Butterfly Branches GIU Day 3

Hello Friends

Welcome to day 3 of GIU. Wow is it flying by fast! I hope you are enjoying my creations. I have really enjoyed making them. I went for some home decor for today's project some butterfly branches.   I wanted to make my butterfly branches using my favourite Unity butterfly stamp called A Friend Loveth. If you look through my blog I have used this stamp many many times it is my favourite butterfly stamp. I just love it the butterflies are just a perfect size and shape for so many projects. I asked my husband to go out to the garden and bring me in a small branch. Where we live backs out on to a little wooded area so there are lots of branches laying around.  He walked in the door a few minutes later with half a tree ha!  So I broke off a few branches and sent him back outside with the rest :)

Making this is pretty easy all I did was take an empty bottle and pour some white paint inside and let it run out. I left it to dry out over night, it cracks a little as it dries but that is ok. The next day I made the label by painting some kraft card with the same white paint then stamped the sentiment with vintage photo distress ink. I distressed it a little with the same brown ink and also broken china a lovely blue colour. I  glued the label to the bottle then wrapped the neck of the bottle with some jute.

I heat embossed the butterflies with white embossing powder on to kraft card and fussy cut them all out. I used some stickles glitter glue on the body of the butterfly that matched the same distress ink. Finally I glued each one to the branches.

I hope you enjoyed my project today it was something a wee bit different. I find I get bored making just cards and like to venture out and do new things with my rubber stamps. Remember and leave a comment for your chance to win 2 Itty Bitty stamps from Unity.

Thanks so much for stopping by I will see you all tomorrow :)

Mandi xox

Challenges
 Word Art Wednesday 
Simon Says Stamp Wed

Weeds N Wishes GIU Day 1

Hello Friends

Welcome to my first day of my first ever GIU week yay!! I am super excited to be showing you my creations this week with the wonderful Unity stamps :)  I only found out last week I would be the GIU girl this week. I had to switch out my Dec date as I will be in Scotland another yay :)

I have two cards for you today with this new stamp set from Unity. I absolutely LOVE dandelions. So when I saw this set I just had to have it. It is called Wish With Your Heart and it is on sale right now for $12 a bargain. I think today is the last day of the sale so if you like it go and grab it quick!!

So for my first card I wanted to do another black and white card. I also wanted to use my black distress ink which I bought months ago and have never used. It is called Black Soot and funnily enough it gets everywhere just like the real black soot. I love getting messy with my distress inks and kind of expect a bit of a mess. But the black mixed with water gets EVERYWHERE and it is REALLY messy  - I did warn you :)

I heat embossed the dandelion and wishes with wow white embossing powder. Then I swiped my black ink on my craft mat and sprayed it with water. I picked up the ink on the card where I wanted it to go. I dried it a few times and went back and forth until I was happy with the outcome. I left some white space to stamp the sentiment.  This card totally reminded me of a rainy day in Glasgow (my home town). Where it rains a lot and you spend a lot of time getting soaked and walking through murky puddles.  I love the contrast of the sentiment and also the colours too. It is dark with a wee bit of hope shining through.

Now on to my next card this one has a good punch of colour in it. These are colours that I would never normally put together. I saw this fabric when I was visiting Maine last month and I LOVED it. So I bought just a few inches of it to craft with. I covered  a piece of card in some of the fabric and glued it to a white card base. I then got out my distress inks and matched the colours as close as I could to the fabric and stamped away. I rounded off just two of the corners and added a couple of rhinestones to finish.

Remember and comment on each of my posts this week to be in with a chance of winning two Itty Bitty stamps from Unity. I will be choosing the winner on Saturday. I will also have my own little giveaway later on this week so watch this space.

I hope you enjoy my cards today. Thanks so much for stopping I will see you tomorrow. 

Mandi xox

Challenges
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes 
Craft Stamper - Take It Make It - Embossing Resist By Anna Karin Evaldsson - August Issue
Wow Embossing Powder - Monochrome
Creatalicious Challenges Monochrome

Flag Tag

Hello Friends

I wanted to take part in the Unity red white and blue challenge on facebook. So this is what I came up with I will call it the flag tag.  As an immigrant  and a naturalized citizen. I had to do a lot of reading about the history of America for my citizenship test. I guess this is my interpretation about what America means to me.  I used the colours and the stars from the flag. The butterfly represents freedom and the sentiment represents  one nation under God.

I used distress inks to create my background on a kraft tag. I really love to get messy using these inks. I still have rainbow fingers lots of ink that won't come off  ha. I stamped them on to my craft mat and spritzed some water and let the ink do it's thing. I heat set the ink then applied some more until I was happy with the outcome.

I stamped the butterfly on to vellum I used white embossing powder and heat set it. I did the same thing with the sentiment. I did not have any star stamps so I used a my star punch. I punched some stars to create a stencil then embossed them down the side of my tag with white glitter embossing powder.  I glued the butterfly and added some rhinestones. Finally I got some crinkle ribbon and used my distress inks to colour it to match the tag.

I really love the way it turned out. Thanks so much to stopping by.

Mandi xox


Supplies
Stamps - Unity Stamp Company, Something Within & Here Today, Here Tomorrow
Ink - VersaMagic, Distress Inks Fired Brick & Faded Jeans. 
Other - Rhinestones, White Embossing Powder, Crinkle Ribbon


Challenges 
Tha Kraft Journal 
Artistic Inspirations 
Paper Sweeties 
The Craft Spot 
Cupcake Inspirations 
Friends With Flair
Word Art Wednesday
That Craft Place Challenge
Try It On Tuesday

Art Journal ~ Frosty Tree

 Hello Friends!

 I was in the mood to craft last night but did not want to make a card. So, I got out my journal. I love writing and making a mess in my book. It really is my therapy :) I was listening to a song earlier that day on the radio by the David Crowder Band called How He Loves. It is one of my favourite songs. I heard it in church years ago and I have always loved it. Here it is if you would like to listen to it.

So on to my journal. I wanted some of the lyrics on my page. I typed them out and cut them up to later paste on. I used Peacock Feathers and Concord Distress ink to create the background.  I did not have a tree stamp, so I had to improvise and used an embossing folder instead. I stamped the raised side of the folder with ink and it made a perfect impression.  I went over it again with VersaMark ink and covered it with white glitter embossing powder. I used a lot of stamps on this one I will list them below.  I stamped the flowers around the edge with VersaMark ink then let it dry. Then went over some of the flowers again with the embossing powder.

  I was going for a frosty/snowy look. Coincidentally on my way home today I got caught in yet another snow storm. I had to pull the car over for a wee while until it stopped. So I took the opportunity to take the photos of my page in the snow. It made a perfect backdrop :)

I am linking this up to Friends with flair at the Unity Blog

~ Supplies ~

Darice embossing folder - Leafy Tree

Unity Stamp Company

Flowers - Angie girl - Dream with your Heart

Hearts -  Main Squeeze    

  Butterflies - A Friend Loveth

Tiny Butterflies -  Butterfly Kisses

Distress Inks - Peacock Feathers,  Dusty Concord & Walnut Stain 

 Embossing Powder - White Diamond

Thanks for visiting  :)

Clothed in Strength

Hello Friends :)

 Happy Monday to you! I was messing around with my inks for an ink challenge this morning. But it really was NOT happening for me. So I just played around and ended up making this card instead. It totally was not what I was trying to make at all.  I love happy craft accidents as they don't happen very often to me :)

This card is made with the Strength & Dignity KOM 11/13 from Unity. I am using this kit a lot lately.  I made the background with distress inks sponging Victorian Velvet and Peeled Paint. Then stamped some images on top with just the Victorian Velvet.

Then I heat embossed the sentiment with black glitter embossing powder. It's my new embossing powder I bought from Zing. I found it at Hobby Lobby.The camera does not do it any justice but it leaves a nice subtle sparkle behind. I mounted it on to black card then a white card base. I stamped some flowers at the bottom of the card. Then coloured them with the same inks and added some rhinestones to finish.

I hope you enjoy my card  :) 

Wishing for Spring

Hello Friends

We got lots of snow here in upstate New York I got to stay home today yay. It's still snowing as I type I think we have about 10 inches so far.  I also have a nasty cold again :(   It has been such a long winter I am ready for it to be over. I am longing for spring. So I just had to make spring like card until it gets here :)

I love all the wee girl stamps from Phyllis Harris so I got out this one from the Unity Stamp Company it is called Every Breath.  I think it is my favourite one.  The other stamp I used is from Rubbernecker stamps it's called Dandelion Garden Border.

 I sponged the background with distress inks peacock feathers & mowed lawn. Then I heat embossed the dandelions with white glitter embossing powder. I paper pieced the girl and cut her out. Then glued her to the card along with some tiny punched butterflies. The inside of the card is stamped with the sentiment ''Sending blessings you way'' from the same kit as the girl.

Thanks for visiting I will leave you with a picture from my living room window :) 

Destiny - Wall Art

 Hello Friends

I had a crafty day today It always makes me happy to get my stamps out and make a mess. I find it very therapeutic :)  I saw these wooden frames at A.C Moore last week and thought they would make great frames for my stamping projects. They were only $1 super inexpensive and today I got to play around with one.  I painted it black with acrylic paint and left it to dry while I stamped something for the insert.

 

I got out the newly Nov 2013 KOM I bought.  I love this kit it is called Strength and Dignity you can find it here on the Unity website. The reason I bought this set was because I LOVED this quote:

 "HARDSHIPS OFTEN PREPARE 

ORDINARY PEOPLE FOR AN 

EXTRAORDINARY DESTINY."

C.S Lewis

It is a quote that really speaks to my soul. I love all of the works of Lewis.  I find his writing inspirational. He is probably most known for the Chronicles of Narnia.  However, there are so many other books he wrote that are definitely worth a read. 

So back to my project. I stamped the quote using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then stamped the butterfly from the same kit with the same ink. I then used my distress inks to create the colours on the butterfly. I used Tumbles Glass, Peacock Feathers and Stormy Sky. I blended them all together starting from light to dark from the bottom up. I glued the butterfly to the card.  Then I glued the card to the wooden frame. I replaced the twine with black ribbon and then hung it on my wall :) 

Thanks for Visiting :)

Friends with Flair last one of 2013

 

Hello Friends!! 

I finally made it home to Scotland I am enjoying being home :)  I made this card right before I left New York and wanted to enter it to the final 2013 Friends with Flair :)  I coloured this card with distress inks using a paint brush and sponge. I need to work on my technique a little but I am happy with the way it came out. I used my new Phyllis Harris stamp Reach for the STARS you can find it here.

Thanks for visiting I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have blessed 2014 when it comes around see you next year :)

God's Timing

Happy Friday friends It's time for Friends with Flair over at the Unity blog :)  I got an early birthday present from my hubby new ink yay :)  I was never really a fan of distress inks  I bought them before and ended up  giving them away as I could not get into them. I decided I would  give them another try and this time around I LOVE them :) I think the trick is learning how to use them. I was using them too much like regular ink and that turned out too messy for me. I love how you can create your own backgrounds with them and the colours stay so vibrant.

 I used 3 different Unity stamps on this card. I love this sentiment God's timing is perfect it is something I need to be reminded of. It worked perfectly with the butterfly and script stamps and makes a really nice encouragement card. I love the faith stamps available at Unity they are so unique.

 I stamped the the sentiment and script stamp with versamark ink then used white embossing powder and heat set it. I created the background using the blending tool and distress inks. The ink naturally resists the embossing if there is any ink left on top of the stamped area you can wipe it with a paper towel. I spritzed the card with some water and dried it with my heat tool to set the watermarks in place. I stamped the butterfly with distress ink and watered it down with a damp brush to take some of the colour out. I then cut it out and added some rhinestones.  I punched tiny butterflies and sprinkled them around the card. I love how the colours stay really bright against the white embossing.

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog :) 

~ Supplies ~

Unity Stamp Company  - God's Timing

Unity Stamp Company - Here Today, Here Tomorrow

Unity Stamp Company - Key to my Heart

Tim Holtz  Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers
Martha Stewart - 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch

VersaMark Ink

White Embossing Powder