Unity Stamps Monthly Challenge -Circles

Hanging by a Thread?

 Unity's Monthly Challenge -Circles- this month it's circles, I used old Wild Asparagus paper, a button I had and Unity Stamps.  The images are from Unity's KOM of the month -April 2010 called Together we Bloom.  I also used the card sketch challenge for this week from Splitcoast Stampers . The image of the spools of thread are lifted up using popdots.



catching up

I must admit I am not a good blogger, it really isn't a matter of not having time to blog it's more a matter of just not doing it. I sit down and post a new card for one of the challenges on SplitCoast Stampers then spend too much time looking at all of the great cards people have posted in the gallery.  So I never get around to posting here on my blog.  If you have a chance spend some time there, the creativity and inspiration it will bring is terrific. Here are a couple of stamper's galleries I love.

Biggan's Gallery
hollerinastamps

Here are a few of my recent cards, using up stash that has accummulated over the years in my craft room.  Stamps are mostly Unity with a few Stampin Up. All paper including cardstock is old stash.  I am determined to not purchase anything new other than my KOM from Unity and adhesive until I have used every piece of patterned paper and cardstock I own.  We will talk about the 4 shoeboxes of rub-ons and countless stickers later.

More Unity Stamps

Sweet Things of Life.

 

Key to My Heart

Heart is embossed with silver embossing powder.

Old stash

Broke out this old stamp.  I love to color it with copics, it's large and covers a 5 by 7 area well. 

Unity Stamp Challenge Summer #2

Here is another card I made using June's KOM for the celebration of Summer.

Unity Stamp Challenge Summer

This month's challenge is Summer and June's KOM has several great stamps to use.  I paper pieced the bathing suit and towel.  You can't tell from the photo but they both have a bit of glitter on them.

Forever Friends

Lovely You

Simple card using old butterfly stamp I don't know the maker and a sentiment from Unity.  Butterfly stamped repeatedly in SU grey and cut out, folded and glued at spine.    

Paper Piecing Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

I paper pieced this card for the Paper Piecing Challenge in the Moxie Fab World using Basic Grey Lollipop for her coat and umbrella. Yes, I know it's old.  I'm trying to use up some of the stash that I have acquired over the years.  Plus, I love it.  I loved the bright colors and graphics, the flowered ones were my favorite.  The stamps are from Unity. It also fits in the Unity Hip Hop Sketch Challenge #46 for this week. 

Unity Stamp Company Challenge

Unity Stamp Company has a new monthly challenge.  It starts on the 15th of each month.  I am just now posting my first effort.  This month was hearts.  Which is appropriate since the challenge started on February 15th. 
I also used the Hip Hop Sketch #46 for the layout.  In the past I knew what I wanted to make when I found the time to do it.  Now that I have more time to go into the craft room I am finding I need the inspiration. 

The stamps are from Unity's KOM.  I love Unity's KOM.  It's the only monthly kit club I have ever joined.  I have never been impressed with the scrapbooking paper and embellishment KOMs most companies put out,  paper and color choice seems to personal to me, I was always afraid I wouldn't use enough of it to make it worthwhile.   But let me tell you, this Kit of the Month is a bargain for 26.00 I get a 8x11 sheet of big red deeply etched rubber love.  That's about what I would pay for a small set of 4-6 stamps from that home party stamp company March's KOM has 22 stamps.

I like the stamps vary in style, and design each month and include sentiments my options at the local craft stores even the big box ones are limited.   I have noticed that certain stamps from different months do go well together.  They are unmounted and used with an acrylic block like clear stamps, but the impression the red rubber makes is much better than when I used clear acrylic stamps.   

This week's cards

This card was made with a stamp I have had a long time.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it when I started,  I was just playing with my Copic markers and then cut it out with the Spellbinders.  It sat on my desk for about three days until my daughter came over and we were digging around in my older patterned papers planning her wedding album and I came across the piece of old Basic Grey.  I seemed to go perfect.  I think I am going to use more of my older stash in the coming days.

This stamp is from February's Unity KOM, I love it.  I had to ink it up the same day it arrived in the mailbox.  I have colored it several different ways, but again can't seem to decide what papers to use to turn them into cards.

Stamps are Unity KOM, paper is Paper Studio, markers are a mix of Copic and Sharpie.

Where did February go?

Why does February feel so much shorter than the other months?  It's only 3 days, but it feels like a week.  March seemed to arrive the week after Valentine's Day.  So what happened to February?

Things I did in February:

• Started using my treadmill daily- progress has been slow and steady. 
• Made cards and spent a large amount of time in my crafty room several days each week.  I have also cleaned and organized it several times only to clutter and disorganize it again.  For a long time, I blamed the clutter on not having adequate storage, since "the man who follows me around" refurished the whole room in wonderful Ikea storage units I must admit it is ME.  It's simply the way I work or rather play.  When I was little I dumped all my toys out of my toybox and onto the floor, too.
• Sat through Sanctum.  I followed "the man who follows me around" into the theater.  Did not enjoy it.  It's a movie about people being trapped underwater in caves, you know going in it will be poorly lit and everyone is going to all die but the kid, predictable.
• Went to two state parks and walked trails.  Not long ones, but they were enjoyable, the weather was nice and Spring like. 
• Went antiquing - didn't buy anything. It was more about the daytrip out of town then about acquiring things.  We had a nice trip to Hendersonville, just wandered around the shops and had lunch. I saw several cool things, including a china tea set just like one I got for Christmas when I was litte.  I kept asking myself,  "Do I want to dust this?  Where will I put it?"  I did not see any postcards, old photographs or other old paper I just had to bring home.  Postcards and stuff like that take up much less room, don't require dusting and can be used on craft projects.  Problem is I always have second thoughts about using them.  That's why I currently have over 600 postcards and a large rubbermaid storage bin full of vintage greeting cards from the 50's and 60's. 
• Sorted and organized those 600 postcards into photograph albums.  This is so I can actually begin to use them in projects.  Maybe if I can easily see what I have I will actually use it. 
• Failed to blog or post any crafty things at all! 

Gray is the New Black Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

These cards are the first ever time I used a challenge as inspiration. The challenge is from Moxie Fab World

 

The typewriter, alphabet and phrase are from Unity KOM and the cardstock is from Stampin Up.  I used a spellbinders label eight to cut a window in the cardstock and placed an old page from a book under with the "just my Type" stamp.  Markers are a mix of Sharpie & Copic.

This is an old stamp that I have had for years from PSX, the cardstock is all from Stampin Up, the markers are a mix of Copic, Stampin Up and Sharpie.