Remember....

Happy 4th of July, Everyone!!!

I hope that you have lots of fun planned for the day. 

A few friends.

Some good eating. 

A bit of sunshine.

TONS of FUN!!!

But just remember that your freedom to do so came at a price.

Raise your beer today in honor of a soldier...

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Unity in America (available only at Memory Making Crafts)

*Unity Stamp Co. Worn Stars background (on sale this weekend)

*watercolor pencils

*Basic Grey paper

*silver brads

*Bazzill Kraft

*embroidery thread

Have a 

SAFE & Fun Holiday 

everyone!!!

A bit of Christmas today...

Did you see this on the Unity Stamp Co. blog this morning??? A new monthly kit exclusively for stores... can you believe how cute this is?!? I love it and know that I am going to be urging my favorite retailers to carry it...

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My thought process... if I actually start my Christmas cards now, I may actually get them sent out this year. Think that will actually work for me? LOL, no probably not. The better idea would be to just go upstairs and finish the assembly of last year's Christmas cards. *eek*

But anyway, back to today's blog post. I have been having some fun playing with Unity Stamp Co. new Christmas stamp kit, Bright & Merry Winter Wishes. This card was done using the sketch from Mojo Monday this week (#93.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Bright & Merry Winter Wishes

*K&Company Christmas collection

*Spellbinders die-cut

*May Arts velvet ribbon

*scallop deco scissors

*corner rounder

*white brads

*****************

And here is my second card. I was trying for a more elegant look with the black and white effect... still not too sure that I achieved it.

I had some clear little plastic snowflake charms that fit this snowflake stamp perfectly so I added it and a flat back gem to the stamped snowflake to give it some extra dimension. It's hard to see it in the photos, but it is a pretty cool effect in person.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Bright & Merry Winter Wishes

*PinkPaislee paper (blue)

*MM paper (black & white stripe)

*Spellbinders die cut

*plastic snowflake charm

*flat-backed gem

*silver string

HipHopping into July!!!!

Welcome to Hip Hop featuring the July kom....

 

This kit is so cute and so perfect for summer. I know that I am going to use it tons! When I sat down yesterday to do my project, I knew that it would be perfect for these bubble photos of Kat and my mom. There really isn't a story to tell here besides simply pretty day fun so it's a pretty simple and straight-forward layout.

This layout was created from a sketch, but now I can't figure out who's so I apologize for not giving the credit. If you recognize the layout, please let me know!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. July kom- A Pocket full of...

*Unity Stamp Co. Just My Type

*Fancy Pants paper collection

*prima blossoms

*corner rounder

*pop dots

*white pen (signo uniball)

Now you need to hop on over to...

***Wendy***

1st of the Month...

Whoa! How is it already July 1st?!?! The summer is simply flying by. But the fun news is that the first of the month means the reveal of the gorgeous Unity Stamp Co. kit of the month and the announcement of our Guest Designer Contest!! Yippee!

This month the contest is based upon this really cute sketch by Jennifer Buck...

You can find all the details about the contest in this thread here. Please come and play because there are some great perks to being a guest designer (can you say FREE STAMPS???)

For the contest, you are supposed to use May or June's kit of the month, but the design team gets to use July's (yes, the one that was just revealed today!!!)

This kit is so darn cute! 

Here is the card that I created from the sketch, but I did reorient the layout to fit lengthwise...

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. July kom, Pocket Full of...

*K&Company Wild Raspberry paper collection

*watercolor pencils

*Doodlebug brads

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*Marvy Uchida Scallop punches

*ribbon

Go check out what the rest of the design team did with the sketch...

Jeanne Streiff 
AJ Otto 
Amber Height 
Maren Benedict
Kimber McGray 
Julie Campbell 
Jennifer Buck 
Lisa Henke

Yummy Homemade Ice Cream...

We got an ice cream maker this week for our anniversary (thanks Mom & Dad!) This is something that we have wanted to do for several years, we just never got it done so we went out and bought this one. It is a dual-use ice cream maker....it can be electric OR it can be a hand-crank model. It also makes a ton of ice cream...4 quart capacity! 

We started it out with the electric crank on it, but then someone thought that it would be okay to let Kat help with the water (I'm not saying who...I think that the photo speaks for itself) and she wasn't quite as careful as she should be so we decided that it would be prudent to let the motor dry out before we used it....

She was VERY handy with the ice...

This one spent most of the time crushing the ice on the patio with the hammer...LOL! 

Then the cranking began. It actually wasn't that bad at all and only took about 1/2 as much time as the book said that it would.

And darnit, there is supposed to be another photo here, but if I add it in now, then you won't be able to click any of these to make them bigger so you will just have to take my word at it and imagine how cute  the photo is... 

The maker was very squeaky when it was being cranked and Kat truly thought that it was music. She danced and clapped almost the entire time it cranked. So funny and sweet!!!

And here it is done! It was so good. We wanted it fairly soft so that we could drink it like a shake (much less messy with a 2 yo!) 

...and everyone enjoying their shakes...

...thumbs up from Jacob...

He liked it too! 

We still have a huge tub of it in the freezer leftover. Unfortunately Ben made the mistake of looking at the nutritional content of the cream this morning...5 fat grams/Tbsp and there are about 3 cups in here. And that's not including the half and half, 5 eggs, or milk or sugar that is also in it. I think that the rest will be eaten by the kids since I am not sure either Ben or I can eat anymore no matter how good it tastes...LOL!

*********

So last night, I felt like making something to go along with my ice cream theme for the blog this morning and just happened to have that cute Retro BBQ kit still sitting out on my table. Since I will be heading home next week, I felt the need for a new summery bookmark for my travels (I am thinking positively that Kat will let me read on the plane...I can at least hope, right?)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ

*October Afternoon paper

*Fiskars border punch

*Marvy Uchida scallop oval punch

*ribbon

*watercolor pencils 

*Memories brown inkpad

Have a fantastic Monday!!!

...summertime fun...

Warning: Today's post is liable to be a long, rambling one so I hope that you don't get bored. Lots to report on from the Snow household this week...

******************

First a card. This card was inspired by a new tradition that we have implemented for the summer on Friday's. The adult version of Shake Friday...i.e. Cocktail Evenings. 

A couple of weeks ago, I received a book that is so much fun, MixShakeStir. It's a beautiful book full of recipes and gorgeous photography of cocktails. We are die-hard wine drinkers around here and rarely do anything else, so we thought that it might be fun to change things up a bit for the summer (and I am really inspired right now by all things retro...soon I may even become domestic...or maybe not...LOL) and so we have started Cocktail Fridays.

We are only 2 weeks (and 2 drinks) into the experiment and so far, haven't been bowled over by any of the drinks, but I am hoping to report some positive results for you soon.

I had these evenings in mind when I created this card this morning using Unity's new kit, Retro BBQ.  I have no idea what drink would gradiate from green to red, but I am sure there is one out there that does...LOL!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ

*K&Company Raspberry Collection

*Fiskars border punch

*watercolor pencils 

*ribbon

*brads

*Bazzill Kraft paper

*StazOn Jet black inkpad

***********

This week has been record hot for us in the Midwest with heat indexes ranging anywhere from 105-115 degrees during the daytime. Of course, this just happened to be the week that Jacob was at Scout camp living outside with NO air conditioning. We visited him Thursday evening for Family Night and sweltered right alongside him.

Do you see that look on her face? We had just gotten to camp and he had just picked her up for the first time. I think that she missed her big brother last week!

Trying to stay cool with an ice-cold gatorade...and no, it really didn't help.

Within about 15 minutes of being there, this little one was drenched in sweat. We did not pour any water over her. That was just how truly sweaty that she was...her hair was literally dripping.

Ben took off with my camera and took this (and several other) gorgeous shots while I was chasing the 2 yo. Isn't it a beautiful photo?

For these photos, you really need to click on them to see the full impact of the photography (which is again Ben's work.) The night that we were there they had the Order of the Arrow ceremony. It was done in this little inlet of the lake with the boys lining up on one side, and the parents sitting watching on the other.

There was an Indian on a boat in the middle of the water that was helping with the narrating and then fire everywhere...a couple of bonfires (one on land and one in the middle of the lake), a path of smudgepots leading out of the woods that the boys followed. It was an absolutely gorgeous ceremony and the most exciting part of all was that Jacob was called out during it to become part of OA (a big honor in Scouts.)

Another big honor for Jacob for the week was that he won a "Golden Arrow" award for the entire camp. He won that for having the highest archery score in the camp which is saying quite a bit because this camp easily had 500-800 boys there. :o)

*********

Scout camp ended yesterday morning, but we weren't through with the heat yet. Late yesterday afternoon, Ben's office had a tailgate party at the Gateway Grizzlies game (our local minor league baseball team.) It was again sweltering, but a lot of fun.

Kat never has the chance to be around other kids her age and there was another 2 yo old there to play with.

Kat was so excited. She just kept petting her and hugging her. It's going to be fun in a couple of weeks when we go home and she gets to know her cousins Mia and Emily.

The kids in the stands. Kat was less excited about this part of the evening esp. since it didn't start until after her bedtime. It has been a week of late, hot evenings!

And today on the agenda we have homemade ice cream in our new ice cream maker (an anniversary gift from my parents- Thanks Mom & Dad!!!) and then if we are feeling up to another hot late night then a jazz concert in the park which sounds like so much fun, but I am not sure that any of us wants to do another late, hot night...

I hope that you all are staying cool in your area these summer days and nights!

Merry Christmas Hip Hop Style...

~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~

~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~ 

~~~Hip Hopping All the Way~~~

~~~Oh What Fun it is to Play with Stamping Everyday-hey~~~

Merry Christmas with this Unity Hip Hop!!!

I did a layout using today's new release, Merry & Bright. I have had these photos printed since last Christmas, but haven't been able to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with them. Finally, when I got these gorgeous stamps on my table, I knew what I wanted to create. Love it when inspiration finally strikes like that and if it takes new stamps to make it happen, well then that's a sacrifice I am willing to make! ;o)

All of the stamping on here is just simple staight forward stamping...so easy and fast! The only place that I did anything more was on the ornament and then I just added a bit of watercolor pencil coloring to it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Merry and Bright

*Jenny Bowlin die cut paper (base of the layout)

*October Afternoon paper

*watercolor pencils

*Marvy Uchida scallop punches

*flat backed gems (in the center of the snowflakes)

*ribbon

*small circle punch (to create the ticket corner effect on the "have a holly jolly Christmas" piece)

Now you need to hop on over to...

***Laura's Luscious Blog***

A bit of tricycle fun...

Hello from sunny, balmy Illinois. See that's what happens when we complain about the over-abundance of rain...it stops and then we get freaking HOT!!! Wow is it ever muggy out there. Jacob is at Scout camp this week in Missouri and I hope that they are staying hydrated because this is killer! I can't even imagine what it must be like trying to sleep in it...

But for a bit of summer fun, I made a card using the Unity Stamp Co. kit, Everyday Adorable. I love this kit and haven't given it enough inky love yet so I thought that I would try to change that some today. I just love this little tricycle image...so fun! 

{I am really hoping that Kat will be big enough for a tricycle for Christmas and then I will be able to use this stamp for layouts too!!}

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable

*Fancy Pants papers

*MM eyelet trim

*StazOn jet black inkpad

*watercolor pencils

*Bazzill scallop cardstock

*Marvy Uchida scallop square punch

I hope that you are having a fabulous week!!!

A bit of Masculine creating fun!

It's official...I am addicted to Facebook (the games) and am seriously wasting my life away (or at least all of my computer time) on there. Restraint is in order so I am trying to put a blog post together for you...LOL! I promise to try to be better from here on out!

I have some masculine projects to share with you today that I have been working on lately. 

This week, Jacob is at Scout camp so I have been making him cards to send while he is gone. This first one is a small 3 1/2 x 6 1/4. When I made it, I was thinking that it would be fun to take the front off and then use it as a bookmark...

The basic layout of it is from last week's Mojo Monday sketch. I just never got it uploaded until now.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. This is the Time (star and oval numbered background in main frame)

*Unity Stamp Co. Bliss & a Birdie (You Rock sentiment)

*WRMK sports paper (pennant background)

*Cosmo Cricket Jack paper (orange plaid and striped)

*Fancy Pants paper (blue and orange)

*orange seam binding

*Marvy Uchida punch

*button

****************

This is another card to send to Jacob at camp and this one was based off the SCS sketch from last week (SC213)....

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Hullabaloo

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple

*DCWV Green Paper Pad

*Martha Stewart seam binding

*MME adventure ticket

*copper brads

*****************

Finally, for the cards...this is a card that I made for Ben for our anniversary (which was Saturday)/Father's Day card. The outside says "Confession" and then the sentiment inside says, "You stole my heart". Both of those stamps are from the Confession: I luv Unity stamp kit. The grill is from the retro bbq kit that was released last week.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Confession: i luv Unity

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ

*DCWV Green STack

*Stampin Up Top Note die cut

*corner rounder

*copper brads

*watercolor pencils

*Memories brown inkpad

*********

And finally, I have something to share that is a bit out of the ordinary. The older Scouts in Jacob's Scout troop are going to a High Adventure Philmont Scout camp this summer, Double H in New Mexico. They were looking for a design for their shirts so I played a bit with some clip art and layering and came up with this design that they chose...

How fun is that?!?!? I am so excited...almost feel professional...LOL!  You can click it to see it better, but the quote is from Thoreau and says "Let your walks now be a little more adventurous" which I thought was appropriate for this event. 

And here are my adventurers modeling their new shirts...

Ben in his very manly pose and...

Jacob in his! I love these guys!

HipHop...It's all about Creating!!!

HiP HoP!!!

Good morning to all my Hip-Hopping Peeps!!!

Today I have a quickie little wall art piece that is simply fun! For Christmas, I created some wall art and needed some frames a certain size. I found sports frames that were the perfect size at Hobby Lobby. They included these plastic mats that were set up for a photo of the team and the individual's photo. I have been saving them thinking that they would be something fun to alter and this is my first one...

The piece measures about 6x12 and works perfectly to hang off of one of these little craft hangers.

The stamps are one of the quote stamps and Wish Sticks from Unity. You could do this with any quote stamp and color scheme to suit your decor. I think that this would make a fun little hostess gift whenever you are attending a party at someone's house or visiting overnight.

 Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Create Yourself

*Unity Stamp Co. Wish Sticks

*Making Memories Giggle Kids paper collection

*Bo Bunny (green)

*Making Memories eyelet trim and Vintage collection pin

*Flat back pearls

*Martha Stewart butterfly punch

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*old dictionary paper

*Sports frame insert

Now you need to hop on over to....

***Amber's Amazing Blog***

Blogger is having some issues this morning, so if Amber's post still isn't up, hop on along to...

***Maren's Beautiful Blog***

My normal blogging should resume tomorrow. We are slowly starting to get into our summer routine...

A Quickie Challenge Card...

I threw together a card this morning while Kat was napping for a couple of blog challenges. This card was put together using this week's CPS sketch (#120) and Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June KOM, Perfect in Every Way

*October Afternoon paper collection

*MM paper collection

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*cardstock

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*brads

I hope that you all are having a fabulous weekend. It's been a bit crazy around here. Ben finally got home late last night, a full 24 hours after he was supposed to be home (MULTIPLE airline delays on the East coast) and Jacob just got home from a weekend backpacking trip a full 2 hours early today. 

Friday night...

...and it's very quiet around the ole homestead! Ben was supposed to be home tonight (he's been out of town since Sunday, but he had flight delays so is still stuck on the East coast.) Jacob is out on a Scout backpacking trip and Kat is sound asleep. 

So here I sit all alone listening to a bit of classical music (it's that kind of mellow night), drinking a bit of French Cotes du Rhone, and playing on facebook. I should be stamping, but I may still do some of that later.

For right now, I have a layout to share that I finished late last night.

This is a photo that I took one day out at the park of the family last fall (I am thinking September timeframe) and every time I look at it, it cracks me up. You can just see that they are all thoroughly sick of the camera so I went with the title, "Happy...not so much!"

I used this week's sketch from the 52 Sketches site (#23 I think.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kom  ("happy" banner)

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration (journaling block)

*Cosmo Cricket paper collection

*Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha

*Martha Stewart seam binding

*brads

*pop dots

*Memories brown inkpad

It's a Father's Day Hip Hop!!!

Wow! It has been a crazy week here...

DH out of town.

 Kat sleeping (or not sleeping) crazy hours.

 Storms that send us to the basement on a regular basis.

 Power surges.

  The weather channel on all through the night. 

and all of that means....

 that my creative time has been severely lacking this week...

So today I just have one simple little card to show you, but it is using that fun new barbeque kit that is being released today. I love this kit...so perfect for summer and Father's Day projects.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Retro Barbeque... Sweet Summertime

*American Crafts paper

*Bazzill cardstock

*brads

*watercolor pencils

*Signo Uniball white writer

*Fiskar's Apron Lace border punch

Now you need to Miss Krafty Queen's blog...

***AJ's Blog***

My Little Fashion Plate...

Well, in someone's book she would be a Fashion Plate. LOL!

My mom sent her these socks from Alaska that are covered in bears so of course, she had to put them on. 

She also has on her shoes that we bought yesterday that are 2 sizes too big. 

I should know her well enough by now to know never to buy her shoes that are not the right size yet because she is obsessed and refuses to take new shoes off no matter how many times she trips and falls over the toes of them. 

So this is the fashion statement of the day... she calls them her boots and yes, they are on the wrong feet in this photo... Jacob helped her with that. She is still wearing the ensemble (4 hours later), but the shoes are now on the correct feet. 

{and yes, that is old Flopsy and new Flopsy in her hands. Mom bought us a replacement for emergencies (thanks Mom!!!) Who knew that old Flopsy was so disgusting looking compared to how he looks new?!? Maybe I should wash him more which hopefully won't be as traumatic now that we have two. Hey, I can think positively here! }

*********

I spent 2+ hours in my stamp room last night and this is the only thing that I have to show for it (oh,  and I watched the movie Bride Wars.) The sad thing, it was almost 3/4 of the way done when I went in there. So not much to show for the time spent... a VERY simple card!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration

*Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia paper collection

*ribbon

*brads

*pop dots

I'll be back tomorrow for hip hop!

It was a Scrapbooking Weekend!

I took the weekend to play with some fun sketches from a site that is fairly new to me, 52 Sketches/52 Weeks.

This first layout is from sketch #16.

This photo is one that my mom took when she and dad were here visiting. The photo is my dad on the left and me on the right with Kat in the center. I love the photo and think that it is a bit symbolic of the support that family gives and I {and Kat} am blessed to have!

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration

*Collage Press paper collection

*Little Yellow Bicycle Die Cut paper (green)

*MME paper

*Memory Box Damask stamp

*Marcella Chipboard family

*MM ledger paper

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*vintage buttons

*Memories brown inkpad

*CTMH Breeze inkpad

*Bazzill cardstock

*********

This second layout is from Sketch #14... I just turned the sketch on its side.

These are some photos of Kat & Ben playing with his guitar over the winter. I have loved these photos, but was never really sure how I wanted to showcase them. This works for me.

I love the effect that bunching up ribbon does for a layout. I used FabriTac for this and am not sure that I could do it without it. LOVE that stuff!

Supplies used:

*Collage Press paper collection

*Bazzill Kraft

*Bazzill scalloped cardstock

*MM ribbon

*buttons

*FabriTac

*inkpads for sponging papers

**********

Today is the first official day of summer around here (i.e. no school.) Ben is also out of town this week so we had a very lazy morning. Kat even slept til 7:30 which is unheard of...of course, now she doesn't want to take an afternoon nap which isn't boding well for my personal productivity today. I am just hoping that I get a shower at some point. ahhhh, summer!

A Very Special Hip Hop!!!

It's my Mom's birthday today!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

It's already been an amazing day. I started off the day with a breakfast of champions...or at least the Bryant women! LOL! I get my addiction to these little chocolate wonders from my mom so I just had to eat a few for breakfast in honor of her birthday (I am thinking that today needs to be a double-workout day!)

We also had an amazing sunrise this morning, but I will talk about that in a moment because I uploaded my photos in the wrong order, but if I move them then you can't enlarge them when you click on them. *ugh*

********

So first, I will talk about today's art. I made this card last night for my mom's birthday (yes, I am running a bit behind since this, and her present, will have to be mailed- Sorry Mom!)

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this months kit of the month, Perfect in Every Way?!?  LOVE IT! Most of the images here are from that kit... the flowers, the owl, "perfect", and if you look really closely you can see the faint images of the "relax" in the background of the flower piece. I also added the faint image of the worn music background on the flower piece too.

The layout for the card is based upon this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#89.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co Perfect in Every Way (June kit of the month)

*Unity Stamp Co. Worn Music Background

*October Afternoon papers

*StazOn jet black inkpad

*watercolor pencils

*CTMH Desert Sand inkpad

*CTMH Sweet Leaf inkpad

*CTMH Breeze inkpad

*MM mini alpha stickers

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

*ribbon

*brads

*pop-dots

*****

And now back to that sunrise from this morning. We get up every morning at 4:00 to workout so most days, I get to see the sun rise, but this morning's was just gorgeous. When I first noticed it, the colors were super-dark purples and pinks. By the time I grabbed the tripod and made it to the end of the block for photos, the colors were a bit more muted although still simply amazing.

I hope that your day has started out glorious too!!!

Now you need to hop on over to...

***Kimber's Incredible Blog***

It's a new month which means we have a new stamp kit!!!

It's June 1st and there are tons of fun things happening over at Unity Stamp Co.!!

First up, is a brand new kit of the month and once again, Angela has completely outdone herself. This one is definitely a keeper!! I love every single one of the images in this kit, but I know that these 2 are two of my favorites. I love that little owl... it has such a different and more stylish look than the others that you see out on the market... LOVE HIM! And that polka-dot font and that incredible quote...LOVE IT!

The layout for the card came from CPS sketch #45.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month

*Webster's Pages paper (polkadot)

*Fancy Pants paper (solid distressed turquoise)

*Tattered Angels

*MM black trim

*Martha Stewart border punches 

*American Crafts Med black brads

*StazOn Jet black inkpad

Every month, there will be a contest to be a guest designer. This month's contest starts today and ends the 3rd. You are to create a project using April or May's kit of the month using a monochromatic theme. You can find the thread here. 

As the design team, we do this challenge using the June kit. My attempt is the card above. You can see the rest of the team's attempt by following these links...

2.) AJ Otto 
3.) Kimber McGray 
4.) Jeanne Streiff 
5.) Brooke Lien
6.) Maren Benedict 
7.) Linsey Rickett 
8.) Julie Campbell 
9.) Jimmi Mayo 
10.) Jennifer Buck

*****

And now I have some photos from the weekend to share with you...

Kat's hair is finally long enough that we can do pigtails with it. I am so excited about that and she loves it too. We had to take some photos to mark her new pigtails.

Yes, she is sitting on my lap here and it is a fantastic photo except for someone (I am not saying who) took the photo while my eyes were closed so I just cropped me out.

**********

Then yesterday morning, I was busy stamping in the kitchen and Kat decided that she wanted to join me wearing her winter hat. Mind you, I never could get her to wear this hat when it was actually cold outside. LOL!

Yes, Lisa she is playing with your gorgeous pear tree stamp!!!

I see a future stamper here although I am not so sure about her sense of style while doing it... She is such a cutie, if you don't mind me saying....

*******

And finally, I am a sucker for flowers and saw these gorgeous gerbera daisies at WalMart the other day so I had to bring them home with me. They simply make me happy sitting on the table and that is one of those simple pleasures that makes life good.

Have a fantastic Monday!

Happy Anniversary to the Perfect Pair!

My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary Friday aboard an Alaskan cruise. They got back last night so I thought that today would be a good day to do my anniversary post for them. They are amazing. They got married so young, but have managed to stick together with love and respect. I am in awe of their relationship. It hasn't always been easy for them, but they have always managed through it together and I admire and love them so much for that.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!!!

"We do not remember the days.

We remember the moments."

~Cesare Pavese

For my final sneak peek for the Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month, the image and phrase was perfect for an anniversary card for my parents. I used this morning's CPS sketch challenge (#118). I just changed up the dimensions a bit to make it work with this gorgeous pear tree stamp image.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month

*K&Company Wild Raspberry collection

*Making Memories ledger paper

*watercolor pencils

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*copper brads

*Memories brown inkpad

*corner punch

*ribbon

For this Perfect pair sentiment, this kit is AWESOME! These are 2 separate stamps, but there is also pear spelled like the fruit so you can go for an elegant look (like what I was trying to do here) or a more fun, punny look if you want a more playful card. Angela thinks of everything!! AND you can use that "Perfect" on it's own (I love that font!)

Another June Sneak Peek...

I just have a real quick post this morning to share my card for today's sneak peek of the June Kit of the Month for Unity Stamp Co...

It's funny how a card ends up progressing... looking NOTHING like what I imagined it to be when I started. LOL! 

For this card, I stamped the teapot and sentiment onto some yellow Fancy Pants paper and then shaded it a bit with a bit more yellow watercolor pencils and added the touches of green and red so that it would coordinate with those Jenni Bowlin papers. After I got the card pretty much done, I realized that it was taking on a Mary Engelbright vibe and had to add the polka-dots to the teapot using my Zig Writer. I don't know if you can see it clearly in this photo or not, but the black base has been embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder (the one that's viney with birds.)

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kom

*Jenni Bowling papers

*Stampin Up punch

*Cuttlebug embossing folder

*black brads

*eyelet trim

*watercolor pencils

*Zig Writer

Hip Hop Happy!

Welcome to the school edition of Hip Hop!!! 

School is almost over and everyone is thinking about teacher's gifts. Over the years, Jacob has had several teachers that would give their students cards when they did something special. So for my gift, I made up a set of these cards...

The cards measure 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 and fit into one of the Provo-Craft bandaid tins that you can alter. The very first Unity kit of the month, Bliss & a Birdie, had a sentiment in it that said, "You Rock!" I thought that it was perfect for the insides of these cards (but forgot to take a photo of the insides.) It's also on the tag on the handle of the tin.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Bliss & a Birdie

*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration

*Unity Stamp Co. Confession: i luv unity!

*Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday papers

*Marvy Uchida punches

*ribbon

*copper brads

*watercolor pencils

*Stampin Up punch

*Kraft Bazzill

*Memories brown inkpad

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And now I have another sneak peek of the incredible June kit of the month...

Isn't that ice cream cone adorable? I used this week's CPS sketch (#117) for the layout of the card.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June Kit of the Month

*Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday paper collection

*watercolor pencils

*Marvy Uchida punches

*Memories brown inkpad

*copper brads

Now you need to head on over the the very lovely and talented...

****Laura's Blog****

Shopping lately... and a Sneak Peek too!

The theme of this blog post is shopping. ;o) It doesn't get more fun than this!! Lately I have been hitting some of the local antique stores and thought that you all might want to see some of my "finds."

My first couple of purchases happened when my parents were here for a visit. 

This is a daybed (it dates back to the 1800's) that I put on layaway for Kat. I just love it and can't wait to get it home, but I am not ready for her to move out of her crib yet, so I worked out a deal with the shop owner so that I could leave it there for a couple of months. I plan on bringing it home by the end of June. I just need to figure out exactly how I am going to sheet it and outfit it for Kat's use.

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My next purchase was something that my parents bought while they were here for me....this great old suitcase. 

It has a bakelite handle and is a deep red with butter yellow trim which is exactly the colors that my living room is decorated with. It was a steal and is PERFECT to hold all of Ben's and mine piles of magazines so that they are hidden away when someone drops by.

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When my parents were here, we went to a local antique mall that had tons of sports memorabilia. I told Jacob about it and he wanted to go check it out this last weekend. He found a few treasures, but I am even more happy with what I found. 

First was this set of 4 tea/biscuit plates/cups. I have been dying to get a set of these for years(ultimately I want 8-12) and these were an absolute steal with being in mint condition in the original box at only $12 for the whole set. I couldn't believe it

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Then I found 2 huge jars of old cream/white buttons for only $3 each. I am so excited! I use white/cream buttons all the time and these are just beautiful!

And finally along the lines of shopping...

Here is a bit of a sneak peek for you all of some shopping that you could be doing soon. This is the first sneak peek of Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month. I LOVE that little clothesline. Isn't that just the funnest image?!?

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. June kit of the month

*MM papers

*watercolor pencils

*corner rounder

*buttons

*jute cord 

*Bazzill cardstock

*copper brads

I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak peek and maybe a bit of fun along the lines of vintage fun with papercrafts (if I get my project done!)

Creating...

I had a bit of time over the weekend to craft while I waited hours-with-no-end for the CocaCola 600 to dry out  (and no, they never did get the race finished) so I managed a bit of cardmaking on the couch (NOT my normal studio area!)

I have this new kit from Unity, called Folk Inspired, that I have hardly had a chance to touch and when I found these papers from K&Company (Raspberry Fizz is the name of the line, I think), I knew that they were the perfect style for these stamps.

This card was based upon this week's sketch from MojoMonday (#88).

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Folk Inspired

*K&Company Raspberry Fizz

*Martha Stewart seam binding

*copper brads

*Marvy Uchida punches

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Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Folk Inspired

*K&Company Raspberry Fizz

*watercolor pencils 

*brown brads

*Memories inkpad

*prima blossom

*Martha Stewart border punch

I have a HUGE list of things to get done today and so far, not too much is crossed off of it yet.

 I will be back tomorrow!

Scraplift Challenge...

I am a huge Studio Calico fan. Their kits are amazing. Their designers create divine layouts. They have a fantastic message board which I sometimes lurk on and a fabulous blog which I follow.

On the blog recently they issued a scraplift challenge and posted two layouts each from the owners of Studio Calico. I couldn't resist these gorgeous layouts so I created my own lifts of them.

My first layout is a lift from April, and you can see her layout here.

Here is what I did for my lift. I started with a blank piece of white cardstock and laid a 9x9 piece of scrap cardstock over it to create the mask for the frame. I then sprayed on pink glimmer mist and stamped that fun little flower stamp (from Everyday Adorable) randomly to create the frame effect.

I loved all the little details in the original layout like the layers of patterned papers....

Since my photo was from Kat's 2nd birthday, I created emphasis around the 2 using  a Heidi Swapp bling circle frame.

Supplies Used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable

*Unity Stamp Co. ...another Sweet day (May kom)

*Unity Stamp Co. Let's Get Scrappy

*Martha Stewart border punches

*MM papers

*Martha Stewart butterfly punch

*Tattered Angels glimmer mist

*Heidi Swapp bling frame

*ribbon

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And this layout is a lift from Scarlet, you can see her original layout here.

These photos were taken on Earth Day when I took Kat out to go play at the park. She will spend hours on the swing if I let her...she loves it!

I stamped this tree image in black and then colored it in with black marker to create a silhouette look to it.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Carefree Moments Oak

*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments o' Simple

*Fancy Pants paper

*ribbon

*Fiskars border punch

*Marvy Uchida Scallop punches

*buttons 

*MM paper (green circle punches)

I hope that you are all having a fabulous weekend!!!

Exercise Your Creativity- Week 19- Rule of Three's

{click on the image below for printing/viewing purposes. If this doesn't work, email me at snowchris_01@yahoo.com and I can send you the pdf file.}

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Great examples from etsy.com using the rule of three's:

Caged Bird Bag from etsy seller AnOddDuck

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Free as a Bird Silk Screen Print by etsy seller NaomiMurrell

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Second Thoughts Giclee print from etsy seller Wyanne

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Birdcage Notecards from etsy seller KootiesCloset

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Bird in a Cage print by etsy seller naokosstoop

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Bird Medley Three Original Paintings by etsy seller peartreeprimitives

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Birds in Birdcages Vinyl Decor by etsy seller singlestonestudios

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Vintage Styled Art Print by etsy seller TheDecoratedHouse

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Blue Bell Birdcage from etsy seller BluePearls

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BTW, I chose all artwork that features birdcages this week because the birdcage form is a good example of the rule of thirds too.

Also, I realize that I am running a bit behind on these exercises (we are missing 2 weeks to be exact) and they will be showing up randomly over the next month (i.e. when I find time to put them together.) ;o)

And one more aside... If you want to see the other EYC exercises, they are all archived on the Creative Prompts blog. That blog doesn't have the etsy inspiration pieces (they can only be seen on this blog,) but it does have all the printable pages from each of the challenges.

It's a Hero Hip Hop!

We are focusing on our heroes this week.

 With a bit of a patriotic slant, today's focus on my blog was an easy one. 

This is my husband, Ben. 

We have been married almost 17 years. 

In January, he will have spent the last 20 years of his life serving as Active Duty in the Air Force. 

It goes without saying, that I love this man with all my heart, but I am also so proud of him and what he does for our country and for our family.

I won't go into the specifics of his life in the Air Force. 

I will only say that without a doubt, he is my hero. 

I know the sacrifices that he has made. 

He is a good man and a great officer in our military.

{I don't want to get all gushy, so I will end it with that.}

Now for the projects. I wanted to do a card that had a patriotic look, 

but was for DH and this is what I created.... 

I used this week's CPS sketch (#116) for the layout of the card.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Stars of Worn Background

*Unity Stamp Co. Another Sweet Day (fleur corner swirl)

*Unity Stamp Co. Fresh Beginnings (i love you sentiment)

*Cosmo Cricket papers (cherries)

*Heidi Grace paper (blue)

*ribbon

*Bazzill Kraft

*memories brown inkpad

*CTMH Cranberry inkpad

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This second project is a double layout. I probably haven't done a double layout in over 5 years, but I wanted to use all these photos and they were already printed at this size so I went with it. This is a layout about Feb 12, 2008... deployment day... the day that Ben left to spend 4+ months in Iraq.

I don't like to look at these photos, but I think that it's important to have it documented for our family history and the kids.

Here is a close-up of the left side. 

Hopefully my blogger and Mac are cooperating together today so that you can click on these to read the journaling. I don't want to re-type it.

Here is the close-up of the right side.

Supplies used:

*Unity Stamp Co. Stars of Worn Background

*Unity Stamp Co. Love Etc. (large worn stars)

*Unity Stamp Co. Just My Type alphabet

*Unity Stamp Co. Let's Get Scrappy (date block)

*Creative Imagination Narratives paper

*Making Memories journaling paper

*Bazzill Kraft paper

*Memories brown inkpad

*Marvy Uchida scallop punch

*ribbon

*Zig Writer

Now you need to hop on over to....

***Natalie's Blog***

oops! I almost forgot to blog today!

How is it already 4:00?!? My day has gotten away from me today and I have NOTHING to show for it. 

The mystery of Kat's weekend fever was answered today as her fever migrated into a seriously yucky sounding chest cold and cough. *poor little thing is miserable!* So I have basically been cuddling her and answering her beck-and-call all day long.

I do have some art to share though. These were some cards that I did over the weekend for the SplitCoastStampers Virtual Stamp Night.

For this card, the challenge was to create a card with a frame...

I did this card to fulfill Michelle's VSN- CSI challenge...create a card with a frame. The frame was punched through my card front so that the flowers which are stamped on the inside show through the outside layer of the card. I used the new Unity Stamp Co. kit, Everyday Adorable, for this card.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable
*Basic Grey papers
*StazOn Jet black inkpad
*watercolor pencils 
*glitter
*Zig Writer Black
*Glue pen
*Marvy Uchida oval punches

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For this card, the challenge was to create a VERY BRIGHT, non-traditional wedding card.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Folk Inspired
*K&Company papers
*StazOn Jet Black inkpad
*watercolor pencils
*glue pen
*glitter
*AC ribbon

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For this card, we were to use a sketch that was based upon the design of the look of a slot machine.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable 
*Basic Grey papers
*Marvy Uchida punches
*Martha Stewart border punch
*ribbon
*Zig Writers
*Diamond Glaze
*ColorBox Charcoal inkpad

BTW, you may be wondering about this. I realize that sometimes my photos are click-able and sometimes they are not. Unfortunately, I have no idea why that is. I save and upload them ALL the exact same way. It's a bit frustrating. The only thing that I can figure out is that blogger doesn't really like me having a Mac...

I also know that I am running seriously behind on the Exercises in Creativity. I apologize for that! I hope to have at least one of them up for you tomorrow...

Not according to plan...

Friday was Kat's second birthday. I know that she won't remember it, but we wanted it to be a really fun weekend for her esp. since Ben was deployed last year on her 1st birthday. We had a couple of family outings planned to the park AND a trip to the St. Louis zoo planned for Saturday.

We met Ben for a picnic at lunchtime, but soon after that, she started running a fever which lasted the whole weekend long. I don't think that it was anything besides teething (her eye teeth started popping through this weekend), but she sure was miserable, clingy, and sleepy most of the weekend.

So these are really the only photos that I have from her birthday. Thank goodness I have the ones from the weekend before when we celebrated with my parents.

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So with the change in plans, I had lots of downtime while she napped over the weekend. The guys went out with alternate plans and a trip to the Cardinals game yesterday (which they lost.) :o( But it gave me time to play in my craft room a bit over the weekend.

First up, I had the chance to play with the FridayFormula sketch over on CMK. I haven't had the chance to do that in ages!

I also got to play with my new Unity Scrapbooking Stamps (called Confession: i luv unity)

Supplies used:
*Unity STamp Co- Confession: i luv unity (alphabet, flowers, title block, journaling block, grunge corner, Sassy sentiment)
*Unity STamp Co- Sentiments o' Simple (Play sentiment)
*papers from American crafts, Pink Paislee, Making Memories
*watercolor pencils (colored the MM doodled paper)
*Memories brown inkpad
*Bazzill kraft and brown cardstock
*Martha Stewart border punch)
*Zig Writer

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I also got to play a bit over on SCS with their VSN weekend that they had going on, but I think that I will save those to share with you tomorrow! Have a great Monday!

Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the Month Blog Hop Today!!!

It's here! 

It's the Unity Stamp Co. 

Kit of the Month 

Mega Blog Hop!!!

If you didn't start off at the Unity blog, go there now and follow along the "hop."

Here is my project that I made for today. It's a wall art piece made from little ATC's  (2 1/2" x 3 1/2" cards) all strung together to form a large wall-art piece.

The piece was inspired by a project by Stephanie Pouliot from the Feb/Mar issue of Simply Handmade.

I used several of the kits of the month on this piece:

*June Kom- Bliss & a Birdie (square frame, Bliss, Once Upon a Time corner)

*August KOM- Remember Happiness (butterfly, remember happiness quote)

*November KOM- Enjoy your Story, Laugh (little flowers, bird, frame, Home quote)

*December KOM- Little Reminders (swirl, Bliss)

*February KOM- Endings & Beginnings (deer, houndtooth frame, enjoy, 3 birdies)

Other supplies used:

*kraft bazzill

*Jenni Bowlin mini bingo cards and flowers

*paper by MME & Basic Grey

*Martha Stewart butterfly, tags, seam binding ribbon, and border punch

*corner rounder

*buttons 

*jute string

*MM ticket & stickers

*EK Success fleur de lis punch

*Memories brown inkpad

*CTMH Crystal Blue inkpad

*K&Company journaling tag

*ribbons and trim

*vintage hanger

Now you need to hop on over to 

***Kendra's blog***

for more kit of the month inspiration!