Artisan Wednesday Wow - 07/31/13

Here we are ... on our very last week together as Stampin' Up's Artisan Design Team!  Holy smokes ... where DID this year go??? And OH HOW I LOVE SARAH SAGERT! As an artist and a friend ... she nails it EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! You MUST be sure to check out her FANTASTICALLY-FUN and CREATIVE card creation!!

This picture was taken on the BEST day!! When we all met each other last year at Stampin' Up's Convention, most of us really didn't know each other. After spending the whole year chatting on the phone, via email and on Facebook we have become life-long BFF's!!!

We started in the morning during the first day of Convention and had breakfast up the canyon at a lovely little place called Ruth's Diner (which is where we had the picture on this page taken). We spent time eating, laughing ... and just enjoying each other's company. Several of us spent more time during the day shopping ... and eating ... and laughing some more!! What a wonderful day!!!
Front row: Heather Summers, Jane Lee, Sarah Sagert, Cindy Beach, Erica Cerwin, Me
Back Row: Jeanna Bohanon, Heidi King, Marisa Gunn, Amy Bollman

I kinda feel like the burlap trim looks like a TREE (hahahaha!) ... and the "Friends" banner reminds me of a hammock ... but it is also indicative of the relaxed and fun nature of our friendships now. The friendships I made during the past year with these AMAZING women are by FAR the BEST thing about this year. Hands down ...'

Stamps: ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Set
Ink: Calypso Coral
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Whisper White, Brights Backgrounds Collection DSP
Accessories: Brights Designer Buttons, Brights Candy Dots, Linen Thread, 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon, Essentials Hardware Clips, Hexagon Punch, Small Oval Punch, Petite Pennants Building Punch, Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sewing Machine, 2Peas Rickety Font

And now? Check out the GORGEOUS scrapbook Amy Bollman did of her darling son ... she has inspired me on SOOO many levels this year. She is as smart, lovely and fun ... as well as artistic and talented!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 07/24/13

Convention was a WHIRLWIND!! And I am STILL whirling!!! But not too-much-so that I can't share a little with you! One more blog post after this one and our tenure as the 2012-13 Artisan Design Team will be officially "over" ... so glad I have made lifelong friendships that will NOT end just because our team commitment has passed! Sarah Sagert!! Did you just come from her blog??? OHMYGOSH!! She NEVER ceases to amaze me, that woman!! And she's just as lovely, sweet and kind as she is talented ... package deal!!

Here is the card I swapped with all of the Artisan Design Team Finalists at Convention ... holy sa-MOKES was THAT ever an awesome bunch of swaps ... and women!!! What a fun time we had!! Sooo excited for the new team and all of the adventures they have to come. It's going to be a GREAT year!! Be sure to stay tuned because they are gonna ROCK DA HOUSE!!

Stamps:  Six-Sided Sampler, A Dozen Thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry, Modern Medley DSP, Brights Patterned Paper
Ink:  Basic Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Hexagon Punch, Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon, Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon, Linen Thread, Silver Brad

Next on the hop??? The super-incredible Amy Bollman! I soooo love her style ... and her, too!!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 07/17/13

Hello, friends!! It's time for another Artisan Wednesday Wow!! (Sadly, we only have a few more left!!) You have probably just come from the fabulous-amazingly-and-talented Sarah Sagert's blog (if not, keep clicking the 'click here' button at the bottom of each post ... you'll follow it all the way around!)! I always love what she comes up with!

I am soooo happy to have a "definition" background stamp (it's been a while since we had one!)! And I have a feeling I will be using these hexagons for oh-so-many projects. It's fun how they match the Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, don'tcha think??

Stamps: Six Sided Sampler, Dictionary
Paper: Pool Party (Core'dinations and Cardstock), Soft Subltles Pattern Paper Pack, Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party, So Saffron
Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Subltes Buttons, Subtles Candy Dots, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Large Scallop Edgelits Die, Simply Scored

We have all been working like busy little bees ... this week is Stampin' Up's Convention!! It's soooo fun to be able to go and share your paper-crafty passion with 6,000 of your closet friends!! To be honest, I DO have a lot of friends who I ONLY get to see when we get together for this, so I AM EXCITED!!

Next Up? Amy Bollman! I am quite certain you will LOVE what she has created (I know that I always do!!)

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 07/10/13

Our last month as a "team" ... I sure have loved this experience! And I LOVE the wonderful ladies with whom I have had the privilege of working ... once again, Sarah Sagert outdid herself, don'tcha think?? As lovely and sweet as she is talented!

My name is Wendy and I have a washi tape addiction ... it's ta-RUE!! I have to STOP myself from putting washi tape on EVERYthing I make lately ... it's somehow just magical and lovely!! So I just HAD to add it to this card. It felt incomplete with out it!!

Stamps: A Dozen Thoughts
Paper: Whisper White,Brights DSP, Subtles DSP
Ink:  Bermuda Bay
Accessories:  Square Lattice Bigz Die, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Brights Buttons, Vanilla Coaster Board, Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Ticket Duo Punch, Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Hexagon Punch (to punch edge of "flag"), Dimensionals

Now it's time to move on to the wonderfully-talented and kind Amy Bollman ... another winner of a project!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 07/03/13

Welcome to another "Facebook" version of our Artisan Wednesday Wow!! (This is where we share the projects we have created for Stampin' Up's Facebook page ... which we do every month!). Did ya SEE Sarah Sagert's GORGEOUS dimensional card done with stencil paste??? LOVE IT!!

This month I spent a LOT of time thinking about what I wanted to do ... it took me a while to lay out the ENTIRE set of alphabet stamps onto my clear block, but I was DETERMINED ... and happy with the result!! (I'm sending this card to my nephew in Spain ... kinda girlie, yes ... but it should make him smile!!)

Stamps: Sketch Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Set
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, 2013-2015 In Color DSP
Accessories: Brights Candy Dots, Baked Brown Sugar 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Ribbon, Linen Thread, 3/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Stampin' Distress Tool, Hearts Collection Framelits, Large Scallop Edgelits Die

And DID I MENTION that I have been chosen as a FINALIST in Stampin' Up's 2013 Artisan Design Team contest? HOLY SMOKES!! HOORAY!! I will find out at Convention on July 19th if I am going to be one of the 10 design team members ... this has been SUCH an INCREDIBLE experience. I feel as if lightning has struck TWICE!! HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY!

Now it's time to check out Amy Bollman's BEAUTIFUL scrapbook layout of her family! AMAZING!!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 06/26/13

Happy Artisan Wednesday!! Aren't you just LOVING what all of my Artisan friends have been sharing lately?? And if you just came from Sarah Sagert's blog ... WOW!! LOVELOVELOVE!!! Sadly, we are all entering the home stretch as the 2012 Artisan Design Team. Cannot BEGIN to tell you how much of a privilege this has been ... especially working with and getting to be BFF's with all the other girls on the team! LOVE them ALL!

I'm finding myself having "butterfly flashback" lately!! After having done my own "Follow the Butterflies" challenge a few years back (link and slideshows are on the left-hand sidebar of my blog here!), I kinda felt like I had been there/done that!! Apparently I am getting over that!! (And can I say, for the record, that I am absolutely ADDICTED to the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set AND the Baked Brown Sugar ruffled ribbon???) Couldn't help myself but make me another little butterfly card. It is what it is ...

Stamps: Mosaic Madness, Gorgeous Grunge, Really Good Greetings
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Whisper White, Brights Patterned DSP, In Color Patterned DSP
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red
Accessories: Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Mosaic Punch, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, 1" Square Punch, Baked Brown Sugar Ruffled Ribbon, Canvas Creations, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Neutrals Candy Dots

Now, on to my Canadian neighbor, Amy Bollman (I am actually "sandwiched" between TWO Canadians on this blog hop ... cool, eh?)!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 06/19/13

We are getting closer and closer to finishing up our year as the Artisan Design Team (sniff, sniff!) ... but still have over a month left of beautiful things to share. Like Sarah Sagert ... another homerun from THAT girl!

More fun things to share with y'all this week! Can we all say MOSAICS??? I have been giddy-over-the-mood exciting about this mosaic punch/stamp/embossing folder combo since the minute I laid eyes on it!! I mean ... WHO WOULDN'T???? SOOOOOOO fun and cute!!! I see lots of fun this being created by me with this in the future ...

Stamps: Mosaic Madness, Really Good Greetings
Paper: Whisper White, In Color Patterned Paper
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Cherry Cobbler
Mosaic Punch, Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Coastal Cabana Ruffled Ribbon, Essentials Hardware Clips, Brights Candy Dots, Dimensionals

And keep on clicking to see even MORE brilliance from Amy Bollman!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 06/12/13

It's Wednesday again and YOU know what THAT means!! It's Artisan Wednesday!! Hooray!! Sarah Sagert's creation this week was TOP NOTCH, was it not???? LOVE that girl!!



This week we are "playing" with products featured in Stampin' Up's new catalog (and who doesn't LOVE new, right??) As we are approaching Father's Day this weekend, I thought it would be a great idea to get a jump start on my card (really missing my own sweet dad, but grateful to have my father-in-law dad!). This was one of those instances where I kept adding and adding and adding ... fearful that each new addition would be the one that was "one too many" ... I finally stopped where you see it now, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!! (See Jane Lee??? I splattered and used Washi Tape and EVERYTHING!!) My Artisan friends are REALLY rubbing off on me (in a good way!)!!

Stamps: ABC 123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper: Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
Ink: Smokey Slate, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Epic Day Washi Tape, Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon, Chalk Talk Framelits Dies, 3/4" Circle Punch, Linen Thread, Naturals Designer Buttons, Essentials Hardware Clips

Keep on clicking below to see what Amy Bollman has created. Always Amazing Amy!!!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 06/05/13 - and Blog Candy WINNERS!

I love our Artisan Wednesdays where we share on our blogs what we made to share on Stampin' Up's Facebook page for the month? Why?? Because the girls on the team TOTALY bring it MONTH after MONTH!! Once again, didn't Sarah Sagert just ROCK it?? Her card was AWESOME!! (Hence, confirming what I just said!)

This month I decorated a little gift-y box for a friend (which I REALLY think needs some CHOCOLATE in it, don't you??). I really ended up liking the filter paper a LOT more than I had originally anticipated that I would! It makes the PURDIEST flowers!!

Stamps: Amazing Family, Beyond Plaid
Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, White Creped Filter Paper
Ink: Early Espresso, Night of Navy
Accessories: Kraft Gift Box, Naturals Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Blossom Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Simply Scored Tool, Sponge

AND ... without FURTHER adieu ... HERE are the two lucky winners of last week's blog candy (I will be mailing these out to y'all as soon as you send me your addresses ... you can click on the "E-mail Me" link on the sidebar to the right):

Eli Harlan
Lynn (no last name, but your comment said, "I would never have thought to do that with paper.")

YAY!!

Up next is the BEAUTIFUL card made by my BEAUTIFUL friend, Amy Bollman!

Artisan Wildcard Wednesday!! - 05/29/13

This week we are doing something NEW and FUN!! KEEP READING 'cause you won't wanna miss this (it involves getting something for FREE)!!

Wasn't Sarah Sagert just plain ol' FANTABULOUS (again??) LOVE her style!!



I decided that, with my newly-painted front door, I needed to make a new wreath (the front door got a second coat of paint today, so I am still waiting for it to set AND for the weather to clear up so that the lighting is decent ... had to use an INSIDE door!)!

This was VERYVERYVERY easy to make! I tore squares of DSP that were approximately 3" square (don't worry about being exact ... I was WAY off on some of these!)! I pushed my finger down into the center of each square and pulled the sides up to form a "cup" of sorts ... then I hot-glued each square onto a foam circular wreath form ...

See?? Pretty cool, eh? This took hardly ANY time at all. Not much more than an hour!! FUN, EASY and QUICK!! My kinda project, I tell ya ... (I could've told y'all that I slaved over this for HOURS, but I decided to tell ya the truth!) The package of DSP has 12 sheets in it (two of them were clear sheets with a printed design, so I didn't use those at all) ... I tore up 10 of those sheets to use for the wreath. Didn't use ALL the pieces (and I didn't go back through and count what was left!), but I would say that this wreath takes about 10 12"x12" sheets of DSP ...

Stamps: NONE
Paper: Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper
Ink: NONE
Accessories: Foam Wreath Form, Glue Gun, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding

Now for the FUN part ... this week, for everyone who leaves a comment on this post (and on any of posts by the Artisan Design Team members who are participating in this blog hop!), you will entered in a drawing to WIN something FREE and FANTASTIC (aka "blog candy" ... either product or a handmade item from one of the Artisans! I will be giving away NEW, UNUSED product)! FOUR chances to win from me:

* LEAVE A COMMMENT below; AND/OR
* Repin THIS PIN; AND/OR
* Share THIS POST on Facebook (friend me if you can't see it!); AND/OR
* Place an online order with ME via THIS LINK

All comments, repins, shares and orders have a deadline of MIDNIGHT (MST) MAY 31!! Don't miss out!!

Check back on my blog THIS WEEKEND and I will post the winner(s)!!! I may actually pick more than ONE, so be sure to ENTER!!

Please note ... each Artisan is doing their OWN giveaway with their OWN specific rules, so be sure to read-read-read!!

Cool beans, right??? Because WHO doesn't like FREE STUFF?????

More brilliance coming your way via Amy Bollman! Check it out!!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 05/22/13

It's Wednesday again!! And that means the Artisans have been HARD at work once again!! Didn't you just LOVE Sarah Sagert's wonderful creativity??? She is one of those people I truly admire and respect ... that woman ALWAYS comes up with the BEST ideas!!


I've always struggled with "dude" cards (as you know!) and "plain and simple" cards. So I gave myself a challenge today to try to do BOTH!!! I had to keep asking my daughter, "Is this ok?" I always feel like I need to add more ... but, in reality, I feel like I kinda like this one, anyway!

Stamps: Amazing Family
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry DSP, Neutrals Patterned Paper
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Antique Brad, Natural Ribbon Trim

Onward and upward ... to someone ELSE whose talent always puts me in awe ... Amy Bollman!!

Artisan Wednesday Wow - 05/15/13

Welcome Wednesday Wow Watchers!!! (How's THAT for alliteration???) If you've just arrived here from Sarah Sagert's blog I'll bet you are STILL smiling!! That girl NEVER ceases to amaze me!!




My card this week as a "companion" card, of sorts, to the one I posted LAST week for the Artisan Wednesday Wow Blog Hop. Last week, I focused on making a card for mothers ... this week, as turnabout it fair play, I am showcasing a card for fathers ... and bowties just make me smile (seeing as I have a son who is a dyed-in-the-wool bowtie wearer!). They make me happy ... what can I say??? It is what it is!!

Stamps:  Dapper Dad, Amazing Family
Paper: Not Quite Navey, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Parker's Patterns DSP
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy
Accessories:  Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Not Quite Navy Taffeta Ribbon, 1" Square Punch, Sewing Machine

Next stop is on Amy Bollman's blog!! More smiling to be had, I'm sure!!