Ink Smooshed Butterfly Cards ~ Wings & Petals Ledger ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

Today's the last day to order from the Brown Thursday Sale over at Unity Stamp Co. I'm sharing the two cards I made using the beautiful Wings & Petals Ledger background stamp from the Brown Thursday release!!

Both of these cards were so quick and easy... I inked smooshed a card front with Squeezed Lemonade, Evergreen Bough and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks. 

Once I was happy with the ink smooshed background and dried it completely with my heat tool, I stamped the beautiful Wings & Petals Ledger over top with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink.

I trimmed the background to 3-7/16 x 4-11/16" and adhered it to a piece of white card stock die cut with the largest die from the Pleated Lace Rectangles dies from Gina Marie Designs.

For this background I just ink smooshed Squeezed Lemonade and Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide inks. I really love these two colors together!

I trimmed this background to the same size I mentioned earlier. Once I had the backgrounds adhered to the die cut panels, I adhered them both to True Black card fronts. I love how the black background brings the stamped images into focus!

The 'happy birthday' sentiment is die cut using the beautiful Chic Script Salutations {die set}... which is currently on sale during Black Friday but it ends today!! I die cut both words four times and adhered two pairs together to give the sentiment a bit of dimension. I do think I'll die cut it one more time in black for my second card and adhere it on top of the white. It seems to get a bit lost in the background but I think if it's black it'll pop more. Head over to Unity and check out the amazing sale before it ends!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 28 ~ Merry, Moe & Joe ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I'm back with my weekly Christmas card using the {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 28. Today I'm sharing a sweet card featuring the one of the cute mice in the Merry, Moe & Joe stamps from Unity Stamp Co. If you checked out my blog post yesterday you may have seen this adorable Santa mouse on one of my note cards... well, I couldn't resist inking him up again! 

I love this fun sentiment too! It's just perfect with this Santa mouse. I stamped him with VersaFine Onyx Black ink on Canson XL watercolor paper. I watercolored him with my ZIG Clear Color Real Brush markers. 

I fussy cut him leaving a bit of a border around the image. I die cut the circles from Real Red and Cucumber Crush card stock from Stampin' Up! using the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies} from Unity. I ran a scrap of Canson XL watercolor paper through my Big Shot with the Simple Snowflakes Embossing Folder from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. It's really hard to see the embossing in the photos. It adds such fun texture too. I also used a piece of pattern paper from the Candy Stripe paper collection from Brutus Monroe. I popped up the sentiment and circle with lots of foam tape.

I love how this cute card turned out! And I am having so much fun watercoloring again. It's been too long since I've played with my ZIGs. 

Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch 28 for the month of November!

I hope you'll join us and play along with the sketch! 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! And if you haven't already be sure to check out the Brown Thursday sale over at Unity!! It's the biggest sale of the year and there are SO many amazing new releases!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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3 x 3 Holiday Note Cards ~ November Challenge ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

Today I'm sharing some adorable Holiday note cards featuring the sweet stamps from The New Nice {November 2022 Sentiment Kit} from Unity!! Each year when the holidays come around I make a bunch of Holiday note cards. They are super handy to add to last minute gifts. When my nieces and nephews were all little I also used to send them a card each along with the family gifts.

I've made some CAS {Clean & Simple} Holiday note cards to share with you all today. These are 3 x 3" note cards that measure 3 x 6" and they're scored at 3".

I've adhered a 1 x 2-7/8" piece of pattern paper to each of the cards. A great way to use up some of those scrap papers!

The sentiments are all trimmed and popped up with foam tape.

The stamped and colored images were also fussy cut and adhered directly to the cards.

You can check out my process video here... 3 x 3 Holiday Note Cards | The New Nice {Nov.2022 Sentiment Kit} | Unity Stamp Co.

I stamped each of the adorable images with Black Amalgam ink and colored them up with the following Copic markers:

Sweater ~ R20, R14, R27, YG11, G24, G46

Snowman ~ YR15, B0000, B000, R20, R14

Gifts ~ YG11, G24, G46, R20, R14, R27, B0000, B000, B00

Socks ~ YG11, G24, G46, B0000, B000, B00, R20, R14, R27 

Bonus!! I was in the groove and made a few more. These cuties feature the Merry, Moe & Joe stamps and the striped paper from the Holiday Traditions {paper pack}. I watercolored these adorable mice with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers.

Grab your holiday stamps, papers and other goodies and play along with the November Challenge!! I can’t wait to see what you create! Be sure to share your cards in the Unity Show & Tell group and also add them to the November challenge album in the group to be entered for a prize!! See you back here next Thursday for more inspiration for the Build Your Holiday Stash challenge!

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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{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 28 ~ Greetings of the Season Dies ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I'm back with my weekly Christmas card but this pretty card is also for the Brown Thursday Instagram Hop so I'm posting a little later than I normally do. If you're visiting from my Instagram... welcome!!! I'm so glad to have you drop by! I share a Christmas card each Friday using the current {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge from the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group. It's a fun group that shares holiday inspiration throughout the year so there's less stress to get our holiday cards done later in the year. Today I'm sharing a card using some products from Unity Stamp Co. along with the {BYSHC} Sketch 28.

I am a sucker for snowman stamps! I just love this new one rightly called The Sweetest Snowman. He's currently one of the freebies during the big Brown Thursday sale. I colored him up super quick with just a handful of Copic markers. He was die cut with one of the recently released circle dies from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. I mat him with a red piece of card stock die cut with the next largest circle die in the set.

The beautiful pattern papers are the Festive Christmas {paper pack} from Unity. So gorgeous!

I die cut the poinsettia paper with the Season's Greetings die from the brand new Greetings of the Season {die set} and I mat the paper with white card stock so the sentiment would pop. I adhered all my layers together and actually didn't pop anything up this time. LOL!

You can check out my video for this card here... Greetings of the Season | Unity Stamp Co.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color up the snowman:

Snowman ~ B0000, B000

Scarf ~ R20, R14

Bird ~ R20, R14, R27

Tree ~ G24, Y06, Y15

Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch 28 for the month of November!

I hope you'll join us and play along with the sketch! 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! And if you haven't already be sure to check out the Brown Thursday sale over at Unity!! It's the biggest sale of the year and there are SO many amazing new releases!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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From the Cat Holiday Greetings ~ November Challenge ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for a brand new challenge over in the Unity Show & Tell group… a Build Your Holiday Stash challenge!! I love making Christmas cards! So much so that I make them all year long. But now that the holidays are just around the corner its time to crank out those last few needed for our stash.

My background layer was created by die cutting two pattern papers from the Farmhouse Christmas {paper pack} with the largest stitched scalloped die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} (currently out of stock).

The sweet tag was made using the smallest tag from the Make a Tag {die set}. I punched a hole with my crop-a-dile and added some jute ribbon tied with some green twine.

The adorable focal piece of the card is the brand new kitty stamp that just released last week. From the Cat was stamped with an alcohol friendly black ink and then I colored him up with the following Copic markers:

 

Kitty ~ YR0000, YR00, YR21, YR15, YR27, R00, R20, RV21

Eyes ~ YG11, G24

Hat ~ G00, G24, G46, C00, C2, C3

Did you notice what kitty's holding onto? New sentiment dies called Greetings of the Season!! Woohoo! They are a must have, my friends! Available later today when the fabulous Brown Thursday sale begins! Die cut the happy holidays three times; twice from kraft card stock and then once from pattern paper. Adhered them all together with the pretty pattern paper on top and then adhered them to the kraft outline die. Adhered kitty to the sentiment outline and then I added foam tape to the back. Popped up the kitty and sentiment together on the card with foam tape.

 

You can check out my video for this card here... From the Cat Holiday Greetings | November Challenge | Unity Stamp Co.

I can’t wait to see what you create! Be sure to share your cards in the Unity Show & Tell group and also add them to the November challenge album in the group to be entered for a prize!! See you back here next Thursday for more inspiration for the Build Your Holiday Stash challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 28 ~ Deck the Owls ~ Not 2 Shabby

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for a new sketch challenge over at Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers and I have a cute Christmas card to share using a sweet paper pack and ephemera pack called Deck the Owls from Not 2 Shabby. How adorable is that cute owl! Oh my gosh... I just love it! And those antlers...?! Love love love!

This was a very simple and quick card just using the dimensions for the sketch and pretty papers!

I can't get enough of this owl though! Those eyes!! Too cute! I popped up the owl ephemera and sentiment ephemera with foam tape.

And I finished it off with a few red rhinestones from the Rainbow Bling rhinestones from Gina Marie Designs. Easy peasy! Another Christmas card for my stash!

Here's a look at {BYSHC} Sketch 28 for the month of November!

I hope you'll join us and play along with the sketch! 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!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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