~ Friends of Unity December 2021 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's the first Saturday of December and you know what that means... it's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! But today is not just a regular monthly blog hop... it's our 4th Anniversary of hopping!! I can't believe how fast the last 4 years has gone by! We've shared so many wonderful cards and projects over the last 4 years and added so many new friends!! We don't have any huge plans to mark this anniversary, but I do want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you that follow and support our hop! It means so much to me and the other ladies in the hop to have your continued support. And a great big THANK YOU to my very sweet friends that take time out of their days each month to create wonderful cards to share with us all!! Cheers to 4 years and many, many more!

 Well, let's have a peek at our cue this month...

... Retro / Vintage!! I love making vintage cards and since I'm still in Christmas card making mode, I thought I'd make a couple Christmas vintage style cards!!

My first card features the newly released snowman stamp from the In the Meadow stamp kit. I definitely had to play with him for this cue!! He kinda has a retro vibe but I went with a vintage style card. Or at least that's what I was going for. LOL 

 I grabbed one of my go-to vintage papers from The Paper Studio called Pine St. Square. I love this distressed plaid paper!! I trimmed it to 5 x 3-3/4" and then used my VersaMarker along the edges of the paper. I then added some Antique Gold embossing powder and melt it with a Mini Wagner heat tool. I mat that piece on a 5-1/8 x 3-7/8" piece of True Black card stock.

I stamped the snowman with Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink on Vintage Cream card stock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut him on a diagonal with a Wonky Stitched Oval die from Gina Marie Designs. I'm thinking this gives him a bit of a retro feel even though I'm going for a vintage vibe... what do you think? I distressed the edges of the die cut with some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink.

I adhered the snowman to the plaid layer and then stamped the snowflake from the Snowflake Kisses stamp kit with Wow Clear Embossing ink and then melted some Antique Gold ep. I also stamped the sentiment from the Festive Swag stamp kit with Wow Clear Embossing ink and melted some Antique Gold ep. I adhered the panel to a Kraft A2 top fold card base that opens on the side.

I think I was in a gold kind of mood and maybe a heat embossing mood too! LOL... I grabbed The Christmas Tree Background of the Month stamp kit from October and stamped it with the same clear embossing ink on Vintage Cream card stock and then used the same Antique Gold ep. I just might be obsessed with this background stamp!

I trimmed the panel down to 4 x 5-1/4" and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink. 

I cut a 4-1/8 x 5-3/8" piece of the Honey Gold Mirror card stock from the November 2021 Whit Kit called Thankful & Blessed Pumpkins. I mat the background panel with the mirror card stock and then adhered it to a Vintage Cream A2 top fold card base.

I already had the Festive Swag stamp kit on my desk so I decided to use it for this card. I stamped the floral swag with Gina K. Black Amalgam ink and left it in my Stamp Platform. I then colored it up with the following Copic markers:

Pinecones ~ E000, E21, E23, E25

Holly ~ G24, G29, G46

Berries ~ R14, R20, R37, R59

Flowers ~ RV34, RV91, RV95

Pine Needles ~ YG03, G24, G29

Leaves ~ YG91, YG93, G99

Once I had everything colored how I wanted, I put it back in my Stamp Platform and inked it with the Wow Clear Embossing ink. I then melted... yup, you guessed it... Antique Gold ep! This card was really hard to get good photos. I really love how it turned out though. I stamped the sentiment with the clear embossing ink on Vintage Cream card stock and used the same ep. I trimmed it, mat it with the Honey Gold and then mat it again with Vintage Cream... repeating the same layers as the card base.

I fussy cut the floral swag and adhered the sentiment to it. I then added a whole bunch of foam tape and popped the whole thing up on the card. So pretty! 

Well, that's it for me this time! I hope you'll try your hand at some retro or vintage style cards. I had so much fun! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity... I can't wait to see all the different projects being shared! In celebration of our 4th Anniversary of hopping, I will be picking one name from the comments to win a fun prize package. I'll announce the winner next month! I'm sure that some of my friends are also having a giveaway so be sure to comment as you hop along.

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you're here

Eileen

Amber

April

Dawn

Colleen

Rachel

Alaine

Robyn

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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