~ Friends of Unity January 2020 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friends!!

It's my favorite time of the month... time for the Friends of Unity Blog Hop!!

This month we are creating with our Favorite Unity Stamp of 2019!! I was so excited to have this as our cue, but it was very hard to narrow down the choices... there's really so many that I consider to be my favorites from the last year.

Now, coffee stamps are my jam... I love them!! AND the border backgrounds stamps are one of my most favorite stamp lines that Unity offers. So naturally I had to use my most favorite border backgrounds stamp called Hot Mess {border backgrounds}, but I wanted to use a metallic embossing powder. I chose the fun Penny Ultra Fine Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe... love this stuff!!!

And then using the backside of a piece of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor paper, I smooshed some watered down Peacock Feathers, Vintage Photo, and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide inks. I dried the paper in between layers... I really love the dimension the different layers of colors gives to the panel. I dried the panel with my Ranger heat tool to ensure that it was completely dry before adhering it to a piece of Really Rust card stock that I cut just slightly larger than the panel. I then mat it with a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" piece of Taken with Teal card stock and then adhered the entire panel to a white card base.

Another favorite stamp set from 2019 is the A Little Warmth kit... this kit has a beautiful Angie Girl along with a bunch of sentiments. I originally wanted to use the girl from the kit, but I decided not to cover up the background. So, I went with one of the sentiments from the kit instead. I stamped it on a scrap piece of Really Rust card stock with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed it with the same Penny metallic embossing powder that I used on the background. I trimmed the sentiment and cut it to fit within the Really Rust card stock layer on the card. I just love how this turned out!

While I was working on the background for my first card, I happened to notice the fabulous colors resembled a rusty kind of color and thought that they would be fantastic with one of my new favorite truck stamps in the kit by Tierra Jackson called Ol' Fashion Holiday Love. So for this card I've decided to use some of my new favorite kits that I haven't had a chance to ink up yet... lol! I have just been itching to get these kits inked up... so glad I finally did!

I considered paper piecing the truck to make it look slightly more realistic but I just couldn't cut into it. I really love how it turned out. I made a very similar background to the last one using the same distress oxides only this time I used the textured side of the distress watercolor paper. I love the texture it gives this truck!! A total happy accident because my plan was to copy the other background as much as possible! I fussy cut the truck and added some glossy accents and then set it aside to dry. The background was easy peasy and I absolutely love how it turned out! I stamped the gorgeous Alpine Wonderland stamp onto a card front of kraft card stock measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" with VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed Alabaster embossing powder by Brutus Monroe that is available at Unity! I love Brutus Monroe embossing powders!! So glad that Unity carries them in their shop! Once the background was heat set, I decided to add a bit of color to the background... the clean kraft just wasn't quite right. I added a bit of Pine Needles distress ink to the ground and the trees, and Stormy Sky distress ink to the sky. I wiped off the white embossed background with a paper towel to get the colored inks off. It buffed the embossed background a bit too much so I reheated the background to get the pretty glossy shine back. 

You can see some of the discoloration in the white embossed background in this picture, but in person it's really not as visible. I trimmed the background and distressed the edges. I adhered it to a 4-1/8 x 5-3/8" piece of Lost Lagoon card stock and then adhered it to a white card base that I trimmed just tiny bit to fit the slightly smaller card front.

To finish off the card, I stamped the fun sentiment from the November 2019 KOM called Wonder. It took me a bit of searching to find just the right sentiment, but I think this one really works with the design of my card. That's it for me this month! I can't wait to see what my friends have made to share with us this month!! 

Before we get to the hop list, I'm having another giveaway this month... I have a fabulous brand new Say It Big May 2019 Sentiment Kit to share with one lucky winner!! I'll announce the winner during next month's hop. A few of my friends are also having giveaways so be sure to check out all the fabulous creations along the hop and comment on each blog for a chance to win!! 

Thank you all so much for your continued support of our little hop... and for all of your lovely comments! I really, truly do appreciate each and every one of your sweet comments. 

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Kim

Eileen

Bobbie Sue

Dawn B.

Amber

Joyce

Alaine

Robyn

Dawn F.

Thanks so much for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal