~ April 2026 - Friends of Unity Blog Hop ~ Earth Day/Recycle

 Hello and welcome to April! The Friends of Unity are hopping today with some wonderful inspiration! April is a month of rebirth. Spring should be "springing" up all around you with flowers blooming, skies clearing....in Florida that typically means *pollen* but let's not talk about *sneeze* that yet! LOL

I have been saving all kinds of stuff for a few months in anticipation of this month's theme! Typically I am a scrap hoarder anyway, but let's just say my scrap pile is bursting at the seams!

First up is a shaker card that I created with a previously created background, a stamped image that has been hanging around for "just the right color" and some plastic wrapping that I will be using to make the actual shaker part! 

I started with an amazing and super colorful background that I created some time ago....I made an entire sheet and this is one of the quarters! Packaging from an online purchase was the perfect size for this A2-ish panel. I cut the plastic bag to remove the edges, then used some tear tape to attach the plastic to the card panel, being sure to leave the top edge open to load up the shaker bits. These bits are from several sources, Unity clear flat sequins (that got a bit out of hand while going into the bag), some tiny yellow star bits and cupcake confetti both from Twiddler's Nook, as well as a few dots of scrap paper that were paper punched! I attached the completed shaker panel to a piece of black on my card base. To that I added the Happy Birthday! It's from the Unity set called Many More Birthdays along with the coordinating die. I had made this quite some time ago, but it just never coordinated with anything until now! I attached it with more tear tape, right smack in the center! It was stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne and heat embossed with some clear embossing powder (p.s. Unity also has clear embossing powder, I just don't have it yet!)

I just love a shaker card sound!

Next up is another birthday card, but a little less "loud!" 

I saved the box that held my kitchen trash bags. I loved the color combo on it! 

Dark pink, light pink, lime green and wood grain. I maneuvered the smallest of the scallops and banners dies, as well as another banner die set that was in a Whit Kit, to get as many cuts as I could! Next I grabbed a roll of natural color burlap ribbon that I saved from a gift basket that was sent to my family. I have two different sizes of this actually from two different gifts! The green ribbon has been in my ribbon box forever! There wasn't enough lime green on the box to get one more strip, so I utilized my Unity paper stash! Rainbow Alcohol Ink Papers from the April 2023 Whit Kit to the rescue! I see now from the picture that some are not exactly straight but I can fix it later! The sentiment is from ...aging gorgeously, enamel dots (my favorite) from Gina Marie Designs.

I have so many recycled things and ideas that I just need to keep going! This is just a good reminder that there are so many items in everyday life that can be recycled for other uses! Between the two elements above that I've rescued from the landfill, I also have at the ready.....bread bag clip, used dryer sheets, plastic packaging from a container of blueberries and another box that the entire inside is pink! :) 

Ok, I digress....onto the next one!

A used dryer sheet sprayed with Plain Jane ink spray by My Tattered Angels in Tiger Lilly, glued to a piece of cardstock with elmers glue! After spraying the dryer sheet with the ink, I found some old elmer's glue (from the slime making days IYKYK) and spread it all over the cardstock and sort of "smooshed" it around to give some texture. This took forever to dry! 

In the meantime, I die cut another piece of cardstock with the deckle & stitches nesting dies to make a frame. I had the white embossed moth (Nocturnal Nature) from a previous project. I stamped a birthday wish (...aging gorgeously) and attached it to the frame. Foam tape on both the frame and the moth which both were attached directly over the dryer sheet/glue/cardstock panel.

This is likely my last one.....but its a cute one!

The box from the "scrub mommy" I just brought home had this beautiful hot pink on the inside of the box! The other elements on this one are also "recycled" in a way! The white piece cut from the frame above was used on this one.....as well as the sentiment which is so old....I don't even remember when I stamped it! 

I used the pink box for the background on this one. The yellow polka dot paper was laying on the desktop so I tore it up and added some washi tape and a staple and it looks like a Tenia card! LOL Stamped the girl from Echo of Kindness with Versafine Clair Nocturne, colored her with KingArt Alcohol Markers. I then added some foam tape to both the colored image and the sentiment along with enamel dots to finish it off! 

I do love ALL of these recycled cards! I definitely had to think outside the box on a few, but Pinterest is one of my favorite sources for ideas!

With all the goodies I have saved, I am sure there will be more cards to come!

Thank you for visiting and don't forget that April 22 is Earth Day, but you can make a difference EVERY day! To start the hop at the beginning, visit Crystal's blog. If you are ready to move on...Toni is your next stop!