Simple Christmas - Susan K Weckesser Hop

Hello to all!

Welcome to the second day of the Susan K Weckesser Hop!
(and Friends with Flair Friday!)

If you missed the first day -

go to the Susan K Weckesser's blog as you don't want to miss out!

If you are not already a follower,
we would love for you to join our families and
follow our blogs as well as stay up-to-date
by 'liking' us on Facebook!

Susan K Weckesser Inc Facebook page
Unity Stamp Company Facebook page

They have invited us along with her design team to play along in their 

Christmas Love Campaign

 to create simple Christmas cards with her stamps,

 sold in the Unity store!

 According to the US Postal service, if you mail your holiday cards by December 20,
 they will arrive by December 25th!  
And, this will give you a chance to also join in the Christmas Love Campaign.

You can find out all about this campaign here.

Here is the line-up for today!

• Unity Stamp Co Blog: http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/
• Einat Kessler: http://scrapinit.blogspot.com/
• Renee Aslette: http://www.reneeaslette.blogspot.com/
• Rita Barakat: http://letsembellish.blogspot.com/
• Robyn Weatherspoon: http://robynweatherspoon.blogspot.com/
• Shilo Miles: http://papermeetsglue.blogspot.ca/
• Jennifer Hottinger-Sloan: http://www.lifebescrappy.blogspot.com/
• Stephanie Muzzulin: http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com
• Thienly Azim <----- :=":" are="are" here="here" nbsp="nbsp">
• Cheryl Boglioli: http://cherylswindow.com

I've got two cards to share today, one being more of mixed media style, 

and the other - taking a non-Christmas stamp to make a holiday card!

The first is using the cute snowman stamp - One of a Kind Winter.

I thought that it would be so cute to make a fabric snowman out of this stamp.

I stamped it onto various patterned pieces and 'fabric-pierced' them together.

All the pieces were adhered onto each other using Mod Podge,

so the card is very durable and the front is water (SNOW) proof!

I love Mod Podge - it's so fun, and allows me to get creative!

You would not be able to glue like this using a normal glue... 

and a hot glue gun would be disastrous!

 Love the feel of it when it dries, too!

Super cute, right?

The second is using one of my favorite sets from her - A Little Bit Washi.

For this one, I thought that it would be super cute to take some of those strips, 

and putting the shortest washi at the top going down,

 it would make a super adorable Christmas tree!

After stamping with light green ink, 

I machine stitched them onto a woodgrain washi tape.

I finished it off with wooden stars and some colorful buttons :)

This is SUPER easy and SO ADORABLE!

Hope that you liked my cards today, 

and make sure that you comment on each of the participating blogs

 for your chance to win of two whole line of Susan K Weckesser co-branded Unity stamps!!!

That's an AMAZING PRIZE!

They are also 50% off or more in the store right now, 

so it's a great time to grab them! :)

...AND you get a free itty bitty with EVERY $25 spent! 

Now, we're talking about a GREAT SALE!

Click here to SHOP.

You are off to the last stop - 

Cheryl Boglioli!  

Gobble gobble hip hop!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

I'm a Canadian, so we got to celebrate it last month.

I thought that I was lucky to eat turkey a month early, but now...

think I change my mind.

After hearing everyone talk and post pics about their turkey, I'm craving it again!

Anyway, welcome to another hip hop Thursday, 

and so glad that you joined me here today!

The giveaway still is in effect, so comment away -

 Unity is offering $20 gift cards to 3 lucky winners again!

You should be arriving here from Shemaine's blog... but in case you need the whole line up, here it is!

Andrea Murdock -http://www.mystampingheaven.blogspot.com/

Eryn Hagen - http://vintageglamdesigns.blogspot.com/

Jen Erickson - http://shut-up-its-true.blogspot.com/

Jimmi Mayo - http://www.stampingwithjimmi.blogspot.com/

Lisa Henke - http://www.mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/

Shemaine Smith - http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/

Thienly Azim - YOU ARE HERE! :)

So, today, I thought that it appropriate to make a Thanksgiving card. :)

I've always been in love with cards that look like a 'door' and thought this was the perfect time to use it!

I used a part of the window cut file from SVG Cuts, and made a door out of it.

Embossed it with Distressed Stripes folder, and added a vellum window and even a handle! 

(Handle is from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Hitch Fasteners - SO PERFECT!)

I took the Celebrate Wreath (Jillibean Soup itty bitty)and gave it a Thanksgiving twist.

When I got this, I had all the intentions to use red, white and green buttons on them, 

but decided tochange it up a bit, and added in some fall colors.

I think it's so cute!

I cut out 2 pieces of rectangle, and made a 'border' which are lines made by scoring them.

I have ONE more card (it's too early to end the fun!) to share with you - 

and it was my hubby that inspired me to make this one.

(Men CAN be a help sometimes...)

I told him that I wanted to do something different, 

and said 'Why don't you make a Black Friday gift card holder?'

Ahhh, brilliant! That's a fun twist to the holiday!

So, I made a card with it!

Who wouldn't like to get that, right?

I got to use my 'black' embellishments - washi tape, twine, buttons... and used various stamp sets here :)

All About Today - Joslyn Nielson

Just my Type - Kevin and Amanda.com

Worn Grid

Distressed Dots

Now, if you REALLY paid close attention to every single inventory in the Unity store, 

you should have noticed that there were several background stamps that was missing... 

I felt SUPER sad thinking that it must have been discontinued, so I asked.

It turns out that it somehow got deleted!

Oooh, this is when you've got to thank me for bringing these stamps back! :)

So... go check at all these stamps!

I have every one of these, and I LOVE THEM!

Worn Grid

Distressed Dots

Stars of Worn

Hearts of Old

Worn Music

Grainy Background

Amazing, right?

There's an amazing CYBER MONDAY sale coming over at Unity on Monday so stay tuned!

They are new releases, and so DARN CUTE!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Oh, just one more thing before I let you go - 

Paper Issues is having a Black Friday sale!

EVERYTHING is 30% off, and this is where I get most of my supplies from, so go check it out!

Cozy Differences... stamp of the week!

Happy Friday! :)

I can't believe it's Friday already!

Is it just me, or does the time just seem to go so quick that you feel like you got nothing done!?!?
(if you're looking for the Brown Friday Hop post, click here)

Today is a super busy day for me... (but a super fun day!)

My friend is coming over in the morning, and after that, I get to go see my mom who will just be coming back from Japan (she's been gone for a month!) and then, taking kids to Japanese school in the evening!

... and the weekend, hopefully I get to rest!

So... I just wanted to share something that I did using the current stamp of the week for FWF Friday!

It's the most adorable stamp.

Love the sentiment, and those mitts... super cute and can even use them separately if you want to.

(But why would you want to?)

I made a gift box! (to give mitts as gifts!)

Cute, right?

I found the perfect papers to go with this stamp - Jillibean Soup Winter Tortellini and Spinach.

It has that same cozy feel to it!

I, of course, got the box file from here (SVG Cuts) using the one with the window.

Just LOVE LOVE LOVE this kit - and if you've missed my post for the Unity HOP from yesterday,
please do go check it out -
 I made other elements from this kit, using Unity stamps! (it's worth seeing!)

Anyway, I apologize for these following pics.. 

the colors are off, and it bothers me, but it's too late for me to retake the pics.

The box actually has a slip cover, so you don't have to rip apart the pretty box. I wrapped the slip cover with burlap and a brown cord and embellished it.

I added a button at the side to make a faux closure here :)

...and see, you can easily slip off the whole thing to open the box!

So, here's the stamp!

created by Tracey Malnofski

If you are interested in signing up, click here.

Oooh, and don't forget about the best sale of the year going on at Unity! 

Everything is 50% off with coupon 50THANKS 

(with the exception of membership stamps: SOTW, KOM and SMAK and non-stamp items)

A dollar from EACH sale is going to directly to the Rice Bowl to fight hunger! 

It's a great cause, so shop and help! :)

Think that's it! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

...and thanks for stopping by <3 p="p">

Hip Hoppin' Brown Thursday!!!

Hello all!

Happy BROWN THURSDAY!!!

This is the Unity hop and SALE that you won't want to miss!

We have a special theme to kick off the biggest DEAL of the year - and we're doin' it in style!

It's a BROWN THURSDAY SALE... (more info down below)

so we decided that all our projects should evolve around brown and kraft paper!

I was SUPER excited about this -

probably because I use those all the time, and it's so my thing!

You should be arriving here from Stephanie's blog here today, and as always, I'm the last stop!

Welcome to the last destination!!! :)

Make sure that you've left love all along the way,

as there's THREE $20 gift certificates to be given out again!

I've known quite a few of my followers have won this,

so yeah, it can be YOU this time!

Here's the whole blog hop list for your reference.

Andrea - http://www.mystampingheaven.blogspot.com/

Angie - http://www.angieblomdesigns.blogspot.com/

Danielle - http://www.danielledaws.com/

Eryn - http://vintageglamdesigns.blogspot.com/

Jen B - http://www.thebuckstampshere.blogspot.com/

Jen E - http://shut-up-its-true.blogspot.com/

Jimmi - http://www.stampingwithjimmi.blogspot.com/

Jolande - http://www.justjolande.blogspot.com/

Karen - http://reallifeinpictures.blogspot.com/

Lisa A - http://dahlhouse-designs.com/

Lisa H - http://www.mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/

Natalie - http://www.dougnat.blogspot.com/

Renee - http://www.reneeaslette.blogspot.com/

Robyn - http://robynweatherspoon.blogspot.com/

Shellye - http://www.paperedcottage.blogspot.com/

Shemaine - http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/

Shilo - http://papermeetsglue.blogspot.ca/

Stephanie - http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com/

Thienly - YOU ARE HERE :)

So... for my projects today, I AGAIN chose the snowman theme..

(hope that you're not sick of seeing this adorable guy!)

but in totally different style this time.

I've been loving the natural, earthy looking ornaments and decor 

that I've been seeing everywhere,

and that inspired me for my projects today!

Isn't he CUUUTE?

Who would've thought that project just made with brown and kraft paper would be so adorable!

For my projects today, I tried to focus on BACKGROUND STAMPS...

and how those can just make your papers and your project POP!

The first that you'll see is a snowman!

Oooh, I love that fella!

Of course, the file is over from SVG Cuts, but added my own touch as I didn't use the arms and the nose. :)

The brown and kraft paper were cut, and then stamped with these following stamps:

A Bit of Burlap (for the hat)

Flurry of Flakes (for the body)

I used strips of cream burlap for the hat trim and the scart, and for the nose,

I cut a long piece of right angled isoceles triangle

(that's the first time I used this word since first year university! HA!

Who knew that it'll be helpful explaining my craft xx-years later!)

 and rolled it to get a cone!

The buttons are from Nikki Sivilis (had the perfect shade of brown and burlap on it!),

and accented his scarf with a baby pin :)

The arms were found in my front yard :)

Oooh, you notice his broom? Isn't that the cutest little thing?

I made that using Unity Bow Maker!

Not only this makes the prettiest bows, but it can do other things, too!

So, you want to know how I did it?

1. Place the rods 3 units apart and wrap jute twine 10 times.

2. Take another piece of jute twine and tie around the wrapped twine on one side.

3. Carefully lift out the twine and cut off the loops on both ends with scissors.

4. Insert a wooden dowel on the tied end.

5. Take a brown cord, wrap around the original tied spot very tightly a few times, and tie a bow... 

and VOILA - it's done!

... and oooh, for those die-cutting fans, 

this file is super adorable as the hat lifts off and you can place goodies in there! 

Wouldn't you love to get candies in this box?

The second project you saw was the background tree...

It's an ornament from this collection from SVG Cuts.

I was inspired to make it Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware style... (LOVE those stores!)

I know that theirs are made from tree bark and such, but to give it that feel  -

I used the woodgrain stamp

(my bad... looks like this stamp is discontinued! GAH!

but you can also use this or this)

inked the edges, sprayed on the Mister Huey Calico Shine Mist 

and sprinkled gold glitter all over it before it dried!

The last one, but not least, is a snowglobe card, 

using the stamp set from the NEWEST RELEASE!

I LOVE this set!
SNOWGLOBE WINTERLAND!

I used the snowglobe stamp to made a layer of vellum and acetate 

and machine stitched that onto a card with glitter inside it!

So much possibilities with this set! 

I was going to make a snowman in a winterland, 

but for a bit of a twist, 

I made a metropolitan snowman!

I hope that you enjoyed the hop today and my projects!

It's time for you to go back to either the Unity blog 

(to let them know how much you were inspired from this hop) 

or for you to go to the store to shop!

REMEMBER... This is the biggest sale of the year, so it's time to stock up!

Unity is one of the MOST GENEROUS COMPANY EVER!

Not just in the amazing sales, and giveaways that they do weekly,

 but for who they are...

for this sale, a dollar from EACH SALE will go to Rice Bowls to help fight hunger.
AMAZING initiative in time for Thanksgiving to my American friends :)

  That's why I love this company!

The incentives are cumulative,

 which means that if you spend over $60, 

you get a free grab bag, free shipping coupon and a NEW Snowflake Kit release!

(HOW AMAZING IS THAT?)

Oooh, I have to show you the kit - it's super duper cute - designed by various Unity Artistas!
SNOWFLAKE KISSES

That's it!

Thanks for coming by, and have fun shopping! ;)

Hip Hop Tipsy Thursday!

Welcome all!
(Hello to my FWF friends... it's a post from yesterday,
but had problems with the link so hope you don't mind if I join in today!)

It's another Hip Hop Thursday, so...
you should be arriving from Shemaine's blog!

Here's a whole list for your reference:

Andrea Murdock -http://www.mystampingheaven.blogspot.com/

Eryn Hagen - http://vintageglamdesigns.blogspot.com/

Jen Erickson - http://shut-up-its-true.blogspot.com/

Jimmi Mayo - http://www.stampingwithjimmi.blogspot.com/

Lisa Henke - http://www.mylittlecreativeescape.blogspot.com/

Robyn Weatherspoon - http://robynweatherspoon.blogspot.com/

Shemaine Smith - http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/

My project today has nothing to do with the 'tipsy' part of it,

but it's all to do with the NEW mini releases AND a SALE happening over at Unity starting today!

 It's all about WINE...

(I certainly could use a glass right now)

and just felt like at least, getting into the spirit of it! Get it? Haha :) )

You should go see those releases - they are SUPER CUTE!!!

and can't wait to play with them! 

Anyway, my theme today is SNOWMAN!

I'm not a big fan of snow, but love snowman!

Something so magical about it! :)

The first one was inspired by these cute little wooden cubes, from Wall Sugar,

that I found at my local scrapbook store the other day.

I thought that it would be so cute to make a square snowman out of it!

I sanded the cubes to make rounded corners/edges (gives it more vintag-y look)

and used Carta Bella Winter Fun papers and Mod Podge'd them onto it. 

The hat was made using a file from here,

...and used buttons for the eyes, and copper wire for the nose.

I took a pointy plier and wrapped the wire around and around to make it 'look' like a carrot.

I drilled a hole to fit pipe cleaner arms,

and stamped the sentiment from You Melt My Heart (My Little Shoebox)

onto a cotton muslin fabric and let the snowman hold onto it!

Added some fashion statement by giving him a cozy light blue scarf, all fringed at the ends :) 

I couldn't resist but to add a heart button onto him as well!

...and here's the final pic!

Isn't he adorable?

He's my new friend that sits with me while I craft :)

He's all waterproof, too! :)

Okay, my next one's a card...

using the same Carta Bella Winter Fun papers,

and Snowbody Warms My Heart... such pretty stamp!

I love Carta Bella papers as you can totally sand the edges down to give it a vintage look.

Added some snowman magic using vellum, doily, liquid pearls and gemstones :)

The pretty snowflakes are from here.

...here's another view of it :)

Hope you liked my projects,

 and thanks for hopping with the Unity crew today!

Make sure that you leave comments 

on ALL the blogs for your chance to win 

one of three $20 gift certificates to the Unity Stamp Company store! 

(winners always announced Saturdays!)

Christmas Sled Decor - SVG Cuts DT Project.

Hello all!!!!

Wow! 

My latest project over at SVG Cuts went up today, 

and I am just in shock by the all the positive comments left there :)  

I feel so loved!

Anyway, this project inspiration came from the first snowfall the other day. 

Kids wanted to go tobogganing, and then I had my A-HA moment! 

(I just LOVE those moments... I love how it just comes all of a sudden... so magical!)

A sled made from candy cane and crate boards!

Well... as easy as this may sound, 

actually, it took me a LONG time to THE candy cane file that I can use to make this. 

 Mary's candy canes are all SUPER CUTE, however...

 they ALL have the same cute curve to it.  

I cannot possibly mount a board on a curved piece... 

and then... after going through all my PDFs...

 I found the right one.  

Just the one I was looking for, and it was the ONLY candy that would work...

It was a candy cane from a baking card in the Gingerbread Chalet SVG Kit.  

PERFECTO!

From there on, everything came together nicely.  

There was NO WELDING, NO ALTERATION of any files... 

(VERY UNLIKE any of my SVG Cuts' projects) so not only it was easy to make,

 but was simple for me to do the write up, and that means... 

it should be straight-forward for YOU to make! :)

I wanted this sled to look 'real'... 

something with a vintag-y look to it, 

and has the similar magic to the Christmas Lantern Streetlamp that I did last year.

I found THE perfect wood paper inside This & That Christmas collection from Echo Park, 

and THE perfect sentiment from my Unity Stamps - Snowflake Falls from Heaven.

...and of course, I had to add in some skates, wintergreens, a cardinal... 

I was already able to picture this thing made before I even made it!

Anyway, here is the completed project!

You know, the photos make a HUGE difference in the way a project looks, 

and I always get so nervous when it's time to submit my project photos in. 

 Leo is a photography pro, 

so he wants good lighting, proper focus, good photo set up, etc. 

 I guess this is a good thing... 

because this was a part of a requirement for the design team projects, 

I do have to thank Leo that my photos have gotten quite a bit better over the years. 

 It is satisfying when you get a good shot, and I do agree - photos do make a HUGE impact.

I just LOVE these 3D Wintergreen files... 

you can add them onto any Christmas project and it makes everything look amazing!

With the pair of skates, I `laced` them up with thin jute twine, 

and used a thicker one to hang them on the sled :)

... and here's the stamp that I think created all the 'magic' to this project.

 I just LOVE Unity Stamps, 

and I love the fact that I can always use SVG Cuts and Unity products together.

Well, here's a shot that was never shown in the SVG Cuts' blog...

 it's a side view of my project - 

which may help some of you 'visually see' how this is all assembled together.

This is all surprisingly sturdy. 

The thicker you make the `runners` (candy cane) - the more durable your project will be.

That`s it!

To make the sled itself, all you need are 3 kits.

1.  Caramel Apple Pie SVG Kit

2.  Gingerbread Chalet Village SVG Kit

3.  Big Christmas Gift Bags SVG Kit

Then, I used the following 3 collections/kits to embellish:

4.  Christmas Cookie Party SVG Collection

5.  Rockin Around the Christmas Tree SVG Collection

6.  3D Wintergreens SVG Kit

However, like I mentioned in the SVG Cuts' blog 

(FULL instructions and DIMENSION info are there!) 

YOU can embellish any way you want to!

Add mitts, cup of hot chocolate and cookies.

Perhaps, have the sled lay flat, and add presents and snowman on it.

or... size the whole thing down, and voila - you have a Christmas ornament!

Possibilities with SVG Cuts' files are endless!

I hope that you all will be inspired by my project today, 

and that you`ll share your creations on the SVG Cuts' FB Page :)

Oh, and don't forget - 

the free file of the week - 

Thankful Cuties SVG Collection ends THIS Thursday midnight!