Inky Paws Challenge #240 ~ Sketch Challenge {Week 1} ~ Spring into Christmas 2025 {BYSHC} Linky Party

Hello there crafty friend!

Who's up for a new challenge?! It's time to get our paws inky with a fun SKETCH challenge! I'm always up for a good sketch and this one is so fun! You have until Friday, May 30th to get your entries in for the #240 Sketch Challenge and a chance to win a $20 store credit to Newton's Nook Designs!

Inky Paws Challenge #240 - Sketch Challenge

I am loving all of the layers! So many possibilities!

It's never too early to start working on Christmas cards! I inked up the cute wreath from the Holiday Postage Sampler Stamp Set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it up with Copic markers. I die cut it using the coordinating Holiday Postage Sampler Die Set.

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

Green: YG11, G24, G46

Red: R20, R14, R27

You can check out my process video here... Holiday Postage Sampler Christmas Card | Inky Paws Challenge 240 | Newton's Nook Designs.

I paired up the cute stamp with some papers from the Meowy Christmas 6x6 Paper Pad. The polka dot paper was a scrap and the holly and berry papers were too. I was pleasantly surprised that the papers fit in the scalloped die with just a tiny bit trimmed off of the edge.

I die cut a piece of white card stock using the stitched scalloped die from the Framework Die Set. And I die cut a circle from white card stock using a die from the Circle Frames Die Set. I stamped the cute little sentiment directly to the circle and popped up the wreath with foam tape.

I am entering this beautiful card in to the Spring into Christmas 2025 {BYSHC} Linky Party! Yay! I love creating for this event while also building my stash of holiday cards. And to top it off, Newton's Nook Designs is one of our fabulous Sponsors. Join us for a chance to win a prize!

Now it's your turn to get your paws inky with your Newton's Nook Designs products and create a project using this wonderful sketch. 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

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Falling for the Holidays 2023 {BYSHC} Linky Party ~ Christmas Joy Girl ~ Angie Blom Digital Designs

Hello there crafty friend!

I'm so excited to share another holiday card for day 7 of the Falling for the Holidays 2023 {BYSHC} Linky Party!! Today I'm featuring the wonderful Christmas Joy Girl digital stamps from Sponsor Angie Blom Digital Designs. I snatched up this beautiful set of digital stamps during Angie's fabulous 40% OFF sale! I saw a couple lovely samples using the gorgeous wreath and I cased the design.

I resized the digital stamp in a Word Document and then I printed it off {along with some other fun digis that I may be sharing soon!}. I trimmed my paper and die cut the wreath using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} from Unity. And then I colored it up with the following Copic markers:

Ribbon: Y06, Y15, Y38

Holly Leaves: YG11, G24, G46

Berries: R20, R14, R46

I also added a touch of white to each berry using a white Sakura gelli roll pen. 

I trimmed a card front of Real Red card stock from Stampin' Up and adhered my layers using the Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue from our Sponsor Bearly Art. I am really loving the fine tip that came with THE MINI glue. I had no idea that it would arrive with two different tips and a top to close it. Such a smart product! I feel like I've been under a rock missing out on this one. LOL

I adhered the card front to a white A2 top fold card base. To finish off the card, I trimmed the sentiment that I had printed off with the wreath. I cut a fishtail on the one end and popped up the sentiment on the card using Bearly Art Cubies: The Polar Collection foam squares from our Sponsor Bearly Art.

Just a couple more days to play along with the Falling for the Holidays 2023 {BYSHC} Linky Party. Be sure to head over to Angie Blom Digital Designs to check out the 40% OFF sale! And then stop by Bearly Art... I can't be the only one who wasn't familiar with this brand... I am loving it! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Membership Wednesday ~ April 2023 KOM All the Wishes ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's Membership Wednesday and I'm sharing a card using the sweet wreath in the new April 2023 Kit of the Month called All the Wishes. Love the new kit! I couldn't wait to color up the sweet bird wreath from the kit.

I stamped the sweet bird wreath and colored it up with some Copic Markers. I fussy cut around the outer images and then cut around the inside images. Here's a quick list of the Copic Markers I used:

Birds ~ BG000, BG11, BG23, R00, R12, R05

Leaves ~ YG11, YG03, YG91, YG95, YG97

Flowers ~ Y11, Y06, Y35, R00, R12, R05

The background is ink smooshed with Abandoned Coral and Crushed Olive Distress Oxide inks. Not colors that I would normally mix together but I love the way it turned out! I was actually making a different background for another card. I hope to share that one next week. Anyhow, I really don't like wasting ink when I'm ink smooshing so I grabbed a white card front and dabbed up these inks. Love it! I die cut the background using the largest rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. And then I adhered it to a white A2 top fold card base.

I created a wreath base by die cutting a piece of Kraft card stock with two circle dies from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies} from Unity. I then die cut a couple olive branches from Limeade Ice, Olive Twist and New Leaf card stock from Papertrey Ink using the Olive Branch die from Gina Marie Designs.

Here's a look at the whole Kit of the Month for April!! Love it! Can you believe that you get a full sheet of rubber for only $45. That includes shipping! You also get a $6.95 discount on every order from Unity over $45. And you can purchase any past kits for only $34 plus shipping. Such a great value! I can't wait to ink up the gorgeous hot air balloon!!

I hope to see you next week for another Membership Wednesday blog post. I'll be sharing inspiration for the amazing Background of the Month... at least that's what I'm leaning towards.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Peace on Earth ~ Advent Calendar Day 15 ~ Unity Stamp Co.

  Hello there crafty friend!

It's Day 15 of my Countdown to Christmas series!! I'm sharing a little reveal and a project each day on my YouTube channel using the fantastic Advent Calendar from Unity Stamp Co!! Please be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss a day of this fun countdown series!

Day 15 ~ a pretty branch with a mix of leaves!

I paired it up with the new Festive Christmas {paper pack}, also from Unity. 

The branch is stamped with Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide inks. The sentiment is from the Heart of Christmas {October 2020 Sentiment Kit}, and is stamped with Black Amalgam ink from Gina K. Designs. And I added some berries to the wreath using Red Berry Nuvo drops.

Check out my process video here... Unity Advent Calendar Day 15.

I'll be back tomorrow with Day 16 of the Advent Calendar reveal and a cute bookmark!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 11 ~ Bounty of Wreaths ~ Brutus Monroe

 Hello there crafty friend!

I seem to be on a bit of a roll with the exclusive Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember stamp sets... so why not share one more?! The Bounty of Wreaths stamp set by Brutus Monroe isn't just a Christmas set, it actually has a Halloween, a Fall, and a Christmas wreath and a bunch of coordinating sentiments. Such an awesome stamp set and I'm so happy to finally make a card with it. 

Now, this wreath was actually stamped out sometime around last Christmas. I even colored the pine cones... but it's been sitting on my side table just waiting for me to finish it up. I saw it the other day and thought it would be perfect for the {BYSHC} Sketch 11... and I think it works. I did alter the sketch a bit by not cutting the edge off of my 'circle' image but... I couldn't cut the wreath!! It's too pretty! I paired up the pretty wreath with a more rustic paper pad but it's also from Brutus Monroe... the Winter Cabin paper collection. This paper pad isn't necessarily just for Christmas... it would be great for Masculine cards, but I think it works really nicely with this wreath stamp.

I colored all the fun elements of this wreath and then got to the ornaments and I was stumped so I asked my daughter what color to use. She came over to my Copic marker collection and picked B04... a beautiful bright blue. Not what I was leaning towards but I used it and I love how it turned out.

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

Pinecones ~ E51, E55, E57

Bells ~ YR21, YR24, E15, E18

Bows ~ R000, R14, R27

Berries ~ C00, C2

Candy Canes ~ C00, C2, R000, R14, R27

Stars ~ Y06, Y15, Y35, Y38

Ornaments ~ B00, B04, B12

Wreath ~ G21, G24, G46 

Here's another look at {BYSHC} Sketch 11.

I hope you'll join in the fun start building your stash along with us in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group. If you're interested in seeing more inspiration using this sketch, stop by the {BYSH} Cardmakers blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Make It Monday #300 ~ Build-a-Wreath

Hello! I'm so glad that I was able to play this week because the Make it Monday challenge was definitely something that appealed to me. I love wreaths!! For a time, I used to make them for our home. Making wreaths was so special to me because I also made them as gifts for family members. I have a few wreaths still in our storage... maybe I'll go hunting for a fall one to display!

Anywho, I discovered that I didn't actually have a wreath die or stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I've since added a few to my wishlist! Ha! But for this challenge I had to get creative. 

I pulled out my Brushed Off Circle die and since I hadn't separated the two pieces yet... I used them together to make my base for the wreath. Once I did that, I happened to remember the Spruce & Sprigs stamps and dies that I recently bought and thought they would work perfectly to build my wreath. I cut out several 'branches' in Dark Chocolate, Cocoa Bean, and Canyon Clay card stock. I also cut some berries out in Pure Poppy card stock. And then I thought.... buttons!! How cute would buttons be as 'berries'?! So I found a few little Pure Poppy buttons to add. 

For the base of my card, I decided to go with my favorite card stock - Kraft!! I did a little stamping directly on the front of the card with a few of the elements from the Spruce & Sprigs set using all the same colors, except I added some Ripe Avocado in there. Once that was done, I adhered the wreath and realized I hadn't decided on a sentiment. I thought a banner would be nice but I didn't want to use any of the sentiments from the Banner Style set so... I found my new Keep It Simple: Blessed set and decided I could bend that to make it work and it did!! Woohoo! It fit just right! I stamped it in Dark Chocolate and then adhered that piece to a Pure Poppy banner. 

The bottom of the card looked a little too empty... so I decided to add another sentiment using the Keep It Simple: Thanksgiving set. I love these little sentiment sets... Papertrey Ink has them for just about every occasion. Love it!!

That's my card for today.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal