More 'Scraps' Cards ~ Pissy Party Plus a Few More Stamps ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I found some time to finish up the latest batch of 'scraps' cards I've been mentioning. Yay! I had enough scraps to make three cards and a tag. It feels so good to finish up another pattern paper pack. These are the papers I've been using for some of my TOP Inky Inspiration Sketch 21 and 22 cards. It was starting to feel like these papers would never get finished up!

Here's a look at the three cards and the tag. All very different! I'd love to know if you have a favorite of the batch. If you have a moment, comment below and let me know.

My first card features the adorable Pissy Party kitty. I'm making an effort to once again do a bit of watercoloring each month so this month I watercolored this fun cat. I used a bunch of ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers. Here's the list: Light Gray, Mid Gray, Yellow Green, Light Green, Yellow, Pink, Light Carmine, Light Blue, Cobalt Blue and Beige. Oh, and I also used my water pen. I fussy cut the kitty leaving a bit of a white border around him. I added foam tape to the back of the kitty and popped him up on the card. I used two scrap papers for this card. These were my largest pieces. I die cut a scrap of white card stock with a die from the Make a Tag {die set}. I didn't want to leave a lot of white space above the kitty so I used a couple of the tiny scraps and stapled them to the card. To finish off the card, I stamped the sentiment with Black Amalgam ink and die cut it with a die from the Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting Dies.

My second card features the adorable Planner Gal: Simply Perfect Birthday. This card was actually inspired by the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 22. It has some elements from the sketch, but it definitely took a left turn at some point! LOL! I really liked the three pattern papers clustered together but I wanted a touch of black behind them so I die cut a piece of True Black card stock from Papertrey Ink using a circle die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies} from Unity. Not completely sure I love how that turned out. I do like the contrast of the rectangles with the circle. Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color up the sweet birthday girl:

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Hair: E51, E55, E57

Dress: RV10, RV11

Crown: Y11, Y15, Y28

Flower: Y11, RV10, RV11, YG11, YG23

Cake: C00, C1, C3

Candle: Y11, Y15, B000, B00, B02

Cake Stand: B000, B00, B02

Here's a look at the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 22. This challenge ends next Monday June 24th!! So get your entries in! I'd love to see what you do with this sketch.

My last card is super CAS and simple! I had one long strip of pattern paper. This is always an easy card design for a quick CAS card. This card features the You're Better itty bitty. I thought this would be a fun birthday card. I'm thinking I need to color in the heart though. What do you think?

My tag features the Hooray it's your Birthday itty bitty stamp. My last couple of scraps really had me stuck for a bit. I just couldn't figure out a card design that I liked and then I saw this tag on my desk. I think the pattern papers look so nice with this tag and then the black circles really make the pile of gifts pop! The black circles were also scraps in my True Black card stock folder so that was a bonus. I found a few enamel dots from my stash to compliment the blues in the papers and to finish off the tag I added a bit of white organdy ribbon. Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used for the gifts: Y11, Y15, Y28, C00, C1, C3, RV10, RV11, B000, B00, YG11, and YG23. 

So excited to add three more cards and a cute tag to my stash! I'm even more excited to have another paper pack done! Woohoo! What do you think of the card designs this time? Do you have a favorite? I'm leaning towards the kitty card. Well, I'm excited to pick out another paper pack to finish off. I think I'll pick one out to use with the upcoming Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 23 that will start next Tuesday. Have a wonderfully inky week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity July 2023 Blog Hop ~

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's the first Saturday of July which means it's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! 

This month's cue is a bit of a challenge for me. It's not a medium that I use too often though I have been trying to play around with it each month. It's a short hop this month with just seven of us hopping... I hope you'll hop along and enjoy some wonderful inspiration from our friends. 

Now, onto our cue this month... 

... Watercolor. As I mentioned above, this is not my go-to medium. I do have fun watercoloring when I play but I'm much more comfortable with my Copic markers. I did manage to create three cards to share so let's get to it...

First up is the super cute Shoreline Friendship that just released!! I can't help but love this trio of ladies. So fun to color them up with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I used Canson XL 140lb water color paper for all of my cards. I struggled with the skin tone on the middle gal. I wanted her a bit darker and it took a few tries to get her to where I was happy. 

I paired up these fabulous friends with the Watercolor Stripes {paper pack}. I'll be honest, I was very tempted to just Copic color the gals and say the papers were my 'watercolor' element for this card. LOL! But I had to take the challenge and do a bit of watercoloring. 

You can check out my process video here... Watercoloring with ZIGs | Shoreline Friendship |
 Unity Stamp Co.

I trimmed the watercolored friends and mat the panel with Summer Sunrise card stock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut a piece of Orange Zest card stock from Papertrey Ink using a square die from the Scallops & Squares {nesting dies} from Unity. I also die cut the orange watercolor pattern paper using the largest rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. I wrapped the rectangle layer with some white and orange twine from my stash and also made a cute little bow. I adhered my layers together, popping up the watercolored panel on the card with foam tape. I adhered the little bow with a glue dot finishing off the card.

My second card also features a new release... I LOVE butterflies!! I can't help but love when Unity releases new butterflies! I couldn't wait to play with these beautiful butterflies from the Paper Wings stamps. So delicate and beautiful!!

Last month, I actually played with watercolors and I had fun creating a background using my ZIGs so I thought I'd give it a try again for this month's Watercolor cue. I absolutely love the texture in the watercolors... such a fun surprise how they dried.

You can check out my process video here... Quick Watercolor Wash Background | Paper Wings | Unity Stamp Co. 

The watercolor wash background was die cut using the same large rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} that I used on my first card. It's a must have die set friends!! The butterflies were fussy cut on the line and I forgot to color up the edges with my black marker so they are a little rough around the edges. I do love how this turned out though!

And my third card... Unity has a few really beautiful Watercolor paper packs. The gorgeous Watercolor Winter {paper pack} that released last year is a favorite of mine so I just had to pull it out and make a holiday card. Y'all know I love Christmas cards!! I paired up the Watercolor Winter 6x6 {paper pack} with the super sweet Brightly Shining Itty Bitty stamp. I thought it would be fun to challenge our friends to ink up a stamp from their stash that hadn't seen ink yet and I've had this sweet stamp in my stash for a really long time and I'm 95% sure I haven't used it before. LOL! But now I have!

I found that the Persian Green and Emerald Green ZIGs combined to make a very similar green to the papers. And I used the Bright Yellow ZIG for the star. I did a bit of a watercolor wash on the Canson XL 140lb watercolor paper using the greens. I then stamped the tree coloring the words with the green ZIG markers and then the star with the yellow ZIG marker. I then used a water pen to outline around the tree and dabbed up some of the pigment with a paper towel. I did this a few times until it left the tree outline for the stamp.

The background layer is die cut using the largest rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. It's mat with a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" piece of Tranquil Tide card stock from Stampin' Up. The trees paper was just a scrap from my paper pack. It measures 2-1/8 x 5-1/2" and the Tranquil Tide mat measures 2-1/4 x 5-1/2". I die cut the watercolor stamped tree using a circle die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. I also die cut a mat from Tranquil Tide card stock using the next largest die in the die set. All the layers are adhered together and then adhered to a white A2 top fold card base. I kept it pretty flat considering how many layers it has on it so it'll be easy to mail.

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...

... Laurie2cats!! Congratulations Laurie!!

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

Prize must be claimed within two weeks. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I'm so excited to hop and check out all the pretty creations shared by our friends!! I can't wait to see the watercolor projects our friends have made to share with us. 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 ---> Tammy

Jane

Gaylynn

Dawn

Rachel

Amber

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity June 2023 Blog Hop ~

   Hello there crafty friend!

It's the first Saturday of June which means it's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue has become an annual theme. It's one that us card makers are always looking for ideas and inspiration for our makes. I hope that you'll hop along with us this month and find lots of inspiration from our friends. Now, onto our cue this month... 

... Masculine. Yup! Those cards for the guys in our lives. Sometimes masculine cards can be tough. I'm sharing a couple of easy masculine card ideas that never fail. Let's get to it...

Brown on Kraft - Monochromatic Earth Tones

I'm excited to share my first card because it's also a sneak peek of a new stamp that will be releasing in just a few days. And yes, I got permission to share early. Woot woot! Thank you Ang & Whit!! I'm super excited about this upcoming release... it's Tuesday, by the way. Unity is releasing some super cool background stamps... a collaboration with Brutus Monroe, along with some other wonderful stamps. I just adore the Wrinkle background stamp. I inked it up for my background on Kraft card stock using Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide inks with a spritz of water here and there. It almost gives the background a leather vibe. Don'tcha think?!

I just love the texture that it gives the card. I also die cut the background with the recently released Deckle & Stitches Nesting die set. So excited to get these amazing dies in my recent order. Can't wait to use them more! So fun! I also stamped a fun background using the large fonts from the Favorite Dad stamps. I used the same three distress oxides to stamp those. I actually stamped a larger panel so I might just use the leftovers for another card. I laid the sentiment background over the Wrinkle background and then I placed the large deckle die overtop and secured it to the sentiment background with a couple pieces of washi tape. I then pulled it away and die cut it. Then I adhered the pieces together.

Did you notice the design for my card?! It's the sketch I recently shared in my Tawny Owl Paperie | Inky Inspiration Facebook group. It's also the same sketch that I used for one of my cards in last month's Inspired By hop. I just loved the card design so much I had to turn it into a sketch. I'm actually hosting a challenge in my group for this sketch with a fun prize. I hope you'll join us and play along! 

The cute mustache was stamped with Vintage Photo and then I swiped the Ground Espresso ink down the stamp adding a cool texture to the mustache. I don't think you can see it as well in the photo though. It was die cut with a plain circle die and then adhered to a Dark Chocolate card stock mat from Papertrey Ink that was die cut using the smallest stitched circle die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. The sentiment, also from the Favorite Dad stamps, is stamped with Ground Espresso ink. I die cut it using the recently released Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting dies. I also used a slightly larger die to die cut a mat for the sentiment from Early Espresso card stock from Stampin' Up. The sentiment is adhered directly to the card and the mustache is popped up with foam tape. Brown on Kraft is always awesome for a guy card.

Nature Scene Cards

My second card features the sweet Happy and Cozy stamps. I had a blast playing with my ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers. I used a couple of fun watercolor techniques for this card. I actually recorded my progress while I made this one. I'm hoping to share it soon {video is now below}. The background was created with a few blue ZIGS and a green one. It was actually really easy and it turned out pretty nice.

I dried the background with my heat tool and then stamped the trees using the ZIGs to color and then stamp each part. It was a tiny bit time consuming but it was fun coloring directly on the stamp. I played around a bit with the background until I was happy with it and die cut it with the deckle stitched die. Loving this die for guy cards! I stamped the cabin on a scrap of Canson XL watercolor paper using Black Amalgam ink from Gina K Designs. I used a few ZIGs to color up the cabin. Once it was dry, I fussy cut it. I colored the edges of the cabin using a Memento Tuxedo black marker. This is a great tip for making fussy cutting look nice and neat. 

You can check out my process video here... Watercolor Techniques featuring Happy and Cozy | Unity Stamp Co.

I stamped the sentiment from Favorite Dad stamps again... this time I heat embossed it with Sugar Cube Pigment ink from Taylored Expressions and Alabaster White embossing powder from Brutus Monroe on Early Espresso card stock from Stampin' Up. I just trimmed the sentiment this time and adhered it to the card. To finish off this card, I added a few more stars using a white gel pen. Nature cards are another great idea for guy cards. 

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...

... Vannessa Osbourn!! Congratulations Vannessa!!

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

Prize must be claimed within two weeks. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I'm so excited to hop and check out all the pretty creations shared by our friends!! I can't wait to see the masculine cards our friends have made to share with us. 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 ---> Amber

Kim

Jane

Tammy

Colleen

Bobbie Sue

April

Rachel

Gaylynn

Dawn F.

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Watercolors on Pattern Paper ~ February 2023 Whit Kit ~ Unity Stamp Co.

  Hello there crafty friend!

A quick blog post today to share one more card using the wonderful February 2023 Whit Kit from Unity. A super simple card! Stamping directly on pattern paper from the fantastic Newsprint Greetings {paper pack} for a quick background. 

I die cut the stamped background with the largest postage stamp die from the Postage Stamp {nesting dies} before I watercolored the flowers with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers. Normally I would have Copic colored the flowers BUT I'm really trying to use my ZIGs more and I did make this card right after the first one I shared on Wednesday. {If you missed that card, you can check it out here... Ink Smooshed Card}. So I didn't want to Copic color them again in the same colors. Had to change things up a bit!

I lightly distressed the edges of the die cut panel with some Vintage Photo Distress ink. And then I adhered the background to a Kraft A2 top fold card base measuring 4-1/4 x 11"; scored at 5-1/2".

I cut apart one of the sentiments from the cut apart sheet included in the kit. I cut the one end at an angle and adhered it to the card. And then I trimmed the excess from the side of the card.

You can check out my process video here...Watercolors on Pattern Paper | February 2023 Whit Kit 

| Unity Stamp Co. 

Here's a look at the wonderful Whit Kit for February!! So beautiful and I really enjoyed watercoloring the flowers! This wonderful card kit is available for only $42.99. That includes shipping! You also get a $6.95 discount on every order from Unity over $45. Members are also able to purchase past Whit Kit stamp sets for just $14 and past Whit Kit paper packs for $2 off!! So awesome!!! 

I'll be back tomorrow with one more card I made using the February 2023 Whit Kit.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity November 2022 Blog Hop ~

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's one of my favorite times of the month... time for the Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! Our cue this month is a new one. I don't think we've done this one before. I have to admit I'm rusty and tossed aside a couple things I started but I still have a few cards to share that turned out ok. I'm excited to see the creations our friends have to share with us though so let's get to the cue...

... Watercolor! Not a medium that I've played with in quite awhile actually. I tend to copic color, ink smoosh or ink blend. Those are pretty much my go-to techniques. So this one was a challenge for me. I hope you like what I ended up keeping. LOL!

October was a very busy month and I didn't get to play with my October Whit Kit so I thought I'd make a couple cards using the kit. I've been itching to play with the beautiful pumpkin stamp from the kit. The pumpkins were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink and watercolored using a few ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers. 

My card design was inspired by the latest sketch I've shared in my Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Facebook group. A fun CAS sketch with a bit of watercolor wash or ink smooshing in the background and then a focal image over that. Pretty easy peasy.

I decided to play with my very neglected Ken Oliver Color Bursts... I used Yellow Ochre and Pthalo Green over a piece of Canson XL Watercolor Paper. Once I was happy with my background, I ran it through my big shot in the pretty Plaid Embossing folder that was included in the October Whit Kit. I love the subtle texture it gives to the card. 

I stamped the sentiment with white pigment ink and heat embossed some white embossing powder. I die cut just a portion of the focal image with a square die from the newly released Scallops & Squares {nesting dies}. I popped it up on the card with foam tape. This didn't quite turn out how I envisioned it but I still like it.

My second card using the October 2022 Whit Kit... for this one I stamped the image with Black Amalgam ink and heat embossed clear embossing powder. No specific reason why I chose this ink. It's just what I grabbed. I think I need to reink the ink pad though... it did not take the embossing powder very well. 

I watercolored this one with my ZIGs again. It was fun playing with these markers again. It's been way too long since I've used them. I die cut the image with an oval die. The pretty orange paper is from the Enrich the Soul {paper pack} that was included in the kit. The linen bows from the kit are just too cute so I had to add one to the card. They look really nice with the jute ribbon I have so I added a piece of that under the focal piece. I adhered it to the card with some tear tape.

I popped up the focal piece with lots of foam tape and adhered the card front to a white A2 top fold card base that I turned on the side. I like the pumpkins as my focus so I decided not to put a sentiment on the front of the card.

I stamped one of the sentiments from the Enrich the Soul stamps inside the card. I just love this one! The October Whit Kit is no longer available but you can get the paper pack and the stamps individually now.  

And my third card... I thought it would be fun to watercolor on Kraft. I used my ZIGs again and boy did they do great on this Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink. So happy with the result! I stamped the beautiful Twig of Merry stamp with white pigment ink and heat embossed some white embossing powder. In person the white embossing isn't quite as bright. 

I die cut the watercolored panel with one of the Postage Stamp {nesting dies}. I trimmed a piece of red card stock just slightly larger than the die cut. I adhered the layers together and then popped them up on a Kraft A2 top fold card base.

I also heat embossed the sentiment which is from the Ornamental Season {Itty Bitty}. This is a long sentiment so I had to mask portions of it and stamp them separately to get the sentiment how I wanted. I love how this card turned out!

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 package and that lucky winner is...

... Teri Kellum!! Congratulations, Teri!!

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

Prize must be claimed within two weeks. 

Well, that's it for me this time! I had so much fun! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity... I can't wait to see all the different projects being shared! I'm sure that some of my friends are having a giveaway so be sure to comment as you hop along. And as you hop along and comment, I wanted to recommend using Google Chrome as your browser. We've been having issues for awhile now with hoppers only being able to comment as Anonymous and if you use Google Chrome you'll be able to log in and comment as you hop. I hope this helps some of you. I know that it's been very frustrating!

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Amber

Alaine 

Bobbie Sue 

Kim

April

Gaylynn

Dawn B.

Dawn F.

Joyce

Rachel

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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