Inkfully Yours . . .

For a dear friend . . .

2009-11-07T09:47:00.002-05:00

I made this card for a dear friend of mine who celebrated a birthday yesterday. It uses the Mojo Monday sketch for this week (Mojo111). I wanted to create something that would fit her personality perfectly. She loves flowers and the color purple so I decided to use some of my PTI goodies to create this beauty. The flower and leaves are from the In Bloom stamp set, the script is from the Background Basics: Text Style stamp set, and the sentiment is from the CHA Exclusive Floral Fusion stamp set. I also used PTI inks, cardstock, ribbons, and buttons in the colors of Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Ripe Avocado, and Vintage Cream. The patterned paper is also from the Green Tea Leaves collection from PTI. I did some machine sewing around the edges, used some Nestabilities dies to mat the flower, and a SU! punch for the sentiment. The flower was colored using Copic markers and has a second layer popped up on dimensionals. My friend really enjoyed this card and I hope you do too . . . *wink*

Things that go bump in the night . . .

2009-10-14T16:14:00.002-04:00

I'm back with my last project featuring the Doodle Factory Costume Party stamp set from Starving Artistamps. I have really had a lot of fun creating with these little guys over the past few weeks! This little werewolf is out for a spooky night on the town. I colored his using Copic markers and paired him with some My Minds Eye patterned paper and some fun ribbons. Again I added distressing for an aged look. The sentiment is from the Halloween Sentiments stamp set which is also available from Starving Artistamps. I hope you have enjoyed all my Costume Party projects and that my creations have helped to get you in the Halloween mood! It almost time for Trick or Treat!!! *wink*

Happy Halloween . . .

2009-10-13T15:30:00.002-04:00

As promised, here is another fun card made using the new Doodle Factory Costume Party stamp set from Starving Artistamps. I just adore this little vampire! I am a huge fan of the Twilight series. Do you think this is what Edward might have looked like as a kid??? :) I thought I would pair this little gut with some Basic Grey paper from the Eerie collection. I love all the purple! I colored my image using Copic markers before matting it onto the lavender circle. I distressed the patterned paper panels and added some brads and ribbon to spice things up. The sentiment is from the Halloween Sentiments set, also available from Starving Artistamps. I have one more spooky card to share with you this week so be sure to check back soon . . . *wink*

Trick or Treat . . .

2009-10-12T16:27:00.003-04:00

I'm back with another project featuring the Doodle Factory Costume Party stamp set from Starving Artistamps. I knew I wanted to do a group shot of the little Trick or Treaters. I found this cute paper at Target in the $1 Spot. I used my Copic markers to color in the cowboy, kitty, and clown. The card and frame were cut using my Curved Rectangle Nestabilities. The treat bags, the frame, and the banner are all popped up on dimensionals to add some texture. The sentiment is from the Halloween Sentiments set, also available from Starving Artistamps. I hope these little guys are getting you in the mood for Halloween. Be back soon with another fun project . . . *wink*

Boo again . . .

2009-10-07T16:30:00.003-04:00

I'm back with another creation featuring the Doodle Factory Costume Party stamp set from Starving Artistamps. I have been having so much fun playing with these little guys!!! I really wanted to showcase the versatility of these images so I decided to whip up this little banner for some home decor. Isn't it adorable??? These stamps are great for so much more than just cards! I cut the pennant shapes out of chipboard and covered them in some patterned paper from My Minds Eye. I added some trim cut with pinking shears and chipboard letters covered in more patterned paper and glitter. Then I colored my Costume Party images using Copic markers, cut them out and popped them up on dimensonals. I added some ribbon and that's about it. Easy peasy and oh so festive! Don't forget to peek back in for more spooky creations soon!!! Happy Halloween!!! *wink*

{BOO}

2009-10-01T16:36:00.003-04:00

Happy October!!! Here is a fun little card with my new Doodle Factory Costume Party stamps from Starving Artistamps. I love this *adorable* little ghost! I colored him and the cute little treat bucket in using my Copic markers. I thought this fun KI Memories paper would work well for this card. I roughed up the edges a little and added some black ink for a more distressed look. The sentiment is from the Trick or Treat sentiments set and was punched out using the SU! Modern Label punch. I also added a brad and some ribbon as a finishing touch. Be on the lookout for more fun creations soon featuring the Doodle Factory Costume Party stamp set from Starving Artistamps. Happy Halloween!!! *wink*

hIp hOp {hAnGoVeR} !!!

2009-08-07T08:15:00.009-04:00

It's Friday! Time for another HHH hop!!! Today I have quite a few things to share so I will try to keep the chatting to a minimum. I had some girlfriends over yesterday for a day of scrapping and stamping and I ended up using all Unity stamps! We had so much fun that we are going to do it again today too so I need to post and run . . .

My first card I made for yesterday's Hip Hop challenge to use images found in the Great Outdoors. I grabbed my Tiny Giggle Grove stamp set and paired it with this yummy K & Co. patterned paper I just picked up from Michaels. It is a man tree and a lady tree and they are a "perfect pair"! Cute, huh?

My next card features the August Store Kit, 100% Happy and the new Tag It alpha. It was made for yesterday's Hip Hop challenge to use at least 3 buttons on our project. Not sure why this looks like a 4th of July card to me but it is supposed to be for a military promotion if that makes sense. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to use buttons as my "bingo chips" and I love the vintage look!

This card was made for the August Guest Designer challenge. We were to use the June or July KOTM. It is a 1, 2, 3 challenge. We were allowed only one stamp image (although we could use it repeatedly), two patterned papers, and three embellishments. I thought it would be fun to use this happy banner from the June KOTM. The center image is colored and cut out, then popped up on dimensionals. My patterned papers are from Cosmo Cricket (grid) and Papertrey Ink (bitty dots). My embellishments are the ribbon and button from PTI and the "birthday" rubon from SU!

I also had an opportunity to scrap yesterday so I finished up this page, the fourth in a series, from our cruise last summer. I used SU! Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss cardstock and Making Memories Travel collection patterned paper, chipboard buttons and paper flowers. The four corner circles were stamped with images from the Time for Travel stamp set. I added a bit of ribbon from Michaels to accent the photo as well.

The last thing I have to share with you today is a page I made celebrating my daughter's (and out family's) love of books. I used SU! black cs as my base and added some Bo Bunny patterned paper. I used stamps from the customer kit Hodgepodge of Happiness colored using Copic markers. Both the tiny letter stickers and the corkboard sticker are from Making Memories. I popped the photos up on dimensionals and added the little bookmark and buttons as accents.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the rest of your Hop!!! *wink*

A few more Artisan Award projects . . .

2009-07-28T12:05:00.005-04:00

Well, I am digging into the vault today. I realized that I still have not shared all of my Artisan Award projects here and today seems like as good a day as any. So without further adieu here are my 3D projects. The first is a jewelry box that I made from an altered Accents & Elements tin. I covered it with some patterned paper and added a Top Note cut piece that I stamped and embossed with the Upsy Daisy stamp set. I also added a Pretties Kit daisy and some Flower Fusion felt flowers with a clear rhinestone brad center. On the inside I covered the lid with more patterned paper and made a divided insert from cardstock covered in patterned paper. In the top section is a bracelet I made using Build-a-Brads and circle rhinestone brads. The bottom section holds a necklace I made from a piece of Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. I embossed an image from Sweet Stems onto a Designer Label punched piece of patterned paper and covered it with Crystal Effects. I also added a few felt flowers with a clear rhinestone brad center to the top.

The other 3D item I made was a butterfly mobile/wall hanging using the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die. This didn't really turn out as well as I had hoped and I had a really hard time photographing it but I will share anyway. I used Tea Party patterned paper and acetate for my butterflies. On the acatate layers I added mini glue dots and covered them in glitter. The large top butterfly is actually cut from chipboard for stability and has So Saffron antennae and a Pretty in Pink ribbon body with a Button Latte button head. Whisper White taffeta ribbon creates the antennae and bodies for the smaller butterflies and ties everything together. It was really pretty and sparkly in real life but hard to see in the photo. I will try to remember to share my Artisan Award cards soon. Don't forget to check back . . . *wink*

A is for Apple . . .

2009-07-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Hiya! Happy HHH Day everyone!!! I had limited stamping time yesterday so I had to make the best of it and combine the challenges. So I made sure to use both a circle and rectangle shape on my page and did some stamping with a line image without coloring in or paper piecing. This photo of my daughter was taken after one of her Kindergarten performances a few years back. I tweaked the coloring of the photo a bit to emphasize the flower. Cs colors are Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla and the patterned paper is by Imaginesience. The apple stamp and sentiment are from the new Unity Stamp Co. customer kit, Hodgepodge of Happiness. Love, love, love this kit!!! I did lots of distressing and used several pop dots for dimension. Just a sweet, simple page! Hope you enjoy the rest of your hop!!!

Sharing some Stampin' Up! . . .

2009-07-20T09:32:00.003-04:00

I thought I would finally share of the Stampin' Up! goodies I have been referring to for awhile now with you. These are swaps I made for the New Catty Preview swap with the N.M.B.S. group girlies. For the square cardfront group I signed up to use Circle Circus and decided to feature the new In Colors in a little card set. They are Crushed Curry (yellow), Dusty Durango (orange), Melon Mambo (pink), Rich Razzleberry (purple), and Bermuda Bay (blue). The center circle was popped up using dimensionals, as is the main image panel. I also added some accents using the new Modern Label punch for my sentiment and Filigree designer brads (with a vintage black center). I think they turned out simply fabulous!

This next card features the Lovely Lines level 3 hostess bundle. I stamped the flower and stem images in Versamark ink and then heat embossed them using Whisper White detail ep. Next I watercolored the images using Melon Mambo and Old Olive inks and an aquapainter. I distressed the main panel using my cutter kit and popped it up on dimensionals over the Rich Razzleberry card base and decorative strip using the coordinating patterned paper and my scallop edge punch. For the sentiment I inked it with markers and used the large oval and scallop oval punches. I like the soft and pretty look of this card. And, believe it or not these are the only two things I have made using my new SU! products thus far. I have yet to place my official new catty order but I am looking to do that soon. In other news, I am really looking forward to going to the CHA Super Show here in less than two weeks!!! Will I see you there? Drop me a line and let me know . . . *wink*

It's Friday! Happy HHH!!!

2009-07-17T10:00:00.004-04:00

Hiya! I'm back with my Unity Hip Hop Challenge creations for this week!!! I had so much fun stamping these yesterday after a busy week of anything but stamping it seems. My first card was for the Crinkle It! challenge. We were asked to take our paper, crinkle it up and then add ink to highlight the high areas. I was inspired by the colors of these beautiful roses my husband brought home for me on Wednesday for our anniversary. I knew I wanted to create one of those handcut paper flowers that are so popular right now! I cut circles from PTI Summer Sunrise cs using my Nestabilities, crinkled them and added some Melon Berry and Pure Poppy ink. I added a few black vintage brads to the center to hold all the layers together. I thought this image from the CONFESSION: i {luv} unity kit would be a perfect match, along with this sentiment from the same kit. The circles were colored using Copic Markers and then cut out and popped up on dimensionals. This will be a thank you card for my sweet hubby. He is also taking me out to dinner and a movie tonight to celebrate . . .

My next card was made for the Fab 5 challenge, in which we were asked to make a card using five embellishments - no more, no less. My card also fits the SCS Sketch Challenge for this week. I adore this image from the June KOTM and had it on my desk after stamping a few for a dear friend of mine last week. I stamped the image and sentiment onto Very Vanilla cs and colored it in using Copic markers to match this adorable Cosmo Cricket patterned paper. The main image was cut out using my rectangle Nestabilities and is popped up on dimensionals. I added the 2 ribbon treatments to mirror the ties on the clothesline and 3 buttons on the lower right for balance. And, eek! I am so happy that this card was chosen as the winner for this challenge!!! It is my very first Hip Hop win!!!!! I have been working on a few other things but can never seem to get the time to post them. Hopefully that will happen sometime this week so be sure to check back soon . . . *wink*

Butterfly Dreams and it's Raining Flowers . . .

2009-07-10T10:00:00.001-04:00

It's Friday! Happy Hip Hop Hangover!!! I'm here to share my cards from yesterday's Hip Hop Challenges with you. The first challenge was to create a project with a black and white background. I have had this gorgeous Everlasting Romance background for awhile but it has never seen ink. I paired it with this Butterfly Beauty which I embossed in black on SU! Pumpkin Pie. The sentiment comes from the Birdie Inspiration kit and is matted using my SU! large and scallop oval punches. Both the butterfly and the sentiment panel are popped up on dimensionals. I added some orange rhinestone bling to the background and some black gingham ribbon as my embellishments. My daughter is already eyeing it since orange is her favorite color!

My next card was for the no squares challenge. I decided to make a scalloped circle card using my Nestabilities. I used PTI Vintage Cream cs as my base and patterned paper from the Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday collection for my background. The umbrella and sentiment are from the Rain & Flowers kit. The umbrella image was stamped onto some Cosmo Criket patterned paper, cut out, and popped us on dimensionals. I had these Rain Dots which I have never used before that I thought would be perfect for this card so I added some as my embellishments. This turned out simple and sweet, just the way I like it!!! Hope you enjoyed my projects this week! Happy hopping . . . *wink*

HHH: what's new? and sunshine for you . . .

2009-07-03T10:00:00.005-04:00

Hello there! I'm back again with another Unity Stamp Company Hip Hop Hangover post!!! I have been busy stamping this week! I *love* this Basic Grey Lemonade paper and cannot stop using it!!! I made these three cards for yesterday's What's New at Unity? Hip Hop Challenge. They also use this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I was just playing around with different images from the June KOTM and pairing them with the different paper patterns.

This next card was for the same challenge and uses the same paper, colors and stamps. It does feature a different layout however. This one is the Sketch Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers this week. Love all the circles! I am gonna use it for a scrapbook page too I think . . .
Lots of dimension on this one too. Gotta love the distressed edges and everything raised up a level!

My next card today was for yesterday's The Sun is Shining Challenge Hip Hop Challenge. I gotta say, I *love* how this turned out!!! So bright and summery! I was inspired by this Cosmo Cricket patterned paper to make a pinwheel (which is super easy!) and decided to pair it with this image from the November KOTM. The sentiment is also Unity, from the May KOTM.

Last but not least, here is a simple little number for the sunshine challenge featuring these beautiful flowers from the May KOTM. I originally started to make this one for a different challenge but it didn't quite fit. Love the spotlighting, the microbeads on the flower centers and the fun, romantic ribbon!!! Not quite sure what kit that "thanks" sentiment is from but I *do* know it is Unity! Well, that's all for today. I have been working on some projects for the Unity Guest Designer Challenge and I will be back to share those with you soon! Hope you are having a great summer!!! *wink*

Life is Sweet . . .

2009-06-28T14:44:00.004-04:00

Here I am again with this week's CAS Scrapbooking challenge! I *love* the sketch this week!!! This one came together pretty quickly. I was inspired by some paper I picked up yesterday at my LSS and thought it would accent this photo perfectly. I used my Marvy mega scalloped square punch to punch out pieces of the pretty Basic Grey patterned paper from the new Lemonade collection. I used PTI Raspberry Fizz cs for my base, SU! Kiwi Kiss cs to mat my photo, and PTI Aqua Mist cs for my title. The large cherry stamps are from the Unity June KOTM and the small cherry stamps are from a tiny Basic Grey stamp set. All the stamping was done in SU! retired Purely Pomegranate ink and the large cherries were colored in using Copic markers. The "life is" portion of the title is from the same tiny Basic Grey stamp set and the "sweet" stamp is from the Unity May KOTM. I really love how this page turned out! Thanks for another great layout, Jennifer!!!

The Morning After . . .

2009-06-26T10:08:00.004-04:00

Hiya! Yesterday was Hip Hop day at Unity Stamp Co and they issues a couple of fabu challenges. I actually had a chance to participate so I am sharing my creations here today. Both of my projects feature stamps from the June KOTM. The first challenge was to use the colors Pink and Green on your project. I pulled out this patterned paper from PTI and decided it would go nicely with the tea pot image. I stamped the image in PTI Berry Sorbet ink and colored it in using Copic markers. I wanted to put a little twist on my card so I made it into a teabag booklet. The button holds everything closed and inside there is a little pocket holding a teabag - too cute!

The next challenge was to create a project with a holiday theme in honor of yesterday's new release stamp set. I love, love, love this pear tree image and matching sentiment so I just had to use it here!!! I used Copic markers again to color in the image on PTI Vintage Cream cs. To add more of an aged look I dabbed my Chamomile tea dye ink pad all over the image panel and some PTI patterned paper. I then created a mat for my image using PTI Pure Poppy cs and my Fiskars Apron Lace border punch. I cut the patterned paper into strips and adhered it to the PTI Spring Moss card base. I hope you like the projects I had to share with you today! Enjoy the rest of your HHH Hop!!!

Artisan Award pages . . .

2009-06-23T15:28:00.008-04:00

So apparently we are allowed to post our non-winning Artisan Award entries now. I decided to enter the contest at the last minute, with no real hopes of winning but as a challenge to myself. I will admit to being a little disappointed at not getting that infamous call but there were many other talented stampers who also didn't win so I decided to forgo the pity party and just be happy with the projects I made. I thought I'd start with sharing the scrapbook pages I submitted. The first is a 12 x 12 page featuring my daughter's school picture from Kindergarten last year. I used patterned paper from the Hand Drawn hostess bundle and Baja Breeze Patterns collection. Colors are Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze and Whisper White. Stamps are from Define Your Life and Defining Alpha. I also used the spiral punch, chipboard brackets and clips assortment as accents and handwritten journaling.

For my next page I used an 11 x 8 1/2 orientation. These pictures of my daughter were taken at a playground set up during the Flower and Garden Festival in Epcot at Walt Disney World a few years ago. Stamps used are from the Trendy Trees set. Colors are Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip. I also incorporated some chipboard letters, machine stitching, and computer journaling.

My third page is 8 1/2 x 8 1/2. This photo of my daughter was taken when she was about two weeks old. I used patterned paper from the Sweet Slumber specialty ds collection. Colors are So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White. I stamped a sentiment from the Sweet Little Sentiments hostess set and embossed it in white. As accents I used buttons from the Button Bouquet and Button Latte collections and computer journaling. I loved this page so much that I attempted a similar version for a Unity Stamp company challenge a few months back. I will peek in soon to share with you the cards and 3D projects I entered in the Artisan Award contest soon. Thanks for stopping by . . . *wink*

CAS again . . .

2009-06-18T13:01:00.003-04:00

I'm back with this week's CAS Scrapbooking Challenge. I love the sketch that Jennifer provided for us to work with. So much so that I actually flipped it and used it to make-up last week's "anything goes" challenge. For both pages I used the Tropical Travel collection by Making Memories. The cs I used is Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo, the new 2009-2010 In Colors from SU! I also used some American Crafts ribbon to create my borders. These pictures of my daughter were taken last summer on our Disney Cruise. Do you think it has taken me long enough to scrap them??? I am hoping to be able to complete a few more pages for our vacation album this summer. Wish me luck . . . *wink*

It's summer . . .

2009-06-16T13:26:00.002-04:00

Well, you may have noticed that things have gotten a tad quiet here lately. School is out and for me that means that summer is in full swing. I am hoping that will give me some more time to paper craft, and so far that has been the case. I have been busy with lots of other things too though and while I have been creating I haven't been able to find much time to blog about it. For example, here is a page I made for Jennifer Buck's CAS Scrapbooking Challenge - two weeks ago! It has just been sitting waiting for me to photograph (which I finally did yesterday, along with some swap cards for the NMBS Group) and blog it . . . *sigh* Anyway, here it is. Not sure if I like how it all came together but I really wanted to use my pretty new Cosmo Cricket papers from the Early Bird collection. This photo of my daughter was taken on her 2nd birthday. I used a stamp from Unity Stamp Co. for my title. Lots of distressing and a pleated ribbon detail finish off the look. I have been playing with some new SU! goodies recently and I hope to have another project to share with you soon! Hope you are enjoying summer as much as I am . . . *wink*

Kiss the Cook . . .

2009-05-28T17:25:00.001-04:00

It's time for another CAS Scrapbooking Challenge! It took me awhile to get to this one. Busy, busy, busy what with the end of the school year and all. As I was sorting through my "to be scrapped" pile I happened upon this photo of my daughter taken a few years ago in Epcot at Walt Disney World. They have a cute little interactive demonstration there where younger kids get to make chocolate chip cookies together and it is one of our "must-do" activities when we are there. I have had this Baked with Love stamp set from the Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms for some time now and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to put it to good use. I chose to use really neutral, earthy colors - Kraft, White, Chocolate and a little Red accent here and there. The cookies, bowl and spoon are popped up on dimensionals and the top and bottom borders are machine stitched. Cute, cute, cute . . . Thanks for giving us another great sketch to work with, Jennifer!!!

Hoppin' in Unity . . .

2009-05-15T10:48:00.004-04:00

It's finally here! The Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month Blog Hop is this weekend!!! First things first: to view the blog hop it in its entirety you need to start your journey at the beginning. Please hop on over to the Unity Stamp Co. blog for the details from Angela and dive right in! If you have just hopped over from Danielle's blog, welcome - you are in the right place!!!

I have two projects to show you today in CAS fashion. The first is a card I made which was inspired by the Kit of the Month Blog Hop logo. See the blinkie on the right? It's adorable isn't it??? It just *had* to be made into a card! The girls holding hands and the flourish stamps are both from the April Kit of the Month, Fresh Beginnings. I used my Copic markers on the girls dresses to imitate the colors in the logo. Then I cut them out like paper dolls and popped them up on dimensionals. It still needed something so I decided to add this sentiment from the brand new Unity Anniversary Scrapbooking Kit, CONFESSION: i {luv} unity. What do you think? I say cute, cute, cute!!!

For my next project I altered a magazine file that I have been

using to store all of my Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month Club kits. I decided that my storage needed to be as cute as stamps in it! These clear cases are *very* similar to Unity's new Snap-Lock Storage Cases - love 'em!!! I will tell you that I have been able to fit 2 large (full 8.5" x 11" sheet) kits in each case and that about 6 filled cases will fit in a magazine file. I wanted to use Unity colors for my file and since the inside was already aqua I decided to leave it and decorate the outside using chocolate and kraft. The front label uses a PTI alphabet set, but Unity's Just My Type would have been *perfect* for this! Guess I need to add that one to my ever growing wish list, huh? For the sides I traced and cut out the panels and randomly stamped images from EACH of the Kit of the Month's I own. They are: July {... it's the little things}, August {Remember Happiness},September {Friendship.Love.Miracles}, November {enjoy YOUR STORY ... laugh}, December {Little Reminders}, February {Endings & Beginnings}, and April {Fresh Beginnings}. You can click on the photo for a larger view. I gotta say, I *love* every single one of these kits so much!!! This weekend would be a perfect time to join the Kit Club because not only is the May Kit of the Month {... another sweet day} *adorable* BUT Angela is also offering you a choice of a past kit at the awesome Kit Club member price of $24. I'm telling you, these kits are huge and did you know there is NO COMMITTMENT??? AND, *pssst* all of the other past kits are $10 off this weekend too!!! Not to mention a few other amazing deals such as $5 kits (with purchase) and some special 6 for $60 kits!!!!! I feel a shopping spree coming on!

Ok, I have the pleasure of sending you to the next stop on your journey, which just happens to be to see a super sweet and amazing talented friend of mine. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us! Happy Blog Hoppin' . . . *wink*

************ LORI CRAIG *************

Catching up . . .

2009-05-09T09:39:00.003-04:00

Here I am with my last two submissions for Unity Stamp Company's anniversary challenges. Jeanne asked us to make a one layer birthday card in honor of Unity turning 1. I decided to make it a birthday card for my daughter who will be turning 7 next month. I had to use Orange, her favorite color, and decided to pair it with some pinks and browns as well. I stamped the cupcakes image from the December KOTM onto Kraft cs and colored them using Copic markers and a white gel pen. Next I stamped the 12 Months of Goodness journal box in Palette Burnt Umber ink onto my 4 1/4" square card base. Then I added the cupcakes which are popped up using dimensionals. The "7" and "birthday" sentiments are from the Our Life, Our Stories kit and the "th" is handwritten in marker. I also used a marker to circle the month of June on the journal box image. As a finishing touch I tied some pink taffeta and orange grosgrain ribbon (both SU!) at the top.

For the next card Jimmi challenged us to use the first Unity Stamps we ever received. I had a hard time remembering which kit was my first, but I'm pretty sure Growing in Unity was one of them so that's what I chose to work with for this card. I found this Chatterbox patterned paper and the colors and dots reminded me of the Unity logo. I stamped the dream tree image in PTI Dark Chocolate ink on SU! Baja Breeze cs, which I pierced and distressed. I added a Kraft cs mat and popped it up on dimensionals on the card base. The sentiment is stamped on SU! Whisper White textured cs and punched using my 1 3/8" circle punch. I also added some rhinestone bling accents on the senitment and the tree. This card also fits Amber's My Unity Place sketch for this week. While I am on the subject of Unity, I will be participating in the Kit of the Month Blog Hop next weekend, May 15-17. Make sure you check back then to see all the goodies the Kit Club members have to share . . . *wink*

CAS in Black & Vanilla . . .

2009-05-03T16:40:00.002-04:00

Here is my page for this week's CAS Scrapbooking Challenge hosted by Jennifer Buck. I love this photo of my daughter. It was taken last December when she was a flower girl for my sister's wedding. She is peeking out from behind my sister's dress - so cute! The wedding colors were black and vanilla so I limited my layout to using those colors. The stamp image is from Unity's April KOTM. I cut it out using my paper snips and popped it up using dimensionals. Accessories are as follows: May Arts ribbon, PTI vintage cream buttons, and Creating Keepsakes rub ons. The scalloped edge and the black flowers were made using SU! punches. Simple and sweet for simply sweet little girl . . .

Beautiful Butterfly . . .

2009-05-02T20:03:00.002-04:00

Here I am again with another project for the Unity Stamps Guest Designer Challenge for May. I really wanted to try the sketch as a scrapbook layout but didn't think I would get a chance due to the busy nature of our schedules today. Well, as I mentioned before my daughter is still a little under the weather so we decided to cut the day short. Thus I ended up with a little extra time on my hands and what better way to spend it on National Scrapbooking Day than to scrapbook! This picture of my daughter was taken a few years back at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World. Look at all those flowers!!! I thought PTI's Lavendar Moon and Plum Pudding would coordinate well with this photo. I also grabbed a strip of patterned paper from their Polka Dot Parade collection. The butterfly flowers along the bottom and the swirls on the side of the photo mat are from Unity Stamp Company's April Kit of the Month. The sentiment is from Unity and is part of the February Kit of the Month. Other elements include a border made using my Fiskars Upper Crest punch, butterflies made with a Martha Stewart punch, and mini rhinestone bling. I did some distressing here as well for texture. I definitely think this would qualify as Clean and Simple, but guess what? Jennifer Buck has *another* sketch for us to play with this week AND if you upload it to SCS or My Unity Place using the keyword UnityJBS01 you will have a chance to win a *sweet* prize package in honor of National Scrapbooking Day!!! So what are you waiting for? Hop on over and join in the fun!!!!! *wink*

Hello Tweetie . . .

2009-05-01T21:57:00.002-04:00

Lemme tell ya', I am having so much fun with my Unity Stamps this week!!! Here is another challenge card. This one was hosted by Jennifer Buck and was just for the Kit of the Month club members. We were asked to use our April KOTMs along with the sketch Jennifer gave us to work with. I chose this lovely tree image which is one of my favorites in this kit. I have seen a lot of people paper piece this image but I decided to color it using my Copic markers. I added lot of distressing to create texture on this card and the main image panel is popped up on domensionals. Color palette is Kraft, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip (SU!) as well as New Leaf and Vintage Cream (PTI). One of the exciting things about this challenge is that the winner will get to be a Guest Designer for Unity Stamps in the month of June! That would truly be an honor and a dream come true!!! *wink*

Unity Inspiration Challenge . . .

2009-04-29T18:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Maren shared with us some yummy cake photos to use as our inspiration. I chose THIS gorgeous cake to base my card on. I was inspired by several elements: the square shape, the white on white, the embossed look, the shimmery flowers, the icing "pearls", and of course the beautiful red ribbon tied in a bow. This is a 5" x 5" square card. I used Stampers Select White cs from PTI and embossed it using my Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The main image panel was cut out and embossed using my classic square Nestabilities. I stamed some floral flourish images from Unity Stamp Co.'s Growing in Unity kit and embossed them using white detail ep from SU! (kinda hard to see in the picture but it's there). Next I coated the entire panel with my Glue Pad and added Ranger Perfect Pearl togive it a shimmery look. The panel is popped up on dimensionals. In the upper left corner I added some shimmer flowers from Michaels, which I adorned with adhesive pearls from the Target $1 Spot. I used my SU! scallop edge punch along the bottom and added some pearls there as well. Last but not least I added some PTI luxe satin ribbon in Pure Poppy. I think this card and cake match so well!!! Don't forget to check back to see the next Unity Anniversary Celebration project soon! *wink*