GIU - Growing In Unity Gal Tuesday

I'm featuring stamps from Unity Stamp Company each day this week.  Be sure to visit all week and comment on each of the Growing In Unity posts, because there will be a drawing for some FREE UNITY STAMPS from all of the comments received during the week.  Unity Stamp Company is providing TWO generous prizes of 25 stamp grab-bags each.
 
Similar to yesterday's card, this one includes love and the color pink.  The layout and feel, however, are completely different.   

The layout was inspired by a design challenge from Take Ten magazine.  I find sketches and design challenges inspiring, don't you?
 
I used the Call Me Itty Bitty stamp designed by the good folks at Webster's Pages.  I love the Itty Bitty stamps!  They're so versatile, and they're a great value!  The patterned papers and embellishments are from My Mind's Eye -- I knew the second I saw the telephones and the quotation marks on the paper that I had to use this stamp with it.  To get the nice solid black images, I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink.  I sponged the edges of the papers with a black chalk ink for more definition.
   
Thank you for visiting today!  Remember to comment on each of this week's posts to maximize your chance to win.  (One comment per person per post, please.) Winners have been drawn.  Thank you!
 
Happy Stamping!
  

GIU - Growing In Unity Gal Monday

What a great week this is going to be!  I'm going to be featuring stamps from Unity Stamp Company each day this week.  Be sure to visit all week and comment on each of the Growing In Unity posts, because there will be a drawing for some FREE UNITY STAMPS from all of the comments received during the week.

     

Today's June 20th, the first day of Summer.  What do you love about summertime?  Though I'm not a fan of the heat, I've enjoyed fishing for as long as I can remember.  I didn't realize this when I moved here, but Idaho has lots of lakes, rivers and reservoirs that are great for fishing.  We've even got vending machines that sell nightcrawlers!

     

This isn't what I'd call a 'traditional' fishing card, but it was definitely fun to create.

        

     

It's a fairly easy card to duplicate.  First, I stamped the fishing pole and sentiment in hot pink, then mounted that rectangle to a matching hot pink rectangle.  Then, on a gray card, I added a striped panel (from American Crafts), followed by the stamped panel.  I added a rhinestone to the fishing reel and colored in the heart.  Last, I added two quick strips of very thin washi tape (Little B Designs) in an X pattern.

    

Thank you for visiting today!  Remember to comment on each of this week's posts to maximize your chance to win.  (One comment per person per post, please.) Winners have been drawn.  Thank you!

    

Happy Summer Solstice & Happy Stamping!

     

Lots of Layers

LOL on the Internet rarely stands for anything other than Laughing Out Loud.  Today, however, we've got Lots of Layers.  It's the most recent challenge from Paper Smooches.  We were challenged to create layers of anything... paper, ink, colors, embellishments.  This challenge lasts until Tuesday, June 28th, so you've got time to join us!

My card features layers of paper.  Three layers of cardstock to create the base borders, then a layer of dimensionally raised hexagons, and finally a two-layered sentiment on top.

   
This card features the Botanicals 2 set for the flora and the Many Thanks set for the sentiment.  The punches are from EK Success and the inks and cardstock are from Stampin' Up!

Happy Stamping!

HOP with Unity: For the Birds

Happy Friday!  I'm hoping to spend at least some time stamping this weekend.  I've seen so many sneak peeks from companies exhibiting at CHA that have me inspired!  Have you seen anything that you just HAVE to have?
    

   
In August, there was a call for cards with birds from The Stampers' Sampler.  This Unity card of mine was one chosen for publication, and it appears on page 70 of the Jan/Feb/Mar 2016 issue that's on stands now.
    
I was largely inspired by the patterned paper from Memory Box.  It looked like some of the petals of the pink flowers were in flight.  I added the bird stamp and quick double-knotted waxy floss across the front.  It's great when cards are flat enough to mail in a regular envelope!
  
Thanks for joining the HOP with Unity today!  Happy Stamping!

I Scream, You Scream

When I was growing up, we lived not too far from where the New York Yankees held their spring training games in Fort Lauderdale.  There was a snack vendor named Ivan who would come around with "popcorn, peanuts, cold beer here!"  He also had ice cream and would do the "I scream, you scream..." thing.  My sister and I liked the long conical three-flavored Astro Pops.  Sometimes it was just family, and other times we'd load some neighborhood kids into the station wagon and take the whole group.
      
The card I'm sharing today was inspired by the GCD Studios paper that I used.  Notice there's a little ice cream truck on the horizontal strip, parallel to the ribbon?   I couldn't resist.
  

           

I planned on adding some Glossy Accents from Ranger to the ice cream itself to make it shiny and look cold.  Unfortunately, I was in a hurry to get it off to a magazine and the Glossy Accents wouldn't have had time to dry.  The card did make it into the magazine, though.  It will appear in the Feb/Mar 2016 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts.
    
The cone is paper-pieced, and I added just a touch of a very light blue Copic marker to the outside of the ice cream for dimension.

The stamp set is really cute, and it has faces in the different frozen treats depicted.  However, I liked this particular card without the face, so I omitted it.  Looking at the card now, I see that the ice cream cone would make a great pot for a plant.  I love it when stamp sets are versatile, don't you?
    
Happy Stamping!