Growing in Unity Day#5 Black Thumb Green Thumb

Growing In Unity Day#5

Black Thumb Green Thumb

Everblooming & I Hope This Grows!

 "I Hope This Grows" is a fitting name for these veggie stamps because that's what I'd be saying if I were gardening. Actually I'd prob be praying over it daily, "please God let them live!" because... I kill plants. I have such a hard time keeping things alive. I either over do it or not do enough. Can't seem to find the right balance of anything. But...that doesn't change the fact that I love flowers and love to eat fresh veggies...or stamp them. lol. Didn't make these garden sticks for myself though; made them for a friend of mine who has a GREEN thumb. 

These sticks were super easy to make. A quick white wash with chalk paint did the trick leaving it looking kinda rustic. Them I stamped the veggies and words with Gina K Amalgam ink (Unity sells this awesome ink). Arteza brush pens made watercoloring them super quick. Sealing the sticks would be a good idea for outdoor use. My spray seal was MIA when I needed it though. 

It was my friends birthday so I had to make a shaker card. This Everblooming card was the perfect addition to the garden sticks. A few weeks back I decided to get rid of last years planner. It had tons of pretty printed pages in it. I pulled out the pages and threw them in my paper bin. It is hard to see in the picture because the colors are soft but the seed packet, the pink printed piece and what the flower is stamped on are all the old planner paper. The green striped paper is from Hobby Lobby. Does it make me a hoarder that i pulled paper out of that planner?!! lol I'm just gonna call myself thrifty.

Twine wrapped several times around the stacked sticks then tied in a bow seemed to fit the rustic yet soft feel of the set.

I think my green-thumb-gardening friend liked her birthday gift. I have plans to make more. So easy and fun. I enjoyed stamping on something other than paper for a change.

So tell me... What color is your thumb? Leave a comment and you will be entered for a chance to win 1 of 2 Unity surprise grab bags.

Growing In Unity Day#4 Rollin With My Lunch Buddies

Growing In Unity Day #4

Rollin With My Lunch Buddies

How's It Rollin?

The 80's totally inspired this last month's ATC's for me. I'm always looking for inspiration for creating these little

buggers. My mom used to use the rink as a babysitter. She'd drop my sister and I off and pick us back up when it closed. We loved every minute of it. I can still remember the rows of dirty skates on the racks, the dico ball,

the funky colors, the music, the good times. Can I just go back to being a kid please? lol Now I take my kids skating but stay with them. That's their feet above.

This is one of the things I love about Unity. They have such fun and funky stamps; stamps that we fall in love with. These skates were created right out of my memory.

Who remembers the big orange wheels? Pom Poms anyone? The background is from an 80's coloring book that I found at AC Moore in the clearance bin for like 80 cents. Little details make these skates fun. Did you see the lace hanging out?

Let's do Lunch!

Another Unity stamp that I fell in love with was this cute lunchbox. Did you have metal or plastic? I remember I actually had a pink plastic Barbie one. Got sick of it and covered it with stickers. The school I went to was so small we didn't even have a cafeteria and we had to eat in our classrooms at our desks. We didn't have any lunchroom drama to deal with; at least not until high school. lol

This pink lunchbox above is the lunchbox I remember. I incorporated pink and had to color the stamp with bright colors to get that 80's feel.

I like things interactive so I figured out a way to make this lunchbox open up. It took some fussy cutting and gluing to add a hinge on the bottom but so simple to do. The cupake is from Sweet, Warm &Whipped. The backgroumd paper is Nicole Love Comic Strip. I asked each Uni sister in my ATC group to, "sit my me!"

I hope you've enjoyed skating and lunchtime at The Washi Horse. Leave a comment answering any of the questions above or just leave some love and you'll be entered to win 1 of 2 Unity grab bag prizes.

Growing In Unity Day#3 Look Up & Get Lost

Growing In Unity Day#3

Look Up & Get Lost!

July 2018 SMAK KIT

Stars have always amazed me since I was a little kid. There is awe in gazing at something so much more grand than we can truly comprehend. I am always one to go outside at 2 am in -2 degree temps just to see a moon eclipse. The universe, I mean this SMAK kit, was calling my name.

This phases of the moon Unity Stamp is so cool. Recollections white embossing powder on top of Canson watercolor paper was perfect for adding of different Jane Davenport watercolors to create a galaxy. The embossing 1st made water-coloring easy.

I washed over the paper with water first then with the pink, then blue which created a little bit of purple. The color 'Ink' blended out into Raven. The color Unicorn (white) splashed all over added a look of distant stars. I added layers of color until I was happy with it.

If you haven't tried water-coloring yet, please give it a try. Water-coloring is so forgiving when creating backgrounds like this. Watercolors are also worth the investment; a little lasts forever.

Leave a comment telling me if you have ever water-colored and if so what you love about it. You can also show my card some love and leave a nice comment. You will be entered to win 1 of 2 Unity grab bag prizes.

Growing In Unity Day #2 Sending Sympathy

Growing in Unity Day#2

Sending Sympathy

One of the hardest cards for me to ever make...sympathy. Emotions run high or rather low when forced to make a sympathy card. I say forced because that's what it can feel like; a forcing of sadness onto paper. I decided to make one to have on hand. I think we all need to do this; to have one on hand.

Girl Truly has truly been one of my go-to Unity Sentiment Kits. I stamped these gorgeous flowers three times. Each time on a different patterned Echo park paper. Tim Holtz distress sapphire ink helped create some shadow and demention. You can actually make 3 of the same cards using this technique.

These flowers are sitting at 3 different levels. One taped directly down onto the base, the second with pop dots and the third has a double layer of pop dots.

Sadly just days after creating this card to have on hand, I needed it. I was so happy to have one already and not have to pour sadness onto paper.

Do you have sympathy cards on hand? Leave a comment telling me if you do and what inspires you about this card and be entered to win 1 of 2 Unity grab bags.

Growing In Unity Day#1 Hippo Birthday!

Growing In Unity Day #1

Hippo Birthday!

I wanted to start this week off by doing something simple. Although I ended up staring at paper longer than I'd like to admit, this card didn't take much work at all. Anyone can use this design for any Unity stamp and it will work!

This little hippo is so darn sinkin cute! I just love it. A few months ago I got to see hippos at the aquarium in NJ. They were full of energy and personality. Who knew that they are the deadliest animal on the planet? You definitely can't tell that from this card. Lol.

The paper does a lot of the work here. Never in a million hippo years would I have thought I'd grab unicorn/mermaid Recollections paper for this. I saw those pinkish plant things sprouting from the bottom of the paper and it reminded me of the Nile. I just had to use it! The border paper is actually silver mermaid scales. 

"Hippo Birthday," is clipped on top of a messy bed of washi and eyelash trim.

The bluish-purple paper gives this happy hippo a watery reflective look...I think. The sequins add a bubbly glub-glub.

I know exactly who is going to get this hippo card for their birthday (a Uni sister). I hope they like it. 

Leave me a comment telling me how this not-too boring card made you smile and you'll be entered into a drawing to win 1 of 2 Unity prize packs of grab bag stamps. 

Friends of Unity March hop- Creativity

Friends Of Unity

March Blog Hop

Creativity

KOTM  March 2018

Create a life that you love! 

Creating a life that you love is the key to happiness. Loving your life means that you are full of gratitude. Living a life in awe at God's creations creates peace and a happy heart. Every day look around you, look closely at what has been created for His glory; for you as a gift. There is no other more creative than our Lord God. 

The Artist took the brush and just like that.... In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of 

the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and here was light. 4 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Gen 1: 1-4

Just like we take an empty canvas or blank paper and turn it into something incredible... so did God; He just did it on a much larger scale. When we see beauty in things we see  the artwork of our creator. Everything we create is a reflection of His creations. How cool is it, that He gave us the ability to be creative like that; to mirror Him?!! Pretty awesome!

One more thing to think about... take a look in the mirror or put your cell camera on selfie mode. I want you to think for a moment about how the same God who made the stars, the same God who made the heavens....made you....in His image. You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You were created and you are loved! Create a life that you love by seeing and soaking in His creations with gratitude. 

Unity KOTM March 2018

Jane Davenport Watercolors

SU Black Archival Ink

Jane Davenport Washi

Unity Aurora sequins

other random sequins

Leave a comment to win some Unity. I will give away a grab bag of  a total of 5 stamps/sentiments. Keep hopping and keep an eye out for more giveaways!

Crystal O. Minkler

Joyce Verdon

Eileen Mathys

Jeanie Hays (you are here)

Bobbie Sue McConathy

Kim Klinkovsky

Robyn Jordan

Dawn Fields

Disclaimer: Friends of Unity appreciates every single comment we get. So much so that we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT sponsored by Unity Stamp Co. But, they DO approve of our hop by lovingly enabling us. We started this hop because we love Unity. That is all. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with Unity Stamp; our favorite stamp company.