A creative journey

I haven't had any time to play in my art journal in months and I've been missing it terribly.  Last night I just had to escape and play so when the hubby got home I left him in charge of the kids and hightailed it down to my craft room (it's not like they've been sick all week or he's been working overtime or anything). Well, yeah, it's kinda like that.

 After playing around with my new Unity/Donna Downey stamp, some washi, stencils, and stippled ink I remembered there was a Tic Tac Toe challenge on the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog so I headed over there to see if this would qualify.  All I needed was some glitter so I added some gold glitter glue to the center of the flower!

Tic Tac Toe: I've got washi tape, glitter, stamps as well as a stencil, glitter, patterned paper.

It didn't quite look finished to me so I added a little bit of patterned paper confetti and my heart felt much more refreshed after the freedom to play in my art journal. It's amazing what a quick break and some crafting can do for your soul! Today it's back to wiping snotty noses, cleaning up throw-up and about a billion loads of laundry 'cause that's our exciting winter break!

Supplies used:
Unity Donna Downey stamp You Are Important (flower)
Tim Holtz stamp Stuff To Say (sentiment)
Studio Calico triangles mask
Dylusions spray (red)
Momento Ink (blue)
Washi tape
Chevron patterned paper
glitter glue

Aged to Perfection

It's Friday, it's Friends With Flair and it's a beautiful day (even if the weather isn't reflecting that)!
Some Unity stamps, watercolors, a stencil, and pastels and you've got a quick and easy birthday card for a friend!

P.S.  The same is true for chocolate wrappers, they should never be counted!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ahead!!!

Advent tags

I started a new tradition in our home this year, a book advent calendar. I gathered together all of our winter, Christmas and Holiday themed books and borrowed a few from the library as well and wrapped them up so the kids could open a book a day (often 2 books) each day in December to count down to Christmas. They are LOVING it!

Of course I used my Unity stamps to make the tags. :)  Thankfully I have quite the collection and it was easy to find lots of holiday themed stamps and different number sets from SMAK kits and Itty Bittys.

I will definitely be continuing this tradition each year. Even my 18 month old gets excited each evening to open the books and loves to sit and listen as well as browse through the books throughout the day.

Linking up to Unity's Friends With Flair today and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!

Best friend therapy

Every month I mean to play along with Unity's {be inspired} Challenge and this month I actually got a chance to!  I used the pretty colors from the challenge in some cards I made for a swap and used stamps from the newest Kit of the Month, Warmth of Winter.
                                    
Here is my card:

There is still lots of time to play along!