{BYSHC} Sketch 64 - Gift for you

We have made it to the end of 2025 and about to welcome 2026! I am blessed to be a part of this design team and to have the ability to create! God has blessed me beyond measure….and for that I am forever grateful!

My last card of the year was given as a birthday card a few weeks ago! It was perfect for gift giving to a friend.

Again I would like to say thank you for the opportunity to share my cards with you! Happy New Year and see you in January for sketch 65!

~ December 2025 Friends of Unity Blog Hop ~ Mood Board

 Welcome to the last Friends of Unity blog hop for 2025! That's crazy to say!! I first want to thank everyone that has visited or commented on my posts this year. I am always blown away by the wonderful things that people share! I am truly humbled!

Secondly, I want to acknowledge the fact that the Friends of Unity Blog Hop celebrates 8 years this month of December! WOW! Thank you for keeping this amazing hop going!

The prompt for December is this fantastic "Mood Board!" So just as the name implies, it's whatever your mood feels while looking at this inspiration photo. To be 100% honest, I had a hard time getting into this month! As with every one of you, it's a busy time of year! My brain has 700 tabs open at once!  But I finally nailed down what I would share based on this amazing image!

I have been wanting to get some gift tags completed for this year, but hadn't had a chance as of yet, so what better time than the present (no pun intended)! All the different images, colors and textures led me to create a smaller project!

I have a template that I created to print "to: from:" spaced just so to be cut up and used for tags. I took some sheets of kraft and white and printed some. To those I added, to the other side, some stamping!

I started with the kraft pages first. This tag above was created using the three snowflakes from the November 2023 KOM called {festive flair}. I stamped them all over the panel with ink on 3 embossing ink, then sprinkled gina k. white embossing powder over and heated! I used one of the make a tag die set to cut them out. I wanted to utilize the sketch from the mood board (I see now that my stripes are going in the opposite direction! LOL). I cut strips of red cardstock at 1/8" and added them to the front of the tag. The "christmas delivery" stamp is from the 2023 Unity Advent Calendar! It appears that I am missing the smallest circle from the scallops and circles nesting die set so had to use a different set. Lastly I added some natural burlap twine from may arts ribbons!

I used the Merry Christmas and branches from the October 2024 KOM called {sweet bliss of christmas}. 

Merry Christmas from October 2024 KOM {sweet bliss of christmas} and on the edges is the pinecone and pine bough bunch from the November 2023 KOM {festive flair}.

Wanted a subtle background to stamp over, so I used the pinecone and pine bough bundle from the November 2023 KOM and stamped it with ink on 3 embossing ink and let it dry. Creates a tone on tone effect. Next I stamped over that the Merry Christmas and branches from the October 2024 KOM {sweet bliss of christmas}.

Next onto the white pages! While I was stamping the white snowflakes above, I grabbed some speckled egg and hickory smoke distress oxides and did the same thing to the white pages, trying to utilize the grey/cream color on the mood board. Die cut them as well with the make a tag die set. 

The "joy" stamp is from the 2020 Unity Advent Calendar and the snowflake is from the 2024 Unity Advent Calendar! I used lumberjack plaid distress oxide for joy and white pigment ink and shimmer glitter embossing powder for the snowflake.

I also wanted to showcase the warm fuzzy sweater knit in the upper right corner as well as the cozy mug of goodness in the bottom left corner! These two things go hand in hand in my book!

I stamped the ...woven warmth November 2023 BOM with antique linen distress oxide then die cut with the make a tag die set and distress inked the edges with vintage photo. The cute mug overflowing with marshmallows is from the 2021 Unity Advent Calendar and the sentiment, which I cut into smaller pieces, is from Cherished Holly {Front & Center November 2021}. Stamped, then fussy cut and attached. 

When I had the original thought about making tags, I thought I would need to make more things.....certainly "tags" wouldn't be enough to fill an entire blog post! :| WOWOW was I wrong! Seven sets of gift tags ready to be attached to gifts going every which way!

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season! Come back and hop with us in January!

To start from the beginning, please visit Crystal's blog. If you are ready to move on.....hop on over to my friend Rachel's blog!

{BYSHC} Sketch 64 - Ho Ho Ho!

 We've made it to December! This is where all of the hard work you've put in all year pays off! If you have been creating with us all year, your card stash should be pretty good! Personally, mine is overflowing! :)

I created this card with scraps that were on my desktop. I had created a few advent calendars and these were the pieces that were left after that! Paper is from Miss Kate Designs and is from the Holly Jolly collection. The "die cuts" are from the coordinating sticker sheet! Did you know that if you add some talcum powder or in my case, corn starch, to the back of any sticker it takes the stick away?!? You probably did, but that's what I did and was able to add foam adhesive to the HO HO HO to pop it up!

{BYSHC} Sketch 63 - Let's Be Merry!

 Hello again and welcome back! Now that Thanksgiving is done, it's officially crunch time! LOL If you have been following along with us all year, your card stash should be full!

Today's card is once again brought to you by way of this month's sketch sponsor Angie Blom Digital Designs . The set is called Let's Be Merry. I printed the image and sentiment, colored with King Art Alcohol Markers and measured and cut according to the sketch. Background plaid paper from Unity Stamp Co. Season Starter paper pack. Button trio from stash!

One last Hurrah!!! Creative Scrapbooker Magazine final bow!

 I personally did not know about creative scrapbooker magazine until sometime in 2021 or 2022. Some of my “online” card and scrappy friends were posting about being published in this magazine!!! So I had to check it out! I submitted a bunch of cards in April 2022 and was published, three cards, in the December 2022 issue! Here we are three years later and I am so sad to say this is their final issue! 

I have had an absolute blast being included in many (all but one since December 2022) issues since! What an honor!! Sincere thanks to the staff and editors who helped make this little dream of mine become a reality! 

Your “retirement” will leave a big empty space for soooooo many people! 

Newton's Nook Designs Inky Paws Sketch Challenge #246 - Bring on the Merry

 I love this stencil so much, I had to make another one! LOL Newton's Nook Designs Inky Paws Sketch challenge #246 and I used the Argyle Stencil on this background!

Also used the Fancy Edges Tag Die set and the retired Christmas Trimmings stamp set and matching dies. After I created the argyle background, I die cut with Unity Stamp Co. largest scallops and rectangles nesting dies, then ink blended over the edges with Vintage Photo.

Newton's Nook Design Inky Paws Sketch Challenge #246 - Happy Blooming Birthday!

 What does one do when they are procrastinating and not doing the housework that she should be doing.....why making cards of course! LOL

I am a sucker for a sketch so when the Newton’s Nook Designs Inky Paws Challenge sketch popped up on my feed, I immediately had to make something! LOL I'll include a picture of the sketch below.

This started with a piece of plain white cardstock and the argyle stencil set from Newton's Nook Designs. I used Gina K. Designs Inks in Peach Bellini and Ocean Mist to stencil this amazing design with some blending brushes!! So crisp and so fun! I then added a strip of teal paper which the manufacturer is unknown to me. I then die cut the entire panel with a Unity Stamp Co. scallops and rectangles die. I then cut the orange polka dot tag using the fancy edges tag die set. The image is from a set called Loads of Blooms, which happens to be retired now. I didn't get the matching die set so fussy cutting is what needed to happen! I colored her in with my KingArt Alcohol Markers and added her to the tag along with some burlap and natural twine. I attached the tag with foam adhesive and then added some enamel dots from Echo Park to finish it off.

The challenge runs through the end of the month!