FWF: Brightening up a room

Welcome to Unity's Friends with Flair! It's been far too long since I've gotten my fingers inky, but with so many irons in the fire right now it's hard sometimes to just sit and stamp!

This week I have something a little different for me. A friend asked me to take a couple of old frames from our church's parsonage and "do something nice with them". The other frame is still a work in progress, but I was able to finish this one last night when I couldn't sleep.

Stamps: Unity Blossom Stackers, Sweet & Sassy Love Scripture; Inks: Ranger Distress inks in Mowed Lawn & Black Soot, Memento Rhubarb Stalk; papers: DCWV Crafty Stack

I took some coordinating papers, stamped on them and put them in the frame - easy peasy! The sentiment isn't from Unity, but the rest of the stamping is.  :)  I also entered this in Unity's {be inspired} challenge even though my colors are a bit deeper than the inspiration photo.

Remember to visit and comment on all the blogs in this week's Friends with Flair for a chance to win a prize (start here to see all the participating blogs)! Thanks for visiting, and have a super weekend!

AiFactory Challenge: Easels!

This week we were challenged to create an easel card with one of these adorable stamps:

Isn't Ella just adorable? Lately, I've been into pink and girly, so I went with it again on this card. It's so easy to do with a ballerina!

I decided to use my new Dahlia Spellbinders dies as a mat instead of the same 'ole, same 'ole scallop. I also decided to add some pearls between each petal, then repeated the pearls in the centers of the lace flowers.

As an accent and to give Ella some glitz and glam, I pulled out my Sakura Stardust pen to add shimmer to the card, too. Take a look at the close up so you can see what I mean.

supplies ~ cardstock: The Paper Company, dsp: Basic Grey, pearls: Recollections, lace: Wright's

Wanna play along? Enter your easel card at the AiFactory ning group. If you're the winner, you'll get one of these stamps! Good luck, and have fun!

Make sure you visit the other design team members for more inspiration, too! The links are on my sidebar. Have a great day!

H{ippity} Hop!

Welcome to this week's blog hop with {ippity} stamps! I'll keep it short and sweet since I'm a bit short on time!

I made this card for a family in our church who recently lost their baby. The mother was only 12 weeks into the pregnancy, but the Lord decided to take the baby early. I can't even imagine the grief of losing a little one. Please pray for them!

I did some embossed resist on the focal image. After stamping the flowers on the bottom, I used VersaMark to stamp the sentiment and embossed with clear ep. Then I sponged some ink over the entire panel to soften the stark white. A few pearls on the mat finished the card.

supplies ~ cardstock: Georgia Pacific, dsp: DCWV Old World Stack, image: Unity January Stampin' Store Kit {Livin' and Lovin' Life}, sentiment: {ippity} Just Wanted to Say

Thanks for stopping by today! Remember that you can buy {ippity} from me at my {ippity} my blog!

The Greeting Farm CHA Relay challenge

I've only recently been introduced to The Greeting Farm stamps. I had seen their images around for a while, but wasn't sure you made them until I followed a link on someone's blog. This week is a perfect chance to acquire some of their stamps for FREE!

TGF posted a free image, Mer Ian, to get everyone started. If you made a card, uploaded it, then posted a comment on the Monday CHA relay post before the deadline, you could get a second image and continue the relay. There's a total of five digis in the relay, and anyone who does all five get another image, too! Woohoo!

So, here are my first two cards. Mer Ian was SUPER simple because I had so much to do that night. Being in Alaska and working full-time, I had to make sure I finished and photographed the card the night before the due date so I could continue the relay.

I planned to completely paper piece the second digi, Charlotte, but ended up mostly coloring with pencils. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch with her.

Off to bed I go! Have a wonderful day tomorrow (or today, if you're way far east!) and see you soon!

Friends With Flair is...wonderful

Welcome to this week's FWF! I am constantly amazed at how Unity keeps coming out with gorgeous images month after month. When I joined their kit of the month several months ago, I thought to myself, "It's a really good deal, and if there are images I don't like I can always opt out for a month or two." I didn't realize then how hard it would be to resist all the gorgeous stamps, and now I'm a store kit member, too. Sheesh! Talk about addictions!

I decided this week to ink up two images from the October Stampin' Store Kit, {wonderful...you}. I saw a nifty tutorial on SCS called the "blurred vision" technique and thought I'd give it a go on the leafy branch image. It didn't blur as much as I thought it would (maybe 'cuz I let the ink dry?), but it did change the color slightly. The sentiment is the same ink as the leafy branch, but do you see how the leaves are slighty lighter?

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack, images: Unity October SSK {wonderful...you}

Have a great weekend - less than a week to TURKEY DAY!

Whimsy Challenge: Embossabilities!

Whimsy Stamps Challenges blog is challenging you to a mission: emboss it! Somewhere on your card there should be some embossing!

My card today is loooooong. The CardPatterns sketch this week (#37) uses a longer card format, and I've been wanting to ink up my giraffe stamp for a while....voila! To top it off, I have some great 8x8 papers from the DCWV Safari Chic stack, which was perfect for this image. There's even a sheet of paper printed to look like the spots on a giraffe!

I kept it pretty simple since my background paper did so much of the work. I embossed the giraffe image and watercolored him - did you know it's a lot easier to watercolor a detailed image if it's embossed? Staying in the lines is so much easier! I also dry embossed the mat under the giraffe with my branches Cuttlebug folder.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: DCWV Safari Chic, image: Whimsy Stamps Giraffe

Well, what are you waiting for? We know you LOVE to emboss! Can't wait to see what you make!

Friends With Flair Friday

This week I decided to make a sympathy card since one of the seniors at my church passed away earlier this week. It was very sudden. I decided to keep the card very simple with muted colors. Since chalks are a really soft coloring medium, that's what I used on this card. I briefly thought about heat embossing them, which would also look really pretty, but I really wanted a subdued, muted feeling.

I stamped with VersaMark, then used my dauber to sponge on the chalk. I dry embossed only the image to draw more attention to it. Both the image and sentiment were popped up on dimensionals.

supplies ~ cardstock: The Paper Company, dsp: Hot Off The Press, image: Unity Bevy of Butterflies

Thanks for coming by today; have a relaxing weekend!

Doodle Dragon has gone bananas!

This week's Doodle Dragon release is so cute and fun. You'll want to head over to Dustin's blog to check out the entire release!

My card today uses one of this week's images. I've been reading on other blogs how some people use Bic or Sharpie markers to color as a less expensive option to Copics, so I decided to buy a pack of multi colors and tried them out on today's card. I think I need some practice!

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp & ribbon: Basic Grey Recess

I have a coworker at school who is having a tough transition to our school. I got the feeling today that she needed a little pick-me-up, so I hope this card makes her smile. If the card doesn't, then the chocolate that will go with it certainly will!  =D

Have a terrific day!

Week of Unity Day 4

Hi, again! Thanks for coming by to see the Unity projects I have this week! Remember to leave a comment on each days post for the best chance to win some new Unity rubbah! You'll get to pick the single of your choice if your name is drawn!

Today, I'm trying to use up some scraps in my scrap tray. I'm starting to overflow! I really wanted to use one of the awesome quotes from the Unity collection. This one happens to come from the Quote Bundle Pack. The simple and elegant layout from Mojo Monday this week seemed to suit this card well, so I did another card with that sketch.

I stamped my image on creme cardstock in pigment ink, then heat embossed it with some clear ep. Some patterned paper, ribbon and a few dew drops finish the card with a touch of elegance. I also rarely emboss my nesties die cuts, but I thought it would look really nice.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: Hot Off The Press, ribbon: SU!, dew drops: Robin's Nest, ink: ColorBox Queue Dune, image: Unity Becoming Butterfly

Thanks for visiting today! Be sure to come back tomorrow for my final day of Unity showcases, and your last chance to enter for my comment candy!

Week of Unity Day 3

Welcome back! Remember to leave a comment on today's post to be entered in my comment candy for a Unity single of your choice!

Fall is always so short here in interior Alaska. The weather cools starting mid-August, then by the end of September we've already had our first snow. The trees are completely bare now, we're getting frost every morning, and we've had at least 3 snows. I miss fall!

So this card is in honor of the very short fall we have. I stamped the images on some DCWV paper, then cut out the trees before matting them. The pumpkin image has stitch lines drawn on it, so I thought it would add a fun touch to do REAL stitching. I colored in the buttons and the stem with a colored pencil. I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, too.

supplies ~ cardstock & dsp: DCWV Indian Summer, thread: Coates, images: Unity KOM {go ahead...wish} - pumpkin, Shurberry tree

Thanks for coming to visit today! Remember to leave a comment to be entered for some free Unity...only two days left!

Week of Unity Day 2

Welcome back to my week of Unity! Remember to leave a comment each day to be entered to win a Unity single of your choice!

Today I went a little outside my normal box. I started with a frosted card base from SheetLoad ShortCuts, added some DCWV papers and my images colored with ZIG ColorTwin markers to the inside & front...voila!

The hardest part of the card was scoring the plastic. I have a mini Scor-It that seems to do a better job than my Scor-Pal, but it's still not the best. If you have a tip for me, I'm all ears! I used this week's 2 Sketches 4 You sketch, too.

By the way, if you've ever wanted to try out any SheetLoad products, you really ought to go to their store now. Alicia, the owner, is closing her store and once her inventory is gone, it's gone. She offering some discounts, too. Hurry!


supplies ~ frosted card: SheetLoad ShortCuts, dsp: DCWV The Doodlin' Around Stack, images: Unity KOM {...another sweet day}

Thanks for coming today!

Growing in Unity Day 4...and comment candy

Welcome to another day of Unity goodness! Remember to check out my previous three Unity posts for more chances to win some Unity!


If you look at the cards I've posted on this 'lil 'ole blog, you'll notice that I LOVE bright colors. Maybe it has something to do with my fascination with bold visuals, or perhaps it's that I'm a "winter" - dark eyes & hair with fair skin - and bold colors make me look my best. Whatever it is, it shows up in my cards.

Today's card is rather simple, but strikingly bold. I love the contrast between the white and bright green, and the primary colors add zing. I used the same stamp for the green-on-green stamping, too. And this image is so...ME. I love to live life with zest and "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life," as Thoreau would say. I hope that you take a moment or two to do the same if you don't already!

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, image: Unity March KOM {simple life}, flower stamp: Scrappy Cat Sunny Days, brads: Making Memories

Remember to comment on today's post to be entered for a FREE UNITY STAMP of your choice! But hurry - I'll be drawing for a winner tomorrow after 5 pm AKDT. Have a fantastic day!

Growing in Unity Day 3...your third chance at blog candy!

ETA: I had this post scheduled, but for some reason it didn't show up on time, and I didn't catch it until now. My apologies!

Also, make sure to check out my first two Unity posts for two more chances to win a Unity single of your choice!

Welcome to my third day of showcasing Unity stamps! Can you tell that I really love them? And the customer service is second to none!

Today's card is one of my favorites. I really love this butterfly image. To add a little sparkle, I used Shimmerz and some gems. I was surprised how nice the colored pencils came out on the kraft - I gotta try that again sometime!

supplies ~ kraft: Bazzill, black: Fiskars, dsp: DCWV Old World, ribbon: Michael's, gems: Darice, Shimmerz: Angel Wings, stamps: Unity Floral Fantastical, Little Buggers & April KOM {fresh beginnings}

Remember to comment on today's post to be entered for a FREE UNITY STAMP of your choice! Thanks for coming by for a visit - I would love to have you come again!

Growing in Unity Day 2...another chance for blog candy!

Welcome back to my second day of Unity all week long! Today I have a card for a young lady at my church who is returning to Bible college later this week. Her dream is to become a missionary, and this quote seemed to fit so well.

This card started with a sketch from CardPatterns (love that blog!), and a theme of "Back to School" the from Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog. After choosing my papers from the DCWV Sweet Stack, I stamped my image in Memento Bamboo Leaves. The flower in the corner was part of the paper design, but I fussy cut it out and layered it on some more Sweet stack paper and DCWV textured cardstock.

As a finishing touch inside the card, I inked up only the flourish on this image and stamped it in opposite corners, then used the same flourish on one corner of the envelope. I really like that; it just seems to tie it all together nicely.

supplies ~ card base: stash, green cardstock: DCWV, dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack

Thanks for coming to visit today. Remember to leave a comment on today's post to be entered for a FREE UNITY STAMP of your choice! I'll choose a winner on Friday after 5 pm AKDT.