Growing in Unity - Day 2

Hi folks,

Welcome to my second day as the Growing in Unity gal this week.

Today I thought I would share <gasp> a masculine card! Yes, I know we are all big fans of the Angie girls and all the feminine images but did you know that Unity has masculine stamps as well? You betcha!

Do you have "Not Always ... But" in your collection yet? I do!

And here's the cards I have to share with you today featuring this set:

To me the image looks like an old style portrait so I decided it needed to be framed as such. I actually have a couple of feminine images in this style and I'm thinking I'll be making cards similarly styled to these with this sentiment.

Oh - I ALSO have the {after dark} sentiment that goes with this set as well. If you pop back on Saturday (not part of the hop), I'll share the card I made with THAT one!

Now don't forget - be sure to leave a comment on this post if you would like to be entered into a draw to win a grab bag of 25 random stamps from Unity at the end of the week! I have moderation enabled on the blog comments so don't be alarmed if you don't see your comment right away - it will be visible once I approve it!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Growing in Unity - Day 1

Hi folks,

This year I once again have the privilege of being a "Growing in Unity" gal for a week. All this week, I'll be sharing my creations with stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

I have quite a varied collection of Unity stamps so I had a very difficult time choosing what I would feature this week - I love them all! So, I hope you are ready for some eclectic posts over the next five days.

For my first day I decided to share - a couple of BABY cards with you. 2017 seems to be the year of the newborn amongst our family, friends, and neighbours. So far, there have been four newborns and there is another one about to arrive!

If you need a quick baby card (or two), I love the set "Hello Little One". The solid, graphic, cute wee critters come together in a baby card in a jiffy.

And here's the two baby cards I made:

Very simple, little cards. One of these will look great paired with the baby quilt that is about to be gifted. The colours coordinate with the quilt fabric which was selected to coordinate with baby's nursery.

Now don't forget - be sure to leave a comment on this post if you would like to be entered into a draw to win a grab bag of 25 random stamps from Unity at the end of the week! I have moderation enabled on the blog comments so don't be alarmed if you don't see your comment right away - it will be visible once I approve it!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

September Cross Canada Blog Hop

Hi folks,

Welcome to our September Cross Canada Blog Hop featuring artwork created from products found in the 2017 Holiday Expressions Idea Book. To purchase any of the items seen in our hop today, please contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts as we love to get feedback from our readers.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this IS a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada, then please start at the beginning and join Michelle. If you came from Nicky then you are in the correct place!

If you are a frequent visitor, you know I am a card-maker so the first thing I look at when the new Holiday Expressions Idea Book is released are the ideas for Christmas cards.

I saw the Cut Above Tag Kit - Merry Everything and immediately set about coming up with ways to use the tag kit to make a bunch of this year's Christmas cards.

Here's the kit contents:

and the suggested tags you can make (with a couple of mini stamps)

And here are the TEN cards I made!

The first five feature the papers from the Silver and Gold Collection with a little ruby card stock to add a bit of pop.

These last five feature papers from the Beary Christmas Collection. Again, with some ruby and fern card stock to add a bit of pop.

In case you are wondering about the various embellishments and stamps I've used on these cards, here's a list:

• gold glitter gems
• gold shimmer trim
• silver shimmer trim
• M1184 - Merry Christmas
• M1183 - Merry Everything
• M1182 - Mistletoe Kisses
• M1181 - Ho Ho Ho
• M1176 - Little Saint Nick
• M1175 - Season's Greetings
• G1142 - Joyful Tidings WYW Cardmaking Kit Stamp set
• and, of course, coordinating inks in Ruby, Cranberry, Fern, Charcoal, and Black
• G1141 - Merriest Wishes WYW Cardmaking Kit Stamp set

Oh - and my cards are all 5 x 5 inch square.

Phew! Did you make it to the end of this post? Yay! Now I'll send you along your way to Diana.

If you get lost along the way, just pop over to Michelle S blog as she has the entire list of participants.

To Welcome a New Baby

Hi folks,

Well today I get to share both a card AND a quilt that were just gifted this weekend to welcome a new baby.

This quilt - for those of you in the know about quilts this is the tried and true "Yellow Brick Road" from quilt pattern from Atkinson Designs done in a baby size. The fabrics are from the Wilmington Prints collection "Sweet Dreams Little One". I actually bought enough of this fabric to make three of these quilts so....I'll be making a couple more of these.

Of course, I had to make a card to go with ....

card details:

• finished size: 5 x 5 inches, white cardstock base
• patterned paper: CTMH Georgie (retired) - it's my go to paper collection for baby cards these days.
• stamps: CTMH Georgie Scrapbooking WOTG (retired)
• layout: Viva La Verve September sketch

As always, thanks for stopping by!

When hobbies collide

Hi folks,

Back today to share another finished quilt that actually made use of some of my paper-crafting tools!

Here's the finished quilt - it's the Sweet Dreams Little One Nap Quilt by Wilmington Prints.

The lower left block? That's where my paper-crafting tools came in handy.

I wanted to applique the baby's name in coordinating fabrics so I pulled out my Block Alphabet Thin Cut dies from Close To My Heart to make the task a little easier.  

First, I ironed some Heat 'n Bond Lite to the back of my fabric, then I simply cut out the letters with my dies and Cuttlebug. Ironed them on to the quilt and then machine sewed them in place. Ta da! Easy peasy!

Annual Inspirations Blog Hop

Hi folks!

Welcome to our August Blog Hop featuring creations using up our stash with some new products.

We have an amazing group of talented ladies all across Canada and they would sure love to hear from you. So, before you hopping along to the next stop in the hop, be sure to leave a comment about what you loved.

If you've arrived from Dominique's post then you are in the right place. If you would like to start at the beginning of the hop and travel from East to West, you can start here at Michelle's post.

To purchase any of the items you see along the hop today, be sure to get in touch with your local consultant.

The first pages I turn to in each new idea book are those featuring the new paper collections. If you are a regular visitor, then it probably comes as no surprise that my favourite collection in the new idea book is the Basics Fundamentals - I love the new neutral palette collection.

So, today I am sharing a card I created with several of the papers in that collection.

I also used the new White Pearls for my embellishments on the sentiment panel - which by the way is one of the mini stamps in the new idea book. ps. For the layout I used the August Viva La Verve sketch.

In addition to the Basics Fundamentals, my eye was also drawn to the Adventure Fundamentals for this card.

The heart print, blossom and lagoon papers are from the new Adventure Fundamentals collection. The polka dot mat is from an older, textured Adventure Fundamentals.

You might recognize the "Sweet Birthday" stamps and Thin Cuts as well. These make for a quick card make when you need a birthday card "toot sweet"! (sorry, I couldn't help making the pun).

And, of course, some white dots for embellishment.


That's it for me! Your next stop in the hop is Diana - enjoy the rest of the hop!


If you get lost along the way, you can head on over to Michelle's post as she has the full list of hop participants.


Thanks for hopping along with us today. We hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products, and techniques you saw along the way. We hope you will be able to join us again next month when we will be featuring creations using products from the new Holiday Expressions Idea Book. So mark September 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Grandma's Kitchen Quilt-A-Long - my blocks so far

Hi folks!

Back again today to share another quilt related post. This is not a completed quilt but rather a quilt-a-long.

Basically, each week, a new block is published by the author of the quilt-a-long, Pat Sloan of "I Love to Make Quilts". The idea is to make each of the blocks, on your time, and at the end of the 25 weeks, you will have a collection of blocks to turn into a quilt top.

The details of this particular quilt-a-long, Grandma's Kitchen, can be found here.

So far, seven blocks have been published and I am actually up-to-date now on getting all of them done (there was a vacation away from home that put me a few blocks behind for a little while).

Anyways, here are all seven blocks that I have done so far. I'm using a stash builder bundle of Colonial Manor fabric in blues and creams (no longer available) that I picked up some time ago on Craftsy.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Anyways, for the remaining blocks, I'll try to post them as I go along and complete them.

As always, thanks for stopping by!