Christmas Cards

Yet ANOTHER Christmas card.  Next year, I'm going back to ONE card!!  LOL.   This is another Unity Itty Bitty.  I stamped w/versamark & then heat embossed.  Then, I sprayed with glimmer mist!  I should have wiped the GM off before it dried; I assumed it would resist the embossing. 

Christmas Cards

This might be my favorite of all the cards I made this year.  I did the cracked glass technique although the inking didn't show so well after the Ultra Thick embossing powder was cracked. 

Stamps or Unity, Letters are Sizzlets (I think) and the paper is MME.

Happy Birthday Angie!!

Belated card I sent to Angie for her b'day. Echo Park Papers, Unity & Ippity stamps & SU cardstock.

Friends with Flair Friday!

This has NOT been a fun week for me. School issues, lawn guy issues, utter lack of time issues (created by the school issues!). I'm glad it's over. Next week HAS to be better!!!

This ATC I did for Angie's Bird on a Wire swap. Finally broke out my bird punch from SU. I HAD to have this (was it during SAB????) and haven't touched it (or any of the other stamps/punches I bought then) since. I've been all about the Unity/Ippity this summer!! LOL

Supplies: Stamps: Ippity Bit of Burlap (background) and Unity Moments in Bloom (sentiment), Cardstock, Ink & Punch -- SU, DSP -- Daisy D, Stickles.

Head to Tracy's blog next or back to the Unity site for the entire list. Have a happy Friday (Becca's first VB game is tonite!!) and a great weekend!!

Friends with Flair Friday!

Happy Friday!! This week has been BRUTAL!!! Last Saturday, my van died. We started (reluctantly) looking at new cars on Monday. Monday was the Ford Escape. Tuesday was the Hyundai Santa Fe. Wednesday was Dodge Journey. Thursday, I thought we were done & just going to wait to for the Ford guy to try to match the price of the other 2. Well, I guess I didn't get the memo that Thursday was Toyota Sienna day. Ended up, we signed for a the Sienna yesterday afternoon. I still don't HAVE the car as they needed to find one w/o all the cool stuff 'cause that's the only way they could match the $$$ we would have paid for the other SUVs. But, I'm getting a NEW van with everything my old van had (which is nothing!) except now I have a CD player & an iPod hookup. I really hoped that my next van would have power doors & heated leather seats but I guess since I get a van for the same price as the one I bought 10 years ago, I got a good deal!!!

Anyway, I dragged my sorry, tired behind home last night after cleaning 10 years worth of stuff out of the van (I left the old fries & the candy wrappers) and had to do my FWF card. What to do, what to do. Well, I pulled 3 unused stamps from the Everything Extraordinary & a sentiment & the piece of cardstock lying on top my table & viola', it turned into a card. you can't tell from this pic but the cardstock has been spritzed w/my newest glimmer mist: Tiger Lily & Coffee Shop. YUM!!!



Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Everything Extraordinary, Cardstock -- SU, DSP -- Basic Grey, Ink -- SU & Palette, nesties, CB embossing folder & glimmer mist!!

Next on the hop is Kim or head back to Unity for the full list. Have a happy, fun, SAFE weekend & see you at the Ippity Hop (not guaranteeing another post since we may have car stuff to do AGAIN today, SU party on Sat morn, picking up hubby's rental car by noon & then, we may tag along w/hubby to Chicago on Sun morn so that will mean I have to PACK!!! but I'm still not sure we're going to go. Gotta weigh the kids disappointment at not going against spending the $$$ and taking the TIME when school starts a week from MONDAY!!)

Friends with Flair Friday!

Woohoo!!! Happy Friday!!! I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. The kids start school TWO WEEKS from MONDAY!!! For some reason, I'm really sad that school's gonna start again. You'd think I'd be happy to have the kids out of the house for 7 hours but, it also starts volleyball games & practices, basketball practice, concession stand shifts and general "running around like chickens with our heads cut off" days. Plus, it starts another school year without a job for me. :(

On to happier things! I LOVE my FWF card I made for today. I originally had this idea for my "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eyelet" swap but the tree was too big to go on the ATC. So, I threw it together as a card for today. I gotta say, I'm VERY pleased w/the result!

You'd think, realizing that the image was too big for an ATC, I'd realize the card orientation need to be portrait. But, when I cut my striped paper, I cut it landscape. Was lucky there was enough of this stash paper to cut another piece the "right" way. LOL

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Everything Extraordinary, Cardstock -- SU, PP -- Basic Grey, Ink -- Palette Burnt Umber, Eyelets & Snaps -- Making Memories (LOVE these colors!)

Next on the hop is Savanah or head back to the Unity site for the full list. Have a super-duper weekend!!!

Friends with Flair Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone!!! Once again, a whole week has gone by and the only things I have posted are Ippity & now Unity. I guess it could be worse; if I hadn't discovered Unity & I hadn't discovered the blog Hops from SCS, I'd have NO POSTS?!?! Anyway, I PROMISE that won't be the case for the next week. I finished 7 ATCs recently and have taken pics & will be posting them ALONG with my Ippity & FWF posts!!!

So, yesterday afternoon, I had an inspiration for the Ippity Color Challenge. I knew the idea I wanted to do & I knew it would qualify for my FWF post. But, I kinda sorta feel it's a rip-off to post my cards for the challenge & then turn around & use them on my blog. No offense to anyone who does that, I just kinda feel disappointed when I click on a blog & it's "oh yeah, I've seen that". Sometimes there's so more info or a description of the creative process & that's nice but, usually I've already left a comment on SCS & can't come up w/something new to say on the blog post. So, I said ALL this to say, I didn't want to use my color challenge card. LOL

So, I sat amongst my stuff (which is ALL OVER THE PLACE, trying to clean up & organize but not having enough luck). I was determined to use this set. So, I grabbed the cupcake/pincushion stamp and the stack of all my new papers (yes, I've been trying to clean out my stash but sometimes, the paper SCREAMS at you from the aisle of the stores & MUST go home with you) and messed around until I came up w/the papers & colors here. I must say, I think I LOVE this card!! I don't know if you can tell in the pic but the pins all have seed beads for heads!!

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Sew Cute, Cardstock -- SU, Pattern Paper -- Pink Paisley, Ink -- Palette Burnt Umber, Beads -- Mill Hill.

So, if anyone is still reading this far, head over to Rona's for the next blog or back to Unity for the whole list of hoppers. Have a wonderful day & I'll have something NEW to post tomorrow!!!

Friends with Flair

Still in Springfield and I didn't bring stuff to make a card and none of the ATCs I've done this week used Unity or Ippity (bad planning!) Anyway, since it is FRIENDS with Flair, I thought I'd share what my friends did for a recent Unity Swap I hosted on the Stamp Shack. When I was taking pics this morning, I realized the 2 ATCs I did are not included here. Go figure. So, here are MY Friends with FLAIR!!

Next on the Hop is Maria or head back to the Unity Blog for the full list.

I'm heading back home tonite. As always, I'm sad to leave but will be happy to be home. We had fun swimming & eating out & playing with the cousins but now time for real life & laundry! LOL

Friends with Flair Friday!

Happy Friday Y'all!!!

Boy, is it just me or does this week seem to have RUSHED by! I guess it's that whole Monday Holiday thing. Spent the week being chauffeured by my beautiful daughter. She's doing so well; hasn't hit anyone or anything yet!! She's getting better & better each day!! And I'm a little calmer. Her brother is not used to riding w/her yet. Says he's going to bring a Bible & a pillow. I'm not quite sure what the pillows for. Cushioning himself in case of a wreck??

I did a little better on getting my FWF card done. I did it at 11pm last night (while the Cubs blew their lead!) I'm happy w/the concept but not quite the execution. I think that has to do w/the fact that I did the stamping on vanilla cardstock & the b/g paper is too WHITE! I tried to find a Pretty in Pink/Vanilla combo but was too tired. LOL.

So, I used a journalling stamp WITHOUT any journalling (thanks for the idea Shuggy!!) Trimmed the inside image to it around a circle. I love how that looks!!

When I originally inked the butterfly, I thought it might be too solid & boring so I "kissed" it w/a swirl stamp before stamping. I LOVE how this turned out!!! Made the butterfly really have some pop to him (can you have a pink BOY butterfly???) Here's a close up of the butterfly "texture". Isn't it cool?

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Everything Extraordinary (butterfly), Growing in Unity (swirl), Following My Heart (journalling block) and Purple Onion (sentiment), cardstock -- SU, Ink Pallet Hybrid, SU markers, SU Pretty in Pink, nesties & SU DSP.

Next on the hop is AJ or you can head back to the Unity site for the whole list. Have a FAB Friday!!! I'm off for Joplin & Springfield, MO next week. I guess that means I'll have to do my H{Ippity} Hop & FWF card BEFORE I leave. Yikes!!! Hope I can manage.....

Unity Challenge Sketch

This was a Unity Challenge from a couple weeks ago. I pretty much LOVE it!!! But, I needed a birthday card for hubby's Uncle Don. Scott plays cards every chance he gets w/Jackie, Don & his mom (I think only OLD people play pinochle; it's a dying game? We are trying to teach the kids so at least WE'LL have someone to play with. ) Anyway, I needed his card to have something to do w/playing cards. I didn't have any Unity stamps but I took the sketch & used some clear stamps I had picked up.

What do y'all think?? I think it's a good sketch & I need to keep it in my head for future cards!

FWF, Redux

Ok, the stamps spoke to me when I got back home from McDs. This is the "fixed" version & I {heart} it soooo much more!!! To get the 2 colors, I inked the sentiment up with the burnt umber then used a paper towel to wipe off the words I wanted pink. Then, I took a pink maker & colored in those words. Worked SOOOO much easier than trying to ink everything w/a pen! LOL. I posted this on SCS gallery for the Unity Addicts Challenge; using a sentiment stamp as the focal point. Diggin' it!!

Friday Unity Friends with Flair

Talk about cutting it to the wire!! I was up at 5am making this card. I haven't been feeling great for the last few days. I went downstairs last night w/every intention of making a card but was too tired & wrung out. Went to bed instead! Now, it's 8:46, I'm sitting at McDs (my home for the last few weeks trying to upload this before the 9am deadline!!

Anyway, this doesn't look quite as good as I envisioned. I thought the cut out words would look a little better than they turned out. I'm probably going to redo this & see if I can make it look better. But I like the CONCEPT!!!


Supplies: Carstock, SU & Bazzill, PP -- October Afternoon, Ink -- Pallet Hybrid & SU, Stamps --Unity Following my Heart.

Next on the hop is Donna or head back to the Unity site for the full list of participants.

Eyelet Swaps Number Two

For the second half of my eyelet swap. I'm not sure how much I like the eyelets on this one. They DO match better IRL but they are awfully bright & the b/g (oooo, that can stand for background or Basic Grey in this case. Neato!) is a little subdued. And, I'm trying to decide if I should go back & color in the leaves.....

Supplies: Stamp -- Unity Everything Extraordinary, Cardstock -- SU & pink from my stash, DP -- Basic Grey, Ink -- SU, Eyelets -- from my stash.

Friday Unity Friends with Flair

For my eyelet swap. I went thru so many ideas for this swap & none of them worked. I really wanted a stamp the incorporated the eyelets INTO the stamp but what I had planned just didn't look right. So I settled for this. And, you know what? I LOVE it!!! IRL, the eyelets match a bit better.

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Everything Extraordinary, Cardstock -- SU, PP -- MM, Ink -- stazon & SU Markers, eyelets from my HUGE stash of eyelets that I didn't even make a DENT in!!!

Next on the hop, Lori's blog. Or you can go back to the Unity site for the entire list. Happy Hopping!

Friday Unity Friends with Flair

Welcome to Friday!! And Unity's Friends with Flair!! Today's card is for my Dad! A few years ago, my parents moved to southwest MO after living in IL for all their lives (well, my mom moved to IL when she was 15 so all of her adult life. LOL) Now, I have to have a card ready to mail for holidays and events instead of just handing it to them. So I made this card early thinking I would mail it on Wednesday & he would get it BEFORE Sunday. Well, I decided to send him a g/c for his favorite restaurant.....in Springfield. Just so happens, hubby's in Springfield this week for work. So, he got the g/c & will bring it home w/him today. Which means I can not mail this before this afternoon & it will be late. AGAIN. Oh well, it's pretty!! In a masculine way of course. LOL

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Nothing but Blue Skies, Cardstock -- SU, PP -- October Afternoon, Ink -- Stazon, Markers -- SU, glimmer mist

Next on the hop, Savannah's blog or head back to Unity or the full list. Have a happy Friday!!

Flutter Butter (flies)

I am NOT a fan of butterflies. I realize I'm alone in this & it makes me WEIRD. I also hate sunshine, the color yellow and baby harp seals. I'm not wired properly but, it's who I am & I know you all love me (don't understand me but, you love me!!)

Anyway, I got my first Unity set the day that Christie hosted a butterfly swap. Although I hate butterflies, there was an adorable butterfly in my set so I joined. (Not realizing no matter how cute my ATC was, I'd be getting 8 different ones that might skeeze me out!) When I went to stamp my planned ATC, I discovered the adorable butterfly was in fact, a dragonfly!!! (I do like dragonflies & other creepy crawlies in stamp form, just not butterflies!) Ok, now what? I don't have a lot of butterfly stamps 'cause, I don't know if I told you this, I HATE them. LOL But, I had another Unity butterfly stamp (apparently, Unity LOVES butterflies! How incredibly normal of them?!?!) and thus, this ATC was born.

The antennae was an AHA!! moment that was SOOO much easier in my brain than in real life. I fought & argued & cursed those stinking beads so much. It took hours for my brain to wrap around the idea that the WIRE needed to wrap AROUND the bead to keep it in place. I am VERY happy with the results tho. The butterfly swap is "winging" it's way back to me as I type. Can't wait to see what I'm getting back.

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Growing in Unity, Cardstock -- SU, Ink -- SU & Stazon, PP -- My Minds Eye, TH Die, SU Circle Punch and Provo Craft embossing folders, Wire (MM) & Beads (Mill Hill) from my stash.

I do believe this is the most time "butterfly" has been said in a blog post....

Flutter

For my Unity Swap. Actually made this card first for a paper piecing swap. I decided it was not "piecey" enough & decided, since it was done, to hold a swap for cards made w/Unity stamps. Lovin' it!!

Supplies: Stamps -- Unity Following My Heart, Cardstock -- SU, PP -- Chatterbox, Ink -- Stazon

Birds of a Feather ATCs

I made this ATC for my Birds of a Feather Swap. I loved this bird the minute I saw it. And, I really, really wanted to stamp it on pattern paper. I think this turned out pretty good.

Supplies: Cardstock -- SU, PP -- PSX (from my stash), Ink -- TH Brushed Corduroy, Stamp -- Growing in Unity

Friday Unity Friends with Flair

Happy Friday!!! Today's FWF card is a Birthday Card for a friend (we will not discuss just HOW LONG AGO the friend's birthday way. I'm just stretching the celebration for her. Can anyone say Birthday MONTH?"

At any rate, this card uses my first Unity set, Following Your Heart. I think there might have been one or two stamps in this set that I HAVEN'T used yet. Every stamp is greater than the next!! Fabulous set. Maybe if it wasn't quite so fab, I wouldn't have such a Unity Addiction?!?! I used my newly purchased Glimmer Misty on this card too. You can't tell in the picture but it's very glimmery (and a little splotchy but I guess that's the look that GM gives you?)

Next on the hop is Donna or got back to the Unity site. Enjoy your hop!!

Supplies: Cardstock -- SU, PP -- October Afternoon, Ink -- Stazon & SU Markers, lace from my stash, dyed w/walnut ink.

Unity Anniversary

The final of the Unity Anniversary Challenges. This was a sketch challenge. I really dig how this one turned out too!! All the paper is from my stash. Used a TH die for the flower and buttons from the stash!