Inked by Eileen: 2022

Saturday, December 3, 2022

Friends of Unity December Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity December Blog Hop. We are featuring a glimmer and glitz theme this month. My favorite glimmer and glitz option is heat embossing.

I opted for a clean and simple-ish design that really let the embossing take center stage. At first I colored one of my images, but found that I preferred the simplicity of the all gold image with no distractions.

Unity is celebrating our 5th anniversary of hopping and is giving away (3) $25 gift cards. The winners will be chosen from those that comment on every blog. You will have until December 10th to get this done and Crystal will announce the winner on USnT on the 11th. Good Luck!!

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this theme:

Crystal O. Minkler

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

All Kinds of Holiday Love KOM 9/2019 (Unity Stamp Company)
Distressed Dots (Unity)

Paper:

Classic Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

True Black (Papertrey)

Ink:
Versamark

Accessories:

Wagner heat tool

Gilded embossing powder (Brutus Monroe)

Anti-Static Powder tool (Taylored Expressions)

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!!

Friday, October 21, 2022

Falling for the Holidays 2022

Welcome to Build Your Stash Falling for the Holidays Linky Party! Let the creativity of the next eight days inspire your creativity and get you in the mood for some holiday cards. Now is the time where we start to see holiday decor in the stores, and we turn our minds to shopping for the holiday. In our neck of the woods the leaves are on the ground and there is a nip in the air. Mornings are cool and days warm up... but light jackets are almost a necessity. I prefer fall to spring, but I enjoy living in an area where we can see the seasons change in every facet of nature.

I have always said Christmas is my favorite season (minus the weather that goes along with it) and this is the holiday that I own the most stamps for. I especially love Christmas music. I didn’t marry a Grinch, so once November is here, it’s Christmas music all the time. We usually have to stream it online because some of our favorites don’t get played as often, while others get played a tad too much. That can be said for music on any station during anytime of the year.

We hope that you are inspired by our creations and will play along with us, so make sure to check out our BYSHC blog. We have awesome sponsors that have generously offered up wonderful prizes, so don't miss out!

Stamps:

Greatest Part of Christmas- Host Exclusive (Stampin Up)

Paper:

Poppy Parade (SU)

Garden Green (SU)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Plaid~ Open Stock (Hobby Lobby)

Ink:
Garden Green (SU)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

Knit Sweater embossing folder (SU)

Banners Pick a Punch (SU)

Tree Punch (EK Success)

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Friends of Unity October Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity October Blog Hop. We are featuring anything but a card this month. This month I decided to share a quick and easy gift card holder. I was inspired by this video. Nothing is better than using what you have and not buying special dies to create this. I used the Stampin Up note cards as indicated in the video, but I think a standard A2 card could be modified easily to work.

I have purchased dies to make gift card holders in the past and find that they take several steps to make and assemble just one. This video was quick and simple and will more than likely be something I will create again. I love clean and simple, and if its quick too... that seals the deal! I hope you are able to watch the video and consider creating this quick gift card holder too.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this cue:

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Joyce Verdon

Dawn Bryson

Robyn Jordan

Stamps:

Holiday Hugs Kit of the Month October 2016 (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Hello Christmas patterned paper (Echo Park)

Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey)

Basic White Note Card (Stampin Up)

Ink:
VersaFine Clair Nocturne

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

Subtle embossing folder (SU)

Seasonal Label dies (SU)

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Friends of Unity September Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity September Blog Hop. We are featuring a coffee, tea, and cocoa theme this month. Hard to believe that unofficial end to summer is here and kids are heading back to school next week in our area.

For my card I decided to use one of the new stamps for my creation. This brought me back to a favorite background stamp, and I just recreated a past Friends of Unity favorite from 2020 and simply changed out the center element. The earlier creation was inspired from the very talented Echo Noble, and I brought the same colors forward onto the mug and loved the end result.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this color scheme:

Crystal O. Minkler

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Dawn Fields

Stamps:

Frondescence (Unity Stamp Company)

Warm Fall Hugs (Unity)

Paper:

Cocoa Bean (Papertrey Ink)

Stamper Select White (Papertrey)

Terracotta Tile (Papertrey)

Ink:

Memento Tuxedo Black

Vintage Photo Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

Copic Sketch Markers

Rectangle Stitched Dies (Papertrey)

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Friends of Unity August Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity August Blog Hop. We are featuring a holiday theme this month. I decided to make a Halloween card, a season that I have never made cards for in the past. Now that I have grandchildren old enough to look forward to getting something in the mail, why not make something for them?

This card is a quick and simple layout that I have used several times in the past. This time I utilized a border background stamp instead of taking a smaller stamp image and stamping it many times over. This made the card a much quicker and easier process. Using any one of the many Tierra Jackson Halloween characters, this card can quickly be replicated featuring your favorite too!

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what holiday they chose and what they created:

Crystal O. Minkler

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

Mummy (Unity Stamp Company)

Entanglement Border Background (Unity)

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Jelly Donut (Taylored Expressions)

Earl Gray (Taylored Expressions)

Ink:
Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Jelly Donut (Taylored Expressions)

Earl Gray (Taylored Expressions)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

Stitched Rectangle Dies (Papertrey)

Copic Sketch Markers

Friday, July 22, 2022

Christmas in July 2022

Welcome to Build Your Stash Holiday Hop! Let this holiday hop inspire your creativity and get you in the mood for some holiday cards. This is the time of year where Christmas is the furthest from our mind. Tank tops and flip flops litter our wardrobe, with our boots and jackets safely stored away. Yet, if you start to look around, you will find hints of fall and Christmas in the stores. Hallmark has their ornaments on display and school supplies are on the shelves

Stamps:

Oh Deer- It's Here (Concord and 9th)

Paper:

Real Red (Stampin Up)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Jingle All the Way (Echo Park)

Ink:
Crumb Cake (SU)

Accessories:

None

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Friends of Unity July Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity July Blog Hop. We are featuring a stencil theme this month. I opted to recreate a card I made for a friend who celebrated her birthday in March. We both share a love for Winnie the Pooh and I know she hasn't discovered Unity yet (GASP!!!) so I was certain gifting her both of these stamps would be something she would really like.

Given the size of this stamp and where I wanted the placement of the sentiment to be, I opted to make this a mini slimline card. This size of card is becoming a new favorite for me as I found that a full slim line was a little intimidating. This is just a little bit bigger than what I was comfortable making, so making use of the extra space was never a worry for me. Pairing this cute stamp with the cloud stencil was a logical pairing as it really gives the appearance of floating off into the sky.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what stencils they used for this theme:

Crystal O. Minkler

Amber Trubiak

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Kim Klinkovsky

Dawn Fields

Stamps:

Pooh Just Knew (Unity Stamp Company)

How Do You Spell Love (Unity)

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Mini Slimline Sidefold Cards in Sugar Cube (Taylored Expressions)

Ink:
Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:

Deckle Edge Trimmer (Tim Holtz)

Cloud Stencil (Newtown's Nook)

Copic Sketch Markers

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Friends of Unity June Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity June Blog Hop. We are featuring a masculine theme this month. I opted to make a quick card for Father's Day, as that will be something I will need in just a few short weeks.

We have dads with all sorts of interests... maybe its old muscle cars or tinkering around the house. Then we have sons who are fathers and their interests are in much different things... computers, video games, or outdoor sports. This card is reflective to my sons by marriage, those who love their technology and everything that goes along with it. The ones we call when something doesn't go right with out computers before we need to call the professionals. This card is made for them.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this color scheme:

Crystal O. Minkler

Amber Trubiak

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Rachel Duong

Dawn Fields

Stamps:

Virtual Hugs (Unity Stamp Company)

Linen Background (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

True Black (Papertrey)

Pacific Point (Stampin Up)

Ink:
Versamark

Memento Tuxedo Black

Salty Ocean Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Dusty Concord Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Accessories:

Copic Sketch Markers

Alabaster embossing powder (Brutus Monroe)

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Friends of Unity May Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity May Blog Hop. This month the theme is 'things with wings'. What a great idea, with so many options to chose from. This could be bugs, birds, an airplane... the creativity our team has shown with their designs will inspire my creative juices and likely expand my Unity collection.

Clean and simple cards always seem to be what I am drawn to in my designs. I purchased this set many years ago and have struggled to use it. Small stamps sometimes are a struggle for me as they can be overlooked if the background is too busy or the design of the card is overly complicated. In my opinion this simple stencil really brings the smaller stamps into focus, but doesn't make the card look overly simple.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this cue:

Crystal O. Minkler

Amber Trubiak

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

3 Little Butterflies (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey)

True Black (Papertrey)

Ink:

Fired Brick Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Wild Honey Distress Oxide (Tim Holtz)

Gina K Amalgam Jet Black (Unity)

Accessories:

Masking Stencils- Square Windows (Taylored Expressions)

Blender brush (Taylored Expressions)

Friday, April 22, 2022

Spring into Christmas 2022 Linky Party

Welcome to Build Your Stash Spring into Christmas Linky Party! Let this card sharing event inspire your creativity and get you in the mood for some holiday cards. While Christmas and Christmas cards may be the farthest thing from our minds at the moment... sometimes squeaking out a few cards in our free time may be just what we need to do to avoid the rush at the end.

Just like with birthday or sympathy cards, I do my best to be ahead of the game, and have some cards on hand that I can just pull from as needed. I have been doing *pretty good* this year with looking at my calendar a month ahead and making birthday cards in advance. Lets hope this trend continues. I have missed a few, but much better than last year. I think I missed just about everyone in 2021.

Stamps:

Holly Jolly Christmas (Taylored Expressions)

Shiplap background (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:

Evening Evergreen (Stampin Up)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:

Crumb Cake (SU)

Versamark
Merry Merlot (SU)

Evening Evergreen (SU)

Accessories:

None

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Friends of Unity ApriHop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity April Blog Hop. This month the theme is patterned paper. For my inspiration, I headed straight to my scrap bucket and found some coordinating spring colors and let them shine! I try to use these smaller strips of paper often and not let them build up. There are so many beautiful card options you can make with these leftovers.

This paper was found right near the top, so I must have used it recently for something. It reminds me of spring that is hopefully right around the corner. I opted for a very neutral sentiment so this card could be sent as a pick me up to a friend that needs a kind word or a simple thinking of you card. A quick brush of Wink of Stella across the wings makes the bee really stand out across the horizontal layer.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this color scheme:

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

Spring & Things KOM 3/20 (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Winter Wisteria (Papertrey)

Mint Macaron (Stampin Up)

Hand Penned Designer Paper (SU)

Ink:

Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:

Copic Sketch Markers

Wink of Stella

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Friends of Unity March Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity March Blog Hop. This month the theme is a color challenge featuring black, white, and kraft. With so many choices to chose from, I opted for a clean and simple design with a simple sentiment that would make this something I could easily send to just about anyone who needs a pick me up.

My paid job is that of a small town librarian. I think I have shared that tidbit on more than one occasion. Can you say dream job? Needless to say stamps with books on them are some of my favorites, as books have always been an escape for me. Even now as the news brings us such tragedy, I can find an hour or so of escape into whatever world I chose to visit between the pages of my current book.

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what they created with this color scheme:

Crystal O. Minkler

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

Not the End of Your Story (Unity Stamp Company)

Paper:

Classic Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

True Black (Papertrey)

Ink:
Versamark

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

Edge dies (Papertrey)

Alabaster embossing powder (Brutus Monroe)

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Friends of Unity February Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity February Blog Hop. This month the theme is a sketch challenge. In my mind, this sketch is fitting to showcase a background stamp or larger single image. For a quick card the background could be some pretty paper or even a photograph you are sending.

Two things that can solve a craft rut is a good sketch or color combo for inspiration. Crystal Minkler has provided us some of the best sketches, but Pinterest is full of them as well. Turn the image left, right, or upside down… any which way to fit the elements inside. Use our sketch for your next creation… we would love to see what you make with it!

Hop along with the other Friends of Unity and see what techniques are their favorite...

Crystal O. Minkler

Eileen Mathys (you’re here)

Stamps:

I Did. I Do. I Will. (Unity Stamp Company)

Kinda Sorta Love Ya KOM 11/21 (Unity)

Paper:

Yellow Patterned (Lawn Fawn)

Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:

Tuxedo Black (Memnto)

Accessories:

Sizzix Big Shot

I Did. I Do. I Will. Coordinating Die (Unity)

Copic Sketch Markers

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Friends of Unity January Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Friends of Unity January Blog Hop. This month the theme is CAS, clean and simple. This is easy for me because I feel all of my cards fit this theme, just deciding what stamp I would use would be the hard part, LOL. Since I needed to make a 'bunch' of thank you cards, I decided to pull out a favorite trick I learned many years ago.

The second picture hopefully captures how you can make eight cards quickly too! Cut four coordinating cardstock strips to 3-1/2" by 8". Do an all over stamp on each, remembering to turn your stamp and try to fill in the area as best as possible. When finished, cut each strip to 1" and then assemble. You can make the strips a little larger if you wish to skip some of the base layers, but what you see here can be made quickly with little waste from a full sheet of cardstock.