GIU 8/27/2024

Happy Tuesday! If you are coming back for another Unity Stamp Company Growing in Unity post, you are in the right place.  

For my GIU week, I decided to challenge myself to make projects using just two kits.  I love the variety of stamps that come in each Kit of the Month.  I also tend to choose more simple sentiments, so I paired this KOTM with a kit that comes with two sentiment dies and matching sentiments. 

https://www.unitystampco.com/its-going-to-be-beautiful-kom-7-17/

https://www.unitystampco.com/blessed-happy-everything-stamp-die-set/ 

Today's technique is to use a sketch and to show off your patterned paper.  Lots of times, I will make cards with no stamped image at all and will rely on my (ridiculously large) patterned paper selection with a stamped sentiment to make a clean and simple card.  Why?  I am not a major fan of coloring, in spite of trying several media.  This sketch was one in a monthly series I designed and gave to my mom for Christmas back in 2020. During 2021, we each completed the monthly sketch challenge and sent each other the cards we made.  It was a great way to stay connected while we lived far apart.  

Do you use sketches or patterned paper in your cardmaking?

Be sure to come back each day this week and leave a comment; two lucky commenters will win a prize from Unity.  How cool is that?!?

 

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Proud Operation Write Home Alumni
Cards shipped to OWH in 2014: 21
Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 829 blank and 301 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

GIU 8/26/24

Welcome to my Growing in Unity week for Unity Stamp Company!  This week, I'm featuring Unity stamps in all of my creations.  I've been stamping with Unity for well over a decade now; I think I got my first stamps from them in 2011 or 2012!

This card is for a friend of mine whose birthday is later in the week. She is a yoga instructor whose favorite color is purple. Time to pop it in the mail! 

I used two inks and a stamp (that was already dirty with blue ink, a happy accident) to create the variety of colors you see on this card.  By stamping twice, I was able to get a dark and a light version of each color; this is a great way to stretch your ink collection if you don't have a huge selection of colors.  What is your favorite ink to work with?  Of the ones I've tried, I really enjoy Ranger Archival, which is what I used on this card.

 

Image stamp: https://www.unitystampco.com/its-going-to-be-beautiful-kom-7-17/

Sentiment: https://www.unitystampco.com/blessed-happy-everything-stamp-die-set/ 

Inks: Ranger Archival Vibrant Fuchsia and Majestic Violet

Be sure to come back each day this week and leave a comment; two lucky commenters will win a prize from Unity.  How cool is that?!?

 

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Proud Operation Write Home Alumni
Cards shipped to OWH in 2014: 21
Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 829 blank and 301 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

GIU 6/23

Happy Friday!  Do you have exciting weekend plans?  I can honestly say I don't.  If it stops raining, I'll get back to gardening.  If it's rainy, we'll find an indoor house project because that's a never-ending list!  We bought our house a year ago and today's card is celebrating a friend who is buying their first house and relocating to a different state for work, all at once!  

I used the cute house from Devoted, one of my most favorite images from Unity, and a sentiment from You Can and You Will. I finished up with some Copic coloring and paper punched clouds and a tree. 

Thank you for joining me for my GIU week with Unity Stamp Co!

GIU 6/22

Last weekend was Father's Day and I needed to make cards for my dad and my father in law.  They enjoy different hobbies, so personalized cards were in order.  

My dad has been an avid golfer for most of my life, so I grabbed some argyle-inspired pattered paper to play on the theme and stamped out the cute golf cart from FORE!!!  I went with a slimline style card so I had more area to show off the patterned paper.  To jazz up the blue cardstock layer, I stamped with one of my most-used Unity backgrounds, Love Life As Is.  It gives a subtle nod to the texture of a golf ball on this card, but it is very versatile!

I grabbed the same Cuttlebug "Harmony" die cut letters to make a card for my father-in-law, who loves bird watching.  I'm not sure if he picked up on what I tried to do with this card, but I took the cute image from the July 2017 Kit of the Month and used my Micron pen to make it look more like a cardinal by adjusting the feathers on the head.  Then I colored the birds to be the color of a male cardinal and a baby cardinal.  The background is an original Brutus Monroe and Unity collaboration, barn wall. 

Thank you for your kind comments this week.  When the week is through, two commenters will win store credit from Unity, so be sure to leave comments on any post that you might have missed to increase your chances!

GIU 6/21

Happy Wednesday and first day of summer!

When I saw this fishbowl in the March 2022 Kit of the Month, I knew it would make an amazing wedding card for an aquarium-themed wedding I'd been invited to.  I embellished the fish with a veil and bow tie and added some shiny cardstock and patterned cardstock bubbles as a background.  I almost always make A2 cards but whenever I make a wedding card, I make it a 5x7 or 6x6.  This was a 6x6.

Sentiments are from the November 2015 sentiment kit and the May 2016 sentiment kit.  

Thanks for joining me here this week.  Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win store credit from Unity!  Winners will be announced next week from all the comments left this week. 

GIU 6/20

Happy Tuesday!

Today's card is perhaps the strangest anniversary card I've ever made, but bear with me.  My two egg-trordinary friends recently celebrated 12 years of marriage.  When I hear "twelve" I think about a dozen...and then I think of eggs!  This is a great versatile Itty Bitty set from Unity!

Be sure to stop by and comment all week for a chance to win a prize from Unity!

GIU 6/19

Happy Monday!  How did you spend your weekend? One of the best parts of my weekend was celebrating a family member’s graduation.  You Did Good is one of my go-to graduation sets. I just grab some inks and cardstock in school colors and whip this up in minutes! 

Unity Stamp Company has been running an excellent sale. Head over today to see if you can snag any great deals before the sale ends tonight. I’ll be back all this week sharing Growing in Unity projects. Remember to comment because at the end of the week two commenters will win a generous prize from Unity.