GIU #5 - Happy Thoughts for HHH!

I can't believe the week is already over! I've had *so* much fun sharing my {love} of Unity with you all, and you'll all made my week with the sweet comments that you've left. Thank {{YOU}} so much!

I will be back tomorrow with a post in the Unity World Record Blog Hop (see the blinkie to the right)...have you signed up yet? There's still time! *wink*

Today's card is actually one I made quickly yesterday morning for one of the Hip Hop Thursday challenges...'No Sour Grapes at Unity!'. The challenge was to make a card using black, white, and purple, and this is what I came up with:
I have to say, I *really* like how it turned out! *grins*

I pulled out my new 'Feel the Joy' image, the sentiment from the March KOTM, some scraps of Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, and Whisper White, and my new PaperTrey Palette inks, and got to work. I stamped the image three times using Lavender Moon ink, then twice more using Plum Pudding ink onto the Whisper White scrap. I trimmed it down, and then trimmed the Perfect Plum scrap and the Basic Black scraps to mat it, tearing the bottom edge of the black scrap. I tied a piece of Plum Pudding satin ribbon around the card (cutting a slit in the folded edge, since I didn't really plan this card!), and then mounted the matted image on top with foam mounting tape. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom, and accented the card with some Heidi Swapp Bling. Yet another card that took less than 10 minutes! Love that!

And now, the winner of a single of their choice from Unity:

True Random Number Generator Result: 72

Yaritza said...

You did a wonderful job on these cards. Specially love the trees.

March 26, 2009 6:38 AM

Congratulations Yaritza! I'll be sending you and Eryn an email, but be sure to send your choice of single and your address to Eryn[at]unitystampco[dot]com *wink*

Thank you all again for making *my* week so wonderful! Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll 'see' you on the blog hop!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, and Whisper White CS (SU!)
Ink: Lavender Moon and Plum Pudding ink (PaperTrey Ink); Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Feel the Joy, March KOTM 'Simple Life' (Unity Stamp Company)
Other: Plum Pudding satin ribbon (PaperTrey Ink); foam mounting tape (3M); Jet Bling (Heidi Swapp)

HHT New Release - 'Spin, Baby!'

HIP HOP!!I don't know if you've noticed, but I {love} Unity Stamp Company. Not only do they have the most fabulous stamps (they're #17 in the Stamping Top 50 after only 9 months selling their product, if that tells you anything), the also have the most wonderful PEOPLE. Seriously wonderful, caring, truly-a-community type people. If you haven't had a chance to go hang out in the Unity forum, you really, really should.

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to CHA and meet a few of them. They're even better in real life! *wink* Here's photo I cropped of Angela and me:
So, where am I going with all this?? Well, sweet Miss Angela let me pick out a not-yet-released single from her display before I left! And today, it's for sale!! HIP HOP indeed! *grins* So, just for you, and just for Hip Hop and its release, here's a card I made with it! (I've been saving it for this special occasion! *wink*)
It's a *gigantic* version of the sweet little pinwheel from November's KOTM "enjoy YOUR STORY...laugh"!! I love the whimsical style of this pinwheel, and it just makes me smile everytime I use the November kit! And now, I get to enjoy it in almost-life-size gorgeousness. *grins*

The whimsical style reminds me of the fabulous papers in BasicGrey's 'Urban Prairie' line, and I used SIX different papers from the line for this card. The only plain CS is the Apricot Appeal card base, which is 7 1/2" x 8 1/2", folded in half to create a 3 3/4" x 8 1/2" card that fits into a standard business envelope. I added an punched 'Morning Glory' edge at the card's opening, and adhered a stripe of 'Kettle' and a large panel of 'Weathervane' to the card base.
For the main image panel, I stamped the 'Spin, Baby' image onto a piece of 'Bluebird' for my image base, then again onto 'Bountiful' for the pinwheel and 'Petticoat' for the handle, and cut and paper-pieced the image together, adding a pink bling brad for the center. I matted the image onto a piece of 'Morning Glory', leaving just a thin 1/16" border all the way around, and added it to teh card, using foam tape. To finish off the card, I tied a scrap of ribbon into a knot for the pinwheel's handle, added three adhesive rhinestones to the corner, and stamped a portion of the 'Remember Happiness' sentiment (from the August 2008 KOTM) onto the card base at the bottom.

I hope you have a great Thursday! Be sure to go to the Unity blog to start the blog hop at 10am CST (8am Pacific), and to see the specials at 11am CST (9am Pacific).

Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Apricot Appeal CS (SU!); Urban Prairie DP (BasicGrey)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: 'Spin, Baby!' and sentiment from 'Remember Happiness' August KOTM (Unity Stamp Co.)
Other: Scalloped edge punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); foam mounting tape (3M); pink bling brad (Karen Foster); adhesive rhinestones (Michael's); ribbon (unknown)

HHT - "Bright & Bold" Unity

Did you Hip Hop yesterday? I didn't get to spend much time chatting, but I did make a card for the 'Bright and Bold Unity' challenge (and used Amber's VLVJan03 sketch!). Today is typically our Hip Hop Hangover blog hop, but since the Unity crew has been gone all week and is busy catching back up, there may not be a post on the Unity blog...you can still see everyone who is participating, though, by going to {this thread} in the Unity Friends forum. Now, on to the card! *grins*
(Some of you might not think this is all that bright, but trust me, it IS! Well, except for the So Saffron base...I chose that from the stripey paper to tone down the rest a *tiny* bit! *wink*)

I started with a standard A2 card base in So Saffron, and found the strip of punched Tempting Turquoise in my scrap bin that matched the DP I used. I cut the pink-and-red polka dot DP to match the scrap, then cut a 3 3/4" x 5" panel of the striped DP to put behind it. (The dotted paper/scalloped strip combo is popped up with foam tape.)

I stamped these adorable two images from the November KOTM 'Enjoy YOUR STORY...laugh' onto scraps of So Saffron, punched them with my 1 1/4" circle punch, and colored them in with Prismacolors, adding white around the edges so they'd really 'pop'. I stamped "delightful" onto a strip of the So Saffron (used stamped-off-once Tempting Turquoise), added a silver snap to the end, and adhered it to the case (following the sketch). Then I attached the three circles with foam tape for dimension.

I think it came out super cute...I really should play with these kinds of colors more often! I tend to lean toward the more muted/earthy colors, but I love how happy the bright colors make me lately! (To see the other "Bright and Bold" challenge cards, check out {this thread} in the Unity forum)

Have a wonderful Friday everyone! Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: 'Make Merry' and 'Play' DP from the Celebrate by Michelle Coleman line (Fancy Pants); So Saffron CS (SU!)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko), Tempting Turquoise (SU!)
Stamps: 'Enjoy your story...laugh' November KOTM (Unity Stamp Co)
Other: pewter snap (Making Memories); foam mounting tape (3M); circle punch (SU!); scalloped edge punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); Prismacolor pencils

Hip Hop Challenges!!

It's Hip Hop Thursday!! As usual, make sure you check out the Unity Blog for Angela's amazing deals (like Oh Happy Day! for only $5!!!) and you *have* to go see the new releases, designed by Lisa Hetrick...they're AMAZING!

Unity is also having two challenges today, and I played along! (I'm just going to show them to you right now, and I'll be back later to give you a full description and a review of the *wonderful* ShortCuts acetate card products). The first challenge was the 'Clearly Unity' challenge: to make a card or project using Unity stamps with a clear element...the clear element could be acetate, dew drops, ghost images, etc. The second challenge was 'Oh, Just cut it out!': Make a card or project using Unity stamps with an image that is cut out and popped up with foam tape or a pop dot. (For those of you that have been here before, you know that I could count *any* project I make for that one!! I {heart} foam tape, and probably keep 3M in business for their foam mounting tape! lol)

So, without further ado, here they are:I'll be back later with all the details and even some step-by-step pics! Thanks for stopping by!
~Michelle

Hip Hop Cutie Pie Love Note

Another Unity Hip Hop Thursday challenge card!! This one was to make a card using more than one ribbon. I decided to go simple and use this adorable pie image from Fall Festival. I stamped the pie using Stazon Timber Brown, then colored it in with a blender pen and Distress inks, and sponged the edges with more Distress ink. I punched a scalloped circle out of this mystery scrap of Bazzill, and the cut the pie out using my Coluzzle. Since the image is smaller than most Unity images, I thought it'd be perfect for a little love note for my son, so I cut a 6" x 3" piece of Ruby Red to make a 3" square card base, and mounted both circles to it using foam tape. I stamped 'cutie pie' from Mix Up of Cuteness at the bottom, and tied on two ribbons at the fold. Another easy peasy card! *smiles*

Thanks for stopping by (again)!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Ruby Red, Very Vanilla CS (SU!); mystery light orange CS (Bazzill)
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown (Tsukineko); Distress Spiced Orange Marmalade and Aged Mahogany (Ranger Industries); Close to Cocoa (SU!)
Stamps: Fall Festival, Mix Up of Cuteness (Unity Stamp Company)
Other: checked ribbon (Offray); sheer ribbon (JoAnn's); foam tape (3M); Stamp-a-ma-jig (SU!)

Hip Hop Butterfly Dreams

One of today's HHT challenges was to make a one-layer card using Unity stamps. (A one layer card, or OLC, is a card where the card base is the *only* paper used...no extra layers at all. Julie Ebersole (aka JulieHRR) is the QUEEN of OLC's...definitely go check her out!)

For my card, I wanted to use one of the sentiments from the October KOTM that I hadn't inked yet: "We are the music makers & we are the dreamers of dreams". Which is my 2nd favorite quote from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the first being "We've got to get on with it...We've got so much time and so little to do! ...scratch that, reverse it" In case you were wondering about my blog's name, now you know!)

So I combined that quotation with a butterfly from the October KOTM, and one from the August KOTM to create this card:
The key, I think, to a one layer card (and I'm by NO means an expert) it to try to create layers without actually having any. So what I did was make 5 masks...one for the sentiment, and two for each butterfly. That ways I could have the butterflies layered over each other to give a feeling of depth. (Here's a tutorial on SCS if you aren't familiar with masking.) I started stamping the quotation in the middle of my card base, using a Stamp-a-ma-jig and Stazon Jet Black ink. Then, I built up the butterflies around it, added my masks, and filled in with more butterflies. I tied on a bow and Voila! the card was done. The beauty of OLCs is that once you have the idea, they come together *very* quickly.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll hopefully be back with another challenge card in a bit! *wink*
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Very Vanilla CS (SU!)
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red (SU!); Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko)
Stamps: August KOTM and October KOTM (Unity Stamp Co.)
Other: Post-it notes; grosgrain ribbon (unknown)

CHECK OUT WHAT ARRIVED!!!

I'm so excited!!! Yes, I *WON* a Wall-Mounted Rubber Rack last week at Hip Hop Thursday!! It's bigger than I thought, and *so* smooth! THANK YOU UNITY!! You are all the my favorite and my best!