Clean & Simple Valentine...

Clean & Simple?!?!

I know...I never would have guessed it either, but I sat down to create this card and it just kind of happened and I like it.

Everything for this card came from Limelight Papercrafts and how easy is this for some quickie Valentine's cards.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Livin and Lovin Life

*heart edge ribbon

*Basic Grey buttons (I LOVE these tiny buttons!)

*corner rounder

*Palette Black Noir inkpad

There are LOTS of great sales going on over at Limelight...

ON SALE NOW:

• Open Stock 12x12 Patterned Paper: BUY 2, GET 1 FREE! (Please specify your choice of free papers in the Comments section during checkout. Free paper must be of equal or lesser value.)
• All Ribbon 10% off!
  
• All Fun Flock $2
• All Shimmerz 30% off!
  
• Selected Past Unity Store Kits $26
  
• Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy! Crafting Kit ONLY $10! Selected Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, and other products at major savings!

Saturday indoors...

Around here, we are taking it easy today. The sun is shining here in Illinois, but it is COLD...so we are all snuggled by the fire doing our own little thing indoors.

For me, that means reading a good book, which I have been doing a TON with Ben gone. I am devouring easily 6-7 books a week. Hmmmm, not sure I will be able to break this habit when he gets back, but that means that I have lots of opportunities to use bookmarks.

I love creating bookmarks. It's a card where you can actually enjoy what you created.

This bookmark was inspired by yesterday's Paper Makeup Stamps inspiration challenge which you can see on the blog post a couple of posts below this one.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Lollipop Tree You and Me

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiment (and I can't remember which kit this came from...)

*Martha Stewart border punch

*Zig writer

*Creative Cafe button

*Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder

*cotton string

Friday Fun Challenge #67!

It's Friday which means it's a double-blog-post day!!!

My first post of the day with my Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge is located below this one!

This is my Friday Fun challenge mixed in with a bit of Friends with Flair post. :o)

Our challenge for today was issued by Sara to create a sentiment-focused card. It's been a long time since I did this kind of card (without a main image) so it was a fun exercise for my creative muse.

I also LOVED this weeks Color Throwdown combination so I added that side of the challenge to the mix too. (Confused yet? hehe! I have a head cold so I probably am not making much sense.)

And finally after all that gibber-jabber, here is my card....

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Delightful Moments

*Making Memories paper

*ribbon from Hobby Lobby (can you believe how well it coordinates with that paper?!?)

*Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder

*Nestabilities Labels Three

*StazOn Timber Brown inkpad

*Bazzill cardstock

Wanna play along?

Friday Fun Challenge #67

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls blogs for more inspiration (I am not sure who all is participating this week with CHA and sickness floating around, but their blogs are always full of inspiration so it is worth a visit anyway!) We would love for you to play with us- just use keyword FFC67 when uploading to your SCS gallery.

Jimmi
Sherry
Kimme
Sara

And be sure to go check out the Unity blog

for the entire list of Friends with Flair participants!!!

Makeup 4 the Weekend #14 Challenge

Good Friday Morning!!!

Today's Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge is brought to you by ME! And you all know that I love a good inspiration piece so I went and scoured the Pottery Barn website (one of my FAVORITE inspiration places!!!) I am pretty sure that today's photo came from Pottery Barn Teen...

Details about the challenge:

Make a card using the above picture as an inspiration (remember it can be anything about the card that inspires you) and link it up to Mr. Linky at the bottom of the PMS blog post (direct links please). You do not have to usePaper Makeup Stamps but if you've got 'em we'd love to see your work!! When you upload to SCS/PCP please use keyword M4TW14 so we can see your creations there as well.

And here is my card for the challenge....

I used Paper Makeup Stamps Moody for Music (the first time I have gotten her inky...YAY!) and that great friend sentiment which is PERFECT for thinking of you cards.

The big, bold black & white polkadot paper is actually the back of the packaging on Prima bling. If you hang around here much, you know I use the Prima packaging as much as I do the insides. ;o)

I used watercolor pencils on the Moody and a bit of turquoise glitter on her stars to make them stand out. (it's easier to see that when you click on the photos.)

Supplies used:

*Paper Makeup Stamp Moody for Music

*Paper Makeup Stamps Because You are my Friend

*Palette Black Noir inkpad

*watercolor pencils

*Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder

*corner rounder

*Prima packaging (black&white dot)

*glue pen

*extra fine turquoise glitter

*Martha Stewart flower punch

*Bazzill Imaginisce crochet flower

*button

*Fiskars border punch

*Zig Writer (border around the edge of the card)

Unity Thursday!

The lurgy has hit our household big time this week. Kat is slowly (very slowly) on her way to recovery, but it appears that Jacob and I are succumbing to the germs rather quickly. *ugh*

Today, I am going to share with you several cards that I have made over the last couple of weeks and I will be honest with you, I am not in love with any of these cards which is why I am sharing them all as one big blog post.

This first card is based upon last week's MojoMonday sketch. It is again using one of the new releases from Unity for CHA, A Noteworthy Occasion.

For the frame of the sentiment, I inked it up in the CTMH blush ink and then "kissed" it to my inked up in black Grainy Background stamp. I also added the tiniest bit of dark pink shading around the interior of the frame with a watercolor pencils and a black detail line using a Zig Marker.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. A Noteworthy Occasion

*Unity Stamp Co. Grainy Background

*K&Company paper collection

*CTMH blush inkpad

*Palette Black Noir inkpard

*Fiskars border punch

*Creative Cafe button

*ribbon

*watercolor pencil

*Zig Writer

**************

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. A Noteworthy Occasion

*LilyBee paper collection

*ribbon

*Palette Burnt Umber inkpad

*Fiskars border punch

***********

This last card uses this month's kit of the month, Savor the Journey. I paper-pieced the detailed part of the bunny for a bit of extra fun.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Savor the Journey

*Prima paper collection

*KaiserCraft flat-back pearls

*Fiskars border punch

*grey watercolor pencil

*ribbon

*corner rounder

*stick-pins

Be sure to go check out the Unity blog for today's specials!

S'more Fun...

This is going to be a quick post today.

Kat is still sick and is sitting on my lap letting me know that this is really not where she would like to be so we are about to go snuggle up in front of some movies for today.

This is another card like yesterday's card that I created using a Papercrafts Magazine sketch for submission. It didn't get picked up, but that's okay...that just means that I can share it here with you all.

I mentioned it last week, but I just love these Paper Makeup Caliope stamps. This one is Caliope Camping.

I paper-pieced Caliope's clothes and then used watercolor pencils on everything else.

Supplies used:

*Paper Makeup Stamps Caliope Camping

*Paper Makeup Stamps S'more Sentiment

*Unity Stamp Co. Grainy Background

*PaperTrey Ink Bitty Dots paper

*Sassafras Pocket full of Posies- Lil' Brudders

*TPC Studios Ancestral Mini Jewels

*Fiskars scallop border punch

*Nestabilities Labels 3 die cut

*Palette Burnt Umber inkpad

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*Basic Grey Wisteria buttons

*white cotton string

Instructions for Assembly:

1. Stamp the main image onto white cardstock and a corresponding piece of the patterned paper. 2. Create a bit of the details on the white stamped image using watercolor pencils. 3. Paper piece the remaining parts of the stamp and die cut this piece using the label die cut. 4. Create the base for the card using the example as your guide. 5. Add buttons, gems, and the stamped piece to your card to finish it off.

Monday Mode...

It's definitely been a Monday around here this morning.

Jacob tends to start getting ready to go to school (shower included) at about 6:50 am. He has to be out the door at the latest at 7:00 to catch the bus. This morning, he couldn't find his shoes. There is no extra time built into his morning schedule (is it actually a schedule if it's only 10 minutes to shower, dress, shave and eat?!?) to actually look under things, so he missed the bus this morning.

Add to that, Kat has been running a low-grade fever for the last few days because she has a cold and isn't feeling the best. She was NOT thrilled to be hustled out of bed to crawl into her car seat for a run to the high school.

The good news is that I am dressed for the day...not showered, but I am dressed. hehe!

Crazy Monday morning...

I have a card to share with you today. This was a rejected submission to PaperCrafts Magazine using one of their sketches. I'll have another (rejected) version of the sketch to share tomorrow.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Treasure to Me

*PaperTrey Ink Bitty Dots papers

*Palette Black Noir inkpad

*Fiskars scallop border punch

*Autumn Leaves buttons

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*Nestabilities scallop oval die cut

Instructions to assemble:

1. Stamp the main image onto white cardstock and two corresponding pieces of the patterned paper.

2. Create a bit of the details on the white stamped image using watercolor pencils.

3. Paper piece the remaining parts of the stamp and die cut this piece using the oval die cut.

4. Create the base for the card using the example as your guide.

5. Add buttons and the stamped piece to your card to finish it off.

Inspiration for today...

I will be honest with you all...

my creative muse hasn't been feeling very inspired the last couple of days.

Last night i was stamping and about to give up for the evening when I pulled out these papers from Limelight Papercrafts and all of a sudden inspiration struck.

I love it when the combination of products gives me inspiration and

I LOVE THIS CARD!

It is very much my style...whatever that is...LOL!

The stamps (the row of wildflowers and sentiment) are from this month's Unity stamp store Kom...Livin and Lovin Life.

I have a very old dictionary that I bought a few years ago for .25 cents and the butterflies are punched from some of those papers. I highlighted their body using Liquid Pearls. This is my first time using Liquid Pearls and they didn't turn out as perfectly round as I would like. Anyone have any hints on how to use those?

Supplies used:

*Unity STamp Co. Livin and Lovin Life

*Pewter Liquid Pearls

*October Afternoon Weathervane Picking Pumpkins (clouds)

*October Afternoon Hometown Norms News (houndstooth)

*October Afternoon Detours DieCut shapes (graph paper)

*old dictionary paper

*Martha Stewart butterfly punch

*corner rounder

*Palette Black Noir inkpad

Go check out Limelight Papercrafts. Mandy has some wonderful sales going on:

ON SALE NOW:

• Open Stock 12x12 Patterned Paper: BUY 2, GET 1 FREE! (Please specify your choice of free papers in the Comments section during checkout. Free paper must be of equal or lesser value.)
• All Fun Flock $2
• All Shimmerz 30% off!
  
• Selected Past Unity Store Kits $26
  
• Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy! Crafting Kit ONLY $10! Selected Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, and other products at major savings!
  

Blogging for Unity today...

Hey all! I blogged today over on the Unity blog so you may want to go check it out... Unity blog.

FFC#66...Time for Tea

{this is post #2 for the day. If you are here for my Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge, it is located below this post.}

Our Friday Fun Challenges this month have been selected by Sara and this month is National Hot Tea Month so she chose this week's theme to be Tea.

I love this theme and have been a long-time tea person. I don't drink it as often as I used to, but still find the whole ritual of drinking hot tea to be a perfect relaxant for me. When Jacob was 4 (that was absolutely his hardest year for me as a mom,) I would brew a cup of tea every night after his bedtime and go out and sit on the porch and sip it with a good magazine simply as a way to unwind.

Because I do enjoy tea so much, I wanted to do something a bit different this week....

This is a very simple 8x10 piece of wall art.

It's very simple because every time I tried to fancy it up, it seemed to take away from the overall look so I just left it at simple. I love that large teacup stamp...remember the art piece in the center of this frame is 8x10 so that tells you just how big that stamp is!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Mega Tea Cup

*Pink Paislee paper collection

*Nestabilities die cut

*Martha Stewart border punch

*Basic Grey Nook & Cranny paper (pink floral strip)

*StazOn Jet Black inkpad

*computer generated quote

Wanna play along?

Friday Fun Challenge #66

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls blogs for more inspiration (although a couple of lucky ones are playing at CHA so may not have any current artwork up for the challenge, but their blogs are gorgeous anyway so go check them all out!) We would love for you to play with us- just use keyword FFC66 when uploading to your SCS gallery.

Jimmi
Sherry
Kimme
Sara

And be sure to go check out the Unity blog

for the entire list of Friends with Flair participants!!!

*M4TW13* Caliope Loving

Good Friday Morning, everyone!

Lots going on here today. This is post #1 of 2 for the day (have you noticed that Thursday and Fridays are really crazy days on here? LOL...lots of multi-posts!)

This is post is for the Paper Makeup Stamps Makeup4theWeekend challenge and this week our challenge is this gorgeous sketch!

The details about the challenge:

Make a card using the above sketch and link it up to Mr. Linky at the bottom of this PMS blog post (direct links please). You do not have to use Paper Makeup Stamps but if you've got 'em we'd love to see your work!! When you upload to SCS/PCP please use keyword M4TW13 so we can see your creations there as well.

A couple of weeks ago, Katie had used this Caliope image on her blog. I have never paid much attention to Caliope before that, but I immediately went and ordered a couple of the different Caliope stamps. ;o)

I have to giggle because I was just over on the PMS blog and both of the sample cards on there also used this same sentiment...great minds. :o)

I paper-pieced Caliope with a few touches of watercolor pencils...

Supplies used:

*PMS Caliope with Heart

*PMS Hugs & Kisses set (sentiment)

*K&Company papers

*Nestabilities Labels diecuts

*Marvy Uchida circle punches

*Martha Stewart border punch

*Making Memories eyelet lace

*watercolor pencils

*Palette Black Noir inkpad

*Zig Writer

*buttons

Be sure to check out all the DT links on the PMS blog to see who else played along with the challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge!

It's Unity Thursday and this week is CHA!!!

{this is post #2 of the day...my Limelight Sketch post and layout is below this post}

This week is CHA (Craft&Hobby Association)

and it seems like everyone is headed to California except for me.

I am very jealous,

but I will console myself by staying at home

and playing with the new Unity Stamp Co. stamps that are being released

like this little cutie kit, Could I Be Any Cuter....

Supplies used:

-Unity Stamp Co. Could I Be Any Cuter (new release to be released at CHA Winter)

-Pink Paislee Cupid Collection

-Nestabilities Labels die cut

-Lace Trim from Hobby Lobby

-Autumn Leaves buttons

-Palette Burnt Umber inkpad

-Derwent watercolor pencils

Steps to Assemble:

1. Stamp the bird and sentiment onto the PinkPaislee paper. Color with watercolor pencils. Cut with the Labels Die Cut.

2. Cut a coordinating piece of patterned paper and cardstock using the next size up Labels Die cut. Trim the patterned paper piece so that you can layer a strip down the center of the cardstock piece.

3. Trim the pieces for the card base and layer.

4. Adhere two pieces of lace around the pink gingham piece. Attach to the card front using pop dots and attach the buttons.

5. Adhere the stamped piece to finish off the card.

Be sure to go check out what the rest of the DT (links on my sidebar)

has been playing with today...

I bet you will see lots of fun, new stamps along the way.

And a huge shout-out to

Jessica

who has been officially added as a permanent member of the team.

Yippee!!!

It's Limelight Papercrafts Sketch Day!!!

....and I am running late! *eek* It's time to share another Limelight Papercrafts Challenge!

This week our challenge was to use this sketch and incorporate canvas....

The Deets:
**Use the sketch above and try to incorporate your favorite CANVAS!! You can use one of these tags, some actual canvas, a canvas-print stamp...whatever goes! (If you don't have any canvas, we hope you'll play along anyway!)
**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC039.
**Post a comment with a link to your card right here on the challenge post by Sunday, January 24, at midnight (or before winner is drawn Monday a.m.).
**PRIZE ~ One lucky winner will receive one package of Basic Grey Origins Canvas Tags!!

I apologize for my photo lighting. I will try to get better photos once the sun comes up...

The sketch is for a card, but with all those little pieces, I thought that it might translate well into a scrapbook layout.

This is a good technique for when you have lots of photos. These were from one Sunday afternoon over the summer when we made our own hand-churned ice cream.

Supplies used:

*Basic Grey Origins tags

*Basic Grey Origins papers

*Basic Grey Origins journaling spots

*Jillibean Soup buttons

*Unity Stamp Co. Jan kom, Livin & Lovin Life

*Fiskars border punch

*Heidi Swapp Chipboard alphabet

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Limelight team has done with this challenge:

Limelight Papercrafts Blog- Mandy

Caffeinated Cropper- Amy

Taylor-Made by JenMarie- JenMarie

Dahlhouse Designs- Lisa

My Little Creative Escape- Lisa

Ryann Marin Designs- Ryann

Be sure to visit Limelight Papercrafts for some fabulous savings this week!

• 12×12 Patterned Paper: BUY 2, GET 1 FREE!
• All Fun Flock $2
• All Shimmerz 30% off!
  
• Selected Past Unity Store Kits $26
  
• Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy! Crafting Kit ONLY $10!
• Selected Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, and other products at major savings!

CHA is coming and Unity has new stamps!!!

The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) show starts this weekend. Unity Stamp Co. has some incredible kits coming out and the Design Team has been given the go-ahead to start sharing some peeks of what is coming! This is definitely one of my favorites of the new releases coming, A Noteworthy Occasion.

Supplies used:

-Unity Stamp Co. A Noteworthy Occasion

- Pink Paislee Cupid Collection

-Palette Black Noir inkpad

-Derwent watercolor pencils

-lace trim from Hobby lobby

-brads (unknown)

-corner rounder

-Fiskars border punches

-Autumn Leaves button

-PaperTrey Ink Kraft cardstock

-CTMH blush inkpad

Instructions for creating (I had submitted this card and had to type up the instructions for that so thought you all might enjoy seeing them, although this is a VERY SIMPLE card.)

1. Create a card base from cardstock. Use the border punch to create the edge effect.

2. Stamp the sign onto a piece of the Pink Paislee paper. Highlight the curves with watercolor pencil and stamp the sentiment into the center of the sign. Trim and round corners.

3. Use the border punch to create the side border piece.

4. Layer the card and adhere together. Attach the brads in the bottom right of the sentiment piece.

5. Finish the card by attaching the lace trim with a bow and button.