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, 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!

Life's a Beach Birdhouse

It was time for a little Mod Podge! Every once in awhile I get the urge :)

Since I have a bunch few more birdhouses I knew just what I needed to do.

 White paint, paper, stickers,  Mod Podge, and Martha Stewart Antique Effect, and my urge was satisfied.

 This aqua wood design paper from October Afternoon always reminded me of the beach, so I made a little beach house. It makes me think of a lifeguard shack.

 This makes me happy :)

Thank you for stopping by! 

Have a great day!

CPS 5th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Card Positioning Systems! 

This is a great site for card sketches. If you are at a loss, stop by and pick a sketch!

I made this for Day 1 of the Anniversary celebration!

The sketch for Day 1 is shown below.

 I used various papers from October Afternoon. The all coordinate so well I often use papers from different collections together.

 The stamps are all Unity :) The sentiment is from the February, 2011 KOTM. The heart is from the November, 2010 KOTM. 

I have been busy, and I will be back tomorrow with some more BIRDHOUSES! I love decorating them :)

Thank you for stopping in.

Have a super day!

Unity KOTM Sketch Challenge Card

Every month Unity has a Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge. You can only use stamps from 

Unity's KOTM. I turned the sketch and the center image.

 The sentiment is from the February, 2011 Kit of the Month.

I used October Afternoon Thrift Shop designer paper. The edges were sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Old Paper.

The doily is from the July, 2010 Kit of the Month. It's heat embossed with American Crafts Zing Embossing Powder in Mustard.

The turquoise flower is Prima. The others are Stampin' Up, and were dyed using reinkers and water. So glad I had the right colors!

Well, that's it. Thanks so much for stopping in! I really do appreciate it when you visit :)

Have a fantastic day!

Some Simple and Sweet Cards

Well, I tried to follow the sketch for Unity's Kit of the Month Sketch. After I cut the floral paper I realized I flipped the diagonal, but I was not wasting this paper! So flipped it is!

 

 I used the December, 2010 Kit of the Month for the sentiment. Then I blew it again and used the flowers from the Get Scrappy With Material Girl kit instead of some from a Kit of the Month. Oh well. I still LOVE it!!! The papers are October Afternoon Seaside. I love the wood papers ;)

This next card is for the All Things Unity "From the Hearth" Challenge. The challenge was to use food inspired stamps.

The apples are from the October, 2010 Kit of the Month. Paper from Cosmo Cricket.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Have an awesome day :)

Quick Thank You

 A quick card using the current CPS sketch. 

Paper is October Afternoon with a little MME mixed in. Stamps are Unity, of course. 

The little flowers were die cut using the Blossom Nestie. I cut little slits toward the middle, then used my stylus and shaped the petals a little. I added the SU brads to the middles. 

The ribbon is from some packaging for something I bought.

Thanks for checking in :) Have an awesome day!

Congratulations CPS Card

Congratulations to my sister-in-law who is graduating from college on Friday! I know how hard it is to be an adult college student since I'm one myself. It's a lot of work when you're raising a family. But she finally made it through, and she'll be a teacher now :)

 I love the sketch at Card Positioning Systems this week. It's something I never would have thought of on my own. The papers I used are from October Afternoon. I sponged the edges of all of the papers and the doily. I decided to use the paper ribbon like in my previous post. The sentiment is from Unity's January, 2011 Kit of the Month.  

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Have a glorious day!!!

How's It Rollin'?

I just love this Unity Itty Bitty stamp (It's a Good Day) with the October Afternoon Seaside paper! I always stamp it in Tim Holtz Barn Door Distress Ink because it's the brightest, most concentrated red I've found. The Seaside paper is awesome with it :)  

After cutting out the image with a Spellbinder Nestie I sponged the edges with Tim Holtz Old Paper Distress Ink. 

I wanted a little something extra on the bike to make it even more playful, so I used some blue and white twine to make little streamers for the handlebars ;)  I added the little grid paper (Basic Grey laser cut doily paper) and some rikrak from my stash, as well as some coordinating buttons to kind of mimic the 'rolling'.
This is linked on the Unity Blog for Friends with Flair, and to Card Positioning Systems Sketch.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great holiday weekend, and don't forget the reason for the extra day off ;)

Itty Bitty Unity Card

This card is for the All Things Unity Trifecta Challenge!

That challenge is to celebrate Unity's 3rd Birthday!

There are 3 guidelines.

1. Must be 3" square (this is harder than you would think!)

2. Use 3 types of embellies (I used Jenni Bowlin pennant chipboard shapes, a button, and twine)

3. Theme Birthday or Anniversary (of course this is a birthday card )

That's a lot going on for a little bitty card, but I think I pulled it off!

The image is a Unity Itty Bitty stamp too ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!!!

Sweet Card for Nana

My grandson (3 years old) helped me pick out papers for this card for his Nana (his paternal grandmother) for Mother's Day! He's so excited about Mother's Day. It's nice that he feels that way now ;)

I used the sketch for Card Patterns Sketch 113. And the October Afternoon paper is perfect for this Unity strawberry stamp from the April, 2010 Kit of the Month.

The strawberry was colored with Copics.

Some buttons from SU finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by :)

have a phenomenal day!!!

It's a Good Day!

Love this Unity Itty Bitty! So simple, and that's what I wanted my card to reflect.

The paper I chose is October Afternoon Seaside. This is awesome paper. I know I say awesome about a lot of things, but this paper is! A little boyish, a little summer, and a whole lot of perfect colors! I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks on this card. The tricycle is stamped in Barn Door. It was just the shade of red I was looking for. The die cut was sponged with Old Paper while still in the Nestie die. The sentiment is stamped in SU Pacific Point.

The ticket embellishment is Mish Mash style (love her style). My husband bought a few 50-50 tickets at a high school football game a few weeks ago. Of course we didn't win, but I put them in my pocket with the intention of using them on cards ;) Perfect! Some buttons and a little ricrak and the card was just what I wanted!

Thank you for stopping by to look! I really do appreciate it.
Have a fantastic day!

A Couple of Hot Air Balloons

I have two very different hot air balloons. Both of them are awesome in their own way.

This one is paper pieced using Seaside from October Afternoon. First time opening that pack. Love it! Paper piecing is so time consuming, but I love the look!
I made clouds using White Craft Ink by SU. I punched out two circles, held them in different areas of the cardstock and sponged around them.

This card has a totally different feel to it.

The map paper is from Seaside by October Afternoon too. The grid and polka dots are from SU. I sponged around the edge of the map paper and the tag with Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Ink.

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you have an awesome day!

Growing in Unity Day 4!!!!

This is day 4 of Growing in Unity, and I'm having a blast! I love Unity!

This card gave me some trouble, but I let it sit a couple of days and it all came together. I used Basic Grey paper as well as Pink Paislee 365 Degrees for the verse. There are black rhinestones on the middle of the butterfly and black glaze pen used for the antenna.

Below is a nice simple card using the Hip Hop Sketch. It has a little down home vibe. It reminds me of my grandma :) I used the October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper for this little number.

I got these nifty little note pads from Papertrey. I knew I had to make some cute little note pads using Unity of course! Here are two versions.

These were inspired by Michelle Wooderson. I love her style.
These strawberries were stamped on SU Confetti Cream cs, then colored with SU markers. I don't recommend that cs for blending at all. I don't know what I was thinking! It turned out ok though. I put all kinds of stuff on these note pads. The tickets I actually got from Michelle Wooderson's Etsy shop. The little circles are punched out from the October Afternoon paper Fly a Kite, then topped with epoxy stickers. Makes a great accent. Buttons are SU.

Thanks for peeking in! I really appreciate it. Love comments too ;) Don't forget, when you comment on my Growing in Unity posts this week you get entered into a drawing for some Unity! Gotta love that!

Have a great day!!!

Etsy Inspired Challenge!

It's the 100th Etsy Inspired Challenge! I've only done one of these before, but it's fun and I couldn't miss the 100th! The Etsy shop featured this week is Cathy Walters. She has fantastic pendants! The one below was the first one I saw when going to her shop. I loved it immediately.
This is my card inspired by the pendant. It's so simple, and you know I like to muck it up a lot. There are no ribbons, no flowers, no buttons! I love it though! I used October Afternoon paper. I used Tim Holtz Aged Paper Distress Ink on the edges of the white, the yellow print and to stamp the basket. There is no coloring either. I thought that would distract from the whole idea of the card. I used Unity stamps. The "journey" stamp is from the February, 2009 KOM, Endings & Beginnings. The balloon is from the December, 2009 KOM, Delightful Moments.

Thanks for looking! Have an awesome day!

Thanks for leaving a comment ;)

Hello, Thank You Unity!!!

Another card using the Hip Hop Sketch! I love this sketch! All of the paper is October Afternoon Fly a Kite, except for the scalloped piece. That's from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl. I punched little circles out of the Cosmo Cricket paper and put the little plastic stickers on them. Love the effect.
Thanks for looking at my card. I really do love creating them. And don't forget to follow my blog or subscribe so you won't miss anything ;) Have a great day!