Nothing But Blue Skies!

Today I woke up feeling all motivated and raring to go!!  I guess having all my projects done for what seemed like a million deadlines has lifted the heavy weight that was on my shoulders last week. This week I am ready to get going again and I am so excited about maybe even getting a little ahead! 

OK, well that will probably never happen, but hoepfully I can get started and at least keep up! LOL!

While I took Tasha out to do her business this morning I looked up and there was not a cloud in the sky.  It is beautful, bright and with only a slight chill in the air.  It's perfect weather for mid November in FL!!

I thought it was a coincidence because the card that I made for the Unity blog today so fits this kind of day!!  And to think I made it yesterday morning, not even knowing what today would be like!!  Maybe it is kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy!!  :-)

I am enjoying being a Guest Designer for Unity this month so very much!!!  I really appreciate all the visits and sweet comments that I have been getting from the Unity fans too!  Thanks so much!


Anyway, here is the card that I made for today's blog post over at Unity....

The Unity stamps used on this card are from the Le Chic Vintage Scrapbooking kit (which is SOLDOUT at the Unity site, but can be purchased HERE) and the Bevy of Butterflies kit.

I went with a collage style to make this card and was sent this direction because of a piece of Kraft paper that I had originally intended to use in one of my Dirty Dozen projects that I had "texturized."  The Kraft layer above the blue base is actually made to look like leather.  It has been crumpled and torn and then inked up. It left it with the neatest texture, look and feel and I just couldn't let it go to waste!

I added a piece of DP from foof-a-la and then this neat chipboard-like postcard that I think I bought at Michael's in a set of four.  It also comes in Kraft and went very well with the other pieces.  I thought the Postage stamp was perfect for a Post Card!!

I used Unity's Palette Ink in Burnt Umber  and then added some color to the  mix with my SU inks in Bravo Burgandy and Blue Bayou.  The flowers are from MM and the brad is from Basic Grey.

I hope that you have a wonderful Monday and get your week started off strongly. May you bucket be overflowing with nothing but blue skies (be it literally or figuratively for you northern gals!!)

Happiness in a Jar

Did you ever wish when you were feeling down that you could just go to the cupboard and get a jar of happiness, open the lid, take some out and begin to feel better?  Well now, just maybe you can!!  :-)

As Guest Designer for Unity stamps this month I decided to pay a tribute to owner Angela Magnuson and make a special jar filled with quotes on the subject of happiness.  We all know how much Angela LOVES quotes.  She always puts the best quotes on her blog and typically those quotes seem to say just what I need to hear that day!  She is such a sweet person that you can tell really enjoys inspiring others and making them feel better!  I really appreciate her for that!!

So, when I saw this jar stamp in Unity's November KOM I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I decided to make my own Jar of Happiness!  

Because the words that  come on the jar stamp are solid, and I wanted to be able to color them in colors that matched this gorgeous DP from Webster's Pages, I had to be creative in how I pulled it off.  I could have masked it and stamped each word seperately in it's own color, but I knew this stamp would be tricky to mask.  So, first I stamped the image with black ink onto white typing paper and then placed a plain sheet of white CS over it on a light box.  I now was able to trace the outlines of the words using a sharpie marker.  I heat set the marker lines and then was able to color in the words using Copics.  The lid was colored in using a gold pen. Both the awesome trims used on the lid were purchased as precuts from my LSS.

Using the coordinating DP's I made a band to put around the jar and adhered it with Modge Podge.  Using one of the flower shapes on the DP and the blossom Nesties I made a layered flower to put in the front and center of my jar.  I topped the flower off with a button that was threaded with twine.  The flower is huge! It measures almost 4 inches in diameter!

To make it a Jar of Happiness instead of just a pretty jar, I added a bunch of quotes about happiness.  I chose my favorite ones from this site HERE.

I used this beautiful StarDreams paper from Cut Cardstock to print my quotes on.  This paper has an amazing sheen to it and to my surprise printed out perfectly using my inkjet printer. This paper adds the perfect touch of class to this project.  Plain cardstock would not have done the trick here!!  The only thing I did to prevent it from smudging was to heat set it with my heat tool.

Here is one of the quotes inside my jar.  You can see the shimmer on the paper on the right side of the above quote!  It is oh so lucious!!

So there you have it!!  A Jar of Happiness that will give me instant happiness just by being able to look at it everyday and even more so if I take heed to the helpful quotes contained inside it!


And one other thing about Happiness... I signed up to start selling {Ippity) and am still working on my blog but you can take a peek at it HERE.  I plan on adding product to the pages soon.  If you want to start Following it, you will be able to find out when my products become available for purchase.  Also, be on the lookout for more {Ippity}samples coming soon!! :-)

Thanks for taking a look and may your Monday be wonderful and your bucket overflow with happiness!!

Who Does That? Thursday

Unity Does, that's who!!

I am so excited to be a part of today's DT blog hop as Unity's Guest Designer for the month of November. Today I am using stamps from the November KOM and I think I have something that most women will love because it has to do with Gift cards and Shopping!!

The stamps from the November KOM used are the purse, the frame and the sentiment. These kits will begin shipping mid month. If you haven't already, you should sign up to receive your KOM every month! The price is so reasonable and the stamps each month are amazing! This month there is an adorable VW Love Bug incentive set that you will get for signing up for the KOM this month.

I decided to make a birthday card for someone who likes to shop a lot!

The DP used is from the MM Fifth Avenue collection. After stamping my purse on the green paper, I ran it through my Cuttlebug to give it a houndstooth texture to match the houndstooth on the DP. I also used a border punch from MS. Rhinestones from Heidi Swapp were added for a touch of glitz on the card!

The front of the card says, "A Day without shopping"...

And the inside says... "is a day Lost!" The birthday sentiment was created using Word Art on my computer and was printed out. This card was designed to hold a gift card. To purchase a Gift Card Holder Folder like the one I used here, please visit ShortCuts where you can find everything on sale right now. Click HERE to go to ShortCuts!

Head on over to the Unity Blog and be sure to visit all the DT members blogs on the list to continue on the blog hop!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with lots of eye candy from the Unity DT members!

Great News to Share!!

I am the Guest Designer for Unity Stamps for the whole month of November!!

WOOHOO!!

Ever since I received the invitation from AJ I have been dying to tell you all!! You guys who follow my blog know how much I love Unity Stamps, so you know what a HUGE deal this is for me. I am so excited about this month and look forward to sharing lots of projects and cards containing Unity Stamps. I will try very hard not to disappoint!! Thanks so much to Angela, and AJ and the others at Unity for giving me a chance to share my love of Unity with others i n this way!!

On the first of every month Unity releases the picture of the next KOM that begins shipping around the 15th. If you saw the Unity Stamp's or DT members' blogs yesterday then you may have already seen this, but for those of you who haven't, here is a look at the November KOM in its entirety. As always, it is amazing!!

This month's kit is called Simply Magical! And frankly, it is!! :-) Each month somehow, someway, the kits keep getting better and better! Unity is so fresh and current and they make it easy to want to stamp (and buy stamps! LOL!)

If you aren't a Kit of the Month Club member, you NEED to become one! The value in buying this number of stamps for less than a dollar per stamp is ridiculous!! I mean really... WHO DOES THAT??

Only Unity... that's who!!

Click HERE to get more information on becoming a KOM member. There are also incentive stamps sets (this month's is a VW Bug collection) you get for free just for signing up! Don't miss out on this awesome bargain!!

So if I had to choose my favorite stamp from this set, I guess I would have to say it is the typewriter image. I don't know why, but I just love it. It dawned on me that my kids may have never even seen a real typewriter in use. Since they have been able to learn to type, they have only learned to do so on a computer keyboard. So I guess I love that this stamp reminds me of the good ole days!!

I decided to make a card for my husband because I like that this image can be masculine too and we never have enough masculine stamps do we. The sketch for this comes from Beate's WSC sketch #104. The red card base and the dotted strips of paper are from K&Co's Lemon Drop collection. The other two DP's are just ones I had in my stash that I chose because they had the typewritten words on them. I can't tell you who the makers of those are. The black CS is from Recollections.

After stamping my image I created a small text box in Power Point with a typewriter-looking font set at a font size of 8. I typed my husband's name (Tom) three times and then after cutting out my typewriter, I just taped it carefully over the words so that they would line up perfectly in the center of the typing paper in the typewriter. To make this easier to do, you can hold your images up to a light, a light box or a window to see how they line up. I use tape that has been made less sticky with some lint off my clothes. It needs to be sticky enough to hold the image onto the paper when it runs through the printer, but not too sticky so that it rips the image when I peel the tape off. This added just the personal touch I was wanting for my husband's card.

The typewriter was colored using my Copic markers. I only needed three shades of grey and a red to color this in!! I added the haphazard style zig zag stitching to the card in three spots and also accented the typewriter with the black circle underneath it. The circle was cut using a Nestability.

We will be celebrating our 1st anniversary on the 15th of this month, so maybe I will give this to him then... or it could be for Valentine's Day too!!

Thanks for all the wonderful support and sweet comments during last week while I was Growing in Unity and I look forward to blogging frequently this month with some more wonderful Unity stamps!

Have a great Monday and may your bucket be overflowing things that are just your type too!!

Feeling Sweet and Sassy today!!

Remember that I told you I had some good news to share with you today? Well. I have been chosen to be October's Guest Designer for...

Sweet N Sassy Stamps!!

About a month ago I received a really sweet letter from Sandy Komelle who is the DT coordinator for SNS stamps. She and Korin Sutherland, the owner of SNS stamps, were inviting me to be the guest designer for this month! I have been so excited to share this news with you guys, but I had to keep it a secret until they posted it on their blog! You can see the sweet introduction that they gave me on the SNS blog HERE!

I am a co-designer this month with the amazingly talented Betty Wright, her introduction on the SNS blog can be found HERE! You guys are in for some great projects! Between the two of us we hope to fill the blog with some awfully cute, Sweet N Sassy style cards and projects.

I would love it if you would follow me over there and give me some support. I will be posting my projects on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the SNS Blog.

One of the first times that I used Sweet N Sassy stamps was during a SheetLoad assignment for the August 09 eZine. I was an extra in that issue but decided to play along because I just love their stamps!

Here is one of the cards that I made for that issue...

Remember this one? You might recall that this digistamp set called Forget-Me-Not was initally a freebie that was given out during the challenges at the Stamping Out Alzheimer's event this year.


Well, due to its overwhelming popularity it has just been released as an acrylic stamp set with some extras that weren't in the digistamp set. You can see this new set HERE! New SNS stamps have just been released so please go visit the their store today and snag some up!!

Have a great Sunday and I will be back with some cards from my World Card Making Day celebration yesterday!!