With Deepest Sympathy and GIU Winners

Coffee of the Day - Bourbon Pecan

I hope all of you had a most joyous holiday, whether you were celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah. for a few short hours, all of my sons were home and it was absolute bliss for this mom! :)

but you didn't stop by for that. all each of you wants to know about is who won the Unity Stamps. ;) it's okay. I'm the same way when it comes to free stamps and prizes.

I do want to share a card with all of you very quickly though. in the midst of preparing for the holiday, we had some sad news come our way. David's aunt suddenly passed away last week. he, Tyler, and Ryan made a fast trip to Pittsburgh for the viewing. Dave's sister from San Antonio was able to fly up, too, so they all had a nice visit with Dave's dad and family.

I made a sympathy card using the Unity set, "You are Important."  I thought this flower was just gorgeous and so perfect to convey our feelings. the sentiment stamp is by Memory Box. I don't have any yet from Unity that would go with it.

paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi collection. shimmer ribbon and pretty purple twine are from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and buttons are from my vintage stash.

the flower was stamped onto watercolor paper with Versamark, embossed with white ep, and then watercolored with multiple shades of SU! inks. I love the look this gave. :) edges were distressed and inked. I went back over it all with the SU! ink squirty tool.

and now the winners of the Unity Stamps from my GIU week are:

KENNETH SIMMONS

(just so you know, your various numbers actually came up 3 times!!!

you were really meant to win this prize! grins!)

DEBRA DAVISON

Please send your mailing address to me at jenscull (at) yahoo (dot) com. You have until the end of the week to contact me or you will forfeit your prize.

Thanks to everyone for leaving such kind and thoughtful comments on my GIU week projects! :) and a very special thank you to those of you who were so VERY amazing and left comments on each one of my posts!!! y'all rock! :)
Jennifer

An Altered Bottle for GIU, but you have to keep it a secret!!! shhhh.......

Coffee of the Day - Black Nutty Fudge

oh so sad...... today is my final Growing in Unity (GIU) day..... I have had a wonderful time both making and sharing my projects with all of you! I hope you have enjoyed stopping by for your daily coffee and inspiration! :)

I've saved the biggest of my projects for last, but you have to keep it a secret. you see, this is a present for my husband and he can't see it before Christmas! ;) I tell ya, keeping him from seeing it as I was making it was a doozy! all of the layers took a while to dry, so keeping this in different places he wouldn't come across it was quite the challenge!

I started with an empty bottle of his favorite Rye whiskey. after first painting with a layer of gesso, I added at least 8 different layers of various colors of acrylic paint. I then lightly sanded the bottle to reveal the assorted layers underneath, at times sanding all the way down to the bare glass.

I then stamped leaves from the Layers of Life "Love Never Leaves" set all over the bottle with Prima chalk ink. I used the SU! ink squirty tool to spray ink droplets.

one side of the bottle is stamped with the "What the Buck" stamp. the other side is stamped with trees and the deer from the "...A Joyous Season" sentiment set.

seed pods and moss, in addition to mulberry flowers, decorate the bottle.

I also made clay leaves by stamping the leaves from the same Layers of Life "Love Never Leaves" set right into clay and then baking. small holes for hanging were made prior to baking.

distress crackle paint was applied once all of the other elements were added. I just love the way this ages and distresses any project! it is great on these altered bottles! :)

Thank you again for all of your lovely, encouraging comments this week! you have brought such joy into my heart, that is for certain!

be sure to leave a comment on any of my GIU posts for a chance to win your very own Unity grab bag of stamps!

I hope for you and yours a most blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! I'll be seeing you in 2017! may your days overflow with peace and joy! :)
Jennifer

Challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner - anything goes
Sunny Day - anything goes
Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
We Love to Create - anything mixed media goes
Crafting with an Attitude - anything goes

Hello Winter Hot Cocoa Canister for GIU

Coffee of the Day - Bourbon Pecan

Well we are in the final stretch for my Growing in Unity posts this week. y'all have been so nice to me and left such kind comments on my projects! thank you so very much! :)

Here in northeast Ohio, especially the area of the state where we live, it gets downright COLD in the winter. currently our temps are in the single digits or teens. lots of beautiful snow is on the ground, with quite a bit of ice mixed in.

that means in order to keep warm, you need a big cup of coffee or hot cocoa! for our wonderful neighbors, I made a canister of homemade hot cocoa mix using a fun assortment of Unity Stamps.

I started with a re-purposed Nestle Quick container (it's actually part of the cocoa recipe) and added digital papers from the Design by Dani Woodland Spring collection. it's funny that the papers aren't a Christmas collection at all, but rather a spring one. I just loved the colors, though, to match the canister lid. ;)

images from the "Hello Winter" stamp set by Susan Weckesser were stamped on Stampin' Up! natural white.

the cutey girl was stamped and then cut with a Tim Holtz stitched die. I also stamped the doily from the Layers of Life "Magical Bliss and Wonder" set after masking. the trees were added and then several little snowflakes from the same LoL set in kraft ink. more snow flakes were made with Viva Decor pearl drops. the flower center is dotted with distress stickles and the snow on the ground is created with stickles as well.

more snowflakes from the LoL set, also stamped on the same natural white cs, with dual shades of blue ink, were fussy cut and added to the canister.

gorgeous burlap and lace ribbon from Michael's wraps around the canister and ties in a bow.

a beautiful glitter snowflake, also from Michael's, acts as a lovely little backdrop to the precious girl image by Susan.

a doily sprayed with glimmer mist and tree cut with a Tim Holtz die help accent the canister. a few snowflake stickers, also from Michael's give the final decoration. normally I would have added buttons, but our neighbors have 2 adorable little girls under the age of 3 and I didn't want to chance a button coming off and presenting a choking hazard to either one of them.

tickets were cut from the "Ticket to Christmas" set and lightly painted. I love the way the inks ran together to create a vintage look! distress markers were used to accent.

the top is decorated with a beautiful velvet poinsettia, gold glitter dusted berries, a pretty bow made with ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbon, snippet of same burlap and lace, and a little pinecone.

that does it for today's post! if you would like the recipe for my hot cocoa mix, head over to this post. the mix used in this canister uses hazelnut flavored creamer. you can use all different flavors for fun!

thanks so much for stopping by! don't forget to leave a comment on any of my GIU posts for your chance to win a Unity Stamps grab bag! :)

check back tomorrow for my final post.
Jennifer

p.s. a reminder that you can enlarge any photo on my blog simply by clicking on it. the picture will open in another window for you. :)

Challenges:
Sweet Stampers - anything goes
Scrap 'n Challenge - Christmas in white and blue
The Crazy Challenge - everything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wed - make it sparkle (lots of glitter and rhinestones in addition to the pearl drops)
Shopping Our Stash - Winter Wonderland
Kraftin' Kimmi's Wonderful Wed - anything goes
The Crafty Addicts - anything goes or Let it Snow
Craft-Dee Bow-Z - anything goes with a handmade bow

A Vintage Merry Christmas for GIU

Coffee of the Day - Butter Rum

We're to my mid week project for Growing in Unity (GIU) and I am going to show all of you what my typical card style is really like....  :)

As I was browsing through the Unity store one day looking for stamps for this week, I came across this gorgeous stamp by Susan Weckesser called "World of Christmas." I instantly fell in love!

oh good golly, look at all of that vintage glory!!! doesn't it just make you swoon right in your computer chair?! into my shopping cart it went!

I stamped the image onto natural vanilla cs from Stampin' Up! and only used a q-tip to shade it. this helps give such an ethereal, shabby look to the piece.

papers are from the Basic Grey Evergreen collection, flowers are an assortment from Wild Orchid Crafts, Petaloo, and Hobby Lobby, and lace & buttons are from my vintage stash.

corner snowflake die is by Creative Expressions and large rectangular die is by Spellbinders. a gold doily, distressed seam binding snippet tied with linen thread, and rusty jingle bell finish the card. a wink of stella glitter pen was brushed over the 'Merry Christmas' to give it a light sparkle.

thank you so much for stopping by today for my coffee of the day! I hope you have enjoyed the things I've created for you so far! :)

be sure to leave a comment on any of my GIU posts for a chance to win a Unity grab bag of stamps!

see you tomorrow! :)
Jennifer

Challenges:
Fussy and Fancy - angels and fairies or winter
Morgan's Art World - anything goes
QKR - Christmas cards
Holly Jolly Christmas - Christmas card or abc
Inky Chicks - Christmas in traditional colors

Holiday Gift Ideas with GIU

Coffee of the Day - Eggnog

Welcome back for my second Growing in Unity (GIU) gal post. How's your holiday shopping going? have you finished? started? ;) my husband used to have a tradition of waiting until Christmas Eve to actually BEGIN his shopping! thankfully after 30 years of marriage, I can happily say that is no longer a tradition of his! grins! he likes to start in October or so like the most of us....

today I want to share with you a few somewhat 'quick' little ideas for gifts using Unity stamps. now bear in mind that quick for me might not be quick for you, I am a VERY slow crafter. I kinda like it that way, as it gives me plenty of time to think about the people I am making things for. once upon a time I could whip up a card in less than 10 minutes, but these days it takes me several hours just to paint my images. but it is sooooooooo relaxing! my cat, Moon Pie loves to come into my craft room with me, so it's really a special time. :)

now on to my gift ideas ~

first up is a tag I made to go on a candle that was sent to my Mother-in-law. if you have a Michael's craft store nearby, these jar candles are fabulous! every once in a while they go on sale 4/$10. otherwise I'll use my 40% off coupons on them. the fragrances are quite nice and even when I burn the candles all day long, they'll still last almost a week.

when my MIL came for a visit this spring, I hooked her on them, too. so I found one in a scent I knew she would like and added it along with some other goodies for her for Christmas.

the tag is made using the pretty "Peace Dove" image, stamped in versamark on one of the freebie tags that came along in the 'thank you' gift Unity sent in my last order. I then embossed it in copper ep, once that dried, I added some frantage powders and spritzes of a few shades of glimmer mist. touches of distressing to the tag's edges, a vintage holly sprig, and pretty ribbons turn this into a fabulous gift!

Next up are some cutey little gift bags that I also found at Michael's. These use a combination of stamp sets that might cause you to scratch your head at first, but they really look great together!

I stamped various snowflakes from the Layers of Life Magical Bliss and Wonder set in Prima chalk inks on the muslin bags as well as the little wooden tags my husband made. I then stamped the snowman from Susan Weckesser's "One of a Kind Winter" set using Staz-on. Tim Holtz distress markers were used to color it in, and the snow drops were made with a Viva Decor pearl pen.

several shades of glimmer mist was sprayed to add a bit of sparkly shine.  poinsettias are from Hobby Lobby. finally, the 'joy' is from a sentiment from the "Joy to Go" set.

Thank you so much for stopping by for a cuppa with me! be sure to leave a comment on any one of my GIU posts this week for a chance to win a Unity grab bag of stamps! :)

Jennifer

Challenges:
Crafty Boots - Winter Wonderland (gift bags)
Love to Scrap - anything goes
Melonheadz - time for Christmas
Marker Pop - winter (gift bags, colored with Tim Holtz distress markers)
Use Your Stuff - Merry Christmas ( buttons, ribbons, twine, and Viva Decor pearl pen are all from my older stash)
Simon Says Stamp Wed Ch - gift it

A Cup of Joy Fold-a-Long cards for GIU

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

Hip Hip Hooray! the long awaited day is finally here! Today begins my stint as a Growing in Unity gal, or GIU gal for short! to say I've been a Nervous Nelly is putting it MILDLY! my lawsie, do you have any idea how humbling it is to be chosen, but then to be assigned the week prior to Christmas?! ack!!! ;) no pressure..... nah..... NOT!

okay, so here we go....
I am a coffee lover. alright. some MIGHT say I'm an addict. of course I don't, but then I do drink out of a cup that can hold 30 oz. of the beverage of my choice! tee hee!

so to start off my GIU week, yep, I had to go with coffee projects!
now I'm going to warn you. all of my projects this week are going to be all mixy matchy. I've used stamps from various sets, so I will link them all in the body of my posts. I'm not very conventional. and my projects are about as far from CAS as you can get. that's just how I roll. :)

yeah, I also tend to 'talk' a lot! you should hear me irl! (insert my hubby's eye roll here....)

I came across this way cool card die from Sizzix and knew it would be great fun to use at some point this week. the die is called the Ornate Label Fold-a-long. papers are from Basic Grey, sniff sniff sniff..... okay, no more lamenting my fave paper company closing it's doors.....

I decorated the outsides with vintage button cards and distressed seam binding. each was stamped with a sentiment from the "Joy to Go" set. poinsettias from Hobby Lobby were then added.

inside I added images from the "Hello Love" and "Joy to Go" sets. the sentiment is also from "Joy to Go" and accented with vintage holly sprigs & pearl-ex drops. each image has accents of white gel pen stickles, shimmerz paint, and/or Viva Decor pearl paint.

thank you so much for stopping by! if you would like a chance to win a Unity grab bag of stamps, just leave a comment on this or any of my GIU posts this week. see you tomorrow! :)

Jennifer

Challenges:
613 Avenue Create - holiday happiness (coffee is my happiness every day & season!)
Come and Get it - Christmas
The Stamping Boutique - fancy folds
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - any previous challenge (May dies/punches combined with August watercoloring, since that is how I color all of my images)
Kraftin' Kimmie's Wonderful Wed - anything goes
Pattie's Creations - anything goes that's Christmas or winter
Color Inspiration Monday link up - anything goes as long as it's hand colored (water colored with SU! inks)