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

Good Morning!!

It is a wet and rainy morning here in Illinois this morning and with Ike moving onshore today, I have a feeling that a lot of you are facing the same style weather where you are or have it coming your way. Yesterday's hip-hop was so much fun. Thank you for all the loving that you showed for my projects and little cutie!

Today I just have a quick share for you. This was my project for yesterday's hip-hop just in case the bags didn't get finished (they have been in the works for 3 weeks, but something kept getting in the way of them getting completed.) I planned this project with a sketch first. I don't do that very often, but when I do, it makes the project go together so much faster so I thought that I would share the sketch with you too.

And now the final project. This is my Christmas planner/list book. It is simply a small spiral notebook and I have altered the cover.

I used three Unity stamps/kits for this. First the Wishes came from the stamp, My Biggest Wishes. I simply took my waterbased Zig Marker and only colored the Wishes part of the sentiment. I love using this technique to make my stamps more versatile. If you aren't familiar with it, let me know and I will explain it a bit further...it's super-simple!

The grey swirls in the background are from my favorite kit, Growing in Unity. I could easily use a stamp from this kit on every project that I make. Finally the Christmas images are from the kit, Bitty Christmas tags. I simply used watercolor pencils for the coloring on these.

I don't think that you can see it on these photos, but all of the jingle bells have a touch of glitter just to give them a more festive/holiday look.

I hope you have a fun {and creative}weekend ahead of you!

It's a Hip-Hop, We-Just-Can't-Stop, Thursday!!!

Hello Hip-Hopper's!!!

Welcome to my blog!

I hope that you have come a hopping from Jen's gorgeous blog. If you haven't, you need to get this hip-hop started and head on over to Angela's blog first for all the fun announcements and then hip-hop on around on the DT hop.

I have several totally different styled projects to show you today, but first I have to show off my favorite.

When Unity Stamp Co. came out with EcoChic, I totally fell in love with it, but didn't really have too much of a use for it {which totally didn't stop me from buying it...LOL!} We have all seen the canvas bags for shopping bags in the stores and I have known that I really needed to invest in a set of them instead of always getting those awful plastic store bags which I usually just end up throwing away (see why I really didn't have a use for the EcoChic kit, I am not as environmental as I really should be!!) But give me a cute, stylish canvas bag and I think I can go a bit more green. Look at these....

I know, anything looks good with my gorgeous little model! :o)

Aren't they cute?!?! I just stamped my EcoChic stamps onto muslin using StazOn inkpads. I colored them with my normal Zig markers and then just ironed it all onto my canvas bags using heavy-duty wonder-under. NO SEWING INVOLVED...LOVE THAT! I covered the raw edges with those gorgeous fun ribbons that I bought at Hobby Lobby earlier in the week. And, get this...ALL the canvas bags are 50% off this week at Hobby Lobby!!! That smaller one came in a set of 3 that was regularily $4, but I got them 1/2 price so they were less than $1 each. The pink bag that is a bit more decorative came from WalMart (it was $6), but HL did have some fancier ones similar to that too...just not in pink.

I am not sure how they will hold up esp. with washing. I honestly will probably throw my sewing machine around the edges before I wash them, but I think overall they make a really cute, easy project!

I have also been having a play with the SCS challenges this week. This card is using this week's sketch, SC193. I used the new single from a few week's ago, So & So Loves. I just love that fun stamp. The other stamp, the I luv u, is out of the August KOM...unfortunately, that one is no longer available, but there is an equally cute one available for September so you want to be sure not to miss out on it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. So & So Loves

*Unity Stamp Co. August kom

*Martha Stewart paper (blue)

*Scenic Route paper (red)

*watercolor pencils

*buttons

*brown inkpad

*Fiskars threading water border punch

Now you need to head on over to Robyn's blog to see what gorgeous eye-candy she has been creating this week. I can guarantee you that it will be gorgeous! Then come join us for the all-day fun, games and prizes in the Splitcoaststamper's Unity forum.

Happy-Happy, Joy-Joy!

Good Tuesday Morning! There is a briskness in the air that says Autumn is on it's way! I "heart" Autumn! It's the most perfect season. And the cool Autumn air means that Kat gets to pull out some of her new fall clothes, which of course means that we have to take pictures!!

Here she is sitting on our front porch with Flopsy. I think that it is pretty safe to say that you won't see many photos anymore without him in tow...they are pretty inseparable.

While we were sitting out there a puppy ran by and there is nothing that Kat likes better than a puppy (or any animal...in fact, she just brought me my Year in Provence book because it has a fox on the cover...we are in the office and while I play on the computer, she empties out all my bookshelves.)

Here she is watching the puppy play in our front yard.

In other news, I am working on a fun new project for Unity's Hip-Hop Thursday this week which required me to make a trip to a few craft stores yesterday (isn't it awful when that happens? LOL!) I made some serious scores yesterday...look at these gorgeous ribbons from Hobby Lobby (they are 1 1/2" or 2" wide so they are really substantial.) I also found a punch from Martha Stewart at Archiver's that I didn't even know existed...it creates that fun curved pointy edge (I have no idea how to describe it...I will try to use it soon on a project so that you can see what in the world I am talking about.) But the best part about the punch- it was 25% off...I totally would have bought it full-price though! :o)

I have tons of projects going right now so I promise to be back soon with something fun to share...I just need Kat to give me more than 15 minutes free-time.

On another front...what does it say about you {meaning me} as a housekeeper when you go to pull out the ironing board {for a craft project, not for real ironing, mind you} and looking at the empty place where the ironing board should be realize that you threw it away 3 months ago when you moved in the promise to buy a new one when you got to the new house? hmmmmm..... Martha {and my mother} would be appalled. *hi, Mom!*

Monday Mutterings...

Quote of the week:

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

~Douglas MacArthur

Well, it is only 11:00 am and it has already been a very strange Monday morning which began at 4:00 am with strange pulsating sounds coming out of the ground around our basement. They are still happening and the "guy" from our property management company has been round and there is absolutely no explanation for the wierd sound that continues on... so if you hear on the news about the ground opening up in Illinois....you know it started at my house. *eek*

It definitely made for an odd start to the week, and no, we didn't get our 4:00 am workout done today...we were too busy trying to figure out what the heck that noise was. I am hoping to find time for it later today if Kat will cooperate.

I have been playing a bit with my stamps this weekend. Unfortunately, most of it I can't show you right now, but I do have one card that I can share. I saw on Amber's blog last week that Jacksonbelle Embellishments is running a month-long sketch challenge using Inkadinkado stamps. I love Inkadinkado stamps, but I have several new ones that haven't even gotten inky yet so I figured that this was a good opportunity to play with them.

Here is the first sketch:

For my card, I turned the sketch, but left the orientation as a long (width wise) card. Does that make sense? I turned it and squished it to make my card look like this:

I used two Inkadinkado stamps: #97549- Patterned Bugs & #98272- Frame. I also used the papers from the latest SEI line. This is a 5x7 card.

Fabulous Friday!

Hello Everyone! It's a fabulous Friday...also known as Shake Friday. Did you know that we are still doing those? I am not sure if I mentioned it before, but yes, we still continue the Shake Friday tradition. That used to mean a trip to Coldstone Creamery for a Love It Oh Fudge Shake, until I realized that that single shake was 40 WW points. OMG!?!? It's good, but I am not so sure that it falls under two-whole-days-worth-of-points good. Holy Cow! So now we go to Wendy's where I can get a 7 point Frosty...and it's almost as good.


And speaking of things that I NEVER should have discovered...have you ever tried Candy Corn with Salted, Roasted Peanuts?

I got to meet Amy (i.e. CaffinatedCropper) this week and she brought me a little jar of this amazing snack. I now call her the Devil's Spawn...just kidding, she is really incredibly sweet and so is this snack!! And the best (or it could actually be the worst) thing about it...no mess on your hands so you can eat it while you craft! And if you can keep from eating it all in one sitting, it looks good sitting around in little jars for Fall. Try it...you'll love it!


I have just one quick card to share today. The cardmaking challenge over on Splitcoast was to make a card featuring a coffee theme with the color orange. This is what I came up with.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Small Elegance (cup)
*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple (relax)
*Foofala paper (black & white)
*Fancy Pants paper ( bright pink)
*Rhonna Farrer paper (orange with the cup)
*Prima paper (orange & pink at the bottom)
*Threading Water border punch (Fiskars)
*StazOn Jet Black inkpad

There is some fun Unity prizes over on the Tinkering Ink blog today so you may want to take a look and register to win!

H-Squared!

That's right!

It's a Unity HIP-HOP Thursday!!!!

Yay!!!

If you have just come across my blog and forgot to do the "Hop" today, well then you need to start over at Angela's blog and "Hop" on through the Unity DT blogs for some gorgeous inspiration and then a chance for some FREE stamps at the end.

So are you ready for some fun, games, freebies, and deals? I hope that you saw all the amazing deals that Unity has going on today listed on Angela's blog. I am amazed every week at how generous they are with their specials. Unity is just the BEST COMPANY!!!

If you are joining me from Heather Mellstrom's blog, welcome! Did you see her gorgeous Penny Candy card?!? I love that she added pennies! That girl is just too creative and talented!!!

And now for a bit of what I have been up to this week! Yesterday was the customer hop and OMG, those girls are so talented!!! They all featured cards using the Unity colors and it inspired me to do the same. Unfortunately my creative muse did not feel as inspired as I did and she wasn't cooperating too well last night, so I had to diverge from the color scheme a bit and add a bit of yellow to the mix.

This first card is using one of Unity's newer kits, Have a Diva Day...it is just too fun! I also pulled out some of my new Sassafras Lass papers and Martha Stewarts gems for this card.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Have a Diva Day

*Unity Stamp Co. Distressed Dots background

*Sassafras Lass papers

*Martha Stewart Flat-backed gems

*velvet ribbon from Michael's

*corner rounder

*CTMH True Teal inkpad

For this card, I used some more of those Sassafras Lass papers and the Unity single, Blossom. Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Blossom stamp

*Sassafras Lass papers

*Fiskars Threading Water punch

*brown inkpad

*buttons

And this is my final card. Did you see that Angela put this sentiment on sale as a single this week? LOVE that sentiment, but the whole Oh What a Beautiful Morning kit is very cute.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Oh What a Beautiful Morning

*Martha Stewart paper

*MM ribbon

*brads

*CTMH True Teal, Sunflower, and brown inkpads

*buttons

Now you need to head on over to Natalie's incredible blog to see what she has cooked up for you this week! And when you are all through "hopping", don't forget to come join us for more fun in the Unity Splitcoaststamper forum for all-day fun!

****On a Special note***….. Each week Unity will be selecting a Charity to donate a 10% of the Hip Hop Thursday proceeds. This week it is to Operation Jonathan (details can be found on Heather's blog. Hopefully, you saw it along the "hop".) You can also choose to donate more through the Unity website at this link here.

Hello September!

LOOK at this! The new Kit of the month for September from Unity:

Quote for this week:

With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance,

all things are attainable.

~Thomas Foxwell Buxton

Good morning!! It's a bright Monday morning, but I have to tell you, I DID NOT want to get out of bed for that 4:00 am workout this morning...that's the great thing about DH and I working out together. On the days that I really don't want to get up, he is there to push me out and onward and it works the other way too.

Right now, he and Jacob have gone out on their first kayaking excursion. I can't wait for them to get home to see how it went. So it is just us girls here today for this holiday Monday. Kat is about to wake up from her nap so I better make this quick.

Just a fun couple of projects to share with you today. I finally found a bit of time to really sit down and play just for the sake of playing over the weekend and this is what became of that playtime.

This first project is a card using a modified version (i.e. size) of last week's SCS sketch.



This is the new line out from Scenic Route and I almost didn't order it....I am so glad that I changed my mind because I absolutely LOVE IT!

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. KOM- August
*Scenic Route Sonoma
*Martha Stewart border punch
*Marvy Uchida Scallop circle punch
*brown inkpad
*buttons


This second project is just a simple bookmark using the new Unity kit, Hey Chick, that I just got in. Isn't it fun!?!


This little birdie's tail feathers definitely called for a little bling!

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Hey Chick kit
*American Crafts paper & ribbon
*Watercolor pencils
*brown inkpad
*Marvy Uchida Oval punches
*ultra-fine glitter

And a bit of more fun news for today with it being September 1st...Cyndi Bundy is the new guest DT member for Unity. I am a huge fan of Cyndi's work so I can't wait to see what she creates for us this month!