Hey Cancer

I decided to give it my best shot at a blog schedule because I realize I miss blogging and sharing my cards and projects. I also miss having a reason to really craft on a regular basis, excluding what I've already committed to (cancer cards, orders, craft fairs and personal use cards). I figured, why not give it a try.  So today I offer this Hey Cancer card.

All the stamps used are from Unity Stamp Company. I heat embossed the heart with the cancer ribbon in clear on a Strathmore Bristol Smooth Cardstock then ink blended distress inks over to reveal the emboss resist pattern. I love how these inks move and blend on this cardstock. They also seem to be softer than on other cardstocks too.



A sentiment heat embossed on some black card stock and cut into a banner with a Simon Says Stamp die popped up on foam tape and a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling clear sequins finish this card.

Unicorns & Rainbows: Growing in Unity Day 1

Hi Everyone, 

My name is Renee and I am one of the Growing in Unity girls for the week. I've been paper crafting for almost 20 years (I just gasped at that too). I started out with scrapbooks when I was pregnant with my oldest son, now almost 19 and have since switched almost exclusively to card making. I love the instant gratification cards bring. 

As I said, I started nearly 20 years ago while pregnant with my first son and just a few short weeks ago my husband and I welcomed collective baby number 7! We are a big blended family and our kids range from almost 19 to 5 weeks old. 

We endured a tragedy in 2013 when our 10 day old daughter Delaney passed away. Since then it has been my sole mission to spread joy and happiness. Although she did not pass away from cancer, I felt the people battling cancer were feeling the same helpless feelings my husband and I were while we watched our daughter struggle and fight. So, I've been sending cards of hope to cancer patients for the last 3 1/2 years, mostly anonymously, always full of love and hope. Unity has been a huge part of this because they carry such an amazing line of cancer stamps (so grateful for that, btw). 

This week I want to focus on techniques and bright fun cards. I hope you enjoy my cards as much as I do. Today's technique is INK SMOOSHING. By pressing the distress ink pads down on a piece of acetate and spritzing the pigment with water and dabbing your paper into the ink pool, you can create some really interesting and beautiful designs, images and backgrounds. 

My first card this week required me to step outside my crafty comfort zone, completely. I'm not usually a fan of ink smooshing because it delivers results that are less than ... controlled... and I'm a pretty clean and simple card maker. The background on this card is rainbow ink smooshing, what else would you think would be appropriate for this super cute Unicorn by Susan Weckesser?

This set is called Unicorns & Rainbows and comes with 6 red rubber stamps. I used three image stamps and the sentiment to create this card.

I paper pieced the cute unicorn and cloud onto the background, colored the rainbow with some fun copic markers and added some sparkle to the unicorn. How much fun is this card!












Be sure to leave a comment below for your change to win some fun stamps from Unity Stamp Company!



The products used to create this bright and cheery card are:

Unity Stamp Co Unicorns & Rainbows available here:
Unicorns & Rainbows

Ranger Distress Inks:
Candied Apple
Carved Pumpkin
Mustard Seed
Lucky Clover
Blueprint Sketch
Wilted Violet

Additional Products Used:
A Muse Studio Landscape die- cloud border
Mama Elephant Die- Park Ave. Frame
Copic Markers- Rainbow colors
PPP sequins
Tim Holtz water color paper
Spectrum noir sparkle overlay pen