GIU Day 5

Hello everyone! I am the Growing in Unity girl this week at Unity stamps. Each day I'll post a project using their stamps and at the end of the week I will draw 2 names from all the comments you leave and those winners will receive a package of stamps!

My last bookmark for the week uses the United by Love stamp set which I love! The sentiment comes from the Brave Girl Teepee set.

 

 My plan was to give these to the new girls in our book club. I thought it was perfect because we have 12 girls. But I love this image so much I may just end up making one for everyone in the club. We'll see how much time I have. I colored the girls using a aterbrush and distress inks.

Thanks for stopping by my dusty blog this week and leaving comments. You all left such kind words it really made me feel good. I miss this crafting community and hope to be able to participate in it again . I just need to find a magic way of making time for 2 hobbies! Have a great weekend everyone!

GIU Day 4

Hello everyone! I am the Growing in Unity girl this week at Unity stamps. Each day I'll post a project using their stamps and at the end of the week I will draw 2 names from all the comments you leave and those winners will receive a package of stamps!

I'm so sorry my posts weren't on time! I forgot to publish a scheduled post then the others got forgotten while I was busy with my husband who had surgery. Poor time management on my part! I apologize. I also ran out of time to make 2 different projects a day! So today is just this one tag.

The sentiment is from Fly with Wings of Hope. I can't find the name of the heart image. My stamp is so old that it is mounted to a wood block instead of in a bag with a label. I tried searching Unity's website but couldn't find it. So if you know the name please let me know! 

I started the tag with some Tim Holtz rubons, blended some distress ink, used a stencil with ink and then addded the Unity stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and, again, I'm so sorry about being late!

GIU Day 3

 Hello everyone! I am the Growing in Unity girl this week at Unity stamps. Each day I'll post a project using their stamps and at the end of the week I will draw 2 names from all the comments you leave and those winners will receive a package of stamps!

I made 2 more tags using my favorite stamp set Insightful Meadows.

 For the brighter one I used an ink smooshing technique. On the darker one I used a blending technique.

Thanks for stopping by today.

GIU Day 2

 Hello everyone! I am the Growing in Unity girl this week at Unity stamps. Each day I'll post a project using their stamps and at the end of the week I will draw 2 names from all the comments you leave and those winners will receive a package of stamps!

 I've got a couple more bookmarks today. And again, I used the stamp set in 2 different ways/styles.

I used Mystical Mermaid for the image and the Tim Holtz small talk stickers for the sentiment.

 

 The first tag is another watercolor. Only I masked the image and then colored around it.

For this second one I used Peacock Feathers distress ink and the smooshing technique to get that background.

Thanks for stopping by today.

GIU Day 1

 Hello everyone! I am the Growing in Unity girl this week at Unity stamps. Each day I'll post a project using their stamps and at the end of the week I will draw 2 names from all the comments you leave and those winners will receive a package of stamps!

 I am hosting book club in a couple months so I decided I would create bookmarks to hand out to the ladies. And for some reason, I also decided that each day I would use one stampset in 2 different ways/styles. For today I used Imperfection is Beauty.

The first tag is a simple watercolored tag.

I did a little fussy cutting to get a 3D flower:

And for the second tag, I used a more mixed media style for it.

GIU Winners!

I almost forgot to pick my two winners from last week's Growing in Unity.

The two random commenters are:

Angela Bode

and

Bri

Angela and Bri, please email me at amberloyana at yahoo.com with your mailing address. I will pass it along to Unity and they will send you your 25 stamps!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave such wonderful comments. You all made me feel so great. Thanks again and have a great week!

GIU Day 5, Be Awesome

It's my last day as a Growing in Unity girl with Unity stamps.

For today's art journal page I got a little messy with paint and ink.

The background was several colors of paint. I used a few backround texture stamps from the set Hello Beautiful and God's Sight. Then I added even more drips to the already drippy flower stamp. And the sentiment is from Do More Awesome.

Since this is not a card, I'm linking up to Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge - Not a Card.

On Sunday, I will choose 2 random commenters from my posts this week who will receive 25 random stamps from Unity!

Thanks for stopping by!

GIU Day 4, Challenges change you

It's day 4 of my Growing in Unity week with Unity stamps.
And I have yet another art journal page.

I used this color challenge as inspiration

I used a Burlap stencil and Old Paper distress ink for the background. Stamped the script stamp from the Hug stamp set. Used Tea Dye and Vintage Photo distress inks to darken the edges. And sprinkled water droplets. Then I used texture paste tinted with fired brick distress reinker and the Mini Brick stencil.

I stamped the leaves from Love never leaves in Orange Blossom archival ink and then heat embossed with Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder. I used dark green paint to stamp leaves from the Wildflowers & wings stamp set.

The sentiment is from You are important. I added a bit more darkness to the edges with Iced Coffee gelato.

I'm linking this up to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Not a Card.

Thanks for stopping by. See you again tomorrow.

Remember that I'll choose 2 random commenters from my posts this week to receive 25 random stamps from Unity. So comment every day here on my blog to maximize your chances to win.

GIU Day 3, Your Own Kind of Beautiful

Welcome to day 3 of my Growing in Unity week!
Every day this week I'm posting a new project using Unity stamps.
At the end of the week, I'll choose 2 random commenters from my posts who will receive 25 random stamps from Unity. So comment every day here on my blog to maximize your chances to win.

Today I have yet another art journal page.

 I stamped the image from Mystical Mermaid. I covered it with masking fluid. Then sprayed a some blue and purple spray inks. After they dried, I sprinkled water and let it dry again. Then I removed the masking fluid and painted the mermaid with a waterbrush and distress inks.

The sentiment is from the imperfection is beauty set.

I finished off the page with white ink splatters on top and black splatters on the bottom.

I'm linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Not a Card.

Thanks for stopping by. See you again tomorrow.

GIU Day 2, Lotus Unfolding

Every day this week I will post a new project using Unity stamps.
At the end of the week, I will choose 2 random commenters from my posts who will receive 25 random stamps from Unity. So comment every day here on my blog to maximize your chances to win.

I have another journal page today:

I love Donna Downey's stamps from Unity. This is one of her faces, called What do you see.

The flowers are from the sets Girl Truly and Imperfection is Beauty. I would love to wear these flowers on my head! 

The sentiment is also from Imperfection is Beauty. Everything on the page is colored with distress inks.

I'm linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Not a Card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

GIU Day1, Something Wonderful

Welcome!
All this week I will be a Growing in Unity girl!
Every day this week I will post a new project using Unity stamps.
At the end of the week, I will choose 2 random commenters from my posts who will receive 25 random stamps from Unity. So comment every day here on my blog to maximize your chances to win.

My first project this week is this art journal page. I painted my background black, added torn book pages, added texture paste with Tim Holtz's Cargo and Ray stencils, added red and yellow paint and ink splatters.

The dragonfly is from the Unity happy stamp set. I heat embossed it on vellum and then glued it to the page. I accidentally broke off one antenna so I cut off the other to make it even!

The sentiment is from the empowered words stamp set:

I'm also linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Not a Card.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again tomorrow!

GIU Day 5

It's my final day of my Growing in Unity week!

I had planned on making a scrapbooking page today but I had so much fun playing in my art journal yesterday that I had to do it again.

I only had a few minutes, so I quickly spread some paint then washed over it with watered-down gesso to mute it. Stamped a few background stamps and smudged some distress crayons on the edges.

I used Keep Going Anyway for the butterflies and sentiment. Then finally a little black ink splattered finished it off. 

Remember to leave a comment on my GIU posts fromt his week to be entered to win a fabulous prize of stamps from Unity!

Thanks to you all for stopping by this week. I've loved reading all your comments!

GIU Day 4

It's Day 4 of my Growing in Unity week!

Today, I pulled out my art journal for a really simple, but fun page.

I started with the Window to the Soul large stamp. I just love these Donna Downey face stamps from Unity! The sentiment is from another Donna Downey set called She.

Then I just used a few spray inks to spread some color. I dripped the ink and then blew it out. Oh my goodness, I almost passed out from all the blowing. Little tidbit - I couldn't blow up a balloon until I was 37! Anyway, that's just my way of saying it was hard!

Thanks for stopping by today and make sure you comment on my GIU posts this week for your chance to win a prize pack from Unity Stamps.

GIU Day 3

 It's day 3 of my Growing In Unity week.
I will post a new project each day this week using Unity stamps. At the end of the week, I will get to randomly pick two of you to win a prize from Unity. All you need to do is comment on my blog posts. You can comment on each day for up to 5 chances at winning.

Today I made this card:

The background was made with Vintage Handwritten and lots of spray and distress inks.
I love the large peony from the Donna Peony set and used it as the focal image.
The beautiful sentiment is from Keep Going Anyway.

Thanks for stopping by today!

GIU Day 2

It's day 2 of my Growing in Unity week at the Unity Stamp blog.

It's also National Cocoa week. 

So I've got this little cocoa tag for today.

I love the little sweater cozy mug from the Our Heart to Yours stamp kit so I had to use it today!

Make sure to comment on my GIU posts this week M-F to be entered to win a prize pack from Unity.

I'm also linking this up to the Winter Coffee Lovers blog hop. Come check it out for a chance to win more prizes from lots of companies (including Unity).

Thanks for stopping by.

GIU, Day 1

You probably know that Unity Stamp Co. is one of my most favorite stamp companies around. Every week they have a feature they call Growing in Unity (GIU) in which they feature a lucky crafter/customer/fan on their blog. This week I am the GIU girl! I will post a new project each day this week using their stamps. At the end of the week, I will get to pick two of you to win a prize from Unity. All you need to do is comment on my blog. You can comment once a day for up to 5 chances at winning.

For my first project I wanted to share these Christmas cards I made. Elf is one of my family's favorite holiday movies. So I had to buy both these stamp sets and make a few cards to mail out to my other Elf-loving friends.

The image is from Elf Christmas and the sentiment is from Full of Merry.
Here's a close-up of the sentiment. It reads "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear".  A quote from Buddy the elf!

Mke sure you stop by each day this week and comment for your chance to win a great prize from Unity!

GIU Day 5, wonderful mess

It's the 5th and final day of my Growing in Unity week!

 I posted 5 projects this week using Unity Stamps. And you can be 1 of 2 winners to win a bag of 25 stamps from Unity! Just comment on my posts for your entry every day.
Since I am posting a couple days late I will give you through Monday to leave comments and draw the winners Tuesday.

Today I have a paperboard letter I picked up at the craft store and decorated for my craft room. It started out a kraft color. I painted it a poppy red color. I stamped parts of the Up Against a Wall brick stamp. And then distressed with a few gelatos.

The sentiment is from the You Are Important stamp set.

The leaves are from the Wildflowers & Wings set.

I finished it off with a Prima flower and yellow twine.

Thanks for visiting my blog this week! Come back on Tuesday when I announce the winner. And thanks to Unity for sponsoring Growing in Unity!

GIU Day 4, sunflower card

It's Day 4 of my Growing in Unity week.

 I'll be posting 5 projects this week using Unity Stamps. And you can be 1 of 2 winners at the end of the week to win a bag of 25 stamps from Unity! Just comment on my posts for your entry every day.

Today, I have a quick little card.

 I stamped the sunflowers in a light distress ink and then watercolored it in so that the lines of the stamp blended in to the coloring. The sentiment is from this set.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll have one more project tomorrow before the week is over!

GIU Day 3, card organizer

It's day 3 of my Growing in Unity week!
 I'll be posting 5 projects this week using Unity Stamps. And you can be 1 of 2 winners at the end of the week to win a bag of 25 stamps from Unity! Just comment on my posts for your entry every day.

Today I have a card organizer I made. It's a 6"x8" spiral notebook that I use to organize my greeting cards by month. I think I've shared different versions of this twice before. Somehow I gave them all away and finally decided I needed one for myself!

The cover was decorated with some leftover papers I had lying on my desk.  I used the Wildflowers and Wings stamp set and blended a couple gelatos on with a water brush.

Here's a look into the inside:

I used the Here's the Ticket stamp set to stamp the month on each page and just drew a few lines to add some dates to. On each month I add in any birthdays, anniversaries and holidays that I want to mail cards out for. If I make any cards ahead of time, then I store them in the pocket of each page until it's time to mail.

Here's a quick little tutorial in case you'd like to make one.
You'll need 6 sheets of 12"x12" patterned paper plus two 6"x8" pieces of paperboard for the covers (I just use the piece of  heavy paper that comes in some paper packs like Stampin Up's packs).

Score each paper horizontally at 4" from the bottom and vertically right down the middle at 6".

 Fold up from the bottom and then in half so the pockets are on the outside.

Do the same on the other 5 sheets. Stack them up with the covers and bind with your choice of machine (I use a Cinch). The folds will be on the opposite side of the spine. I recommend making the binding wire at least an inch wide to allow enough space for cards on the inside.

Then I just added white cardstock to the pocket fronts to keep track of dates.

Edited to add: This organizer was not my design. I first made one many years ago with directions from an old Stampin Up demonstrator. I've also seen it on the SplitCoastStampers forum. Decoration and paper choices were my own however.

Thanks for stopping by today!

GIU, Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of my Growing in Unity week! I'll be posting 5 projects this week using Unity Stamps. You can be 1 of 2 winners at the end of the week to win a bag of 25 stamps from Unity! Just comment on my posts for your entry every day!

Today I have a page in my art jounal to share.

The background was created with dictionary pages, washi tape, Chicken wire stamp, and lots of distress ink and ink splatters. The flowers were stamped in white from the Insightful Meadows set. This is probably my most used Unity stamp set. You must own it. You won't regret it!

The quote was printed on my label maker and I just used a Pitt Big Brush pen to shade around it.

Thanks for stopping by. Remember to come back every day through Saturday for a new chance to enter. I'll announce the winner on Monday.