My First Flourishes

Yes, I know this isn't Tuesday, but today is the day Flourishes has set for everyone to upload their projects. The hop lasts from today (Friday) through Monday night at 6pm (Eastern, I think?)

Flourishes 100th Challenge is All About Favourites. I used a few of my favourite things in this card. First off, I used a sketch challenge! This one is Get Sketchy #70. I adore sketch challenges!! I used Kraft cardstock for one of my layers. It's all AJ's fault that I am now addicted to Kraft. I love to use metal dies, so I used two to make the rolled flowers. The patterned paper is Basic Grey, which the flowers are also made out of. The Smooch Spritz went on heavier than I'd intended, so you can't see the two different patterns I used for them, but Basic Grey was my first favourite paper company and Wassail is still one of my very favourite lines. Lastly, I used a stamp from my favourite Flourishes stamp set. Okay, so it's my only Flourishes stamp set...but it will not be the last! Oh! And I used my favourite technique on the sentiment. Heat embossing!
Speaking of this set, Our Gift to You was the one I got from Flourishes for winning the Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin' Blog Hop, so I wanted to take this opportunity to publicly thank the lovely people at Flourishes for their generosity.

Enjoy the hop! At last count, there were 40 participants, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has made!

Other challenges this card is for are:
ABC Christmas: A for Anything Christmas
Basic Grey #35: Spots & Dots - the rolled rose dp is dotted (from Wassail) and there are holly dots on the dp that shows
Gingersnap Creations: GC#84 - colour challenge: snow, pine & mahogany

FWF Goes 3x3

Morning! Thank you to all for the kind words about my back. I'm feeling better, courtesy of rest, anti-inflamatories and muscle relaxants. I did get a shot of Toradol on Monday, which helped, though not as much as usual, but then again, I hadn't had anything spasm quite like that before either. It isn't an experience I care to repeat!
Did you guys see all the amazing goodies Unity added to their site yesterday?? ZOMG!! If only it were not the week before classes start back up again. Fortunately, the boys can share books for one class, so that's helping the textbook bill a bit, but mine alone are....you're sitting down, right?

Are you sure you're ready? I mean, I'm only taking two classes.

Getting one book off Amazon, as it's almost half the price (new!) of a used book via the college and the others through the school, my bill will be $489.13.

Did you choke as much as I did?

Okay, back to the more fun world of stamping. In my quest to use stash and unloved stamps (thanks Rachel!!), I pulled out 2 of my first Kits of the Month. This fits in perfectly with OWH's Unused/Unloved Supplies challenge! The little flower pots are from October 2008 and the sentiment is from August '08. Both kits retired last month, but you can still become a KOTM member and get in on the fun - there is a new kit each and every month. Deets are here. I've used other stamps from both kits before, but not either of these.










I took the sketch from Get Sketchy #69, the colours from the Play Date Cafe #64, Meljen's Designs #41 (challenge to make a square or oval card), and mixed them in with ATU's mini card challenge and this is what I came up with.

Hop on over to the Unity blog to see who is participating today. I wonder who's got the blinkie?? I know I'll be on the hunt for it!

See you tomorrow with something new and EtsyInspired! Have a fantastic day!!

A Very Boxy H{ippity} Hop

Hi. It's me. I'm back. Yup, four days in a row. I'm on a roll, peeps! What's really amazing about that, is I can barely walk. Thank goodness for my kids, who have been extremely helpful in playing step & fetch. I've got an appointment at 10:30, so here's hoping the doc can do something other than say "here, take some more narcotics." No worries. My back does this periodically. I'll be fine in a few more days.

This is my first H{ippity} Hop since December 6th! I am so happy to get back to it!

I made a batch of 3x3 notecards this weekend, with Just Wanted to Say, for All Things Unity, so I wanted to make a little box to hold them in. I used the tutorial on SCS for the measurements. One quick warning - there is a slight goof on there currently. For patterned paper A, you really want that to be 5 1/4". If you go by the measurements she gives in the video, I think, everything works out properly, but if you go by the typed measurements, 5 1/8" will cause headaches and much gnashing of teeth. Trust me on this one.
In keeping with Cute Card Thursday's challenge, Out With the Old, there is not a single thing new used in the creation of this box. Everything came from stash that is at least 6 months old, if not older. By the way, that's one of my resolutions this year - use my stuff. If I'm not using it, I don't need to have it. Right?

Other challenges this little box is for are Flourishes (FTTC99 - flowers) and Let's Ink it Up (anything goes so long as it's rubber, not digi).

That's all from me today. If you haven't been there yet, hop on over to the {ippity} blog and see who's hopping today. The DT will have a new twist on the monthly challenge to go with last week's sketch and don't forget there's a comment prize. It could be hidden on any blog, DT or hopper.

Hope you all have a great day!

Honey, We Shrunk ATU

Yup, we shrunk All Things Unity this week and made 3x3 - or smaller!! - cards.I went super crazy and made a set of 9 notecards! I just couldn't stop!! All of them use {ippity}'s Just Wanted to Say (available via my {ippity} blog) and I think they're perfect for when you want to add just that little extra touch without going overboard.
I used the same layout and the same basic papers for each card, just varying the ribbons and switching off between 3 sentiments, so that the person who will be receiving the set will have a few options.

We've had a few rule changes for the All Things Unity challenge. They're not really serious changes - more like clarifications.

• First of all, have fun!!
• Second, please create something new for the challenge.
  
• Please use only Unity or {ippity} stamps on your creations.
• Link back to All Things Unity and use our challenge photo (when one is provided).
• When uploading to online gallery, please use ATU##. (This week is ATU22)
• Please link to your specific post--not your entire blog.
• OPTIONAL - Please display our NEW ATU badge on your sidebar and in your posts. You don't have to, but it'd make us really, really happy if you did!!

Eligibility for MONTHLY prize::
All entries must be linked before 11:59pm EST the Saturday completing our 2 week challenge. You can link as many creations as you want (the more you link/create--the more chances to win). On the first of every month, we will post a winner of the prize package.

If you do not follow the above rules and guidelines, your creation will be ineligible and thus deleted.

NEW CHALLENGES are posted at 12:01am EST every 2 weeks on Sunday.

Eligibility for Challenge Blinkie::
One or two players will be featured on the Wednesday following the challenge end. The playersʼ creations, along with a link to their blogs, will be included in this post. These players will get to display this blinkie on their blog.

**NOTE** :: Receiving this blinkie does not mean you won the monthly prize.

There, now that all of that is out of the way, check out what the rest of the team has made - and when you're done, hit All Things Unity to enter your own new Unity or {ippity} creation!

Cathy
Lynn
Sara (on hiatus)
Savannah

EtsyInspired #121 - La Pomme

Sometimes typos can be funny. I tried to make this EtsyInspired #1221. I haven't done the math, but it'll be a lot of weeks before we get that far! I wonder which shop we'll be highlighting and what year it will be...

In any case, our second shop for 2011 is La Pomme. My, oh my, but there are some gor-gee-ous items in this shop!

I love this lamp - and I'm thinking my mom would, too.

And then there's this fabulous sheet music. Le sigh!But neither of those were my inspiration this week. I used a combination of two items, the children's books and the kitty cup,

to make a kitty bookmark.

Deets:
Stamps: Stamp Fairy Kasi, MFT Well Read WTG
Colour Challenge: InStyle Stamps - purple, silver, white + sparkle
Etc: TE Scalloped Eyelet Border, Silver detail EP

Our sponsor for the week is StampFairy. She is giving away 3 digistamps of the winners choice!! Her stamps are super cute, too! The kitty cat on my bookmark is one of hers.

The prize from La Pommea pack containing vintage music sheets, vintage tin box, and a plush fruits. Sure wish I could win that one!! For full deets, check out the EIC blog.

Hop on over to see what the rest of the DT has to show today. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow for All Things Unity!!

Ashley
Angi
De
Emily B
Jackie
Joy
Kerry
Rachel - January guest DT
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

By the way, I did the math. It'll be 21 years, 8 weeks.

New Year, New FWF

I'm starting off the new year right...with Friends With Flair!! I'm going to make a commitment to post every week this year - all 52 weeks of FWF. Who's with me?

Unity is featuring their Kit of the Month club this week. I've been a member since I first found Unity in 2008. Until this week, I was missing only one kit - which came in the mail yesterday. Believe me, it is a fantastic bargain. Only $26 plus shipping for a full sheet of deeply etched red rubber - and you get a code for 25% purchases through the Unity website *and* a free kit up to $29 retail value, so long as your order reaches $35. You cannot beat that with a stick!!

Today I've used some "unloved" rubber. I've had Tree-mendous Love since it was released, but just hadn't used it yet. This card, using Mojo Monday's sketch #172, seemed like the perfect fit.

Supplies:
Stamps: Unity Tree-mendous Love
Cardstock: GinaK Pure Luxury (black), Neenah Classic Crest (cream)
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934
Ink: Distress Ink Black Soot
Etc: ribbon, chipboard hearts & rhinestones from Caffinated Cropper kit; clear embossing powder, Smooch Spritz Cherry Ice, square Nestabilities

Head on over to the Unity blog for a full list of participating peeps! Someone will be hiding the blinkie...wouldn't it be great to start off the year with some free stamps from Unity?

Back tomorrow with some new EtsyInspired goodness. See you then!

Pics From Our NC Trip

I thought I'd post a few of the photos from our trip down to my mom's for Christmas.

Here's my step-dad, Jerry, with his stocking. Today is his birthday. Happy birthday, Jerry!!

Taylor couldn't figure out why Santa left shampoo in his stocking.Hannah said she wanted a cowboy hat. We obliged. Sort of. Here she is reading the note that says the pink hat is her token to exchange for a real cowboy hat that actually fits and is in the style and colour of her choosing.Meg with her absolute most favourite gift. Well, that is until she opened her "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock" t-shirt, but that picture seems to have been accidentally deleted, along with those of the boys opening their geeky t-shirts. Taylor's been wearing his almost daily, but he's in bed, so I'll have to get a pic of him in a day or two. Cody, well...when I get a pic of him in his, you will all understand. As it stands, this is the only photo I have from the trip where you can actually see his face.

This shot with four of them is the best photo of Holly. She was wearing a set of my mom's pajamas.
Sometimes my mom is silly. She was posing with some scrubby mitts. Lila, the demon dog, was in her lap, as far away from the kids as she could get and still keep an eye on them.

Lila is actually really, really cute. She's just terrified of everyone other than Mom & Jerry, and sometimes me. It usually takes her a day or two to warm up to me. She does a lot better when the kids aren't around. She can handle it if it's only Hannah, but if it's all 5 kids, she just has no idea what to do with herself. They move too fast and make too much noise and she isn't used to it. She's wormed her way into my heart, though, darn her. With a face like this, how could she not?I'd be amiss if I didn't share the only photo of myself that was taken Christmas morning. The spousal unit pulled a big one on me and, as you can see, it made me cry.
He actually bought me an iPad.

The last photo I want to share is of Hannah and one of Mom's cats, Murphy. Hannah was really missing Jerry's sister, our Aunt Liz. She'd been alone in the kitchen for a while when I went to check on her. This was what I found.I hope you've enjoyed the photos of my family. I'm pretty proud of them all, even when they drive me crazy.

EtsyInspired #120 - Muffa

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

It's the very first EtsyInspired Challenge of 2011. What a great way to start of the brand new year, and have we got the cutest shop ever for you to check out and be inspired by: MUFFA! I mean, really, how cute are these??

I chose, however, to use this totally darling little gnome as my inspiration.

Ashley made an offhand comment about wishing she had a gnome stamp and I thought "gee, so do I!" Good thing I opened up the package with my newest Lizzie Anne Designs Mix kit - because there was the perfect stamp! I went ahead and used LAD's weekly sketch challenge #156, too, because sketches are fun.

There are two prizes this week. The one I'm coveting is this teensy little goldfish from Muffa. The other comes from this week's sponsor, Dude Time Doodles. They're offering a prize package of their new release. To enter, just create any project inspired by something in the Muffa Etsy shop. It doesn't have to be a paper crafted project! Post your direct link to the EIC blog no later than Noon Pacific time on Friday, January 7. If you post your creation to a public gallery, please use the challenge keyword EIC120.

Hop on over to see what the rest of the DT has to show today. Thanks for stopping by!!

Ashley
Angi
De
Emily B.
Jackie (welcome back!!)
Joy
Kerry
Rachel - January guest DT
Ruby
Savannah
Sherry
Virginia

Last FWF of 2010

Happy New Year's Eve, party peeps! Welcome to the very last Friends With Flair of the year! Where on earth has this year gone? Has it been as crazy for you as it has been for me? Soooo much has happened this year, it just seems like I've barely blinked and the whole year has flown by. I wonder what's in store for all of us for 2011.

Unity has a special year-end sale going on. Some of the kits will be retiring, so if you're looking for any of the first year Kits-of-the-Month, get them now before they go away for good. I'll be picking up the only one I'm missing. Shh...don't tell The Spousal Unit, okay??
We just got back from a fantastic visit with my mom and step-dad in North Carolina. Jerry's (step-dad) birthday is this coming week, so I thought I'd make him a Unity birthday card. I pulled out the Samantha Walker/Unity co-branded kit Retro Road Trip and came up with this card, using CPS sketch #188, which I rotated.
That's all from me today. Time for you to hit the Unity blog to see who is participating today and to see if you can find the ever elusive blinkie. Someone who leaves a comment on the blog with the blinkie will win 25 Unity stamps.

All Things Unity will be back with a brand new challenge on January 9...and I'll be back tomorrow with my first official EtsyInspired post!!!

My deepest wish for all of you out there in blog land that 2011 will be the best year yet. May it bring you peace and joy.

Friends with Newsy Flair

Hey everyone!! It's Friday Friends with Flair and I have news! I am super-duper thrilled to be able to share that I am one of 4 new members of the design team for my favourite challenge!!! The official news is posted here on the EtsyInspired blog. Can you say "bouncing off the walls"??

So of course, my FWF project is EtsyInspired, right? I have new Unity/Bella Blvd stamps and this gorgeous necklace from Tzaddi Shop reminded me of one of the Bella Doilies. I pulled the sketch from this week's CAS97 challenge on SCS. It just seemed perfect for the Bella Doilies, so I went with it. I topped off my challenge trio with the Play Date Cafe's Challenge #60, black & white with a splash of yellow.Before I go, there are two things I'd like you to remember. First of all, of course check out the Unity blog for a full list of this week's participating peeps. Find the hidden blinkie, leave a comment, and you could win 25 random Unity stamps! Not bad for a little blurfing, eh?

Second, the All Things Unity challenge blog is in full swing and we'd love to have YOU participate! Full deets on the most recent challenge are here. What are you waiting for?

On The Rocks

My son, Cody, sent me this video months ago and I found out a few days ago that this group is on the show The Sing Off - which airs again tonight. I wish I'd caught the first few episodes, but you can bet I'll be watching tonight - and if they've made it through, I'll be voting for them.

On The Rocks is an a capella ensemble from the University of Oregon. I think they're pretty fantastic and this video went viral, so you may have already seen it. For those who have not, sit back and enjoy the ride.



BTW, I have some news, but I can't share it just yet...I'll post as soon as I can!

Taking Joy in All Things Unity

Hey there peeps. I'm back online after a few days taking care of my eldest daughter, Meagan. She had some pretty massive oral surgery on Thursday. It's not often that a 16yo needs her mother. Heck, with my own medical garbage, she often takes care of me, so you can bet that I was going to do anything and everything in my power for her.

Anyway, it's time for a brand new challenge at All Things Unity! For Challenge #21, we're looking towards Christmas and we'd like you to design anything but a card.

I made a little flap-lid gift box, decorated with some Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses dp and stamps from the Unity/Jillibean Soup kit 'Tis the Season for Joy. I used Copic atyou Spica markers to colour in the Joy stamp and make it sparkle. Somebody in my family will be receiving a little giftie in this for Christmas and I'm not saying who!!
Now go check out what the rest of the team has made - and when you're done, hit All Things Unity to enter your own new Unity or {ippity} creation! You have two weeks, until December 25, to enter!

Cathy
Lynn
Sara (on break)
Savannah

My project is also for Allsorts week 82, last minute Christmas.

Paper Makeup December Fan Blog Hop

Zoinks, is it December 7 already? Where is this year going???

If you're coming here from Christi T's blog, then you're in the right spot. I'll have a full list of all participants at the bottom, just in case you get lost, but if you'd like to start at the beginning, head on over to the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. You can get all the deets about prizes there, too.

The project I have today is something I made quite some time ago, but I really love it, and haven't shared it here yet. I used a template from My Time Made Easy, for the Cutesy Cover (it's a freeby, too!) and the PMS set Caffeine Trip, which I just adore! The box holds a set of the little notecards.Remember to leave comments...I don't know where Katie's going to be choosing the prize-winners from. Now it's time to head on over to Shaela's blog.

CAS-tastic H{ippity} Hop

Good morning, peeps! How are you this fine Monday? Ready to h{ippity} hop your way to seeing some fantabuliciousness? Yup, I'm makin' up words today. I'm just feeling that good. I did not make the team for the CAS challenge at SCS, but I did get one of the guest spots. In fact, I got the first spot, which is TODAY! The challenge is Ways to Use It: Bows.

Of course I had to see if there were any other challenges I could incorporate and EtsyInspired #117 was the first place I went looking. Check out this wordy birdy from this week's shop, Paper Seeds. Doesn't he make a great inspiration piece? The word bird stamp comes from the {ippity} kit Sing a New Song. I used Tim Holtz's technique of making my own stamp pad (shown here, among other places). I didn't do it as well as he does, but I don't think I did too badly for my first time! I wish I'd had a better green to use, but it turns out my bottle of bundled sage is really tumbled glass!The colours I used came from Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #32, red & green, which is also the challenge this week over at Elephantastic. The layout started out as the sketch from FTL119, over at Clean & Simple Stamping, but it sort of morphed a little bit.

I have one of each of the two {ippity} kits I used in stock at the moment. They are currently $15 each, plus shipping.

Head on over to the {ippity} blog and see what this week's challenge is. There's a prize attached, and we all like the chance to win, right? Then check out the rest of the participating blogs, because there's another prize to be won and we won't know which blog it's from until Thursday!

Hope you all have a great day!!

I Love FWF

Good morning everyone! Sheesh, but I can't type today. I hope I catch all the typos I'm bound to make. It only took me 4 tries to properly spell "everyone" - dyslexia of the fingers. Would that be dysgraphia? Anyway...it's Friday, so that means it's time for Friends with Flair at Unity! Yesterday we hopped until we dropped. For some of us, that was pretty darned literal!

So today I have a CAS card for OWH. They're taking Valentine's Day cards through December 7th. I went with the Play Date Cafe's colour challenge #58 and used *only* red and white, which is fine with me. I think it's a super fresh combination. Love it! Then I checked out this week's EtsyInspired Challenge #116, Heartsong. Check out this pretty wire hanging. Wouldn't that be lovely in any room of the house? The word Love has a heart in it. Hmm...so does the word Love in a certain stamp I know...Got it. I know what to do for my card!
Oh! Almost forgot. The flower is for this week's CAS challenge (CAS95) on SCS. It's a "ways to use it challenge" calling for flower accents.

I'm just a bundle of acronyms again, aren't I?

Be sure to check out the Unity blog for a full list of participating peeps. Remember, somebody is hiding the blinkie. Find it, leave a comment, and you could win some Unity rubber - and that's always a Good Thing™.

Joy

I thought I'd post another challenge card. It was made mostly for the CAS Winter DT challenge, which was an inspiration challenge. I chose a very pretty ornament to be inspired by. But you guys know me...if I can find a way to work in multiple challenges - without ruining the design, I'll do it.So without further ado, here are the challenges I managed to include:
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #31: use a bow - I tried a couple different ribbons...liked this one best
GingerloftChallenges #7: bows (see above)
Tuesday Throwdown #27: embellish it - I pulled out the crystals
Stampavie and more #119: snow - I used my Snowflakes embossing folder
The Crafty Pad #99: snowflakes (see above)
Alphabet Challenge - E: E for Embossing - I went both ways this time
and lastly
Creative Cottage said no traditional Christmas Colours, Alvin!! Okay, Dave!

Wish me luck. This was Round 3 of the DT Search and the results will be posted Friday night. Oh - and finals are next week. YIKES!!!

Hopping with Anya

Hey there, peeps! It's time Hop into the Holidays with The Greeting Farm and I've got sweet little Elf Anya here to say hi. I think she's darling and so fun to colour!

Now, if you're just coming to my blog because you like me, thanks bunches! But if you want to see the hop, you'll want to go back to the beginning here. Full deets and a list of all participants, in case you get lost along the way, are also listed at the TGF blog.

I won't keep you, because there are a lot of people to visit, so here's my card for the "Santa, Baby" challenge. I hope you like it!
I used the sketch from StampTV (STVSKSP4) and this painting for the EtsyInspired Challenge #116 (the deer.)

Homework...

Today is a homework kind of day. I've been on the sofa with a heating pad and ibuprofen, just doing homework today. Little bit of dozing off, but it didn't seem quite as bad - maybe because I slept most of the weekend.

Tomorrow is the big "Hoppin' into the Holidays" Blog Hop with The Greeting Farm. I'll be participating. It all gets started on the TGF blog at 7pm CST. See you then!

ATU20 - Make a Tag

It's time for tags over at All Things Unity and I thought I'd play around with one of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas - Unity Style! I took Tim's Day 7 tag from 2009 and, with almost all of the same basic supplies, turned it into a Unity tag. Instead of Tim's stamps, I used the snowman and sentiment from Jolly Good Fun, the snowflakes from Snowflakes Fall From Heaven, the swirl from Imagine It and Worn Music.

Check out the other DT member's blogs to see what fun tags they made. We hope you play along, too! You have until Saturday, December 11 at 11:59pm - just be sure to use your Unity or {ippity} stamps!

Cathy
Lynn
Sara (on break due to injury)
Savannah

Happy Dance

I've been waiting all day to find out if I made it to round 3 for the Design Team search for the Clean & Simple Cards Challenge DT over on Splitcoaststampers. The good news is that I did!! I've tried out before and made it to round 2, but never made it to round 3. Now, there is still one more round of competition with another card to make, and I'm up against a lot of talent, but considering everything, I'm extremely thrilled to have made it this far.

For round 2, we were to make a CAS card for a family member. The caveat? It had to have that member's title on the front of the card, so it needed to say Mom/Mother, Grandmother, Dad, or whichever member of the family you chose. Oy. It turns out I don't have much to choose from in that area.
Fortunately, GinaK came to the rescue with Friends are Forever and Not Forgotten. I actually think this card works for either Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. The technique is a variation on one I've done before, and GinaK has a lovely tutorial on StampTV.

I used two different inks on the stems, because I didn't have the green I wanted. I first inked them up with Unity's Viridian Green and then went back over the top with Distress Ink Shabby Shutters. The combination gave me exactly the look I was going for. Oh, and I started out with a yellow card base and a completely different patterned paper, but this is what happens sometimes when a card starts talking to me in the middle of things!