Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 5

 Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.  I've enjoyed sharing my designs with you this week.  I love Unity Stamps and appreciate the chance to be a Growing in Unity gal.  If you love Unity as much as I do (or are new to them and would like a chance to try them for free), you can win a prize pack just for commenting!  Links to all my posts will be at the bottom of the page.  I will announce the winners next week.

My mom is celebrating her birthday next week, so I couldn't pass up the chance to use the February Sketch challenge on the Unity Blog one more time, to make her a card.  Mama's and Grandma's stamp set seemed the appropriate choice to use on this card.  This is an older sentiment kit (April 2016!!!), but this just shows how Unity Stamps never go out of style.  I stamped the image on white Neeha paper, and colored with watercolors.  A bit of gold from a a Stella Wink pen and some sequins and a twine bow, and this card is ready to give.  I hope my mom likes it as much as I do.

As promised, here are the links to all my cards from the week.  Make sure you leave comments on all of them for a chance to win one of those prize packs from Unity Stamp Company.

Day 1 

Day 2   

Day 3

Day 4

Thanks for visiting me all week!  I love seeing all the comments

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 3

Happy Wednesday!  I can't believe we are half way through my Growing in Unity week.  I've had so much fun creating birthday cards this week.  I hope you have been following along with the fun, and commenting on all the posts.  I will be choosing 2 commenters to win $20 gift cards from Unity Stamp Company.  If you missed any of my previous posts, you will find links to them at the bottom of this post.  

Today's card may be one of my favorite (...stay tuned for my most "important" one tomorrow).  I simply love the gnomes from Unity Stamp Company.  The minute I saw this little guy, I KNEW I had to use him in during my week.  Little did I know they would be on sale at the same time.  BONUS!  😉

Today's card features stamps from Happy Birthday Gnome.  First I stamped the gnome, present and cupcake on white cardstock.  After the ink dried, I painted over those images with Masking Fluid.  This created a cool barrier that I could ink over and create the background I wanted, using Distress Oxide inks (I love their blending abilities).  After inking the card using the Cloud & Wave stencil, I peeled the Masking Fluid with a simple rub of my finger, leaving the stamped images all ready to be colored.  

To color my gnome and his birthday goodies, I used a combination of Copic markers, Stella Wink pens, and Nuvo Glitter Drops.  Then I mounted the die-cut sheet onto a card base, and i have a quick and easy card, ready to give to someone on their special day.

I hope you love this little gnome as much as I do.  Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link(s) below: 

Day 1

Day 2

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of my Growing in Unity week.  Today's card is a pretty floral design from Whole Lot of Lovely (November 2018 KOM).  I love the open floral designs that Unity includes in their stamp kits.  They give us lot of opportunity to color and make them our own.  In my case, I colored with Copics and added a touch of gold here and there. The birthday sentiment is from ...Say it Big.  

I hope you enjoyed today's card.  Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link below: 

Day 1

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 1

 Hi! 

Welcome to my Growing in Unity week for 2021. I'm happy to bring you some of my creations this week.  My son's birthday just happens to fall during this week, so that may give you an idea of the theme for my projects.  It's been a while since I've created (thanks busy kids' schedules!), so it has been fun to dust off some trusty friends and do a little crafting.  I hope you enjoy my projects.  Remember to comment every day for a chance to win one of two $20 gift certificates to Unity Stamp Company!

Let's start this week on an uplifting note...pun intended!  First up is a cute little Hedgehog flying away with some balloons from the Hoppy & Hedgie set. The sentiment is from ...It's a Mug Hug.  I colored the hedgehog with Prisma pencils.  Then I used Nuvo Jewel Drops in various colors to give the balloons a little translucent dimension. 

I hope you think he is as cute as I do.  Don't forget to leave a comment.  I'll be giving away 2 gift certificates to Unity Stamp Co.  

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing In Unity: Day 3

It is hard to believe that we are half way through my week as the Growing in Unity Gal.  It has been so fun to grab my ink and my stamp and make some projects for you.  Don't forget to comment on all my projects throughout the week for a chance to win a 25 stamp grab bag from Unity Stamp Company!  The links for all the projects are at the bottom of this post.

For today's project, I'm channeling my California girl roots.  It is hard for me to look at surfboard and not smile.  Surf's Up-Totally Cool from Unity is no exception.  I loved this stamp, and the opportunity to color the surfboards a little.  Some fun water paper, and a few dots, and I have another fun card I can use to remind my kids that they are pretty cool in my book.

Remember: Comment along all week for a chance to win a 25 stamp grab bag from Unity Stamps!

In case you missed any of my projects, you can jump back here:

Day 1
Day 2

See you tomorrow with my next project!

Cheers!
Kristy

Sweet Stamp Shop Designer Showcase

Good Morning!

I'm so excited to be a part of Sweet Stamp Shop's Grand Re-Opening Showcase.  If you haven't seen Sweet Stamp Shop's line of stamps, be sure you check it out!  I simply love the fun designs from Nicole and all the Sweet's.  To kick off the redesign/reopening of the shop and the blog, Sweet Stamp Shop is hosting a blog hop.  Hidden somewhere on the hop is a $25 gift certificate for 1 commenter, so make sure you leave a little love on all the blogs along the way for a chance to win.

For my project, I grabbed my Sail Away Sayings stamp set, and some pearl watercolors to create a background to feature the light house from the stamp set.  I picked a single star as the light guiding me home.

Thank you for visiting me today.  Don't forget to visit the other blogs in the showcase, as well as the NEW Sweet Stamp Shop!!! 

Cheers!
Kristy

PS - I would love it if you would follow me by clicking that little button on the right!  --->

SSInk: December Card Sketch

Hi!

Happy Monday!  Are Monday's happy in your house?  I actually like them.  The quiet of my house after a crazy busy weekend are a blessing.  I love all the craziness, but I also enjoy the quiet.  ;-)

Today on SSInk, we have today's December Card Sketch.  It is such a fun and versatile sketch...

Everyone took this sketch in a different direction.  For mine, I used the Sweetheart Punch from Stampin' Up, punched 5 times, stacked and stapled together.  It is layered over a 2" circle punch from Stampin' Up's gold heart vellum paper.  Now I have one card all ready for Valentine's Day.  Yay!

If this sketch inspires you, please link up your project on the SSInk post for lots of love and credit.

Cheers!
Kristy

SSInk: Decorative Masks

Today is Technique Tuesday on SSInk, featuring Stampin' Up's Decorative Masks.  I used the Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks for my card.  I first inked over the mask with Night of Navy, concentrating more ink at the top, then working down.  Then I added a second layer of ink, Illuminate, over the top for added sheen and a hint of shimmer.

Stampin' Up's Decorative Masks are one of the best deals in the book.  For $2.95, you get 2-8x8 masks that can work on paper, canvas, and many other projects.  Check out SSInk for bunch of great ideas for using decorative masks.

Cheers!
Kristy

Growing in Unity - Day 5

Wow!  I can't believe today is my last day at the Growing in Unity Girl.  I have so much fun playing with the different styles of Unity Stamp Co. stamps.  Today, I'm going out with a toast and some sparkles.  I'm using the Let's Get SIP FACED stamp set to send out the week with a "Cheers!".  You might be able to tell that I used just a touch of Wink of Stella on the wine bottles to add a little sparkle to them too.

I hope you have enjoyed my projects this week.  If you have missed any, you can link back here:
Day 1
Day 2

Day 3

Day 4
Make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win 2 Itty Bitty Stamps.  You have until Monday, Sept 1st to leave comments on today's and all of my blog posts this week.  I will choose 1 winner from all the comments.

If you have enjoyed my projects - and would like to see more - please follow my blog.  When I hit 200 followers, I will send out a little blog candy to one of you!

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity - Day 4

Wow! I can't believe it is Thursday - Day 4 of my week at the Growing in Unity Girl.  This week has just flown by.

I have featured some more classical stamps the last couple days.  Today, I'm back to another "punny" stamp.  This time it is from PUN in the Ocean.  Unity Stamp Co knocked it out of the park with this stamp set, in my humble opinion.

I hope you have enjoyed a glance at today's card.  Make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win 2 Itty Bitty Stamps.  You will have until Monday, Sept 1st to leave comments on today's and all of my blog posts this week.  I will choose 1 winner from all the comments.  If you have missed a day or two, here are the links:

Day 1
Day 2

Day 3

See you tomorrow for my final Growing in Unity post.

Whale Hugs!
Kristy

Growing in Unity - Day 2

Today is my 2nd installment as the Growing in Unity Girl.  I am using the January 2014 Kit of the Month set: Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful for today's project.  This set features so many wonderful designs and sayings.  I have to say, this may be one of my all time faves.

Thank you for visiting today.  Don't forget leave a comment for your chance to win 2 Itty-Bitty stamps of your choice (here is a link to Day 1 - leave a comment there too, if you haven't already).  I would also love it if you would follow along here on the blog.

See you tomorrow for more!
Kristy

Growing in Unity - Day 1

Hi!

I'm very excited to be the Growing in Unity gal this week.  I will be featuring projects using Unity Stamp Co stamps all week.  Look for a new post everyday.  Be sure to leave a comment to win 2 Itty Bitty stamps of your choice!

I'm going to start the week off wishing you a GRATE day (and week!).  I absolutely love the PUN in the Kitchen stamp set.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another project featuring Unity stamps.  I would love it if you would click that little Follow Me button to the right.

Cheers!
Kristy

SSI: Quick & Easy Card!

I love Quick & Easy Card day on Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration.  I'm all about quick and easy these days.  ;-)  Who isn't?!?  My card today features maybe one of my FAVORITE stamp set of all times from Stampin' Up...Crazy, Mixed Up Love (Item #131071).  There was something about the lava lamp featured in this stamp set that called out to me.

The longest part of making this card is waiting for the Crystal Effects (Item #101055) to dry! I used Crystal Effects on the lamp, as well as to make the texture on the background.

If you love this lamp as much as I do, make sure you head over to Stampin' Up and grab this set before it is gone.  It will be retired on June 4th!

Cheers!
Kristy

SSI: Emboss it

Today's post on Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration is all about embossing - heat embossing, dry embossing, all kinds of embossing.  Everyone had such different ideas.  I went the dry embossing route.  I love playing with embossing folders.  You can get so many different looks from it.

For my card, I used the Decorative Dots folder (Item #133520) from the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration catalog.  This card was for my son's basketball coaches.  I thought the Decorative Dots folder gave the paper a basketball look.  I also used the Starburst Sayings Bundle (Item #134818) and Neutrals Candy Dots (Item #130934) to finish off the card.

Have a great rest of the week!

Cheers!
Kristy

SSI: Folded Banner Cards

Hi! I'm up today at Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration.

Is everyone enjoying Stampin' Up's Sale-a-Bration?  Have you picked out your favorite freebie?  If you aren't familiar with Sale-a-Bration...this is the time of year where you can earn free products for every $50 you spend.  I have to say, one of my favorite "freebie" from this year's Sale-a-Bration is the Banner Punch (Item #133519).  Today, I wanted to show you how you can use this punch to make some cute little folded over banners.  You can use them to make flags or hang them on twine to make a banner. Here is an example of a card I made using my folded banners as flags.

Here is how I did it:

I started with scrap of paper from the Sweet Sorbet DSP (Item #133521), folded in half.  When you put the paper into the bunch, be careful to leave a small gap between the very edge of the punch and the folded edge of the paper.  This will leave the folded in tact and create your folded banner.  From there, I snipped the top off a toothpick and placed it in the fold of the banner to create a flag.

I used the holes in the doiley to hold the flags.  Everything, except the flags, are from the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit (Item #134797). To give a little extra depth to the flags, I added a Stampin' Dimensional behind the front flag.

Another way to use these cute little folded over flags is to create a banner.  I started our February card sketch.  I used scraps from the Fresh Prints Designer Paper Stack (Item #132996) to create the banner.  The other elements were also from the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit.  

  

If you haven't ordered this punch yet, think about it adding it to your next order.  I hope I've INKspired you to try it in a new way.  And don't forget, you can use this same technique with many of Stampin' Up's punches!

PS -

Do you like the little feather on this card?  I couldn't just leave it flat, so to give it a little depth, I used my Simply Scored Stylus (Item #125624) to add little creases to help bring the feather "to life".

Stylin' Stampin' January Blog Hop

Thank you so much for joining us for our February Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! Sale-a-Bration is in full swing and it's one of the BEST specials that Stampin' Up! provides every year! Each of the stops along our hop will give you a bundle of items that you can purchase that will total around $50 and give you a FREE Sale-a-Bration item!! 

You won't want to miss these exclusive Sale-a-Bration items: 

As you hop along, please be sure to comment and show some love on every blog! We are always excited to hear from our followers! You should have just left stop number 10 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana
2. Cynthia R. of Ink-a-Doodle Creations
3. Jennifer C. of Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
4. Kathy P. of Katrina P's Creative Corner
5. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
6. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
7. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
8. Erica B. of Stamping Starlette
9. Donna S. of Organized Chaos
10. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
11. Kristina M. Mama's Sanity
12. Bree R. of Craft-Somnia
13. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
14. Anastasia R. of Stampin' Blondie
15. Darla R. & Nancy K. of Stampin with Darla and Sisters
16. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun
17. Heidi B. of Stuck on Stampin'

My bundle includes items from the Retro Fresh collection in the 2014 Occasions Catalog: Peach Keen Stamp Set (#133113), Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi Tape (#133001), Retro Fresh Designer Journaling Tags (#133526), and On Film Framelits Dies (#132969).

Using these items, I created 3 fun (and quick) cards for you:

This card was created with one of the Retro Fresh Designer Journaling Cards.  I'm not sure why the term "Huzzah!" hits home with me (maybe it is because I still remember it as one of my spelling words as a kid), but I just love it!  I wanted you to see that the journaling cards don't have to just be for scrapbook pages or pocket style scrapping.

 For this card, I used two of the stamps from the Peachy Keen set.  The "frame" is from the On Film Framelits Dies.  If you look carefully, you can see the texture the die left on the frame.  Just one more little element of texture.  :-D

My last card features the washi...all of them in the Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi collection.  I also used the dies from On Film in this card (including popping one of the set of arrows up a little).  

I hope you have enjoyed a few different ways to use some of the Retro Fresh collection.  Don't forget that with every $50 spent - the approximate price of my bundle - you can choose 1 free Sale-A-Bration item.  Can you tell what is my favorite item?  The Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack.  It even made an appearance on a couple of my cards here!  

Now it is time to hop on to Bree's blog and see her wonderful creations!  Thank you for visiting!!!

Stylin' Stampin' Squad: November Blog Hop

Thank you so much for joining us for the November Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad Blog Hop! This month our projects focus on Christmas. While we have yet to give thanks this month, some of us are already thinking about sending Christmas cards, what kind of packaging to present gifts in and how we want ...to deck our halls. On this month’s blog hop we are showcasing many of the Stampin’ Up! products that are available in the Holiday Catalog. You will see everything from cards to gift tags to 3-D décor and gift packaging. We hope you enjoy seeing how we use the products to create our projects and feel inspired to come up with some great projects of your own.

Remember you can order all of the products showcased from your Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.

You should have just left stop number 14 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop - Jennifer B. of NW Stamper. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

For today's hop, I featuring Christmas cards made with the Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack.

My first card is a sassy little snowman (from the Snow Day stamp set) waiting to meet you under the mistletoe.  The saying is a sticker from the Season of Style This and That Designer Stickers. These stickers were originally intended to be used in a journaling format, but I just couldn't resist using them on the front of a card!  And what is a snowman without a bed of snow to sit in?  I used some glitter for his "bed".

 

 

To make the eyes and other items really stand out on the snowman, I heat embossed all the items. It took 4 passes with the heat gun to make him smile (each color was a separate pass), but in the end it was worth it.  

 

For my second card, I used the 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon.  I ran thread through it and pulled at the top to scrunch it.  Since my embossing gun was out, I decided to emboss my stamp from A Banner Christmas.

I used my 1/2" Circle Punch with some Seasons of Style of Washi Tape to create the center of the brad.

For my final card, I grabbed some of the scraps from my previous cards.  I love that you can make so many different cards from just a few pieces of paper from stacks!  And aren't the Expressions Thinlits Dies and sparkle of the Silver 1/8" ribbon great?!?  You can make such quick and easy cards with them.

Thanks for visiting me today.  Next up on the hop is Shellie G. of Craft Smashup .  And if you have missed anyone along the way, here is a complete list of participants.  Make sure you check them all out.  There is some wonderful inspiration to be found!

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun
2. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
3. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
4. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
5. Cynthia R. of Ink-a-Doodle Creations
6. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
7. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
8. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
9. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana
10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin'
11. Bree R. of Craft-Somnia
12. Anastasia R. of Stampin' Blondie
13. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
14. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper
15. Kristina M. of Mama's Sanity
16. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup