Unity Hip Hop starring Bernie

Andrea and Bernie here on your first Hip Hop stop

Bernie is this week's Stamp Of The Week (SOTW)

He wears pink and works it ;)

Click here to learn more about Unity's SOTW awesome program 

you can sign up this week and receive Bernie!

ALSO

my card also uses non-traditional Christmas colours

so it fits in with Unity's Dec challenge!

You can play too and win a Unity Stamp Kit of your choice at $45 value!

click below for more details

Unity December Challenge

I also wanted to mention that right now when you buy One Itty Bitty stamp

You can get another one for only $1!!!

That's awesome!

I have literally 30 Itty Bitty's

maybe more hee hee

This sale sounds like a great time to add a few more to my wee collection ;)

Alright- no more yapping from me

Time to keep hopping to Jen's blog

She is a fantabulous scrapper and crafter!

Don't forget to leave a comment at each stop for one of three chances to win stamps!

Cheers, Andrea

Bring a canned good make a free card at Scrappingreatdeals!

For the price of a canned good or box of food you can make this card for Free tomorrow! My friends Sheila and Kim over at Scrappingreatdeals are having this event tomorrow. Wish I could be there! Fabulous card Kim!

Crafting Wednesday!!

Wed. Dec. 19 starting at 1pm with our Diva, Kim!

Bring basic tool kit and food donation for Food Bank.

Plus it is 18% off store-wide!!

Merry Christmas Suzanne!

Hello everyone and welcome to a special blog hop for a very special lady.... Suzanne Dean. Today the Design Team from Suzanne's site, Color Me Creative, are hopping along to give our friend and "fearless leader" a HUGE HUG and Thanks!!!  

If you've ever met Suzanne, you know 1) what a HUGE heart she has and 2) how fun, witty and TALENTED she is!!  Suzanne's site has tons of information and inspiration and WE get to help spread the word about her awesome classes by way of her bi-weekly challenges sponsored by some fabulous crafty companies!  This month Suzanne is having a month full of challenges where you can win some wonderful prizes and have some fun along the way, but we wanted to take time to thank Suzanne for all her hard work and dedication for not only us but for all the members on her site and those who are lucky enough to have attended her classes where she shares her talent and coloring tips with us all.  

Suzanne is not only a pleasure to work for, but a wonderful friend with a big love for zebras!! That's right... today we are sharing our "zeebie" (as she calls them) designs dedicated to a wonderful lady who we simply say, "Thanks".  We hope you enjoy the hop and remember, the Holiday Bash at CMC is under way and you don't want to miss our on all the fun excitement and awesome prizes so be sure to stop in and enjoy the holiday spirit with us all.  You can find all the information you need HERE.

It is kind of funny that this hop is Zebra themed in honor of Suzanne as I made her a 'Zebbie' card for her birthday. So due to December craziness I am re-sharing this awesomesauce card! I do really love this card- I can so see Suzanne rocking the feathers with the Zebbie pants at CHA 2035 or maybe she will be into bingo by then hee hee! 

I also had to share the photo below that was taken of her and I last month when we got to spend a day hanging out in St. Jacobs ON. We had a freakin' BLAST! We seriously laughed so hard in one store we were bent over scream-laughing. Over cards. Yep. So of course we bought a ton of cards each. Pretty funny since we are both cardmakers hee hee! I think we spent about $45 each on those cards. Let's just say those cards were not very PC but oooooh so funny! We also got to visit The Scrapping Turtle. I had no idea it was there and practically freaked out on the poor girl working at how happy I was to be there! We had her take a picture of us and Suzanne said let's get one beside that thing. SOOO I am looking at it from behind and say- 'Should we pretend to kiss the squirrel?' And Suzanne is very confused and asks 'what squirrel are you talking about?'. I sigh and point to the one hanging between us- 'This one OBVIOUSLY Suzanne'. I mean really- which one did she think? To which Suzanne replied while the lady working laughed her butt off 'You mean the TURTLE Andi... the TURTLE on the swing? Because of the store name..The Scrapping TURTLE?'. 

Yep that's the squirrel I meant hee hee

I may need better glasses..or to wear them

whatever ;P

She was laughing too hard to kiss the 'squirrel' after that hee hee

Never a dull moment when we are together Suzanne- just glad we didn't get arrested.

I kinda love that girl.

Okay, enough rambling by me. Time to enjoy the rest of the hop. Thank you for all you do for us and for helping so many of us love and learn more about our beloved markers. 

Tina Gilliland 

Anary Baumgarth

Andrea Murdock (You're here!!)

Brook Guinn

Jenn Cochran

Marie Gamber

Michele Speara

Patricia St. Martin

Shelby Goolsby

Cheers! Andi

Crazy 4 Challenges- Use your one of your fave Christmas stamps

Today is our last challenge over at C4C for 2012 and Cindy has asked us to use one of our fave Holiday images. I used this cute bear from Magnolia Stamps called Cozy Christmas Bear. How cute is he!! I coloured him up with my copics then used a nubby washcloth and copic blender solution to dab at the image and give him his furry look. Such a cool technique! I then added some fun papers, flowers and Tim Holtz clock die cut to help finish it off. 

I hope you can play along with us and I hope I am not the only one who still needs to make more holiday cards lol! If you are one of the lucky ones already done for this year maybe this will help you get started on next year ;). 

So hop on over to the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and see the rest of the AWESOMESAUCE samples the Crazies have cooked up for you this week!

Cheers! Andrea

CMC Huge Holiday Bash!

Suzanne is having a huge party and her DT are helping her spread the word! If you are already hopping along you would have arrived here from Linda's blog. You can also click here to go right to the party main page and join in on the fun! If you are new to the Color Me Creative Classroom it is absolutely free to join and chock full of resources and amazing fellow crafters. 

Starting December 7th the CMC Classroom will have its annual month-long Holiday Bash Celebration! Nothing more fun then having some fun challenges, games and prizes to start the season off right!? I hope you will find time to stop in and look around, join in and just have some fun. The Holiday Bash is really my way of THANKING ALL OF YOU for your continued support, friendship and patronage to the Classroom. So a lot of fun and a way to WIN SOME HUGE prizes from our sponsor!

Details:

*Starts Dec. 7th with a Holiday Blog Hop featuring projects by the CMC DT to kick off the month-long CMC Challenge!! And another way for you to win if you hop along!

*Every week will be a NEW Challenge and Prize...think scavenger hunts, puzzles, games!

*Charity Raffle - Suzanne is giving away a NEW Silhouette Cameo machine to a lucky someone! How can you win it? Every time you participate in a challenge during the month you get an entry for it. Also for every $3 you donate to the Charity (TBA) you get an entry. Every year Suzanne picks a different Charity to help...so far we've raised $3200 over the years..and to Suzanne the season is all about GIVING so that's why she always include this! It is also why I am so honoured to be a part of this special and fun time!

Okay- time to go to the next person on today's hop. Head on over to Karen's blog and see her lovely Metallic inspired creation!

Cheers, Andrea

Hip Hop with Unity

For today's Hop I used 2 of the stamps from Nov's KOTM

Labeled (From Ours to Yours)

Those kissing Deer- so cute

You can still get this previous Kit of the Month

Click here to see this set in it's 8.5x11 full sheet of images!

While there you may want to check out the sales we got going on!

Unity always knows how to throw a good sale 

I have to share that this fairly simple card

took hours to make 

Ha!

Sad but true lol. 

Time to get back in the creative saddle

start my daily crafting again

get the ole mojo working a bit faster

Thank goodness Unity makes it easy :)

Also making crafting look easy are the ladies below:

 Eryn Jen E. Jimmi Karen Lisa H. Shemaine Thienly

Happy Hopping and Shopping!

Don't forget to comment at each stop for a chance to win some free stamps!

Crazy 4 Challenges- Snowmen!

Today over at the C4C blog the AMAZING Frances has asked us to make cards featuring SNOWMEN! Or just a snowman ;)

I had a bit of a hectic week and didn't get to finish my card with the image I had coloured so I am sharing an older one but one of my faves with images from the awesome Whipper Snapper Designs- hands down one of my fave companies. This one is featuring Snowballs hee hee. 

I used some C (cool grays) copics to colour my snowballs and left most of the area white. Check back later to see another snowman card after I get my errands done today. 

In the meantime pop on over to Crazy 4 Challenges and see the fun cards the ladies have cooked up for you today!

Cheers, Andrea 

Crazy 4 Challenges- Put A Bow on it

It's Saturday so it is time for your weekly dose of C4C mojo!

This is Joycelyn's last challenge and she has asked us to put a bow on it!

I used one of the ca-ootie pie bear stamps from Magnolia called Cocco with Present. 

I coloured her up with my copics and used papers from the new Pink Paislee line City Sidewalks. 

And of course my big bow is ribbon from American Crafts- I am addicted to those little spools!

We would love to have you create and play along with us on this week's challenge!

Hop on over to the C4C challenge blog and prepared to be 'Bowed over' by the Crazies creations

hee hee- couldn't resist the pun ;)

Cheers, Andrea

Hip Hop and Happy American Thanksgiving!

It is time for Thursday's Hip Hopping with Unity!

I'm sharing a card I made back in October for WCMD but hadn't shared on here yet

and because I love it sooo much I wanted to make sure that this CAS card got it's moment in the light!

I used just some kraft cardstock, black cardstock for my die cut, twine and some pearls. 

The image I paper pieced using some scrap papers I had

I always feel so justified for keeping scraps when I use them...

as long as no one sees just how much I have hoarded hee hee!!!

This image was one of my fave Stamps Of The Week

see why it is a good thing to get them?

Awesome ones like this land right in your mailbox

Click here to see this week's SOTW and how to order

Now before you go over to the amazing Eryn's blog I want to take this moment to wish my 

American visitors a very Happy Thanksgiving!! 

So go grab a tea and maybe a turkey sandwich and hop away. 

Don't forget to leave a comment at each blog to have a chance to be one of our 3 winners!

Crazy 4 Challenges- Tag your it!

Happy Saturday!

Joycelyn has a fun challenge for us today- make a gift tag or a card with a tag on it. I made this Paris inspired tag which is actually the gift for the person I made it for. I didn't start making it for them but with my sweet niece helping me each step of the way..well..when she said how much she 'really really liked it' how can Auntie say no to that! She is going to use it as a bookmark as well. I love when she comes to visit- she is a hardcore crafter like me and she is only 7! A girl after my own heart!

I used a Ranger tag and used about 3 different shades of Tim Holtz Pink distress inks then decided it needed to be broken up a bit and used that gorgeous teal distress ink he had come out in his Summer set. I always tell myself I am not going to get them this time and then I can't resist hee hee. I loved how the teal turned some areas purple when I put it over the pink. I spritzed water to add some texture and also added some opaque white spritz. I stamped my tag in Versafine (my fave) and added some of Timmy's film strip to add to the vintage feel. My niece loves bling so I also added some Tattered Angels Pearl glimmer mist and this gorgeous crystal ribbon slide to the black satin ribbon. She loved it!

What kind of gift tag..or tag that's a gift are you inspired to make? Hop on over to the C4C blog and see what other Tagalicious goodies the ladies have cooked up for inspiration for you today!

Cheers, Andrea

Hippin' and Hoppin' with Unity

Oooo I can't resist a big sale!

We are having a massive sale over at Unity with 50% off EVERYTHING!!!

$1 from each sale goes to Rice Bowls to help fight hunger

What a great sale before American Thanksgiving 

Finding new ways to give back 

:)

To celebrate our BROWN THURSDAY sale we are all making crafty items with KRAFT paper

my fave..

So that means this gorgeous Itty Bitty Silhouette Song Bird is on sale for only $3.25!!

and I made this super fast, simple and easy card that can be reproduced quickly 

for the mountain of Christmas cards I need to actually make and send this year 

hee hee

Next up on today's hop is the amazingly beautiful and talented Angie! 

Don't forget to leave a comment at each blog for your chance to win!!

Hip Hop Thursday with Unity

Happy Thursday!

I'm hip hopping with Unity today and sharing the card I made using a Unity sentiment stamp and some of the goodies I received in this month's Sprinkles craft box by Webster's Pages. I just checked online at all the Sprinkles craft boxes have been sold out- including previous months that still had some left just yesterday! Probably because of how amazing they are- you may want to sign up to get their emails or like them on Facebook to be in 'the know' next month. This month's craft box included a sweet stamp by Unity!

On my card today I didn't use the stamp that came with the craft box as I have someone I want to give a card to that has been feeling down lately. I found this sentiment in the awesome set called 'thoughts from the heart' and was designed by our very own Angela at Unity! I bought it way back as soon as it came out. In case you can't read the sentiment on the card as I did use a lighter ink than normal it reads 'you are you and that is all that matters'. I think we all need that reminder from time to time. I stamped it onto one of the journal cards in the Sprinkles kit and added some of the amazing rosette ribbon they are famous for. I used one of the stickers stuck on a pin to embellish the card further. One trick I can share is when using stickers and not actually 'sticking' them to something dust the back of the sticker with powder and it will become 'unsticky'. I do this all the time when I want to pop up a sticker and don't want to chance it getting glued down somehow. 

Okay- I will stop yacking and let you get on to the next person in the hop- my sweet friend Eryn!! 

Crazy 4 Challenges- Anything BUT a card

Happy Saturday!!

Today our new hostess for the month Joycelyn has asked us to make anything BUT a card. I have been hoarding sharing this tag on my blog waiting for a challenge such as this. 

I used a shipping tag and covered it with a dark chocolate cardstock and rounded the top corners. I then 'tapped' white spritzer from October Afternoon to get my white dotted background. Using some of my fave MFT dies I cut the bracket piece and the rolled flowers out of Studio Calico paper. Added some leaves from the Martha Stewart punch Anja said I had to have (and she was right hee hee) and thought I was done. Then I realized with horror that I hadn't added any glitter yet! The shock...the shame!!! Hee hee. Using a Viva Decor pen I added pearl centres to my flowers then added a chunky glass glitter to my flowers and leaves. Now it was done ;)

To play along with our fun challenge today head on over to the C4C blog and see the awesome crafty goodness the other crazies have made!

Cheers, Andrea

HiP hOpPiNg....Unity blog hop and SALE!

I'm first up on this week's hop and I wanted to share a cute card and menu I made awhile back using one of my first Itty Bitty stamps- 'What's Shakin'. 

I adore these vintage diner style salt and pepper shakers- many fond memories of me twirling them and eavesdropping on conversations between my Grandma and her friends. Oh they had the BEST juicy stories-  probably ones these little ears shouldn't have heard hee hee!

The card I made was just a small square card I put together quickly to include in a gift bag. After I stamped the images I just added a bit of colour to the hearts to match my papers. I did the same on the stamped images on the menu except I also outlined the shakers in pink as they were sprinkling 'love' on the meal that was being served that night. So corny but I loved it. 

And what's a Hip Hop without a great sale!!

To celebrate the Magnuson's second youngest child turning 15 (and getting his beginner's car license) they are giving you a free gift on all orders over $15. Not only that selected items are marked down to 50% off as they second oldest is #50 on his football team. Love that sale idea! Congrats boys!

**Please note that this sale will begin at NOON CST today**

Next up on today's hop is Eryn!!

Cheers! Andrea

Crazy 4 Challenges asks you to make a treat holder!

Jessie is challenging us over at Crazy 4 Challenges to make a sweet treat of some kind. Let your inspiration go where ever it wants! I made this Christmas treat bowl to put out on my hall table when I decorate for the snowy season. I have to give full credit to this cute project to a lady at CHA who had Sarah and I make this awesome make n take. I have to see if I can find out what company it is from and her blog so I can link up to her properly. If anyone knows please leave it in my comment section- I appreciate it! I had this uncompleted since then and this was a great reason to finish it up. 

Thanks for the awesome challenge Jessie and hope you can join us! Click here to go to the C4C blog and see what other yummy goodness the ladies have created.

Cheers, Andrea

Unity and Authentique Hop!

For my project today I used the 'Naughty or Nice' Unity and Authentique co-branded stamp set. I love how they paired a vintage looking santa with the fun tag images. I stamped my santa in versafine red to bring out all the details of the image (click on the pic for a closer view) and only added a bit of glitter to make it pop. I then had fun with the co-ordinating papers and stickers making my quilt style card and matching gift bag. The 'Naughty or Nice' stamp set is on sale right now for only $9.99! 

If you just starting click here to go to the Authentique blog to begin otherwise you should have arrived here from Stephanie's blog. To continue hopping  your next stop is Authentique DT member JJ Sobey's blog. Keep going until you reach the end and leave a comment at all stops to qualify for a variety prize package! We will be giving out one for each day of hopping and winners will be posted on the Unity blog on Saturday. Good luck and I hope you are enjoying all the Unity/Authentique creations!

Cheers, Andrea

Crazy 4 Challenges- Halloween Cards!

Happy World Card Making Day!!

A new month means a new hostess over at the C4C blog and Jessie has asked us to make a Halloween card with our fave Halloween image. I love love love pumpkins so that is what I used on my card today. 

I inked up a super sweet mini set from Lawn Fawn called 'So Thankful' and added an older Halloween sentiment stamp I had to spooky it up. I had to scoop up all the Halloween papers by Imaginisce- click here to see the cuteness I am talking about. Yep- needed it all ;P

We would love to have you join us this week. Come on over to the C4C blog to see the full challenge deets and get your spooky on!!

Cheers, Andrea

New High Hopes Stamps Release! Introducing Penguin Friends..

It is time for the High Hope's Blog Hop to Celebrate the Penguin Friend's release!

The High Hopes Divas have created some fun projects to showcase the stamps that are being released today.

The release includes 12 images, 1 background design, and 10 Sentiments illustrated by Laurie Furnell.

There is candy along the hop. You won't know where, so leave a comment at each stop!

The blog hop will run through Midnight EST Sunday, October 7th with the winners of the candy posted on Monday, October 8th.

I used Penguins Pastime, Stick on the ice sentiment, and the uber cool Winter Wonderland background image. 

You should have arrived from Lacey's blog. If you haven't, you might want to start at the top at the High Hope's Blog so you don't miss any of the fun.

Since I am the last stop on the hop it is shopping time!!! 

Cheers, Andrea

Hip Hopping with Unity's Modern Day Chit Chat

Andrea here starting off this week's Unity Hip Hop. I am using one of the 2 new releases- 'Modern Chit Chat'. How fun are those images! I want an iphone soooo bad and so does my teenage daughter. In fact she has decided that she should get one for her 16th birthday which is coming up. So this card is for her- so she can have her dream come true of getting an iphone that day. So what if it is made of paper lol!!!!! Closest she will be getting to one for awhile I think hee hee!

Sale Alert!!

Angela has made this sale easy to remember and to enticing too resist! 40% off storewide (excluding KOTM, SMAK and SOTW signups). AND if you spend $40 before taxes you get to choose one of the following two background stamps FOR FREE!! You can choose between 'Just a little clicky' which I need to own right now and 'Grade School Tablet'. 

Back to the hop. We are spicing up this week's hop with new releases and some PRIZES! Hidden along the hop are blogs giving away 3 sets of 5 itty bitty stamps! All you have to do to win is leave a comment on all of the blogs as we aren't telling which ones are the 'prize' blogs. We're sneaky like that hee hee!!

Next stop on the hop is our lovely Eryn!

C4C- Paper Smooches Thank you Card

Ahhhh...I just love when a card comes together easily. 

It's time for another Crazy 4 Challenges mojo inspiration! Being the Sept challenge hostess I got to pick  what the challenge was again - and I love me an easy challenge!

This week's challenge over at C4C is to either make a Thank You card or an Thanksgiving themed card. I had a hard time deciding which one to do as I have to admit I enjoy creating for both. I grabbed some sentiments from Paper Smooches and a some flowers and this card pulled itself together. That doesn't happen to me so I better keep crafting while I am on a roll hee hee!

If you would like to play along with us click here to go to the C4C challenge blog to see the AMAZING samples my fellow crazies cooked up for you this weekend!

Cheers, Andrea

Hip Hopping with Unity and My Little Shoe Box- New Release FUN!!

Hello and thanks for hopping with us today. We are so pleased to share our new Co-Branded stamps with My Little Shoebox. Make sure you leave a comment on each blog to win one of the fabulous prizes from Unity Stamp Company and My Little Shoebox. Winners will be chosen at random from the participating blogs. If you have just arrived at my blog and want to start the hop CLICK HERE to be taken to the My Little Shoebox blog.

For the hop today I used the sweetest stamp set- 'Deer To Me'. As soon as we were given a preview of the stamp sets being release I screamed as loud as I could that I NEEDED this stamp set asap!!! Since I was on facebook I had to use all CAPS to make sure Angela heard my screams all the way from Canada hee hee! Thankfully I got this one in my designer package so no more screaming was needed ;P.

Except for my cardstock all the patterned paper on my card- including my rolled flower- was courtesy of My Little Shoebox. I haven't used their papers before and let me tell you- their patterned paper is fantastic! I love love love a heavier weight to my paper and this was great! The patterns, the colours and the great pop out sheets of pre-cut flowers, etc ready to be rolled made this lazy crafter's heart swoon! I will be adding MLS to my stash going forward!

And of course Angela has an awesome sale going on to celebrate our new co-branded release! All the MLS stamps marked down plus spend $35 and get 'written in the clouds' background stamp for FREE!!! I have this stamp and it is so adorable! It actually matches the paper you can see behind my card in my photo.

Okay, okay...I will stop hogging all of your attention with my love of this uber adorable release. Your next stop on this hop is Beckie Dreyer from the My Little Shoebox DT. Hip hop over to see Beckie's sweet creation and see why I can't quit sqee'ing with happiness!

High Hopes Stamps- Things that Hop

This week's HHS challenge is to make a creation using something that 'hops'. Since no one is actually sure what dragons could or couldn't do I decided to push the envelope a little bit hee hee!

I used 'Handy Dragon' on my card as he looks like he can not only hop but fix your roof while he is bouncing around! I used a sketch that is over at this week's Crazy 4 Challenges blog- in fact check there this coming Saturday to see who is sponsoring this month's challenge. Might be a company familiar on this blog *wink*. 

So hop on over to the HHS challenge blog to see more 'hoppy' goodness and the full challenge deets. Also let us know if you want to play along with us on one of our challenge posts!!

Cheers, Andrea

Hip Hop Hip Hop- With Unity!

Today I am sharing one of my FAVE Unity Itty Bitty stamps from the Webster's pages line called 'The Little Things'. Stacked teacups...how perfect!!

I may have mentioned here just once or twice that I am a PROUD tea granny. I need my 2 cups a day minimum in the morning to even be able to speak clearly. Sadly I am not exaggerating here. Ask anyone who tried to communicate with me before then. A series of misplaced words, grunts and hand gestures is the best I can do. As such I collect tea related stamps and paraphernalia. I think I hyperventilated till I actually had this stamp in my hands. Yes I know I am overly dramatic- that's what all that caffeine per day does to you lol!!!

Before I go I have to say that while there are no teacups or teapots in the Sept KOTM I am still over the moon excited to get it into my hot little hands!!! All these vintage images are filling me with creative ideas....my mail can't come soon enough!! If you want to join me in getting Unity's Kit of the Month click here to learn more about it. Join in September to receive the one below....SWOON!!

See what I mean!!! It is amazing!!!

Okay I have kept your attention long enough- next up on today's hop is the uber talented and stylish- Eryn!!