~ Friends of Unity December 2024 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is super fun! I hope you'll hop along with us and enjoy some wonderful inspiration from our friends! But today is not just a regular monthly blog hop... it's our 7th Anniversary of hopping!! How amazing is that?! 7 years has gone by in a flash!! The FOU has shared so many wonderful cards and projects over the last 7 years and we've added and sadly, said goodbye to some of our friends. I'm so very grateful to my friends that help make this hop amazing each month and I'm also very grateful to the friends that come and hop along with us each month. All your love and comments each month means so much to us. Thank you all so much! We appreciate each of you!

This month's cue is Winter Wonderland! 

For me winter wonderland means snowflakes. I love snowflake stamps! And one of my first snowflake stamps from Unity was the Magical {bliss and wonder} Layers of Life stamps. Still a favorite of mine!

I ink smooshed the Kraft card stock using Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Picket Fence Distress Inks. I dried the background completely with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. And then I prepped the card stock for heat embossing with the TE Anti-Static Powder Tool. I stamped the snowflakes and sentiment using Picket Fence Distress Ink and then I sprinkled the wet ink with Alabaster White Embossing Powder. I melted the powder with the heat tool.  

I die cut the background and a piece of Kraft card stock using dies from the BIG Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. I adhered all my layers onto a white A2 top fold card base that I turned on the side for a landscape card. I finished off the card with some confetti from the White Glossy Card Bling from A Colorful Life Designs.

I love the magic and wonder of snow! It's so beautiful and I love to watch it when it just starts snowing. I tried to bring that magic and wonder through my second card. Not sure if I succeeded, but I definitely like how it turned out. To start I traced the inner circle of the Moon {layering stencil} on a piece of {Easy Peel} Masking Paper from Unity with a pencil. I cut out the circle mask, pulled off the backing and placed it on my white card front.

 Commence the inky fun... heehee... I ink smooshed the panel with Stormy Sky, Pine Needles, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. I then blended some Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Inks over the white areas of the panel. I distressed the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress Ink and I ink smooshed just a little Picket Fence Distress Ink too to finish it off. It was a whole bunch of inky fun!

I dried the background completely with a heat tool. And then I added some white acrylic paint spatters. I removed the mask from the 'moon' and blended very lightly over the crater shadows stencil from the Moon {layering stencil} with my black blending brush. I didn't add any ink to the brush though and I kept it very light. In fact, I cleaned off my brush by wiping it off on a microfiber cloth to make sure it wasn't saturated with ink. I used the moon stencil to add just a tiny bit of yellow around the edges of the moon. Again, not adding any ink to my yellow brush. 

Once I was happy with the moon, I stamped the beautiful trees and the sentiment from the Search for those Moments stamps. This is another lovely Layers of Life stamp. I love it! I stamped both of these with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. Love how this turned out!

Now before we get to the hopping, I chose a lucky winner from the comments on last month's hop to win a fun prize and the lucky winner is...

... Laurie Black!! Congratulations, Laurie!!

Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize. 

Please claim the prize before January 1st, 2025. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I can't wait to see how our friends were inspired by this month's cue. I will be doing another fun giveaway this month!! Be sure to hop along and comment for a chance to win. {When you comment please leave your name just in case it posts as anonymous.} I'll announce the winner next month! 

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Amber

Kari

Toni

Jenni

Rachel

Joyce

Dawn

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.}

Membership Monday ~ July 2022 UU Sunsets ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I am back for another Membership Monday post and this time I've inked up the wonderful July Uniquely Unity membership stamp from Unity called Sunsets. Now... when I saw this stamp I had a different idea for a card and I actually didn't see the name of the stamp until after I was done with my card. I thought it was kind of funny that I saw a moonlit lake rather than a sunset, but that's the awesomeness of stamps and cardmaking. We all have our own creative ideas!

I stamped the image with Gina K Design Black Amalgam ink on Stampers Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink and then I colored it up with my Copics. I die cut the image with the second largest die from the Double Roped Rectangle dies from Gina Marie Designs. I masked the edges and bottom portion of the panel and splattered some Apple Barrel white acrylic paint that I thinned out just a bit with a spritz of water. To get a nice fine splatter I didn't overly saturate my paintbrush.

I set it aside and pulled out a few pieces of Midnight Muse card stock from Stampin' Up. I trimmed one piece for my card front measuring 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" and then I die cut the other pieces of card stock with the Falling Stars {background die}. I popped up the moonlit panel with foam tape. I collected all my die cut stars and started adhering them randomly all over the card front tucking some under the double roped edge of the popped up panel. I love the dimension this gives the card!

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color up the moonlit lake:

Moon ~ Y11, Y15, Y35

Clouds ~ Y11

Sky ~ B91, B95, B99, 100 Black

Water ~ BG72, BG96, BG99, 100 Black, Y11, Y15

The sentiment in this kit is for sunsets so I didn't use that one. I used a Layers of Life stamp from Unity called Looking Up... a wonderful set with stars and this fabulous sentiment - "chase the moon. ride the stars" - I just love that! And it was perfect for my card!

Isn't that just a gorgeous stamp! I think it would look lovely with an ink smooshed background too! You can check out the Uniquely Unity membership over at Unity Stamp Co. I'll be back next Monday with a card using the awesome new July 2022 Whit Kit!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your lovely comment will appear shortly.}