With lots and lots of love

I've got a cute card set to share today for the last Friends with Flair of 2011.  Wow, what an amazing year it's been!  I'm kinda sad to see it come to an end (time flies and my babies are growing too fast) but am excited for all of the changes and growth of a new year to come (my babies will turn 1 and 3 this year and I plan to savor every second of this new year and make the most of every moment!).

The project I want to share today is a set of notecards I made as a gift.  I've given cards away as gift sets before but they've been like me (pretty eclectic and random).  This is the first set of cards that I've made to look like a set.  It was pretty easy to put together aside from the time it took to cut out the sentiment label.  I used Brilliance shimmer inks on white cardstock and the result brings a simple kind of elegance to the set.

The sentiments and decorative squares are from Unity's A Noteworthy Occasion.  Surprisingly out of ALL of my Unity I couldn't find a stamp similar to what I had in mind for the background so the background stamps are old ones I had from Fancy Pants. 

Here is a closer look at a couple of the cards.

 I had a hard time finding a cute way to package them but I was finally able to clean up some packaging from an old box of store bought cards and I kept it simple by wrapping a ribbon around it and letting the card show through and adding a pretty tag.  The sentiment is from Unity's Just Be You set and the label is from A Noteworthy Occasion.  I got the inspiration for this card set from a Papercrafts mag special issue.

I am entering this into the Gift Wrapping Challenge on the Unity Blog.

I've had a great time playing along with Unity's Friends with Flair this year and it's been so much fun getting into the whole blog world and connecting with some fellow crafters and Unity Addicts out there.  Wishing you all a wonderful end to the year and a very HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!  May all of your resolutions and endeavors be fruitful.

Let's Do Lunch

Happy Friday and Friends with Flair to all of my crafty friends and followers out there!  I can't believe that Christmas is in 2 days, where did the time go!?!  I actually didn't have time at all to craft this week between baking, cleaning and a 9 month old who still wakes up 3 times a night.  Life is pretty good though and I really just made this card a few weeks back as more of a joke card to send to a friend but then ended up sending it after a rough couple of days.  One of our beloved ferrets died suddenly a week and a half ago and I was the one to rush him in to the emergency vet and was with him during his last moments.  It's hit me really hard and I've been less than in the Christmas spirit.  I still have to wrap presents, YIKES!  Guess that's what is on the agenda after the kids go to bed tonight.  :)

I love this cute little stamp from the November Kit of the Month.  I paired it with Crate Paper's Random collection and added some buttons and twine.  Head on over to the Unity blog to check out all of the other talented Unity creations today!  Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and whatever else you might be celebrating this weekend!

Season's Greetings Unity Style

OMG, it's Friday and that means Friends with Flair!!!  I've been getting so little sleep lately that I'm losing track of my days.
Quick post today cause now that I've got both kids napping that's all I want to do as well.

I colored the lanterns in with Copics and used some gold stickles and a sparkle gel pen to accent them.  To play along with Friends with Flair head on over to Unity Stamp Co's blog every Friday.  There are chances to win by playing along as well as commenting on all of the lovely Unity creations.  I was super excited to be a winner last week and just got a grab bag of awesome Unity stamps in the mail yesterday!!!  Best stamp company EVER!!!

And a partridge in a pear tree.

A few more relatively quick Christmas cards I made yesterday.  I tried a couple of different inks out here.  The one on the right was my first attempt and was done using a ivy colored Brilliance ink so it has a nice shimmer to it.  The card on the left I used two different shades of green brush marker.  I think I prefer the brighter colors of that one.  The tree stamp and embossing folder are a Hero Arts/Sizzix combination.  The sentiment is from an old Kit of the Month from Unity Stamp Co.  I used a Spellbinders die around the sentiment and popped it up.  Finished with twine and a sparkly red brad.

I'm going to enter this into Unity Stamp Co's Let it Snow monthly challenge.

We're all a little flaky snowman

A couple of quick Christmas cards, it's getting down to the wire now! 

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the snowman and Broken China distress ink to color.  The stamp is from Unity Stamp Co's Jolly Good Fun.  I used a spellbinders die around it and inked the edges.  Going to enter it into Unity's Let it Snow monthly challenge.

Believe in Miracles and Let your Heart Sing

It's finally Friday!!!  I've got a couple of cards to share today for Friends With Flair.  Be sure to stop by the Unity Stamp Co blog to see all of the other talented ladies and their great projects this week.  The first is another Christmas card, still plugging away at those.  Hoping to get them all finished this weekend and sent out on Monday.  That's the goal anyway!

Simple and quick card using kraft cardstock, October Afternoon PP, Unity's Believe In Miracles and brush markers to color the stamp.

The second card I wanted to share today is a quick card I made last night just to play with my new stamps and take a break from the Christmas cards and refresh.

The music note embossing folder is Tim Holtz and I sponged some Broken China T.H. Distress ink over it to add a touch of color.  The birds are from Unity's new itty bitty Love Birds.  The sentiment is from the May 2011 Kit of the Month.  Both are colored in with Copics.Wishing you all a weekend of miracles and song!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland Snowman

I just love snowmen, building them, making cards with them, just love em!
I made this card a few weeks ago and forgot to post it.  Got the inspiration from the design from a Paper Crafts mag and found this snowman in my stash of stamps that I thought would be perfect for it.

I embossed the snowman on cardstock and colored him in with pearlescent watercolor paints and then cut him out.  I used watermark ink to stamp various snowflakes on the Kraft card, used a white gel pen to draw around the border and then attached the snowman.  Can't wait for some serious snow this year so I can get outside and make some snowmen of my own.  So far all we've had here is a little dusting but we didn't let it go to waste, we went out and made some miniature snowmen!  My daughter loved throwing snowballs and helping with the snowmen!

My little guy wasn't so interested, he just wanted to nap.

Crayon Resist

A couple of weeks ago while trying to keep my toddler entertained I had an idea to try crayon resist painting with her.  I also thought that I could make a card or two at the kitchen table while she was busy.  That didn't happen by the way but I got my cards done later and she had a lot of fun coloring with white crayon on the images I had stamped for her and then painting them and herself too!

Here she is very intently painting...

And having even more fun painting herself!

I made this pretty patterned paper by stamping leaves (Stampendous) over and over onto white cardstock, coloring around the leaves with white crayon and then using Tim Holtz distress inks to sponge over the paper.  I was going to cut it up into smaller squares to use on cards but then it was so pretty I didn't want to cut it, ever have that problem with a paper!?!

I did manage to actually make a few cards using this technique as well.

Distress inks used: Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint and Fired Brick.  No clue who makes the pumpkin background stamp, it's a wood block stamp that I've had forever with no identifying marks on it.  The banner die is Spellbinders.  I really had fun with this technique but wow were my hands messy after sponging all of that ink on!

Oh, Christmas Tree

Tis the season for making Christmas cards and I've got one to share today for Friends with Flair.  Stop by the Unity blog to check out all of the crafty submissions and for a chance to win a prize!

The card I'm sharing today is a scene card that came together in my head much better than it did on paper.  I used A LOT of Unity stamps for this from lots of different sets.  First I stamped the bicycle (from One Precious Life) and masked it and stamped the snowflakes (Nov 2011 KOM) with Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.  I stamped the tree (Sept 2011 KOM) with 2 shades of green brush marker and cut out and wrapped some twine around and popped it up on the back of the bike.  The sentiment is from a Sept 08 KOM.  I used some funky glitter flakes to look like snow along the bikes path. 

I am entering this card in the Unity Let It Snow monthly challenge.  Wishing you all a happy and crafty weekend!  I know mine will be full of making LOTS more Christmas cards!