FWF and many thanks

Hello! This week's Friends With Flair card is a super simple one! I don't know about you, but I have quite a few thank you cards to put in the mail for gifts I received on Christmas, and a card like this is a perfect way to say thank you!

Stamps: ippity by Unity kits Devoted and Music of My Heart; patterned paper: Stampin' Up!

Any patterned paper and matching ink can be used for this card, so I plan to whip up a bunch more!

Remember to visit all the FWF blogs and leave comments for a chance to win a prize! Have a terrific weekend, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog during my week of Growing in Unity! You were all so kind with your words of encouragement, and I truly appreciate each of you! So who won the two itty bitty stamps, you ask? The winner is...

Debra said...

Another great way to use scraps! Awesome colors and embossing really sets it off!

November 29, 2012 1:56 PM

Debra, please email me (billandcheri.howard at gmail dot com) about your prize!

Have a wonderful and safe Sunday, everyone!

GIU Day 5: ad•ven•tur•ous

Looking for my Friends With Flair post? It's the next one down!

Welcome back to my week of Growing in Unity! Today is my very last day of GIU.  :(

Did you leave a comment on all of my GIU posts for a chance to win 2 (yes, TWO) itty bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.? I'll announce the winner sometime Sunday afternoon! Did you miss any days? Just scroll down to the previous posts - I don't want you to miss a chance to win!

It's been a long time since I've participated in any challenges, so this time I decided to play along with Unity's KOM Sketch Challenge. I turned the sketch and took a liberty or two, but I think you can still see the inspiration. I really need to play more challenges!

Stamps: Unity KOM 12/09 (RETIRED) {delightful moments}; ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; prisma color pencils: Non-Photo Blue & Crimson Red

I love hot air balloons. I've only been in one my entire life, but it was sure memorable! But I can tell you that the exhilaration comes in part from the fact that I am terrified of heights. Sometimes I can manage it, like when I feel like I'm secure (ski lifts and hot air balloons are okay); other times I have a hard time forcing myself to go through with it (rappelling and climbing ladders over 4-5 feet off the ground). I am NOT a bungey jumper or parachuter - nope nope nope nope! I'm not THAT adventurous!  :D

Thank you for coming by today! Remember to leave a comment on all 5 of my GIU posts for a chance to win 2 itty bittys! And as a special thank you, I'd like to offer a discount code for my Etsy shop. Just enter the code GIU30 for 30% off your entire order. I have lots of ippity kits stocked and ready to ship!


Visit my Facebook page!

GIU Day 4: Friends with Flair

Welcome back to my week of Growing in Unity and Friends with Flair! Come by each day through Saturday, and leave a comment on my GIU post for a chance to win 2 (yes, TWO) itty bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.! I'll announce the winner sometime on Sunday afternoon! Did you miss any days? Just scroll down to the previous posts - I don't want you to miss a chance to win!

And if that wasn't enough, today is Friends With Flair on the Unity blog - leave comments on all the blogs to get ANOTHER chance to win some Unity rubber! Don't you just love double dips?  :)

Today's card is a super-simple holiday card, and showcases how beautifully Unity stamps from different sets can work together. I think I'm going to try this again in red, too!

Stamps: Unity KOM (RETIRED) 09/10 {when i am with you...}, ippity by Unity kit Season of Joy; ink: Memento Danube Blue

The focal image is from the 09/10 KOM, but the stamping behind it is from an ippity set, Season of Joy (one of my favorites, btw). I suspect the same artist drew both images! I was originally going to just pop up the focal image, but wanted just a bit more to "dress it up" a little and give it a bit of asymmetry. Isn't it cool how such a simple addition does so much for the card?

Thank you for coming by today! Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win 2 itty bittys! And as a special thank you, I'd like to offer a discount code for my Etsy shop. Just enter the code GIU30 for 30% off your entire order. I have lots of ippity kits stocked and ready to ship!


Visit my Facebook page!

GIU Day 3: Ready to Pay the Price

Welcome back to my week of Growing in Unity! Come by each day through Saturday, and leave a comment on my GIU post for a chance to win 2 (yes, TWO) itty bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.! I'll announce the winner sometime on Sunday afternoon! Did you miss my first day? Just scroll down to the previous posts - I don't want you to miss a chance to win!

And did you know that today is Hip Hop on the Unity blog? Comment on the DT blogs for a chance to win more Unity yumminess!

Today's card made me feel good to make, mostly because I have a zillion scraps I really need to use up (know the feeling?). And it combines some of my favorite colors, too.  :)

Stamp: ippity by Unity Happy Are Those; patterned paper: DCWV; ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Thank you for coming by today! Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win 2 itty bittys! And as a special thank you, I'd like to offer a discount code for my Etsy shop. Just enter the code GIU30 for 30% off your entire order. I have lots of ippity kits stocked and ready to ship!


Visit my Facebook page!

GIU Day 2: Give Thanks

Welcome back to my week of Growing in Unity! Come by each day through Saturday, and leave a comment on my GIU post for a chance to win 2 (yes, TWO) itty bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.! I'll announce the winner sometime on Sunday afternoon! Did you miss my first day? Just scroll down to the previous post - I don't want you to miss a chance to win!

Seeing a pattern yet? I won't do thank you cards every day, but I have to admit that I make a lot of them since they are the ones I typically use the most.  :)  I actually made a bunch of these a couple of months ago for the Ladies Event at my church. Postcards seem to become more and more rare, but they are so quick and easy to send!

Stamps: Unity KOM (RETIRED) 09/10 {when i am with you...},  Vintage Postcard

I stamped the sentiment first, then the leaves around the outside. Simple as can be!

Thank you for visiting today! Make sure you come back tomorrow for my next project and another chance to enter for two itty bitty stamps!



Visit my Facebook page!

GIU Day 1: Thankful

Hello! This week, I'm sharing my love of Unity Stamps by hosting Growing in Unity. What's that you ask? If you've never heard of Growing in Unity, it's an awesome chance for you to get some eye candy, then be entered for a chance to win some Unity of your own! Come by each day through Saturday, and leave a comment on my GIU post for a chance to win 2 (yes, TWO) itty bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.! I'll announce the winner sometime on Sunday afternoon!

Today, I made a CAS card that literally took just 10-15 minutes to make. For some reason, the sentiment is not showing up as white, but it is.

Stamps: ippity by Unity kits A Moment in Time & thankful for you; ink: Memento Tangelo, Lilac Posies, Rhubarb Stalk, Rich Cocoa, and Bamboo Leaves; white embossing powder

I love quick cards like this - especially with Christmas coming, and I will NEED some thank you cards!

Before I go, how would you like to know which itty bitty is my favorite? It's hard for me to pick just one, but this little darling tugs at my heart every time:

Love Runs Deep itty bitty from Unity Stamp Co.

This is just one of HUNDREDS to choose from! So remember to leave a comment on this and every GIU post this week through Saturday for a chance to win two of your very own! Thanks for coming - have a marvelous day!



Visit my Facebook page!

Friends With Flair: Getting into the spirit

Hello again! This week I'm jumping the gun a little with holiday cards. I don't typically like to celebrate Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but since I am trying to build up my inventory on Etsy, I figured it's time I started. I'll feel better about it on Friday, November 23, though!  :)

A simple card, but I love how clean and crisp it came out!

stamp: {ippity} by Unity Season of Joy; cardstock: HP; ribbon: Joann's; ep: ZING! from American Crafts

For you, my friends, I have a discount code good on anything in my Etsy shop! Use code FRIEND10 to get 10% off your entire order. I have lots of {ippity} stamps in stock and ready to ship as well as a few cards. Thanks for stopping by today!

FWF - Hello, My Friend!

Hello! It has been a looooooong time since I posted here! I'll tell you why below, but here's the card I made this week. The layout was inspired by this one at Damask Love. I thought it was just so pretty and simple!

Stamp: Unity itty bitty Hello My Friend, cardstock, burlap, Bazzill paper flowers, pearls

What, do you ask, has been keeping my away? I finished my last year of teaching, which entailed a lot of cleaning out my accumulation of 17 years of teaching materials. And then we went out of state to visit family. Then summer came with lots of berry picking, preserving, gardening and all sorts of outdoor pursuits. Since snow came, I've been working on getting the nursery ready for when the baby comes home (if you want to read our adoption story, you can find out all the details so far here). I'm still not done with that, but I'm at a good place for now. And then there's my craft room. I will eventually post before/after photos, but it has become a disaster zone the last couple of years. Now that I'm home full time, I plan to get it in shape once and for all.  :D

Okay, I think that's it for now. Have a wonderful weekend, and remember to comment on all the blogs in Unity's FWF blog hop to be entered for a prize from Unity!

FWF goes a little Asian

Welcome back for another week of Friends With Flair! Did you see the new {ippity} releases last night? They are awesome!

(If you're looking for the Raining Happy blog hop post, it's the next one down!)

Here's another card I made using the Angie Girl: Follow Your Heart set:

The flowers have sort of an Asian flair, don't you think? I created my own background, then made little inchie emboss resist squares with the same flowers. The sentiment is from an older {ippity} kit, Now and Always.

Make sure you check out this weekend's sales - the bundle pack is a GREAT deal! Click my photo below to go straight to the shop, or click my photo on Unity's website to add {ippity} to your order!

Thanks for stopping by to look!

Click here to shop at Unity!

Raining Happy with {ippity}

Yay! It's the second Thursday so that means it's {ippity} release day! And to celebrate, we're having a fun blog hop!

You should have arrived from the {ippity} blog. If you did not, then remember to start there by clicking the image above. Make sure you read all the way to the end for a fun announcement!


Below is the list if you get lost along the way.

{ippity} blog 
angie - {stampsings of the shug}
jennifer -  mitten's papercrafting
 barbara - {ippity} do da
 rona - a little inspiration from rona
anita - anita be stampin
mary - mary's creative journey
 susan - paper and joy
  jen - jens cup of creations
 noelle -noelle scraps alot
heather f. - i heart {ippity}
 jenmarie - taylor-made by jenmarie 
cheri - the paper freak  **you are here!**
 lisa - schnauz scraps
andrea - ippity stamps 4 you
maria - ria creations
rebecca - blooming pink 
althea - aj's designs
crystal - crystal's craft corner
joan - tails in the stamp room
christine - christine's creative therapy
{ippity} blog 

For those of you who like to do mixed media, scrapbooking or larger-sized projects, you will L.O.V.E. this release! I have to say that using these sets has stretched me a bit since mixed media is NOT my typical project choice.  But these stamps work equally well on cards - woot!

It had been a while since I used my Twinkling H2Os, so it was fun painting this card. See how huge this stamp is (the card is 4.25" x 5.5")? I used all three images in this set.

And here are the other sets releasing today!

Make sure you come back tomorrow for Friends With Flair where I'll show you a card I made with the Angie Girl set!

If you need the new (or not new!) {ippity} releases  remember you can now order them straight from the Unity site - just click my photo below to go shopping now, or click my photo on Unity's site to add {ippity} to your order! There's a fabulous sale going on, including a bundle pack on the new {ippity} stamps! With those savings, you can order the itty bitty, too!

(limit 1 per person)

Now, don't stop with the blog hop - there's a release party going on over at Unity's forum on Splitcoaststampers with PRIZES!! Make sure you head over after the hop for chatting, fun and a chance at FREE stamps from the new releases! (hint: if you missed the party, make sure you check the Unity and {ippity} blogs to see how you can still win something)!

Thanks for hopping with us!

Click here to shop at Unity!