Friends of Unity November Blog Hop

 Welcome back to another fun Friends of Unity Blog Hop! This month’s theme aligned with my need to create some thank you notes…which I did under the guise of - 

I had a lot of fun using a few Unity Autumn themed stamp sets, Autumn patterned papers, Unity sentiment dies and 6 different tags! I had just a few cute papers from the set, Thankful and Blessed Pumpkins, that I think was gifted as an add-on to one of the membership kits. Finally, I decided this was the fall to use them!  I also used paper from Plant a Garden. The kits I used were: Chic Script Salutations (retired die set), Golden Glow (10/23 membership), Newsprint Floral Greetings, Tree of Gratitude, Embrace the Change, Thankful and Grateful Fall, Change and Direction (10/22 membership), and finally, I think, Season of Inspiration.

I created the THANKS tag using a Graphic 45 tag which I colored and stamped using oxide inks and a blending brush and then stamping leaves all over it. I die cut, using an old die set, a pair of leaves out of the paper, inking the edges and backed the THANKS with another gifted paper. I added a brown chipboard leaf, brown ribbon and enamel dots to complete it.

I used a brayer and acrylic paints, along with paint spatters on the second tag. Once dried, I added stenciled cream paste stripes. I stamped leaves all over and the word GRATITUDE. I created a small tag out of another paper and stamped and fussy cut more leaves. I added ribbon, the sentiment and enamel dots to complete this one.

For the next tag, I cut more paper down and striped the tag with that and burlap paper. I stamped the sentiment on leaf stamped coffee stained paper and backed it with Unity paper. I added some fussy cut ephemera and green twine to finish this one. 

I used a brayer and oxide inks to color the next tag. Again, I stamped leaves and dotted branches all over. I added a Unity paper, a sticky strip and Washi tape on the bottom. I then used some rub-ons to add florals, added the die cut sentiment, and finished the tag with ribbons.

For the fifth tag, I first added color with ink blending. I then stamped a branch directly on the tag. I stamped several other branches on regular Bristol paper using a combo of inks and fussy cut them out. I added another strip of patterned paper, gold Washi, a vellum backed sentiment, twine and crystals. 

 

The  sixth tag was pretty easy to create with more Unity and burlap patterned paper, a sentiment and ribbon.

So, again, I stamped leaves all over the final tag, adding some color and branches by hand with pens. I spattered copper ink all over. I created another small tag with the patterned paper to back the sentiment. I used Washi tape and sticky strips for embellishment and completed the tag with ribbon.

Overall, theses are not works of art, but I think I can use them to carry a quick message of thanks.

Now, not planned, but when I was cleaning up, I finally opened another add-on gift from a recent membership kit. I found more tag inspiration… this time Christmas. These were easy as I just fussy cut out the images and sentiments, cut down the included papers and used a die to create snowflakes. I added crystals, Washi tape and twine to complete them. This was a really cute freebie, must admit!

Okay…no longer Unity based, I was on a tear now to create more tags using up all sorts of paper scraps, Washi tape, ribbons and twine, tags and embellishments. I have collected too much holiday ephemera and papers, that will never make a card, as it’s not really my style. What better way to get rid of it… but still use it! I think this worked out pretty well. Some are cuter than others, but I don’t think they’re any worse or better than the tags you buy in the store! Clearly, I had a lot of energy…🥴🤣!

So… lots of inspiration for tags here and along the rest of the hop. Check out all the beauties created by my crafty friends! 

Before we continue on, I’d like to congratulate

Brenda Trimmer

on being the winner from last month’s hop. Please PM me your name and address and I’ll forward on a package with some Unity goodies. Be sure to leave a comment with your name if you’d like to be a winner from this month’s hop and check back next month to see if you won!

Now, on to the rest of the hop… you may have come here from:

Von Marie’s blog

You can continue on with:

Jenni’s blog

Or, you can start from the beginning with:

Crystal’s blog

Cuddlebug Raccoon

 So, my eldest grandson’s birthday is this month (geez, 3 in a row… husband, son and grandson)! I pulled out Cuddlebug Raccoon which I had never used before to try and create a quick card. I also pulled from my stash an old Jen Hadfield tree patterned paper which I never knew what to do with.

 I stamped and very quickly colored in the raccoon with pencils as I was short of time. I added a little pen action and fussy cut him out. I then took the tree paper and added white and gold acrylic paint marks, and I used a leaf stamp to embellish it with tiny orange patterned paper leaves. 

I embossed the sentiment from a retired sentiment kit called …Hugs, Kisses and Birthday Wishes using a sparkly orange/gold powder on brown paper. (Hmmm, wonder how many retired kits I own?)

I added a black and white paper and another patterned paper behind the tree and mounted all on a brown card base. To complete the card, I added yellow enamel dots and gold raffia ribbon.

All in all I think it turned out pretty cute. Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

I Love That You’re Part of My Story

 Wow… October has been a busy month… 3 birthdays, a Linky Party, and Halloween. Upon which, September had been busy with a full week of Growing in Unity efforts. This post is about a b-day card for my husband. Very different in all aspects from the previous efforts. So, it all started with an old Jen Hadfield autumn paper pack, a coffee stained leaf impression paper I created a while ago and a Unity Kit called Beautiful Change. You can see the patterned paper, the stamped Unity Rose Gold embossed leaf and the coffee stained paper underneath the leaf here.

Then, it was just a matter of how to combine it all. I used a Tim Holtz mixed media paper pack for a couple of the layers and a slimline pink card base. I then also used some random leaf dies on a brown patterned paper from the pack and another coffee stained paper. I spattered the leaves with metallic sprays. 

I stamped the sentiment from Wakely Girl onto vellum, and backed it with the leftover coffee stained paper. To finish it all I just used some rose gold colored sticky strips.

So… it’s a mess, but it’s my mess and my husband’s! Just thought I’d capture the steps here! Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 8

    Here’s my eighth card for this fall’s Linky Party! Wow… never made this many in a row! Join in the fun this last day for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

So, been meaning to try this out with watercolors and finally had the time to do it. Basically, I used the inside ring of a used Scotch tape refill to lightly “stamp” circles on a leftover piece of Arches watercolor paper. For each circle, I laid down on a flat mat the watercolor paint I wanted, dipped the ring into the paint and tranferred it to the paper. I then used the paint from my palette to loosely paint the ornament. I added a darker hue color on each ornament to add depth. I sprinkled a little bit of Schminke gold powder on the mat and using the wet brush I picked up the powder and added gold drops here and there into the wet paint of each ornament. I repeated this twice to create the other 2 ornaments. Hard to see but there are gold blobs in each ornament. 

I painted the tops of each ornament and the string/wire holding each. I used a brown pen to outline and firm up the edges. Not wanting to stop there, I decided to use a good metallic pen to add decorations on each ornament. I then used paint and brown and white pen to add shadows and highlights. Obviously I wasn’t going for realism here… just impressions of ornaments. I spattered paint around the paper. Here’s a mid-process capture of my efforts to see what I was working with… obviously I kept fussing with it.

I looked through my stash of Christmas patterned papers for a background I could use to create a card. I found a Unity paper I thought was the loose style I was looking for from the pack Quiet Christmas Morning. To match the paper color, I loosely watercolored in a matching background behind the ornaments and added shadows. 

Finally, I found a sentiment that I could use from Unity’s Festive Flair kit. I embossed it using a Seth Apter powder onto a paper from Unity’s Frostborne pack (what can I say… colors matched). I backed everything with a brown patterned paper I had and called it done. The card base is an unusual size I had on hand that worked.

I think it turned out pretty festive and liked the loose watercolor style. I’ll be trying this again to make more cards. What do you think… did it work? Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 7

   Here’s my seventh card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

Final card using Paper Rose’s  Mistletoe Market collection, maybe? Again, I used leftover scraps on this one with postage dies to create the 2 focus elements. From there I used 2 other papers as foundation layers. I again used ephemera pieces from the collection to complete the card along with a black ribbon.

This might be my favorite card using this collection! Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 6

  Here’s my sixth card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

I can’t say this is my final card using Paper Rose’s  Mistletoe Market collection🥴, because I love it so much! So, hadn’t planned on this one but I was inspired by mistakes made in Card 5! Oh my, I had improperly cut the border and vellum for what I was trying to do for the shaker. So after deciding, I was done fussing around with another shaker, I decided I would just use the already black bordered vellum on another paper from the collection -  this time a holiday library scene. I again used the ephemera packs from the collection for embellishments. I cut down tags from leftover scraps to back the Home for the Holidays tag. I used leftover scraps with a die to mount the puffy present and typewriter on. I used a Simon Says die set, Pine and Post Gift Card Envelope to add pine sprigs. Finally, I used a green ribbon to complete the card. (Everything was adhered onto the vellum.)

 Quite a different from all the others. Bit of a hodgepodge… but fun to look at all the elements. Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 5

   Here’s my fifth card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

 I used Paper Rose’s Mistletoe Market Basics papers for this card and the puffy Embossed Die Cuts included in the collection. This time I tried my hand at a shaker card! I used Tim Holtz glitter snow for the insides. It’s a pretty simple card, although I never find shakers to be easy or simple to put together. For embellishments, I just used a black ribbon and Prima mint green dots.

 

Like I said previously… I’m in love with this cute collection! You like? 

Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 4

    Fourth card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

For a change of pace, as I was looking through my scrap papers and my Unity membership kits, I happened upon 2 items I decided to pair! First, there was the craft colored holiday baking scrap patterned paper that inspired me to create this card. (I do make Christmas cookies every year with my son and grandson!) Then, I found a couple of dresses with aprons in the membership kit, Sweetness, Miracles and Wishes. I also found a couple more holiday scrap papers, maybe, from Authentique, believe it or not, that I used to fussy cut together the dresses and for other parts of the card. I found a glittery striped patterned paper I kept from a 12x12 sheet that I used for the background. I used the sentiment from the Pretty Darn Amazing membership kit. Finally for embellishments, I used an old Elizabeth Craft Kitchen Tools die set and gold glitter Stickles. Must admit I had fun using up old stuff again and creating a baking themed card.

How fun is this one! Do you bake for the holidays?  Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays 2026 - Card 3

    Third card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

 I used Paper Rose’s  Mistletoe Market collection again for this card. A tag was cut out and partially die cut at the bottom using a postage die. I punched a hole at the top, added a sticky silver strip at the bottom and ribbons at the top. I used a leftover scrap from the last card for the bottom of the card. I used a dark muted green scrap patterned paper that matched colors for the top. I then fussy cut out snowflakes from another paper from the collection. I used a silver metallic holographic paper and a piece of black paper to separate the top and bottom background pieces. I added silver snowflakes for more embellishment. I used black paper as a foundation layer.

This one turned out quite different from the first card. Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC - Falling for the Holidays 2026 Linky Party - Card 2

   Second card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

My second card (I’m in love with this brand new collection and will definitely do more) was created  using Paper Rose’s  Mistletoe Market collection. This card was built using just papers from the collection. A few tags were cut down and a partial sheet along with black paper and a postage die were used as the focal point. I did pull in a different vendor’s black patterned paper for the bottom background. I used a black ribbon that I’ve never used before to separate the top and bottom background papers. I added clear crystals for embellishments. I also hot glue gunned an old Stampin’ Up metal embellishment, composed of two bells with striped back black twine.

Pretty festive, I think! Thanks for stopping by!

BYSHC - Falling for the Holidays 2026 Linky Party - Card 1

 First card for this fall’s Linky Party! Join in the fun for a chance at winning a prize from a sponsor! Check it out here:

BYSHC 2026 Linky Party

I used a craft magazine stamp set called Winter Woodland by Sheena. This all started when trying to use up Bo Bunny paper from long ago. I challenged myself to paint a bird using the colors of the birds in the paper. The bird is sitting on a branch, that I ended up fussy cutting. I used gold and white paint for the buds on the branch and the pinecone. I gold embossed a sentiment from the kit and used old DCWV shiny gold patterned paper to back that and as a background panel. I used a SSS Privet Branch die with red patterned, black and gold papers and vellum to back the branch. I added enamel dots to complete the card. I really liked the stamps included in this set.

For some reason, I love this card…maybe the richness of the colors. Thanks for stopping by…see you tomorrow!

Redone Efforts

 So, I found a stash of partially built and old messy cards that I wanted to refresh and use. Again, in an effort to use up stuff lying around, I decided to see what I could do with them. 

First up is an old watercolor that was one of my firsts. The stamp set is from Unity’s Abundant Blessings kit. It was pretty bland and dull looking, so I spruced and warmed it up with white, yellow, red and gold acrylic and watercolor paints and paint pens. I cut it down a little from original and found prettier papers to use. I also darkened the background contrast. I added gold dots and made it into a square card.

I think it’s more vibrant now. Unfortunately, I no longer own this stamp set… a failing on my part! I would definitely repaint it!

The second card made was from a scrap stamped image. I added metallic paints to enliven the embossed feather and spattered it. The feather came from Unity's  then used Unity’s Feather Soft Love kit. I used Unity’s Chic Script and Salutations kit for a sentiment. I paired the image with a Crafter’s Companion shiny glittery paper. 

I also decided to decorate the inside of the card as well using sprigs from Difference Maker and Newsprint Floral Greetings and some text from another kit.

The next card was built using a pre-embossed panel that I added metallic watercolors and white acrylic paint to. I spattered it as well. The sentiment came from Newsprint Floral Greetings and the feather came from Feather Soft Love. I double layered the sentiment with the Crafter’s Companion’s glitter paper that I also used in the background. I added clear crystals to complete the card.

I also added an internal sentiment from a Hero Arts kit and another Unity feather from the membership kit Difference Maker.

They both turned out okay, I think, and I will be using them this month. Thanks for stopping by!

Friends of Unity October Blog Hop

 Hello… welcome back to our Friends of Unity blog hop. We have a special theme this month:

I have, that I recall, never made a breast cancer card, even though I know, 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with it. And, I have special friends and relatives that have been challenged by this disease. So, I took the opportunity to use a very, very old retired membership kit called Faith, Hope, Love… Live By It. Funny… looking through their store, there are kits available from that year that are still very cute. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. It’s too bad as it’s very cancer oriented.

I made this card using 5 stamps from the kit - 3 sentiments, a circle background and a ribbon strip. I used a combo of pink, gold metallic and brown embossing powders on brown and several pink patterned papers. I used a variety of circle dies on the stamped images and shiny gold sparkle and metallic papers. I used corner dies from Elizabeth Craft Co. The background papers include a sparkly pink paper, a sparkly white paper underneath that one and a plain brown cardstock paper. I love the combo of pink and brown.

I hope this works as a card for a special tough situation. Having never made a “circle” card.. it was challenging to line up colors, patterns and a design that I considered somewhat cohesive. What do you think? Comment below (with your name) for a chance at winning some Unity goodies from me!

Speaking of winning… I’d like to congratulate 

Ida

on winning a package from me from last month’s hop. Please text me you address, Ida, to claim your package and, thank you for the kind words!

Now on to the rest of the hop:

You may have come here from

Toni’s blog

You can continue on with

Rachel’s blog

Or, start from the top with

Crystal’s blog