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

Winners, winners, and more winners!!!

{also mixed media Monday}

I don't even know how to start this post, you have all left me speechless with your sweet comments and kind words on my Growing in Unity projects last week! I love the crafting community and Unity's little corner of it is filled with some of the sweetest people ever! I love the sharing community that they create on both Facebook's Unity Show and Tell and with their on-going Friday Friends with Flair. It really is such a great and supportive community and it's where I go when I want to be inspired. So THANK YOU for inspiring me, because I am sure you have at some point!

Well, I have to share something today because my craft-related New Years Resolution was to blog more regularly and frequently so Mondays have become my attempt at showcasing more mixed media projects.  This little tag is one of two different ones I made for a Birds and Bees swap and then decided to send the other more "mainstream" if you will, as I didn't know the recipient or her art style. I ended up using some of these stamps on the envelope which you can see here (as well as the tag I decided to send).

The background of the tag was sprayed with Dylusion sprays (which I LOVE) and I got to meet their creator, Dyan Revealey, and take one of her classes over the weekend which was an awesome experience! I am sure you will soon be seeing many more colorful projects featuring her Dylusions sprays and paints because they are just FUN to play with!

I used stamps from Unity, Catslife Press, and Dylusions on here. The background has some of Unity's Tattered Chicken Wire in both white and black ink. The flowers in the bottom corner are from Unity's Take Note, stamped in black and doodled around with a white gel pen. The lower bee is from Unity's One Precious Life. I stamped the Queen Bee* from Catslife Press, masked it and stamped Unity's bee over top so the sentiment appears where the bee head would be. I stamped the sentiment along the side from Catslife Press, stamped the top bee from Catslife Press on separate paper and fussy cut it and adhered it to the tag. The leafs in the top corner are Dylysion stamps and colored with a paintbrush dipped in the Dylusion spray. 

There is lots of doodling with white gel pen, details with a glitter pen, gold stickles, and gold smooch ink to finish it off.

Oh, yes, you are probably interested in seeing the winners from last week! Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer...

I used Random.org and put in each day (1-5), then put in the number of comments from that day and here are what Random.org came up with!

First the winners of the grab bag of 25 stamps from Unity:

From Day 4, comment 15:
Donna K said...

I love what you said about the cards being a "hug sent across the miles"...so true. The result of your technique and the pastels on this card is amazing. Such a heart felt sentiment and of course you created an envelope as well. Cause you're awesome like that! Have a happy day Crystal!

February 26, 2015 at 12:55 PM

and from Day 1, comment 8:

Kris B said...

Beautiful card! Love how you made the border by using only part of a stamp! Wonderful idea, and it turned out fabulous! Congrats on being this week's GIU gal! Looking forward to a great week!

February 23, 2015 at 12:08 PM

 

Now for the winners of my personal giveaway:

 

From Day 3, comment 32:

Janis said...

LOVE the bright, happy colors and your wonderful expression of spring in your art!!! This is just fabulous!!!
<3 J

jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

February 26, 2015 at 6:25 PM

and from Day 2, comment 25:

Kristin Whaley Yeager said...

The colors are, so, vibrant! And, love the postcard idea. (I, actually, came to your page, for the GU-Day 3, and was blown away. So, I decided to backtrack & see GU-Day 2 & Day 1.) I'm very glad I did. You are, so, thorough in your project walk throughs. I, almost, feel like I could attempt something like these w/your descriptions. Thanks!

February 25, 2015 at 10:50 AM

 

 

AND THEN, because you were all so super sweet and I wish I could pick you all I decided that since there was a random winner from each of the other days that I would pick an additional winner for a little something from me from Day 5 as well and Random.org picked...

Day 5, comment 27:

Carolyn Bounds said...

Each and every creation is FABULOUS! It is easy to see that you have a love for creating, as well as a love for Unity. :) Your poppy card is stunning! Poppies are one of my favorite flowers, especially since I come from a military family...so this beauty definitely touched a soft spot. The lunchbox notes are positively precious, and I know your daughter truly enjoys finding these works of heART each day. Awesome, awesome creations, and so happy I was introduced to you and your beautiful work through Unity. :)

February 28, 2015 at 4:03 PM

 

Winners, please message me at crystalamariscreations at outlook dot com with your mailing info and I will get that passed on to Unity ASAP for the winners of the Unity grab bags and for the winners of my personal giveaway I will try to get your goody packages out by the end of the week (or when I get your info).

 

Once again, my most sincere thanks to everyone who took time out of your day to leave me such sweet comments, it really made me so happy to read each and every one! I tried to respond to each one so if you were one of the ones who asked me a question about technique, please go back to check that post and comment as I didn't know how else to reply.

 

If you are interested in keeping up with me and my crafty journey I have recently started an Instagram where I post something crafty almost daily. You can always follow my blog here as well, but I know blogger is not the easiest for navigating at times. I also try to link up my blog posts to my Facebook page as well so you can keep up with me there as well if you'd like.

 

May you all have a happy March! It's the month when spring is supposed to be in the air although we'll probably have snow all month long.

 

Hugs,

 

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

Mixed Media Monday & Creative Blog Hop

A couple of weeks ago my talented friend Cari, from Creative Paper Crafting had asked me if I'd like to take part in a creative blog hop, answer 4 questions, and post on a certain day. Well today is that certain day so I will share a project and a few other things with you today!

Here are my 4 questions and the answers.

What are you working on?  I am a paper crafter so I love working with paper! I started out as a scrapbooker and cardmaker over 10 years ago, started doing Project Life about 5 years ago when my first child was born and in the past year have started playing with some mixed media techniques. Currently I have become obsessed with mail art and although I have always loved sending out cards and happy mail I have really been loving taking it to the next level and decorating my envelopes too.

How does your work differ from others in your genre?  I love art because I think everyone brings something different to the table. Past experiences, personal likes, dislikes, everything that is you goes into your creative outlet, whatever form that may take. I wouldn't say any one thing makes my work different but for the fact that I create what makes me happy and others create what makes them happy.

Why do you create what you do?  Simple, I love it! Creating is like breathing to me, something I need to do on an almost daily basis. Even if it's just a simple little note for my daughter that I put in her lunchbox each day or something of a mixed media nature that I have to come back to over and over and keep adding to and waiting for things to dry, I am making something almost daily.

How does your creative process work?  I get ideas for things everywhere. Sometimes the most ideas come at night when I'm trying to fall asleep and something will pop into my head. I try to keep a pen and paper handy for times like that when I need to write something down to remember it. Other times I just head down to my craft space and play with whatever catches my eye first (my craft table isn't neat so there is often a lot of stuff to choose from!).

I think it's about time to show you all what I've been working on this past week!

I made a postcard this week! It's not traditional in any way but it was fun to make and my very first one ever!  I got my acrylic paints out and swiped them around on a piece of recycled cardboard with an old credit card to mix them up and spread the paint evenly. I stamped that glamorous gal from Unity Stamp Company's February 2015 KOTM and highlighted a few areas with a white gel pen. I sketched the sentiment out, filled in the lady with yellow paint and used a black pitt pen around the paint. I stamped the flowers from the same Unity kit in white and then again in black slightly off and highlighted with the white gel pen again. The flower was fussy cut from a piece of patterned paper, it's sparkly with glitter. The feathery, fancy ribbon at the bottom is from Webster's Pages.

I also made a tag on watercolor paper. I watercolored the background first and then stamped the flowers and sentiment from Unity's Have A Little Faith. I colored in the hearts with a white gel pen. I used gelatos to stamp the butterflies (from Unity's January 2014 KOTM Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful), fussy cut them and added some black gems to the yellow one. I added a little black tab that I cut out on the top of the tag, punched a hole through the layers (there's cardboard on the back to keep the watercolor paper from curling), and added some pretty ribbons and a bow.

I'm linking this up to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #9: Think Pink for all of the pink in the postcard.

Also be sure to go back to Cari's post to check out her great creation from last week!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful week!

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