Growing In Unity - Monday : True Colors

 

Hello friends! 

I am SO thrilled to be this week's Growing In Unity gal! I love all things Unity and I have been creating using that gorgeous red rubber for many years!

Picture it: 2009.   

I fell in love with a sweet little image that Donna Baes used on a design featured in a Card making magazine many years ago and it's been a love affair/obsession ever since.  (For the record: it was from a Kit Of the Month called Fresh Beginnings)

There's been so many amazing evolutions to where it all is now and it just keeps getting better! I have to say the bond and sisterhood we share over this little company is something special. I think that's the most beautiful thing about Unity - you feel like everyone belongs here. 

This week, I have some special cards I have designed for you - it is really hard to choose favorite stamps because I love them all! And my style is all over the place (one day I am a clean and simple girl and the next I love texture and ALL THE THINGS) I am alot. lol But for Day 1, I have something simple I want to show you. 

When it comes to creating cards, I am a big fan of two things - simplicity, and using your supplies in different ways so you don't need to break the bank on buying ALL. THE . THINGS. 

This card is all of that. 

The sentiment is heat embossed in crisp white on black and comes from a Kit of the Month  from April 2022 called True Colors. I have many old kits I will NEVER get rid of - they are irreplaceable and this is one of them.

This technique for the background on vellum is using your Copic/Spectrum Noir markers - the alcohol ink markers you have on hand. Full disclosure - I do own actual alcohol ink and I have never used it.

It's as simple as "scribbling" color on your vellum with the wide chisel end of your marker, and dropping or flicking drops of rubbing alcohol on it and letting it air dry. (hint: I use the strongest rubbing alcohol I can find which is usually 91%. Also I tend to not use a heat tool because it pushes the alcohol and makes the colors muddle too much) A bit of fanning will dry things quicker without all that gorgeous color getting "muddy".) You can also blot up excess with a dry tissue as well. 

I snapped a couple really awful quality photos just to give you an idea ;) 

                   

Alcohol markers used: 

SU-Parakeet Party (dark), Spectrum Noir-PL5, BP6

I have featured a couple variations in the Show & Tell and on our monthly Friends Of Unity Blog Hop. It's so simple and one of my favorite ways to create a flowy background against white without watercoloring. 

Another bonus - you can go back over it layering more color if some spots aren't vibrant enough for you - just be sure the alcohol is dry first. 

It's only Day 1 and I can't wait for you to come back tomorrow and see a little more Unity inspo. Be sure to let me know you stopped by each day in the comments below - Unity always is so giving, and each time you check in throughout the week on my Blog gives you a chance to win a little crafty goodness for yourself! 

Peace Love n' Ink 

Amber