Guest Designer - Kim Klinkovsky

We're back for week number two with our talented guest designer Kim Klinkovsky of My Kraft Kloset. This week Kim created another fabulous card using an embossing folder I've owned for quite a while, but never quite knew what to do with it! She totally rocked the color burst on this card, and created yet another unique and lovely card to share with us today. Awesome work, Kim!

Here's what Kim says about creating this awesome card:

"Hi everybody! Kim here from My Kraft Kloset  and I'm honored to be back as your guest designer this month! Today I'm sharing a couple of techniques to get more out of your embossing folders and how to make amazing backgrounds with products from the Crop Stop Store.

I started with a 12x12 green cardstock, cut 8.5x11" and folded in half to create a card base. Cut a piece of patterned paper and adhere to card base. This next part is very messy, so make sure you put an old cloth or newspaper under you to protect your table, use a craft mat, wear an apron to protect your clothes, and gloves, because it can stain.

Placed a pastel pink piece of cardstock on a craft mat, sprinkled a few drops of powder from 3-4 color burst colors onto the cardstock, mist with water and watch the magic begin. It's a powder, so it will blow a little, so protect whats around you. With a little water it's bright and vibrant and gets lighter as you add more water. Feel free to tip/move your paper and move the color around or dab with a sponge or paper towel. Or add more drops if you think you need too. I let it dry over night, but you could use a heat tool for faster drying.

Tip: Use water color paper to avoid any rippling of the paper, but I wanted some of the pink of the cardstock to show through. If your paper does ripple, you can iron it lightly or press with a big book.

Once dry place the background image in an emossing folder and run through a die cut machine. And take the sanding tool and in a circular motion sand off some of the cardstock to reveal the white core of the cardstock. Which brightens your embossed images and make it stand out more. That's the fun part about any Cordinations cardstock, they are made for sanding. Trim your embossed image to fit card. Cut a piece of black cardstock to mat behind, adhere them together, and adhere panel to card base.

Then add a drop of metallic liquid pearls to the birds eye for dimention and a sticker sentiment to complete. And there you have another way to use your embossing folders and make several unique cards for many occasions. The finished bird card is 5" x 6 1/4" (cut 12x12" green cardstock down to 10" x 6 1/4" and fold) Now it's your turn....stop by our CURRENT LINK PARTY and link up any project that includes a product or two that Cropstop carries in the store. Hope to see you there!"

Crop Stop Supplies:

• CraftSheet - Inkssentials
• Brights -Color Burst by Ken Oliver - 6 pack
• Core'dinations- Pastels - (4.25 x 5.5 )-Pink
• Core'dinations- Neutrals - (4.25 x 5.5 )-Black
• Bazzill Basics Paper - Blossom - 12 x 12 Cardstock-Green
• 723258 Royal, Fine Designs Collection (A2) LIMITED EDITION!
• Cuttlebug Machine (FREE SHIPPING USA ONLY)
• Core'dinations- Sand It Gadget Tool
• Ranger Liquid Pearls, Metallic
• Watercolor Paper - 8.5 x 11 inch - 10 sheets
• Other Supplies: water mister/spray bottle, metallic stickers, Reverse Confetti patterned paper, Scor-tape 1/4"

Guest Designer - Kim Klinkovsky

Time for another guest design spot here on the Cropstop blog. Today we're sharing the talents of Kim Klinkovsky of My Kraft Kloset. Kim not only created two awesome cards for us, but she also included a fun tutorial with pictures!! I absolutely LOVE the super fun background she created with her embossing folder from Cropstop, color burst, and some gold metallic embossing powder! What a creative gal! 

Here's what Kim says about putting these wonderful cards together: "Hi everybody! Kim here from My Kraft Kloset  and I'm honored to be your guest designer this month! Today I'm sharing a couple of unique and amazing backgrounds created with products from the Crop Stop Store.

I started with an 5.5x11" yellow cardstock, cut in half to create two A2 (5.5x4.25") card bases. This next part is very messy, so make sure you put an old cloth or newspaper under you to protect your table, use a craft mat, wear an apron to protect your clothes, and gloves, because it can stain.

Placed a pastel pink piece of cardstock on a craft mat, sprinkled a few drops of powder from 3-4 color burst colors onto the cardstock, mist with water and watch the magic begin. It's a powder, so it will blow a little, so protect whats around you. With a little water it's bright and vibrant and gets lighter as you add more water. Feel free to tip/move your paper and move the color around or dab with a sponge or paper towel. Or add more drops if you think you need too. I let it dry over night, but you could use a heat tool for faster drying.

Tip: Use water color paper to avoid any rippling of the paper, but I wanted some of the pink of the cardstock to show through. If your paper does ripple, you can iron it lightly or press with a big book.

Once dry place the background image in an embossing folder and run through a die cut machine. Which looks stunning just like that too.

But I took it another step further and ran a brayer over a clear embossing ink pad and made it good and inky, then lightly ran the brayer over the raised images from the embossing folder. You will get some ink in between the images and thats ok or you can brush some off with a thin paint brush. Sprinkle with gold metallic embossing powder, tap off the excess, and set with a heat tool. Trim to fit and adhere to card base.

Tip: If you don't have a brayer, you can run the pad dirctly over the raised image, but you may get more ink on your panel and cover up too much of the background colors.

Cut a strip of black cardstock, cut and tie a double ribbon around one end, cut a banner tail on the other end and adhere to card with foam tape. Add a few scattered metallic liquid pearls for dimention to complete.

And there you have another way to use your embossing folders and make several unique cards with beautiful backgrounds for many occasions. Now it's your turn....stop by our Current Link Party and link up any project that includes a product or two that Cropstop carries in the store. Hope to see you there!"

Crop Stop Supplies:

• CraftSheet - Inkssentials
• Brights -Color Burst by Ken Oliver - 6 pack
• Core'dinations- Pastels - (4.25 x 5.5 )-Pink
• Core'dinations- Neutrals - (4.25 x 5.5 )-Black
• 723156Chiaro, Serenity Collection (5x7) LIMITED EDITION!
• Cuttlebug Machine (FREE SHIPPING USA ONLY)
• Ranger embossing ink: Clear for Embossing - Distress PAD
• Ranger Liquid Pearls, Metallic
• Pink on Pink Organdy Swirls Ribbon
• Mustard on Mustard Organdy Swirls Ribbon
• Scotch Foam Mounting Tape
• WatercolorPaper - 8.5 x 11 inch - 10 sheet
• Other Supplies: brayer, water mister/spray bottle, heat tool, metallic stickers, yellow 8.5x11" cardstock for card base, Ranger Gold Metallic Embossing Powder, Scor-tape 1/4"

August Link Party - #42

Time for another link party here on the Cropstop blog. Last month I shared an easy way to create a striped background, and this month I'm back for Take #2.

To create the background for my first card I:

•  stamped my Abandoned Coral Distress Ink (Ranger) on my acrylic block and spritzed it with water
• using a wide paintbrush I painted messy lines across my watercolor paper and added splatters

I decorated this card by:

• stamping two flowers/stems from the Blossom Stamp Set (Tim Hotlz) in Versamark Watermark ink, adding black embossing powder, and heat setting
• I painted the flowers with Abandoned Coral/Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and the stems with Mowed Lawn/Pine Needles Distress Ink
• The sentiment is from the Bird Crazy set (Tim Holtz) and is embossed on the card front

For my second card I painted smaller stripes in the center of my watercolor paper panel using blues and greens. The colors of distress ink from top to bottom are:
Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon

I decorated this card by:

• stamping the butterfly and hearts from the Watercolor stamp/stencil set (Tim Holtz) on water color paper and fussy cutting
• stamping the sentiment (Bird Crazy stamp/stencil set - Tim Holtz) in two colors of distress ink, slightly offset from each other
• adding some clear glitter to the hearts and center of my butterfly

 Now it’s your turn to share the projects you’ve been working on! As always our link party is "Anything Goes" with these few simple rules:

1. Create ANY new project using a product or two from one of the companies CropStop carries in the store. (It’s ok if you didn’t buy it from us, and also fine if it’s a product we don’t currently have it in stock as long as it’s from one of the companies we carry!)
2. Please, no back-linking old projects
3. Limit 5 entries per challenge
4. Link your project here, link back to this post, and mention the CropStop Challenge in your post.

We’ll choose one random Winner who will receive a prize from the CropStop Store! (100 or more links = two winners and two prizes!) Thanks so much for linking up with us, we look forward to seeing all your great entries this month. Grab our badge and help us spread the word that CropStop is a great place to play along!

Optional Twist for August:

Create a project that includes a striped background and I'll enter your name twice in the random draw.

Guest Designer - Darlene Pavlick

Hello blog friends - it's time for another Guest Designer Friday! Today we're sharing the work of one of my talented friends, Darlene Pavlick of Dar's Crafty Creations. Darlene is one of those sweet people who has offered to guest design here on Cropstop whenever I have an empty space to fill! More than once she's been a "lifesaver" when I needed someone, and always a creates the most beautiful cards to share with you! For this post she also included a picture tutorial for you...So without further ado here's what Darlene says:

"Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm  so excited today!  

I've once again been asked to guest design for the CropStop Blog.  YEAH!!

Here's what I've created using products they carry in their store.

It all began by creating my focus flower which is 'Daisy Delight' by Memory Box.

I've die cut it twice from white card stock then colored the popped out pieces of the one panel using Spectrum Noir alcohol Marker CT4 and then colored second panel which will be my outline piece using Spectrum Noir alcohol Marker JG1.

 After coloring, I die cut my framing panels using the 'Wrapped Stitched Frames' also by Memory Box.  I've used the largest frame for my actual frame but used the next size down 'inset' to adhere my flower to.  Once I had the outline adhered I then pieced in the yellow flower petals.

 Next came my background panel.  I wanted to use coordinating colors with my focus flower so I used Tim Holtz distress oxide inks and watercolor paper.  I actually used Lucky Clover & Amber but as you can see where the green & yellow combined, I ended up with blue!  It happens!  Duh!  LOL

I used Scotch ATG adhesive to adhere my background panel to my white card base.  

Then, started building my layers.  Next came the large frame  ...

Then my focus flower panel which was popped up using mounting tape for added dimension.

Lastly, I added this adorable little 'Bee' by Elizabeth Craft.

It too was popped up using mounting tape."

Thanks Darlene for filling in today -- You did a fabulous job!

Now it's YOUR turn!! Stop by our CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff the projects you've been working on that include a product or two from one of the companies carried in the Cropstop store. I hope to see you there!

Simply Striped

Hello blog friends! Today I'm sharing three really simple and easy projects centered around the idea of creating a striped background with distress inks and water.

Here's how I did it:

• Swiped the colors I wanted across a piece of watercolor paper
• used a wet paintbrush to paint the colors and blend them into each other 

For my first card  I:

• Swiped Spun Sugar, Cracked Pistachio, and Scattered Straw on Watercolor Paper
• Using a small paintbrush and cup of water I painted over the colors, blending where they met
• Stamped the Zentangle Butterfly (Woodware) in Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko)
• Die cut the bottom of my panel with the Scallop Basic Edges 2 Set from My Favorite Things
• Added three sequins
• Mounted my watercolor piece on white card stock with my ATG gun
• Stamped the sentiment (Zentangle Butterfly) in the same distress inks

For my second card I created a rainbow background by:

•  swiping Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Fired Brick Distress Ink (Ranger) across my Watercolor Paper
• blending with water and a small paintbrush
• Next I, die cut a circle from the center with the Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders) and layered it on black die cut -- Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders) 
• I popped this up off my card with mounting tape
• Die cut Birds on a Wire (Spellbinders) and glues it across the center
• matted my watercolor piece on black card stock with my ATG gun
• spritzed the completed card with water (to create spots) and heat set

For the last project today, I created a bookmark by:

• Swiping Salty Ocean, Broken China, and Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink (Ranger) across my Watercolor Paper
•  blending with water and paintbrush
• Using sponge daubers, I applied Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink (Ranger) through the Feathers Stencil from TCW
• The sentiment is from Zentangle Butterfly (Woodware) and is stamped in Versamark Watermark ink and embossed with white embossing powder
• I finished off the bookmark by flicking a few spatters of white acrylic paint over the panel and mounting it on coordinating blue card stock
• I created matching crinkle ribbon using Hug Snug Seam Binding and Mermaid Lagoon/Blueprint Sketch distress ink

Now it's YOUR turn to share the projects you've been working on! Stop by our CURRENT LINK PARTY and show off anything that includes a product or two from one of the companies Cropstop carries the store!

Happy 4th

Since Independence Day is just over a week away, I decided to create a fun  patriotic card to share with you today. When I received the Poppystamps balloon dies in the mail, I knew I wanted to do something "different" with them. So instead of using them to create a birthday themed card, I used them on this bold and bright July 4th card!

To create my card I:

• tapped out some Ken Oliver color bursts (Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson) on two separate sheets of watercolor paper
• spritzed my colors with water and heat set 
• cut a complete set of blue and red Happy Balloons (Poppystamps - Memory Box)
• added the red letters to the blue balloons and the blue letters to the red balloons
• embossed the top part of a piece of card stock with the Stars embossing folder from Darice
• scored a line under the stars and stamped a patriotic sentiment from America Collection (Amy Design) in Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink
• popped up my balloons with mounting tape, added a few tiny punched stars, and matted it on coordinating blue card stock

Since you have to cut two sets of balloons to get the letters to coordinate, you may as well make two cards! Now it's your turn to share what you've been creating! Stop by our CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff any project that includes a product or two from one of the companies Cropstop carries in the store. Happy Crafting!

Far Out

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a super fun card I created that includes a galaxy background and an action wobble spring!  Instead of starting off with white watercolor paper, I decided to use a piece of dark blue card stock as the base......

Here's how I created my background:

• I cut a piece of dark blue card stock to size (4.25 x 5.5 inches)
• Using sponge daubers I added Faded Jeans, Broken China, and Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide to my paper
• I spritzed the paper with water and heat set
• I repeated the process till I had a coating of color I liked

Next I:

• added some Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges
• added some white paint spatters to resemble stars
• stamped several images from the Changito in Space (Stampendous) stamp set on watercolor paper
• colored the images with Prismacolor pencils and used q-tips and baby oil to blend the color

• I fussy cut and popped up the rocket with mounting tape 
• Using a circle punch, I cut out the monkey astronaut and added dimension to my card front by popped him up with an Action Wobble Spring
• I added some accents and the sentiment by stamping in Versamark watermark ink and adding white embossing powder
• I stamped a few more images inside the card and colored them as above

Now it's your turn to share your creativity with us! Stop by our CURRENT CHALLENGE and link up any project that includes a product or two from companies in the Cropstop store! Hope to see you there!

June Link Party - #40

It's time for another link party here on the Cropstop blog! Today I'm sharing a different kind of inspiration with you -- it's a page out of my new art journal! I've been admiring the work of several ladies on different design teams with me, and finally took the plunge and started an Art Journal myself.

Here's how I created my page:

• I started by painting my page with a layer of clear Gesso
• Using Sponge Daubers,  I added some distress oxide in the following colors:
• Broken China ~ Faded Jeans ~ Peeled Paint ~ Frayed Burlap ~ Walnut Stain
•  I wet my ink, moved it around with a paint brush, and reapplied ink till I reach a desired color pattern
• I spritzed the ink with water and heat set
• In the upper right corner I added a torn piece of an old sewing pattern using  clear Gesso as my adhesive
• To the right I applied white Gesso through the Measured stencil from Tim Holtz and heat set
• I stamped the Seamstress stamp from Prima in Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko)
• I stamped one of the Julie Nutting dolls (from Holiday Bliss) on an old dictionary page in Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko)
• I restamped her dress, hair, and shoes on various pieces of card stock, fussy cut them, and added them over the original doll
• I colored her flesh with a Touch Five marker
• Behind the doll I added some Prairie Thistle die cuts from Memory Box/Poppystamps

• I added some Washi Tape strips along the bottom center of my page
• To the left I stamped the plaid background stamp from Impression Obsession in Faded Jeans Distress Oxide
• Over top I added two Repeat Impressions flowers, stamped on watercolor paper in Versamark Watermark ink and embossed with black embossing powder
• They were colored with Sonnet Watercolors and fussy cut
•  I also added a piece of greenery cut with the Fall Folliage dies (Sizzix) and a tiny wire hanger from my stash
• The sentiment was computer generated, printed on white card stock, inked with  distress oxides, and stamped with the plaid background stamp from Impression Obsessionin Brilliance Moonlight White Ink from Tsukineko
• I die cut an embroidery hoop from Waffle Flower and added it around the largest word 

Now it’s your turn to share the projects you’ve been working on! As always our link party is "Anything Goes" with these few simple rules:

1. Create ANY new project using a product or two from one of the companies CropStop carries in the store. (It’s ok if you didn’t buy it from us, and also fine if it’s a product we don’t currently have it in stock as long as it’s from one of the companies we carry!)
2. Please, no back-linking old projects
3. Limit 5 entries per challenge
4. Link your project here, link back to this post, and mention the CropStop Challenge in your post.

We’ll choose one random Winner who will receive a prize from the CropStop Store! (100 or more links = two winners and two prizes!) Thanks so much for linking up with us, we look forward to seeing all your great entries this month. Grab our badge and help us spread the word that CropStop is a great place to play along!

OPTIONAL TWIST FOR JUNE:

If you enter an ART JOURNAL PAGE this month,  I'll enter your name twice (for each project linked) in the random draw!

Stamping Collage Cards #1

Today I'm sharing the first two cards I created around the ticket embellishments I shared last week. These cards all feature a lot of stamp layering - a style that I'm fairly new at, but had a lot of fun with!

Here are the layers I used on this first card:

• Using the Flourish Stencil (Tim Holtz) I applied Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide (Ranger) on cream card stock
•  Stamped Music Notes Stamp (Heidi Swapp) over the top in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Inked all the edges with sponge daubers in  Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• punched a border with Embroidered Lace punch (Martha Stewart) and glued a piece of ribbon trim over top
• stamped the ticket from The Journey (Tim Holtz) in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger) and adhered it to the left side adding the ticket over the punched border
• stamped the flower stem (on watercolor paper) from Blossom (Tim Holtz) in Peeled Paint Distress Oxide (Ranger), inked it up and re-stamped it in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)

• stamped the flower (on watercolor paper)  from Blossom (Tim Holtz), inked it in Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide (Ranger) and Wild Honey Distress Oxide (Ranger) and re-stamped it in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• I popped the flower up using mounting tape
• inked up watercolor paper with Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide (Ranger) and punched it with the Monarch Butterfly Trim punch from Martha Stewart
• cut out a couple little butterflies, added pearls to the center of the largest, added to my collage

Here are the layers I used on the second card:

• starting with a piece of cream colored card stock I swiped three colors of Distress Oxide inks (Ranger) down them -- Broken China, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint
• spritzed it with water and heat set
• Using the Burlap stencil (Tim Holtz) I added another layer in Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Inked all the edges with sponge daubers in  Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Stamped two images from French Market (Tim Holtz) in the corners using Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)
• Added a corner decoration die cut with the Hello Doily die set (Sizzix) -- inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Added a few stamped pieces from the Air Travel Set (Tim Holtz)
• created a floral embellishment using the Tattered Florals Die (Tim Holtz)
• underneath are a burlap string bow and a punched frond (Martha Stewart punch) 

I hope you'll come back next Monday when I'll share the last two cards created in this style. Meanwhile, we want to see what you've been creating of late! Stop by the CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff your projects that include a few products from the companies Cropstop carries in the store!

Guest Designer - Darlene Pavlick

Time for our Friday Guest Designer spot.....Today we're sharing the work of Darlene Pavlick of Dars Crafty Creations. Darlene created a fun see themed card for us and shares her inspiration behind the project as well as a fabulous tutorial for creating her masterpiece!

Darlene says: "Today I have an ocean themed card to share with you.  Hubby & I are planning a trip to the islands in May so that's what is on my mind at the present time.  

This card all began with the background panel which I created using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Reinkers and watercolor paper.   Of course, where would I be without my Craft Sheet ... I have one designated strictly for this type of project as you will see in the photos below. 

 I wanted to have a water bubble affect in the water so I spritzed it with  water being careful to have both little and big water droplets.  The longer the water sits on the panel, the more color it will pull up when you blot it with a paper towel.

Now comes the fun of pulling the other elements together for this underwater adventure.

For that I chose the Memory Box Graceful Branch Oval and  Memory Box Petal Ribbon dies.

It was only after I adhered my ribbon die panel that I decided to enclose this element with clear panels cut from die cut packaging. 

 I find so many uses for this packaging material and this is one of them.  

So I adhered a clear panel to the back and another to the front then placed 3M dimension tape to the back.  I positioned my Angel Fish onto my 'water' background then placed my 'Graceful Branch Panel' over top.

Glue Dots were used to adhere the front clear panel so I simply snipped the flowers from another Petal Ribbon panel and glued them over top.  This coordinated the piece and hid the glue dots perfectly.

Here's another look at the finished card . . ."

Crop Stop Product Used:  

Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Reinkers 

 Memory Box Graceful Branch Oval 

 Memory Box Petal Ribbon 

Craft sheet 

Watercolor Paper 

Scor Tape 

 Zots

 Thanks for sharing your talent with us, Darlene! 

Now it's your turn....stop by our CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff any projects that include a few products from companies Cropstop carries in the store! 

I'll look forward to seeing your work appear in the gallery!