Growing in Unity: Little by Little

Happy Friday, Unies! I can't believe the week is over! I've had a blast sharing my love of Unity Stamp Company and hope you've enjoyed my projects! If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the Unity {Show & Tell} group on facebook for fun, inspiration, and a shared love of Unity!

It's never too early to start on holiday cards and that's how today's card began. I started with a messy, ink smooshed background on watercolor paper with Salvaged Patina and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks.

Once dry, I spritzed Miracle of Nature with water and stamped it on the background. I used a paper towel to lift some of the ink before heat setting and stamping again with Versamark, which is a clear, sticky ink. I sprinkled silver embossing powder over the ink, tapped off excess, and heat set the snowflakes.

I stamped the penguin and sentiment from Little by Little on white cardstock with Gina K Amalgam ink. I fussy cut the penguin, but made mistake with the balloon. Instead of stamping it again, I leaned into my mistake and simply cut off the balloon and colored over the balloon string with white a gel pen. I used a bit of Black Soot Distress ink to add some shadows to the penguin, then let it dry. I used a die cut on the background, adhered it directly to the card base, then popped the penguin up on foam tape.

I thought about searching for a sentiment that was more holiday themed, but after the past year and a half the sentiment from Little by Little was perfect. I cut out the sentiment, then I carefully ran the edges over my Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide pad before using foam tape to adhere it to the background. I finished this card with a few white sequins.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and check out my projects created with Unity Stamps! Leave a comment on each project this week for a chance to win a grab bag from Unity. I'll draw two winners over the weekend, so be sure to check back or keep an eye out on the {Show & Tell} group next week for the announcement! And as always, huge thanks to Unity for the chance to participate in the Growing in Unity program and creating such amazing stamps that we can't help but love!

Growing in Unity: Lawd Have Mercy

Hello Unies! It's day 4 of my Growing in Unity week and I'm so excited to share today's project! It was created with high quality red rubber stamps from Unity Stamp Company. If you like their stamps, be sure to visit the Unity {Show & Tell} facebook page to engage with other friends of Unity!

This card started with ink smooshing the new Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide ink on watercolor paper. It is such a beautiful and bright color, and I needed a stamp to match that energy. I broke out Lawd Have Mercy and stamped the lovely lady on vellum with Staz-on. I carefully tore the vellum around her and thought about placing that directly over the background, but it was missing something. I used the ink that was left from ink smooshing and painted a light wash of Salvaged Patina on a piece of watercolor paper. When it was dry, I stamped Giving it all Meaning over the wash with Salvaged Patina Distress ink (not the oxide). I heat set this layer, worked on positioning, and carefully ripped it so it would stick out past the vellum but not cover the background panel completely. I distressed the edges with a blender brush and Walnut Stain Distress ink. I like how this layer looks like a page torn out of an old book. I put adhesive on the back of this layer and carefully wrapped the vellum over the sides and adhered it to the back of the panel.

The rest was straightforward. I adhered the background directly to the card front and used foam tape to pop up the next panel. I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock with Gina K Amalgam ink and carefully distressed the edges by rubbing them again against my Salvaged Patina Distress oxide ink pad. I popped the sentiment up on foam tape and that was it!

I like the chunky layered look of this card. It has a lot of interest and it looks very detailed, but it came together fast. I like using vellum with bright, detailed backgrounds because it softens the background instead of covering it completely. On this card, it enforces the antique feeling of the panel immediately behind it. I really fell in the love with the Salvaged Patina color, too--it's stunning! If I were to add anything to this card, I may add a few shiny pearl embellishments but I didn't have any so I kept it simple.

Only one day left! I'll see you tomorrow for my last project. Don't forget to comment on each post this week for a chance to win a grab bag of stamps from Unity!

Growing in Unity: Bohemian Backgrounds

Happy Wednesday, Unies! I am always amazed by how fast the Growing in Unity week goes by, and this year is no exception--we're halfway there! This is my third project for my GIU week featuring Unity Stamp Company stamps! If you want to see more Unity love, check out the Unity {Show & Tell} facebook group!

Bohemian Backgrounds is a set that gets a lot of love from me. While I used the bigger mandala-style stamp for today's card, I love the bigger doilie stamp, too! It's a great replacement for doilies on cards if you want to add layers, but can also be used as a background.

I started this card by ink smooshing Abandoned Coral, Ripe Persimmon, and Fossilized Amber Distress inks on watercolor paper, starting with the lightest color and heat setting between layers. If I didn't heat set between layers the background would blend and look much softer, but I like the texture that is created when the previous layer is dry. I decided to stamp with Memento dye ink in Lady Bug for a tone-on-tone look. I went with a brighter red so the stamping wouldn't fade into the background. I also went around the edges with a blending brush and Abandoned Coral Distress ink. I'm really happy with how the background turned out.

I went for a simple sentiment since the background is the focus. I stamped my sentiment on vellum with Staz-on, using my Misti so I could build a few layers. I like using Staz-on with vellum so I don't have to worry about heat setting, warping, or embossing powder spreading--but I've found that having a reinker is crucial for Staz-on, especially if stamping a detailed image. I didn't use my reinker this time and stamped 3-4 times before I was happy with the intensity, but it would have only been 1-2 times if I had reinked first.

After playing with sentiment positioning, I decided to add washi for a bit more interest. I used three different patterns of washi and tore them at different lengths. They don't stand out too much, but they help draw the eye toward the sentiment. I put adhesive on the back of my card and wrapped the vellum around. To keep the sentiment in place, I used a small hole punch and added one black brad. I still haven't figured out adhesive with vellum, so brads are an awesome option if one end is loose/doesn't wrap around.

This is another card that would be easy to duplicate with lots of different colors and supplies, but minimal coloring. That has become my accidental theme this week--sometimes we just don't have the energy or time to dedicate to coloring, but we can still make gorgeous, bright cards.

I hope you enjoyed today's card. Remember to comment on each post this week for a chance to win an awesome grab bag from Unity! See you tomorrow for my next project!

Growing in Unity: Insightful Meadows

Hello friends of Unity! It is day #2 of my Growing in Unity week, featuring high quality red rubber stamps from Unity Stamp Company! If you haven't yet, be sure to swing over to the Unity {Show & Tell} facebook group to check out amazing projects by other crafters--lots of inspiration to be found!

Today I am sharing one of my MUST HAVE stamp sets. If I had no choice but to pick five of my favorite stamp sets and let go of the rest (cough cough, never happening), Insightful Meadows by Donna Downey would make the cut. It has several different flower silhouettes and two wonderful sentiments. This is a versatile set--your imagination is the limit!

Today I went for a clean & simple design and made a one layer card. Even though there aren't any embellishments, the combination of ink blending and stamping has a colorful impact. For this card, I masked a rectangle with washi and paper scraps, then blended a quick background with Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks. Once dry, I splattered some water over the area and used a paper towel to lift excess water. I wanted a bit more pop, so I used some thick, white watercolor for a few final, bright splatters.

At this point I heat set the entire area, then removed my masking. I picked two of the flower silhouettes and played with placement before using my Misti to stamp them one at a time with Versafine Claire ink. I took care to make sure they would overlap onto the white background and add some interest to the single layer card. Last, I chose a sentiment from another Donna Downey set called Empowered Words. Simple yet powerful, like the card: be brave.

This is a great layout to make matching sets of cards, plus you can substitute pretty much any stamp and sentiment (or any color combo). No worries about postage, either, because it's one layer! Most of my cards have multiple layers, but this is a fun layout where the stamping and ink blending take center stage.

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Remember to comment on each post this week for a chance to win a grab bag from Unity! See you tomorrow.

Growing in Unity: Remember Me

Hello friends of Unity! I am so excited to participate in Growing in Unity this year and share a week's worth of projects that I've created with high quality red rubber stamps from Unity Stamp Company. If you're new to Unity, check out their website, snag some amazing stamps and supplies, and then head over to the Unity {Show & Tell} facebook group to find inspiration and share your projects with fellow Unies! Remember to visit my blog each day this week for a new project and leave a comment on each post for a chance to win a mystery bag of stamps from Unity!

To kick off my Growing in Unity week, I wanted to share a card I made with Remember Me. I love this set--the imagery is gorgeous and the sentiments tell a story that is easy to bring to life. The focal image is so detailed--it's great for those who aren't as comfortable with color (plus it's amazing to color!).

I wanted to create an ink blended silhouette to stamp over, so I die cut a larger circle from a piece of scrap cardstock. I carefully adhered it to my front panel with washi and masked the bottom portion of the circle. I chose colors that would work to create a sunset-over-the-ocean look, so I used Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed, and Abandoned Coral for the sky. Once dry, I removed the bottom mask, masked the blended portion of the circle, and used Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch for the water.

I used my Misti to line up and stamp my focal image with Memento Rich Cocoa dye ink. Memento dye ink doesn't move much after it's dry, so it's perfect when combined with ink lifting. I heat set the panel and then painted over my image with water, then blotted to lift excess ink with a paper towel. This softened the colors inside the stamped image and helped distinguish that focal point from the background.

I was happy with my results, so to finish I used a corner punch on the panel so it would resemble a postcard. I stamped the sentiment with the same Memento Rich Cocoa, then used Frayed Burlap Distress Ink to distress the edges. I used the Frayed Burlap to make a slight shadow beneath the image, too. I let the panel dry, then adhered the panel to a kraft card base with foam tape. It felt like something was missing, so for a final embellishment I made a quick jute ribbon and adhered it with a dab of Glossy Accents.

This was a lot of fun to make without any serious coloring, and the final card is bold and bright. I hope you enjoyed today's card! Remember to visit tomorrow and comment on each post this week for a chance to win Unity goodies!