~ Growing in Unity Winners ~

Hello there crafty friends!!

I wanted to share the winners from my Growing in Unity week... but before I do, thank you all so much for an amazing week!! I truly feel blessed by all of your sweet comments!

And the winners are...

Random.org chose Day 3...

and comment #51...

Congratulations, Rachel Duong!!

Random.org chose Day 1...

and comment #11...

Congratulations, Mary Brown!!

Rachel and Mary, please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com with your mailing addresses to claim your prize!! You have two weeks to claim your prize.

I mentioned a few times that this or that card was my favorite and really it's hard to choose when it comes to the cards you've created, but I wanted to share my all time favorite for my week.

I honestly have a couple favorites but this one right here was THE card I had in my head for the longest time just waiting for my GIU week. And it took me three tries to get it just right! When you work that hard on a card... it gets a special place in your heart! So this sweet bunny soaring through those galaxy clouds is my favorite! Do you have a favorite?! I'd love to hear your favorite.

Thanks again for a fabulous week and for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

~ Growing in Unity Winners ~

Hello! I wanted to share the winners I've randomly picked for my Growing in Unity week. Thank you so much to all the wonderful people who checked out my blog all week and left me the sweetest comments! You made my week amazing!! On to the winners...

Random.org chose Day 3...

and comment #30... Congratulations Karen Adams!!

Random.org chose Day 1...

and comment #32... Congratulations Denise Bryant!!

Karen and Denise, please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com with your mailing addresses to claim your prize of a grab bag of 25 fabulous deeply etched red rubber stamps!! You have two weeks to claim your prize.

I mentioned a few times that this or that card was my favorite and really it's hard to choose when it comes to the cards you've created, but I wanted to share my all time favorite for my week.

Why is this my favorite? Well, honestly, because I struggled with this one the most. I started with my color combination and really wasn't sure how the design would go... but it turned out way better than I could have hoped for... so this lovely card is my favorite. I do adore this Emerson Girl stamp!! Which one was your favorite? I'd love to hear... just leave me a comment if you have a minute.

Thanks again for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Growing in Unity ~ Day Five ~ Alcohol Lift-Ink

Hello! I can't believe that it's my last day being the Growing in Unity gal... I'm so bummed, but I'm really excited to share my fifth Source of Inspiration... Technique!

There are so many techniques out there to try in our paper crafting world. 

Most recently Tim Holtz released a new fun ink called Alcohol Lift-Ink that can literally lift the ink from a background piece created using alcohol ink on Yupo card stock AND you can then stamp on regular card stock transferring that ink from the stamped background. (I hope that makes sense. For more details do a search for Alcohol Lift-Ink on YouTube. Tim Holtz shares a wonderful tutorial on how to use this ink). Let's check out what I created, shall we?!

I have to admit, I'm new to alcohol inks... but I've found them very forgiving. What I mean by that is, if you don't like how your background is going you can literally paint some rubbing alcohol over it and just basically start over. In fact, I did this with this piece. The background wasn't flowing how I wanted... it was more splotchy and really not the direction I wanted it to go. So I got my paint brush and my jar of rubbing alcohol and painted all over the piece. I blended the colors of the alcohol ink and really just softened it. From there I was able to add more alcohol ink and using a blending tool with the mini applicator felts I could move the ink around the way I wanted.

For this background, I used Turquoise, Willow, and Butterscotch Alcohol Inks with some Mixative Copper. Now, for the fun Alcohol Lift-Ink technique... I stamped the gorgeous background stamp from the Everlasting Romance set using the Alcohol Lift-Ink and then stamped it again on white card stock. I set the white card stock aside for my second card and dabbed my alcohol ink background with a paper towel. Once I had dabbed it enough so that the ink didn't appear wet, I gently rubbed the background with the paper towel. This process really makes the stamped image pop. I then stamped a portion of the sentiment from the He Will Sustain You stamp set by masking it off. 

While learning how to do this technique, I saw a video by Jennifer McGuire where she cut the background piece similar to this. I loved how it looked but found that a white card base didn't work for this background, but copper did! Before I adhered this to my copper card stock... I pulled out the heart stamps from the God's Sight set. I laid out the background pieces on my mat similar to how they would be on the card and then stamped them with a gold ink (I don't have a copper ink, sadly.)... almost making the hearts look broken. 

I die cut a stitched rectangle piece of Tonic Pearlescent Card - Cosmic Copper and adhered my cut pieces of my background leaving a bit of space in between for the copper card stock to peek through. I wrapped the panel several times with copper metallic thread that I adhered on the back using scotch tape. I then punched a hole and added an antique brad from my stash. I popped up the whole panel using foam tape and adhered it to a Vintage Cream card base. In the picture above, you can see some of the detail in the background and also the hearts that I had stamped. That's it for my first card using this technique. Now onto card number two...

I wanted this card to be more simple... I started with the white card stock piece from the Alcohol Lift-Ink technique. Isn't that just beautiful?! I really loved how it turned out, but I wanted to also use the other stamps in the God's Sight stamp set. I stamped the girl using Old Paper distress ink and then I stamped the sentiment using Gina K's Black Amalgam ink.

I added a few drops of Nuvo Silver Lining drops... sadly one of my drops got messed up a bit, but I think it still turned out lovely overall. 

I had so much fun creating each and every card for you all this week. I sure hope that you've enjoyed my creations this week and that maybe I've helped you find more Sources of Inspiration.

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! You'll have until Sunday to comment on each post and then I'll pick two winners on Monday.

You can check out my other GIU days:

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Growing in Unity ~ Day Four ~ Happy Birthday

Hello! Welcome to Day Four of my Growing in Unity week!

Today, I'm sharing my fourth Source of Inspiration... CASEing. If you're not familiar with this term CASE a crafty acronym for Copy And Share Everything ~ basically it means you copy aspects of a card, like the colors, the design or the product and make your own card based on that. 

For today's card, I CASEd a lovely project made by Unity's Design Team member, Amanda Garrett. Amanda jazzed up some pretty kraft envelopes by stamping on the flap of the envelope and coloring it in. I thought... that would be gorgeous on a card!

I stamped the Border of Magnolias stamp on a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" piece of Kraft card stock. On that same piece I stamped the Border of Orchids stamp. I stamped both with VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed a fine white embossing powder.

I colored the flowers using the same Prismacolor pencils. I started with the darkest purple, added some pink and then blended them together with a white pencil. I loved the way the white pencil pulled the purple and pink up into the petal. It's really gorgeous in person. And on a side note, for some reason the colors in the pictures here are a bit distorted. The kraft is really lighter than it appears here. I blended an olive green and a brown pencil for the stem (it's really not as dark as the picture makes it look).

And then for my Border of Orchids card, I did the same. I used the dark purple pencil to make the spots for the orchid. I added a touch of the pink on the spots and then I blended those colors with a white pencil. I went back in with some more purple and pink here and there to darken it up. I really love how this turned out!

Once the flowers were colored, I die cut them using first a stitched rectangle die that was just a little smaller than a card front. I then die cut the center of the panel using a Stitched Scallop Basic Edge die. I stamped the sentiment from the Let Your Wishes Fly sentiment kit directly on the kraft card base using VersaMark ink and heat set a fine white embossing powder. I popped up the flower pieces using foam tape and there you have my CASEd cards! Thank you for the inspiration, Amanda!

The Unity Design Team is a fabulous source of inspiration! As is, the very talented Unity customers that share in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group. If you're not a member of the group, I really recommend joining... there's always fabulous creations being shared!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! 

You can check out my other GIU days:

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Come back tomorrow for my final Source of Inspiration post!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Growing in Unity ~ Day Two ~ Be Merry

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of my Growing in Unity week!

My next Source of Inspiration is Color! Now for today's post I decided to go with Non-Traditional Christmas Colors. I received a wonderful gift last year from a friend that included card stock samples for Papertrey Ink card stock, so I pulled those little sample cards out to decide on my color combos. I had so much fun combining color combos that I got a little carried away and made four cards to share today. So grab a cuppa and let's get to it!

My first card using Unity's Christmas Magic stamp set has Aqua Mist, Olive Twist, Pure Poppy (Red), and my favorite... Kraft. For the main image I used the following Copic markers ~ R14, R27, Y000, Y06, Y13, YG93, YG95, YG97, N0, N3, N5, N8, E41, BG11, BG32. I stamped the sentiment with Memento tuxedo black ink and then mat the focal image on a piece of Aqua Mist card stock. I wrapped it a few times with a red and white twine... tied it off with a bow. I then popped up the panel onto a Kraft card base using dimensionals.

Here's a closer look... showing the glossy accents on the little Christmas lights in the wreath and the windows on the truck. I even put some on the brake lights. There's some clear wink of stella on the red bow and my final touch for this card was some red enamel dots.

I absolutely had to share this new wintry Angie Girl called Emerson Girl... isn't she beautiful. Now for this card I went with a color combo of Pinefeather, New Leaf, Green Parakeet, and Amethyst Allure. I love how this one turned out! I colored Emerson using the following Copic markers ~ R20, E000, E000, E00, E23, E25, E29, E79, N0, N1, G17, G29, V0000, V12, V15, V17. I mat the main panel on a piece of Amethyst Allure card stock and set it aside. When color is your inspiration sometimes it's a challenge to find the right coordinating items... and I got a little nervous trying to find the right papers for this card. Luckily for me, I'm a bit of a paper hoarder so I found these great papers with greens that work perfectly... it's from The Paper Studio and it's called 12 Days of Christmas. I adhered all of my layers to a Pinefeather card base. I wrapped some purple baker's twine around the last layer of green. I then popped up Emerson on the card and decided to not add a sentiment since the background paper says Merry Christmas. My final touch for this card was some clear wink of stella in the hat and scarf... sadly the picture doesn't show that. 

My next card features this gorgeous stamp set by Tierra Jackson called Cozy Mitts. Now for this card, I wanted a rich color palette with a pop of pink... so I went with Raspberry Fizz, Royal Velvet, Plum Pudding, and Enchanted Evening. I colored the main image using the following Copic markers ~ G17, G29, V04, V06, V09, RV17, R30, E25, E74. I also added some gold accents to the tips of the pine cone using a Uniball gold pen. For the sentiment, I decided to mask it off and just stamp the word Cozy. I stamped the entire sentiment on the inside of the card (no picture ~ sorry) on a white panel that I adhered inside. I found these beautiful wood panel with music notes papers in my stash... they're from The Paper Studio and they're called Pine St. Square. I adhered my layers to an Enchanted Evening card base, also adding a few brads and that finished off card number three.

My final card you may recognize from my entry into the Interactive Card Challenge in the Unity Show & Tell Facebook group. I used a few different stamp sets for this card, starting with the Days a Little Off set that has this sweet snowman. My color combo for this card is Sweet Blush, New Leaf, Berry Sorbet, and Weathervane. I started with a Weathervane card base that I cut the scalloped square window from. I stamped the snowman on a piece of white card stock and then colored it in with the following Copic markers ~ N0, N3, R00, R01, R05, R12, R22, B0000, B000, Yg23, YG25, E35, E57. I then adhered it on the inside of the card so the snowman peeked through the window. I die cut the Merry Christmas sentiment out of white and Berry Sorbet card stock. I adhered them together leaving a bit of the white peeking out. I die cut the holly and berries, sponged a little color on the edges, and then popped them up on the front of the card.

That white panel left from the peeking snowman was not pretty since the Copic markers bled through, but I just covered that up with a piece of Weathervane card stock that I had stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from the Cheerful Prancing sentiment kit.

And now for the Shadow Box portion of the card. Jennifer McGuire has a great video showing how to create these Shadow Box cards. I altered mine just slightly to fit my card. I stamped the trees from the So & So Loves set on a white panel and then colored it in using the same Copic markers I used for the snowman, excluding the greens and browns. I trimmed that panel down and adhered it behind the window. I stamped another snowman and colored it just like the first snowman. I fussy cut it out and adhered it to the side of the window. I had die cut another set of holly and berries that I adhered to the top corner. My final touch for this card was touches of clear wink of stella in the hearts of the trees, the die cut berries, and of course the snowman's hat, scarf and buttons.

I know today's post was much longer and if you've made it this far, I thank you!

I hope you've enjoyed these cards and found some inspiration to use fun color combos for your cards, be it Christmas or any occasion.

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! 

If you missed Day One, you can check it out... here.

Come back tomorrow for my next Source of Inspiration post (I promise, tomorrow's post is shorter)!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Growing in Unity ~ Day One ~ Hello

Hello! I am so excited to be the Growing in Unity gal this week! 

I've been thinking and planning for this week for months... but even with all that excitement, I had the hardest time deciding what to share this week.

Sometimes inspiration just hits you and sometimes it just doesn't. You need a little something to get your creative juices flowing... well, I decided to share my Sources of Inspiration. I'll be sharing each day this week a card {or cards} created using one of my Sources of Inspiration.

Let's get to it!

My first Source of Inspiration is a Cue... a keyword or image.

Earlier this month I shared a couple of cards for the Friends of Unity blog hop that I created using the Cue ~ Wings. Well, I was inspired to make another card and thought it would be perfect for my first day of my GIU week. And here is what I created...

I started with a piece of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock that I stamped the background butterfly image from the Layers of Life Beautiful Moments stamp set using VersaMark watermark ink and then heat embossed a fine black embossing powder. I thought that was nice, but I wanted to add a little something to it so I decided to reheat the black embossing powder and add some Pewter embossing powder. I heated that up and I loved how it turned out. I'm not sure if that's a technique but I sure do like the effect! Next I smooshed the card stock in some Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac, and Tumbled Glass distress oxide inks. I heat set those and then did some stamping with the circles from the Never stamp set using the Seedless Preserves distress oxide ink. I stamped the other image from the Never set with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed the pewter embossing powder.

I die cut the panel using the In & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Stax dies and then mat the piece on a 5-1/4 x 4" piece of Tonic Studios Gleaming Lilac Pearlescent Card. I then wrapped the panel with black metallic thread and popped it up on the True Black card base. I then die cut the 'Hello' three times from True Black card stock and adhered the layers together. I added the Hello die cut and a few Silver Bells Dew Drops to the card and that's my first card for this week.

Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! Love me some deeply etched red rubber stamps!

Come back tomorrow for my next Source of Inspiration post!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity December Blog Hop

Hello! I'm super excited to be hopping with some very talented ladies that have participated with Growing in Unity the last couple of months. 

If you've been hopping, you arrived here from Amanda Garrett's  blog and you've reached the end of our hop. No pressure there being the end of the hop... yikes!! Haha! Anywho, onto my card... 

I have a sweet friend who likes birds and I wanted to make her Christmas card using these particular birds. I just love these sweet birds, but I also love the scene behind the birds so I wanted to make the card kind of like a window. I sure hope she likes it!

I started with a kraft card base that I stamped the birdy image from the Chick Time kit using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image with prismacolor pencils and then set that aside. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock to stamp the lovely pine cones and branches on from the Winter Blessings kit. First, I wanted to make sure that the pine cones and branches framed the scene so I laid the card with the birds on my grid paper and marked some general measurements for my 'window area'. I then laid the 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of kraft card stock in the same part of the grid and lightly marked off the area with pencil. 

Then came the fun part, stamping the branches... I stamped them just twice - once in each corner and colored them using copic markers. I grabbed another piece of kraft card stock and stamped the pine cones several times. I cut out my 'window' by hand fussy cutting around the branches. I colored in the pine cones using copic markers and then I wanted to add a touch of gold so I used a Ranger Emboss It pen and then heat embossed some Ultra Fine Antique Gold embossing powder. Those pine cones look so cool in person. I wish the picture showed it better. I fussy cut the pine cones and adhered them and then I cut off the edges that went over the card. I popped up the pine cone and branch piece over top of the card base using dimensionals. All that was left was the sentiment... I originally planned on doing a banner with the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Cheerful Prancing kit, but it was much bigger than I anticipated so I ended up fussy cutting around it and adding it to the fence under the birds. It almost looks like the birds hung a sign on the fence. Haha! Well, that's my card for this fun hop. I sure hope you liked it!

Like I mentioned above, I am the end of the hop so if you happened to miss any blogs be sure to check out the hop list below AND don't forget to comment on each blog for a chance to win a prize package from Unity Stamp Co.

~ Blog Hop List ~

Unity Blog

Denise Sayers
Lori Simonson
Shannon Edwards 
Amber Sheaves 
Kim Chong

Angela Bode 
MariLynn DeGroot 
Amanda Rhodes 
Paula McClane 
Sue Nagata 

Amanda Garrett 
Crystal O. Minkler  <--- you're here

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity Winners

Hello! Last week I had so much fun sharing my love of Unity stamps!! I really enjoyed reading through all the comments that were left on my blog throughout the week. You all were so kind! The winners for the Unity grab bags are...

Eileen Mathys & Trisha Magnus!! Congrats, ladies! Please contact me with your mailing info so I can get your Unity grab bags in your hands ASAP!! :)

Haha! My daughter helped pick names from a hat. She had some fun doing it in her big brother's Darth Vader costume... please excuse her Wookie Hair Don't Care!! LOL

Thanks again to all those that came by to check out my posts!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 5 ~ Seasonal Fun!

Hello! I can't believe that today is the last day for my Growing in Unity week. 

I've had a blast sharing with you all. I am a self proclaimed Unity addict so you can be sure that I'll be blogging more Unity love... hope you'll come by again to check it out.

I am loving the look of the Eclipse cards that I've been seeing so I thought this fabulous background I made would work beautifully with this technique. First, I made the background using the leaves from the September 2016 Moments Between Moments KOM. I stamped them all over a piece of watercolor paper with VersaMark ink and then I heat embossed them with a fine white embossing powder. I then added some color burst pigment and spritzed. I dabbed a lot of the color to keep it soft. Around the leaves I blended in some more yellows and oranges to help the white leaves pop. I die cut the word 'fall' and adhered the pieces back in place, but to give them the Eclipse look I popped up the letters. I then stamped the 'happy birthday' stamp from the Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes sentiment kit masking the birthday portion of the stamp. I used VersaMark and Autumn Rose ink and then heat embossed it with fine clear embossing powder. I adhered it to a layer of Autumn Rose card stock and then adhered the entire piece to a Canyon Clay card base. The last touch to this card was a few drops of Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo crystal drops.

Here's a side view that shows the Eclipse technique a bit better. The effect is so much better in person. I sure had fun making this one!

I've had the layout and design for this card in my mind for so long, I think I've even dreamed about it. Ha! I love Esmerelda Girl!! I knew when I saw this web stencil from Tim Holtz that finally my vision for this card would come to be. I stamped Esmerelda with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored her in using copic markers. Black copic coloring is a challenge... I think the key is less is more. I didn't even use a black copic on this image. The darkest color I used was N10. Anywho, I got her all colored and set her aside. Now it was time for the background. I did a light blending of the purples and some grey, and then I laid the stencil on top and blended in more purples, grey, and black. I kept the black blending mostly to the edges. Once I was done blending, I went over the web with a clear wink of stella pen. I'm so bummed you can't see it in this picture. 

It was also very hard to get a picture that showed any of the glitter, but you can see a bit of it in the center here. In person, the glitter can be seen throughout the web and I even added some to Esmerelda's belt, hat, and hair. To finish off the card, I layered some fun Halloween papers and the web panel onto a black card base. I then stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and heat embossed some fine silver embossing powder and then I die cut the sentiment out and popped it up on the panel. I also popped up Esmerelda. I absolutely love how this turned out... it's a great feeling when your idea turns out the way you envisioned.

So, I made a Fall card and a Halloween card... now it's time for a pretty Christmas card. I stamped the image and the sentiment from Poinsettia Wishes on watercolor paper using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with a fine black embossing powder. I watercolored the image using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens and my water pen. I die cut the image using the stitched oval die and then mat it on a die cut stitched black oval. I set that aside and searched through my stash of embossing folders... I finally decided the Holly folder would look pretty so I grabbed a piece of white card stock and ran that through my big shot. I lightly sponged on some Festive Berries and Shabby Shutters distress inks. I layered that piece on a black mat and then tied a bow with some black organdy ribbon. I adhered that to the white card base and then popped up the oval piece. Love!! I just love how pretty this one turned out.

 I had so much fun making all of these cards to share with you all. I sure hope you've enjoyed them!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 4 ~ Coffee Coffee Coffee!

Hello! I can't believe that it's already Day 4 of my Growing in Unity week... it's flying by way too fast!! Today, I am featuring not only my love of Unity, but my love of Coffee!! Unity has some wonderful coffee stamps!!!

My first card started out as a CAS kind of card... but... the ink just kept talking sweet to me like it needed to go on this card. Ha! I started with a Kraft card base and I inked up a fun background stamp in the Vibes kit with Ground Espresso distress ink. I love the cool splatter and coffee ring vibe to the image. I dabbed a sponge in different areas around the edges in different colors. I like the texture it gives to the card. I stamped the image of the coffee cups from the February 2017 Unexpected Place KOM directly on the card and then stamped it again on a scrap of white card stock. I colored the cups with copic markers and then fussy cut each one out and adhered them to the stamped images on the card. I did it this way for two reasons... I didn't want to fussy cut a mask for each cup and this way the cups give a bit of texture to the card. I stamped the sentiment using Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink on Dark Chocolate card stock and heat embossed it using a fine clear embossing powder. I also added some Nuvo Chocolate Fondue glitter drops. You can't see the glittery goodness in the drops, but in person they are so pretty! I adhered the sentiment and called it done!

For my next card I used the new fall themed coffee cup kit called Fall to Go. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in using copic markers. I paper pieced the body of the cup. I then stamped the sentiment in VersaMark on another piece of patterned paper and heat embossed it using a fine white embossing powder. I decided I wanted this card to have the feel of a home so I grabbed my 6x6 pack of Wood & Notebooks Basics papers and found a nice piece to make my 'table'. I cut that out using an oval stitched die. I then cut out the sentiment using a label die and mat it on a different wood themed paper. I wanted it to look like something hanging on the 'wall'. I then had to decide on what papers to use as my 'wall' and 'floor'... I'm terrible at home decor so this was difficult. Ha! I finally settled on this yellow with white polka dots paper and a nice light brown. I adhered all the fun pieces to my card and I have to say I love the way it turned out!!

My last card for today features the fun coffee mug from the Cuppa Comfort sentiment kit. I blended a few fun fall colors on a piece of white card stock and then stamped the mug. I liked the fall theme with the colors so I decided to stamp a leaf from the August 2017 Never Be Afraid KOM and I loved the way it looked so I went with it. I added a little highlighting to the leaf using a white prismacolor pencil and I colored in the heart with some Cranberry Bliss silk. I fussy cut the mug out and set it aside. I grabbed a piece of watercolor paper and painted some 'steam' for my mug. I decided the card needed more so I dug through my collection of Jolande & Marleen stamps and found a few kits to use.... You Can Do It, You Matter, Hug, and I Am Who I Am. I did a little bit of blending on the edges and then stamped my sentiment from the new kit called Hug using VersaMark and Ground Espresso distress inks and then heat embossed it with a clear fine embossing powder. I adhered the watercolor paper to a piece of Dark Chocolate card stock and then adhered the entire piece to a white card base. Love it! I didn't plan on a fall theme for my coffee cards today, but I think I'm ready for some cooler weather!

I sure hope you like the cards I shared with you today! Come back tomorrow for my final Growing in Unity post. I'll be featuring some fabulous seasonal stamps from Unity! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 3 ~ Hello!

Hello! I can't believe that it's already my third day as a Growing in Unity girl... the time is flying by!

Today, I have some of my most favorite flower stamps from Unity. If there is one thing that the artists for Unity can draw and turn into stamps, it is flowers!!! I love Unity's flower stamps! I have too many favorites... this post could go on for days, but I'm going to just focus on my two most favorite.

My first card features a daisy... I love daisies! They are my most favorite flower! The daisy stamp is from the May 2017 Free Your Dreams Kit of the Month. I stamped the daisy in Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in using copic markers. I stamped the daisies again on a long post it note and masked the image on my card. I then stamped the other images around the panel using distress inks and stamps from two kits... Spring Inspired Layers of Life kit and Blow Your Mind, a Jolande & Marleen kit. I just love the texture it gives to the card. I colored the background behind the daisies with some grey copics. I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it using a black detailed embossing powder. I also die cut the panel using a fun diagonal stitch rectangle die. I layered it with a light purple card stock and adhered it to my white card base. Fabulous!

My second card features my second most favorite flower... the sunflower!! This stunning sunflower is found in the September 2016 Moments Between Moments KOM. This card went in a totally different direction from what I had planned, but I absolutely love it! I stamped the image three times on white card stock using Memento Tuxedo black ink. I colored the center of the flower and cut it out. I then colored the inner petals and cut them out. Lastly, I colored the outer petals and cut the entire flower out for that layer. I set all those pieces aside and started searching for the best patterned paper... that took awhile. Ha! I wanted just the right paper! I thought these papers would be perfect so I layered them on a Dark Chocolate card base and added a little bit of ribbon. I then adhered the outer petal layer for the sunflower. I popped up the middle layer using dimensionals. I then popped up the center of the flower also using dimensionals. I just love the way this card turned out... 

Here's a close up of the layers on the sunflower!! Isn't is just stunning! I love the dimension 

it gives to the flower!! 

I sure hope you like the cards I shared with you today! Come back tomorrow... I'll be featuring some fun coffee stamps from Unity! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 2 ~ Moments

Hello! It's Day 2 for my Growing in Unity week! 

Today I'm sharing cards using stamps from Unity's fabulous membership subscriptions. It wasn't long after I discovered Unity, that I had fallen in love with the Kit of the Month stamps. My first card features one of my favorite stamps from the September 2016 Moments Between Moments kit. 

I just love that stamp and I just had to use this fabulous paper I had found a couple of months ago. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo black ink and colored it in using copic markers. I also added a bit of glossy accents to the lens of the camera... how fun?! I love it! I kept the sentiment on the front simple because I wanted to tie it in with the sentiment on the inside of the card. 

For the inside of the card I used the stack of cameras stamp from the May 2017 Free Your Dreams Kit of the Month. I stamped it off so it would just be light behind the sentiment. This sentiment is from the Moment Between Moments kit. I just love how this whole card came together!

Another fantastic membership subscription is the Layers of Life. I love the mixed media feel to the stamps in these kits. This stamp is from the September 2017 Love Anchors kit. I stamped the anchor in VersaMark ink on watercolor paper. I then heat embossed some Pewter embossing powder that I found in my stash. I added a bit of color burst around the anchor and spritzed the paper. I just love that it looks like water around the anchor. After adhering all of the layers to a white card base, I added a simple sentiment from another Unity kit called So Glad You Were Born.

Here's a close-up of the texture that the pewter embossing gives to the anchor. 

I love the way this turned out! 

I sure hope you like the cards I shared with you today! Come back tomorrow... I'll be featuring some of my most favorite flower stamps from Unity! You won't want to miss it!

Be sure to check out Berina Febin's post today as well, she's another Growing in Unity girl this week. You can check out her blog ---> here!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to 

win a grab bag from Unity. I'll be drawing names for 2 lucky winners!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal