{ my secret heart }

I heart Fall!

I am engrossed in new television shows + yesterday I bought a pumpkin and fall flowers. Next up is Halloween decor. I can't wait to get out my creepy black bird and apothecary jars!

In the meantime, I made a new addition to my Halloween decorations. It's a vintage Halloween pinwheel that I created with the September JBS Mercantile project kit. 

To create the pinwheel I used the JB Halloween Scary Stripe patterned paper. I cut two strips of the patterned paper and pleated each in one inch segments. I ran the 12" strips end to end and stapled them together to create the continuous pattern.

I added a glittered star in the center and embellished it with a bit of ribbon and a vintage poison label from the kit. Easy and festive, right?

M

A little photo adventure

Happy Wednesday! I'm mixing and matching old and new Jenni Bowlin products in a set of holiday cards over at the JBS Inspiration blog today. I hope you'll stop by!

So, I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I thought I'd share a few straight out of camera photos that I took in Chicago last weekend. It's such a great place to have a little photo adventure. 

I love the depth of field in this photo. It's as if the statue is saying "go forth and conquer this great city".

Classic Chicago. I love the mix of old and new architecture in the city.

Not the best picture, but can you see the ballerinas practicing in the window at the Joffrey Ballet? I loved looking up and seeing them pirouetting by the windows. 

The Marina Towers were one of my favorite architectural wonders in the city. And they are spectacular by night.

I knew this was going to be a highlight, but Cloud Gate in Millennium Park was spectacular. It's amazing how one piece of shiny metal can make so many people happy.

There were so many wonderful works of art to see at the Art Institute. Sunday Afternoon by Georges Seurat and Chagall's American Windows (below) were two of my favorites.

Thanks for going on my little photo adventure. Enjoy your day!

M

And we have a winner!

Again, thank you so much for all of the kind comments about my projects last week. I read every one and they were much appreciated!

Without further ado, the winner of the Unity stamp giveaway is....drumroll please...

Love this card! Fabulous job! :)

Posted by: Pamela Young | September 14, 2011 at 08:37 AM

Congrats, Pamela! Send me an email so we can work out the details.

M

Odds + ends

Growing in Unity has made for a great week! Sincerely, I apppreciate all of your comments.

I'll be leaving the comments open on all of my GIU posts from this week until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. CST, so you have plenty of time to comment for a chance to win one of the Unity stamp kits I've previously listed.

I thought I'd wrap things up with a little odds and ends card. I love this super simple concept for using up scraps of paper and the odd embellishment. 

Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; Punch: Fiskars; Buttons: Jenni Bowlin, My Mind's Eye; Crate Paper; Ink: StazOn; Other: Twine

Thanks again and enjoy your weekend! Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win. I'll announce the winner Monday evening.

Mindy

Go. See. Do.

Well, my Growing in Unity week just wouldn't be complete without a new layout that involves stamping. I have grown to enjoy making cards, but scrapbooking is really my first love.

The new go. see. do Simply Stories Itty Bitty stamp is perfect for a travel-oriented layout. 

I stamped the image on cardstock and then punched it out and adhered it with foam adhesive. A perfect Itty Bitty embellishment!

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: BasicGrey, Studio Calico; Alphas: American Crafts; Tape: EK Success; Button: BasicGrey; Punch: Martha Stewart, EK Success; Stencil: Balzer Designs for Crafter's Workshop; Ink: Jenni Bowlin

Honestly I haven't done the journaling on this page yet, but I intend to add the story behind this picture I took of the infamous golden oil driller in Tulsa. No offense to any Tulsanites, but we checked this guy out while in Tulsa for CKC and were highly amused by a description we read on a website. It described the view from below as "saucy".  <insert girlish giggles>

Again, thanks for all of your kind comments this week. There's still time to leave a comment for your chance to win one of the following Unity stamp kits:

Sending My Love
Bitty Backgrounds
Little Me
Bella Fiori
Homegrown 
Hugs & Kittens
Handmade Holiday
Bella Trees
Imagine It

I'll randomly select a winner at the end of the week (entries close Sunday at Midnight CST) and post the name next Monday evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mindy

A little Itty Bitty

Welcome to day three of Growing in Unity! There seem to be a lot of new names stopping by and I appreciate all of the nice comments.

As you've probably figured out, I am first and foremost a paper crafter who likes stamps. :) I think they are a great way to embellish projects and I particularly enjoy using Unity's Itty Bitty stamps. One of my favorites is the Fly Free with Me butterfly stamp that I used on this new card.

 

I stamped the butterfly with black ink and then used an ink blending tool to add a mix of Jenni Bowlin Chewing Gum and Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade distress ink.

And I broke out my Fiskars Kalidescope border punch to create the black trim layer. I love this new border punch and believe it will hit stores soon if it hasn't already! 

OTHER SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Studio Calico, Sassafras, The Girls' Paperie; Alphas: BasicGrey; Punches: Fiskars; Ink: StazOn, Jenni Bowlin, Ranger/Tim Holtz; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Ranger ink blending tool

I'll be back tomorrow with another Itty Bitty project. In the meantime, don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of the following Unity stamp kits:

Sending My Love
Bitty Backgrounds
Little Me
Bella Fiori
Homegrown 
Hugs & Kittens
Handmade Holiday
Bella Trees
Imagine It

I'll randomly select a winner at the end of the week (entries close Sunday at Midnight CST) and post the name next Monday evening.

Have a crafty day!

Mindy

To the moon & back

Thanks to everyone who stopped by yesterday! I've had a lot of fun working on my Growing in Unity projects and hope they give you some crafty ideas.

My Unity project today is a 5x5 card inspired by the "love you to the moon & back" stamp from the To the Moon & Back kit (January 2011). 

I used the star on the sentiment stamp in multiple places on this card. I simply stamped it on patterned paper and cut out the extra yellow stars.

OTHER SUPPLIES:  Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Crate Paper; Ink: StazOn; Glue Art foam adhesive.

Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of the following kits from Unity.

Sending My Love
Bitty Backgrounds
Little Me
Bella Fiori
Homegrown 
Hugs & Kittens
Handmade Holiday
Bella Trees
Imagine It

I'll randomly select a winner at the end of the week (entries end Sunday at Midnight CST) and will post the name next Monday evening.

Mindy

Growing in Unity

Months ago I was perusing Facebook and ran across the opportunity to participate in Unity Stamp Co.'s Growing in Unity campaign. September seemed like a long time off then, but my Growing in Unity week has arrived!

Every day this week I will be sharing a new project I created with Unity stamps. Plus, if you comment throughout the week, you'll have the chance to win a Unity stamp kit.

My first project is a set of holiday cards created with holiday sentiments and a frame stamp from the Picture Perfect kit (November 2010). 

All of the patterned papers and die cuts are from the new holiday collection by Crate Paper. I sprayed some of the die cuts with a new mist from Studio Calico called "Shine". I also added glittery snow for extra sparkle.

I stamped and then cut out the frame, including the inside. The sentiment is heat embossed on patterned paper and then placed behind the frame.

This sentiment fit perfectly over the fireplace. :) 

And I used just a portion of this sentiment and frame in order to accommodate a larger die cut image.

I'm looking forward to sharing a variety of stamped projects with you this week. If you leave a comment, you'll be eligible to win one of the following kits from Unity.

Sending My Love
Bitty Backgrounds
Little Me
Bella Fiori
Homegrown 
Hugs & Kittens
Handmade Holiday
Bella Trees
Imagine It

I'll randomly select a winner at the end of the week (entries end Sunday at Midnight CST) and will post the name next Monday evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mindy

September JBS Mercantile

I hope you're having a crafty weekend! There's certainly a lot of crafting going on at my house. So, how about two new layouts? Shocking, I know! 

These are both from my JBS Mercantile kit projects this month. The kits were full of brand new product and if you can't tell, fell a little in love with the striped Jillibean paper. The first LO uses the main kit plus the artisan add-on (still available!) and the second primarily uses the main kit.

This page is about my favorite farmer's market and I wanted it to have sort of a homespun feel, which was easy to achieve with the products in the kits. I even stepped way out of my box and tried out the new JB foam stamps and speckled egg paint. I think I'll be using those again soon. ;)

I used a lot of the very same products on my next layout, which has a completely different feel. 

I went with more of a contemporary, graphic look for this layout about a concert I attended. 

If you haven't stopped by the JBS gallery lately, watch for the gallery update today. Trust me, there's going to be a lot of great new projects from the DT added today.

Thanks for stopping by!

M

Fun and funky

Yes, it's been a while since the ol' blog saw a new card. Honestly I haven't been feeling the card vibe lately, but I think this project got me out of the funk.

I picked these new American Crafts Amy Tangerine papers up at CKC Tulsa a few weeks ago and it was high time I put them to good use. 

I have to confess that I wasn't in love with the Amy Tangerine line when I first started seeing the CHA sneaks, but the products were so unique and fun when I saw them in person that I fell a little in love. 

Plus, I mixed in the new Crate Paper Random buttons and love the pairing.

To see how I created the fun and funky flowers, head over to the Scrap-Mart blog today where I'm the host.

Thanks for stopping by!

M