~ Friends of Unity May 2024 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is one that we do every year. I love seeing all the fun inspiration our friends share. I'm excited to see the inspiration for this month's hop.

This month's cue is Masculine. A great time to get a jump on those Father's Day cards. Or really any occasion. I managed to get a few cards done for a variety of occasions.

First up is a fun graduation card leaning towards the punny side but also masculine. I used the new Hee Haw You Did It stamps. That smile! I love it! I paired the fun donkey up with the awesome new Grad Party {Paper Pack}.

Inspiration for my card came from an older {BYSHC} sketch... Sketch #9. This is a favorite of mine. Lots of fun layers so I could use a few different pattern papers. I also used mats to separate the layers since the colors of the papers are basically all the same.

I used a square die from the Scallops & Squares {nesting dies} for the polka dot paper. And a stitched rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} for the grad hats paper. And lastly I used the Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting Dies for the sentiment. 

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

Donkey: N0, N1, N3, N5, W00, W0, W1, W2, R00, R20

Eyes: E23, E27

Teeth: C00, C1

Hat: R20, R14, R46

Tassel: Y11, Y28

I fussy cut the donkey leaving a bit of a white border around the edge. I added foam tape to the back of the sentiment and the donkey and then popped them both up on the card. 

Next up, a fun kitty card! I love plaid papers for masculine cards. At first I had found some neutral brown plaids but the design was horizontal and just didn't look right with the burlap paper strip. So I found a pretty bluish green plaid with a diagonal plaid pattern. I think these are from Lawn Fawn but I really have no idea. They were in a pack of unmarked random papers. Anywho, I trimmed them to 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" and adhered them to a white A2 top fold card base.

The burlap paper I've had for awhile. I've just been itching to use them... love the texture! They are from DCWV. I mat them with Enchanted Evening Card Stock from Papertrey Ink. It coordinates so nicely with the dark blue in the plaid papers. I die cut a circle from the blue card stock using the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies} and I heat embossed the sentiment.

The adorable cat is from the Grin & Purr stamps. Another great smile! I stamped this with my Versafine Onyx Black ink. This is one of those Finely Detailed stamps. I think I need to see which ink Unity recommends for those. In person it looks great, but it's not as crisp in these photos. It makes me want to try different inks. Oh, well... I colored him up with my Copic markers and fussy cut him leaving a bit of a border. For this one, I adhered the cat to the circle and then adhered the sentiment just a tiny bit over the bottom of the cat. And then I added foam tape to the back of both and popped them up on the card.

And my last card is actually a Father's Day card. I'm thinking this one is perfect for my car loving hubby. I've had these papers in my stash forever. They are the Classic Garage papers from Stampin' Up. But really this card could be replicated with any masculine paper. Even a fun plaid would be perfect.

My base layer is a black pattern paper from the paper pack. It's trimmed down to 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" and adhered to a white A2 top fold card base measuring 4-1/4 x 11"; scored at 5-1/2". The keys paper measures 3-3/4 x 5" and it's adhered directly to the card.

I stamped the sentiments from the Favorite Dad stamps using Sugar Cube White Pigment Ink from Taylored Expressions, but not before I applied TE Anti-Static Powder from Taylored Expressions. I added Alabaster White Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe and carefully melted it with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. I say carefully because I heat embossed the sentiments on a scrap of the black pattern paper so I didn't want to over heat it and warp the paper. I trimmed the papers and adhered them together and then added foam tape to the back popping them up on the card.

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...

... Carla Hundley!! Congratulations, Carla!!

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

Please claim the prize before May 29th, 2024. 

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 ---> Kim

Dawn

Jane

Gaylynn

Rachel

Joyce

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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