Light and Airy Birthday Card

When I saw the current Tuesday Trigger inspiration photo (Sweet Dreams) over in the Moxie Fab World, I was struck by how light and airy the pictured bedroom was. I thought it would be fun to try to translate that feel into a birthday card (since I am running low on birthday cards in my stash).

Here's my card

and here's the photo that inspired it.

I used background stamps, heat-embossed in white, from three different companies: Sweet Lace from Market Street Stamps, Gingham Background from DeNami Design, and Quatrefoil Background from Unity Stamp Company. I thought these designs were good matches for the patterns on the bedspread, bench, and rug. I took my colors for this card from these items, too. The sentiment is from Unity's How YOU Doin' set, and the resin flower is from Stampin' Up!

I really enjoyed the creative process involved in making this card, and I am quite satisfied with how it turned out. I'm also happy to have a Unity creation to share with my Friends With Flair today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Emily

From the Heart

Greetings and salutations, my friends! Today I am sharing a little Valentine's Day card that I cooked up for this month's Flourishes release week challenge. The theme is Love Letters.

I went with a pink and red "love colors" palette and focused on a sweet little sentiment that says "from the heart."


I used two Flourishes stamp sets: the retired Spring Botanicals (I used the bleeding heart silhouette to stamp my background and embossed as my focal image) and Tiny Flowers and Tags.

It's a busy week for us here on Bliss Road. The kids have lots going on after school this week. Our son just started two different after-school enrichment classes. One is Lego Robotics and the other is a cool course called Get Smarter, a look at how our minds make sense (and nonsense) of our world. Both courses  last for an hour, once per week, for six weeks and are taught by teachers at his school. He is so pumped to be taking them! And I'm happy that he can take advantage of these without my having to provide additional carting around. I show up to fetch him after school like normal, except a little over an hour later. A win-win all around! It's nice for him to have a little something extra to do during these dark winter months.

Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss for today!
Emily

thanks*giving

Happy TGIF, friends! I'm slowly closing in on my Thanksgiving card quota. Woo-hoo! Just in time to start jotting notes and stuffing envelopes next week so the cards arrive in time. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is now less than two weeks away!

Because Friday is Friends With Flair day over on the Unity blog, I pulled out lots of Unity goodness to put together today's card. And, without further ado, here it is!

Want a Unity accounting? Let's see . . . I've got leaves and berries from two {ippity} sets:  Where You Should Be (which is on sale right now!!) and The Simple Things. Words from Thank You Words (kinda makes sense, right?). And the background is the supremely elegant Quatrefoil Background.

Challenges have been my m.o. this week, so here's what inspired me:

• I took my layout from one of the two sketches featured over at Chick Challenges with Ippity this week.
  
• I took my color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge: Cherry Cobbler, Kraft, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and White.
  
• Do You Stack Up? use a Leaves/Trees theme
• The Kraft Journal Challenge: Happy Harvest 

On Monday my kids will have the day off from school for Veterans Day, but sadly, my hubby does not. I'm sure we'll find something fun to occupy us on Monday. But in the meantime, the whole family needs to tackle the leaf raking. With the crazy weather and our crazy schedules, we haven't had any time to devote to this huge task yet!! Hurricane Sandy and Winter Storm Athena managed to knock down most of the leaves (all except the oak leaves, which will hang on for dear life until March and then drop once the grass starts turning green. What's up with that anyway?), so hopefully we'll only have to do this once. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of bliss! Have a great weekend!
Emily

It doesn't suck to be Friday

(This is my second post for today.

Be sure to scroll down to check out my 

Bazzill Basics Paper GIVEAWAY in this post.)

Hello, friends, and Happy Friday! I needed to make a few birthday cards and got stuck on what direction to take. What's a gal to do? Dive into some challenges for direction, of course! This is what I ended up with, making two copies of this same design.

I used the {ippity} Itty Bitty Sucks to Get Old and a rick-rack stamp from Unity's Homemade 6-Bean Soup kit. I stamped and heat embossed the lollipop head on watercolor paper so I could paint the image in just the right colors. Then I paper-pieced that portion, as well as the bow.

These are the challenges that helped my card take shape:

• I took my layout from one of the two sketches featured over at Chick Challenges with Ippity this week, taking a CAS tack with it by doing all the layers in white.
  
• I took my color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge: Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, and White.
  
• I took the theme of my creation from this week's CASology challenge cue.
  

And finally, because it's FRIDAY and I'm showing off my {ippity}/Unity stamps, I'm linking up with Friends With Flair over on the Unity blog.

Well, it's been a busy morning, but it's time to take stock and move on. Can't wait to be inspired when I make my rounds on the Friends With Flair lineup. I hope that all of you have a fabulous weekend!!
Emily

Get Well Soon for FWF

Happy TGIF, everyone! Whew, it's been a busy week here, but I've been looking forward to linking up with Unity's Friends with Flair all week long. Last week was the first linkup I'd been able to do in a long, long time and I loved being back!

Today I'm sharing a card that I had published in the July issue of CARDS magazine. It was for a feature on using felt in a card design. My "twist" on this theme was to literally twist a thin scrap of ivory felt into a corkscrew ribbon. So easy! All I had to do then was tack it down to my card with two brads. Of course, my card used all (and only!) Unity stamps: the sentiment is from {ippity}'s Just Wanted to Say, and the flower and leaf are from {ippity}'s Now & Always. I paper-pieced that gorgeous flower using papers from Lily Bee's Picket Fence 6 x 6 pad, which I'd won as blog candy from my wonderful blog friend, Pam. Thanks, Pam!

Have any good plans for the weekend? My kids have an early release day today, so after a quick lunch here at home, we are heading out to spend some Kohl's Cash (my daughter needs new sneakers) and some CVS ExtraCare Bucks (I figure the kids can pick out some fun snacks or treats for themselves--why not? It won't be money out of my pocket, and it's a fun way to celebrate their half school day!). Then the kids are going to work on decorating their Halloween pumpkin. They have the cutest plans! I'll be sure to share photos soon so you can see how it turned out.

Other than that, I think it will be a quiet weekend at home just catching up on around-the-house stuff, homework, and relaxing. Although all this news about "Frankenstorm" may necessitate a bit of battening down the hatches!! I sure hope that a lot of what we're hearing is just hype. Fingers crossed!!

Thanks for dropping by to share a little slice of bliss with me today!
Emily

Another SYS project

Here's one more project for Day 3 of Stretch Your Stamps, which focused on alphabet stamps. (You can see my other project for Day 3 here.)

I had fun playing with the flower and leaf images in two new-to-me Unity stamp sets: Best Wishes & Blooms and You + Me = Bliss. The letters in "thanks" are from the {ippity} Alphabetically Adorable set.

I'm linking this up to today's Friends With Flair hop over on the Unity blog, Unity's Summertime challenge, and Kim Kesti's  Crafty Month challenge--to create a card that combines at least one new item and one item from your stash (at least one year old). My new items are my two brand-new Unity stamp sets and my old item has been in my stash for practically forever--the hot-pink border note card that I'm using as my card base. I picked that up on clearance at Target eons ago!

Thanks for looking!

Emily

Stamps: Alphabetically Adorable from {ippity} by Unity; Best Wishes & Blooms and You + Me = Bliss by Unity

Paper: PTI white CS, neon green CS from The Paper Company, pink-bordered note card base from Target

Ink: Habanero Versafine; SU pretty in pink, melon mambo; PTI Hawaiian Shores, Palette chartreuse

Accessories: Post-It notes

Techniques: masking

A Stretch Your Stamps Project

Just a quick post here to share a card I made for Day 3 of my Stretch Your Stamps class--alphabet stamps. Jennifer McGuire shared a masking technique, which I adapted for this card.

Can you see the scored frame on the white card base that I made to surround the stamped panel?

I'm entering this in Unity's June Challenge: Summertime.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Emily

Stamps: Alphabetically Adorable, Now & Always from {ippity} by Unity

Paper: PTI CS

Ink: SU pumpkin pie, pretty in pink, melon mambo

Accessories: scoring board, paper flower, pearl, Post-It notes

Techniques: scoring, masking

Sending My Love

* * * * *

Blog Candy Alert!

Be sure to check out my giveaway for

a multipack of Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock!

Click HERE for details.

* * * * * 

Happy Friday! And welcome, Friends With Flair hoppers! I'm joining in with FWF (check the Unity blog for a full list of today's participants) a little later than I like to, but I'm here nonetheless! Busy, busy day with work, work, work, but I rewarded myself with a little inky time this afternoon once I got through today's quota ;). Gotta have something to look forward to!

 

Today I've got a clean and simple and summery card to share with you.

I used a digital envelope template to make a little cardstock envelope that I decorated with summery butterflies and flowers from the How YOU Doin' {ippity} kit and A Bit of Burlap, another {ippity} stamp. The sentiment also comes from How You Doin'. I had to add some stitching along the edge of the envelope flap to help set it off from the rest of the {busy} envelope, and then added a machine-stitched border on the card base. I "sealed" the envelope with a square of foam tape for a bit of dimension.

 See those tiny hearts beside the sentiment? Those are bits of Martha Stewart heart-shaped confetti that I picked up on clearance after Valentine's Day. In real life, they are nice and shiny, but they didn't photograph very well. Sorry!

My colors were inspired by the current Get Hippity With Ippity challenge (#22):

My layout was inspired by this cool sketch from Chick Challenges #36:

I'm also playing along with the current Unity challenge (summertime) and the current {ippity} challenge (bright colors).

Well, it's homemade pizza night at our house! My hubby is spinning the dough for his secret-recipe pizza crust right now, so I've got to wrap this up. After supper we're all going to chill with some ice cream in front of the TV and watch Mythbusters with the kids. Fun! After three-straight days of hitting 97F here, we sure are looking forward to cooler temperatures over the weekend.

Have a great weekend, everyone! And thanks for dropping by,

Emily

Stamps: How YOU Doin', A Bit of Burlap from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Co.

Paper: gold CS from The Paper Company, white CS from Taylored Expressions

Ink: SU not quite navy, rose red, melon mambo; Versafine onyx black

Accessories: scoring board, sewing machine, Martha Stewart heart confetti, foam tape

Wherever You Go

I needed a card for some friends who are moving away. I had such a hard time deciding what kind of sentiment to use. Goodbye? Farewell? We'll miss you? Thanks for sharing your lives with us? Wishing you all the best? Don't go? I kept waffling. Nothing seemed quite right. So I started cruising through my {ippity} and Unity stamps sets, which can always be counted on for insightful quotes and sayings. I knew I'd found my "it" quote as soon as I opened up my Quotes a'la HAPPY set from {ippity}. Then it all came together!

This is perfect! It's just what I wanted to say. And inside I can write something like "thanks for sharing your sunshine with us these last 8 1/2 years. Wishing you all the best!" Yup, couldn't have said it better myself.

I finally got to put my Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock (see HERE for more) through my last tests for it: heat embossing and stitching. I give it high marks on both! I stamped the ric-rac element in red Versafine ink and then heat embossed it with red embossing powder. The cardstock did warp a bit from the heat, but nothing that couldn't be tamed with some edge stitching :). And I must admit that this cardstock holds up ever so nicely to machine stitching! The yummy colors I used on today's card are Peppermint, Banana Split, and Gumball. So fun! I can thoroughly recommend this new line of cardstock formulated specifically for card makers, and can't wait to give away a 56-sheet sample pack of it to one lucky My Little Slice of Bliss reader. Check back Thursday for my giveaway post!

I've been itching to play in a few challenges, but haven't had much time, so I crammed them all in here. This is for Chick Challenges #33, the new summer-themed Unity Challenge, the new "bright colors" {ippity} challenge, and Kim Kesti's Crafty Month challenge--to create a card that combines at least one new item and one item from your stash (at least one year old). My new item is my new Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock, and my old items are the buttons and black crochet thread from my stash.

Thanks so much for sharing a little slice of bliss with me today! And don't forget--my giveaway starts on Thursday, June 21.

See you soon!

Emily

Stamps:  Quotes a'la HAPPY from {ippity}, Homemade 6-Bean Soup from Unity

Paper:  Peppermint, Banana Split, Gumball cardstock from Bazzill Card Shoppe collection; PTI white

Ink:  Versafine black and red, Colorbox Frost White, SU So Saffron

Accessories:  red EP, heat tool, foam tape, American Crafts button (yellow), We R Memory Keepers buttons (red, blue), black crochet thread, sewing machine

Techniques:  machine stitching, paper piecing, heat embossing

Neckties for Dad on FWF day

Are you here for Friends With Flair? I'm so glad you stopped by!

The kids and I are gearing up to celebrate Dad on Sunday. They have plans to make him a pitcher of hand-squeezed lemonade, and we'll end one of his favorite home-cooked meals with a layer cake for him. I thought it would be fun to make a trio of cake toppers so the kids can decorate it up a little bit:

Go ahead and click on the photo for a better, up-close view!

These would also be fun decorations on cupcakes!

I used a bunch of {ippity} stamps: sentiments from The Best, ties from Authentic Man, background from A Bit of Burlap. I upcycled some natural tissue paper from somewhere to make pleated medallion backing for each topper. Otherwise these are pretty straightforward!

Don't forget to see the list of all of today's FWF participants over on the Unity blog. I'm also linking this up to a couple of Father's Day challenges: Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #173 and Papercraft Star's Challenge #101.

Thanks for checking out today's little slice of bliss!

Emily

Stamps: The Best, Authentic Man, A Bit of Burlap from {ippity} by Unity

Paper: Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Marina Mist cardstock from Stampin' Up!

Ink: Vintage Sepia Versafine

Accessories: circle punches, tissue paper, craft sticks

God's Love

This week just absolutely flew by, and here we are: another Friday! Huzzah!! (I was going to say "yee-haw," but that hardly seemed dialectically appropriate, given that my humble abode is located in New England, less than 20 miles from both blue-blooded Boston and Concord, Mass., the setting for the "shot heard 'round the world." After hearing tales of candle dipping, silhouette drawing, hornbook making, and Johnny cake cooking from my third-grader's Colonial Day festivities yesterday, this exclamation seemed far more suitable.)

Anywho, where were we? Ah, yes: FRIDAY! It's time, of course, for another Friends With Flair blog hop with Unity Stamp Co. fans. You can find a list of all of today's participants on the Unity blog.

Today I'm sharing a sympathy card.

 

I really like how this turned out. It's muted but not overtly sympathy-y or  too somber, and I like the modern look. I used two {ippity} sets to create this card: What Matters Most and Just Wanted to Say.

I'm also linking this up to the new {ippity} challenge to use red on a project.

Any plans for your weekend? My 13YO leaves after school for a Girl Scout camping trip all weekend, so hubby, the boy, and I are on our own for the most part. I think I have a To-Do list that's about a mile long and needs tackling, but I'm trying not to think too much about that right now! We're so excited that there's just one more week of school left. I only need to pack lunches four more times!!! I am so over the lunch-packing thing.

Have a fabulous weekend, whatever you plan to do!

Thanks for stopping by,

Emily

Stamps: What Matters Most, Just Wanted to Say from {ippity} by Unity Stamp Co.

Paper: PTI kraft, cream, and chartreuse; patterned paper by My Mind's Eye

Ink: Versafine vintage sepia

Accessories: red gel pen, corner rounder, SU hemp twine, foam tape

With Sympathy

Just a quick post to share a sympathy card I made this evening. I had many cards to send out this past week, and I completely depleted my sympathy card supply. Time to replenish!

This is definitely a straightforward, clean and simple card, as I always think sympathy cards should be. I used the new sketch from Chick Challenges {with Ippity}, rotated on its side:

I'm also entering this in the {ippity} challenge to stamp on designer paper and the Unity Challenge to use stripes.

Both of my patterned papers are digital papers. The floral digital paper is from the free Echoes of Asia digital collection by Jessica Sprague, and the striped digital paper is from the Brown Damask digital paper pack by Shery K. Designs (I recolored the pattern to match the floral paper). And I used only {ippity}/Unity stamps, as required by all of these challenges.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Emily

Stamps: Regal Greetings by {ippity}, All About Today by Unity

Cardstock:  Ripe Avocado, white by PTI

Patterned paper:  Echoes of Asia digital collection by Jessica Sprague, Brown Damask digital paper pack by Shery K. Designs

Ink: Spanish Moss Versafine, Deep Lagoon Versafine

Accessories: scoring board, sewing machine, border punch, foam tape

Mi Amor

OK, I'm on a roll! Two Friends With Flair hops in a row. Woo hoo! Yay for Friday! (You'll find a list of all of today's blog hop participants on the Unity blog.)

Just sharing a little card I made the {ippity} set Faith Blooms:

I had fun with the stitching :). The sentiment bit is a chipboard sticker from the We R Memory Keepers Fiesta collection.

I'm playing along with Get Hippity With Ippity #21, Flowers and Leaves.

I hope you have a super weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Emily

{ippity} for Easter and a GIU Winner!

(This is my second post of the day.
For my DeNami Challenge post, please scroll down or click here.)

Here's a little last Unity/{ippity} inspiration, an add-on to last week's Growing In Unity festivities here on my blog. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came by to check out my Unity creations. I had the best time last week and loved reading every last one of your generous comments. This was such a blast!

So this card was based on this week's Chick Challenges {with ippity} sketch, which looks like this.


I used {ippity}'s A Bit of Burlap and How YOU Doin' sets. Those sweet patterned bunnies were clipped from printouts of an adorable bunny digital paper from the Samantha Walker Cotton Tail Papers digital collection. I added a wee bit o' vintage rick-rack from my gramma's sewing basket. I cranked out several of these easy-to-make cards to complete my collection of Easter cards to mail out. Now I just need to get crackin' on the signing, addressing, and envelope-stuffing!

And now it's the moment you've all been waiting for: announcing my Growing In Unity winner from last week's GIU comments!

I used random.org to select a winner out of my 237 comments last week. The winning numbers was #102, corresponding to the seventh comment on Day 3. And the person who left that comment is:

Kary
Papercrafting & Travels

CONGRATULATIONS!! Kary, you have until noon EDT on April 4, 2012, to contact me and claim your prize. You'll find a link to my email address on my user profile page (look for the link on my sidebar just after the "About Me" section under my photo). Please let me know which two Unity Itty Bitty stamps you would like, as well as your snail mail address.

Thanks again to everyone who played along last week! Can't get enough Unity/{ippity} inspiration? Looking for some more Growing In Unity action? Be sure to visit this week's Growing In Unity gal, Angie Reece, at her blog {stampings of the shug} for lots more GIU fun!

Thanks for popping in!
Emily

PS I'm also entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

PPS I almost forgot! My friend Jessi is Guest Designer over at Scrapbooker's Paradise this week and I just had to play along in her honor! The challenge is to make a project inspired by this sweet photo.Got bunnies? Check! Congratulations, Jessi!

Growing In Unity ~ Day 5: A Birdie Happy Birthday

Well, this is it--the last day of my Growing In Unity week. Boo hoo. It went too quickly! I will leave comments open for the prize drawing (any two Unity Itty Bitty stamps of the winner's choosing) until Sunday night, April 1, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Remember that you can comment on any (or all!) of my Growing In Unity posts this week for a chance to win. I'll be back on Monday morning with a little more Unity/{ippity} goodness for your inspiration and a winner announcement.

I'm also very pleased to be featured today as Guest Designer over at Get Hippity With {Ippity}, a challenge blog highlighting {ippity} and Unity stamps. If you haven't played along with GHWI before, you should definitely check it out. There's a generous {ippity} prize for each challenge! The current challenge theme is Things With Wings. What a fun one! And I'm just delighted to be able to share my wing-y guest designer creation with you as my last GIU project as well as my Unity Friends With Flair project. It's been far too long since I've been able to play along with FWF!!

Let's take a peek:

Squeal! I just love that the lineup of sweet birdies from {ippity}'s Quotes a'la Happy kit are so much like the birdies in the My Mind's Eye patterned paper, from the Quite Contrary--Jack & Jill collection, that I used. I just had to color them, using my Prismacolor pencils, to match the patterned paper! The striped paper is also from the Jack & Jill collection. For those keeping score on my personal patterned paper challenge this week, that's my sixth different collection! I also used {ippity}'s How YOU Doin' kit for the happy birthday sentiment.

I think I may have some difficulty sending out this birthday card when it comes time, and I don't mean just because that big, fluffy bow will make for a challenging fit into an envelope!! I always make my cards with the intention of sending them out to family and friends, but I just love the way this one turned out and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to part with it. We'll see!

Thanks so much for stopping by this week to check out my Unity/{ippity} creations. I've had a blast--a week full of bliss, for sure. I've treasured each and every visit!!

Don't forget to come back on Monday to see who is the winner!
Have a great weekend,
Emily
PS I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

Growing In Unity ~ Day 3: Enjoy

(This is my second post of the day. For my DeNami Design Product Spotlight post,
please scroll down to my next post or click here.)

Welcome to Day 3 of my Growing In Unity week! Today's the day I'm being highlighted on the Unity blog, so if you just can't get enough of my smiling face {roll eyes}, you can swing by over there to check it out. In any case, be sure to comment on all of my Growing In Unity posts, Monday through Friday this week, to maximize your chances of being drawn as the random winner of two free Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

All righty, on to my Unity project of the day:

The star of the show is a wonderful Itty Bitty stamp from Unity: Tattered Roses by Iron Orchid Designs. I just love this stamp! I colored it with chalks, applied with foam applicators, to give this the look of a hand-tinted vintage photo and then sponged on distress ink around the edges for a more aged look. The sentiment is from the How YOU Doin' {ippity} kit. Anyway, I thought those tattered roses would be perfect for playing along with the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers. I'm also entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp.

I challenged myself to use patterned paper on each GIU project this week--a different paper collection each day! Today I'm adding the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found--Market Street 6 x 6 paper pad to my list of utilized collections. It's a beauty! Those peachy/coral and heather green tones are so pretty for spring. I do believe that all of my patterned paper collections this week will be from My Mind's Eye. How did that happen? Well, it just may have something to do with the fact that A.C. Moore stores (the brick and mortar versions) carry MME 6 x 6 pads for the regular price of $3.99, which makes them pretty cheap. But when I can get hold of a 50% off coupon (which is often the case), I can get one of these pads for the bargain-basement price of $1.99!! I know, right?? Anyway, that may have something to do with the fact that I now own 10 different MME 6 x 6 pads now ;).

Well, thanks so much for stopping by to see what's making my happy today on Bliss Road! I'll see you back here--same time, same station--again tomorrow.

Have a great day!
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 2: Beyond Happy For You

Welcome back to Day 2 of my Growing In Unity week! In case you are just tuning in, I'm being featured as this week's GIU gal over on the Unity Stamp Co. blog (you'll see my name all lit up in lights along the right sidebar) and that means that you get a chance at some free Unity rubber stamps. Be sure to comment on each of my GIU posts this week, Monday through Friday, and at the end of the week, I'll randomly draw a commenter to win two free Unity Itty Bitty stamps of her choice!! Sweet!!

And here now, without further ado, is my project of the day:




My design for this pocket card was inspired by this week's sketch over at Chick Challenges {with Ippity}.
And if you let Angie know that you are playing along with the sketch, she'll throw your name in the hat for some additional free {ippity} through her. So I'm definitely doing that as well! And as long as I'm mentioning challenges: I'm also playing along with the current {ippity} challenge: Flowers.

But I'm not done quite yet . . . my card has a secret!! And I'm sure you are just dying to be let in on it. So here it is: I designed the tag to be a stashing place for a gift card. Just flip it over, and there it is. :)


I used two {ippity} stamp kits for this card: Dots for Sure and The Best. And I continued making progress on the challenge to myself to use a different patterned paper collection each day this week. This time around I'm showcasing pretty prints from the Six by Six Vanity Fair collection by My Mind's Eye. Double-sided papers like these from MME make it easy to make beautiful folded circle flowers like the one I used on this pocket card. (You can find a great tutorial here.)

Whew! That was a long one. Are you still with me? Good! I'm so glad you stopped by to take a look at my Day 2 GIU project. I love how it turned out, and I hope you like it, too.

See you back here tomorrow for some more Unity goodness!
Have a great day,
Emily

Growing In Unity ~ Day 1: It's All About YOU

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I posted here on my blog last. I feel like I've been incredibly busy recently, but sitting here thinking things through, I can't quite figure out what exactly has been taking up so much of my time. All I know is that I've been away from my computer quite a lot! But, no matter. Now I'm making up for lost time, posting every day this week as the Growing In Unity gal. Each day I'll be sharing a brand-new creation featuring Unity and/or {ippity} stamps, and you, my dear readers, may comment for a chance to win some brand-new Unity rubber! At the end of the week, I'll be drawing a winner at random from the comments left on my GIU posts from Monday through Friday--feel free to comment each day. The winner gets to pick two Unity Itty Bitty stamps. Check out the vast selection here.

OK, now that we've covered the GIU week details, let's move on to today's card!

Ta-da! It's a window card :). Perfect for a guy, right? But fine for a gal, too. I'm envisioning this as a birthday card, with an inside message that reads "Happy Birthday to you," where the "you" is the same one that shows through the window. Squeal! My day was complete when I thought up that one :D. (And the window makes this card perfect for the March Unity Challenge, to make a card with an opening/flap/window of some sort.)

Here are the Unity stamps that inked their way into the spotlight on this card: {ippity} A Bit of Burlap background, All About Today (thanks, Glenda!!), and some random stamps ("you" on the inside and the ornamental flower bit there, too) from a Unity grab bag.

And now I have a little confession to make. As I brainstormed card ideas to showcase for my GIU week, I realized that I've been neglecting my beloved patterned papers over the past few months. For shame! And even more so because I've collected several lovely mini pads from My Mind's Eye recently, and most have sat untouched on my shelf. To rectify that situation, I've challenged myself to not only use patterned papers for each of my GIU creations this week, but to also use a different collection each day. Today's card features the My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy--True Blue 6x6 paper pad (which may be hard to find online but can still be found in brick & mortar A.C. Moore stores). Stay tuned for more fun patterned papers as my GIU week progresses!!

Playing with my stamps, inks, and papers again sure has made me happy! Thanks for dropping by to check out my latest creation.
See you tomorrow!
Emily

A Snowy Day and a Thank-You Note

Last winter we received over 80 inches of snow, and when we were hit with our first snowstorm of the 2011/2012 winter season in October, I figured we were really in for it this year. I couldn't have been more wrong. So far we've received a total of 10 inches of snow, and that included our freak snowfall in October. Now don't get me wrong--I'm really not complaining. It's been soooooooo nice not having to remove snow this year or worry about the kids managing snow boots and gear at school. There's been no ice to deal with on the steep path they walk to and from school. No mess, smooth travel, no last-minute cancellations . My life has been easy!

But on this last day of February, just when I thought we might make it through the winter without incident, we have a major snowstorm knocking on our door. Forecasters are saying we could get 8 to 12 inches out of it by the time it ends midday tomorrow. It's been snowing for over an hour and a half now, and it's starting to collect on the grass and trees. And I can't help but start feeling a little bit excited. Now, when I typed my first paragraph, I actually wrote "I haven't missed the snow this year," but I had to go back and take it out because really--deep down--I have missed the snow. There's just something about a good, gotta-hunker-down snowstorm that I really love. And so what if it temporarily suspends my easy winter? So what if in a few days it will become gray and dingy? Right now it's beautiful, and I love watching it pile up, just like in Katy and the Big Snow. :)

OK, switching gears now: I have a card to share. I'm constantly adding to (and then depleting!) my stash of musical thank you notes to send to guest musicians at our church. I took advantage of several challenges I've had on my list for this week to quickly put together this one:


The sentiment and fleur de lis come from {ippity}'s Regal Greetings stamp set, and I've ripped into my vintage hymnal for the panels of music. I've modeled my layout after this week's Chick Challenges {with Ippity} sketch, used a clean and simple style for the {ippity} CAS challenge, featured a music theme for the Get Hippity with Ippity Music Challenge, and used circles for the Paper Sundaes Circles Challenge. And it definitely qualifies for the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp!

Well, I'm off to enjoy watching the snow fall. I hope you are doing something you love to do in your little corner of the world today!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily