Getting Sketchy...

I have several projects to share with you this weekend and all of them have been inspired by all the various sketches that you can find online. I am continually amazed by how much inspiration can be found online (you just have to get off every once in a while to put them into action.) ;o)

This first project is based on a layout sketch from Create My Keepsake, one of their Sketchy Formulas which are posted every Friday.

This photo was taken of the kids the day that we visited the St. Louis Arch back in July. They are looking at the ducks in the park at the base of the Arch.

Supplies used:

*PinkPaislee papers

*Chatterbox paper (black polkadot)

*Scenic route papers (stripe and red)

*old dictionary paper

*Martha Stewart border punch

*Marvy uchida scallop circle punch
*Fancy Pants embellishment
*American crafts glitter thicker and black brads
*Zig Writer
*Inkadinkado stamp
*Prima flowers

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My second projects are 2 cards that I have created using the last two Jacksonbelle Embellishment sketches for their sketch contest this month.

This is the card from the 3rd sketch of the month. I used the spider out of the Inkadinkado Patterned Bugs stamp set.

Supplies used:

*Inkadinkado Patterned bugs stamp set

*Scenic Route paper kit

*white sharpie (detail on the spiders)

*Fiskars Threading Water border punch

*black inkpad

*black brads

This card was for the final sketch of the month and uses the Inkadinkado Birds Galore stamp set. I stamped the bird before I decided what papers to use and then had to figure out a way to pull the blue into these papers. I did that by using the tail flowers from another of the stamps in the set and stamping the mat for the bird using the green, blue, and red and my waterbased markers. I also added just a bit of glitter bling to the details on the bird.

Supplies used:

*Inkadinkado Birds Galore set

*Scenic Route papers

*Zig Writers

*Colorboxblue inkpad

*glitter

*crochet trim

*Martha Stewart border punch

*corner rounder

Happy Hip-Hop!!!

Welcome to Thursday which means that it's a Happy Hip-Hop Day for the Unity Stamp Company crew!

Welcome everyone!

Hopefully you have hopped to my blog from the ever-talented Miss Shopper-extraordinare Jimmi's blog. If not, then you need to start over at Angela's Unity Stamp Co. blog to find out what all the new fun stuff for today is and then follow the hops until you get to your chance to win the blog candy at the end.

One of the things that Unity has every month is their Kit of the Month. I received September's kit: Friendship, Love, Miracles (it's only available until the end of September, so don't miss out on ordering it) and just thought that it was awesome before I started stamping with it...OMG, I LOVE this kit! So I have a few projects to share today using it....and be forewarned, I have a LOT of photos of projects today. :o)

My first project is a layout from our daytrip to St. Charles, MO a few weeks ago. I just loved these photos of DH and Kat (click on the photos to make them bigger to see the details).

There are a lot of stamps in this layout so I am going to point them out so you can see how they are used. From the September kit, I have used the photo corners in the corners of the layout, the quote (great love), the scalloped ribbon (that stripey bit), the strip of five trees (top left corner of the layout), the journaling block (which you can see on the big photo of the layout), and the snowflake. The snowflake is a personal favorite, but that should be no surprise since Snow is my last name.

The Crazy Adventures title is also a Unity Stamp Company stamp, but it comes from the Amazing Me kit.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Sept. KOM: Friendship, Love, Miracles

*Unity Stamp Co. Amazing Me kit

*7gypsies St. Augustine 8x8 paper pack

*Fiskars Threading water border punch

*CTMH Ocean inkpad

*Memories brown inkpad

*white sharpie

*Marvy Uchida circle punches

*Martha Stewart flat-back gems

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*Bazzill Kraft cardstock

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My second project to share today is a card. I LOVE this card...it is so my style!

I stamped up a small sheet of white cardstock using that gorgeous snowflake from the Sept. KOM. The journaling bit underneath the "hi" is also from the kit. To make it a bit more dimensional, I added a bit of bling to the center of each of the snowflakes and added a scallop hand-drawn detail around that piece.

The white swirl is also just a bit of hand-drawn detail using my white sharpie.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Sept KOM: Friendship, Love, Miracles

*7gypsies St. Augustine 8x8 paper pack

*American Crafts glitter thickers ("hi")

*white sharpie

*brad

*Prima flowers

*CTMH Ocean inkpad

*Martha Stewart flat-back gems

*black Zig Writer

*Jet Black StazOn

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My third project is an altered notebook. If you have been a follower of my blog, you know that I alter a new notebook about every 2 months to keep my daily to-do lists, eating journal, and craft project tracking. This is my latest edition and it is definitely my favorite one that I have made so far.

The notebook is a small spiral notebook that I bought at Target that is a natural chipboard with the purple bookbinding edge. Stamped details on this project from the Sept KOM: worn polkadot butterfly, scalloped ribbon, and the Autumn splendor sentiment.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Sept KOM: Friendship, Love, Miracles

*7gypsies St. Augustine 8x8 paper pack

*Memories brown inkpad

*buttons

*Martha Stewart border punch and brown twill ribbon

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My final project is based upon one of the Splitcoast challenges this week: TLC187, Mark your Spot which included this very fun and easy bookmark.

Both the sentiment and the little angel are from the Sept KOM.

side one

side two

How easy and fun is that. I just added a little bit of glitter and coloring and that fun corner punch from a company that I believe is no longer around, 2 grrrls.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. KOM: Friendship, Love, Miracles

*7gypsies St. Augustine 8x8 paper pack

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*StazOn Timber Brown inkpad

*2 grrrls corner punch

*Zig Writer- brown (edge detail around the angel piece)

*ultrafine glitter

Now you need to hop on over to Jennifer's blog to see what creative things she has been up to this week and to see if she maybe has the blog candy.

And don't forget to come hang out with us in the Splitcoaststampers forum after you are done hopping. Every Thursday, Unity gives away approximately $300 worth of product and a lot of it is given away randomly in the chat over there.

Wisdom for Wednesday...

...okay, there actually won't be any real wisdom to this post. I was just looking for a fun W word for my title and it seemed like a good one. :o)


I have a couple of things to share with you stamping-wise (see I have already used a wisdom word) today. My first project was a card that I made for a card swap over on the Unity board. It's been ages since I did a swap and I really wanted to do a fun card. I ended up with a collage-styled card which is always hard for me to be pleased with the results...I never can decide if I have gone too far with my collaged elements or not far enough...so you all can judge it on your own.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. August KOM (frame, quote, swirls in punched circles, dandelions)
*Unity Stamp Co. Worn Polkadot Alpha
*Scenic Route paper
*CTMH Cranberry inkpad
*StazOn brown and black inkpads
*white sharpie
*old dictionary paper (best 25 cent book purchase I ever made!!!)
*Martha Stewart butterfly punch and flat-back gems
*Marvy Uchida small scallop circle punch

My second project to share with you today is a card that I have worked and reworked for several days now. At this point, it is time to just move on to other projects...LOL! This is a card that I started out making because I was inspired by last week's SCS sketch (yes, the one that was posted LAST Wednesday...ugh!) and my new September KOM. I love this kit and have been inspired so much by it...don't judge it by just this card. I have several projects to share tomorrow that use it and show its potential much better.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Sept KOM (sentiment, tree, journaling block)
*Daisy D's papers
*Prima leaves
*buttons
*Martha Stewart edge punch (end of sentiment)
*brown inkpad
*Zig writers

And Don't forget...tomorrow is the Unity Hip-Hop...here is a copy of Angela's announcement about what is to come...FUN STUFF!!

We will be releasing some VERY FABULOUS KITS this THURSDAY for HIP HOP

as well as 4 BRAND NEW Halloween Singles!

What KITS do you ask?!!?!!?!!?

Well....Jen Erickson - Unity DT Member Extraordinaire has been WAITING AND WAITING for her FANTABULOUS Set to be released....and the DAY HAS ARRIVED!

Lynn Warner - Scrapbooking Chick a la FUN, FUN, FUN has submitted some art for Unity that turned into BRAND NEW Halloween Singles and ...

ONE FUNKY FUN Kit to create with.Adrianna Marie Bennet - The "Boo Crew" {Twilight Fans Brace yourselves} There is a little Edward and Jacob that might just steal your heart!

SINGLES - A couple little phrases I came up with to do a challenge with in the weeks to come...more details to follow!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS, Join us for HIP HOP THURSDAY!

Looking forward to a FUN FUN day!

NOT TO MENTION....More kits finding the SINGLE LIFE!

Watch the WEBSITE!

Some of your FAVORITES are now up for grabs as singles!

Let's talk reading...

Quote for the week:

Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence

is the key to unlocking our potential.

~Liane Cardes

It's been a while since I shared any Barnes & Noble purchases...mainly because I have been trying to cut down on my twice a week visits to there, but last week Kat and I needed a day out and I had an extra 15% off coupon so we treated ourselves. Of course, I walked out of there buying way more than I had planned (isn't that always the case?!?!) but I thought that I would share a few of my more crafty/home oriented purchases.

The first of my purchases was Stampington's Take Ten magazine. I love this magazine, but tend not to buy it because I already have so many magazines that I never seem to find time to read as thoroughly as I should, but when I picked up this issue, I was thrilled to see that their feature designer is Kim Hughes. Kim and I were on a DT together many moons ago and I have been thrilled to watch her progression in the stamp world the last couple of years. She is amazingly talented and creates wonderful little art pieces in her cards with her stamps (many of her stamps she has designed herself for Cornish Heritage Farms.)

Overall, I am in love with this issue...tons of gorgeousness esp. if you love the collage style.

My rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

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My second purchase was a book called The Gentle Art of Domesticity...don't worry, I haven't lost my mind. This is NOT a book about being a homemaker/housekeeper. This is a book written by Jane Brocket of the Yarnstorm blog. This book has a seemingly hefty $35 pricetag, although at B&N it is 20% off that and I did get my extra % off too. So far, I am only about 35 pages into this 275 page book, but I LOVE it. Tons of fantastic writing and even more gorgeous eye candy. If you like Jane's blog, then you will ADORE this book!

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

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My final purchase (that I am sharing about anyway) was the 3rd edition of the Holiday Cards & More magazine from PaperCrafts magazine. It's been a while since I bought one of these special publications because it seemed that I wasn't finding much to inspire me in the most recent ones. Overall, I really like this particular issue. There are lots of samples that are right up my style alley and it features a LOT of my favorite card artists so I am pleased that I bought it, although I am still not sure if there is anything that will jump out and inspire me to create a particular project. Overall, the issue is beautiful.

My rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

We're Hipping and We're Hopping

It's a Unity Hip-Hop Thursday!!!

If you are arriving from Brooke's Hip-Hopping blog, then Welcome! If you have arrived here without hopping through the other Unity DT gal's blogs, well then you are missing out on the fun and need to start by going over to Angela's Unity Stamp Co. blog.


I have a couple of projects to share with you today. The first is a simple card using that gorgeous new stamp kit with the Bible Verses that is a new release today, Something Within.

I also used that cute little birdie single that was released a couple of weeks ago, Sweet ZZZ's.

The branch is one of the stamps out of the Autumn Blessings Kit.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. kit Something Within

*Unity Stamp Co. Sweet ZZZZ's

*Unity Stamp Co. Autumn Blessings kit

*Sassafras Lass papers

*Bazzill Kraft cardstock

*Watercolor pencils

*Prima flowers

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For my second project, I want to show you my emergency stamping kit. This is a very small decorative lunchbox that I bought at Michaels on clearance last year. I don't know if they carry them now, but it is from Westrim Crafts and measure about 6"x8". It came painted the green and white stripe and polkadots. But if you can't find them, then any metal lunchbox would work for this, and right now you can probably find them on clearance.

This is my emergency kit that I carry with me when we are traveling or out on daytrips. The fact of the matter is, I never know when I am going to be sitting in the car with Kat taking a nap while the guys go into the nearest fishing/hunting/backpacking/kayaking store, so I have gotten in the habit of taking this along just in case I find myself with some downtime.

contents all packed away

Contents of my Emergency Stamp kit:
*Unity Stamp Co. Mix Up of Cuteness (this is a good versatile kit that fits into a quart-sized ziplocs very easily and compactly)
*black inkpad
*4 1/2"x 6 1/2" patterned paper and cardstock stack
*mix of buttons, brads, small embellishments, bling (packed into jewelry-sized or snack-size ziplocs)
*adhesive
*small scissors
*brown & black Zig Writers
*mix of tiny colored pencils
*card blanks
*A-sized Unity handle
*6"ruler
*pencil
*small fiskars cutter

contents all spread out (click on photo to see more detail)

I used several stamps to decorate the outside of my lunchbox. I only have one side decorated though, because that way, I can use the other side as a hard stamping surface if I need it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Swirl from Good Times kit

*Unity Stamp Co. Mix Up of Cuteness (owl)

*Unity Stamp Co. Live the Life you Love single

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple (play sentiment)

*Martha Stewart papers, tags, punch (butterfly)

*Fiskars Threading Water Scallop border punch

*Making Memories bitty alpha stickers and ribbon

*watercolor pencils

*buttons

*brown inkpad

Now it's time for you to hop on out of here and head to Jennifer's blog...

HiP-HoP!

Focus Unity...

Part of the wonderful thing that Angela does as a favor to the Unity DT is that we each get a Focus Day on the Unity blog...today is my day so I wanted to share my layouts with you here that I shared on the Unity blog today esp. since I really love both of these layouts.

The first layout is Believe in God's Plan and this layout was actually inspired by those gorgeous stamps in the Believe kit.

The journaling on the layout says,
"Katherine Skyler- born May 15, 2007; photos taken August, 2008- We may not have planned for her in our lives, but God knew that we needed her. She's such a perfect little blessing."

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Believe kit

*Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Butterflies kit

*Unity Stamp Co. August KOM

*7gypsies paper (b&w polkadot)

*Autumn Leaves- Rhonna Farrer paper (pink shaped paper)

*colored pencils

*Making Memories bitty alpha and flower brads

*Heidi Swapp journaling spots and bling

The second layout is called Kit Kat & Flopsy.

There isn't any journaling on this page because it is really more of a fun layout just documenting how Kat (whom I tend to call Kit-Kat) is pretty inseparable from her little pink stuffed dog that her dad named Flopsy. There is a lot going on with the page, but I love all those little vignettes and the stamp kit, Sentiments O' Simple is perfect for this style.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple

*Websters Pages papers

*Making Memories glitter alpha

*Jenni Bowlin Apothecary sticker, bingo card, label stickers

*Marvy Uchida scallop circle punch

*Martha Stewart border punch (2 styles)

*K&Company flower brads
*rickrack

*Heidi Swapp Bling

*Cloud 9 chipboard sticker

*brown inkpad

*MME frame

Playing with some Challenges...

This week's quote of the week:

It isn't hard to be good from time to time.

What's tough is being good every day.

~Willie Mays

I told y'all last week about the month's worth of sketches that Jacksonbelle Embellishments are posting as a fun contest. Well, we are now on week 2. Here is their sketch:

As is with just about any sketch I play with, I had a hard time leaving this sketch as is, so I had to turn it. Here is the card that I created with the sketch turned.

Supplies used:

*Inkadinkado

*Basic Grey paper

*Marvy Uchida oval punches

*Memories brown inkpad

*Martha Stewart flat-backed gems

*ultra-fine glitter

*Fiskars scalloped scissors

I also realized that I never got this posted last week. I have just discovered a new {new to me, that is} blog, KWernerDesigns. Kristina puts up these gorgeous color challenges and I just had to play with last weeks.

And the card that I created using this color inspiration:

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. August KOM

*Unity Stamp Co. Distressed Dots background

*Martha Stewart edge punch (the one that I talked about here)

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*cardstock

*Martha Stewart border punch

*White Sharpie

*buttons