Unity Blog Hop 10.02.14!!!

It’s the second day of the month which means NEW kits at Unity! AND because it’s THURSDAY, there’s NEW releases, a SALE, and a Unity Blog Hop.

Let’s start hopping with some holiday card inspiration.

It’s just around the corner—literally. Don’t worry. Unity has lots of stamps to help you through this holiday card season.

Here’s a peek at four cards I put together in a matter of minutes. I used the NEW Kit of the Month with the NEW grab bags.

I enlisted my Silhouette Cameo to make the card bases, scallop borders, and print-and-cut the Digital Project Life cards that served as the basis for my designs. Then I added the magic of Unity stamps with very little embellishing--just some fussy cutting (using my Silhouette Cameo), pearls, bling, twine, and glossy accents here and there. These designs can easily be mass produced.

Below is a preview of this month’s Kit of the Month, Love & Joy for the Holidays. This is THE kit to have for the coming holiday season and for years to come. You can easily whip out some cards, holiday tags, ornaments, keepsakes, gifts—whatever your crafty heart desires to make.

Here’s a peek at the NEW grab bags that will compliment this kit PERFECTLY!

And maybe you’re just not yet ready for the Holiday Season that is rapidly approaching us NOW . . .

Unity has you covered there as well with a NEW set of phenomenal background stamps by Joslyn Nielson for ANY occasion.

I used one of the new background stamps on the above 5-x-7-inch canvas. I printed a digital background (Dreamy Photos 14 by Nancie Rowe-Janitz available at snapclicksupply.com) onto white tissue paper using my printer and adhered it to the canvas using Faber-Castell Gel Medium. Then I did a little fussy cutting (with my Silhouette Cameo) and adhered some pearls to the butterfly. This literally took me just minutes to do.

For the Faber-Castell Hop, I prepared a video showing you how I print on tissue paper at home and how to adhere it to canvas to use as your background. It’s easy-peasy.

Here’s another look at that video in case you missed it.

This is the same process I used to adhere the above background to the canvas.

Here’s a peek at the NEW background stamps by Joslyn Nielson. They are marvelous! You NEED these . . .

Also, if you haven’t seen how I use my Silhouette Cameo with the Pixscan mat to help me with my fussy cutting, here’s a video I prepared a little while back.

The magic of a Pixscan mat, a Silhouette Cameo, and Unity Stamps--Fussy Cutting!

WHAT does Unity have this week for two lucky Unity enthusiasts?!!!

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway (Unity sign not included). Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog:

http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

Good luck to you ALL!

Be sure you take advantage of Unity’s latest promotion by clicking the graphics below which are just like magical portals that will take you away to Unity Stamp Company where you can SHOP—SHOP--SHOP!

SALE STARTS AT NOON CENTRAL TIME

PLEASE share your lovely creations on Facebook with the Unity {show & tell) Facebook group. Lots of us check-in there daily (I check in several times daily—I’m addicted to inspiration).

Thank you all so much for hopping along with us and leaving positive comments. They are MUCH appreciated. If you ever have questions regarding my creative process or crafty items or tools that I use along the journey, PLEASE leave me your questions in the comments.

Click on the next picture below to be taken to the next blog in the hop for some Unity inspiration!

Unity Stamp of the Week #143: Warm & Cozy

For this week’s Unity Stamp of the Week, I stamped cute little cozy socks with the perfect sentiment this time of year to adorn cards, tags, scrapbook layouts, gift wrap--you name it.

This stamp set makes me want to put on some warm socks, grab a cup of hot tea, and relax with a warm blanket in front of a fire, a good movie, or read a book.

Above is a tag I put together inspired by the feelings I had for this week’s Unity Stamp-of-the-Week set.

By signing up to be a Stamp-of-the-Week member, you get an exclusive stamp delivered to your door EVERY WEEK for just $5.79 – that INCLUDES SHIPPING {$7.79 International}.

THEN, you can purchase ANY past Stamp of the Week for $4—THAT’S pretty cool!

Click HERE to sign up NOW!!

I hope you have a WARM & COZY week ahead!

Unity Blog Hop 08.21.14!

Welcome to this week’s hop!

Yep--It’s Thursday and that means another Unity Blog Hop with NEW RELEASES!

First up is a tag set I made using Artist Susan Weckesser’s NEW release this week at Unity.

These new images by Susan Weckesser are a stamper’s dream!

(Also used on the above tags are bits and pieces from “Journal Your Art Out” kits by Nancie Rowe Janitz.)

AND . . .

Also releasing this week is a FULL sheet of brand new Halloween stamps by Joslyn Nielson!

They’re BOO-tiful!

Now onto some cardmaking AND using your Project Life supplies!

On these next three cards, I used this month’s Kit of the Month, “Summer Collapsed into Fall”, with some Project Life cards (DIY Shop Value Kit from Digital Project Life) as backgrounds.

If it’s quick and easy you want, it doesn’t get any better than this--try combining Unity sentiments and images with your Project Life cards!

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway (Unity sign not included). Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog:http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

I TOLD you it was amazing!

Good luck to you ALL!

Be sure you take advantage of Unity’s latest promotion by clicking the graphic below which is just like a magical portal that will take you away to Unity Stamp Company where you can SHOP—SHOP--SHOP!

SALE STARTS AT NOON CENTRAL TIME

PLEASE share your lovely creations on Facebook with the Unity {show & tell) Facebook group. Lots of us check-in there daily (I check in several times daily—I’m addicted to inspiration).

Thank you all so much for hopping along with us and leaving positive comments. They are MUCH appreciated. If you ever have questions regarding my creative process or crafty items or tools that I use along the journey, PLEASE leave me your questions in the comments.

Click on the next picture below to be taken to the next blog in the hop for some Unity inspiration!

Unity Blog Hop 07.24.14!

Welcome to my spot on the hop!  Our summer is winding down and soon school will begin. How has your summer been rolling along?  I can’t believe how fast the time just flies by. We’ve really been enjoying these {lazy} weeks of Summer 2014.

This past July, me and my daughter, Brandi, got to see the greatest rock show this summer—KISS’s 40-Year Anniversary Tour with Def Leppard opening for them. I’m a fan of both bands, but I’ve been a fan of KISS since I was in the second grade. The tickets were my birthday present from Brandi earlier this year. What a SURPRISE! We couldn’t wait to go! She’s the best-est and we had a great time rocking the night away together. It was a blast seeing KISS for the first time AND it was Brandi’s first time, too.

I thought this layout would be the perfect reason to use this month’s SMAK kit which is full of BIG numbers as well as smaller numbers to use for anniversaries, birthdays, etc. The BIG 4 and 0 and “years” was used from the kit below on the layout above.

I also used the hashtag #WISHBIG from this month’s sentiment kit below.

Onto getting some more scrapping done . . . I couldn’t resist using the camera with a sentiment from this month’s KOM on this layout of Brandi and her buds goofing around during a road trip to Yosemite.  She really does give me many reasons to smile . . .

I also used the hashtag #theperfectday from the Hashtag Kit below. I’ve been using this kit A LOT lately.

Yes! A NEW AngieGIRL release!

Yep—here’s a new AngieGIRL!  Her name is Diana. She’s brilliant, strong, and confident. She’s perfect to celebrate our everyday heroines in all capacities. Heck, I just had a great time coloring Diana.

Here’s a peek at the NEW AngieGIRL release lineup—HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Angie!

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway (Unity sign not included).  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog: http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/

Good luck to you ALL! 

Be sure you take advantage of Unity’s latest promotion by clicking the graphic below which is just like a magical portal that will take you away to Unity Stamp Company where you can SHOP—SHOP--SHOP!

SALE STARTS AT NOON CENTRAL TIME

PLEASE share your lovely creations on Facebook with the Unity {show & tell) Facebook group. Lots of us check-in there daily (I check in several times daily—I’m addicted to inspiration).

Thank you all so much for hopping along with us and leaving positive comments. They are MUCH appreciated. If you ever have questions regarding my creative process or crafty items or tools that I use along the journey, PLEASE leave me your questions in the comments.

Click on the next picture below to be taken to the next blog in the hop for some Unity inspiration!

Unity Blog Hop 05.15.14!

This month is flying by! It’s almost summertime. Today in my neck of the woods, it’s forecasted to reach as high as 95 degrees! I’m not ready for that yet--I’m just not and don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that.

Today I’ve got some projects to share that I had the pleasure to put together recently using this month’s Kit of the Month, SMAK Kit, some Suzi Blu, and an ANGIEGirl!

Let’s start with a pillow!

A few years ago, I discovered a product (PhotoFabric) that allows one to assemble a scene or put together an image using your computer, print it using your home printer, and then use it as fabric to sew for use on pillows, bags, quilts, and a number of other sewable items. In order to use this technology with rubber stamps, you must make the rubber stamp a digital image. The way I do it with my stamp collection is I first stamp the image(s) onto white cardstock and then scan that piece into my computer using my scanner.  Once it’s in my computer, I can arrange the image(s) any way I like using Photoshop Elements. Then I print it onto Photofabric following their guidelines. It really is that simple. If you don’t own a scanner, stamp the images onto cardstock and then see if your local Staples print/copy center will scan them for you and save them to a jump drive, disk, etc. I think they can also email the images to you.

Pillows are an excellent beginner sewing project.  In fact, I often relate pillows in the sewing world to cards in the paper crafting industry.  You just arrange the scene however you want it, keep it simple, embellish or not—it’s up to you and your imagination. They make excellent gifts AND you can make a matching card to accompany your creation. If there’s some interest in this, please let me know below in the comments and I’ll see if I can put together a video showing how I accomplish this. Pillows are FUN and one of the most rewarding sewing projects around.

In the above pillow I used a sentiment and an image from this month’s Kit of the Month (link to KOM below) and Spring Flower Chic-Exclusive Stamp by Suzi Blu available at Unity Stamp Company.

(clicking on the image will take you to the product page at Unity)

Here are a couple of layouts for all of the animal lovers out there.  About five years ago, a couple of puppies from the same litter entered our lives and enchanted our family.  Their names are Dixie and Dottie.  If you’ve seen my latest video (StampTech Episode 2), you’ve met Dixie.  Well, this is Dottie, her sister.  They are both cuddlers and, with their small size, we call them our forever puppies. As soon as my butt hits the couch or bed, I’m owned by these two. This is a picture of me being owned (and loving it) by a pint-sized forever puppy named Dottie.

In this layout I used a sentiment (perfect friend) from the latest Kit of the Month, “Hey Girl”  with a stamped image (the stitches/stars) from the latest SMAK kit, “Day Dreaming” available at Unity Stamp Company.

(clicking on the images will take you to the product pages at Unity) Here’s another layout featuring my forever puppies, Dixie and Dottie, this time with an ANGIEGirl!  In this photo, my youngest daughter, Gwen, is enjoying some chicken tacos BUT Dottie is wanting Gwen to share these amazing tacos. What you may not notice at first, is where is Dixie in the photo?  Notice the bottom right corner of the photo and you’ll see her lying under Dottie, looking defeated. Her eyes say it all. This is one of my all-time favorite photos.(clicking on the image will take you to the product pages at Unity) Next up is a customized card I put together in Silhouette Studio using the balloon girl and quite a sassy, bold sentiment from this month’s Kit of the Month, “Hey Girl” (link to KOM above).Here’s another angle of the customized card, showing how the balloon girl swings out from the hinges.This image was watercolored using ArtRage 4 which is a stylish and easy-to-use painting software for your computer, iPad, iPhone, etc., with tools that feel just like the real thing. If you’re wanting to try your hand at water coloring and own an iPad, this might just be the software for you. It’s only $4.99. I use it with my PC and a Wacom tablet. I don’t have to buy/store watercolors, paper, etc., and there are a number of other intuitive tools included in the software. The software also comes with the ability to make images into stencils. It’s fun, trust me!  If there is enough interest in seeing how I use this software to watercolor, please let me know in the comments section below and I’ll put together a video.

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway.  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night by Karen Maldonado on the Unity blog.

Be sure you take advantage of Unity’s latest promotion by clicking the graphics below which are just like magical portals that will take you away to Unity Stamp Company where you can SHOP—SHOP--SHOP!

SALE STARTS AT NOON CENTRAL TIME

PLEASE share your lovely creations on Facebook with the Unity {show & tell) Facebook group. Lots of us check-in there daily (I check in several times daily—I’m addicted to inspiration). Click on the next picture below to be taken to the next design team member’s blog for some Unity inspiration. Have fun hoppin’!