H{ippity} Hop Monday

Hi everyone! It's Michelle hosting this week's H{ippity} Hop!!

For this weeks challenge, I have challenged you all:

To use CHIPBOARD on your project!

Here is a sneak peek of my card:

Easy peasy, so have fun with it!
This week's prize is A pack of 10 random {ippity} stamps

It's EASY to play along:
1. Simply create an {ippity} project using chipboard
2. THEN upload it to your SCS gallery by midnight on Sunday, the 28th
with keyword: IHHC16
3. I will randomly choose a winner next Monday and post it in a thread in the {ippity} forum

Be sure you check out the design team members blogs:
Eryn Hagen
Eva Dobilas
Kelly Landers
Lisa Henke
Maria Gurnsey
Michelle Woerner
Heather Rolin (Guest Designer)

And this week's fabulous Hip Hop participants:

http://alifeunrehearsed2.blogspot.com
http://jenscupofcreations.blogspot.com/
http://robynccgirl.blogspot.com/
http://paperandjoy.blogspot.com
http://taylormadebyjenmarie.blogspot.com/
http://ippityinspiration.blogspot.com
http://lonepinedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://AndreasStamps.com
http://dahlhousedesigns.wordpress.com
www.maiclark.blogspot.com
www.thestampingshopper.blogspot.com
http://scraprona.blogspot.com
http://www.katieskiff.typepad.com/
http://www.gardnersippitybasket.blogspot.com/
www.savannahland2.blogspot.com
http://tailsinthestamproom.blogspot.com
http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com
http://thepaperfreak.blogspot.com
http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
http://www.tabithascreations.blogspot.com/
http://jazzypaper.blogspot.com
http://elisabeth-workofheart.blogspot.com/
http://jenmitten.blogspot.com
http://creativepad.typepad.com
http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/
http://www.stephaniezito.blogspot.com
http://papercreations-sheryl.blogspot.com
http://www.creatingisfun.blogspot.com/
http://stampingwithpassion.blogspot.com/
http://www.millers-ink.net/
http://organisedmess-ippity.blogspot.com/
http://angiesscrappinspot.blogspot.com/
http://shamrockstamper.blogspot.com
http://endlessinkabilities.blogspot.com
http://maryscreativejourney.blogspot.com


Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the HOP!!

Sunday Favs- March 14th edition

Hi everyone! Michelle here to share my Sunday Ippity Favorite cards! Each week the Ippity Gallery on SCS grows and it's amazing to be a small part of the Ippity family!

Here are my favs from this last week:

First up, Teresa aka: va.sunshine. This card uses one of the sentiments from Devoted. The colors are fresh, the lace and ribbon combo is divine with the perfect amount of distressing. Oh and did I mention the HOUNDS TOOTH heart?!?
Next is Emily aka: Stampingout. This card uses the bunny and cloud images from Sweet Thoughts of Spring. Happy spring is right!! This card makes me smile with its fun use of embossed hot pink and bright happy blue clouds! Isn't this one adorable by Lynn, aka: Briarthyme? She also uses Sweet Thoughts of Spring. What a CLEVER use of stitching for the sun rays and I just love bright sun with the cloud outlines! HAPPY card for sure!This soft, lovely and whimsical beauty is from Avery, aka: Avery123. The card uses the fabulous sentiment, and 2 images from Where You Should Be. I LOVE the soft color combo with a simple piece of stitched grosgrain accented with a trio of brads!
Next up we have a CAS card from Bonnie, aka: BonnieRose. She uses a sentiment from Life's Little Moments. I love how simple and whimsical this is. Just shows you, less IS sometimes more!!
And last, but certainly not least we have a fav of mine from the Design team - Lisa, aka: lisahenke. This card uses What Matters Most. I LOVE how she pieced and cut out butterfly trail image. Everything perfectly coordinates with the amazing Quite Contrary paper from MME! AND, what? The double bow/burlap string is perfection!!
Well that's it for me! Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day everyone!

Let's Flatter GUS!

Hi everyone, Michelle here to bring you today's Flatter Day Saturday post.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you person extraordinaire and majority owner of Unity...

GUS

Oh yeah baby! I had the pleasure of meeting Gus and having dinner with him and let me tell you, he is HILARIOUS! Seriously, one of the funniest guys I have met -and this picture gives you an inkling! This was taken at CHA in the Unity booth! Sigh... good times!

It's all about Gus -in his own words:

Tell us a little about yourself: I’m a 31 yr old Irish/German a.k.a “McKraut”. I have a wife who I’ve been in love with since I was 16. We have 2.5 kids, Grace 5, Max 3, and we’re expecting with another baby boy on 4/9/10. I am a chronic entrepreneur and always have multiple business projects cooking at one time.

What is your title at Unity/{ippity}? Majority Owner of Unity Stamp Co.

How are you involved in the making of {ippity} stamps? I know enough to be dangerous!

How long have you worked there? Since the beginning.

Are you a crafter? Do you use Unity/{ippity} stamps outside of work? I am not crafty but have come to appreciate the work of so many talented artists.

If you were stranded on a desert island what are the three things you would bring? A Sailboat, a Compass and lots of Rum.

What is your favorite quote? “If you’re gonna do it, and you’re already doing it, you may as well do it.”

What would I find in your refrigerator right now? Mold.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be? Flight

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? G.U.S.

What would your dream vacation be? South American jungle adventure.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Fresh Idea Friday with Michelle

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! I have a fresh idea for you...

SEW ON YOUR CARDS

What? You already sew on your cards? Well then you are ON TREND and you GO GIRL! You don't? Well, it's never too late to start, bust out that sewing machine pronto! According to CARDS Magazine, it's one of the hottest trends around right now.

Check out some fun ideas to sewing on your cards.

From our lovely Kelly: This card uses embroidery stitching with an embroidery needle and thread. What I love about this technique is you can EASILY change the color of your thread to match your card.From our lovely Eva: This card uses a zig zag stitch as well as a straight stitch and uses colored thread. See how she used stitching to make a border around the heart images? Sewing can be used in so MANY ways.This one is from me: I use the basic straight stitch with the same white thread on every card I sew on. See? Even us "sewing machine challenged" gals can do this too! And to jazz up the effect, I distressed the edge of the paper after stitching with my fingernail.Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT DAY!!

That's How Thursday -Circle card tutorial

Hi everyone, it's Michelle here! I LOVE to make circle cards. They are unique, fun and have a certain "wow" factor. I get asked all the time, "how do you MAKE your circle cards". Well, today I will share with you how I do it!!

I make them using my Nestability dies from Spellbinders. I use my Cuttlebug to do all my die cutting and it works perfectly. To start, I cut the cardstock 8 1/2"x 4 1/2" and score in the middle:

Next, fold the cardstock and place your largest die with the top of the die just over the top of the fold. This is very important, as this will be the top fold of your card.Here is the picture from the angle that you cut. You need to remember that the "pointy" part of the die faces UP to your B Plate. You can see from the past impression on my C Plate, I have done this WRONG before. Man oh man I had trouble getting the die OFF the plate!Run it thru your machine and if you use thick cardstock, like PTI, run it back and forth just to make sure it cuts both layers. When you are done, it will look like this:Next, you can work on the inner layers of your card. For my card, I wanted the first layer to be white with a strip of embossed Kraft thru the middle. I layered them both at the same time, but you could just as easily do the white piece first and fiddle around to decide what you need next.

One tip I have is to tape the die down to the cardstock to prevent any moving. This is especially important when die cutting around an image already stamped. I use a small piece of tape, be sure to place the sticky tape to the OUTSIDE of your die-not touching the inside. That way it won't accidentally tear your cardstock. Here is a close up of my tape, you can tell that I use this tape over and over. I keep it taped to my area for quick access. Hey, it doesn't have to be pretty to work!Here is the finished card (it was my challenge card from a few weeks back). Well, I hope this was useful to you. If you have any questions, you can leave me a comment and I will respond with an edit to this post-for all to read.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

T{ippity} Tuesday

Hi everyone! It's Michelle here with today's Tuesday Tip!! I can't take credit for this tip, I saw it on someone's blog one night when I was blurfing around. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note WHO's blog it was! (if you know, please mention in the comments and I will give proper credit and link)

DON'T BE AFRAID TO CUT YOUR RUBBER!

Kinda simple really. One of the many advantages of UNMOUNTED rubber is that you can CUT them! Yep. Do you ever find that the sentiment stamp you want is too long for the space you have on your card?

Well, try cutting the sentiment.

The trick to this is cutting it in a V shape, so it fits back together easily and stick to the block -good as new. My example uses a stamp from the set Music of My Heart.

This first picture shows the sentiment all together:This picture shows it apart (I even trimmed the top and bottoms of the stamps to fit closer together on the block):This gives a better view of the cuts:
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

H{ippity} Hop Monday

Welcome to this weeks FUN filled
H{ippity} Hop!!

Hi everyone! It's Michelle hosting this week's H{ippity} Hop!!

This weeks challenge comes from me and I have challenged you all:

To make a VALENTINE CARD
It can be a Valentine card for your sweetie, teacher, or even for donation -whatever you want! Have fun with it!
This week's prize is A pack of 10 random {ippity} stamps

It's EASY to play along:
1. Simply create an {ippity} project with a Valentine's theme
2. THEN upload it to your SCS gallery by midnight on Sunday, the 14th
with keyword: IHHC10
3. I will randomly choose a winner next Monday and post it in a thread in the {ippity} forum

Be sure you check out the design team members blogs:
Eryn Hagen
Eva Dobilas
Kelly Landers
Lisa Henke
Maria Gurnsey
Michelle Woerner
Heather Rolin (Guest Designer)


and this week's fabulous H{ippity} Hop participants:

http://taylormadebyjenmarie.blogspot.com/

http://bunnynest.blogspot.com/

www.anitabestampin.blogspot.com

http://journeyoflifetamijo.blogspot.com/

www.paperandsuch.blogspot.com

http://paperandjoy.blogspot.com/

http://andreasstamps.com/

http://www.millers-ink.net/

http://hearthugsdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://robynccgirl.blogspot.com/

http://jenmitten.blogspot.com

http://scraprona.blogspot.com/

http://www.savannahland2.blogspot.com/

http://www.stephaniezito.blogspot.com/

http://jenscupofcreations.blogspot.com/

http://elisabeth-workofheart.blogspot.com/

http://ippityinspiration.blogspot.com/

http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com/

http://jazzypaper.blogspot.com

http://angiesscrappinspot.blogspot.com/

http://www.gardnersippitybasket.blogspot.com/

http://organisedmess-ippity.blogspot.com/

www.cravencreations.com

http://endlessinkabilities.blogspot.com/

http://creativepad.typepad.com

http://stampingwithpassion.blogspot.com/

http://scraperwannabe.blogspot.com/

http://jodisjazzylifeart.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for participating! Have a great day!

It's Flatter-Day Saturday!!

Hi everyone, it's Michelle here to bring you this week's Flatterday person extraordinairre!

Drum roll please.....

I bring you:

CHRISTIAN MAGNUSON

Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Christian, and I am married to Angela Magnuson, she is my best friend, mother to my four boys, partner at Unity, and the love of my life. We live in Spicer MN, a small town of about 2300.

· How did you first get involved in stamping?
I have stamped a couple of times, and I can say I really enjoy it.

· What is your stamping style?
I like flashy

· Tell us about your creative process:
I lay everything out on a table and just start putting things together, and when I am done, if I think it needs more I just add more.

· What is your favorite {ippity} stamp set and why?
That would be Giggle Grove

· How often do you stamp?
Mostly at CHA shows for the make n takes

· How long does it take you to make a project you are happy with?
About 15 minutes

· What does your craft room look like?
Its a mess when I am done but that's ok because it is at Unity LOL

· What is your biggest paper crafting challenge?
Colors because I am colorblind·

· What is your title at Unity/{ippity}?
Boss

· How are you involved in the making of {ippity} stamps?
I help everyone in the back if they run into problems, and sometimes I even just work right along side them. They are the best.

· How long have you worked there?
Since it started, I even came up with the name Ippity :)

· Can you tell us a funny story about your boss?
{Sorry Angela!} I would love to. One day she was going to work and she came into my shop and said sweetie I just drove the car onto the neighbors fire hydrant. and I said no you didn't. And she said yes I DID, so I went to inspect the damage, and there was not a scratch in her car and the tire was completely on the hydrant. WHO DOES THAT? Angela does. I love her.

· If you were stranded on a desert island what are the three things you would bring?
Angela, Nic, Luke, James, and Sawyer. I know that is more than three. Oh well

· What is your favorite quote?
And in the end its not the years in your life that count its the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln

· What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
Everything at a grocery store

· If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Mind reading

· What would your dream vacation be?
I am living a dream

Fresh Idea Friday by Michelle

Hi everyone! Michelle (Woerner) here with your Fresh Idea for today!

Well, my Fresh Idea is quite literally -FRESH -it is.....

BABY WIPES!

Yep, you read correctly, do not adjust your screen - I said BABY WIPES!! Seriously, I use these guys for EVERYTHING. I buy them in bulk from Costco (their own Kirkland brand) and keep a box in the bathroom:

• they are perfect for removing makeup on those late nights with sick kiddos
• they make great mini "wet swiffers" on the floor
• and they help to clean up after 3 boys -sink, counter, the... ahem...toilet area

I also keep a box in the car:

• can you say "coffee spills"?
• messy hands
• chocolate on little faces
• ...well you get the idea

BUT, there are lots of great uses in the STAMPING AREA too!! I mainly use them to clean my stamps, both rubber and clear.

GASP! I said it!

I clean my stamps with baby wipes -LOL! There were a couple controversy threads on SCS years ago about potentially drying out the stamp, but I have never had a problem and have been doing this for years.

THEY ALSO CLEAN UP GLITTER! Granted, I don't use glitter that often (waaaaay too much of a neat freak) but when I do I use them like crazy to clean up my stamping mat, hands, pants, punches and where ever else the glitter drifted to.

And last but surely not least, they clean up all the paper dust stuff that just seems to accumulate around the stamping area.

Man I LOVE baby wipes!

I keep mine directly under my stamping area, right by my legs, immediately under my right arm -yep, prime real estate! Here they are in all their glory:
Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed my tip. Thanks for stopping by!