Geust Designer - Vicki Robertson

Happy November! To get things started off this month we have a beautifully stamped card created by a talented Guest Designer, Vicki Robertson of He"art"ful Validation of Vicki! Vicki walks us through the steps she took to layer her stamps in such a pretty autumn design.  Here's what she says....

"I'm working on simplifying my style somewhat by perfecting my stamping vs. creating cards with so many layers and details.  I purchased this Gina K Stamp set recently and couldn't wait to use it.  The cross cut wood slice is so unique and I knew I had to have it.  It reminds me of fall and perfect for cards created this time of year. 

With the wood slice as the focal point,  I built my design around it using the different flowers and foliage.  The open space at the top was perfect for adding the sentiment.  

 

 

It's difficult to see, but there are cream colored dots stamped in the upper right corner to help fill in the white space.   This stamp is also part of the 23 piece Something Good set.

 

 

To complete the design, I added clear Wink of Stella randomly on the flowers and leaves.  Goosebump jewels were perfect for the flower centers.  

 

 

Thank you, CropStop, for inviting me, once again, to guest design!"

 

Supplies

CARDSTOCK

Bazzill

INKS

CTMH - Cocoa, Goldenrod, Terracotta, Topiary

Tim Holtz Distress -  Mustard Seed

Tsukineko Memento - Black Tuxedo

JEWELS

Queen & Co. Goosebumps

STAMPS

Gina K Designs Clear Stamps - Something Good

STAMPING PLATFORM

Tim Holtz Tonic 

 

 

 Now it's your turn....stop by the current link party and showoff any creation that includes a product or two from one of the companies carried in the Cropstop store.

Guest Designer - Lisa

 We're back for week number two with our talented Guest Designer - Lisa of This Sweet Madness! This week Lisa has a super fun shaker card for our inspiration. Here's how she put this adorable card together:

"Hi everyone!  Lisa here from This Sweet Madness with another guest designer post.  I've been challenging myself to make more masculine cards lately, so I wanted to create a birthday card with a White Rabbit theme.

1) I started by making my card base from Desert Storm cardstock.  I created an A7 base so the pocketwatch die would fit.

2) I picked a pattern from the Tattered Time stack that I liked and cut it slightly smaller than my card base.  After die cutting the pocketwatch, I set it aside and attached a scrap of the same patterned paper to my card base.  I layered the positive part of the pocketwatch die cut to the base with Scor Tape.  

3) I stamped the White Rabbit with Archival Ink on the smooth white cardstock.  After it dried, I colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  I fussy cut it and then adhered it to the card base with Scor Tape.

4) I attached the acetate to the patterned paper with the watch cut out with Scor Tape.  The acetate won't stick without really strong adhesive.  Then I created a shaker opening with foam circles and squares, piecing them together tightly to make a well to hold my sequins.  I like to lay them out on the card base so I can see how many I do or don't need to add.  When I was happy with the amount of sequins I added, I removed the backing from the foam pieces and attached the shaker frame to my card.

5) I had stamped the "Tick Tock" on a scrap piece of the smooth white cardstock.  After cutting them out with the Gift Tags dies, I colored the entire thing with colored pencils, then went over the edges and the words with a gold Sharpie marker.  I knotted the gold ribbon through each tag and added them to my card with Mini Zots.

Thanks for looking!  Don't forget to enter the Crop Stop Linky Party this month.  Laters!"

Products Used:

TimHoltz Pocket Watch die

TimHoltz Gift Tags Die set

1/4"Scor Tape

3L Adhesive Foam Circles and Squares

MiniZots glue dots

Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink

Visible Image White Rabbit stamp

Prismacolor 150 Pencil Set

Gold Sharpie marker

BazzillDesert Storm cardstock

SpectrumNoir Ultra Smooth cardstock

DCWWV Tattered Time paper pad

Graphix Acetate sheets

Offray 1/2" gold shimmer ribbon

Creatology Green Sequins Assortment

Now it's your turn to share the projects you've been working on. Stop by the CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff anything that includes a product or two from one of the companies that Cropstop carries in the store. 

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 Desinger - Karen Letchworth

Hello blog friends, welcome back for another Guest Designer Friday! Today we're excited to be sharing a beautiful card created by Karen Letchworth of My Cup Runneth Over. Karen is no stranger to Cropstop regulars, and we're happy she agreed to share this lovely card in her distinctive style! Not only did she create a gorgeous card to share with us today, but she also walks us through the creative process step by step - with photos!!

Here's what Karen says about putting this sweet card together:

"This card started with a piece of Ivory Bazzill card stock that I used to create a textured background.  I used a plastic Tool (similar to this, but you can use a plastic knife) to place Prima Gesso on the card stock by laying a circle patterned Stencil on the paper and spreading the Prima Gesso.  Using a Sponge Dauber is another great way to add color to just about anything, and CropStop carries just about every shade of the fabulous Tim Holtz inks/paints to make all your projects pop.  Using some more Stencils, I took the Sponge Dauber and applied some color to the background including Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Ink, Tim Holtz Marmalade Distress Ink and Tim Holtz Dusty Concord.  I also used Tim Holtz Twisted Citron Distress Ink to stamp some swirls.

Next, I die-cut a "chicken wire" piece for the back drop using a Darice Embossing Die.  I used only a portion of this die-cut in the lower right corner of my card.  This completed the background I wanted, and now it was time to add a sentiment and some embellishments.  I started by cutting some greenery (branches) using a Creative Expressions by Sue Wilson branch die-cut, and I placed them strategically in the lower right corner.  To that, I added a length of bundled Ivory Burlap String and topped that with some gorgeous Petaloo Flowers and leaves.

All that was left was my sentiment, so I grabbed my Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Ink to stamp my sentiment on a Spellbinders die.  I inked it with some Tim Holtz Forest Moss Distress Ink, and added some Ivory Burlap String, Olive Burlap String, a flower and some sequins.

I encourage you to try something new.  I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone as well.  Perhaps picking up some Gesso and giving the textured background a try, or getting some new die-cuts.  CropStop has so many FABULOUS products as well as a fun monthly challenge on the CropStop Blog.  Be sure to stop by and check out everything CropStop has to offer."

 

Thanks for sharing your talent with us today, Karen! It's always a pleasure to showcase your work! 

Now it's YOUR turn! 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! I'll be looking for YOUR name in the link gallery!

Guest Designer - Stephanie Wright

It's time for another guest designer spot here on the Cropstop blog. Today we're sharing the work of Stephanie Wright of Sasha Belle Designs.  Stephanie has created a beautiful spring step card to share with our readers, and has also included a great tutorial!

Here's what Stephanie says: "I am so honored to be Guest Designing for the Crop Stop blog today. I found a simple Step Card tutorial by Loll Thompson on Pinterest and used that for my card base. I decided to make this a birthday card for a friend who like purple and also likes butterflies. I really like this step card design because it still allows room to write a message on the interior.
 

After following the tutorial to make my card base, I cut solid cardstock slightly smaller to mat patterned paper. I inked the edges of the patterned paper with Distress Ink for extra dimension. The green patterned paper strip across the bottom front of the card was embossed with an embossing folder. After inking the edges of this strip, the embossing was also highlighted with ink to really help it pop. 

The sentiment on the right side was stamped with Versafine black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. A Spellbinders circle die was used to die cut the sentiment which was then matted on a Spellbinder Picot Edge Circle die cut. After adhering these to the panel, the circles were embellished with clear bling. The sentiment on the left was stamped directly on the patterned paper and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The small butterflies were punched from dark purple cardstock with a Fiskars punch. The centers of the butterflies were accented with Stickles. The large butterfly was die cut with a Momenta die from cardstock and then from vellum. The vellum layer was also embossed with the coordinating embossing plates. The vellum layer was adhered to the cardstock layer only in the middle. After adhering the large butterfly to the card, it was accented with clear bling."

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill (dark purple for butterflies), Taylored Expressions Vellum, Unknown {Pealized (cardbase), Lavender}
Patterned Paper: Recollections
Stamps: My Sentiments Exactly clear stamp set (Inspirational Birthday Innies & Outies)
Ink: Tsukineko Versafine (Onyx Black), Ranger Distress Ink (Dusty Concord)
Tools/embellishments: Scor-Pal scoring board, Scotch ATG gun, Fiskars (Trimmer and Butterfly punch), Mementa Butterfly Die, Spellbinders dies (Standard Circle Small, Picot Edge Circles), Bling (The Paper Studio, Gina Marie Designs), Simon Says Stamp embossing powder (Clear), Star Dust Stickles

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! 

Guest Designer - Vicki Robertson

Time for another Guest Design post here on the Cropstop blog. Today I'm sharing the talents of Vicki Robertson of He"artful" Validation of Vicki. Vicki has not only created a beautiful spring themed card to share with us, but also includes step by step directions (with photos!) for our readers.

Vicki Says: "This card base is  6" x 6", which happens to be my "go to" size when creating cards.  There's something about four symmetrical sides that makes me feel like I'm working on mini canvas or layout.

The "How-to"..

1.  Cut your card base 6" x 12", fold in half and crease.

2.  Cut the next layer of cardstock 5 7/8" x 5 7/8" and adhere to base.

3.  Cut patterned paper 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" and adhere to previous layer.

4.  Die cut two Foliage Flourishes and adhered to top and bottom of card front.  

5.  Die cut Majestic Oval and adhere Nesting Oval die cut centering it in the opening.  Place white foam tape to back for dimension and adhere to card center.

6.  Make bow and hot glue at top of oval.

7.  Die cut, ink and assemble flowers using foamiran.

 8.  Use black micro beads mixed with glue to create flower centers and let dry.  Hot glue flowers over the bow.

9.  Add sentiment using Elizabeth Crafts Banner die.

10. Glue butterfly to center of oval. 

Thanks, CropStop, for having me as a Guest Designer once again! It's always a pleasure to be here."

 Supplies and Tools:

Aleene’s Tacky Glue

Bazzill Paper

  Core'dinations Cardstock

Elizabeth Crafts Banner Die

Foamiran for Flowers

Heartfelt Creations Vintage Floret

Love Nicole Patterned Paper

Martha Stewart Micro Beads  

Prima Butterfly

Ranger Distress Inks...

(Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Shaded Lilac, Victorian Velvet)

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Spellbinders Nestabilities Majestic Oval

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Foliage Flourish

Tutti Designs Dotted Nesting Ovals

 Thanks for sharing your talent with us, Vicki! 

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!