Unity and Susan K. Weckesser Blog Hop Winner!!

Thank you for so many comments and for joining in on the blog hop!!

Now for the WINNER!!!

Please email me erinkreed@gmail.com with your address so I can pop your prize in the mail!!

Vintage **Birds of a Feather & Just Imagine & Robin's Nest** with button tutorial

I wanted to make a card for my father, but not in the traditional sense.  It does not say "Happy Father's Day" on it, instead it has the title "Authentic Vintage goods"  because he is.  When I saw the stickers I loved it and had to use it in some way - it was just too good.

I used the wonderful Kreaxions punch 905 with the A insert and the Star template to create the beautiful doily on the backdrop of the "Vintage" sticker.  It fit so perfectly and made this card really pop.  I also use the same punch to the horizontal strip.  I then added in the little Dew Drops from Robin's Nest to make it soar of the page!!

 

I love the look of buttons on projects, but I hate when they get rotated or move around and look wobbly.  I want them to look as though they are apart of the project, not just stuck on there.  Below are a few tips I use when I use buttons on my projects.

Button Tips

1) I love buttons, but i hate when they wobble on my projects.  My solution is to sew the buttons directly to my page so they are more firmly attached, and also so they don't pop off and as an added bonus it helps hold the project together.

2) Using a mouse pad or foam sheet below the project I place the buttons where I want them to go on the project.  I then take my needle and thread and poke holes through the paper into the mouse pad (I use the mouse pad for all my piercing paper jobs) where the buttons are going to be placed.

3)  I use plain scotch tape on the back to hold the thread, so you don't have a bumpy knot on the back, plus it helps hold the thread in place so it won't pull through the paper.  I sometimes use tape over the entire threaded area for more support so it does not pull the holes to big.

4) The finished buttons look so nice and they are firmly attached to your project.   You can leave them as is at this point, and you can use any type of color of thread you wish, or you can top them with something.

5) I chose to make little bows out of embroidery floss.  I use the two bunny ear method to making a bow (hold two loops in your hand and tie them together) so the tails end up both facing down.  The other method of making a bow has one tail up and one tail down.

6) Glue you bows to the top of your button and you are done!!

Project made the wonderful Birds of a Feather June Kit!!

Don't forget to thank all the men in your life!!

Supplies Used
Cardstock - We R Memory Keepers - Birds of a Feather June Kit
Patterned Paper -  We R Memory Keepers - Birds of a Feather June Kit
Stickers -  We R Memory Keepers - Birds of a Feather June Kit
Buttons -  Maya Road - Birds of a Feather June Kit
Punch & Template - Just Imagine
Dew Drops - Robin's Nest
Floss - DMC
Ink - Prima
Cardboard - DCWV
Adhesive - Scotch
Staples

Army Brat **Paper House & Just Imagine**

In 2012-2013 my husband deployed to Afghanistan and he was gone for over a year including all the ramping up and down before and after being out of the country.  It was the hardest on my middle son.  He was 2 turning 3 when daddy was gone.  Old enough to know that daddy was gone, but way to young to understand why.  He latched onto any male figure that he was around and pretended to be an "army man" any chance he got.  I got this outfit for him and he loved wearing it, and once daddy came back he gave Brandon his old hat with rank.  

At his pre-school they had a salute to workers in the community, Brandon HAD to be an army man.  He was so proud of his dad, outfit, and of himself in his parade at school.  The little guy has endured a lot with daddy being gone, but he is still super proud of his little outfit (and of course daddy)!!

I used the wonderful Military Life Collection from Paper House Production as the base for the layout.  The colors and stickers are just perfect for this picture of my little man.  So many fun elements and titles for me to use in my grungy masculine page, plus the paper is PERFECT!!

Lots of fun titles and emblems to be used from the Military Life sticker sheet including the grungy "star', "flag", "All-American Family", and "Brat" are just a few seen here mixed into lots of other fun grungy elements.

I used lots of layers of papers below the pictures and embellishments mostly coming from cardstock and the wonderful 100% Country 12x12 paper pad by Paper House.  The colors of these papers worked great for the base of the layout.

In the picture below you can see even more fun Military Life stickers from Paper House.  I used the strip of "camo and burlap" sticker and cut it up to be used as layers throughout the entire page.  I still can't get over how perfect the "dog tags" are, they look so real!!

I used Kreaxion punch 907 from Just Imagine on the borders of every paper layer with the A insert to add texture to the entire page.  I randomly punch some corners without any insert to give it an even rougher look, the grungier the better on this page!!

I created the doily below with Kreaxion punch 923, the circle cutter, and the positioning parts for a 6.8 cm circle (larger parts) all from Just Imagine.  The punched doily adds so much dimension and texture to the layout, doilies work on masculine layouts!! 

 

 Supplies Used
Patterned Paper - Paper House
Stickers - Paper House
Punches - Just Imagine
Cardstock - DCWV
Embellishments - Prima & 7 Gypsies & Tim Holtz & Maya Road
Washi Tape - Prima & American Crafts & 3M
Mediums - Liquitex & Ranger
Paints - Ranger
Stencils - Ranger and TCW
Chipboard - Fabscraps

 Enjoy!!

Dreams & Wishes **Susan K. Weckesser** BLOG HOP

You do not want to miss out on the super cute projects created by designers from both teams. You can view them all by clicking on the links and/or thumbnails at the bottom. Make sure you visit all the blogs as we have some fabulous prize packages to give away. Hop through and visit all blogs (and leave some loving comments) then come back to the original post on Susan K Weckesser blog & the original post on the Unity Blog - tell us which stamp set you would most enjoy and which projects really caught your interest. We will pick two winners from comments left on this blog post at Susan K Weckesser and two winners from those commenting on the Unity Stamp Company blog.

 
I wanted to create a card for just a generic occasion to have on hand for when I need it.  It could be a birthday, a thank you, a just thinking of you, or anything really. Now I have on hand a card I can give out when I don't have time to make one or I forgot (which happens).

This uses on the brand new stamp collection "What;s up gnomey?" from Susan K. Weckesser.  It is full of gnomes, flowers, seeds, and flowers.  It is such a fun little set and there are so many uses for it.  I also used the wonderful papers from Susan K. Weckesser, they are so full of color and work perfectly with her stamps.  Here I used the front and back of  "Live, Love, Create".

An InLinkz Link-up

Leave a comment and follow my blog for a chance to win a great PRIZE - a Susan K Weckesser Stamp Set!!  International and DT welcome to enter!!

Come back on Monday June 16th, 2014 and I will post my winner!!

Supplies used
Patterned Paper - Susan K. Weckesser
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Stamps - Susan K. Weckesser
Ink - Ranger
Glitter - Ranger
Pen - Faber-Castell
Adhesive - Scotch

Thank You **Susan K. Weckesser & Just Imagine**

The end of the school year has come and I want to thank the oldest son's teacher for all she has done for him this year.  Nothing says "thank you" more than something made from the heart.

I took Susan K. Weckesser's wonderful paper line "Beautiful Daydreams" and cut out a section of it in the bottom left corner.  I then took similar shapes of the flowers and butterflies and but them out to pop them uo on top of the existing ones in the paper.  Lastly, I used stickles in corresponding colors to accent the flowers, butterfly, thank you emblem, and stems.

To create the emblem for the thank you stamp I used the Just Imagine Circle Cutter on 3 different colors of paper, enlarging the size of the circle by a small amount each time to create a multi-layered look.  I also used Kreaxions punch 311 with the A insert from Just Imagine along the banner and then filled in the punched section of stickles.

Don't forget to thank a teacher today!!

Supplies used
Patterned Paper - Susan K. Weckesser
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Punch - Just Imagine
Glitter - Ranger
Stamp - Recollections
Ink - Ranger
Adhesive - Scotch

Enjoy!!

Robin's Nest Projects

 Below are the projects I have selected for my application for the design team.

Layout

Pretty Happy Girl

Back in January I was playing around with my daughter taking pictures at the park near our house.  She looked so cute in her little goodie sweater, so sweet and happy.  I played with the color a bit on the pictures and a mostly black and white looked perfect!!

I used a monochromatic feel of teal and green and with black and white.  

1. Distress the background layers and ink.
2. Add in layers of texture with molding paste and stencils then add in mists in splatters, drips, sprays, and blobs.  I did the textures in two phases so I could layer on top of each other, some with the washi tape from the kit under the paste and some over it after it dried.  
3. I then added in strips of the papers, flowers, circle cutouts from papers, stickers, and sequins - all papers are distressed and inked.  I rolled some of the paper back around the edges to add in stickers and more washi tape behind the rolls.
4. Add in your pictures with the edges scraped away for more texture.

Here you can see up close how I layered up the papers and embellishments.  I even distressed the edge of the pictures and added in some ink to the distress portion of the picture.

Card

Happy

I love to use flowers and girly things on my cards and projects, but sometimes I want something more masculine, especially if it's for my husband.  I find that a great substitute for flowers are gears, and there are so many varieties out there in chipboard, acrylic, stamps, stickers, and punches.  So here is a card I made for his birthday this year.

I am loving paint splatter right now, I seem to be using them in just about every project, but they really add to the dimension and depth to your paper for very little effort and cost.  I then on top of the splatters used some stamps around the edges and borders of the card for more dimension and texture.  I kept to earth tone colors for a rustic look, I felt that it just added to the masculine feel.

I was not happy with any of the alpha letters I had on hand, they were not the correct size, wrong color, wrong font, etc.  So I took something that I like the size and font and altered the color.  These were foam "Thickers" in grey.  I pressed my distress ink by Ranger in a dark brown on top to give it a darker look and distress the letters a bit.

Play with your stamps and inks.   You can get such wonderful results by layering and just letting your project go where it needs to go.

Altered Art - Canvas

Rooted

I just had professional pictures taken of my kids in February.  At these ages (Morgan 8, Brandon 4, and Catherine 18 months) you never know what you are going to get.  I told the photographer to just take anything and everything.  I am not a huge fan of "look at me and smile" pictures, I much rather just capture the feeling of the moment.  This picture was taken at the end of the session, they were all grumpy and tired and to pep them up I gave them all a sucker and asked them to sit on the stairs.  This beauty unfolded.  For those that do not know my children, it image captures the essence of who they all are at this moment in their lives.

I used a 8x10 inch canvas as the base of my project.  I have never done a canvas before, but I approached it as though it was a layout just in a different size.  

1. I started out by painting the canvas with acrylic paints in tones, of green, blue, yellow, brown, and beige.  Painting a layer letting it dry then painting another layer, not full coats but enough to see the colors.  
2. I then added texture by using stencils and molding paste and using spray mists and more paint.  Lots of drying time for the base.  Mostly concentrating on the edges as those re the only parts showing.
3. I then added in lots of strips of papers that are distressed and inked and some punched with an edge punch.
4. Next came the flowers between the layers and more blotches of paint and sprays of mists as I added in more layers.  
5. Then added was the chipboard painted in brown, trim, the picture, and some stickers.

Don't forget to check out the Robin's Nest Blog and Website!!

Thanks for view my application!!  I hope you enjoyed my work.