Welcome to the very first blog hop for the 2015-16 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team. I am so excited to be selected to be on this team of 20 talented demonstrators from around the globe. If you are already going through the hop, you should have just arrived here from Cindy Schuster's blog. Cindy is my sweet, wonderful friend. She is super talented and our team leader for the upcoming year.
Some of you may be wondering what does it mean to be an Artisan, so I pulled this information from the Stampin' Up! website to help explain...
Q: What is the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team?
A: The Artisan Design Team is a group of very creative and talented Stampin' Up! demonstrator bloggers who are selected by Stampin' Up! to create, post, and blog about the projects they create.
Q: What is the time commitment?
A: Artisan Design Team members participate for approximately one year beginning November 15, 2015, and ending November 30, 2016. Posting to a personal blog or DBWS blog on a frequent and timely schedule is part of that one-year commitment.
Q: What is Stampin' Up! looking for on my blog?
A: Blog posts will be reviewed for these traits: quality photography, blog design, writing and storytelling ability, project and style diversity, original project design, quality workmanship, and innovative ways to use Stampin' Up! products.
About Me: I realize that some of you may be new to my blog, so let me share just a little bit about myself. My name is Connie Collins and I live in Mount Juliet, Tennessee (just outside of Nashville/Music City USA). I have been married to my wonderful husband, Charles for 25 years. We have one son, Christian, who is 18 years old. I have a B.A. degree in Advertising and I am a freelance publication designer. I am a Christian and I am very active in my church's music ministry. I play clarinet in our orchestra and occasionally sing in our church choir. I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for 16 years and I began this blog in 2008 in order to share what I love...stamping and paper crafting. I also enjoy sewing, machine embroidery, and crafting. I knew from the very first moment that Stampin' Up! announced the Artisan Award that I wanted to be an Artisan. After being selected as a finalist in 2010, I won the Artisan Award in 2011 and was a finalist again in 2012. A few years ago Stampin' Up! changed the Artisan Award to the Artisan Design Team and I was selected to serve on the 2013 Artisan Design Team. It is such an honor to be selected again this year for the 2015-16 ADT. The team has already been getting to know each other through social media and it is so wonderful to finally be sharing our first blog hop as a team.
If you follow my blog, then you already know that while I do enjoy making cards, I love making 3D projects even more. For this blog hop I wanted to share a Christmas decor piece made with the Home for Christmas designer series paper, the Leaflets Framelits Dies, and the Big Shot die cutting machine. Although it was easy to make, it did take some time to prep and assemble. I started by die cutting several leaves, sponging the edges with Early Espresso ink, and then curling them with a bone folder. (TIP: pay attention to the direction of the paper patterns when die cutting.) I started at the bottom of an 11" Styrofoam cone and used short pins to attach the petals to the cone.
For the bow I cut a piece of 1-1/4" Jute Ribbon in half (lengthwise). The cut ribbon will fray, so I used a 2-way glue pen down the center first, let it dry, and then cut it. I then used an embossing buddy on the ribbon to get rid of the tackiness.
The final touch was some fun Real Red Pompom Trim draped around the tree. Isn't it just adorable! I think I will make a few more in different sizes for next season. Well, that is all for now. Inge Groot is next on our blog hop so be sure to head on over and check out what she and the the rest of the ADT team have in store by clicking on the button below.
2015-2016 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team
Allison Okamitsu – http://nicepeoplestamp.blogspot.ca/
Amy O’Neill – http://amyoneillblog.com/
Chantal de Kaste - http://www.loveforstamping.blogspot.nl/
Cindy Schuster - http://www.nutmegcreations.blogspot.com/
Connie Collins (you are here) – http://www.constantlystamping.com/
Inge Groot - http://patternedpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Frost - http://www.jenniferfrost.blogspot.com/
Jessica Williams - http://thepapercaper.com.au/
Jessica Winter - http://kunterbuntestempelwelt.com/
Joyce Fowler - http://www.craftwithjoyce.ca/
Kimberly Van Diepen - http://stampinbythesea.com/
Krista Frattin - http://www.stampindolce.com/
Marisa Gunn – http://dzinesbymeg.typepad.com/
Michelle Long – http://stampin365.com/
Rachel Grandin-Torchet - http://dontworrybecrafty.com/en/
Shannon Lane - http://crushoncolour.blogspot.com/
Steffi Helmschrott - http://stempelwiese.de/
Sue Plote - http://thispinkrooster.blogspot.com/
Susan Wong - http://stampingsusan.blogspot.com/
Valerie Moody - http://stampingwithval.com/
