Sending Blessings - Growing In Unity Day 5

Happy Friday!!  I can't believe how fast this week has gone.  It's my last day of hosting the Growing In Unity week.  Today, I am delighted to share another set from my favourite Unity line - i.e. stamps by Phyllis Harris!  I absolutely LOVE all of Phyllis' stamps!!  I wish I can draw like her :-)

The set I used is called Every Breath and I can't find the right words to describe what I love about her.  Perhaps the card speaks it better than I can. 

I made this card for my friend's daughter who needs a birthday card for her friend.  Her friend's favourite colour is purple, and so I gave this girl a purple dress.  She was coloured with Copic Markers (Dress - V12, V15, V17, Colourless blender; Hair - Y38, YR24, Y21; Skin - E50, E01, E13, R20; Ground - E41, E43).  The edges were sponged with Memento Summer Sky. 

The card is cut with Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles and the patterned paper is from American Crafts, Amy Tangerine line.

What a week it's been sharing my Unity creations with you.  I've had a blast!  Be sure to leave your comment for a chance to win two Itty Bittys of your choice.  I'll announce the winner on Sunday evening.

Thank you for visiting and for your kind words.  I am so blessed!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs
Kary

What's Cooking? Growing In Unity Day 4

Hello Friends!  It's Day 4 of my GIU week.  It's a fun card today, using the cute Unity Stamp set "What's Cooking?". Everytime I look at this set, I can't help but smile.  I'm not much of a cook but being an Asian, food is always such a big part of our lives.  It's our way of spending time and celebrating with friends and family.

 

Here's my card:

I coloured the chef with Copic Markers (R32, R35, R37, BG10 and N3 & N1). Easy peasy card, and I added some buttons with a polka dot fabric tape.  To finish off the card, I added some white stitch lines around the edge.

Thank you for visiting me today.  Make sure you comment along, and you'll be in the draw for two Itty Bittys of your choice.


Kary

Hope... Growing in Unity Day 3

Hi, and welcome back to Day 3 of Growing In Unity week!  If you are visiting for the first time, you can always click the links back to Day 1 and Day 2's postings.  Don't forget to leave a comment and you will be in the draw to win Two Itty Bittys of your choice.  I'll announce the winner on my blog at the end of the week.

Today's card has a slightly different style, more vintage and distressed.  The stamp sets I've used are "Dream To Be" and "Wood Grain Script"  I think these are such versatile sets.

 

 First I stamped the Wood Grain script, with Memento Desert Sand and the edges with Memento Espresso Truffle.  The edges are torn and I sponged some Memento Rich Cocoa around it.  The Bird image was stamped using Memento Espresso Truffle and coloured with Copic Markers (Leaves YG61, YG63, YG67; Bird Y38, BG02, YG11, Y21).  The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, embossed with an embossing folder, and some sponging on the embossed areas.

I hope you like the card.  Be sure to visit me again tomorrow for another Unity project.

Thanks for stopping by.
Kary

You've Got Heart - Growing In Unity Day 2

Welcome back to Day 2 of Growing In Unity with me!  If you are here for the first time, you may like to check back on Day 1's post, here.  I hope you'll follow and comment on my posts for this week for a chance to win Two Itty Bittys of your choice.

I simply adore Unity Itty Bittys and this cute bunny caught my eye.  It's absolutely adorable!  The set is called You've Got Heart.

Here's my card:

The bunny was stamped on Neenah cardstock, coloured with Copic markers and cut out.  The sentiment is stamped directly on the pretty patterned paper from October Afternoon.

Be sure to check back tomorrow, for another project.  Thank you so much for visiting me.

Have a wonderful day!
Kary

No Dream Is Too Big - Growing In Unity Day 1

Hello Friends! I'm so excited to be the Growing In Unity (GIU) girl this week!  I can't believe how quickly time flies.  I hope you'll enjoy the Unity projects I'll be sharing this week, and I'd like to invite you to follow and comment along for your chance to win Two Itty Bittys of your choice.  I'll pick a winner at the end of the week and announce it on Sunday.

All of you know how much I love colouring and Unity stamps...  so you can expect a whole week of some of my favourite Unity stamps and of course some Copics colouring ;).  My cards are generally simple, and I love adding patterned papers and die-cuts.

 

I made this card before I moved from Kuala Lumpur to Perth.  It was a little card just for me, to remind myself that one is never too old to pursue new dreams.   It's quite a challenge to move to a place I've never been to, and especially to work full-time again after a long break.  But, it's been pretty smooth so far. 

I love this little set from Phyllis Harris named Determination - and guess what, it's on sale right now! 

Thanks for visiting me today!  Please check back tomorrow for another Unity project.

Take care,
Kary

 

Cute Chick

It looks like this will be a Birthday week - I've been busy making lots of Birthday cards.  I just received my Unity KOM too, so it was fun that I got to use some of the stamps.

This is for a friend:

I love that cute little chick from the April KOM, and when I saw the glasses images in the same KOM, I thought it would be super cute to use one of them with the chick.  I added glitter to the frame of the glasses.  The image was coloured with copic markers.

My latest craze on cards is to make an embossed frame using my Scor-Buddy, so here's the first card with that technique.  Over the next few posts, you see more cards with the same technique.  Sometimes I like the colour of the cardstock and I don't want to add any patterned paper on it but it looked rather plain, so this technique is a good way to add some interest to the cardbase.

Hope you like the card.  Have a great day!

Stamps : Unity KOM April 2011, Papertrey Ink Banner Builder & Big Birthday Wishes

Paper : GKD PLC Ocean Mist, October Afternoon 

Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black & Angel Pink, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass, Copic Markers

Other : Sakura White Gel pen, Sakura Pigma Micron 0.1 Sepia, Scor-Buddy, EK Sucess border punch

Growing in Unity - Day 5

Wow, I can't believe how fast the week has gone, and I've reached the end of my GIU week.  I 've really enjoyed sharing some of my favourite Unity stamps and cards with you.

Today, I'll show you some projects using stamps from various KOM sets.  I have a folder where I print off all the images of every Unity stamp sets I own for easy reference.  When it's time to make a card, I usually flip through the folder till I see a stamp I think looks great for a card I have in mind or a stamp which I've never inked before.  It's like a game for me, to find a way to ink up every stamp from the sets I own.

First, I'd like to show you a Stationery box.  I like to give away a set of my cards to friends as a present.  I've been meaning to make this box for a long time after seeing so many versions of them online.  Finally, I sat down and worked out how I would like mine to be.

Here's the box :

The box opens up to several compartments & pockets for standard sized & note cards, tags, stamps, post-it notes and a pen.  Here's the inside of the box :

The box was decorated with the apples from KOM July 2010 and sentiment from KOM August 2010.

Next, is another Christmas card (just couldn't resist it) - a clear acetate card.  This must be the most difficult card for me to photograph. Here's my best shot ;) 

I've heard a lot of good reviews on the new Stazon Metallic but had no idea how great it was till I used it. On this clear card, I used the Platinum ink - I love it!  It's a champagne-like colour and I think it's "cool-er" than the normal gold or silver.  I've left this card pretty plain on the inside, with a small frame (which matches the front greeting) on the inside for a note.

My next card is:

Sometimes I feel like making a card with several layers, and here's one of them.  The stamped image is from KOM May 2010.  I love the cute little parachute with the word "Happy".   

Finally, here's my last card for the GIU week.  I've had a blast this week and Thank YOU for taking time to visit.  I hope you'll like this card:

Another view (to show the emboss resist):

This card was made using one of my favourite Pink Paislee papers.  The background paper is from the Parisian Anthology collection, called Darling Doilies.  The paper has some resist printed patterns on it and when you ink it, the patterns show through.  The focal image is from Unity KOM October 2010, stamped on the patterned paper with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then using markers (fine tip for the stems), colour the stems and flowers.  Sponge more ink around the image.  Mount it on a light blue cardstock and add a bow to finish up the card.

This has been an AMAZING week for me.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have a LOVELY weekend!! ;-)

First project:
Stamps: Unity KOM July 2010, Unity KOM August 2010 (sentiment)
Inks: Versafine Olympia Green & Onyx Black
Papers: PTI Spring Moss cardstock
Others: Zva Creative bling, white gel pen

Second - card:
Stamps: Unity KOM September 2008 (snowflake), Unity KOM May 2010 (alphabets for sentiment)
Inks: Stazon Metallic Platinum, Versamagic Sea Breeze, Versafine Spanish Moss
Papers: Imaginisce, Acetate
Others: Gold metallic ribbon, AC button, Imaginisce i-rock pearl

Third - card:
Stamps: Unity KOM May 2010
Inks: Memento Markers Lady Bug and Paris Duke, Distess Ink Tumbled Glass (inking the clouds)
Papers: Pink Paislee 365 degrees, Kraft & white cardstock
Others: MFT clouds die, MS border punch, ribbons & twine, button, Sakura white get pen

Fourth - card:
Stamps: Unity KOM October 2010
Inks: Versamark, Distress Inks Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, Scattered Straw
Papers: Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology & Queen Bee, PTI Kraft cardstock, GKD Ocean Mist cardstock
Others: AC ribbon & Prima studs

Growing in Unity - Day 4

Hello again.  Today I'm going to show you some Christmas cards.  Every year I make a lot of Christmas cards for my dad to mail out.  He loves every card I make (I think he is biased of course!).  This is probably the last year he is able to send out cards, as his memory is failing and he has problems writing.  So, this year, I'll be making some extra effort to ensure the cards will be a little more special, for him.

I'm going to keep the posting simple, with not too many instructions (in case you get bored reading them :)). 

Here's the first card:

I just received my new October KOM in the mail yesterday!  There's two cute stamps perfect for Christmas cards.  Here's one of them.  I used waterbased markers to colour the image, and then added glitter to the light blue rectangle behind the ornaments. What do you think?

Here's the second card:

This is a simple card with unusual colours for Christmas.  I made the paper ribbon by cutting a strip of the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather paper, and curled it a little with a pencil to break some of the fibres.  Then folded them at the top making pleats, and adhere it to a strip of purple cardstock.

Here's the third card, with more traditional Christmas colours:

Here, I stamped the focal image using black ink, and colour the open areas with red & green markers. Then add glitters all over the image.

One last card :

I sponged the edges of the stamped image with Distress Ink Tumbled Glass and added some fine glass glitters (hope you can see the glitter on the photo).  Then assembled the card with 3 different sizes of Spellbinders Large Scalloped Circles - 2 red ones and one mid-sized white circle.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you'll be back tomorrow for the final day of GIU.  Have a wonderful day!

First card:
Stamps : Unity KOM October 2010
Inks : Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Markers & Primacolor pencils
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6 pad, PTI Sweet Blush cardstock, GKD Ocean Mist cardstock
Others: Fine glitter, Baker's twine, Spellbinders Large Scallop square, MS border punch

Second card:
Stamps : Unity KOM October 2010
Inks : Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Markers
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6 pad, GKD Vibrant Violet cardstock
Others : Fine glitter, Sakura white gel pen, Imaginisce i-rocks

Third card:
Stamps : Unity KOM September 2010
Inks : Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Markers
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6 pad, Red cardstock
Others : Fine glitter, Pearls from Zva Creative, ribbon, silver button

Fourth card:
Stamps : Unity KOM July 2010
Inks : Versafine Spanish Moss, Memento Markers Lady Bug, Colourpencils, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass
Papers : White & red cardstock
Others : Spellbinders Nestabilities Large Scallop Circles, Sakura White Gel pen, blings, Art Glass Glitter - Diamond Dust

Growing in Unity - Day 3

Wow, today is Day 3 of GIU.  My cards today will be focusing on colouring and making your own background.  Today's stamps are mainly from Unity's Store Kit Quiet Essence, love the beautiful flowers stamps and they are perfect for colouring.

My first card is colouring with alcohol ink markers.  I have only several alcohol ink markers (I know, I love copics and just found out I can get them from an art supplies store where I live.Yay!) but even with limited supplies one can achieve pretty good results.  Here's my card:

Stamp the top half of the cardbase with a background stamp (I used the background stamp from KOM April 2010) using Versamark.  Adhere the patterned papers as shown with a teal satin ribbon wrapped around it.  On a white cardstock, stamp the flower image using Memento Tuxedo Black, and colour the image with pink and red markers.  The red marker will give the flower some shading and then use the pink marker over the red to blend the colours.  I have only one green marker hence no shading on the leaves.  Cut the stamped image, and place it on the card as shown, with a little section tucked underneath the sentiment.  Cut the sentiment piece using Spellbinders Label 16.  Here, I used a sentiment stamp from KOM May 2010, where only the "hello" was inked (not the full sentiment) and stamped on the die cut piece.  Finally make a bow with another length of the teal satin ribbon and place a button tied with double bows using baker's twine.

The second card focuses on making your own background.  Here's the card:

Stamp the flower randomly on the card with Versafine Onyx Black.  Versafine is a great ink because it captures every detail of the stamp, dries quickly and because it's oil based it won't bleed with the waterbased markers.  After stamping the images, colour using water-based markers (I used Memento New Sprout for the leaves, Lady Bug, Rose Bud, Angel Pink and Lulu Lavender for the flowers).  Stamp the sentiment with Versamark and emboss with Black Detailed embossing powder.  Use Spellbinders Label 14 to trace around the sentiment with pencil.  Stitch around it with purple thread in running stitches.  Lastly, cut a frame to fit the card and make some faux stitches around it with a white gel pen.  And to finish off the card, add some Imaginisce glam rocks using the i-rock tool (I LOVE this tool!).

My last card today is another inking technique. 

Here's a list of things required for the technique :

1. Water-based markers (I used Memento Markers)
2. Ink blending solution (I used Tsukineko's Ink Potion No 9)
3. Craft mat (teflon mat)
4. Shimmer paint (I used Tsukineko's All Purpose Ink Champagne Mist)
5. Die cut a piece of watercolour paper

First, use a sponge and lightly ink the watercolour paper with the Shimmer paint.  On the craft mat, use several colours of markers and ink up enough to cover the watercolour paper.  Spritz the ink blending solution directly onto the mat with the colours.  Then place the watercolour paper with the shimmer paint side down to pick up the inks.  You can then leave this to dry or you can heat set it.

When the paper is dry, stamp the flourish stamp (Unity's Artist In You) with Stazon Timber Brown at the corners. Next, stamp the text with Stazon Pumpkin.  Then emboss the paper with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  To finish off, tap another shade of Stazon (or you can use Pumpkin or Timber Brown) ink on the embossed areas.

Stamp the butterfly on a white cardstock with Memento Grape Jelly. Colour the image with watercolour pencils (light green and blue), first with the green and then the blue on the outer edges, going back blending the colours with the green. Use an orange pencil to colour the butterfly centre.  Then use the sponge with the shimmer paint (you won't need to reink it) and pick up a light blue ink (I used Memento Summer Sky) and sponge around the butterfly to give it some colour and shimmer.  Then add Glossy Accents on the spots on the butterfly.  Now, everything is ready for card to be assembled.

I hope you are inspired to do some colouring today, and if you have any questions please let me know. {{Thanks}} so much for visiting.

First card:
Stamps : Unity Store Kit Quiet Essence, KOM April 2010 (background), KOM May 2010 (sentiment)
Papers : Pink Paislee 365 Degrees, GKD cardstock Ocean Mist
Inks : Memento Tuxedo Black, Alcohol markers Alpha G126 Lawn Green, R149 Crimson & R123 Pale Peach
Others : Spellbinders Label 16, Teal satin ribbon, Baker's twine (PTI), AC button

Second card:
Stamps : Unity KOM September 2010, Unity Store Kit Quiet Essence
Cardstock : PTI Spring Moss, White grainy cardstock (forgot where I got this from)
Inks : Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Markers, Versamark
Others : Spellbinders Label 14, Sakura White Gel pen, Imaginise i-rock & glam rocks mirror

Third card:
Stamps : Unity Artist In You (Background flourish), Give It All Meaning (Text background), KOM September 2008 (Butterfly), KOM June 2010 (sentiments)
Papers : PTI white cardstock, October Afternoon Ducks in a Row, Watercolour paper (300gsm)
Inks : Memento markers (Potters Clay, Rose Bud, Rhubarb Stalk, Bahama Blue, Bamboo Leaves, Paris Dusk, Cantaloupe, Tangelo), Memento Ink pad Grape Jelly & Summer Sky & Tuxedo Black, Stazon Pumpkin, Timber Brown
Others : Spellbinders Labels 8, Glossy Accents, crystal brad, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Growing in Unity - Day 2

Hi, and welcome to Day 2 of GIU.  Today I'll be using paper piecing technique on my cards.  I think paper piecing is a really great way to get colours on your card without using any paints or pencils or markers.


Here's my card:

 

The apples were stamped on 3 different patterned papers and cut out and adhered with foam squares onto a white strip of cardstock.  The cardstock was adhered to the red patterned paper as shown, and the sentiment added (a rub-on).  A stitched organza ribbon was tied just below the apples as shown. The kraft cardbase was sponged with Distress Ink Vintage Photo, with the bottom corners rounded, and a white gel pen was used to create some faux stitching around the card.

Another example of paper piecing is a card I made for the Unity challenge on splitcoaststampers.  The image and sentiment is from my 1st Unity KOM kit.  I love that kit!

First Card:
Stamps : Unity KOM July 2010
Patterned papers : Cosmo Cricket Togetherness
Cardstock : PTI Kraft
Inks : Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink Vintage Photo
Others : Sakura white gel pen, sentiment rub-on, ribbon, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper


Second Card:
Stamps : Unity KOM February 2010, Unity background Worn Music
Inks : Versafine Onyx Black & Spanish Moss
Papers : Pink Paislee Queen Bee and 365 Degrees, PTI Spring Moss
Others : EK Success border punches

Thanks for looking.  I hope you have a Great day!

Growing In Unity - Day 1

I'm so happy to share with you this week of Growing in Unity.  I fell in love with stamping some 10 years ago.  A lovely lady showed me some stamps at a fair in Kentucky (when I was there for a short work visit) and the rest is history.  Stamping is so much fun & cardmaking as well - when I used to work full-time (with crazy schedules), it was a great way of having a break after a long day.  Unfortunately, none of my friends share this passion of mine, hence, I'm really thankful for all the crafters I meet online, because you inspire me and reassure me I'm not alone in my mad, mad love for stamping and cardmaking.

I LOVE Unity stamps - I discovered Unity while browsing the net oneday.  I live in Asia, and I often worry buying items online as shipping cost could be high, and more importantly if the products would arrive and not get lost!  After some thought (and really because I just could not resist Unity stamps!), I decided to join Unity's Kit of the Month club in March earlier this year.  I've not been disappointed, I love every single KOM I own.  It's great value and the images are really adorable.

Here's my first card for today, the sentiment is "Thankful" and I thought it's a great way to start off the week, as there's a lot to be thankful in life.  Especially, if one gets to stamp & express one's creativity in cardmaking... you know what I mean :)

As you probably will realise, my cardmaking style is really simple.  I love colours and I love ribbons, so I guess you will see a lot of these combinations in my cards.

This card uses 3 stamps from 2 KOM's - the focal image was stamped with the April's KOM while the sentiment is from Sep's KOM.  The focal image was stamped on an ivory cardstock, using Versafine Vintage Sepia and Versamagic Red Magic.  The flower was coloured using Memento Markers New Sprout & Dandelion.  On the outer blank area within the frame, I used Memento Marker Summer Sky to draw the lines to match one of the patterned papers used.  Some Distress Ink Scattered Straw and Tea Dye were sponged around the edges to match the distressed edges of the patterned paper.

Here's my second card:

My first attempt to make an autumn-ish card.  All stamps are from Unity's September KOM.  The sentiment was stamped with sepia ink and cut with nestabilities scalloped oval, and sponged with Distress Ink Antique Linen.  Two of the leaves were stamped on ivory cardstock and coloured with colour pencils.  The leaf on the right was stamped on watercolour paper - the stamp was inked with markers (Cantaloupe, Tangelo & Potter's Clay - with lighter colours towards the centre) and given a spritz of ink blending solution.  When dry, use a white gel pen to accentuate the leaf grains.  The cardbase was partially embossed with Cuttlebug's embossing folder.

I hope you like the cards and thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate it.

First card:
Stamps : Unity KOM April 2010 (focal image), Unity KOM September 2010 (sentiment)
Inks : Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versamagic Red Magic, Distress Inks Tea Dye & Scattered Straw, Memento Markers New Sprout, Dandelion & Summer Sky
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Togetherness, PTI Vintage Cream cardstock
Others : Imaginisce i-rock, EK Success border punch, Scor-buddy

Second card:
Stamps : Unity KOM September 2010
Inks : Versafine Vintage Sepia, Memento Markers Cantaloupe, Tangelo and Potter's Clay, Distress Ink Antique Linen, Tsukineko's Ink Potion #9 (ink blender), Prismacolor pencils
Papers : BasicGrey Kioshi papers, GKD Pumpkin spice cardstock
Others : Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Ovals, Sakura Pigma Micron Sepia (0.5), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder