gift giving made EASY...

hIp HoPpiNg..

with the {ippity} design team...

you will now hop on through {ippity} by Unity design team projects...

and honestly they NEVER disappoint...

so keep on hopping for some AMAZING inspiration!

{if you didn't start out at the unity blog...

be sure to head back there to get all of today's hip hopping details!}

here's my project o' the day...

gift giving made EASY!

i absolutely LOVE these kraft gift boxes for easy {& cute} gift giving! 

of course i had to add my own {ippity} flair to this one...

notice the music note background from music of my heart 

that i stamped on the TOP of the box...

to create the little tag i used:

~marvy tag punch

~{ippity} stamps - the thanks sentiment from regal greetings & those adorable flowers are from a moment in time,

~tim holtz distress ink in tea dye

~versamark pigment ink

....the inside...

{glass charm available here}

need some {ippity}?

get some TODAY through your favorite {ippity} chick!

and...one LAST thing before YOU leave...

i have to wish Andrea a HUGE HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a WONDERFUL WOMAN and FRIEND!!!

andrea, julie, me, angela, michelle...

{however, we are missing CARRIE in this photo!}

time to HOP ON over to our FABulous Stephanie!!

elegant embrace....on sale!

real.e.random SALE!!
elegant embrace glass pendant...ON SALE!
{and one of my most popular!!} 

just $7.95

...NOW thru saturday!!

{does not include chain & charm, regular price $9.95}

{click here to purchase}

picture frames turned into CUTE bulletin boards

real.e.random saturday project

my first "before & after" project to share with you...

{each saturday i will have a NEW before & after...

or "trash to treasure" type project}

garage sales...don't ya just love em!?!?

i got these rectangle frames for just 50 cents each and the oval framed mirror was just $1!!  i already had fabric & cream paint in my stash that i knew would work perfectly so the only other thing i needed was cork board.  well, while i was at the dollar store i found some foam board, so i thought i'd give it a try.  it worked perfectly!

the oval frame was that dark gold color before i painted it {i took a photo but can't seem to find which memory stick it is on!!!}  painted each one with cream paint and then sanded them down & added some stain to create this distressed look that i just love.

this piece of fabric is from amy butler...

i remember finding this fabric at jo-anns on clearance...

i just love the gray & yellow together!

i actually have these hanging in my craft area but since the area is currently a complete disaster...i will wait to show you them hanging on my wall until another day. 

so...all i spent on creating these lovely little framed bulletin boards is a mere $3.00!!
can you believe that!?!?

...................................

i love this quote that was sitting in my inbox today...

"Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly,

but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway."

~ Mary Kay Ash

thanks so much for stopping by...
enjoy

your weekend!!

handmade tags...

a little UNITY...

a little DONNA DOWNEY...

some TIM HOLTZ distress inks...

and WAH-LAH...

easy peasy handmade tags...

to be used as gift tags, for scrapbooking, journaling,

and so much more!

how INSPIRING are ALL of these sentiments...

{this one is my favorite!}

{ohhh but maybe this one is my favorite...

okay, i love both of these equally!}

{dang! i really like this one as well! 

i think ALL the donna downey sentiments

are pretty fabulous, how about you?}

~stamps by Unity all available on Donna Downey's website

Embrace You, Free to Be, Create Today, Imagine It

~versamark pigment ink's

~tim holtz distress ink to create the vintage feel

.............................

check out the Unity blog...

FRIDAY + UNITY =

Friends with FLAIR Friday!

Stop back tomorrow...

I've been working on some

"before & after" projects

and would love to know what you think!

{ippity} by Unity - - - -> hip hop thursday!

really...thursday?!?

 already?!?

really?!? 

seriously...these summer days are going by WAY too fast, can you believe it's already the fourth of july NEXT week!!

WOWza!

well anyway...on with our HOP...i am sure you have enjoyed all the wonderful Unity creations you have just hopped through {if you are just starting here, be sure to head to the Unity blog for the start of today's blog hop!}...you will now be taken through all the WONDERFUL {ippity} design teams blogs...

GET. READY. for some AMAZING inspiration!!

this week i decided to cover TWO challenges ALL in one...

here is my card that i created for Lisa Henke's Monday {ippity} challenge

which is PAPER PIECING

AND the Unity hip hop sketch challenge {HHSC13}

YOU still have time to join us for BOTH of these challenges!

~the butterflies and sentiment are from the {ippity} set what matters most

~the stamped scallop border is from sweet thoughts of spring

~paper is from october afternoon

and k&c company - the beautiful vintage looking background piece! 

~unity stamp hybrid ink in burnt umber

{available from an ippity chick}

~i always love using my tim holt'z distress inks/applicator to get the perfect distress/vintage look

i paper pieced & popped out some of the butterflies...along with the sentiment.

your next stop is STEPHANIE...keep on hoping...

and be sure to leave a comment on the {ippity} blog for your chance to win a FREE {ippity} kit!

H{ippity} Hop Monday....

happy h{ippity} hop monday!

i didn't get a chance to make a project with this week's new challenge...

so instead, just sharing this card i had created last week...

BUT this week's {ippity} challenge, by Lisa Henke is

PAPER PIECING

WHICH i love...so i'll be joining in this week sometime for that!

be sure to check out the {ippity} blog today for TONS of {ippity} inspiration!

ENJOY your week!

Friends with FLAIR Friday...

hope your having a FABULOUS Friday...

the SUN IS SHINING here...HOORAY!!

looking forward to a weekend in the SUN!!

i created this card by just hand cutting out some "petals" and then sewing around each of them...glued them onto a piece of cardstock and then popped them out with some pop dots...

aded the PERFECT sentiment from the Unity June KOM...

i just LOVE this sentiment...

PERFECT for adding the special little sentiment to a special friend's card/gift!!

CHECK out the UNITY BLOG for all the CHICKS blogging Unity/{ippity} projects today!

ALSO....

i created cute little pocket books and posted them on the {ippity} site...

here's a little sneak peek of the inside...

time for some hip hopping {ippity} style...

you will now HOP on through the {ippity} design team blogs...

if you are not sure what {ippity} by Unity is ...then just keep on hopping and you'll be taken to our main site,
which will end with a really awesome TUTORIAL by Lisa Arana!! 
Plus be sure to leave a comment on the ippity blog for your chance to win some SUPER SUPER CUTE October Afternoon paper!!

my project this week is an {ippity} card using this weeks Unity/{ippity} HIP HOP SKETCH!!
here it is...created by Maria!

 

oh, my card looks a little crooked here...LOL...oh well, let's just go with it for today!

:)

i picked up some more october afternoon paper...and i just LOVE it!

isn't that ginham & pink polka dots the CUTEST!!!

supplies:

{ippity} by Unity stamps - Now & Always

October Afternoon paper

ribbon & lace from my craft stash

NEXT up is our FABULOUS Stephanie!!

H{ippity} Hop...NEW challenge...SINGLE layer cards!

Hello & HAPPY MONDAY!

posting SUPER QUICK today...

our {ippity} challenge this week is by Lisa Arana and the challenge is to create a

SINGLE LAYER card!

{check out all the DETAILS here}

this was actually QUITE the challenge for me this week...

but this is what I came up with...

i made a mini set of cards...i think i will actually be making some more of these, they were quite fun!

and used the  

Fall for You &

Just Wanted to Say

be sure to check out the {ippity} blog for a FULL list of blog's posting {ippity} creations!

my best friends wedding...

ALOHA!

i thought i would share REALLY QUICKLY just a few photo's from my best friends wedding in hawaii....we just got them so i will eventually share MORE of them...but for now...how fun are these?!

the photography was done by stephen

{i just quickly added in the border & words in photoshop!}

i have lots of projects that i am working on and very excited to show you...so

VERY SOON i will have what i am going to call

real.e.random projects

i just love doing those "trash to treasure" or "before & after" projects...

so i am going to start taking photos and showing them here.

real.e.random photos

real.e.random quotes

just a.lot of real.e.random.ness

coming soon! 

Decorating with my Donna Downey by Unity STAMPS!

Unity Stamps + Donna Downey =

the PERFECT combo for creating HOME DECOR!!

For some reason I have been inspired by a lot of home decor lately....

and in my attempt to create a more INSPIRED craft area, I figured why not use my Unity and create some items that INSPIRE me while I am creating! 

So for today...a little framed piece of art to sit on my crafting desk...

{I of course had to throw in my FAVE color turquoise!}

I am one of those people that saves everything because I just KNOW someday I will have a UNIQUE & NEW use for it...so that is why I have lots of PAPER BAGS stashed away in my craft area...because look at how perfect the paper bag looks in this frame...
who woulda thought, huh! 

Don't you just LOVE this quote...it's so RIGHT ON!

I just used a piece of fabric I had in my stash and stamped it with the Unity Black Noir {hybrid} Ink...

{which can be purchased from an ippity chick!}

The little charm I added says "DREAM"

To create this "shadowing" effect I first stamped the flower on a piece of scratch paper...then re-inked it and stamped it over again on top of the "shadowed" one...and then just repeated until I got the desired look I was going for.

How SIMPLE is that!?!?

 

The Unity Stamps I used can be purchased on Donna's site...

{plus SO MANY MORE!}

Purely Entwined

The Artist in You {the sentiment}

THANKS for stopping by...

ENJOY your weekend!

CHECK out everyone else's creations today at the Unity Blog!
{plus hidden in one of the FWF posts is a chance for YOU to win 25 random UNITY STAMPS!!}

Delightful Little {ippity} Pillows...

Yep...you heard it right...I decided to put my {ippity} to use and create some cute little PILLOWS!

You will now HOP on through the {ippity} design team blogs...

If you are not sure what {ippity} is ...then just keep on hopping and you'll be taken to our main site {which also includes a FABulous tutorial today by Eva}!

I am kinda one of those "last minute" type of people...

where I always wait til the last minute to get my projects done.  Well, I was SO excited because I actually had gotten my project done for today..YESTERDAY!! I even had my blog post ready EARLY {which VERY RARELY happens, so I was just ecstatic}!!

Do you want to know what happens when I plan ahead???
I decide I want to CREATE SOMETHING ELSE...
SO. I. DID.
{and that just means that I have a project already to use for some other time, right...
so actually I STILL am ahead of schedule! HOORAY! :)}

Okay...enough babbling and onto my project...
this weeks Monday {ippity} challenge was hosted by Eva & her challenge this week was to use your {ippity} stamps to create a project incorporating
FABRIC or CANVAS {fun!!}
{you still have time to join us!!}
I really like the idea of stamping on fabric so I decided to try making some
itty bitty pillows.

WARNING!
.
.
.
This is my FIRST TIME making these so please excuse my "not so great" sewing skills!

Since I just thought of making these tonight...

I had to use what fabric I had in my stash {which is very minimal}.

I just purchased some American Crafts Stamp markers last weekend and I couldn't' believe how well the ones I picked out matched this fabric!!

I currently have these in an old wooden bowl with a bunch of vintage buttons, ribbon, and spools.

I think I will be making some more of these because they were SUPER fun to make.

I didn't even need a pattern...I just hand drew my templates.

The stamps from Delightful Little Things are just PERFECT for these pillows...

{which means I have 8 more I will need to make!}

Thanks for stopping by....

YOUR next STOP is

STEPHANIE...

Be sure to join us in our Unity SCS forum for

chit chatting

&

PRIZES!!

ENJOY the HOP!