Growing in Unity Day 1...with blog candy!

**SECOND POST FOR TODAY - SCROLL DOWN FOR THE WHIMSY CHALLENGE POST!**

Welcome to the first day of Growing in Unity on my blog! For those of you who are new to Unity, I will be sharing a Unity project every day on my blog. It may be a card, an altered item...who knows? =D

Make sure you leave a comment each day to be entered for a chance to win a Unity single OF YOUR CHOICE - yippee! You can see all the wonderful Unity goodness HERE.

Today, I'm sharing with you a card I made for one of my cousins, Sandi. She's the one cousin I get to see or talk to on most of my visits home, and is the closest to me in age. It's been a while since I've written her, so I thought a card on her birthday would be fun.

I also decided to enter this one in Ashley's Etsy Inspired Challenge this week. I've wanted to try it out for a while, but just never seem to have time. The store we were asked to visit is called Red Crow Arts, and I found this mosaic mirror. I like the simple, clean layout, and the color of the mosaic fragments felt so earthy.



I used the bingo card and one of the sentiments from the August Stampin' Store Kit. It has a distressed feel to it already, so I decided to bang up my card in keeping with the stamp. First I crumpled up the cardstock I was stamping on, then smoothed it out a bit and used some Ranger distress ink to add color to the bumpy parts. Then I smoothed it out some more, stamped the card and "LUCKY" sentiment over that in black ink, and cut out the image. I used my scissors and fingernails to rough up the edges of each layer, then adhered it all to the card front.

I usually glue close to the edge or in corners to keep the card flat. This time, though, I glued about an inch away from the edges to let them pull away a bit for a little more texture and character.

The inside of the card reads: "I'm sure you're not as old as this card, and you certainly look better than it does! Have a happy birthday!"

supplies ~ cream cardstock: stash, dsp: DCWV Old World Stack, image: Unity August Stampin' Store kit {100% happy}

That's about it for me today, but be sure to comment to enter for the Unity single of your choice. I'll pick a winner on Friday after 5:00 pm AKDT. Good luck, and thanks for visiting!

Whimsy Challenge: Touchy Feely

Monday again, and a new Whimsy Stamps challenge - woot! This week's theme is Touchy Feely - let's see some texture on those cards! I'm off this week, but you can see lots of eye candy over at the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog or use the links to the left. Have fun!

New four-legged neighbors?

I just had to pop in to share a few pics of a moose family that came and spent the night at our house a couple of weeks ago. They started out just munching on leaves and the remains of wild flowers at about 4 pm, but I guess momma felt safe enough to plop down and spend the night. By the time we were up at around 6 am the next day, the family had moved on.





This same little family came back today to do some more munching, but this time they kept moving. Sure was a thrill for us, though, to see them back!

Whimsy Challenge: Sparkle!

Another Whimsy challenge is underway over at the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog. This week we want to see your cards sparkle! You can bling it up, use glitter, shimmery watercolors or paints - whatever says sparkle to you!

Today's card features one of my favorite Whimsy stamps - the polar bear. It's a 6x6 card this time, and I already had a white square adhered to the card front waiting for completion. I pulled out some scrap snowflake dsp from my scrap tray for the mat under the image, and used one of my snowflake stamps to add some heat-embossed sparkle. I found some kaleidoscope iridescent ep at my local Fred Meyer, of all places, in their craft section. It's hard to see, but the snowflakes are multicolored as you move the card around under light. Plus, I painted the bear with some Shimmerz for more blingy sparkle.

I also picked up a trick from another blog on how to make your image hang out of the frame you're cutting with your nesties. I don't remember which blog, but I know I've seen it on at least two blogs. This stamp is a big image, so learning this trick was a big help for my limited collection of dies.

supplies ~ cardstock & dsp: stash, main image: Whimsy Polar Bear, snowflake stamp: Scenic Route, Shimmerz Angel Wings

Now you're off to the Whimsy challenge blog to see more inspiration from the design team, or you can click on their blog links over on the left. Thanks for coming to look at my card, and have a great Monday!

Whimsy Challenge: Ribbons

Monday, Monday...

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time...

Oops! Sorry for the throwback with the Mamas & the Papas. Today is the first day of school here, and so my summer is over and time to get back to work. ::sniff, sniff:: Summer just went too fast this year!

Over at the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog, it's another challenge...with RIBBONS! I know you love that stuff, so get your stamps inky and pull out your ribbon stash! This is my week off, so I don't have a sample to share today. You can see all the DT inspiration at the challenge blog, or go directly to the DT blogs using the links on the left.

Thanks for stopping to visit - have a great day!

Whimsy Challenge: Animal Magic

Monday means a Whimsy Challenge! This week it's "Animal Magic" - we want to see critters on your cards! If you read my post on Saturday, you know that this card was made in honor of our new cat, Lex. He's not nearly so fierce, but what he lacks in ferocity he makes up for in sweetness!

This image was part of a newer release at Whimsy Stamps. Hmmmm, he doesn't look too fierce - more like perplexed if you ask me! ;D

I printed my sentiment in brown on some SU! dsp I received in a blog candy. Since the paper is too small to run through my printer, I printed what I wanted on plain paper first, then used my non-permanent UHU Glue Roller to tack the dsp down over the sentiment, then ran the paper through again. By the way, if you use digi stamps, you can used the same technique to paperpiece your image just as you would with traditional stamps!

supplies ~ cardstock: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip & More Mustard (??), dsp: Stampin' Up sampler pack, ribbon: Stampin' Up, clip: stash, image: Whimsy Lion

I used this week's sketch over at Card Patterns. Thanks for coming by to visit today; have a great day!

Meet Lex!

Okay, this post is definitely NOT card-related, so if you came to see a card, I'm a afraid you'll be disappointed. After living pet-less for the last 12 years (another reason I hate apartment life), I finally convinced my hubby to let me have a cat. And here he is - meet Lex!



We adopted him on Thursday from our local pet shelter after his previous owner decided to give him up. What a sweetheart! He loves to be pet, and a lap is his favorite place to crash. We're still getting to know each other, but he stole my heart the first time I met him.

Keep your eyes open for my Whimsy card on Monday - it's in honor of our newest family member! =D

Hip Hop Hangover...has it really been a MONTH?!?!

I cannot believe that it's been a whole month since my last HHH post! Things have been so crazy that I haven't done as much stamping as I'd like. And I'm not even going to say how many Unity kits I haven't even inked up yet - ;D - but all the more reason to "get cracking"!

So without further delay, here's my card. Beginning with this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday, I used one of the quotes from my Unity June KOM and paired it with some wonderful papers from the DCWV Old World Stack. Memento ink in Potter's Clay matched the terra cotta paper perfectly, so I used it to stamp my image and sponge the flowers before popping in brad & bead cap centers. The sentiment panel has been popped up with some UHU Tac.

supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, dsp: DCWV Old World Stack, flowers: Bazzill, bead caps: stash, brads: Making Memories

I also entered this card in the Unity Guest Designer challenge for August. The challenge called for 1 image, 2 patterned papers, and three embellishments. The three flowers count even though there are brads/bead caps in the center, right? ;D

Alrighty. It's time for me to head off to bed. Thank you for coming for a visit today. Have a terrific Friday!

Set a Day Giveaway!

Have you been over to the ABC Toys and Crafts blog? You should!

ATTENTION:"A Set a Day Giveaway"

Featuring the NEW sets from "MY CUTE STAMPS"

Starts August 3rd and ends August 7th.

Go and comment daily on the ABC Design Blog post and you could win the stamp set featured that day. Just go to ABC Design Blog for all the details.

Also, the store owner, Julie, has a $25 Shopping Spree to the STORE to give away this week. So check out the Store Blog and see how to win.

So what are you waiting for? =D

Doodle Dragon freebie

Hello again! You may already know that Dustin has been having some hosting issues recently. He did post a freebie today that I didn't know was coming. I'll try to have a sample of it later this week. In the meantime, feel free to head over to his blog and download his "creepy" freebie for this week!

I do have a card from an older release to share, though! I entered this card in the Kaboodle challenge to use a digi image. This little guy was released on June 25, but I was getting ready to head out of town, so I took him with me to color. The card front may look a bit familiar to you. It should! I decided to make the entire SheetLoad from the June issue, which yields 8 cards. I made up the fronts without images, then went back and added the finished image later. I added extra embellishments to some of the cards, like this one.

I used my Prismas & OMS to color him up, then added a sentiment from one of my Joann's rub-on packs and a couple of Prima flowers with a little gemstone brad.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, kraft: Bazzill, dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack, image: Dustin Pike, rub-on: Joann's, flower: Prima, brad: stash

Thanks for stopping by for a visit - have a great day!

Whimsy Challenge: Friendships....plus a card for fun

Sorry for the late post folks! I don't have a Whimsy sample to share this week, but there is still a challenge going on over at the Whimsy Stamps Challenges blog. This week, the theme is "Friendships". Remember that you may use any image you like, but a Whimsy image will get you TWO entries!

I do have a card to share, but I did this one only for fun. I went to Joann's yesterday - WOW! They had a mega-clearance going on, probably to clear out inventory to make room for the new CHA releases. I saved nearly as much as I spent, and got some fabby deals! I got a couple of embossing folders for a buck and some much-needed inkpads and other stamping supplies for half-off. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to play with some of my new stuff, so here's what I created yesterday afternoon.

I started with a sketch (surpise, surprise!) from last week's sketch challenge at The Pink Elephant. I didn't finish in time to enter it, but I really like the sketch and wanted to use it for this card. The only stamp used on this card was "Worn Music" from Unity. I stamped the green background, then also stamped the die-cut flowers and vines with the same stamp. I have gobs and gobs of scraps to use up, but the cardstock and green dp looked so plain and naked that I had to dress them up a bit. The flower die cut is actually 6 of the same flower layered to create a whole different look. I finished the flower with a bead cap and brad before matting it and tucking in the flourish.








Since I was trying to use up scraps, I decorated the inside, too. Simple, but I like it. I had a couple of extra vines left over, so I tucked one behind the yellow background and let just the curly flourish peak out around the edges. I debated about whether to stamp on it like I did the front. What do you think: Should I have stamped the flourish inside, or is it fine as is?

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: Hot Off The Press "Citrus", stamp: Unity "Worn Music"

Thanks for coming by, and have a great day!

Anni-Verve-sary Blog Hop - Verve turns TWO!

Welcome to the first ever official Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop. Verve turns two today and we’re celebrating with a hop, hop, hop! If you just came from Kayla's blog, you're on your way. The party kicked off over on the Verve blog, so if you’ve just happened along, be sure to hop on over there to start from the beginning! And to make this party a real shindig, there’s a mystery jackpot hidden at one of the stops along the hop. One lucky commenter on that blog will win Verve’s entire August release! But of course, it wouldn’t be a mystery if you knew which blog, would it? So if you’re feeling the love give a little shout out to the bloggers in the hop, and you just might have a reason to jump for joy!

The card I'm sharing with you today is one I did for the Viva la Verve challenges over on Splitcoast Stampers. The twist this time was to add texture, and that was fun! I love to use my embossing folders, but sometimes "forget" that I have them. A challenge like this forces me to thumb through my folders.

I really love the graphic boldness of black & white with a little splash of color. The sketch for this challenge did just that, so I decided to roll with it. I also experimented when coloring the flowers. I tried using a blending pen with my Memento dew drop pad. Not a bad result, but I will probably not use it again - I just didn't like the feel of the dry tip scraping over the paper surface. I also thought the sentiment needed just a little something extra, so I inked up only a portion of the leaf part of the flower stamp and used it as a flourish. A few pearls & matting, and the card was done!

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, pearls: Martha Stewart & Michaels, stamps: Verve "Floral Symphony"

Thanks for stopping by! Now it’s time to hop on over to ~Melody's blog~ for a little more Verve-y goodness. Make sure you leave a comment on each blog to enter to win Verve's ENTIRE ANNI-VERVE-SARY RELEASE!