Happy Luvlee Birthday!!

Surprise!!! It's a mini-hop to wish a very, very

to my sweet friend, Lee - she of the many amazing smilies!!

When I heard about this, I was excited to take part. Lee has been so supportive of me during the two and a half years that I have known her. Even when I've fallen down on the job, she's been there to help pick me back up and dust me off. So Lee, this one's for you! I hope you have a truly fantastic birthday!!

Of course, since this card is for Lee, it had to have pink and it had to sparkle. It wouldn't be a Lee card without either of those things, would it girls? I may have gone a tad overboard with the stickles, but I just couldn't help myself. (I'll redo the pic once the stickles are dry...and yes, there's a story behind that. Somebody remind me that I really do love my son?)
Here's a list of the rest of the the birthday bloggers...and of course, don't forget to stop by and wish Lee herself a happy birthday!

Allison
Christi
Crafty Math Chick
Joanne
Lori
Lydia
Misti
Nancy
Paula

And one more time, Lee...

EtsyInspired #129 - Desired Things

Good morning everyone! Are you ready to be EtsyInspired?? This week, we're coming to you from Desired Things, a super cool shop with quirky jewelry and abstract art. I love her paper charms and altered notebooks!! I could get lost in all the beautiful colours...

For my inspiration this week, I chose this beautiful bracelet in greens and blue-greens. It reminds me of leaves and the newness of spring, which I will be very glad to see stick around for a while. After some beautiful weather, it dropped to a high of 38 on Thursday and lows in the 20s this entire past week. EW!

So, with that in mind, I thought I'd make a spring-y card. I pulled out some GinaK stamps and StampTV Sketch Spotlight Challenge #15 and went green.

Deets:
Stamps: GinaK StampTV Kit Autumn Splendor
Cardstock: Prismatics Classic Yellowgreen, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: VersaColor Rainforest
Etc: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, hand-dyed rayon crinkle ribbon

Check out the rest of the DT and then head over to the EtsyInspired blog to link up your own project. Full challenge deets, including information on this week's sponsor, Sparkle Creations, as well as this week's prizes, are on the EIC blog.

Angi
Ashley
De
Emily B.
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Libby - March Guest DT!!
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia
EtsyInspired Blog (LINK YOUR PROJECTS HERE!)

EtsyInspired #126 - GlowGirl

Saturdays are all about being inspired. EtsyInspired, that is!! This week, we're bringing to you a shop that is not only environmentally conscious, but has an owner with an inspirational back-story of her own: GlowGirl! Oh! And she's fairly local to me! How cool is that?

Here is what she has to say:
My inspiration for starting this business was - I'd lost a great 15 yr position that I thought I'd be retiring with...was in a panic realizing that as a 50 yr old, I was going up for jobs against younger and better educated folks than me. The challenge was on! I decided to step out of the corporate world and return to my crafty roots (I had a successful crafts business in the 80's). I bought a sewing machine, learned how to sew...and fell upon some cool upholstery fabrics and starting making grocey/tote bags. Was starting to successfully sell them at craft fairs and told my husband I'd start clipping coupons to help save money...didn't like the store bought ones and designed this for myself, and they quickly became my best selling items! Had a set-back in late 2009, breast cancer, and my etsy store became my sole source of income, and also provided me with some peace of mind as I spent almost a year battling cancer. I missed two holiday seasons of craft shows but etsy was a godsend for me, both emotionally and financially. I'm now fully back on my feet, planning shows for 2011 and getting ready to expand my lines and soar!

In addition to her Etsy Shop, she has a blog and she's on Facebook! While we are concentrating on her GlowGirl shop, I highly recommend checking out her GlowGirlFibers shop as well. I'm particularly enamoured of a woven messenger bag she's got listed.

For my inspiration this week, I chose a coupon organizer holder, made from this lovely floral print. Pink and flowers...what's not to love?
I made my card using StampTV's Sketch Spotlight Challenge STVSKSP12 and the colours from the Play Date Cafe Challenge #68, along with the pretty flowers from the coupon holder.

Now, before I send you off to the rest of the team, there are a couple little details for this week. One winner will win a coupon organizer from GlowGirl - winners choice of mega or regular!!! How cool is that???

Second, we've got an awesome sponsor for this week. It's The Stamping Boutique. I was simply unable to choose a stamp to use from the store - because there were too many that I wanted! Too be honest, I *think* my favourite may be this one, but if you ask me again in another hour, I'm liable to give you a completely different answer! A second winner this week will be able to choose 5 digis from The Stamping Boutique!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I always love the feedback I get from everyone!!! Check out the rest of the DT (below) for some amazing inspiration, then hop on over to GlowGirl, find an item or items to be inspired by, and create! For full deets, and to link up your project, visit the EtsyInspired blog! Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Angi
Ann Cox - February Guest DT!!
Ashley
De
Emily B.
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia
EtsyInspired Blog (LINK YOUR PROJECTS HERE!)

ATU Asks The Serious Question...

Yes, that's right. All Things Unity wants to know

- What is your favourite Unity Stamp? That's the challenge Savannah posed to the team. We had to figure it out and use our favourite stamp. This was perhaps the most difficult challenge I have ever faced! Pick a favourite? Are you kidding me? This is the stuff of nightmares! Oh, the dreams I had as I suffered, trying to narrow down my options. What was I to do???

Unity has released so many fabulous stamps lately. Some I have yet to use, some I don't yet own...and then there are the {ippity
} kits...how was I to choose??? Inspiration struck with Rachel Bogner's Neglected Unity Challenge. When I first saw the January 2009 KOTM, I immediately fell in love with the peacock. I absolutely went nuts over him! Yes, it is a him. According to the designer who drew him (Lindsay Spencer), he even has a name. In any case, once I saw Petey again, I knew my quest was over and I'd found my all time favourite Unity stamp.

I used this week's Sketch Spotlight from StampTV (STVSKSP11) and colourQchallenge #70 (poppy, coral, blush, vanilla & espresso) to create my card, which decided about half-way through that it wanted to be distressed. I think it was the Tim Holtz Texture Fadez rubbing off on the rest of the card. What can you do but just go with it!
Now it's your turn!! Choose YOUR favourite Unity or {ippity} stamp and create something. Link it up to the ATU blog no later than 11:59pm on Saturday, Feb. 19, and you'll be eligible to win this month's prize/and or the challenge blinkie.

BTW, this month's prize is a doozy!! There is a February KOTM straight from Unity on the line!! Some lucky winner is going to be very, very happy!! Will it be YOU??
Check out the rest of the team and see what awe-inspiring goodies they have to share with you today. We're SUPER thrilled to have the utterly fantabulous Ashley joining us as a second guest DT for the month of February!!

Ashley (February Guest DT)
Cathy
Lynn
Sara (on hiatus)
Savannah

BTW, I still have 8 stamps left to use from Jan '09. I'm not quite sure I'll be able to fully accomplish that one, as 2 of the stamps are New Years' - and one is specific to 2009. I guess maybe I'll have to do a layout!

Retro Flair

Wow. It has been a week! I'm getting back into the swing of school again. I'm really enjoying it so far, but I'm definitely having to work at it. I got a 96 on my first unit test, so I'm pleased.

Today, of course, is Friends With Flair day for Unity. A full list of participating peeps is over at the Unity blog. Somebody will be hiding the Flair blinkie - and that means 25 random Unity stamps are at stake! Find the blinkie, leave a comment on that blog, and you could win!

I am still on my mission to play with all of my unused rubber, so I pulled out Going Retro. I got this one when it was released - and then it got packed away. Yeah...no good there! So I pulled it out and went CAS with a sketch challenge from StampTV.
I may come back later and do the "gussied up" version, too, as I've got some Basic Grey paper that I think would be perfect. I have a couple other things I need to get to first - like homework and some special cards.

Have a great weekend! Around here, we'll be having a slumber party for DD#2's 14th birthday! That's Hannah, for those who are keeping track.

Another Early Birthday Card

Lately I've been trying really hard to use stamps (and other items) that have been sitting around unloved and unused. With that in mind, I thought I'd play along with one of the StampTV challenges from this weekend. It was a sketch challenge for a birthday card. No problem, Hannah's birthday is next month.

Since this week is Etsy Inspired Challenge's big 100th challenge party, I'm trying to make at least one card for that challenge every day. So I hit this week's shop, Cathy Walters, to see what I could find to use as inspiration. My first thought for Hannah was one of the Eiffel Tower pendants, but that didn't say birthday card to me. So I started looking at the colours in Cathy's creations and she has this pretty green and yellow sunflower pendant. Aha! Hannah loves green...and I have an almost full pack of Basic Grey Origins paper. I can work with that!

I took the Basic Grey, some SU Summer Sun and some Bazzil yellow for the texture, and GinaK's Best Friends stamp set, and added them to the sketch.
I'm also entering this card in Cute Card Thursday Challenge 124 - whateva. Cute Card Thursday requests that people enter their cards in no more than 5 challenges, including that one. I've entered this card in a total of 3, so I'm good to go!

Back again tomorrow!