Growing in Unity ~ Day 3 of My 5 Favorite Things

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm back for Day 3 of My 5 Favorite Things for my Growing in Unity week... now today I've decided to share one of my favorite techniques and a few fabulous Unity kits to use with this technique. One of my favorite techniques to use to make a fun background is the Baby Wipe Technique. If you're not familiar with this technique I shared steps for this technique in a blog post a couple of years ago so you can check that out here ---> Baby Wipe Technique tutorial! I have several pictures to share today, so I don't want to add the steps for the technique here too, so please check that out if you're not familiar.

For my first couple of cards, I used the beautiful Make Today kit... this is a mixed media kit created by Jolande van Oosterhout and Marleen van Meerendonk. I absolutely Love the mixed media stamps available at Unity... another one of my favorite things! * wink wink*

I used Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunshine, and Tropical Teal ink refills on the baby wipe and then just repeatedly stamped the swirly dots stamp all over to create my background.

I was able to make two cards using this technique for the background. I stamped the sentiment from the same Make Today kit using coordinating dye ink and then quickly heat embossed it with a fine clear embossing powder. Since the sentiment was stamped on vellum card stock the ink didn't dry too quickly and I was able to add clear ep to it before it dried. I die cut the sentiments and then adhered them to the card with vellum glue tape (a sweet gift from my crafty friend, Robyn ~ thanks again!!). I mat the cards on coordinating card bases and Bam! There you have two pretty quick cards using a super fun technique!

So, once I got started on those cards I was thinking about other fabulous stamps that would be fun using this technique and I remembered the magical stamps that were released last year (I think, don't quote me on that) that I had to have but hadn't inked up yet. Yup... you know what I mean. I used the Magic Inside All of Us and Something Magical kits designed by Joslyn Nielson for these cards.

So I used Summer Sunshine and True Black inks for my first two cards... getting a Hufflepuff-esque feel for these ones. I have to admit that I don't just stamp that often anymore. I use my stamp platform ALL the time... anyone else do that? So it was super fun to just ink up these stamps and well... stamp. I layered my backgrounds on Summer Sunshine card stock and then adhered them to True Black card bases. I really love how these turned out! 

Once I got started, I couldn't stop so I also made some Griffendor-esque cards using Scarlet Jewel and Harvest Gold ink. I just HAD to use the fabulous owl from the Sending an Owl kit!! Love it!

And my last card using this fantastic and fun technique. I just love how all of these turned out!

This background is probably my most favorite. You can see how the stamps picked up both colors that I had on the baby wipe. So much fun!

Here's a quick picture with all the Harry Potter-esque cards! Such a blast to make!

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

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things

Hello there crafty friends!

I am back for Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things for my Growing in Unity week and I am so excited to share the cards I created for you today! Now, be warned... there's a lot of pictures and even a super short video for this one... so please hang in there and I'll try to keep the chatter short.

So, another one of my favorite things is interactive cards... and Unity Stamp Company has so many fabulous stamps to make interactive cards with... it's awesome! I don't make many of these because, let's be honest, they are a lot of work and take some time and most of the time I just need a quick card. But interactive cards are really so much fun! So I just had to share a few today!

Since it's July, I thought a Christmas in July card would be fun!! I just adore this door die by Lawn Fawn called Shut the Front Door... it makes for a cute interactive card and there are so many possibilities!! Think of all the cute critter stamps from Unity that would just be awesome behind that door! I created the front of my card using die cuts and I also stamped the tree from Woodland Festivities using Gina K. Designs Key Lime and Fresh Asparagus inks. 

I adhered all of my layers to a kraft card base and then stamped the Winter Boy from the Winter Boy and Girl kit and the bulldog from the Woodland Festivities kit with Gina K. Designs Black Amalgam ink and colored them with the following Copic markers:

Winter Boy ~ E000, E00, E21 (skin), E42, E43, Y21 (hair), R11, R56, R59, R89 (hat/scarf), B95, B97, B99 (jeans), G19, G29 (shirt), N1, N4, N7 (belt/shoes).

Bulldog ~ E000, E11, E97, E9, R20 (fur), R14, R27, N0, N1 (hat), N1, N2, N4, N7 (collar).

I then fussy cut them and adhered them inside the door... tucking the bulldog in just slightly under the door frame.

All that remained was finding a sentiment that would fit... and I thought the 'Happy Christmas with Love' sentiment was perfect! This sentiment is from the Classic Christmas kit. I just love how this Christmas card turned out... and another card done for my Christmas card stash!! Woohoo!

My second interactive card uses the adorable bunny from the Hoppy & Hedgie kit along with a cool interactive die from Lawn Fawn called Slide On Over Semicircle. I just love this adorable bunny!! I started by blending my galaxy cloud background using the Mini Cloud Edges stencil by My Favorite Things. I couldn't help but splatter some water even though there wouldn't be stars in the clouds...lol... but I love the effect it gives. I then stamped the sweet bunny with Gina K.'s Black Amalgam ink and colored it with the following Copic markers:

Bunny ~ W0, W2, W4, R20

Bunny's Clothes ~ BG70, BG72

Balloons ~ Y13, Y35, RV32, RV34, G05, G12

I then fussy cut the bunny and balloons very carefully and used it to decide where to die cut the Slide On Over Semicircle. Once I had that figured out... I die cut the background with the interactive slider piece as well as a large stitched rectangle die. I popped up the galaxy cloud background using foam tape... being sure to leave room for the interactive piece behind the bunny to move back and forth. I, unfortunately, didn't take a picture of this process but all I did to attach the bunny was I punched out 3 small 3/4" circles and adhered them all together. I then used a mini stampin' dimensional and attached the little circle to the bunny through the slider... that easy! I then adhered the negative die cut piece to my scalloped rectangle of Lost Lagoon card stock and then adhered the popped up galaxy cloud background. I hope this all makes sense!

Here's a look at the bunny as the 'wind' pulls him across the card. The 'pull' stamp is from the new Interactive Verbiage kit... such a fun kit!

And here he is at the end of his ride. 

To finish off the card, I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment. I mat it on True Black card stock and then adhered it to the card and then I adhered the entire panel to a True Black card base.

Here's a short little video to show you the interactive slider in action. So much fun!

And here is my last interactive card to share with you all today... a shaker card using the new and fabulous Interactive Verbiage kit along with the equally fabulous #letterforhenry kit!! Other than the shaker element for this card... since I used patterned papers for my layers... this card was relatively quick to put together. Just how I like it!!

I paper pieced the frame and adhered it to a piece of white card stock so it would be a little more sturdy. I also stamped the frame on the lined patterned paper so I could easily line up the frame and also so I could easily stamp the sentiment for the card. I just love the 'Kindness Changes Everything' sentiment... it is so true! 

Now... a little funny... so me and shaker cards have a love hate relationship... always, seriously every single time I try to make one of these something goes wrong. I was doing great with this one though... even getting excited it was going so smoothly until I realized I forgot to adhere the clear card stock. I actually forgot about the clear card stock (or acetate) completely... lol... so I had to pull off the foam tape I used. Luckily, since I had paper pieced the frame on that extra piece of white card stock, it didn't tear into the pretty paper and I was able to use it. Anyhow... I thought I'd share that funny mishap... every time, I tell you!

If you have made it this far in my post, Thank You!! I tried to keep the chatter down... but I truly thank you for sticking around and checking out my blog today! I had a blast creating these cards to share with you all! I hope you like them!

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 1, you can check it out ---> Day 1 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs

~ Crystal

Growing In Unity ~ Day 1 of My 5 Favorite Things

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm super excited about this week... it's my turn to be the Growing in Unity gal and I am over the moon excited!! I am a Unity addict through and through and being able to share my love of Unity for a whole 5 days... it's just an amazing opportunity!! 

I have been so excited, in fact, that I had so many ideas and then all of sudden my mind went blank on what to share. And then I got to thinking... I could share some of my favorite things about Unity, as well as my favorite products, techniques, or crafty tips... channeling the wonderful Oprah Winfrey, you may say! Lol... so I'm going to share My 5 Favorite Things!

One of my first favorite things about Unity is the gorgeous floral stamps!! There are hundreds of absolutely stunning stamps with all kinds of flowers... literally, if you do a search on the website, over 300 stamp kits come up! Something for everyone!!

One of my absolute favorite flowers is the lovely daisy and this beautiful daisy from Graciellie Design's Be Unstoppable kit is perfect! I thought it would be fun to color it blue but let the color fade out at the tips of the petals... love how it turned out. Sadly, I didn't write down the copic markers I used for this but if I had to take a guess I would say it was B0000 and B24, along with YG11 and YG23 for the leaves. For the center of the flower, I think I used Y11, Y35, and E55.

I die cut the daisy using a Pleated Lace Circle die and popped it up on my already prepared card base of Pacific Point card stock with a beautiful layer of brown patterned paper by Bo Bunny called Penelope Collection that I had adhered a wide Pacific Point ribbon from my stash (can't remember the name of it). To finish off the card I die cut the sentiment with a banner die and mat it on a die cut piece of Pacific Point card stock. I think it turned out pretty.

Now, another favorite thing of mine is to use an easy sketch when making my cards. You'll notice that my two cards today aren't identical, but they use a similar sketch or design with the patterned paper on the card base and the main image die cut with some ribbon accent. 

A great design for a quick and beautiful card!

For this card, I colored the gorgeous tulip from the same Be Unstoppable kit with BG000, BG11, BG23, YG11, G24, and G28. I then die cut it with the Pleated Lace Rectangle die and adhered it directly to a stitched rectangle die cut piece of Stampin' Up Wood Textures patterned paper. I wrapped some White Sheer Organza ribbon around the panel tying just a knot... like a faux bow... and adhered the panel to an Aqua Mist card base. And this time I just popped up the sentiment on the main panel. 

Two lovely cards using one basic design that look very different from each other. 

Love how they turned out! I hope you like them too!

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! Oh yeah!!

Come back tomorrow for Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs

~ Crystal