TUTORIAL: I started with an 8.5x11” kraft cardstock, folded in half, and set aside. Opened up my mini MISTI stamping tool and used the inside of the lid to ink up with several distress inks (not oxide inks) and misted the colors. Then used my favorite “ink smooshing technique” by running a piece of watercolor paper through the colors a few times, dab excess with a paper towel, and heat set dry. Wiped off the inks from my MISTI and placed the dry inked up panel in the MISTI stamping tool, adhering the back with purple tape to hold it in place. Lined up the leaf border stamp over the panel. Inked up the stamp with clear ink and stamped twice to get a good impression, as it’s a big stamp. Took image panel out of the MISTI and sprinkled with gold embossing powder, and heat set. Placed panel back in the MISTI, inked up the sentiment from the same stamp set, with clear ink, sprinkled with gold embossing, and heat set. Cut a piece of kraft cardstock ¼” larger than image, but it was too light, so I inked the edges directly with a brown distress ink and heat set. Adhered the image to the kraft cardstock. Then cut a piece of gold glitter paper ¼” larger than the kraft matte, adhered the image to the gold paper, and adhered it all to the original kraft card base and trimmed to fit. Added a few gold metallic adhesive gems for some more bling. And look at all that sparkle. Isn’t it gorgeous? I just LOVE it!!!

TUTORIAL: I started with an 8.5x11” dark green cardstock, folded in half, and set aside. Using a die cutting machine and a stitched rectangle die I cut out a panel from white cardstock. Using an acrylic block and distress oxide inks, I inked up a pine bough stamp that is a few years old, but I love it, and created my own unique border. Then for my next favorite stamp of 2019 I am using a super BIG sentiment. I just love it for so many occasions. I placed the pine panel down in my mini MISTI stamping tool, lined up my sentiment, and stamped it a few times in black ink to get a nice dark image. And matted and adhered to a black cardstock and set a side. Took a piece of white cardstock and stamped randomly around the edges in black ink to create another border panel. Adhered green pine panel to black pine panel and trimmed to fit. Adhered the whole piece to the dark green card base. Added tree ribbon and a button for interest. Fun right? See how easy this came together by creating your own borders with stamps you already have. Be sure to check out all the BIG words in this set, because you won’t be able to stop making cards or great in scrapbook layouts too. They are amazing for all year long!

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

I started with white cardstock and blended a few distress ink colors to create the wintry sky. Using a MISTI stamp tool to line up my scene. Rubbed with an anti-static pouch, and I inked up the trees with clear ink, stamped on the right, and sprinkled with silver embossing powder, and heat set. Then lined up the deer and stamped and embossed in silver. And stamped another row of trees on the left and embossed in silver. Then blended blue ink below the tree line to create the snow line and snow banks. In a contained box, sprayed white pearl mica sparkles over scene to create snowflakes and sparkle of the snow. Dab to dry and heat set, because all embossing will stick to distress oxide inks. Once dry, stamp sentiment with blue distress oxide ink, sprinkle with clear embossing powder, and heat set. Added glitter glue below the trees, a few snowflakes, and created a snow bank of sparkle. Once dry, adhered scene to a navy cardstock matte border ¼” larger, and a silver glitter cardstock ¼” larger, then adhered to a white card stock base (not shown) to complete.

Here is a close up of all that shimmer and shine of the silver embossing powder, the diamond stickles glitter glue, and the clear embossing on the sentiment over distress oxide ink.

I cut a piece of kraft cardstock A2 size and blended with a few distress oxide ink colors around the edges. And added white ink with some blue in the center. Using a MISTI stamp tool, lined up the snowflake border stamp, inked up with clear ink, stamped, sprinkled with white embossing powder, and heat set. TIP: heat set the distress oxide inks BEFORE you heat emboss or it will stick to everything and use an anti-static pouch. Luckily, it had dried enough that it didn’t stick everywhere, but just a few strays added to our flakey panel. Next stamped sentiment with blue distress oxide ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder, and heat set. Trimmed off ¼” on two sides and adhered to an A2 navy cardstock base. Adhered a band of silver glitter cardstock across the front. Added sequins and a snowflake brad to complete.

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

I started this tag by layering a few digital images and printed on white X-Press It cardstock. And colored the image with watercolor pencils and a light touch with a water brush. Using a die cutting machine and tag dies to cut it out and cut out a larger tag in a plaid pattern paper and adhered the two together. Traced over the sentiment with black sparkle pen to brighten it up. And added some clear sparkle pen on the leaves and baster too. Punched a whole in the top and added ribbon to complete this turkey tag and tied to a nice bottle of wine ready for our hostess.

How I made this Fall Card: I started with two pieces of 8.5x11" orange cardstock, folded in half, and trimmed down to 6.5x5" for the card base. Cut the second piece in half and trimmed down to fit card base exactly, but for embossing. Sorry I'm into odd sized cards lately. The A2's seem too small and 5x7" seem to large. So, I'm somewhere in the middle. For the second orange piece, and using a die cutting machine, place inside an embossing folder, to get this amazing tree impression texture that won't show though to the inside, because of this extra step, but you will eventually adhere it to the front of the card base, but not yet...just set aside for a moment. Next I printed the image on X-Press It white cardstock, layered a sentiment inside, and printed on an HP Laserjet printer. Using the die cutting machine again, cut out image with a stitched die. This time I water colored lightly, with very little water, as to not warp my paper, and dipped my water brush directly into the distress ink colors to achieve this look. And used a blending brush to add color around the edges. Then adhered the image to a brown piece of cardstock for matting and adhered to the orange embossed panel. And adhered the whole panel to the card base as our front piece. I am mad for plaids...so I had to add some to this Fall card. So I cut a strip of this plaid patterned paper 1x5" and cut down one side with a border punch and adhered to card. Added some twine and adhered the whole image panel to the card base. Then added a touch of bling to the pumpkins and berries to make them sparkle, of course, and this Fall beauty is complete and pretty flat for mailing too!

For my 1st Card I pulled out yellow golden cardstock, plaids, and browns. I started with an 8.5x11” yellow cardstock, cut in half and folded to create a card base. Then cut a plaid patterned paper ¼” smaller than the card and adhered to the card base. And stamped the floral image on white cardstock using black ink and a MISTI stamping tool. Colored the image with alcohol markers and fussy cut it out and set aside. Using a die cutting machine, cut out a stitched circle from brown cardstock and adhered the floral image with foam tape for dimension. Then adhered the whole piece to bottom of the card. Next stamped stamped sentiment on cardstock with clear ink, sprinkled embossing powder, and heat set. Using a die cutting machine again, cut out a stitched banner from brown cardstock around sentiment and cut a larger banner in yellow cardstock, adhered the two banners together and wrapped twine around them and adhered to the card. Making sure to tuck some of it under the flowers. And finished with a touch of gold metal adhesive gems.

For my 2nd Card I made this darling gate fold card. First I cut my cardstock to measure 6” x 11” and scored at 2¾” and 8¼” to create the card base. Then for the front, I cut two plaid patterned paper panels 2½”x 6” and adhered to the front folds of the card. Carefully cut a doily in half and adhered to front panels with liquid glue. And attached green felt leaves to front panels. Next stamped front sentiment on cardstock, sprinkled embossing powder, and heat set. Cut out and rounded corners with a punch, added 3D pop dots, and adhered to just the left side of card front panel to allow card to open. Attached felt leaves and added an enamel embellishment.

For the inside of the card I cut a plaid patterned paper panel 5¼” x 5¾”, rounded corners with a punch, and adhered to the inside center of the card. Stamped the owl image on white cardstock using black ink and a MISTI stamping tool. Colored the image by dipping a water brush directly into the distress ink pads until I reached a desired water colored look. Added some sparkle with glitter pens. Using a die cutting machine, cut out image with circle die cut. Adhered green felt leaves and a leaf brad through the cardstock. Adhered image to a doily and attached to the inside panel. Then stamped inside sentiment on cardstock with clear ink, sprinkled embossing powder, and heat set. Cut out and round corners with a punch, and add 3D pop dots to adhere to panel. And attached more felt leaves and added enamel embellishments to finish this darling card.

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

How I made todays card: I started with a 110lb kraft cardstock 8.5x11", folded in half and trimmed down to 4 7/8 x 6 1/2." Cut an orange checkered pattern paper 1/4" smaller than the base and adhered to the card.

​Using a die cutting machine and white cardstock I cut out a panel 5 5/8 x 5" using a stitched die. I knew I didn't want to leave it white and then I came across some Glimmer Mist in brass bell color, that used to belong to my sister! And it was the perfect fall color to "change" my stark white panel into something wonderful. I sprayed the entire panel within a spray box, as you'll want to contain it, because it goes everywhere. Set aside and allow to dry. Once dry, I used my MISTI stamping tool and placed this panel down, lined up my stamp, and inked up this fantastic pumpkin border stamp with clear pigment ink, sprinkled with orange embossing powder, and heat set. Adhered a couple layers of ribbon and then adhered the pumpkin image to the card. The Glimmer Mist has mica in it, so it is super shiny and oh so pretty! Just look at that sheen and shimmer below...

Once again, I used the MISTI stamping tool and inked up a new sentiment with clear pigment ink and stamped on a golden yellow cardstock, sprinkled with Chestnut brown embossing powder, and heat set. Using a die cut machine, I cut out a circle with a stitched die and adhered to the card with dimensional foam tape. Added a few enamel dots for fun and this pumpkin patch is newly reinvented and oh so shimmery! What do you think?

Disclaimer: We the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it! This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

I started with a 110lb purple cardstock 8.5x11" folded in half and trimmed down to 4 5/8w x 6 1/4L" for my card base. Added a green polka dot pattern paper cut 1/4" smaller around than my card base and adhered to card. Then I cut a piece of black card stock 3 1/8w x 4 5/8L" and trimmed the top and bottom with a spiderweb border punch and adhered to the card panel. Next I combined my digital images and sentiment in WPS Office 2019, sized them, and layered them the way I wanted and printed on white X-Press It cardstock on my HP printer. Cut out the image with a stitched scallop die using a die cutting machine. And did the same with the sentiment with a different stitched die with no scallops, so as not to distract from our fabulous hat and boots image.

Then colored the images with these alcohol markers colors shown above. ​ Once done coloring the image looked a little stark, so I used a blending brush and added some distress oxide ink in blue aroung the edges to make it a little more "spooky" looking. And did the same to the sentiment too. Adhered the main image to the card at an angle so you can see some webs and that slime green background and adhered the sentiment too. Added some bling, of course, to the spiderwebs on the boots and hat with yellow glitter glue and orange gems. Added purple gems across the bottom black spiderwebs and to the letters "i" in the sentiment to finish this spooktacular beauty!

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

​I opened this gorgeous rose image, right clicked my mouse, copied and pasted it into a blank WPS Office 2019 word document three times and saved this document with a new edited name, in case I wanted to use it again someday. Then you can play with sizing, layering, and all kinds of things. For today, I just copied and pasted 3 roses onto a page, getting them as close to each other as possible, and resizing them enough to fit across a 7" card. There are all kinds of neat and fancy photo programs out there to buy and use, but using what you've got works too! Now you're ready to print...which is where most of my trial and tribulations have occurred. I have an HP allinone inkjet printer, nothing fancy, very fussy about paper thickness, but gets the job done! I have tried all kinds of cardstock from thin to thick, cheap and expensive, and what works well for alcohol markers, water coloring, and colored pencils with my HP ink cartridges.

I colored with Tim Holtz water color crayons. Remember those? I know right, it's been awhile since we've played with those, so I got them out again. And they're so bright and fun. ​Water color cardstock is recommended for any water coloring projects, but I can't get watercolor cardstock through my printer...yet! I'm still on the look out for a thin water color cardstock and any recommendations are welcome! So, I kept it simple and just used these 3 colors shown above and mentioned in my supply list below. I colored them directly on acrylic blocks, dipped a water brush into the color to dilute and began to color the roses and dab off any excess water quickly with a paper towel, as to not buckle the paper. If it does, allow to dry, and place a heavy book over the top to flatten. I fussy cut the roses out. But if you have a fancy machine that scans and cuts, that's awesome, and will certainly work with these images too! I do have a Silhouette machine with a pixscan mat that will also scan and cut images, but these were fairly easy to hand cut with scissors. Then I brushed on some Wink of Stella-clear sparkles and some stickles glitter glue for more sparkles. And set aside to dry.

Next I printed a nice big sentiment on the same white cardstock as our focal point, and my color ink cartridge was running out, which created a bluish lined design that still worked with my card colors. So I used, as to not waste anything. Using a die cutting machine and a stitched die I cut out the sentiment and adhered to the stripe panel. Once dry, adhered the roses and added some glossy enamel dots like confetti.

I started with an A2 110lb kraft cardstock base with a lovely green watercolor patterned paper from MFT that's cut about a 1/4" smaller and adhered to card base. Using a die cutting machine, cut a a six circle cutout die cut in a darker green patterned paper from G45 and glued down with liquid glue. (save the extra circles). Using a Misti stamp tool, I stamped the panda's, butterfly, stars, and sentiment (from 2 Unity Panda sets) with Catherine Poolers Midnight black ink on white X-Press It cardstock. And colored all the pieces with alcohol markers. I used a light gray on the panda's for highlights and dimension, fussy cut them out, and adhered them to the card. With a blending brush I added a touch of green distress oxide ink to the sentiment, adhered it to one of those extra die cut circles leftover from earlier, trimmed the edges, and used 3D foam tape to pop it up and adhere to the panel. Added some shimmer to the butterfly wings with Wink of Stella-clear and added yellow stickles glitter glue to the stars for some extra sparkle. Once dry, adhered all the pieces to the panel to complete this adorable card! So, cute for many occasions!

I started with a 12x12" 110lb light pink cardstock, cut in half 6x12" and folded for a 6x6" finished base (not shown) with two amazingly fun 6x6 patterned papers from Doodlebug, cut on a diagonal, and adhered to the card base.

Using a Misti stamp tool, I stamped the bunny on white X-Press It cardstock with Gina K Amalgam black ink and colored with these alcohol maker colors shown above. I only used two gray markers on the bunny, with a touch of pink, and a red heart. I added colorless blender ink onto a terry wash cloth and dabbed it onto the bunny in a few places, to take off some gray ink, which leaves a faint textured imprint from the wash cloth. To resemble fur. A quilted paper towel or baby wipe works too.

I felt the image was too stark. So I tapped some pink distress oxide ink onto an acrylic block, added a couple drops of water, and painted on some pink watercolor around the bunny. Don't add too much water, as your paper may ripple or pill, because we're not using watercolor paper. But it can be done. Just add a little color at a time and dab off with a paper towel. You can let it dry a little and add more color for depth as needed. Set a side to dry. Once dry, I added some watered down black distress oxide ink splatters around the image with a paint bush, being careful to cover or mask bunny, so not to get any on the image. Set a side to dry. Using a die cutting machine I cut out the bunny with a stitched square die; cut out a larger square in black cardstock to create a border; and cut an even larger stitched square from a light green cardstock. Once dry adhere the bunny image to the black cardstock square, adhere the light green stitched square down first, like a diamond, and then adhere the bunny image on top. Stamped a sentiment (from a Unity grab bag) with Amalgam ink onto light green cardstock, adhere to black cardstock, trim around, and adhere to card. Added some pink and green glittery enamel dots to finish this precious card that is so adorable for many occasions!

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

Today's card I started with this light pink 100lb card stock base folded in half and trimmed to 5.5x7.5." With a black and white striped patterned paper cut the same size and border punched down the sides and adhered to card base.

I printed this gorgeous floral image by Angie Blom with a sentiment on my HP home printer on white cardstock. This gorgeous floral is from "Petals for the Pittman's 1" digital stamp set. And colored it with these alcohol marker colors.

Next I added glitter glue to the center flowers and scattered specks around the image. And added wink of stella shimmer to the petals for some more sparkle. Once dry, I trimmed it down to 4 1/4" x 6 1/2." Then cut two opposite corners with a corner rounder and adhered black and pink cardstock to frame the other two pointed corners. Then I adhered the whole image to the card panel. Added a gorgeous matching floral ribbon down the side to complete this beauty.

How I made this card: I started with an A2 card base in kraft cardstock that folds down and opens at the bottom. A little different for me, but thought I'd give it a try. And using a die cutting machine, I cut out this darling yellow orange floral patterned paper with a scallop stitched rectangle die and adhered to the card. Then I printed out this beautiful rose and sentiment on white cardstock from my HP home printer. I was almost out of ink, as you can see on the sentiment, but thought it looked neat and used it anyways. ​ ​Currently I can only get AC white cardstock to go through my home printer to print digital stamps, so I'm making it work. I knew I wanted to water color this week, and to do that on this type of paper, you can, but you must work very quickly and not use a lot of water. Because the paper will warp or pill. Today, I dug out my Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons!!! Remember those? I forgot how much fun they are to play with.

I chose only two colors (really, not even yellow): orange and green and colored directly onto an acrylic block and took a water brush and added a drop of water and swished it around, dabbed off the excess water onto a paper towel, and proceeded to add color to the rose. I did this in layers onto the petals and the leaves, to build up the color and shading as it dried. Tip: You can color directly onto the image with these crayons (as I did with the darker shades of orange on top), but once you add water you have to move fast, as it's quickly absorbed and it's hard to move around and spread upon your image. So work in small areas at time, like one petal at a time. Or you may not get the shading you want or you may end up with hard lines that won't blend out. I totally recommend using watercolor cardstock for any water coloring, IF you can get it to go through your printer! Also using a die cutting machine again, I cut the rose and the sentiment out with stitched dies and adhered them to the card. Adhered three gold gems to the sentiment. And added a touch of glitter glue and shimmer to the rose for some extra sparkle to complete this gorgeous rose that symbolizes friendship!

How to make this card: I started with an 8.5x11" piece of 100lb lt. peach cardstock folded in half and trimmed at the top, so folded and finished would be 5.5x6" (which is not shown). Then trimmed 1/2" off one side of this fabulous vintage looking dress patterned paper and adhered to card base. Blended some distress ink over the patterned paper with a blending brush to age the paper for a vintage look. Next I found this fabulous postcard stamp in my Unity stash and stamped with black ink onto white cardstock, blended a darker distress ink over it to age it with a blending brush, tore into strips, inked the edges, and adhered two strips to the card to create a unique vintage background.

On another piece of white cardstock, I stamped up this lovely dress image with distress ink, cut out with a stitched die using a die cut machine, blended the edges with distress ink and a blending brush for a vintage look. Next I used the same distress ink I stamped the dress with and a water brush to lightly color in a few flowers on the dress. Framed the image with black cardstock and adhered the two together. Wrapped the card front with a natural twine and tied into a bow and then adhered the dress panel with 3D foam tape to the card. Then painted three white fabric flowers with the same distress ink and set aside to dry.

Once the flowers were dry, I adhered them to the card and adhered these tiny vintage looking buttons to the centers with liquid glue too! Added a rusty colored piece of scrap twine to my bow for more color. And added just one sweet vintage adhesive pearl to the dress neckline for a touch of bling. Next I inked up this lovely sentiment with clear ink and stamped on a piece of postcard strips leftover, sprinkled white embossing powder, and heat set. Then adhered it to the card with 3D foam tape to be level with the dress panel to complete this vintage beauty!

Disclaimer: We designers on the Friends of Unity design team appreciate every single comment we get. That's why we use our own stash every month for a giveaway. We are NOT paid or sponsored by Unity Stamp Co., but they do approve of our hop, and that makes us all very happy. We started this hop because we love Unity Stamps. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite Unity Stamps and to inspire others along the way!

How I made this card: ​I started with an A2 sized 110lb white card base and cut the red check patterned paper the same size and adhered to card base. I sized and printed the digi (digital stamp) on thin white cardstock on my home printer and let it sit for an hour before I colored it. I read somewhere if you let it sit a bit after you print it, it won't smear. The longer the better, seems to work for me. I colored the flowers and fish with alcohol markers shown below and outlined the fish in a soft gray. I wasn't thinking how I was going to color this image and didn't chose a very alcohol friendly cardstock to print onto. It turned out ok, but as you can see around the edges the red and the blue "feathered" or bled a little bit outside the lines. You won't get that with Neenah, Spectrum Noir, or Copic friendly cardstock.

​I could have just left it clean and simple, but I felt it needed some water. So, with a blending brush I added distress oxide inks and a touch of actual water to create a watery background. And got a bit of "water" on the fish too! So he looks like he's swimming. Using a die cutting machine I cut out the image with a simple stitched die and adhered to a piece of blue patterned paper to frame the image and adhered to the card. ​

Then printed a sentiment from this same set and did the same blending and cut out with a stitched die. And added a lovely matching ribbon and red/white bakers twine to make it festive. Added some glitter glue to the center of the flowers and the fish for some texture on his gills and to make it sparkle. ​

I started with an A2 card base with kraft cardstock. Inked up the Lace A2 background stamp with clear ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder, and heat set. On another piece of kraft cardstock I stamped the dresses in CP Midnight black ink, because it's good with all coloring mediums. And I used a touch of white pigment ink watered down and brushed onto the front dress to create a white wedding dress for the bride. Next I stamped a border around the dresses with the same clear ink, sprinkled clear embossing powder, and heat set. The image was too large to fit on the card with the sentiment, so I trimmed off the scallops and still left a stitched border and adhered dresses to card base. Then I stamped a sentiment from the swan stamp set above, with clear ink, white embossing powder, onto kraft cardstock, and heat set. Using a die cutting machine I cut out a stitched border around the sentiment. Added black cardstock behind it, adhered the two together, and adhered to card base. Added adhesive pearls to the dress and sentiment to complete this beauty.