~ Friends of Unity December Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friends!

It's my favorite time of the month and this month it's extra special because...

we're celebrating 2 years of hopping with Friends of Unity!! Woohoo! I am so beyond excited about this month's hop! Eeeep! 

We have some fun stuff planned... our usual giveaways PLUS we have 2 HUGE prize packages that Angela Magnuson graciously put together from Unity just for this celebration AND we also have 3 FABULOUS guest designers hopping with us this month!! A HUGE thank you to our Guest Designers... Donna K Baes, Shannon Edwards, and Jessica Pickeral!! We are so excited to have you talented ladies join us this month!!

So when I say HUGE prize packages... I. AM. NOT. KIDDING!!

Prize pack #1!!

And prize pack #2!!

Amazing, right?! I'll have details below on how you can enter to win one of these fabulous prizes!!

Now, onto our hop... and the cue this month is All is Calm... 

a little bit ironic, am I right?! Our cue is about a time of peace and calm when we're having a huge celebration. It made me giggle but I love it! I mean, it 'tis the season!

My first card is using the gorgeous deer stamp and sentiment called All is Calm all is Bright... a sweet Itty Bitty kit just perfect for the Holidays! I combined it with the beautiful Prancing Holiday {paper pack} to make a super quick card! No joke, this took me maybe 10 minutes... and that was only because it took me a couple extra minutes to find just the right red ink for the deer.

I just love it! Beautifully simple and a card that will go through the mail easily without any extra postage! Bonus!

I loved the design of my first card so much, I decided to make another one with a new release... this adorable snowman with his little birdie friends from the All the Small Things kit... oh my goodness! I love it so much! I decided to use another fabulous paper pack from Unity called Brilliant Blizzard!

I tied in the colors of the Brilliant Blizzard papers by coloring the snowman's mixed matched clothes with similar colors. Too cute! I just love this sweet stamp!

My last card is another take on the cue... rather than another Christmas card, I thought I'd create a scene of a calm winter's night using a few of the gorgeous stamps from the October 2019 SMAK kit called All Bundled Up. The last few SMAK kits have been absolutely amazing and this one is definitely a favorite!! 

I started by taping off the bottom portion of my card stock with some purple tape. I then blended Tumbled Glass, Wilted Violet and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks. Once I had a nice blend, I did a little water splatter and white acrylic paint splatter. I let the panel dry overnight to be sure that it was completely dry. I also heat set it just a bit the next day with my heat gun. I knew I was going to heat emboss the cabin image and I wanted to be sure that the embossing powder wouldn't stick to the background. I also rubbed my Ranger Anti-Static pouch over the panel to be safe. 

I then stamped the cabin with VersaMark watermark ink and heat set a black embossing powder. At this point you could still see the background through the cabin so I pulled out my Hickory Smoke, Black Soot and Mustard Seed Distress Oxide inks to watercolor the background with along with my water pen. It took a few applications of the inks to get a nice layer over the background but I think it turned out well. You can see some of the white acrylic paint splatters on the cabin but it almost looks like a light snow... even though I was working towards a calm winter night. I also added a touch of gray to the ground to give the snow some dimension around the cabin. 

To finish off the panel, I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark watermark ink and heat set a fine white embossing powder. I trimmed the panel down to 4 x 5-1/4" and mat it with white card stock measuring 4-1/8 x 5-3/8". I then adhered the mat panel to a black card base. Using both black and white for my layers helps to make the black and white embossed images pop on the card.

That's it for my cards this month! AND because I love the October 2019 SMAK kit SO much... I may have just bought an extra to giveaway for this fabulous celebration of 2 years!!! Woohoo!! I will be announcing the winner for my giveaway on December 14th so hopefully the winner will receive their prize in time for Christmas!! Seriously... SO exciting!!

Thank you all so much for your continued support of our little hop for these 2 fantastic years!!! I really, truly do appreciate each and every one of your sweet comments! 

A few of my friends are having giveaways on their blogs too, so be sure to hop and comment on each of our blogs!! And if you'd like a chance to win one of the fabulous Unity Prize packages be sure to hop and comment on each of our blogs... two winners will be randomly chosen from the comments and they could be chosen from any of the blogs participating in the hop, not just mine!! So be sure to hop and comment!! 

Winners for the Unity Prize packages will be announced on December 14th here on my blog and in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group... are you a member of the group? You can join by clicking ---> here!! 

Let's get to the hopping...

Crystal <--- you are here

up next ---> Eileen

Joyce

Dawn B.

Alaine

Kim

Amber

Jeanie

Dawn F.

Robyn

Donna

Shannon

Jessica

Thanks so much for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Heffy Doodle & Nuvo ~ Prehistoric Pals Meet Stone Drops

Hey there crafty friends!

Today, I'm sharing a cute card using the adorable Prehistoric Pals stamp set from Heffy Doodle along with the In the Desert papers by Scrapping for Less! I just love all the cute images in the set and the punny sentiments are amazing!

To start my card, I cut a half sheet of kraft card stock into two pieces measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2". I then die cut one of the pieces. I also die cut the patterned paper with the same stitched rectangle die. I trimmed the patterned paper and adhered it to the die cut kraft card stock. I then adhered that piece to the other kraft card front and then adhered the entire panel to a white card base.

I die cut the other patterned paper with a stitched banner die and adhered it to a scrap piece of kraft card stock and fussy cut a mat. I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed a fine white embossing powder. I set the card aside and stamped the mammoth and cave girl with Memento tuxedo black ink.

I colored the images with the following Copic markers:

Cave Girl ~ Skin ~ E0000, E00, E11; Hair ~ E21, E23, E37; 

Clothes ~ E42, E44, E47, YR14, YR24, YR27

Mammoth ~ YR14, YR21, YR24, YR27, E44, E47, W00, W1, W3

I fussy cut the images and cleaned up the edges of the images with a Memento tuxedo black marker. I die cut a stitched circle from white card stock and colored it with a bit of N0 and N1 to ground the images. I popped up the images on the stitched circle using foam tape. 

To finish off the card, I added a bunch of Nuvo Chalk White Stone drops... once I started playing with these gritty drops I just couldn't stop adding them. I think they are perfect for this prehistoric card!! They look like tiny boulders... so fun!

Here's one more look at this cute card... I think this sentiment works for so many occasions!!

And I'm excited to play some more with the Nuvo Stone drops... I just may use them in my next post!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Polka Dot Orchard ~ Beary Best Friend ~ Technique Thursday

Hello there crafty friends!

Today, I'm sharing a fun and easy technique for Technique Thursday with Polka Dot Orchard... a little ink blending with some splatter! Let's get to it, shall we?!

I'm starting with a piece of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock. You can ink blend on any card stock really. I chose this card stock because I know I'll be doing a some water splatter and it works better on this card stock. I lined up my piece of card stock on my Glass Media Mat so that I can get a straight line for my horizon using the purple tape.

Once I had the tape on, I could pull up the card stock and position it at an angle... I have found this position to be most comfortable for me when ink blending. 

I thought this would be a great time to share my foam storage for my blending tools. I can't take credit for this idea... a crafty friend shared this idea with me. Some dvd style stamp cases, a few labels and velcro circles... I love it!! And I keep it on my shelf right next to my desk... super handy!!

I decided on Tumbled Glass, Wilted Violet, and Faded Jeans Distress Oxide inks to blend for my night sky background. There are so many awesome combos for night sky ink blends though.

I started by ink blending the Tumbled Glass along the tape line. I went up about an inch... maybe an inch and a quarter. And then I ink blended some of the Wilted Violet. I started blending it just above the Tumbled Glass and worked my way up and then down over the Tumbled Glass. I typically go over my blends at least three times to get a good blend. 

I went back in with the Tumbled Glass over the Wilted Violet just to lighten the harsh line between the colors.

And then I blended the Faded Jeans on the top and worked my way down into the Wilted Violet.

I went back in with the Wilted Violet over the Faded Jeans and the Tumbled Glass until I was happy with the blends. In this picture the colors look much lighter than they are in real life, but it shows the blends so nicely.

It is so cool to pull the tape off and see that stark white strip underneath. Be careful when pulling the tape up though... move in one direction and pull slowly. On a clean piece of card stock like this there shouldn't be an issue pulling it up but when you put purple tape on card stock with Distress Oxide inks blended in, you'll want to be sure that the ink is dry and then still be very careful pulling up the tape. I share this from experience. I didn't want quite this much white space so I re-positioned the tape and ink blended some more of the Tumbled Glass ink. I kept it a bit lighter and I like the line it created... like the horizon in the distance.

Time for some water splatter!! I have a tiny spray bottle on my desk and for this technique I squirt some water right into the palm of my hand... probably four squirts. I rubbed my hands together just slightly and then clapped over my panel.

If you use more water you are more likely to get bigger droplets on your panel. It also depends on how close your hands are to the panel. I wanted mostly tiny droplets so I only did a little bit of water and kept my hands higher up from the panel.

Let the water do it's magic for a few seconds while you grab a paper towel. I usually fold the paper towel in half and lay it on top and press gently with my hands.

I love the subtle splatter that water gives to the ink blended backgrounds, but white acrylic paint is one of my favorite ways to add a snowy white splatter. I added a tiny drop of Apple Barrel White acrylic paint to my well loved palette.

I added a few squirts of water to the paint. Watering down the paint helps to thin out the paint so you can get those tiny splatters like snow on your projects.

I mixed it all up with my cheap watercolor brush that I took from my kids watercolors. Shhh... don't tell them I have it! lol

And then grabbed my splatter box... an old box that I've lined with paper towels in the bottom. 

I then just tap my paint brush with my index finger over the panel and get all kinds of fun splatter. You can play with this technique too... getting your brush really wet or holding your hand closer to the panel can also get you bigger droplets. A less wet brush or your hand placement further from the panel will get you tiny droplets. It's lots of fun to play around and see what kinds of splatter you can create! One of my favorite techniques!

I had combined and resized these digi images from the Beary Best Friend digi set by Polka Dot Orchard to fit on an A2 card base for another projects, but decided to use them for this one instead.

I colored the image with the following Copic markers:

Bear ~ N0, N1, R00, R14, R20, R29, R83, C00, C1, Colorless Blender

Fox ~ R00, R20, R83, E0000, E00, E95, E99, B000, B00, B02

Bird ~ N0, N1, N2, N4, R00, R20, R83, YG11, YG13, C00, C1, Colorless Blender

Holly ~ G000, G24, G46, R00, R14, R29

Present ~ R00, R14, R29, Y06, Y11, Y15

I fussy cut the colored image and trimmed down the sentiment. I'm thinking I like this placement for my image and sentiment, but it needs something!

And the finished card! I decided to trim the panel down to 5-3/8 x 4-1/8" and adhere it directly on the A2 white card base. I also mat the sentiment with a slightly larger white mat. I popped up the image and the sentiment with foam tape... I love the extra dimension it gives to the card!

A close up of the card... love how this sweet card turned out!! I hope that you've enjoyed my first Technique Thursday post for Polka Dot Orchard... I had a blast!! I hope that I've inspired you to try out ink blending and splattering! If you have any suggestions for techniques that you'd like to see, comment and let me know... maybe your suggestion will be featured next time!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Unity Stamp Company ~ Old Bird

Hey there crafty friends!

It's Cyber Monday and Unity Stamp Co. is having another fabulous release along with a sale... AND an Instagram Hop!! So many fun things all at the same time!! I am loving this Old Bird... a new release and another fun version of this sweet and spunky lady by Tierra Jackson.

I think she's just perfect with the Coffee Lovers {Paper Pack} designed by Graciellie Designs and also available from Unity Stamp Co. I trimmed the sentiment/wood background paper to 4-1/8 x 5-3/8" and die cut the coffee background paper with a stitched hillside border die. I adhered both layers to a Spring Rain card base and set it aside. I colored the Old Bird with the following Copic markers:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11

Hair ~ C00, C1, B000

Earrings ~ BV000, BV00, BV02

Coat ~ E0000, E21, E23,E25, E27

Shoes ~ N0, N1, N2, N5, N7

Cup ~ C00, C1, C2, C4, B0000, B000

Pigeons ~ C00, C1, C2, C4, BV000, BV00, BV02, YR24

Using a pencil and ruler I drew a line across the colored panel in between each image and got to work fussy cutting. I used a bunch of foam tape to adhere the colored image to the card base. I really love the dimension it gives to the card! 

And that sentiment... lol... perfection!! I love how this turned out and I hope you do too!

Be sure to check out the new releases over at Unity Stamp Co. and all the fabulous inspiration on the Instagram Hop... there's prizes up for grabs on the hop! Just saying! You can start hopping with my Instagram link above{just under my blog header} or click Instagram Hop and it'll take you to the Unity Stamp Company Instagram.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ Christmas Color Challenge ~ A Vintage Christmas Card Kit

Hello there crafty friends!

It's time for a new challenge over at the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share group on Facebook and I've found a lovely combination of Christmas colors for a Christmas Color Challenge.

Now, the key to playing along is being a member of the Scrapping for Less: Show & Share Facebook group so if you aren't already a member ---> join here!! Also, please note that you don't need a blog to enter the challenge as you're adding a photo of your creation directly in the Challenge album in the group. You are welcome to include a link to your blog in the description of your creation if you'd like.

I just so happened to have the November 2019 Flavor of the Month card kit called A Vintage Christmas still on my desk while planning for this challenge so I thought I'd look through the collections and see what I could create! I completely fell in love with the papers in Collection Three: Santa... the colors and the wood grains are just gorgeous! And it worked perfectly for the color combo for this challenge!! Woohoo!

I trimmed down all of my layers and punched the corners with my corner rounder punch. I then adhered all my layers to a Chocolate Chip card front and wrapped it with a red ribbon from my stash. I then adhered the card front to a white card base. I tied a pretty little bow and set it aside while I stamped and colored the beautiful ornament from the Ornamental Christmas stamp set by Scrapping for Less. I masked the center of the ornament so that I could use the beautiful Be Merry sentiment in the center instead... I did this by stamping the ornament onto a post it note and then fussy cutting it. I then placed the stamp in my Stamp Platform and inked up the outer lines of the ornament with my Memento tuxedo black marker and stamped it. So now I would have an idea of where to place the mask and then I was able to stamp the ornament with my Memento tuxedo black ink pad and the mask protected the center of the ornament. I then stamped the Be Merry sentiment in the center of the ornament and colored the ornament with the following Copic markers ~ R000, R00, R14, R29, YG03, YG93, YG95, Y11, Y15, Y28.

I fussy cut the ornament, cleaned up the edges with my Memento tuxedo black marker, and then popped it up on the patterned paper mat with red card stock. I tied a little bow of gold cord (also from my stash) and adhered it with a tiny drop of Multi Media Matte.

Once that was dried, I adhered the smaller square with the ornament to the card. To finish off the card, I added a few of the enamel dots from the collection. I really love how this turned out!

This challenge will run from today, December 1st, and will end December 31st at 11:59pm EST.  The winner will be announced on Wednesday, January 1st in the challenge album... a fun way to start the New Year!! Please use #sflcolorchallenge2 in any social media posts when playing along with the challenge.

Lots of time to play along!! And I think it's perfect for those of you that purchased the November 2019 A Vintage Christmas card kit... not only can you play with your new kit, but you can also enter the challenge for a chance to win a prize!! I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Scrapping for Less ~ November 2019 Flavor of the Month Card Kit ~ A Vintage Christmas

 It’s all about “A Vintage Christmas” this month. 

I love the look and colors of vintage Christmas decorations. I hope you are inspired by the sweet little postal girl, the indented glass ornament stamp, and all of the other papers and baubles that we have added to the kit this month to give it that vintage feel. 

Join in on our hop and if you happened to miss where to start head back to the Scrapping for Less Blog where you can find the full lineup and also where you can enter into our Rafflecopter. If you are new to our blog and website head to the Subscription page for all the various links to purchase a 1x kit or to subscribe. New subscribers will receive a special gift this month (while supplies last) for signing up for a subscription. Enjoy the vintage inspiration from our Design Team and guest designers this month. ~ Teresa, SFL Co-Owner

If you are just starting hopping, we're so glad to have you join us! 

The hop starts on the Scrapping for Less blog or you can start hopping right here.

Here's a quick look at the November 2019 A Vintage Christmas card kit...

Double Dip Subscription...

Banana Split Subscription...

Another fabulous Christmas card kit and I, for one, am ecstatic!! I still need so many Christmas cards... my stash is not quite where I need it and this kit is perfect!! I love the beautiful stamps, papers and the embellishments this month are all so lovely!!

Collection One: Holly Berries

I love to mix pinks and greens during Christmas... such a fun non-traditional color combo! I thought it would be perfect for this sweet house. And it worked perfectly along with these gorgeous papers in this collection. I added some dimension to the house by stamping it twice and fussy cutting the center piece. I traced around the fussy cut piece twice onto some scrap card stock and trimmed it within the traced line. I then adhered the two scrap piece together and adhered them to the back of the center piece of the house. I love the dimension it gives to the house! For another sample using this collection, you can check out my Sneak Peek post here ---> A Vintage Christmas Sneak Peek.

Supplies used (not found in the kit):

Copics: House ~ R81, R85; Trim/Door ~ G43; Roof/Steps ~ N0, N1, N2; Windows/Lights ~ Y11, Y13; Snow ~ C1; Bows/Wreath ~ G000, G24, G46, RV14

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Gina K. Designs Foam Tape

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Scallop Circle STAX

Collection Two: A Vintage Christmas

I adore this collection!! It's my absolute favorite of them all!! The Christmas Post stamp set by LDRS Creative is absolutely beautiful AND the colors in this collection are seriously my favorite combination of turquoise and red... and then there's the kraft card stock in the kit!! I love it!! So naturally I had to play with the kraft card stock and I thought it would be fun to just do a little bit of coloring so a spotlight card was perfect!!

Supplies used (not found in the kit):

Copics: Skin ~ E00, E11, R20; Hair ~ E21, E23, E27; Clothes ~ R000, R14, R29; Gift ~ BG01, BG70, BG72, Y11, Y15, 35; Mailbox/Letters ~ C00, C1, C3, C5, N0, N1; Tree Limb ~ E27; 

Bird ~ B02; Leaf ~ G24

Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Gina K. Designs Foam Tape

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Ranger Mini Round Ink Blending Tool

Collection Three: Santa

How sweet is this Santa?! He makes me smile! And those cheeky Santa's in the pattern paper are too cute! I kept the whole design of this card simple using one of the sketches available to download. You can find the November 2019 FOTM Sketch Sheet <--- there. A great sketch always gets my mojo going and the sketches this month did not let me down!!

Supplies used (not found in the kit):

Copics: Skin ~ E000, E00, E21, R20; Hair ~ N0, N1, N2; Hat ~ C00, C1, R000, R00, R14, R27; Holly ~ R000, R14, R27, YG03, YG11, YG17

Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Gina K. Designs Foam Tape

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

EK Success Cutter Bee Scissors

Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners dies

Collection Four: An Ornamental Christmas

The vintage ornament in this collection is absolutely beautiful and so much fun to color! It reminded me of the ornaments that my grandparents had on their Christmas tree.... fond memories, for sure! I kind of used one of the sketches from the download for this one, but changed it up a bit. 

Supplies used (not found in the kit):

Copics: YG03, YG11, YG17, Y02, Y11, Y13, Y28, R00, R14, R39, R85

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Gina K. Designs Foam Tape

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

Ranger Multi Media Matte

My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle STAX dies

Waffle Flower A2 Layers dies

Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banners dies

I sure hope you've enjoyed my cards today!

Your next stop on the hop is... Christine

Be sure to head back over to the Scrapping for Less blog to enter the Rafflecopter once you've finished hopping!

Thank you friends for checking out my blog post!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal