I am thrilled to be the Growing in Unity Gal for this week. I fell in love with Unity Stamp Company back in 2008 when they came out with an innovative cassette and handle system for stamping. I remember admiring the rows of stamps at the local stamp store hanging in their unique brown paper packages.
Donna Downey's Designs were the first Unity Stamps were the first I fell in love with ... so those are the ones I'm going to use for my first card.
The oldest set in my collection is Unity Stamp Company's Advent!, which Donna featured on her blog in 2010.
I combined one of the wonderful sentiments with a combination of designer papers from the Prima Engraver Collection, some of my favorite soft ivory fiber, and some black gems to frame the sentiment. I collect (and sometimes hoard) beautiful designer papers ... and a single sentiment like this one is often the perfect way to let those papers shine.
In April 2008, I had the privilege to attend Donna Downey's first Inspired! Event. It was a pivotal moment for me as an artist (basically acknowledging to myself that I was an artist, and that I wanted to commit time in my life to creativity) ... and that experience led me down the path I have enjoyed the last 12 years (with opportunities like sharing with you today).
The next card features a stamp from Donna Downey's Empowered Words Unity Stamp set... so many sentiments in this set speak to me. This card will be going into my stash for Chemo Angels, an organization I have volunteered with for the last 12 years, sending cards to individuals who are going through chemotherapy.
The paper in this one was too busy to stamp directly on, so I found another piece of paper from the DCWV Preserved Paper Collection and framed it with another green designer paper that was on the reverse. In keeping with the vintage feel of those big blooms, I layered on a piece of vintage receipt pad and some vintage trading stamps (I'm always on the hunt for these at resale shops) before finishing with a scattering of pearls and that same nubby fiber.
Among those artistic opportunities I've had the pleasure of experiencing the last 12 years was meeting Angela, Whitney and Nick at Junkiefest and getting to take creative classes with them ... truly one of the highlights of the event for me. They are some of the kindest most genuine people in this industry.
And in keeping with their kindness, one of the stamp sets they released in 2019 was #lettersforhenry. This stamp set honors the life and work of Postal Worker Henry Groenveld who loved his job ... but was the victim of workplace bullying ... and proceeds from the sale of the set go to benefit and organization chosen by his daughters to honor his memory (www.intheforefront.org).
The Monday post on my blog is usually a Makeover Monday ... where I take inspiration from one of my earlier card designs and re-make it today. I chose this card from July 2012 to inspire my design (my husband is also a mail carrier, so I tend to collect postal related images).
I loved the fun color combination and layout, so I kept those for my new design. I stamped Henry's Mailbox on the same Coral Cardstock and then paper pieced it with both of the background designer papers.
I used the post-mark image in the set and a 1" paper punch to create my balloons and finished with the hashtag sentiment from the set - #lettersforhenry.
Thanks again for joining me for Day 1 of my Growing in Unity Week. Remember, leave a comment on this post (and the four other posts coming this week) for a chance to win one of two special prize packages filled with Unity Stamp Company Rubber Stamps.
TWO lucky winners will be randomly chosen from the list of commenters. Winners will be posted on this blog, as well as on the Unity Stamp Company Growing in Unity Facebook page after xx.
Great cards! I am looking forward to your GIU week!
Posted by: Denise Bryant | March 16, 2020 at 12:13 PM
So many inspiring cards today! We all have so much beautiful patterned paper stashed away we should really use it more!We don't always have to make a fancy inked background!! Love the mailbox card too! Looking forward to your week!
Posted by: Vannessa Osbourn | March 16, 2020 at 12:15 PM
Gorgeous work! Can’t wait to see tomorrow’s creations😊
Posted by: Jules | March 16, 2020 at 02:40 PM
I love how you highlighted these sentiments! Just beautiful vintage looks!
Posted by: Meghan Kennihan | March 16, 2020 at 05:01 PM
I love your pretty cards and especially the very meaningful sentiments you have collected and used from Unity. I find them to be one of my favorite stamp companies because of that very thing. The sentiments seem to speak from the heart.
Posted by: Liz Williams | March 16, 2020 at 06:53 PM
These are all just gorgoeus!
Posted by: Jean Marmo | March 16, 2020 at 07:13 PM
Wow! These cards are beautiful and your artistic talent shines through. I particularly enjoyed the little story that went with each card. I can’t wait to see what else you will create this week.
Posted by: Lisa Lou | March 16, 2020 at 09:31 PM
Just wonderful cards. I LOVE patterned papers too, so these were very inspiring designs. And lovely stamp choices. Thank you for all you do for 'chemo angels' as I too used to donate cards to my sisters hospital when she was going through chemo. It sounds like a wonderful program. I'll read more about it. And cards for Henry is such an incredible set, story, and cause too. Just lovely cards. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Kim A Klinkovsky | March 17, 2020 at 02:03 AM
Awesome use of patterned paper today, and I love the Empowered Words stamp set!
Posted by: Carey | March 19, 2020 at 07:57 AM
These are fabulous cards and I was thrilled to learn about Chemo Angles in your blog. What an neat program! Thank you so much for sharing!
Posted by: Nikki | March 20, 2020 at 08:02 AM
Amazing cards!!
Posted by: JenniferE | March 20, 2020 at 11:09 AM