Anniversary Card

My Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary is tomorrow. We're having a big party for them. :) I got up early this morning and made a card first thing. It's like me to forget to make cards for special occasions. 

 I die cut all of these little shapes and layered them. I love the way it turned out! The paper is from a My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad from Michael's. 

The sentiment is Unity, of course. It's from the February, 2012 Kit of the Month, Lucky to Have You. I used just the words from the bottom of the stamp.

I'll be back later this week with pics from the things I made for the party. :) I  was in charge of the decorations. I can't wait until tomorrow for the party!

Thanks for stopping by. Have an awesome weekend!

A little More Unity

Here is one of the cards I made for the Veterans at our local Veterans' Home for Veteran's Day.

I am also using it for the Unity World Card Making Day Fall Theme Challenge. 

I used Unity's Simple Blessings. Great set for fall.

The designer series paper is by SU.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Have an awesome day!

A Little Unity

Happy little mushrooms, and a cute little happy snail! 

I made this card for Unity's World Cardmaking Day shaped card challenge.

I only have one picture because my computer is being repaired, and I don't have access to my photo editing software :( 

The cardstock is SU Crumb Cake. The ds paper is My Mind's Eye. Happy paper! I think paper piecing is an awesome way to go when you have solid areas. I did use Copics to add a little dimension. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

How Did I Not Post The News!!!

I am a grandma again! My dear daughter had a beautiful baby girl! Her name is Angelia, and she is amazing! 

Her brother adores her, as you can tell :)

And she is a month old already. Bad Blogger! Between Angelia (they live with us) and my new full time job, I'm wiped out! But it's a good wiped out :)

Thanks for stopping in to see the news!

Bless you all!

More Sprucing Up the Cubicle

A canvas will do the trick! I love making canvases! 

 I cut out some flowers and leaves from coordinating Webster's Pages papers.

Some acrylic paint, a white Sharpie paint pen, and some Mod Podge makes it fun and cute!

I did add some shadows with Copics too. I don't think it's great for the nibs, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right? After I was done it looked overall too dark, so I smudged some white paint on the background with my fingers. Much better. 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Have an awesome day!

New Job, New Excuse to Make Stuff!

I have a new, full time job! While it will definitely take time away from my craft room, it will also give me more excuses to make things ;) 

 I have a cubicle to snazz up now! I have pictures to hang, and I thought these teeny tiny clothespins I have been hoarding for YEARS would be cute! They were pretty boring though. Cubicle's do not need boring. I colored them with Copics, doodled  a little, then used Mod Podge Dimensional Magic over the top. First time I used it. Dried very clear! I have used other similar products, and they can sometimes distort color, but this did not. 

 These babies are tiny. Sorry the pics are a little blurry. I tried getting really close.

You can see compared to the dime how small they are. You can also see the shine from the Dimensional Magic. Love it!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm going to try to get some cards going this week, promise! And I have some other ideas for sprucing up my cubicle too ;) Have a great week!

Independence Day Cards for Vets

It's time to make cards for the residents of our Home for Veterans for the 4th of July. I'm doing four different designs, and here is one of them.

I used the Unity Carnivale Alpha to spell out FREE, and made a little banner. 

The "Thanks to you" was computer generated. 

 The paper is called Old Towne Tavern by The Paper Loft. 

I didn't have enough of any one design, so I used three or four different ones for the card fronts.

 I glued the banner pieces onto the linen thread, and mounted them on dimensionals. 

I wrapped the ends around vintage brads.

I'm sharing this on Unity's Friends With Flair!

Thanks for stopping in. Have an awesome weekend!

Grad Card For A Beautiful Young Lady

Tomorrow is the last graduation open house of the season for us. The young lady this card is for is our neighbor's granddaughter, and we've known her her whole life. Time sure does fly!

 The paper I used is from Crate Paper's Portrait Collection. So many beautiful papers! 

I used a stamp from Unity (I know, big surprise). The sentiment is from the January, 2011 Kit of the Month. Perfect for graduation.

I used the Deconstructing Jen Sketch. Instead of another piece of paper down the middle, I'm using the design of the paper. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome weekend!

Fun Bucket!

A while back I saw a 5 gallon bucket that Melody Ross had painted and decorated for the clubhouse. I filed it away for future use. 

My trash basket in my craft room wasn't big enough, and my recycle bin was a cardboard box. They weren't working out for me. I found a couple of buckets that were in pretty bad shape. They needed this!

After scrubbing them for a very long time, my 4 year old grandson helped me paint the buckets. 

That was so much fun!

After painting them with acrylic paints I Mod Podged various papers onto the buckets. I used the glossy Mod Podge. 

This morning I decided I needed more, so I started doodling with my paintbrush allover the bucket. 

That was fun too! 

 These aren't supposed to be perfect. They're supposed to be just as they are!

 The pic below shows my grandson's artwork. He was straying from my direction, and I loved it, so I kept it :)

This is my other bucket. I'm not done with it yet. Not sure what I'm doing exactly, but it will be fun!

I'm linking up to House of Hepworths link party and
Lolly Jane Boutique's Whatcha Got Weekend link party.
:)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Have an awesome day!

Grad Time, FWF Style

It's that time of year! We have lots of grad parties to go to. 

My son graduated last year, and since he played hockey his whole life, we know lots of guys graduating!

Guy cards are always challenging to me, but I think this one will pass ;)

 I used paper from October Afternoon and Crate Paper. 

The stamps are "You Did It" Itty Bitty, and the clock from the February, 2012 Kit of the Month.

Ink is Frayed Burlap and Old Paper Distress Ink, as well as Tuxedo Black Momento.

That cute little button brad is Stampin' Up. I saw it in the "NEW" catalog and remembered it while I was working on this card. 

It's Friends With Flair Friday on the Unity Blog. Stop by and be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by, and have an awesome Memorial Weekend!

Happy Friday!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am sooooo happy it's Friday! No work this weekend, and tomorrow is our 22nd anniversary :) Great husband, great years!

 I made this card for the Unity Challenge. This month the challenge is Stripes. Great paper by October Afternoon made it easy. The stamp set I used is Undeniably You. It has the dress image and four sentiments!

Thank you for stopping by. Have an amazing weekend!

Edited to add: If tpgirl happens to read this post, you were the winner of my Growing in Unity week. I need a way to contact you for your prize :)

Growing in Unity Winner!

First of all, thank you so much for all of the kind comments last week! I really enjoyed my Growing in Unity week. My grandson drew the name for me, and the winner is:

tpgirl!

Congratulations! Please send me your e-mail address so you can pick your 2 Itty Bitty's!

Have a great week everyone!

Quick Card

Our Goddaughter is receiving her First Communion today!

 I needed a quick card that was pretty for a beautiful little girl!

I printed the sentiment since I couldn't find the right one. The font is Impervious. 

There is lots of pretty on this card; lace, pearls, and velvet :)

Paper is Olivia from Basic Grey.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Come back tomorrow for the winner of my Growing in Unity week!

Have a great day!

Last Day of Growing in Unity

This is my last day of my Growing in Unity week. It's been fun, and I truly appreciate everyone's kind comments :) This post is going to be long on pics, and short on words.

My first card uses the bird stamp from the February, 2011 Kit of the Month, "the best is yet to be". Paper is from Basic Grey Picadilly (loving that paper). I like the little frame around the image :)

I'm linking this card up to the Unity Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge.

My next card is the anniversary card for my husband (22 years this month). 

The ticket stamp is from Unity's "here's the ticket" set. The sentiment from the February, 2011 Kit of the Month, and it fits perfectly in the space on the ticket!

 I cut the strips of paper (Stampin' Up) to mimic the ticket shape. I sponged Weathered Wood Distress Ink around the edges of the strips as well as the ticket. 

This card will be linked up to The Deconstructed Sketch #50. 

 My final project is a notepad holder. The sentiment is from the Melody Ross set, "All Worth It". I love the sentiment! Great advice. I also used the Christy Tomlinson stamp, "Tattered Chicken Wire". The birds are from the Melody Ross set, "Love Life". 

The paper I used is Christy Tomlinson's new paper. Ok, I think I'm addicted to paper. 

 Here is a peek at the inside.

Whew, that was a long one, and not so short on words after all. 

Again, thank you for stopping by! I really appreciate all of the great comments!

I will be back on Sunday with the winner of the two Unity Itty Bitty Stamps~!

Have a great day!

Growing in Unity, Day 4!

Today I have another canvas!

I really do enjoy making these.

There are a lot of mistakes creative liberties on this. More on that later ;)

 This canvas is deep. That makes it stand up on its own easily. Bonus!

I Mod Podged some book pages on the canvas first. Some of the pages I came across were pretty risque! I thought it best to leave them off since I'm not sure what I'm doing with this yet ;)
I cut and punched a border for this baby. Love pretty papers!

I thought it would be awesome to cover the whole thing with Picket Fence Distress Stain. Looked great, but I wanted a darker, more aged look. Hmmm, what to do, what to do...

Well, I have a re-inker for my Old Paper Distress ink. I'll just smear some of that over the whole piece.

It would have been genius, if the Distress Stain were permanent, which it's not. I knew that, but I went with it.Yikes! That was some icky, sticky muddy looking, oily feeling mess. I know this because I used my fingers to apply the re-inker. I let it sit for a looooooong time. Tick Tock Tick Tock...

 It was beyond icky. This stuff was not drying. So, I wiped it off with a paper towel, and I loved what I was left with! I did go back over it with the Distress Stain a bit. Overnight it dried much more. 

I stamped the Unity Itty Bitty "My Heart Belongs" with Staz-On, and painted the heart with Liquitex ink. Then I stamped the sentiment, cut it out, and distressed it. I doodled around the image and the top and bottom borders, and over the sentiment.

I decided I needed a little more, so out came the Magic Mesh and some paint. Then I lightened the paint and dabbed a little more on with some bubble wrap.  

 After all of the, ahem, new techniques I love the end result! It's messy and imperfect, and me! 

Thanks for making it all the way through my rambling :) I hope it makes sense.

I really appreciate you stopping by. Now make sure you comment for a chance to win! One more day, and tomorrow I'll have a few things to share.

Have an awesome day!

Growing in Unity, Day 3

Today I have a canvas for you.

The first thing I did was Mod Podge tissue paper onto the canvas. 

I love the texture it gives to the piece. 

The background color comes from Faber-Castell Gelatos. Awesome stuff!

I used a Prima mask and Studio Calico Mister Huey for the green swirl design.  

 This is where the Unity "Harmony" Stamp Set comes in. I love that set! I'm all about peace, love, and harmony! I stamped the images in black StazOn. I went over the peace sign with a Faber-Castell  Big Brush Pitt Pen, then smeared it with my finger to cover the peace sign. 

Remember the Magic Mesh from back in the day? I have some that I never used, and  I use it on almost every canvas I make. I use it as a stencil and dab paint over it. It makes a great design. This time I used white Model Magic for some texture and dimension. 

I wanted a little more on the canvas, so I stamped the winged heart, but I stamped it with Glimmer Mist! I smeared it on the stamp with my fingers.  

 Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to come back tomorrow, and comment for a chance to win some Unity Stamps!

Have a great day!

Growing in Unity, Day Two :)

Thanks for stopping by to check out day two of Growing in Unity.

 The stamp is "It Suits You", a Unity Itty Bitty. I wanted to go retro beach with this one. The perfect paper for that is October Afternoon's Seaside. 

The suit was colored with Copics. Then it was popped up. 

The die cut is inlaid. I cut the shape out of both the patterned paper and the cardstock, and placed the cardstock shape inside the patterned paper cut out. 

 And it couldn't be one of my cards without buttons.

Now don't forget to comment for a chance to win two Itty Bitty's from Unity!

Thanks for coming by! Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for another project!

Have a great day!

Growing in Unity, Day One!

Welcome to my first Growing in Unity post of the week! 

I'm happy to share some Unity love with you all, while giving you a chance to WIN a cool prize! :)

Make sure to come back every day this week and leave a comment on each Growing in Unity post. At the end of the week, one lucky commenter will pick two Unity Itty Bittys!

This adorable stamp is from the June, 2010 Kit of the Month, Fly...Free. I decided to add a little nest, and some texture by giving them a nest made of tiny pieces of felt. I was inspired by the lyrics of the song on the patterned paper along the bottom of the card.

 The paper is one of my all time favs, October Afternoon's Thrift Shop. 

The frame is SU's Crumb Cake. It's made of what was left after die cutting a shape using Nestabilities. I popped it up over the image for dimension. 

A variety of punches were used to make the layers. All of the edges were inked using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Old Paper. It's my go-to ink for aging. And of course, I had to add some buttons ;)

I really look forward to sharing Unity with you all week! And don't forget to comment every day for a chance to win:)

By the way, if you like what you see, feel free to subscribe. It's that little box up in the right corner ;) And if you've subscribed previously you will need to do it again as I have changed subscription providers.

Thank you for stopping by. Have an awesome day!

Mixed Media Piece-A Dog's Love

More from the "Art of Wild Abandonment" online class.

This is based on our baby, Angel. She's not a baby really. 

She's almost 12. And she's a big dog too. 

Time's a tickin'. 

 Of course she can be a real pain the you know what, but we love her dearly. She is an Irish Wolfhound and Australian Shepherd mix. She is so sweet. 

And believe it or not, her hair is actually way longer than in the drawing. And it is everywhere! I'll have to dig up a pic of her and post it.

 I don't know that I'm actually done with this. Probably not. I think I need to do something with the words in the center. 

 True, Real, Pure. Exactly what a dog's love is. Dogs are amazing, and I couldn't imagine our life without one.

Thanks for stopping by.

And have a great day!