Growing in Unity 2023: Winners!

Thank you for your fun comments on my Growing in Unity Week.  I'm sorry I am so late in announcing the winners.  

With no further ado, congratulations to:

Mom2Two (Jenni)February 14, 2023 at 3:10 PM

Love this! I too have a teenaged daughter who loves the "S" coffee shop along with every other one in town! LOL This set is on my wish list! :)

Denise BryantFebruary 16, 2023 at 7:52 AM

Great card! Love the way you colored the image, and the layered papers for your background look awesome too!

If you are one of the lucky winners, please send an email to kelli@unitystampco.com with the subject line "Winner from Kristina's GIU Week" by March 17th, 2023.  She will make sure you have a $20 gift card added to your account. CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you again for all your kind words!  I look forward to sharing more work with you soon!

Cheers!
Kristy

Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 5

 Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.  I've enjoyed sharing my designs with you this week.  I love Unity Stamps and appreciate the chance to be a Growing in Unity gal.  If you love Unity as much as I do (or are new to them and would like a chance to try them for free), you can win a prize pack just for commenting!  Links to all my posts will be at the bottom of the page.  I will announce the winners next week.

My mom is celebrating her birthday next week, so I couldn't pass up the chance to use the February Sketch challenge on the Unity Blog one more time, to make her a card.  Mama's and Grandma's stamp set seemed the appropriate choice to use on this card.  This is an older sentiment kit (April 2016!!!), but this just shows how Unity Stamps never go out of style.  I stamped the image on white Neeha paper, and colored with watercolors.  A bit of gold from a a Stella Wink pen and some sequins and a twine bow, and this card is ready to give.  I hope my mom likes it as much as I do.

As promised, here are the links to all my cards from the week.  Make sure you leave comments on all of them for a chance to win one of those prize packs from Unity Stamp Company.

Day 1 

Day 2   

Day 3

Day 4

Thanks for visiting me all week!  I love seeing all the comments

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 4

It's Thursday. If you are in the United States, the 3-day weekend is almost here. We can make it!

I thought a few flowers would help brighten the day and make the last few days a little easier.  Remember to leave a comment on this post, and all my Growing in Unity posts, for a chance to win 1 of 2 AMAZING prize packs from Unity Stamp Company!  

I loved the fun mix of succulents in Succulent Greetings. Succulents are the only plants I can seem to keep alive, so this is the perfect stamp for me to use.  Unity Stamps is the best at giving us stamps that are fun to color.  Today I used Copic markers to bring some depth to the flowers.  I thought about adding some gems or Nuvo Drops, but sometimes, just using layers of paper and ink are all the embellishing a card needs.

If you missed any of my cards this week, be sure to hop over to my previous posts and leave a comment!  I'll be drawing 2 winners of Unity Stamp prize packs next week.  

Day 1 

Day 2   

Day 3

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 3

 Happy Wednesday!

Half way through my Growing in Unity week.  Hard to believe how fast it goes.  Remember to leave a comment on this post, and all my Growing in Unity posts, for a chance to win 1 of 2 prize packs from Unity Stamp Company!  

Valentine's Day was yesterday, but love should reign supreme all year long. So today, I'm sharing another "love" card, using one of my favorite critters, the otter. Otter Love This Much is such a cute stamp set. He looks like he just wants to reach out and give you a bug hug. As a matter of fact, I can see covering the hearts with washi tape (like I talked about yesterday with the sentiment stamp) and using the otter stamp on  a "hug" card, or thinking of you, or just a little card to make someone smile.  I used colored pencils and a touch of Stella Wink to add some sparkle to this simple red and black card.  

Thank you for visiting me today.  I love you enjoyed seeing the little otter all colored and ready to make you smile.

If you missed any of my cards this week, be sure to hop over to my posts and leave a comment!

Day 1 

Day 2   

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 2

Happy Valentine's Day!

Welcome back to my Growing in Unity week.  Yesterday, I shared the card I designed for my son, using Unity Stamps.  Today is my daughter's turn.  Like most teenage girls, she loves going to those coffee shops that start with the letter "S", so I couldn't resist telling her I love her a latte on this Valentine's Day.

Again, I started with Unity’s February card sketch (found on their blog here).  Then I grabbed my Love to Go stamp set, some colored pencils and a little ink and had some fun.  For the sentiment, I used half of the saying from Sad Stymie.  To do this, I covered the portion I didn't want on the card with some washi tape, inked the stamp, then pulled the tape off before stamping onto the tag.  An easy way to get more use out of your sentiment stamps! 

I hope I've inspired you to reach for those sentiment stamps where you might not want to use the whole saying, only part of it.  

Remember to come back everyday this week and leave comments for a chance to win an amazing prize pack from Unity Stamp Company.

If you missed my card yesterday, be sure to hop over to my Day 1 post and leave a comment.   

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2023 - Day 1

 Hi!

Welcome to my first day of my Growing in Unity feature week. I'm happy to be here and hopefully provide you with a little inspiration. It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my work. I hope you enjoy visiting every day this week to see what I have to share with you. Come back everyday and leave comments for a chance to win an amazing prize pack from Unity Stamp Company.

When planning my week’s worth of projects, I like to center around a theme. This week, I’ll be using Unity’s February card sketch (found on their blog here) as my central starting point. I love its clean and simple design that makes building cards around it fun and easy. 

Without further ado - my first project! This week is also Valentine’s Day, so I thought what better than to make some cards for the family. Today’s card is for my soon to be 16 year old son. He isn’t into mushy stuff, so I took this in a different direction. 

The minute I read the sentiment on the You Make Me Happy {itty bitty} stamp, I knew how I wanted to layer the card together. To make the background, I used the Cloud & Wave stencil with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink to create a gray sky pattern. The suns were made with a Deco Foil paste spread over a sun mask on vellum paper. Here’s a close up. Hopefully you can see the clouds a little. 

I hope you have enjoyed a quick look at my first project. Check back every day this week for more inspiration. Leave a comment for a chance to win an amazing Unity Stamp prize pack. Have a wonderful Monday!

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity Blog Hop

 

Hi! 

Welcome to the Growing in Unity Blog Hop!  You should have hopped here from Suzi's blog.  A complete list of stops is at the bottom of this post.  Make sure you visit each blog and leave a comment.  Unity is giving away 2 big prize packs.

If you remember back to my Growing in Unity week, I featured Birthday cards all week.  In keeping with that theme, here are 2 new birthday cards, featuring Unity's great background stamps and new die set.

My brother and sister-in-law share a birthday, so it was a great excuse to break out some new toys.  As it so happens, I had a lot of happy mail this week - my Floral Burst (Background of the Month) stamp arrived on Thursday and my Say It Big coordinating die set arrived today - just in the nick of time for this blog hop!  I was excited to use these, as well as the actual Say It Big stamp set for the "happy" and "wishes" and Infinite Birthday Wishes to complete my cards.

Here is a close up of these cards.  I love Unity's background stamps.  They make quick and easy cards.  I only colored a few images from the background stamps to keep the simplicity of the cards.

 Thank you for visiting today.  Don't forget to visit and comment on all the blogs for a chance to win an amazing Unity Stamp Company prize.

1. Chandhini https://thecreativetwins.blogspot.com/

2. Sue https://stampingsueinconnecticut.blogspot.com/

3. Sammie https://www.littlestampededesigns.com/

4. Suzi https://suzannebakermckenzie.blogspot.com/

5. Kristina https://mamasanity.blogspot.com/

6. Sue https://suzyqstudio.wordpress.com/

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 5

Wow!  It's Friday.  Hard to believe this is my last post in my Growing in Unity week.  It has been so much fun, sharing some different birthday cards this week.  I decided that my last project needed to have a lot of shimmer and shine.  Be sure to leave a comment on this post (and all my posts for the week - links are below) for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate for Unity Stamp Company.    

So without further ado, let's take a look at my cards today:

These cards feature Nuvo Gilding Flakes, adhered to the Polka Dance Background stamped background using Heat & Stick Embossing Powder.  The Heat & Stick power is used like any other embossing powder, only when heated, it becomes tacky, not shiny and hard like normal powder.  This gives you a few minutes to add flocking, glitter, or in my case, Gilding Flakes, to a card.  This is how I did it:

I stamped and heat embossed the Heat & Stick powder.  Then I put my card upside down into the box of flakes.  Now let me tell you.  The Gilding Flakes are fun to work with.  They are super thin, super light, flakes of gold - much like gold leaf used in baking.  As all of Unity's videos say, you have to use them in a room with no fan or air movement while you are adhering them.  By the time I was done pressing the flakes into my cards, I felt like a James Bond character (any guesses?)...

Once everything was covered, I gently rubbed the top of my card to remove as much of the flakes as I could.  Then I took them outside with a sturdy paint brush to remove the rest of the flakes that were not stuck to the Heat & Stick powder.  You can see on the kraft card, I haven't finished brushing it off yet.  

And here are my finished card fronts.

I didn't want to cover all the bright gold design, so I used simple letters to create 3 cards that will be great to have on hand for birthdays - no matter if it is a guy or a girl.

Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link(s) below: 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 4

Wow!  I can't believe it is Thursday already.  That means I only have 2 more projects to share with you for my Growing in Unity week.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing some birthday cards I have made featuring Unity Stamps, and commenting on all the posts.  Don't forget, I will be choosing 2 commenters to win a $20 gift card from Unity Stamp Company.  If you missed any of my previous posts, you will find links to them at the bottom of this post.  

Remember yesterday when I said today's card would be my most "important" card of the week.  That is because my 6' "baby" turns 14 today.  I can't believe the one that made me a mom is already 14.  Time has flown by (no pun intended).  Kevin is very much a guy's guy, so I knew I wanted his card to reflect that.  

Here is his card: 

For Kevin's card, I used the For The Guys stamp set for the plane and it's banner.  I created the background using Distress Oxide inks, blended together to give the look of the sky.  Then I fussy cute the embossed plane and popped it up with pop-dots, and added the 14 to the background.  There is a white frame around all of it.  I love the clean and simple look, and I know Kevin will too when he opens it later today.

Here's what I used to make the background:

Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link(s) below: 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 3

Happy Wednesday!  I can't believe we are half way through my Growing in Unity week.  I've had so much fun creating birthday cards this week.  I hope you have been following along with the fun, and commenting on all the posts.  I will be choosing 2 commenters to win $20 gift cards from Unity Stamp Company.  If you missed any of my previous posts, you will find links to them at the bottom of this post.  

Today's card may be one of my favorite (...stay tuned for my most "important" one tomorrow).  I simply love the gnomes from Unity Stamp Company.  The minute I saw this little guy, I KNEW I had to use him in during my week.  Little did I know they would be on sale at the same time.  BONUS!  😉

Today's card features stamps from Happy Birthday Gnome.  First I stamped the gnome, present and cupcake on white cardstock.  After the ink dried, I painted over those images with Masking Fluid.  This created a cool barrier that I could ink over and create the background I wanted, using Distress Oxide inks (I love their blending abilities).  After inking the card using the Cloud & Wave stencil, I peeled the Masking Fluid with a simple rub of my finger, leaving the stamped images all ready to be colored.  

To color my gnome and his birthday goodies, I used a combination of Copic markers, Stella Wink pens, and Nuvo Glitter Drops.  Then I mounted the die-cut sheet onto a card base, and i have a quick and easy card, ready to give to someone on their special day.

I hope you love this little gnome as much as I do.  Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link(s) below: 

Day 1

Day 2

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of my Growing in Unity week.  Today's card is a pretty floral design from Whole Lot of Lovely (November 2018 KOM).  I love the open floral designs that Unity includes in their stamp kits.  They give us lot of opportunity to color and make them our own.  In my case, I colored with Copics and added a touch of gold here and there. The birthday sentiment is from ...Say it Big.  

I hope you enjoyed today's card.  Don't forget to leave a comment on today's project for a chance to win a Unity Stamp Company gift card.  On Monday, March 29, I'll pick 2 random winners from the comments from all my posts.  If you missed any, click on the link below: 

Day 1

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity 2021: Day 1

 Hi! 

Welcome to my Growing in Unity week for 2021. I'm happy to bring you some of my creations this week.  My son's birthday just happens to fall during this week, so that may give you an idea of the theme for my projects.  It's been a while since I've created (thanks busy kids' schedules!), so it has been fun to dust off some trusty friends and do a little crafting.  I hope you enjoy my projects.  Remember to comment every day for a chance to win one of two $20 gift certificates to Unity Stamp Company!

Let's start this week on an uplifting note...pun intended!  First up is a cute little Hedgehog flying away with some balloons from the Hoppy & Hedgie set. The sentiment is from ...It's a Mug Hug.  I colored the hedgehog with Prisma pencils.  Then I used Nuvo Jewel Drops in various colors to give the balloons a little translucent dimension. 

I hope you think he is as cute as I do.  Don't forget to leave a comment.  I'll be giving away 2 gift certificates to Unity Stamp Co.  

Thank you for visiting!  See you tomorrow!

Growing in Unity Blog Hop

Hi!

Welcome to the Growing in Unity Blog Hop.  If you are starting here, make sure you check the list at the bottom of this post for all the wonderful projects in this hop. Visit and comment on all the blogs for a chance to win one of two Unity prize packs. 

For my project, I actually used the stamp set I received for being the Growing in Unity girl.  I picked Choose a Happy Heart, the SMAK kit from Feb 2016.  I loved the graphic stamps in this kit.  Great for making backgrounds or dramatic focal features.  I decided to go with the heart and sentiment from this kit for this card.  The heart is embossed with gold embossing powder.  I mounted it on foam squares on a background made from Distress Oxide inks, Distress Resist and Heidi Swap Gold Color Shine.  Gold thread and gray twine are looped behind to create a base for my heart.

Thank you again for visiting my blog!  After leaving a comment here, hop on over to Samantha's blog. 

Shannon Horch https://olasmoon.blogspot.com/?m=1
Traci Cooley https://coolmomcreations.blogspot.com
Jeanette Cloyd https://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com
Teri Coady https://dragonbeecreations.wordpress.com/...
Kristina MacKeen https://mamasanity.blogspot.com
Samantha Jackson-Houp sammibugscrapshack.blogspot.com
Mary Kay Werry https://mkwcardsblog.com/2019/01/13/Unity-GIU-Blog-Hop-January-2019
Sari Aavamkai https://aavamaki.blogspot.com/

Cheers!
Kristy

Growing in Unity 2018 Winners!

Hello!!!

Thank you to everyone commented on my Growing in Unity week!  It truly made my day to read everyone's comments.

Without further ado, here are the winners from my posts are posted below.  Please email me your address by December 31st (kmackeen1@gmail.com) and I'll have Unity send out your prizes.

Thank you again for commenting along on my Growing in Unity week.

Cheers!
Kristy

Stacy BDecember 3, 2018 at 9:26 AM

I love the new border stamps...I ordered a floral one but haven't had a chance to ink it up yet! Great start to your week...can't wait to see your other creations.

and

Nancy LedeeDecember 8, 2018 at 11:50 AM

What a way to wrap up the week with a beautiful card to celebrate with. The glitter on the fireworks look stunning. Appreciate the cards you made this week! 

Growing in Unity 2018: Day 5

Hi!

Today is Friday, my last Growing in Unity post for 2018.  Thank you for coming along on this journey with me this week!  If you haven't left a comment on all my posts, you will find all the links at the bottom of the page.  Remember, Unity Stamps will send 2 lucky commenters an amazing grab bag.

To celebrate my last project of the week, I was so excited with work the Celebrate the New stamp set.  Even though you can't see the face, you can simply feel her excitement!  I used Prisma Colored pencils to color her in, and Distress Oxides to make the background.  A little black embossing powder mixed with some glitter and you have some exciting fireworks.  I kept the whole design clean and simple, as to not distract from the Angie girl.

I also wanted to show you a closer up of the fireworks so you can see how iridescent they came out.  Bright and sparkly like real fireworks!

Thank you again for visiting me today - and every day this week.  If you missed any of the previous posts, here are the links:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Here is one last look at all my projects.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little of my work this week.  Come back on Monday, when I will have drawn the winners for the grab bags.

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity: Day 4

Happy Thursday!

I hope you are having a wonderful today.  As promised in Monday's post, I'm back again using the rest of the stamps in the Jolly Ol' Santa set by Unity Stamp Company.  This Santa is so much fun to color.  There are a lot of great ideas out there, using "non-tradional" colors, but for me, Santa is a jolly old guy in a red suit, so that is what I stuck with.  I colored him with Spectrum Noir pens and did his background with Distress Oxide Inks.  I think Santa was really excited with the gold mist I added to the card.  ;-)

I also thought it would be fun to add a little texture with some white fluff on his hat and cuffs.

Thank you for visiting me today.  Make sure you comment on this post, and all my posts, to be entered to win 1 of 2 prizes from Unity Stamp Company!  You can find my previous post here:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

See you again tomorrow with my final project.

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2018: Day 3

Hi!

Today marks the halfway point of my Growing in Unity posts.  I hope you have enjoyed my projects so far!  If you have missed any, the links are at the bottom of this post.

For today's project, I decided to keep with the tropical theme I started yesterday.  My mother-in-law loved flamingos.  Whenever I see them, I think of her.  The flamingo stamp in the Standing Tall (July 2018 Kit of the Month) set is no exception.  I love how tall and graceful this flamingo looks.  I hope I did justice to her when I colored her with my Prisma pencils.  Colored pencils on kraft paper have such a fun look.  I can't wait to do more kraft coloring.

Thank you for visiting me today.  Make sure you comment on this post, and all my posts, to be entered to win 1 of 2 prizes from Unity Stamp Company!  You can find my previous post here:

Day 1

Day 2

Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Cheers!

Kristy

Growing in Unity 2018: Day 2

Hi!

Welcome back to the second day of my Growing in Unity week.  I decided to ignore the snow falling outside my window right now and use bright colors to color my favorite cupcake from the Whole Lot of Lovely (November 2018 Kit of the Month) kit.  I used Spectrum Noir and Wink of Stella to add color and sparkle to this card. 

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win one of two grab bags from Unity Stamp Company!  Head over to my post from Day 1 to leave a comment there, as well, if you haven't yet.

See you tomorrow!

Cheers!

Growing in Unity 2018: Day 1

Hi! 

I'm so excited to be back, featured as a Growing in Unity gal, this week.  I love Unity Stamps and the variety they offer.  They truly have something for everyone.  Make sure you visit all week, and leave comments, for a chance to win an AMAZING grab bag from Unity Stamps.  On Monday, Dec 10th, 2 lucky winners will be picked from all the comments.

Without further ado, let's get started.  For my first project of the week, I went with a clean and simple card.  I love the new border background stamps from Unity Stamps.  They make quick and easy cards...and Adornment is no exception.  After coloring ti with Prisma colored pencils, I layered a couple die cut "happy"'s and the sentiment from Jolly Ol' Santa (this big guy may show up later too - he's too cute not too!) and a few embellishments, and I have a fun card to send this Christmas.

Thank you for visiting me today!  I hope I've inspired you to break out your stamps and die cuts.  Don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to with that amazing grab bag.  

See you tomorrow with my next Growing in Unity project.

Cheers!

PGCB 148: Emboss It

Good Morning,

It is Monday, which means there is a new challenge over on the Paper Girls Challenge.  And it may be one of my favorites.  I love the look of embossing - whether it is using heat to make a glossy image, or using an embossing folder to give texture.  

One of my all time go to, quick and simple, techniques to use on cards is emboss resist technique.  For this card, I stamped the flowers from Unity Stamp Company's Girl Truly set with the Versamark ink, and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  I used Stampin' Up ink and daubers to color in my image, as well as the background.  I also used black embossing powder on the sentiment.

One thing I learned on this card is to make sure you use an embossing powder that will give you a good raised image.  This will really make the white pop after you ink it (and wipe off the ink that might be stuck to the embossing powder).  My first attempt at this stamped and embossed image didn't have the raised image I wanted, so I gave it to my daughter to color.  Here is how her's came out.  I like how she used so many colors on her flowers.  I think I see a Mother's Day card in the future of this picture.

Head over to Paper Girls and play along with us!  There are so many wonderful projects to spark your imagination!

Cheers!
Kristy