Polka Dot Orchard ~ You Are Everything

Hello! I'm so excited to share this fabulous card using the brand new You Are Everything digi stamp from Polka Dot Orchard. I was blown away when I saw the gorgeous images in this digi stamp set. I have dived head first into this art of digi stamps and I have to admit... I'm loving the endless possibilities with these images!!

For this card I combined two digi images in a Microsoft Word document placing the larger flower in front of the mug image just overlapping it a tad on the left side. I then added the sentiment to the image and was able to print this off easy peasy! Since I planned to keep the design of this card simple I decided to put two of these combined images on one full sheet of card stock. That way I could cut the sheet in half and make two cards from the images. 

I colored the images using the following Copic markers ~ YR01, YR02, B34, B39, B52, T1, E30, E34, G24, G94, N0, N1, N2, Colorless Blender.

My color palette for this card was inspired by the new Echo Park Coffee papers... such beautiful papers!! I couldn't wait to cut into them, but I am a paper hoarder so I didn't cut off too much. Haha! I adhered a strip of the patterned paper to the left side of the white card stock before I ran it through my Big Shot with a large rectangle stitch die. I then adhered the piece to a Dark Indigo card base. I popped on a few of the coordinating Coffee Enamel Dots and I really have to say I love this card! It was relatively easy to create and those images are just so fun to color!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Stamping Bella ~ All is Calm

Hello! Today I'm sharing a sweet card using an adorable stamp set from Stamping Bella called The Penguin on a Reindeer on a Polar Bear.

I paired the Stamping Bella set with the bright and beautiful Holiday Cheer papers from Sunny Studio. Oh my goodness... these papers have such beautiful colors! They totally inspired my color palette for this card. I stamped the image and the sentiment on a 5-1/4 x 4" piece of white card stock.

 I then colored using my Copic markers:

Penguin ~ YR15, YR68, N0, N1, N3, N5, Colorless Blender, R14, R27

Deer ~ E23, E25, E31, E34, E51, E53, W4

Polar Bear ~ W00, W1, W3, W5, R00, R21, Colorless Blender

Tree ~ R14, R27, R37, RV21, RV34, B000, B02, Y06, Y17, G24, G29, G46

I trimmed down my panel to 3-5/8 x 5-1/4" and adhered a piece of the striped patterned paper from the Holiday Cheer papers to the back of the panel, now making the panel measure 4 x 5-1/4". I die cut two banners from the papers, trimmed them to my desired length, and then adhered them to the panel. I popped up the panel on a white card base.

My final touch for this card was some Sprinkled Sugar Stickles on the fluffy hats of the penguin and polar bear. It really gives a glittery shine to the little guys hats! Adorable! This wonderful design was inspired by the fun sketch that Katie posted in the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share facebook group. If you're not already a member of the group, you can join here... SFL: Show & Share.

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

Coffee Loving Cardmakers ~ Happiest of Birthdays with Coffee!

Hello! Today I'm so excited to share a few variations of a Birthday card that I created with a Fall theme for my second guest spot with Coffee Loving Cardmakers. I am a huge fan of Unity Stamp Company and the original Dream of Being stamp set is THE set that got me hooked to their line of stamps. Well... they recently released a second Dream of Being set called Dream of Being {So Loved}  I was blown away! She's just as beautiful as the original and all dressed up for my favorite season ~ Fall!

So naturally, I had to ink her up for some much needed Fall birthday cards. I stamped the image and the sentiment onto several 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" pieces of white card stock and then adhered a couple of strips of patterned paper from Echo Park's Fall is in the Air paper pack. I then die cut them with a Pleated Lace Rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs.

Once that was done, I colored each of the images using the same Copic markers but changing up the colors of the clothes. Here's a list of the colors I used:

Hair ~ E55, E57, E74, E77, E79

Skin Tone ~ E000, E51, R20, RV21

Clothes ~ YR27, R56, YG61, YG63, YG67, YG91, YG93

Cup ~ Y35, W00, W1, N1

Once all of the images were colored, I wrapped the panels with twine and tied a bow. I then popped it up on a 5-1/4 x 4" piece of Summer Sunshine card stock.

 I then mat that panel on a 5-3/8 x 4-1/8" piece of Americana card stock and adhered the entire piece to a Kraft card base.

I love how simple these cards were to make and I think they turned out really nice!

Here's a close up of my favorite card of the bunch. I added some flecks of orange in the hat on this one and I really love how it turned out! It reminds me of a hat that I have! 

 I hope you've enjoyed my cards today and have found some inspiration!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

Polka Dot Orchard ~ Coffee Pumpkin Flourish ~ Warm Pumpkin Wishes

Hello! Today I'm sharing a Fall themed card that I made using Polka Dot Orchard's Coffee Pumpkin Flourish digi stamps. I started this card with an entirely different idea in mind, but I really love the way that it turned out!

My design started with this beautiful cup and pumpkin, once I had it resized how I liked... a perk of using digi stamps!!... I instantly thought it would be beautiful with the Mix & Mat Plaid die from Papertrey Ink. I die cut the layers for the Mix & Mat Plaid die and adhered them together. I then adhered the die cut to the Dark Chocolate card base that I had added a layer of fall patterned paper. Using the paper pad as my color palette, I colored in the coffee cup and pumpkin with the following Copic markers...

Coffee Cup ~ E95, E97, R14, R27, R89

Pumpkin ~ YR15, YR27, YR68, G99, E55, E57, E59

I print off my sentiment and mat it on coordinating card stock and then adhered it to the card.

Here's a close up of the beautiful coffee cup and pumpkin. This digi is part of a great set!! You have to go check it out... here!!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post! 

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

~ Friends of Unity November Blog Hop ~

Hello! It's one of my favorite times of the month... it's time for another Friends of Unity blog hop!! This month Dawn had a fabulous suggestion for November cue ~ Strength... in particular the Strength of women. We kept the cue simple but I have to say this one was a challenge. 

Unity Stamp Company has over 100 Angie Girls to work with and several of them have empowering words and even different variations of the word Strength... but I still struggled. What finally 'clicked' for me was thinking of the Strong women in my life. I've had many strong, inspirational women to look up to and so many of them were the strongest women I'm proud to have known that have inspired me to be the woman I am becoming. Some are no longer with us, but they have left an impression of Strength that will be with me for the rest of my life. So enough of my chit chatter...  let's have a look at the cards I created.

Along with keeping our cue simple, I decided to keep my cards simple and let the image and sentiment be the focus. Last month I made two cards using the same Hoppy Fall  set but using Copic markers to color one and ZIG watercolor pens for the other. So, I thought... let's see how coloring on kraft with Prismacolor pencils looks compared to Copic markers.

 For my first card I stamped Stronger than Anyone ~ Jessica Girl and the sentiment with Amalgam black ink and then colored in the image. I absolutely love the sentiment in this kit! Every time I read it, I instantly think of one person and I think I'm going to send this to her to let her know that I think she's an amazing, strong woman that I am honored to know! 

I added some patterned paper from Carta Bella... called Christmas {yup, Christmas paper and it's not even a Christmas card! Ha!} I loved the black plaid to compliment the red plaid on her shirt. I die cut the edge of the patterned paper with a scalloped edge die from My Favorite Things. I adhered that to the kraft card stock. I die cut the piece with a stitched rectangle die and then I mat the kraft piece on black card stock and wrapped it a few times with white baker's twine tying a small bow. I popped up the panel onto a kraft card base and there you have card number one.

Here's a close up of the coloring on her jeans and purse. When I'm coloring with Prismacolor pencils, once I've blended the colors using a colorless blender pencil, I sometimes like to use my Prismacolor Scholar eraser to clean up the lines of the ink where the pencil has gone over the black lines. With this card though, I also rubbed the eraser on the jeans to give it a bit of worn texture. I really love the way that it roughed up the jeans a bit. I also used the silver Prismacolor pencil to add some touches on this image... her watch face, jean's button, and some accents on her purse. I love the bit of shine that it gives to the card, even though it's subtle.

Now, my second card... I considered stamping and coloring the same image for a more accurate comparison, but... I really wanted to ink up Dream Girl. I'm embarrassed to admit that Dream Girl was a stamp that I purchased for my first order with Unity Stamp Company {along with my absolute favorite ~ Dream of Being} and this is the very first time I've inked her up! It's been almost 3 years!! Can you believe that?! Shameful!! Well, anywho... I inked up Dream Girl using Memento tuxedo black ink. {I could have used the Amalgam black ink again, I just grabbed the Memento... really no rhyme or reason.} Dream Girl reminds me of my beautiful niece and so I just had to try to color her hair similar to my niece's hair. This turned out lighter, which was hard to gauge until it actually dried because while the Copic alcohol ink was wet on the kraft it was darker. I used E09, E15, E97, R89 for the hair and E0000, E000, E00, E01, E04, E51 for the face, neck, and shoulder. Just like the first card, I added a strip of patterned paper and then die cut the piece with a stitched rectangle die. I mat it on a coordinating piece of card stock and wrapped it with a natural twine. I then popped the whole panel up on the kraft card base.

Here's a close up of the Copic coloring on Dream Girl. I really love how she turned out!

As far as a comparison, I think these turned out really nice, but the medium is definitely different. The texture with the Prismacolor pencils is very different from the softness of the blended Copic markers. I love them both really... couldn't choose a favorite, but it sure was fun to play and compare them. I sure hope you enjoyed my cards today!

There are a few giveaways this month so be sure to check out each of the blog posts and comment! We absolutely love all of your comments!

Now I think it's time to get hopping!

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Kim

Bobbie Sue

Eileen

Wynne

Robyn

Dawn

Joyce

Jeanie

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post! 

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Reindeer Games ~ Season's Greetings

Hello! I'm so excited to share some adorable cards I created using the Reindeer Games stamp set by Scrapping for Less from the October 2018 Joy to the World card kit. I just adore this set and I was needing to make some Christmas cards for a Christmas card drive that I've participated in for the last two years, so I thought this set was perfect!

I started by finding a simple sketch and you may be looking at the card saying, "That doesn't look simple" and you're very right! The simple sketch evolved into more layers and extra elements that this card just needed to have. Once I had the sketch picked out, I started cutting patterned papers. I used the papers from Collection Four ~ Santa's Workshop by Echo Park. I didn't have enough leftovers so I ended up digging into my leftover pieces from the October 2017 Merry & Bright card kit and found some papers from Collection Two that had similar colors ~ the I Love Christmas by Echo Park papers. Once I had all my patterned papers cut, I also went ahead and prepared my card bases and the card stock I needed for the focal image.

Now it was time for stamping!! I used my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform to stamp multiples of each of the images so I'd have enough for all the cards. And then the fun... it was time to color! I love to color! I find it so relaxing! I used a bunch of Copic markers:

Penguin ~ W00, W1, W5, W8, R14, R20, R27, Y06, Y17, YR15, YR16, B000, B02

Reindeer Kid ~ R14, R20, R27, E000, E23, E25, E31, E34, E51, YR23, YR27

Elf ~ G24, G28, G29, Y06, Y17, R14, R20, R27, E000, E51

Once my images were all colored, I used my Scan n Cut to get them all cut out. I then stamped the sentiments from the Stamping Bella Christmas Bug stamp set in Collection One and die cut them out with a banner die. To create my 'scene' I wanted some kind of 'snow' so I decided to use a snowfall backdrop die. Before die cutting these I blended some Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide inks over the top half of the 3 x 3" pieces of white card stock. I then die cut them, backed them with white card stock, and then mat them with a coordinating card stock. I die cut some stitched hills from scraps of white card stock that I adhered to the bottom portion of the snowy backgrounds. I was going to adhere all of my layers to the white card base, but it was just too much white so I decided to use some coordinating card stock to add another layer. To jazz up those extra layers of card stock, I ran them through my Big Shot with a snowflake embossing folder. It gives the card some extra texture that I just love!

Now all that was left was to adhere all of my layers to the white card base. Once that was done, I adhered my elf and reindeer to the little 'scene' I created for my focal point. I popped up the sentiments with foam tape and then decided to pop up the little penguins too.

I just adore this sweet Reindeer Games set from the Banana Split subscription!! **Editing to add that it's in the shop separately!! It's such a fabulous set... go take a look!** It made my cards for this year's Christmas card drive so much fun to make! I sure hope that you like my cards and find some inspiration for your cards when your kit arrives.

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal

Coffee Loving Cardmakers ~ Good Coffee Good Friends

I am beyond excited to be a Guest Designer for Coffee Loving Cardmakers for the month of November! OMG! This is one happy... and overly caffeinated lady!!

The next best thing to a good cup of coffee is a good friend! 

I just had to ink up this sweet set that I got during the STAMPtember event at Simon Says Stamp.  I stamped these fun gals with Memento tuxedo black ink on a 5-1/4 x 4" piece of white card stock. I did a mix of paper piecing and Copic coloring.

For the paper piecing I stamped the images on different pieces of patterned paper from the Echo Park Fall is in the Air 6 x 6 paper pad. I fussy cut the pieces and set them aside. I then colored in the images with the following Copic markers: E0000, E000, E00, E07, E08, E09, E31, E34, E40, E55, E57, E74, W00, W1, W3, C00, C1, C3, C5, R14, R20, R29, B0000, B000, BG000, BG13, BG32, Y28, YR15, YR16, YR27, YR68.

 Once the images and the background were colored in, I adhered the patterned paper pieces and then set it aside. I grabbed another piece of white card stock that I ran through my Big Shot with the Stampin Up Woodland embossing folder. I then ran that through the Big Shot again with an oval die to cut out my 'frame'. I adhered the framed woodland piece to the image and then mat the entire piece on black card stock measuring 5-3/8 x 4-1/8". I then adhered that piece to a kraft card base.

The sentiment for this AI Pumpkin Spice set is rather large so I went searching through my stash to find a smaller sentiment that wouldn't cover up the focal image. I came across the Altenew Latte set and thought this was the perfect sentiment! I stamped it with black ink and die cut it with a banner die. I then trimmed it off on one edge. I thought it needed a little contrast of color so it would pop off the card so I also die cut a black banner. I adhered the pieces together and then adhered them to the card. My final touch was a bow... oh my goodness, this bow took some work! I tied and retied and then tied it again.... but I finally got a bow that I liked. I adhered the bow to the card with some pop dots. I just love how this card turned out... I sure hope you do too!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal