it's all about Love... and Unity

that would be Unity Stamp Company!

because it's Friday which means Friends with Flair, which I finally made time for again

this one had a scary-bad phase then I finally hit the OMGosh I love it stage so I stopped ;-)

I stated out with Top Boss & UTEE, topped that with Gelatos in Metallic Mint & Acqua Dolce which I smeared around with my finger, sprayed with water until it dripped then sprayed again

Last I splattered with black paint

The LOVE stamp is Unity's Big Inspiration Big Words

Last time I was at Hobby Lobby, they had Tim Holtz on 30% off sale and they had these three of his new ink pad colors so I snagged them! mermaid lagoon, abandoned coral & cracked pistachio

and some sequins to finish it off

Nautical or Patriotic... that is the challenge!

Welcome to the Mountain Plains Crafters Summer Challenge!  You have not one, but two choices; go nautical or go patriotic with your creation.  It's that time of season and we want you to choose whichever theme strikes your fancy.   Create a craft project (card, layout, DIY, etc.) and scroll to the bottom of this post for the InLinkz to link up.  We do have a few house rules, so read those at the bottom as well.

Before you read further, please visit May Arts Ribbon on Facebook and tell them "thanks for sponsoring the

challenge at MPC!"  You might wish to follow them as well.  There's always something fun going on over there and lots of crafty inspiration as well.

Well for my creation, I kinda did BOTH! Not really intentionally but that's what I ended up with

Where's the May Arts Ribbon, you may has asked yourself? humm, you see the wide blue/white stripes & the wide red/white stripes? That is May Arts Ribbon! Yes I was really thinking out of the box on that one as I really love both those ribbons

The lighthouse image is from Viva LasVegas Stamps Plate #923

For the water, I just blended several Faber-Castell Gelatos then rubbed lightly with water

Those amazing alphas? Well those are from my friend DeeDee at UmWowStudios AlphaOne

Now leave me some love, make something amazing & get it linked up!

forever thankful for YOU

boy I haven't gotten to play with Unity's Friends with Flair for some time

just been busy busy busy

but today I didn't go to work, so I made time to play

and relax. I really needed this mental health day!

First I created the Blue & Green Background using Gelatos.

Next I used Donna Downey's bloom group stencil with a baby wipe to remove

the Gelatos in the flower areas.

I applied two Purple Gelatos using a stipple brush and mixed Brown with Dark Green for the stem which I also stippled on.

Using Unity Stamp Company's Thankful for You, I stamped just the sentiment

with StazOn in Timber Brown.

Last I used Unity Stamp Company's Direction of Happiness with Golden

Titanium White for the three little butterflies.

GIU 2015 - Day 3

I just love being the Growing In Unity Gal for a week!

Thanks for having me :-)

A few weeks ago one of my nieces got married (second marriage for her and she has 4 kiddos). No, I did not take a wedding card with me we were doing good to just get to the wedding before the bride, although she was 20 minutes late, so we probably would have beaten her anyway.

I took a few pictures during the reception after I  found out her photographer couldn't be there so I made the hubby run out to the car & grab the camera for me. 

We've decided to frame the best shot I got during the reception.
I think they are just adorable!

I used her wedding colors to create this card for her

 I used three different Unity Stamp to create it.

The background is stamps using SMAK January 2015 (ourselves)

then I applied Gelatos

Next I stamped the dress & leaves from Chic Fabulous

and fussy cut it all out, applied UTEE on the dressform

added a bit of tulle for the skirt, flowers & sequins for bling

I found the green heart button & sheer flower in an old Making Memories jar

and tied on a bit of thick yellow string

last I added the Sentiment, a part of the Donna Downey Empowered Words set

Here's a few more shots of the card

Now remember that two lucky commenters will receive 25 random Unity Stamps directly from the company! 

 actually this is the best shot of the entire day

don't ask, I try to not guess what they are thinking

Soar Above

Hello and welcome to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop!

I have no personal story of Autism.

I just want to help where I can for those who have it or are raising a child with it. 

We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism Awareness and you can see the complete list here: http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/…/the-light-it-up-blue-for-…. If you would like a chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies leave a comment on this blog, and any of the other blogs participating in today's hop! Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday April 6. Instead of a card, I created a Mixed Media Canvas!

This 11x14 Canvas was inspired by YouTube Video by
Vicky Papaioannou

sparkly details

Star Mask - UmWow Studio
used with modeling paste & topped with Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel
I hand cut all the hot air balloons
all the background colors are Faber-Castell Gelatos
grid is Unity Stamp Company Stamp
Alphs stamps from Fancy Pants Doodles & Things
I also free handed the cloud cu-outs
topped the clouds with Wink of Stella
all detailing using Copic Markers on balloons & clouds

I hope you've enjoyed my projects!

Blue Girl

Hello and welcome to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop!

I have no personal story of Autism.

I just want to help where I can for those who have it or are raising a child with it. 

We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism Awareness and you can see the complete list here: http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/…/the-light-it-up-blue-for-…. If you would like a chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies leave a comment on this blog, and any of the other blogs participating in today's hop! Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday April 6. Now here is the card I created for today's hop! 

I call her "Blue Girl"

 A2-size card back cut from Stampin Up cardstock

Image & Sentiment are a stamp from Unity Stamp Co. Dream Girl

Stamped using Ranger Archival Ink on White Cardstock

All coloring on the white cardstock is Gelatos

Heart & Flower Chipboard from UmWow Studio

painted with Acrylic Paints

twine embellishment on stem from May Arts

Happy Easter

Can you believe Unity Stamp Company is sponsoring our contest over at Mountain Plains Crafters?

We are so excited to take the time to recognize National Craft Month, and to have Unity Stamps join us by donating not just one prize, but two!  

Be sure you "like" MPC at the link above, and tag your friends on the pinned post to qualify for the prize.  One tagger, and their friend, will each win a grab bag of 25 stamps from

Unity Stamp Company!

For my project, I decided to do a mash-up of two different stamp companies

why?

well, because I really just don't have many Easter stamps!

good reason, huh?

I'm featuring Unity Stamp Company's have a little faith

and the bunny is from Tim Holtz Spring Sprung

the title sentiment I cut from Jillibean Soup's Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup 6x6 pad

I colored the tulips using Copic markers

and created the watercolor background using Gelatos

Now go get yourself & your friends entered to win some fantastic Unity Stamps!

watercolor

SoSuzyStamp monthly challenge right now is Watercolor

which is great since I have an obsession with Gelatos right now

the background is all Gelatos

the Dragonflies I colored with Copic markers

the sentiment is from an old Fancy Pants set

black ink is StazOn and a bit of Crystal Stickles

and speaking of Dragonfly, isn't he adorable? this is one of my most recent So Suzy Stamps!

coffee dreams

I'm still making creations for the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

this one I drew by hand using a Sharpie for the coffee mug

my friend & sister Design Team Members {Mountain Plains Crafters}

MariLynn

does these cute little flip books

the pages measure 2"x2.5" and she decorates them up so cute

this is my first one that I've head drawn, all others I just stamped

colored using Copic Markers for the coffee

Sakura Glaze white pen

Gelatos for the background

Creative Memories marker for the title

so fab

Tonight is a card making marathon for me

since we're getting snow & really cold temps, I have nothing else to do

a real tragedy, I tell ya ;-)

I started flipping thru my favorite challenge sites & found this great challenge from

Case This Sketch

I found it interesting so I had to play along!

here's my creation

the colored part is Gelatos in Metallic Mint

which I sprayed with water until it dripped

once the Gelatos were dry, I stamped this sentiment from Unity Stamp Co

using StazOn in Black

Big Red

Friday! yay and I took today off for a ME day!

That also means it's time for Unity's Friends with Flair

I used Unity's You Are Important with these beautiful Gelatos colors

and just a bit of Dr. Martin's Black Star India Ink

to create this for our guest room

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

ADORNit - buzz buzz

ADORNit bless us with some goodies that are not even on the market yet!
you can also find them on Facebook

Today I'm showcasing a pre-printed 4x6 card (it comes on a 12x12 sheet)

with 3 additional prints, they are called

Art Play Paintables Own Kind Wonderful

Designed by Lindsay Ostrom

SUNFLOWER: I started coloring the Sunflower using Gelatos in Tangerine, Mango, Lemon, Butter Cream with a touch of Coconut on the darkest area just to lighten it up a little bit. For the Leaf I used Gelatos in Green Tea & Pistachio. For the first steps I only used my fingers to blend the colors.

SENTIMENT: After that I grabbed a Faber-Caseetll Crayon, tracing & coloring each letter which I then melted using a heat tool. After that, I applied Gelatos in Snow Cone using my fingers then I grabbed my water brush & tried to keep the blue from completely covering the white it it looks kinda like the sky.

LITTLE BEE: Next using a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen big brush in Black, I colored in the little bee's swirls {Unity Stamp Company set called Bee Happy Hexagons} and topped with Wink of Stella in Clear.

Last was the little bee I stamped using Color Box in Black which I heat set & fussy cut.

I applied Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink in Sundance to his tiny body, some Wink of Stella in Clear on his wings & stuck him on using a piece of foam tape.

CARD: I trimmed down the card to 3-3/4"x5-1/4" and  added a 3-3/4" strip of Doodlebug Design's Paper Frills behind the Sunflower. Next I cut my dark brown card front, mounted the colored image, and warped a piece of May Arts Jute around 3 times & tied a knot.

Mounted on a side open white cardbase.

Don't forget the hop along the ADORNit BLOG HOP!
So.Much.Fun.

UmWow December Sketch

I played with this & played & played until finally I think it just might be done

maybe

I, of course, used the UmWow Studio December Sketch

which was very challenging! bu that's a good thing

this is a page in my art journal and I LOVE it

all the color you see are Faber-Castell Gelatos

Mushroom Stamp (upper left) & Moths (upper middle) -  7 Dots Studio Nature Walk Stamp Set (embossed using Zing in Chestnut)

Fern Stamp (upper middle) - Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Elements by Jo-Ja

Cicada Mask (upper right) - UmWow Studio

Caterpillar Stamp (middle left) - Viva Las Vegas

Big Mushroom Stamp (middle middle) - Viva Las Vegas

Small Mushroom Stamp (middle middle) - Viva Las Vegas

"into the wild" flair" (middle middle) - UmWow Studio from Moon Shine Set

Sunflowers Stamp (middle right) - Viva Las Vegas

Chipboard Tag (bottom left) - UmWow Studio from Nature Walk

painted with Twinkling H20's in Rainforest

Sentiment (between bottom middle & right) - 7 Dots Studio Nature Walk Paper Pack

Small Chipboard Snail (bottom right) - UmWow Studio

with just a little bit of Faber-Ca stell PITT artist pen in White

blue splatters - Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze in Waterfall

misc washi & fibers

and here is the original sketch from UmWow Studio

Happy Dust

Yesterday/Last night, during the post-17-year-old-birthday-overnight-bash hangover

(from lack of sleep, not booze)

I got busy using the Unity Stamp Company

{Be Inspired} Color Combo #23

and these two amazing stamps from Unity

I am TRILLED with how it turned out!

For the Star background I used UmWow Studio's Mask with Gelatos

Then Stamped the Sentiment  called Happy Dust

& the fairy from November 2014 KOM {white lies within us}

Using Faber-Castell's PITT artist pen big brush in black

Sprayed a bunch of different Tattered Angels mists all over

Then topped off with a few Stickles in Diamond

Last I colored her skin with a Copic marker

always believe

something wonderful is about to happen

My 13-year old niece & I decided to play today making her a canvas for her room

I wanted to show her how fun Gelatos are, so we used

Donna Downey how-to video for Dry Techniques

and since the sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company

along with Donna Downey's Empowered Word stamp set

We are entering this in Unity's Friends with Flair

here's a blow-up of that sentiment

a study in purple

I was looking for a sketch to use with my newly received Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month from November 2014 {what lies within us} when I ran across



Freshly Made Sketches #163 in my blog list!

Sentiments are from Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month  from September 2014 {happy, thankful & blessed}

Printed Paper - Basic Grey Kioshi

Solid Cardstocks - CloseToMyHeart

Floral Stamp colored using Faber-Castell Gelatos

Inks - Tim Holtz Distressed Ink

Dark Purple dots - Viva Glass Effects Gel in Blackberry

Ribbons - Misc

Friendship Explored

Friends With Flair

from Unity Stamp Company

is something I look forward to each & every week.

This week, while I've got my project all ready to go

I'm posting it the night before.

You see this weekend my younger son (13yo right now)

will be competing for a spot on

TaeKwonDo USA Team going to Italy next summer!

yes, you read that right...

Italy!

and he's already told me I can't go... we will be speaking on the subject again

once we find out if he makes the team or not

I'm too excited

I'm too nervous

I'm extremely proud

*for the background, I created the grid with a ruler & pen

because I can't randomly do squares

*it's just not in me

*then I filled those squares with Galetos in Cotton Candy & Pistachio

blend blend blend

*then I applied Gelatos in Black Licorice using the wedge shaped Faber-Castell thingy

*using Unity's Donna Downey Stamp Imagine It flourish with Spearmint,

I applied the Gelatos directly to the stamp & spritzed with water

stamped on background 4 times, spritzing between each

*next I cut a piece of vellum & stamped the sentiment from Unity's The Right Words using Staz-On

*again using the flourish, I inked it up using Brilliance in Pearlescent Sky Blue and

dabbed a bit of the Staz-On here & there, stamped on vellum

*using UmWow Studio circle mask with the Brilliance, I applied using my fingertip

*I placed one tiny Zot in each corner and a few around the parameter

before adding Queen & Company's Washi Tape

*last I glued it all down to a green cardbase