Marching Out

First, I want to thank EVERYONE who left all the lovely comments, not only on my blog, but on all the blogs of the first World Inspirational Blog Hop! Yeah, we had a few hiccups, but by and large, it was so worth all the inspiration. If you didn't get to complete the hop - you still can. Eryn put together a great list of those participants on SCS. You can still hop to their sites, but remember, you may need to scroll down a little to find March 28th's posts.

Today's project is one I created for the Unity March Kit of the Month contest. A lot of ladies played this contest, so go to the website and see them all! Posts are due today. Here's mine:

I used versamark ink on the flower silhouette (designed, I believe, by Lindsay Spencer for Unity), and was trying to go for a resist application. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I began chalking the background to see that the Versamark actually picked up more chalk than the paper. So, I turned the negative (silhouette) image into a positive! Just like all our ND friends are trying to do with their crazy weather and flooding. Praying for you all!

I also stamped Dazzling Departure butterfly from Butterfly Beauty (Unity) with Ranger Ink Dusty Concord distressing ink on Shrinky Dink plastic. I carefully rolled it as it was cooling to get the effects of a real butterfly. The rest is just paper trimming (SU! PP, Bazzill CS), adding embellishments (MM brads, Offray ribbon) and gluing down.

I hope you've enjoyed peeking into my world. I will see you soon!

Peace be the journey - cool runnings.

Ta for now, ~ky

MAKING SOME HISTORY TODAY!!!

If you stumbled onto this, and you feel lost, go to the Unity Blog to start from the beginning of the World Inspirational Blog Hop! You should be arriving here from Katie's blog (Paper Makeup Stamps).

The theme of the blog hop is INSPIRATION. I remember feeling a little overwhelmed leaving Mom and Dad's nest to start college. So, I thought what teenager wouldn't appreciate a little book to remind them of home, and little calming inspirations. Unity is PERFECT at this! Enjoy!

The mini-book is closed, reminding you that every moment is precious. As you slide off the band, you read Endings & Beginnings, Cherish Every Moment.

Unfolding the book, you see topics on mini-bags. Inside each bag is a card ready to hold a photo, and with a journalling block on the back for those sweet memories! Imagine tucking a little letter into that bag, too. A piece of you to hold to their heart when they are troubled, happy or lonely.

Finally, the whole booklet is opened to reveal three quotes that match each mini-bag topic. I hope you enjoyed viewing this project. My quote for you is:

"So long as we are loved by others I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Next, your travels take you to beautiful Jeanne's terrific blog!

Peace be the journey - cool runnings.

Ta for now, ~ky

Paper: PP, My Mind's Eye, Magnolia; CS, Bazzill; green band, SU!

Ink: Versamark, StazOn, SU!

Embellishments: Shrinky Dink plastic; MM brad; Offray ribbon; Stampendous embossing powder

STAMPS: ALL UNITY {Sept 08 KOTM; Nov 08 KOTM; Blossom; Charming Gardners; 5 Things; This is the Time; Create Your Life; Time of Your Life; Feb 09 KOTM}

And the Winner Is....

Kristen! You've won the anniversary flower challenge!

Thanks to everyone who played. I had a very hard time choosing, so I enlisted DH to help with the decision.

Ta for now, ~ky

Hip Hopping Along the Hangover Trail...!

Wow. We had a lot of really fun ladies join us on Thursday! Hi to all the newbies, and welcome! Angela gave us another great week of awesome deals! Be sure to check them out. They run through Sunday, noon CST.

Don't forget - Saturday is the World Inspirational Blog Hop! Start at Unity's blog and join us, 11 a.m. Central time!

Don't forget - Unity is having a March Kit of the Month challenge at SCS. Winners will be drawn April 2!

I loved having the challenges posted the night before HIP HOP. I didn't get to start on them any earlier, but at least I had a little time to think on them before jumping in. I hope we get to keep it that way. Let Angela know how you feel about that - she's so awesome that way. Very approachable, personable. We love her! {well, we love all of Unity!}

This card was made for the No Sour Grapes hip hop challenge. Jeanne asked us to use purple, black and white to make a card. I like how it turned out. You can almost feel the breeze moving through the flowers. This is such a pleasant image, and I saw several great projects using it today! Great minds think alike! Here's my supply list.

This card was made for the second Hip Hop challenge - Unity Thinks Spring! Jeanne asked us to make a project with a spring feel. I love this snail. I wanted to add more to the egg - color up the flowers, etc. I ran out of time... Oh well! I'll finish it up and send it to some lucky someone. I just HAD to have those bunny brads. Anyone wanna guess why? Anyone? Bueller? On this card, those bunnies remind me of the bunnies in Open Season! Here's the supply list.

I really struggled with this card. Cyndi challenged us to use brown, orange, turquoise and pink to make a card. I fidgeted, I used different images, I switch layouts...I swapped embellies - it just didn't seem to be going easily in a direction I liked. But - I DID IT. Sometimes that's the best you can hope for. The more I look at it, though, the more I accept it. Here is the supply list.

Ok, my friends. I've held you up from the other ladies' beautiful work long enough. Bounce along to the next blog, and don't forget to leave some love. You never know how much your comment may mean on any given day!

Ta for now, ~ky

Paper Garden Birthday Bash Projects!

Ok, I'm such a procrastinator. I got all four projects done for the birthday blog bash over on Paper Garden's blog, but I fogot to post them until now! Doh!

Week 1 was to make a humorous card. I decided the sentiment from Unity's Hey Chick! with Unity's Petey the peacock (Jan 09 KOTM) would be enough to inspire giggles. Imagine a boy peacock telling you to shake your tail feathers!! Hopefully you think so too!

{Bazzill CS, Michaels' rhinestones, Versamark and Ranger ink, Prismacolor pencils, misc ribbon, Mark Ent. embossing powder, Prima center kisses, Ranger Ink stickles, Hero Arts pearls}

Week 2 was to make a project with flowers - stamped, printed paper, or any other medium - on your card. So, I chose Lisa Hetrick's set from Unity - Love in the Air. Bazzil CS; American Crafts ribbon, SU! markers; Prima flowers, Michael's rhinestones, Versamark ink, Ranger embossing powder, Bazzill brads, Ranger stickles.

Week 3 was to make a thank-you project. This card uses Stampin' Up!'s Furnished with Love light, and Unity's Thanks (March 09 KOTM). SU! paper, Versamark, Stampendous embossing powder, Limelight's giant ric-rac ribbon, K&Co stitches transfer, SU! buttons and twine.

Week 4 was to make a project with a background stamp. I chose this cutie using Unity's Hey Chick! set. They just make me happy! The background stamp Stampin' Up!'s chicken wire. {Bazzill CS, SEI PP, Ranger Ink (spiced marmalade & black soot), Prima flowers, Making Memories flower brad, Prismacolor pencils, Ranger stickles, Michael's rhinestones, Spellbinders Nesties}

So, there you have it. The Paper Garden is a great place to hang out. Go see them and wish them a happy birthday!

Ta for now, ~ky

A fun, no pressure challenge!

Karl and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this week. In honor of that, I would love to have you participate in a challenge based on the beautiful flowers he brought me! Just use the picture below as your inspiration. You can make anything you'd like for this challenge - an altered item, a sketch, a fabric item, a card, a scrapbook page...you get the idea. Post a link to your project by FRIDAY, MARCH 27 at 3 p.m. EST, and I will choose a winner!

Remember - HAVE FUN!

Edited to add: My dear friend Shannon tagged me to pick the 6th photo of the 6th folder in my pictures:

This picture was taken after Karl and I finished our local 10K in 2007.

Now I get to tag 6 more people! Here are the rules:

•Open your photo folder on your computer

•Open the 6th folder of photos

•Select the 6th picture

•Post the picture on your blog with a description

•Invite six friends to join the challenge

•Link your six friends to your blog post

I will tag: Ashley!
Jacquie!
Tonya!
Shaela!
Patter!
Chelsea!

Ta for now, ~ky

An Egg-stra Special HHHangover!

Wow! Angela was really good to us this week. Go to Unity Stamp Company's blog and check out the deals. They run through Sunday!

I made this card to compete in the hip hop challenges to use an oval, and to use spring colors. This also complied with the Unity addicts challenge to use something not intended for this craft.

Below are close-ups of the bookmark held by the tea bag packaging. I had a lot of fun paper piecing the butterflies, and playing with this adorable turtle and egg!

I used a lot of different products on this. To save space here, just go to this link to find the supplies. Don't forget to check the Unity blog for all the fabulous ladies who made Unity projects to share with you today. Some of those same ladies will be chatting it up on Splitcoast if you'd like to join us.

Have a happy weekend!

Ta for now, ~ky

Some pictures from this weekend.

Karl (#564 on the left) ran his first 10K of the season. 10K is 6.2 miles, and he did it in 45 minutes and 49 seconds. Not bad for someone who describes himself as approaching middle age.

I enjoyed being able to watch the first finishers, but really hated that I had to sit this one out. Oh well, the local race is Mother's Day so I'm focusing on that. These will soon have a home on a scrapbook page, so you will see them again! Thanks for stopping by.

Ta for now, ~ky

Hanging Out on the Hangover!

We had a great time on Hip Hop yesterday. I actually got three projects completed. We're still chatting away on SCS. Come join us! Angela's still running a sale on the Unity blog and store site. Check it out!

I made this card for the SCS color challenge (CC209) to use rose, artichoke and black. You can see card details here.

I love this card. I love the faux stitching. I love the stamps! I completed this for the Ways to Use It (WT209) SCS challenge, and the Unity addicts challenge (USC27). It turned out cute (yes, I love myself). I hope it brings you a smile. See the details here.

This was my final project. The hip hop challenge was called Tag You're It and we were to make a project with a tag. See the details here.

Well, that's all for today. I hope you have a great start to your weekend, even if it is Friday the 13th (oooooohhh, scary!).

Ta for now, ~ky

Progress!

I have been struggling with this layout for a week. I finally decided to just glue it down and move on. It's not exactly what I had in mind, and it needs a little sumthin sumthin still. This is my scripture challenge "Wait" DPS. I really love the Broken Dreams poem by Lauretta P. Burns. I hope it inspires you, too.

Recipe: all images and alphabet are Unity stamps; Ink, Ranger Ink Peeled Paint and Tea Dye, Versamark; Embossing Powder, Stampendous; PP We R Memory Keepers; CS Bazzill; Metallic Rub Ons, Craf-T Products; Brad and Acrylic Tag, MM; Decorative Staple, Fastenater; Die Cut, Spellbinders Nestability; Stitching Detail, Bazzill Stitch'z.

Have a spectacular day!

Ta for now, ~ky

Inspired to Create

There are so many places to find a challenge these days. I remember when you were lucky to find two souls out there with a passion for papercrafting. Now the internet's alive with folks like us! I took this week's Etsy Inspired Challenge, and used THIS PHOTO to complete a card.

Recipe: Stamps, UNITY; PP SU!; CS Bazzill; Ribbon, misc gift; Brads, MM; Ink, Versamark; Embossing powder, Adirondack Clay; Ranger Ink Stickles.

I hope you have a great Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

Ta for now, ~ky

Limelight 6 Chicks Challenge!

I dropped by the Limelight blog to see what was up. They were playing with ric-rac. How long has it been since you pulled out this 1960s era sewing embellishment? Oi, does it bring back memories. My mom used to sew all my clothes, and she LOVED putting ric-rac all over everything she made for me. I swore I would NEVER buy anything with ric-rac.

And now, you tell me you are *challenging* me to use the stuff?? What? Well, I'm not one to walk away from a challenge, so here's what I came up with. Mind you, I'm not really good at following sketches, so forgive my artistic liberty.

DP We R Memory Makers, Tuscany; CS Bazzill Textured, and Swiss Dot; MM ribbon, Michael's rhinestones; Versamark ink; Stampendous Detail White embossing powder; StazOn black ink; Prismacolors using Gamsol method; Stamp image - UNITY.

Now, I'm off to check on the Etsy Challenge. There's a $15 gift certificate up for grabs. Stop by and have a look - really cool product!

Have a great Saturday!

Ta for now. ~ky

Hippity hoppity boo

Well, another week come and gone. It's not been a good one, but tomorrow is a new day! I enjoyed playing with my new flocking powder from Doodlebug Designs.

Stamps are from Unity, PP is SU!; CS is Pebbles, Ribbon is May Arts; Metallic Dew Drops; Fine white embossing powder and Versamark ink; and Nestabilities die cut.

My next project was for Amber's sketch challenge. I love this snail in Unity's February 2009 kit of the month. The 'hello' was from Unity's Tiny Trinity set. I love using this kind of Venitian blind background. Amber's sketch challenges are such fun!

The rest of the recipe is CS Bazzill; PP SU!; Dew Drops; SU! flower punch, button and twine; MM ribbon, and Ranger Ink.

My last card for you today is another for Miss Taylor, our Princess. She is doing much better, and it looks promising that she will be virtually leukemia-free soon.

The recipe is: PP, Pebbles; Distressed pink PP, SU!; Offray Ribbon, Unity February 2009 KOTM mushroom; Michaels rhinestones; Versamark ink, SU! black embossing powder.

Finally let me share with you how my two little old ladies are growing. It's so rewarding and sweet to see them bonding.

Thanks, again, for stopping by. I hope you have an outstanding weekend, whatever your plans may be.

Ta for now. ~ky