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"

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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"

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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"

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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!

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Beautiful, peaceful snow

It snowed - finally! We've had a few small snow storms but not the kind with the big, fluffy flakes that pile up the snow. Yesterday started out rainy but in the early afternoon the rain changed to snow and it continued until well after dark. All the trees were coated and the quiet provided by the blanket of snow was peaceful - the perfect ending to the day.

The joy of a simple snow storm!

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She makes me smile

The hounds provide lots of entertainment in our house and nothing is more enjoyable than watching them run. Skin shifting from side to side, ears flapping back and forth, and big paws tearing up the dirt. They aren't graceful, but they sure make me smile.

Here's Gracie on the run.

Love how here ears wrapped under her chin.

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Mourning Christmas

Every year this day comes around no matter how hard I try to put it off. Tomorrow the Christmas decorations come down. I know the first week of January is over, but I LOVE our Christmas decorations. Even now, I'm sitting in the dark with just the tree lights illuminating the room and I love it. It's peaceful and beautiful.

I know I have a problem. That's the first step to recovery, admitting you have a problem, right? Well honestly, I'm not sure I want to be cured of this problem. Christmas brings me joy and who doesn't need a little more joy in their lives.

Tomorrow I'll say goodbye to the ornaments, lights, stockings, Santas, snowmen, village houses, nativities, snowflakes, and everything else as they are carefully packed away in their boxes and stored in their home beneath the stairs until one lovely November day when they will be reawakened to once again perform their magic. Tonight, well tonight I'll see for a few extra minutes and enjoy the beauty and then quietly say goodnight to my trees.

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