And the Unity Stamp winner is....

I want to thank everyone again for all their wonderful comments this week. Like I said several times, I thoroughly enjoyed the excuse to create this week and especially to use Unity Stamps on my creations. It definitely has renewed my desire to include creative time in my week.

And as promised, I picked a winner from the comments left this week. This person gets two Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Company. And the winner is......

shuggy

She said...    i love this! so pretty!

Shuggy, send me your email address and I'll get you set up with Unity Stamp Company.

Have a lovely rest of your weekend wherever you are.

Read more...

Smashin' It!

The first time I saw a Smash book at CHA Winter a few years ago I instantly fell in love. Funny thing is, I just recently acquired one, but it was worth the wait - I LOVE it. I can doodle, stamp, capture ideas, save fun things, and so much more. The possibilities are endless.

Today's project shows inspiration pages from my book. One side is inspiration related to a design to try. The other page are quotes, images, and doodles to look at when I need inspiration or a lift to a day.

Unity Stamps have amazing quotes/thoughts! They speak to me and lift my soul. They remind me of what is important. So stamping them in my Smash book is like a personal card to myself. And who doesn't like receiving an uplifting card?

I also like having a place where I can capture ideas and record things to use later. Because I have to confess, my brain doesn't remember things as well as it used to so if it isn't written down, it likely won't happen. And how many times have you looked at a stamp and thought "Oh, I should .... using the color...." I know I do. So why not use the stamp as a way to capture that idea in your inspiration journal or Smash book or whatever you use to record you ideas?

Here's a close up look at the quote page - I even did a little watercoloring on the butterflies. The pages are nice and thick so they handle the water beautifully.

I also found a fun way to use my baby Sharpies that I have in about a dozen colors - love those cute, little pens! Perfect for doodling.

I hope you've enjoyed these projects as much as I've enjoyed creating them. One thing for sure, it's made me rededicate myself to setting aside time to create. I need it - it fills that inner need to express myself.

Here's your last reminder that I'll be selecting a winner from the comments left this week to choose two Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co - you have until midnight tonight to leave a comment. I hope whoever wins enjoys Unity's stamps as much as I do.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend and try and find a little time for creating.

Supplies:

butterflies, Faith hope love, Believe deep down, You deserve happy, Imagine dream fly stamps (October 2011 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
Never let yesterday's and Don't forget to love yourself stamps (April 2012 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
Pinwheel and Smile giggle laugh stamps (Smile, Giggle, Laugh; Unity Stamp Company)
Watercolor pencils (Staedtler)
Waterbrush (Kuretake Co.)
Perfect Little Black Dress ink (Hybrid Ink; Clear & Simple Stamps)
Lavendar, purple, light orange, pink, blue pens (Sharpie Mini)
Doodle Style Smash book (K&Company)

Read more...

Tag Your Addiction

I understand that the first step in overcoming an addiction is admitting you have one. Well, I have a few, one of which is ribbon. Unfortunately, I have admitted this addiction many times and yet I still find the need to save scraps of ribbons from gifts, packages, and any other item containing the beloved piece.

This is a picture of my "traveling" bag of ribbon. I have jars at home containing scraps (organized by color) and ribbons on spools line my work area as well as other jars containing smaller spools. But, I do use my ribbon stash so I'm hoping that justifies my need to acquire every pretty piece/style I come across.

Now that I've explained this addiction, let me show you how this factors into today's project. I'm in St. Louis for a scrapbook convention and so my ribbon "travel" bag came with me. And deep in the depths I found the perfect ribbons to finish the tags I created.

These tags take advantage of stamps from the December 2011 and April 2012 Kit of the Month stamps. And I used one of my favorite stamping techniques - watercolor. And before you start saying to yourself how hard watercoloring is let me tell you about my watercolors - they are pencils and a waterbrush. The pencils allow me to color around the edges to add shadows and highlights. I don't have to be perfect - more pencil in some places, outside the lines in others. I then use the waterbrush to pull the color from the edges to the middle of the image, thus creating the shadows and highlights. It truly makes me feel like an artist!

The best stamps to use for watercoloring are line drawings or open designs because they provide areas to color. That doesn't mean you can't use solid stamps (notice the Made with Love stamp), it just means you have less areas to color.

I love each of these tags, but the poppy (you bring me sunshine) tag truly speaks to me. I love poppies, well actually I love flowers. And flowers are the perfect design to watercolor. And while I love pinks and purples, the oranges of poppies make me happy and fills me with sunshine - which is why the sentiment I used seemed perfect.

The jar, well it offers multiple possibilities and the stamp set comes with three labels. But don't let that limit your creativity. I have visions of filling this stamped bottle with actual buttons on a project. Another addiction I have - collecting buttons.

Tomorrow wraps up this week of creating with Unity Stamp products. Come back tomorrow for the final project. And thank you so much for all the wonderful comments. And remember, feel free to point me in the direction of some of your creations. I love seeing what others create!

Supplies:

Jar, thank full, heart with flowers, and made with love stamps (December 2011 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
Poppy and you bring me sunshine stamps (April 2012 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
Watercolor pencils (Staedtler)
Waterbrush (Kuretake Co.)
Perfect Little Black Dress ink (Hybrid Ink; Clear & Simple Stamps)
Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz; Ranger Ink)
manila tags
ribbon pieces


Size: 2 1/4" x 4 3/4"

Read more...

Pearls and Lace

Welcome to day three of my card making extravaganza. Today's card incorporates the girliest of girly items - pearls and lace. I love doilies and have several from various trips I've been on so when I saw the Bella Doilies set I knew I must have it. And lovely doilies they are.

I wanted the doilies to take center stage so I embossed them with clear embossing powder on white cardstock and then rubbed ink on the stamped image. The effect is perfect for these dainty images. The pearls and ribbon add a little touch of elegance to the design, as do the subtle blue and tan colors.

I also enjoy mixing and matching stamp sets. The sentiment I used is from the Wonderful stamp set and while it works well with the scalloped bird stamp, I like that I can use it with other stamps equally as well.

Remember, I'm doing a drawing at the end of the week for stamps from Unity Stamp Company (they are kindly allowing the winner to pick two Itty Bitty stamp sets). So leave a comment on any or all posts this week until midnight Friday to qualify for the drawing. And check back tomorrow to see a set of tags incorporating Unity Stamps.

Supplies:

doilies stamps (Bella Doilies; Unity Stamp Company)
sentiment stamp (Wonderful; Unity Stamp Company)
Faded Jeans and Antique Linen Distress Inks (Tim Holtz; Ranger Ink)
clear ink (VersaMark; Tsukineko)
clear embossing powder
pearls (Say It In Pearls; Prima Marketing)
kraft and white cardstock
gold ribbon

Size: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

Read more...

A Little Birdie

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another card using Unity Stamp products.

Today's card started with a misting of pink and purple glimmering mists (from Shimmerz). Once the paper dried I stamped the scalloped bird from the Wonderful {Itty Bitty} stamp set. This bird is to me elegant and whimsical at the same time - I love the scalloped border and the dotted background. To enhance the scallop border I cut out the design using my scalloped edge scissors.

The card front is Mellow from Crate Paper's Lillian collection (yes, I'm a Crate Paper product hoarder). Added a strip of purple with white swirl washi tape and a piece of ribbon from Crate Paper's Neighborhood trims. To make the scalloped stamped image stand out a bit, I rolled the edges of the scallops with my finger nail. The cluster is created with a stick-pin and rhinestone from Close To My Heart, two random buttons I had, and a scrap of grey and white ribbon. The purple button is on foam tape and I stuck the stick-in in the foam tape to protect the sharp point.

This card speaks to me in multiple ways - my favorite colors (purple and lime green), sparkly things, and ribbon. What have you created lately? Leave me a comment with a link to your project. Sharing is a great form of inspiration!

P.S. - At the end of the week, I get to give away Unity Stamps! How do you get these stamps? I'll be randomly drawing one name from those who leave a comment any time from now until Friday at midnight MT.

Supplies:

Scalloped bird stamp (Wonderful; Unity Stamp Company)
Bed of Roses and Purple Passion (Spritz; Shimmerz)
Mellow - green side (Lillian; Crate Paper)
White cardstock (Bazzill Basics Paper)
White scallop ribbon (Neighborhood Trims; Crate Paper)
Pearl stick-pin and rhinestone button (Close To My Heart)
Purple with white swirls Washi tape
Buttons

Size: 5 1/2"x 4 1/4"

Read more...

It's a Beautiful Day

Spring is in full bloom, the puppies are happy and adorable, and I spent time creating. I started acquiring a fine collection of Unity Stamps almost a year ago. Their designs are varied - cute, whimsical, vintage, trendy - I could go on. After having them for several months (which allows them to properly age) I pulled them out to use for projects this week.

The first is this card:

It combines a banner from the March 2012 Kit of the Month and a saying from the April 2012 Kit of the Month. The banner is so versatile - stamp it and color it, or stamp it on a variety of papers and layer together, or do as I did and stamp it twice and cut out a few pieces to pop up with foam squares.

The paper I used for the background (The Paper Loft's Easy Breezy collection) has an aged effect. To tone down the colors from the pens, I inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The finishing touch, a couple strands of baker's twine from Queen & Co.

It was fun making the card - playing with my Copic markers and these fun Unity Stamps. Come back tomorrow for another creation using Unity Stamps.

Supplies:

Banner stamp (March 2012 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
It is a Beautiful Day stamp (April 2012 Kit of the Month; Unity Stamp Company)
Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz; Ranger Ink)
B12, B14, Y00, Y06 (Sketch markers; Copic)
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy - blue side (Easy Breezy; The Paper Loft)
Summer Blue baker's twine (Twine Twist; Queen & Co.

Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Read more...

Sunday evening musings

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that at about 5:30 or 6:00 on Sunday evenings starts thinking about the few remaining hours until you go to work. I like my job, but I like being home more.

The good thing about today - it didn't speed by like Sundays usually do. I did a little creating (watch my blog this week for projects), watched a few episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford (love this show), and had a delicious BBQ Teriyaki Turkey burger for dinner.

And so I sit, enjoying a little more time on the computer, watching the puppies get in one more wrestling match (please let it make them tired), and getting my mind ready for a busy week at work. Life is good!

Read more...