Friday, October 6, 2017

Growing in Unity ~ Day 5 ~ Seasonal Fun!

Hello! I can't believe that today is the last day for my Growing in Unity week. 
I've had a blast sharing with you all. I am a self proclaimed Unity addict so you can be sure that I'll be blogging more Unity love... hope you'll come by again to check it out.




I am loving the look of the Eclipse cards that I've been seeing so I thought this fabulous background I made would work beautifully with this technique. First, I made the background using the leaves from the September 2016 Moments Between Moments KOM. I stamped them all over a piece of watercolor paper with VersaMark ink and then I heat embossed them with a fine white embossing powder. I then added some color burst pigment and spritzed. I dabbed a lot of the color to keep it soft. Around the leaves I blended in some more yellows and oranges to help the white leaves pop. I die cut the word 'fall' and adhered the pieces back in place, but to give them the Eclipse look I popped up the letters. I then stamped the 'happy birthday' stamp from the Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes sentiment kit masking the birthday portion of the stamp. I used VersaMark and Autumn Rose ink and then heat embossed it with fine clear embossing powder. I adhered it to a layer of Autumn Rose card stock and then adhered the entire piece to a Canyon Clay card base. The last touch to this card was a few drops of Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo crystal drops.




Here's a side view that shows the Eclipse technique a bit better. The effect is so much better in person. I sure had fun making this one!




I've had the layout and design for this card in my mind for so long, I think I've even dreamed about it. Ha! I love Esmerelda Girl!! I knew when I saw this web stencil from Tim Holtz that finally my vision for this card would come to be. I stamped Esmerelda with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her in using copic markers. Black copic coloring is a challenge... I think the key is less is more. I didn't even use a black copic on this image. The darkest color I used was N10. Anywho, I got her all colored and set her aside. Now it was time for the background. I did a light blending of the purples and some grey, and then I laid the stencil on top and blended in more purples, grey, and black. I kept the black blending mostly to the edges. Once I was done blending, I went over the web with a clear wink of stella pen. I'm so bummed you can't see it in this picture. 




It was also very hard to get a picture that showed any of the glitter, but you can see a bit of it in the center here. In person, the glitter can be seen throughout the web and I even added some to Esmerelda's belt, hat, and hair. To finish off the card, I layered some fun Halloween papers and the web panel onto a black card base. I then stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and heat embossed some fine silver embossing powder and then I die cut the sentiment out and popped it up on the panel. I also popped up Esmerelda. I absolutely love how this turned out... it's a great feeling when your idea turns out the way you envisioned.



So, I made a Fall card and a Halloween card... now it's time for a pretty Christmas card. I stamped the image and the sentiment from Poinsettia Wishes on watercolor paper using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with a fine black embossing powder. I watercolored the image using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens and my water pen. I die cut the image using the stitched oval die and then mat it on a die cut stitched black oval. I set that aside and searched through my stash of embossing folders... I finally decided the Holly folder would look pretty so I grabbed a piece of white card stock and ran that through my big shot. I lightly sponged on some Festive Berries and Shabby Shutters distress inks. I layered that piece on a black mat and then tied a bow with some black organdy ribbon. I adhered that to the white card base and then popped up the oval piece. Love!! I just love how pretty this one turned out.


 I had so much fun making all of these cards to share with you all. I sure hope you've enjoyed them!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 
win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!


Thanks for stopping by!!
See ya next time.
~ Crystal

31 comments:

  1. Awesome!! Love the backgrounds on these cards. That really makes the card pop. I have enjoyed following you this past week. Gave me so great ideas to try on my own!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fabulous cards! but for me Esmerelda is my favorite!!!
    stamping sue
    http://stampingsueinconnecticut.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Enjoyed all of your cards this week. Not sure still about the eclipse technique so I'm going to watch a video on that because I find that interesting. Thanks for being our GIU girl this week you did a wonderful job

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful way to finish the week. These are all gorgeous. I love the technique used on the first card; it's one I'm wanting to try. The witch is fabulous and the BG awesome!! And of course, the poinsettia is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have enjoyed all of your cards and Pinned them all and am now following your blog for all your other posts!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome cards! That witch is fantastic what a great layout! And I LOVE those fall leaves--stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Enjoyed all your posts....awesome cards!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm going to have to try the eclipse technique! I love the way fall pops on the first card!! The other two are gorgeous - that is my favorite Halloween stamp kit from Unity XD Thanks for sharing this week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love your cards...so beautiful and detailed!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your cards are lovely. So glad you had the opportunity to share your creativity with us this week.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The week is over? Already? Oh no!:( Today's cards are gorgeous again. I love the leaf one and now I need to learn more about the eclipse technique. Thank you Crystal, for sharing your beautiful work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gorgeous cards this week!! Thank you for sharing your cards with us this week. I loved them all.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 3 very beautifully put together cards!! I especially enjoyed the eclipse technique! Thanks for sharing all this week!!!😊

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are soo pretty!
    I love all 3 backgrounds. Esmeralda is STUNNING! WOW!
    I've really enjoyed your GIU week Crystal!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your cards are beautiful! I really love the Fall one!

    ReplyDelete
  16. All your cards are awesome Crystal. Can you tell me what a "eclipse" card is? Obviously I am behind the trend on this. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  17. Awesome cards! Love the witch with the spiderweb background! Awesome coloring! Thanks for a great GIU week!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love the hidden sentiment and your Esmeralda. She rocks. Hugz

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like all your cards. The Halloween one is so awesome. Thank you for all your inspiration this week.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love these cards. The leaves are gorgeous. Esmeralda is so awesome. I just ordered her. So now I have a great idea to borrow!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love this background technique. I can't wait to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. These cards are amazing! Thanks for inspiring me.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow these are all just fabulous! I love using Wink of Stella as well - it looks great and adds just the right sparkle. :) I have loved all your projects this week!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm not a Halloween girl, but I do love the card you did! That purple is so pretty. The leaves card though.... that made me go "Ooooh!!!" I love everything you make.

    ReplyDelete
  26. All really beautiful cards. Thoroughly enjoyed all your posts this week!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for the idea with the poinsettia card! I have that stamp and have only used it once. I have enjoyed your creations and am now following your blog so I don't miss anything.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your comment! Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.