Take Note - GIU Day 3

It's hard to believe that it is my GIU Day 3 already. I hope you have liked my projects and left comments for a chance to win some Unity stamps !!  Excited to be featured on the Unity Stamp Company blog today .. The stamp I used on this card is from one of my  favorite kits -- Everything Stronger -- and has sentiments for sympathy and support. I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer last year and my summer/fall was spent having surgeries and treatments. It was not a fun time but I stayed positive ( most of the time ) and spent alot of time making cards to support friends who were going through their own challenges. I fell in love with this kit when I saw it and I hope you do too.. 

I used a card base by Heidi Swapp , placed a doily behind the stamped image and added some rhinestones along the Right side edge. I colored with Faber-Castell Pitt Pens and Staedtler markers. 

 

Just some trivia about this stamp... The 2004 song "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney is one of my favorites so when I saw the Everything Stronger stamp set, it reminded me of that song.  Fast forward to 2016 and another favorite of mine, the TV show Fear the Walking Dead. Imagine my surprise when I realized that a 12 years older Jesse McCartney had played Reed, one nasty bad guy,  on the series. Great storyline for him...And it reminded me of this stamp set.. So, that was how this card was born !!  Thanks for indulging my love of trivia !!

Thanks to all who have been leaving comments ! I will choose 2 winners at random to win 25 stamps from Unity from those of you who comment on all 5 blog posts.  I will also send some blog candy to 2 others who comment..

Comfort - Growing in Unity Day 1

I will be posting a project Monday through Friday this week as the Growing in Unity Girl for the amazing Unity Stamp Company . This is my second time as GIU girl and the hardest part is deciding which stamps to use -- there are SO many wonderful designs to choose from !! 

I have always loved retro designs and when I found those cookbook page flags, I knew that they would make their way onto a card one day. I knew that they would work perfectly with the stamp Bowl-Full of Comfort . I used Distress Markers and  Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens to color the bowls then applied a few layers of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint . It's difficult to see but there is a crackly translucent look to the bowls. I placed the bowls on an American Crafts Wood-grain journaling card, then used Sizzix Scallops dies to make the left-hand border. I then placed the page flags along the side of the card , added a few rhinestones and a sentiment and the card is complete !!

Sending Comfort by the Bowl-Full

Retro Kitchen Page Flags

Comment each day on my blog posts this week and you just might win a prize of 25 Unity Stamps. I will choose 2 winners at random .  I will also be sending some blog candy to 2 others. Thank you SO much for visiting Meticulosity. I hope you will visit each day and check out my projects !

Art Playing with Adornit and MPC

Thank you so much for joining us for the Adornit & Mountain Plains Crafters Blog Hop !! It's amazing to be involved in another Blog Hop with such a fabulous company and have the opportunity to use their fantastic Art Play Paintables again.There are new designs that just beg to be colored, paper-pieced and used in your next project.

First, I made a card using some fabulous Recollections "Steampunk Botanica" background paper  on a kraft card base. From top to bottom, I sponged Wild Honey and Forest Moss Distress inks, then Stampin' Up Peachy Parfait ink onto an Art Play Paintable. I colored the images with Distress and Neon markers and paper-pieced the mountain and house onto the background. After matting it with both  black and bronze glitter papers, I finished it off with a bit of Stampin' Up lace ribbon. 

"If the Shoe Fits" Art Play Paintable by Michele Hamilton

The second project is an altered cookie/candy dish. Found at Michaels after Halloween last year for $1, I knew it would be fun to decorate it for this year's Trick-or-Treaters !! Using Distress markers, some blingy rhinestones and a few black pearls, I got it all ready for Halloween. A bit of Scotch brand Day of the Dead tape around the top of the dish was the perfect finishing touch. 

"Wicked" Art Play Paintable by Lindsay Waltman-Ostrom

"Wicked" Art Play Paintable by Lindsay Waltman-Ostrom

Alternate sides of candy/cookie dish

My last project is a Pocket Letter for my best friend in the whole wide world who is going through a health crisis with her 25 year old son. She lives in Maine and I am in Virginia. We met about 27 years ago working in the ICU and used to get together all the time to be crafty. I have been addicted to coloring lately and love how it reduces my stress levels,,, So this Pocket Letter is for her.. Some are colored, others are not. I left blank spaces for her and it will be sent to her with an array of markers, colored pencils and crayons !! The tag is an Art Play Paintable  from "Take Flight" by Carolee McMullin and the actual PL uses designs from  "Pray" , Creative Life" and "Create" by Stephanie Ackerman. I hope it relaxes her and allows her to de-stress a bit and think of me coloring  here as she is doing the same there..

Art Play Paintables by Stephanie Ackerman

 Art Play Paintable "Take Flight" by Carolee McMullin

This post has been brought to you by the word .

Collect all of the clues and follow the instructions on Adornit's post for a chance to win a great prize from Adornit. Comment on my blog post here for a chance to win some Art Play goodies from me! Your next stop on this blog hop is the fabulously artistic Paula. She is a creative genius and I cannot wait to see her coloring on this hop's projects. Head over to see her creations and get another word clue. Follow the links on Adornit's post ..

And thank you so much to Adornit for their amazing Art Play Paintables. It was so much fun making all of my projects and I cannot wait to send  the Pocket Letter to Sue... Now I think it's time to start on some Christmas designs !!

GIU Day 5 - Find Your ZEN

I cannot believe it is already Day 5 for my GIU week. I have been using a different designer each day for my projects. Today I chose one by Traci Malnofski. She has many incredible stamps so it was hard to pick but I finally chose Serenity from her Fashionista line. Just as a reminder, please get your comments in by MIDNIGHT tomorrow night, Saturday ( Eastern Time ). I will pick 2 random winners and post them on Monday. You will have 2 weeks to contact me with your snail mail info.

I have been wanting to play with this Serenity stamp for so long. I'm glad I finally inked it up !! I did a bit of paper-piecing which is always fun for me. And as you all know, I love mixing different patterns of paper. So I colored the design, chose a doily and some patterned paper, threw in a few rhinestones and here you have it !! This stamp set has 5 different sayings and I couldn't decide on only ONE, so I did the next best thing--- I used FOUR ....

Supplies that I used for this card are :
1. American Crafts 5th & Frolic paper
2. Recollections Kraft Doily
3. Rginestones
4. Tim Holtz Distress Markers

I am hoping that if I look at this project long enough, I will decide to give Yoga a try. My problem is that whenever I sit still for any length of time ( without creating something or reading ), my mind starts spinning with lists of things I need to do.. I kind of think that making cards is my Yoga !! I have found my ZEN and it is being creative....

I am so happy to have been the GIU gal this week !! I found Unity Stamp Company many years ago when I saw a picture of one of their kits Hodge Podge of Happiness.. I actually ordered that and several other kits and have been hooked ever since. Thanks to Angela Magnusen and everyone at Unity for giving me this opportunity to showcase my projects this week.

I have been amazed at all of the wonderful comments about my projects so far. If I have inspired you, I am grateful and would love to see some of your designs. Follow me by e-mail if you would like, from the link on my sidebar.. Please comment for a chance to win a Grab Bag of 25 Unity stamps.... I will choose 2 winners at random and post them on Monday so please check back here.

Thank you all so much for joining in my GIU Week

GIU Day 2 - Heart with Joy

Today for Day 2 as the GIU gal, I chose a stamp designed by Lisa Arana. I especially LOVE her flower stamps that look like doodles. I decided to use a wooden embroidery hoop because I have seen such cute projects using these and also because I have tons of them left over from my days of doing counted cross-stitch !! My neighbor Bev's crepe myrtle tree was the perfect place to hang the finished project.. It was a beautiful, sunny day. 

The supplies I used are as follows :

1. Memento ink in Tuxedo Black

2. Distress Markers

3. Stabilo Pens

4. Colored Rhinestsones

5. Tombow Mono Adhesive-Permanent

6.Tim Holtz "Script" Embossing folder -  heart made with embossed paper

7. Clear Glitter Wink of Stella brush

Thank you for visiting today. Comment each day for a chance to win a grab bag full of 25 Unity stamps... I appreciate all of the wonderful comments that I received for my first GIU day. Thank you to all who commented.. Looking forward to tomorrow when my project will also be featured on the Unity Stamp Company blog..

I Have YOU ....... and coffee

I am very blessed to have a wide circle of friends. I meet a friend almost every Saturday for coffee -- and therapy, we both say..There is nothing better than some good friend time along with a wonderful cup of coffee.. This stamp by Hampton Art always makes me smile..I used a 4x6 journaling notecard from Prima Marketing 's "Coffee Break" collection,  as the background and matted the saying. A few rhinestones and a handwritten sentiment finished the card. The doily border is by Stampin' Up. I kept seeing this stamp in random aisles at local craft stores..Never in the stamping department. It was as if it was following me, wanting me to buy it.. This happened for about 6 months and my willpower held up.. Then one day I found it in a Clearance Bin for $2... Karma !! It stays on my desk and I use it alot..

I hope you are enjoying the Spring Blog Hop. Comment here for a chance at some Spring supplies.. Who do you share your coffee/therapy time with ??

Who Needs a Therapist??

Details, details, details ...

What a GREAT BlogHop we had with Adornit !! Aren't their products amazing?? They are at CHA in Anaheim,CA right now showing off all of their goodies !! Congrats to Carla Hundley for her winning comment on my post during the Hop--she will be receiving some fun Adornit products to play with !!  This post is a bit more detailed regarding the supplies I used....

Adornit has a fantastic variety of gorgeous fabric available and I used 2 of them to mat my first card, Burnish Creme  was used for the outer mat and Burlap Beige for the inner mat. Burlap Beige has a subtle design of cursive writing & postal marks. I absolutely loved it and will definitely be using a larger piece next time.. I used a Stampin' Up sentiment and some clearance flowers bought many years ago, along with some Basic Grey fabric tape to finish it off. I used Tombow AQUA Mono Liquid Glue to adhere some of each fabric to Kraft cardstock. I then die cut the mats with my Cuttlebug and adhered the mats to the card again with my Tombow AQUA.. The Kraft cardstock made working with fabric a whole lot easier for me.

This next card was SO much fun to make !! I used Adornit's line of Art Play Paintables by Lindsay Ostrom. The image I used is from the "Be Awesome" set. It is on a 12 x 12 sheet of amazing watercolor paper along with 11 other designs. I used Distress markers, Stampin' Up markers, atyou Spica Glitter pens and Wink of Stella to color in this design. A bit of Adornit's Pink Pixie Dots double-sided paper was perfect to complete the banner . A bit of Dollar Tree glitter washi was a cute touch to the folded edge of my card. I absolutely LOVE this sentiment. It reminds me of friends who are going through very rough times  and still find time to celebrate the little things in life.. "Be Brave and just keep dancing" ~~ great advice for all of us !!

 CHA, 

My last project is the one I am proudest of.. I used Adornit's  Choose Happy Word Plaque. I'll admit to being a bit overwhelmed when starting on this one . But when I looked at it as just a card on a larger scale, I was immediately relaxed. Another amazing Lindsay Ostrom design from the Life's Journey Art Play Paintable was my focal point. I colored it with Koi Watercolors, Distress Markers, Wink of Stella and Stampin' Up markers & Dazzling Details. I paper-punched several clouds and popped them up with dimensionals. I used Tombow AQUA Mono Liquid Glue to adhere the wooden letters to more Pink Pixie Dots paper (also used as my background on the wooden plaque and adhered with Mod Podge). I completed it with a rainbow of colorful rhinestones in the center of  most of the circles. Thanks to my guy, Brian who wrote a beautiful song- "Home on the Hill". It was my inspiration for this project. This wooden plaque of mine is on display at the CHA 2015 Mega Show in the Adornit booth. How cool is that !! I am beyond thrilled.

I hope you will check out Adornit's website and become inspired. Thank you for visiting Meticulosity.. I will be posting a Year in Review here soon....I appreciate all of your support !!

I adore Adornit

The opportunity for all of us at Mountain Plains Crafters  to work with everyone at Adornit on this Joint Blog Hop has been such fun !! Their line of products ranges from scrapbook papers to gorgeous fabrics; wooden shapes to a clothing boutique.  We were challenged to make 3 projects using their wide array of products . One of the projects had to incorporate their wooden pieces.My post today focuses on the amazing Adornit supplies that I used-- details about the other products I used will be in more posts later this week.. You should have gotten here from the blog of my supremely talented "glitter" sister Terri.. And if you have somehow gotten lost, you can head to the Adornit Blog for the entire line-up.

Adornit has a fantastic variety of gorgeous fabric available and I used 2 of them to mat my first card, Burnish Creme  was used for the outer mat and Burlap Beige for the inner mat. Burlap Beige has a subtle design of cursive writing & postal marks. I absolutely loved it..

This next card was SO much fun to make !! I used Adornit's line of Art Play Paintables by Lindsay Ostrom. The image I used is from the "Be Awesome" set. It is on a 12 x 12 sheet of amazing watercolor paper along with 11 other designs. A bit of Adornit's Pink Pixie Dots double-sided paper was perfect to complete the banner..

My last project is the one I am proudest of.. I used Adornit's  Choose Happy Word Plaque. I'll admit to being a bit overwhelmed when starting on this one, my first wooden project ever !!  But when I looked at it as just a card on a larger scale, I was immediately relaxed. Another amazing Lindsay Ostrom design from the "Life's Journey" Art Play Paintable was my focal point. Pink Pixie Dots paper was adhered to the plaque as a background. Don't you just love those BIG polka dots ??

I am also thrilled to let you all know that this wooden plaque will be heading to CHA with Adornit next week and will be on display.I am over the moon, thrilled beyond belief and overwhelmed at the thought of it. It was created when I stepped once again out of my comfort zone. Not too shabby a start to another New Year. I am looking forward to a creatively wonderful 2015 ! Thank you for letting me share my creativity with you..

This post has been brought to you by the letter

Collect all of the clues and follow the instructions on Adornit's post for a chance to win. Your next stop on this fun hop is at the awesomely talented Jennifer's blog right here.. Have fun and don't forget to collect all of the clues along the way !! Comment on this post for a chance to win something from my crafty stash !!