Congratulations to Emily!

The talented Emily is this week's featured artist on Splitcoast Stampers. Well deserved and overdue, I'd say! And what a great excuse to take a look at her gallery and CASE (Copy And Share Everything) a card or two!

Before I even picked the inspiration card, I knew I wanted to use kraft cardstock, twine and the flower image from Unity's October 2010 Kit of the Month. Emily uses both kraft cs and twine so well, and in so many ways; and her varied use of the flower image was one of the reasons I picked up the October KOM a few months ago. I played with the three image layout that Emily used, but decided to go with the single image instead. That led to making a square card base rather than the usual A2 size. I also decided to incorporate one of the die cuts that Emily generously sent to me a while back. And that's how this card came to be.
My second card is a more direct CASE of this card:

The layout is exactly the same. I actually ADDED layers, which is very unusual for me. I changed some of the colours, added twine where Emily used a stamp, and added a stamp where Emily used a die cut. Well, and switched out the butterflies for hearts. Valentine's Day is coming, after all. ;)
Looking for some inspiration, or just enjoyment? Check out Emily's gallery or blog!

Supplies (flowers) white, black & SU kraft cardstock, Unity October 2010 Kit of the Month & Bevy of Butterflies, Versamagic Red Magic chalk and Brilliance graphite black inks, Divine Twine red twine, Recollections black half-pearls, dimensionals; (hearts) white & pink cardstock, Studio G heart & frame, Unity Mix-Up of Cuteness sentiment, Memento angel pink & rose bud and Versamagic purple hydrangea inks, pink sorbet & lilac Twinery twine, dimensionals Pin It Now!

Mini Cards!

The current challenge at the All Things Unity blog (ATU22) is to make mini cards, no bigger than 3"x3". What they don't tell you is that making these mini cards can be kind of addicting! With their small size, you can make them as simple or as detailed as you like. My first one is really simple.

Both images are from Unity's October 2010 Kit of the Month. I stamped and cut out the happiness banner, and popped it on the card base, where I'd stamped the small hearts image and added a strip of razzleberry cardstock.
For my second card, I added a little layering and colouring.

The image and sentiment are from the Unity set Mix-Up of Cuteness. I was going to make the kettle stainless steel, but then decided to go for a retro red enamel one. My dream kitchen has always been red and white; in real life, it's green and cream. Funny how that happens. ;)
My third card gets very fancy... for me, anyway.

Patterned paper AND multi-media colouring! These cherries are also from Mix-Up of Cuteness. The cherries and leaves are coloured with Sharpies; the stems with Prismacolor pencils.
These were all fun and quick to make! I think there will be more mini-cards in my future. ☺

Supplies: (Hey Hottie) white & yellow cardstock, Unity Mix-Up of Cuteness, Brilliance graphite black ink, Prismacolor pencils; (Happiness) white & SU rich razzleberry cardstock, Unity October 2010 Kit of the Month, Versamagic perfect plumeria ink, pop dot tape; (Cherries) white & SU ruby red cardstock, AmberINK schoolgirl plaid - picnic gingham: tiny iPaper, Unity Mix-Up of Cuteness, Brilliance graphite black ink, Sharpies, Prismacolor pencils Pin It Now!

CAS... or PAB? (Unity Friends with Flair, January 21st)

As with any good cult hobby, the world of rubber stamping and card-making has its share of jargon and acronyms. Probably the one closest to my heart is Clean And Simple, or CAS as it's known to those of us on the inside. While I can admire and appreciate detailed, layered, distressed or embellished creations, it's not in my (admittedly tiny) style range. Which brings me to this card.

This, I am afraid, may be less CAS than it is PAB -- a new acronym I've invented! It stands for, of course, Plain And Boring. Two colours of cardstock, one colour of ink, two images, no highly original layout, no embellishments. But I have to admit, I kind of like it anyway. ☺
Check out the Unity blog for the entire list of participants in today's Friends with Flair Hop. You'll find lots of flair!

Supplies: white & blue cardstock, Faded Jeans distress ink, Unity October 2010 KOM Take Time to Laugh Pin It Now!

Passing the Torch

Yes, it's that time... my month as an AmberINK torchbearer has come to an end. It was a crazy month of balancing holidays, family... and creating! Here's a little summary of what I made, all while running with a flaming ORANGE torch...

And now, drumroll please, as I announce the next ORANGEtorchbearer...



I don't think this is really Meg...

 Meg is a stamper and cardmaker extraordinaire with a wicked sense of humour whom I'm glad to say has become a friend in the past few months. I know she will carry the torch high and dazzle you with her AmberINK creations.
I'd also like to thank the equally über-talented Angela for entrusting the torch to me for the past month. They were big shoes to fill, so I hope I did you proud!   Pin It Now!

Almost Ready to Pass the Torch...

This is my last official AmberINK Torchbearer project! Where did the month go? I had such a blast doing this. Amber and Pam are great fun to hang out with, and were very patient with this newby blogger and first time design team member.

For this simple but elegant card, I used the champagne glass from the set Hostess with the Mostess as well as the flourish from Tis the Season to be Pretty, which seems to be my go-to flourish lately! I think the Spin Pin: Holiday - Black Tie: Tiny iPaper is currently my favourite, too. I went with pink champagne, mostly because I couldn't decide what shade I could use for regular champagne that couldn't be mistaken for something else. You know, apple juice. What were YOU thinking I meant? ;) The champagne and the flourish are also traced over with my Spica clear glitter pen that Santa generously put in my stocking this Christmas. (Santa is SO smart.) I had to leave my photo a bit darker than I liked to leave a little of that sparkle showing. (You can see it if you big it, I hope...) I think this will make a perfect engagement, wedding or anniversary card.
Thanks, Amber and Pam, for a fun month! You haven't seen the last of me, though... :P

Supplies: black & white cardstock, silver pearl paper, Spin Pin: Holiday - Black Tie: Tiny iPaper, pink watercolour pencil, Spica clear glitter pen, dimensionals Pin It Now!

Unity Addicts Challenge #34

This week's Unity Addicts Challenge is to use your oldest and newest Unity stamps together on a project.

My first Unity set was Bevy of Butterflies, and my newest is the October 2010 Kit of the Month, Take Time to Laugh. My butterflies have seen lots of ink, but until this card, I'd only used the Christmas-y images from the KOM. This is one of those cards that evolved along the way... I sat with the two sets, tried various colours and combinations, and this is what finally resulted. (It started with blues, a bird and a different sentiment...) I off-stamped the clouds first, to get a softer background colour that seemed to go better with the plum/razzleberry shade -- I always like it when products from different companies turn out to match! Hope you're having a beautiful day!

Supplies: white and SU Rich Razzleberry cs, Brilliance pearlescent orchid & Versamagic perfect plumeria inks, scallop edge punch, corner-rounding punch, pop dot tape Pin It Now!