This first one is for a boy obviously and uses Basic Grey Oliver Collection with Verve to the Moon stamp set and VLV sketch from june. I just love those little critters. I colored them with copics - think I am getting better! The die cut shape is from PTI and the pleated thing I made myself - maybe a tutorial on that is in order.

 And this one is for a sweet baby girl who is being born today!!! I saw this idea on SCS and just had to try it myself! I think it is so cute! I used Close to Cocoa cs and inked the edges, used pink brads and made a hanger out of jewelry wire.

 I am so glad we are going back to school tomorrow! This 4 snowday week has really worn me out! HA!

Quick post for you today! Check back tomorrow for a layout!

This is Emery from Verve - Isn't he adorable!??!?! Though this card is rather girly! It was for the last January Viva La Verve Sketch. I paper pieced him and I left off a sentiment thinking I could use it for a birthday, christening, baptism, or baby card which ever I need first! Thanks for looking!

 Home again! We survived the Blizzard of 2011! Now just trying to dig out from it!

I have a little card for you today that has NO stamps! GASP!

I know right?!?!?! But it's still pretty cute!

The papers are Basic Grey Pyrus, the little pears are from the same collection but are the writers's block journaling spots! I cut out the sentiment using SCAL and my cricut. I used a little button for the dot of the I. I added some hemp to both of the pears and some lace behind it! This is for Card Patterns Sketch 100.

Stay tuned I just might have more for you today!

 I used Verve's Plain Jain of this scripture, I hope it's ok, appropriate for someone with cancer - I just don't know! I can't imagine what Katie and her family are going through!

Thanks for looking (again) today!

 Back to school today! Actually kinda glad, was getting a little stir crazy! And I would like to get out before June! I have a card for you today that is for TWO challenges! First off, Friday's Get Sketchy Challenge #69.

And Grey is the New Black on Moxie Fab World which I was particularly inspired by this 

So are you ready for the card!?!??!?!

 Here ya go! Was it worth waiting for? I embossed Smokey Shadow cs from PTI with Kassies Brocade using my Big Kick (yes I have a big kick) and then paired it with Cosmo Cricket's Everafter!!! PERFECTION! The sentiment is a cardstock sticker from the same collection as well as the two border strips. I added some twine to it for contrast then decided instead of a premade flower I would attempt to make one of Tim Holtz's tissue tape flowers! First I inked the tissue tape with Mustard Seed distress ink - which I then had to blot off cause it was a little bright! Then I made the flower following the simple you tube video!!!! So easy and I am pleased with the results! I added a big ole' bit of bling to the middle and adhered it to my card!
Here is a close up of the tissue tape flower

The Get Sketchy challenge ends tonight but if you hurry there is still time! And the Moxie Fab Challenge is open until January 24th so you have plenty of time to play!

It's Virtual Stamping Weekend!!!!

My Challenge is up right now!
It's called OBSESSION!
I am challenging everyone to create a card based on your Obsession!

Check out the thread HERE!

I created a new card for this challenge and shared an old Twilight card. This is the one I created just for this challenge as my sample!
Why it's Bella and her shoes!

I love Shoes!!!
I paper pieced her using Basic Grey Offbeat papers and then colored the rest with my SU markers. Come play with us the rest of this weekend for VSN! there are lots of challenges and even some GREAT prizes!

since I was able to do both Hip Hop Challenges yesterday you are gettin a double dose of Unity in my HHH post!!!The first challenge I did was to use Gel Pens on your card.
Well I own 2 gel pens a Sakura Gelly Roll Pen and a White Gel pen!
So the Sakura it is - I immediately thought of cupcakes cause I always use it on the cupcake liners!!!! I used Unity's Cupcakes a'la Yummy and the Limelight Challenge sketch for the week. The papers are from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie. I stickled the tops as part of the Limelight challenge to use pink bling! They are Worn Lipstick Distress stickles!


The second and far more difficult challenge for me anyway was to TILT your main image! YIPES! I like things nice and straigh - so tilting sends me into a tizzy! Somehow I
managed to survive! I was also able to create this for Dutch Dare's Card Challenge which
is being sponsored by Limelight! It was to create a Valentine
using NO pink or red. Yes there is a tiny bit of pink but hopefully
it will be overlooked/forgiven!
I used the birds from Giggle Grove and did some reverse stamping to make them
face each other. Colored them in, drew a little heart and handwrote Love Birds.
The paper on this is also Basic Grey's Urban Prairie - lovin this stuff!
Thanks for looking!

I got this single butterfly from Limelight it is made by Unity but sold in a set usually. I am not a HUGE butterfly fan I don't have THAT big a need for girly things!!! However as just one butterfly I thought it should come to live with me!!!

When I saw the Basic Grey Ambrosia paper (also from Limelight) I knew I needed to make a card pairing my butterfly and this paper! It's so pretty! I am NOT an orange fan but I love this paper! I even used Tangerine Tango - just for you Sarah (my friend who LOVES orange).

So I thought I would check out yesterdays sketch challenge on splitcoast! I love a good sketch! Card or scrapbook!
I thought I could make it work and it did!
Fairly simple card just Ambrosia papers layered with Basic Black. The butterfly is stamped in black and I added Black Diamond stickles and mini black rhinestones. The side needed something so I added the corduroy brads I got at Hobby Lobby! Luv 'em! Will be getting more real soon! Thanks for looking! Check back tomorrow for HHH!
Join us today for Hip Hop on Splitcoast - in the Unity Forum!

I have more layouts for you from VSBN but......

today's Wednesday and that means UNITY ADDICTS challenge!!! Woo Hoo!
K - obviously I am a Unity Addict - not ashamed to say so!
Here's my card, I used this week's Unity Sketch Challenge as well!
The challenge was to create a Valentine using a NON Valentine stamp.
Oh and you had to use buttons and ribbon too!
YAY! I read directions for once!
I got this sweet little sucker image in a Unity Image Swap I did
- I don't swap much but for Unity Images - heck yhea!
(Lisa if you are reading this I know I still owe you images I PROMISE they will make it to you!)
I colored the bow and stick with my SU markers and then stickled the top!
I punched it out with my pink Mavy oval punch and layered that with a Purely Pom purple Marvy Scalloped oval punch out -to which I added some dots!
The patterned paper is Basic Grey Bittersweet! I LOVE IT!
I got it from Limelight Papercrafts - love that store -they carry Unity!
I think she has a sale right now too!
The ribbon is SU Pretty in Pink Taffeta - really like that ribbon! Got it in a ribbon swap long ago.
Added the required buttons to some primas I had that I blinged up a bit with some stickles!
Got some new DISTRESS stickles - very cool - oh and they come out WAY fast!
Thanks for stopping by! Oh and you know that if today's Wednesday that means tomorow is
HIP HOP!!!!
Can't wait! I even have some spending money! YAY!

Did you know Taylor VanBruggen has been doing her Cupcake Challenges for a whole year?!?
There are several sketches this week but I started with Taylors. I usually use cupcakes of course but I had been aching to use my new Bittersweet stamp set to go with my Bittersweet papers! Here's the end result! Thanks for looking!

Man I have missed Hip Hop! It is so nice to chat with the girls on that thread - they are soooooo nice!!! And I won a handle yesterday! Well I already have ALL the handles so I will be needing to figure something out to do with that! Hmmmmm! Stay tuned!
Here's my card for HHH! It started out as the SLIM challenge card and then I went back and added to it!
I just LOVE this BIG snowflake from Unity! Did you check out the deals yesterday? Well if not there's still some time - most are good till midnight tonight! GO CHECK THEM OUT!
This card is still pretty simple! I stamped the snowflake in Versamark then embossed it in Silver EP. I punched it out with my PINK marvy circle punch. I layered that on a silver scalloped circle via my PURPLE scalloped circle punch from Marvy. I paper pierced around the circle on each scallop. The base is brushed silver layered with Nght of Navy. The pp is old Basic Grey. I added bling-a-ling to the center of the snowflake, top corners, and to the scallops at the bottom. I layered silver satin and a narrower navy statin ribbon behind the image. Both are from my stash that I got on clearance in the sewing department at Hobby Lobby they will have leftover rolls for like 50cents!

Well not really but it is a Christmas Layout so I wanted to get it in before to long after Christmas! This is a family picture of the first Christmas with my now hubby!
It is a pretty simple layout but there's a lot going on! For starters at the very bottom I stamped BELIEVE from Tim Holtz's Believe set across the bottom. Then the poinsettias I hand cut out of some BG patterned paper and added stickles and rhinestones to them to create custom embellishments. I matted the pic on some dark olive Bazzil cardstock and framed it to the right and bottow with strips of Basic Grey pp - figgy pudding or dasher I think! This is what happens when you have EVERY Christmas collection from Basic Grey - they start to run together when you're using up scraps! The gingerbread men are so cute! They are Martha Stewart - yes that's right MS! If you know me you know I am NOT a fan of hers but dang the cute stuff she keeps coming out with! And it was on sale at Mikes! It is NOT however self adhesive! The Christmas at the top was created using my friends Cricut Expression. It is from the Christmas Solutions Cartridge - I just love it! I layered it as well! That's it! TFL! I am trying to keep up with blogging this week as it is GRADE card week! That has VERY different meanings for different people! For me it means individually testing all my little kiddos on lots of different skills then hand filling out their report cards and hand writing comments! I miss you my blogger buddies and hope to *see* more of you soon!

I have been scrap happy over Christmas Break! This is a VERY good thing! A group of us on SCS called the PPPHM challenged each other to do 12 layouts over break (several of us are on vaca, or teachers etc). I must say I am doing better than expected! I have 8 of them done! I also got to spend a day scrappin and playing with my friends Cricut Expression! So it has been a very scrappy break!

This layout is of my boys opening stockings LAST christmas at my Grammies (our last one there sadly, she no longer lives on her own on the farm :C)This is a sketch off of Got Sketch? Valerie has some GREAT sketches! I even did her mini class awhile back. This is my first layout that I used my new sewing machine on!!! Just a little stitching but I LOVE it! TFL!

I don't usually leave things to the last minute completely! Yes I am usually finishing things up at the last minute but not starting from scratch! So last night when I finished the reindeer food I still had to come up with a gift for Kaden's pre-school teacher Miss Jane! I try not to re-gift - my crazy family has this grab bag thing where we all bring our junk and play a game of trading it! So that's where most of my unwanted gifts go. So I had to create something! Then it came to me! Lauren Meader's MyTime Templates! The stocking one would be perfect!!!! So my creation began! It was soooooooooooo easy and worked really well other than It didn't want to stand up so much - might have been the amount of candy in it! Or maybe I should have but the box part lower for a lower center of gravity?!? Regardless it turned out super cute!
I printed the stocking page on some Basic Grey patterened paper - the collection I got at Mikes on Thanksgiving. I printed the other page the heel, toe, cuff and hanger on a green piece from the same collection. I cut out all the pieces and sponged the edges with some Tim Holtz distress ink. I also stamped JANE on the cuff using PTI's Trajan alphabet and made a little tag using PTI's Borders and Corners OVAL and sentiment from Believe. I wrote from Kaden on it. I added a poinsettia flower to adhere the hanger piece. It's from Making Memories - I really like it I need more! Filled it with YUMMY candy and there you go! SOOOO easy! Thanks Lauren!!!

Hee hee hee! Today is my third card from my efforts for this week's Unity Addicts challenge. We were to CASE one of three Design Team members and I just couldn't chose one so I CASED all 3~ Today is Maren.

I really like these 3 little trees Trinity Trio it's called. I got it in a Unity image swap I did! Well actually I think I got 3 of it which is good cause I used two on this! The bottom image I punched out and colored the trunks. I then colored the triangles on the second set cut them out and popped them up. Used my marvy punches and layered them. Cuttlebug background on the chocolate piece -snowflakes. The paper is MORE from my Mike's Basic Grey Christmas pack. Also added a little bling to the tree! The ribbon is from Taylored expressions , it matches better IRL!

Well that's all for today, tomorrow I am going to go stamp with a new friend that I met online through Hip Hop, she lives in the same town as me!!!! I am so excited!!!!

.........do you know where your stamps are? Unity stamps that is!

Today is Hip Hop! If you have NO idea what I am talking about please go RIGHT now and check it out in the Unity forum on SCS HERE.

I posted yesterday that I created 3 cards for the Unity Addicts challenge and here is the second in alphabetical order of my CASEings - Jimmi Mayo.
This one is pretty darn close to Jimmi's only my image is straight! Hee hee I have issues with crookedness, even when intentional! This is more of the Mike's Basic Grey Christmas Paper. I am really liking it! Snowflakes were punched using my Martha Stewart snowflake punch. Thanks for looking don't forget to check out hip hop and come back tomorrow for Hip Hop Hangover!

Well I definitely am a Unity Addict,

but this is the first time I have had time to finish a card for the weekly challenge!!!!
And not only did I finish one, I finished 3 but there's a reason for that!
Today's challenge was a Featured Stamper Challenge, featuring Jennifer Buck, Jimmi Mayo and Maren. Well you only get one tonight, then one tomorrow and one for HHH!
I am going in alphabetic order by first name to show no biased (lol) as ALL three of these ladies ROCK!
So up first we have Jennifer Buck!
I cased a card she did for a stamp simply challenge! Simple cards are sometimes the hardest to pull off! I added a bit more to mine!
I used Unity's Jesus is the Reason stamp and paper from my Michaels Basic Grey Exculsive pack that I got on Thanksgiving. I also used my new Martha Stewart border punch!
Check out the Unity Addicts Challenge HERE

Have you experienced Hip Hop yet??????
No?
Well you simply MUST check out The Unity Stamp Company Blog
and join us next week in the Unity Hip Hop Forum on SCS!
Every week they have challenges, chit chat and best of all FREE Unity! And then of course Friday is Hip Hop Hangover - cause you stayed up to late chattin! So this is my first time participating in HHH, I hope it's good enough -those Unity girls are some WAY talented ladies let me tell ya! This was for one of the challenges yesterday to use GOLD! I don't have a problem with god so I enjoyed this one! My wedding rings and most other "important" jewelry is gold.
And I had new Unity goodies to use! I placed an order last Friday - FAB black friday specials and it made here YESTERDAY less than a week! How is that for super fast shipping?!?!
Here is my card! It has alot going on!
First off - have you been visiting Tim Holtz's blog this week???? The 12 Tags of Christmas? Well on day 2, Tuesday, he showed this technique of swirling alcohol inks and the metalic mixatives together to make a swirly background for his tag. Since I actually had those things I thought I would try it! I wanted GOLD but didn't have it so I used Pearl and Red - it is pretty and I had fun trying would have been better with GOLD and another shade of red to add more depth. So that is the red base and the big red scalloped circle under the sentiment. I then went with this weeks sketch challenge on SCS for my layout! The patterned paper is Basic Grey's Wassil, the yellow looking paper behind it is PTI's gold which looks better in person, this whole photo is pretty bad but it was dark here and I wanted to post so that's what you get! I stamped the sentiment Jesus is the REason for the Season in versamark then embossed it using CTMH's gold EP. I punched that out with my purple marvy scalloped oval punch. I had punced out a red scalloped circle from my base piece with the Purple marvy punch. I inked both of them and the patterned paper pieces and base all with gold encore ink and heat set it! I added some gold brads to the sentiment as well. It needed something so I added a strip of green velvet ribbon I found at wal-mart!!!! Turned out nicely! It also wound up qualifying for the other hip hop challenge Shout Out - to create a card with the sentiment or words being the focus! Thanks for looking and join me next week for hip hop! It's so fun!