Crystal O. Minkler: ~ Friends of Unity November 2024 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is perfect for this time of year. With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I find myself reflecting on the year and I'm very grateful for many things and for many people. Particularly, the fabulous ladies that are on the Friends of Unity team. They are all amazingly talented and beautiful ladies and friends. And speaking of our fabulous friends, we have a new friend joining us.... please stop by Toni Tessler's blog and be sure to give her a great big welcome! I am so excited to have Toni join our team! Now, onto our cue this month...

This month's cue is Gratitude, as I eluded to above. Isn't this graphic just so lovely?! I love all the elements!

First up is a fun Fall card with an adorable bunny. I used the super cute Hoppy Fall stamps. Such a cute bunny! I love it!

Inspiration for my card came from the Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 27. This is from the brand new sketch challenge that just started in my Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Facebook group. I think it's a fun one for those larger pieces of scrap pattern paper.

I used three scraps of pattern paper from the beautiful Enrich the Soul {paper pack}. They're just adhered directly to a Kraft A2 top fold card base.

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

Bunny: E000, E30, E31, E23, R00, R20

Hat / Sweater: C00, C1, YR21, YR15, YR16

Leaves: E31, E23, YG61, YG63, YR21, YR15

The fun sentiment is heat embossed on Kraft card stock from Papertrey Ink with Sugar Cube Pigment Ink from Taylored Expressions and Alabaster White Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe. I trimmed it up and popped it up with foam tape.

Next up, I really wanted to use one of the house stamps from the gorgeous Warm Wishes for Your Home stamps! I adore this beautiful stamp! I thought it would be lovely for a Fall card.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color the house on Kraft card stock:

Roof: N2, N4, N6

House: E31, E53, E55, E57

Chimney: E53, E55, E57, N2, N4, N6

Shutters / Door: R20, R14, R27

Windows: YR21, C1

Wreath: YR21, YR15, YR16

Trees: YG61, YG63

Pots: BG70, BG72, BG75

Background: C00, C1, C3

I paired it up with a lovely pattern paper from the Thankful & Blessed Pumpkins {paper pack}. I love how the dark background makes the house pop! Both the house and the pattern papers are die cut using dies from the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Die Set.

It's kind of hard to see but I added some copper thread behind the house. I heat embossed the sentiment with Wow Clear Embossing Ink and Penny Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe. The sentiment and house layer are adhered together and then popped up on the card with foam tape.

And for my last project this month, I made a tag. I received some beautiful tags in an order awhile ago. It was actually a cut apart sheet of tags. I can't remember when I got them but I've been wanting to use them. I cut one of the tags and tore off the top. I stamped a Kraft tag with Vintage Photo Distress Ink using the Rustic Foliage background stamp. I ink smooshed it with Mustard Seed Distress Ink and distressed the edges of the Kraft tag with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

Ooops... just realized I forgot ribbons! Ugh... that's the second time this week! Oh well. I distressed the edges of the cut apart tag using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I stamped the beautiful pumpkin from Pumpkin Spice Please and colored it up with my Copic markers.

Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Pumpkin: YR21, YR15, YR27, E53, E55, E57

Coffee Cup: C00, C1, Y11, Y15, Y17, R14

Brown Leaf: E53, E55, E57

Orange Leaf: YR21, YR15, YR16, R14

Green Leaves: YR61, YR63

I heat embossed the sentiment from the Bountiful Fall stamps {sadly, it looks like this is retired} using Sugar Cube White Pigment Ink from Taylored Expressions with Alabaster White Embossing Powder from Brutus Monroe and melted it with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. The sentiment is trimmed and popped up on the tag with foam tape. I finished off the tag with three gold pieces of confetti from the Hologram Gold Card Bling from A Colorful Life Designs.

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...

... Vannessa Osbourn!! Congratulations, Vannessa!! Please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize. Please claim the prize before December 4th, 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 ---> Kari

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.