Smile

oh yes I am smiling tonight and my face may end up hurting at some point

You see I won $100 Shopping Spree from Unity Stamp Company

Here's what I picked out

it came TODAY! whoop whoop

Last night, I ran across Freshly Made Sketches #204

and put it on my short list to create with,

perfect timing. Here's what I made:

this set, Smile in Your Dreams, I accidentally ordered AGAIN... 

so I gifted the first which I hadn't used yet to a friend :-)

coloring done with Copic markers

Printed Paper - Basic Grey Green At Heart

purple layer -Recollections Purple Cardstock

white chipboard square - CloseToMyHeart

Distressed wtih Tim Holtz Seedless Preserves

Black Ink - Memento

Wink of Stella (on just the purple part of flowers & orange butterfly)

miscellaneous green ribbon

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

Celebrate Life

sometime we all need a little reminder

and a little uplifting

I am so excited for how this one turned out!

Printed Papers - Echo Park Everyday eclectic

Mat Cardstock - core'dinations ColorCore

Ink Distressing - Tim Holtz Iced Spruce

Sentiment - Unity Stamp Company Celebrate Life Up

Ribbon - May Arts Ribbon

Inspiration: 

Freshly Made Sketches 194

heart & splatters

June 26... Our Wedding Anniversary!

We've been thru so many changes over these many years...

we've gone from high school diplomas to tech school grads

we've gone from thin to fat

we've been scrapping by to making it pretty good

we've gone from tiny starter home to custom construction

we've gone from childless to the parents of two teenage boys

we are so very blessed

and we still like each other

I made this one with the current Freshly Made Sketches #192 for my dearest

I got this great Chevron embossing folder on clearance at Hobby Lobby!

The heart stamp is from VivaLasVegas Stamps Plate #1459

Chipboard Heart (which I painted white) is from UmWow Studios Heart Confetti

a few splatters of black & white here & there 

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

Peace

I adored this image the very first moment I laid my eyes on it

just so beautiful to me

and I FINALLY got it!

Freshly Made Sketches #148

Unity Stamp Co - Arianna Girl

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

wings "painted" with Viva Pearl Pen in Cream

dress "painted" wtih Liquid Pearls in Copper Pearl & Tattered Angels Glam in Hay Ride

skin, hair, greenery & sky colored with Copic markers

Bird in a Cage

I'm on FIRE!

crafty card making fire

but fire none-the-less 

Freshly Made Sketches #146

Misc Cardstock & Spotted Paper

Felt Bird & Cage - Gifts from Unity Stamp Co.

Burlap Ribbon - Ribbon Boutique

Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Grab Bag

Ink - Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs

Branch - UmWow Studio

Thank you

This year at TaeKwonDo camp

my 13-yo son was invited to be a Junior Counslor,

he even got a letter from The Masters.

Today we picked him up from camp

(everything from doing dishes by hand to serving food to

drying tears to holding boards for breaking not to mention

teaching patterns and sparring)

What an AMAZING experience for him!

He talked non-stop for about half the trip home

(takes just over 90 minutes)

then suddenly there was silence

he'd fallen asleep

I used Freshly Made Sketches #142 with

the Photo Inspiration from JustUsGirls #247

Printed Paper/Grey Cardstock - American Crafts I Do

Washi Tape

Lagoon Cardstock & Ink from CloseToMyHeart

Stamp Set - CloseToMyHeart A Huge Thanks

Viva Pearl Pen in Black

and a floral punch from Creation Memories

Graduate Gift

Sketch Inspiration - Freshly Made Sketches #138

Also for Unity Stamp Co.'s
Friends with Flair

I've already posted the card I made for one of my bestie's daughters who just graduated from college

and has been accepted to Law School

how flippin awesome is that?!

With a little girl and husband to raise, she did that!

And is going to do more :-)

So I thought, "hey, you should do more for her"

a little something to keep giving.

I called my 94 year old father-in-law (yes my hubby was a late in life surprise for them)

I asked him to make her a special pen (yes he still works in his woodshop!)

but this pen isn't made from wood...

Isn't it beautiful?!

I made her a little tag to maybe use as a bookmarker, I don't know if she will or not

A little pick-me-up sentiment for when she starts doubting her self with a "what the heck am I doing" moment that I know she'll have, especially when she's missing her family.

Sentiment - Unity Stamp Co. Each Moment is Success

Flower Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Wild Poppy Silhouette

Leaves Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Make Your Mark

Butterfly - UmWowStudio Nature Walk Butterfly (I covered it with Zing embossing powder in 3 colors before melting it - these are So Much Fun!)

threw on some dew drops, a bit of twine & some seam binding

Then I tied it all to just a blank dark green cardstock which I wrote her a short note on the back of, it's going postal today

It's almost Mother's Day

today was such a crazy, family filled, body abusing kinda of day!  We helped my sister move her stuff into her new house about an hour away from us... all the way from California, we are in Arkansas!  One of our brothers & a cousin, plus our dad & step-mom came to help along with my younger son & my sweet birthday-boy husband!  After being treated to lunch out, we got cleaned up then went to visit my wonderful mother-in-law who recently had to start living in a nursing home.  Since my mil doesn't have any touches of home and loves photos of the family, we got her a digital picture frame & loaded some pictures on the SD card for her... every time a picture of my fil came up, she would say "doesn't he look good for a 94 year old?" LOL and it's true!  I married a man with some excellent longevity genes, although he only turned 47 today.

For my inspiration, I used Freshly Made Sketches #135

Printed Papers - Authentique Cherish

Ribbon - His & Hers

Stamps - all from Unity Stamp Co.

Sentiment from Heartfelt Sentiments

Butterfly from Kit of the Month June 2012: Sweet Summer Love

Rose from Layers of Life April 2014: fly unique

Inks - Roses CloseToMyHeart Baby Pink & Key Lime

Butterfly CloseToMyHeart Lime & Heavenly Blue

Sentiment Memento Rich Cocoa

and in other Good News:  I found today that I was chosen to be on the Design Team for Mountain Plains Crafters!  I am THRILLED to say the least!  I haven't been on a DT for quite some time now (ok so I haven't applied for many, only MPC & one other that I wasn't selected for), I kinda just thru my name in and didn't worry about it at all.... then much to my surprise today after returning home exhausted, I saw the announcement on Facebook!  Thanks for choosing me!

make us real

talking about flaws and imperfections, and they do make us real.  I'm one very flawed person and so very imperfect but then what is perfect?  No clue here!

I love this half circle piece on Freshly Made Sketches #134 sketch, it's probably why I played along

and I combined the sketch with the color combo from

Pals Paper Arts #202: Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay (which I had to use a substitute for), and Real Red

Crumb Cake was embossed using Cuttlebug folder then I applied CloseToMyHeart White Daisy Pigment Ink so the dots would POP

The Bermuda Bay looking strip is actually Washi Tape

Tiny Flower was from stash embellished with Imaginisce Bling

Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. ...everything resides in hope

Inks - CloseToMyHeart in Cranberry (I had the SU Cardstock but not the inks) and Lagoon

happy everything

Sami Stamps are so darn cute!  I JUST discovered these adorable digis over at Hiding in My Craft Room challenge #142 which I combined with Freshly Made Sketches #128 but first thing I did was dash over to Sami Stamp's to pick out a freebie to use!



For the first card, I chose to mirror the image and print it a bit smaller.  I colored it in with various Copic markers


Red Ribbon - Offray

Printed Papers - Bo Bunny Alora 12x12

Sentiment Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Happy Everything

Ink - CloseToMyHeart Holiday Red

Twine - The Twinery

Yellow Embellishment - Freckled Fawn Enamel Dew Drop Stickers




For the second card, I didn't use the sketch at all... just did my own thing

so thankful

so I haven't been crafting much at all recently... work has been crazy-busy but I have GOT to learn to stop working & give myself "me" time, which is really hard to do when you're working for yourself. I'm learning, slowly to slow down just a bit. So today, after running my youngest to TaeKwonDo class, then lunch, then back for TaeKwonDo instructor class... we can home, I put on my stretchy pants, and got crafty!  I made 6 of these 3 different version of the same sketch from:

Fresh Made Sketches #127

Cardbases - Stampin' Up River Rock

Printed Papers - Authentique Loyal 6x6

Cardstock - Stampin' Up Always Artichoke

Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. freebie with an order :-)

Ink - CloseToMyHeart Olive

Button - taken off an old shirt

Waxy Flax from CTMH

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

buzz buzz HELLO

Midweek Throwdown from Operation Write Home is Hexagons!  well, I can do that

Sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #122

I'm also entering this into Unity Stamp Company's Friends with Flair


Cardstock - Bo Bunny Doubble Dots in 4 different colors






Hexagon Punches - Creative Memories

Bee, Woodgrain & Sentiment Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. Bee Happy Hexagons

Ink - Memento Rich Cooca, Tuxedo Black & London Fog

Hexagon Mask - UmWowStudio

Ink - Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy

Small Dot Embossing Folder (on background paper) - Cuttlebug

Often

Just a quickie card {and post} for this one little lonely card I made this evening, I have been WAY too busy this week with a little thing called... work *Gasp*

Since it's Friday, this is for Unity Stamp Co.'s Friends with Flair combined with
Crazy for CAS #325 Chevrons also combined with
Freshly Made Sketches #118


Chevron Mask - UmWowStudio

Ink - Tim Holtz Seedless Preserves

Black Pen - Zig Millennium 05

Color Paper - Purple Cardstock Recollections

Sentiment - Unity Stamp Co. Happiness Has No Limit KOM

Ink - CloseToMyHeart Black

Bling - Martha Stewart Lavender Gem Stickers

Bling Frame - CloseToMyHeart

thanks sew much

Freshly Made Sketches #117 is a fantastic CAS sketch!  I combined it with my facebook group "You've Been Challenged" current challenge of sewing on any crafty project to create this



Kraft - Canvas Corp.

Fabric - Riley Blake Verona

Brads & Flower - Making Memories

Sentiment - Unity Stamp Co. KOTM the Vintage Touch

Ink - CloseToMyHeart Chocolate

story of a butterfly (stamp)

I fell in love with this Stamp when it was first introduced but I couldn't swing the funds at full price to buy it... bummer for me. And I was sad. Very sad.

Then about two weeks ago, Unity was running a special and it included some of their Artistsa's including some of their line in celebration of 14,000 Facebook friends (of course, one of those is me)... WAHOO!  I'm a lucky girl :-)

Then it came in the mail and when I got it, I was just blown away at it's beauty.  I KNEW what I wanted to do with it for it's virgin run... Vellum!  and boy did I use it.

I also knew instantly when I saw this Freshly Made Sketches #116 that it would be PERFECT for this stamp!


Image Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Written in the Wings

Vellum - misc stash

Ink - Color Box in Black & embossed in Clear

Colored - Copic markers on the back side, then detailed on the front

Paper Strips - PaperTreyInk Friends 'Til The End & In Bloom

Fabric Strips - Snug Hug (don't know the manufacturer)

Greatest Gift

Every time I see this image, I just get that feeling of peacefulness and love. It might be silly but it's true.  I combined several challenges for this one:
Freshly Made Sketches #115 - sketch
Pals Paper Arts #182 - color combo
Scrapping Everyday Miracles - Christmas Theme



Cardstock - Elegant Eggplant & Very Vanilla from Stampin' Up and the Gray is from DieCutWithAView
Stamp Set - Unity Stamp Co. Remember YOU Baby Jesus
Ink - Memento London Fog with Copic Markers
Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug
Edge Punch - Martha Stewart
Pearls - Basic Grey Opaline
Distress Ink - Tim Holtz Dusty Concord

banner miss you

I have this friend, she lives up north, she gets to go to the October Afternoon warehouse sales, she is crazy and sweet and funny.... not to mention generous!  This week I got a crafty care package from her... Thank You Laura Beth!!!  Of course, I need to make something ASAP with the paper she sent so today I finally got time to play in my craft room.

Sketch - Freshly Made Sketches FMS113

Printed Papers - October Afternoon Farhouse 8x8 paper pad

Twine - The Twinery

Alpha Stamps - CloseToMyHeart Atomic Lower Case

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

Chipboard Banners - UmWowStudio

Distress Inkn - Tim Holtz Walnut Stain

Distressing Tool - Prima (LOVE THIS THING!)

Flowers - misc

Bradss - Paper Studios