~ Friends of Unity April 2025 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is a whole bunch of fun... Use All Scraps!! 

 As you may know, I've been trying to use up my scrap papers in an effort to make room for new papers that I've already bought. LOL! It's been a huge task and I'm making very slow progress. But I'm loving this month's cue because I have lots of scraps and bits to use. 

First up is a fun birthday card I created with scraps I had in my bin. I had stamped this background using sentiments from the Cheers & Confetti stamps. I had already die cut it using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}.

It was just plain black & white so I thought I'd jazz it up and ink smooshed it with Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. I dried it completely with a heat tool and adhered it to a black A2 top fold card base. 

I also had the puppy panel in my bin. I had stamped the sentiment along with the pup from the Pawsome Peepers with Black Amalgam ink. I left the panel black and white but I did add some shadow to the pup with Copic markers: C00 and C2. Love how quick this 'scrap bin' card came together!

Next up is a card inspired by my favorite Disney princess... Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I recently re-watched the live action version of this movie. I just love it! I was tickled to find this panel in my bin so I colored it up with Copic markers and made it into a card. This gorgeous stamp is called Enchanted Petals.

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

Greens: YG11, YG03, G94

Yellows: Y11, Y15

Blues: B0000, B000, B00, B02

Reds: R20, R14, R27

The panel was already die cut using a die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. I trimmed up the sentiment and adhered it across the panel. And then I wrapped the panel with three strands of black burlap string and I tied a pretty bow. I covered the back of the panel with foam tape leaving a little space for the string. And then I popped it up on a black A2 top fold card base. So enchanting!!

My third card features a fun ink smooshed background that I made awhile ago. I'm actually not sure what colors I used for it. I usually write the colors on the back if I don't use the panel but I didn't for this one. My guess would be Twisted Citron, Black Soot and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide inks on a piece of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Card Stock.

I love the textures in the watercolor card stock. The background is spattered with white acrylic paint that I thinned out a tiny bit with a spritz of water. I purposely chose a busy background to pair up with this fun bee and sentiment from the new Furious Farmyard. 

I colored the bee with YG21 and Y06. I die cut the bee and a mat using plain circle dies from my stash. I trimmed the sentiment and added foam tape to the sentiment and circle and popped them both up on the card. Do you have any fun backgrounds in your scraps stash? Pull it out and use it for a fun card! Double Dare You!! LOL!

I just HAD to play with more critters from the Furious Farmyard stamps for my last card!! I love all of their hilarious faces! I stamped the chicken, pig and cow and colored them up with my Copic markers.

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

Chicken: E21, E23, E25, YR15, YR27, R20, R14, C00, C2

Pig: RV10, RV11, R00, R20, C00, C2

Cow: C00, C2, C3, R00, R20, E51

Ground: YG91, YG63

Sky: B0000, B00

 My scraps for this card were the fun papers and the ribbon. The gingham paper is from Barnyard Bouquet {paper pack}. I had die cut it using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. The background paper is from the Jubilant Tapestry {paper pack}. The colors in these papers work so nicely together! It was like it was meant to be and this whole time they were sitting together in my scraps. Score!

I die cut the Furious Farmyard critters using a die from the Make a Tag {die set}. There was a scrap of pattern paper in the Jubilant Tapestry {paper pack} that was die cut using a die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. I trimmed the circle and folded it over the top of the tag adhering it with glue. I popped up the focal tag panel on the card with foam tape and finished it off with a pretty bow from my scraps. This was such a fun card to make! I hope you're inspired to pull out some scraps and make a sweet card or two, or three. LOL!

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 from Arizona! Congratulations, Carla!!

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

Please claim the prize before April 30th, 2025. 

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

Amber

Jane

Jenni

Toni

Joyce

Rachel

Dawn

Thanks so very much for loving and commenting on our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

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~ Friends of Unity March 2025 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is one of my favorite things...! 

... a fun SKETCH! And it's doubly fun because it's also a Sketch Challenge! The Friends of Unity are hosting a fun sketch challenge in the Unity Show & Tell. Wait. It get's better!! There's prizes!! Two $25 gift cards to Unity are up for grabs! All you have to do is make a card or project inspired by the Friends of Unity Sketch above and enter it into the ALBUM in the Unity Show & Tell. You can enter as many cards as you like! Yay! I can't wait to see what you all make!

I was inspired to pull out the Grit & Grace {paper pack} and I paired it up with the gorgeous lilies from the Lily Notes stamps. On a side note, this gorgeous stamp is also available as a bundle with a fab stencil... Lily Notes {stamp & stencil bundle}.

I pulled out three different pattern papers from the Grit & Grace {paper pack}. I adhered my bottom layer to a Kraft A2 top fold card base. Next I trimmed a piece of Kraft card stock down to 4 x 5-1/4". I trimmed my lightest pattern paper to 3-3/4 x 5" and mat it with the Kraft layer. And then I trimmed my top layer of pattern paper to 3-1/4 x 4-1/2". 

I stamped the lilies next. I actually stamped them twice though that probably wasn't necessary. I stamped them on white card stock and die cut them using a die from the Scallops & Circles {nesting dies}. I then colored the other ones using the following Copic markers: RV10, RV02, R14, Y15, YG11, YG03. I fussy cut the lilies and colored the edges of the cutting with a black marker. I then adhered them to the circle layer. I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment. I added foam tape to the back of both and popped them up on the card. And then I finished it off with a few black enamel dots.

 My second card is very simple. I wanted to play with one of the Coffee To-Go Ephemera pieces. I fussy cut it leaving a thin white border around the edges. And then I got stuck... LOL! I had to go looking through my papers to find something that would work with these colors.

The colors in the Pretty Polka's {paper pack} coordinate very nicely with the colors in this cup. So I trimmed the pink paper down to 5-1/4 x 4" and adhered it to a Kraft A2 top fold card base that I turned on the side for a landscape card. I was going to just cut the green paper like I did for the first card, but got to thinking I could use a die. So I pulled out the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies} and die cut the paper. My Kraft mat for this layer measures 4-1/4 x 3-1/8". I wrapped the layer with {Ivory} May Arts Burlap String and then popped up the green layer with foam tape.

I also popped up the cup on this card... this one probably won't be going in the mail! LOL! I heat embossed the sentiment using white pigment ink, white embossing powder and a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. Such a simple, but lovely card. I kept going back and forth on adding something to the sleeve on the cup. What do you think? Maybe I'll add a heart? I don't know.

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...

... Karen Adams!! Congratulations, Karen!!

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

Please claim the prize before April 2nd, 2025. 

Well, that's it for me! Please hop along and enjoy some more inspiration from the Friends of Unity! I can't wait to see how our friends were inspired this month. 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 ---> Doreen

Jane

Kari

Toni

Jenni

Dawn

Rachel

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.}

~ Friends of Unity February 2025 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is super fun!

It's Monochromatic. I love this cue! 

We've done it once or twice now and I love seeing the variation in creations.

First up, I'm sharing the ATCs that I made for last month's Unity Lovers ATC swap. I ink smooshed 14 ATC panels of Stampers Select White card stock from Papertrey Ink measuring 2-1/2 x 3-1/2" using Black Soot Distress Ink leaving some white space. I then spattered the panel with Apple Barrel Black Acrylic Paint thinned with just a spritz or two of water. Once the panels were all dry, I die cut them using a fun ATC Layers die from Waffle Flower.

I stamped the adorable owl from the Cozy Vibes Owl stamps multiple times in my Stamp Platform with Black Amalgam ink. I didn't color them at all, just left them black and white. These stamps have so much detail you really don't need to color them. I fussy cut them leaving a tiny border around the edges. I adhered all of my layers to a 2-1/2 x 3-1/2" ATC panel of True Black card stock from Papertrey Ink. These took some time because of how many there were to make, but I really love how they turned out. 

You may have seen the cards I shared last Wednesday for Membership Wednesday using the Damask Grunge Background of the Month stamp from January 2025 along with the December 2024 Faded Roses BOM. I was on a roll and couldn't stop so I also stamped the background using Lost Shadow Distress Ink with the Damask Grunge BOM and Black Soot Distress Ink with the Faded Roses BOM. The sentiment is from the Extended Celebration {Front & Center Stamps}. I heat embossed it with white pigment ink, white embossing powder, and melted it with a heat tool. The background panels were die cut using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}.

 For my last card I ink smooshed the right side of a Stampers Select White card front panel measuring 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. The left side of the card is white {though in the photo it has a blue tinge - no clue}.

I dried the panel completely with my heat tool. And then I stamped the gorgeous butterfly from the February 2024 Kit of the Month called Grace and More Grace using Mermaid Lagoon and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. I stamped it twice with Mermaid Lagoon for nice coverage and then one time with Peacock Feathers to give it a bit of that teal look more than a dark blue.

I did the same thing with the fun sentiment from the January 2025 Kit of the Month called Kinda Made for Each Other. I trimmed the panel cutting 1/16" off each side so the butterfly would stay center so now it measures 4-1/8 x 5-3/8". I adhered it to a white A2 top fold card base. I finished off the card with a few raindrop embellishments from my stash. I love how this one turned out! I'm determined to send out more cards this year. I always have good intentions but time seems to slip by and I forget about it. No more! I'm going to send out those paper hugs! And this will be one of them. It was such a super quick card too!

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...

... Linda Abel!! Congratulations, Linda!!

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

Please claim the prize before February 26th, 2025. 

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 wonder how many went with black & white or if we'll see more colors! 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

Jenni

April

Toni

Rachel

 Amber

Dawn

Doreen

Joyce

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.}

~ Friends of Unity January 2025 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is really fun! But before we get to that we have a new friend joining us... please stop by Doreen Guilfoyle's blog and be sure to give her a great big welcome! I am super excited to have Doreen join our team! Woohoo!!

This month's cue is Use Old Stuff from Your Stash! I have to admit that after 26 years of cardmaking I have quite the stash. Sometimes I wish I could go back to simpler days when my set up was just a tiny nook off of our kitchen. 

I actually found a photo! Here's the left side of the nook.

And the right side of the nook. I had two desks and it was so easy to keep this space clean. Now I'm in a bedroom and it's unorganized and a disaster. Not complaining about my space, at all! I'm blessed beyond... but I sure wish it was finally organized and neat. I think this year my goal is to do just that. I'll try to keep you all updated as I go. Maybe I'll even do a blog post and/or video. That would help me be accountable for sure. We'll see! Anywho... I've gone way off track here. Back to your regular broadcasting... :)

I remember why I went off on that tangent. All the stuff I have!! I went looking through my paper. I have a lot of old Stampin' Up papers that I never touch anymore. I thought I'd pick out a paper and make a card. Somehow it turned into 5 cards! LOL!

I absolutely love butterflies so I was immediately drawn to the Botanical Butterfly DSP. I used both sides of the papers for these 3 cards. The butterfly papers are die cut using the largest die from the Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. And then I got to looking through my SMAK and KOM kits. I saw this cute ticket in the November 2012 Kit of the Month called So Into You. I thought it would be fun to add a sentiment to it. Of course, then I had to go looking for a sentiment. I found the Happy stamps and boom! That was that. The sentiment was stamped with Wilted Violet Distress Ink. I colored the edges of the tickets and the hearts with Copic markers: R00, R20, R43.

Same story for these... once I got started I thought I'd make a couple more. So many fun butterfly papers in that pack. I used the same Wilted Violet Distress ink for the sentiments. I colored the edge and hearts of the tickets with V000, V12, V15 Copic markers. I didn't pop anything up or add any bling. Keeping them flat and light for easy mailing! These were easy peasy and fun.

 Using old stuff for me also means those panels you started and set aside for a later time. Well, I got to looking through mine and found this fun panel I've made over time. I ink smooshed the background when I made a couple rainbow ink smooshing cards.

I found the video. If you watch the first few minutes, you can see I make the two panels for the birthday cards but I also make a third panel with the leftover ink. That third panel I used for my birthday snail card. So I used Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks for the ink smooshed background.

And then in September I was experimenting with Transfer Gel DUO and tried out some spatters on this panel before I made the card I shared on my blog and YouTube. I used some Transfer Gel DUO to spatter and then foiled with Silver Shattered Glass Deco Foil. I die cut the panel using the largest die from the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Dies.

Here's the video of my other card if you're interested in seeing how I made the spatters. It's a SUPER fun and easy technique with awesome results!

This fun background needed a great stamp and I had been wanting to ink up the sweet snail and mushroom from the May 2017 Sentiment Kit Happy Snail Mail. Darn it! It's retired! Such a shame. Hopefully you have it in your stash. It has so many great sentiments and, of course, the adorable snail and mushroom. Anywho, I stamped it with Black Amalgam ink, Copic colored it and then fussy cut it on the line. I colored the edge of the fussy cutting to make it all nice and neat and then I stamped the sentiments. I trimmed them up and adhered the one to the mushroom and then I added a bunch of foam tape to the back of both sentiment and the mushroom/snail and popped them up on the black card base.

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

Snail: BV11, N2, N4, N6

Snail Shell: BV11, BV34, BV25, BV29, YR000, YR21, YR12

Mushroom: R00, R20, R14, R37, R59, C00, C2, W00, W1, W3

Grass: YG11, YG23, YG67

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... {we had internet issues while I was picking and I wasn't able to save the random dot org number but it was #23}.

... Becca Yahrling!! Congratulations, Becca!!

Email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com to claim your prize. 

Please claim the prize before January 29th, 2025. 

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 what kind of old stuff our friends played with for this month's hop. 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

Jane

Dawn

April

Toni

Jenni

Joyce

Rachel

Doreen

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.}

~ Friends of Unity December 2024 Blog Hop ~

Hello there crafty friend!

It's time for our Friends of Unity Blog Hop!! This month's cue is super fun! I hope you'll hop along with us and enjoy some wonderful inspiration from our friends! But today is not just a regular monthly blog hop... it's our 7th Anniversary of hopping!! How amazing is that?! 7 years has gone by in a flash!! The FOU has shared so many wonderful cards and projects over the last 7 years and we've added and sadly, said goodbye to some of our friends. I'm so very grateful to my friends that help make this hop amazing each month and I'm also very grateful to the friends that come and hop along with us each month. All your love and comments each month means so much to us. Thank you all so much! We appreciate each of you!

This month's cue is Winter Wonderland! 

For me winter wonderland means snowflakes. I love snowflake stamps! And one of my first snowflake stamps from Unity was the Magical {bliss and wonder} Layers of Life stamps. Still a favorite of mine!

I ink smooshed the Kraft card stock using Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Picket Fence Distress Inks. I dried the background completely with a Wagner Precision Heat Tool. And then I prepped the card stock for heat embossing with the TE Anti-Static Powder Tool. I stamped the snowflakes and sentiment using Picket Fence Distress Ink and then I sprinkled the wet ink with Alabaster White Embossing Powder. I melted the powder with the heat tool.  

I die cut the background and a piece of Kraft card stock using dies from the BIG Scallops & Rectangles {nesting dies}. I adhered all my layers onto a white A2 top fold card base that I turned on the side for a landscape card. I finished off the card with some confetti from the White Glossy Card Bling from A Colorful Life Designs.

I love the magic and wonder of snow! It's so beautiful and I love to watch it when it just starts snowing. I tried to bring that magic and wonder through my second card. Not sure if I succeeded, but I definitely like how it turned out. To start I traced the inner circle of the Moon {layering stencil} on a piece of {Easy Peel} Masking Paper from Unity with a pencil. I cut out the circle mask, pulled off the backing and placed it on my white card front.

 Commence the inky fun... heehee... I ink smooshed the panel with Stormy Sky, Pine Needles, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. I then blended some Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Inks over the white areas of the panel. I distressed the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress Ink and I ink smooshed just a little Picket Fence Distress Ink too to finish it off. It was a whole bunch of inky fun!

I dried the background completely with a heat tool. And then I added some white acrylic paint spatters. I removed the mask from the 'moon' and blended very lightly over the crater shadows stencil from the Moon {layering stencil} with my black blending brush. I didn't add any ink to the brush though and I kept it very light. In fact, I cleaned off my brush by wiping it off on a microfiber cloth to make sure it wasn't saturated with ink. I used the moon stencil to add just a tiny bit of yellow around the edges of the moon. Again, not adding any ink to my yellow brush. 

Once I was happy with the moon, I stamped the beautiful trees and the sentiment from the Search for those Moments stamps. This is another lovely Layers of Life stamp. I love it! I stamped both of these with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink. Love how this turned out!

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...

... Laurie Black!! Congratulations, Laurie!!

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

Please claim the prize before January 1st, 2025. 

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

Kari

Toni

Jenni

Rachel

Joyce

Dawn

Thanks so very much for supporting our little hop!

We appreciate you so much!!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

{Please note that comment moderation is ON. Your comment will appear shortly.}