Growing in Unity day 2

Wow! Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I love all of the comments from yesterday and have read each one. Remember that I will be drawing for a FREE Unity single this week from all of the comments I receive throughout the week! (so the more you comment, the more chances to win!)


Are you a SCS fan club member? I just recently signed up and boy was I missin' out! Each month the dirty dozen (an elite group of stampers) create cards and projects based on a theme. They are truly amazing and sooo inspirational. As a fan club member, you can also participate in the monthly challenges. One of my favorites to see is called the More is More challenge where you create a project and then create another "stepped up" version of the same project. That is what I have done for you today!








This is my "less" card. I used the Doozie Daisy and stamped it once in certainly celery on very vanilla card stock and again in groovy guava. I cut out just the flower head and glued it onto the certainly celery stem. I found a button in my stash that matches the groovy guava and tied ivory hemp twine through it. I added the sentiment from the March KOTM in close to cocoa. The patterned paper is by K & Co. from the hopscotch pad.









Here is my "more" card. For this card I stamped the Doozie Daisy 4 times. Twice in certainly celery and twice in groovy guava. I cut out the flower heads and leaves, punched out some of the polka dots with my hole punch and popped them up on the original certainly celery flower. I also added some paper piercing and another card stock layer of close to cocoa. Here is a close up picture so you can see more of the dimension.










Isn't that a fun challenge! Don't they look totally different even though I used the same supplies? You should see how the dirty dozen do it! Here's a look at both of the cards together.


Thanks for stopping by!

"More is More"
stamps: doozie daisy, March KOTM (Unity)
paper: certainly celery, very vanilla, close to cocoa (SU!); K&Co DP
ink: certainly celery, groovy guava, close to cocoa (SU!)
accessories: paper piercer, hole punch, button, hemp twine

Growing in Unity!

Welcome to my Growing in Unity week! Each day this week I have a project (or two) to share with you using Unity stamps. Did you see all of the great Unity projects from last Saturday's HUGE Unity blog hop! Wow, I have so many new ideas swimming in my head that I can't wait to try out! Did you also see that Angela has scheduled another blog hop? You can check out all of the details here.

Alright, let's get on with my card! If you don't know, I am a challenge junkie! I love to jump start my mojo with a sketch challenge, color challenge or even a CASE of another stamper's work. There's a new challenge on SCS called CAS (clean and simple). I love the look of clean and simple but I have a hard time not adding more "stuff" to it! This card doesn't follow a specific challenge from the CAS forum but it is clean and simple!





I stamped my Twig a'la Perch on the card base and again on another piece of white card stock. I colored the branches with my watercolor pencils and then distressed all of the edges. I stamped Fluffy the Owl in Versafine and also colored him in with my watercolor pencils. I added crystal effects to his eyes and his feet for dimension. I layered the branches together with foam squares and popped fluffy up too. I took some blue chalk and a sponge dauber to create the sky behind Fluffy. The sentiment is from the October Kit of the Month.



Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave me a comment! I'll be drawing for some FREE unity stamps from all of my comments this week!

"thinking"
stamps: twig a'la perch, fluffy the owl, October kit of the month (Unity)
ink: versafine vintage sepia (Tsukineko)
paper: Georgia Pacific white
accessories: watercolor pencils, crystal effects, paper piercer, paper distresser, blue chalk (SU!); ribbon (Michael's)

Unity Inspirational Blog Hop!

You made it! Are you getting lots of great Unity inspiration?! If you didn't start at the beginning of the Unity Inspirational Blog Hop go here http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com to see all of the great Unity projects from the beginning!

For my card I used this week's color combo challenge of baja breeze, pretty in pink and kiwi kiss. I used the butterflies and the sentiment from the March kit of the month and I put butter cream shimmerz on the butterflies to make them shine!

My inspirational quote comes from the book "The Shack" by William P. Young. I think it is important to never be afraid to let your true feelings show and this quote says it all.

"Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak."

Have a great time on the rest of the "hop"! Your next stop is Chris at

There's No Place Like Gnome

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop back all next week for my Growing in Unity week here on my blog!

"together"
stamps: Unity March Kit of the Month
ink: baja breeze, kiwi kiss, pretty in pink (SU!)
paper: very vanilla, baja breeze, pretty in pink (SU!); Wild Raspberry DP (K&Co.)
accessories: shimmerz; swiss dots embossing folder (Provo Craft); Martha Stewart lace border punch; paper piercer, word window punch, circle punch (SU!)

Be Different

The quote says "in order to be irreplaceable one must always be different- Coco Chanel". This sure is a different card for me! I started with Jen's sketch for you to try from Saturday and dug through my enormous paper stash to find something "different" to work with. I came across this purple, glittered paper mat stack by DCWV. (That I'm ashamed to say was unopened!) When I was younger purple was my favorite color, now, not so much! I really struggled with the whole card but I was determined to finish it! I'm not really excited about the way it turned out but I spent so much time on it that I had to post it!! Ready?

The reflection on the brads kind of irks me too but. . . Thanks for bearing with me!

Are you ready for the big Unity Blog Hop on Saturday?! I'm so excited! I think it will feature some awesome inspiration and great advertisement for Unity Stamp Co. Are you going to be a part of it? If not you can click on the blinkie in the upper right hand corner of my blog to join. Next week also kicks off MY week in Unity where each day I will post a project using Unity stamps. I've been working on my projects all week so make sure you stop back!

Thanks for stopping by!

"different"

stamps: Quotopia (Inque Boutique)

paper: textured purple, glittered patterned paper (DCWV); green (K & Co.); Georgia Pacific white

ink: basic black (SU!)

accessories: decorative scissors (Fiskars); ribbon (Bazzill); brads (SU!)

I found another one!

Just what I need- another challenge blog to follow! I stumbled across this one yesterday on it's debut week. It is called Res-Q Challenge- rescuing your mojo one challenge at a time! Here is the link. Anyways, they post challenges each Monday with a monthly theme. The first challenge is a kind of scavenger hunt. According to your birthday month you need to visit certain galleries to inspire your mojo. Here is the list that I had to use:

eliotstamps for a color combo. I chose kraft, white and a splash of green.
resqbarbie for a sketch.
sarahzoe for images that are close to the ones I have. I chose butterflies.
naturecoastcrafter for accessories. She uses her swiss dots folder frequently and almost always has ribbon on her cards so those were the accessories I chose.

Here is my card!





The butterflies are the new SU! sizzix dies. I wasn't going to order them but then I saw them used on a card and I decided that I NEEDED them! (I have very little self control when it comes to stamping supplies!) I put them through the cuttlebug to add texture and then I only adhered the butterflies to the card with the brads so their wings are "free".

Thanks for stopping by!

"courage"
stamps: hope happens (SU!); dream background (Unity)
paper: kraft, whisper white, green galore (SU!)
ink: versamark; chocolate chip (SU!)
accessories: butterfly die, ribbon (SU!); cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder (Provo Craft); paper piercer; white brads (Hobby Lobby)

Beautiful Beate

The featured stamper this week is Beate! She is well known around SCS and writes many of their tutorials. Her gallery is phenomenal! It was very hard to chose a card to CASE but I finally settled on this card of Beate's.






I loved the layout and all of the texture that she used so I kept those things the same. I changed the colors and the stamp set. This Trendy Trees set by SU! is soo fun. I stamped the trunk in chocolate chip and the leaves in old olive. I added the sticky gems to the leaves (where Beate used a punched flower). The old olive layer of paper is embossed with the leafy branch embossing folder for my cuttlebug. The ribbon is from Archiver's (possibly May Arts but I'm not sure) and is a crushed velvet. I paper pierced around the entire outside edge of the card.



We had a great weekend with my cousin's! The kids got along like bread and butter even though they hadn't seen each other in about 5 years! We did venture down to the MOA and spent about 3 hours there walking around and riding a few of the rides at the theme park. We had forgotten that the NCAA basketball tournaments were in town so the place was PACKED! The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out at home visiting. They headed out yesterday morning for the Black Hills of South Dakota and they called last night to say they decided to head further south after they ran into a blizzard that closed the interstate in South Dakota! At least they have a great spring break story to tell!

Thanks for stopping by!

"thinking of you"
stamps: Trendy Trees (SU!)
ink: chocolate chip, old olive (SU!)
paper: chocolate chip, whisper white, old olive, Bella Rose DSP (SU!)
accessories: sticky gems (Target $ spot); leafy branch embossing folder (Provo Craft); ribbon (archiver's); word window punch, circle punches, scallop circle punch (SU!)

You're Amazing!

Wow- sorry it's been awhile since I've posted! I can't say that I've been busy, it's just been "life"! I've really missed my stamping time and hope to have more time for it this next week. Until then, here is a quick card I made this morning. The featured stamper this week is twinshappy and I chose this card of her's to CASE. I kept the clean and simple layout (love that!) but changed the colors and the stamp set. I also put the main image panel up on dimensionals and the flower also has added dimension. I colored my flower with my marker and an aqua painter. I outlined the entire flower with my stardust gel pen to add some sparkle.

Tomorrow night we have relatives from Arkansas coming into town to spend a few days with us. They really want to go to the Mall of America so I guess we'll make the trek out there on Sunday! Isn't it funny how you can live near a big tourist attraction and never go there yourself? I think the last time I was at MOA was about 10 years ago! The kids have never been there so they are excited too- at least we'll get some exercise with all of the walking!

Thanks for stopping by!

"amazing"

stamps: thankful blossoms (Verve)

ink: basic black, tempting turquoise (SU!)

paper: whisper white, basic black, tempting turquoise (SU!)

accessories: score-pal; jewels (Target $ spot); stardust gel pen; button (SU!); hemp twine (May Arts)

It's a triple treat!

As you know, I love to participate in challenges on SCS and various blogs that I read. I really think that challenges help me get my creative juices flowing and they can help me learn new techniques and such! Yesterday I told you to check out Amy's blog for her tutorial on making a lattice background using a Score-Pal. Well, today she also has a tutorial on paper pleating in the MFT forum on SCS. I wanted to try both techniques and I also was intrigued by yesterday's color challenge of rose red, always artichoke and basic black. So, I combined them all and came up with this!





My lattice background is on the always artichoke layer and, with Amy's tutorial, was super easy! The paper pleating was a little more putsy but also pretty easy to complete. Before pleating my white paper, I ran it through my cuttlebug with the swiss dots embossing folder. I ended up using 2 pieces of 1" wide paper to fit the length of my card. I stamped the branch in always artichoke and added additional leaves on pop dots. The bird is stamped in rose red and dazzling diamonds glitter is sprinkled over her. She is also up on pop dots. This card has a ton of dimension and texture and I just love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

"hello"
stamps: cheep talk SU!)
ink: always artichoke, rose red, basic black (SU!)
paper: always artichoke, whisper white, rose red, basic black (SU!)
accessories: ribbon (Michael's); black brads (Hobby Lobby); paper piercer

Kindness

A simple card today using that awesome K&Co paper, que sera sera, again. I'm always in need of thank you cards but get tired of just writing "thanks" or "thank you" on them. I love these heartfelt sentiments. I stamped the tree in chocolate chip and added some flower soft as little buds to the branches. I also used my chalks to add a bit of softness to the branches and to tone down the white card stock. The sentiment is stamped in chocolate chip with chalks applied as well. I added a ribbon tab and tied a little chocolate hemp twine bow to it.

Have you been blurfing yet today? You have to check out Amy's blog and see her score-pal tutorial. I love that idea and I'm going to play with that during nap time. She also kicks off the Our Daily Bread anniversary celebration. I'm excited to see what they have in store to celebrate!

Thanks for stopping by!

"kindness"

stamps: thoughts and prayers, heard from the heart (SU!)

ink: chocolate chip (SU!)

paper: whisper white, chocolate chip (SU!); orange textured (DCWV); dp (K&Co)

accessories: MS border punch; chalks, ribbon (SU!); hemp twine (Pink hedgehog papercrafts); brown brads (Hobby Lobby); flower soft

Unity Friday

I have a couple of Unity cards to share with you today. My kids are on spring break (and I am too) so we took a tiny little road trip with my mother-in-law to St Cloud for a night. We stayed at a hotel, swam, ate at a yummy restaurant and SHOPPED. Yep, with a little bribery, my kids let me shop at the biggest craft store in MN for about an hour! That place is awesome and I only looked in the rubber stamp/scrap booking aisles! I got a ton of patterned paper (no big surprise there) and a few rubber stamp sets. They also carry Unity stamps and I got a couple of those as well. I'm thinking I should make it a monthly trip?!!



This first card uses the peacock from the January KOTM. I also used this weeks color challenge from SCS and Jen's sketch for you to try. The colors to use were pink passion, kiwi kiss and chocolate chip. I found this DP by Fancy Pants that matched just right! I stamped my peacock on watercolor paper and used my ink pads to color her in. I had to add a little baja breeze on her feathers to add a little interest. Then I added some razzle berry glitter on her feather "eyes".





This card uses the deer from the February KOTM by Unity. I also used this weeks sketch challenge on SCS. I based my whole card on this great DP by Crate Paper called lemon grass. I also used the new little leaves sizzlits die by SU! The flower is a retired SU! punch. All of the edges are distressed for a rustic feel.

Well, I have to get back to playing cards and rock band with the kids! Thanks for stopping by!

"one of a kind"
stamps: one of a kind (SU!); January KOTM (Unity)
ink: Versafine vintage sepia (TSukineko); baja breeze, kiwi kiss, chocolate chip, pink passion (SU!)
paper: ski slope DP, kiwi kiss, chocolate chip, pink passion (SU!); dp (Fancy Pants); watercolor paper
accessories: threading water punch (Fiskars); glitter, ribbon, key tag punch, flower brad (SU!); brown flower (Bazzill); pink flower (Prima); paper piercer

"deer"
stamps: February KOTM (Unity)
ink: chocolate chip (SU!)
paper: DP (Crate Paper); chocolate chip, old olive (SU!); orange textured (DCWV)
accessories: leaf die, flower punch (SU!); brown brads (Hobby Lobby); ribbon (Michael's); brown hemp twine (pink hedgehog papercrafts)