Good. Every Day.

Today's card is one I created with the new Lasting Thoughts kit from Unity Stamp Company. I loved being able to contribute this image to the kit...and I had a lot of fun creating this card as well.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies: 
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream);
Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy - 5th & Frolic 6x6); Crate Paper (On Trend 6x6);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Lasting Thoughts); 
Markers: Copic (E00, E53);
Trim: KaiserCraft (Lace - Nautral);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Book Review :: Pirates on the Farm by Denette Fretz

Pirates on the Farm (The Next Door Series) by Denette Fretz

Pirates on the Farm is the first book in The Next Door Series by Denette Fretz. The basic idea is that five pirates (and one parrot) buy a farm next door to the Sanders family (a father, mother, daughter, and son) in a southern community.

First, I will start by sharing the responses from my kids after I read it to them and asked them, "What did you think about that book?":

Son, age 4: "I wish it had a trillion pages."

Son, age 7: "It teaches us about what to do to your neighbor. I really like that book. It's cool."

Daughter, age 9: "It's good. It's funny. I wish it would never end."

Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as excited about the book as my kids were. It was okay, but I didn't think the writing was quite as engaging as other children's books. There were also many words that aren't generally in kids' vocabulary (which is fine...learning new words is always good), but the definitions of those words listed in the back of the book were described in pirate lingo. Pirate lingo is fun, but not really helpful for when you are looking for a real definition.

As for the lesson in the book, I do feel like the end result was good (with people caring for their neighbors), but leading up to it for the majority of the story was nearly everyone in the book not showing love to their neighbors. And the change of heart was very easy to miss (in my opinion) because it wasn't stated in the words of the story, but just in the artwork. (The artwork is very cute, by the way.)

It wasn't quite up to what I was hoping for, but in the end, my kids all did enjoy it.
FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through BookSneeze®. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Baby Shower In A Box

Today I wanted to share with you a fun idea for mailing gifts. I've created a "Baby Shower in a Box"...but this idea can easily be adapted to a "Birthday Party in a Box", "Bridal Shower in a Box", "Christmas in a Box", etc.

To start, I created an invitation...

Inside is the typical invitation stuff (For, Date/Time, Place, etc.), but where it has a place for the Date/Time, I wrote: "Right now"...and for Place, I wrote: "In this box".

I wanted to add in some decorations as well, so I created this banner (with my precious nephew's name)...

Each banner piece is a letter from his name stamped onto a shipping tag (which I first stamped with that cute argyle outfit), then I embellished it with some washi tape and strung it together with The Twinery's Gold Shimmer twine.

Then it was time to place it all in a box. I started by putting the gifts in first...

Then I added in some air bubbles to keep it safe during shipping (although I think some blown up balloons would have been more festive...I just couldn't find any in the right colors...until after I shipped the box, of course).

Then, I topped it off with the invitation...

...and banner...

...and it was ready to take to the post office.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye (Stella and Rose - Hattie 6x6);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Color of the Seasons - KOM 8/12, Frame this Alpha);
Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa, Cantaloupe);
Twine: The Twinery (Gold Shimmer, Solid Denim); 

Other: (Shipping Tags); (Washi Tape);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Brown Thursday Blog Hop {Unity Stamp Company}

The Introduction:
If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from Tracey Malnofski's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the Unity Stamp Company Blog.

The Prizes:
Unity is giving away a full year membership for Stamp of the Week to two lucky commenters...so be sure to leave a comment on each blog along the hop (including the Unity Stamp Company Blog)...you don't want to miss this one!

The Cards:

I've created two cards for today's hop featuring the stamp I created for the new Artista quote kit, Lasting Thoughts.

The first is a simple one...just stamp, add twine, and adhere to the card:

Of course, I also wanted to color in the rose...so I did:

I'm very excited about teaming up with the other Artistas for the new quote kit and I hope you are excited about this kit, too!
I think I am the last of the Artistas in the hop today...now back to your regularly scheduled programming with the fabulous Unity DT...

Thanks for stopping by today!

The Next Stop:

Jolande van Oosterhout's Blog

Card #1 Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream);
Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy - Lucky Charm 6x6);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Lasting Thoughts);
Twine: The Twinery (Solid Caribbean);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Card #2 Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#);
Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy - Lucky Charm 6x6);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Lasting Thoughts);
Twine: The Twinery (Gold Shimmer);
Markers: Copic (E00, RV02, RV04, YG03, YG25);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Imagine. Dream. Fly.

I am back again today with another fun technique - this one is for your Distress Stains:

Simply swipe your Distress Stains across some plain vellum, and voila! Colored vellum.
For this card I topped it off with some stamping and attached it to my card base with staples. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies: 
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#); 
Paper: The Paper Company (Vellum);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Feather Flight);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Color Media: Tim Holtz (Distress Stain - Broken China);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board); Tim Holtz (Tiny Attacher);

Dream BIG

Today's card features a fun technique - great for those of us who have a large stash of mists.

For this technique, simply squirt some mist onto a non-stick craft sheet (or you can probably use something like wax paper if you don't have a craft sheet), "ink" up your stamp...and stamp away!

(Note: Stamping with mist is not going to give you clear, crisp images - you may want to work with a stamp that is rather solid and not detailed.)

To get the two-tone/ombre effect in the feathers, I simply squirted two colors of mist next to each other on my craft sheet and made sure my stamp went into both colors of mist.
Ink up again and repeat until you've got the look you're going for.

Have fun with it!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Feather Flight, BIG TIME Special);
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black);
Mist: Heidi Swapp (Color Shine - Mustard, Mint Green, Teal);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Moxie Fab Thanks! {Blog Hop}

If you are hopping along with us today: You should have come here from Yvonne Yam's blog. If you did, you are in the right place! Welcome!
If you aren't already a follower, I'd love to have you follow my blog!

If you are one of my regular readers: Thanks for coming back! I love having you! Please join along in the hop - you can start at the The Moxie Fab World Blog. (The full hop order is listed there.)


Before I say thank you, Cath, I want to tell you a story...

In late 2010, I received my first-ever happy e-mail letting me know I would be published in Paper Crafts magazine. I was ecstatic! Shortly after that, I received another happy e-mail letting me know I would be published in the May/June 2011 issue of Paper Crafts magazine. I thought I was going to burst from excitement! That is around the time when I first really took notice of you and the Moxie Fab World, Cath. And shortly after those e-mails is probably when you first noticed my work, with this card...

...which you ended up featuring on the Moxie Fab World and pinning on your Paper Crafts Favies Pinterest board. I didn't think anything could top the amazing excitement of being a published designer, but those two things made my day!

I was so thrilled that you had enjoyed my card so much, so I was planning to pack the card along with me to give to you at CHA...but unfortunately you couldn't make it to that CHA show, so this is as close as I got to meeting you in person...

After that, unfortunately I haven't been able to get to another CHA show to meet more than just Flat Cath, but that hasn't stopped your influence on me. I've loved the inspiration and challenges you've shared on the Moxie Fab World blog and the content you share in the pages of Paper Crafts.

And I know my story is similar to so many other designers you've encouraged, inspired, and motivated.

With the way trends move in and out, I am sure there is so much going on that these little stories get swept to the back of your mind, but for us designers, they stick with us and continue to inspire us for a long time after.

Thank you so much for your personal attention to each and every designer that joins you in the pages of Paper Crafts or in the Moxie Fab World. 

And with that, I can't think of anything more to say than...

The Next Stop:

Deirdre Horgan's Blog

Book Review :: Adventure Bible Storybook Deluxe Edition By Catherine DeVries

Adventure Bible Storybook Deluxe Edition By Catherine DeVries

The Adventure Bible Storybook Deluxe Edition includes a hardback version of the Adventure Bible Storybook and a sturdy folder containing two audio CDs, which both slide into the included hard storage case.

My children love to listen to audio CDs and that was a big draw for me on this edition. The audio CDs are well done. There are multiple voices on the CDs, and a good mix of background sounds/music that enhances the experience rather than overwhelming it. If there is dialogue in the story, the dialogue is read in a different voice (or voices) than the rest of it. Although the voices aren't up there with the best audio CDs we've listened to, it will definitely keep my kids' attention and won't get too annoying for me when I hear it over and over and over.

As for the Adventure Bible Storybook itself, the pages are definitely inviting. The illustration style is an interesting merge between cartoon and realistic style drawings, which I enjoy and my kids do, too. For the actual text - if you are looking for a solid, Bible-only version with nothing added...this isn't for you. This is a storybook, and is written as such. With that being said, I don't think there is anything in the text that would keep me from sharing the stories with my children. I may talk to them about the difference in a storybook and the text straight from our Bible, but I will still share this with them. The stories included in this storybook are the "classic" stories that are usually emphasized for children - nothing deep, just the stories. At the end of each story there is an "Adventure Discovery" (a quick sentence or two referencing some part of the story) and "Words to Treasure" (a Bible verse from the NIV/NIRV), which are a nice little bonus. (The "Adventure Discovery" and "Words to Treasure" are also read aloud on the audio CDs.)

Overall, this is a fun addition to your bookshelf and I think this is something that many kids will look at (and listen to) repeatedly.


FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through BookSneeze®. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.