Friends of Unity March Blog Hop

Welcome to March’s Friends of Unity Blog Hop with the very intriguing and challenging theme of Creativity! (I can’t wait to see how the other hop participants addressed it!) I took the opportunity this month to dive head on into the mixed media world. I hope my fledgling foray into this wonderful craft venue inspires you to try, if not mixed media, something new to you. I’ll let you judge my novice attempts, but I have to say, I had fun doing it!

This blog hop, as usual, offers giveaway goodies. I will be doing a giveaway this month as well. To be eligible, please leave a comment on each blog in the hop. Winners are randomly selected and posted on or by the next month’s blog hop. 

I started off by using 3 small Ranger canvas mixed media boards I picked up discounted at Tuesday Morning. They are sized 3”x3”, 4”x6” and 5”x7”. I also picked up a Gesso Canvas 6”x6” at Hobby Lobby. In all cases, I started by laying down a cream acrylic paint, adding paper (magazine paper or patterned paper) and “gessoing” that, and then adding more paint and/or sprays. What I found out with mixed media was that, if you didn’t like something...just go over it again with other colors as many times as you want. That being said, I also found that it can be time consuming as you continue to “create” your art work day after day, especially when still learning. With all, I added different combinations of Unity stamps (I think from 11 kits). I used stencils, embellishments, pastes, inks, sprays, glitter, ... I also used pens, a lot! and took liberties in using the images. (See product images below).

So, on to the first set of 3. I started by preparing all the canvases the same way, with the only difference being the color scheme. I then started layering on colors and designs, completing each one before moving on to the next (smallest to largest). You may not even see the layered paper pieces except for the colors. I used primarily a small flower/butterfly kit for the littlest canvas.

I used a vintage era background stamp kit for the focus of the second, but added a different butterfly over it.

For the largest of the 3, I actually started by using an Art Anthology stencil to start the flower branch, but penned my own flower heads, which I added chunky Vicki Boutin glitter to. Again, Unity stamps clutter the background of this one.

For the last canvas, I started the same way, except I also included the sides (painting, stamping and stenciling).

Hope you enjoyed seeing these unusual, strange and unique art works of a novice. At a minimum, I hope they demo the versatility of the wonderful collection of stamps offered by Unity Stamp Co. Be sure to leave comments on each hop for your chance to win a giveaway.

Just to remind everyone, we are not sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of this hop. I and my fellow crafters on this hop are keen users of their products and enjoy focusing our attention on monthly themes where we can showcase their products. We use our own stash as giveaways to share our inspiration and ideas with others. Hope you enjoy these efforts as much as we enjoy doing them! If you are interested in my art journey, I invite you to follow me by clicking the follow button, or adding your email!

Now on to the hop:

Crystal Minkler
Joyce Verdon => You are here
Eileen Mathys

Jeanie Hays

Bobbie Sue McConathy
Kim Klinkovsky

Robyn Jordan

Dawn Fields