Growing in Unity ~ Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things

Hello there crafty friends!

I am back for Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things for my Growing in Unity week and I am so excited to share the cards I created for you today! Now, be warned... there's a lot of pictures and even a super short video for this one... so please hang in there and I'll try to keep the chatter short.

So, another one of my favorite things is interactive cards... and Unity Stamp Company has so many fabulous stamps to make interactive cards with... it's awesome! I don't make many of these because, let's be honest, they are a lot of work and take some time and most of the time I just need a quick card. But interactive cards are really so much fun! So I just had to share a few today!

Since it's July, I thought a Christmas in July card would be fun!! I just adore this door die by Lawn Fawn called Shut the Front Door... it makes for a cute interactive card and there are so many possibilities!! Think of all the cute critter stamps from Unity that would just be awesome behind that door! I created the front of my card using die cuts and I also stamped the tree from Woodland Festivities using Gina K. Designs Key Lime and Fresh Asparagus inks. 

I adhered all of my layers to a kraft card base and then stamped the Winter Boy from the Winter Boy and Girl kit and the bulldog from the Woodland Festivities kit with Gina K. Designs Black Amalgam ink and colored them with the following Copic markers:

Winter Boy ~ E000, E00, E21 (skin), E42, E43, Y21 (hair), R11, R56, R59, R89 (hat/scarf), B95, B97, B99 (jeans), G19, G29 (shirt), N1, N4, N7 (belt/shoes).

Bulldog ~ E000, E11, E97, E9, R20 (fur), R14, R27, N0, N1 (hat), N1, N2, N4, N7 (collar).

I then fussy cut them and adhered them inside the door... tucking the bulldog in just slightly under the door frame.

All that remained was finding a sentiment that would fit... and I thought the 'Happy Christmas with Love' sentiment was perfect! This sentiment is from the Classic Christmas kit. I just love how this Christmas card turned out... and another card done for my Christmas card stash!! Woohoo!

My second interactive card uses the adorable bunny from the Hoppy & Hedgie kit along with a cool interactive die from Lawn Fawn called Slide On Over Semicircle. I just love this adorable bunny!! I started by blending my galaxy cloud background using the Mini Cloud Edges stencil by My Favorite Things. I couldn't help but splatter some water even though there wouldn't be stars in the clouds...lol... but I love the effect it gives. I then stamped the sweet bunny with Gina K.'s Black Amalgam ink and colored it with the following Copic markers:

Bunny ~ W0, W2, W4, R20

Bunny's Clothes ~ BG70, BG72

Balloons ~ Y13, Y35, RV32, RV34, G05, G12

I then fussy cut the bunny and balloons very carefully and used it to decide where to die cut the Slide On Over Semicircle. Once I had that figured out... I die cut the background with the interactive slider piece as well as a large stitched rectangle die. I popped up the galaxy cloud background using foam tape... being sure to leave room for the interactive piece behind the bunny to move back and forth. I, unfortunately, didn't take a picture of this process but all I did to attach the bunny was I punched out 3 small 3/4" circles and adhered them all together. I then used a mini stampin' dimensional and attached the little circle to the bunny through the slider... that easy! I then adhered the negative die cut piece to my scalloped rectangle of Lost Lagoon card stock and then adhered the popped up galaxy cloud background. I hope this all makes sense!

Here's a look at the bunny as the 'wind' pulls him across the card. The 'pull' stamp is from the new Interactive Verbiage kit... such a fun kit!

And here he is at the end of his ride. 

To finish off the card, I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment. I mat it on True Black card stock and then adhered it to the card and then I adhered the entire panel to a True Black card base.

Here's a short little video to show you the interactive slider in action. So much fun!

And here is my last interactive card to share with you all today... a shaker card using the new and fabulous Interactive Verbiage kit along with the equally fabulous #letterforhenry kit!! Other than the shaker element for this card... since I used patterned papers for my layers... this card was relatively quick to put together. Just how I like it!!

I paper pieced the frame and adhered it to a piece of white card stock so it would be a little more sturdy. I also stamped the frame on the lined patterned paper so I could easily line up the frame and also so I could easily stamp the sentiment for the card. I just love the 'Kindness Changes Everything' sentiment... it is so true! 

Now... a little funny... so me and shaker cards have a love hate relationship... always, seriously every single time I try to make one of these something goes wrong. I was doing great with this one though... even getting excited it was going so smoothly until I realized I forgot to adhere the clear card stock. I actually forgot about the clear card stock (or acetate) completely... lol... so I had to pull off the foam tape I used. Luckily, since I had paper pieced the frame on that extra piece of white card stock, it didn't tear into the pretty paper and I was able to use it. Anyhow... I thought I'd share that funny mishap... every time, I tell you!

If you have made it this far in my post, Thank You!! I tried to keep the chatter down... but I truly thank you for sticking around and checking out my blog today! I had a blast creating these cards to share with you all! I hope you like them!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! If you missed Day 1, you can check it out ---> Day 1 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs

~ Crystal

Unity Stamp Company ~ Growing In Unity November Blog Hop

Hello! I'm so excited to be a part of the Growing in Unity Blog Hop!!

I really wanted an excuse to play with some of my new Unity Stamps so the timing was perfect!

I have been itching to use the Pierced Feature Frame - Ovals from Papertrey Ink and how perfect is it paired with the stamps from Unity Stamp's 'Twas the Night!!

I started by stamping snowflakes from the Snow, Snow Cute stamp set on a 4 x 5-1/4" piece of white card stock. I layered the bottom portion of the card stock with striped Classic Kraft Bitty Big patterned paper. I then mat the piece on a 4-1/8 x 5-3/8" piece of Pure Poppy card stock. I adhered the card front to a Kraft card base and set it aside.

I then die cut a piece of Pure Poppy Bitty Big patterned paper and a piece of white card stock to build the featured oval in the center of the card. It's been a very long time since I've colored directly on my stamps so I thought I would give that a try for this adorable tree and I love how it turned out. I used my neglected SU! markers ~ Mossy Meadow, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Cherry Cobbler ~ to color directly onto the rubber of the stamp while in my Stamp Platform and then I'd stamp. I worked in sections from the lightest color to the darkest color, cleaning the stamp and re-stamping the image with the next color. For the pot that the tree is in, I stamped it first with Real Red and then I stamped it again with Cherry Cobbler... just around the bottom and outer edges... to give it some dimension.

I adhered the oval pieces to the card base and stamped the other images.

I stamped the bear with the bird and the dog using Memento tuxedo black ink and colored them in with the following Copic markers:

Bear ~ E55, E57, E59, R20

Bird ~ R14, R27, Colorless Blender

Dog ~ N1, N3, N5, R14, R27

I then stamped the ornaments coloring the images directly on the rubber, just like I did with the tree. I decided to trim the string on the ornaments... and I adhered them to the tree. I adhered the one hanging ornament to the bears paw and then adhered him to the card. I also adhered the dog and then I got to thinking... I had to ground these images somehow... they were just floating there. So I stamped the sentiment from Old Traditions onto a piece of Kraft card stock using VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed some fine white embossing powder. I die cut the sentiment using a banner die and then popped it up on the card.

I just love how this card turned out! I hope it inspires you to play with some of your new Unity Stamps! Now let's get back to the hop, shall we!

~ Blog Hop List ~

Katy Duffy Fowler

Crystal O. Minkler <--- you are here

up next ---> Berina Febin

Shelly McGovern Schmidt

Brandon Leggit

Bobbie Sue McConathy

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs!

~ Crystal