Now for the fun part of being a Growing In Unity girl.  I randomly picked two people from my comments to win the Unity stamp grab bags so graciously given by Unity Stamp Company.  Without further ado they are:

Dale Sue Glass

and

Pat Ceccacci

In addition I drew another name for a prize of 3 Distress Oxide Inks.  That winner is :

Sweet April

Congratulations to the winners.  Please email me with your addresses so that your prizes can be sent your way.

Thank you to everyone for the great comments that made last week a special one for me.

Well I can’t believe it is the last day of my week.  I truly have loved this opportunity that Unity gave me to showcase their stamps.  I have also loved reading all of the comments and appreciate those who take the time to leave their thoughts.  Remember that on Sunday evening I will randomly draw two winners from all of the comments left this week.  The winners will receive a grab bag of 25 stamps graciously donated by Unity Stamp Company.  In addition I will draw a third winner of 3 new Distress Oxide Inks that I have doubles of.

For my last day I decided to try and use some of the freebies that Unity has sent me.  For those of you who don’t know, they send some gifts each month with the Kit of the Month (KOM) and the SMAK kits.  There are also sometimes a surprise with a regular order.  Below is a picture of these gifts that I hadn’t had a chance to put away yet, but had just kind of let accumulate. As you can see there is quite a variety here.

Because I was filling a spot that opened up, I only had a couple of weeks to get ready for GIU week so I didn’t get to make as many things as I was hoping to, but you can get the idea of some of what can be done with these fun extras.

First up were a couple of card bases from the stash.  On the red card I stamped the butterfly and sentiment from February 2017 KOM called Unexpected Places in Versamark and put White Pearl embossing powder on it.  When I heat embossed it, it turned out more silver than white.  I assume that is because some of the red was showing through.  Also from the Unity stash I took the string of clear beads and put them around the butterfly and down the side.  I used a thin double sided tape called Scrappy Tape that held it pretty well.  I added some crystal flowers that I had and seemed to go with the string of beads.   On the kraft base I added a tag received from Unity (I received a lot of tags from Unity).  I heat embossed the sentiment from the Lasting Thoughts set and then used Distress Oxide inks on them.  I also used a brush to splatter on the kraft card base.  Some washi tape that I had on the side and bottom of the tag and it was done.

I used two more tags and a cute cloth bag for these.  The tags used sentiments from Lasting Thoughts and Something within that were heat embossed and then distressed with Distress Oxide inks.  Some washi tape finished them.  The squirrel is from September 2017 KOM called Flowers, Foliage, and Fall.  I stamped it with brown Stazon ink and will probably fill it with nuts and put in a Christmas stocking.

I impulsively purchased a pack of 36 small cans of Pringles while I was at Costco.  The first time I opened a can, I thought I should be able to do some with this (in true crafter fashion) so I started to save them.  I searched Pinterest and there was this cool idea to make an Advent tree using these little cans.  I thought that could work and there would be plenty of room to put something in each day for a family to share.  I cut circles on my Cricut Explore to fit the lid from a Christmas paper stack by DCWV.  The stamps I used are from a Donna Downey set called Advent.  This is a huge set that comes in two packages.  It includes these wonderful ideas and thoughts for each day of Advent.   It also includes large numbers 0-9.  The numbers were too large for my tops, so I ended up using another number set that I had.  I was able to use the Unity gift stash for the embellishments.  There were cute snowflakes, bells, red cording, etc.  I was only able to make five before I needed to stop and actually take pictures to make this post.  When I get the rest done and put together in either a tree or wreath shape I will try and post it.

Thanks for looking and make sure to leave a comment. – Denise

This week is going by so quickly.  Thank you for all of your comments and feed back.  Remember that two winners will be randomly chosen from all of the comments this week to receive a grab bag of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company.  I will pick the winners late Sunday, so you have until then to leave comments.  I will also pick a bonus winner for 3 new Distress Oxide inks that I have as extras.

I am going to talk faces today. When I first found the Unity Stamp Company I noticed that several of their beautiful Angie girls had blank faces.  I admit that at first I wasn’t sure that I really liked them and didn’t know how I would use them.  Then I noticed how beautifully some of them were colored and made so that they could be any woman and any expression based on the sentiments with them.  The more I used them that way, the more I like them that way.  However based on some posts from the Show and Tell page there are people who would like faces on their Angie girls.  I will try to show the same stamp as they are and some options for putting faces on them.  I honestly don’t think there is a right or wrong on adding faces because it is strictly a personal preference and I like it both ways.  If I were really talented, I could draw my own face, but that is not an option, lol.

This image is from the January 2018 KOM called Twinkle.  I colored both the same way with water colors on watercolor paper.  I used a large oval to cut the edge and placed it on a piece of cardstock from a paper pack by The Paper Studio called Sunbeam Meadow.  I found if I pick my paper first, I can match the colors to paint with easier than trying to find paper to match what I already painted.  The image on the left is the original stamp and the one on the right uses a Unity stamp set called Angie Girl Faces.  I will warn you that these stamps are tiny (in fact I have two because I lost one set for a little while) It works beautifully with this stamp.  One face is with eyes open and one with eyes closed. The thing about this stamp is that it doesn’t fit a lot of the Angie Girls. To see if the faces will work with a stamp, I have stamped both images on an piece of acrylic with Satzon ink. You can also just use a scrap piece of plastic packaging.  This allows you to place them over your stamped image to see how they will work.

I also put a simple mask made from a post-it note over her hair because the eyes were going to stamp into the hair which I didn’t want (hair in my eyes bugs me in real life too). I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to be able to place the face in the correct place.

Here is another bigger stamp that Angie Girl faces will not work with, so I went a different way.

This image is called I Hope You Feel Beautiful and the sentiment is from Eloise Girl.  This face came from a set by Peachy Keen.  They are clear face stamps that come in sets of  multiple sizes of the same image for different things such as people, animals, snowmen, etc. They are meant to be used with die cuts such as those done on my Cricut machine.  I stamped all of them out on an acrylic sheet just like the Angie Girl Faces to see if any of the sizes will work with the various Angie Girls.  A couple of notes: One – they really only work for front facing images, not those looking off to a side; Two – they seem to be made for faces that are shorter than the Angie Girls.  In order for them to look right, I put a piece of painter’s tape over the mouth and nose and inked it up.  I removed the tape and stamped the eyes.  I then covered the eyes with the tape, inked it, removed the tape and stamped the nose and mouth lower on the face. The paper is from Shimelle called Little by Little.  I used some rick rack that I had in my stash.  The images were colored with my Spectrum Noir markers.  This also needed a mask (made from a post-it note) to keep the eyes out of the hat before stamping the face.

I am not forgetting about the guys either.

This is Forrest Guy. As with the prior Angie girl, I used a face from a Peachy Keen set.  I also had to stamp the eyes separately from the mouth.  This was especially important so that I could fit the mouth inside the mustache and beard.  I stamped with a dye ink and then colored with my Spectrum Noir markers.  The patterned papers are from a 6 x 6 pad called Outfitters by Pink Paislee.

Let me know which is your preference – face or no face.  I will finish up this fun week tomorrow. – Denise

Wednesday and I am half way through my week already.  Thank all of you for commenting.  I will pick two random winners from all of the comments for the week on Sunday for a grab bag of 25 stamps graciously given by Unity Stamp Company.  I will also draw a winner of 3 Distress Oxide inks that I happen to have duplicates of.

I am finishing the July 2018 Kit of the Month and the Pink Paislee paper pack called Citrus Bliss that I started yesterday with these cards. I used all of the images and most of the sentiments.

This was made by stamping in Versafine ink and using Distress inks to water color the image.  I colored two wooden birds that I had in my stash.  I tried coloring them with the Distress ink I had used to color the image, but found I had to use Distress Oxide ink to get the color to really show. I also made the card square instead of my usual A2 size.

Both of these cards use the same image, but different sentiments from the kit.  I stamped the images on two different papers using Versamark ink and then heat embossed using a bright white powder. The image on the darker orange showed up much better.  Since the image on the lighter green wasn’t showing up as well, I added flower shaped sequins from Cartwrights to each of the flowers to make it pop a little more.  I also used an orange ink for the sentiment on the one card to try and break out of my habit of almost always using black ink.

For the final card, I stamped the image on a gray cardstock in a deep pink ink then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Since it was a dye ink instead of pigment, the embossing powder didn’t stick as thickly as I would have liked.  When I did the sentiment, I remembered a trick when using dye inks to emboss.  If you ink up your stamp with Versamark first, then ink it up with the dye ink and then stamp the image, it will stay sticky long enough to put on the embossing powder.  Always do the Versamark first and then the ink so that you don’t ruin your Versamark pad.  I cut up to the image and fussy cut around it to allow the paper I put on the inside of the card to peak out.

I will be back tomorrow with a post I am calling the Great Face Debate.  Come join me – Denise

Today is day two of my GIU week and I really appreciate all those who have taken the time to comment.  Remember that I will be drawing two names from all of the comments for the week on Sunday to give away a grab bag of Unity stamps graciously given by Unity Stamp Company.  I will also draw an additional name for three Distress Oxide inks that I have doubles of.

Yesterday I used stamps from a SMAK kit.  Today and tomorrow I will be doing cards all made from the July 2018 KOM (Kit of the Month) and one paper pad by Pink Paislee called Citrus Bliss.   It went well with this kit and forced me to use some of my paper stash that is much too big.  I have belonged to KOM for over two years and still love getting it each month.  It fits my style better than SMAK and I think the value of either membership can’t be beat.  You not only get a wonderful selection of images and sentiments each month but also discounts on orders over $40 and can buy past kits for half off.

Now on to the cards.

This uses the paper piecing technique that can be found on the Unity quick tip videos.  While I like paper piecing for the Angie girls, I like using it for other images too.  I stamped the lemons on one pattern and the leaves on another and fussy cut them.  I stamped the whole image on white card stock and placed the fussy cut pieces on top of those.  I put the middle lemon and leaf on foam tape which gave it a nice dimensional look.

I pretty much did the same technique for this card using a patterned pink paper for the body of the flamingo.

I send a birthday card to the members of my small church and this year I have been using the pages of an old hymnal as the backgrounds for my cards.  Unity has so many stamps that work well for this and this July’s KOM had a beautiful floral that was perfect.  I stamp it with Versafine ink and watercolor the image.  I found that if I work lightly and dry the paint as I go the page stays nice and flat. The mat for the card and sentiment came from the same paper pack as the other cards.

This is the KOM that I made these cards from and tomorrow I will have even more cards from the rest of the stamps in the kit.- Denise

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I was a GIU participant last year and was so excited when a week opened up and I was able to snag a spot for this year.  I love these rubber stamps and the company has turned me into a devoted stamper.  Be sure to comment as I will randomly pick two people from the comments to win a Unity grab bag of 25 stamps graciously donated by Unity Stamp Company.  I will pick a separate winner and send them three Distress Oxide inks from me since I ended up with duplicate colors and would like to pay them forward.

I decided to try the SMAK membership for a little while to stretch my creative style.  I am no longer a member and still had some kits that I had never inked up.  I knew this week would be a great way to use at least one of those kits.  The February 2017 SMAK is called Be You for You and can be found here.  My goal was to use most of the stamps in the kit.

This first card was done utilizing shadow stamping with alcohol inks.  I saw this technique by Jennifer McGuire (found here) I cut out a top panel using a die from Gina Marie to mount over the stamped panel using foam tape.  The sentiment was from the February 2017 KOM.

For this card I first embossed the sentiment using Versamark and White Pearl embossing powder.  I then used a couple of colors of Distress ink and used a blending tool to go over the panel building up the colors.  I wiped the ink of the embossing which resists the ink.  I then took the same two colors in Distress Oxide inks and stamped the floral pattern various placed on the panel.  Since the Oxide ink is more opaque, it shows up nicely on top of the regular Distress ink.  I did have to wipe it off the sentiment, but the embossing resisted it too.  I blended the Distress Oxide on the base before mounting the top panel with foam tape.

These kinds of backgrounds are what I struggle to use.  I covered the background with Distress Inks and splattered with water.  I then used Distress Oxide ink to use the pattern for the background.  I embossed another “splat” pattern using Versafine with clear embossing powder.  It is hard to see in the pictures but here is a closeup.    I also embossed the sentiment before distressing it.  As I used the blending tool, I wrinkled the paper.  I decided to just go with it since it was to be a messy card anyway.

This card was done by stamping on kraft paper using Deco Paste, letting that dry and then foiling it using Deco Foil and my Minc machine.  It is not as neat an image as when using a printer, but since this is a SMAK kit, that messier look worked.  The background paper is from a DCWV called Kraft & Gold.

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These are just simple stamping and then masking off a section with painter’s tape, coloring with watercolors and taking the tape.  I cut the panel with an oval die and added a sheer ribbon on one and braided ribbon on the other.  One of my goals is to use the mass of ribbon I have collected.

My final card means I used all of the images and all but one of the sentiments from the kit.  This was a simple stamping on a slightly patterned paper, tearing and distressing the edges.  Taking a couple of patterned papers from my stash and tearing and distressing those too.  I wrapped some twine around the image to give some more interst and added some clock die cuts from my stash.

I hope to see you tomorrow when I use stamps from one of my KOM kits. Don’t forget to comment to be in the drawing. – Denise

I haven’t posted in a while so I thought I would show some of the cards I created for the Card A Day Challenge blog.  There are a few of us who take different weeks and create cards based on challenges by our leader Theresa.  I had the last week of June and first week of July so if you want any details on the cards I show below (and others for those weeks) just go to the site here.  You can search for those weeks on the right side of the page in the history.  It is fun to come up with things based on those challenges.