A New Ink on Life

Best Friends Forever

I got a little time to stamp yesterday so I thought I would play a long with two of my favourite challenges. I also thought it was time to actually stamp with one of the sets (Best Friends Forever) that I received at Convention (I still had all of them in my bag :) Create with Connie and Mary is having a Sketch Challenge this week and over at the  Inkspirations site they have an interesting Colour Challenge.

 

Now you think it would be easy to come up with a card since I already had my colour combo, layout and stamp set already to go- WRONG,lol! It took me a while to come up with my final card but in the end I am pleased with the result, hope you like it too.

As I have mentioned several times before purple is really not a colour that I normally gravitate towards, but I LOVE Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz, so I though what the heck. These colours really do look great together and maybe I will even try this combo again. For the base of the card I used Concord Crush, and then layer on a piece of Pear Pizzazz that had been stamped with the leafy image tone on tone and then stamped the "BBF" with Whisper White Craft Ink.  I then stamped a Concord Crush strip of card stock using the craft ink as well. The patterned pice of Paper is from the Paisly Petals Designer Series Paper and I stamped it tone on tone using the dotted image from the set.
 
Next I layered on a piece of Peach Parfait that had been punched out with the Decorative Label Punch and also stamped on with the leafy image, this time I used Calypso Coral Classic Ink to add just a touch of contrast. The butterfly
was die cut using the Beautiful Butterflies Die, Textured Whisper White card stock and my Big Shot. I stamped the florish image on it with Concord Crush Ink. All of the card stock and paper on this card was sponged with Whisper White Craft Ink and the edges destressed using the Cutter Kit. The ribbon was pleated and attached using Sticky Strip and the brad is from the Antiques Brads, I also topped it with a Pearl Jewel.
 

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Best Friends Forever

Ink: Peach Parfait, Calypso Coral, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz

Paper: Paisly Petal DSP, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush, Whisper White Textured

Accessories: Antique Brads, Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Cutter Kit, Sponges, Itty Bitty Punch Shapes (flower), Pearl Jewels, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Decorative Label Punch

Have a great day,

Happy Beach Day

It's Wednesday and that means another great challenge over at Stampin' Royalty! This week we have a theme challenge for you-SUMMER. So why not celebrate all that Summer has to offer by creating a card, 3d item or scrapbook page and join us at Stampin' Royalty this week:) 

For my Summer time project I decided to create a scrapbook page featuring some cute beach time photos that were taken last August when we went to visit my dad in Grand Bend.  This page has a lot of elements going on so I won't go into detail on everything but if you have any questions just let me know:) 

I LOVE pinwheels and they seem to be popping up everywhere in paper crafting right now. To create the one that i used on this page I used the Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper and punched out two pieces with the Popstage Stamp Punch. I snipped each corner diagonally towards the center(but not all the way) then folded and attached the alternating corners to the middle. Next I layered each one on top of each other and stuck a Pear Pizzazz Glimmer Brad through the middle. I then attached the pinwheel to a 1 3/4" Whisper White Circle.

 

 
 It is hard to tell in the picture but for the title I used the Colour Spritzer Tool and a Sahara Sand Marker to create little splatters on the letters so it looks like sand. The decorative edges along the bottom of the page are left over pices from cutting out the Fancy Favour Box Die for another project (I will post that one soon)

Supplies Used:

Stamps: You're a Gem, Fabulous Phrases

Paper: Just Add Cake DSP, Peach Parfait Textured 12x12, Poppy Parade 12x12 Textured, Marina Mist Textured,

Ink: Early Espresso, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Peach Parfait Poly Twill Ribbon, Pennant Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, White Baker's Twine, In Colour Glimmer Brads, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Big Shot, SU! Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlets Perfect Pennants Die, Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder, Circles #2 Die, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 3/4 x 15/16" Oval Punch

Have a great day,

 

It's the Little Vintage Things

Okay so I finally got the chance to stamp, YAY:) and I am happy to say that I have a sample for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch. We would love to have you play along we us and remember that a sketch is a great starting point to your project.

Here's my take on the sketch: 

So in true style, I veered a tad from the sketch, lol! But all of the main components are there. I started with a Naturals Ivory card base and detressed the edges using the Cutter Kit and the Distressing Essentials Kit. The Designer Series Paper is from the First Edition Pack and I used Tea Stain ink (from the Distressing Essentials Kit) and misted some water on the paper to really crumple it up and to help the ink spread and run. Next I took another piece of Naturals Ivory, inked up my Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder with Soft Suede and ran it through mt Big Shot.
   
I took another piece of First Edition DSP and using my Blender Pen and some Calypso Coral Ink I lightly coloured some of the flowers. The sentiment is from the You're a Gem stamp set and I punched it out with the 3/4 x 15/16" Oval punch. I finished it off with a tiny button brad from the Vintage Trinkets. For the label behind the se3ntiment I used one of the sizzlets from Lots of Tags and separated some Soft Suede card stock for a Faux sueded look. I also did the same thing to the pice of Calypso Coral card stock that is behind the tag. Lastly I spritzed everything on the card woith the Colour Spritzer Tool and my Soft Suede Marker.
Supplies Used:

Stamps: You're a Gem

Ink: Soft Suede, Tea Stain, Early Espresso, Soft Suede Marker

Paper: Calypso Coral, Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, First Edition Designer Series paper

Accessories: Cutter Kit, Destressing Essentials Kit, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Vintage Trinkets, Blender Pen, Lots of Tags Sizzlets, Vintage Wallpaper Impressions Folder, Big Shot, 3/4x15/16" Oval Punch 
 

 

Stampin' Up! Convention-Friends, Fun and Stamps!

Well my little one is finally feeling better, which means she is back to being her usual michieviuos self:) I am really hoping that I will find some time to stamp later today as I am starting to have withdrawls,LOL!

 I had a fantastic time while I was away and I have finally gotten the chance to edit some of my zillion photos that I took. Convention is always an unbelievable experience but this year was truly magical. I love the amazing inspiration that I come back with but I especially love meeting up with my friends that I only get to see at Convention.

 FRIENDS:


The amazing Di Gibbs-need I say more? This picture was taken on our last night in Salt Lake. A large group of us went out to dinner and my face is still hurting from all the laughing that we did. Di was Demonstrator of the Year #30 for the US.

 
Here I am with the famous BFF's Becky and Kim. Love these women and I am sad that I only get to see them once a year. (yes, Becky I will work on Leadership). Becky worked so hard this past year and placed in the Top US Demonstrators of the Year for the first time. I am so proud of her, she is such an inspiration!

 
Me and one super cool chick, Brandi Wiggins-Cote. This was the first time I had met Brandi but I have stalked, umm I mean admired her work for a long time. She was actually presenting at one of the Convention demo booths using the Big Top Suite. Fantastic projects.

 

Here are 3 Stampin' Up! ROCK STARS! Heather Summers, Melody Phyde (SU! Concept Artist) and Amy Yingling (The big cheese of the Concept Design Department-sorry don't know her exact title, but she is phenomal and I want her job,lol!) Heather and I "met" online 3 years ago (oh my gosh that sounds like we are dating!) and I finally got to meet her in person at my first Convention 2 years ago. She is talented, inspiring and so giving that it was a true honour to be announced as an Artisan Winner with her this year.

 

 

Here are all of this year's Artisan Award Winners along with Shelli, Amy Swartz, Amy Yingling and Melody Phyde. This was taken right before we went to our special dinner-what an amazing night and an even more amazing group of women

FUN:

Me making faces-what else is new?! I figured Angela already posted this to Facebook so why not share it here? But, in all seriousness, what could be more fun then stamping and having a great time with your freinds! And this beautiful box is the Keepsake Christmas box project that you can recieve for FREE when you sign up as a demonstrator. I would LOVE to have you join my Inking LifeTeam! Plus until July 31st there is a special Starter Kit for only $119

 

Okay so I may get a little flack for sharing this photo, but doesn't this just scream fun? This is Heather Klump another one of this years Artisan Award Winners and she is all about fun, it was so great to meet her. It seemed that no matter where Sandra and I went we kept running into her (we weren't stalking, honest:)

  
And I just had to stop this demonstrator Leann Skinner and take a picture of her amazing hat. Just look at all those fantastic flowers! 

STAMPS:

Best Friends Forever is one of the stamps sets that we received with our Convention Bag. There were tons of awesome display boards showcasing the stamps sets that we were given.
 

  

 Raining Flowers was another set that we received. You can click on the photos to view them larger.

  
And this is the other set Easy Events. I would show you my Make and Takes using all of these sets, however they have yet to be assembled:)

And here are a few of my favourite scrapbook pages from the general boards:

  

  

   

And lastly two of my favourite display boards from the demonstration booths. Both of these product suites are so different, but I absolutelty LOVE them both! They totally scream ME (hey, does that mean I have a split personality?!):

The Big Top Suite Board designed by Brandi Wiggins-Cote:

 
and the Bella Chateau Suite Board Designed by Fran Sabad:

 
 
 Now if you read through all of my rambling thank you, if not and you just scrolled through the photos thank you too! To sum up Stampin Up's Convention it really would be these three words; Friends, Fun and Stamps. You see SU! is not just about stamps, paper, ink and making pretty cards, it is about the friendships we make and the time that we share doing something that is fun and creative.  My life is truly blessed by my wonderful family but I am equally as blessed by all that Stampin' Up! has brought into my life:) and I just had to share.

 

Wisteria Wonder Thinking Of You SR#81

Well I am slowly getting back to the swing of things but I still have very little done due to my youngest being sick:( I did take her to the Dr. this morning and it looks to be Strep Throat so I am hoping that she will now be on the mend. There is just so much I want to do and share that I learned at Convention so hopefully I will get to stamp something new soon.

Today is Wednesday so that means it's time for another great challenge at Stampin' Royalty. This week we have a sketch challenge for you to try. I actually created this one so hopefully you find some time to stamp and play along:)

Here's my card:

I had yet to actually play with some of the new In Colours and purple is really not one that I gravitate to but it is always fun to challenge my own creative style. Plus I am not that great at watercolouring, so I really challenged myself on this one, lol! I used Wisteria Wonder for the card base and wheeled it with the Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel and matching ink, then sponged the edges of the card.  The So Saffron DSP is from the Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper and I matted it on to Concord Crush.

 For the main image I used the beautiful On The Grow stamp set and watercoloured it with several different ink pads and my Aqua Painter. I again sponged the edges then matted the circle on a Pool Party flower that had been die cut using the Island Floral Die and my Big Shot . I only cut out one flower but used my Paper Crimper to break down the fibres in the card stock then peeled it apart to create two "sueded" pieces. I love how this creates softness and texture.

 
Supplies Used:

Stamps: On The Grow

Ink: Pool Party, Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeaide, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Black Stazon

Paper: Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Watercolour Paper, Just Add Cake DSP, Pool Party

Accessories: 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Pearl Jewels, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Big Shot, Island Floral Die, Sponge, Aqua Painter, Pear Pizzazz Poly twill Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch.

The Amazing DAZE of Convention

Wow what a whirlwind these last few weeks have been. I apologize for not posting these last few weeks but life has gotten crazy busy and I was trying to get everything organized on the home front before leaving for the Stampin' Up! Convention.

What an amazing Convention it was! Stampin' Up! always knows how to put on an amazing event but this was truly spetacular. Unfortunately I came home to a very sick little 4 year old with a 102 fever, so I have yet to go through all the 100's and 100's of photos that I took while I was away. I do have a few to share with you tonight and hopefully I will be able to post more later this week when I have a little more time to fill you all in on this amazing experience.

Here I am infront of my Artisan Award projects. What a humbling experience it was to see my projects displayed next to so many phenomenal projects. All of the Convention display boards were fantastic and I was as always, inspired by the fantastic talent of my fellow demonstrators. I kept asking some one to pinch me because I could not believe I really had won. The competition is fierce and their are so many crazy talented demonstrators that are truly deserving. Again I am just so grateful that this was my year to win. I also want to thank those of you that took the time to stop and congratulate me:), it was a pleasure meeting all of you.

 
This photo is of the beautiful items that greeted us on the table when we arrived for our private dinner with Shelli (CEO and Cofounder of SU!). We also got sit with two amazing Concept Artists (Amy and Melody) as well as Amy Swartz ( Vice president of sales and marketing and her adorable Italian husband) and of course Shelli's husband Sterling. I truly can not express in to words how unbelievable this evening was. I feel truly blessed to chosen this year as an Artisan Award Winner. It was very overwhelming to be considered "good enough" to be in the company of the other 9 winners as I find all of them to be insanely talented, and I feel extremely blessed to have gotten to know them better.

We had a swap at the dinner and this was the card that I made, although trust me it pales in comparison to the amazing projects that I recieved in return. We even got to swap with the Concept Artists!
 

Well I have a cranky and tired little peanut to put to bed and a DR.'s appointment to take her to tomorrow.

 Have a great night,