Unity Guest Designer

I'm a guest designer for Unity Stamp Co.! That pretty much tops the early Christmas present list!!! It was so hard to keep this secret for a whole month and I'm feeling the same level of excitement today! I'm truly honoured to be joining the ranks of Unity's Design Team and Guest Designers. This level of recognition feels amazing and I still can't believe it! I first fell in love with Unity this past summer when I joined the Kit Club and there will be no end to my addiction. I want to thank everyone at Unity, as well as Unity's fans and my long-time followers for the warm welcome. You all inspire me and I hope to inspire you just the same with all of Unity's fabulous products over the next two months and beyond!

Today's card features one of my favourite images from the new December Kit of the Month (available today) and also includes two other images from past KOTMs to show you how versatile all the kits are and how easily they can be combined with one another! I took one look at that stunning teacup, thought about how sophisticated it was and I was transported back to Paris. Then I remembered the beautiful Eiffel Tower from the September KOTM and knew it would look fabulous with a damask background which I created from the July KOTM. This French theme was perfect for the new washi tape I bought and the rest of it came together easily. I love this style of scrappy carding which is my idea of dabbling in scrapbooking while making cards!

The layout looks purely random and maybe it was at first, but while I was moving pieces around I noticed that the little Eiffel Tower on the tape peeked out perfectly through the larger version and the flourish looked amazingly like steam rising from the cup! I sponged the edges of the saucer in two greens and it didn't look right but when I added some turquoise chalk to match the twine and bling, it just glowed. I love it when these little random things end up to be so satisfying. Enjoy. Indeed.

Sources: GinaK pure luxury Kraft cardstock; SU Naturals Ivory cardstock; Unity July 2010 Kit of the Month - Happily Ever After; Unity September 2010 Kit of the Month - When I Am With You; Unity December 2010 Kit of the Month - Just Be You; SU Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke & Kiwi Kiss inks; Memento Rich Cocoa ink; Pebbles Chalks in Basic Brights; Washi Tape (Mark's Coup de Coeur Collection) purchased at PrettyTape; The Twinery baker's twine in Caribbean; SU Basic Rhinestones; Copic marker; Forever in Time Gemstone stickers; Stampin' Dimensionals; X-acto knife

YOU are loved

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Today's card is for the Embellish Vintage Color Challenge. I'm not very familiar with the vintage style of cardmaking but I loved the colour combination so I had to give it a try. I knew this was going to be a rather clean card given my usual style and I was happy for the sparkly die cut that Angela included in my birthday RAK because it was perfect for this card!

I started with the sparkly die cut and layered everything around it. The love script in the background is Local King Rubber Stamp, as is the music notes background on the butterfly. The lace frame behind the sparkly die cut and the sentiment are from Unity. I even sponged, distressed and stitched the background panel. That's not something you see too often on my cards, especially not together! LOL This card proved to be a challenge but it gave me the chance to work outside my comfort zone and create something I'm happy with. Those are the best kinds of challenges! When the card was finished, my husband said, "It looks very old-movie-ish but I like it." I guess that makes it vintage. ;)

Sources: GinaK pure luxury Kraft cardstock; SU Naturals Ivory, So Saffron & Wild Wasabi cardstock; Best Creations glitter cardstock; Local King Rubber Stamp Words background & Notes background; Unity July 2010 Kit of the Month - Happily Ever After; Unity October 2010 Kit of the Month - Take Time To Laugh; PTI Butterfly Dreams; Memories Artprint Brown ink; SU Crumb Cake & Wild Wasabi inks; PTI Butterfly die & Mat Stack 4 die; QuicKutz Epic Six; SU Scallop Trim Border; Basic Grey button; The Twinery baker's twine in Peapod; Gutermann green thread; sewing machine; Glue Dots minis; SU Stampin' Dimensionals