Most of you know that I have entered the SU Artisan Award competion for the past three years. I was a finalist two years ago, but I have never won. I have had quite a few people ask me if I am going to enter again this year. Truthfully, I wasn't sure until just about two weeks ago. I thought I was going to, but I was hung up on a couple of projects, so I really didn't want to say until I knew for sure. Now I can finally say that "YES" I have entered again this year. The box went to the post office yesterday afternoon. Whew, what a relief to have it on its merry way a week before the deadline! Entering the Artisan Award Competion requires a lot of time and energy on my part AND a lot of patience on the part of my family. I have had some people ask me why I put myself through it every year. My answer? I find it personally rewarding to commit myself to giving something my very best effort. I honestly feel that each year my creativity grows and I become a better demonstrator because of it. So many talented demonstrators enter each year and art is so subjective, so I don't know if I will win, (or even be a finalist) but this year I am very pleased with my projects...so who knows. I have seen some past project entries by fabulous demonstrators that I thought should have been winners for sure, but they weren't. I won't get my feeling hurt if I am not chosen...I will just keep plugging away and I hope that maybe this will be my year to shine.
One of the things I do when preparing for the competition is save back just about anything that I think may remotely be a contest entry...that way, if there is a personal setback, like an illness or some other unforseen life event, then I have several projects to choose from...primarily cards. Now that I have submitted my entries (5 cards, three scrapbook pages, and 2 three-dimensionals items), I can begin to share the projects that didn't make the cut. So today, I thought I would share one of these cards with you. I absolutely love this card. It actually made the "short list", but in the end there were other cards that I thought fit the total package better because this one didn't have any stamping on it. Each entry is judged as a whole, (not individual projects), so I tried to choose a variety of items that demonstrate a wide-range of skills and creativity, while focusing the most on stamping.
I made this card several weeks ago and as I look at it now, I have to stop and ask myself how I did it. No worries...I remember. I used the Big Shot machine for several steps. I started with a Daffodil Delight card stock and put the fold at the top of the card. I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to add some texture. Then I cut some Brights DSP (Real Red) with the Tasteful Trims Die and backed it with Tempting Turquoise CS. I used a portion of the Sew Suite DSP for the center image, but the die cut buttons didn't quite fall where I wanted them to, so I added an additional panel of Daffodil Delight CS to cover the center and attached the buttons to that. The buttons were cut with the Sweet Buttons Embosslit several times with Tempting Turquoise CS. Yes, if you count them, it took fifteen passes through the Big Shot to get enough buttons for this project. Can you imagine how much it would cost to use "real" buttons...especially if you make more than one card? Besides, it is really cute to have them made from card stock so that you can customize the colors for your project.
Thanks for being patient with me. I know I haven't been a good blogger lately. Please forgive me and I promise to do better. I have lots of things to share, but I have to balance it with getting caught up with life. I haven't forgotten my MDS followers either...I have some fun things coming up to share with you as well.