Winner! Winner!!!!

Hello!

And the moment you all have been waiting for! The two lucky winners of my GIU Week are:

Drum Roll please......

1.  Julia Vazquez

and

2.  Jeannette (Forest Ranger)

Congratulations ladies! Please email me your address at:  shareeduff@aol.com

and in the Subject line, enter GIU Winner

I would just like to thank each and everyone of you who visited my blog and left such kind words and comments. I was so nervous showing my Unity Projects during the week, but all of you made me feel at ease! Thank you!

Have a wonderful day!

Hugs,

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka

Sharon

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home!

I can't believe I actually feel that way. Usually I never want to leave our little cabin in the hills...

It poured down rain, we had flash flood warnings, it rained from 7:30 Friday night until 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning. MUD! Oh the mud! And ticks! Ticks were horrible! I felt something crawling on my back, I asked my son to look, yep! it was a tick! I was itchy all weekend. I had to remove one from my husband Saturday night, it had embedded itself. Then we found another bite, but no tick. He went to the doctor this morning and was given antibiotic. This adorable guy wasn't bothered by any of it at all.

On the way home, we lost an alternator belt..... pulled off the Interstate about 30 minutes from home. I called my sister... I have awesome family! They are the best. She went to the auto parts store, bought an alternator belt, my BIL packed up his tools in the meantime and as soon she got back with the belt, they left for their rescue mission. It took my husband and BIL about 25 minutes to get it on and we were good to go.

Now there were good parts of the weekend. We made memories. We saw a black squirrel and a huge, fat porcupine coming down out of a tree. I've always seen them dead on the side of the road, never in real life. I loved it!

I played with my Chameleon Markers, still a little frustrated. Practice, practice, practice.\

I will be announcing my winners from my GIU week, hopefully tomorrow, Tuesday. I would just like to thank all of you for your kind words and comments. It really means a lot to me!

Lots of Hugs!

Danny and Petey's Mom

aka

Sher

Growing In Unity - Day 5

Hello!

This week has gone by so fast! I can't believe it is my last day as your GIU girl. I'm sad. I would like to thank Unity Stamp Co. for giving me a chance at sharing my projects with all of you. I'm working on building up my confidence in sharing my projects with others, especially those I do not know. Also, I would like to thank them for creating the Unity (Show & Tell) fb page. At times I do share a creation or two, sometimes I enter the challenge, but one wonderfully fantastic thing is that the fb group is like a group of long, lost friends. No snarky comments, lots of encouragement and inspiration. It's as if we are one big family and a lot of that comes from Angela and the love in her heart that she so willingly shares with us all.

If I had to pick a favorite project from my GIU week, I would have to pick this one. I just love this kit and it's so happy. This kit has endless possibilities!

I used the So Glad Your Were Born kit.

Birthday Gift Card Holders!

The paper is from a DCWV stack. I'm sorry I didn't measure anything. I just used my judgement on cutting the paper large enough for a gift card to fit and the inside pocket to be adhered to the inside so the gift card would fit. Images stamped with black Memento, colored with Prisma color pencils, then fussy cut. Before adhere the DP to the card stock, cut a piece of ribbon approximately 10 inches long, adhere it to the base, then cover with DP. For the inside pocket I used a piece of card stock and trimmed it to fit the holder.

I just think these are adorable and can be made for any occasion!

2 prizes are up for grabs just visiting my blog every day this week and leaving a comment. Remember, you must leave a comment. Unity Stamp Co. (The bestest EVER!) has generously donated 2 grab bags filled with their awesome stamps. How great is that???

And please visit my GIU partner, Amy Martin Jones at The Tigers Haven. Amy also has 2 Amazing Prizes to give away from Unity. Amy, thank you so much for your encouragement this week!

I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend. We are heading to our cabin in the mountains. Fresh mountain air and camp fires are greatly needed. Usually I pack a bag full of stamps and all of the accessories. but this weekend I'm only taking my new Chameleon Markers and the coloring cards that came with them. They are a little intimidating to use, especially since one marker can create so many color shades. I'm going to pop in a few Stones CD's and practice my coloring and shading. 
The Rolling Stones are my absolute favorite! My son's too! At the age of 2 when most toddlers are learning the Alphabet song, mine was handing me a Stones CD asking to hear "Angie" He would look at me, hand me the CD and ask, "Mom-Mom, Angie, peas." We surprised him with tickets a couple of years ago for his birthday. The video is a little long, the whining puppy is annoying, but Danny's reaction is priceless and well worth the wait. The video can be seen right here.

I would love it if you would become a follower of my blog. Sometimes it just may be a boring read and sometimes it just may be like WHOA! What???

And Petey says, Thank's for all of the kind words you have been leaving on my Mommy's Blog!

I hope you really like the projects I shared with you this week. I really enjoyed sharing them with you!

Lots of Hugs!

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka 

Sher

Growing In Unity - Day 4

Hello There! Welcome to my 4th day as a GIU girl!

Today I would like to share with you a tag I made. 

This tag was created using 3 stamps kits. The Angie Girl and Sentiment are from the Dream of Being kit. I cut out a tag from heavy card stock and adhered a piece of Recollections paper from Michael's. The first stamp I stamped was the butterflies using Versa Mark clear ink and clear embossing powder, then heat set.  The butterflies are part of the (...with her Own Wings) kit. Then I stamped the Angie Girl and sentiment using black Memento ink. The swirly scrolls are from the Growing In Unity kit (which is the very first kit I purchased from Unity!), I used black Color Box pigment ink and Recollections Bronze Embossing powder and heat set. I colored in the Angie Girl in with Prisma Color Pencils and used blending chalks on the background. The tape is from Target, the embellishments and flowers, I don't remember.

Unity Stamp Co. has given me 2 grab bags filled with 25 of their awesome red rubber stamps. Just because they are an incredible stamp company! All you have to do for a chance at winning something pretty fantastic is visit my blog every day and leave a comment to let me know you were here. 
And please visit my GIU partner, Amy Martin Jones at The Tigers Haven. Amy also has 2 Amazing Prizes to give away from Unity.

Have an amazing day!

Lots of Hugs,

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka 

Sher

Growing In Unity - Day 3

Hello! It's Day 3!!! My Growing in Unity week is going by rather quick. My nervousness has calmed down a little...

For today's project I am using an Angie Girl. It didn't take long for me to become addicted to Angie Girls. This line of stamps is so inspiration for Women. Women should build up and support each other and the sentiments that come with each Angie Girl give encouragement, no matter what life throws at you.

I created a post it note holder. The holder is a plastic/acrylic 5 x 7 photo frame. They can be found anywhere and usually cost less and a dollar. I used 2 kits for my project, the first one, Bryna Girl for the image and the sentiment I used is from Dream of Being. The background was created on water color paper using different inks and shimmery water color paints. I colored Bryna in using water color pencils. The sparkly tape came from.... wait for it.... Yep! Those Dollar Bins at Target, I used the tape to keep the back of the frame from sagging.

And here is a close up of the stamped image and the back of the photo frame.

A pen could easily be attached to the side or just lay across the top of the post it note block. 

I'm sure there is a special someone in your life that would love to have one of these on their desk!

Well that's all I have for you today. Unity Stamp Co. has created grab bags filled with 25 of their fabulous stamps for me to give away to 2 Lucky Winners! All you have to do is visit my blog every day and leave a comment. I will pick 2 names at random at the end of the week.
 Please visit my GIU partner, Amy Martin Jones at The Tigers Haven. Seriously you have to visit Amy! Did you see her Day 2 project? OMG! And Amy also has 2 Amazing Prizes to give away from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka

Sher

Growing In Unity - Day 2

Hello! Welcome back for GIU Day 2.

Today I am going to share with you a quick and easy, fun to make card set.

The Itty Bitty stamp I used is Hello Daisy. I just love this stamp! It is so adorable and so fun!

The cards are 1/4 fold size and came from those dreaded bins at Target. (One can get into a lot of trouble with those Dollar Bins!) 

First, I "Ink Smooshed" the cards with green and blue marker. I found this technique under the Unity Quick Tips and you can view this tip right here. I used my heat gun to speed up the drying process. I stamped the image with black Memento ink, then colored the image in using my Prisma Color Pencils. After the image was colored, I filled in the image using Glossy Accents just to give it a little zing.

Oops! I got a head of myself. After the image was colored in, I stamped the sentiment on the inside. I'm not sure what kit it is from. I received it as one of the freebies that Unity Stamp Co. gives you when you place an order. Then I just simply cut a triangle corner piece and adhered it to the left side of the card.

The possibilities are endless as to what you can place in that little pocket. I decided on seed packets and am going to send them to friends to remind them how wonderful they are.

I will be giving away 2 prizes at the end of the week! 2 lucky winners! Unity Stamp Co. is filling grab bags with 25 of their awesome stamps! So remember, you must visit me each day and leave a comment to win!

And please visit my GIU partner, Amy Martin Jones at The Tigers Haven. Amy also has 2 Amazing Prizes to give away from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have an amazing day!

Hugs,

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka

Sher

Growing In Unity - Day 1

Hello!

Thank you for popping over and taking a peek at my blog. It's usually a pretty boring place and I always have a hard time keeping up on it.

I am so excited and extremely nervous being one of the GIU girls this week! I have always loved Unity Stamps! They are a small family owned and run stamp company in Minnesota. They have over 60,000 high quality red rubber stamps, all cooked to order. The selection of stamps is amazing! If you cannot find the stamp for the occasion at Unity, well then, you didn't look hard enough.

My project for Day 1 is this mini composition notebook. With the pen attached, you can easily drop it into your purse or keep it anywhere to jot down a note or create a list.

The stamp set I used is Queen of the Universe. This set is my absolute favorite, well... every stamp set I own is my absolute favorite.

I stamped, paper pieced and colored her in with Prisma Color Pencils. I could not even begin to guess on the paper... it was from my stash. The ribbon is one of those .50 rolls from Michael's, the mini pen is from the Dollar Tree and the mini composition books can be purchased at Walmart, 3/.88.

This is seriously a very cute and inexpensive gift to give to someone. Just a little thank you or thinking of you. The possibilities are endless.

Well I really hope you have liked my GIU Day 1 project. Please visit every day and leave a comment. I'll be picking not just ONE, but TWO WINNERS for an amazing prize from UNITY STAMP CO.
And please visit my GIU partner, Amy Martin Jones at The Tigers Haven. Amy also has 2 Amazing Prizes to give away from Unity.

Remember to visit every day and comment. And if you find that you kind of like it over here, please become a follower to my blog.

I'll see you all tomorrow!

Hugs,

Danny & Petey's Mom

aka

Sher

The Outlawz Guest Designer

Hello!

I'm a little late in posting. We had a family emergency that threw off our entire week. This little puppa became seriously ill Monday evening and spent 2-1/2 days in the Pet ER Hospital:

Petey gave us quite a scare and we could have lost him if we didn't act as quick as we did. I am happily reporting that he is home, doing very well and celebrated with 2nd birthday with us yesterday.

Now to get on with crafting life. I've been trying to enter challenges when I can. I used to participate over at the Outlawz quite frequently, sadly that came to a stop due to time. I've been trying to enter when I can and was quite surprised and honored when I had a message from Angela asking if I would like to be a Guest Designer for an April Challenge. Well Thursday was the day, my big debut! I am the Guest Designer for the Twisted Thursday Look Alike - 2 things Challenge. The adorable pup image is from Limited Runs Digital Stamps.

Be sure to stop back Wednesday, I'm hosting the Crafting By Designs new weekly Challenge, after taking a little break, our Get Ready for Christmas Challenge is being brought into the rotation.

And......... wait for it.......................

The first week of May I am the Growing in Unity girl! Stop by every day to see a new created by me using Unity Stamps projects! I am more than a little nervous!

Share my Blog, I know it's boring! Become a follower! How sad I only have 3!

Drop me a line!        

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Danny and Petey's Mom

aka

Sher

Flower Power

Hi! Just a quick posting today. I made a tag for our new Flowers or Girls Challenge at Crafting By Designs and I'm also entering it in the Spring Tag Challenge that is currently running over at the Unity Stamp Co.'s fb page.

Petal Whimsy (Where Flowers Bloom) is the stamp I used for my little larger than tag size tag. When making it, I thought it would be nice as a wall hanging.

I heat embossed the image and colored in with water color crayons. The flower embellishments were stamped on Vellum, heat set, then fussy cut. I colored those in on the reverse side with chalk board markers. The doily I sprayed with pink alcohol ink. 

Well I must go for now. Play Off Hockey has finally come to town! First game of the first round of the Stanley Cup Play-Offs with my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins starts in 10 minutes! 

"It's a Great Day for Hockey!" - Badger Bob Johnson

LET'S GO PENS!!!!!

Oh and I just thought I'd share my newest picture of my boys. They were napping together after school yesterday. I just love them both so much!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Danny and Petey's Mom

aka

Sharon

Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

Hello!

I am such a horrible blog keeper! I admit it, no excuses. I just don't think about it. Really though I am trying to be a little more diligent about maintaining my blog.

This week I am hosting the new Easter Challenge at Crafting By Designs. I feel so lucky to be on a Design Team with such a wonderful group of ladies. Each one has their own style and each one amazes me every single week. We have weekly challenges as well as a month long Anything Goes Challenge. Please take a peek and check us out, join us in a challenge or two or three and pass us along to your friends too!

Sami Stamps is our very generous sponsor for this week's challenge. I just love their images! So very adorable! Hop over there and show them a little love! The image I chose to use is Sweet Carrot Bunny and he is one of the new releases. Oh My Gosh! I instantly fell in love with him.

Clean and Simple seems to be my style. And you can't get any more CAS than this. I used a little bit of blue chalk for shading and colored the rest with my Prisma Color Pencils. I fussy cut and adhered with a few foam pop dots. The sentiment came from the bargain bin at Michael's and the paper... well I wish I could remember where that came from. Just trying to use up a few of those scraps that accumulate.

Please become a follower of my blog. I do have a couple of exciting things coming up. I am a Guest Designer in April for one of the Outlawz Challenges and I am going to be a Growing In Unity Girl the first week of May. My nerves are hanging out for that one, I'm trying to build my confidence.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

Hugs,

Danny and Petey's Mom

aka

Sharon

A date with Sammy the Sloth

In case you didn't know already, I'm in LOVE with Unity Stamps. A little while ago a new kit was introduced, Sloth Endearments. I had to have it, but at the time, I didn't have any extra $ to spend on stamps. So, I waited and waited and waited. Finally it went on sale again and I bought it! (Insert excited girly squeal!) My new stamps came on Thursday and of course how life goes I had to be an adult and do grown up things before I could play. Well Sammy and I finally had our date day! (I don't know if his name is Sammy, I just named him Sammy.)

I heat embossed and colored in him with Marvy Water Color Crayons. I had to hurry to take the pictures before the rain came, I apologize for them being dark. I also played with my spray inks. Something I really don't do.

Along with Sammy, I heat embossed Angie's tree, then used a Unity One Minute Quick Tip on coloring, I did the Marker Smoosh technique. Super easy and I love the result. Of course in my hurry to take photos, I took a picture of the same card twice... DUH! (My roots are blonde.) So, I'm only posting one....

I've entered my creations in a couple of the challenges over at the Outlawz too.

Well, I have a few more adult grown up things I have to do before The Walking Dead comes on. Sometimes I wish I could just make a blanket fort in the living room and stay in it for a while with my coloring books and crayons... sigh.

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven't become a follower, please do! I'd love more than anything to build up my blog following.

Lots of hugs!

Sher

aka

Danny and Petey's Mom

March Madness

Hello! 

I can't believe I let the whole month of February go right on by without posting. I had my shoulder surgery in January and I'm healing right along. I'm hoping Physical Therapy is winding on down. My PT mentioned last week 4 or maybe 6 more sessions and I should be done. I sure hope so.

Last week was a week from hell. Our pup, Petey, caught a nasty stomach virus. For almost 9 days he had on and off vomiting and diarrhea. In one day we spent the afternoon at the vet's office and 7 hours in the animal emergency room. Petey was on antibiotic for 5 days and Pepcid AC. He's also on a special diet of very bland, very low fat food. The vet sent us home with 6 cans of a special dog food... cha ching! I think it has gold in it from how much it cost. We are also making batches of boiled chicken breast and rice. No more dog treats and Petey is being fed 3 to 4 times a day in small batches. The poor pup acts like he's starved and hands us his food dish when he's done eating. The best thing is, Petey is on the mend, he's happy, his tail is wagging and he wants to play.

My non furry son Danny has been talking about trucks and getting his driver's license. He'll be 16 in a few short months and I'm not ready to go there yet. Where did my baby go? He was a baby 2 days ago! I've been racking my brain on to what kind of birthday present to get him this year. 16 is a big one. 2 years ago when he turned 14, he got a puppy and a huge surprise, you can watch the video right here.

 The video is a little long and Petey is crying in the background because we put him in his kennel while Danny opened his gifts. Fast forward about a minute and a half into the video and watch from there. Danny's reaction to his gift is genuine. That is the type of kid he is. He has a kind heart, he's polite and loves beyond faults. God truly blessed my husband and I with him.

Anyway, I have been able to get my craft on and have entered a couple of challenges over at the Outlawz. I've also been asked to be a Guest Designer for a Twisted Thursday Challenge in April and I'm very excited about that. I can't wait!

And I'm also entering a challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round, Anything But a Card

I've paper pieced one of my favorite Angie Girls from Unity Stamp Co. Her name is Gianna and she is a fuller figure girl like me. I love all of the Angie Girls and in time I hope to own all of them.

And now for my creations:

If you haven't become a follower of my blog, please become one! I would love to build up my audience. Drop me a line, let me know you were here. I'd love to hear from you!

And now a photo of my loves. They make my day every single day! They light up my life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of Hugs!

Danny and Petey's Mom

Blogging Right Along

Hi!

2 days in a row! I've blogged 2 days in a row! That's like a world's record for me!

Anyway, just wanted to share this little trio of cards I made. Simple, simple, simple. I love creating simple cards. I try to add layers and bling and everything else in between and my card just ends up looking like a big hot mess.

I just used a basic craft card as a base. Bought out of the $1 bins at Michael's. I couldn't decide on a background paper to use, so I created my own background using the little stamps included in the stamp kit, which is by Unity Stamp Co. I colored everything in using Prisma Pencils.

We over at Crafting By Designs posted our new challenge today, Inspired by a Movie. The movie I used for Inspiration was Marley & Me. The DT has come up with fabulous inspiration! Alicia Bel is our very generous sponsor, stop by and show a little love.

Well, I'm going to wrap this up. I have a few things to finish this evening before bed. Tomorrow is the big day. Shoulder surgery! I will be so much happier when I'm home and sitting in my big comfy chair.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Fun with Unity

Hello!

It's no secret that I am in love with Unity Stamps! I can't get enough of them! Right now my spending has been put on hold, but I have a change jar collection in progress. Once I think I have enough change saved up, off to the bank I go and back home to place my Unity order. Oh I'll be a happy girl!

I'm having shoulder surgery on Thursday. Honestly I'm a little nervous about it. The whole thought of being put under really freaks me out. Basically I'm afraid of not waking up from it. I'm also nervous about my healing process. My doctor didn't sugar coat anything and told me that I will be in misery for the first week or so. (Heavy sigh...) He also wants me in physical therapy the day after my surgery! So, I'm scheduled for PT at 2:15 on Friday. I am not looking forward to that.

Playing with paper is my mental therapy. I made sure I had some time scheduled over the weekend so I could play. Hopefully I'll be back to playing again in about 2 weeks time. I'm going to go nuts!

My first 2 cards I'm posting are being entered in the Unity Color Challenge. The others, I'm not sure if I'm entering them anywhere or not, possibly over at the Outlawz. I'm not quite sure why, but I love stamping images of people on "text" DP. I just think it gives the people so much character. All images are stamped with Black Momento Ink then colored in with Prisma Colored Pencils.

I paper pieced this one together and happy with how it turned out.

And here's a pic of my Petey. We were watching The Last of the Mohicans last week. Petey was actually watching the movie with us, sitting like a person on the couch. A battle scene came on and even though I know it is purely coincidental, Petey turned himself around, buried himself into his big brother and covered his eyes. Too cute not to take a picture of him.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I'm trying to keep my blog a little more current, but if sometime goes by, it's only because of my surgery. I'm not great at one handed typing.

Hugs!

Anything Goes

Hello!

I've been trying to get in as much paper playing as I can. I'm having surgery next week and will be down and out for a few weeks. 

It is the beginning of January and that means the most popular challenge at Crafting By Designs has been posted! OMGosh I cannot even begin to express how much these ladies on the DT mean to me! Their talent blows me away with each challenge we have. I know in the past I would be intimidated to enter challenges because the "Inspiration" was so much more than I could manage. That is one of the things I love so much about our DT, we all create with different styles and at different levels. We love inspiring you, so you can inspire us!

My Inspiration for the Anything Goes Challenge is by Unity Stamp Company. I love Unity Stamps! My shopping has been put on hold for a little bit and I cannot wait until I can freely shop again. They have the most awesome sales and fabulous tips.

The stamp I am using is called "Grace of Letting Go" and it can be found here. As soon as this stamp was released I had to buy it. Someone very close to me is going through a major life change and I thought of her and couldn't wait to make a little encouragement card for her.

If you haven't already, please become a follower of my new blog. Comments are always welcome.

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Year, A New Beginning

Hello!

It's been over a month since I've posted last. December was a month that wasn't very happy. My SIL passed away suddenly and unexpected. The holidays are over and now I'm ready to enjoy them, lol. 

Next week I will be having shoulder surgery, so my playing with paper won't be happening until after I'm healed. I've been trying to get a jump start on challenges through the end of February. And prepare my guys for me being out of commission for a few weeks.

I went to Michael's after Christmas, all of their Christmas stock was 70% off! I bought a Christmas Stack by Recollections, I absolutely love it. The stack is filled with pages upon pages of Retro/Nostalgic images. I wish I would have bought 2, one to use and one to look at. I made this thank you card from the stack. The snowflake is wooden and from a pack of embellishments which was also on clearance. I sprayed it with black alcohol ink, then sprayed again with a bronze glimmer mist. The photo doesn't pick up the glimmer, but it's there and I am quite happy with it.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm hoping to keep more up to date and am going to try to one handed, one finger type after next week. Doctor said I should only be down for about 2 weeks. I sure hope he's right!

And no blog post would be complete without a picture of my Petey! Petey was a rescue pup, we got him entirely too young and he has a lot of issues. We're trying our best to work with him. We haven't given up on him and most would have by now. He is my little 80 pound love bug.