~ October 2025 Friends of Unity Blog Hop ~ Color Challenge

 

Hello friends! Welcome to October! Another "BER" month is upon us and that means we are getting into the cozy fall season! Although in Florida that only means we patiently (not so much) wait on the first "cold front" to make it this far south and to keep our fingers crossed that no Hurricanes decide to visit! 

The Friends of Unity are sponsoring a Color Challenge on Unity Show & Tell! The colors are listed above in the graphic....red, gold, orange and brown. Cannot wait to see what is created!!

Rather than create a bunch of "fall" cards with this traditionally fall color pallet, I decided on Birthday Cards! I am always in need of more Birthday Cards!!

First up is a floral card created with the challenge colors using the acrylic block and water stamping technique! LOL I'm sure it has a much more technical title, but that's what I did! 

I used Distress Oxides in Lumberjack Plaid, Crackling Campfire and Vintage Photo and the Distress Ink in Scattered Straw. Smeared the ink on an acrylic block, spritzed with water and just sort of pounced it all over! Drying with my heat tool between colors to keep it from getting too muddy. I didn't have enough yellow in the mix so I took an ink blending brush and blended on some yellow in the blank spots.

I grabbed a favorite background stamp, Obsessed with Floral, and stamped it in Versa Fine Clair Nocturne. I die cut the rectangle using a set of diagonal stitch dies from the December 2023 Whit Kit. I backed the die cut piece with some white cardstock. I added the die cut piece with some foam tape over the opening that I just cut out. Next I stamped the large "happy birthday" from the Many More Birthdays and die cut with coordinating die. Stamped "hugs and wishes" as well. I added some natural twine from Timeless Twine to the back and added more foam tape, added on the remainder of the sentiment and then added some clear flat sequins. 

I found inspiration for this one on Pinterest. I used the 3-in-one stencil. I placed tape in between the openings to be sure I didn't over blend. The ink choices for this one were Nuvo Hybrid Rubber Duck, Gina K. Designs Sweet Mango, Red Hot and Kraft. I cut it down to a rectangle and then stamped one of the images from Insightful Meadows (unfortunately looks like it's retired) on top of it with Versa Fine Clair in Nocturne. 

What happened next I can only describe as a flurry of paper, stamps, die cuts, punches, paperclips, washi tape.....anything and everything! I couldn't decide how to finish! Happy Birthday is from ...there is no reason (may also be retired), "make a wish" from ....extended celebration. Ribbon and brad were literally laying in front of me! Added some foam tape to the sentiment and some enamel dots from Carta Bella and she's finished! 

Ever have those cards that end up nothing like you imagined in your head? Maybe you have had to take it apart a couple times and try again?!? Both of these cards were that for me! Whew! As chaotic and uncertain as these both were, I love the end results!

Thanks for stopping by and following along with our Color Challenge Blog Hop! If you want to start from the beginning, you'll need to go to Crystal's blog. If you are ready to move on to the next, Doreen's blog is where you'll head next!

P.S. ~ We have a special giveway - play along with our color challenge and add your card to the album over on the Unity Show & Tell FB page. Amber has a special giveaway happening for entries and all of the details are over on her blog...it's the last stop on the hop....GOOD LUCK!!

p.p.s. sometimes you can find the retired stamp sets at the Unity Stamp Swap FB page :)

{BYSHC} Sketch 62 - Happy Holidays

Hello and welcome to October! This is the time to crank those Christmas cards into high gear! We are in the home stretch!

Sketch 62 is upon us! The fantastic sponsor this month is Gina K Designs! I love her!! Her videos and reels inspire me often!  I see them mostly on Instagram, but sometimes a YouTube video notification pops up too!  

The background technique was inspired by one of those clips. I swiped, diagonally across some white cardstock, Gina K Dye Ink cubes in grass green and red hot and distress oxide in crackling campfire. Once dry, I cut it according to the sketch. The poinsettia is from a Unity Stamp Co. set called Merry Everything Poinsettia. I stamped with two stamps, first the flower in crackling campfire, then the black abstract design in versa fine clair in nocturne. The sentiment strip came from Waffle Flower, it's just called subsentiments Christmas Tree Diecut sheet.

Be sure to follow along because starting October 17th is the Falling for the Holiday's Linky Party! It's the last one before the holidays! Lots of sponsors and prizes! Stay tuned!

{BYSHC} Sketch 61 - Holiday Calories Never Count!

Hello and welcome back to {BYSHC} Sketch 61 which continues through the end of the month so be sure to get any and all entries in before then! The sketch sponsor this month is Crafty Stamp Co.

I didn't have any products from this company which is a great excuse to do a little shopping! WOW! Such cute stuff!! I purchased the Christmas Cookie Gnomies which also included a Crafty Cut SVG cut file as well!! I also ordered a couple paper packs. The one I'm using for this card is called Nutcracker & Cocoa. The paper is really nice! Double sided and good quality! My favorite part of the paper.....it came not only in a poly bag, but also a thicker plastic sleeve! Great idea!!

Followed the sketch, measured and cut as indicated.  Used vellum for the "flag" in the center....sort of hard to see, but it's there! I then cut the shapes from 80lb cardstock from PaperTreyInk, stamped the images, then colored with KingArt Alcohol Markers! The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the gnome! Mounted everything with foam tape!

Be sure to check out this month's sponsor Crafty Stamp Co! Super cute stuff!! I'll include my referral link here!

{BYSHC} Sketch 61 - Let it Snow!

Hello and welcome to September! The first of the "ber" months! Sketch 61 goes through the end of the month so be sure to get any and all entries in before then! The sketch sponsor this month is Crafty Stamp Co.

I didn't have any products from this company which is a great excuse to do a little shopping! WOW! Such cute stuff!! I purchased the Christmas Cookie Gnomies which also included a Crafty Cut SVG cut file as well!! I also ordered a couple paper packs. The one I'm using for this card is called Christmas Snow. The paper is really nice! Double sided and good quality! My favorite part of the paper.....it came not only in a poly bag, but also a thicker plastic sleeve! Great idea!!

Followed the sketch, measured and cut as indicated. Cut the shapes from 80lb cardstock from PaperTreyInk, stamped the images, then colored with KingArt Alcohol Markers! The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co. from Winter Shake Up. Mounted the gnome and the snowman with foam tape!

Be sure to check out this month's sponsor Crafty Stamp Co! Super cute stuff!! I'll include my referral link here!

~ September 2025 Friends of Unity Blog Hop ~ Anything But A Card!

 

Hello and welcome to the Friends of Unity September 2025 Blog Hop! I am so excited to share with you what this month's theme did to my creative brain! LOL

To start with I was having a serious case of "oh my goodness what do I make?!?!?" Creative block at its finest! What does any good crafter do at that moment?!? Look for inspiration! I started perusing Pinterest and came upon this idea that I had actually wanted to do for months.....Composition Book Covering! I already had a bunch of supplies all pulled out and ready, just didn't have time! Well now I may still not actually have time, but I now have a reason!

Around here school started almost a month ago and the stores are filled with school supplies! My book however is a recycled book from when my son was in elementary school (peep the sticker that says "bell work")! Those books barely got used and I just couldn't bear to throw them away! So I grabbed some patterned paper and got started!

Patterned papers are from the Unity Paper Pack Wallpaper & Warmth (January 2025 Whit Kit). The Green paper has tiny little lemons on it! Super cute!! Measure, measure, measure! Since the papers are 6x6 and the cover of the book is NOT, I had to improvise! I taped the two sheets together. I tore the yellow sheet in half in order to use both sides of the tear. If interested in the measurements....I scored the top edges at about 1 1/8" and the side at 3/4". Next I slathered the entire front cover with mod podge (it's homemade....found recipe on pinterest) and then added the green sheet. When it was pretty well stuck down I added the yellow sheet, being sure to line up the edge with the edge of the black binding. I grabbed a large piece of green woven ribbon from my stash then used some Tombo Mono Liquid Glue to wrap it entirely around the cover....all the way to the inside. Speaking of the inside, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 7 1/2" x 9 1/4". Added more liquid glue to the back and glued it to the inside cover....covering up all the "raw" edges of paper and ribbon on the inside that may not be too pretty!

Now the fun part......DECORATING!!! I'm trying to ignore the joining lines in the paper....it will be mostly covered by the decorations I put on the cover!  I am using some of the "thank you" gifts that have come from Unity which are included with my orders! A large manilla tag, wood butterfly and a sheet of crafting phrases. I went through all the Angie Girls I have and decided on Bryna. The tshirt, jeans and converse are one of my staple outfits! 

I colored her with KingArt Alcohol Markers and then used the paper backing (yes I saved it) to use as a mask to ink blend around her. I used whatever ink was left on the brushes, multiple colors likely! I cut up the sheet of phrases that was sent using my cutter-bee scissors. I looked on the website and didn't see them, but I LOVE THEM!!! They were perfect for this project! I attached them here and there, the torn paper behind is from takin' em fishin' (leftover piece from another card that I just tore up). The ribbon is from My Scrap Cabin Shop, color is daylily. This must be a favorite color because my skein is getting smaller! I typed and printed the verse with the crown myself. It's always a good reminder! :) I used the scallops and banner nesting dies to die cut the shape. I adjusted it to create a rectangle rather than a banner. The butterfly was added with some therm-o-web zots! The paperclip is very old....from an accessory kit from about 20 years ago....thinking Making Memories perhaps?

I hope you got some creative inspiration out of my project! I have been using this book to keep track of craft show and individual sales. I purchased a bunch of supplies to start participating in craft shows (a wagon, tablecloths, baskets, tier tray, blanket racks) and wanted to keep track of how long it took me to "pay it off" so to speak. The fall shows are getting ready to ramp up and now I'm ready! I may still add a pocket to the inside cover....to keep any receipts or notes I need to remember!

p.s. decided to make another paperclip.....used the second wooden butterfly that Unity had sent! :)

Attempting another project since this Composition Book cover took me less time than I expected....this next one took quite a bit of thought! Decided on a tag book. I've been sort of hoarding the tags that come in the thank you gifts from Unity. The smaller ones get used more often...because of their size. The giant tags that come, the 4" x 8" tags are harder to come up with a project other than a bookmark or something like that. So I searched for some inspiration and instruction on this and came up with this cute idea! A book made from the tags!

I started with 7 of the giant tags. This will create a front and back cover and 12 inside pages for decorating. They are all different colors but all have come from Unity! I had to figure out a "hinging" option. Did you know you can find just about anything on the internet! ;) 

I started by paperclipping the pages together to determine the number of hinges I needed to make. Then to determine a theme so I knew what papers and accessories to grab! Decided on a page a month!

Started with the cover! The paper is from The Secret of Change. I covered the page with two different patterns, tore the bottom one. I created the cover title piece using one of the postage stamp nesting dies, repositioning it to make it the size I wanted. The hearts were punched from scraps (those are the butterfly wings)! Some pink ribbon and a brad from eons ago! Onto the next!

The first page is of course January.... Mamma Mia! I used two different backgrounds (tuscan tile and ...damask grunge) and some distress ink in blueprint sketch to create the background. I cut the stamped images into 3/4" squares (used my fiskars trimmer) and positioned them opposite of each other to create the tile look. I then took a blue marker and colored in the "grout" lines! The arch was cut with the scallops and arches nesting dies. 

Next is my birthday month......February! This one uses patterned paper from Pastel Party Parade and many more birthdays stamp and die! I stamped the sentiment with versafine clair nocturne a couple times but it just wasn't juicy enough so I used ink-on-3 embossing ink to make it nice and sticky! Using the MISTI was key for this process! The page didn't move at all and I was able to re-ink multiple times and not have it shift! Then sprinkled on WOW! embossing powder in neutral ultra shimmer glitter, and heated it with Wagner Heat tool, to make it sparkle! Numbers were die cut with a tim holtz die set and I added some yellow gems from Pinkfresh Studio to make candles! Here's to 57!

The rest of the months will have to be done on my own time! LOL Ran out of time to get them done for the hop, but I think you get the idea! ;)

If you would like to start from the beginning, Crystal's blog is your starting point! If you are ready to move on, you can visit my friend Amber here!

Thanks for the visit and see you in October!

{BYSHC} Sketch 60 - Merry & Bright

 Hello again and welcome back! {BYSHC} Sketch 60 runs for just a few more days...until the end of the month, so be sure to get any and all entries posted before then!

Today's card features only paper! Things have been pretty crazy around here this month so paper and ephemera is the ticket! Paper and all stickers are from a paper pack from Miss Kate Designs called Holly Jolly. It's a super fun and bright pack! Pink and aqua a great combo! The sentiment and the additions are part of the sticker page that came with. I lightly dusted them with my anti-static powder to make them no longer sticky. I die cut a circle of vellum and then added the ephemera with some foam adhesive. I also added a few actual stickers and then some enamel dots from Gina Marie Designs!

Doesn't have to be hard to be bright and cheery! I love how this turned out! It's so fun!

Attaching the sketch in case anyone needs it!

{BYSHC} Sketch 60 - Make it Merry

 Hello again friends! Sketch 60 is up until the end of the month! No time like the present to get those cards started!

This card was pretty simple. The paper pack did the work! LOL The pack is from Echo Park called Gnome for Christmas. I cut according to the sketch and then added everything together! I used foam adhesive to place the sentiment and the circle to the card base. The Gnome and sentiment were die cut from a piece of patterned paper as was the scalloped circle behind. The scalloped circle was die cut with the Unity Stamp Co. scallops and circles nesting die set.