Glitter and Glitz Blog Hop

Hello Crafty Friends!

Can you believe this is the last Friends of Unity blog hop of the year? I can’t believe it either. This year sure did pass us by rather quickly! I am really excited about this month’s hop as it features one of my FAVORITE things- glitter and glitz! I know, I know- glitter!! I can’t tell you how many people I know that do NOT like glitter. I just don’t understand them. Who doesn’t love glitter??!!! Lucky for those friends of mine who abhor the sparkly stuff, I did find glitter paper that does not shed a fleck! I was super excited to use it in this month’s projects. The sad part? It does NOT photograph well! UGH! So, I linked the paper I used in my post so you can check it out for yourself. I’m too cheap to pay for the added bonus of uploading videos to my blog (I’d rather spend my money on glitter) BUT you are able to see the glitz and glitter effects on my Facebook page and Instagram. If you aren’t already following me, be sure to give me a “like”/”follow” if you’re so inclined. You can find me on Facebook at My Inkredible Life and/or Instagram @stampinsarandrea

The glitter cardstock I used in my projects can be found at The Cardstock warehouse. It is AHHHMAZING quality paper!

The glitter paper can be found here: white diamond cardstock. You can run it through your printer and stamp on it! The silver paper I used can be found here: Silver Stardream Metallic Cardstock. The gold paper I used can be found here: Gold Stardream Metallic Cardstock and the Rose Gold paper I used can be found here: Rose Gold Mirror Paper . You won’t be able to see the shimmer, glimmer and glitz in my photos sadly so to truly appreciate all the shine, check out each of the cardstock links above. GORGEOUS!

Before I dazzle you with my creations today, just a few housekeeping items to note! Although Unity Stamp Co lovingly approves of our monthly blog hop- they do not sponsor our giveaways. At times, our wonderful team members may give away some goodies just for participating and supporting our little hop! Please know that these prizes come from our own stash of products! We are so grateful for each one of you for supporting us each month. I personally appreciate all the lovely comments and enjoy reading them to see what inspired you the most! If you do leave a comment, keep in mind it may not show up right away until it’s approved. I do hope you enjoy our hop this month and be sure to show some love to each of our Friends Of Unity! If you’re inspired to case an idea that I show in this post, I would love for you to tag me!

Some exciting added news- this is also the Friends of Unity Blog Hop’s 5th Anniversary ! Although not sponsored by Unity Stamp Co- they are generously donating THREE $25 gift cards in celebration of our anniversary! Thank you Unity Stamp Co!!! To be eligible to win a gift card be sure to comment on each of our participants blog before December 10th! Winners will be announced on December 11th over in the Unity Show & Tell Group.

Let’s get started! For my first project today I’m sharing a card I made using the “Heart of Christmas” stamp kit. This is an absolutely gorgeous kit that can be used for winter themed cards as well as Hanukkah cards! I created this card with my Mother-in-law in mind. I really love the blue and silver palette

I started off with a blue cardstock base and then cut a piece of white cardstock 1/4 inch smaller. Using a wood print embossing folder from Stamping’ Up! I ran the white cardstock through my Big Shot for texture.

I stamped the heart from the kit using Versamark ink and then embossing with silver embossing powder. I cut out the embossed image as well as the background heart using the Dashes and Frills heart dies from Unity. The background heart was cut from the silver metallic paper referenced above. I also embossed the sentiment on cardstock and matted this as well after cutting it out using a stitched rectangle die. Both the heart and sentiment were attached to the card using foam mounting tape. A few enamel dots from Gina Marie Designs were added to my card along with some miscellaneous gems adhered onto a few random snowflakes. To really see the glitz-check out my Facebook or Instagram Page!

For my next project I made a cute little tag. I wanted to show how this gorgeous White Diamond Cardstock is so versatile. I was able to actually stamp AND color on it! Again, sadly you cannot see the shimmer but you will be able to see the little video clip on my Facebook/Instagram page!

This project was SUPER easy and a great way to add a bit of glitz to your. gift bags! I used both the silver metallic cardstock and diamond cardstock referenced at the beginning of my post. I used the tag dies from Unity Stamp Co but it looks as if they may be out of stock. Yikes! There’s tons of alternatives however and you can also just make your own! I cut out a scalloped tag using the metallic cardstock and then a stitched tag using the diamond cardstock. I used my Versafine Clair inkpad in Nocturne and stamped the image from the “Joy to Go ” kit right onto the tag! I heat set the image and once dry, I used the Tim Holtz watercolor pencils to add a little color. When the tag was dry, I added a bit of glitz to the center of the poinsettias using yellow gems and tied off the top with silver and white twine. It is absolutely stunning in real life and will surely add some sparkle to a gift package!

For my next card, I used a slim line stamp called ” Let’s get merry” This stamp is quite versatile and as you will see, you don’t have to use the stamp just for slimline cards!

For this card I started off with a black cardstock mat and then trimmed the remaining mats 1/4 inch smaller. The gold stock (referenced above) is SO pretty and festive! Once I had all my mats together as shown in the picture, I stamped the image with Versafine Clair ink in Nocturne and heat set to dry. Using the Tim Holtz watercolor crayons I brought the image to life as shown. Once my colored image was dry I misted it lightly with sparkle spray. Oh how I wish you could see how dang pretty it is! I also added some white splatters for added texture. For a bit more glitz, a few red/glittery enamel dots were added as accents, some purple gems were glued to the center of the flower and then a bit of red/white twine to tie off the top! The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed using hero arts white pigment ink overlayed with white detailed embossing power and then glued onto the card.

Here’s another look -although you can’t see the shimmer and shine – UGH!

For my final project I cased an idea originally shared by one of Unity’s phenomenal Design Team Members: Julissa. Her card was so stunning I just had to create a similar one using the “Cheerfully Prancing” stamp kit. This stamp kit has gorgeous images and sentiments! This is my take on the card I cased:

I started off with a white cardstock base and cut a piece of beautiful rose gold metallic cardstock (referenced above) 1/4 inch smaller as a mat. Then I cut another mat using a scalloped rectangle die from silver metallic paper (referenced above)

When I started the project, I thought I had a scripted Christmas background stamp but apparently that wasn’t the case. So I hopped online and immediately ordered “Christmas Songbook” from Unity’s Cyber Sale. In the meantime, I had to use a scripted stamp (non-Unity) that I had in my stash. I inked up the background in what I thought was silver ink BUT it turned out to actually be “gold-ish”. It actually worked out, however, as it pulled in the rose gold metallic paper!

Using a large snowflake die from Gina Marie Designs I cut out a snowflake from the silver metallic paper and wrapped a portion of the snowflake onto my inked background as shown. The deer was stamped onto the diamond cardstock using Versaclair Nocturne ink and then heat set so it doesn’t smudge. I fussy cut out the deer and glued it onto my card with foam adhesive.

Using Microsoft Word I simply typed the sentiment “Happy Winter” and after cutting it to size and mounting to a piece of scrap paper I also attached this to the card with foam adhesive for dimension. Silver/white twine was wrapped around the side of the card, a small red gem was added to the deer’s nose and a few enamel dots were added for extra interest. I absolutely love how this card turned out. The deer is SO sparkly!

Although, glimmer, glitz and shimmer are difficult to capture in photos here’s another look :

I hope you enjoyed my creations as much as I loved making them! Before you go, I hope you’ll leave a comment and let me know if you’ve been inkspired to add a bit of shimmer and shine to your next project!

If you’ve landed on my page first, be sure to go back to visit our talented friend Dawn F

If you’re ready to hop along, up next is our talented friend Joyce V

Thank you again for hopping along with the Friends of Unity! I hope you have an INKredible day!