Inky Paws Challenge #223 ~ Friendship Theme Challenge Reminder

Hello there crafty friend!

There's still time to play along with the Inky Paws Challenge #223 - Friendship Theme Challenge! You have until this coming Friday, May 24th to get your entries in for this fun challenge and a chance to win a $20 store credit to Newton's Nook Designs!

Inky Paws Challenge #223 - Friendship Theme Challenge

This has been such a fun theme and I just had to use my favorite stamp set for my reminder card!

I stamped the friends from the Sips & Stories Stamp Set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. And then I had a blast coloring them up with Copic markers. It's so fun to pull colors from the papers and try to balance them out. I did pretty good until I colored the blonde's hair the same as her pillow. Oh well! Once I was happy with my coloring I die cut the friends using the coordinating Sips & Stories Die Set.

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

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Blonde Hair: Y02, Y21, Y26

Brunette Hair: E42, E43, E44

Yellow Shirt / Pillow: Y11, Y15, Y35

Grey Sweater: N0, N1, N3

Jeans: B91, B93, B95, B97

Chair / Slippers / Hair Band: V000, V12, V15

Blue & White Pillows / Blanket: C00, C1, C3, BG000, BG02, BG45, BG57

Grey Kitty: R00, R20, N0, N1, N3

Coffee: E21, E23, E25

Mugs: BG000, BG02, BG45, BG57, C00, C1, C3

Books: V12, V15, C00, C1, E21, E23, E25

I paired the friends with the awesome Coffee House Stories 6x6 Paper Pad. I had so much fun mixing and matching the papers to build a scene for this card. I die cut the books papers using the largest die from the Frames & Flags Die Set. I also die cut the flags for the sentiment and the green polka dots paper using dies from that same die set. The circle for the scene I created for the friends was die cut using a die from the Circle Frames Die Set. I die cut the hearts paper and then die cut a scrap of the blue striped paper. All of my layers are adhered to a white A2 top fold card base.

Now it's your turn to get your paws inky with your Newton's Nook Designs products and create a project with a Friendship theme. Be sure to link up to the Inky Paws Challenge! Can't wait to see your projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is on. Your lovely comment will appear once approved.}

Inky Paws Challenge #223 ~ Friendship Theme Challenge

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for a new Inky Paws Challenge... a super fun Friendship Theme Challenge! I sure hope that you'll play along with us using your Newton's Nook Designs products! You have until Friday, May 24th to get your entries in for the #223 Friendship Theme Challenge and a chance to win a $20 store credit to Newton's Nook Designs!

Inky Paws Challenge #223 - Friendship Theme Challenge

Such a broad theme! I'm excited to see the entries for this one! So fun!

I thought the Newton's Movie Night Stamp Set was perfect for the Friendship theme! I stamped the adorable kitties with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored them up with my Copic markers. I then die cut the kitties using the coordinating Newton's Movie Night Die Set. 

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

Tortoise Shell Kitty: R00, R20, YR21, YR15, N0, N1, N3, N5

White Kitty: R00, R20, C00, C1, C3

Orange Tabby Kitty: R00, R20, YR21, YR15

Chairs: N0, N1, N3, N5

Drink: C00, C1, B000, B00, B02

Candy Box: YG11, YG13, Y11, Y15

Popcorn: Y11, YR21, R20, R14, R46, C00, C1

Die Cut Popcorn: Y11, YR21

I die cut a half sheet of cheap card stock using the largest stitched oval die from the Oval Frames Die Set to create an oval stencil. I placed the die over a white A2 top fold card base and then placed the oval stencil over top. This way I was able to figure out placement for the oval stencil. I secured the oval stencil with purple tape. I then placed the Popcorn Stencil over top and secured it in place with some purple tape. I blended Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide inks over the cool Popcorn Stencil using a light touch around the outer edge of the oval stencil. I love the way the popcorn just fades out into the white edges of the card base.

I die cut three popcorn pieces using the dies from the coordinating Newton's Movie Night Die Set. I colored them very simply with just two Copic markers - Y11 and YR21. I adhered the popcorn pieces to the kitties and added foam tape to the back of them. Before I popped them up on the card, I stamped the sentiment on the card base using my Mini Misti. It took me a couple times to ink it up just right over the oxide ink.

Now it's your turn to get your paws inky with your Newton's Nook Designs products and create a project with a Friendship theme. Be sure to link up to the Inky Paws Challenge! Can't wait to see your projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is on. Your lovely comment will appear once approved.}

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

Unity Stamp Company ~ Cat's Meow ~ Hello Friend

Hello there! I have a sweet CAS card to share for the CASology Cue Card: Furbaby challenge. Once seeing the cue card for the challenge this week, I thought it was a great excuse to ink up this cute Cat's Meow stamp set from Unity Stamp Company.

I stamped the kitty and the sentiment using Memento tuxedo black ink and then colored in the kitty using the following Copic markers ~ R00, R20, R21, N0, N2, Colorless Blender. I got to thinking that the kitty really wanted to send some love so I stamped the heart stamp using Ink on 3's Fadeout No Line Coloring ink. I didn't want the black outline around the heart so that's why I chose this ink and it was a great excuse to try out this ink on a very simple image to color. I used R000, R14, R27 to color the heart. I think it's really cool how the lines from the Fadeout ink just faded away. I'm anxious to try it again with a different image. Anywho, back to the card... I wanted to give the kitty a little ground to sit on so I used W00, W1, W2 for a subtle ground that would contrast the grays of the kitty.

I die cut the card front with the large stitched panel from the My Favorite Things Blueprint 31 die. I adhered it to the white card base using mono multi purpose liquid glue. So cute! I love this adorable kitty stamp! I will say that I wish the coloring on the red heart had a smoother edge to it, but I still love how the card turned out!

I got an early start on this week's challenge so there's lots of time still play! Go check it out 

here ---> CASology Cue Card: Furbaby challenge.

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

Crystal

~ Friends of Unity February Blog Hop ~

Hello!! I'm so excited to share my cards for our Friends of Unity blog hop this month! The cue this month is Friendship... I am very blessed with many friends! I'm also blessed to do this hop with a bunch of my crafty friends!! I had no idea when Amber and I came up with this wonderful hop that these amazingly creative and artistic women would become such dear friends to me. A bonus also is the fantastic group of crafty friends that follow us and support us so I just want to (again) say thank you to all of you fabulous peeps!

It's been a while since I did some mixed media art for a card... or at least it feels like it's been awhile so I just had to get inky with my oxides for this one!!

I trimmed a piece of Ranger Mixed Media cardstock down to a cardfront panel measuring 5-1/2 x 4-1/4". I painted on some clear gesso to prepare the paper, but I honestly don't know if that step was necessary since this paper is made for mixed media art. I just did it out of habit. I also painted an extra large tag from Unity that was in my stash with the same clear gesso. I dried both pieces with my Ranger heat tool. I then blended Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide inks on the piece of card stock I had prepared. I then sprayed the paper with water to let the colors move around and blend. I dried the paper with my Ranger heat tool and then grabbed my stamps. I decided to use Unity's Better with Friends stamp set by Jolande and Marleen. I love the mix of stamps in this fabulous set! Perfect for the card I wanted to create! I stamped the script background with Spiced Marmalade oxide ink. I then stamped the splatter with Worn Lipstick oxide ink in a few different places on the paper. I spritzed some water into the palm of my hand and clapped over the card front... a fun way to add splatter to your creations! I then dabbed the splatter dry with a paper towel and set the card front aside.

I stamped the flowers on the extra large tag with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I dabbed the Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide inks on my glass mat and used the inks to watercolor the flowers. They seemed to get 'lost' in the background of the card front so I decided to add some Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide ink. I fussy cut the flowers and set them aside. I wanted to add some more black to the card front so I added this beautiful die cut from the Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlet die set that I trimmed and adhered to the card front. I then stamped the sentiment with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I got to thinking... this needs more splatter so I grabbed my black acrylic paint, watered it down a little bit and splattered away. The top right corner needed a little something so I was looking around my studio and saw my very neglected Stampin' Up! Spiral Border punch. Perfect! All that was left was adhering the flowers... I got distracted by one of the kids while adhering this and it ended up more to the left of the card then I wanted but it was stuck. 

Oh, well... I still love it!

My second card has a pretty simple design to it... I stamped the gorgeous flowers using VersaMark watermark ink on Canson XL watercolor paper and then heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I then watercolored the flowers using some new watercolor markers that I recently purchased that were recommended by a crafty friend. They're called Staedtler Marsgraphic Duo Double-ended watercolor brush markers.... quite a name, huh?! But I have to say, I loved watercoloring with them. I didn't color direct to the paper. I scribbled the watercolor markers on my acrylic block and then used my watercolor pen to lift the color and paint. I sometimes use this technique with my ZIGs so I wondered how these markers would do and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Next time, I think I'll color direct to the paper and see how they work.

So... want to hear a funny crafty story?! I got done watercoloring these flowers and had the crazy idea to add my nuvo crystal drops right away... well, I realized after my first couple of drops that I hadn't trimmed my panel. I had planned to die cut it with a stitched die or some kind of rectangle die... LOL! Nope, couldn't do that now! So, I carefully trimmed it with my cutter (the following day so the drops were completely dry) and ended up matting it on black and popping it up on a stitched scallop die cut piece of a fun new paper I found at Hobby Lobby by The Paper Studio called Stargazer. Oh my goodness... this paper is so beautiful! I saw it while I was trying to avoid buying paper and I just had to bring it home. My crafty friend, Dawn, can tell you it's true! Right, Dawn?! She was there with me listening to me say, "No more paper. No more paper." And then I saw it and my chant ended and the paper was mine forever and ever! LOL! Anywho, back to the card... I adhered the whole panel on a True Black card base. Since I had the True Black card stock out, I decided to stamp the sentiment on a scrap and heat emboss a fine white embossing powder. I trimmed it up by hand and adhered it to the card. Done!

So my color challenge last month was a bit of a flop. Or possibly, I've misunderstood the power of a hashtag... LOL... since I haven't seen many projects using the hashtag. But I want to say a big thank you to my sweet blog hopping friends that played along!! I so appreciate you all!

Now for a little bit of business... this is actually business for Jeanie's giveaway from last month. She wasn't able to hop this month so she asked me to share her winner. 

And the winner of a random itty bitty stamp is... 

lrkmtJanuary 5, 2019 at 10:09 AM

Wow this card is awesome. I love the gold and the festivity and energy I feel when I look at it!

lrkmt, please contact Jeanie at jeaniehays00@yahoo.com or via Facebook messaging.

Speaking of giveaways... I hear there are a few along our hop! Be sure to hop and comment on our blogs so you can be entered to win a prize!

Now, I think it's about time to start hopping...

~ Blog Hop List ~

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Dawn

Joyce

Kim

Bobbie Sue

Eileen

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Spring Tag ~ Unity Challenge ~ Beautiful Soul

Hello! I wanted to share this beautiful tag that I made for the Unity Spring Tag challenge over in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group.

I started off by stamping the owl from Unity's Layers of Life kit called What You Really Love with Versamark ink and heat embossing an ultra fine white embossing powder. And then I got inky! I blended some Tattered Rose and Shaded Lilac distress oxide inks on a manila tag that I received with my Kit of the Month order from Unity. Once I was done blending those colors I stamped an image from another Layers of Life kit... this one is called Within Each of Us. I stamped the image a few times in Antique Linen distress oxide ink. It's hard to see in the picture but it gives a bit of dimension to the background.

Then I decided to add some texture, so I grabbed one of my Tim Holtz mini stencils (set 5) and Mother of Pearl Nuvo mousse. The mousse gives the piece texture and a beautiful shine. I stamped the owl image again on white card stock and blended some Worn Lipstick distress oxide ink over the flower. I fussy cut it out and set it aside. I added some gold thread to the tag adhering it to the back of the tag. I then applied some Multi Medium Matte to the back of the manila tag and adhered it to a Tim Holtz Etcetera Thickboard tag. I decided I wanted to lighten up the thickboard tag to keep it with the Spring theme and the light colors. I painted the edges of the tag with white acrylic paint and then I smooshed the paint brush around the edges to give it a bit of distressed look. Since I had the white acrylic paint out, I decided to also paint the reinforcer white.

I stamped the sentiment from the What You Really Love kit using Shaded Lilac distress oxide ink directly on the tag. I added some dew drops... I even added a couple to the owls eyes. I adhered the reinforcer to the top of the tag and added some ribbons. I also adhered the fussy cut flower. 

My final touch was a sentiment. This part took me the longest because this tag that started out as a piece to enter into a challenge turned into a gift for a friend that is facing some important medical tests this week. I wanted the sentiment to fit her and I knew when I saw the Floral Soul {textured feelings} kit that "beautiful SOUL" was THE sentiment. I stamped it on vellum card stock using Shaded Lilac distress oxide ink and heat embossed some clear embossing powder to make it shine. I trimmed around the sentiment and added adhesive behind the letters so it didn't show through the vellum card stock.

 I just love how this turned out! I hope that it brings joy and love to my friend. 

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal