~ Friends of Unity April 2024 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! I have to be honest, this month's hop is a bit hard for me since my mom passed away over six years ago now. I miss her every day. I still struggle with making Mother's Day cards. 

I'm very fortunate though to have beautiful, strong women in my life and I wanted to celebrate them this month even though they aren't my mother. So my cards this month are dedicated to them.

First up is a lovely card featuring the gorgeous Lauren Girl. I was drawn to her because of the gorgeous rose. Roses were my mother's favorite flower. I think it'll be a lovely card to send to my sister. She is the most wonderful mom I know.

I paired up Lauren Girl with the gorgeous Nostalgic Amour {paper pack}. Again, the roses got me! Though the papers have a vintage vibe to them I think they look nice with Lauren Girl. I probably could have distressed the edges around Lauren a bit for more a vintage feel, but I like the pop of white.

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

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Hair: E71, E74, E77, E79

Shirt: R20, RV14, E23, E25

Capris: B91, B93, B95, B97

Shoes: R20, RV14

Rose: R20, RV14, RV06, R29

Leaves: G12, G24, G99

I used a die from the Stitched Scallop Basic Edge dies from My Favorite Things on the pattern paper with the roses. I adhered the pattern papers together and adhered them to a white A2 top fold card base. The sentiment from the Happy Mother's Day stamps illustrated by Graciellie Design was the perfect finishing touch for this card. I die cut it using a die from the Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting Dies. I popped up the sentiment with foam tape. Otherwise the rest of the layers are flat for easy mailing.

Next up, I've been wanting to play with the gorgeous flowers in the He Provides stamps. I love the floral stamps that Angie Blom illustrates for Unity! These are a favorite! Of course, I wanted to play with different colors so why not make a set of cards!? 

A lovely yellow for my first card. Now I used the awesome Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils to color the flowers but since I had stamped the flowers on Stampers Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink rather than a watercolor paper I didn't use a lot of water. I also didn't get to add more pigment and more water but I love the light wash of color I got on these cards. And the mix of the colors is so fun. For this first card I used Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry for the petals and Salvaged Patina with Peeled Paint for the leaves and stems.

For my second card I used Kitsch Flamingo with Spiced Marmalade for the petals and Twisted Citron with Mermaid Lagoon for the leaves and stems. After coloring the flowers I die cut each of the panels using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}.

For my third card, I used Tumbled Glass with Shaded Lilac for the petals and Crushed Olive and Rustic Wilderness for the leaves and stems. I stamped the pretty 'Happy Mother's Day' sentiment also from the Happy Mother's Day stamps. So many lovely sentiments in this set of stamps! 

For my final card I used Spun Sugar with Dusty Concord for the petals and Bundled Sage with Brushed Corduroy for the leaves and stems. I adhered the floral panels to A2 top fold card bases that coordinated with the card fronts. And for one final touch on each of the cards, I used a mini stencil from the Tim Holtz Mini Stencil Set 5 and my Vintage Photo Distress Ink blending brush, but without adding more ink so it was just a light touch on the white panel.

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...

... Meg Crawford!! Congratulations, Meg!!

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

Please claim the prize before May 1st, 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 ---> Amber

Tammy

Gaylynn

Kim

 Jane

Dawn

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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Over the Rainbow Background with Anna Girl ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend! 

I got inky again with some fun stamps that haven't seen ink! Love when I can do that! I played with the Over the Rainbow background stamp and Anna Girl for a fun rainbow filled love card.

I recorded most of my card making process for this one. I did forget to hit record when I stamped the background stamp on the ink smooshed background. Ooopsie! Anywho, the ink smooshed background was created with Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks. I stamped the Over the Rainbow background over the dried ink smooshed background with Black Amalgam ink. And then I die cut the ink smooshed background with the largest stitched die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}.

Anna Girl and the sentiment were also stamped with Black Amalgam ink. I did a mix of paper piecing and copic coloring for Anna Girl. The bottom portion of her dress is paper pieced and adhered using the Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue. Such a fun way to mix things up! I fussy cut Anna Girl leaving a skinny white border around her.

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

Skin: E000, E00, E11, E04

Hair: Y21, YR27, E25

Top of Dress: V000, V12, B91, B93

Jeans: B91, B93, B95, B97

Shoes: E21, E25

Hearts: R00, R20, R14, R46

I adhered the rainbow background to a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" card front of True Black card stock from Papertrey Ink that I adhered to an A2 top fold card base of Stampers Select White card stock also from Papertrey Ink. I adhered the trimmed sentiment to the bottom of the card and adhered Anna Girl grounding her with the sentiment. And then I finished off the card with a few black enamel dots from the Travelers Notebook Enamel Dots from Echo Park Paper Co.

You can check out my process for this card {or atleast most of it} here... Spread Love | Over the Rainbow Background with Anna Girl | Unity Stamp Co.

 That's it for me today! I hope you've found some inspiration for this wonderful combination of stamps. Have an ink-tastic day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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A Friend Like You ~ Merry Mingle ~ Unity Stamp Co.

Hello there crafty friend! 

The awesome sale over at Unity Stamp Co. continues with another HUGE release for the Black Friday Sale! Lots and lots more amazing goodies available. Including a new Angie Girl that I just HAD to play with called Merry Mingle!

Isn't she lovely?! I wanted a very simple CAS card so that Merry Mingle would be the focus of the card. I blended over the Star Confetti Stencil onto the front of my white A2 top fold card base using Mustard Seed and Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide inks.

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

Skin: E000, E00, E11

Hair: N0, N1, N3, N5

Dress: Y11, Y06, RV10, RV21

Heels: RV10, RV21

Gift: V000, V12, V15, V17, YG11, G14, Y11, Y06

I fussy cut Merry Mingle and colored the edges with a Memento Tuxedo Black marker making the edges look all nice and neat. I trimmed the sentiment and cut a fishtail on the end. I mat the sentiment with a piece of True Black card stock. I also found a strip of black card stock to ground Merry Mingle. I adhered the girl directly to the card for easy mailing. That's it for me today! Go check out the awesome new releases for Black Friday over at Unity! It's seriously another HUGE release friends! Lots and lots of fabulous new goodies!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity August 2023 Blog Hop ~

  Hello there crafty friend!

It's the first Saturday of August! Time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! 

This month's cue is a super fun one... Angie Girls! I love Angie Girls! My very first order at Unity was two Angie Girls... Dream of Being and Dream Girl. What was your first Angie Girl? I'd love to hear your answer in the comments if you have a second. I hope you'll hop along and enjoy some wonderful inspiration from our friends using their Angie Girl stamps from Unity Stamp Co. 

My collection may have started with just two Angie Girls, but now I have a whole slew of them! It was really hard to narrow it down what to use for the hop. I had lots of fun ideas and wanted to play with more, but alas, I only had time for two cards.

First up is the gorgeous Grace Girl... I don't know about you, but I am ready for Fall!! Oh boy... these hot days of summer are for the birds. I much prefer the cooler temps. 

 My card design was inspired by my current Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Sketch 14. Did you know I share sketches in my Tawny Owl Paperie Inky Inspiration Facebook group? I started sharing them to give an alternative design from the ones that I share in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook group. Of course, both sketch designs are fun to play with for any occasion. If you're interested in either of my sketch challenges check out the tabs at the top of my blog. 

Grace Girl was stamped with Black Amalgam ink and I Copic colored her using some similar colors pulled from the Autumn Dream {paper pack}. I used a few strips of the pattern paper I had in my paper pack. I did have to cut the triangles from a new sheet but otherwise this is a fun sketch for using up those paper scraps. I fussy cut Grace Girl leaving a bit of a white border.

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

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11, E04

Hair ~ E21, E99

Shirt / Hat / Jacket ~ BG000, BG70, BG72, BG75, YR0000, YR00, YR21, YR15, YR27

Pants ~ C00, C1, C3

Boots ~ E55, E57, E59

Leaves / Ground ~ E55, YR15, YR21, G24

The sentiment was stamped on white card stock and die cut using one of the dies from the Banner Nesting Dies from Unity. Not sure if these are still available... they were included with one of the past Whit Kit's. I adhered the sentiment to Grace Girl and then added a bunch of foam tape behind them both and popped them up on the card. This card just oozes Fall... love it!

My second card features a new release... the adorable Spooky Spirits and I paired it up with my favorite witch... Esmerelda Girl. I've made a couple cards using Esmerelda Girl in the past. If you're interested in seeing them, you can check them out here... You Say Witch card and Resting Witch Face card and Happy Halloween card. Can you tell she's one of my favorites? 

I had a blast coloring up this combo of stamps. I just envision Esmerelda preparing a yummy drink for her witch friends. It kinda looks like she's dipping that spider in there. Hee hee. Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11, E04

Hair ~ E70, E74, E79

Hat / Dress ~ BV0000, BV31, BV34, BV17, V12, V17, YG11, G02, YR15, YR68

Spooky Glass ~ YG0000, YG21, YR15, YR68

Spooky Drink ~ YG11, G02

Eyeballs ~ C00, C1, C3, V12, V17

Spider ~ V17

Broom ~ E51, E55, E57

Ground ~ N0, N1, N3

Let's talk about the scalloped edge... I made this panel awhile ago. I was fiddling around with a technique idea for Technique Tuesday. I didn't really like how this turned out in the moment so I set it aside in my To Be Used Later - Maybe - Storage Bin. I do remember that I used Violet, Yellow, Orange and Pthalo Green Color Bursts. I played with the pigment powders on Canson XL watercolor paper. When it was almost dry... still a tad damp, I ran it through my Big Shot with an embossing folder. Now which embossing folder - I can't remember - and since I moved my studio a couple of weeks ago I haven't found my embossing folders. SO... I'm really not sure what I used. It kind of looks like a plaid embossing folder, maybe. Wasn't there one in a past Whit Kit? It may have been that one. 

I used the Stitched Scallop Basic Edge die from My Favorite Things to cut the edge and adhered it to my 5 x 5" panel that I ended up trimming down to 4-7/8 x 4-7/8". I adhered the panel to a True Black 5 x 5" card front and then adhered that to a 10 x 5" white card base that I scored at 5". To finish off the card, I added a bunch of glossy accents to the glass. It looks so fun in person. Love it!

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...

... Cat Valdez!! Congratulations Cat!!

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

Prize must be claimed within two weeks. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I'm so excited to hop and check out all the pretty creations shared by our friends!! I can't wait to see which Angie Girls they all used for their creations. 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 ---> Jane

Bobbie Sue

April

Gaylynn

Dawn

Colleen

Rachel

Amber

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity July 2023 Blog Hop ~

 Hello there crafty friend!

It's the first Saturday of July which means it's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! 

This month's cue is a bit of a challenge for me. It's not a medium that I use too often though I have been trying to play around with it each month. It's a short hop this month with just seven of us hopping... I hope you'll hop along and enjoy some wonderful inspiration from our friends. 

Now, onto our cue this month... 

... Watercolor. As I mentioned above, this is not my go-to medium. I do have fun watercoloring when I play but I'm much more comfortable with my Copic markers. I did manage to create three cards to share so let's get to it...

First up is the super cute Shoreline Friendship that just released!! I can't help but love this trio of ladies. So fun to color them up with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I used Canson XL 140lb water color paper for all of my cards. I struggled with the skin tone on the middle gal. I wanted her a bit darker and it took a few tries to get her to where I was happy. 

I paired up these fabulous friends with the Watercolor Stripes {paper pack}. I'll be honest, I was very tempted to just Copic color the gals and say the papers were my 'watercolor' element for this card. LOL! But I had to take the challenge and do a bit of watercoloring. 

You can check out my process video here... Watercoloring with ZIGs | Shoreline Friendship |
 Unity Stamp Co.

I trimmed the watercolored friends and mat the panel with Summer Sunrise card stock from Papertrey Ink. I die cut a piece of Orange Zest card stock from Papertrey Ink using a square die from the Scallops & Squares {nesting dies} from Unity. I also die cut the orange watercolor pattern paper using the largest rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. I wrapped the rectangle layer with some white and orange twine from my stash and also made a cute little bow. I adhered my layers together, popping up the watercolored panel on the card with foam tape. I adhered the little bow with a glue dot finishing off the card.

My second card also features a new release... I LOVE butterflies!! I can't help but love when Unity releases new butterflies! I couldn't wait to play with these beautiful butterflies from the Paper Wings stamps. So delicate and beautiful!!

Last month, I actually played with watercolors and I had fun creating a background using my ZIGs so I thought I'd give it a try again for this month's Watercolor cue. I absolutely love the texture in the watercolors... such a fun surprise how they dried.

You can check out my process video here... Quick Watercolor Wash Background | Paper Wings | Unity Stamp Co. 

The watercolor wash background was die cut using the same large rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} that I used on my first card. It's a must have die set friends!! The butterflies were fussy cut on the line and I forgot to color up the edges with my black marker so they are a little rough around the edges. I do love how this turned out though!

And my third card... Unity has a few really beautiful Watercolor paper packs. The gorgeous Watercolor Winter {paper pack} that released last year is a favorite of mine so I just had to pull it out and make a holiday card. Y'all know I love Christmas cards!! I paired up the Watercolor Winter 6x6 {paper pack} with the super sweet Brightly Shining Itty Bitty stamp. I thought it would be fun to challenge our friends to ink up a stamp from their stash that hadn't seen ink yet and I've had this sweet stamp in my stash for a really long time and I'm 95% sure I haven't used it before. LOL! But now I have!

I found that the Persian Green and Emerald Green ZIGs combined to make a very similar green to the papers. And I used the Bright Yellow ZIG for the star. I did a bit of a watercolor wash on the Canson XL 140lb watercolor paper using the greens. I then stamped the tree coloring the words with the green ZIG markers and then the star with the yellow ZIG marker. I then used a water pen to outline around the tree and dabbed up some of the pigment with a paper towel. I did this a few times until it left the tree outline for the stamp.

The background layer is die cut using the largest rectangle die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. It's mat with a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" piece of Tranquil Tide card stock from Stampin' Up. The trees paper was just a scrap from my paper pack. It measures 2-1/8 x 5-1/2" and the Tranquil Tide mat measures 2-1/4 x 5-1/2". I die cut the watercolor stamped tree using a circle die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. I also die cut a mat from Tranquil Tide card stock using the next largest die in the die set. All the layers are adhered together and then adhered to a white A2 top fold card base. I kept it pretty flat considering how many layers it has on it so it'll be easy to mail.

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...

... Laurie2cats!! Congratulations Laurie!!

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

Prize must be claimed within two weeks. 

Well, that's it for me this time! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I'm so excited to hop and check out all the pretty creations shared by our friends!! I can't wait to see the watercolor projects our friends have made to share with us. 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 ---> Tammy

Jane

Gaylynn

Dawn

Rachel

Amber

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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Thanks Dad ~ The Very Best Guy ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I have a super quick masculine card to share today. I've used the wonderful new sentiment stamps for the guys called The Very Best Guy from Unity Stamp Co.!! These stamps are perfect for Father's Day or really any day.

I paired up the sentiment with the Roger Guy stamp and the Classic Garage papers from Stampin' Up. I also used a couple black and white washi tapes I think that were from Stampin' Up, but I really don't know. They are just in my stash of washi tapes.

I went with some color for 'Roger' so that he would contrast on the card. Also my husband, who used to wear black all the time, has started to wear more color so I thought I'd put him in a different shirt. Here's a quick list of the Copic markers I used to color up Roger Guy:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11, E04

Shirt ~ YG11, BG72, BG75, Colorless Blender

Jeans ~ B91, B95, B97, B99

Watch / Ring ~ N0, N2, N4, N6

Outline ~ N0, N1

Notice the cute heart...?! Well, I used the awesome new Linen Background of the Month stamp and die cut an ink smooshed background with the Fall Out Hearts {background die}. I started my card for next week's Membership Wednesday... heehee... you'll see more of these cute textured hearts next week!! In the meantime, head over to Unity and check out the amazing new releases and the fab sale going on right now!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky hugs,

Crystal

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New Sassy Girl Card ~ Totally Have This {Sassy Girl} ~ Unity Stamp Co.

 Hello there crafty friend!

I'm so excited to share my {Sassy Girl} card today using the amazing new Totally Have This {Sassy Girl} stamp from Unity Stamp Co. Angie Blom is starting a new line of {Sassy Girl} stamps at Unity and I am SO excited!!! Isn't she just darling?!

I paired her up with some papers I've had in my stash for a while called My Bright Life designed by Jen Hadfield for American Crafts. I thought they were so pretty and complimented the flowers in our sassy girl's hair.

I stamped the Totally Have This {Sassy Girl} and this awesome sentiment with Black Amalgam ink from Gina K. Designs and colored the sassy girl up with the following Copic markers:

Skin ~ E000, E00, E11, E04, R20

Lips ~ RV10, RV21

Hair ~ E21, E23, E27

Flowers ~ R000, RV10, RV14, YG11, YG23, G14, YG21

Glasses ~ YG21, YG01, YG93

Necklace ~ YG21, YG01, YG93, RV10, RV21, RV14

Clothes ~ RV00, RV10, RV21, RV14, YG21, YG01, YG93

Outline ~ C00, C1

I die cut the colored sassy girl with a circle die from the Big and Little Pierced Chain Circle dies from Gina Marie Designs. I trimmed off the left side so it fits right against that pink scalloped paper. I trimmed the floral paper to 2-15/16 x 5-1/2". I adhered it to a white A2 top fold card base cut from Stampers Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink. I trimmed the pink paper to approximately 1" in width and then used my scallop punch from Stampin' Up to punch the scallops along the side. Not sure if that punch is still available... I've had it forever. Now, I adhered it to the card right up against that floral paper but some how it was crooked!! And it was stuck... so I cut another piece of pink paper slightly larger and punched the scallops on the side and then adhered it over the bottom layer covering up my mistake. This actually gave me that extra layer on the left side so that the focal piece would line up right against the edge. 

To finish off the card, I added a few glitter enamel dots... I believe they are from Gina Marie Designs, but they were loose with no packaging so I'm not totally sure. Go check out the amazing Mega Summer Warehouse sale going on over at Unity... lots of new releases and an amazing sale!!! 

Well, that's it for me today! I will be back on Friday with my first card for the Christmas in July 2022 {BYSHC} Linky Party!! I hope you'll stop by to see and maybe even join us in building your stash of holiday cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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