the papers with a stitched rectangle die and adhered them to a card front of patterned paper from the same papers measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" that I adhered to a white A2 card base.

I stamped Roger Guy on a scrap of white card stock and colored him with the following copic markers ~ E000, E00, E21 (skin), N0, N1, N3, N5 (shirt), N0, N1, C1, 0 Colorless Blender (watch), B91, B95, B97, B99 (jeans). I then die cut the image with a stitched rectangle die (from My Favorite Things). I adhered the image to my card base, trimmed the sentiment, and then popped it up on the card. On the inside of the card, I wrote Happy Birthday to finish off the sentiment on the front. I love that Unity carries so many unique stamps that I was able to make THE perfect card for my husband's birthday. And he absolutely loved his card... woohoo!!

My second card you may have seen in the Unity {show & tell} Facebook group or on Instagram. I used the fabulous new Frondescence {border backgrounds} stamp along with the beautiful Planner Gal Stay Cozy kit to make an Autumn themed card filled with gratitude. To start my card, I ink smooshed the Frondescence {border backgrounds} image with Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, Wild Honey, Candied Apple, and Crushed Olive Distress Oxide inks. I then blended some Vintage Photo around the outer edges and a bit of Mustard Seed on the center piece after I fussy cut the center out. I die cut the background with a large stitched rectangle die and adhered it to a black mat that I had die cut the center out of. I then adhered the background to a kraft card base.

I then stamped the Planner Gal Stay Cozy stamp with Gina K. Designs jet black Amalgam ink and colored her in with the following copic markers ~ E000, E00, E21 (skin), E55, E57, E79 (hair), Y11, Y13, Y26, R24, R29 (clothes), E35, E37, BG70, BG72, YG93, YG97 (cup), and C1 (bracelet).

I fussy cut Planner Gal Stay Cozy out and cleaned up the edges with a Memento tuxedo black ink marker. I popped her up on the card base and then trimmed the sentiment, mat it with black card stock, and popped it up on the card too. To finish this card off, I added a few mustard yellow enamel dots from a random package. I am loving this new {border backgrounds} kit so much!!

Be sure to hop along and leave a comment for your chance to win one of two Unity filled prize packs!!! Woohoo!! So exciting! Love me some deeply etched red rubber stamps!!

~ Blog Hop List ~

Crystal O. Minkler <--- you are here

up next ---> MariLynn DeGroot

Shanta Newby

Julissa Padilla

Anya Lynet

Michelle Golz

Ania Szary

Helen Gullett

Tina Riddle

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal