JOY Christmas Sampler

The idea of a “sampler” was something I had always admired, but never tried my hand at. One lazy day I decided I was going to try and figure one out. I looked at a variety of them Pinterest and found a general layout that I liked and decided to tackle it.

The hardest part of this was sizing. Several of the images I looked at used the alphabet framelits, so I knew my top layer needed to be at least be 2” square. When I started to sketch my ideas out, I opted for  2-1/4” patterned paper with the two layers underneath being 1/8” larger than the one before it. Not wanting to squish everything into a smaller box, I went with a 9x9 shadow box frame and evenly spaced the images out using my T-square ruler. (I’m a self admitted perfectionist). As for the larger piece of patterned paper, the measurement for that is 5”x2-1/4”.

I say that the sizing was the hardest part because I was unable to find a sampler in a size and style that I wanted to make to simply copy and utilize their existing measurements. I wanted to use the word ‘JOY’ and had a sentiment that was a fitting compliment. From there I found patterned paper to use and die cuts and stamps to match the style. The only thing left was a sheet of 12x12 paper which I purchased from M’s to finish off my project.

Stamps:
Dashing Deer (Stamping Up)
Snowflake Sentiments (SU)

Paper:
Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Mossy Meadow (SU)
Very Vanilla (SU)
Gold Foil (SU)
Festive Farmhouse DSP (SU)

Ink:
Mossy Meadow (SU)
Early Espresso (SU)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Detailed Deer Thinlits (SU)
Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits (SU)
Large Letter Framelits (SU)
Stitched Shape Framelits (SU)
Card Front Builder Thinlits (SU Retired)

Hearts Come Home

This card was inspired by something I see quite often “Transformation Tuesday”. This card looks so similar to a card that I had previously made, but the card was not reflective of my current style. While looking at my cards for my last craft fair, I was inspired to take that card and give it a modern lift. I was thrilled with the results. 

I have always labeled myself as a clean and simple stamper, and this card is no exception. I took the elements from my prior card and used them to make a similar card. I started with a current framelit that was more detailed than the older stamp and punch design. I added a silver embossed star that was more relative in size to the house than the gray cut out one I had used before. I kept the snow falling embossing folder as the background as it adds just a touch of ambiance to the base layer.

Stamps:
Snowflake Sentiments (Stampin Up)

Paper:
Whisper White (SU)
Night of Navy (SU)

Ink:
Night of Navy (SU)
Versamark (SU)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Hometown Greetings Edgelits (SU)
Softly Falling Embossing Folder (SU) 
Silver Embossing Powder (SU)
Marvy Heat Tool 
Petite Oval Dies (Spellbinders)
Petite Scallop Oval Dies (Spellbinders)

Friends of Unity December Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity December Blog Hop. This month the theme is thank you. While I initially thought about making thank you cards for gifts given, I decided to take a different route. My first creation is a card acknowledging a pet sitter, veterinarian or even a groomer. As a cat mom... anyone who cares for my four legged fur baby are VERY appreciated. My cat is tortoiseshell colored, and as much as I would have loved to color this one to match her... I opted for a smokey colored feline. I have colored lots of images, but I will work on other cat breeds over the winter.

The second card I made was one of an apology of sorts. We all have friends who stick by us even when we are at our ugliest. They deserve recognition too. The paper used as background on this card hopefully portrays retro wallpaper that we sometimes may have found. I lightly colored in the toilet (masking out the plunger from this stamp) which revealed a lack of grays in my Copic collection. Looks like I will need to buy a few more colors before the prices go up!

Comment on my blog to be entered into my giveaway, then hop along to the other
Friends of Unity blogs and see their creations also. Psst... there are other giveaways too!

Crystal O. Minkler
Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Robyn Jordan

Kim Klinkovsky
Bobbie Sue McConathy
 Dawn Fields

Joyce Verdon
Jeanie Hayes

Stamps:
 Cat's Meow (Unity Stamp Company)
 AH Crap (Unity)

Paper:
Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)
True Black (PTI)
Smokey Slate (Stampin Up)
Lovely Lady (PTI)
Vintage Wallpaper by Nicole (Blitsy)
Red Glitter Paper (Recollections)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black (SU)

Accessories:
Sizzix Big Shot (SU)
Copic Sketch Markers
Stitched Rectangle Dies (PTI)

Disclaimer:
We all 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 sponsored by Unity Stamp Co. but, they do approve of our hop, and that make us all very happy.
We started this hop because we love Unity. That's it. This hop is our way of showcasing our cards made with our favorite stamps!!