Monday, March 13, 2017

Growing in Unity Day 1: Happy Everything~

Welcome to my first day of Growing in Unity! I'm excited to start my week off with two cheerful cards that I made using the emboss-resist technique. I'm behind the curve as I'm just now discovering the world of Tim Holtz water-reactive EVERYTHING! Needless to say, as someone who enjoys color and crafting, I'm smitten. Both of these cards were made using Distress Spray Stains.



These cards are simple but I wanted the main focus to be the images and the colors--the sentiment reinforces the happy theme! Emboss-resist is a fun technique that can be used with a variety of stamps and dyes, but I had to try the spray stains. I learned that you can overspray and end up with muddled colors, if the paper gets too saturated the ink will absorb into the cardstock behind the embossed images (in the future I will use colored ink and embossing powder vs clear)... but if you experiment, you can end up with amazing color combinations. I had fun with my trial and error and I look forward to using spray stains on future projects.

I couldn't find the embellishments that I wanted at my local craft stores. While browsing, I found the Perlen-Pen and I used it to make the cute pearl dots on the first card. Very easy to use but it has to set/dry for 12-24 hours. I put my card on a shelf to rest overnight, away from curious fingers. I have a feeling the Perlen-Pens will become cardmaking staples now that I've tried them and realize how easy it is to add simple but cute embellishments. Best of all, I don't have to worry about them falling off in the mail!

I used Bohemian Backgrounds for the background motif on the first card. The sentiment and the dragonfly are from When You Smile, the January 2017 Kit of the Month. I signed up for the KOTM at the end of December 2016 and I'm glad that I did! A variety of new stamps to try out every single month and discounts on the previous KOTMs? Yes, please! Those aren't the only perks--check out the rest and see for yourself if subscribing to the KOTM is for you.

I hope you enjoyed my cards today. I'm excited to share my love of Unity stamps with you this week! Comment on each blog post and when my week is over two lucky commenters will receive a grab bag of 25 random stamps from Unity. If there's anything I love more than my KOTM subscription, it's grab bags. Unity is the best!

Thanks for visiting!

39 comments:

  1. Such pretty cards using these wonderful stamps and fun sprays!

    Congratulations on being a GIU gal this week!!!

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  2. Lovely and bright cards. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun this week, I'm looking forward to your posts each day.

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  3. You say that you're pretty new to card making. It certainly doesn't show in your work. Just beautiful! I love the vibrant colors that you chose.

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  4. Congrats on your GIU week! Love these pretty cards you are starting off your week with... the medallion design is really beautiful, and a lovely dragonfly also! Looking forward to seeing your other creations each day!

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  5. I love this technique, it's so fun! And your cards are simply beautiful. I have never heard of a Perlen-Pen and will have to look for that. :-)

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  6. What a beautiful cards have you created, thank you for the inspiration

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  7. Both cards are lovely, Brianna. The emboss resist technique is so fun. Looking forward to your inspiration this week!

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  8. Beautiful cards! I love the colors you were able to create with the stains!

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  9. Congratulations on he GIU of he week! This week will be so much fun I am sure. I so love the Bohemian Backgrounds stamp set. Love the embossing so beautiful also all the beautiful colors. See you tomorrow.

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  10. Beautiful cards! I too am just discovering Tim Holtz. So much to learn, but all of these Unity GIU blogs are helping!

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  11. Congrats on being GIU this week!

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  12. I really love the GIU series. I learn something new every week. For the most part I use clear embossing powder over whatever color ink I want to use. I was starting to think I could destash the other powders that I could use clear for but after reading this. I'm going to hang onto them. I love doing colorful backgrounds in watercolors and I think I might have the same problem doing that with clear. Thanks for the tip.
    Thanks for sharing your colorful cards.

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  13. Beautiful cards! I really, really love the one with doilies and vellum overlay.

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  14. Beautiful cards can't wait to see what you do the rest of the week.

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  15. Thanks for the cards you have shared. They are beautiful! I am hoping (soon )to buy some Tim Holtz distress inks so I can play more with my water pens. Meanwhile I must try the emboss resist technique with my watercolour pencils and crayons. :) BTW which colours of distress inks did you use? Love the combination and I am trying to decide which colours I should invest in first. Thanks!

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  16. Great cards. I've never used this technique. I'm going to have to try it out

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  17. Beautiful! Can't wait to get my hands on Tim Holtz products.

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  18. I love anything dragonfly and am developing a real interest in blended color backgrounds. Nice job!

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  19. Gorgeous job. Would never imagine you were just starting to dabble with Tim's inks.

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  20. Nice cards! Sometimes simple is best! I've been making cards for a while but I'm still learning all sorts of things! You're doing great! I look forward to following you this week.

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  21. You're a beginner? Wow....I plan I g on experimenting this week!



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  22. Great technique! I'm going to give it a shot... thanks for sharing!

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  23. Those are so pretty! I love resist techniques.

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  24. Your blending is beautiful and the perfect background for those embossed designs.

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  25. Love the colors you chose for your backgrounds. Super pretty cards!!

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  26. Lovely cards. Emboss resist is one of my favorite techniques.

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  27. Wow! Love the colors! Great job!����

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  28. Wow! Love the colors! Great job!����

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  29. I really like the white embossing powder. The colorful background really shines through. NICE.

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  30. Really nice job with the colors and theme...the stamps of course are the bomb! Very vibrant.

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