I'm back with a little inspiration for the {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 61 hosted in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group! Today I'm sharing a cute card featuring a fun stenciled background and stamp from our fabulous Sponsor, Crafty Stamp Co.
I started with my background layers for this card. I blended Sugar Cube Pigment White ink over the Let it Snow Stencil. I did this on a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" card front and a strip of Kraft card stock. I added a 1/8" strip of white card stock on the top of my Kraft strip which breaks up the pattern of the snowflakes a bit. I tried a few different things for the fishtail banner. I tried white card stock and it was too much white. I tried stenciling the Kraft again with the Let it Snow Stencil. And it just seemed like too much. So I flipped it over and I like the plain Kraft fishtail banner. I think it's a great background for the kitties.
I stamped the fun kitties from the Meowy Kittymas Stamp Set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it up with Copic markers. And then I fussy cut it leaving a border.
I heat embossed the sentiment using the Sugar Cube White Pigment ink from Taylored Expressions with Alabaster White Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe. I ended up matting it with white card stock because I felt like it was getting lost in all the Kraft layers. The white border makes it pop. I added foam tape to the back of the kitties and the sentiment and I popped them both up on the card. I finished off the card with a few white enamel dots from my stash.
Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 61 for the month of September. 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! The design team, as always, rocked this sketch!
It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!!This month's cue is SO much fun!
It took me a while to get started. I was really stuck for ideas. But once I got started I couldn't stop. So with that said. There's a lot of content on this blog post. I made three projects and the last one was very involved. There's lots of photos and I'll try to keep the chatter to a minimum so the post isn't too terribly long. I hope you enjoy my projects and if you're inspired by my makes, I'd love to see what you make.
First up is a cute accordion tag book that was inspired by our sweet crafty friend, Jenni Shamblin. She's sharing one today that is SO beautiful. Be sure you stop by her blog {down below in the hop}.
Here's the tag book opened. I used small pieces of white card stock to attach the tags together. I didn't cover the back. I still might but I couldn't find a paper I liked to do it so for now it's just blank. I used four Fall themed tags that I received from Unity. Not sure if it was a gift or if I ordered it, but they sure made this project come together quickly.
Next up is a cute tag that could also be a bookmark. I was inspired by my favorite bookmark that I made eons ago. I thought I'd case it and maybe send it to a friend. I just realized I didn't write down the Copics I used for this one. Sorry about that.
Inks used: Peacock Feathers and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, Black Amalgam Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black marker.
Here's a quick photo of my original bookmark and my cased bookmark. Original used the same book stamps, but the girl is from Part of the Story {retired}. Not sure about the other background stamps on that one. They might be Stampin' Up.
I wanted to share one more photo for this one. Once I had my background done on the bookmark I stamped the girl so that when I fussy cut off all the dots and hearts around her it would still be a part of her on the bookmark. I love those little details.
And my last project... a Mixed Media Mini File Folder. I had just received this awesome file folder die in an order and I was inspired to make something for the hop. It's the Floral Slots File Folder from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Once I got started with this project it took off so please bare with me. There's lots of photos and I recorded a quick video that I share at the end just sharing the finished project. The cover features a bunch of stamps but the big new pumpkin is the star. This pumpkin is in the September 2025 KOM Harvest to Holiday. It's also available separately here... Pumpkin Hearth. I ink smooshed the pumpkin with Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin and Abandoned Coral Distress inks. I blended some Vintage Photo Distress ink around the edges and colored the stem with Copics {E21, E25, E57}. In the background you'll find the big leaf from Beautiful Change, the stitch stamps from Time to be Happy Again, and a couple stamps from Love Who You Are.
The inside of the mini file folder. I inked smooshed the whole thing with Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers, Vintage Photo and Carved Pumpkin Distress Inks. The big tree is from the July 2021 KOM Special Spot in My Heart and the fun pumpkins are from Beautiful Change. The 'fall feels' sentiment on the tab is from the August 2025 KOM Season of Soft & Spooky. I masked it so that it would fit in the little spot.
Here's a look at the tag fronts. I ink smooshed the manila tags with Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, and Abandoned Coral Distress inks. I blended a bit of Vintage Photo Distress ink to soften the white and then I distressed the edges with some too. I used the Tree of Gratitude stamps for these. All four of them are heat embossed with Penny EP from Brutus Monroe. The spatters are Ground Espresso Distress ink that I diluted with a tiny bit of water.
The other side of the tags. I distressed the edges on this side too but didn't do the spatter. I used a leaf from the Tree of Gratitude, another leaf from the August 2025 KOM Season of Soft & Spooky, and then trees also from that KOM. The three sentiments on the left are also from the KOM. And then the last one on the right is from Beautiful Change.
I just had to keep on going but I kept the back simple with just a few trees and a sentiment from the August 2025 KOM Season of Soft & Spooky. They are also available separately here... Long Rooted Truths. I tried to keep my chatter to a minimum. If you have a question about anything I made, please ask away in the comments.
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...
... Dee in N.H.!! Congratulations, Dee!!
Send me an email at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize.
Please claim the prize before October 1st, 2025.
Well, that's it for me this time! We have a full hop this month with lots of inspiration so I hope you'll grab a cup of coffee or tea or water... what have you, and keep on hopping! 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!
Happy Membership Wednesday! Today I'm sharing a lovely Fall card featuring the beautiful leaves from the August 2025 Kit of the Month membership from Unity Stamp Co.
I started with a white card front measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2". I masked the two ends with each with a piece of iCraft Pixie Tape. I blended Mustard Seed Distress Ink over the center portion of the card. I dried the ink with a heat tool and then applied an anti-static powder to the area. I stamped the two leaves with a watermark ink and then dusted the wet ink with clear embossing powder. I melted the powder with a heat tool.Once the embossed areas had cooled, I blended Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink over the area. I dried the area with a heat tool applied anti-static powder again. I stamped two more leaves with clear embossing ink and then sprinkled clear embossing powder over the wet ink. I melted the powder with a heat tool. So at this point I had the yellow and orange leaves on my masked panel.
I used the very same steps with the remaining leaves using Lumberjack Plaid and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I finished off the panel with some Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress Inks. The top left and bottom left leaves were done with Vintage Photo even though it looks a bit red. Not sure why.
I stamped the sentiment with Black Amalgam ink and then trimmed the panel to 4 x 5-1/4". I wrapped the panel a few times with black burlap string and tied a bow. I adhered the panel to a black A2 top fold card base and then added a few reddish enamel dots.
Here's a quick look at this month's Kit of the Month membership!
Another option is to get this kit separately here... Grunge Grove.
Well, that's it for me today! I hope you've been INKspired to play with your membership stamps! Have a fab day!
It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!!This month's cue is a lot of fun!
I love getting inky with a fun mixed media card. I did struggle a bit getting going with these but once I did some ink smooshing I was on a roll! I can't be the only one who finds ink smooshing so relaxing. I love it! It makes a bad day so much better.
I ink smooshed my background for this one using Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink leaving a good amount of white space. I added a little bit of Squeezed Lemonade but it's really not noticeable. I partially inked up A Faithful Letter background stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
The pretty little butterflies are from the retired {...With Her Own Wings}. I just inked up a handful of the butterflies for the corners. I die cut the background using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} and then I adhered it to a white A2 top fold card base. I finished off the background with some black acrylic paint spatters.
The butterflies are from the Paper Wings stamps. I colored them with Copic markers and fussy cut them on the line except around the antennae where I left a white border. The butterflies are adhered to the card on their bodies and antennae. I folded up the wings for some dimension. The sentiment is from the Extended Celebration stamps. I trimmed it and adhered it to the card. I finished off the card with a few pearl embellishments I think I got from a Unity order.
My second card also has some ink smooshing. Ink smooshing is my go-to mixed media technique. This time I used Twisted Citron and Wild Honey Distress Inks. I wanted to use colors that I normally wouldn't put together. For some reason these colors made me want to work with a chicken stamp so I grabbed the fun new Still Peckin' Fabulous.
And then I stamped the fun Chicken Wire background stamp.... which is retired. Bummer! Maybe you have it in your stash. I stamped it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I also stamped the squiggly lines from the stamps called Never with the same ink. I heat embossed the circle trio with clear embossing ink and Penny embossing powder from Brutus Monroe. I love the texture and shine it gives the card.
I stamped the fun chicken and colored it up with Copic markers. I heat embossed the sentiment with a white pigment ink and white embossing powder on a dark brown card stock. I fussy cut the chicken and adhered it to the sentiment and then I added foam tape to the back of both and popped them up on the card. Voila!
Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:
Chicken / Eyes: C0, C2, C3
Beak: Y11, YR20, YR15, YR27
Waddle: R20, R14, R27
Hat: YG11, YG03, YG63, B00, B02
Present: YR20, YR15, YR68, B00, B02
Balloon: Y11, YR20, YR15, YR68
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...
... Wilma DeG!! Congratulations, Wilma!!
Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize.
Please claim the prize before July 30th, 2025.
Well, that's it for me this time! It's a short hop this month with just six of us sharing our makes. Be sure to hop along and enjoy some more inspiration! I can't wait to see how our friends 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!
Happy Membership Wednesday! Today I'm sharing a quick birthday card featuring the gorgeous background stamp from the March 2025 Background of the Month membership from Unity called Mandala of the Heart.
I love this beautiful stamp! I embossed it on Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink using Sugar Cube Pigment Ink from Taylored Expressions along with Alabaster White Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe. My favorite combo for a bright white embossed image!
I melted the embossing powder with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. I kept this card very simple by just stamping the background three times with the beautiful stamp directly on the front of a kraft A2 card base. No extra layers or die cutting.
I also heat embossed the sentiment. I thought about using one of the fab sentiments that comes with the background stamp, but I like to keep my birthday card stash full so I thought it would make a lovely birthday card. I used a sentiment from the Ween Party Crew stamps.
I seriously love the Faded Roses background stamp from last month's BOM. They are stunning! I was curious to see how they would look with this month's Damask Grunge background stamp. I love the texture this month's BOM gives to the roses!
I stamped the Damask Grunge with Lost Shadow Distress Ink on Stampers Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the Faded Roses with Mermaid Lagoon and Villainous Potion Distress Inks. I also stamped the sentiment for this one using the same two inks.
I was also curious to see how these colors would look on Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink. I love it! All the same colors for this one. The only difference is the sentiment is heat embossed with white pigment ink and white embossing powder on kraft card stock. The sentiment is from the Extended Celebration {Front & Center Stamps}.
I also wanted to see how Festive Berries Distress Ink would look with the Lost Shadow Distress Ink on Kraft card stock. It was a fun inky time of experimenting!! LOL! And I got three cards out of it. All of the background panels were die cut using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}.
Here's a look at the Faded Roses background stamp.
The January 2025 New Release is now available for purchase in The Greeting Farm Store! This month we introduced 3 new stamp sets. Our first set called ANYA IN NEW YORK features our fabulous girl touring all the hot spots in the Big Apple. Next, we showcased the cutest critters reading to each other in a set called BOOK LOVER. Lastly, we introduced COFFEE COUPLE featuring Anya and Ian drinking their favorite brew.
I made a fun coffee card with a vintage vibe. I just had to ink up the sweet Anya from the Coffee Couple stamp set! She is just too cute. I paired her up with some fun coffee papers in my stash that I had previously die cut. I distressed the edges with a bit of Vintage Photo Distress Ink and adhered them to a script paper from the same paper pack. I heat embossed the sentiment with white pigment ink and white embossing powder on black card stock. After fussy cutting Anya and coloring the edge of my cutting, I adhered her to the sentiment strip and then popped them both up with foam tape. And finished off the card with some black and white enamel dots.
Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E04, R00, R20
Hair: Y21, YR24, YR18
Dress / Shoes / Hairband: B000, N2, N4, N6
Cup: E0000, E51, RV32, RV17, RV19
To celebrate this release we are having a short BLOG HOP! One lucky fan will take home the entire release! You have until January 18th, 12pm CST/1pm EST to leave your comments on each Designer's Blog. Then head back to The Greeting Farm Blog to let us know you completed the hop. **Remember to qualify for the prize you MUST leave a comment on each Designer's Blog AND The Greeting Farm Blog letting us know you completed the hop.
NOTE: Comments on The Greeting Farm Blog are admin approved so it may take a day for your comment to be visible. Please only comment once, and use the same name on all the blogs when leaving a comment. Do not pick the Anonymous option (otherwise we won't be able to verify that it's you). We will announce the random winner later in the week on the Blog and in our Facebook Group: The Greeting Farm Fan Page.
This is a short hop, and definitely worth playing along! If you want to grab your favorites now, you can purchase the new stamps HERE. We will have more cards featuring the New Release from our Design Team Leaders starting on the 16th so be sure to stop by The Greeting Farm Blog to see more inspiration.
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.}
It's the first day of previews at The Greeting Farm! Woohoo! So exciting!
I created a fun background using stamps from the Anya in New York stamp set. I love how Anya pops on the black and white background. I die cut the background with an x stitched rectangle die.
I stamped sweet Anya with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her up with Copic Markers. I fussy cut her and colored the edge of the fussy cutting with a Memento Tuxedo Black marker. And then I popped her up on the card with foam tape. Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:
Skin: E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20
Hair: YR23, YR27, R59
Shirt: C00, C1, R20, R14, R27
Skirt: B95, B97, B99
Shoes: R20, R14, R27
Bag: BG10, BG10, BG15
Cup: C00, C1, YG11, G24, G46
I stamped the skyscrapers, fussy cut them leaving a bit of a white border and adhered it to the black sentiment strip creating a bit of a scene.
The sentiment is heat embossed with white pigment ink and white embossing powder. I melted the powder with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. Love how this turned out! Release goes live in the store on the 15th at 12am EST.
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.}
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