Sept 30 Hip Hop

It's a Hip Hop kind of morning! 

Good morning to all of my Unity Stamp Co. Peeps!!

How is everyone today?

Are you excited about that awesome sale going on at Unity?? 

I LOVE Unity stamps and when they are on sale...LIFE IS GOOD!

I have a couple of projects to share with you today...

This first one using that awesome Melody Ross kit, Brave Girl Boots (which I will be giving away today during chat,) is a card using this week's challenge sketch.

I had so much fun putting this card together. I adore this stamp kit esp. that floral boot...LOVE IT esp. now that we are living in Texas!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Brave Girl Boots

*Collage Press Knave of Hearts papers and die cut

*Cosmo Cricket Wanted paper (side border piece)

*Nestabilities Lacey Square die

*Martha Stewart seam binding tape and border punch

*Palette Burnt Umber inkpad

*CTMH Ocean inkpad

*Zig Writer - Brown

*corner rounder

*button

*jute twine

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

My second project is a mini-book/album that I will be using through the month of October. My family is all participating in a photography challenge for the month (I will give you the blog address tomorrow when the blog goes live) to help document Autumn and to expand our photography skills. 

I am very excited about it and created this book to hold my daily photos for it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Harvest of Memories

*Graphic 45 Steampunk tag (butterfly)

*Making Memories paper (strip across the crepe paper)

*Collage Press Knave of Hearts journaling piece

*Making Memories mini alpha

*Martha Stewart border punch

*crepe paper streamer

*Palette burnt umber and haystack ink pads

*American Crafts copper brads

*7 gypsies book cover and stand

Now you need to hop on over to ***Stephanie's Amazing Blog***

Some more paper piecing...

Good Monday morning! 

Kat is running a low-grade fever here today so we are going to take it easy while feeding her LOTS of Vitamin C! After a week-full of traveling (6 days out of the last 8 were spent driving), it's not too surprising that she is feeling a bit worn down so rest and relaxation are on the agenda today!

So while she is chilling in my bed, I thought that I would get on here and share a card that I made a few weeks back for a magazine call (one that obviously didn't get picked up, but that's okay...I still love it!)

Wouldn't that be a fun card to give the man in your life? 

I love those Caliope stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Caliope with a Heart, Paper Makeup Stamps Hugs & Kisses Sentiment Set

Paper: Basic Grey Oliver 6x6 paper collection

Punches: Fiskars border punch, Marvy Uchida Circle punches, Nestabilities Lacey Circle die cut

Ink: StazOn Jet Black

Ribbon: Martha Stewart

Cardstock: Bazzill (navy), Georgia-Pacific (white)

I also have a few photos to share with you from gameday this week (one of the 2 days that we were home.) Here are my parents with Kat in the stands waiting for the game to start. If I WANT to take her photo, she refuses to look at the camera...the little stinker! Luckily my parents aren't quite so difficult...hehe!

Here's the boy on the field...he's the one in orange in the center of the photo guarding against number 48. Unfortunately, they have combined our sophomore team with the regular JV team which means that he only got to play 3 downs the entire game and they also lost. Definitely a bummer kind of night.

But in spite of the horrendous loss, it was a GORGEOUS night with this amazing full moon....

Also a quick FYI for you! This Saturday is World Cardmaking Day and the Unity DT (including me!) is going to have a day full of challenges to get your mojo going!

A Couple of Challenges in One Card...

It's Friday and that means that it is time for some challenges.

First up, our Friday Fun Challenge this week was from Sara and it was...

9/24 - I'm in a floral mood lately.  Show me your flowers!

I combined this challenge with this week's Paper Makeup Stamps M4TW43 challenge and this harvest card is the result....seemingly appropriate for the first week of Autumn.

The Paper Makeup Stamps challenge (M4TW43) was to use this art piece as inspiration....

Now how would you like to win a single PMS stamp of your choice? Here's all you have to do:

1. Participate in the M4TW challenge

2. Use PMS images (stamped or digi)

Easy right?!! Link up your creation to the PMS M4TW43 blog post by midnight on Wednesday to be included in the Thursday Showoff and to be in the drawing for some free rubbah. While you don't have to use Paper Makeup Stamps to play in the challenge, you do need to use them to be entered in the drawing. Don't forget to mention the challenge in your post, and when you upload to SCS/PCP use the keyword M4TW43 so we can see your creations there as well. Also, be sure your link is directly to your challenge card to make it easier on those of us who love to comment. :)

Here is the close-up view of the stickles which I used on the flower center, all around the exterior of the sentiment circle and around the exterior of the base patterned paper...

Supplies used:

*Paper Makeup Stamps Faith, Hope, and Love set (flower and grass stamps)

*Paper Makeup Stamps Little Moments Mini Sentiments set

*Basic Grey papers

*Martha Stewart doily

*Stickles

*Marvy Uchida Circle punches

*Palette Burnt Umber inkpad

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls blogs for more inspiration.  

We would also love for you to play with us-

Jimmi

 Kim

Kimme

Sara

Sherry 

Hip-Hop Flip-Flop

Good morning to all my Unity Stamp Co. and {Ippity} Peeps!

Before we get into the fun stuff today, I need to apologize for my sudden disappearance from the blog this week. We had to make an unexpected trip to Alabama and I barely had time to pack, much less get my blog organized for the week so I am so sorry that I left you hanging. But our many, MANY hours of driving ended yesterday afternoon so now I am back with you in the land of BLOGGING! ;o)

If you have been following the hop then I know that you know this week's fun news...

we are doing a Unity - {Ippity} Flip-Flop! 

I LOVE the excuse to use all of those FABULOUS {Ippity} stamps! 

I had planned so many more projects for you today, but our trip put the kibosh on extra stamping so you will just have to watch for a bit more {Ippity} later!

My first project is a fun little layout about my secret stash of romance novels hidden in my stamp room...

(click on the layout to get the full impact of how it looks)

The journaling says, "I was so excited about this big wall cabinet for holding supplies in my stamp room. But instead of papers, stamps, and glitters, it holds Kenyons, Showalters, and Gerards. All romance novels- chick lit!" ~Sept 2010

This corner detail is the edge of a shipping tag that I colored with Glimmer Mist a LONG time ago. I simply stamped the floral edge across the top of it, trimmed it to fit the page top and added the ribbon and gems for a cool detail that helps to tie in the blue on the page.

I stamped that awesome Bit of Burlap stamp in Hay (Palette ink pad) on the background of some white cardstock and then stamped the books in black StazOn and colored them with watercolor pencils. The detail around the edge of the piece is hand drawn after a bit of edge distressing.

Supplies used:

*{Ippity} The Simple Things (flowers stamped in background of layout)

*{Ippity}A Moment In Time (floral border along tag top)

*{Ippity} Books a Flutter (book stamp and quote)

*{Ippity} A Bit of Burlap (background behind books)

*October Afternoon paper (yellow damask) and journaling piece

*Pink Paislee paper (black background)

*Making Memories ledger paper

*Jet Black StazOn ink pad

*watercolor pencils

*American Crafts glitter alpha

*EK Success Chain punch

*Recollections bling gem swirl

*ribbon

*shipping tag

*Glimmer Mist (verdigris?)

*flat-back gems

*Zig writer

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

My second project is a simple card using some super-OLD papers and these fabulous {Ippity} stamps from the A Moment in Time kit....

A very clean and simple layout which I think makes for a perfect thank you card which you can mass-produce for a good stash of these cards...esp. as we go into the holidays.

Supplies used:
*{Ippity} A Moment in Time
*MME paper collection
*Martha Stewart flat-backed gems, border punch, and seam binding tape
*Marvy Uchida scallop circle punch
*StazOn jet black ink pad
*kraft card stock

Now you need to hop on over to the next blog...***Stephanie***

Think Pink!

I have a confession to make.

I have a problem.

It's a bit of an addiction.

It's a bit of co-dependence.

I am not wholly sure that it is healthy...

...or even in good design.

But it is my problem none-the-less.

My name is Christi and I have a problem with using too many layers.

It started out so innocently.

A bit of a black border to make a card pop.

A border punched edge to add just that tiny pizzazz.

But something went very wrong along the way.

I started using layers as a crutch/solution/go-to-fix when my designs weren't working.

That brings us to today's card. 

I may have hit rock bottom with this one.

13 layers!?!?

*sigh*

I think that I have a problem...with using too many layers...

;o)

Today's Friday Fun challenge came to us from Sara and that was to THINK PINK!

I think that I managed that. ;o) 

I combined that challenge with this week's SFYTT....

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Domestic Bliss

*Collage Press paper collection

*Nestabilities lacy square die cut

*Marvy Uchida circle punches

*flat back pearls

*CTMH red velvet ink pad

*Palette burnt umber ink pad

*EK Success chain punch

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls blogs for more inspiration.  

We would also love for you to play with us-

Jimmi 
Sherry 
Kimme
Sara

Kim

Happy Happy Hip Hop!!!

Good morning to all my Unity Stamp Co. Peeps!

Today is another JV Football day around here...

AWAY game... 

which means that I once again am going to miss chit-chatting with you girls. 

:o(  

I love my boy, but geez, football is seriously cutting into my hip hop time...NOT GOOD!

The good news is that today's game is close to the rest of my family so all the grandparents, cousins, and aunts & uncles (from my side of the family) get to come out and cheer Jacob on as he plays (hopefully, it is not a benchwarmer kind of night...hehe!)

But that's enough sports chat...lets talk us up some STAMPING!

This first card started out following this week's sketch, but it seriously MORPHED from the original layout. Sometimes you just have to go with where your creative muse leads you and hang on for the ride.

I used another new Melody Ross kit, Domestic Bliss...LOVE this kit!!! 

{psst, the plan is to use this kit again for tomorrow's project...that is if my creative muse agrees with my plan as I see it in my head...hehe!}

I used a tiny bit of Diamond Glaze and ultra fine glitter to give a tiny bit more dimension to the jar vase of the stamp.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Domestic Bliss

*October Afternoon Fly a Kite paper collection

*ribbon (hobby lobby)

*Martha Stewart border punch

*corner rounder

*Palette burnt umber ink pad

*buttons

*brown burlap floss

*Diamond Glaze

*prisma glitter

For my second card, I basically CASE'd an earlier card that I created a few months back...

A super, sweet and simple card. I need to make up a whole bunch of these just to have on hand to send out.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Little Whispers

*Cosmo Cricket 6x6 Pixielicious paper collection

*Kraft card stock

*StazOn Jet black ink pad

*MM velvet ribbon

*flat-backed gems

*Fiskars border punch

Now you need to hop on over to Stephanie's beautiful blog...

A fun bit of paper piecing....

One of the Paper Crafts calls recently was for paper piecing. I had created a couple of paper-pieced Paper Makeup Stamps cards that weren't accepted and this is one of them...Moody for Showers.

I used the new Cosmo Cricket winter collection, Mitten Weather, (yes, those patterned papers are a winter collection!)

Supplies used:
Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps Moody For Showers, Paper Makeup Stamps Life is Either a Daring...
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather 6x6
Punches: EK Success Corner Rounder, EK Success Chinese Knot Chain Edger
Inkpad: StazOn Jet Black
Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Georgia-Pacific White, Bazzill Red
Watercolor pencils: Derwent
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug Swiss Dot

In other news, I feel like I am already a day behind this week. How did that happen? It wasn't a holiday week, but Ben did get back in town yesterday so that is probably what has thrown me off. So today, I am trying to catch up on all the things (i.e. the CLEANING) that I didn't get done yesterday...LOL!

Celebrating September's Store Kit...

Yesterday was the monthly store kit post on the Unity Stamp Co. blog. There is TONS of amazing artwork on there from the entire team using this month's store kit. If you are looking for some inspiration today, that is the perfect place to check it out.

Here is the piece that I created with this months kit, Bold Insight. You will DEFINITELY be seeing more of this kit from me because I LOVE it!!! I knew that I wanted to do something for halloween with that owl and gate, and this is what I came up with....

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Bold Insight

*MM halloween paper collection

*Martha Stewart border punch

*StazOn Jet black ink pad

*buttons

*Fiskars border punch

Remember, these fabulous kits are NOT available through the Unity Stamp Co. website, but you can look HERE for a retail store listing.

Paper Makeup Stamps Review...

Good morning! Today some of the Paper Makeup Stamps design team are doing a review of some of the stamps that were released last week.  The blog has a list of everyone who has artwork up today.

I got to play some more with the new set, When There's Nothing Left to Say. I adore this set...it's just so perfect for so many times when you need to send a card, but don't necessarily have the right words.

My card design is based off a Page Maps sketch from September.

Supplies used:

*Paper MakeupStamps When There's Nothing Left To Say

*Paper Makeup Stamps Friendly Flowers Set (corner swirl)

*Cosmo Cricket DeLovely paper collection

*Martha stewart border punch

*Marvy Uchida circle punch

*Prima Flowers

*Stampin Up paper edge punch

*flat back pearls

*CTMH Wildflower ink pad

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's gorgeous art!

Circles, Circles, Circles...

It's time for some Friday Fun Challenge and this week Sara challenged us to use circles.

And so I did...

There are 9 complete circles on my card and many, many more half circles and hints of circle throughout. I had a ton of fun creating this card and I will be honest, it is one of my favorite cards that I have made in a long time. I absolutely love it...is it wrong to admit that? ;o)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co Brave Girl Boots

*Unity Stamp Co. Just Be You

*Cosmo Cricket Wanted papers

*MM ledger paper

*Pink Paislee Brown Glitter pixie stick

*Heidi Swapp Chipboard clock

*American Crafts brads

*Martha Stewart border punch

*Fiskars border punch

*Nestabilities Lacey Circle die

*Marvy Uchida scallop punches

*circle cutter

*lace trim

*Palette burnt umber inkpad

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls blogs for more inspiration.  

We would also love for you to play with us-

Jimmi 
Sherry 
Kimme
Sara

Kim

Put Your Brave Girl Boots On!

It's Hip Hop Thursday!!!

How are all my Unity Stamp Co. Peeps?!?

Do you all have your Brave Girl Boots on? Don't know what I am talking about? Then you have to go check out the Brave Girl Boots link. I just got this new kit in this week and am IN LOVE with this stamp kit! I am sure that it helps that I now live in Texas! 

I have been dying to make one of these banners and when I saw this new stamp set, a plan was set in motion for a bit of new artwork to hang in my stamp room....

This piece is big...9x12 for the main piece, not counting any of the bead fringe or hanging parts.

The tag above is a normal shipping tag simply dyed with Glimmer Mist (maybe verdigris? I'd have to check the actual color... I dyed the tag a LONG time ago...LOL!) 

There is a lot going on in this collage and I pulled out one of my favorite Unity butterflies ever....the one from the July Store kit of the month...simply colored with watercolor pencils and pearls for the body.

Like I said, a LOT going on, including lots of little words/phrases put on there to encourage me to stay brave.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Brave Girl Boots

*Unity Stamp Co. July Store kit

*Cosmo Cricket paper

*shipping tags

*MM mini alpha stickers

*Palette burnt umber ink pad

*Fiskars border punch

*Heidi Swapp chipboard clocks

*Jenni Bowlin buttons, bingo card, and star journaling piece

*bead fringe

*Love My Tapes striped fabric tape

*lace trim

*Glimmer Mist

*Tim Holtz ticket

*Flat Backed pearls

Now you need to hop on over to ***Stephanie's beautiful blog***