Goodbye

Here we are at the end of January already, and it's time to say good-bye. This is my last post for Cropstop. I've enjoyed working for Haylie-Jo for these past two years, and have been inspired by the projects you-all have linked up each month! I wanted to say a big THANK YOU for all the sweet comments you left on the challenge post this month saying how you've enjoyed the projects I've posted each week and will miss the challenges. So kind of you to take the time to say that!

Supplies and Tools:

Doily Embossing Folder (Sizzix - Tim Hotlz)

Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain (Ranger) 

Distress Ink in these colors: Gathered Twigs/ Vintage Photo

Sponge Daubers

Distress Embossing Ink (Ranger)

Brilliant Sparkle Gold Embossing Powder (Cosmic Shimmer)

Script Stamp (Stampin' Up)

Fiskars Paper Crimper

Love This Die Set (Echo Park)
Sheer Ombre Gold/Ivory Ribbon 
Plaid Background Stamp (Impression Obsession)
Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukinedo)
Little Birdies (Dina Wakley - Ranger)

ATG Gun

Cuttlebug

Here's wishing you all a wonderful 2019 -- full of happiness and creativity!  Come back on Thursday to see who won the Final Cropstop Challenge.

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe we've come to the last day of 2018 already, but here we are! I enjoy the feeling of clean slate whether it be -- the start of a new day, the beginning of a new month, or the dawn of a  new year! I thought this TCW stencil looked a bit like a clock face it's center, so I decided to make a New Year's card with it. This card is a bit of a departure for me -- it's a bit more mixed media than I usually do, but I really wanted to do something with my Gelli Plate. I mixed two colors of distress paint (blue and gray) on my gelli plate and used a stencil to create the center of my card.

 Here's wishing each of you a Happy and Blessed 2019!

Supplies and tools:
Gelli Printing Plate
Mini Rosetta Stencil (TCW)
Distress Paint --- Hickory Smoke & Blueprint Sketch
Dina Wakley Pallete Knife
Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Clock Hands Die (Sizzix)
Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)
Distress Embossing Ink (Ranger)
Distress Ink (Ranger) - Hickory Smoke & Chipped Sapphire
Sponge Daubers
Silver Embossing Powder
French Market Stamps Set (Tim Holtz)
Different Strokes Stamp Set (Basic Grey)
Pearl
Silver Gel Pen

I'd love to see what you've been creating, so 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.

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.

Monochromatic Plaid

This week's "October Plaid" card features a monochromatic look! Using a purple maker on purple card stock,  I colored a thick line, thin line alteration both vertically and horizontally.

Supplies used on this card:

• Markers
• Radiant Rectangles Dies (Spellbinders)
• Vellum
• Fall Foliage Thinlits (Sizzix - Tim Holtz Alterations)
• Sunflower Stamps (Heartfelt Creations)
• Burlap String
• Gratitude Stamp (Autumn Leaves)
• Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)
• Large Pearl 
• Button
• These colors of Distress Ink
• Spiced Marmalade 
• Fossilized Amber

Have you been following along all month? If so...I'd love to see the plaid creations you've come up with, so 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.

Bird Crazy

Hello blog readers - it's time for another inspiration post here on the Cropstop blog. Today I'm sharing some mini shape cards I created using the Bird Crazy stamp set from Tim Holtz.  Aren't those crazy bird images fun?! I decided to do them up in some bright colors with a color burst wash background. Super easy and lots of fun!

All of my birds are stamped in Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko) and colored with Prismacolor Colored Pencils.  My backgrounds were created using Ken Oliver Color Bursts, diluted with water and painted on white card stock. (Card #1 uses Ultramarine Blue Card #2 uses Fuchsia/Tangerine Card #3 uses Ultramarine Blue/Lime Green) Using a small paintbrush I also added a few black paint spatters.

  The cards were die cut using the Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders.  I also added a few tiny gemstones to the front, and some faux stitching around the edges.

Do you own a set of these funky bird stamps? If so, why not break them out create something fun then...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.

Coloring Gesso

Today I'm sharing a fun new technique I learned for coloring over top of white gesso! It's super easy, a little messy, and lots of fun!

Here are the steps I used to create the pretty panel on my card:

1. Lay a stencil over a piece of black card stock (I used the Watercolor stencil from Tim Holtz)
2. Apply White Gesso (Art Basics) over your entire panel
3. Remove stencil and wash the gesso off
4. Allow your gesso to dry (or help it along with a heat gun)
5. Once the gesso is dry, apply your choice of colors using Distress Crayons (Ranger) ~~ [I used Tumbled Glass - Mermaid Lagoon - Shaded Lilac]
6. Rub the colors in with your finger - apply more in areas you see need it
7. Remove your stencil and - wa-la - a colorful-textured background!

To create my card I:

• embossed a piece of lavender card stock with the Lattice embossing folder from Creative Expressions
• attached my gesso panel to the left side with my ATG gun
• Die cut a Circle (Spellbinders Nestabilities) in white and a scallop circle (Spellbinders Nestabilities) in black
• stamped a sentiment from Praying For You (Stampin' Up) in Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko)
• added some die cuts using the Romantic Vines Die set from Spellbinders
• added two tiny pearls with Ocean Blue Liquid Pearls  
• Added a baker's twine bow
• Die cut two flowers using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die
• inked up my flowers with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink (Ranger)
• stamped the crackle background (Stampin' Up) over them in Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink
• die cut a rose using the 3D flowers Sizzix die and added it to the center of my tattered floral
• popped the circular element up with mounting tape

I would love to see your take on this fun technique, so after you've finished creating - stop by the CURRENT CHALLENGE and link up!! 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!

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!

Gilding Flakes

Welcome back blog friends! Today I'm sharing another "new to me" product - Gilding Flakes.  I know they aren't a new product, but this is the first time I've ever used them, and what fun I had!!

Here's how I put this shimmery card together:

• I started with a piece of white card stock and laid down strips of wide carpet tape
• Next, I removed the tape backing, dumped a pile of Gemstone Gilding Flakes over top and lightly pressed them into the tape
• Using a small sponge I burnished them into the card stock

To create my card I:

• cut a piece of black card stock slightly larger than my gilding flake piece
• using the Mixed Media #2 thinlits from Tim Holtz I die cut a swirly pattern in the top left corner
• created a banner using a square punch and added a Studio G sentiment in Tuxdeo Black ink from Tsukineko
• created my flower using the Exquisite Poppy dies (Creative Expressions) and my Paper Blossoms Craft Molding Mat
• using sponge daubers I inked the edges of the petals with Fired Brick Distress Oxide
• after that was dry, I added a coat of Versamark Watermark ink and Gold Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder 

 To create shimmery greens I:

• inked my white card stock with Versamark Watermark, added Gold Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle Embossing Powder  and heat set
• I used the Holiday Greens dies from Tim Holtz to cut three vines for behind my flower
• in the center I added a tiny white pearl

There's still one week left to enter your creativity in our CURRENT LINK PARTY. Stop by and showoff your work for a chance to win in the random monthly draw.

Clear Gesso

Hello friends! I'm fairly new to the mixed media art world, so I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with different products and discovering techniques to use in my card making. Today I want to share a card I created with Clear Gesso as the base, so let's get started.....

To create my background I:

• painted a piece of card stock with a layer of Clear Gesso (Art Basics)
• once dry, I used sponge daubers to apply Broken China Distress Oxide (Ranger) to the center
• next I, spritzed the ink with some water
• using a small paintbrush, I spread the ink around my card stock to form a pretty background and let it dry

The wonderful thing about Clear Gesso is that it doesn't change the color of your paper at all, but it gives you a surface that's slightly textured and holds the paints, inks, watercolors you apply so they won't soak into your paper right away. Regular card stock will soak up the color, dry quickly, and pill after too many applications of water. Here's a photo of white card stock without the gesso to show you the difference in the above technique:

You'll notice:

1. The color didn't spread nearly as far - the center is dark/the edges are light - uneven color
2. The color isn't as vibrant as it soaked into the paper
3. The paper has a bit of "pill" to it
4. It doesn't look like watercolor like the above panel does

To create my panel I:

• stamped flowers, stems, and "sentiment" from the Blossom stamp set (Tim Holtz) in Tuxedo Black ink Tsukineko)
• colored the stems with Touch Five Markers
• using a Splatter Brush (Ranger) I applied some diluted (with water) Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• glued my flowers (below) over top and fussy cut around one to create a popped out image

 

For the flowers I:

• painted a piece of card stock with a layer of Clear Gesso (Art Basics)
• stamped a flower from Blossom (Tim Holtz) in Versamark Watermark ink and added black embossing powder
• applied some Spun Sugar Distress Crayon (Tim Holtz) to the petals and painted with water and a small paintbrush (since I was cutting these out I didn't worry about staying in the lines)
• applied Picked Raspberry Distress Crayon (Tim Holtz) to the petals and repeated the wet paintbrush step
• applied Spiced Marmalade Distress Crayon (Tim Holtz) to the centers and painted it with water
• using just water and a clean paintbrush I removed some of the ink from the centers of my flowers
• This is possible because of the Clear Gesso -- the ink is longer drying and can be moved around and removed for some time - I tried this same technique on regular white card stock without gesso and it didn't work!

To finished off my card I:

• stamped a Script background stamp (SU) in Versamark Watermark ink  over my flowered panel 
• added white embossing powder and heat set
• matted my panel on pink card stock
• embossed a piece of white card stock with the Lattice embossing folder from Creative Expressions
• assembled my card

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 - 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! 

Stamping Collage Cards #2

 

Today I'm sharing the last two cards I created around the ticket embellishments I shared in this post.
This is such a fun style to create with all the stamping and layering. There's really not a right and wrong way to do it, I just picked stamps/embellishments in a general theme and color scheme.

Here are the layers I used on this first card:

• I inked up Stripes (Stampabilities) with Fired Brick Distress Paint (Ranger) and stamped it on a piece of Kraft card stock
• Next, I embossed my card stock with the Gears embossing folder (The Paper Studio) 
• I Inked all the edges with sponge daubers in Walnut Stain Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• I stamped a corner stamp from The Journey (Tim Holtz) and numbers from Special Delivery (Tim Holtz) in Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)

•  The truck and arrows are from The Journey (Tim Holtz), the tire tracks and route 66 sign are from Here and There (Tim Holtz)
• they are stamped in Faded Jeans, Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap, Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• the truck is popped up with  mounting tape
• I added some burlap string to the left side and layered my ticket and some gears over top

For the layers on the last card are:

• cream card stock inked along the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• the edges are aged by distressing them
• a ship  and sentiment from Here and There (Tim Holtz) stamped in Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)
• a map from Air Travel (Tim Holtz) stamped in Faded Jeans Distress Oxide (Ranger)
•  the sentiment in the bottom corner is stamped there times in Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• the ticket has a piece of black burlap string and it's popped up with mounting tape

Have you ever created collage style cards? If so I'd love to see them! Stop by the CURRENT LINK PARTY and showoff  any project that include a few products from the companies Cropstop carries in the store!