Constantly Stamping

Just Me and My Friends

My computer is running like molassas today...can't seem to get anything done...or maybe it is just me... Anyway, I am still trying to get my act together from being gone for convention a week and a week of vacation before that. So I just thought I would pop out a share a few pics of me with some of my good SU friends. This is Kim Sinclair and Becky Roberts....always good for a fun time!

 

 

This is my blogging friend, Mickey Roberts. She is very talented and smart, too. Mickey used to work for Boeing overseeing a critical portion of the space shuttle program...Whoa...I am totally impressed.

This is the lovely and sweet Jeanna Bohanon. Jeanna (pronounced "Gina") is a total MDS junkie and super talented. You will be seeing lots more of Jeanna's work because she is on the 2012 SU Design Team.

 

 

This is the beautiful & talented Melody Hyde. I met Melody last year at the Artisan dinner. She is one of several talented concept artists for Stampin' Up! Melody was one of the presenters at the "I Am Creative" class that a bunch of us attended at convention.

I missed a bunch of friends so I will have more to share with you later...I have a class I need to be getting ready for, so I need to scoot on out of here!

 

 

 

Fabulous Flowers Artisan Finalist Swap

I promised I would share my Artisan Finalist Swap Card, so here it is...well almost. I used the same design as one of my display samples, so if it looks familiar, that is why. This is was on display at convention on the International Bazaar board. The only thing I did differently was that the frame on this card has paper piercing and the swap card didn't. I think I must have had a temporary lapse in sanity to make 32 of these beauties. Thank goodness I took my stamps on vacation with me so that I could work on them during my down time.

There's lots of fussy cutting on this one. Each flower is stamped twice. I cut the bottom layer full size and the top flower layer has portions trimmed away to give it some interest. Can you see the similarities between this card and the one I showed you the other day? As you can imagine, I had several leftovers where I cut out the center of the card front AND the center of the frame. I was determined to make a card that showcased stamping. So even though there was a lot of work involved, the cost of this card is relatively inexpensive to make and flat enough to go through the mail.

I had someone ask what color of card stock I used...it's Pacific Point layered on Melon Mambo. I stamped the flowers in Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, and Daffodil Delight. The leaves are Old Olive.

I am trying to put together all of my convention photos, but in the meantime. I know some of you really want to see the display boards, so here is a picture of the International Bazaar/Storytime Suites board. I have six projects on this board, so you will be seeing some of these in more detail over the next few weeks. 

Home from Convention

Well, I made it home from convention this evening and have tons of stuff to share over the next several weeks. You read in my last post that I didn't make the Artisan Design Team, but I still had a wonderful time in Salt Lake City. I would be a big, fat liar if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I have enjoyed being an Artisan this past year and I wish all the DT members the very best for the coming year. I organized a card swap for all twenty of the finalists before we knew who made the Design Team. It was really wonderful to meet these talented ladies in person and put a face with the names. Here is a picture of the entire group (sans Marisa Gunn and Tara Bourgoin).

To the right is a not-so-great picture that I took of the Design Team members for 2012: (Top Row L-R)Amy Bollman, Jeanna Bohanon (pronounced Gina), Erica Cerwin, Heidi King, Heather Summers, (Bottom Row L-R) Cindy Beach, Marisa Gunn, Jane Lee, Sarah Sagert, and Wendy Weixler. And of course that is Shelli Gardner(Co-founder and CEO of SU) on the far right.

Here is a list of the finalists who were not selected as DT members.

The competition this year was intense. I was told that the selection process was extremely difficult. If you could have seen the projects on display you would understand why. I am not sure what the DT members have planned, but the finalists are putting together a blog hop to showcase their fabulous, over-the-top projects. It is always wonderful to learn more about the projects and get a closer look at each one. I will let you know the date for the blog hop as soon as we finalize a date.

Here is a picture of the swap card that I made for the out-going Artisans. I used the stamp sets Fabulous Florets and Fablous Phrases. I really LOVE the new woodgrain embossing folder in the Holiday Mini Catalog and the Polka Dot Parade DSP. I made this card with "left-overs" from my other swap cards...and I actually think I like it even better. I will try to have a picture of that card tomorrow.

OK...I am headed off to finish unpacking. I see lots of laundry in my immediate future!

 

Hi Everyone...just a quick update...I didn't make the Design Team for 2012, but having a great time none-the-less here in Salt Lake City. I have TONS of pics and fun stuff to share when I get home.

Just a Few More Days!

Stampin' Up! Convention is just a few days away and I have been running around trying to get everything packed and ready. Life has been hectic over the past several weeks and there hasn't been anything to share with you until today. The Artisan Finalists are swapping cards on Thursday and I wanted to decorate a bag for the occassion. I tried to stamp directly on the craft bag, but didn't get a good impressions, so I stamped the Sunflowers on Whisper White CS and colored them with More Mustard and Cherry Cobbler markers. Then I cut them out and glued them to the bag with Tombo Multi Adhesive. The dots were stamped on the bag front with a pencil eraser using Cherry Cobbler ink. I also sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip Ink.

It won't be long before I am back stamping and sharing on a regular basis. I look forward to being back in a "normal" life soon!

So Honored and Blessed!

What can I say? When Stampin' Up! gave the current Artisan winners the opportunity to compete for the new Artisan Design Team for 2012, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew if I didn't at least try, I would be miserable wondering "what if?". The ten members of the Design Team won't be announced until Awards Night at Convention in July, but the good news is that I was selected as one of twenty finalists. I am so excited to have made it this far and so grateful to fellow Artisan and wonderful friend, Jenn Picard, who encouraged me to "go for it". There were several amazing Stampin' Up! demonstrators who poured their heart and souls into their projects, pushing themselves to a new level of excellence. Every one who took the time to submit their work is a winner in my book. I feel so blessed and I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father who is the giver of all things good. I will let you know how it all turns out in about four weeks. As for now, I have been blessed with more blackberries than I can handle, so I am busy making blackberry jam for the next several days. See you soon!

I Survived VBS!

Whew! This week has been a total blur. I can honestly say that there were not enough hours in the day for everything that needed to get done. There is one thing I learned a long time ago...the dirty dishes, laundry, and general housekeeping isn't going anywhere...nope, it is still here waiting for me to do it. At least I have a card that I can share today.

I made this card a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to photograph it. I had been playing around with watercoloring techniques and ended up with this card. The flowers themselves were stamped on watercolor paper while the leaf background is stamped on Whisper White card stock. I had so much fun making this card. I stamped the flowers in Pure Poppy ink (retired) and then used an Aqua Painter to water color the images. I flattened my blush with a paper towel and dipped it in reinker to add the detail work. The stamp set is Fabulous Florets (wood-123025/clear-123027).

I hope to be creating a little more often for my blog soon. I have been so overwhelmed with display stamping that I just haven't stamped anything just for my own enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy stamping everything...but there are lots of rules that you need to follow when creating display samples, so I will be relieved when I can just do anything I want and not have to think about it so much.

Clearing Off My Craft Table

A few weeks ago I was cleaning off my craft table and stumbled upon a background that I had made back when I was making Leadership Samples. It was too pretty to throw away, so I turned it into a card. I used the now retired Fresh Vintage stamp set from Sale-a-bration and colored it with Real Red, Always Artichoke, Tempting Turquoise, and So Saffron markers. Yes, it took a little time, but the results were definitely worth it. Don't recognize the plaid...it is from another retired set, House & Home. The design isn't large enough to cover the entire flower, so I masked off a portion of the flower, stamped, then covered that portion and stamped the other half. I actually made this card several weeks ago as part of a sketch challenge, but now I am not sure which one. :) Oh well!

I have been busy stamping away on convention stamples, so there's not much more to share at the moment. I hope you have a wonderful week. Things should be back to "normal" soon.