TGIF!!

Thank God it's Friday!!

Not only because it is Unity's FWF Friday, 

but because I am finally off call after a nine day stretch on!!  

Woohoo!!  

I have a couple cards to share with you today.  The first one is one of the CAS DT cards I made for a recent challenge.  It is challenge CAS58 from the 15th where we were to be inspired by the colors of chocloate mint chip ice cream (Miss Boo's favorite!)

Here is what I made...

I used Unity's set called Leap For Life which can only be purchased from a retailer.  Keeping it clean and simple I stamped the cattails on the cream card base with Close to Cocoa SU ink.  Added a strip of BG Origins paper that I border punched and then paper pieced the frog on the lily pad and set him on top.  The sentiment was stamped with SU's Old Olive.

Here is a closeup of that cute little froggie...

You can click HERE to find a list of retailers in your area.  

And did you hear the fabulous news that Unity 

is now being sold at Archivers's? 

  

Isn't that amazing?  I just wish I had one in my area!  Sniff, sniff!! LOL!

I have two more cards to show you, but they are the same!  Remember about a month ago that Taylor VanBruggen held a drive to collect Dragonfly sympathy cards for parents who have lossed babies during pregnancy or infancy?  Well I made the girl cards and shared them HERE. But I had never finished the boy cards.  So I finally did.  

Using Unity's dragonfly from the Oct 09 Stamping Store Kit (only available at retailers)

and the sentiment from the Nov 08 KOM I created these two boy cards to send in...

The baby footprints are from a Paper Trey Ink's sympathy set.  I used DP from DCWV Baby boy Nursery and added lots of machine stitching.

The sketch I used is from SCS Sketch Challenge Master list.  It is SC20. 

I did take the liberty to add an additional layer of matting and also the vertical ribbon from Martha Stewart.  But I think it totally still looks like the sketch!

Here is a closeup of the dragonfly.  I just love this! I think my friend Kelli Caslow designed it too!  I let my Copics go outside of the lines for this image because I was going for a soft staining of the paper almost like a watercoloring.  I was simply trying to accent the images.  I also added a fine line of stardust Gelly roll ink to the edges and body of the dragonfly to make it sparkle.  You can see the shine from the angle above the best!!

So to start at the beginning of the hop and not miss one bit of inspiration, 

CLICK HERE 

to find the complete list of today's participants!!

Don't forget to be on the lookout for  the flair blinkie too

and a chance to win 25 random Unity Stamps!

Have a wonderful Friday and may your bucket overflow with lots of time to sit back and relax this weekend!!

New Whimsie Doodles For You!!

Wohoo!! It is that time of the month again!

(OK, well maybe that doesn't sound right!)  It is however time for another 

New Release of  Whimsie Doodle Stamps!

Yesterday you got to see some sneak peeks of what was to come so are you ready to see the whole thing today?  All right well get ready to be excited because Melyssa has done it again!

My first card uses the new digistamp called Standing Baby Bear...

The DP is from the new DCWV paper pack called the Crafty Stack.  The musical score background stamp is from the {ippity} stamp set called Music of My Heart. 

I used the Baby Bear from the set called Baby Bear Standing, but you can also get the sitting version!.

Standing and Sitting Baby Bears

And some adorable sentiments like the one I used are also being released!

Baby Sentiments Digital Stamp Set

The next card I have to share with you is one I call Berry Sweet that comes from the new set called So Sweet!

I am not sure who makes the DP I used, but to create the layered border, I used my new Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop border on three coordinating colors and them layered them while staggering the scallops. 

I colored the cherries using my Copic Markers and the button I used is from the black package I bought while at CHA from Clear and Simple Stamps.  I paper pieced the towel that hangs from the jar.  The adorable label is interchangeable with the other sentiments you see below. 

And guess what??  This set is available in RED RUBBER!!

How Sweet Rubber Stamp Set

And finally how about a set just in time for St. Patty's Day?  In fact that is the name of this set!  

The DP is from the MME Home paper pack.  I colored in the pot of gold and rainbow with Copic markers.  I printed the image twice once to print the image with the cloud empty and then the second time so that the sentiment would fit inside the cloud.  I used the color combo from this week's color challenge CC260 at SCS which was to use Basic Gray, Crushes Curry and Always Artichoke and conveniently were the exact colors from the MME collection that I used.

St. Patty's Day Digistamp set

Like what you see?  Well then head right on over to the  

Whimsie Doodles Store 

to get yourself some!

Be sure to come back by 8am EST to see my Friends with Flair post for Unity!

I'm a Finalist!

Just to keep you guys up to date on the status of the SCS Clean and Simple (CAS) DT contest that I entered I have a little announcement to make...

I made it to Round Three!

I am a Finalist in the Olympic Games!!  

Woohoo!!

For this final round which is being judged as we speak, we had to  submit a card inspired by an Olympic Reporter making an announcment.  I chose to announce the birth of a new baby!

Here is the card that I made...

This adorable planter with sprout image comes from Unity's Jan10 KOM, and the sentiment is from their Little Sprout set.  I colored the image in using Copic markers to match the strip of DP from BG's Lemonade collection.

My goal in coloring this was to make the pot look like it had algae growth on it.  I think I pulled it off close enough!  I also made an embossed frame around the image with my Scor-Pal and bone folder.  Then I finished it off with the three tiny rhinestones on the left.

Before I made this card, I also tried my hat at another one that I thought I would share with you.  I ended up submitting the first one above to the contest as my friends and I felt it fit the CAS style best!

Here is another card I made announcing the birth of a new baby!!  Not sure why my cards are all about babies!  Do you think I just might have babies on the brain since I work with them everyday??  LOL!

The stamp you see here is called Daisy Canopy and is one of Elzybells stamps.  It is so cute and so are all of hers!!  I pulled out my neglected Prismacolor pencils to color this one and had such a fun time blending and playing.  I like how Prismacolors give a softer look then Copics can sometimes.  The DP is from Cosmo Cricket.  The CS is Bazzill.  The ribbon is from my stash, but I think it was a Michael's find.  The sentiment was computer generated and printed out!

Here you can see a little closer look at my coloring.  My idol at coloring with pencils is Paula Williamson.  If you don't follow her blog you should think about it!  Her coloring and her witty blog posts are worth the trip!  Her blog is called Paper Possibilities.

Want to see the rest of the finalists for the CAS DT competition?  

Take a look at Miss Boo's (Jen's) blog post HERE!

The Closing Ceremonies (for our Olympics) will be held in the 

CAS forum at SCS from 5-10pm on Wednesday (that's tomorrow!!)

The new CAS DT will be announced at that time and there will be lots of chatting and card sharing and even some challenge cards too!!  Hope you can make it!!

Have a wonderful day and may your bucket overflow with the kind of happiness that comes from seeing a newborn baby!!  Until tomorrow...

Quick post today!

Sorry for being so late in posting today! I am off from work and am taking advantage of the time to do some organizing in the home finances department. Every so often I like to take a look and ensure that everything is going as planned in that area. It isn't fun, but it has to be done!

Yesterday was a fabulous mail day as the new Hodge Podge of Happiness kit from Unity arrived in my box! I was so happy to see it arrive that I sat right down and created three cards to share on tomorrow's Hip Hop Hangover!

But until then, if you want to see some more things created with this great kit, simply go to the Unity blog and start their Hip Hop blog hop!! Most of the DT members have used this newest kit in their projects and you won't be disappointed with what they have to show you!

Click HERE to start Hip Hopping!!

But before you leave, I have one quick card to show you. I created this for a friend of ours who just found out that she was having a girl. This is going to be her last pregnancy and with a boy already at home, they really wanted a girl. Lo and behold they got good news with their last Ultrasound and a girl it will be!!

I wanted to give them a little something to show them how happy I was for them!

With some of the leftovers of the K&Co. papers I had been using , and with the help of Monday's Faux Grid technique from SCS TLC229, I created this card...

The stamp set is from Stampin Up set called A Little Love. The ribbons are from Michael's and the flowers are Prima.

I will see you back here tomorrow for the Hip Hop Hangover and get to share with you some of the new Unity stamps!!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with happy mail full of new stamps!!

Here's a Sweet One For You!

Just a really quick post tonight! I hope to get some time over the weekend to produce some more cards and maybe even a layout! I am on call this weekend so we will see how my days go!

I have one card to show you today. I made it following a color challenge that my friend Asela (stamp designer for Gina K Designs) gave to the Florida Group on Stamp TV. Every week she challenges us with new colors for inspiration.

Here are the colors she chose...

Here is the card I made following her colors... Of course I couldn't help but think about girls with all that pink she gave us. So I made this card to celebrate the birth of a baby girl!

The DP I used is from DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl collection. The colors seemed to fit perfectly with the challenge. I also added some cardstock from Bazzill and SU to coordinate. The sentiment stamp is from the SU set called So Many Scallops.

I knew I wanted to use a onesie stamp on this card but the only ones I have are really small. So I found a template online and then printed it out onto paper and cut it out along with my DP to make the polka dotted onesie that you see on the front. HERE is a link to that template. This site has some really great templates that I encourage you to use.

To frill up the onesie a little bit I cut two scalloped ovals with my Nestabilities and attached the smaller one on top of the larger one and then just cut out the neck to match the onesie's outline. I love how it looks! I used Regal Rose SU ink for the Sweet One sentiment. The ribbon comes from the dollar spot at Target. A Martha Stewart punch was used to fancy up the accent piece on the card front!

I have a niece who is having a baby in September. Rumor has it that she is having a girl. This card could possibly end up in her hands one day!

Thanks for looking! Have a great night and may your bucket be overflowing with lots of pretty pink things!!