Dents and Scratches

This week's Inspiration Challenge (IC630) at Splitcoaststampers is Cost Plus World Market.  I selected about eight photos which I thought might be my inspiration but then I found this wall decor. Life does not have to be perfect to be beautiful. 

I don't have a stamp set with that sentiment but I do have the Dents and Scratches kit by Unity Stamp Co.

 I don't think anyone gets to a half a century plus a few years without receiving a few dents and scratches!  This kit means even more to me this year as I am recovering from an auto accident.

My plan was to keep my card super simple and just place the sentiment on a tag to mimic the wall decor photo but then I remembered the beautiful  I Will Never Leave You kit by Phyllis Harris (also from Unity Stamp Co.) and I just had to see how they would look together.  In keeping with the photo inspiration, I kept as much uncolored space as I could with just a bit of color.

I hope that 2018 has fewer dents and scratches but if not we can rest in the hope that those dents and scratches can be made beautiful. 

In case I don't get back here with another post, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year filled with beautiful things!

A special day for The Project Bin and Denise

Hi and welcome to a special event day for all of us at The Project Bin!  

Today we are celebrating the birthday of Denise, owner, and designer of The Project Bin stamps!  In honor of one of the sweetest people, we know The Project Bin Design team is hosting a blog hop to showcase her fabulous stamps!

For my card, I am celebrating Denise's sweet friendship with the #BFF stamp set. 

I hope you will hop along with all the team to see their beautiful creations!  If you came here from Nancy's Blog your next stop is Barb Deichl. 

Stasia Sloma

Kelly McKown- Santi

Kelly Clark

Dawn Mercedes Barrett

Dawn Bennett

Nancy Nickel

Angela Bode

Barb Deichl

Tamie Jubinville-Camp

Andrea Jacobsen

Jeanette Cloyd

The Project Bin

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

This Season More Than Most

 Plaid paper and the MISTI made this a quick and fun card.  I still had this gorgeous sentiment from The Project Bin on my MISTI.  Next, I stamped the sentiment from the Joyful Song stamp set then die cut a cross-stitched frame with a new set of dies my sweet friend, Janeen sent me.

For quick and easy embellishment I used flourish die cuts and pine boughs then tucked them behind the sentiment.  The card remains nice and flat for easy mailing but still has lots of interest.

This year more than most I am grateful to behold Him and embrace the spirit of the season instead of all the trimmings.  

Joyful Song

Vintage Snowflakes with Red Rubber Designs

Hello!  I have just a little tease for you today on my blog.  I created a Christmas card with Vintage Santa Unmounted Stamp set from Red Rubber Designs and I am sharing the full card on the Red Rubber Designs Blog so hop on over let me know what you think!

Vintage Santa

Thanks for looking and stop by the Red Rubber Designs Online store for beautifully designed Winter and Christmas Cling Mount stamps and Christmas Unmounted stamps.

Growing In Unity Blog Hop

Some of us had the chance to be Growing In Unity Girls over the past few months and today we invite you to hop along with us for a chance to win one of two prize packages!

For my card, I am featuring this adorable stamp kit, Meowy by Unity Stamp Co.  Isn't that just the cutest kitty all snuggled up and ready for winter? The ornaments sitting beside her look like they are in excellent condition so maybe instead of knocking them all off the tree, she is just beginning her decorating!

Please hop along with us and leave a comment for your chance to win one of two prize packs!

Denise Sayers

Lori Simonson

Sharon Edwards

Amber Sheaves

Kim Chong

Angela Bode - That's Me!

MariLynn DeGroot  

Amanda Rhodes

Paula McClane

Amanda Garrett

Crystal O. Minkler

Thanks so much Unity Stamp Co. for inviting me to be a GIU girl and for offering such a fun hop with prizes on my BIRTHDAY!

The Greatest Gift and a Sketch

 

Cathy has created the beautiful SC674 sketch for us this week over at Splitcoaststampers.  

I used this sweet Christmas image from Unity Stamp Co. as my focal point and added the pretty green designer paper layer from Gina K Designs.  The image is Greatest Gift is Baby Jesus from Unity Stamp Co.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Behold Him

I have fallen in love with plaid!   I framed this beautiful sentiment from the Joyful Song stamp set by The Project Bin with a stitched framed die cut and some "greenery" beneath.

Joyful Song

CardMaker Magazine and The Project Bin Hop

Welcome to the CardMaker Magazine and The Project Bin December Blog Hop!  You should have come by way of JeanetteCloyd's blog.  If you would like to start at the beginning of the hop head on over to the CardMaker Magazine   blog for a list of all the stops! 

For my card,  I die cut a star then tapped the star in VersaMark ink and used it like a stamp on the watercolor paper.  I then heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  Next, I stamped the sentiment from Luke 2 with VersaMark ink, sprinkled white embossing powder on the sentiment and heat set it.  I watercolored with Distress inks and blotted some of the watery ink around the star with a damp cloth.  When I was satisfied with my night sky, I let it dry then splattered the piece with white ink.

Your next stop on the hop is Diana Carr's blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Luke 2

Sketch Challenge Wednesday

Allison at Splitcoaststampers has given us another beautiful sketch this week.  I love her SC673 design and wanted to follow it as closely as possible but I don't have a long skinny oval so I played around with what I do have.  To recreate the idea of the long skinny oval in the sketch I took a piece of cardstock longer than my black circle and rounded the edges then I layered the ovals.  

The sentiment takes me down memory lane as it was released in 2013 when I was on my first design team.  Sadly MFP has since closed its store. 

Come join us at Splitcoaststampers where all are welcome to share art!

Thanks for stopping by!

Junk Mail to Treasure with The Project Bin

My great-grandmother was a wonderful storyteller.  All of us kids would sit on her extra long porch swing and listen to her tell us stories.  The story that I have never forgotten was about a very poor young man who loved to paint but he didn't have any money for supplies.  My memory is a bit blurry but I believe he took pet hair and wrapped it around a brush and he painted with it.  He became a famous painter.  I LOVED that story.  Although the details have faded with time the moral of the story has always stuck with me: 

It's not about what you have, it's about what you do with what you have. Never give up! 

For this card, I didn't have to wrap fur or hair around a brush to paint the background but I did use a piece of trash in the making of this card.  For all the fun details hop on over to The Project Bin Blog and check out my step by step tutorial!!!  

The sentiment featured today is from the Luke 2 stamp set by The Project Bin.

Thanks so very much for stopping by today!   

Luke 2

Sending Comfort

Allison has a pretty new sketch for the SC672 challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week.  I thought this mug of cocoa from Unity Stamp Co's Kit of the Month Club - When You Smile fit the sketch perfectly.  The sketch includes a layer that works well for a sentiment with a small font.  I chose the sentiment from Bowl-full of Comfort and masked off the "by the bowl-full" since I am featuring a mug of cocoa.  Splitcoaststampers is a wonderful community site with daily challenges, tutorials, personal galleries to share your work and much more.  It's free for everyone so won't you join us?

Joyful Song and a Double Bow

Hello!  Today I am sharing this pretty sentiment from the Joyful Song stamp set by The Project Bin. This sentiment looks lovely framed in a circle.  Again this week I used a cute bow die but this time I layered the smaller bow on top of the larger one.  

Are you all set to mail out your Christmas cards or are you like me and still have quite a few yet to create?  The project Bin has three fabulous Christmas sentiment sets to help you finish your Christmas cards for this year or get a head start on next year!    

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Joyful Song

Musings and a Sketch

It's Sketch challenge day at Splitcoaststampers today!  

Carey is our designer of SC671 this week.  It's a super cool sketch which made me think of the galaxy technique I have been experimenting with lately.

I rescued this card from the trash after my first design idea looked awful.  A friend I have made through an online game encouraged me so much that I looked at the card with fresh eyes.  I kept the galaxy sky but die cut a fresh moon, and in place of a stamped image, I added Stormy Cat.  I think she is pondering a season of joy instead of a season of hustle and bustle!

Share joy, say something encouraging to someone you encounter today!!!

*** Sentiment is from grab bag prize I received from Unity Stamp Co. 

Alcohol Inks, The Project Bin and Tutorial Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago I created a faux copper card inspired by Lydia's Stone Cold Twisted challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  It was so much fun that I thought I would revisit the original technique with alcohol inks and silver mixative for a Christmas card!

To create this fancy Christmas ornament a special ornament die is NOT required, a simple circle die is all you need!  I used a bow die for my ornament topper but a ribbon bow would work too.  My ornament "hanger" is a balloon string die cut but again, a ribbon will do the trick or thin strip of cardstock.  For all the fine details head on over to The Project Bin Blog and check out the step-by-step instructions in the PDF file!

The elegant scripture stamp can be found in the Luke 2 stamp set by The Project Bin!

Luke 2

Thanks so much for stopping by!

A sketch and a little distress magic

This week's sketch at Splitcoaststameprs is up!  Diane has created this beautiful layout for the SC670 challenge.  There are so many different ways to go with this sketch but I have been experimenting with the galaxy technique this past week so I decided to create a Christmas sky.  

I taped mixed media paper to a wooden cutting board so it would not bend and buckle once I added water.  After I painted water on the entire piece, I stamped Distress inks, Picked Raspberry, Seedless, Preserves and Blueprint Sketch on a kraft mat then I picked up the ink with a paintbrush.  I dried the paper with a heat tool and repeated painting until I was satisfied with the look.  To finish off my winter sky, I sponged black on the upper portion of the sky and splattered with white ink.

The sentiment is  Star of Wonder from Verve.  It might be a retired set as I couldn't locate it in the shop but Verve stamps are gorgeous so check them out!

I hope you will join us at Splitcoaststampers where every day a new challenge awaits, a stamping challenge that is!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Stone Cold Change

I love art techniques that make me feel like I am a mad scientist or a magician!  I just love taking a piece of plain white paper and transforming it into beautiful color!  For this card, I took glossy white cardstock and transformed it into faux copper with the help from Lydia at Splitcoaststampers.

Lydia has a new technique twist on an old favorite which she shared for the  TL663 challenge.   She also said we would get "bonus points"(simply a fun way to add a little something extra to a challenge) for creating a Fall card so I turned to this gorgeous sentiment from the New Leaf stamp set from The Project Bin.  

To create the background, I used a soft disposable cloth, (cotton balls would have been great but I couldn't find any) and added rubbing alcohol to it.  Then I added drops of reinker, next I spritzed with Mustard Color Shine spray and finally I pounced copper Perfect Pearls onto glossy cardstock.

I buffed it until I had the pattern I was looking for.  The end result IRL is a piece that looks like copper!  I tried to capture some of its shine pictured below.

Thanks for looking! I hope you are inspired to take an old technique out, dust it off and give it new life with a spin!  

New Leaf

Mistletoe kisses and a sketch

Growing In Unity Winners are posted please check out this post and leave a comment with your address so we can get your prize to you!!!

Hello!  It's Wednesday and that means sketch day at Splitcoaststampers!

Cathy created a beautiful sketch for us this week with SC669. The circular focal point is ideal for Birdies, Hugs & Mistletoe by Unity Stamp Co.

With the sketch provided for me and such a cute image to color,

this card came together in no time!

Stop by and check out this week's sketch challenge at SCS!

SC669

Public Service Announcement

Hello All!!  Today I have a Public Service Announcement Card.  As tonight many of you will be out trick or treating with kids or grandkids or even just passing out the candy, it's very important to know what to watch out for!

Since tonight you will see more than the normal bit of unusual, I decided to be helpful and create a zombie spotter with Creepy Halloween and New Leaf stamp sets by The Project Bin.  Just keep this handy dandy photo on your phone and that way you can refer to it tonight.  You really don't want to get too close to a zombie!

How would you like a step-by-step tutorial so you can create your own zombie spotter cards for next year, or maybe you would like to duplicate the background for Fall or Winter card?   Head on over to The Project Bin for a free PDF Tutorial.

Creepy Halloween

New Leaf

No Tricks Just Treats - GUI Winner, Recycling, & CAS

Happy Monday!  For two lucky winners, it truly is a HAPPY Monday!

I have checked my list, and checked it again, then ran it through random.org and now it's just time to congratulate the winners but before I do here's a little bit about this card....

After selecting my winners I realized I needed a fun photo to celebrate so that meant I needed to create a quick card!   I checked SCS for today's challenges and the Falliday Fest challenges (I do hope to get a few more cards in for the event!) and found that the CAS452 is a Halloween theme so I picked up Hallow's Eve Kitty from Unity Stamp Co and checked to see which Falliday Fest Challenges I had not done yet.  I selected FF17ForestRanger - find something to recycle.  It only took a second to find my recycle material stashed on top of my box of crafty recycling pieces.  In the spring Janine and her husband visited us from England, how cool is that?  Not only did we get to meet this super sweet couple but they brought presents too!  The background framing is a piece of the wrapping paper I couldn't part with.  

Ok, so have I tortured you long enough with my wordy description of this card? 

Without further ado

CherylQuilts

and

Sandy Clinton

You are my lucky winners!  Please leave me a comment with your email address so I can get your mailing information. (comment moderation is on so your email address will not be made public)

The Project Bin's Just Poppin and a Card Drive

Hello and happy weekend!

Today I am sharing a fun card featuring the Just Poppin' stamp and die set, from The Project Bin.

I stamped the popcorn bucket directly on the stitched layer then stamped, colored and die cut the popcorn layer.  I glued down the lower portion of the popcorn but popped up the top for a bit of dimension.  The sentiment was die cut with the oval die that comes with this set and then popped up.

Today is the last day of Falliday Fest Challenges at Splitcoaststampers but we have two more weeks to complete the challenges!  This is a fun event with several components:  30 challenges,  10 tutorials, and 4 card drives.  I will be sending this along with several from my stash to the 4th destination:             The Community Violence Intervention Center.

The Community Violence Intervention Center is a nonprofit organization on Grand Forks, ND that assists victims of violence and promotes safety, peace, and respect for all individuals. They offer a shelter for victims who are fleeing domestic and sexual violence, safe exchange programs for children from violent homes, and free counseling services, among other services.

The Falliday Fest event is open to everyone so just click the Falliday Fest link above and join the fun and the awesome card drive causes! (and if you don't wish to play the event but want to send cards to the worthy causes that's all good too you can find them listed HERE!) 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to mail out a little hope and cheer!!!

Here's another look at the yummy stamp and die set: 

Just Poppin'.