happy new year!

Hello my WONDERFUL friends, and HAPPY new year!

(Trust Your Soul)

I'm so excited to be a part of today's blog hop! Not only is the WHOLE Unity team part of the party, Unity is also participating in the Season's of Giving hop. Yay! SUPER AWESOME!

So what does that mean for you?

Prizes and a fabulous sale happening NOW at Unity!

The new year gives us a chance to both make a fresh start, and look back on the past year to see how far we have come... For me, this year has been a year of discovery, growth, and learning who I am. I still have a long journey ahead of me to get me where I want to be, but as I looked back on the past year, and ahead to the year to come, I wanted to remind myself what I have learned. 

I LOVE this lace stamp! SO pretty!!!

The lace, butterflies, and the little vine border under the photo ALL come from January's new KOM "Magic of Beginnings"

The quote on the photograph is from December's KOM Warmth of Winter.

*tip: you can use ink designed for non-porous surfaces like StazOn, or acrylic paint to stamp directly on photographs!

There are also some textures worked into the background using December's SMAK "Moments Like These" and Beautiful Elements (love these both!)

The butterflies are stamped on acetate and colored with alcohol inks on the back... 

*tip: Use a little bit of Ranger's Snow Cap alcohol ink mixed in with your color to make it more opaque.

And, for those who are familiar with my blog... you know I love sharing tutorials... SO...

(Every Breath)

Today I wanted to walk you through a fun technique that leaves your stamped images with a very unique look!

Step 1: Stamp your image on a piece of clear plastic acetate using a permanent ink designed for nonporous surfaces... Like StazOn.

Step 2: If you want to add some color, simply flip the plastic over and color with alcohol based markers... Make sure you are coloring on the back..otherwise you will just smear your lines.

Step 3: Spray the BACK of your image with spray adhesive...

This is what I used. 

Step 4: crinkle up some silver leafing and firmly press it onto the spray glue. (this is DIFFERENT from tin foil... this is a THIN metal leafing.)

All the extra leafing that is hanging off the edges can be collected and used in another project. No waste!

The end result is this beautiful metallic image. And yes, it can be die cut after it's all finished!

*Tip 1: I highly suggest having a lint roller handy. Tiny pieces of leafing like to get all over. A lint roller cleans things up quickly

*Tip 2: this is also fun to do with pictures (that's how I learned this technique originally) simply print the picture on acetate and follow the same steps to add leafing!

Have a fabulous day, and a magnificent new year!

Enjoy!

~Kassi