Hi from Orlando!

I hope everyone is having a GREAT day today. I am still in Orlando and having a blast hanging out with the Unity gang. I must tell you that they are every bit as sweet and fun as you think they are. They are just the BEST bunch of people and I feel very grateful for the chance to spend this week with them.

I also have some VERY exciting news to share today. Starting on August 1st I will be joining some talented ladies on the design team of Artful Inkables. I cannot wait to get started! Their images will be so amazing and fun to create with. Be sure to check out the Artful Inkables site http://artfulinkables.com to see the list of amazing ladies I will be joining.

I'm going to go check out more stamping goodies here at CHA- have a great day!

Day # 2 at CHA!

I just wanted to say Hi to everyone and let you know the reason I have not been posting is because I am in Orlando for CHA! Unfortunately, my camera broke on me so I am taking all my photos with my phone. I will try and post them when I get home. In the meantime, I have some posts scheduled for later this week, and I may have some exciting news to share with you.....but you will have to come back to find out! Thanks for stopping by!!

A Fond Farewell

Happy Tuesday! Today I have a card for a very special person, but one that I am sad that I have to make. This card is for my boss whom I love working for who is leaving the company and moving out of state. He will definitely be missed in our office and company-wide. This card will be signed by everyone at work, and hopefully I did the occasion justice. I do know that he appreciates the cards I make him because he has saved each one on his bulletin board.
I used Unity's Kit of the Month from November 08 called Enjoy Your Story....Laugh. I honestly have not used this kit very much but it is so much fun to dig into past kits and find new treasures that catch my eye. I thought this little car and the sentiment fit the occasion since he is moving on the other side of the country. On the inside of the card I used a sentiment from Unity's Simply Said kit that says, "May All Your Dreams Come True."

I stamped the images and colored them with my Prismacolor Pencils (my new stamping love) and then pieces them onto Sage Shadow paper.

I am hoping this card is appropriate since I don't make many masculine cards, and I don't make many for this sort of occasion. I would love to know what you think!

Stamps: Unity Enjoy Your Stories...Laugh, Simply Said (inside)
Paper: SU: Creamy Caramel, Sage Shadow, Retired DSP; PTI White
Ink: Versafine Onyx, Black Stazon
Accessories: Aged Copper hardware, Dimensionals, Prismacolor Pencils

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Fun # 41 on Saturday and the Dog Ate My Homework (well not exactly...)

I know I am a day late with my challenge post, but there has been some drama in my household this week. It's all ok now but it started on Thursday with my cat, Cookie getting out. I didn't think that was a big deal until we came home from the beach and she had a huge hole in her front leg. I immediately rushed her up to the veterinarian's office and she had to stay over night and get surgery and antibiotics. Here is a picture of her at the office- it looks like she's in jail. Silly cat.
She's ok now after a HUGE vet bill. At least I got some entertainment out of the ordeal- she walked like she was drunk until the anesthesia completely wore off. It was funny.
While Cookie was at the vet getting patched up my Dad's dog decided to go after my dog. Dixie can hold her own- she is THREE times the size of my Dad's dog but since we already had pet rushed to the vet with an emergency I wasn't about to let another one get hurt so I put myself between them. The dogs are fine however I got bit twice and have some scratches and bruises. With all that going on, I really didn't feel up to stamping until this morning. But I'm back now and have something to show you!
This week's Friday Fun challenge was again hosted by me and this is the challenge:
If it’s too hot to be creative or you just haven’t had much time to stamp- here’s a challenge to jump start you: Create a card using any Technique from the SCS Resources/Tutorial Page here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/ The catch? You have to use a technique that you have NEVER tried before. Have fun!
I decided to try the Chalkboard Technique. It has been so long since I used my chalks that I had to hunt for them. It was definitely worth the trouble though- here is my card:

Stamps: Unity Gratitude = Joy and butterfly from The Simple Life
Paper: Kraft, Certainly Celery; PTI Plum Pudding and Basic Grey Euphoria DP
Ink: PTI Snow White and Plum Pudding
Accessories: Nestabilities Label Dies, Celery Brads, Plum Pudding Ribbon, Chalks, Dimensionals

We would love for you to play along, just use Keyword FFC41 when uploading to Splitcoast or link your project here. Be sure to check out the Other Friday Fun Girls for more inspiration:

Jimmi
Kim
Kimme
Sara

Thanks for stopping by- have a GREAT weekend!

Some Sunday Fun

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine has been extremely busy with my Dad here but we have had lots of fun! I had to go back to work today and when I got home my Dad was visiting with my brother and Alex was at work. What to do with a calm, quiet house? Stamp, of course! I am really tired so I kept it simple but I really enjoyed the chance to create and ultimately, that's what it is all about.The stamps used are from Unity's Kit Everyday Adorable. I lost the sentiment I was going to use. I am sure it is stuck to the bottom of something and I will find it when I don't need it again. ;) I picked out this sentiment instead and I think it fits. The tricycle is colored with Prismacolor Pencils and I added the buttons as the wheels. The designer Paper is from American Crafts and I also used Kiwi Kiss from Stampin' Up and Summer Sunrise from PTI.

Thanks for stopping by today- I hope your week gets off to a GREAT start!

Friday Fun # 50- Picnic Inspiration

Happy Friday! I am having a GREAT day!! My Dad just arrived from Arizona and we are just enjoying the morning together before we go out and about. This week's Friday Fun Challenge is an inspiration challenge. I love picnics and barbecues in the Summer so I chose this picture as the inspiration for our cards. Looks like fun, huh? What really grabbed my attention were those cupcakes. YUMMY! So I made my card using Unity's Sweet Yummy Cupcakes and I pulled the red out of the picture and onto my card.

I paper-pieced the cupcake using Riding Hood Red Prints DSP and used this week's Sketch # 236 for my layout.
Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun Girls for more inspiration:

Jimmi

Kim

Kimme
Sara (posting later today/tomorrow)

Thanks for stopping by today- have a GREAT weekend!

Friday Fun # 39 Stars and Stripes for Birthdays!

Happy Friday! This week's Friday Fun Challenge is hosted by ME! Since I have several birthdays coming up and there's also a big Holiday this weekend this week's challenge is to make a Birthday card with Stripes- bonus points if you use Stars too however the those are optional. There are two people with birthdays on July 8th so I decided to maximize my stamping time and make two of the same card. Next Wednesday is my son's 18th birthday, WOW! It's so hard to believe but yep- he's going to be 18. The other card is for my friend's husband. I stopped counting his age...it doesn't matter because he is still young at heart.

Be sure to check out the other Friday Fun girls for more samples of the challenge. Also, feel free to play along with us- just use key word FFC39 when uploading to SCS or link your creation to one of our blogs!
Jimmi

Kim

Kimme

Sara (still recovering from surgery but will be back soon)
I used all Unity Stamps for my cards today. The calendar is from Unity's Confession: i {luv} Unity. I absolutely LOVED this set when it was released and it was all I could do to keep from ordering it right away....but as you can see it got the best of me and now I have it. The rest of the stamps are from some past Kits of the Month. I LOVE going through my older Kits of the Month to find an image. Each kit has so many images and a huge variety, there is always something that works with my project.

Stamps: Unity Confession i {luv} Unity, April KOM Fresh Beginnings (sentiment) and January KOM Love, etc. (distressed stars)
Paper: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Real Red and My Mind's Eye DSP
Ink: Not Quite Navyreal Red
Accessories: SU Brads, Spiral Punch, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy AND Safe 4th of July!!

Hip Hop it's Thursday!

Happy Thursday to you! I hope you getting geared up for a fantastic Holiday Weekend. I love Independence Day and I am thankful that I don't have to work this year.
I have two cards for you today both using a sketch challenge. The first one is for the SplitCoast Sketch Challenge # 235. This one was a little difficult for me at first because you have to use little stamps to get 9 images on there....but I pulled out Unity's Lovin' From the Oven (retired) and Voila! This was the very first Unity set that I purchased and while I don't use it that often I think it is totally adorable.
Stamps: Unity's Lovin' From the Oven
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx and SU Riding Hood Red
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouhette, Bella Rose DP
Accessories: Ribbon, Dimensionals, Plain and Scalloped Circle Punches, Scor-Pal, Prismacolor Pencils
My next card is for Jennifer Buck's Guest Designer challenge for Unity. She gave us a sketch to follow and we were to use the May or June Kit of the Month. Well I used June's Kit: Perfect In Every Way. I paired some new DP from My Mind's Eye with Lemon Tart Cardstock from Papertrey Ink. What do you think? This was such a fun challenge, I could not resist.

Stamps: Unity June Kit of the Month Perfect In Every Way
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart, My Minds Eye DP
Ink: Real red
Accessories: PTI Lemon Tart Ribbon and Vintage Buttons, Hemp twine, White Gel Pen, Photo corner punch and Prismacolor Pencil

Thanks for stopping by today! Please be sure to check out the Unity Site for some GREAT deals (I really wish I had some money this week....aaah!) and also Hip Hop with them today on Splitcoast for some chances to win some fabulous prizes.

Have a great day!