A New Ink on Life

Artisan Award Winning Project #3 Blog Hop Day 3

 
Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying the hop so far. We have been having so much fun sharing our projects with you and I just want to say thank you to all those that have visited my blog and also for all the sweet comments. Today's project that I am sharing is the first card that I made for the Artisan Contest. Funny story is that I had originally created it for a weekly online challenge that was a flower themed chellenge. After I made the card I decided that I really liked the way it came together so I put it a side for one of my entries. You should have arrived here from the talented Laura Mellinger's blog, and if not there is a full list of all of the blog's at the end of this post:)

 Now I very seldom use Whisper White as a card base, and rarely leave so much "white" space on my projects. However this card just seemed to work. When I sat down to make it I knew I wanted to use some of the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper (as I had it for almost a year and hadn't used very much of it:) The flower was cut out using the Big shot and the Fun Flowers Die from Pumpkin Pie Card stock, I then misted it with water and crumpled it up a little. The stamped image in the center is from the Just Believe set, it was stamped in Baja Breeze then punched out, and of course I had to add a little bling. The strip of Real Red on the bottom had been cut out using the Tasteful Trim Die and I really like how the points work so well with the zig zags in the DSP.

I also decorated the inside to match. The sentiment and butterfly are from the Cottage Garden set, I just love brown and orange together.

Supplies used:

Stamps: Just Believe, Cottage Garden

Ink: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper white, Early Espresso, Real Red Textured,
 
Accessories: Big Sot, Fun Flowers Die, Tasteful Trim Die, Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Pear Pizzazz Poly twill Ribbon,  Corner Rounder Punch, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 Circle Punches

Thanks for visiting and be sure to check out Heather Stevens and her amazing project!

And here is the list and order of the full hop:

1. Connie Collins  
2. Sandra Farrell
3. Heidi King  
4. Heather Klump   
5. Cheryl LeFore   
6. Laura Mellinger
7. Jennifer Picard    
8. Heather Stevens       
9. Summer Stone    
10. Heather Summers   

Have a great day!

 

Artisan Award Winning Project #2 Blog Hop Day 2

 

 

So today is the second day of our tour through this years Stampin' Up's Artisan Award winning projects. It has been so fun to see pictures of everyone's projects upclose and to read a little bit about each of them. If you are following a long on the hop you should have arrived here from the very talented Laura Mellinger's blog and if not don't worry I have a full list of all the blogs at the end of this post. Today I decided to post the first project I created for the Contest this year, a scrapbook page of my youngest daughter. As I mentioned yesterday I find scrapping the easiest to do and I actually had all 3 of my pages completed over a month before the contest deadline (this was huge for me:), now my 3D items well that another story for another day,lol!

  
 When I took this photo last halloween I knew I would just have to scrap it! I just wish I had taken better pictures of the page before I sent it off.

There are lots of little details on this page. The base is an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of Soft Suede card stock, I then layered on Rose Red and some Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper. I peeled back the top right corner and inked up using a Early Espresso Marker, just a few of the words from one of the sentiment stamps from Sense of Time (it says "Hope for Tomorrow"). The 2 DSP strips are also from the same pack.

 

 I didn't actually create a large title for my page as I wanted all the elements and the photo to be the main focus. I used the sentiment from Butterfly Prints as the "title" with the main emphasis on the word love. To do this I stamped it twice, once in Early Espresso (punching it out with the Decorative Label Punch) and once in Rose Red (punched out using the Jewerly Tag Punch). I then sponged the edges with Soft Suede.
 

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Butterfly Prints, Sense Of Time

Ink: Rose Red, Early Espresso Ink and Marker, Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette

Paper: Soft Suede Textured, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Decoraticve Label Punch, Jewlery Tag Punch, Butterfly Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Antique Brads, Victoria Crochet trim, Pearl Jewels, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch.
 

And I just have to share one last photo off my sweet girl that was also taken that day.......

 I think the photo says it all!

Now be sure to check out Heather Stevens and her amazing project! And remember to come back tomorrow evening to see another one of my entries.

Here is the list of all of this years winners and the order of the hop

1. Connie Collins  
2. Sandra Farrell
3. Heidi King  
4. Heather Klump   
5. Cheryl LeFore   
6. Laura Mellinger
7. Jennifer Picard    
8. Heather Stevens       
9. Summer Stone    
10. Heather Summers   

Have a great day!

Artisan Award Winning Project #1 Blog Hop Day 1

 
Welcome to the Stampin' Up!  Artisan Award Winner's Blog Hop. I know each one of us is super excited to share our projects with you and we all feel so very blessed to be choosen as this years winners. If you are following the hop you should have arrived here from Laura Mellinger's blog, if not there is a full list of everyone's blogs at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy our projects, we had a lot of fun (and maybe a little stress:) creating them. We will be sharing one project a day for the next 10 days.

For those of you that may not know what there Artisan Award is, it is a creative contest that is open to Stampin' Up! demonstrators across the US and Canada. SU! holds it once a year and if you are a demo I strongly encourage you to enter, I find it really helped stretch me creatively and I certainly learned a lot a long the way (like it is NOT a good idea to leave things to the last minute and the cost of overnighting a parcel via UPS from Canada to Utah is ridiculous!) You must submit 5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages and 2 3D items.

I have decided to share one of my cards first.

 When trying to come up with designs for my projects this year I really tried to plan out my cards. Truth be told I found coming up with 5 unique cards that showcase several different styles to be a challenge. I will be the first to admit that card making is not where I think I excel, I definately find scrapbooking and projects with photos in them come easiest to me. With that in mind I actually sketched out some ideas ahead of time. Sometimes the sketches worked out, sometimes not so much, lol!

Here is the inside:

 
The base of this card started out as a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 Square (I think, didn't write down all the measurements) of Daffodil Delight Textured Card stock. The Designer Series paper is from the now retired Play Date Pack. I freehand cut the rays for the sun and the scallops along the buttom were created with the Tasteful Trim Die, I then used the Small Heart Punch to create hearts "holes"in each scallop. The Polka Dot Real Red strip is from the Play Date Quick Accents. The clouds of course were created using the super versatile Cupcake Punch. For the inside of the card I freehanded some hills by cutting the DSP with my Paper Snips and the little strip is also from the Quick accents. 

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, Hope Happens

Ink: Early Espresso Classic Ink and Marker

Paper: Daffodil Delight Textured, Whisper White, Play Date DSP and Quick Accents

Accessories: Itty Bitty Buttons, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Small Heart Punch, Paper Piercer and Matt pack,  Circle Punches, Cupcake Builder Punch, Paper Snips, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim Die, Corner Rounder Punch, Itty Bitty Buttons

 Now be sure to check out Heather Stevens  amazing project! Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out another one of my entries.

Here is the list of all of this years winners and the order of the hop

1. Connie Collins  
2. Sandra Farrell
3. Heidi King  
4. Heather Klump   
5. Cheryl LeFore   
6. Laura Mellinger
7. Jennifer Picard    
8. Heather Stevens       
9. Summer Stone    
10. Heather Summers   

 

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.

 

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,