Season's Givings AND Unity Blog Hop + A VIDEO!

*** PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE JANUARY MIXED MEDIA MONTHLY CHALLENGE! ***

Happy New Year everyone!! This blog post is part of both the Season's Giving Hop AND the Unity Stamp Company blog hop post! I'm glad you're here, and happy hopping!

2014 has been such an amazing year personally and crafty-wise! In 2014 I officially became a member of the Unity Stamp Co design team, continued with the DCWV team, and got to be a part of the Faber Castell Design Memory Craft team! These are companies I believe in, love, and use all the time! Thank you for the fabulous opportunities in 2014 and thank you to my readers and commeneters! I love you!

I made this project just for this New Year's Day hop! It's a mini mosaic canvas using a Unity Stamp "One Day at a Time" stamped with gelatos. Then I colored the background with my new Peerless Watercolors! I created a fun video showing you the entire process of my mini canvas!


I'd love to have you watch my video, give it a big thumbs up, and even subscribe to my channel! In 2015 I hope to have a lot more youtube videos to share with you all! Thanks for the support :)

A detailed supply list is also listed in my YouTube description! Remember to Embrace The New Day!

I have 2 prize packs to give away as my THANK YOU to you! Leave a comment on this blog post for a chance to win! Here they are...

AND since this post is also part of the UNITY blog hop, there is an amazing Unity prize pack for a lucky commenter!

Don't forget about the amazing Unity Stamp Co sales this weekend! They're hosting a huge warehouse sale that even includes free shipping!

Make sure to leave comments on the Unity Design Team posts AND the Season's Giving posts for a chance to win some amazing prizes!!

Thank you for an amazing year! Cheers to a fabulous 2015!

<3 Rachel

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Lawn Fawn

Spellbinders Paper Arts

Reverse Confetti

Clearsnap

Ice Resin

My Favorite Things

Technique Tuesday

Paper Smooches

Sweet & Sassy Stamps

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store

Avocado Arts

A Jillian Vance Design

Latina Crafter

Die-Versions

Unity Stamp Company

Splitcoaststampers

Verve Stamps

Latisha Yoast

AJ Otto

Vera Yates

Julia Stainton

Judy Hayes

Kim Watson

Yana Smakula

Chari Moss

Taheerah Atchia

Shemaine Smith

Emily Spahn

Kimberly Crawford

Lee Murphy

Lovely Linda

Laura Williams

Lori Tecler

Chaitali Narla

Darsie Bruno

Lydia Fiedler

Giovana Smith

Teri Anderson

Beth Pingry

Dina Kowal

Daniela Dobson

Lisa Adametz

Piali Biswas

Kelli Green

Keri Lee Sereika

Jocelyn Olson

Julee Tilman

Michelle Woerner

Lori McAree

Theresa Momber

Anita Autore

Melody Rupple

Sean Fetterman

Bunny Vance

Tricia Traxler

Lisa Arana

Lorena Cantó

Amy Tsuruta

Jodi Collins

Tenia Nelson

Kelly Klapstein

Jill Cornell

Emily Leiphart

Becky Williams

Margie Higuchi

Lee Ann Barrett

Lisa Hoel

Heather Campbell

Lisa Henke

Sheri Holt

Michele Kovack

Ashley Harris

Sharon Harnist

Lori Craig

Nicole Nowosad

Laurel Beard

Michele Boyer

Christiana Reuling

Laurie Schmidlin

Jennifer Priest

Stacey Schafer

Heidi Blankenship

Heather Pulvirenti

Anita Madden

Gloria Stengel

Sarah Gough

Rachel Kleinman *YOU ARE  HERE!*

Natalie Dever

Lorine Mason

Loretta Lock

Meihsia Liu

Sarah Martina Parker

Angeline Choo

Christine Emberson

Karen Hightower

Sabrina Alery

Debbie Seyer

Dana Joy

Cat Tidwell

Deborah Saaranen

Ceal Pritchett

Lisa Lara

Colleen Schaan

Anabelle O'Malley

Megan Hoeppner

Monika Davis

Marisa Ritzen

Wanda Guess

Jenny Peterson

Annette Allen

Gracie Chavez

Christina Griffiths

Niki G.

Kristi Schurr

Jennifer Ingle

Karolyn Loncon

Camille Robinson

Lindsey M-P

Kathy Clement

Maria Levine

Savitri Wilder

Savannah O'Gwynn

Teresa Horner

Laurel Seabrook

Libby Hickson

Yvonne Van de Grijp

Leigh Penner

Lisa Lee

Tina McDonald

Nina Yang

Angel Johns

Mixed Media Monthly #8 - New to You

*** CLICK HERE FOR THE SEASON'S GIVINGS BLOG HOP! ***

Happy New Year!! I'm so excited you're spending your new year with us at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge! Do you have any crafty goals for 2015? I'd love to hear about your goals if you have some! Our new challenge for January 1, 2015 is to use something NEW to YOU for the new year! This could mean trying a new technique, using a new product, or just trying something different to you.

For my new technique I tried stamping on white tissue paper and then melting that image into a very textured canvas.

I started with a canvas I created 6 months ago and just had laying around my studio. The white portion of the canvas is so filled with modeling paste, there would have been no way to stamp a clean image on top of it. Using tissue paper was a perfect solution for this canvas.

First I used a permanent black ink (ranger archival black) to stamp my image on tissue paper. I'm using this Suzi Blu "Spring Flower Chic" stamp from Unity Stamp Co.

I trimmed around the stamped image and then applied it to my canvas using Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium on both the bottom and top of the image. Then I used my heat tool to dry it.

Once my image was completely dry, I colored the girl using my Faber Castell Stamper's Big Brush Pens. The great thing about these pens is that it's India Ink that is permanent once it dries!

I grabbed a lot of old paper flowers and gave them a coat of gesso. Then I colored the flowers with a variety of Faber Castell Gelatos. I used my Gel Medium to adhere them to the corner of my canvas.

Finally, I cut the sentiment from some stickers and placed them throughout the canvas. The sentiment reads, "Hello world, thanks for welcoming me here."

I finished off the canvas by adding some Faber Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel to the flowers and parts of the dress.

I'm so glad you stopped by to check out my new technique! I really loved how easy it was to use tissue paper on my canvas. I'm a little bummed I never tried it sooner!

Our sponsor this month is BUTTERFLY REFLECTIONS! They are offering a $25 gift certificate to our randomly picked winner for January! I love this online shop, I've even purchased from them before. They have super fast shipping, great prices, and lots of deals. You can also find the whole collection of Dina Wakely paints!

I can't wait to see what NEW TO YOU project you submit to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge! You have until January 31st to enter!

Happy New Year!
-Rachel

Unity Hop for 50K Friends!

There is a lot of excitement in Unity land today!! We are celebrating FIFTY THOUSAND Facebook friends! That's HUGE! I love the community over at the Unity facebook page, especially the Unity Show and Tell group. If you aren't already in that group, make sure you join it immediately! So much inspiration found over there :)

To celebrate 50k, Unity has released 5 brand new kits for $10. I'm using the new "Mice of You" kit, perfect for Valentine's Day...

Isn't he so so cute? This card gave me a lot of trouble. None of my layouts were working for me, but once I found that constellation paper (Dear Lizzy - Serendipity) it just pulled everything together! The mouse looks like he's dreaming in the sky, with hearts and stars all around!

I colored the image with Copic markers and die cut with a Spellbinders nestabilities die. The sentiment is cut into a banner and matted on top of some glitter washi tape. Those cool stars are from DCWV and they're actually tiny mirrors!

50,000 fans deserves a huge sale, right? These little banners speak for themselves. Happy Shopping!!

Make sure you leave comments along the hop for your chance to win this amazing prize pack! You have throughout the weekend to hop, comment, and shop the sale! Have fun and get inspired :)

Your next stop is the beautiful SHILO

Watercolor Snowmen + Winners!

Have you sent out your Christmas cards yet? Do you even plan to send any? I've spent the past 2 hours simply writing addresses on envelopes! Ahhh!!! It must get finished!

In the meantime, I get distracted by playing with pretty stamps and watercolors :) This time my holiday gift tag was inspired by Jill Foster's wonderful watercolor creations for Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist!

I love these singing snowmen! I used a cute stamp from Unity Stamp Co called "A Caroling we Go" and watercolored with my Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Aquarelle pencils and some Distress Markers. I used Archival Black Ink on watercolor paper so the stamped image doesn't smudge while I'm coloring.

Jill Foster's Tag

I finished the tag with some Glossy Accents on the lamp post and the hand bell. And of course I added a healthy serving of Stickles on the snow :)

WINNER TIME!

I used Random Number Generator to select my two winners. Random.org picked my blog posts for Days 5 and 12... 

So my winner from DAY 5 is.... JENNIFER MITTEN! CONGRATS!

So my winner from DAY 12 is.... SHARTLE! CONGRATS!

Please email me at rwkrafts(at)gmail(dot)com with your shipping address and I'll get your goodies out ASAP! 

Thank you to everyone who left such fun comments over the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration... don't worry, I still have PLENTY of stuff to give away so stay on the look out! ;)

<3 Rachel

Peace Tag

Popping in with a quick late night post to share a holiday gift tag and a reminder for prrriiizzzesss!!

I'm always a huge fan of Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags with a Feminine Twist! I've already made two inspired tags, and today I'm sharing one more (and another tomorrow!).

I immediately fell in love with the tag by Dawn Woleslagle. The black, white, and gold was heart stopping! 

Dawn's Tag

I cut out the heat embossing part and found a lovely striped paper from My Mind's Eye 'Marketstreet' collection, so I used that for the base of my tag. I did a coat of Wink of Stella over the gold stripes to make them shimmer. I die cut the snowflake and peace from DCWV Foil paper in gold and silver.

Ok now quick reminders! Make sure you check out THIS POST for a list of all of my 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration. Then leave comments to enter for a chance to win a BOX FULL of amazing prizes!! I'm picking winners tomorrow afternoon!

<3 Rachel

Psychedelic Reindeer Head (oh, yes) - Day 12

For the final day of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration I am excited to bring you.....

Something. Completely. Different.

This is a project that has taken a week to finish, but the time was well spent! I now have a funky psychedelic reindeer head as part of my Christmas decorations.

The base of this project is a fun new product from DCWV called DIY Wall Zoo which is available at Joann's. They have a variety of animal heads that you piece together with heavy duty cardboard. 

I coated the entire reindeer with Faber Castell Gesso. I knew I wanted to use spray inks to color my reindeer, so the coating of gesso can make the inks more vibrant. Above is a photo of my reindeer half sprayed. Many many MANY many many sprays were required :)

I used just about every color of Dylusions Spray Ink that I owned, especially the yellow, teal, lime, purple, orange, and hot pink. For the mount piece and the antlers I used a combination of Prima Bloom Sprays and then a layer of Dylusions. The Bloom inks leave a cool metallic finish. I also covered the base in Buffalo Snow/Glitter ... just because :)

This reindeer needed to get into the holiday spirit, and these little ornament earrings were the perfect addition. I couldn't stop laughing at it while I was taking these pictures (it's true, ask the hubs).

The dogs are sufficiently afraid of it...

So I think I'll keep it up for a little while longer :)

I hope you've enjoyed this 12 day inspiration event! I've had fun reading all of your comments and pushing myself to make something new each day. Below I'm sharing the links of each day of my hop. Remember to leave comments for a chance to win a huge prize box (a ton of DCWV, among other things!)

DAY 1 - Hand Painted Ornaments

DAY 2 - Advent Calendar (and Video)

DAY 3 - Merry and Bright Tag

DAY 4 - Winter Foxes Card

DAY 5 - Joy Love Peace Card

DAY 6 - Snowy Scenery Card

DAY 7 - Snowy Yeti Card

DAY 8 - Joyful Reindeer Tag

DAY 9 - Make Magnets with your Stamps

DAY 10 - 2013 December Daily (and Video)

DAY 11 - Solid Cardstock Card

DAY 12 - You are here ;)

TWO BOXES FULL OF PRIZES!

PRIZES! I NEED TO GET RID OF ALL THIS STUFF IN THAT PHOTO! SOME OF IT CAN BE YOURS! As part of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration Event, I will be giving away a SWAG BOX of fun goodies to a lucky commenter! Comment on all 12 days to increase you chance of winning. And I PROMISE it will be PACKED with crafty goodness... I'm in the holiday giving spirit after all! ;) PRIZE UPDATE! I WILL BE GIVING AWAY TWO (2!) HUGE PRIZE BOXES! Thank you guys for all your sweet comments throughout this event!!!

I will announce my lucky winners on Monday! Now hop along to all the other talented blogs!

Donna Bowman 

Rachel Kleinman (that's me!)

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb 

Jennifer Cuthbertson 

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Solid Cardstock Christmas Card - Day 11

Welcome to Day 11 of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by "The Inspiration Crew"! We’re just a group of online crafty blog friends who love being creative. This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with tons of Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog. 

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

My card for today focuses on the versatility of solid colored cardstock. Not a single pattern paper was used today, folks! Plus, every piece of cardstock here (except the card base) came from DCWV Christmas and Winter Mat Stack. Just one mat stack necessary for this adorable winter scene :)

I used Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hills Die' for the snow and Simon Says Stamp 'Village Die' for the adorable houses and trees. The sentiment is also die cut from DCWV red glitter paper (included in the mat stack!) from Papertrey Ink's Wet Paint collection. I even paper pieced that adorable Lawn Fawn Winter Penguin and gave him a blinged out scarf and skates :)

The background uses Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Whipped Spackle with the Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' stencil. I applied some clear Wink of Stella glitter to every little drop of snow, the trees, and the penguin. To finish the scene, I added Liquid Applique to the roof tops. I'm linking this card up with the current Simon Says Stamp challenge - Bling!

PRIZES! I NEED TO GET RID OF ALL THIS STUFF IN THAT PHOTO! SOME OF IT CAN BE YOURS! As part of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration Event, I will be giving away a SWAG BOX of fun goodies to a lucky commenter! Comment on all 12 days to increase you chance of winning. And I PROMISE it will be PACKED with crafty goodness... I'm in the holiday giving spirit after all! ;) PRIZE UPDATE! I WILL BE GIVING AWAY TWO (2!) HUGE PRIZE BOXES! Thank you guys for all your sweet comments throughout this event!!!

HELP ME GET RID OF ALL THIS BRAND NEW STUFF!

Donna Bowman 

Rachel Kleinman (that's me!)

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb 

Jennifer Cuthbertson 

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck