Merry Christmas Hip Hop Style...

~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~

~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~ 

~~~Hip Hopping All the Way~~~

~~~Oh What Fun it is to Play with Stamping Everyday-hey~~~

Merry Christmas with this Unity Hip Hop!!!

I did a layout using today's new release, Merry & Bright. I have had these photos printed since last Christmas, but haven't been able to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with them. Finally, when I got these gorgeous stamps on my table, I knew what I wanted to create. Love it when inspiration finally strikes like that and if it takes new stamps to make it happen, well then that's a sacrifice I am willing to make! ;o)

All of the stamping on here is just simple staight forward stamping...so easy and fast! The only place that I did anything more was on the ornament and then I just added a bit of watercolor pencil coloring to it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Merry and Bright

*Jenny Bowlin die cut paper (base of the layout)

*October Afternoon paper

*watercolor pencils

*Marvy Uchida scallop punches

*flat backed gems (in the center of the snowflakes)

*ribbon

*small circle punch (to create the ticket corner effect on the "have a holly jolly Christmas" piece)

Now you need to hop on over to...

***Laura's Luscious Blog***

A bit of tricycle fun...

Hello from sunny, balmy Illinois. See that's what happens when we complain about the over-abundance of rain...it stops and then we get freaking HOT!!! Wow is it ever muggy out there. Jacob is at Scout camp this week in Missouri and I hope that they are staying hydrated because this is killer! I can't even imagine what it must be like trying to sleep in it...

But for a bit of summer fun, I made a card using the Unity Stamp Co. kit, Everyday Adorable. I love this kit and haven't given it enough inky love yet so I thought that I would try to change that some today. I just love this little tricycle image...so fun! 

{I am really hoping that Kat will be big enough for a tricycle for Christmas and then I will be able to use this stamp for layouts too!!}

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable

*Fancy Pants papers

*MM eyelet trim

*StazOn jet black inkpad

*watercolor pencils

*Bazzill scallop cardstock

*Marvy Uchida scallop square punch

I hope that you are having a fabulous week!!!

A bit of Masculine creating fun!

It's official...I am addicted to Facebook (the games) and am seriously wasting my life away (or at least all of my computer time) on there. Restraint is in order so I am trying to put a blog post together for you...LOL! I promise to try to be better from here on out!

I have some masculine projects to share with you today that I have been working on lately. 

This week, Jacob is at Scout camp so I have been making him cards to send while he is gone. This first one is a small 3 1/2 x 6 1/4. When I made it, I was thinking that it would be fun to take the front off and then use it as a bookmark...

The basic layout of it is from last week's Mojo Monday sketch. I just never got it uploaded until now.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. This is the Time (star and oval numbered background in main frame)

*Unity Stamp Co. Bliss & a Birdie (You Rock sentiment)

*WRMK sports paper (pennant background)

*Cosmo Cricket Jack paper (orange plaid and striped)

*Fancy Pants paper (blue and orange)

*orange seam binding

*Marvy Uchida punch

*button

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

This is another card to send to Jacob at camp and this one was based off the SCS sketch from last week (SC213)....

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Hullabaloo

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple

*DCWV Green Paper Pad

*Martha Stewart seam binding

*MME adventure ticket

*copper brads

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

Finally, for the cards...this is a card that I made for Ben for our anniversary (which was Saturday)/Father's Day card. The outside says "Confession" and then the sentiment inside says, "You stole my heart". Both of those stamps are from the Confession: I luv Unity stamp kit. The grill is from the retro bbq kit that was released last week.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Confession: i luv Unity

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ

*DCWV Green STack

*Stampin Up Top Note die cut

*corner rounder

*copper brads

*watercolor pencils

*Memories brown inkpad

*********

And finally, I have something to share that is a bit out of the ordinary. The older Scouts in Jacob's Scout troop are going to a High Adventure Philmont Scout camp this summer, Double H in New Mexico. They were looking for a design for their shirts so I played a bit with some clip art and layering and came up with this design that they chose...

How fun is that?!?!? I am so excited...almost feel professional...LOL!  You can click it to see it better, but the quote is from Thoreau and says "Let your walks now be a little more adventurous" which I thought was appropriate for this event. 

And here are my adventurers modeling their new shirts...

Ben in his very manly pose and...

Jacob in his! I love these guys!

HipHop...It's all about Creating!!!

HiP HoP!!!

Good morning to all my Hip-Hopping Peeps!!!

Today I have a quickie little wall art piece that is simply fun! For Christmas, I created some wall art and needed some frames a certain size. I found sports frames that were the perfect size at Hobby Lobby. They included these plastic mats that were set up for a photo of the team and the individual's photo. I have been saving them thinking that they would be something fun to alter and this is my first one...

The piece measures about 6x12 and works perfectly to hang off of one of these little craft hangers.

The stamps are one of the quote stamps and Wish Sticks from Unity. You could do this with any quote stamp and color scheme to suit your decor. I think that this would make a fun little hostess gift whenever you are attending a party at someone's house or visiting overnight.

 Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Create Yourself

*Unity Stamp Co. Wish Sticks

*Making Memories Giggle Kids paper collection

*Bo Bunny (green)

*Making Memories eyelet trim and Vintage collection pin

*Flat back pearls

*Martha Stewart butterfly punch

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*old dictionary paper

*Sports frame insert

Now you need to hop on over to....

***Amber's Amazing Blog***

Blogger is having some issues this morning, so if Amber's post still isn't up, hop on along to...

***Maren's Beautiful Blog***

My normal blogging should resume tomorrow. We are slowly starting to get into our summer routine...

A Quickie Challenge Card...

I threw together a card this morning while Kat was napping for a couple of blog challenges. This card was put together using this week's CPS sketch (#120) and Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June KOM, Perfect in Every Way

*October Afternoon paper collection

*MM paper collection

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*cardstock

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*brads

I hope that you all are having a fabulous weekend. It's been a bit crazy around here. Ben finally got home late last night, a full 24 hours after he was supposed to be home (MULTIPLE airline delays on the East coast) and Jacob just got home from a weekend backpacking trip a full 2 hours early today. 

Friday night...

...and it's very quiet around the ole homestead! Ben was supposed to be home tonight (he's been out of town since Sunday, but he had flight delays so is still stuck on the East coast.) Jacob is out on a Scout backpacking trip and Kat is sound asleep. 

So here I sit all alone listening to a bit of classical music (it's that kind of mellow night), drinking a bit of French Cotes du Rhone, and playing on facebook. I should be stamping, but I may still do some of that later.

For right now, I have a layout to share that I finished late last night.

This is a photo that I took one day out at the park of the family last fall (I am thinking September timeframe) and every time I look at it, it cracks me up. You can just see that they are all thoroughly sick of the camera so I went with the title, "Happy...not so much!"

I used this week's sketch from the 52 Sketches site (#23 I think.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kom  ("happy" banner)

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration (journaling block)

*Cosmo Cricket paper collection

*Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha

*Martha Stewart seam binding

*brads

*pop dots

*Memories brown inkpad

It's a Father's Day Hip Hop!!!

Wow! It has been a crazy week here...

DH out of town.

 Kat sleeping (or not sleeping) crazy hours.

 Storms that send us to the basement on a regular basis.

 Power surges.

  The weather channel on all through the night. 

and all of that means....

 that my creative time has been severely lacking this week...

So today I just have one simple little card to show you, but it is using that fun new barbeque kit that is being released today. I love this kit...so perfect for summer and Father's Day projects.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro Barbeque... Sweet Summertime

*American Crafts paper

*Bazzill cardstock

*brads

*watercolor pencils

*Signo Uniball white writer

*Fiskar's Apron Lace border punch

Now you need to Miss Krafty Queen's blog...

***AJ's Blog***

My Little Fashion Plate...

Well, in someone's book she would be a Fashion Plate. LOL!

My mom sent her these socks from Alaska that are covered in bears so of course, she had to put them on. 

She also has on her shoes that we bought yesterday that are 2 sizes too big. 

I should know her well enough by now to know never to buy her shoes that are not the right size yet because she is obsessed and refuses to take new shoes off no matter how many times she trips and falls over the toes of them. 

So this is the fashion statement of the day... she calls them her boots and yes, they are on the wrong feet in this photo... Jacob helped her with that. She is still wearing the ensemble (4 hours later), but the shoes are now on the correct feet. 

{and yes, that is old Flopsy and new Flopsy in her hands. Mom bought us a replacement for emergencies (thanks Mom!!!) Who knew that old Flopsy was so disgusting looking compared to how he looks new?!? Maybe I should wash him more which hopefully won't be as traumatic now that we have two. Hey, I can think positively here! }

*********

I spent 2+ hours in my stamp room last night and this is the only thing that I have to show for it (oh,  and I watched the movie Bride Wars.) The sad thing, it was almost 3/4 of the way done when I went in there. So not much to show for the time spent... a VERY simple card!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration

*Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia paper collection

*ribbon

*brads

*pop dots

I'll be back tomorrow for hip hop!

It was a Scrapbooking Weekend!

I took the weekend to play with some fun sketches from a site that is fairly new to me, 52 Sketches/52 Weeks.

This first layout is from sketch #16.

This photo is one that my mom took when she and dad were here visiting. The photo is my dad on the left and me on the right with Kat in the center. I love the photo and think that it is a bit symbolic of the support that family gives and I {and Kat} am blessed to have!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration

*Collage Press paper collection

*Little Yellow Bicycle Die Cut paper (green)

*MME paper

*Memory Box Damask stamp

*Marcella Chipboard family

*MM ledger paper

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*vintage buttons

*Memories brown inkpad

*CTMH Breeze inkpad

*Bazzill cardstock

*********

This second layout is from Sketch #14... I just turned the sketch on its side.

These are some photos of Kat & Ben playing with his guitar over the winter. I have loved these photos, but was never really sure how I wanted to showcase them. This works for me.

I love the effect that bunching up ribbon does for a layout. I used FabriTac for this and am not sure that I could do it without it. LOVE that stuff!

Supplies used:

*Collage Press paper collection

*Bazzill Kraft

*Bazzill scalloped cardstock

*MM ribbon

*buttons

*FabriTac

*inkpads for sponging papers

**********

Today is the first official day of summer around here (i.e. no school.) Ben is also out of town this week so we had a very lazy morning. Kat even slept til 7:30 which is unheard of...of course, now she doesn't want to take an afternoon nap which isn't boding well for my personal productivity today. I am just hoping that I get a shower at some point. ahhhh, summer!

A Very Special Hip Hop!!!

It's my Mom's birthday today!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

It's already been an amazing day. I started off the day with a breakfast of champions...or at least the Bryant women! LOL! I get my addiction to these little chocolate wonders from my mom so I just had to eat a few for breakfast in honor of her birthday (I am thinking that today needs to be a double-workout day!)

We also had an amazing sunrise this morning, but I will talk about that in a moment because I uploaded my photos in the wrong order, but if I move them then you can't enlarge them when you click on them. *ugh*

********

So first, I will talk about today's art. I made this card last night for my mom's birthday (yes, I am running a bit behind since this, and her present, will have to be mailed- Sorry Mom!)

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this months kit of the month, Perfect in Every Way?!?  LOVE IT! Most of the images here are from that kit... the flowers, the owl, "perfect", and if you look really closely you can see the faint images of the "relax" in the background of the flower piece. I also added the faint image of the worn music background on the flower piece too.

The layout for the card is based upon this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#89.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co Perfect in Every Way (June kit of the month)

*Unity Stamp Co. Worn Music Background

*October Afternoon papers

*StazOn jet black inkpad

*watercolor pencils

*CTMH Desert Sand inkpad

*CTMH Sweet Leaf inkpad

*CTMH Breeze inkpad

*MM mini alpha stickers

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*ribbon

*brads

*pop-dots

*****

And now back to that sunrise from this morning. We get up every morning at 4:00 to workout so most days, I get to see the sun rise, but this morning's was just gorgeous. When I first noticed it, the colors were super-dark purples and pinks. By the time I grabbed the tripod and made it to the end of the block for photos, the colors were a bit more muted although still simply amazing.

I hope that your day has started out glorious too!!!

Now you need to hop on over to...

***Kimber's Incredible Blog***

It's a new month which means we have a new stamp kit!!!

It's June 1st and there are tons of fun things happening over at Unity Stamp Co.!!

First up, is a brand new kit of the month and once again, Angela has completely outdone herself. This one is definitely a keeper!! I love every single one of the images in this kit, but I know that these 2 are two of my favorites. I love that little owl... it has such a different and more stylish look than the others that you see out on the market... LOVE HIM! And that polka-dot font and that incredible quote...LOVE IT!

The layout for the card came from CPS sketch #45.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month

*Webster's Pages paper (polkadot)

*Fancy Pants paper (solid distressed turquoise)

*Tattered Angels

*MM black trim

*Martha Stewart border punches 

*American Crafts Med black brads

*StazOn Jet black inkpad

Every month, there will be a contest to be a guest designer. This month's contest starts today and ends the 3rd. You are to create a project using April or May's kit of the month using a monochromatic theme. You can find the thread here. 

As the design team, we do this challenge using the June kit. My attempt is the card above. You can see the rest of the team's attempt by following these links...

2.) AJ Otto 
3.) Kimber McGray 
4.) Jeanne Streiff 
5.) Brooke Lien
6.) Maren Benedict 
7.) Linsey Rickett 
8.) Julie Campbell 
9.) Jimmi Mayo 
10.) Jennifer Buck

*****

And now I have some photos from the weekend to share with you...

Kat's hair is finally long enough that we can do pigtails with it. I am so excited about that and she loves it too. We had to take some photos to mark her new pigtails.

Yes, she is sitting on my lap here and it is a fantastic photo except for someone (I am not saying who) took the photo while my eyes were closed so I just cropped me out.

**********

Then yesterday morning, I was busy stamping in the kitchen and Kat decided that she wanted to join me wearing her winter hat. Mind you, I never could get her to wear this hat when it was actually cold outside. LOL!

Yes, Lisa she is playing with your gorgeous pear tree stamp!!!

I see a future stamper here although I am not so sure about her sense of style while doing it... She is such a cutie, if you don't mind me saying....

*******

And finally, I am a sucker for flowers and saw these gorgeous gerbera daisies at WalMart the other day so I had to bring them home with me. They simply make me happy sitting on the table and that is one of those simple pleasures that makes life good.

Have a fantastic Monday!