Merry Christmas FWF

Here is a couple of cards I made for this weeks FWF. One last Christmas card, and the second card is just a general card. It has been difficult finding time to stamp and also get ready for Christmas, having teenagers and toddlers and a deployed husband has been a bit stressful lately. I am however thankful for being here and being able to spend time with my kids every day, and I am thankful that Vaughn has a job that he loves even if it does take him far away from us for extended periods of time more often than I would like.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

 Love this stamp, and the paper too...

This bicycle itty bitty is so cute, and I can think of so many projects to use it on. Made this card to use up some papers that were laying around on my messy desk.

TFL!

FWF

This was another busy week, finally no sick kids though.  We had fun celebrating Vaughnies 2nd birthday, and was able to skype with dad in the morning and that was fun. I cannot wait for next summer when he will be home with us again.  Here is my card for FWF this week, and yes it is yet another card to send to my husband so he at least has some happy mail from home, when he has to spend Christmas so far away.

Love this snowman itty bitty from Unity.

Here is a picture of the birthday boy, I cannot beleive that he is two already, but it sure is fun watching him grow up.  And when I get upset about missing my husband, I remind myself that at least I am here with the kids, while he has to miss all of us every day.

TFL!

December 2 FWF

Made this for FWF this week...

The paper is from K&Co. and the stamp is from Unity.

TFL!

Peace Love Joy

Here are three cards I made using the same stamp and die for all three, just changed up the embellishments and paper a bit for each card.

 For these two cards I used paper and embellisments from K&Co.

The paper I used for this one is from Kaiser. The stamp is from Unitys Peace Love Joy kit.

Day Dream

The past four months have been hectic with very little time to craft, but this past weekend I decided that in order to stay sane until the end of this deployment, I have to make time for myself too, and take a break to stamp and just relax at least a few times each week. And I do need to make more cards to send to Vaughn, and Christmas cards need to be made too....  Made this little card to send to Vaughn in a care package this week, love all the stamps in this set, but "day dream" really fit, since I do a lot of that thinking about having our family together again.

The paper and butterfly are from DCWV and the stamp is from Unity.

Christmas Cards

Guess it is time to really start working on Christmas cards, I am finding it really difficult to get in the mood for the holidays this year, the prospect of celebrating without Vaughn is really making me sad, and I am sad for Vaughn that he has to be so far away from us during the holidays. Eight more months left of this deployment, and then hopefully he will be home for a while before the next one.  Here are a few of the Christmas cards I made this weekend.

This one does have a border of white glitter (difficult to see in the pic), and the stamp is from Unity.

Love this little penguin Itty Bitty from Unity that I just got, and I am sure that there will be many more cards using it.  I added glitter to the tinsel, but it is not showing up well in the picture.

November 18 FWF

This week I managed to finish two cards for FWF Friday, after a week with sick kids and trips to the ER it was nice to finally spend a little time stamping, and since it is the middle of November, I should probably get started on some Christmas cards soon too.

 The stamp is from "Merry Merry Merry" and paper is from Crate Paper.

This super cute owl is from Bella Blvd. "Finally Fall" and the sentiment is from Amuse.

TFL!

FWF Friday

Friends with Flair Friday again, and here is the card I made for this week.

The stamp is from the Be Mine set and the paper is from Kaiser. And yes it is yet another love card to send to my husband, who will not be home for another 9 months, and I am constantly running out of cards to send him.

TFL!

FWF

Finally had a little time to stamp today, and here is my card for FWF this week.

Paper is from Echo Park Apothecary Emporium and the stamp is from the Halloween Traditions kit.

TFL!

World Card Making Day 2011

It has been a while since the last time I made anything crafty at all, but since it is WCMD I decided to spend naptime making some cards today, besides I am running out of cards to send to Vaughn in Iraq, so it is definitely time to make some more...

Papers are from Cosmo Cricket Odds and Ends mini deck, the stamp is from Unity and the ribbon doilis is from Basic Grey.

Love my Nestabilities and used two different ones for this, the stamp is from Mint Motif and the pearls are from zva.

TFL!

FWF Friday

Made some cards to share for FWF Friday, they are both CAS which I love to make, and lately that seem to be the only ones I have the time for while keeping up with 3 kids on my own.

Other than making two cards, today was super busy, spent the morning going on the "Freedom Walk" with the kids and their schools. This was so amazing to see all the kids in the field waving their flags, it is so important that we all remember 9/11 and that we all honor those who lost their lives and all the heroes of that day.

"We must remember this . . . FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! It has been won by the blood, sweat, and toil of those before us who were willing to give their life for their country. Do not let their deeds be forgotten by those who take freedom for granted!" ~ VDS ~

Decided to clean up in my craft room (well, more like craft corner of the basement), since it was a huge mess from last week. Cleaning is not fun, so instead of putting everything away like I should have, I decided to make something with some of the scraps and stuff already sitting on the desk, and here is one of the cards I made.

As said, this was made with scraps, and stuff just lying around on my craft desk.  The stamp is from Unity, not sure what set though.

And here is a picture of Jacob and some of his friends ready to leave for Boy Scout camp on Friday, he came back dirty, but happy, so I am thinking it was a fun weekend for him.  What is not fun, is having to clean the stuff he took with him, since it is all wet and VERY messy. Not sure why it is wet, since it was hot and dry all weekend, but that is a 12 year old boy for you....

GIU WINNER

Now for the winner of a free Unity Stamp set.... Using Mr Random.org the winner is: Erin

Erin said... Love the border punch! Great simple and sweet cards.

Please email me at evastrong@rocketmail.com with your address and your choice of the following sets:

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

Thank you to everyone who visited and left comments during this week.

Have a great weekend!

Growing in Unity - Day 5

For my last GIU post, I have just one card to share with you.  I made a thank you card, because I am always needing those, and also I want to say thanks to everyone who posted comments this week. I used the "Build a Damask" set and the papers are left overs from another project that I punched with different border punches.

Tomorrow, I will be picking a winner from all the comments received this week, so don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of these fabulous kits from Unity.


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

Happy Friday!!!

Growing in Unity - Day 4

I have been enjoying the challenge of having to make something for GIU every day, even if some days have been a bit hectic.  The two cards I made for today are both a smaller 4x4 size and both are CAS designs too, I am sure that my husband will appreciate getting mail that does not include big frilly bows :)

For this one I used a stamp from the May KOM, colored the heart with a Copic marker, and added gems to the corners, easy and quick, but I like the card a lot.

These stamps are from the "Be Mine With Love" set, and this is another one of my favorite sets from Unity, I use it all the time for all sorts of projects, every single stamp in this set is amazing.

Yesterday was not a great day around here, the little guy refused to nap, and it seemed like there was endless errands and chores. Some days this "single mom" stuff is really challenging, but I am blessed to have wonderful neighbors and friends who are always there to help. However, I sure hope that the next 11 months will go by fast, because I cannot wait to have my husband home again.

Growing in Unity - Day 3

Today I made two very different cards using the same stamp, I love this quote and will be sending one of these in a care package to my husband this week.

The quote stamp is from the Better Together set, the paper is from 7 Gypsies and the ribbon is from PTI.

In addition to the quote stamp I also used a heart from "With all my Heart".

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a beautiful stamp set from Unity.

Growing in Unity - Day 2

For the Growing in Unity project today, I have just one card to share.

I used a stamp from "Following My Heart" (KOM 08/09) to stamp the background on the white panel, and the sentiment is from "Folk Inspired". 

TFL!

Growing in Unity - Day One

This week I am the Growing in Unity girl, and will be featured on the Unity Stamp Co. blog on Wednesday.  Each day I will be posting different projects, using some of Unity's fabulous stamps, and at the end of the week I will pick a random comment to win one of the following stamp sets from Unity:

Sending My Love

Bitty Backgrounds

Little Me

Bella Fiori

Homegrown

Hugs & Kittens

Handmade Holiday

Bella Trees

Imagine It

For today I made a set of 3 cards using some of my favorite stamps.

These stamps are so versatile, and can be used for so many different things, I have used them a ton since I got them earlier this summer.

 Pear of a Recipe stamp, I colored it with Copic markers, used a border punch on one end, added some brads and a ribbon, and I love how it turned out.

Weekly Schedule Vintage Apple, again colored with Copic markers and I added some cute green paper, and a black ribbon.

Strawberry Greetings, again colored with Copics, I distressed the edges, and added a cute gingham ribbon and a button to dress it up.

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win!

Two Weeks Later!!!

Wow, it has been 2 weeks since my last post, and since the last time I spend any time stamping at all. Finally it seems like we are all starting to adjust to Vaughn being gone, I miss him terribly and have enjoyed our skype time almost every day, even though sometimes it is surprisingly difficult to talk to him, probably because I miss him and it makes me sad that he is so far away for so long.
Finally took some time to get crafty today, while the little guy was napping, and here is a card to share for FWF today:

The stamp is from the Feb 2011 KOM "the best is yet to be", I colored it with Copic markers, added some rhinestones and a ribbon, not too complicated and still a pretty and sparkly card.

Friday Again!

Wow, Friday again already! Time has flewn by in the past few weeks, and now there is less than 24 hours until my awesome husband has to leave for his 12 month deployment.  I am trying not to be sad, and just enjoy the day....

Here is my card for FWF this week:

TFL!

Another FWF Friday!

It has been about a week since my last post. We have been busy spending time together before my husband leaves next Saturday for Iraq. Guess what the lonely nights will be spent doing??? Crafting!
Here is my card for this weeks FWF:

Papers from Echo Park, and the stamps are from the "I Adore You" set.

TFL!

Friends with Flair

It is a beautiful Friday morning here in Kansas, but if the weather guy is right, it will be super hot later today, so I guess I will just have to stay home and stamp today :)
I just love these vintage fruit stamps, and have been making lots of stuff with them since I got them.
Here is a card with the vintage strawberry stamp:

And the markers I used when coloring it....

Happy Friday and TFL!

CAS cards

Again more cards for the CAS holiday challenge at SCS. Luckily some of these challenges fit perfect with cards that I can make to send to my soldier while he is away from us.  And I am finally using some stamps that I have had for a long time without ever inking them up.

Not sure where this paper is from, but I found it in my stash and love it - it is perfect for this card. The stamp is one I found in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby over a year ago, but I have not used it until now.

The stamp is from Unity "just be you" and again I had never used this one, paper is from PTI, and the ribbon is an Etsy purchase I made a long time ago.

TFL!

Flags of the world CAS

Made this for a CAS flags of the world challenge, and I really like how it turned out.

CAS cards

Love making CAS cards, they usually do not take a long time to make and most of the time I really like the look of these cards.

 Made this one for the CAS July 4 challenge on SCS. The stamp is from Unity "all smiles" (June 2011 KOM).

 Again this is for a CAS challenge on SCS and the stamps are from Unity.

Again a stamp from Unity "all smiles" kit (June KOM).

TFL!

Friends With Flair

Ahhh! Friday again, and time for another FWF card. I feel like this may need some sort of embellishment, like a bow or gems (I love embellishments),  but will leave it as is, since it is yet another card that I am planning to send to my hubby overseas, and I am sure that it is already too pink for him, so adding more "girly" stuff is probably not needed as far as he is concerned.

The stamps are from the ...think HAPPY thoughts kit, every single stamp in this kit is amazing, and I think that I have used most of them for something at this point.

Easy to Love

I have been playing with all the stamps from my Kit of the months from Unity, it seems that there are always a few favorites and the rest go unused for for a long time. This one I would have probably waited to use until Valentines Day, but since Vaughn is leaving in a few weeks I thought that this would be a nice one to use for a card to give him before he leaves, or to send to him during the 12 months he will be gone.

The heart stamp is from the June Kit "all smiles" the paper is from DCWV.

Happy Day!!!

Love these fruit stamps from Unity, they are so versatile and can be used in so many different ways for so many different things. I have only had limited time to play with them, but did get a few things finished and will share them here in the next few days.

Colored the pear with Copics and used a piece of deep purple mulberry paper I found on the bottom of my scrap basket.
TFL!

A few cards to share today.  One I made for the red, white and black CAS challenge at SCS, and the other one is another card made to send to my hubby while he is deployed for the next year - 25 days let before he leaves...

 This is a smaller size card to put in a care package, I still love these papers from Echo Park, and the stamp used for the ticket is from Unity.

Love how this turned out, I used a die from Spellbinders and a stamp from Unity again.

Quick Monday morning post, before the much needed trip to the grocery store today. 
I stamped this on cork with black Memento ink and added just a little color with a Copic marker.

Have a happy day!

It is a beautiful sunny day here today, so we will be spending some family time outside enjoying the day, and hopefully going out for ice cream :)

One quick card to share today:

The stamps are from Unity April Kom. I am making an effort to ink up every stamp in these kits since I get them every month and often only use a few of them.