Friends of Unity July Blog Hop

Happy July 4th and our 250th anniversary month! What a perfect way to celebrate these commemorative moments than with our Friends of Unity color palette theme! Note, in conjunction to our hop, there is going to be a color challenge going up on Unity’s Show and Tell Facebook group. So, enter your creations for a chance at winning a prize!

 

Before I begin, I wanted to congratulate 

                                                            Debbie Owens, 

my winner from last month’s hop. Please PM me your address and I’ll get a package out to you shortly. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

I began this first card by stamping the image from Slow Bloom Society onto watercolor paper. I then used masking fluid to “mask” out the floral areas to leave them white. I then proceeded to paint the background with red and blue stripes. I had already matched the colors to a retired Unity paper pack which I used for backing. After using an eraser to remove the dried masking fluid, I watercolored the florals. I ended up adding white pen stamens and outlining the branches. To embellish the card, I added white (slightly colored in) Tim Holtz die cut florals, enamel dots, and red ribbon. I can’t remember which set I used for the sentiment, that I white embossed.

For the second card, I pulled out Love Truly and Blessed and Happy Everything kits. For inspiration, I found some very old star patterned acetate, a red and blue one. I cut them down and used narrow double sided tape to adhere them together. I then adhered those to a white card base and added a red border. After using coordinating inks to stamp the tag, I cut down another 2 tags in matching paper colors and added a red and blue ribbon. I then inked “BIRTHDAY” and added the 3 tier “happy” sentiment. Red and blue enamel dots were added to this one. 

 

So, finally, I created a celebratory set of ATC’s. Since I always create 2 different sets to send out, I also included a description of the second (non-Unity based) ATC’s as I didn’t want to create another blog post…lazy, I know! So, I used an old SMAK kit for the woman image on these and the Looking Up set on the background. I had already pulled out an old vintage Tim Holtz paper to use as the background. I stamped the image using a red, blue and green ink (green to mute the other 2 colors) to match the paper. I embossed the stars using a glittery red powder on the background. I added Tim Holtz stars using embossing paste and stencil. I then pulled out and used ephemera and using the Unity paper above created stars for embellishment. I used an Ellen Hudson sentiment die and a Gina K die to mount the sentiment. Finally, I added striped string.

The next set has no Unity elements. So, as I was searching through my large ephemera stack, I found these ladies and, more importantly, the Eastman Kodak Co. ephemera piece on the top right ATC. So, a little about me… I’m originally from Rochester, NY, birthplace of Kodak (1888). Check out George Eastman for photography history if interested. At its peak… during my formative years, it employed 145,000 employees, 60,000 in Rochester alone (now down to under 4K, but that’s another story). My parents, my brother and sister, uncles, friends’ parents, etc… all worked there…I did too summers home from college. So, this was a … gotcha moment…had to use it. That, along with some lovely ladies, and a Hampton Art camera stamp and Bo Bunny film clip die formed the basis of this set. I used an old cut up recipe paper for the background and added a bunch of ephemera pieces, black string and Tim Holtz sentiments to complete these. Must admit…these were fun to do and nostalgic.

Well, that’s a rap… another month done! Hope you got some inspiration from these for the Color challenge and thanks for humoring my last ATC set. Now…remember to play along with the Color Challenge on Facebook for a chance at winning some goodies. 

You may have come here from 

Toni’s blog

You can continue on with: 

Doreen’s blog

Or you can start, from the beginning, with

Crystal’s blog

 

Friends of Unity June Blog Hop

 Hello…time for another monthly blog hop with my Friends of Unity co-crafters! This month our theme is:

I chose “drink” as my focus. Before I begin, wanted to let you know I’ll be doing a giveaway this month. Enter comments below (please include your name) for a chance at winning some Unity goodies from my stash. I’ll announce a winner in next month’s hop post. I didn’t hop last month, but I’d like to congratulate this commenter -

Becca Yahrling 

from my April post, and send you a package of goodies! Please PM me with your address and I’ll send out a package in the next week or so!

For my cards, I was inspired by and used the pretty Paper Rose’s Heart and Home Basics paper collection. My husband and I were in Europe in April and had the chance during that wonderful trip to visit the champagne region in France. We toured and visited a few champagne houses there. I just had to celebrate our upcoming anniversary with that remembrance through this card. I used a paper for the background and die cut tags from the pack for enhancements. I used a hole punch to get scalloped edges. For the image, I used a stamp from Life is a Celebration kit. I also used a now renamed kit, originally called Bitty Backgrounds … not sure of new name, to enhance bubble look. I stamped the image on coffee stained paper, I created a few years ago, and colored it with pencils and pens. I used a die on that one too! I added brown crystals to complete the card.

For the second card I, pulled out the One Sip at a Time kit. Again, I stamped the floral part of the cup on coffee stained paper and used my pencils again to color them in. I fussy cut them out. I used paper from the pack for the cup holder and both white and Kraft paper for the other pieces. I used pencils to add dimension to the pieces. I adhered all the pieces and stamped the sentiment on another scrap. I then used the lovely paper as background pieces along with Kraft paper. I finished off the card with tan pearl dots.

Had fun with the theme this month. I must admit, I love how the monthly themes take me out of my comfort zone and challenge me to think outside the box! Hope these 2 and other cards in the hop challenge you to try something new! Thanks for stopping by and remember to leave a comment for a chance at winning this month’s package from me. See you next month!

Now, on to the rest of the hop! 

You may have come here from:

Toni’s blog

You can continue on with:

Dawn’s blog

Or, you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

Build Your Stash Holiday Card Makers - Card 4

   And here’s my fourth card for the {BYSHC} Spring into Christmas 2026 Linky Party! Find more info on how to link up your creations here -

https://byshcardmakers.blogspot.com/2026/04/byshc-spring-into-christmas-2026-linky.html

 Okay… I had another Susan Winget calendar image saved from recycling I decided to make into another card! After die cutting the larger image down, I found same random papers I could use as backing that I thought paired well with this lovely image.

I found another preprinted tag I cut down into a sentiment strip. I used a TH die, some ink pads, that I  used to color the paper to match, and a gold paint to create the tree branch used to back the sentiment. I finished the card off with a few gold enamel dots. (It would be a big challenge and, probably, impossible for me, to try to recreate this painting. But the trying would be fun anyway 🥴).

Well, that’s the final card for this Linky challenge! Thanks for stopping by … see you next one!

Build Your Stash Holiday Card Makers - Card 3

  And here’s my third card for the {BYSHC} Spring into Christmas 2026 Linky Party! Find more info on how to link up your creations here -

https://byshcardmakers.blogspot.com/2026/04/byshc-spring-into-christmas-2026-linky.html

 As I continued my decluttering effort I came across these 3 pieces. The first is the lovely paper I think came from an old Susan Winget calendar I bought many years ago. Again, I loved her painting style and had glommed onto many calendars, cups, and diaries made with her paintings over the years. As I decluttered the paper items, I must have saved the large December calendar graphic page… what can I say… goes along the Friends of Unity Recycle/Earth Day theme. I die cut it to fit a card. I’m just enamored of that image. 

So, I then looked through my stash again, and looking through other paper ephemera pieces, I picked out a preprinted “MERRY” tag I cut down to use as a sentiment… it has some good foiling on it. I distressed the edges of it.

Looking through loose papers, I found, I think, a few Tim Holtz papers that I must have picked up from maybe an old SSS monthly holiday kit. It matched the colors and style I think of the graphics. So I used that as a background paper. Again, a pretty simple style… I stopped there with just the addition of black framing paper and gold enamel dots. Fun, huh?

Thanks for stopping by again!

Build Your Stash Holiday Card Makers - Card 2

 And here’s my second card for the {BYSHC} Spring into Christmas 2026 Linky Party! Find more info on how to link up your creations here -

https://byshcardmakers.blogspot.com/2026/04/byshc-spring-into-christmas-2026-linky.html

So, continuing on with using up my old Bunny Yuletide Carol collection. I used more ephemera from the collection and actually some other ephemera I had collected. I used a Simon Says Stamp sentiment from the Merry and Light Kit, and a TH evergreen die set. I added a tree ribbon and some red crystals around the evergreen. Pretty simple again, but easy to create with a few dies and papers. 

Thanks for stopping by again. 

Build Your Stash Holiday Card Makers - Card 1

 Here’s my first card for the {BYSHC} Spring into Christmas 2026 Linky Party! Find more info on how to link up your creations here -

https://byshcardmakers.blogspot.com/2026/04/byshc-spring-into-christmas-2026-linky.html

While starting to seriously declutter and organize my holiday papers, ephemera and chipboard in an effort to either discard or make a promise to myself to use, I found an old Bo Bunny Yuletide Carol collection. I started making some cards, remembering how much I loved the designs. Here, I cut down an ephemera piece in a circle to fit the wreath chipboard I had collected. The pale chipboard color perfectly matched the paper. I inked the edges to match the colors in the paper and adhered the 2 together. I die cut several more pieces from the papers to back the wreath. I cut down another ephemera piece in a tag form and backed and combined that with a brad from the same collection. A bit different kind of card… not everyone’s cup of tea, but what the heck… I still had fun creating it! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Friends of Unity April Blog Hop

Hello, welcome to April’s Friends of Unity Blog Hop! I really got into our theme this month.  I’m a bit of a craft hoarder, so there were a lot of options to explore here 😉! 

 For the first 2 cards, I used the same 2 stamp and die sets,  Have Courage and The Best You Can. In honor of our theme, I used recycled magazine papers I had cut out because I loved the colors and pattern designs. I also reused packing materials. In both cases, I started by watercoloring the images and adding a bit of pencil and pen to deepen contrasts. I used a Gina K. die for the banner sentiments and added enamel and liquid dots for embellishments.

For the 3rd card, I reused the front and back covers of an old Daphne Magazine issue. 

Again, I was drawn to the colors, design and the watercoloring evident in the cover. Using a TH die, I cut down a yellow background flower out of the cover. I stamped the flowers from an image included in an old SMAK kit called Sparkle Every Day from April 2017. I watercolored them to match the colors and fussy cut them out. I cut down 2 panels from the covers to use for the background and used a yellow ribbon to join them in the center. I fussy cut 2 butterflies from the covers too to use as embellishments. I die cut branches using an Altenew die using paper scraps. I green embossed the sentiment from the kit and added enamel dots to complete this card. 

Finally, I again used a magazine paper and paper scraps for the final card. This time I used the Faith and Hope kit and a random sentiment from Unity. (Love hummingbirds and feed them year round.) Again, drawn to the paper design, I had cut out and retained this one.

I decided to use a TH chipboard frame and TH sentiment on this card both of which seemed to match. I added enamel dots to complete this one.

 So, I think that’s the most cards I’ve made in one theme. Absolutely had a blast with this theme. So, hope these cards and others included in this month’s hop, inspire you to reuse and recycle! Enjoy the hop and remember to comment on the posts if you’d like to win some Unity goodies. I’d like to congratulate my winner from last month’s hop…

Patricia

Please PM me with your full name address to claim your prize!

Now, on to the rest of the hop! You may have come here from:

Toni’s blog

You can continue on to:

Rachel’s blog

Or, you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

Friends of Unity March Blog Hop

Hello, it’s been awhile. Back for another Friends of Unity blog hop. This month or theme is:

My first card was generated with a couple of Unity freebies… a floral and a sentiment stamp. I used an old Dovecraft first edition paper pad called Mulberry Kisses. (Wish they still made these paper pads. They’re just beautiful.) I clear embossed the image and stamped the sentiment on paper from the pad. After cutting down the pieces and assembling the card, I fussy cut out a few butterflies from the pad and added glitter to them to match the sparkly background paper.  I added crystals and pearls to complete the card and called it done This card was pretty simple to make.

The second card was made using a sentiment from the Roses and Lemons kit and a floral image from The Best you Can kit. This time I used several papers from four different vendors patterned paper packs. One of the papers had been dry embossed using a dotted embossing folder with craft ink smeared over it. I also used in an Elizabeth Craft frames die instead of an arch die. I embossed the image to match one of the papers underneath where the floral was just an outline. To complete the card, I added pearls and called it done.

Hope you enjoyed these simple cards using the sketch above as inspiration. Sketches are not normally my thing so they’re always a challenge to create using them.

Each month there’s giveaways available provided by my fellow crafters, using stash from their own personal supply. I’d like to offer a giveaway this month to a lucky winner who will be chosen from comments below. Please check back next month to see if you won a goodie package from me. No, onto the rest of the hop! 

You may have come here from:

Jenni’s blog

From here you can continue on to:

Dawn’s blog

Or you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

Friends of Unity December Blog Post

 Finally, the end of another fun year and the Friends of Unity group will be celebrating our eighth year! Here’s our theme for this month:

I first decided to use the colors on the mood board for the first card, although I do have a little evergreen foliage on this one too! I combined a Unity paper and another scrap to form the background for Santa. I stamped the image and the sentiment using A Season of Santa kit. The sentiment was embossed with a sparkly clear powder. Pretty easy card to make!

I added fine glitter sparkle to his hat and beard, red and green Nuvo drops to the holly on the Santa image and created a tag for the sentiment. Used 2 different ribbons for embellishment.

For the second card, I again used the kit but combined it with a sentiment from Cozy Winter Wishes, another Unity Kit. I used watercolors on the image after stamping with 2 different colored inks. I fussy cut it out and paired it with Unity papers. I stamped the image again on the corner of one of the papers to add greenery at the top. The sentiment was embossed with a glittery red powder. I also added cup rings using the inside roll from a tape dispenser. To complete this card, I used a velvety ribbon, enamel dots and a little ornament ephemera ball. Clearly, I was inspired by the colors and the hot drink on the mood board.

Had a lot of fun trying to come up with cards matching the mood board! I’m sure there will be a lot of great cards on our hop this month, so be sure to check them out! Before we move on though, I’d first like to congratulate 

Jane

who commented on my blog last month. If you PM me, Jane, I’ll mail on to you a goodie package containing a few Unity stamps! 

Now, on to the rest of the hop! Be sure to leave comments, with your name, for a chance to win something from the Friends!

You may have come here from:

Doreen’s blog

Now, you can move on to: 

Toni’s blog

Or, you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

A Very Merry Grungy Christmas!

 Thought I’d just explain what I did on this one, in a blog post, in case there’s any interest! I started by pulling out Unity’s Frosted Lace stamp kit. I decided to stamp and silver emboss it on patterned paper and found a Blue Fern Studio’s Christmas Cheer paper. I then spent an inordinate amount of time, because the paper just absorbs watercolors, adding shading using both a Stabilo pencil and Derwent Inktense navy watercolor pencil with a brush.

Once done, I decided to create a grungy holiday card with it. So, I pulled out a random Unity ledger stamp, a random background ground stamp and Magical (Bliss and Wonder) stamp set. I found a recent Scrapbook.com holiday paper that I could grunge up. I stamped the random stamp all over in a light blue, and the ledger along the sides using Versafine black ink. Then, I stamped and embossed the snowflakes using a combo of silver and clear embossing powders. 

After repeatedly tearing the large snowflake paper and reviewing results against the newly stamped bottom paper, I decided to use a couple random paper scraps to edge the other side. I distressed all papers. 

I decided I wanted to grunge up the large snowflake paper a bit more and started stamping the small snowflakes with Antique Linen and Faded Jeans oxide inks around the edges (not full images or full strength ink). I also used a grungy musical stamp as well. I pulled out a Stamperia stencil, Altenew paste and Silver glitter and added tiny glittery stars randomly. So, now the front has both metallic and glitter effects. 

I added a distressed plain blue paper at the bottom. I then pulled out a Tim Holtz sentiment strip, and the Let It Snow sentiments from the original kit plus Winter Shake Up. Taking advantage of the sentiment on the paper, I added shading to make it stand out. To complete the card, I stapled lace and 3 silver snowflake embellishments on the top right and glued a few more on. Once assembled, it was done!

So.. like grungy holiday cards?… I do! Hope this one is up to the challenge! Thanks for stopping by!

My Great Horned Owl Attempt

 So, I just had to create this card! This beautiful owl just swooped onto my neighbor’s house while I was picking up my mail! My gosh… I was so surprised and in awe. Took pics and a video and while I was clicking away and calling to it… it finally looked st me🦉😳😁! I muted my expletives and stupid commentary… but check this out!

 I used Unity’s Phases Membership kit and Frosted Lace to create this card. I had a blue tinted drawing paper that I stamped the image onto using Pumice Distress Oxide ink. I then used my Prismacolor pencils to add detail…interesting exercise as you have to color in the negative. A little too dark… but not too bad. I used Studio Light paper in the background and fussy cut another branch.

I added Posca pen spatters and a ribbon to complete the card. I think this was more about playing and using the Christmas card excuse to create this one!

Enjoy the video… my neighbor thinks it hangs out in the redwoods behind their house!

Happy crafting!

Friends of Unity November Blog Hop

Wow… Halloween over, Thanksgiving around the corner, for me - a new grandbaby arriving 12/3, and then to top off all of that… Christmas and the holidays! So, I better get started on those cards so I used this month’s theme of 

to begin that effort! Before I start, a reminder that giveaways happen on this blog hop. To be eligible, leave a comment with your name on each post. I will be doing a giveaway this month! Plus, there’s going to be a Backgrounds challenge on Unity’s Show and Tell FB group where prizes are also going to be given away! So, hope you can use the ideas included in this hop for inspiration!

I started both these cards with an ink smooshing technique using an old acetate sheet as the delivery mechanism. I used a combo of distress inks and a blue Primary Elements pigment. I then proceeded to emboss both sheets a little differently for each card using a stamp from the Wander and Wonder membership kit. I also a sentiment from this kit for each card with different coordinating inks. I white embossed the ornament from Holiday Hugs on different paper coloring to match each background.

For the first card I just used clear embossing powder and then blended more ink on top so that just an impression of the snowflakes can be found. Because of this process, the original background shows through via the snowflakes. I was able to use a shiny metallic looking paper from my stash and a Sara Davies’ corner die to pair with this one. Must admit…love the colors on this one!

For my next card, this time, I silver embossed the snowflakes stamp leaving the original background I created. I decided (I’m ready to shoot myself 😂) to make a shaker card for this one. I found a glitter paper I could use. I’ve not tried using this one before as it’s not my color preference. I was able to combine the green and blue papers together to make it palatable to me. I used little sequins and beads I had from every ago to fill the shaker.

I had more vintage like backgrounds in mind beforehand (and may still do a few during the month), but I started down this rabbit hole and ran out of time! Hope you enjoyed these ideas! Now on to the rest of the hop! Remember to leave a comment before you go (with your name)!

You may have come here from:

Jenni’s blog

Or, you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

A few ATC’s

 So, I actually created this Master Board with ATC’s in mind. I used small paper scraps so that a hodge podge design was obvious from a 2 1/2” x 3 1/2” ATC size. 

After paper piecing all the rectangles, I added Washi tape.  I then used Unity stamps and a couple of stencils with a color mixed acrylic paint. I then cut up the paper into 4 ATCs and a couple other sizes for the previous post’s tags.

I used this Tim Holtz set to complete the ATCs. I found a set of ephemera squares that I color coordinated with the paper I created and used the stamp set that I previously used the stencils on.

I stamped the butterfly and and some of the smaller stamps on the squares. I tore up a preprinted burlap paper page. Added a few tiny ephemera pieces on some and white thread after adhering the ATCs. I added some Tim Holtz sentiment strips and called it done!

I chuckled and almost used this strip as I was perusing sentiments…thought I’d share it!

For the second set of ATCs, I pulled out Stamperia’s Princess paper pack and just created them using cut up papers and lace. I used a Deep Red Victorian Ladies stamp to create the image and a sentiment from Unity that I stamped on vellum and backed with paper. I added Pearl dots and called them done!

Well… it’s always fun to create ATCs and a challenge to create these itty bitty cards. Hope you liked them and thanks for stopping by!