Welcome to the Unity Blog Hop!

Here is our Hop order, just in case you missed someone along the way:

Mandi - http://faithhopecrafts.blogspot.com/

Wynne - www.cropsscissorspaper.blogspot.com

Kim -  http://craftisanstudios.com/

Christina - http://christinascreations1.blogspot.com/

Paula - http://scrapaddictsattic.blogspot.com/ <<>>

Lisa - http://royalpumpkinart.blogspot.com/

Dawn - http://fromtwinsburgwithlove.blogspot.com/

Beth - http://nursiebethsbeauties.blogspot.com/

Laura - http://sandytozartdesign.blogspot.com/

Kit of the Month ~ June 2015 ~ She Found Joy

colored with pencils

printed paper - Close To MyHeart

ribbon - May Arts

Now don't forget to comment for a chance to win and go see

Lisa - http://royalpumpkinart.blogspot.com/

there is magic

it's been a really good week for me!

I received my Unity Stamp order

My kids have made it on time for school everyday & the oldest is driving them

I helped some people at the food pantry I volunteer at weekly who really needed it

and I got to play in my craft room two nights!

For this one I played along with Freshly Made Sketches #201

my girls over at Mountain Plains Crafters did an unofficial challenge to use

WOODGRAIN, mine is part of an old CloseToMyHeart Stamp Set called Weathered Backgrounds, which I stamped on Kraft cardstock using Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs.

The sentiment & image stamps are from Unity Stamp Company's new sentiment set called

... Butterflies & Moonbeams, which I stamped with black Memento and colored with Copic markers.

The sentiment was stamped using Tim Holtz Walnut Stain.

the printed papers are from a big pad of Michael's called Homespun.

and the finishing touches (tiny bits of bling) from Imaginisce

GIU 2015 - Day 4

This combo seem so very appropriate since Mountain Plains Crafters because the great group of girlfriends that we are due to Unity Stamp Company's facebook page!

One of our founders, Pam, thought we should have a Spring Theme Appreciation challenge

and to say who we are going to mail them to this week.

Well I'm not gonna mail mine!

Instead I'm going to drive 2 hours to hand deliver it to one of my best friends in the whole world

yah, you know who you are ;-)

Background random stamp & sentiment

Unity Stamp Company's SMAK January 2015 (ourselves)

Butterfly stamp is Unity Stamp Company's SMAK February 2015 (life is what you make it)

All ink is from CloseToMyHeart

Ribbon is May Arts

and this sentiment is so true as we call each other our sisters

even while in the hospital

ADORNit - bloom where planted

Bonus ADORNit Project!

We were given a deadline of 9am on Dec. 31 but a few people needed a bit more time to get their projects completed... I took advantage of that & made yet another project!

Which is a good thing because I completely forgot to make something using the

ADORNit 10" Pointed Bracket!

How cool looking is that?!

I traced the Bracket onto ADORNit Mint Pixie Dots 12x12 paper & fussy cut it out

I used Mod Podge in to adhere it to the Bracket.

Using Faber-Castell Gelatos, I colored an ADORNit Art Play Paintables Bloom.

After gluing down the Paintables, I used a circle stencil & Gelatos to create a sun.

Washi came in handy for above & below the Paintables plus a few blue Skittles

(received from So Suzy Stamps) and some sequins around the flowers.

The dragonflies were cut on Cricut using the Camp Out cartridge,

I painted the dragonflies with Smooch.

Last I attached the pale blue ribbon from Close To My Heart.

ADORNit - faith

All these wonderful ADORNit Art Play Paintables images were created by

Lindsay Ostrom and I'd like to give her a big Congrats on a job well done!

 This image came from Art Play Printables - Home

I had really already created everything I was going to create for this blog hop

{since I got the flu and was out of commission for 3 days}

but today I started feeling better & better as the day progressed so I thought I'd sit in my craft room.

Well once you're sitting in your craft room, you may as well make something.

I glance around and spy this 5x7 frame hanging empty on the side of a bookcase.

Obviously that needs to change & today was that day.

For the 5x7 base piece I chose Mint Damask from ADORNit's Blender Basics

I colored in the Art Play Paintable Home using Faber-Castell Gelatos

For the clouds I outlined them using Liquid Pearls in White Opal, then

using my paintbrush, I filled the interior of the clouds with the Liquid Pearls.

On the starts, I filled them all in using stickles in Star Dust.

Roses were all cut on Cricut using the Close To My Heart Cartridge Art Philosophy from the Pink Pixie Dots, Pink Chevron & Beige Pixie Dots (colored those using Gelatos in Metallic Melon)

Green vine is from May Arts

ADORNit - love you more

ADORNit Art Play Paintables are so easy, the projects just flow out of my head!

This Art Play Paintable is called Sweet

ADORNit also has wonderful 12x12 scrapbook paper

the red chevron print I used below is just one of them!

such fun prints

After coloring this little Art Play using Faber-Castell's Gelatos

I ran it through my Big Shot with a Dot embossing folder

no problems at all, look how those dot jump off the page!

I distressed the edges using my Prima tool (which I could not live without)

Black solid cardstock from CloseToMyHeart

Yellow ribbon from y yellow ribbon miscellaneous jar

and some plain ole staples complete this card

Trees!

Some of us on the Mountain Plains Crafters Desgin Team

occasionally do a just-for-fun challenge

and since a few of us don't do Black Friday

we decided to create something with 

TREES!

I slept in (almost unheard of, but it happened today) and got a very late start on mine.

Then I made three things that went into the trash!

Just one fail after another so I went looking for a card sketch to help me out

Pals Paper Arts #229

to the rescue!

and it still didn't turn out as cute as I thought it would

but it's not horrible so I guess someone on my mailing list will be getting it

Printed Papers - My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas

Tree Stamps - CloseToMyHeart Holiday Trinkets

Inks - CloseToMyHeart New England Ivy, Sweet Leaf, Christmas Red & Crystal Blue

also Tim Holtz Pickled Raspberry & Peeled Paint

Release Them

I am really getting into my Art Journal

kinda doing my own thing

learning stuff as I go

watching videos & experimenting.

Some supplies I just don't have

some are pretty expensive

so I'm looking for alternatives.

But here it is,

Page 3

Release Them

(aka butterflies, butterflies, butterflies)

all the butterflies you see are from Unity Stamp Company

that's not saying these are all of the Unity butterflies

(it's not, I have some I didn't use)

I colored it using Faber-Castell Gelatos

and some acrylic paints

a bit of Gesso

a smidge of Mod Podge

some fun Washi Tape

and a tiny bit of CloseToMyHeart create-a-shade paint in Pearl

Squirrel!

yes, we have ADHD in our house

so we often use "look... squirrel" when someone is distracted easily

and it relieves pressure plus usually gets a laugh

Over on Mountain Plains Crafters, the Design Team

got together & decided to challenge one another to use Animal stamps

I used a few challenges from other awesome challenge blogs for this one:

WOW! Embossing Powder - Favorite {mine is FALL, I love it}

Sketch is from Kathy's Sketch File "Just a Simple Circle Card"

Printed Papers, Color Cardstock & Trim - The Paper Studio Affinity

Stamp Set - CloseToMyHeart Hello Friend

Inks - Tim Holtz Vintage Photo & Tea Dye

Heat embossed - Chestnut embossing powder

Leaf Chippies - UmWow Studio Leaf Confetti (also embossed)

Crop in Ozark, Ar

yes, there is more to living in Arkansas

then Hillbillies & Moonshine!

Some of us also Scrapbook

This past weekend, my girlfriends & I

traveled to Ozark

which is only a little over an hour

down the Pig Trail

and even though I got car sick & embarrassed myself royally

I thought I'd share my favorite creations of the day

this was for UmWow Studio's August Sketch

but I missed the deadline for entering my post :-(

oh well, I had a wonderful time playing with it!

UmWow Studio Products - Frame & Flair

Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. {Layers of Life} Trees of Gratitude

Inks - Tim Holtz

Printed Paper - Making Memories

and some Rock Candy Crackle just for fun

next up is the second page to go with

the UmWow Studio's July Sketch

I used 7 Dots Studios Printed papers 

{designed by my amazing friend, DeeDee)

 and just a tiny bit of Waxy Flax fro CloseToMyHeart

last is the group photo from my annual

Murder Mystery birthday bash

{2014 edition}

where we played Salem Witch Trials

and while we've had better mysteries

we had a great time

Felt Crow - CloseToMyHeart

envelope with was seal - my own creation

flowers & torches - some very old (dare I say vintage) UmWow Studio

ribbon, paper & alpha stickers - Making Memories

Just Beachy

oh a vacation would be spectacular...

but alas, my Girl's Getaway Vacay had to be cancelled

BooHoo

You see my Best Friend almost died July 3

so I made a mad dash up to Freeman Hospital in Joplin, MO

and thankfully she will be fine

but she was in there for a week

I stayed with her most of the time

I couldn't work knowing/not knowing

Here is what we should have been doing:

Here is the pic of our "Hospitalcation"

now go join the challenge (with a Prize!)

over on Mountain Plains Crafters

you're on my mind

Fusion Card Challenge #6 is a great almost monochromatic color scheme with a very basic card sketch... both of which I chose to use (see it very last on this post)

SUPPLIES

Cardbase - Stampin' Up So Saffron

Layers - DieCutWithAView Cardstocks

Image Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. KOM 1/14 Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

Sentiment Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. KOM 11/13 Strength and Dignity

Inks - Stamped with Memento in Tuxedo Black then colored using various Copic markers

Embossing Folder - Quatrefoil from CloseToMyHeart

and a buttery stainy twine

INSPIRATION

thinking of you

every once in a while I have to re-stock my cardstock stashes from companies like CloseToMyHeart or Stampin'Up and since I have multiple friends that sell them, I rotate thru my friends trying to help each out just a bit here & there with their orders.  This time, my friend Julie over at Muddy Paws & Inky Fingers was my chosen friend to re-stock my CTMH!




I used Freshly Made Sketches #123 (see sketch at bottom of this post)

My order was petty good size since it's been a long time since I'd gotten anything (I was completely out of a couple of my favorite colors) so I qualified for some freebies!  I likes the freebies.... I got 3 embossing folders free plus the Stamp of the Month for only $5.  You can see part of the paper pack called Skylark from my post from yesterday (so very very pretty).  For these four cards, I used the Chevron Embossing Folder - LOVE!

Cardstocks - old misc stash I'm trying to use up



Dragonflies were cut using Cricut with Gypsy and Camp Out cartridge.



Sentiment - CloseToMyHeart You're the Best



Ink - CloseToMyHeart Cocoa

Twine - The Twinery



Dots - Freckled Fawn Enameled Dew Drop Stickers





the sketch

Just a little Prayer...

that God will keep you in His care.




Life, at times, is sad.  very sad.  A friend of mine has a teenage daughter who lost one of her best friends in a freak car accident this past weekend.  It really goes without saying that her heart is hurting.  This card is for her.




Tuesday Morning Sketches #235 provided the perfect sketch for me to use





Printed Papers - MyMind'sEye BellaBella

Brown Cardstock - CloseToMyHeart Chocolate

Brown Ink - CloseToMyHeart Chocolate

Blue Ink - Tim Holtz Stormy Sky

Bird & Background Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Layers of Life Dream a little bigger

Sentiment Stamps - CloseToMyHeart Card Chatter - Sympathy

Bling - Imaginisce (I know the glue shows in the photo but in real life, you cannot see it at all... probably my wonky lighting)