Featured

Growing in Unity Day 5

I’m sad that today is my final day as a Growing in Unity Girl of the Week. With that being said, I am so very thankful for the opportunity Unity Stamp Co. has given me. I am so very thankful for everyones kind comments and I truly appreciate each and every one of you. I’m so thankful for my village’s support in this endeavor. I truly hope my week has inspired you to look through what you have and think a little outside the box in how you use it. For those of you new to the stamping world, you can never go wrong with a Unity stamp and you will always find one that pertains to where you are at any given moment! Even better, right now, they are having an amazing sale – go check it out…I’ll still be here!

Today, I’m bringing to you another way I use my Unity stamps. I use an Erin Condren Life Planner to try and keep my life together and organized, making sure I’m where I need to be, when I need to be there. I also LOVE pretty planning! So I merge the two together sometimes and I did so this month for my monthly calendar and monthly overview. I pulled out Friend Like You because it has this amazing Thankful script that I thought would make a great header for my tracking purposes. I also pulled out my August 2015 KOTM, Life Is Change because it has some awesome fall themed stamps. Finally, I grabbed the lightbulb ornaments and mug of cococa from my September 2015 KOTM, Our Hearts to Yours (I should rename this in my organizing system as Old Faithful!) I grabbed my Versafine onyx black ink and dug deep for some of my old Close To My Heart inkpads in Slate, Cocoa, Olive, Desert Sand, and New England Ivy.

I knew that I wanted to use the slate with the ornaments and cocoa along the bottom of my calendar to remind myself those days weren’t part of November. I think I may have liked this spread better if I had done some 2nd generation stamping. I took my 4 remaining CTMH stamp pads and stamped all 4 in different areas of the leaf stamps in the August 2015 KOTM. This gave the leaves the appearance of being multi-colored. I then stamped them randomly on the monthly calendar. I took the fall trees stamp and did the same thing and stamped them across the top of the calendar.

Next I went through and put all my appointment reminders using stickers and wrote in things I needed to remember using a Papermate Inkjoy Gel 0.7 pen. I finally added a couple decorative stickers and called it done.

I knew I was going to do a 30 Days of Thankful challenge this month and what better place to keep track of it than in my planner! I decided to use the monthly notes page to keep track of my thankful notes and I learned from the calendar spread that I needed to utilize either a lighter color stamp, or do 2nd generation stamping. I opted for the latter using my Versafine onyx black ink. I inked up the Thankful stamp and used a q-tip to remove the ink from the “to have a friend like you” portion of the stamp, then stamped it onto some leftover sticker paper from my bible journaling. I fussy cut the sticker and then placed it in the top left corner of the notes page.

I took the leaves that I used on the monthly calendar and inked them up, stamped them on scratch paper, then stamp them onto my notes page (2nd generation stamping). I loved how this came out! Finally, I stamped a sentiment from the August 2015 KOTM in the bottom right corner of the page. I have space to write my thankful thoughts throughout the month as well as some pretty decoration!

For the overview page, I stamped out the Fall Angie girl in the bottom right corner, also using 2nd generation stamping. I stamped a gratitude sentiment in the monthly goals section to remind myself that I want to keep up with the thankful challenge and this sentiment reminds me why I want to do it!

I have to say that I wasn’t happy with how my monthly calendar turned out, but sometimes you just have to go with it. I love the stamps and I love the colors I chose, I just didn’t love the end result…and that’s completely ok. When you make cards, its so easy to just start over when you don’t like how something comes out. I wasn’t about to do that with my planner, so I just worked with it until I could be accept it. Sometimes that means adding another stamp to it, another color, or even just start writing the important things in it. I am absolutely in love with my overview pages!

I wanted to take the time again to thank you for being so supportive this week. Unity Stamp Co is such an amazing company and I have truly enjoyed putting these projects together for you. Please take the time to check out their shop! Don’t forget to leave a comment below and if you haven’t already, check my other posts from this past week and leave a comment there too! The more days you comment, the more chances you have to win a grab bag from Unity Stamp Co! (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4) I will be choosing a winner Monday morning from all the comments using a random generator.

Featured

Growing In Unity Day 1

Last November, I was chosen in a facebook group to be a Growing In Unity Girl (go check it out, we have a lot of fun in there!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/537864239611706). Initially I was super excited because I love the stamps Unity has, red rubber cling – the best of both worlds in my opinion. Their images are gorgeous and make it easy to have fun with any medium. After I got over my initial excitement, I became petrified that my week wouldn’t measure up. I quickly talked myself out of that mental game and found some confidence…I wasn’t going to stress something that was (at that time) almost a year away. So here I am at my week and I hope you will enjoy my creations!

Today I have a Bible Journal entry. I’m pretty new to Bible Journaling, but with everything our world is going through right now, I turned to it when I wasn’t able to attend services regularly. Unity has several great printable images available, so I though I’d use them with a little watercoloring. I used the Pray More (https://www.unitystampco.com/pray-more-digital-stamp/) and the Floral Background Duo (https://www.unitystampco.com/floral-background-duo-digital-stamp/) for this entry. I used the verse from the Pray More set to choose my study yesterday and really enjoyed getting into The Word. I really needed to hear this message today and I felt it was a message that most could also appreciate hearing too.

1 Peter 5:7 : Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you (NIV).

AnneMichelle Creates Bible Journaling Entry

I am journaling in a KJV Journaling Bible my daughter purchased for me as a gift. I started my page by painting it with a coat of Gesso, I didn’t have any clear left, so I just put a thin coat of white down. I clamped down the opposing pages so they didn’t get paint all over using the Crafter’s Square clamps you find in the crafting section of Dollar Tree. I added a bunch of water to my page and dropped a few watercolors onto the page and let it spread on its own.

I printed my digital stamps onto sticker paper and then tried to watercolor the praying girl, Bible verse and floral background, but since I wasn’t using watercolor paper, I wasn’t happy with how my praying girl turned out. The digital stamp has 3 smaller praying girls and 1 larger, so I didn’t have to print it out a second time!! I ended up using my Copic Sketch markers and I was happy with my results this time. For her skin, I used E02, E30 & E93; For her hair, I used YR18, E08 & E59; for her shirt, I used BG13, BG49, & BG75; I also used R29 for her lips and nails. Finally, I fussy cut her out so I could place her on my page.

After my watercoloring dried, I used my Spellbinders Large Classic Scalloped Ovals to cut out the Bible verse and background florals. I used my bookmark tags to cut out from the sticker paper 1 tab for the side noting the Bible verse and one for the top noting the date. I peeled the sticker paper off each die cut and placed everything down where I wanted it.

I’m pretty happy with how my final page turned out. The process of getting into the word is more important than how your pages appear to others.

I had every intention of including some gorgeous washi tapes that I had, but after putting everything together, I liked my end result without the extra embellishments. I wrote in a prayer for me to use throughout the week using my Faber Castell PITT artist pen (M).

Unity Stamp Co is such an amazing company. I am so excited to work with them this week and I hope you check out their shop! Please leave a comment below and stop by throughout this week (more chances!!) which will enter you for a chance to win 1 of 2 grab bags Unity is giving away at the end of my week!!

Featured

AnneMichelle Creates A Blog

Welcome!!

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

I have sat on the idea of creating a blog for many years. But I was paralyzed with questions, how do I start? what do I say? how can I provide something unique when there are so many other crafty blogs?

But…this quote by Oscar Wilde really inspired me to just go ahead and start. I may have something similar to say, and that’s okay! I may have something different to say, and that’s okay too.

My blog will be a melting pot of all my favorite crafty hobbies. I have never stuck to just one type of craft because I love them all!

The best place to start is to introduce myself! I’m AnneMichelle (but I only answer that name when my mom says it), most known as Michelle. I’m an empty nester momma to a daughter who also enjoys crafting. I started crafting when I was in elementary school working on the looms that made potholders for Christmas gifts one year. I loved making latch hooks and progressed to needlework and cross-stitch. I have always loved paper planning and creating things from other things that inspired me. I progressed through so many different crafts and I rarely settle on one for any length of time. I enjoy sewing, photography, cross stitch, photography, planning, scrapbooking, card making, diy-ing (and I’m sure there are more!!)

I hope you stop in again to see what I’m up to.

Growing in Unity Day 5

Welcome back to my final day as a Growing in Unity Girl! I have had such an amazing time this week creating cards with Unity stamps. If you haven’t checked out their shop, I highly urge you to run!! There is a great sale going on now and the new releases are amazing.

For my card today, I needed to create another birthday card, this one for a crafty friend.

I pulled out my July 2015 Kit of the Month Halo Dirty. This set has these amazing ice cream treats that look good enough to eat! I knew I would color these using my Copic markers, so I stamped the images out on some Neenah cardstock.

I used 2-color blends for these images since they aren’t too large and then “cussy-fussed” them out.

I created a bunch of watercolor backgrounds for my daughter’s wedding last month, so I pulled out one of the leftovers from that craft and stamped a sentiment from the kit on the lower portion.

I pulled out some paper scraps that Unity sends with their kits some months. I found a perfect rainbow stripe paper that I thought really worked with my images!

I popped up the ice creams on foam tape so they added some dimension to the card.

Finally, the finishing touch was some glossy accents on my sundae cup and the cherries. Look at the shine the glossy accents created!! I think it really added to the card.

Thank you so much for stopping each day this week! I really appreciate all of your comments and I hope you got some inspiration for your trouble! Be sure to leave a comment if you haven’t already, I’ll be randomly choosing 2 people from the comments to win shop credit with Unity.

Growing in Unity Day 4

Hello again y’all! Today I’m creating another birthday card for a work friend. This whole week has been all about pulling out my older stamps that have been missing me.

For this card, I pulled out my March 2015 Kit of the Month Always Begin Again. I wasn’t able to find this one on the website anymore, so I’m honestly not sure if it is still available. It is full of a variety of sentiments that make it easy to create multiple types of cards.

I also pulled out my watercolor pencils since I haven’t played with them much lately. I stamped the cupcake onto watercolor paper using my VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and colored it in with the pencils.

I used a #6 and #8 watercolor brush to spread the pigment out.

Finally, I adhered my card panel onto an A2 card base and had another birthday card ready.

Be sure to check out my other cards created this week and please leave a comment so I can put your name in for a drawing at the end of the week for shop credit at Unity.

Growing in Unity Day 3

Welcome back to those who have followed me this week and welcome to anyone new popping in today! I’m halfway through my week as a Growing in Unity girl. Please take a look at my previous creations and leave a comment.

Today’s card is another anniversary card, this time for my brother and his lovely bride. They are celebrating 30 years this month! I pulled out one of the most gorgeous wedding stamps I believe Unity has produced designed by Angie Blom, Cherished Moments. For a sentiment, I pulled out the January 2015 Kit of the Month Magic of Beginnings.

I decided to use embossing powders to heat emboss the image. First things first, I prepared my surface using my favorite Tailored Expressions anti-static powder tool. I pulled out my OLD Hampton Arts embossing powders in gold and red (I’ve been trying to use these up because they take so much space in my storage drawer).

I embossed the image in the gold powder and the sentiment word LOVE in the red. Adding a mat layer of red behind my card panel really helped the sentiment pop. I love a clean and simple card, but I felt like a little bling wouldn’t detract from the finished product. I added a couple flat-backed metallic pearls in gold from Pinkfresh Studio to finish it off.

We are halfway through the week. Be sure you’ve commented because a credit to Unity’s store is an amazing thing to have! I’ll see you tomorrow.

Growing in Unity Day 2

Hello! I’m glad you stopped by for day 2 of my week as a Growing in Unity Girl (2023). Today’s card is a birthday card for my Son-in-Law.

I dug in my archives for another Itty Bitty that I’ve always loved WIB-911. We live at the beach, so I thought a warm scene was a good choice for him.

I started out by stamping the cute penguin onto some watercolor paper. I used my Versafine Onyx Black ink since I planned on watercoloring. Make sure you let the ink dry completely before you start to watercolor.

I also stamped the penguin onto a full-stick post-it note to create a mask. I “cussy-fussed” the penguin and balloon out separately and attached them over the stamped image on my watercolor paper.

Next, I pulled out my Jane Davenport watercolor palettes (glitz-sea, bright and neutral). I used the blues from all 3 palettes to create a sky background and the tans to create beach sand.

I don’t recommend using post-its if you’re watercoloring, but it works if you’re careful with the amount of water you use in your creation. I wasn’t thinking when I created my card, but luckily I found a way to mask the bleed (for the most part). I pulled out a few Copic markers to color in the balloon, beak and feet as well as the body of the penguin where the watercolor spread under my mask.

I stamped the sentiment from the set onto my card panel, also using my VeraFine Onyx black ink.

I pulled out my Tombow brush pen, black N15, to darken up the balloon strings and lines. In this image, you can see the slight bleed still on my penguin, but it wasn’t enough to bother me into creating the card again. I definitely recommend Gina K masking magic if you plan to watercolor!

As a final “embellishment”, I used my Nuvo drops in Festive Berries to create some dimension using the balloon pattern already in place. And just look at the dimension!!

I hope you will come back tomorrow to see the next card I create using Unity’s great stamps. Please be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a shop credit with Unity!! I will be choosing 2 winners at the end of my week!

Growing in Unity Day 1

Hellllloooo again! I am so honored and excited to be presenting for the Growing in Unity group again this week. It worked out perfectly that I needed 5 cards for the next month! I’m started the week off with my anniversary and when you want the very best, you make it yourself!

I dug into my Unity collection and found out in all the stamps I have, I don’t have an anniversary stamp…how is this possible??!! I have actually rectified this with a new order this past weekend, especially with the sale going on and new releases!! If you haven’t checked it out, you really should!! (www.unitystampco.com)

Years ago, I used to receive a subscription for the Itty Bitty stamp sets and they have come in very handy over the years! For this card, I pulled out WIB-920 Forever and Ever and WIB-919 Take the Moment.

I stamped them using Memento Ink since I’m coloring in using Copic markers.

This image is smaller, so I only did 2-color blends using my Copic Sketch markers, but I think these little lovebirds came out adorable (and truth be told, my husband is color blind).

I added a few clear flat-backed gems onto the snowflakes in the stamp and put my card panel onto an A2 card base.

I stamped the sentiment from WIB-920 onto the inside of my card and voila – a lovely handmade card for my husband (he appreciates the handmade cards I give him each year).

I hope you will stop by each day to see the cards I create using Unity’s great stamps. I have been collecting them since 2015 and I have never been disappointed with any products I’ve purchased. Please be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a shop credit with Unity!!

Growing in Unity Day 5

I can’t believe it…It’s day 5!! Where did the week go??

For today’s card (my final design for my Christmas cards), I dug deep into my stash and pulled out September 2015 {Our Hearts to Yours} and October 2018 All Winter Long} Kits of the Month. The September 2015 kit had a gorgeous hand-lettered Season’s greetings sentiment. I pulled a gorgeous ornament and inside sentiment from the October 2018 kit.

Heat embossing is one of my go-to techniques. It really has a way of amping up the elegance of a card. When you want to create a large bulk of cards, be sure to pull out your embossing tools!! I love using copper on a nice dark navy, so I pulled out both for this last card.

I started with pre-treating my cardstock with an anti-static tool, then stamped the ornament and Season’s greetings sentiment using VersaMark ink. I usually let my embossing powder sit briefly on the ink before tipping my card to remove the excess. I’m not sure if this actually helps any, but I figure it can’t hurt! Don’t worry about the powder left by your anti-static tool. After your embossing cools, it wipes away easily with a tissue or a microfiber cloth.

Next, I stamped the inside stamp using my VersaFine Clair in Nocturne ink.

I absolutely loved this card. It is quick, simple and super easy to create a bulk amount of cards.

Thank you so much for joining me this week. I’ve had a wonderful time bringing you my card designs. I love the look of the “fancy” cards, but when you’re creating a large amount, sometimes quick & easy is the way to go! Maybe next year, I’ll start earlier in the year so I can make more “fancy” style cards.

Please be sure to leave a comment before Sunday night (Merry Christmas!). I will be choosing 2 winners randomly to win a $20 gift certificate to Unity Stamp Co.

Growing in Unity Day 4

Helllllooooo again! I can’t believe I’m already typing up day 4!! This week has flown by for me and I hope I’ve inspired you to pull out those lovely stamps and use them!! Creating so many cards was a huge undertaking, but if you start early enough and limit yourself to just a few designs, you can do it too!

Today’s card is brought to you by the November 2021 KOTM {Kinda Sorta Love Ya}. This set has a great buck wearing a scarf and I loved the idea of having a simply stamped buck with a colored scarf. Initially, I was going to paper piece the scarf, but that’s a lot of cussy fussing for me…not a fan!

I started out stamping the buck with my ground espresso Distress Oxide ink. Next, I stamped it on a scratch piece of paper and then cussy fussed the scarf out of the image. My image didn’t have to be perfect because it will literally go into the trash once I finish my cards. (If you look really close, you’ll see my furry helper in the background – he approved my card!)

I pre-treated my paper with an anti-static powder tool and stamped the sentiment and scarf portion of the buck with VersaMark. I have a large stash of embossing powders in various colors, I believe these are Hero Arts. There was a beautiful red that I thought would really pop that I decided to use. I noticed there was a part of the scarf that didn’t get covered by the VersaMark ink, so I pulled out my VersaMarker to be sure it didn’t look like I messed it up!

After heat embossing, I mounted my card front onto a piece of red cardstock, then onto a card base. I also stamped an inside sentiment.

I now have 4 quick and simple designs that I’m able to quickly get completed and mailed out! Thank you so much for stopping by again today. Be sure to leave a comment for a chance for some Unity goodness!!

Growing in Unity Day 3

I’m on a roll, 2 quick & easy cards done with the help of Unity Stamp Co. I figure with 5 designs, I can knock out the 60 cards I need to make in no time!

For my next card design, I went back to the September 2022 Kit of the Month {Fa La La La La}. There was a beautiful poinsettia that was literally calling for the new Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Lumberjack Plaid. I created a small mask for the stamen using a post-it note and used my MISTI to stamp the flower out to get a lovely bold image.

I removed the mask, inked up the stamen with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Fossilized Amber, then used a tissue to “muddy up” the ink around the stamen. I also stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment in my VersaFine Clair in Nocturne.

I wanted to add a little bling, so I added some PinkFresh Studios metallic pearls in gold around the stamen – this also covered the area that my mask prevented the image to stamp.

I used a nice red cardstock to create my card and stamped on an insert using the Warmest Wishes sentiment from the same September 2022 kit.

I hope you are enjoying these quick and simple cards I’m bringing you this week! Be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win some Unity goodness!

Growing in Unity Day 2

There is something about a sheet of embossed vellum laying over the jeweled tones of Christmas. I couldn’t resist creating a card with either of these staples!!

For this card, I used the November 2022 Kit of the Month {A Season of Santa}. This kit has the most amazing Santa along with a few great sentiments for Christmas cards!

I lined up the Santa and Ho Ho Ho sentiment using my MISTI. I pre-treated my vellum with an anti-static tool and stamped with VersaMark. I used Whispers opaque embossing powder in Seafoam White. When you heat emboss on vellum, it is very important to have your heat tool HOT and to move it quickly. I have never purchased a specific high-heat vellum, although I know the product is available. I usually heat from the back first, then move to the front and I haven’t had any issues with my vellum burning.

The second biggest issue when you work with vellum is how to adhere it to your paper. With the Santa image I chose, there was plenty of embossed surface to be able to glue the backside of the vellum to hide the glue. Be careful that you use very small dots of glue (you will see my glue seeped past my embossing and I will remake the card if I have the time before I mail them out).

I used a beautiful burgundy cardstock to create my card so I created an insert for the inside of the card with my sentiment, also from the November Kit of the Month.

With that, I had another clean, simple and quick card in my arsenal!

Thank you for stopping by for Day 2! Please be sure to comment for your chance to win some Unity goodness!!

Growing In Unity Day 1

For some reason, I think I may have temporarily left my head, I decided to make my Christmas cards this year. I typically send around 60 cards out each year, so I thought it would be an easy thing to do. I took several classes throughout the year and some had some gorgeous Christmas Cards, but in order to make ALL of my cards this year, I needed fast, clean and simple.

Unity Stamp Co. has some of the most GORGEOUS rubber stamps, so I immediately went to my stash. Shortly after I started thinking of designs and playing around with techniques and I came up with a few designs that I will be sharing with you this week. I hope you enjoy the inspiration!

For my first card, I used the November 2022 Kit of the Month “A Season of Santa”. This set has 5 great grungy Christmas trees. I chose the Merry Christmas sentiment out of this kit too. Finally, out of the September 2022 Kit of the Month “Fa La La La La”, I chose the Fa La La La La sentiment. I pulled out my VersaMark, Tailored Expressions anti-static powder tool, Whispers Pearl Glitter enchanted gold embossing powder, VersaFine Clair nocturne ink pad, and my MISTI.

I prepped my cardstock with my anti-static powder tool then stamped each of the Christmas trees using my MISTI with the VersaMark ink, heat embossed them using the enchanted gold embossing powder, and fussy cut each one out (since they have nice straight lines, this was super-easy).

I stamped the Fa La La La La sentiment directly onto my card and Merry Christmas onto the inside.

I decided that the white background was too stark, so I pulled out my New England Ivy Close to My Heart inkpad and a blending brush to give the cardstock a little oomph.

I glued 3 trees directly to my card using my Bearly Art Glue (which I love!)

I popped the last 2 trees onto foam tape to give the card some dimension. Since some of the foam tape will be sticking to embossing powder, I added a little Bearly Art glue to the area to be sure it stays put!

SOOOOOOO easy and quick!!

Thank you so much for stopping by, be sure to leave a comment to be entered into a drawing at the end of my week for some lovely Unity goodness!!