Monday, June 29, 2009

Quick Good News!!

Just a quick post. We found out that the date they'd given us, September 14, is actually the spousal unit's "available to load" date. He will be leaving on, or after, that date, not before, as we originally believed.

Wayne is going to be here on Hannah's thirteenth birthday!! She is definitely a daddy's girl, so this is wonderful news.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009

EtsyInspired #42 - TonyCarlisle

Happy Saturday my fine peeps! It's another EtsyInspired day and have I got a surprise for you. Yup, you got it - no ladybug creations from me! Okay, well, maybe a picture, because today we are featuring tonycarlisle, an actual photo gallery. Let me tell you, these are some truly beautiful photographs at ridiculously reasonable prices.

First I have a card. I used this photo of a bike trail as inspiration. The card isn't my usual style, but I wanted to try something a little different. I think it worked. I hope you like it.


My other little project came from this photo of a boat. I don't have any boat stamps, so it took me a little while to decide what to do - and then I got obsessed with origami boats. I really wanted to make an origami boat box, but I couldn't figure out how to do it and I couldn't find instructions anywhere, so although I made several types of boxes, the boat box never came to fruition. I did, however, make a boat envelope, a boat with it's own stand and a sampan boat. Two sampan boats. The kitten absconded with the first one and we still haven't found it!Here's a closeup of the Sampan boat, just because I think it's neat. This is the second one I've made. Ever. I found directions on YouTube while I was searching for instructions on the boat box.
Before I go, I want to thank Ashley, Kerry, De and everyone else for letting me be a part of the team this month. Love you guys!!

Okay now, you know the drill. Find an item from the tonycarlisle Etsy shop that inspires you in some way and create whatever your heart desires. Link it to Ashley's blog post by noon Pacific on July for a chance to win a prize. All the details are here.

Before you get started, please head over to see what the rest of the Design Team has to show and leave them a little love. They work hard to bring it every week.
Don't forget, if you upload your project to either Splitcoast Stampers or Papercraft Planet, please use the keyword EIC42.

You didn't really think I wasn't going to post a ladybug pic, did you?
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Friday, June 26, 2009

HHH - Subdued style

Hip Hop Hangover
Good morning everybody. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was very sad to hear the news of Farrah Fawcett's passing yesterday. At the same time, I am glad she isn't suffering any longer. She fought hard. It was a nasty battle, long and painful. From all accounts, she was a very brave woman to the end. I wish her children and Ryan O'Neal peace.

Then there's Michael Jackson. That news just has me completely stunned. At 7:26, by my computer, CNN confirmed his death. The LA Times and the Associated Press had given the news much earlier, but somehow it wasn't completely real until CNN said yes, it has been verified. I was a fan through Thriller, and a little bit thereafter. Then he just got weird. I will remember him as he was so long ago. Again, for his children and the rest of his family, I can only wish peace.

When Hip Hop started yesterday, I was all over the Christmas theme. I love Christmas. It truly is my favourite holiday. I was all ready to make several Christmas items. But those who know me well know that I take death hard. I don't know why, but the worse other people feel, the worse I feel. Sometimes it can be paralyzing. Fortunately, the Clean and Simple challenge came to my rescue. I haven't checked it for a bit, so I went to see if there was anything inspiring. CAS19 was just the ticket. It's a nice, simple sketch challenge.
Deets:
Cardstock: SU! Brilliant Blue & Bashful Blue
Ink: Brilliance - Mediterranean Blue & Pearlescent Sky Blue
Stamps: Unity KOTMs, March (Simple Life) & April (Fresh Beginnings)

Please forgive the less-than-stellar picture. I used the spousal unit's camera in an attempt to see if it made it easier to upload to the blog. It didn't.

I'll be back tomorrow with my final day as a guest on the EtsyInspired Design Team. It's been wonderful.
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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Etsy Inspired #41 - Potato Patch

Hello and happy Saturday! I'm on week three of my month as a guest on the Etsy Inspired team. I am so loving this! This week, the shop is Potato Patch. The stay-at-home mom who own this darling shop takes potatoes and carves them into stamps, which she then uses on shirts, onesies and a few other baby items like bibs, to create prints with fabric paint. They are really cute! Once again I find myself wishing my children were smaller.

I really did try, honest, but I just couldn't stay away from the ladybugs for another week. I managed it last week, in part because I didn't want everyone to think that I was only about the ladybugs, but after seeing this sweet little girl in the ladybug onesie, how on earth could I resist?

Since I was having fun with this week's sketch challenge, SC233, I decided to go ahead and use it again. Once I got going on it, it turned into my own card for YSHLUA#5. Yes, there really are three patterned papers in there. The dark reddish-pink I've used in two places actually has polka dots. To be perfectly honest, the onesie was the inspiration for that challenge in the first place, so it's rather fitting.
Deets:
Card Stock: pink - Bazzil
Green Galore - SU!, GinaK Luxury White
Patterned paper - Basic Grey, Pink Paislee
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: from Unity Little Buggers
Etc: Nestabilities, Copic markers, atyou Spica marker,
clear detail embossing powder

Now it's your turn! Find an item from the Potato Patch Etsy shop that inspires you in some way and create something. It could be a card, a layout, an ATC, a cake, a poem - anything at all! - and link it to Ashley's blog post by noon on June 26. Someone will win this week's prize. All the deets are on Ashley's blog.

Before you get to work, please head over to see what the rest of the Design Team has to show. These are some talented chicas and they deserve some LOVE!!!

Don't forget, if you upload your project to either Splitcoast Stampers or Papercraft Planet, please use the keyword EIC41.

Thanks so much for reading today. Now go be EtsyInspired!
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Friday, June 19, 2009

HHH - June 19

Hip Hop Hangover
Good morning, everyone! It's still morning, right? I have fallen prey to Twilight and its denizens. Yes, I finally got suckered in. We finally got Breaking Dawn and it took me a total of about 9 hours to of actual reading time. Yes, I actually slept in between bits and I finished this morning. I need a new book to obsess over now. I guess it's time to finally read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I will likely start over with the first book and read them all straight through. Yes, I know. But that's how I roll.

Before I forget, everything is 30% off at Unity all weekend long. That's everything, folks. If you've had your eye on something, now's the time to get it. If this is your first order and you mention my name (Carole or FibreJunky will do) and my email address (FibreJunkyREMOVE@CAPSgmailDOTcom) and the words "I am new" in the comment section, we both will receive a coupon for 40% off to be used between July 6 and July 13! How's that for a deal? Plus new customers with orders of $25 get to choose a free single from a list on the homepage.

Okay, so, now that that's out of the way, for my card this week, I'm using 2 Splitcoaststampers challenges, Sketch Challenge 233 and Color Combination Challenge 223, Breezy Ruby Whispers, which is to use Baja Breeze, Red Ruby and Whisper White together. Okey-dokey. I should do colour combo challenges more often. They're kind of fun.
The sentiment is on the inside of the card, but the photo of it is horrible, so I'm not going to post it. If I can get a better one, I'll put it up later. The image is the top half of the same stamp, which is from Unity's May Kit of the Month ...another sweet day.

That's all from me for now. I'll be back tomorrow with Etsy Inspired Challenge #41! See you then!
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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Etsy Inspired #40 - Naturally Felt

Hello everyone! It's Etsy Inspired time again and Ashley's chosen another fabulous Etsy shop for inspiration. This week the shop is Naturally Felt, which sells handmade lunch sacks, reusable sandwich bags and felted slippers. Before anyone gets on to me about terminology, yes, they're actually knit and fulled, but let's not nit-pick, shall we?

Naturally Felt is definitely a company that can help you go green in a more stylish manner. As soon as I saw this little tote, I knew I had to use it for my inspiration. Aren't these the cutest little dinosaurs? If my boys were still little, I'd be buying one for each of them. They were definitely into dinosaurs big time when they were in grade school. Now, at 17 and nearly 19, they're more into plain solids, if I can even talk them into carrying their lunch. Taylor would far rather eat pizza from the high school lunch line. Cody is out of high school now, so it's really a rather moot point until he gets a job.


The dinosaur lunch tote immediately brought to mind Terry the Pterodactyl from Paper Makeup Stamps. This is the first time I've inked him up. Isn't he adorable?? The sentiment is from Unity's Love is in the Air, which I chose because the card is for baby Parker. We're all anxiously awaiting news of his arrival, which could be any time now. I used the sketch from Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #232.

For more Etsy Inspired projects, check out the full team:
If you want to play along - and we'd all really love that! - link up your projects here by noon Pacific on Friday, June 19, and you'll have a chance to win! This week's prize is a set of reusable snack/sandwich bags from Naturally Felt!

One more pic, just because I think it's really cute and because you guys know just how much I love the ladybugs. Thanks again to Ashley for letting me join the team for the month of June!
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Friday, June 12, 2009

Hangover for Shemaine

Hip Hop Hangover

Hi guys. I was going to post my YSHLUA card, but I decided to make something for the request Shemaine sent out a few days ago. She has a friend whose cousin is in need of a liver transplant at the ripe old age of 29. I just can't imagine how frightened he must be. Shemaine requested that we make our challenge cards to include a positive message or quote. Well, I didn't do any of the challenges yesterday, but I looked at what was out there this morning and found CAS18, which was to use Kraft, pinks or corals, and one other coordinating colour. Since this card was for a guy, I made the pink more of an accent and chose Kiwi Kiss as my coordinating colour. I really like this particular sentiment, too.
The pink accent on the flowers is Copic atyou spica marker. I'm going to go back and adjust that bow so that it lies flat even when standing. It flopped just as I took the photo, darn it! I hope the card isn't too overtly feminine.

This card will be winging its way to Benjamin Welch tomorrow.
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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Etsy Inspired #39 - Chicy Creations

Good morning everybody! I am super-duper excited. Today is my first day as a guest member of the Etsy Inspired Challenge team! I want to thank Ashley for giving me this opportunity.

This week the shop is Chicy Creations. They have the absolute cutest hair bows and tutus. It almost makes me wish I were having another baby girl. Almost. My girls are a little too "grown up" for some of the creations, but the 12yo is enamoured of the flowers. Those of you who know me will not be surprised in the least to find that my favourite is this little ladybug clip. I think it's adorable!

Since I cannot resist ladybugs, and I find ATCs so much fun, I went with a ladybug ATC. I used one of Karen Lockhart's Itty Bitty stamps. The text was done in Photoshop. All cardstock is Stampin' Up!Now it's your turn! Find an item from the Chicy Creations shop that inspires you in some way and create something. It could be a card, a layout, an ATC, a cake, a poem - anything at all! - and link it to Ashley's blog post here by noon on June 12. Someone will win this week's prize. All the deets are on Ashley's blog.

While you're cooking up your project, please head over to see what the rest of the Design Team has got to show.
If you upload your project to either Splitcoast Stampers or Papercraft Planet, please use the keyword EIC39. Now go be EtsyInspired!
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Friday, June 05, 2009

Etsy Inspired #38 - Bacon Square Farm

Guess what! Two posts in one day!! I know, it's a shocker, but there you go. I finished a little ATC for this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge. The store for this week is Bacon Square Farm. This shop does home deco and some of the cutest little birdhouses!

Since I'm trying very hard to branch out and not do All-Unity-All-the-time, I did not go the way I normally would have. Instead, I went with this flower box as my inspiration. I think it's sweet and I love the bright, cheery colours.

I pulled out this Geranium stamp from My Favorite Things and made a little ATC.
Don't forget to check out Ashley's blog to see what everyone else has come up with for this challenge - and I'll be back tomorrow with my first official Etsy Guest DT post! I can hardly wait!!
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Hip Hop Hangover/mojo?

Hip Hop Hangover

Hi everyone. I haven't been posting much the past couple months. My mojo took an extended vacation. I don't deal well with loss. I have abandonment issues. I admit that. And even though I know, intellectually, that the people who have died did not do it intentionally, it brings up emotions that I am ill-equipped to handle. My creativity has taken a hit, along with pretty much everything else.

However, as I mentioned week before last, I have some truly amazing friends. With their help, and a bit of time, I'm getting back to normal. I've even gotten a few things made. I'll be sharing one for this post, as it is a Unity project. Having a challenge is always a little push for me. I'm very fond of sketch challenges, so I went looking for one I liked. It happened to be SC218 on Splitcoast Stampers. That meant it was eligible for challenge prizes for Hip Hop. I didn't win anything, but that wasn't really the point. The point was to make a card. The side benefit? It's already been favourited twice! Let me know what you think.


The colours in the close-up photo are much truer. Unfortunately, you can't see the way the flower centres sparkle in either photo, but I used Copic atyou Spica markers to add a touch of glimmer. The coneflower stamp is from Unity's May Kit of the Month ...another sweet day!

Tomorrow I will start my guest spot on the Etsy Inspired Design Team. I am SUPER excited about that! I'll have all the details bright and early tomorrow morning. The shop is super cute and somebody is going to win a prize for playing along. Could it be you?
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