Aunt Jo

Mom called me yesterday. Aunt Jo died of pneumonia. I'm supposed to be glad that she isn't suffering and that she's with her brothers and sister, her son and her infant daughter. I'm sorry, but I'm just mad and sad.

I took this picture at the hotel in Batesville at breakfast, the day before Nanny's funeral. My cousin, Aaron, had some smiley face stickers. Aunt Jo stuck one on her nose. I'm really going to miss her.

Etsy Inspired #32

Hey there, peeps! I'm back.

I'm playing along with Ashley's Etsy Inspired challenge #32. This week, the shop is Angel Face Designs.

This is the item from which I took my inspiration.
Since I've been on a theme kick for the Etsy challenges, I decided to stick with my theme and do another ATC. I wanted to make the background look like sand. I used the same technique as the last two times, but a different type of card-stock, and it gave me exactly the texture I wanted. The image is from Unity's Beach Days & Sun Rays set.

Hip Hop EarthDay Hangover

Good morning - I think!! Does it still count for morning? Or is this like "it's 5:00 somewhere?"

In any case what a week this has been! Crazy work and I don't even want to think about school. Somehow Unity makes it all better. If you haven't seen the specials for this week, check here. As usual, Angela has gone all out and there are some amazing deals - including free shipping for orders over $20. Several stamps are 40% off and there's even a groovy new release.

Unity is gearing up for their first birthday this coming week!! Starting on Monday and running through May 1 - something's going to be up, but I don't know what yet. I just know there's going to be a celebration and you can bet I don't want to miss out!

I only finished one new project this week and it'll be a birthday card for someone who likes pink and bling. No, not me and not Ashley. It's the lovely http://www.luvleestamper.blogspot.com/! Her birthday was on Tuesday! Happy birthday Lee!!

I used a Copic technique for inking directly on stamps and then using the colourless blending solution to create a watercolour effect. This is not a technique that I'd really used, other than during certification. I learned a little more this time around. For instance, text-weight paper is not a good choice, but will work if you are as stubborn as a mule. So children, there is your lesson for the day.


The butterfly flowers are from April's KOTM {fresh beginnings}. I know I say it every month, but the kits of the month are really, truly awesome. They have something for everyone.

I have an Etsy-inspired project and something to take care of for the VSN-mini, which is tomorrow folks! Be there!

Just a quickie...

A couple quick things tonight.

First of all, my friend Shannon is still in the running for MFT Idol. Please go vote on the My Favorite Things forum at Splitcoast Stampers here. Her one layer card is awesome. She's blogged all the deets, too, including close-ups.

Second, I actually managed another layout! As I mentioned a week ago, another good friend, Kristen is Guest designer for Scrappy Sunday at Papercraft Planet through the end of this month, so I'm making a valiant effort at completing each challenge. This is the one from last week, which I completed on Saturday.

The photo was taken at the hospital June 12, 1992, the morning after Taylor was born. Cody was 23 months old. That's my mom holding Taylor next to his big brother.

Stamps: Unity - Just My Type
Sentiment from March KOTM "Simple Life"
Worn Grid

Just for comparison, here is what the boys look like now. These photos were taken Saturday, April 18, 2009.Taylor, age 16 yrs 10 mos

Cody, age 18 yrs 9 mos
Meagan, age 15 yrs

Hop Hip Hangover - exhaustion style

I can't even type straight this morning. I was going to fix that, and then I decided to let you guys giggle at my expense. The kitten kept waking me up last night. One of these days we will have kitten fricassee.

I managed to get absolutely nothing done yesterday - except for writing two letters and getting some swaps to the post office. I'd thought the spousal unit was going to make the post office run, but he got caught up at work, so I did it myself.

The Unity DT is celebrating mothers this week. I can't tell you how much more it made me miss my mom. I miss her every day already and really wish we lived closer together. To help celebrate, there are three different bundle packs available, several neat stamps for 20% off - and a code for 15% off your entire order. To get the details, visit the Unity blog. The specials run through Sunday, April 19.

The only challenge I did this week was CAS10, which was to make a monochromatic card. I needed a thank you card to send with one of the packages I was sending out, so I made this card using the Tea Time Pattern background and one of the sentiments from Simply Said.

I liked it so much, I made another one, this time in black & white, for another one swap partner. I changed the placement of the sentiment slightly. I really like how they both came out. This may become my standard thank you card.
With that, I am off to work for a bit. I need to check phone messages and email - and turn on Big Red so the chocolate will be ready to work with next week. It takes a while for 60 kilos of chocolate to heat up to 126 degrees. Yes, I said 60 kilos. That's a lot of chocolate - and you would not believe how good it smells!

Have a great weekend!

Etsy Inspired #31

Good morning, everyone! I'm participating in Ashley's Etsy Inspired challenge again, and this week the featured shop is Make Mine Mud. That is one inspiring shop! These photos are only two of the items that made my brain tick. I had to reel it in just a bit, actually! There is a pink mug on the site that I think is just beautiful, but I didn't want to link pics of everything! You'll just have to go visit and take a look for yourself!














I thought that since I did an ATC last week, I would do another in the same style and have a somewhat matching pair. The stamp is from Unity's Be Owl Mine. The flowers reminded me of the mosaic tiles Melissa sells in her Etsy shop. The background is Adirondack alcohol inks. The colours came from various items around the shop, including the leaf in the above photo and the pink mug I mentioned before.I've got to run. I still have a Hip Hop Hangover post to get to - and I'm supposed to run into work this morning. Zoinks! It's a busy day. Catch you on the flip side.

Art Share/Blog Candy

Happy Saturday Peeps!!

I was doing some blog surfing and I found this little gem on a new-to-me blog, Libby's Little Addiction. She said to change the "I suck" part, but those who know me know that I can be uber slow. I will always get things sent out, but "in a timely manner" is not exactly part of my vocabulary, try as I might. I really do try, I just don't usually succeed. So, with that in mind, here it is.

Art Share/Blog Candy

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice! For you! Could be a card I am really pleased with, an altered object or something else altogether! My choice! But this offer has some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. What I create will be made with you in mind, so you won't get something I already made unless I think it suits you to a T.

3. It'll be done sometime this year. I am the first to admit - I SUCK at sending out RAKs. I am slow slow slow - but I do get to it EVENTUALLY! So only sign up if you are patient, and please do not camp out by the mailbox waiting! :-)

4. There is a catch - you must offer this same blog candy on your blog! Let me know you're in, then re-post this on your blog (you can change the wording - the "I SUCK" part is all me!!) and offer something you make - your choice - to the first 5 people who respond to your post. Add my name to the #1 slot on your list - I am your first participant. When you create your giveaway, you will become the first participant on the lists for the people who participate with you. Got it? :-)

Okay, so who wants to play??

1. Libby - Libby's Little Addiction
2. Carla - Scrappypug
3. Ashley - Heart Hugs Designs
4. Yael - my creative spot
5. Kristen - Rain-E Day Designs

Thanks ladies!!

Etsy Inspired

Ashley runs an Etsy Inspired challenge every week. Each week she chooses an Etsy shop. You find something in the shop that inspires you and make something. Anything. This week, it's Lauren Alexander's shop and it's the first time I've played along. This was the item I used for my inspiration and I chose to make an ATC.

Hip Hop Hangover/Growing in Unity

Today is my last day of Growing in Unity. It's also Hip Hop Hangover! Oh. My. Goodness!! Have you seen what Angela did this week?? Unity is celebrating Earth Day, so all of the tree stamps and several others are 20% off. On top of that, for orders over $15, everything is 15% off - with the code EARTHDAY - and that includes everything that is already on sale! You certainly can't beat that with a stick!!

Several of the Design Team debuted the new stamp Plant a Tree, designed by Tanis Giesbrecht. If you did not do yesterday's blog hop, go now and do. Start with Angela here.

My project today is a scrapbook page. I'm playing along with Kristen. She's guest designer this week at Papercraft Planet's Scrappy Sunday. This is my first scrapbook sketch ever. Of course I used Unity stamps! The journaling block came from March's Kit of the Month, Simple Life. I tried to show the background, but I'm not sure if you can see it well. I stamped Linden Branch all over in both Pink Pirouette and Versafine Key Lime. I also stamped Hearts of Old on the lower left in Riding Hood Red.In this closeup, you can sort of see the stamped background a little better. The photos are from the day DD#2, Hannah, was born. It's plain to see just how proud the spousal unit was. The older children were completely entranced on their first meeting with their new sister later that morning.It's been a wonderful week. Thanks for sticking with me!

Unity Single Winner!!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Result: 84
Counting from the beginning of the week -
(not counting my blog candy winner post), gives us....

Kristen said...

I wish I had that many stamps.. and that many rubber racks!!! :)

Congratulations Kristen!!! You know the routine. Contact Eryn and let her know you've won this week's Growing In Unity single.

Growing in Unity Photo of the Day

Still haven't quite fixed the computer problems, but
Here is a photo I took several days ago. These are my Unity Rubber Racks, full of wood-mounted slide stamps. The scary thing is that I've run out of room without running out of stamps! I have probably another 30 or so (I think?) that still need a rack of their own.
Can you imagine how much room these stamps would take up if they were mounted traditionally? There's no way I could store them all. With the Rubber Racks, they're right above my work area, so easily accessible.

Heaven.

Growing in Unity Day 4 Delay

Hi guys. I have a big, big problem. My computer has crashed, and crashed hard. I'm going to try to get it fixed some time today. Right now all I get is a black screen and a little blinking cursor in the upper left corner. All of my project pics are on there and currently inaccessible.

Yes, I have the memory card, but I don't have a reader, as it's built into my computer. So I can't even pull them off the camera. I'm absolutely beside myself. I've been trying to get it back up since last night and I'm just not getting anywhere.

As soon as I figure out a way to get something up here, I'll do it. At least I have the laptop to Hip Hop with. See you there.

Day 3 - Growing in Unity

Welcome to Day Three of my week for Growing in Unity. My first project didn't work. What to do? I needed to get something up and fast!!

Fast didn't happen, but...there's a challenge. Add that to a swap I had and the brain started to tick. The lightbulb finally flashed and shrink plastic happened. It took a few attempts, since the last time I tried anything with shrink plastic, it was an unmitigated disaster. This time, I believe we have success!! Unity makes some big images which are fantastic for scrapbooking. This makes them ideal for shrink plastic.

The first photo shows all 4 ornaments. I used rectangle and oval nestabilities before stamping to give them some shape. On the first one, I made the hole to small, which is why it doesn't have the ribbon attached directly to it. It was a trick getting the spiral clip in there, let me tell you! Thank goodness for beading tools.You can't really see the Luke 2:14 Glorious Angel in the first photo, so here's another so you can better see the detail. Isn't she pretty? I thought a majestic purple would be perfect for her. It's hard to see in the photo, but you really can still read the verse, even though it's been shrunk. This is one that my mother would love. I may have to make another one just for her.
I didn't include a close-up of All Santa's Reindeer. I think you can see the colouring well enough. I did that with Copics before I put it into the oven. You do lose the wording on that one when it's shrunk, but I still think it's a pretty image. I think next time I might try brayering the backgrounds first.

Deets:
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company - Snowflake Serenade
Luke 2:14 Glorious Angel
All Santa's Reindeer
Stazon Ink - Timber Brown, Royal Purple, Cactus Green & Cherry Pink
Accessories: Shrink plastic, Copic Markers, Cropadile Big Bite, ribbon, Memory Makers Shaped clip

Don't forget to leave comments. Tomorrow is Hip Hop Thursday. From what I understand, Angela has something new coming, plus I'll have a Unity single to give away during Hip Hop, which will be taken from all the comments this week. See you then!

Growing in Unity - Day Two

Hi there out in blogland! Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes.

Today is my eldest daughter's birthday. She is now fifteen. I'll have a layout for you later this week, but today I have her birthday card. This child is truly the light of my life. She is one amazing young lady and I'm very lucky to have her as my daughter.

I've used Unity's Shine On! kit, another one designed by the very talented Lisa Hetrick. I seem to use a lot of her designs. Almost every one of my favourite Unity stamps was designed either by Lisa or by Lindsay Spencer (think peacock, people.)This is the inside of Meg's card. I do believe she shines wherever she goes.

Happy Birthday, Meagan!!
Shine On.

Blog Candy Winner!!

With the help of Random.Meagan, we have a winner!

Tanya said...
Happy early birthday (mine's coming up too- it's a good year to turn 40!)I'm now a follower.

Congrats to Tanya at The Adventures of Us!! Contact me with your details and I'll get the package out to you.

Thank you to everyone for the lovely birthday wishes. I wish I had enough to send something to everyone.

Don't forget that I'll have Unity candy to give away at Hip Hop on Thursday on the Unity forum at Splitcoast Stampers. It's where all the cool kids hang out.

Growing in Unity

Good morning everyone! It's my week to host Growing in Unity. Each week one of the Unity Addicts (addict?? Who? me???) features projects completed with Unity stamps. Yeah, I know. That's a real stretch for me.

Who's that laughing in the peanut gallery? Didn't I tell you last time that I didn't want to hear any of that?? Hmmm??

Now where was I? Back in October, Ramsey got the idea to trade off posting, Monday through Friday. She was going to assign weeks, but had so many volunteers it was unnecessary. Angela gave her blessing - and now every week has been spoken for through August 23! That's 10 months of Growing in Unity, folks!! I'd say that's a pretty good testament to what a wonderful company it is and what great people Angela and her crew are.

Oh yes, and of course I'll have a Unity single to give away during Hip Hop on Thursday out of those who leave comments on my posts this week.

Today I have two cards. I wanted to make them similar, but different, just to show how versatile these stamps are and how you can take sketches and use similar colours and get completely different looks.

The first card uses sketch CPS109 from Card Positioning Systems. This is the first time I've used one of theirs and it was an easy one. I also decided to distress the edges, which I've never really done before, except to test out the distress tool. Chelsea definitely does it better! This card will be winging its way to someone today - I hope she doesn't mind that it'll be a few days late.

Edit: I'd thought I was using CAS08 from Splitcoast Stampers, but I had the wrong sketch. I can't find a sketch anywhere that looks like mine. I'm sure I saw it somewhere, but am starting to wonder if I dreamt it. If anyone knows, I'd be very grateful if you'd let me know where it came from! FJ - 4.7.09

I removed the orange, as the recipient of this card does not like orange. I hope the green isn't too muddy for her in person. This one is actually going to be early! Well, depending on the post office, the Royal Post and customs.
Both cards use the same two stamps from Love is in the Air, the same card base (ballet blue), the same mint green accent paper (Remember When, from my lss), and the same set of oval Nestabilities - but they are two very different cards.

I'll be back later today to announce the winner of the birthday blog candy and again tomorrow with my next Growing in Unity project.

Hugs to all and thank you SO much for all the birthday wishes.

Candy Alerts

There is some excellent blog candy out there in Blogland.

Danielle is offering another (another???) Bind-it-all. Yes, I'm drooling and I hope I don't short out my keyboard. Link is in the candy jar. She is also offering a chance to win a really darling cupcake apron here for Triple the Sketch's one year anniversary.

It's a Hip Hop Hangover!

Good morning out there in Blogland! How are we all today? Seems there were a few of us needing some extra love on Hip Hop yesterday, so I want to send out some big hugs to Ashley, Jacquie, Shemaine, Tonya, and Kristen. Also to Robyn, Valerie and Christi, whose husbands are now, or have been deployed. And one to Ky - just because.

It's Baby week at Unity and there are some new stamps from designer Lisa Hetrick. This is one awesome chica. She's responsible for some of my favourite stamps, including the gigantoid cupcake from Piper's card last week. The new stamps plus the specials are listed on the Unity blog here. Angela's put up some more bundle packages and is offering free shipping through Sunday. Can't beat that with a stick!

My card for today is very clean and simple. The challenge was 3+3. No more than 3 colours, not including neutrals, and no more than 3 layers, including your base. Since I tend to go for the CAS (clean & simple) look most of the time, this challenge was right up my alley. I combined it with the sketch from SplitcoastStampers challenge CAS08.Deets:
Paper - Pink Pirouette, Whisper White (SU!)
Accent - adhesive die cut (SU!)
Ink - Kiwi Kiss (SU!), Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Etc - clear embossing powder, Copic markers

That's all from me today. Starting Monday it'll be my turn for Growing in Unity, so I'll have something to share with you every day next week, plus the drawing for Birthday Blog Candy!

Blog Candy Additions

I can't believe how many people have entered to win my birthday blog candy! I've decided to add a few things to the pile.

A few weeks ago, the lovely Lisa sent me a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. She was right - it is definitely a must have. I agree with her so much that I've acquired a second one to add to the birthday candy!

I am also adding in a StazOn ink pad and Unity's Wavy Solid Mocha wood-mounted background stamp.

Photo to follow.

Remember, to enter, see this post.