Friends of Unity March 2026 Hop, Sketch

Welcome Friends! The deep freeze has finally left northeast Ohio. Thank goodness! Finally!!! It was a whopping 71* today. 

We have a wonderful sketch for the month of March.

I was able to get in two cards for our hop. Here is the first:

The beautiful floral cross is from Blooms of Solace. The verse is from Alleluia.

Here is my second card:

Both the floral and sentiment are from Uniquely Unity May 2021, Strive to be. I used the scallops & arches die, also from Unity.

We always appreciate your support. Thanks for hopping with us. You should have arrived from my amazing, talented friend, Joyce. Up next is another amazing, talented friend, Rachel.

See you next month,

Dawn

Friends of Unity February 2026 Blog Hop, Sassy

Well, it is still freezing in northeast Ohio. We have not had a winter this bad in awhile. We've had heavy snowfall and wind chills of 20 below. I am snow over it. Haha! Come on warmer weather; I miss you so much. Our cue for this month is sassy:

I used, You Are Fine, Girl, for our hop. This is my first time using this set. I also used a sheet of paper from the Bohemian Dream paper pack. I love this paper pack in addition to Grit and Grace. This beautiful lady was colored with Zigs. I have not used them in some time. I used a Prima water color pencil for her complexion. I lined her eye with a gold metallic pen. I also went over her hoop earring with the same pen. I used a silver metallic pen on her wine glass to jazz it up.

I don't believe I've ever used this color combination before. I like it!

I am the last stop in the hop. To start from the beginning, please check out our super talented, Crystal. 

Well, that's a wrap! See you again in March. Thanks for hopping and showing your support. We 

truly appreciate all of you! 

Friends of Unity January 2026 Hop, Case'D

Happy New Year my friends! What are some highlights for you from 2025? For me, my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, I went on my first cruise, I tried paddleboarding, and I surpassed my reading challenge. I am looking forward to 2026. Maybe I'll try some new things and hopefully reading more books than I did in 2025. And of course, making cards. 

I am so excited for our first hop of 2026:

I love all of Bobbie Sue's (McConathy) creations! Everything she creates is absolutely gorgeous! For this hop, I am casing her mini calendars. I am not casing the style, just the fact that she creates them. She always does a phenomenal job. She uses bold flowers on hers, but I went for simple. I could never duplicate her coloring. 

The mini calendar and all the stamps are by Unity. These calendars came in a pack of 3. They are made from heavy stock.

Here are a few pics:

I love how it turned out. Here are all the stamp sets I used: 

1. March 2016 SMAK Kit, breathe it all in love it all out

2. November 2019 Uniquely Unity, know you're strong

3. June 2021 Kit of the Month, magical summer days

4. April 2017 Kit of the Month, be my bird

5. Be the Girl

6. Kindness Unfolded

7. May 2021 Sentiment Kit, in my thoughts girl

8. April 2022 Uniquely Unity, you can dream it

9. You are my person

10. February 2020 Sentiment Kit, hope is a beautiful thing

11. October 2023 Kit of the Month, Golden Glow

12. October 2020 SMAK Kit, the best memories

To see all the months, please visit lovepaperetc.etsy.com.

Next up in our hop is the lovely Rachel. Thanks for hopping with us! 

See you next time,

Dawn

Friends of Unity December 2025 Blog Hop, Mood Board

Hey there! I am so giddy for this hop. I love the concept of a mood board, but I have never created from one before. I also have never created one. So many things here to inspire. I love cinnamon scented pine cones, so I had to include them on my cards. My pine cones are not cinnamon scented, though. Lol. I have a winner from last month's hop. Carla Hundley, whoop, whoop, congratulations sweet lady. Shoot me an email with your address at lovepaperetc@gmail.com. I will get your goodies to you immediately.

Card #1:

This sweet card is going to one of the administrative assistants I work with at my elementary school. Long story short. She brought in these delicious lemon raspberry muffins from Costco and I fell hard for them. I do not have a Costco membership, so I unashamedly asked her to pick me up a pack and that I'd pay her. Well, this past Monday, she brought them in. Not only did she bring them in, but they were on her. I did not have to pay because she expressed how grateful she is for me being me. Wow! Her remark really made my day. My heart exploded. We gave each other the biggest hug. I love my school family! 

The beautiful floral is from the October 2024 Kit of the Month, small bliss of Christmas. It was colored with Prismacolor pencils. The colors were blended with Gamsol. I also used a nesting  die from scallops and arches. Sentiment is from the October 2018 Kit of the Month, all winter long.

Card #2:

I don't know if you can see it, but there is so much sparkle. Call me crazy, but do you ever go to bed obsessing about your next card creation? I do and this is one I obsessed over. I was so excited to make it the next day, but my body was tired and she told me tomorrow is a new day. Well, tomorrow has arrived. I took a piece of white card stock and sparingly blended ink over it. Then, I stamped the branches from Winter blessings at the top and bottom. Next, I die cut it. The pine cone and joy sentiment are from A Christmas Hello. I stamped a second pine cone, cut it out, and placed it over the stamped one for dimension. Finally, I layered branch die cuts I made at the top. Stickles were used on them. Let me just say, I loved making this card. Stickles were added to the pine cone as well.

Well, we can't wait to see how you are inspired. To go back to the beginning of the hop, here is the link to the amazingly talented and beautiful, Crystal.

Thanks for hopping! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Dawn

Friends of Unity November 2025 Blog Hop, Creating a Background

Hello everyone! So glad you are here! My winner from last month's hop is Celeste Goff! Congratulations Celeste! Please email me your address at lovepaperetc@gmail.com, so I can send some Unity happy your way. I have a nice, little grab bag for you. 

We are creating backgrounds for this month's hop. We hope you are inspired. There will be another challenge this month on the FB Unity Show & Tell page. Make sure you submit your creations to be eligible for a $25 gift card from Unity. We can't wait to see the backgrounds you create.

I only have one card this month. Here it is:

The background was created using two sheets of pattern paper I received as a gift with an order. I just love the great finds in those paper bags. Don't you? I added two rub ons to the text paper. I then cut out several pieces of ephemera from Proof of Grace. I decided on two mixed media tags. A mini clip I received as a gift in an order, was placed on the one tag. I layered the two tags using foam adhesive. The sentiment is from You don't have to be ok. I love the sentiments in this kit. They are so empowering. Enamel dots were added last to pull it all together.

I am giving away some more Unity. All you have to do is, comment on each of our blogs to be eligible. 

That's it for me. Next up is our super talented, Toni.

Thank you for hopping and playing in our challenge!

See you soon,

Dawn

Friends of Unity October 2025 Blog Hop, Color Challenge

Happy World Cardmaking Day! I can't believe it's October. We have a fun challenge for you, a color challenge. Please enter your creations in the Color Challenge Album on the Unity Show & Tell page. It's going to be so much fun. I love a color challenge, especially with the colors of fall. Fall is my second favorite season. Summer is the first. I'm looking forward to pulling out the sweaters and I recently bought these really cute green courdoroy pants with a fun hem. 

Check out this beautiful cue:

Card #1:

The border background stamp, frondescence, was used on this card. Such a beautiful image to color. I used colored pencils and Gamsol for blending. This stamp is a must have. The postage die was used to cut it out. Sentiment is from Autumn Dream. It is one of my favorite sets by Unity. The floral is gorgeous on cards. I added a couple of die cut leaves, wax seal, and gold paint splatters, to bring it all together.

Card #2:

The image of the woman paired with this sentiment is so powerful. She is from Darkest Night Brightest Day. The sentiment is from the same kit. I was going for movement. She looks like she is literally walking through a storm of leaves. Her hair is also blowing in the wind. I took pattern paper and used an impression die with swirls. I added a little ink to the panel. I layered a couple acetate clusters under the woman. She was colored with colored pencils. Colors were blended with Gamsol. 

GIVEAWAY ALERT: I AM GIVING AWAY A GRAB BAG OF STAMPS. IT WILL INCLUDE ALL IMAGES.  ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VISIT ALL OF OUR BLOGS AND COMMENT. MAKE SURE YOU YOU GO ALL THE WAY TO THE END.  AMBER IS THE LAST STOP IN OUR HOP. SHE IS GIVING AWAY A UNITY GIFT CARD. GO TO HER BLOG, COMMENT, POST YOUR CARD IN THE ALBUM AND BE SURE TO TAG HER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS GENEROUS PRIZE.

WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE ALL OF YOUR CREATIONS.

Have fun hopping!

Crystal

Toni

me

Jenni

Doreen

Jane

Rachel

Kari

Amber

Good luck and see you next month,

Dawn

Friends of Unity September 2025 Blog Hop, Anything but a Card

Guess what day it is! It's my birthday! I entered this world on September 3, 1970. I am celebrating double nickels. I am having a wonderful day. I went to work in a new outfit and even put on make up. I usually just use lip gloss or a lip stick, but I went all in with concealer, foundation, eyeshadow, mascara, blush, and a lip oil. I'm hoping I can stick to this routine. Time will tell. Well, enough of that. Let's keep hopping. Here is our wonderful cue:

Hmm! At first I was going to make book marks, then tags. I finally decided to create my own ephemera. I did this some years ago and had a lot of fun. The ephemera I made years ago was purchased by a sweet woman in England. I couldn't believe it. 

Set #1:  

This set features moths, butterflies, magic, and a little bit of grunge. It is intended to inspire creativity. Embrace the messy magic was created using a vintage wood block stamp. This is my first time using it. I guess I was waiting for the right project.  I stamped the image onto a sheet of paper from Grit & Grace. It was cut with a tag from Grunge Cuts. I then cut a sentiment strip apart and adhered it to the tag. A mini, metal hanger was attached at the top. Each of these creations were backed with card stock. Believe in your magic was created using the butterfly from the February 2024 Kit of the Month, grace and more grace. I am in love with this image. It, too, was stamped onto a sheet of paper from Grit & Grace. In fact, this paper kit was used for all of them. I then took another sentiment strip and cut it apart. The last one features a stamp from the February 2017 SMAK Kit, be you for you. It is now available as its own smaller kit. An acetate moth was layered on the middle moth. I used a postage die to cut the paper.

Set #2: 

The second set is all about embracing transformation, that change should be encouraged. Both were stamped on paper from Grit & Grace. The phases of the moon and sentiment are from the August 2023 Kit of the Month, phases. It was cut using a Terrific Ticket Die. Embrace the Seasons of Change used stamps from the July 2021 Kit of the Month, special spot in my heart. It was cut using a Grunge Cut die. An acetate stem was layered over the image.

Well, that's all for me folks. I am the last stop in this hop. To start from the beginning, click here to return to Crystal. Can I just say how amazing this woman is? She does so much for our team as well as several other teams. She is super talented. Please give her an extra shout out.

See everyone next month for another incredible hop. As always, thanks for your continued support. We appreciate each and everyone of you.

Inky hugs,

Dawn