Celebrate in Style - Guest Designing for Unity!

Good morning! I'm SOOOO super excited and grateful to be guest designing for Unity Stamp Company this month! I'm still pinching myself! Today is my first day over there - I would love if you stop by there and say hi! :)

I have been playing a lot lately with layering different pattern papers with my stamped images - I just love the depth it gives, and the way it highlights my stamped images! I have also been playing with Copics a lot and learning more and more how to color. 

I just LOVED this beautiful image from the February Kit of the Month - how fun is it that you can color a pair of shoes in whatever color you want?!?!? Had to laugh though, because when my daughters saw this - all they could say was, "OUCH! That looks like it hurts!" Heehee - needless to say, their mamma doesn't wear shoes like this! ;)

Here is a close up peak - and I'm super excited that I was able to capture the Wink of Stella I put on the shoe and flower in this photo. It always looks so pretty in real life, but rarely even shows in a picture! I used machine stitching to attach my pattern paper from Crate Paper together, and also sprinkled on a few Pretty Pink Posh Crystal Clear sequins. The center panel was cut with an Avery Elle die, and I used a bit of distress ink on the edges of the front and main panel.

Here is the kit that my image and sentiment came from - seriously, SOOO many amazing things you can do with each and every one of these kits! I love when it comes in the mail each month!

Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today! Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Friend, I'm Always Here For You

Hello! Stopping by with a card for a couple of the challenges at the My Favorite Things Challenge and Inspiration Blog! Love when it works out perfectly to combine two different challenges!

First up, the sketch...(I interpreted it a bit loosely, but if you look, you can find the elements. There are 5 horizontal banners in the sketch, and I have 3 strips of cardstock under my die cut element, the word friend, and the stamped sentiment below - 5 horizontal elements, all clustered at the bottom where the banners are on the sketch!):

Next up, the Color Challenge - love this color combo!

I used MFT cardstock in each of the colors, and Die-namics Friend die to cut the negative, layering the other colors at an angle underneath. Added a couple rows of messy stitching just to set it off a little better. Tore the bottom edge, added an additional sentiment with White Pigment ink from LJD Words of Inspiration (I forgot to take a photo, but I also stamped the additional "Nothing is impossible with God" sentiment on the inside) Rounded a couple corners, added a Hemp Cord bow attached with staples to the top, and softened the edges with a little additional white ink sponged on. You might also be able to see, I also coordinated the inside by adding 3 strips of the cardstock on the bottom, and stamped the additional sentiment I mentioned above in kraft ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!!

Super Fun News - and a color challenge!

So...there is this super fun little announcement up on the Unity Stamp Company Blog this afternoon! Would love if you go check it out HERE! :)

I also wanted to stop by and share a card for the Unity {be inspired} Challenge - I recently made a card almost identical to this (you can see it HERE) for a friend that requested some cards, then had another friend who wanted to buy it! So...I remade it, with a slight change in pattern paper:

I was also tickled that the colors were so ideal for the current color challenge - the pattern paper I changed out just made it more perfect! :)

I won't bore you with the details again, since it is all pretty much the same as the previous card! If you are curious, feel free to check it out on the other post HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by - and allowing me to share my excitement over my fun news with you! Have a wonderful day!!!

AEI{heart}U Challenge - Stripes

Good morning! It's (already!) March 1st, so time for another AEIHeartU Challenge! This is my last month on the challenge Design Team - and it has been such a quick and fun 6 months! Thanks so much Avery Elle for the opportunity! Our challenge for this month is stripes:

I thought it would be fun to create my own stripes for my card, so I pulled out the fun Brushed stamp set and used some Sea Glass and Sapphire Pigment ink to create my own stripe pattern. 

Next, I die cut a banner using Dotted ELLE-ments Dies from vellum, and heat embossed my sentiment from Look Up on it. Added some random stars from the same set to the background, then covered them with Glossy Accents to add a little shine. Once that (finally!) dried, I attached my vellum panel with machine stitching, and attached the panel with foam adhesive to my card base at a bit of a jaunty angle (which doesn't show NEARLY well enough in my photos!) :)

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you'll pull out your favorite stripes and join in and play along!

Good Luck - Sparkle and Shine Challenge #1

Good morning! Super excited this morning, because today is the start of the very first challenge over at Sparkle and Shine Challenge Blog - a challenge dedicated to sequins! There is also a prize from Pretty Pink Posh for grabs, so I hope you'll join us and play along - just make sure and use sequins on your creation! Here is my card for the first challenge:

Here is our inspiration photo for this challenge:

I decided to go without a literal shamrock, but use the green and the idea of "luck" for my card! I used some MFT cardstock, and sponged a hazy section in the corner with white pigment ink and gold ink, then heat embossed a sentiment from Avocado Arts on a strip of black cardstock to ground the adorable elephant from Wplus9 designs. I used some Silver Star sequins, Fresh Mint sequins, and Sparkling Clear sequins to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to see everyone play along with this fun new challenge! Have a wonderful day!!!

You're a Blessing

Good morning! Thought I would stop by with another card I made for the Throwback Thursday Challenge at Wplus9! Once again, since I only recently discovered Wplus9, I didn't have a lot of older stuff except sentiments, so I combined one of those with a newer set again for my card. I was a little looser on my interpretation of the inspiration cards by Maureen Merritt on this card - going for the main center panel as if following a sketch, and adding sequins as she did on her last card: 

Also linking this up with the current Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes:

The new set I used is called Pick of the Litter. I just KNEW this sweet image would be fun to color with Copics, and I certainly wasn't disappointed! Once it was colored in, I stamped my sentiment by masking parts of a couple different sentiments from Hand Lettered Thanks, and die cut the front panel with an Avery Elle die. Next, I wrapped a good bunch of silver thread around and tied a fluffy thread bow. Mounted with foam adhesive on my pattern paper from American Crafts, then added a generous sprinkling of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and a few enamel dots. 

Thanks for dropping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!

You are Amazing!

Hello! So, last night I had a bit of time and thought I would sit down and play along with a challenge I have been wanting to do for a while - the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge. This month they are teaming up with Lawn Fawn, so I REALLY wanted to join in. So...I sat down and made the first card, remembered to use both Lawn Fawn and Simon Says Exclusive stamps - and realized when I finished that I TOTALLY forgot the other important requirement: Get Crafty with Kraft! I added the jute twine bow, but it still seemed like not quite enough! So...I remade it to work in some more kraft color on a second card. I guess the bonus is that I end up with two cards, right? 

Anyway - here is the first card:

I used the bunnies from the Lawn Fawn set called Snow Day, and the sweet little heart - and the sentiment from Simon Says Inside and Out Sayings for both cards, but colored them up in gray and used torn gray cardstock under the edge on the first one. The scallops were cut with a Mama Elephant die, and the pattern paper is from American Crafts.

And...here is the one officially for this challenge! :)

On this one, I colored the bunnies up with "kraft" colors, and used torn kraft cardstock behind the front panel. Used the larger heart (just to change things up a little!) and a slightly different pattern paper.

I also used my BRAND NEW MISTI on this - which was wonderful, because it allowed me to stamp the heart two times to get as rich and deep and dark a color as I wanted, and to be sure it would be in the exact same place. 

Thanks for dropping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!