Another Christmas Card

Another hot day, so why not more Christmas cards to help us all think of cooler weather, right?

Here is the card I mentioned yesterday.

I used another stamp from Unity Stamp Co for this card. The stamp is called "A caroling we go". I colored this cute snowpeep image with spectrum noir markers. I cut the image and some fun foam out with a circle die cut. After cutting some red banners I heat embossed the sentiment with metallic silver powder and set everything on a simple green and white polka dot background. The stamp set came with a sentiment that says "A caroling we go" but I decided to go with the simple Merry Christmas instead.

I love the cute simplicity of this card. In fact I think I need to get all the Snowpeep stamps that go along with this one and make a whole set like this! I guess it's time to give the hubby the pout face as I explain why I need to make another Unity Stamp order, hehe.

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Pals Paper Art #260 Sketch
SIP #5 - theme, christmas
Inspiration destination #42
Creative Knockouts #98 - Outside fun

Christmas in July

I know some of you are going to boo me but I'm already ahead of my Christmas card making. I sell cards, or attempt to because I make so many I just have too many cards. Anyways I'm already getting a nice stack of Christmas cards. I've already made 2 card sets and probably a handful of single cards. Hehe!

Today I'm only going to share one of two cards I've made today. I'll share the other one tomorrow because the challenge I used for it won't be posted until then.

For today's card I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #195.

I used {Oh deer} Happy Holidays stamp set from Unity Stamp Co. I think I should have gone with a more solid background but I still like it. This stamp is so cute and there are a few more deer like this one if you want to make a whole set of cards just using these cute little deer. I colored him with Spectrum Noir markers and raised his little circle off the base with some fun foam. The dps I used is from a 6x6 paper pad I bought last year on clearance from Michaels. The paper pad is from American Crafts and is called Merry Mint.

I hope you enjoy this Christmas card. Oh how I'm counting down the days until fall so we can get some cool weather again.

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Freshly Made Sketches #195
Inspiration Destination #42
SIP (stamp ink paper) challenge #5 - Christmas theme

Another beach card

As promised I'm back with another beach themed card. As I was making the Bitsy card, I remember that I had a stamp from Unity Stamp Co. that was perfectly suited for another tropical card.

The stamp set is called Beach Girl. This stamp also comes with three wonderfully paired sentiments but I decided to not use a sentiment on this card so that it is suited for any occasion. I colored the image with Spectrum noir markers and also did the background with the markers. The dps used is from my massive stash (I should post a pic one day of how large my dps stash is). And with doing my best interpretation of Mojo Monday #406 sketch I added the ribbon and bow. This card is 4.25" x 5.5" (A2) if you want a reference as to how large this particular Unity stamp is.

I hope you enjoyed the beach cards today and I hope it inspires you to create today. :)

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Mojo Monday #406
Cute Card Thursday #381 Ladies only
Pile it on #77 - by the water
Simon says Stamp Mon - anything goes

Time for the beach!

It's that time of year. The sun is shining (in most parts of the country) and it is hot (really hot where I live). So it's time to get the bathing suits out and sunscreen and head to the beach to cool off! Bitsy here is all ready for the beach in her super hot pink bathing suit.

This adorable image was created by Rick St. Dennis (see he makes cute images too). She's called Bitsy at the Beach. I simply colored her with Spectrum Noir Markers. I didn't do a lot of shading so I could have just a really bold image. But I will say the sand, looks like sand.. by accident lol.

I used the sketch from FabFriday #68 Challenge. It's a great CAS sketch and to keep with the sketch I stamped the seashell (By the Tide, Stampin' Up) with Crisp Cantelope (SU) and then went back over it with clear embossing powder to give it some texture. I also stamped the seashell on the inside of the card.

I'm feeling beach inspired today. I think I may be back again today with another beachy card!

Challenges I'd like to enter:
FabFriday #68
Creative Knockouts #97 Summer Fun
Rick St. Dennis Progressive challenge (part 1) - hosted on Sparkle and Glitter blog

Friends with Flair - Unity

I know I've mentioned this before but I love Unity Stamp Co. sales. I just bought a few stamps (mostly Christmas ones) that I'll be making cards with soon, but there is a really great sale going on. I really want to order but I can't this weekend, so I'm sad. So to cheer myself up I pulled out some stamps from one of my Kit of the Months from Unity to make my entry for Friends with Flair and Unity Be Inspired Challenge.

I apologize the picture is not great. I was trying to hurry so I can go poke the hubby to go get some take out for dinner. The flower stamp is from KoTM 9/14. I find I use stamps from this particular kit a lot. In fact yesterday I used the dragonfly stamp from the same kit. I stamped this one on watercolor paper and just hazardly colored it using my Stampin' Up inks and aqua pens. I like the artsy look of it. I couldn't find a few dps papers that I really thought fit the card (yes despite my enormous stash of dps) so I just went with some light colored polka dots and some plain card stock. The sentiment is the same one from my random stash that I used earlier today and the gems are new I got off Amazon. (I'm an Amazon addict.) It's hard to tell in the picture but the sentiment is stamped in Tangelo Twist (orange) and the gems have a goldish orangey look to them.

Well hope you enjoy! Now time for some FOOD!

Freshly Made Sketches.. & Sprites!

Can you believe I almost forgot to enter Aurora Wings monthly blog challenge this month? And the theme is sprites! I've purchased about 8 or so sprites already and had six of them printed and ready to be colored and just completely forgot about them. I think they just got buried in the craziness of my desk... yea I'll stick to that story.

Well without further adieu here is my card!

I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches challenge as inspiration for this card. I really love the simplicity of this card. It's a stark contrast to the card I made yesterday, lol. I used some dps from my stash of scraps and some pink card stock as a mat. The "thinking of you" sentiment is from my random stash of sentiments (you know before I started keeping track of what company they are from), but I can tell you I got them at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I drew in the squiggle line to keep with the sketch.

This sprite is called Whimsical Cherry Blossom Sprite from Aurora Wings Stamps. I really love Aurora Wings digi stamps, especially her adorable sprites! I colored this sprite with Spectrum Noir markers. (I seem to be on a marker kick lately. I do love those markers.) And then used my Silhouette to cut it out because I really do suck at fussy cutting. I trimmed up a piece of fun foam to put behind the sprite to give the card a little more dimension since the design is very simple and clean.

As I'm looking at the close up of the sprite I'm realizing I did a horrible job of blending this time lol. I still like the way it came out though.

I hope you enjoyed this little sprite!

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Aurora Wings Challenge Blog #16 Sprites
Freshly Made Sketches #194
Sister Act #114 anything goes

More word dies

I'm so excited by how today's card came out. I used another one of my new word dies and some inspiration from The Daily Marker. This post from Kathy last month was the inspiration for my card today. In fact now that I look at her card, I used the same "Thanks" die from Lawn Fawn hehe. I originally bought mine from Amazon but now that I look at Simon Says Stamp... I wish I had ordered it from there. Oh well I'll remember for next time.

Well now for my card:

I used a mix of stamps for this card. The flowers are from Bloom with Hope (retired Stampin Up) and the dragonfly is from Unity Stamp Co September KoTM. I colored everything with Spectrum Noir markers. Yes there was a LOT of masking for this project. But I think it was well worth it.

After I got it all stamped and colored I die cut the Thanks from the image and I also die cut the word out of fun foam. (Note to self I really need a magnetic platform for my big shot. :p) I made sure to use a good bit of tape adhesive on the card base which is just a textured soft pink from my stash. I set the fun foam cut out in the opening first and then carefully replaced the little tid bits from the h, k, and s. Then with a little Tombow multiglue on the fun foam and some patience I set the cut out on top and holy cow it just fades away into the background!

The only person who was home to excitedly show it off to was my little brother and he didn't see the Thanks at first. His exact words were "That is really awesome." I think I'll definitely have to try out this technique more. Thank you Kathy for the inspiration!

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Tues. Throwdown #252 no patterned paper (technically I created my own background so that should count as no patterned paper right?)

Inspiration Destination #41 - Anything goes

I think I'll submit this one to Unity Be inspired challenge also!

Mojo Monday & Die cuts

I love Mr. Brown (aka UPS). He always brings me lots of goodies! This week I ordered a few word die cuts from Amazon to try out a few techniques that Kathy from The Daily Marker shared last month in her 30 day color challenge. Today I didn't try out one of the techniques but I plan on it tomorrow!

Today I used the sketch from Mojo Monday #405 as inspiration and of course I used one of my new die cuts.

The upper background is a brick wall embossing folder I recently bought from Hobby Lobby. After sending it through my Big Shot I sponged Ranger distress inks on it. I used Rusty Hinge, Bard door, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and Black Soot. The dps is from my never ending stash. Yes I'm addicted to buying dps from Hobby Lobby and Michael's when it's on sale.

The Thanks die cut I used is made by Die-versions and is called "Thanks" Sweet Wordlets. I die cut it out of the blue textured card stock and then die cut another from a soft yellow and placed them both on fun foam. I made sure to put lots of tape adhesive on the fun foam so the yellow die cut would stick and not come up later on. Then I filled in the holes in the a, k and s with the little tidbits from when I cut it out of the blue card stock. I looove how it came out, especially the sunken look because the textured card stock is slightly thicker.

The stamped image is from a Stampin Up stamp set called A Happy Thing. It was a Sale-a-bration item this year and is no longer available. :( Sorry. I stamped it in Momento ink and colored it using my Spectrum Noir markers.

I have to say I love this card. To keep with the sketch for Mojo Monday I added an off white button and made a little bow with some white/yellow twine.

Here is the sketch from Mojo Monday:

Hope this card or sketch inspires you as it did me. :)

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Mojo Monday #405
Inspiration Destination #41 anything goes

Penguin Christmas Set

The hubby took vacation most of last week so I didn't get any crafting done. We didn't do a whole lot but run around town mostly for funsies and eat out a lot more than usual. I did have hibachi for the first time at a new restaurant in the next town and it was soooooo gooooood. Now every time the hubby asks what I'm cooking I always answer with let's go eat hibachi! Let's just say I end up cooking. Lol! I love that man.

Anyways on to my cute card set! I wanted to make a note card sized set but decided 3.5" squared is better than 3". The smaller size just seemed too small.

I started with a white card base, then a dark blue mat the size of the base. I had this cute light blue snowflake DPS I had bought last year from Hobby Lobby so I used as a mat (3 3/8") and also as the liner for my envelopes. The image is from Sweet n Sassy Stamps' Christmas Penguins set. I also have the die cut set for these stamps and used them to cut out the penguin and his cute little present after coloring them with Spectrum Noir markers. I also hand cut the little snow mound out of white card stock and then using the sentiments from Sweet n Sassy Stamps' Beary Christmas, I heat embossed the sentiment in black on vellum.

I made one extra card front for the box and created a flip top box using THIS tutorial (adjusting the measurements to fit the card size I used). I found the tutorial on Pinterest. Love love love Pinterest.

The measurements I used for my card box since my cards are 3.5x3.5" are:
Card stock 6 1/4" x 11"
score on short side @ 1" & 5 1/4"
score on long side @ 1", 5", 6" & 10"
Then follow cutting and taping instructions from the tutorial linked above. All 8 cards and handmade, lined envelopes fit comfortably inside. There may even be room to add one or two more but I I haven't tried it.

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Loves Rubberstamping #159 Anything goes

Freshly Made Sketches

Usually I struggle with sketch challenges but it seems this week I'm finding a lot of inspiration with them. This card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #192.

I've also noticed I've been going for mostly simple layered looks. I used to try and make them very embellished and beautiful like some of those really girly cards I see with tons of die cuts and flowers etc. For my personal tastes I find that those cards are just a little too ... busy. So I'm really starting to like just a clean layered look with a pretty background l ike the colorful present dps I used here. The silver layer is also a shimmer paper. The camera picked up a little of the shimmer but it's rainy here today so not a lot of light.

This cute little bear is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and he's called "Beary Christmas". I colored him with spectrum noir markers.

To finish up the card I just stamped the sentiment with black ink on to a strip of vellum and poof.. done! This set has some other really cute sentiments that come with it other than the Beary Merry Christmas. And you can even purchase the die cut set to go with it. I was going to die cut the wreath part and use foam tape but I decided to use some fun foam under the entire image to pop it off the busy background.

I hope you enjoy this wintery card in this awful summery heat.

Other challenges I'd like to enter:
Simon Says Stamp Wed. Anything goes
Inspiration Destination #39

Christmas in.. june

You know it is never too early to start on Christmas cards. When I saw Mojo Monday's challenge this week I thought it would be perfect for a Christmas card.

The stamp image I used is called "All Santa's Reindeer" from Unity Stamp Co. I thought about coloring the image but I didn't want to distract from all the reindeer names scripted around the antlers. I used some vintage styled dps from a paper pad I've had forever. I was going to add a sentiment on vellum but couldn't decide on where to put it so it would still look balanced and not pull too much from the beautiful image.

I hope you enjoy it and it brings you inspiration.

Other challenges I'd like to enter:

Unity Stamp Co. Friends with Flair 6/26

Be a Rebel!

This is my entry for Stamp, Ink, Paper challenge #2. If you haven't checked out this Design Team and the Challenge please do. They have some very talented people on the DT. I love looking at other's work in hopes that it will spark inspiration, whether it is from the layout, the colors, or the stamps used.

I'm a tom boy a heart so when I saw this image "Rebel" at The Paper Shelter, I just had to have it. This image is so me, tattoos and everything. Lol.

I colored the image for The Daily Marker's 30 day challenge earlier this month. I colored it with spectrum noir markers and it's been sitting around until I finally got inspiration from SIP's sketch challenge this week. The little sentiment banner I first rubbed Ranger Distress inks on some white card stock and then printed out the sentiment over top. A few snips later and woot... sentiment!

I hope you enjoyed this card and remember to always Be A Rebel!

Challenges Entered:
SIP #2 Sketch
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything goes

From the Heart Stamp of the Month

Some times you just want to say hello and Mr. Prickles says it beautifully.

You can find this image at From the Heart stamps.

This is my creation to entered into From the Heart Stamp of the Month Challenge.

Tuesday Morning Sketch & Simon Says Stamp Wednesday

Here is the card I made for Tuesday Morning #305 sketch today. Also this card goes great with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge of favorite technique or product.

The image is from Some Odd Girl, Peacock Kaylee. I had it already colored from this month's 30 day coloring challenge from The Daily Marker. I just hadn't figured out what to do with it until today. I colored Kaylee with Spectrum Noir Markers and I also did the background of the tag with the markers. I must say Spectrum Noir Markers are my first alcohol artist markers and they are definitely my favorite product right now.

The sentiments are mostly from my stash of clearance stamps from Hobby Lobby except the Live Carefree one. Live Carefree is from Unity Stamp Co. set called Beach Girl.

I hope you enjoy this card and remember to always Be your own kind of beautiful!

Rock out on your birthday!

Seems I was in a birthday mood today. I can't even think of any upcoming birthdays but I am prepared none the less!

This card is more along my personal style with the dark and bright colors and also the grungy look of it.

This image is perfectly named Rock Star from The Paper Shelter. I colored it using Spectrum Noir markers. Because it was a digi stamp I sized it in Silhouette Studio before printing and then used my Silhouette to cut it out before adhering it to the card with foam dots.

You can't see it in the picture, but the skulls are actually glitter. They are a washi like tape I bought... from Hobby Lobby I think. Also the "Let's Party" Sentiment was a random one from my stash.

Little country boy birthday

Here is card #2 I've made today.

This adorable digi image is called Let's Go Fishing from MilkCoffee. I colored it using Spectrum Noir markers.

The background fish was stamped using a slightly darker color than the cardstock. The stamp is from Stampin' Up - By the Tide.

I was going to do a banner for the sentiment but I decided I wanted some circles! So after die cutting a few circles from coordinating cardstock I stamped the sentiment on two of them and then layered them on top of each other. I think I really like it!

Challenges I'd like to Enter:
Crafty Cardmakers #141 Man or boy
Loves Rubberstamping #156 Masculine
Cute Card Thursday #377 Beside the sea
SIP (stamp, ink, paper) #1 - I don't know if I can link up more than one entry :) but check out this new challenge blog!

Fishy Birthday

It really sucks when you lose your creative mojo. Does anyone else have a really great creative week and then.... nothing for a while? I was like that for the past week. So I've sat in my crafty space and stared at all these colored images I had already colored for The Daily Marker's 30 Day color challenge and today I've finally gotten some mojo to get some cards done!

I've also found a few new challenge blogs that I'm pretty excited to try out. I absolutely love challenge blogs for the simple fact I get a lot of inspiration from the challenges. The feedback that all of you leave also gives me confidence to keep creating!

Well enough rambling, lol, on to the first of my three projects.

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday Challenge to create this card. The stitching was created using a white and black gel pen.

The fish scene I watercolored on regular cardstock using Stampin' up inks and my aqua brush.

I used Lost Lagoon and Hello Honey cardstock from Stampin' Up along with some other colors from Recollections I bought at Michael's this weekend. 

The stamp sets I used are By The Tide from Stampin' Up and the other is Big Day which was from this year's Sale-a-bration event. The fish was first stamped in Archival Watering Can then watercolored with Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey and a touch of Baked Brown Sugar. Then I heat embossed the coral stamp with white embossing powder over it.

Challenges I'd like to enter:

Mojo Monday #402

Loves Rubberstamping #156 - Masculine

Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge #1 (SIP) <--- check out this new challenge group! They are amazing.

Cute Card Thurs. #377 - Beside the Sea

Stampin' Up New Catalog!

Did you know that Stampin' Up came out with a new catalog on June 2nd? Did you know that all the new stamp sets and In Colors are... AMAZING?! I haven't been able to order yet so I don't have nifty things to show you sadly. But that shouldn't stop you from checking everything out!

Here are just a few of things on my massive wish list that you may find interesting. Just click the images for more details or to go to my store and browse all the other new products. There are just too many to list them all here, even though I really want to.

2015-2017 In Color 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock & Classic Stampin’ Pads Kit - 138358

Price: $32.50

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Bundle - 140232

Price: $36.50

Vintage Leaves Photopolymer Bundle - 140235

Price: $43.25

Tree Builder Punch - 138295

Price: $18.00

Sprinkles Of Life Photopolymer Stamp Set - 139971

Price: $21.00

Banner Triple Punch - 138292

Price: $23.00

Neutrals Envelope Paper - 138310

Price: $6.00

One Big Meaning Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 139420

Price: $19.00

Timeless Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 139408

Price: $17.00

No Bones About It Photopolymer Stamp Set - 138756

Price: $26.00

Happy Happenings Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 139381

Price: $20.00

Best Thoughts Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 138700

Price: $10.00

You've Got This Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 139575

Price: $28.00

Supply List

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Showcase Friday: Unity Stamp Company

How doesn't like to get the most out of their money? Especially when it comes to crafting supplies? By now you may know that I hate to pay full price for anything, but when I do I want to feel like I'm still getting a deal. This is one of the reasons I love my showcase for today, Unity Stamp Company!

Before I go on about this company I would like to state that I do not work for this company, nor am I being compensated in any way for this post. Unity Stamp Company is simply just one of many favorite stamping companies that I buy from most frequently.

Now on to the good stuff... Unity Stamp Co. have sales EVERY weekend. Yes I said that... EVERY weekend. You may be thinking oh it's a Saturday and Sunday thing. Nope! Their sales typically run from Friday or was it Thursday around noonish to midnight Monday! And when this company puts things on sale.. they throw a HUGE sale!

Here is this weekend's sale!

I know there are so many exclamations in this post already, but I get so excited about a sale. Every Friday my husband gives me that "Oh crap" look when I'm verbally ooooing and aaaahhing over everything on sale. If I had may way I'd make an order every single Friday, but sadly my checkbook says no.

Whew. I think I've calmed down now, hehe. It's time to show you my creation for this week.

I've never created using the one sheet wonder idea, so I figured why not try it out. I pulled out one of my Christmas paper pads from my huge stash of DPS and some cream, dark red and dark green cardstock. The template I used for the cards and the OSW I found on Pinterest and you can find the original post HERE.

These are the cards I created. The template I used made 10 cards and a cover for my box.

The cardinal pictured below was my Day 4 coloring for The Daily Marker 30 day Color challenge.

These first three images I used stamps from Unity's Kit of the Month for October of 2014. If you want a deal, their KoTM is a big one. It's a subscription and you get a themed sheet of stamps (they are mounted on cling foam and trimmed). There are always images and matching sentiments and they are always amazing. I have a few KoTMs but sadly I had to cancel due to financial reason. But trust me as soon as I'm able, I'll be renewing my subscription. It is definitely a good bang for your buck.

These last three cards, I used random stamps from my stash that are for different companies.

I think I really love this OSW idea and may just have to make more of them soon. But what good is a matching set of cards without a cute box to put them in? Again on Pinterest, I found this tutorial on how to create a gift box for cards. All 10 cards fit comfortably inside with the envelopes because they are basically flat and not embellished.

I hope you enjoyed this week's Showcase. I'll be browsing the sale and attempting to convince the husband it's a good idea for me to make an order this week.

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Unity Friend's with Flair June 5th
Inspiration Destination #36
Sister Act #109