Growing In Unity Day 5

Welcome back for the last day of Growing In Unity for me this year! Thank you for all of the encouragement, kind words, and ideas this week! I look forward to growing this blog (probably not daily because that is overwhelming to me at this time) more often! There are 4 other posts on this blog that are all titled "Growing In Unity" and then the day number next (start here). Go check them out, leave a comment, and you could be one of the two (yes, 2) lucky random winners of a $20 gift card to Unity Stamp Company where you could snag the stamps that I used this week (and so much more)!

It's Friday and I hope that you have something fun and/or relaxing planned for this weekend (even if you work weekends - do something for you)! I will be attending a local hockey game this evening. Tomorrow I will be visiting with a friend I haven't seen in several years and then attending a local opera performance (two of my friends are performing). Sunday will be a day of relaxing which could mean cleaning and organizing (anyone else out there find those things almost therapeutic?!).

Okay, okay, here's day 5's card.

For this one, I combined stamp sets. There is so much versatility in these stamps! The plants are from "Bloom from Within" and the sentiment is from "Tree of Love {July 2021 sentiment kit}". They are both stamped in VersaFine black ink (surprise, surprise!). The flower patterned paper is from a 6x6 cardstock stack that I found on clearance that had no cover so I'm not sure which company it's from. The blue shimmer cardstock was from a shimmer stack that I got years ago and cut into card mats. I threw on three golden yellow adhesive dots from my stash (the magic of threes eh?!). I think I could have swapped out the white card base with a cream-colored card base to match a bit better, but it was already glued down when I had thought of that so I'll save that thought for next time.

It has been a pleasure sharing my card creations with you all. I hope that you have been inspired! For more inspiration from amazing artists, check out the Unity Stamp Co Growing In Unity Facebook group!

Growing In Unity Day 4

It's Day 4 of Growing in Unity which means that the weekend is almost here! You say Thursday, I say Friday-eve! Okay, not really, but it's on one of the GIFs in our chat program at work and there's a silly dance in it that cracks me up every time I see it.

This card was inspired by the gross white stuff that was falling from the sky this week. Yeah, I don't care for the snow. It's beautiful but I will absolutely stay inside with a hot cup of hot cocoa, coffee, or tea. Plus, I think nature forgot that the first day of Spring (here anyway) was March 20. Hoping for much warmer weather going forward!

The background cardstock for this was from a Winter cardstock stack that I have had for years and pulled apart while at the craft retreat in March. There are actually 5 layers (plus the base) to this card. Sweater print mat, sweater print with gold edge (2 pieces), teal cardstock (leftover from earlier cards I made), silver shimmer cardstock (gold and silver go together, right?!), and then the white cardstock with the stamped image.

Image is from the "Hello Love" stamp set and is stamped in black Versafine ink (yeah, that's my go-to). I colored the heart with the Spectrum Noir DR1 marker just to give it a little pop of color in the image.

What's in the inside of these cards? All of the cards from this week are blank inside. I have not yet determined who they will be going to and for what occasion so I will leave them blank for now. I often will just write inside them without stamping a sentiment but if I'm making a set for others, I will stamp a sentiment inside since that's the request I get most often.

Prize reminder: There are two (yes, 2) $20 gift cards to Unity Stamp Co up for grabs to two random commenters on these 5 Growing In Unity posts. If you missed days 1-3, no worries! Just click back a few days/posts on the blog, check them out, and comment.

See you tomorrow for Day 5!

Growing In Unity 2022 Day 3

Welcome back! It's Day 3 of Growing In Unity and I got to try a new technique today!

Before I go into that, remember that there are two (yes, 2) $20 gift cards up for grabs for two lucky random commenters so be sure to head back to Day 1's Post Here to see both Day 1 and Day 2 and comment there.

Isn't this background stamp image simply amazing?! Look at the detail! This is the Daisy Days stamp from Unity Stamp Co. This is a full card sized image but I wanted space for a sentiment so I put some washi tape down and stamped the full image over it. I then pulled the washi tape up (and got Versafine ink all over my fingers from not paying attention) and had a blank space. I pulled out the "Bloom from Within" stamp set and stamped the sentiment in the blank space.

I loved how this turned out so quickly and so detailed, that I made two other cards like it with different colors in the background. This is the one I liked best as I just adore the black details on Kraft cardstock. I love keeping things simple but by all means, add ideas in your comments about embellishments for this card so I have some things to play around with.

See you back tomorrow for Day 4!

Growing In Unity 2022 Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of me being the Growing in Unity person for this week with Unity Stamp Co. Check out the GIU Facebook group to see these creations along with those of many amazing artists!

What does this mean for you? There are prizes! You get to comment on these Growing In Unity Posts (Monday through Friday of this week). At the end of this week, two (yes, 2) random commenters will win a $20 gift card to Unity Stamp Company! You could snag some of the amazing stamps I used on these cards!

Alright, alright - onto Day 2's card!

The background paper was cut from a random paper stack that was Christmas-themed. I do not remember the name of the stack. I was at a weekend crafting retreat in March and spent a good chunk of my time cutting mats of patterned paper so when I sit down to make holiday cards this year, that part is done. This was one of those mats that I cut - so easy to just pull from the stack of pre-cut mats!

The sentiment and image were both stamped with Versafine black ink and are from the "All Cylinders" set by the fabulous Tierra Jackson. The word "Thanks" was colored with Spectrum Noir BT2 and BT4 markers. BT2 would have been a perfect match for the background paper but when I went to color with it, I discovered that there was no color left in it (perhaps because it's one of my favorite color families). So, I used BT4 and it's not a perfect match but still stands out. The detail on the car stamp is just so freaking amazing that I left it not colored.

See you tomorrow for Day 3!

Growing in Unity 2022 Day 1

Whew! It’s been a while (5.5 years is still considered a “while” right?!) since I posted anything. Thanks to Unity Stamp Company for selecting me as the Growing In Unity Gal for this week! It has gotten my creativity flowing.

What in the world does that even mean? It means that I get to post my creations for the next 5 days (and hope to post more often now too). You get to comment on these posts for the next 5 days. At the end of the week, two (yes, 2) random commenters will win a $20 gift card to Unity Stamp Company!!

And now for day one’s card.

For this simple card, I challenged myself to use scraps. I found a bit of gray and some teal card stock along with some patterned paper that I had leftover from two cards I posted here. I used the Just Stinkin’ Cute stamp set (gotta keep things fun with a poop card) and stamped the image and sentiment in Versafine black ink. I chose to keep it super simple by not coloring the stamped image.

I hope you enjoy this one and are inspired to go make something simple and use up some scraps. See ya tomorrow for another card!

Birthday Card for Teammate

Clearly I enjoy making cards for my teammates.
This is no exception.
This is a birthday card that I made for my friend and teammate, Kathleen.

The pink dotted paper is from BoBunny.
The geographic print paper is from the Play Marbles collection by American Crafts.
The tan cardstock is from Recollections.
The birthday cake image is from the Unity ...so glad you were born stamp set. This was stamped in VersaFine Onyx black ink.
Inside the card, I stamped a sentiment from the CTMH Birthday Funnies set. The sentiment says, "Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake."
 
 

National Scrapbook Day Observance 2016

National Scrapbook Day is the first Saturday in May. This year that falls on the day before Mother's Day. In celebration of National Scrapbook Day, I joined my friend Maggie at an all day scrapbooking/crafting event on April 30.

Here we are having a blast at attempting a selfie (No, I don't take them often and am just now learning to look at the right spot while taking them):

I was not as productive as I would have liked, but I made a few cards, experimented with new embossing powder, troubleshot a Cricut issue I was having, became more comfortable with using my new Cricut Explore Air, and, of course, made new friends.

Toward the end of the day, I made a Cricut free card design for mother's day. I whipped up that card on Mother's Day and gave it to my boyfriend's mom. It was rather pretty, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I also decided on using some patterned paper from my stash.
My daddy's birthday is coming up and I chose to make him a birthday card. This will be posted at a later time so that he doesn't come across it before I give it to him.

The second card I made is for my man. I make cards for him randomly.
I didn't even use a sketch for this one. I found the stamps I wanted to use and put the pieces together. I have determined that this layout could easily be turned so that the shape surrounding the camera resembles a Polaroid picture.
The cross-stitched lines is an image from the CTMH Typeset stamp set.
The camera image and sentiment stamps are from the Captured my Heart set by Unity.
The blue papers are from Recollections.
On the camera image, there is a tiny heart. I colored that with a borrowed red pen, just for a little pop of a different color.

Maggie had some new embossing powder so I had to open it and give it a try. I had this wonderful new stamp from Unity that I was dying to try and I thought it would be beautiful heat embossed. I was right. :)
I used kraft paper from Recollections.
I stamped the Dream Tree image by Unity in Versa Mark ink, sprinkled the embossing powder over the image, and then hit it with my heat gun.

This is what came out:

I added that to a cream card base. This card was give to a previous teammate for her supervisor who had the same surgery I did. The team was going to each individually sign the card so I left the inside blank.

I have several of the embossed trees to use on other cards. I think they would be great for many occasions! 

White on Kraft - Inspired Anniversary Card

The wonderfully talented Heather from Houses Built of Cards created this beautiful card that I just had to attempt:

My supervisor at work asked for an anniversary card for her husband. I had this picture saved for a while and decided I wanted to attempt something similar. By the time I did the white coloring, it was late into the night and I skipped the vellum or any of the fun shaped mats. I kept it simple.

For the front:
 
I used Versafine Black Onyx ink to stamp the Unity image.
I used a white Crayola colored pencil for the accents.
The kraft paper is from Recollections by Michaels.
The card base is white cardstock from Walmart (found in the printer paper aisle).

For the inside:

I used the same kraft paper from Michaels.
I ran the kraft paper through my Cuttlebug using the Darice Bookplate Dies. On white cardstock, I traced around the outer part of the die and cut it out by hand. This gave me the white border. I wanted it to pop against the white card base so I inked the edges with black ink. Unfortunately, some of this ink smeared a little.
The sentiment is from the Another Reason to say Thank You set by Unity.

This is the supervisor that, as you may recall, requested that I put something in the inside of the cards because she never knew what to write. I didn't know their relationship at all, but I thought this sentiment is perfect for any successful relationship.

Notes to self:
 
Be sure to have a pencil sharpener near me when attempting to do more white on kraft (or use a white gel pen).
Work on a better card inside (strip of paper, mat with writing area).

Beautiful in every way

I went, yet again, to my friend Maggie's for some crafting. I took all of my Basic Grey paper with me. I have a huge stack of it. I bought it from someone that had a huge sale of all of their scrapbooking stuff. I got a whole magazine file full of paper for $10. It had so many various patterns, brands, and colors. I finally got around to sorting it by company and decided to utilize some of it.

I was able to make 5 cards out of the one sheet. I had stamped and punched the circles for 6 cards so I ended up grabbing another Basic Grey paper (I forgot to write down which pattern it was) and finishing the 6th card.

The gray paper is from Recollections from Michaels.
The blue paper is from my stash.
The butterfly and "beautiful" sentiment stamps are from Unity.
The "today and always" sentiment stamp is from the Springtime Wishes set by Close to my Heart.

Here are the six cards:

Here is a closeup of one:

And this is the one I made after I used all of the first sheet of patterned paper:

I found this to be a great way to use up random individual sheets of patterned paper and to mass-produce cards to have on hand. I think I like the idea of making the cards and adding the sentiment later so they could be used for almost any occasion.

Another coworker's birthday

In case you haven't figured it out, I make cards for my teammates at work for different occasions (anniversaries, birthdays, promotions, etc.).
This was a quick birthday card that I put together during one of my many crafting days with my crafty friend Maggie.

Front

Inside

For the front:
The patterned paper is from Basic Grey.
The birthday cupcakes stamped image is from Close to my Heart.
The candles stamp is from Unity Stamp Co and is from the Frankly Said set. The actual stamp is only a few candles, but I just stamped it multiple times in a line.

Inside:
The sentiment stamp is also from the Frankly Said stamp set from Unity Stamp Co.
The lines are hand-doodled.

This card was for a spunky coworker and she absolutely loved it!

Set of 10 different blank notecards

I make cards for special occasions for people on my team at work. My previous supervisor (we switch occasionally as people get different shifts) loved the cards I was making so much that she asked me to make her a set of 10 note cards. I, of course, agreed to make them. This was actually a bit of a challenge for me as she wanted them all to be different and blank inside. No sentiments. No mass production. It was tricky but also very fun.


Above is the entire set of 10 cards. I'm pretty pleased with them.
Here they are in detail:

For this card I followed a random sketch I had posted in one of my many Facebook albums. The blue cardstock (I believe from Stampin' Up) and the orange paper is from my scrap stash. The patterned paper is from the DCWV Glam Rock stack.

For this one, the card base and the lighter blue cardstock are from this stack from Michaels. I love these stacks and they go on sale fairly frequently. I used my Scor-Pal to score the three lines at the bottom. The button is a sticker that I purchased years ago on clearance. I made the pinwheel using this tutorial. There are many tutorials out there to make this faux pinwheel. I just happened to use the first one I came across. The patterned papers I used were from my scrap stash.

All of the papers on this card, including the card base, were from my scrap stash. The birds are stickers from a set I purchased on clearance at Michaels a while ago.

This card is on a white card base. The yellow patterned paper is from a stack, but I can't remember which one and don't have any more of it that I could find. The triangles and banners are from a sticker sheet. I am bummed that I didn't write down which company it was from. I just peeled the stickers off the sheet, inked the edges, and adhered them to the card.

The patterned papers on this card are from the DCWV Guy Stack. The three embellishments are from my stash that does not have packaging.

The papers used on this card are from the DCWV My Sunshine Stack. I stamped the image using Close to my Heart Chocolate ink. The stamp is from Unity Stamps. I love their images and they have some incredible sales as well.

For this one, I found a fun starburst card and looked for a tutorial. There are many out there. I came across this one and tried it. I didn't have any embellishments that really went with this card so I left it without any. This is a very versatile technique that I will be using in the future. The patterned papers are from the DCWV Lemon Flower Stack.

At first I thought this card was a little busy, but I have come to love it! The papers are from the DCWV White Ginger Stack. Okay, so I might have a slight obsession with DCWV papers. They are so beautifully designed and sturdy!
The sketch I pulled from my huge arsenal of sketches.

This one is a mess of my ideas. I started by cutting rectangles and ended up with this. The patterned papers are from the DCWV Mod-Retro Stack. The twine is from Close to my Heart. The embellishments are Karen Foster Mediterranean Sparkle Burst Brads.

Although I clearly have an obsession with DCWV, I do not solely use DCWV papers. The papers used on this card are from the We R Memory Keepers Storytime 6x6 paper stack. I purchased this stack at Walmart. The little jewels are from my unidentified stash. The twine is from Close to my Heart. The button is from BoBunny.

Coworker changing jobs

One of my teammates is changing companies and today is his last day with us. I made this card rather quickly last night for the team to sign so that he had a good send off from us.
Yes, I made an underwear card, and I love it!

• The card base is my trusty white card stock from Walmart.
• The kraft paper is from Recollections at Michael's.
• The stamp set used is from Unity Stamps. 

 He has a great sense of humor and got a good laugh out of the card.