Hip Hoppin into April...already?!?...

Whoa.  CANNOT. BELIEVE how fast this month has gone by!
Seriously?!  Spring break-flash in the pan.  Now we are getting all those fliers about 'end of the year' stuff in school, including a MIDDLE SCHOOL field trip for my oldest one...yikes!

Anyway, we are Hip-Hoppin' into APRIL this week with some sneak peeks of the April KOTM:

For more sneaks, you can check out Unity's Facebook page!  For now, I have one last "reject" card from Papercraft Mag's last call featuring Go-To Sketches.  This sketch was SO not me but I actually really liked how this Clean and Simple card came out:

What do you think, honestly?

Last but not least, I have some GREAT news in terms of HAPPY MAIL-the new Spring issue of JUST CARDS came in the mail and lookie what I found inside:

Hooray for getting published again!! (mushroom card :)  I could not BELIEVE it!   Always makes for a good day when ya get some happy mail, right?

Be sure to head over to my fab friend JIMMI's blog next!  Have a WONDERFUL Thursday!

Hung up on HIP HOP...

Helllllooooo world!

Can you BELIEVE it is DECEMBER 23rd?  HIP HOP!!!!  In case you are new to Unity Stamp Company,  that is what we shout when we are excited about something...and hence, it turned into our little Thursday routine-complete w/ a DT blog "hop", all tying into a resounding...HIP HOP!

Seriously, though-I can't believe it's THAT time....and I am SO excited!   I have a fun card to show you today from the Kit of the Month for December, called "Just Be You"...

I LOVE the versatility of this kit-it is one of my faves :)   I really adore the big scalloped image in this kit, and also thought that the phone and "Im' hung up on you" sentiment was TOO fun not to create with.  Somehow I wanted to tie it all together, but wasnt sure how....until THIS came to mind:

I really like how this turned out, for a quick, quick, card.  Nothing makes me happier than to know that I can still crank something out in 10 minutes if and when I want to :)  I used some red satin PTI ribbon and  tied the button w/ some Marischino twine from the TWINERY :)   To add a bit more color, I paper pieced the inside of the circle w/ this fun plaid paper from Cosmo Cricket.   Overall I'm pretty pleased w/ the way it came out...and I am HUNG UP on this month's kit!  Adore it :)

Be sure to head on over to my girl Jimmi's blog next to see what she has for you today.  And don't forget to start at the UNITY blog, because there are a TON of sales and offers going on right now...I'm afraid I'm going to forget something!

Here's just a FEW of the awesome sales and promos going on:

*FREE SHIPPING until January

*several RETIRING sets ON SALE for original Kit Club prices now through TUESDAY before they are gone for GOOD!

*New Co-Branded stamps including Iron Orchid Designs and Echo Park "Be Mine" collections-GORGEOUSNESS beyond words!

*KIT CLUB Subscriptions NOW AVAILABLE for 6 mos or 1 year-what a FANTASTIC gift!

Well, that's about it for me....but I do have ONE more little card to share-I made this a long time ago and it's on the way to my sweet friend and our AMAZING Design Team Coordinator AJ Otto.  AJ does SO, SO much for us Unity girls to keep us organized, in the loop, and works uber-hard so I wanted to send her a little shout out today :)   I luvs ya TONS girlie and appreciate you so much!!!

The "Winter Wishes" stamp was from the PaperCrafts Magazine promo...which brings me to my last little bit of happy....GUESS who has a card published on page 77 of the Jan/Feb Papercrafts issue?  Yes, ME!!!!!!

I was THRILLED to be published by this mag and cannot thank all of you enough for the emails and congrats I've received-from people who I didn't even tell.   That feels SO good I can't even tell you!

Thanks for stopping by today w/ all the excitement and if I don't talk to you-have a VERY Merry Christmas and I'll see you SOON!

HAPPY, HAPPY Mail...

...LITERALLY.

I've been PUBLISHED-finally!-WOO HOO!... it was PRETTY DARN COOL to get this issue of Scrap&Stamp Arts in the mail.  Now, I knew about an upcoming publication that is using my card and that's coming in January, but in that case, I got an email telling me this.  So, it was MUCH to my surprise when this copy just showed up at my door the other day:

I KNEW I was in it, but I couldn't figure out WHERE and I tore through the issue so quickly that I had to go BACK a 2nd time to find my card, LOL!

They even spelled my name wrong, but I don't care ;)  There it was, my "Wishing You LOVE" card using Darling Sisters by The Greeting Farm!  Kinda fun, right?

Add to this HAPPY MAIL, I have some of the sweetest friends in the stamping biz, can I tell you?

I have to laugh when I think back to one of the first times I was getting ready to leave for a weekend to meet up w/ some stamping friends and knowing that my Dad and DH were both pretty leery of the idea... now, that's not to say there aren't some unfortunate "I told you so" cases, but such is life, right?

For the most part, the risk has been worth the reward.  Some of my closest friendships have been formed since I started stamping 7 years ago and I'm just happy to share my joy and gratitude in that!

Well, I got some HAPPY MAIL over the past few weeks speaking of those friends that I just wanted to share with you.

My sweet friend Margie Cortina sent me this adorable Alice card with this SUPER cute stamp (think she knows I love butterflies? :) and this adorable DP:

I was so surprised when I opened the envelope-there it all was, for no reason-just 'cuz.  I tell you there is NOTHING better than "just cuz".    THANK YOU so much, Margie!

Then a few days later?  I get this HUGE package from Tasha Beasley.  Now, I sort of knew this was coming, but not to such a LARGE extent!  Tasha completely SPOILED me w/ my favorite Tea from England, Clipper Teas, including my fave flavor, their Organic Orange/Coconut infusion and in addition, two BRAND NEW Alice in Wonderland edition teas, a Butterfly journal, a card, and some yummy chocolates.  Seriously can you say SPOILED?  Unfortunately the boxes got a bit beat up but it's SO SO SO much the thought that counts-THANK YOU Tasha!

Well, that's all for now but here's to HAPPY MAIL, good friends, and Tea w/ Alice :)  xoxo ~Jess