Bright, happy {dylusional} tags

Last week I was so excited when my Dylusions paints finally came in that I just had to get playing as soon as possible! I made up a bunch of tag backgrounds for future use and of course I had to make up some tags right away with some of my newer Unity stamps as well. :)

These tags use stamps from Don't Be Like The Rest Of Them (butterfly, flower), You Are Important (sentiment), A Round Of Cocktails (margarita sentiment), Need a Squeeze (orange slices), and When Life Gives You Lemons (margarita glass). I white embossed and painted with my Dylusions sprays for a very vibrant color.

 The envelope is painted and then stenciled with paints as well. The sentiment on the front is a Donna Downey sentiment and the Da Vinci girl is an old unmounted stamp from origins unknown.

 The back of the envelope uses Unity's Art & Soul kit and I was able to lightly sponge my new Dylusions paints right onto the stamp and got a gorgeous and clear impression!

I am linking up to Friends with Flair super quickly today and then it's outside with the little ones to enjoy this phenomenal spring day!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Crystal

Vintage, shabby chic encouragement tags and envie

I've been busy this week and have so much to share but not enough time to share it all so here is one of my favorite projects of the week, some distressed tags and a matching envie using some of my favorite Unity stamps, distress inks, a sheet of Prima rub-ons, and some Melody Ross chipboard stickers.

This post is picture heavy because I wanted to show you all of the details on each of the tags as well as the front and back of the envelope.

I started by using Antique Linen distress ink on the tags and envelope front and back and then used some Walnut Stain ink on the edges and blended it in.

 I used walnut stain again to stamp the images which are all from Unity. I used a few different sets here. This first tag is a little different because I used Worn Lipstick distress ink instead of the walnut stain for the hearts which are from Unity's SMAK November 2014. I made this tag special for my hubby just because. It's even extra special because I used what tiny bit of silk ribbon I had left from when I made our wedding invites years ago and used this pretty sunset colored ribbon.

 This next tag is from an older Melody Ross kit All Worth It, which is on sale at Unity this weekend. Don't you just love their weekly sales!?!

 This tag was actually the first one I made and uses my new favorite Unity kit Vintage Era Backgrounds. It is a gorgeous kit and I am so happy I picked it up during their huge 60% off sale. I almost passed on it but it has been one I've come back to over and over!

This tag uses another Melody Ross Unity set called She Sprouted Wings which is also on sale this weekend. I think all of the gorgeous Melody Ross Unity stamps might be on sale and I just adore all of her lovely stamps! I love how this chipboard sticker coordinates so wonderfully with the Be Brave mantra because aren't we all So Much Stronger Than We Think We Are?

This next tag uses another SMAK kit (Dec 2014) and one of my favorite background images from Unity. I just love these Moroccan tiles!

The envelope uses stamps from the Vintage Era background kit. All of the colored images are actually from one sheet of rub-ons from Prima that I've been hoarding for the longest time and finally decided to just use and am super happy that I did!

I hand wrote the Please Deliver To with my Walnut Stain distress marker. I am still crossing my fingers each Thursday in the hopes that Unity will finally release some stamps that say this as well as a few others for decorated envelopes. Please, Please, Please Unity!!! I really need a few of these as I don't care for my hand writing at all.

I am linking this up with Unity's Friends With Flair and if I get a chance I may try to post a few of my other projects from this week as well. Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments each week, I truly appreciate them all and look forward to reading them all as well as visiting your blogs to see what you've been creating!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Crystal

ATC's and APC's

I started making ATC's (artist trading cards) and APC's (altered playing cards) this past month and have become addicted to these tiny art forms! I love to grab my paints, stencils, stamps, dylusion ink sprays and just start playing and see what emerges.

Here are a couple of things I made within the week using my Unity Stamps. The first ones use a lot of background stamps from a few different SMAK kits as  well as the butterfly from Vintage Era Backgrounds. The sentiment is from the Nov 2013 SMAK kit Be Your Own Beautiful. The stars are from a Dylusion stencil.

 I made 2 of these putting my ATC's side by side to paint so they are not exactly the same. I used white acrylic paint on my Unity background stamps and did a layer of white paint with the star stencil and then a layer of pink so the pink would pop a little more.

 I also used the same Vintage Era Background kit to decorate my envelope as well as a Tim Holtz sunburst stencil and some yellow acrylic paint.

Envelope backside.

 

This last one is an Altered Playing Card that I covered with a light layer of gesso, sprayed with Dylusion inks, stamped the wing and pure heart background from Nov 2013 SMAK for the background and then used a gel medium to adhere the sentiment (from Dylusions) and the bird from Unity's March KOTM. Both were painted with Dylusion inks.

I am linking up to Unity's Friends With Flair today and I wish you all a very wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter if you celebrate!

Growing In Unity Day 2

Hi and welcome back to day 2 of my GIU week where I am showcasing the wonderful Unity Stamp Company stamps!  I'm really excited to share todays projects with you.  My passion is leaning more and more towards mixed media and I just love playing with colors in my art journal and dabbling in new areas. Today I have an art journal page, a postcard (yes, I've started making and mailing my own mixed media postcards!), and a decorated envelope to share with you all. I still have a lot to learn but it's making me happy to try new techniques and ways to express myself artistically!

First up, the art journal page:
I lightly sprayed my art journal (which has heavyweight watercolor paper) and then scribbled on some gelatos in yellow, orange, and pink. I smeared them around with my fingers and when that dried I stamped the gorgeous flower from Donna Downey's You Are Important kit in Picked Raspberry distress ink a few times in the page. I then stamped the grid from Track This, Graph That SMAK Oct 2012 in Spiced Marmalade distress ink around the page randomly. I stamped the chevron from Dec 2012 SMAK Love Story Clips in India Black ink. The sentiment is from Nov 2014 SMAK Trust Your Soul.  I stamped the Donna Hollyhocks in white gesso and when that dried I outlined them with teal Liquid Pearls. The butterfly is from Feb 2015 KOTM Happiness Looks Gorgeous and was stamped on watercolor paper and spritzed with some teal Heidi Swapp Color Shine.

 Here are some close ups for more detail.

I always have so much fun when I get time to play in my art journal. It's so rejuvenating!

 

Now for the postcard:

I had a 12x12 sheet of thin cardboard that I dropped some pink and yellow acrylic paints onto randomly and I used an old credit card to swipe the paint around and when it dried I cut it into 4x6 sizes for some artsy postcards. I used the Serenity Fashionista and some sentiments from that kit as well and the large mandala is from the July 2012 SMAK kit Cre-ate (I think Unity now sells just that stamp separately from the kit too). I used a white gel pen to add some details and then I paper-pieced the yoga mat onto a scrap that I had used to soak up some Dylusions ink previously. I edged the yoga mat in gold glitter glue and added some sequins in two shades of blue/turquoise. Maybe she's juggling, maybe she's just found her zen.

 

And finally the envelope:

I have been having a blast with mail art and decorating envelopes lately and here is my most recent creation that will be mailed out by the end of the week. I just think it's so FUN to get happy mail and bright and colorful packages and envelopes are sure to bring smiles all the way through their snail mail journey!

I painted this bubble mailer by smearing around some pink and blue acrylic paints and when it dried I flipped it and painted the backside in the same way. I stamped the Carnivale Alpha alphabet and the elephant from Original You in India Black ink. I stamped the border from Carnivale Alpha in purple paint. This is for an alphabet swap so I went with an alphabet theme for the envelope!

 

 

GIVEAWAY:

I will be posting a new project each day this week (Monday-Friday) on my blog using Unity stamps and when the week is over I get to pick 2 winners from all of the comments during the week who will each get a grab bag of 25 Unity Stamps! I will also be having a small giveaway of my own with 2 winners so there will be 4 winners total!!! I will post the winners on Monday, March 2nd.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post. I hope I've inspired you in some way to try something new to you, it can be SO fun!

See you back here tomorrow crafty friends,

Crystal

My Favorite Weather

It was -10 outside this morning and I could still hear the birds chirping. I just love that they don't let anything stop them from singing and living their lives!

Here is a tag/bookmark I made yesterday for a birds/bees theme swap.

 I used an old Kaleidacolor ink pad in Riviera and applied it directly to my watercolor paper tag and quickly spritzed with a light gold glimmer mist to lightly blend the colors and add some sparkle. When that dried I stamped Unity's Worn Script background in grape. I used some woodgrain patterned paper on the bottom and as a little tab at the top of the tag. I inked up the bird from Unity's Just Be You kit with Marvy markers and fussy cut it before adding it to the tag. I used some small letters from Cosmo Cricket for the sentiment and finished it with a little wood veneer heart and some blue ribbon and a twine bow.

 Here is a close-up showing the hint of shimmer.

 And of course I have another decorated envelope to share with you as well! Since it was a birds and bees swap I went with a bee theme for the envelope and used the queen bee from Unity's One Precious Live as well as some sentiments from Unity's Just Be You kit and the Tattered Chickenwire background stamp.

 The queen bee on the back of the envelope and the Yes, I'm the Queen sentiment are stamps from Catslife Press that I've had forever. They just crack me up everytime I use them!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday and enjoying the Friends With Flair hop inspiration!

I am also linking to Anya, Oddies, and Others: March Anything Goes challenge.
and DL. Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #150 Blue

Happy crafting!

Crystal

Always

Woohoo, am I ever happy that Friday is here!!! Can you tell it's been a long week? The hubby has a 3-day weekend, it's mid-winter break next week so I get extra cuddles and time with my oldest, and yesterday was just a comedy of errors so here's to a new day, Friday and Friends with Flair!!!

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a swap and the theme was to try a new technique. I didn't know what I wanted to try until I saw these great burlap cards at Joann's from DCWV. They had regular burlap and a package of brights. I was naturally drawn to the package of brights with turquoise, green and pink.

I have never stamped on burlap before so I thought I'd try an acrylic paint in gold and generously covered my stamp in gold paint and stamped it onto the burlap. Even though I had put a lot of paint on my stamp the burlap really soaked it in so I had to go over the heart with a sponge and add more paint and then over the always with a paintbrush dipped in the paint to bring out the details. The heart is from Unity's Beautifully Confused and the Always is from Unity and Donna Downey's 'Adore' Words. I added some flowers with a gold sequin center to finish the cards off. I think these would work nicely for guy valentines!

Once again I got creative with my envelopes as well. The Snoopy stamp is from Stampabilities but all of the other stamps are from Unity. The happy day and zigzag stars on the back of the envelope are from the May 2014 SMAK kit Day Dreaming. The clouds and banner on the front are from Unity's Playground kit. The flowers on the bottom by Snoopy are from Unity's A to Z Coordinates.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Hugs,
Crystal

Truly, Madly, Deeply

I just have to say that I LOVE Bogart and Bacall and think they must have had one of the best Hollywood love stories of all time. Classic movies have been a passion of mine for a long time and Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite actors from that genre. Now onto my card!

I made this tag (a few of them for a Valentine's swap in fact) and knew I wanted to incorporate it somehow in my valentines card to my hubby who also loves cuddling and watching classic films with me.

For the tag:
I found this fantastic kiss image of Bogey and Bacall and did a bit of editing to give it a stamped look and then printed it onto a cream colored shipping tag. I stamped the lips (Unity Stamp Co: You Make my Heart Puffy KOTM) in red once and then again without re-inking for a second generation image. I distressed the tag with both Antique Linen and Walnut Stain distress inks. I put some heart washi on the bottom of the tag. The stickers are some super old epoxy stickers from Creative Imaginations that were perfect for this project (yes, I am a craft supply hoarder)! I added some silky, red ribbon and some rustic twine to finish off the tag.

For the card:
I love this old American Crafts patterned paper and decided since it had such a nice kraft inside to just make my whole card out of patterned paper and that way the back of the card has all of these romantic words and sayings too! I did distress the edges with Walnut Stain ink. For the inside I used a Dylusions red spray ink to color a white doily (which was also used as a stencil on the envelope). I stamped two sentiments from Unity's January 2015 KOTM Magic of Beginnings.

 

 

 

For the envelope:
I used the doily in the card as a mask and sprayed the envelope with red Dylusions ink. The arrow stamp and the express delivery are from Unity's December 2013 KOTM Happy LOVE Day, the white rabbit stamp is from Stamp Francisco, and the hearts are from Unity's December 2014 SMAK kit Moments Like These.

As for the chocolates, they were Lindt and they are long gone!

Other Supplies used:
Stamps are Unity Stamp Co and Stamp Francisco (white rabbit).
American Crafts patterned paper
Dylusions spray to color the heart doily
washi tape
Epoxy stickers: Creative Imaginations.

I am linking this to several challenges going on right now.
The Allsorts Challenge: Love is all Around.
The Fantasy Stampers: p.s. I Love You.

Thanks for visiting today and I hope you have a wonderful week and a very happy Valentines weekend!!!

Hugs,

Crystal

Happiness Fairy

This sentiment from Unity makes me smile! It's called Happy Dust and I paired it with the gorgeous fairy from Unity's November 2014 What Lies Within Us KOTM. It's going to make a wonderful birthday card for my bestie!

I used my Twinkling H20's to color her so the whole image sparkles. I also used a Heidi Swapp stencil and some gold ink for the stars.

I've also got another little something to share today. Do you decorate your envelopes too? I used to and then just got so busy that I'd find myself grabbing an envelope at the last minute and it was pretty boring.  I feel that the envelope should be just as happy of a treat when you open your mailbox, like getting an instant smile before you even open the contents! I've made it my goal to start decorating all of my outgoing mail to make it truly HAPPY MAIL!

Here is the envelope I decorated for this card using my Unity Stamps.

I used the Melody Ross Domestic Bliss set from Unity for the envelope as well as a couple of stamps from Unity's kit of the months and some washi tape. The awesome, amazing, hilarious stamps came with one of my Studio Calico project life kits.

What do you think, do you like the happy mail/mail art idea? Would it bring a smile to your face to open your box and see this?

It's Friday and Friends With Flair today at Unity so be sure to check out all of the amazing creations made by my Unity friends this week, always inspiring!!!
Thanks for visiting!

Crystal