Donna Downey Stamps by Unity

I love the stamps by Donna Downey from Unity Stamp Company! She has some beautiful kits.

The kit I used here is called Imagine It. It has lovely flourishes, sentiments, and the beautiful tree. I was inspired by the Unity Stamp Co. challenge using these colors:

I have not entered their challenge for about 1 1/2 years while I was a demo. But since my time is up doing that, I am more than happy to join in again. The sentiment comes from the Itty Bitty set Hello My Friend, and is layered with various punch shapes.

Thanks so much for visiting, and let me know you were here by leaving a comment ;)

Supplies Used:

Unity Stamp Co. Imagine It, Hello My Friend stamp sets

Stampin Up ink colors in Lucky Limeade, Raspberry Ripple, Tip Top Taupe, Not Quite Navy

Stampin Up card stock in Very Vanilla and Real Red, Old Olive, Raspberry Ripple

Stampin Up Linen Thread, decorative label, 1 1/2" circle, label bracket punches

Wedding Card

We went to a wedding this Saturday, and this is the card I made for the Bride and Groom.

I punched a bunch of branches from the bird builder punch to create the vine. The punched butterflies are vellum, as well as the sentiment banner which comes from the Occasional Brackets set from My Sentiments Exactly. A piece of vellum was also used as the backing, and I covered the glue dots with larger pearls. A pretty very vanilla satin bow finished it off.

I fancied up the inside as well as the envelope, but didn't take photos of that. Here is a pic of the three of us all ready to go to the wedding. We never get dressed up together, so I had to take a picture :)

Thank you for visiting today!!

Dye Ink Watercolor

I'm sharing the same Joy Clair image that I used on yesterday's card, but with a completely different look.

This image is from the Hugs and Smiles stamp set, and includes the fun font sentiment. There are lots of words in this set to mix and match.

This time I stamped it onto watercolor paper, and used dye inks to color the flowers, and a very light background. Once it was dry, I thought it needed something else, so I added some Elizabeth Crafts micro fine glitter to some of the flowers.

Quick post today, as I've got to get ready for a long day at work. There's a street fair going on here, so we'll be off tonight for some fun.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Punctuation Day!

Apparently, today is National Punctuation Day! Who knew?!! lol Today's ways to use it challenge at Splitcoast Stampers is to use any type of punctuation on your project.

I chose to use my older Sizzix Boxed Brush alphabet sizzlits for a simple Hi! I love the giant exclamation point, and thought it was fitting for the challenge.

The flower image is from my other new Joy Clair stamp set called Hugs and Smiles. I stamped it twice, then heat embossed it in gold. A very simple design, with a touch of whimsy from the font of the letters.

That's all for me today, thanks for visiting!!

You're Amazing

Following along with a sketch today at Splitcoast Stampers.

I broke out my Spellbinders nested birds die that hasn't been used in forever!! The wing comes from the bird builder punch, and fits it pretty good. The clouds are also punched using the build a tree.

I wanted a subtle background, so I used the Flowering Flourishes stamp set, and inked it with Hero Arts white dye ink. This ink takes some getting used to for me!! As it dries, the color becomes more visible. But at first it seems like it won't show up. Of course on darker card stock it would show up a lot more. But it works perfect for that soft look.

The sentiment comes from a Simon Says Stamp set called Flower Friends, I love it's font.

Well, my spirits are back up. Can't be sad for too long, luckily I have a strong will. And even though my laptop isn't working, I'm using my old desktop computer now. It's not quite as fast, but grateful it still works!! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit! Have a creative day!!

Digital Stamps

Since my laptop is still doa, I fired up my old computer yesterday. Plus, all my digital images are on there, and I've been wanting to print some off. So I chose 4 images, and got to coloring with different mediums.

This image is from The Stamping Boutique, and is called Watering Girl. She's colored with alcohol markers, which I am very out of practice! And I do not have any flesh tone markers, so her skin is done with a watercolor pencil and blender pen. I think I will have to invest in a flesh tone set, the pencil is just not smooth enough for me!!

Since I still had my Creative Memories cutting system out, I used this rounded diamond shape to cut her out. Backed with an embossing panel, banner punch outs, and a sentiment from my new Joy Clair set, that is punched and layered.

Since my time as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is coming close to an end, I want to enter this card into the current The Stamping Boutique challenge, which is to use banners.

Thanks for stopping by today, happy crafting!!

Paisley Birthday

I was suppose to put myself on a shopping hold, and not buy stamps for awhile, but I found this brand new stamp company called Joy Clair and fell for this beautiful stamp set called Paisley Bouquet.

I don't have any other stamps like this, so I didn't feel guilty buying it! :) I stamped this image with black memento ink onto whisper white card stock from Stampin Up. This card stock works wonderfully with alcohol markers, which is what I used to color this with.

Some retired Blendabilitites, and Promarkers were used. I followed the same colors that came on the package of stamps. I think it looks quite pretty.

I don't have a fancy label die of any kind. So I decided to cut this out using my Creative Memories cutting system. For the outside frame, I made my own.

I traced around the oval with a pencil, then using another flower image from this set, stamped all around it just overlapping a little each time.

Then I fussy cut all around it, and it made a pretty backing for my main image. The sentiment I stamped and punched, then sponged the edges a bit. My Mom's birthday is today, so I will give her this.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a creative day!!

Pam

Copper Flower

Today I was inspired by the Try It On Tuesday challenge to use metal.

This is a faux metal flower that I've made, I hope that's alright for the challenge. 

I punched the flowers using pool party card stock, then distressed embossed them with copper powder. I love the look of patina on copper.

I left the card very plain to show off the flower. A stamped stem and sentiment, and a little twine.

I'm getting used to using my tablet for posting here. A little trial and error :) 

Pam

Autumn Shaker Card

Today I have made a shaker card following the sketch at Splitcoast Stampers.

To make the shaker I used the 1 3/4" and 2" punches, along with the shaker frames foam. I filled it with some pretty sequins that I've had for quite some time. The sentiment comes from a JustRite stamp set that I added some embellishments to.

The top part was die cut with an oval framelit, then I stitched both pieces together on my sewing machine. This also fits the CAS on Sunday theme, use real stitching. It's stretching the cas theme a bit, but I'll enter anyway :)

Thank you for stopping by!

Pam

Thanksgiving Wreath

The color challenge today at Splitcoast Stampers is crushed curry, garden green, pumpkin pie, and cherry cobbler.

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I did the ghosting technique on this. Haven't tried it before. You clear emboss onto pattern paper, then sponge a darker color over it.

The doily image is from a Mama Elephant set, and I turned it into wreath by adding punched leaves and bow. The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

Thank you for stopping in!!

Pam

Simple Things

The card I'm sharing today I made for the CAS challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.

The CAS theme is to use a pumpkin. Mine is a Sizzix die cut that I added some vining leaves to from the Bird Builder punch.

I distressed the edges of the water color paper, added a little color for the ground and used my color spritzer for the splats.

The sentiment is from an older Stampin Up set, and is so me. I find happiness in the simplest of things, and some people just don't get that.

My emotions are on the upside. Well, getting there anyway. It takes me awhile to get over such hurtful words, especially when they come from someone close. Thank you all for the kind words you left the other day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Birthday For A Friend

I made this card for my friend at work. Her Birthday is today.

I've used a Simon Says Stamp stamp set. It has all these different flowers that I used various colors of ink on.

It's been a stressful week for me. Still not myself yet, but stamping and creating helps ease all the troubles. And I like that.

I'm forced to blog on my tablet, which works fine. Just miss the large screen of my laptop!

Thank you for visiting today, and have a pleasent weekend.
Pam

Autumn Bigz Die

Today I used the versatile autumn bigz die, which is now retired. I love the leaves on this, they are perfectly sized.

I made this to play along with today's sketch challenge here.http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/card-sketches-f41/sketch-challenge-557-%7B9-10-15%7D-t602887.html

My laptop isn't wanting to work today, so I'm using my android. Very different, and small!! But at least I'm still able to post!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Pam

Pumpkins and Gourds

It's that time of year when we'll start to see all the pumpkins and gourds for sale at all the stores and farmer's markets. I've chosen this image from a Just Rite Stampers set. One that is my 'Fall Only' stash! :)

I've colored it with Pro Markers, and a few Blendabilities, then die cut it and the frame with ovals. I inked the dictionary background stamp with white craft ink. It gives a softer, subtle look. Then I did something that I haven't done in ages, stitching!! I stitched all around the card with my sewing machine. I really had to dig for that thread too!! :)

I finished it off by adding some punched leaves, and a sentiment from the Sheltering tree set. All ready to go into the mail!!

Thanks for visiting today!!
Pam

Using What I Have

Happy Labor Day! Today is the last day of my vacation, then it's back to work. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have made a few changes to my crafting ways. I get so overwhelmed with all of the stamps, dies, papers, embellishments and etc. that sit before me.

Since the Autumn season is upon us, I have taken away ALL the supplies that do not have a Fall theme. Like anything with flowers, spring/summer colors and the like. This way I will use the stamps and papers that get lost in everything else. Then when winter is near, I will get those supplies out, and so on.

This is what I made yesterday after my week of not stamping. These retired papers are so cute with the corn and leaves in all the right colors for Fall. I did a bit of collage stamping on the main panel. I did keep a lot of my background stamps out to use, like the splattered dots from the Gorgeous Grunge set.

The sentiment comes from the same set as the collage stamping, For All Things. I trimmed the edges with my pinking shears. My favorite embellishment, twine, was added, along with a gold button.

I'm excited with my new way of seeing my supplies. It will get me to really use what I have, without thinking I need to buy more. I'm sure I'll be saying 'I forgot I had that' many times!! lol

Thank you for stopping by today!!
Pam

Kitchen Update

I have lots of pictures to share of my kitchen update! I am so happy with the way it looks. I'm glad I took the time to make it look nicer. I'll start by showing the before pics.

This is what the ceiling started off like. A drop ceiling, then square tiles that were stapled to the ceiling.

Here is the wood porch ceiling I found under all those tiles.

Before and after pics of the top cupboards. In the second pic above, you can see there was a false front above the cupboards. I love the large space above them now. I have some of my old things up there. We also added some crown molding to the ceiling. I did do the bottom cupboards as well, but didn't take pics!! There were 32 cupboards to paint! Whew!! :)

This is part of the original outside wall. I thought I took a pic of it after I painted it and put the trim back up, but I guess not!! I love having part of it showing along with the wood ceiling.

These last pictures are of the ceiling after being painted, and the light fixtures. The ceiling fan is the same one that was up before, but my husband spray painted it for me, and I painted the paddles the same seafoam green as the walls. I did not paint the walls again. I painted it this color a few years ago, and I really like it! The light fixture above the sink is new. It's a track light, but is sleek enough, and doesn't look too modern in my rustic/shabby chic kitchen. And it's much brighter now, which I love!!

So that's what I've been up to all last week. I didn't craft at all. I did all this work myself, except hanging the lights and wood trim. So by evening time, all I wanted to do was relax! :)

I did spend some time in my craft room today, and have decided on a few changes that I will share later. Thanks so much for stopping by, and let me know what you think of my kitchen! :)