GIU Week - Winner!

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend, especially all you mothers out there! :)

 

I had so much fun during my GIU week - thank you again for visiting and for your kind comments. Now, it's time to announce the lucky winner!!! I used the random number generator and the winner of two Unity itty-bitties is, from Day #1's post... Scrappin' Diva!!!

 

Scrappin' DivaMay 7, 2014 at 7:39 AM

Congrats on being the GIU gal this week Miwa! What a great idea! I would never have thought about using this as a medium for stamps! Wonderful projects and lovely cards!

 

Congratulations! Please email me at miwatlee {at} msn.com. :)
 

Of course I couldn't post without a card, right???

 



 

 I used a brand-new sketch at Mojo Monday...

 

And had fun playing with my new May SMAK kit that arrived Saturday. The sentiment is from Sending My Love (Unity - of course!). Patterned papers and diecut embellishments are all MME (my cropchocolate.com friends will surely recognize it!).

Hope everyone has a great week! See you on Friday at Friends with Flair, right? :)

Growing in Unity (Day 5) - Bo Knows {Good Dog Biscuits}

Welcome to Day 5 of my GIU week! It's Friday, so it's also Unity's "Friends with Flair", so upload your Unity creations to the Unity blog before midnight MST tonight!

Today's post is all about Bo. About 4 months ago, the girls and I went to the produce store and came home with a puppy. Yes, people, you know how easy it is to go to the store for one thing and come back with something that wasn't on the list. :)

Here's Bo, within the first few moments of our meeting. I took a picture to send to my husband, to see how he felt about it, because we hadn't had a dog in about 9 years. Bo's probably about 5 months old here.

Fast forward to almost 4 months later - he's a beauty, isn't he? Most of the time, I really love this dog (it takes more effort to, though, when he's ripping apart our outdoor furniture cushions), which is why I decided to make him some dog biscuits. Not just ANY dog biscuits, but Unity Stamp biscuits!!!

I found a recipe for Snickerpoodles to follow.

The process is pretty simple. You mix the ingredients and roll them out. It's best to stamp your image (it was a brand spankin' new stamp but I washed it with soap and water anyway) before cookie-cutting it out. I found this scalloped flower shape at Joann's (as well as the dog bone you see below).

 

This is how things look before baking... (I used Puppy RUFF for the stamp)

And this AFTER baking - pretty cool, right?

You can also go more subtle with paw prints from Hugs & Kitties.

Bo has been enjoying them and they are staying fresh in a plastic bag. :)

As most of you know, it's Mother's Day this coming Sunday, so I thought it was a good time to use Unity's NEW Inspiration card sketch.

 

I made a window-frame card, using You're My Bestie and Blooming Mama's Day. This card is for my mother from the girls and I. Hopefully she'll like it - but she doesn't believe that scrapbooking is really a legitimate hobby, so who knows? It's the thought that counts!

 And here's the inside... the girls will write their message somewhere... :)

I wish all of you moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day! May you get to do whatever you want, and get plenty of peace and quiet to craft. :)

Before I leave you, here's another great pin...

Since it's my last day of my GIU week, I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has visited and left comments - thank you for your sweet words! Don't forget, everyone who leaves a comment will be eligible to win two free itty-bitties! I'll randomly draw a winner Monday morning and I'll post the winner here. :)

Growing in Unity (Day 4) - How to Make Bugs Look Cool and Graduation

Welcome to Day 4 of my GIU week! I'd like to thank everyone for their very kind comments - I've really enjoyed reading them!

Today I promised that I would talk about one of my great loves - Julie guessed correctly that I was talking about bugs. Yes, I love insects! Unity Stamp Company has some beautiful insect stamps - but that should come as no surprise, because all of their stamps are fabulous. I also love the "chalkboard" look, so when I saw these coasters at Target, an idea was born... (I don't know why I like to do chalkboard art with bugs, but here's one of my favorite bug layouts - if you hate bugs and scream at the sight of real ones, don't look!! I'm so not kidding!).

 

Don't you just love the One Spot? Four chalkboard coasters for only a buck! I grabbed two packages. :)

Insect coasters! Of course! Who wouldn't think of making these? But in all seriousness, I thought white embossed insects would look striking against the black. Here are some close-ups and links to the stamp kits I used...

A Little Buggy

Stamp of the Week: Flight of Courage

Dream Big {Webster's Itty Bitty}.

 On Vintage Wings

Then I thought I'd have some fun and see how colored embossed sentiments would look. I love how things *pop* off the chalkboard coasters! By the way, all of the embossing powders were American Crafts Zing!

 Life Becoming

Completely Insane

 Great Love and Miracles

Angie Girl: Dream with Your Heart (pretty cool with the two colors, right?)

These coasters were very easy and quick to make - I'll probably seal them before I use them, but honestly, I'm in no hurry, just because I hate the smell of sealant...

And since graduation is coming soon, I thought I better get cracking on making my cards. DaddyDude has a few residents graduate from his program every year, so it's my task to make the cards. He's kind of a picky fellow, so I make him several and he picks which ones he wants (ironically, I'm always surprised at his choices). So, in case you're looking for inspiration to make graduation cards, here are some ideas using Unity stamps (and yes, they're all based on a sketch). There are two distinctly feminine cards, but the rest I left relatively unadorned until DaddyDude decides which cards should go to which person (male or female).

The Deconstructed Sketch #DS149...

 Kit of the Month - May 2013 (Totally and Utterly Amazing)

 

 Sweet Sunday Sketch #214 (obviously I really liked this, since I used it three times!)

 Diploma Cap & Gown {wit & wisdom} - I simply adore Joslyn Nielson's Wit & Wisdom line!!!

 Lisa Arana's Everything More kit is another must-have! Love my Stamp-Ma-Jig!

 Kit of the Month - March 2012 (From Head to Soul)

Sweet SundaySketch #201 (another fab sketch!)

Kit of the Month - March 2013 (From Head to Soul)

 Everything More

Kit of the Month - March 2013 (From Head to Soul)

Tuesday Morning Sketch #248

  Diploma Cap & Gown {wit & wisdom} and Kit of the Month - March 2013 (From Head to Soul)

Thank you for visiting my blog! Don't forget to leave a comment on the GIU posts - one lucky winner will get to pick two Itty-Bitties of their choice! Only one more day to go and I'll be showcasing one of my favorite projects, specialized designed for the new fuzzy one in our lives. Until then, I'll leave you with this excellent pin I found...

Happy crafting! :)

Growing in Unity (Day 3) - Rockin' It! :)

 

I'm a child of the 70's and 80's. The 80's had good music but I really don't remember much about the 70's - except shaggy hair, polyester clothing, and... pet rocks.  You can read more about pet rocks here - and it says they were back on the market in 2012. But hey, we're crafty peeps, we can make our own pet rocks, as well as "inspiration rocks". Right?

I used Empowered Words, but to be honest, a better choice might have been Art & Possibility, just because the sentiments are smaller. Yes, folks, it takes a bit of practice and skill to beautifully stamp imperfectly round objects! You have been warned! In hindsight, it might have been smarter to seal the rocks before stamping, to make it easier to rectify any mistakes (acetone and sanding only go so far), but - I think the effort was well worth it. :)

Here's a closeup of one of my favorite sentiments in this collection. You can buy (river) rocks at stores like Michaels. It seems silly to buy rocks (when you think about it), but their surfaces tend to be polished for better stamping. I'm going to keep them in a glass container (see below) on my work table for decor and inspiration.

Now, I've said making layouts are my favorite thing to do, but I'm still getting used to stamping on layouts - I find it challenging and I'm a very slow incubator of ideas.  To save some time, I used Unity's layout inspiration sketch (ETA: Agh! I missed the linking up deadline myself! It's still a great sketch, though!).

My newly turned nine-year old LOVES soccer. She has always wanted to be on the local club soccer team, so after coaching her at the AYSO level for two years, we thought she was ready. She joined the team at the ripe old age of seven (almost eight) and has been having a blast, even though she's the smallest on the team - by far. But, she's very stubborn and determined! Something happened this past spring, probably after her personal evaluation when her coach told her, "You've been a 'Steady Eddie' but I'd like to see you start taking risks to become a better player." Holy cow, look out, world! She's doing gut balls and headers, trying to settle the ball before it bounces, and diving for saves (as a goalkeeper). I'm so proud of her hustling 110% every game and grateful we have a new camera so I can get some great action shots. Here she is, jumping up to stop the ball with her stomach. DaddyDude took one look at the picture and exclaimed, "Holy cow, she got some air!!!" Hence, the title.

I really like working with Kraft paper, because you can make pictures and patterned papers *pop*. I wanted to showcase the action photo, though, and thought it would be interesting to create a "one-layer" layout (never having tried that before). But something felt missing...

And then I remembered Christy Tomlinson's SheArt Doodles, which I have always loved but hadn't used yet.Voila! Framing the layout pulled everything together (at least, in my opinion). And in case you're wondering what other kits I used... I stamped the title using Alphabetically Adorable (love how whimsical it is, and there is plenty of space for coloring), the sentiment below the picture is from Good Times Vintage Banner, the floral lace border (and the embossed butterfly and "noted") is from Wildflowers & Wings, and finally, I stamped Go Hard or Go Home directly on the picture with StazOn.

Well, thank you for joining me today! I hope to see you tomorrow, when I get to talk about one of my great loves... :)

Don't forget to leave a comment on my posts for a chance to win two itty-bitties and don't forget that Unity has extended their amazing Birthday Sale until Friday! Hope you have a crafty day! :)

Growing in Unity (Day #2) - Stamping for a Subtle Touch

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of my week as a GIU girl! Today, I wanted to demonstrate that even a subtle stamp can pack a punch. Since I have two young girls who love to receive little gifts, I chose to "pretty up" some organza bags (purchased on EBay). Before stamping the bag, I simply slid a scrap piece of cardstock in the bag to prevent the ink from bleeding through.

As an entomologist, I'm a little partial towards insect stamps. :) The bag on the left uses the butterfly from Blossom Soup and Love Truly {Through Time} while the one on the right uses Flight of Courage. I liked how the black ink stood out against the white organza.

I was curious to see if I could add a little bit of color - and so I did, using my Spectrum Noir markers and a little bit of glitter (bag on left uses A Floral Hello while the bag on the right uses Happy Birthday).

However, my favorite bags were those with bold designs (I liked the butterfly best!), featuring The Best Love Story {March 2013 Sentiment Kit} and Written in the Wings.

Well, I couldn't let you go without showing a few cards, too - and I wanted to showcase two more Suzi Blu stamps - here's GiGi Party, based on the sketch from My Favorite Things (MFTWSC174).

I didn't have room for all of Gigi's body, so I just used the head and popped a pompom on the tip of the party hat. Some of you may recognize that vintage Imaginisce birthday paper...

And don't forget to participate in this month's Inspiration challenge! There are only a few days left before the next challenge is up. I used the card sketch for Suzi Blu's adorable kitty.

I'm actually a "big dog" person, but I really love Pooey Love - he's got sass! I combined his image with one of my favorite sentiments from Hugs and Kitties.

I mean, seriously - how perfect is that sentiment, "you're the cat's meow"! I love it!

I'm not sure which version I like better...but I'm partial towards shiny objects like sequins... :) Another freebie from Unity, don't you love those free gifts? I do!

But I think I might like this tag best, with the fun patterned papers (part of a Unity "free gift").

Thank you for joining me for Day 2 of my GIU week! I'll see you here again tomorrow! Happy crafting!