Soft Side of Sandi

Wonderland ~ SOUS Original Sketch

2012-02-17T00:00:00.066-05:00

Hi there, fellow scrappers! I am back today with another fun Stuck on U Sketches reveal! This week we have another original sketch done by our own Leah and it was so much fun to work with! I hope that you will be able to play along 'cause this was a great one to do .. so many possibilites!

I have just been itching for a chance to use BoBunny's Snowfall collection and was lucky enough to get some in my January Swirlydoos kit! However, I don't have that many cold weather, snow type photos to scrap but did have this awesome photo of dgd MacKenzie with her dark brown hair and a blouse in just the right shade of blue to go with my paper. I did a ton of paper layering although the sketch called for less. I love layers! So I distressed them, inked them and layered them up! Also had to use my MS punch ..

I first had my photo at a jaunty little angle in keeping with the sketch but it just seemed to look better straight up maybe due to the photo size. I was fortunate to have some Snowfall die cuts to layer in there as well .. beside and below the photo in place of additional photos. I knew I wanted to use some yummy Petaloo blooms (Canterbury Glittered in brown) but before I placed them, I tied my page with a matching Christmas ribbon that I happen to have on hand. Really love how it looks! My butterfly is from a Melody Ross paper pack ..

I am loving that ornate Dusty Attic piece (Corner Flourish #2) in the upper left corner. It was painted with Glimmer Mist Chalkboard in Decadence and then sprayed with Iridescent GM. Of course, I placed a few brown pearls on it that matched the pearls I had added to my butterfly. Lastly, I added a BB Snowfall trinket to my photo .. and called it done!

Now here are a few close-ups:

And here is the sketch:

Now, I hope that you will visit the other DT members and see the gorgeous work they have done with the sketch. And more importantly, I hope you will play along with us this time. You will have 2 weeks to complete your project and get it uploaded!

Wishing you a scrap happy weekend! We have lots of birthday parties this weekend! Should be fun! The twin dgs turn 1 .. it's been a fast year!

Blog Hop coming up!

2012-02-14T04:00:00.002-05:00

Join us for a very special "Make it Work" blog hop February 25th and 26th! The blog hop starts at the Flying Unicorn blog and ends in the Flying Unicorn forums. Each of our designers will be revealing a very fashionable project on their blog that they’ve designed just for the blog hop. You know how we like to give fun “stuff” away, so of course, there will be RAKs awarded randomly to one lucky visitor of each blog.

If you visit each CT member’s blog, leave a comment, and become a follower, you will be entered in the grand prize drawing for a fabulous prize package assembled by Alda Stevens herself!

Our favorite part of the blog hop is that we’re going to preview the March kit with some sneak peeks on our creative teams’ blogs instead of in the forum. We’re also going to tell you something about the wonderful projects we have planned for March. Trust me; you are not going to want to miss this. We are all over the moon excited about our March plans that we’ve been working on for a couple months now. Don’t miss this blog hop because we’re going to be "working it!"

Also, don't forget the onine chat this upcoming Thursday the 16th at the Flying Unicorn Forum! Should be a ton of fun! A great time to chat it up with the Creative Team! Starts at 8:30 pm EST. Hope to see youe there!

Basic Grey Kissing Booth ~

2012-02-12T18:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday, fellow scrappers! I wanted to make it back today to get this yummy layout posted on my blog. Some of you may have seen it in some of the galleries already. But I had overlooked posting it here as well. Alda sent me these fabulous Basic Grey papers from the Flying Unicorn Store. I have another layout done with it as well but am saving it for our Blog Hop on the 25th and 26th.

But this one was fun with lots of layers and lots of distress work .. I just added in some Websters Bloomers and a couple of Prima roses as well as my butterflies and doilies .. and a chippie that was from the February KOM. I painted it white, then coated it with Dirty Martini Glimmer Glam. The photo seemed to need something else, so I added some Resin photo corners .. also from the store as is the Glimmer Glam.

The lovelies in the photo are myself on the left and a family member on the right. This was back when my hair was still a gorgeous red .. or at least I thought so LOL.

You've Got Mail ~ SOUS ~

2012-02-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

Nothing like being late to the party ... so sorry everyone! I had these sweet little images cut out last weekend from the A Child's Year cartridge .. and then decided I didn't like it so much in hot pink. My plan was to re-cut it sometime this week in black or brown and use it sheet music or something fun like that. Well, the week got away from me ... busy-ness and not feeling so well.

But I was inspired by our own sweet Nanne who was under the weather herself and managed to crank something out. As well as Cindy, one of our participants .. so, here you go! You've Got Mail using Basic Grey's Kissing Booth paper collection. Isn't she just the cutest thing walking to the mailbox with her valentine?!

I hope to see you back tomorrow with a layout I created using this same paper collection .. I thought I had posted it but see I have not .. more on that later!

Please be sure to visit Stuck on U Sketches to see what the other designers have done!

Happy crafting!

Fabscraps is in the store and on sale today only!!

2012-02-11T14:31:00.000-05:00

Mojo Monday sketch for Flying Unicorn

2012-02-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a little sketch that I did for Mojo Monday at Flying Unicorn. I hope you will join in the fun and do a layout and post it in the Forum under the Mojo Monday thread. It was an honor to do this for them and I hope to do many more ... If you can't work it in this week, maybe you can use it later down the road. I hope you'll let me know, so that I see your creation!

More February Kit of the Month details ~

2012-02-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday everybody! Sandi here with a few of my February Kit of the Month "Always with Love." First, I want to say thanks to Alda for providing such awesome kits .. and for allowing me to work with them! This month was over- the-top gorgeous!

This was actually the second project that I did but I think it is my favorite. It went together so quickly, I felt like the page made itself! Here you see some of the luscious FabScraps papers. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to work with them and I am in love!! I aded a few Petaloo flowers of my own but the ones that steal the show are the Zva pink and purple ones. Within the floral cluster I tucked in one of the grapevine wreaths! The lacing tash is Dusty Attic (painted wam winter white) and is from my own stash but I thought it would be perfect on a bridal page! The heart shaped KaiserCraft corner flourish comes in the kit and could be used so many way!! I inked it up a bit for definition. Then for a quick title I added the pink rhinestone title LOVE from KaiserCraft which is also in the kit. The butterfly is fussy cut from some older Melody Ross papers.

I have to admit to being a bit partial to this page! The photo is of my Mom and Dad on their wedding day. Here I have used All Yours as the background paper, distressed and then added to some brown cardstock. For drama, I used a Dusty Attic frame from my stash that is painted with walnut stain, then Coffee Glimmer Mist and lastly Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist. See that cute little cherub? That was the very first thing I did with my kit! I knew if I didn't fussy cut him and the flowers, that I would use that page as is and loose the effectiveness of the cherub as an embellishment. He is from the Love Letters paper. Then I just started layering some papers (Devoted) along with a Crafty Secrets tag from the kit (love those things) and a crochet doily. I've worked in a Prima vine and some ribbon from my stash as well as buttons from the kit .... along with a button from my Mom's old button box! I've tucked in more DA (french flourish) and adorned it with a Bo Bunny trinket from what I had on hand. The butterfly was fussy cut from some older BoBunny Gabrielle papers.

This one was fun to do!! I did some wet and some dry distressing to my b/g paper You & Me and added some peach cardstock from the Jan KOM as a foundation. Then I misted my page with Sunkissed Peach GM and when that dried added my fence using a Prima mask. Next I added my center panel using Sincerely pp along with some off-white c/s that was punched with my Cherish Heart punch. The upper right corner was wet distressed, folded back and then I tucked in a white doily. For interest I added in another butterfly. For flowers, I used a mix of the ones I fussy cut earlier from the Love Letters pp with some that Alda sent in the kti and one older Prima Madrigal bloom. In honor of my team mate Frank, I hand snipped a few banner and added those into the floral clusters. That lower right corner has another of the awesome KC wooden flourishes. And did you see the Thickers? Woohoo! Instant title!!

Okay, one last layout before I show you my OTP. This was done using the Mojo Monday sketch from Jan 30th which I designed. So, that was kind of fun! This is my dd Danielle's wedding invitation which has Bacon's Wedding Morning painting on the front. I've used the 7 Gypsies paper here, Canal and Campo from the Venice collection but used some Sweet Nothings (With Love) as my b/g. I fussy cut the dove and more of the florals and added these in .. along with another tag from Crafty Secrets. There is a hint of green in the With Love paper, so I used more Dusty Attic as an accent that has been painted with Dirty Martini Glimmer Glam. Oh, almost forgot the rub-ons .. these were perfect for this page!

Last but not least is my OTP project another Kaiser Craft mini that spells out DREAM! I have been wanting to try my hand at crackle paint since last Fall when team mate Jackie Weeks used some on her OTP tic tac toe box. It was a ton of work but I do love how it turned out. The inner pages were simply painted white. After all of that dried .. whee, in parts but about 3 days all together, then I decorated my mini with pearls and flowers and added some lush ribbon to my album rings.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to share the process with you! This was a gorgeous kit and I sure hope that you snagged one before they sold out! Glad I got mine!!! I still have tons left and hope to bring you some more projects mid-month. Talk soon!

Sandi

Dear Santa ~ SOUS Original Sketch ~ Feb 3

2012-02-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

It's another Happy Friday and a big one for me! It is reveal day at Stuck on U Sketches .. and I also will be sharing my February Kit of the Month projects a bit later in the day.

But first, I want to share my take on Leah's 2 page sketch which I turned in to a one page for my purposes. I did want to keep the border that she had at the top and bottom though even though my photos are a bit larger than the sketch's. Took me a bit to figure that out but when I came across these BoBunny papers from 2010, I knew exactly what I wanted to do! For the background, I used the luscious gold damask paper and for my borders, I fussy cut one of the pp's with adorable Victorian images. I inked and distressed them, then curled them and later added Gesso to the edges of the entire page as well as here and there throughout.

Here you can see some of the Gesso on my edges. My Dusty Attic piece is the Damask #2 which I cut in half and used in 2 different places on my page. I painted them white, then colored them with Dirty Martini Glimmer Glam. I added pearls for interest.

Here is the other piece which I tucked behind part of my border. You can also see my large BoBunny ribbon from that same collection. It is tied to my Petaloo Berry Spray.

The upper corner just shows a bit more distress work and Gesso.

Lastly, I added some metal Christmas sayings here and there on my photos as well as some resin roses in pink and cream. I was very pleased with how this one came out despite there being 3 good-sized photos.

I hope that you will visit Stuck on U Sketches and see what the other DT members have done! Also hope to see your project uploaded! Remember you have 2 weeks to get it done!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and Happy Crafting!

Always with Love ~ Flying Unicorn Kit of the Month ~ My projects!

2012-02-03T04:00:00.002-05:00

Its here ... February Kit of the Month

Always with Love

The February Kit of the Month "Always With Love" is now on sale! There are no sign ups, no membership, once they are gone, they are gone ! Kits are $31.99 + $8.95 shipping USA and $16.95 International. And oh my goodness ...You are going to LOVE this kit! And did you notice, we now have add-ons!!!

This one is chock full of Kaiser Craft's Sweet Nothings paper collection along with some delicious Fabscraps, plus embellishments that will make your mouth water! I have already done 4 layouts and my OTP projects and still have plenty for another couple of pages and/or several cards and tags.

Today I will share a few of my projects .. then save the rest for later in the month ..

I really loved using the Fabscraps papers on this page .. the papers are so gorgeous! The new Dusty Attic Lacing Tash is from my stash as are a few of the flowers .. but the light pink and purple are from the kit. Note the wooden Kaisercraft heart flourish .. and the pink rhinestone title.

Next, another wedding photo .. this one of my mom and dad using the KC Sweet Nothings papers. I fussy cut the cherub to use on this page .. more Dusty Attic and a few vintage findings from my stash including a vintage button that was from my mom's button box.

I love how this one turned out of my gd MacKenzie with her violin.. More fussy cutting, a Prima mask and some hand snipped banner pieces. We also got some Thickers in this kit .. and boy, that made my day! I also appreciated the extra cardstock that was included this time!

This page features my dd's wedding invitation, so I kept it fairly simple. I used some rub-ons from the kit as well as some DA from my stash. More suffy cutting and a few small roses mixed in ... Here I have also used last week's mojo Monday sketch.

Here was my OTP project "Dream." I tried my hand at crackle paint ... something I have not done in years .. seriously .. except for the Ranger Distress variety. Then I decorated my piece with pearls, flowers and ribbon. I have this sitting in my craft room and just love it!

All right, that's it for the day. I hope you will fly on over to the store and get your kit before they are gone! I will be back soon with a few more projects! This kit was loaded .. and I have 2 more pages planned! Hope you will get yours before they are gone!

Have a great weekend!

February Guest Creative Desinger at Flying Unicorn!

2012-02-01T04:00:00.002-05:00

We are excited and honored to announce our Guest Creative Designer, for February 2012, all the way from Netherlands, ... yes you guessed it .. the one and only ....

Gerry van Gent !!

Her work surely inspires, and each layout is nothing short of a masterpiece .

Stay tuned for February 3rd and see the incredible creations she has made with our February KOM " Always with Love" . In the meantime, come join in the forum fun, for I could not think of a better artist to be our Artist of the week as well.

Here is a bit about her . ..

"My name is Gerry - a 38 years old Bulgarian woman who lives in The Netherlands. I`m a mom of two adorable kids and a wife of a very supportive hubby. I`m a SAHM and I have plenty of time to spend with my kids and of course I have plenty of time for my hobbies...scrapbooking and photography. I got involved in scrapbooking back in 2003 when my first child was born and I never stopped since then. I find inspiration in my kids, in every day life and of course in the products I work with.

My work is always detailed and dimensional. I love misting, masking, stamping, making my own embellishments and I love hand-stitching on my layouts.

I currently design for Webster`s Pages, The Scrap Cake, The Color Room, Imaginarium Designs, Once Upon A Sketch, Manor House Creations, Scrapdelight and I`m a teacher at Miss Art`s Papercrafting school.

I`m so honored and happy to be guest-designing for Flying Unicorn - amazing kits to work with and a must-have for every crafter. Thank you for this opportunity!

My blog: http://gerryscrafts.blogspot.com"

Take a look at some of her amazing creations :

There is so much more on her blog: http://gerryscrafts.blogspot.com

My new layout for the Mojo Monday Sketch Jan 30

2012-01-30T04:00:00.044-05:00

I received my January Kit of the Month from Flying Unicorn on New Years Eve and what I treat it was to see these vibrant colors of Graphic 45's Tropical Travelogue after so many weeks of seeing and doing nothing but red and green! Now I love Christmas as much as the next person but I was ready for something bright and peppy.. and this sure did the trick!

This week it was my turn to do a layout based on the gorgeous Mojo Monday sketch done by our own Laura G. Here it is for your convenience:

I had such a great time layering all these bright papers and placing my elements mostly per the sketch ... I added the bloomers as my ribbon and used some vintage Prima for my florals. The butterfly came in my kit .. isn't it grand? The Garden Isle pp was my fave sheet of the whole collection, so I did want to show it off ..

That handsome sailor in his dress white? My dad back in 1940. I set the hands on the Tim Holtz hardware to read 1941 though .. as a hidden message to myself about how quickly bliss can become a battlefied. My Dad dearly love Hawaii and all of the South Pacific and he so enjoyed his opportunity to be at sea and visit far away places. I think he would really like this page .. I sure do! Many thanks to Alda at Flying Unicorn for providing such awesome products to use!

Thanks for coming by!

Sneak peeks .. Flying Unicorn Feb Kit of Month "Always With Love"

2012-01-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

The new KOM will be released this coming Friday Feb 3rd. Until then here are few peeks to tide you over! No joke, the mailing box was full to the brim! Alda has said that this is nothing compared to what March will be .. I cannot even imagine!

Enchanting Creations has been released!

2012-01-27T23:53:00.000-05:00

The Winter edition of Enchanting Creations online magazine has been released .. and it is gorgeous!

I feel honored to have 5 projects published in this edition. There is so much inspiration there. You won't want to miss it!

Just click on the link on my right hand sidebar and it will take you to the magazine. March calls are going out, so stay tuned for more on that!

SOUS Die Cut Challene ~ Snowman ~

2012-01-27T00:00:00.040-05:00

Happy Friday, fellow scrappers! Time for a new Die Cut Challenge over at Stuck on U Sketches. This time around we are supposed to do a project using a Die Cut snowman. I have so many cute snowman images on all of my Cricut cartridges but opted to turn to my Imagine and use one of those carts that have only seen a small amount of service. LOL

I just love the Snow people on the Snow Angels cartridge but was particularly drawn to this sweet little gal .. who looks just a bit forlorn, don't you think? So, instead of using her for a winter/snow scene, I decided to use her sweet expression as the basis for a Miss You card. I printed and cut all my base papers from Snow Angels including doing a custom color on the light blue. Then I cut both the image and the layers and went a little bit pop dot crazy!! I should have taken a side view .. but trust me, we have dimension!!

Before doing that however, I did ink all my edges to make them stand out and have some shading. My Miss You cut is from Sentimentals ... and the hearts were an old Cosmo Cricket rub-on.

Now, you all know that I am not much of a card-maker but I think this one turned out really cute. I plan to send it to my sweet SIL who was in the hospital again around New Years.

I hope that you will hop on over and see what the rest of my DT sisters did. And we'd love for you to join in on the Snowman fun!

Have a great weekend!

Mojo Monday sketch

2012-01-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Ready ~ Round Robin Layout ~

2012-01-23T18:00:00.001-05:00

Hi, everybody! I am back today with a new layout done for Maggi's Round Robin challenge at Flying Unicorn. I had to follow Tammy's awesome page from last week. I was inspired by her glorious butterfly trail and her use of the Martha Stewart Scrolled Heart punch. I did not do as many flowers as Tammy because this is really a guy page ..

I've used some of my Webster's Pages Ladies and Gents collection for this neat photo of my dgs putting on his shoes right before his wedding last summer. I had earlier done a similar one of his bride, so that was kind of fun to do. My laser cut birdcage is an A2Z Scraplets piece from my friend and former DT buddy Ness Waller. I painted it with Glimmer Glam in Dirty Martini and the bird with a red paint. My flowers are Prima Millinery and Prima Corine. The b/f trail is a Prima Say it in Crystals Swirl w black lace.

I've added in some Thickers for my title, a TH hardware piece, a Making Memories frame and black lace and pearls from my stash. I think that is just about it.

Thanks for coming by. I love reading your comments! I know commenting has been a Blogger nightmare lately, so I appreciate the ones I get! Hope you have a great week!

Just a little something to share ..

2012-01-22T04:00:00.033-05:00

Today I wanted to bring you a little inspiration using some yummy Creative Imaginations Devotion paper collection available in the Flying Unicorn Store . How perfect they are for the upcoming Valentine's season.

I had this new photo of my dd Danielle that I was wanting to scrap. It was taken with a cell phone and is a bit fuzzy but hey, she's my baby girl! So, I started with Wave as my background paper and distressed the edges altho they have been mostly cropped out. Next I positioned a thin circle cut from the Passion paper to see where I wanted it. Before I adhered it though, I used a Prima lattice stamp to give the page a bit of character.

Taking some brown cardstock I used my Martha Stewart Floral Vine punch and layered that with a strip of the Wings paper where I had used my Martha Stewart Scrolled Hearts punch. Next I layered in an off-white crocheted doily from the craft store and tucked a Kaiser Craft wooden lamp post in behind that. I love using doilies on my page as I just adore having a variety of textures on my work. It makes them more interesting to me.

Behind my photo is a couple of paper layers .. a bit of the Rose Garden paper along with some vintage MME gold cardstock. Everything has of course been inked with various Ingvild Bolme fluid chalk ink pads in various colors. These are also available in the Flying Unicorn store and I can highly recommend them for use on your projects.

The gates are among my favorite Dusty Attic pieces and are the ornate gates in medium. I first sprayed then with Glimmer Mist Chalkboard in Decadence (from the store again) and then touched them lightly with some Ranger Distress Stickles in Vintage Photo. My flowers are a mixed of Prima the Fitzgerald collection in Woodland and Petaloo Mixed Blooms in Red from my stash. Of course, I had to have a few butterflies, so added a vintage Prima butterfly from my stash (finally used it!) and some misc dimensional butterlfies that I keep on hand.

Lastly, I added a "paradise" sticker from my January Kit of the Month to serve as my page title .. I am down to teensy scraps but am hoping to pull off a card at least.

Thanks for coming by. Hopefully you will feel inspired to make something uniquely you. Have a great week!

Polar Bear and Pajama Party Online Crop! Going on now!!

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

If you are here for the Stuck on U Sketches reveal, please scroll down one post please.. thanks ..

Now ... at Flying Unicorn we're having an online crop, all weekend .. so come on over!! The party starts at 6 pm EST Friday, January 20 and ends at 6 pm EST, Sunday, January 22nd.

There will be special challenges for the crop and each challenge will have a RAK for the challenge winner. All of our winners are chosen by Random.org so everyone has a chance to win! We'll have live chat going on and games galore, posting prizes (that's kinda like a door prize!) and who knows what else!

So make sure you send everyone in your household off for the weekend, make sure you've got pizza delivery on speed dial and come join us! Just click on the badge on my right hand sidebar to link to our Polar Bear Pajama Party!! Be there!!

Best Christmas Wishes ~ SOUS Original Sketch Jan 20 ~

2012-01-19T23:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, everybody! Just a few more hours and it will be the weekend .. woohoo! I cannot wait! Today it is time for a new sketch reveal over at Stuck on U Sketches. This week's sketch is a new original done by our very own talented Nanne'. When I first saw the sketch, I knew immediately what I wanted to do! And secondly, what photo I wanted to use .. my 3 dd's.

It is hard to see in the photo .. but I did a neat paper folding technique that I learned from my friend and team mate Tammy Henderson at Flying Unicorn. The link to her tutorial is HERE . You definitely need to check it out! Hopefully, the close-ups will help you visualize! It is time consuming but I love the effect and plan to do this again soon!

Because this was my first attempt, I used some older Glitz Maya paper that I kind of liked. But in the process I learned that Navy Blue looks great with Christmas colors! Hopefully, you can see where the folds are. I highlighted as many corners as I could by adding a navy pearl. When I was finished I mounted this to a co-ordinating sheet of Glitz since it ended up being about 10x10 when finished.

My title piece is a Dusty Attic nameplate that I painted gold, then added a tag from a BoBunny Father Christmas collection and finished it with a Petaloo Canterbury red velvet poinsettia.

Then I mounted my matted photo and framed it with this awesome Petaloo Poinsettia & Berries Branch in Cream ... with some more of the red poinsettias added to it. This was tied with a gold and green ribbon.

The lower left corner looked a bit sparse so I added a BoBunny dimensional sticker fron the Father Christmas collection.

Once all that paper folding was done, the rest was fairly quick and easy! And something very different from the remainder of my Christmas pages.

So, I hope that you will join in on the sketch fun this time! You will have 2 weeks to upload your project!

Remember that we have a special Sponsor for the rest of the month over at Stuck On U Sketches.

Stephanie from Whimsical Designs has donated some of her very own stamp collections to some very lucky winners of our sketch and die challenges this month..so remember, the more you play the more chances there are of you winning..

Thanks for coming by! I hope that you have a scrap happy weekend! I know I will! The Flying Unicorn Pajama Party and Crop is all weekend. The info is is on my right sidebar at the top. Hope to see some of your there!

Mojo Monday Jan 16th ~ Flying Unicorn ~

2012-01-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

Isn't this an awesome sketch? It was designed by fellow CT member Tammy Henderson. I hope you will visit the Mojo Monday forum at Flying Unicorn and play along! Let's get creative!

New SOUS sponsor!

2012-01-15T02:30:00.002-05:00

We have a surprise Sponsor for the rest of the month over at Stuck On U Sketches ..

Sorry I wasn't able to post on Friday .. my LO will be published in the Enchanting Creations magazine, so I am keeping it under wraps for now .. thanks for stopping by ..

Flying Unicorn adds Shona Keehn to the Creative Team!

2012-01-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to tell you that Shona Keehn joined the Flying Unicorn Creative Team!! Shona and I have been scrappy friends for awhile and design together at Stuck on U Sketches. Shona's style is shabby and vintage and sometimes grungy, in short her style is fabulous!! Please stop by the Flying Unicorn Forums and give Shona big welcome!

Welcome, girlie!

Mojo Monday layout sketch ~ Flying Unicorn ~

2012-01-10T17:45:00.000-05:00

Better late than never ... isn't this one gorgeous! This one is done by Alda Stevens. The emphasis is on layering and simplicity. I hope you will play along and upload it to the Mojo Monday thread in the Forum. Here is the Link.

Happy Scrapping!

Focus on Graphic 45 ~ Flying Unicorn ~

2012-01-08T00:32:00.000-05:00

This week at Flying Unicorn we are focusing on Graphic 45 products. So, I have contributed some new projects utilizing my January Kit of the Month "Wishing and Hoping," as well as a few older projects. The one above was a fun page to do and was a great way to get some more mileage out of a few precious scraps of my favorite papers.

Next up is a quick altered charger I did with some of the G45 tags and paper. Then I added in the fish net and shells from the kit plus some Prima flowers from my stash! I plan to add some more embellies but was running out of daylight to take my photo!

I loved doing this one! It was actually the first project I did with my kit! I kept everything in the ivory and black tones with the small pop of hot pink and the colored Prima candy because the destination here is Mali, Africa not the tropics! The fringe at the bottom was all done by hand .. wish I had some of those fringing scissors!

I have one more layout done with my kit and it is my absolute FAVE! But I can't share it until Jan 30th! Just know that it is coming .. and I LOVE it!

I'm sure you recognize this older layout using Steampunk Debutante!

Still one of my favorite pages!

This one was done with Baby2Bride .. I just adored how it tunred out!

I love Baby2Bride!!!

Another one from last Fall using Magic of Oz. I wanted to empahsize the versatility of the collection and show that it could be used for more than just Halloween.

Well, I hope I got you in the mood to shop! If I did, then head on over to Flying Unicorn and see about some retail therapy .. which in turn leads to scrappy therapy and that is loads of fun! Thanks for coming by!

Irish, Darling ~ SOUS Original Sketch 1-06-2012

2012-01-06T00:00:00.097-05:00

Hey there, everybody! Time for my first Stuck on U Sketches reveal for the year! Nanne was our sketch designer this week and it sure was a fun one to do! I did flip the sketch for my purposes to show more design on my awesome Creative Imaginations "Devotion" papers which I got from the Flying Unicorn store.

This photo is of my mom and yes, I've scrapped it before .. but you know me .. I love it and haven't grown tired of it yet. But the reason I used it is because my Dad carried this photo of her in his wallet. And the layout is really all about the love letter that he wrote to her .. and which is hidden behind my title flap. I first scanned the letter and used that as a photo mat so that the viewer would get a hint immediately of what the page is all about.

I did some distressing, added a circle instead of a square, and did some punchwork .. the rest is pure embellishment. Vintage Prima and Websters, lace and pearl button. Here are a few close-ups:

Using my Martha Stewart Scroll Heart punch.

Vintage Prima

Strip journaling as per the sketch.

The title flap where I've used my new MS Wild Flowers punch. The title was cut with my Cricut using my Gypsy Font. Dad always called my Mom "Irish" so I added a shamrock ..

The letter which was written on an onion skin paper has been folded for many years and is now tucked away in this acid-free memorabilia pocket. It was written in 1945 and starts off with "Irish Darling .. " Thus the title!! Such a great love they had for one another!

Thanks for coming! I hope that you will visit my DT sisters and see what they have done this week! Here's a copy of the sketch for ya! Hope to see you playing along!

Oops .. almost forgot .. we have a new DT member debuting this week! Agnieszka better know as Bellaidea is now part of SOUS! Please be sure to welcome her!

We also have returning Guest Designer Lisa Gregory with us today! And she is sharing a gorgeous page as well as some new Zva Creative items in her role as a Zva Creative designer! Many thanks, Lisa! Hope to see you back soon!

All right, ladies and gents .. now it's time for you to play! Let's scrap!

Word of the Year Challenge at Flying Unicorn ..

2012-01-04T04:00:00.002-05:00

This month I am running a Word of the Year Challenge over at Flying Unicorn Forum. Here is a direct link to the Challenge. The rules and RAK of the challenge are copied nad pasted below. Hope you'll consider coming by and playing along! Love to see you there!

"Happy New Year, everyone! My challenge for you this month is something a bit different. What I’d like for you to do is identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2012. This is a concept taken from the work of Ali Edwards. Here is how she defines the Word of the Year:

“Essentially the idea is to choose a word (or let it choose you) that has the potential to make an impact on your life. Maybe you want to invite something or maybe you are hoping to subtract something. Maybe your word will be practical or hopeful or creative or fanciful. Maybe you need a big word, something in-your-face that will challenge you everyday. Maybe you need something smaller and quieter that will whisper gentle tidings as you make your way throughout the year. Whatever word you end up with, make sure it is your word (not your sister’s, mom’s, partner’s, child’s, etc)”

Now, what I would like for you to do is a layout .. using your Word of the Year in your title. In my example below, I have used the word relaxing. My word of the year for 2012 is Rest. . Now that might sound a bit crazy to you but it is something that I seriously need to work into my hectic schedule. I have a tendency to push too hard, to always be busy doing something and I have gotten my life a bit out of balance by not incorporating enough true relaxation into my schedule. I need to take more time to breath, to do something apart from all my regular commitments .. and make sure that I take care of me .. so that I can take care of the rest.

Here’s my digital example:

Rules are:

1. Your project MUST be new as of Jan 1, 2012.

2. Your project must have YOUR Word of the Year included in the title or sentiment. Please choose your word thoughtfully.

3. Only 3 entries per person. Of course, your Word of the Year will be the same for all 3.

4. You may not use this for any other challenge in the Flying Unicorn forum.

5. LO's are preferred for the first entry but cards, tags and altered projects are welcome on 2nd and 3rd entries.

6. All projects must be uploaded here in the thread and please leave love for other participants in the gallery.
7. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced the evening of Jan 31st."

Here's a photo of the awesome RAK:

Mojo Monday Sketch ~ Flying Unicorn ~

2012-01-02T05:00:00.007-05:00

Wowzers! Can you believe this great sketch? It was done by Tammy Henderson at Flying Unicorn. We hope that you will get a chance to play along .. look for the Mojo Monday thread in the Forum.

I have done a few sketches myself (woohoo) that will be coming up soon!

Hope you have a great week!

January Kit of the Month ~ Wishing and Hoping ~ Flying Unicorn ~

2012-01-01T04:00:00.007-05:00

.. is now on sale!

There are no sign ups, no membership, once they are gone, they are gone ! Kits are $31.99 + $8.95 shipping USA and $16.95 International. And oh my goodness ...You are going to LOVE this kit!

It is chock full of Graphic 45's Tropical Travelogue collection, plus everything you need to make some wonderful, memorable paper craft art! Plus the OTP is so .. to die for! Love it!

So......... where are my projects? They have been delayed ... I just received my kit a few hours ago, so for now you will have to visit the forum and see what the other CT members have come up with. They won't disappoint! And I will be diving into mine tomorrow! I have so many ideas that my head is spinning!

Again, wishing you a Happy New Year 2012~

SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~ Snowflakes ~Gift Bag

2011-12-30T00:00:00.052-05:00

Well, I think everybody knows that Friday is my favorite day of the week .. it promises the weekend .. and it is always a new Reveal Day at Stuck on U Sketches . This week we are posting the new Die Cut challenge. And in honor of all that white stuff that so many of you are getting .. or will soon, we want to see your Die Cut

Snowflakes

Remember that your project must be new as of December 30th and you must use a Die Cut machine or tool to create your snowflakes. The more the merrier!

So, for my project I decided to decorate a gift bag that I was using for one of my Christmas gifts. Now mind you I have tons of snowflake cuts amongst all of my Cricut cartridges but my all time favorite is from A Child's Year. You'll soon be seeing more projects done using this cut because I do like it so much and have used it a few times already this month.

First, I adhered some pretty Bo Bunny Christmas papers to my bag, then added my large (4.5 in) snowflake to which I had applied Rock Candy Stickles, then Diamond Dust. Love that look! I placed a matching sticker in the center and placed Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ornate Book Plate over it. I painted my hardware with some Sky blue paint and then added Gesso on top of it. I finished things off with some pearls and some red crinkle ribbon ..

Here are a few close-ups ..

Thanks so much for coming by! I sure hope that you will join in the challenge and show us your snowflake project. It can be a layout, card, tag or altered item. The sky is the limit! Remember you will have two weeks to upload your project!

Wishing you a safe and very Happy New Year! See you soon!

Snow ~ Flying Unicorn CT work ~

2011-12-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

I am so loving the Creative Imaginations Winter Song paper collection. This is one of my recent projects using it. As you know I usually use lots of paper layers but made a departure from that for this one and simply used the paper as a canvas.

Because this photo of my dd and dgd is so special, I wanted to really allow it to be the focal point and just make the rest of the page "shiver in the background." I have added in a Prima Bretton Vine in Purity as well as the Shabby Chic resin window shutters. The Dusty Attic piece has been painted white and is thinly coated with Stickles and Diamond Dust. There is a Webster's Page cameo on the shutters that was also painted white.

My snowflakes are cut with my Cricut Imagine using my ACY cartridge and the title with the Happy Hauntings cartridge .. a tip I got from friend and former DT sister, Sandy Windsor.

I have pearls randomly placed all over my page to mimic the falling snow. Here are a few close-ups.

Let me end with a little blurb I wrote .. There is something quite magical about fresh, falling snow raining down from the sky and covering the earth in a white blanket. Coming with it is a quietness that is delightful and serene. Its can be seen and touched but more importantly, felt with one's soul. If we are fortunate enough to share this experience with another person, it is sublime.

Mojo Monday sketch!

2011-12-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

Oops! I am late once again in getting the Mojo Monday sketch posted from Alda Stevens at Flying Unicorn Store!

Yesterday was our big family Christmas get together, so my house was full to the brim with people! We had a great time but I am sure tired today after so many days of preparation .. Anyway, now it is time to get some of those wonderful memories scrapped while they are fresh on our minds!

Hope you all have a great week!

Family Fun ~ SOUS Dec 23

2011-12-23T00:00:00.045-05:00

Happy December 23rd, everybody! Time for one more sketch for 2011 over at Stuck on U Sketches. This time is it another one of my sketches .. kind of a quick one .. that calls for 3 photos to help you get some holiday snapshots scrapped!

As you can see, I ending up using only one photo because the group I intended to put together just didn't look quite right in the smaller sizes. But oh, well! This is my sweet dd Danielle on Thanksgiving Day opening a few of her gifts. I had been dying to use my new Glitz Beautiful Dreamrer papers and thought they would look great with this photo. Might not match the rest of my T-day pages but .. too bad! The papers used are Polka and Floral.

I've also used a couple of my fave Dusty Attic pieces. Ornate Corner # 11 da0582 and French Flourish Border da0275. They have both been painted with Glimmer Mist Chalkboard, the corner in Cranberry Zing and the border in Sprout. After drying, I adorned them with pearls and flowers.

I wet distressed one corner and tucked a doily behind the folds and added in some more flowers and leaved. Then I was ready to cut my photo mat from A Child's Year. For the journaling tag, I have just used a Creative Memories punch, then inked the edges and added a Websters Pages sparkler as a pull. Some ribbon was tied around the photo for added interest. Lastly, my title is simply an old rub-on.

I hope that you will find time to play along with us this challenge. You will have 2 weeks to upload your project .. so maybe after the holiday you will have some time to scrap! If you ahven't seen what the rest of the design team has done this time, I hope you will make your way over to SOUS!

Thanks for coming by. Wishing you the most wonderful of Christmases!

Mojo Monday Card Sketch

2011-12-19T17:40:00.000-05:00

Here's another great card sketch from Alda Stevens at the Flying Unicorn! This one is over the top gorgeous .. and oh-so-perfect for the really special people in your life! If you hurry, you can get it made before Christmas!

I'll be back Friday with another Stuck on U Sketches layout sketch challenge. Hope to see you then. If not, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~ What are you baking for Christmas?

2011-12-16T00:00:00.036-05:00

Hello, scrappers! It's another Friday and time for a new Die Cut Challenge over at Stuck on U Sketches I am the host for December's challenges and several months back I chose "What are you baking for Christmas?" At the time I was thinking gingerbread men, candy, cookies and the like. But truth be told, my family is more in to cakes and pies.

So, I decided to put my Imagine to good use and printed my papers and die cuts. I printed the pink patterned paper (Yummy) as well as the green pattern (Enjoy the Seasons) and adhered them to a white card base. (The larger green cardstock was simply for photographing and is not part of my card.) The cake and coffe are also from the Yummy cartridge and are enhanced with pearl, rhinerstones and a small amount of Stickles. Thinking this all looked a bit plain, I decided to punch a small section of my pink pp and also added in a doily .. which will have to be folded for mailing. But I thought it looked pretty LOL!

The Joy sentiment is a rub-on and since I was uncertain if I would use this for Christmas or for a birthday card later, I did not add any additional greeting. Then I tied everything together with my pink crinkle ribbon and added a large gem.

That is really just about it! But I do like it and am glad that I thought beyond the gingerbread men that I also printed and have ready to use as gift tags for the holidays! This is such a busy time of year but we do hope that you will have time to play. Don't forget that we will have our last sketch of the year posted on December 23rd. And that there is still time to upload to the last one!

Have a great weekend .. and Happy Crafting!

Creative Team Call for Flying Unicorn

2011-12-13T06:00:00.003-05:00

Call for Creative Team Members – Term February 1 – July 31, 2012
Application deadline: December 31, 2011
Successful applicants will be notified by email no later than January 15, 2012

Email: info@flyingunicornllc.com
store: www.flyingunicornstore.com
forums: flying-unicorn.socialgo.com

Flying Unicorn, a growing forum, kit club and online store, is searching for energetic and enthusiastic designers to serve a term beginning February 1 through July, 2012. Our creative team (CT) is divided into two teams, the kit team and the product team.

Team Descriptions:
The kit team is responsible for having the Off the Page Project and at least 3 projects (card, layout, tag, altered item) ready to post on the 1st of each month that were crafted using the current month kit. At least 3 additional projects using the kit must be posted by the 15th of every month.

Each month the prodouct team will receive new products from the store that are being highlighted and are expected to post at least 6 projects using these products throughout the month. There must be at least 1 project posted each week meaning that you can not meet your requirements by posting all 6 projects at once.

Other Requirements:
*In addition to the design requirements, and in some ways, even more important, is the requirement of active and daily participation on the forum. If you can not commit to daily posting in all the challenge threads as well as the other active threads, groups and gallery, then you will not succeed on the CT for Flying Unicorn.
*Daily check in to the CT private group forum so that you are aware of all that is going on at Flying Unicorn. This is our primary way of communicating and it is a must for all CT members to stay current.
*You must be a member of our forum in order to apply. You are encouraged to immediately become an active participant in our challenge threads and other forum topics so that we can get to know you: flying-unicorn.socialgo.com
*Host a month long challenge at Flying Unicorn 5 out of the 6 month term. All our challenge winners are chosen by random selection and receive a RAK provided from the Flying Unicorn store.
*Have an active personal blog and promote Flying Unicorn on your blog by posting pictures of the monthly kit, promotions, RAKs, challenges, etc.
*Post your creations and promote Flying Unicorn where permissible on Facebook, 2peas, scrapbook.com, etc. and willing to post on our company page and promote Flying Unicorn manufactured items as well as other items the store carries.
*We believe strongly that an active forum needs to be a fun and exciting place with lots of “goings on.” To that end we like to have fun promotions and expect the CT to assist in the promotional activities. As an example, in October we had daily games and a month long layout challenge where Mr. Hal-o-ween directed the members to add a different item to their layout each day. There were daily RAKS and a grand prize for the month of a gift certificate to the store. Our members loved this promotion and we have more in the works. We need the CT to help with these promotions.
*You must be a flexible person because Flying Unicorn is less than a year old. As time passes we are learning that some things work and some things don’t, so the rules might change a little.
*Because of the time commitment required, we do not accept applicants who will be serving on other store or kit club forums design teams. If you are on the design team for a sketch blog or manufacturer, that is acceptable.
*If you are not meeting the requirements as outlined, we will give you an opportunity to make corrections. If corrections are not made immediately, you will be asked to step down.

We want to be a big happy family and want our CT to be the leader of the family.

For your efforts you will receive:
*Generous compensation in the form of products. The kit team will receive the monthly kit.
*A badge for you blog
*Bragging rights of being on the fabulous creative team at Flying Unicorn
*20% discount on store purchases and free shipping
*Lots of love and cyber hugs from everyone involved with Flying Unicorn. We are a fun loving group and we want a big happy CT family.

If you are interested please send an email to info@flyingunicornllc.com and provide the following information: (We are sorry but we can’t accept international applicants other than from Canada at this time)
*A photo with a short bio
*A paragraph telling us why you would like to be on the CT at Flying Unicorn and what you feel your significant contributions would be.
*If you have the ability to do video tutorials please let us know.
*Please provide a link to your blog and your online gallery so that we can view your work
*List of any design teams that you are currently on and when your term ends
*List of any design teams that you have been on in the past.

Thank you and good luck!

Precious Memories ~ SOUS ~ Original Sketch Dec 9th

2011-12-09T00:00:00.072-05:00

Hey hey hey! Happy Friday, everybody! Today I am really excited to be posting a new sketch reveal at Stuck on U Sketches featuring an orignal sketch by 'yours truly!" This was my first digitally designed sketch and it proved to be loads of fun! I hope you will get a chance to play along this challenge.

It has been a few weeks since I did this layout but it was super fun to do. The photo is of my Aunt Arletha and Uncle Weldon back in 1945. I have several family photos from that day and gather that some kind of family event was occuring. For this one I've used some yummy Glitz Vintage Blue papers. They are just fabulous and I cannot wait to use them again. Then I added in some Prima and Petaloo flowers from last year along with a bit of bling. And of course, distressed with my Distrezz-it-all.

Here are a few close-ups:

Loved these florals and my crinkle ribbon. I also added in a vintage light blue charm for a different texture.

I fussy cut these cute little birdies, then adhered them to cardstock, fussy cut them again and then mounted them with foam squares.

Just a close-up of my bling and Melissa Frances resin photo corner.

I tore away part of the edge and placed a punch cardstock strip behind the tear. I don't use rub-ons that often but have used an old one here for my title. Well, I think that's about it! Once I chose which papers would be which layer, the rest was easy! I did cut my red circular piece about 3 times trying to get it exactly the way I wanted it. It looked different on my Gypsy than on my layout for some reason ..

In case you haven't had the chance to download the sketch, here it is. As a note of credit, I used Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3 software for my designing.

I hope that you will take a few moments to see what the rest of the Design Team has done over at Stuck on U Sketches. Remember that you will have 2 weeks to upload your project to the site. Sure hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for coming by!

Would you like to be published?

2011-12-05T04:00:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone!

If you haven't heard, Enchanting Creations, is becoming one of the best online scrapbooking magazine out there! Hundreds of submissions are sent in every month, and you could be in the next issue! I like to blog to remind others of this fabulous opportunity to get published.

Enchanting Creations is looking for submissions for their Winter Issue. Themes that are being accepted for the upcoming issue are:

01. VALENTINE'S DAY

02. WINTER WONDERLAND - Layouts of Snow Fun

03. IRISH I WERE IRSIH - Pot of Golds and Leperchaun

04. "BE NOT AFRAID OF GREATNESS" - Shakespearean inspired projects

05. Altered items and cards .. any and all!

All submissions must be emailed separately to ecmagllc@gmail.com Even if you have an older project, you can submit it!! An email will be sent to you if you're project is accepted for publication.

Get those entries in...the deadline is January 13th!

You may submit as many projects as you like, but, ONE EMAIL PER SUBMISSION PLEASE.

YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING :

Title of the project

Product Use List

any other information that you would like to include

Also your name. address & telephone number

Good luck, Scrappers!!!

There is so much going on at the Flying Unicorn this month!!!

2011-12-04T02:45:00.000-05:00

First let me tell you about Santa's workshop. Alda and her CT elves have been very busy writing tutorials for you. Everyday through December 24th there will be a new tutorial for you to try, some are easy, some a little more complicated but there's surely something for everyone. There was reat flower tute and more flowers to come. How about quilling? Just visit the Santa's Workshop thread to learn all about it! Oh, and there are some great prizes that will be awarded to 9 lucky winners selected at random. You'll get one entry for each tutorial you complete. Sweet!!

Wow, I have so much to tell you about!! We have not one, but two fabulous guest designers this month, Tammy Henderson and Joyce Lawrence. Both of these gals are so very talented. I can't wait to see what they show us this month. Both have posted awesome challenges, keep reading to learn about those!

Tammy Henderson

Joyce Lawrence

In addition to al those great tutorials, we have 13 challenges lined up for you, all with fabulous RAKS for the randomly selected players of each challenge.

Play it Again Sam

Extreme Christmas Trims

Picture This

The Christmas Wrap

Glam it Up!

Let Them Eat Fruitcake

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Tis the season to be Tearing (Tammy's challenge)

First Childhood Idol Crush

Christmas Ornament(Joyce's challenge)

Challenge of challenges

Silver Bells

Artist of the Week Challenge

Hope to see you there!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree .. SOUS Die Cut Challenge

2011-12-02T00:00:00.052-05:00

Here's the first one and ..

the second one ...

Happy Friday,everyone! Time for the weekend .. whew! It was so hard for me to get back in the swing of things this week after that nice long weekend last week! How about you? But .. more importantly, this Friday brings with it another Die Cut Challenge over at Stuck on U Sketches! December is my month to host and for our first cut, we are calling for Christmas tree cuts!

Now, I had planned to do a cute, decorated tree (think Jolly Holidays) but in the end opted to go with an outdoorsy evergreen. While I was cutting with my Winter Woodlands, I decided to cut 2 of them and make a couple of Christmas cards! The top one is strictly for SOUS but the lower one (on the right) is doing double duty for SOUS and Flying Unicorn.

These were very simple and quick to make. Some pretty paper, a stamped sentiment and then embellish your trees .. I did mine with Hard Rock Candy Stickles on one and Gesso on the other. My Snow-Tex is yucky and needs to be replaced but I have used that in the past with great results.

Now, the ladies at Stuck on U have come up with some great ideas this challenge, so I hope that you will hop on over THERE and see what they have done! Amd we hope that you will make your own tree projects and link them up so that we can see what you've created!

If you missed yesterday's post, I hope you will scroll on down and see the gorgeous December Kit of the Month from Flying Unicorn Store. Hope you have a great weekend!

Flying Unicorn December Kit of the Month Reveal! (long post)

2011-12-01T05:00:00.010-05:00

Hello, scrappy world! Time for another Kit of the Month reveal at The Flying Unicorn Store. This month' s kit is called Sugarplum Dreams and is chock full of wonderful papers and embellishmetns to scrap those wonderful holiday memories or make a stack of Christmas cards for those you care about! And of course, there is the OTP project .. a reindeer .. and it's the cutest thing ever!

There are no sign ups, no membership, once they are gone, they are gone ! Kits are $31.99 + $8.95 shipping USA and $16.95 International. And oh my goodness ...You are going to LOVE this kit!

I am so excited to share a little of what I did with mine!

First, a page of myself and my dd's last year with Santa We have an annual Girls Shopping Day every year and sometimes they will pose for me with the Big Guy! Anway, I loved the background paper on this page so much that I scanned it and hope to print some more for future use .. a gorgeous red damask that is not just for Christmas! I did lots of layers and distressing, added a poinsettia floral stem from last year plus 2 kinds of ribbon (love my crinkle ribbon, I'm addicted!) and some pearls and an embellie that I had on hand.

This is a new photo of dgd MacKenzie that I chose to use on this decorative pp. I cut out the top image and then elevated it with pop dots to make it look like a transom above the door. Around my photo I've added gauze and shaped it to resemble a wreath. Then I placed some flowers and buttons around it and tied some gauze bows. The large red flowers were tan but I have Glimmer Misted them with Burnt Red, then embellished them with Gesso and added in some Melissa Frances chandeliers that were from the kit. So pretty. I chose my title because every year, we seem to have a grandchild graduating from highschool or college. Never fails that we are always adding one more thing to our already hectic schedule. What can you do but laugh and attend?!

Nothing too special here ... just the lovely die cut piece, some long strips of the pp and more crinkle ribbon and flowers. I've used my fave MS cherished hearts punch, a TH bracket, a Prima resin bird and a gorgeous Dusty Attic piece that I painted green, then added Glimmer Glam to it in green. And pearls all around the mat. Finally got this photo from last year scrapped!

Then a fun page! I was all set for this kit to be in shades of purple or plum ... sugarplums, you see. But it wasn't. So I used this piece of Core'dinations cardstock, sanded it and went "plum" crazy. I used a Dusty Attic piece as a mask and Glimmer Misted in Sugar Plum Fairy. I've also used the DA hat rack painted with Cranberry Zing. Then added some Petaloo florals and Websters bloomers. Tucked around are a Websters Pages silhouette and a Melissa Frances resin swag. The "HIP" alphas are from the kit but "chick" was cut using my Cricut and Gypsy font. Lots of pearls and rhinestones and I called it a wrap! (DGD Marianne is our gracious and oh so funny model!)

Next. I did a few Christmas cards. Don't faint! I do DO an occasional card! These went so fast that I amazed myself! The lower right hand card with the deer is doubling as a DT project for SOUS tomorrow.

Lastly, my little reindeer. Kept it very simple! He is painted gold with gold Glitter Glam on his antlers. Then a nice bow and a Christmas pick finish him off.

Well, so are you ready to order your kit? Then fly on over to the Flying Unicorn Store and get yours before they are sold out!

Santa's Workshop at the Flying Unicorn ..

2011-11-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Creative Team, aka Alda and her elves, at the Flying Unicorn has been hard at work behind the scenes, getting ready for the month of December. We’re bringing you a technique loaded, fun-filled, December!! Everyday, through December 24th, there will be a new technique tutorial posted for you to try. Some will be simple, others a little more complex, but there will be something for everyone! Look for the Santa’s Workshop thread in the forum to find the daily tutorials. Be sure to post a picture of your creations using any of the tutorials to be eligble for a prize drawing on December 31st. There will be 9 different prizes awarded, one from each of Santa’s reindeer!

Mojo Monday card sketch

2011-11-28T09:00:00.005-05:00

Here's another great card sketch from Alda Stevens at the Flying Unicorn.

Time to get rolling on all those Christmas cards you need to make!

Don't forget that December 1st is right around the corner .. and we will be having our December Kit of the Month reveal! Loved this one!

Silent Auction

2011-11-26T04:00:00.001-05:00

Hey Scrappers!!!

Today, November 26th is the start of our Silent Auction at Flying Unicorn!! Each CT member has de-stashed their goodies and it's all going up on the auction block!! All proceeds will go to Women In Distress, an organization that we've been giving back to all month. Not only is this season the time for being thankful, but it's also a time to help others and give back to those who need our help.

Each auction bid starts at $5!! How cool is that? You could get TONS of scrapbooking items and help a great cause all in one shot!

There are some great items up for auction..the rules are simple..just pm each CT member with your bid and we'll keep track..letting each know if you've been outbid..so you can bid again if you want..etc..the rules are posted in each auction thread. You can see the wonderful items by clicking HERE

I do hope you'll fly on over and check out the auction!! It will run from Nov 26-28th with winning bidders being announced on the 29th!!

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and please help spread the word about the auction!!

Happy Scrappin!!

Sweet Girl ~ SOUS Sketch Challenge ~ 11-25-2011

2011-11-25T00:00:00.065-05:00

Oh, my! This has been such a busy but wonderful week! I hope that all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a fabulous day! As I write this it is Wedneday night, I am soooo tired from cooking and cleaning my heart out for my family tomorrow that I almost forgot to write my post. :) So I will keep this short and sweet!

This time at Stuck on U Sketches time we have a great sketch from Pagemaps. I followed it closely .... even threw in the clouds which is rare for my pages. That was kind of fun, though! My papers are Prima's Romantique which are gorgeous but did not photograph to their true color or quality. They are just fabulous in person.

I've used my Cricut for the background marquee, the clouds and the scalloped circle as well as the plain circle. Yeah, me! Then I have added a Dusty Attic piece (french flourish DA0273,) Melissa Frances resin bird (MF CX830,) Glitz Design and Prima alphas and Websters Pages bloomers. Then I mixed in some miscellaneous pearls and crinkle ribbon as well as my MS butterflies. In addition to my Cricut, there is a ton of fussy cutting on this one which I always enjoy!

The clouds were embossed with the Divine Swirls embossing folder and enhanced with some TH inks, Rock Candy Stickles and Diamond Dust. My Dusty Attic piece was painted with Glimmer Mist Chalkboard in Cranberry Zing.

My cute photo is of dggd Peyton who went to the Parade with her Papa. I photographed this one Before I did the journaling .. in case I messed up (did not) but I did forget to re-shoot it!

Thanks for dropping by .. sorry for the shortened post but I am sure you understand. I hope that the weekend does not find you too busy to run on by Stuck on U Sketches and see what the rest of the design team has done! Cannot wait to see your take on the sketch! Have a great weekend!

Sneal peeks of the December KOM

2011-11-24T00:09:00.000-05:00

Well as our sneak peek day lands on Thanksgiving this year, we are posting some sneaks today of the upcoming December kit "Sugarplum Dreams" from the Flying Unicorn Store ! Here are a few of mine:

This is such a gorgeous kit! It will go on sale December 1st! Since they usually sell out in a day or two, better be ready to snag one!

Hoping you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Flying Unicorn's First Silent Auction

2011-11-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

Please join us November 26th through November 28th for Flying Unicorn’s First Annual Silent Auction of all things scrapbook, all from the private stashes of the Flying Unicorn Creative Team. All proceeds from the auction will go to benefit Women in Distress. Some of us are putting together kits, some of us are destashing. There’s bound to be something you’ll want; place your bid, and it might be yours. Bids will be accepted until midnight November 28th and auction winners will be notified the next day.

As the month draws to a close, we want to thank all of you who posted your lovely work in the gallery, sent in your donations and made purchases in the store. We met our goal of 1,000 uploads to the gallery on November 16th, thereby earning a $1,000 donation from the Flying Unicorn store to Women in Distress. Remember that throughout November 5% of all sales will be donated to Women in Distress.

The Silent Auction is our last fundraiser for Women in Distress this year. We hope you’ll help us help our sisters who have suffered so much by placing a bid. You can peruse the items up for auction by visiting HERE beginning Nov 23rd.

Enchanting Creations December Edition is now available!

2011-11-19T00:30:00.000-05:00

It is full of fabulous Christmas crafting ideas. To view it just click on the Enchanting Creations link at the top of my blog.

Joy ~ SOUS sketch reveal ~ 11/11/2011

2011-11-11T00:00:00.060-05:00

Hey, there, everybody! I hope that you have had a great week! It's Friday and you know what that means ... it's reveal time over at Stuck on U Sketches! Nanne was our sketch artist this time and I really love how this one played out!

There is tons of Prima used here .. papers are from the Printery collection. Love them! And flowers are a mix of several of the Prima Paloma line. Even the tile at the bottom is Prima as is the journaling piece.

I've used a Dusty Attic circular frame here to tie everything together ... which it did nicely! After first painting it white, I used some clear crackle paint on it. Then distressed it some with Vintage Photo and added some yummy pearls. Super fun to alter!

I used my Imagine to cut a couple of Gypsy Wanderings butterflies and mixed those in using pop dots and added pearls to them too ... of course. My title letters are American Crafts Thickers. I really had trouble thinking of a title for this page .. at least one that would fit iin the small space that I left.

And of course, the 2 cuties in these photos are my dgd and dgs, Marianne and Christian. I'm getting a lot of mileage out of their museum photos Hehe!

So, are you ready for a few close-ups?

That's about it for today! Thanks for coming by .. And if you haven't been by SOUS yet, I hope you will go have a look at what the other designers have done. To those of you with a long weekend coming up ... congrats and be safe!

POST YOUR WORK AT FLYING UNICORN!

2011-11-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

This month Flying Unicorn is donating up to $1,000 to Women in Distress. You can help and here's how. For each project uploaded to the Flying Unicorn gallery, Flying Unicorn will donate $1. Help us get $1,000 for Women in Distress. We need 1,000 uploads to reach our goal. Come on everyone, load up the gallery!! Here us the link: http://flying-unicorn.socialgo.com/photos.html

If you have never suffered abuse at the hands of your partner, count your blessings. So many of our sisters have had to endure abuse, both physical and mental. Some of the Flying Unicorn members have lived these nightmares but somehow found the strength to remove themselves from these situations. They have shared their horrific stories, not for your sympathy, but to inspire other woman and give courage and strength to those in need. Their stories are purposeful examples meant to empower. Women in Distress is ready and waiting to aid those women who so desperately need hel

Please help us help Women in Distress by uploading your creations to the Flying Unicorn Gallery. Many thanks!

The Boys! ~ SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~ Leaf

2011-11-04T00:00:00.045-04:00

Hello, scrappers! Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to an awesome weekend!

I'm excited to post a very simple but special page today. Seems I have not been scrapping my new twin grandsons very much as it is sooooooooo hard to get photos of them. For awhile they were always asleep or taking a bottle ...... and never at the same time! They are still not sleeping very well but are finally having a few happy moments crawling around on the floor. That is Danny at the top of the page and Bobby at the bottom.

I've used some Graphic 45 Baby 2 Bride papers that I got from Alda at the Flying Unicorn Store . They are really soft and gorgeous IRL although they look a bit pale here. I just did a simple side-panel design along with my MS deep edged scallop punch. Then I made some flowers from some G45 Le Romantique that was in my stash. They were cut using my Cricut and then moistened and bent into shape. I love this leaf cut that is on the Mother's Day Bouquet cartridge. I paired these with some vintage Prima to complete the look.

Finally, I just added some pearls and then a ribbon with a single button. Oh, and some MS punched butterflies. My title was cut with my Hello Kitty Font cartridge which was purchased soley for the font .. not much HK going on around here LOL

Here is a close-up of my floral cluster. And don't you love that font??

I hope that you will make it by Stuck on U Sketches and see what the Die Cut team has done with this challenge. So many cute ideas ....

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and maybe get some scrapping done! Thanks for coming by!

Enchanting Creations Magazine, November issue

2011-11-03T00:00:00.003-04:00

I thought I would share a couple of projects that I did for the Enchanting Creations Magazine. Click on the link right below my blog banner and it will take you directly to the magazine.

The product in use this month is Graphic 45's Christmas Emporium. So, I did one layout (yep, that's me!) .. and then altered a topiary that I had altered once before. Now it is all decked out for Christmas!

Hope you have fun creating this week!

November Kit of the Month Reveal ~ Remember the Days!

2011-11-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

The November Kit of the Month (Remember the Days) is now available at Flying Unicorn Store There are no sign ups, no membership, once they are gone, they are gone ! 31.99 + 8.95 shipping USA and 16.95 International. And oh my goodness ...You are going to LOVE this kit!

I am so excited to share a little of what I did with mine!

This layout above was a tribute page to my Dad. (Papers are all Glitz Designs except for the tags which are Riddersholm Chantilly Dawn.) The photo was taken in 1962 shortly before my parents moved to Colorado which was my Dad's dream come true! My title came from my own grandkids .. they always called him Reindeer Man because of some antlers he had mounted on his shop. (Title tiles by Lisa Gregory, thank you!)

I added a lot of symbolism to this one and did some heavy distressing as well as adding "natural" embellishments like the vintage Prima from the kit and the Dusty Attic long stem flower, cheesecloth and burlap from my stash. The torn spot is to remind me of all the target practice we used to do. Dad was a gunsmith by trade. The cheesecloth and burlap were both things that he used frequently. And the Chevron patterned paper is reminiscent of the checkering that he did on custom gunstocks. I did throw in some lace, ribbon and buttons to remind me of his gentle heart and how much he loved his family. Plus ........ he could make the best apple pie you ever hoped to eat and made his own crust!! Miss you, Daddy!

Now could this page be any more different than the one above? I had this great photo of dgd Maddie with her new hubby Marcos that I wanted to get scrapped. I had lots of fun with this one! The papers are mostly the Riddersholm and they are gorgeous with a capital G. I did throw in one piece of Glitz from my stash for the large circle. (Sketch is by former SOUS teammate Ness Waller.) I had fun altering my Dusty Attic piece, painting it first and then adding crackle accents to it after placing the title on it. I fussy cut the butterflies and added some crinkle ribbon and vintage Prima. The little cherub is from the kit. It comes in clay but I painted it white. A little punching, pearls and I was done.

Next up is the FABULOUS Melissa Frances Mini Calendar Book which is our Off the Page product this month. Be still me heart .. an OTP that I will actually use!! It has calendar pages with envelope pockets in it that I am going to use for receipts, cards and that sort of thing. I have purposely left my pages pretty flat so that it will not be too bulky. I am not totally finished with it either but ran out of energy .. So, I will share a bit of what I've done.

Thanks for coming by! Hope you will hop on over to Flying Unicorn Store and will pick your kit up before they are gone! I could seriously use another one of these myself! While you're there, I hope you will take time to see what the rest of the Creative Team has done as well!

Happy shopping!

Women in Distress ~ Flying Unicorn Gives Back!

2011-10-31T08:00:00.003-04:00

November is a very special time at Flying Unicorn ...

Many of us know women who have had to live with the fear and reality of abuse. Flying Unicorn needs your help to empower these women to find the courage to take control of their lives and leave the nightmares they are living.

You can help and here’s how. For each purchase that you make during the month of November, Flying Unicorn will donate 5% of the sales proceeds to Women in Distress. In addition, you can help by uploading your projects to the Flying Unicorn gallery. A donation of $1 will go to Women in Distress for each and every project that you upload to a maximum of $1,000.

If you would like to make a cash contribution to Women in Distress, Flying Unicorn is collecting donations on behalf of Women in Distress from November 1 through November 30, 2011. Your PAYPAL donation can be made by simply sending money to cs@flyingunicornllc.com. Please add WID In the note section. You can also mail a check, made payable to WOMAN IN DISTRESS, to:

Flying Unicorn

201 SE 19th Street

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Please help Flying Unicorn empower these women to change their lives. We can all help our sisters by offering our prayers and financial support.

I'm in the Cricut Magazine!

2011-10-30T13:20:00.000-04:00

Finally! The November issue of the Cricut magazine is now available! My "Baby Twins" layout is on page 109!!! I am over the moon excited! Having a craft project in print has been a goal of mine for awhle although I am sorry to say that I seldom submit. I finally did ... and was pleased to be accepted. Thank you, Northridge Publishing!

Help, Help! Fire, Fire! ~ Stuck on U Sketches ~

2011-10-28T00:00:00.059-04:00

Hello, ladies! TGIF and time for another Stuck on U Sketches reveal! And boy, did I decide it was time to do something different! My dd had these photos of my dgd Marianne that she wanted me to scrap! Check out Grandma's cute little fireman.

So, I had to go with the yellow and red, right? And then find something a little pretty to go along! Here I used a mix of Webster's Pages WonderFall and Spring Market with lots of fussy cutting of elements to get them where I needed/wanted them. And of course, some gorgeous yellow Webster's Bloomers.

Then a mix of buttons, crinkle ribbon and twine make for a cutie pie page. I always use symbolism of some sort on my pages and here it was the key .. because seriously, how far can you drive a firetruck without the keys, right? (Well, that .. and Key is a family name.)

I did use my Imagine to cut my title from the Cindy Loo cartridge. As you can see, I have rotated the sketch 90 degrees so that I could use my horizontally taken and printed photos.

While you're here, this was our sketch created by our own Leah Schaeffer. (And let me add that she is just as sweet as she seems. And a wonderful friend!)

So, if you haven't been by the site yet, you better hurry along. Our designers have done a wonderful job, as always!

Also, I am happy to report that the fire was extinguished and all is well at the children's museum! Okay, it's late and I am giddy! LOL

Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for coming by!

Sneak peeks ~ Kit of the Month at Flying Unicorn

2011-10-26T05:00:00.003-04:00

This one is called REMEMBER THE DAYS ....

Here is a sneak peek at November's Kit of the Month ....

Kits are available on November 01, 2011 at Flying Unicorn Store no sign ups, no membership, once they are gone they are gone ! 31.99 + 8.95 shipping USA and 16.95 International.

I think this is my favorite kit so far!

Monday sketch and a new layout!!

2011-10-24T19:45:00.000-04:00

This week's sketch is from Enchanting Creations Magazine. Complete your take on it and submit it to ecmagllc@gmail.com for a chance to win some goreous PION Santa II Papers .

While you're here, let me share some CT work that I did this weekend that features a photo of my Mom and 2 of my Aunts. It is not the most flattering photo of them but I wanted to get it scrapped some time! Also, I've been wanting to do the butterflies en masse thing, so I took the opportunity to do it! Papers are from Kaiser Craft's BonJour collection, available soon at Flying Unicorn Store.

Thanks for coming by!

Sweet Moments ~ SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~

2011-10-21T00:00:00.052-04:00

Sooooo .... do you know what day it is? My favorite day of the week ... Friday! Made even more special by our Stuck on U Sketches reveal! This week it is the Die Cut team's time at bat and our lovely hostess, Nanne, has chosen "Fence" as our challenge. So, we want to see some die cut fences from you .. on any kind of projects .. be it a layout, card, mini or altered item. The sky is the limit. The only criteria is that it be a new project.

Well, I cheated a little on mine because I had this awesome die cut paper that I have been dying to use that is cut in the shape of a fence! How could I pass this one up, right?! So, I paired it with some yummy Webster's Pages (Country Estates) and a wedding photo (are you sick of them yet?) and away I went.

The Webster's paper has a gazebo on it and of course, I wanted for that to show because Maddie and Marcos were married under a gazebo. I split my fence and offset it to both sides. Then I added in some flowers, ribbon and a pearl flourish. I cut my favorite butterflies from Gypsy Wanderings and trimmed them with some flat-backed pearls. While I had the Gypsy on, I cut a photo mat from A Child's Year.

Here are a few close-ups:

This is another one of those pages that looks so much better IRL than on the computer monitor. It has a bit of a different look for me .. maybe it is the colors .. but I do like how it turned out. I was going to let this challenge pass without participating but I'm glad I changed my mind.

I hope that you, too, will pick up the paper and join in our challenge! If you haven't made it over to our site, please visit soon and see what all our designers have done! You will have 2 weeks to complete and upload your project. Also, please remember that you still have another week to complete last week's sketch challenge! Happy Crafting!

Mojo Monday card sketch

2011-10-17T11:42:00.000-04:00

Happy, Monday, all! Thought I would come by with another great card sketch done by Alda Stevens at the Flying Unicorn Store . Time is marching on and Christmas cards will be going out before you know it! Hope you like this one!

Happy crafting!

We are proud to announce ..

2011-10-17T00:00:00.003-04:00

We are so thrilled and excited to share with all of you the three new members to the Flying Unicorn Creative Team Family . Each and everyone of them brings wonderful creative inspiration. So please join me in a warm welcome:

Jenifer Evans

Dana Tatar

Tabitha Triplett

These wonderful ladies will bring even more inspiration and creativity to our wonderful family at Flying Unicorn! I have their names listed on my sidebar and that will take yoiu directly to their blogs where you can see their amazing creations.
So let's give these ladies a HUGE congrats and a big welcome!

Stuck on U Sketches is proud to announce ....

2011-10-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

that we have a new DT member joining us...

Please help us welcome...

Melissa Pablo

Her is a little bio from her:

"Hello, i'm Melissa but almost everyone knows me by Isay. i am a mother of 3 beautiful blessings Justin, Joseph, and Jylian. I'm a wife to a very supportive and understanding man, Robert. i am also a full-time nurse. i started scrapbooking about 4 yrs ago when my best friend and i decided to give it a try. it has been my stress reliever and my addiction eversince. looking back to my old LO's i think i improved alot. i have no particular style and i like to try new things. i love creating my pages using sketches. Thank you very much to STUCK ON U SKETCHES leaders and DT's for this wonderful opportunity and i can't wait to see everyone's creation. thank you so much again. Isay"

And here is her wonderful layout...

Silly

Creative Isay

Enjoy the moments ~ SOUS original Sketch ~

2011-10-14T00:00:00.066-04:00

Happy Friday, pals and gals! This one is super special because we have another Original SOUS sketch by our very own Leah Schaeffer. Let's give her a high five! It was such a fun sketch to work from and I think that you'll love it!

Here it is again:

And here is my take on it:

I had this great new photo of 2 of my dgds to scrap and decided to have a little fun with it and with some yummy new paper by Bo Bunny called Welcome Home. (Speaking of Bo Bunny: I recently won a give-away from them and received the most gorgeous Christmas papers and embellishments in the mail. They were so generous. Thank you, Bo Bunny!)

Okay, I digress, sorry. Along with the papers I wanted to play with some of my favorite Dusty Attic pieces, the title and the lamp post. I painted the one brown and the other white, then coated it with some Rock Candy Stickles.

Here are a few close-ups.

The title piece was painted with Tattered Angels Chalkboard in Decadence. I love this saying and will have to order more of this one!

The lamp post was simply painted with some Folk Art Warm White, then distressed with some Chestnut Roan and finally brushed with Rock Candy Stickles. I added a flower to dress it up a bit more. Then added some beige papers where the globes are.

Here, I framed the bottom of my photo with some gorgeous ribbon from Pink Paislee. Then used one of my remaining Prima vines and added a mix of florals. The large white flower was a BoBunny flower from last years Olivia collection. The white and green flowers are Recollections and the tiny flowers are from Flying Unicorn .

Well, I will keep my post short today .. but hope that you will get a chance to play along with the sketch this time. Can't wait to see your inspiration!

Mojo Monday Card Sketch

2011-10-10T16:07:00.000-04:00

Here's another great Mojo Monday card sketch for all you cardmakers out there! Courtesy of Alda Stevens at http://www.flyingunicornstore.com/ Lots of awesome layers .. I'm thinking Christmas cards maybe ...

Have fun!

It's the Flying Unicorn's 1st Birthday!

2011-10-08T23:10:00.001-04:00

Sunday, October 9th, is the first birthday of the Flying Unicorn Store!! To celebrate there will be free shipping on all purchases for the entire day!!! How sweet is that? Just enter the code ONE when you check out to get free shipping on all purchases, but just Sunday, the 9th. There are lots of new items are arriving daily and if you're looking for those GORGEOUS hard to find Pion Christmas papers, look no further. They're in stock! Also be sure to check out the new colors of Alda's Enchanted roses. So much to buy .. so little time!

SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~ TREE~

2011-10-07T00:00:00.054-04:00

Hey, everybody! Did the week fly by for you like it did for me? Now that Fall is here, I kind of wish time would slow down a bit so I can enjoy the cooler (yet not cold) temperatures! Seems that the craft stores are all really busy with selling Fall things to decorate our homes .. and our projects. Love it!

Speaking of .. this week at Stuck on U Sketches we have another Die Cut challenge. This week it is to use a "tree." Well, I was really sweating this one because I couldn't come up with any great ideas. I have to wonder if my Cricut is now only useful for titles and flowers .. we shall see.

But as I was looking at some of my dgd Maddie's wedding photos, there was a lovely Bradford pear tree in bloom, so I got the idea to scrap one of her photos and use a tree (SYI) on my page. I also cut out a gazebo using my Freshly Picked cartridge .. but in the end simply used it as a mask instead of adhering it to the page. I used Smooch Spray that really turned out great as far as defining the gazebo shape and making the page shimmer. My photo mat was cut with the Sentimentals cartridge.

There is lots of distressssing on the page both with water as well as my Distrezz-it-all and my Distress inks. I folded back a few places to let a white doily show through. There are some paper curls at the top of the gazebo to give the illusion of trailing vines.

These yummy papers are a mix of Graphic 45 Baby 2 Bride and Once Upon a Springtime. For product. I've used some Websters Pages trim and netting, Prima florals and Recollections pearls. Then I finished off my page with some small butterflies cut with my Martha Stewart punch.

Here are a few close-ups:

And here is the gazebo die cut that I used as a mask.

I think that just about wraps it up! I hope that you will visit the rest of the designers at Stuck on U Sketches and see what they have done. Then .. we hope that you will be inspired to add a tree to your project and upload it to our site. There is some awesome blog candy there .. you don't want to miss out!

Thanks for coming by. Love that we have such a great, supportive online community that can inspire and lift one another up. Have a fabulous weekend~

Mojo Monday Sketch

2011-10-03T18:00:00.001-04:00

Need something to get the mojo flowing?

How about Alda's latest sketch!

Also wanted to let you know that we have a couple of new CT members: Maggi Harding and Martica. Their blogs are listed over on my left-hand sidebar. They are going to be an awesome asset! Welcome, ladies!

As promised ...

2011-10-03T10:35:00.000-04:00

Here are some pages from the Halloween mini that I made from the October Kit of the Month over at the Flying Unicorn Store .

As of yesterday, there was only 1 kit left! These really flew off the shelf!

I don't really have a use for minis (let alone Halloween ones) so I am giving this one to my dd for photos of her little step-grandbaby! But it was fun to do!

I will post the mojo Monday sketch in just a little bit!

Flying Unicorn's October Kit of the Month Reveal

2011-10-01T01:14:00.000-04:00

October first, really? But .... the good news is that it is now time for the October kit "Pursuit of Happiness" to go on sale at Flying Unicorn online scrapbook store . And scrappers, this one was so jam-packed that I've done 5 major projects and still have stuff left over to do more, whew!

So, here it is:

I hardly know where to start with showing you what I did with my kit because every project became my fave! But here goes ...

"Imagine the Possibilites" .. love this page~

"Dream" ~ Did this page with my scraps!

An explosion box birthday gift for my sweet SIL. Inspired by my friend and former teamie Sandy Windsor. You can visit her at Details by Sandy. I've wanted to make one of these for a couple of years now but needed a little push! Thanks, Sandy!

The Off the Page item this month is a TicTacToe box/board by KaiserCraft but I saw it as a window pane and went to town creating a Fall scene! Love love love how this turned out.

And lastly for today is the mini-album that I have started for my dd to keep photos of her step-daughter's baby girl, Peyton. Sorry I couldn't get a better photo of this! There are more pages but ..maybe I will share them tomorrow since this is already such a long post!

Didn't I tell you this kit is packed with endless goodies? You had better order yours today. They do not last long!

And don't forget that today marks the beginning of Scrap-o-ween at the Flying Unicorn Forum! Click on the photo on the right-hand sidebar to go directly to it in the Forum! There are daily games, weekly challenges and a month long Amusement House. Should be tons of fun! Hope to see you there! Also a 13% savings on all individual items in the store using coupon code SPOOK.

Scrap-O-Ween beginning October 1

2011-10-01T00:02:00.001-04:00

Head on over to Flying Unicorn Store and start saving!

And don't forget about all the awesome Scrap-o-Ween events in the Forum. Should be tons of fun!

~ LOVE ~ New sketch is up at SOUS!

2011-09-30T00:00:00.052-04:00

Hi, scrappers! I am so excited that we have a new sketch up at Stuck on U Sketches and this time we have a great 4 photo sketch done by the awesome Liz Qualman. You can visit her HERE. I find that her sketches are always so well balanced and make for wonderful pages. I think you will too.

We have had so many family events this year that I had plenty to choose from. LOL But I decided to scrap a few of my dgd Maddie's engagement photos. As you can see in the larger photo, I wanted to be sure and scrap a page with the "book" that Marcos made and used to propose. Such a romantic guy!

My papers are from KaiserCraft's Chapter One collection. So yummy! I really need to go back and finish using them before I forget about them! Remember that you can click on the photo to enlarge it for a close-up view. I paired them with some plain black cardstock and a few white doilies. One corner is turned back to reveal the doilie accented with a Prima tea rose and a K and Company butterfly.

There is some stamping at the top of the page done with my Donna Salazar Weathered Trim stamp. Just inked in black, The little tab has a Websters Pages Sparkler attached to it so that you can pull it out and read the journaling note. I also used a Glitz Design transparency on the lower right-hand photo. The rub-on at the bottom which also serves as my title is also made by Glitz.

I finished with a Prima black pearl swirl and more Prima flowers from the Paloma series. Then a few more butterflies were scattered around and I called it a "wrap." This was such a fun page to do .. awesome sketch, fun photos and gorgeous paper .. what more could you ask?

I hope that you will play along this time. This is the last sketch of the month and the last opportunity to be in the drawing for the blog candy donated by the Flying Unicorn online scrapbook store.

Speaking of .. tomorrow is October and will be the reveal for the October Kit of the Month at Flying Unicorn. Can't wait to show you my creations!

Thanks for coming by and for always leaving such inspiring comments! Have a great weekend!

Mojo Monday Card Sketch!

2011-09-26T14:51:00.000-04:00

Here ia a great sketch for working on those cards you need to get done .. courtesy of Alda Stevens at Flying Unicorn Store.

Also, while you are here, let me show you what will be arriving there soon;

Is this gorgeous or what? I may have to give away some of my stash to make room for this!

Hope you have a scrap happy week!

Sandi

October Sneak Peeks!

2011-09-25T10:19:00.001-04:00

Happy Sunday, scrappers!

September seems to be flying by, doesn't it? So, that means it is about time to show off a few sneak peeks at what I've done so far with the October Kit "Pursuit of Happiness" over at the Flying Unicorn Store.

The kit will go on sale Saturday, October 1st. And you won't want to miss it! It is jam packed with so many goodies that I hardly knew where to start! And the Off the Page project .. loved this one! So, here are a few peeks!

Also, don't forget that we will be hosting Scrap-o-Ween in the Flying Unicorn Forum during the month of October. Lots of games and prizes .. plus a 13% off sale in the store if you use the coupon code SPOOK.

Hope you have a great day!

SOUS Die Cut Heart Challenge ~ Forever Friends ~

2011-09-23T00:00:00.057-04:00

Yeah, it's Friday and you know what that means around here .. time for another Stuck on U Sketches reveal. This week the Die Cut team is up to bat and I thought I would play along. Some of you may have seen this layout as I was doing a little double duty on this one.

I sure wish that the color of this page showed up a bit more "true." It is a very pale olive green color and is one of the gorgeous Riddersholm Bello Pastello papers sold at the Flying Unicorn Store. Riddersholm is a Danish company and Flying Unicorn is currently the only USA store to carry them.

I wanted to try a monochromatic theme on this one .. harder than you think! So everything is a shade of green with a small bit of white mixed in.

I've done lots of layering on this piece and added in 3, no 4, doilies. Had fun with my Prima stamp along the top and bottom of the layout. The two Dusty Attic pieces were treated with Shabby Shutters Crackle paint, as well as the matching Stickles and then adorned with a few matching flat-backed pearls. Be sure and click on the photo to get a closer look!

I got busy with the Cricut this time and created the hearts and my title. That was kind of fun. I split my title and put part of it vertically and the other half horizontally.

My floral embellishments are a mix of Prima, Petaloo, Recollections and a few leftovers from a past Swirlydoos kit. This is one page that is seriously sooo thick that even I am not going to try putting it in an album. My dgd Maddie (who is in the photo) has requested it ... and she has lots more room at her house than I do. Problem solved!

Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to get back to you! We hope that you will have the opportunity to take on the "Heart" challenge. Just remember that we are asking for it to be a new project as of 9-23-11.

Thanks for coming by! Have a fantastic weekend!

Beautiful ~ Prima Romantique ~ CT work for Flying Unicorn

2011-09-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

As a Creative Team member for the Flying Unicorn store, I had the opportunity to work with some of the new Prima Romantique Collection. This was a really quick page for me as I wanted to complete it before moving on to other projects. Then, hopefully I can work on more of these gorgeous papers soon. The papers are very vintage romantic and quite feminine . However, the B side has lots of blues and plaid and could be very "boyish." Something for everyone.

After distressing and inking my papers, I chose a white doily and misted it with Moon Shadow Mist's Gossamer Gold. My florals are a mix of Prima and a custom branch from Angelica Franssen's Etsy shop. My bling is also Prima .. Say it in Crystals vintage swirl. The ribbon along the bottom is also made by Prima .. it is a gorgeous ivory trim with rosettes on it that I thought went well with the papers.

My title is a Dusty Attic piece that I inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then sugared with Rock Candy Stickles and Diamond Dust. Looks pretty awesome, if I do say so. This Dusty Attic piece is also available in the Flying Unicorn store.

That cute journaling circle was part of a blog candy win from SOUS teammate Beatiz Guzman. You can visit her blog HERE. I need to check some dates before I write my short journal note. But .. the photo is dgd Malerie in Spring 2005 when she graduated from highschool.

I think about wraps it up. I do hope to spend more time visiting your blogs this week. Seems the day are sometimes not quite long enough! Have a great week!

Scrap-o-ween

2011-09-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night

the Celebrations will last all month long

From October 01 to October 31

Haunted Forum Fun

Daily Spook-tacular Give-aways

Fang-tastic Challenges

Hollywood Horror

And so much more ...

Flying Unicorn Forum

Enchanting Creations Magazine!

2011-09-18T14:12:00.000-04:00

The October edition of Enchanting Creations magazine has been released! The flip issue is at the top of my blog. Just click on it and you'll get the entire issue uploaded for browsing.

As part of the Creative Team for the Flying Unicorn Store, I have a couple of layouts featured there using Graphic 45 papers from the Steampunk Debutante collection. It is a really great issue! I hope you will take time to have a look.

October 14 is the deadline for submissions for the November issue of Enchanting Creations. The November call is for Family, Thanksgiving, Time is Running Out ie, projects with clocks, Gifts of Thanks and handmade projects. See page 2 of the magazine for further details.

You'll also find a sketch challenge in the current issue. The winner receives a 12 x 12 paper pack collection of Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium. Be sure to check out those details on page 11 of the magazine.

Hope you have a scrap happy week!

SOUS 9-16 True Love/perfect pair

2011-09-16T00:00:00.037-04:00

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm so excited that the weekend is around the corner! After being on vaction last week, it was kind of hard getting back into the routine!

This week at Stuck on U Sketches we have a fantstic sketch from Alda Stevens at The Flying Unicorn. I have posted the sketch below in case you have not saved it yet. I loved loved loved this one! Alda is also our September Blog Candy donor! There are 5 challenges in September and the more you play, the more times your name is entered to win!

Speaking of love .. I really wanted to get this photo scrapped of dd Danielle and her hubby Mike taken at a family wedding this year. My working title was Perfect Pair but in the end I settled for True Love .. don't ask, it was a Cricut issue.

I used up the last of my Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers .. I think I have something like 9 or 10 layers on here .. I soooo loved these papers. Right up my scrappy alley! I did lots of distressing on this page .. with lots of inking and then misting on the flowers. Added in some lace, ribbon, fussy cutting, bling and some punchwork ... and that just about does it. LOL Like how I rolled all those hours of scrapping in to 2 sentences? Anyway, I had some serious fun with this page!

Now, it's your turn to take this great sketch and run with it! You will have 2 weeks to upload your project to Stuck on U Sketches. Can't wait to see what you create!

Have a great weekend!

Practical Scrappers

2011-09-15T08:37:00.000-04:00

Hi, all! Just a quick post to direct your attention to the Authentique feature and give-away over at Practical Scrappers today. I have a couple of layouts featured. You'll be amazed at all the great projects from the designers and followers.

See you back here tomorrow for Stuck on U Sketches!

Circa 1910

2011-09-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had the opporunity to scrap for fun! So, I decided to scrap this photo of my Grandmother Clara and her baby brother. We just found this treasure of a photo last week and I wanted to scrap it right away! I also wanted to use the sketch ny Nadia Cannizzo over at

Once upon a Sketch. Although you are also supposed to use the year as your title, in this instance the year is "circa 1910." More of a subtitle in this instance. But I loved the sketch and wanted to play along. Since I don't know much else about the photo, my journaling is their names, the relationship and the estimated year.

I also had the opportunity to use some of my Pion Design's Studio of Memories paper that I got at Flying Unicorn Store. Gorgeous stuff, I'm telling you! (I just got Pion's Waiting for Santa II in the mail from there as well .. love it! ) I paired my papers with some yummy Prima florals and bling .. along with a great piece of Dusty Attic that I inked with Black Soot. Then I threw in a few handmade roses from Alda's store, some butterflies and lace.

This was fun! I hope to have more time to plan along with Nadia's challenge blog in the near future!

Mojo Monday Sketch

2011-09-12T16:27:00.000-04:00

Need a great way to get some of those Summer photos scrapped? Here is a multi-pic sketch from Alda Stevens at The Flying Unicorn. Isn't it great? Might have to work on this one today myself! Five photos on a 12x12 .. awesome!

SOUS Die Cut Challenge ~ Flower ~

2011-09-09T00:00:00.033-04:00

Friday again already? I've been away on vacation and the days have flown by! But .. I am excited to be here again bringing you the latest Die Cut challenge at Stuck on U Sketches . The "theme" is flower .. you can use any die cutter or die. But you must have at least one die cut.

I opted to use my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and made a card using some gorgeous Graphic 45 Baby to Bride papers from the Flying Unicorn store . I also cut a flower from some Webster's Pages netting and mixed that in with my paper pieces. Looks reall cool!

I Glimmer Misted my papers in several colors and scrunched and curled my paper while it was still wet. When they were dry, I started layering paper and netting. I used a small Prima rose as my center. Then I put a dab of Gesso here and there.

Just a side view of the flower to show the dimension.

My card was finished with some trim, crinkle ribbon, pearls and a BoBunny trinket butterfly. Now I am all set and ready for the next baby shower!

I hope you will join us in this Die Cut challenge. All we are asking is that your project be new as of 9/9/2011. We hope you will link it up at SOUS so that we can see what you've done. Remember we have some awesome blog candy to give away st SOUS.

Thanks for coming by!

By the Bay ~ SOUS Original Sketch ~

2011-09-02T00:00:00.006-04:00

TGIF ~ It's Friday again and time for another Stuck on U Sketches reveal. This week we have another original sketch (by me) that I whipped up quickly one morning before I actually learned how to do them digitally. I already have a few more ready that we'll be using in December. Creating them gets kind of addicting!

But I was very pleased that the sketch made for one of my favorite layouts for this summer. Helped along with some gorgeous Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers and and awesome photo of my nieces taken on their little vacay to San Francisco this year. Snagged this photo off of Facebook. LOL I thought they looked adorable!

I loved working with Butterfly Garden .. the papers are just my colors! For the circle on the sketch, I opted to use a Cricut doiley cut .. from the CM Reminisce Accents cart. There is lots of layering and distressing as well as some punchwork and stamping. I have finally gotten bitten by the bug and am stamping on most of my pages now. Here I've used a Prima Clear Stamp as well as a Tim Holtz rubber stamp.

My flowers are a mix of Prima Fiesta Flowers (coral sea) that I've been hoarding along with some Prima Belle Arte roses with some small bright pink roses from my Swirlydoos kit added in. Love the pop of color!

I fussy cut some flowers and butterflies from the paper and mixed those in with the others. There is some Zva Creative bling and some Prima felt leaves and Shabby Chic resin window. My alphas were a mix of 2 colors of Thickers.

I think that is about it! Hope you will visit the other designers and see what they have created! I've been soooo excited to see the pages that came from my simple sketch. The design team has dome an awesome job! Below is a copy of the sketch if you haven't downloaded it yet.

Thanks for coming by. Hope those of you in the USA will have a happy, safe Labor Day weekend! Okay, let's get creative ~

"Joy to Remember" ~ September Kit of the Month

2011-09-01T08:44:00.000-04:00

I am so excited that the time has finally arrived for my first official Flying Unicorn Kit of the Month reveal! This month's kit is called "Joy to Remember." And what a joy it was to work with! Full of yummy KaiserCraft papers, flowers, rhinestones, frame and wooden flourishes accompanied by vintage lace, brads, gorgeous pearls and so much more. I still have lots leftover so you will be seeing more from this kit. There was also the "surprise" Off The Page project that we were especially curious about this month. Here's a photo of the kit.

So, now let me show you what I've done so far.

Here is a page I did using KaiserCraft's Duchess collection and a KC wooden flourish which is included in the kit. This page went together fairly quickly .. for me. I am usually a very slow scrapper but I so enjoyed this color scheme, that I flew through this one! Or it seemed that way! LOL I've used this photo of my Mom before and never tire of using it. These colors are great for vintage, Fall or just about anything where you might want brown, olive green and denim blue tones. Be sure to click on the photos for an up-close look of any of these.

My second layout is using KaiserCraft's English Rose. I have wanted this collection for a few months but have put off buying it, so I had a pleasant surprise when finding it in my kit. I cut the die cut piece in two and used it on each edge. There is lots of yummy Prima here that is from my own stash as well as some small roses from the Flying Unicorn store. The photo is the daughter of a family friend. I love how whimsical this page turned out. I had some serious fun working on this page! I especially love the pop of red that I added in the small red roses. You can barely see them but they are there and seem to add so much.

I have always loved this photo of my mother and brother together when he was small. For this one I used some more of the Duchess paper as well as some gorgeous peach lace from the kit. The flowers and bling are from my stash. I did some stamping and punchwork, added in a small KaiserCraft doiley and then outlined the peach mat with some small pearls. My Alphas are from Jillibean.

Alda always includes an Off the Page project in her kits. This time she had us all wondering what it could be that required an oversized box. Well, it was 3 paper mache' cans ready for whatever you can think of to create. Well, I had tons of ideas (seriously) but not too much time, so I did some simple painting, stencilling and die cutting to come up with a bit of home decor.

I also quickly made a card from the English Rose papers and added a few flowers. I still have product left for at least a couple more projects! Another OTP and maybe a card. There is some awesome stuff I just didn't around to using. So, later this month, I'll share those.

Okay, time to start thinking about ordering that kit! Remember that these usually sell out in the first 1.5 to 2 days, so don't tarry if you want one!

Also, September starts a new month of challenges in the Flying Unicorn Forum.

~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you tomorrow for another Stuck on U Sketches sketch challenge reveal with another original sketch.

Guest Creative Team Member

2011-08-31T22:31:00.000-04:00

We are proud to announce that Maggi Harding is our Guest Creative Team Member for the month of September at the Flying Unicorn Forum !! Please check out her blog HERE.

More sneaks ..

2011-08-31T04:00:00.000-04:00

How about a few more sneaks of that September Kit of the Month from Flying Unicorn ?

Just a few details to whet your appetite.

The papers and colors are awesome this time!

Bet you can't figure out what this is!

See you on the 1st!

Authentique

2011-08-27T05:00:00.020-04:00

As promised, here is the layout I did for Enchanting Creations magazine using the new Authentique Journey paper line .. which is awesome! And ... All Authentique products are 20% off this "Saturday and Sunday only" at the Flying Unicorn store . Use coupon code "august."

The photo is of little dgd Marianne at the zoo. LOVE this picture!

I went a little crazy with Prima flowers, lace and swirls designed around a gorgeous Petaloo Color Me Crazy bloom that I left in its natural color. My photo corner is a Melissa Frances resin piece. You will have to look for those when you visit the STORE. Great for adding more texture to a page! Also, I am loving the Tim Holtz stitch stamp that I picked up in Santa Fe while I was there.

I still have a bit of this paper left and hope to at least get a card made from it before I move on to other projects.

That's it for today .. let me know if you have any questions. Hope you have had a chance to check out the magazine. There is a link at the top of my blog.. can't miss it!

Talk soon! September 1st I get to reveal my Kit of the Month projects!! Can't wait!

SOUS Die Cut challenge "Sky"

2011-08-26T00:00:00.014-04:00

Yay, it's Friday .. the weekend is nearly here! (I say that a lot, don't I? That's because I love weekends!) But anyway, this Friday is the Die Cut Challenge over at Stuck on U Sketches. Now, I may not play every time .. but when I learned that the challenge was "sky," I thought about my new Tim Holtz bird and birdcage die. So, I ripped that puppy open and starting creating!

I decided to combine this project with some gorgeous The Scrap Cake "The Bright Side of Life" papers from Alda at Flying Unicorn. It was a card waiting to happen~

First I cut my birdcage and bird and then glammed it up with a pale blue feather from my stash, as well as some trim, pearls and flowers. I added some Gesso here and there for dimension .. just love how it looks. I even used some on that tiny butterfly who also "flies, think sky." Since I am mainly a scrapper, I still have to stop and think through smaller scale when I do cards.

This challenge will be ongoing for the next 2 weeks. We hope that you will have time to play. If you don't have time for a layout, then try a card or a tag .. whatever works for you. We'd love to see what you come with!

As always, thanks for coming by and for the many sweet comments that you leave. Tomorrow I will be posting the Authentique layout that I mentioned last week. We wanted the magazine to be out for about a week before posting on our blogs.

Have a great weekend!

Sneak peeks ~ Flying Unicorn September Kit of the Month

2011-08-25T05:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Thursday, all! Just coming by to post a few sneak peeks from the projects I created using the September Kit of the Month from Flying Unicorn . The kits are always revealed on the first of the month and usually sell out in the first day and half. Gotta shop quick~

I've had a lot of fun with this one! I'll post a few more sneaks later on to keep your curiosity going .. And the" off the page" item this month? You'll never guess ..

Mojo Monday .. a day late!

2011-08-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday! (A day late .. sorry!) Today's sketch is from the Enchanting Creations Magazine . Complete this sketch on or before September 9th and email it to ecmagllc@gmail.com for a chance to win the Pink Paislee paper pack Daily Junque. Have fun and lets get creative!

Don't you just love it?

I'll be back on Thursday with some sneak peeks using the September Kit from Flying Unicorn Store. I've had so much fun with this one!

Riddersholm layout ~ Olivia

2011-08-21T05:00:00.020-04:00

Happy Sunday! As promised here is my page using the awesome Riddersholm papers from Denmark. Available in the USA only though the Flying Unicorn Store. These are from the Bello Pastello collection. They are a joy to work with! What to win some? Scroll on down to the post below for the details!

Got my Kit of the Month today from Flying Unicorn and am working feverishly to get some CT sneak peeks ready for you. Thanks for dropping by!

I've been published in Enchanting Creations magazine~

2011-08-20T05:00:00.008-04:00

Hi, all! Today I want to share a sneak of this sweet little CT submission done for the Enchanting Creations online Magazine using the Authentique Journey paper collection available in the Flying Unicorn Store. The Authentique papers are probably the heaviest weight papers I have ever worked with. They remind me a bit of the really heavy MME you sometimes find. but are just a bit heavier than that. They distress so nicely and I loved that!

If you visit the FORUM, you will find the link for the magazine on the far right. Hope you enjoy .. I have several older projects there as well under Heroes, Shades of Brown and Grandparents. Don't forget to check out the pub calls at the back of Enchanting Creations!

also ...

There is a WEEKEND challenge over in the Forum. The winners will win some gorgeous Riddersholm papers .. Here are the rules for the weekend challenge right straight from the Flying Unicorn:

"I have posted the Bello Pastello collection in the gallery. Every and any project , to a maximum of 3 per challenge that is posted after it will be entered to win that collection until tomorrow, August 20th when I post the Turquoise Hill Collection. Any project posted after the Turquoise Hill collection will be entered to win that collection until Sunday when I post Vintage Pink Collection. Any project that is posted after Vintage Pink will have a chance to win that collection until Sunday 11:59pm est. Winners will be chosen by Random.org and will be posted Monday morning. Lets get scrapping!"

Good luck! I will post my Riddersholm layout tomorrow for inspiration and so you can see how I've used some of these gorgeous papers. Can't show you everything today, can I?

~ At the Saint Francis Cathedral ~ Original SOUS sketch

2011-08-19T00:00:00.009-04:00

Yay, it's Friday and I couldn't be more glad! Looking forward to a weekend of family time and some scrapping mixed in. And .. it's reveal day again at Stuck on U Sketches. This week we have another original sketch by co-leader Leah Schaeffer. It's a fabulous sketch, too! You're going to have to give it a try!~

Now, I will admit to having a bit of trouble with my page .. once again from my being hard-headed about what had to stay and what had to go. LOL But all in all, it looks pretty nice IRL. I think my photos are a bit too linear for me. I kept wanting to tilt things and probably should have .. but I really like the lines of the sketch, so stayed true to that.

The photos are from a recent trip to Santa Fe. The hubby and I tried to see all the sights we could as well as do lots of shopping and downing some great cuisine! The Saint Francis Cathedral was one of our many stops and we took photos there by the statue of the blessed Kateri, the first North American Indian to be beatified. We loved all the fascinating architecture in Santa Fe. And I was ecstatic to find some gorgeous turqoiuse and silver jewelry that made its way home with me.

But back to the layout, right? While trying to find some perfect papers amongst my stash, I remembered my Basic Grey Curio papers and thought these were a good choice to accent with turqoise ribbon, flowers and pearls. Lots of Prima on here .. the large one being from the Prima Regent collection, cavendish.

The was a wrought iron fence near where these photos were taken, so my MS garden gate punch was perfect for this page. For the same reason, I dressed a Dusty Attic piece to complement one of the photos. Then I had a bit of fun with my Glitz tiny alphas

I hope that you will visit Stuck on U Sketches and see what the other designers have done, as well as take on the challenge and upload your own creation!

Thanks for coming by! Hope you have a great weekend! See you again tomorrow if you have time ... I have a little announcement and another page for ya!

"Two" ~ Graphic 45 Magic of Oz

2011-08-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, scrappers! I thought I would jump on here and share a quick page I did for the Flying Unicorn store with the Graphic 45's new Magic of Oz papers. Because I wanted to use these papers but didn't want to go with the whole Oz thing, I concentrated on the basic colors in the paper and used cream, with black and red .. and a bit of the blue gingham mixed in. I thought that made it 'girly." Since my photo was somewhat noisey with color, I converted it to back and white to make it work better.

I did some light distressing, a bit of punchwork and some fussy cutting of the poppies. From my stash I added in a cream crochet doiley and a Dusty Attic piece (wire table) which was inked and dressed with some distress stickles in Vintage Photo.

Yesterday I received another package of goodies from Alda containing some of the Riddersholm papers from Denmark. Can't wait to dive in to those!

While you're here, let me mention the new Die Cut challenges at Stuck on U Sketches. This is the inaugural challenge for this new team and we hope you have a chance to play along. The theme is "play."

It's a busy week coming up, so if I don't make it back here, I'll be posting the newest sketch challenge this coming Friday! Happy scrapping!

The Bride Wore ... ~ Scrap Cake papers ~

2011-08-10T05:00:00.001-04:00

I know .. some of you have already seen this but I wanted to post this quick CT layout to my blog and show you how gorgeous this "The Bright Side of Life" from The Scrap Cake truly is! It was designed by the uber-talented Karola Witczak. I am such a fan of her work! I still have a pile of equally beautiful Scrap Cake papers to work with .. both the Bright Side as well as Spring Awakening.

The only store in the USA selling these papers is Flying Unicorn. Alda just got a second shipment in but they are moving quickly, so get yours while you can! She also got some of the new Fabscraps from South Africa .. talk about elegance .. wowzers!

Oh, before I let you go, I've had some inquiries about the photo. This what my grandson's bride wore at their recent wedding. She is a very practical girl .... but with a really "fun" side.

Keep checking my blog .. I have lots more CT projects just waiting to be posted.

New sketches are up at Practical Scrappers!

2011-08-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

I thought I would post the August sketches, so that you can begin working on these. Sketches now have their own page on the Practical Scrappers website. Now, instead of emailing them in, there is an Inlinz to upload your project immediately. Have fun with these! I know I will!

Jannike's August sketch

Pia's August sketch

While you're here, I wanted to announce the 2 winners from this weekend's blog hop. They were number 8 (scrappin_mom3) and number 20 (Patricia.) If you will email me at slclarkson (at) sbcglobal (dot) net and send me your home address, I'll get your little gift out to you. You have until midnight August 12 to claim your prize.

That's it for today. I have a couple of new layouts to share .. hopefully tomorrow ..

Happy Scrapping!

Mr and Mrs ~ SOUS Original Sketch ~ 2nd post today!

2011-08-05T00:30:00.001-04:00

**If you are here for the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop, please scroll on down to the post below! **

Hello, scrappers! I'm so glad to see you stopping by. This week at Stuck on U Sketches we have another Orignal sketch by our own Leah Schaeffer. Leah, Nanne and I have talked about pages with more white space but it is still kind of hard for me to leave well enough alone .. so I did add a few extra things. *Wink*

For this photo from my dgs' wedding, I used some yummy Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers. I used the die cut piece as my mat per the sketch but used a small portion of it in the white space corner. And hmm, hmm, added the chandelier from the French Manor cartridge.

Above you can see the small Prima roses that I used to outline the die cut piece. And my sweet little butterfly cut form Rock Princess ( I think. I failed to write this one down.) There is also a larger Prima bloom here.

Don't you love th awsome Dusty Attic piece on the right?? I merely painted it Ivory and then added a bit of Hard Rock Candy Stickles and a bit of Diamond Dust. Beneath my title you can barely make out the teal pp that I punched with my MS Floral Vine punch. The title itself was cut from Tie the Knot.

Just another Floral cluster and some Prima bling that I cut apart and used where I wanted it.

I thought I would also share a close-up of the chandelier so you could see the brown pearls that I added.

And lastly, I had to prove that there was some white space! LOL

Okay, enough of my silliness. Now, isn't this a great sketch?! I can't wait to see the entries come rolling in! Be sure and check out what all the designers have done this time .. you won't be disappointed!

Practical Scrapper's 2nd anniversary Blog Hop

2011-08-05T00:01:00.051-04:00

Thanks so much for joining in the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop. Since it is our second anniversary, we're sharing projects that relate to the number TWO. For my project, I'm sharing a layout with TWO photos on it. I've got a prize to give to TWO of you who visit and are a followers of my blog and Practical Scrappers. All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know you were here. We have an extremely talented group of designers, I know you'll enjoy checking out their blogs. Here is the order of the Blog Hop.

Sandi YOU ARE HERE

Aymee GO HERE NEXT

Teresa

And now.....for my TWO project .. 2 photos, 2 flowers, 2 butterflies, 2 punched edges, 2 floral panels and 2 bling swirls! Whew!

Thank you so much for visiting me today! Hop on over to see my friend Aymee next!

Mini Album Blog Hop Winner!

2011-08-01T23:53:00.000-04:00

I promised to post the winner of the combined Stuck on U Sketches/Creative Cuts and More Mini Album Blog Hop winner today! Although the day nearly got away from me, here I am! I used Random.org but could not figure out how to grab the image ... Anyway, the winner is #15 Sheila aka SassyLady. Woo-hoo, Sheila, big congrats! Send me your addy and I'll get this package of Gltiz right out to you!

Kit of the Month ~ Flying Unicorn Store

2011-08-01T11:10:00.001-04:00

The new kit "Whispering Memories" is up at the Flying Unicorn Store. Alda's kits have been selling out in the first 2 days, so you'd bettter order yours quick if you'd like to have one. This kit features a Tim Holtz configuration box, beautiful pale blue Riddersholm papers and so much more. The Creative Team has come up with some awesome examples that are posted on the main page of the store today. Also, Alda has included a couple of great sketches! Kits are priced at $31.99. Ya gotta check it out!

~ Flying Unicorn Creative Team ~ 2nd post for today

2011-07-31T07:00:00.002-04:00

**If you are looking for the Mini-album Blog Hop, scroll on down to the second post below!**

I'm so excited that I can finally announce that I am now on the Creative Team at Alda Stevens' Flying Unicorn Store. I have admired her work for so long, loved her sketches and drooled over the things in her store. And now I'm on her CT .. pinch me, somebody!

Specifically, I will be working with the Kit of the Month products and can't wait! I should receive my first kit around the middle of the month and post my first 2 projects with it the first of September along with some sneak peeks the week before. Then 3 or 4 more projects a few weeks later. I will also be working periodically with other items from the store and for submissions to the Enchanting Creations Magazine. Working on that right now!

Flying Unicorn carries some of those hard to find items not carried in other stores in the USA like Pion Design papers and The Scrap Cake (Karola Witczak and Kinga Spiczko ) paper lines .. so yummy. Alda also sells handmade flowers and other embellishments. Flying Unicorn has a forum (ya gotta check it out!) and of course, the online magazine, Enchanting Creations.

Here's a list of the great folks I'll be working with:

Alda Stevens - Founder http://www.flyingunicornllc.blogspot.com/

Denise Jensen - Creative Team Director http://vintagescrappin.blogspot.com/

Amanda Zimmerman- Creative Team Leader http://kashagray5.blogspot.com/

Heidi Bound -Creative Visual Director http://gothamcitystampers.com/

KIT OF THE MONTH TEAM

Frank Garcia - Creative KOM Leader http://magicscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Jackie Weeks - Creative KOM Artist http://mybasketofscraps.blogspot.com/

Sandi Clarkson - Creative KOM Artist http://softsideofsandi.blogspot.com/ -- Hey, that's me!

PRODUCT TEAM

Jenny Grotherus - Creative Product Team Leader http://kottenscorner.blogspot.com/

Helene Huber - Creative Product Artist http://2amscrapper.blogspot.com

Alissa Wells - Creative Product Artist ( http://willrunforstamps.blogspot.com/)

Gerri Herbst - Creative Product Artist (http://gerriherbst.blogspot.com/)

I've already got a box of goodies from Alda and can't wait to get started! See you there!