Full of Beauty

This week's Tuesday Trigger on the Moxie Fab World blog is this gorgeous photo:

Pleasing Palette from Country Home

I just got some brand new stampy goodness from Unity (thank you Angela!!) and thought that this set, Moments in Bloom would work well for the challenge.  I love the colors in the photo so I used those and the "nature" theme as my inspiration. 

I started with a piece of Naturals cardstock and stamped it with Distressed Dots from Unity using Marigold Morning ink.  I started at the bottom laying the ink on very heavy and lightened it as I went up the card, stamping off at the very top part.  I stamped the ledger image on Aqua Mist cardstock using Aqua Mist ink and then stamped the fern image several times (stamping off for the lighter ones) using New Leaf ink. 

The flowers are those fun, layered and crumpled flowers seen all over stampland these days.  They could be roses, right? *wink*   I inked the edges of the darker one with white ink and the smaller one with Berry Sorbet ink and added Blush pearls to the center of both.  I hand cut the leaves and crumpled them up before adding them behind the flowers.

It may look black, but the dark layer beneath the main image as well as the sentiment are both Smoky Shadow - a nice charcoal gray.   I probably would not have found this color combo on my own but I love how this one feels! 

Thanks for checking in today friends!  Have a great weekend!

Cardstock: Naturals White, Garden Green (SU!), Aqua Mist, Smoky Shadow, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush) (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Moments in Bloom, Distressed Dots (Unity Stamp Co.), Ink: Berry Sorbet, Fresh Snow, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Smoky Shadow (Papertrey Ink), Marigold Morning (SU!), Accessories:  Pearls (Kaiser), Tools: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Finished Cards Size: 5" square

Salt Challenge: God With Us

I finally finished my Salt Challenge - never having more than a few minutes at any one time to work on it really dragged the process out!

Please take a minute to read Pauline's write-up on the Salt blog.  This week's theme is "God with us" taken from Isaiah 7:14 " a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel."  I love this stamp from Unity called Prince of Peace, which includes the names for Christ as given in Isaiah 9:6, it seemed perfect for my ATC!

I'll just leave you with a link to another one of my favorite songs from Michael Card - it's most appropriate.

Immanuel

Have a great weekend!

Cardstock:  Riding Hod Red (SU!), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Merry Wishes (Daisy Bucket Designs), Stamps: Prince of Peace (Unity Stamps), sentiment fro Take a Bough (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Black (Memento), Riding Hood Red (SU!), Accessories: Paper ribbon (Daisy Bucket Designs), foam adhesive, Copic markers, Nestabilities, Distress Stickles (Ranger)

Ahoy!

Today I'm sharing another card I made for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on SCS. This one is for KristieLee's Clearly Creative challenge - to use clear cardstock. I don't use it enough - but funny I've used it twice this week! :)

The cute little boat is an image from Unity Stamps, Beach Days and Sun Rays set - cute!!

The waves were made with scalloped Nestabilities - just the part that you usually throw away! :) On the inside I added the sentiment from a Papertrey Ink set, Bitty Baby Blessings. I drew a blue border around the edge with a Copic marker and a thinner yellow border with a Spica pen and made sure that the inside panel was bigger than the outside one so that you could see the border through the front.

Come back tomorrow for another Prettie Peek! Thanks for stopping by!

Cardstock: Clear, Lemon Tart, White (Papertrey Ink), Blue (Bazzill), Stamps: Beach Days and Sun Rays (Unity Stamps), sentiment from Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Ribbon (Martha Stewart), Copic markers, Spica Pen, Nestabilities

Altered Notebook

Happy Friday! I never got around to posting yesterday and I still and working on something new but I found a project that I never got to share here. Several months ago I had the pleasure of hosting a VSN (virtual stamping night) challenge on SCS. As part of being a hostess you have the opportunity to participate in a Secret Sister exchange with one of the other hostesses. We were to send 2 cards over the course of the 2 months before VSN and then a small package of goodies by the actual event.

As part of the package I sent to my SS, I altered this notebook I had picked up on Michaels quite a while ago. I just love these American Craft papers and they worked so nicely with the pretty stamps from Unity Stamps!

Since the notebook was already red, it really was a quite and easy project - wouldn't you love a cute notebook like this to use for all your lists? I need to make one for myself! :) I just leave you with a couple different views of the finished project.

Have a great day my friends!

Unity's HUGE Blog Hop!!

Welcome to my blog and the "World Record Inspirational Unity Blog Hop!!" Remember the Blog Hop starts HERE and you should be arriving from the sweet and ultra-talented Keri Lee Sereika's blog.

What a fun day! My card today uses my brand new set Eco Chic - I won it last weekend at Stamp New England - Wooo Hooo!!

Angela asked us to share a favorite quote. This is from a song I was listening to a few days ago (sorry I don't have the credits). It's pointing out what is really important in life ". . . it's not who you knew and it's not what you did, it's how you lived."

Wow! I'm honored to send you to the next stop on the hop - Daniela Dobson!! You won't want to miss this - she is fabulous!!! Have a Hip Hoppin' Day!!

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), Tango Tangerine, Watercolor paper (SU!), Patterned Paper: Bloom & Grow (My Mind's Eye), Stamps: Eco Chic (Unity), Ink: Stazon, Accessories: Rub-on (Making Memories), Buttons (Foo Fa La), Corner Rounder Punch, sewing machine, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Water pen, Linen thread

Everything Beautiful

Just a quick little card I forgot to share here. I made this for one of Cath's Moxie Fab challenges - All Dressed Up . . . . You were to be inspired by one of the fun dresses Cath found and make a card using that inspiration. I was mostly inspired by the color schemes and made this little black & white number using some Unity Stamps. The background paper was made using a little viney stamp from one of the Kit of the Months and the sentiment is from the Unity set Something Within. I stamped the vines and embossed them with black ep to make them stand out more. I also embossed the scripture verse. A little pop of hot pink and some crystals finished up this card!

Thanks for visiting!! If you are attending Stamp New England '09 be sure to check out the blog to meet one of our fabulous instructors!! :)

First VSN Challenge - Friday Flirtation

Good evening!! Laaate post today but I wanted to remind you to join me for Virtual Stamping Night (VSN) tomorrow on Splitcoaststampers - The Crush! Today was the first challenge - the Friday Flirtation (aren't these cute titles the coordinators came up with!?!).

Frances (StampOwl) is the hostess and she came up with the cutest challenge - seen here - to make a Scrapling. I saw these about a month ago and just love making them! Since they are so small (1.25 x 4.25) they're pretty quick and you can use all those little scraps you've been saving.

I made my little Scrapling using a stamp from a Unity KOTM. I just stamped it, colored it, added a bit of bling and done! I made several of these at Christmas and used them as gift tags!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! Remember The Crush starts 12 noon EST here in the VSN Forum! See you there! :)

Cardstock: White (GP), Designer Paper: Daisy Buckets, Stamps: Unity KOTM, Ink: Cool Caribbean, Accessories: Nestabilities, ribbon, Copic Markers, Glitter (MS)

Sweet P's

Here's another card I got to make on New Year's Eve when I was stamping away with Christie (virtually that is). The challenge was The 7 P's - sounded like fun so I gave it a try!! I even got all 7 p's in there: Piercing, Patterned Paper (Scenic Route), Paper Piecing, Polka-Dot (dp), Pink, Punches (ovals), Pop-Dots (the red cupcake is popped up).

The cupcake stamp is from Unity - part of the Kit of the Month last month and the sentiment is from Cupcakes A'la Yummy.

Thanks for visiting today! :)

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Real Red, WW (SU!)
Patterned Paper: Loveland (Scenic Route)
Stamps: December KOTM, Hey Cupcake (Unity Stamps)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Real Red (SU!)
Accessories: Red rick rack, white & red brads (Pink Hedgehog), Oval Punches (SU!), Nestabilities, Paper Piercer, Red Glitter (MS), Crystal Effects (SU!), Copic Markers

Baby It's Cold!

Happy Day After Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful day!! We had a busy day but it was filled with family, food and fun - what could be better!! :)

Just a quick post with a little card I made to a challenge on the Moxie Fab World blog last week. The challenge was to make a holiday card with either an owl, deer or mushrooms. This cute little deer is from one of the Unity Stamps Kits of the Month. The dp and rubons are from October Afternoon. As almost an afterthought I added the red Swarovski crystal to his nose . . . I just love him! :)

Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Vanilla (Papertrey Ink)
DP: Good Cheer (October Afternoon)
Stamps: Unity Stamps
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Rubons (October Afternoon), Swarovski crystal, lace (Pink Paislee), Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Nestabilities, Dimensionals

Can I say . . . Hip Hop?!

I've been a busy little stamper and have more cards to share! :) Since it's the day after the Hip Hop at Unity - I thought I'd share a few Unity cards I've made recently!

First, this week's Color Challenge on SCS was Real Red, Basic Black and Kraft - love it!! I had to pull out my new Bright Snow stamp and try it on a card (remember the wreath I made for SIWL using this stamps?). I also wanted to use Do Not Open - such a fun little stamp and it was perfect to make a tag with! I added some scored lines above and below the snow, a few crystals to the snowflakes, some fun ribbon and called it good!

Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Kraft (SU!) Stamps: Bright Snow, Do Not Open (Unity Stamps) Ink: White Craft (SU!), Tuxedo Black (Memento), Real Red (SU!) Accessories: Nestabilities, Scor-Pal, Ribbon (American Crafts), Baker's Twine (Say It With Letters), Swarovski crystals

Next is a card I made for VSN on SCS (that's Virtual Stamping Night on Splitcoaststampers) last weekend. Sure I had a million things to do but I did have fun sneaking in a few challenges!
I made this card for the Standing In the Spotlight challenge - to make a card using the spotlighting technique. I used a fairly new stamp called Prince of Peace from Unity. In case it's hard to see, I embossed the image using gold ep and then colored the spotlighted area using Copic markers.

Cardstock: Gold, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue (SU!), white (GP) Patterned Paper: SU!- retired Stamps: Prince of Peace (Unity Stamps) Ink: Gold Metallic (Encore) Accessories: Gold ep (SU!), Blue taffeta ribbon (SU!), Brads, Nestabilities, White gel pen, Dimensionals, Copic markers

One last card, this was for one of last week's Hip Hop challenges, Oh Just Cut It Out! The challenge was to have something cut out and popped up with foam tape on your card. This was a super fast card! I embossed an area with a rectangle Nestabilities, masked it off and stamped Distressed Dots over the whole card. I then stamped the little pumpkins 3 times - once on the card and twice on a scrap - colored, cut out and layered them on the card.

Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: pumpkins from October KOTM, sentiment from September KOTM (Unity Stamps), Distressed Dots (Unity Stamps)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Sahara Sand (SU!)
Accessories: Dimensionals, Prismacolor pencils, Linen Thread, Nestabilities

Have a great weekend! :)

It's Beginning to Look . . .

a lot like Christmas . . . !! This is my very first Design Team post for Say It With Letters!! When I got home from the cruise (I know, will I ever post some pics already??) I had a fun package waiting for me - the dog had even opened it for me - let's just say I'm so glad it was a pretty MDF shape instead of pretty paper or stamps! LOL!

I thought about several different options for this pretty Christmas Wreath but here's what I came up with. I started by painting a base coat, adding some crackle medium and then painting a white top coat. What a cool thing that crackle medium is! Then I took my brand new Bright Snow stamp from Unity Stamp Company and stamped it repeatedly (with the help of my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig) on the wreath with Versamark. I used Heat & Stick powder to add the red glitter (heat the Heat & Stick, sprinkle on the glitter and heat again). I LOVE the look! It reminds me of those warm fuzzy Fair Isle sweaters, you know the ones? (it was very hard to capture a good picture of how pretty the glitter really is!).

To finish it, I made a bow with some yummy green velvet ribbon and gold wired berries I found in my Christmas stash. It didn't need too much "stuff" kwim? :)

This project was soooooo fast and easy! Wouldn't it make a great early Christmas gift?!

One more little tidbit . . . while I was away Deb added a few fun shapes and kits in the Say It With Letters Etsy store. Can I share one with you that is near and dear to me? Check out this cute little guy!! My very first shape design!! I'm so excited to actually see it - whoooo doesn't love owls (sorry about that!)!! I hope you love him and maybe even add him to your collection! :) I'd love to see what you make with him so be sure to send me a picture!!

Shape: Wreath (Say It With Letters)
Stamps: Bright Snow (Unity Stamp Company)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: White paint, Crackle Medium, Red Glitter (Martha Steward), Velvet Ribbon, Gold wired berries

Have a great weekend!!

Mellow Monday

Happy Monday! This is the first of a few scheduled posts I have for you while I'm stamping & cruising all this week.

Today, I wanted to share another fun Unity card I made a couple of weeks ago for one of their Hip Hop Thursday challenges. The challenge was to make a masculine card. Since I had just gotten my September kit of the month I used the small line of trees stamps - LOVE it!! I also dug out a very old SU! background stamp, Stripes for this card. I did have this up for sale, but now I think I love it again - I think it's totally "coming back!" LOL! Anyway, as you can see, I paper pieced each tree using Basic Grey's Mellow line. The rest is pretty straight forward.
Thanks for visiting! :)

Cardstock: Really Rust (SU!), Green (Bazzill), White (GP), Patterned Paper: Mellow (Basic Grey), Stamps: Sept. KOTM (Unity Stamps), It's a Celebration - sentiment (Papertrey Ink), Stripes background (SU!) Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Accessories: Antique Copper brads, Linen thread, Nestabilities, paper piercer

Happy Monday!

It's Monday again, can you believe it?! I have such a busy week so I'm going to try to make these short & sweet and I may be posting a bit sporadically for the next couple of week.

I have a few cards to share today using my new Unity stamp. They have some awesome stamps and I just love the new scripture stamps (here and here) they have recently added. These 2 cards are ones I made using the September kit of the month (which unfortunately is no longer available).

This first card was made for a Unity Challenge - to make a non-A2 card. My card is 4.25 square and I also used the Color Challenge from 2 weeks ago (hosted by my fellow Prettie Girl Jodi - yea!!). I love this bare, swirly tree but I wanted to try and change the look a bit so I used a reverse masking technique and sponged the green onto it - very cool!

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Bali Breeze (SU!), Patterned Paper: County Fair (October Afternoon), Stamps: Sept. KOM (Unity), Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Chocolate Chip Craft, Accessories: Clear ep, Nestabilities, Paper Piercer, Brad (Target), Swirly embossing folder, sponge, Copic Markers,

The second card uses another image in the September kit and was for another challenge, to use sewing on your card. The card is pretty simple in design but I love the stamp! I still have a hard time sewing in non-straight lines - any tips? The little scalloped corner detail is another stamp from the kit that I cut out and added brads to before adding it to my card.

Cardstock: Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: County Fair (October Afternoon), Stamps: September KOM (Unity), Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Not Quite Navy (SU!), Accessories: Dark Chocolate twill (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Vanilla brads, sewing machine

Have a great week everyone! :)

Move Mountains

Hello again friends! I hope you all had a good weekend and that you were able to do some things you love! I was so happy to participate in World Card Making Day even in a small way - thank you so much to the ladies who participated in my challenge!! The winner will be announced SOON!! :)

Quick card today . . . I participated in a challenge (actually 2) for Unity Stamp's Hip Hop Thursday - one was sketch, the other was to use quotes on a card. I combined the 2 and came up with this - I just love this stamp and hope they will do more scripture like this! Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Bordering Blue, WW (SU!), Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages, Costco stack, Stamps: Move Mountains (Unity Stamp Company), Linen background (SU!) Ink: Rich Cocoa, Desert Sadn (Memento),Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets, Corner Rounder punch (SU!), ribbon (May Arts)

Cupcake Friday

TGIF! I had a chance last week to play along with Taylored Expression's Cupcake Challenge (which also happened to be the release day of her own line of stamps - super cute!!). Taylor comes up with some great sketches and it was a fun chance to play with my Cupcake A'La Yummy set from Unity Stamps!

I think I said this already but I am really liking Kiwi Kiss. It's a fun shade of green and it matched perfectly with my dp - which is of course, October Afternoon!! :) The Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder is just fun - I think I'll be using that a lot!

I'll keep this short today but remember to check out this post for a chance at blog candy! I'm off for a fun time today meeting my fellow Prettie Girl and stamper extraordinare Jodi who is in Maine for the weekend - how fun!! Have a great weekend all!!

Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss (SU!), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stamps: Cupcake A'La Yummy (Unity Stamps), Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Accessories: Brads (Queen & Co.), Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, Ribbon (Target)

Bonus Sketch #3

Good morning!! Today I'm sharing my card for the Page Plans Bonus Sketch #3. I picked up another Unity Stamp when I bought the cupcake set - this beautiful verse stamp entitled Move Mountains.

I used a digi download, Bright Colorful Brackets that I bought a few months ago from Shabby Miss Jenn Designs. Aren't they fun?! I love that I can change their size to meet my needs. I also changed the color, making it a bit creamier, by adding a color overlay in Photoshop.

Once I printed, cut out and stamped my sentiment on the bracket, I added a bit of ink around the edges to dirty it up just a tad. The paper is some fun Pink Paislee Spring Fling - love the colors!

Thanks for coming and visiting today! Thank you also for the nice messages about my Honorable Mention on Nichole's blog - what a fun little surprise that was! Go take a look at all the projects Nichole highlighted, they are amazing!! Have a great day! :)

Cardstock: Brown (Bazzill), Canon Matte Photopaper, Patterned Paper: Spring Fling (Pink Paislee), Stamps: Move Mountains (Unity Stamp Company), Ink: Rich Cocoa, Bamboo Leaves (Memento), Accessories: brads, flower buckle (We R Memory Keepers), Lace (Melissa Frances), Prismacolor pencils, corner rounder punch

A Yummy Sketch

It's Sunday and time for a new sketch from Page Plans. I recently broke down and bought some cute new stamps from Unity Stamp Company. I had seen them at CHA in February and with all the cute cards I've seen lately . . . it just was time! :) This adorable Cupakes A'La Yummy set could not be passed up - it's my first cupcake set!

I hope you're not getting tired of seeing this yummy October Afternoon paper?! It's just so much fun to work with. I cannot wait to get my hands on some of the new lines!

I did a little masking so that I could stack up these 3 cute cupcakes from the set. They are colored with Prismacolor pencils and there is a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Crystal Effects added to the top cupcake for that something special! And how cute is the little Spellbinders Ribbon slide? I'll be using those a ton I'm sure! ;)

Thanks for stopping in today - be sure to pop over to Page Plans to see the projects from their design team and to give one of the sketches a try!!

Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stamps: Cupcakes A'La Yummy (Unity Stamps), Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento), Accessories: Ribbon Slides Shapabilities (Spellbinders), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Crystal Effects (SU!), Prismacolor pencils, Ribbon (American Crafts), Brads (Making Memories)