Catching Up

Oh my... it has been much too long that I have posted here. We all get so busy with the every day, it is hard to slow down and look back at what you have been creating. 

I usually remember to post on Social Media, but never remember to post here all the wonderful things I have been creating so I am going to cheat a little and dump a bunch of pictures here to share with all of you.

First Up.... Tags!!!  Gosh I LOVE Tags!!  I know, I know, I make Greeting Cards, and yes, I love those too, but Tags are my favorite. They are quick, and they can serve multiple purposes. I use them as gift tags, book marks, heck sometimes I just hang them up as art work. The tags in the above picture were stamped using a Unity Stamp Company set on watercolor paper I inked using the Saran Wrap technique.  

Some more tags I have made using that saran wrap technique are below:

This tag above was made using Unity Stamp Company stamps.

https://www.unitystampco.com/be-the-best/

The tags above were made using Unity Stamp Company stamps.

https://www.unitystampco.com/a-summer-story-kom-5-16/

https://www.unitystampco.com/gina-and-me/

https://www.unitystampco.com/dreams-take-you/

The tags above were made using Unity Stamp Company stamps.

https://www.unitystampco.com/be-the-best/

https://www.unitystampco.com/badass-every-day/

https://www.unitystampco.com/dreams-take-you/

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The tags below were made using the "Wonderful Wings" stamp set from Stampin Up.

This picture above shows how they start out, then the picture below shows what they look like after the inking and being punched with my tag punch. That thing gets a huge workout on this watercolor paper as it is quite thick. 

I could ink paper all day long!! It is so fun and you never know how they will turn out until you lift them out of the ink.  Below you can see how I do that:

I start out by taping a piece of Saran Wrap down on my craft table. (You could also use a glass mat if you have one). Next I take my ink pads and blot some ink all over it, then spritz it with a bit of water. Your ink will have different effects depending on how much water you have put down.  Also, I put a piece of white paper underneath my Saran Wrap so I can see what colors I have going, on my dark table I couldn't tell if I had ink there or not so the paper helped quite a bit!

Next, we drop!! Just drop the paper into your ink, lift ever so gently and you USUALLY get spots, but as you can see below, sometimes when there is a bit more water in places, the ink tends to smear.  Not what I had wanted at first, but still pretty, so,,, happy accident right? 

I will usually drop 2 or 3 papers down before I have to apply more ink but a lot of that will depend on what look you are going for AND how much ink and water you had to begin with. 

The only downside to this??? You can never recreate the same look twice!!! Believe me, I tried...LOL Some of the color combinations are just gorgeous, and some are a train wreck, but we make those work too!! 

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Now on to some cards.... yeah yeah yeah, I KNOW I should have started with those.... but I couldn't help wanting to post my favorite picture of my tags.  so sue me...lol

Below are some Butterfly cards I made using more of that paper I made using, you guessed it... SARAN WRAP (hmmmm maybe I should buy stock in Saran Wrap as much as I use it..lol)

I like to make cards like these and give as a gift, bundling 4-6 cards with matching envelopes together and tying up with a pretty ribbon. Who couldn't use a few note cards that are ONE OF A KIND? 

The Butterfly stamp used on the cards above are from the Stampin Up stamp set called "Wonderful Wings". Unfortunately discontinued I believe. One of the first stamp sets I ever bought and I STILL use it quite often.  All the Dragonfly cards below were made using that same set. 

Of course I should mention, most of these photos were taken using my ShotBox. This tabletop box is great and has lights built in to it that have lots of adjustments to help get the right lighting you need for your projects. I have included the link below in case you want to check it out. and NO, they didn't ask me to. They don't even know I exist...LOL 

https://shotbox.me/ 

Hope you have enjoyed CATCHING UP!!! Stop in again to see what little creations I am cranking out.   Have a great day everyone and remember.... 

Be kind to one another. The world needs more of that!

Springtime Fun - Unity Stamp Blog Hop

Okay all you Crafty people out there... Are you ready for a Unity Blog Hop??

Be sure to visit the other blogs listed below to be in a drawing for some AWESOME stamps from

The Unity Stamp Company.

I am so excited to be a part of this blog hop for Unity Stamp Company!!! This Blog Hop theme is.....

SPRINGTIME FUN

And what says Spring better than FLOWERS??? I knew exactly what stamp I wanted to highlight for this project.... The  Beautiful Flower girl from the May 2016 KOTM (Kit of the Month) stamp set.  This lady just screams Spring!! My first thought when I looked at her was "she reminds me of the Spring when beautiful things start popping out of everywhere, even our thoughts"! Rebirth. Renewed. Beautiful. Oh so many words I could come up with to describe this beauty!!

For the Sentiment I used the Be The Best Unity Stamp Set.

For the background, I tried a new technique of putting ink on saran wrap, spritzing with water and wrapping up to dry. Wow, what messy fun and the results are just stunning. I was pleasantly surprised. For once I can say it wasn't a Pinterest Fail...LOL

For the ink I used Colorbox, Lava Black. Embossed  with Clear embossing powder. I used a few Spectrum Noir markers to color her hair and flowers and a couple Copics markers for the skin. I will include some before photos below in case anyone wants the colors used.

Thought she looked PRETTY IN PINK too, so I had to make a second card.  :)

Thanks for HOPPING by my Blog today... be sure to visit the other blogs listed below and leave a comment!! Unity will be picking 2 winners to receive some of 

THE BEST STAMPS ON THE PLANET!!!

Blog Hop List

Annie

Shannon

Pamela

Kathryn

Beth

>>> You are Here>>> Denise

Jennie

Stephanie

Unity Blog

 Now go....just GO I say....  :)  Enjoy your Hopping!!!

Thank you Unity Stamp Company

Just a quick blog post to Thank  the Unity Stamp company for such an AMAZING prize!!!!  Love love love the stamps they sent me for a contest  and I couldn't wait to make something with them.  This tag is so cute!!!   I have included some pictures below of the wonderful stamps.

The five stamps shown in the picture above were used to make this adorable tag. I love tags!! SO fun to make, great to make as bookmarks for a nice little happy gift, and who doesn't love tags?? :)

Can't wait to use all these awesome stamps to create fun projects!!  

Unity Stamps are by far the best stamps I have ever used! Great artwork, excellent product, and top notch customer service. What more could you ask for?

THANK YOU UNITY!!!!!

Day 5 - Growing In Unity

Day 5 - Growing In Unity

So.  Day 5 is here, and yeah, I wanted to do FIVE projects... well, Wednesday had other plans for my week, but I had UNITY  (and ummm, Unity is FIVE letters too...just sayin') so my solution????  Use FIVE different stamp sets for one project!!  Woohoo. Come at me Friday!!! I already kncoked your Cousin Wednesday out like a light, so bring it on tough guy!! LOL

Now let's get to the fun stuff!!!  The project today was a beautiful card and matching gift tag.

I used the following Unity Stamp Sets to make this Gift Set with Greeting Card and matching Gift Tag:

Summer Girl

Be The Best

Sew Cute

Dreams Take You

Floral Scroll

The Summer Girl set is so fun. You really don't realize how big she is until you try to fit her on a 4inch wide card. Yeah, she takes up some real estate, and I LOVE her!! The swirls, the flowers, love how she is drawn and she is really fun to color too.

The Be The Best set I used the sentiment on the middle of the scalloped edge circle on the tag.

The Sew Cute set I used on the edges of the scalloped circle on the tag because it just looked too plain hanging out there in the middle, alone, probably lonely. It needed some flowers  :)

The Dreams Take You set was used on the middle of the scalloped edge circle on the card.  Again, it kinda looked weird hanging out there all by itself but I didn't have many tiny images to choose from to make a background..... hey Unity Peeps... Can we put in a suggestion to have some sets that have itty bitty teensy weensy (which could be a cute line) stuff to make your own backgrounds and fill in little blank areas... like little itty bitty flowers, and hearts and stars and tiny feet, and, and, ok, sorry, I got a little ahead of my self. where was I? oh yeah, plain! Background. Tiny Stamp. Hmmmm <lightbulb above my head>

The Floral Scroll set was used to fancy up that scalloped circle on the tag. I absolutely love the Dreams Take You sentiment, but it just looked like it was out there naked in a sea of teal on that huge scalloped edge circle. So I thought and I thought, and I thought some more (well, no I didn't. I really went into the kitchen and rummaged around for chocolate...no luck,... teenagers...mmmph) so upon my return I went back through my stamp sets and there it was... that little bunch of flowers attached to that pretty little scroll. hmmm could I make it work? Could I just ink the edges of the flowers and stamp the itty bitty edge of the circle??? Could I??  Well OF COURSE I could!!! I am a CRAFTER!!!  We could repair a transmission with foam tape, a hole punch, and 14 eyelets stuck together with embossing powder and crochet thread for pete's sake!!  I could do this!!! <start singing the ROCKY tune, you know you are thinking it, you are, aren't you!! I knew it!!!>  Yes!!!! I have WON the internet!!! I WILL ACHIEVE the Challenge of FIVE!!!! I used 5 stamps sets for ONE project!!! Victory!!  Adrianne!!!!!

Ok, ok, so I didn't win a boxing match, I just felt like this week threw me one midway...lol  Oh well, such is Life. Always a bump in the road somewhere. Good thing I can make beautiful cards and gifts  for people to help smooth it out here and there!!!!

Oh this week has been soooo fun!!! I have so enjoyed getting to show off some of my favorite stamp sets from one of THE BEST Rubber Stamp Companies on the planet!! Everyone has been so kind with their comments and I love all the feedback. Don't forget... I am picking two lucky winners to win some AWESOME Unity Stamps, so please leave me a comment so I can include your name in the drawing!!!

I am including a few random pictures of the project along the way. I will do my best to update this with all the other supplies I have used on this project this weekend, after some much needed rest.

My starting point, one awesome Unity Stamp set, and the most amazing things come packaged in their little envelopes... want to know what it is? (well, der, yes there is a rubber stamp in there silly!!) no...what else is in there you ask? I don't even know how they fit it in such tiny bags, but they cram in a truck load of INSPIRATION!!!!! 

yes smarty pants, I know it looks like I am doing it wrong. I was "lining it up".... (shhhhh I did do it wrong... lack of sleep can get the best of you...lol  at least it wasn't inked yet!!! )

This stamp is one of the funnest to color. SO many possibilities, yet looks completely amazing just stamped in black! 

Yep, you guessed it. I colored the circles.  I didn't have any cardstock that color so I made my own!! (just call me Martha McGuyver...lol)

What? you don't have any small stamps?? well, what is a crafter to do?? That's right... MAKE IT WORK!!! I inked just the one flowers and used it at the edge. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! (and since I am the only one in here, I guess that makes me boss..lol lol)

Yep, used the marker on the edge to to make it look like another layer. Us Crafters.. we are crafty!! (or are we cheaters? I totally just cheated on that...lol  )

You notice...even my scissors are Unity colors...yeah!!  Their colors on their packages inspired today's card!!

Ta-Da!!! My final Growing In Unity Project!! <sniff sniff>  I'll be okay, really. no, really, I don't, well, yeah, okay, I need the tissue...lol 

To the people of Unity, Thank You! Thank you for giving these opportunities to your fans (I would say customers, but once you buy a Unity stamp, you are pretty much addicted and after that you are just like the ate up rock n roll fan that follows the band to every concert, but for us, we just follow their Facebook site... every. single. day. sometimes more than once. or twice. or ok ok ok I checked it 12 times!! stop!!  LOL  But really... Thank you for this opportunity, Thank you for the stamps two of these lovely people are going to win, and THANK YOU for just being a decent, honest, fun, exciting, company that pours tons of inspiration into our lives every day with all these beautiful things we can make and give. You really are a great company, don't change a thing!!!!