~ Friends of Unity January Blog Hop ~

Hello there! Happy New Year to you all! I hope that 2019 brings you many blessings of health and happiness but also creativity and lots of glittery goodness! 

Today, we are hopping with a New Year theme... for me the theme wasn't just to make New Year's cards... instead, I found myself thinking about my goals and dreams for 2019. The beginning of a New Year creates, for me, a feeling of excitement, awe, and wonder about what the year will bring and what part I can have in seeing my hopes and dreams come about. So I think the cards I'll be sharing today reflect some of my thought process... and I hope they inspire you to get creative and make some fabulous projects for 2019!

My first card started with an alcohol ink background that I had made a while back that was still sitting on my desk. I love the combination of purples and blues and the almost bokeh-like background that the drops of alcohol ink created. I didn't write down the alcohol inks I used, but I'm pretty sure it was Wild Plum, Raspberry, and Turquoise. 

I also used Rubbing Alcohol and the Tim Holtz Alcohol Blending Solution.

Since I loved the background so much, I decided I didn't want to cover it up with the sentiment so I inked up the sentiment from the New Year New Dreams stamp set with Clear Embossing Ink on Vellum card stock and heat embossed Alabaster white embossing powder. I then die cut the sentiment with a stitched oval die. I trimmed the background piece and mat it on a Winter Wisteria card base. I then got to thinking the card needed a little something else.

I searched and searched through my stash for something to add to the background and I didn't have anything with the right colors so I had a fun idea to add a bit of glitter along some of the more defined lines in the background. I have mixed feelings about the end result. I like it... but I think it still needs something. I ended up just adhering the sentiment and moving on to the next project. 

I might just go back to this one and see if I can get it right.

Now my second card came together like a dream... the layout, the papers, the stamps... everything! I love it! The inspiration for this one came from a paper pad that I recently got in a mystery box I ordered. The soft romantic palette of the papers just spoke to me. I just had to use several of the papers from the pad. I started by coloring and paper piecing the girl from the November 2018 Kit of the Month called Whole Love of Lovely. I used the following Copic markers:

Hair ~ E09, E15, E97

Shoes ~ N0, N3, N5, N8

Jewelry/Nails ~ R000, R14, R27

Skin ~ E0000, E000, E51

I trimmed and die cut my layers and adhered them to a Vintage Cream card base. I fussy cut the girl image and popped her up on the card. I stamped the sentiment (masking a portion of it with a post-it note) from the Beauty, Wine-Cheers! stamp set with Memento tuxedo black ink on to Vintage Cream card stock and then die cut it with a banner die that I trimmed. I popped it up on the card.

I love the subtle touches of red I added in her jewelry and nails. I will add that I meant to stamp the image onto the type background paper so that the bubbles and the bracelet that I cut off in fussy cutting the image would be visible in the background, but in my excitement of creating this card... I forgot, and them remembered too late. LOL 

I still love how it turned out! 

My third and final card for this hop turned out just as I had hoped. I struggled with this one... this was my second attempt at the background. I had read that the Color of the Year 2019 is Coral... I wanted to focus on that color but my favorite color will always be turquoise (or some variation of that color) and it didn't want to be left out so I decided to blend Abandoned Coral and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide inks on a piece of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock. Once I had the colors blended how I wanted them, I splattered some water and white acrylic paint on the background. After drying the background with my heat tool, I rubbed an anti-static pouch over the background and then stamped the mixed media coffee image from the Layers of Life set called Revive with VersaMark watermark ink and heat set a fine black embossing powder.

I got to thinking that I wanted to add a third color to my palette so I went searching for color combos and found that grey is a lovely color to accompany teal and coral. So I die cut the stitched frame from Weathervane card stock and then stamped the sentiment in VersaMark on the same grey card stock and heat embossed white embossing powder. I trimmed the sentiment and mat each piece on True Black card stock. I then adhered all of my layers to a Weathervane card base.

Here's a look at the inside of the card. I used the sentiment from the Cuppa Comfort sentiment set and added an extra cup that I watercolored using the Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink and fussy cut out. I think it finishes off the card very nicely.

Now for some fun... I got to thinking that I love this color combo and wouldn't it be fun to put a little challenge out there to see what you all could create using these colors. So, I found this picture on google and thought it would work for a Color Challenge. It has a couple shades of turquoise or teal, but you get the idea. So to enter your card or project to the challenge all you need to do is add the hashtag #friendsofunitycolorchallenge to your post. You can post to your blog, Instagram, Facebook, or even the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group. You will have until January 31st to play along and I'll pick a winner to send a little prize to. Sound like fun?! I hope so... I can't wait to see your creations using these colors.

Now for a little bit of business... I had a couple giveaways last month to celebrate our 1 year of Friends of Unity blog hopping and I need to share my winners. Drumroll please.... 

The winner of a Brand New Winter Beauty SMAK kit is Glennis!! Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com with your full name and email address to claim your prize. Prize must be claimed within two weeks.

The winner of the Brand New bundle of stamps including December Girl, Jolly Ol' Santa, and Stay Cozy is Meg Crawford!! Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com with your full name and email address to claim your prize. Prize must be claimed within two weeks.

Thank you to all those that have hopped along with us for a whole year! I can't wait to see what the next year of hopping brings! Speaking of... let's get to it.

~ Blog Hop List ~

Crystal <--- you are here

up next ---> Kim

Joyce

Bobbie Sue

Eileen

Jeanie

Robyn

Dawn

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal