Fab Friday!

Hi stampers!  It's finally here, the debut of the Fab Friday Challenge Blog!  The design team and I are so excited so make sure to leave them all some love as they've worked very hard!!!!  If you haven't checked them out already please click the link up there and have a peek.  They are FABULOUS!

We will be keeping the challenges open for about a week and a half so you have a little bit of extra time to play!

So up this week is a sketch challenge:

And here is the little card I came up with:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Wonderfall, distressed dots
Paper:  Very vanilla, cajun craze, midnight muse, orchard harvest DSP
Ink:  Cajun craze, midnight muse
Accessories:  dotted scallop border punch, rich regals buttons

I kept it simple and pretty true to the sketch and I've been in a fall mood lately even though my cards haven't been very fall-ish....if I actually had time to make many this past weeks with work, ha!  I think I am ready for leggings and sweaters and boots though!  Oh and comfy cozy sweatshirts!  Anyone with me?  I've had enough of this heat!  Oh and the sentiment is from a retired wheel that I cut up...the name escapes me at the moment but sometimes you need just the right greeting and this one was it!

Anyway, head on over to the Fab Friday blog and play along with us!

Happy stamping!

HSS 133

Hi stampers and happy Tuesday!  It's time for a new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  This week is a super fun challenge....pom pons!!!!

How fun! I've got to say it's been a while since I used a pom pom or pom pon....which is it???  LOL!  But they are all the rage right now!

My project isn't very fancy but I think it's cute!  As you may know I love Christmas and collect Christmas ornaments so I made my own pom pom ornament with our new sweater trim.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  More merry messages
Paper:  Whisper white, silver glimmer
Ink:  Cherry cobbler
Accessories:  Hole punch, linen thread, gumball green sweater trim

I think next time I might need to make it a little more fuller and I think I may add a round tag instead of a banner tag but I still think it turned out cute.  I think it's kind of rustic looking which I like.  This may be a cute project to make with kids!  And it's going to look super cute on the tree....which will be up before we know it, eeeekkkk!!!!

Now head on over to the challenge site and see what everyone else is doing with their pom poms:-)

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday - Freshly Made

Hi stampers!  How can it be Monday already?  Where did the weekend go?  I ended up having the weekend off which was nice so I went shopping on Saturday but by the time I did that I ran out of time to stamp.  I did get a few things made this afternoon but wasn't too productive....at much of anything, lol!  Oh well.....

But I did get a card done for this sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:

And it just happened to turn out to be a mailable card so yay!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Toxic treats, spooky bingo bits
Paper:  Very vanilla, basic black, howlstooth & scaringbone
Ink:  Basic black, basic gray, tangerine tango
Accessories:  Circle punch, finishing touches edgelits, spider web embossing folder

I've really got to get a cute watermark made on my mac!  This one is fugly:-)  Anyway, it doesn't show too well in the photo but the card is actually very vanilla.  Looks more white in the photo.  And I know there are only four circles and not five but that's my interpretation of the sketch, hehe!  Hope you like it!

Happy stamping!

Busy Cake

Hi stampers!  Have you ever been in the middle of making a card and hate it???  Well this was me and this card last week.  I had wanted to use this DSP pattern for a few weeks as I thought it would make a great background but just couldn't make it work.  So, after hating it and being frustrated I just quit working on it and went to bed:-)  And when I came back to it a day or two later I ended up coming up with something that I loved!  I need to remember to just walk away the next time something isn't working out like I want it to!  It IS a bit busy but I like it since I kept everything else pretty simple.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Make a cake, sweet essentials
Paper:  Whisper white, baja breeze, summer starfruit, midnight muse, patio party
Ink:  Primrose petals, midnight muse
Accessories:  Circle and scalloped circle punches, basic rhinestones

I haven't made much of anything this week with school starting and getting out of football practice pretty late and then still needing to work out as well.  I've tried to stamp but I've just been tired.  And it's just easier to THINK about stamping and cruise Pinterest, ha! I did just get my box of FREE stuff from my Artisan Finaliset shopping spree!  So, I'll have to try to ink that stuff up this week and weekend!  It was so hard to decide what to get for free.  I had to make "it count", ha!!!!!  Anyone else have a hard time picking free stuff???

Happy stamping!

Wednesday Wow!

Hi stampers!  I have a real wow project for you today....and a video!  Yay!  This card was inspired by a card in our monthly demonstrator magazine.  Stampin' Success (the mag) is just ONE of the fabulous benefits of being a demo!  They even post a couple of videos every month to go along with the magazine.  Add that to Stampin' Connection, SU's online forum for demos and you have a TON of ideas and inspiration!  There is still time to sign up and get $125 worth of product for just $99 AND the free Halloween printer's tray kit!  The kit is only available until August 31!  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!  Now onto the project...which I was in LOVE with as soon as I saw it in the magazine!

This is definitely not a mailable Monday card:-)

Here is a close shot of the flower.  It's actually made with a bunch of scallop circles from the new punch in the Holiday Catalog.  And with our new silicone craft mat it could not be easier to make!  You just need 15  (1-1/4") scalloped circles, the silicon mat, a button, and a hot glue gun.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Perfectly preserved
Paper:  Very vanilla, crumb cake, rose red, orchard harvest DSP
Ink:  Crumb cake, island indigo
Accessories:  1-1/4" scalloped circle punch, naturals buttons, white gel pen, linen thread, silicon craft mat, bitty banners framelits

Seriously, it's so easy to make!  It looks like it would be a pain but it's not, let me show you!



I hope you'll try your own scalloped circle flower soon!

Happy stamping!

HSS 132

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday!  It's time for another fun challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  This week is another one of my ideas.....herringbone!  You can check out a great tutorial on Splitcoast for some instructions.

I have to say I hadn't done this before the challenge but I can't wait to do it again!  It was easy and fun and I love the way it looks!  I had a hard time narrowing down ideas for what DSP I wanted to use but finally settled on the Halloween DSP since I love it and it's the next holiday coming up.  Now, I didn't use the same patterns in all four sections like the tutorial did but I like how mine came out!!!!  What do you think?

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Googly ghouls, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Very vanilla, basic black, tangerine tango, more mustard, howlstooth & scaringbone DSP
Ink:  Staz-on black, basic gray, more mustard
Accessories:  Window frames framelits, paper piercing pack, googlies

I cut my strips at 3/8" and tried to use a variety of patterns.  I think this would be really fun for a Christmas card too!  I do want to note that for this project I used the "outies" when I pierced my paper meaning that I actually used the back of what I pierced.  I do that when I want a little more interest and texture and think it just gives this project that extra something.

Now, head on over to HSS and see what the other girls have created then play along with us!  I can't wait to see what you make!

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday - Not the end

Hi stampers!  Well it's Monday which means my work schedule is changing yet again!  School starts today so that means I'm back in the clinic for half days and then spending my afternoons and evenings at the school.  At least two a day's are over...but that also means later hours with games and what not.  Oh well...I'll have to squeeze stamping in where I can!  I am looking forward to seeing my football kids play.  I sure hope we are little better than last year!

Anyway....I've got a mailable card today!  Haven't made very many of those lately it seems.  But I got the idea for this one late one night and it felt great to quickly create something when I hadn't seemed to be able to create all day long!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming with kindness, pursuit of happiness
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, pool party
Ink: Calypso coral, basic black
Accessories:  Apothecary accents framelits, argyle embossing folder

I got the color combo for this card off of something I'd pinned on Pinterest.  I had quit wasting time....I mean hanging out on Pinterest for quite a while but I'm back now...and pinning way too much stuff, lol!  But it's really helping me when I'm in a slump.  I can go find inspiration in a sketch, or a card, or a color combo.  It's super simple but I love it.  It's also a sympathy card and I prefer them to be on the simple side!

And please excuse my ugly watermark....I'm messing around with editing photos on my Mac and don't have a cute watermark yet.  I've been editing photos on my old laptop all last week because I'm still not really set up to do it on the Mac yet but I tried:-)  I'm SLOWLY figuring it out...but when I have time to figure stuff out I'd rather stamp, ha!

Happy stamping!

Fresh Snowflakes

Hi stampers!  Well the Artisan finalist blog hop is over so it's back to my regular posts.  Weren't all the projects just so fabulous???  I can't wait to see all the winning entries too soon when they do their hop!  They have already started posting their design team stuff last week!  So many pretty things!!!!

So I'm back today with a challenge.  I was able to create quite a few cards during the 10 day hop so I hope to have a lot to show you this week!  I've got a couple of videos coming up too if I can figure the editing software out on the mac!  The card I have today is for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge which I loved this week!  As I thought about this card I realized I had been wanting to case a card out of the holiday catalog so I just altered it to fit this sketch.  I think I'll probably go ahead and case the actual card at some point later but I love the way this one turned out!

Cute sketch, right?  Well I knew I wanted to use some glimmer paper and I had been needing to cut into my festival of prints DSP stack for like ever sooooooo.....

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Distressed dots, tiny tags
Paper:  Whisper white, certainly celery, garden green, silver glimmer, festival of prints DSP stack
Ink:  Certainly celery, garden green
Accessories:  Snow flurry bigz die, 3" circle bigz die, argyle embossing folder, jewelry tag punch, cherry cobbler baker's twine, large pearls, basic pearls

Isn't it FAB?????  I have to say it was a nice change of pace to use garden green and certainly celery since I haven't in quite some time.  I just love the colors and all the prints in that DSP stack!  The large snowflake is adhered with a glue dot and then the middle one is on a dimensional. The smallest one is also adhered with a glue dot and then there are small pearls around the smallest one.  I also tried out a lot of different colors and patterns on the embossed left panel but I finally settled on the argyle for a little variety.  I had tried more polka dots but it was too many dots, ha!

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 10

Hi stampers!  Well here it is, day 10 of our blog hop.  I can't believe how fast it's gone by and how many fabulous projects we've seen!  Speaking of fab-boo projects you should have just come from Tara's blog and her amazing project, no?  If not, no worries since we make an endless loop!

So I'm back with yet another baby project....I know, I know:-)  It just kind of worked out that way though that I did three baby themed things.  I may have baby on the brain but I swear I didn't intend for it to show through my Artisan entries.  I actually made this card because I had another baby card I had made with the same color combo that I kind of wanted to enter but since I'd made it long ago and already posted it to my blog I decided to try something new.

I used the simply scored diagonal plate to make a "baby quilt" background.  I can't tell you how many tries it took me to get it right, lol!  Me and that diagonal plate don't get along too well...I seem to get cross-eyed and score in the wrong track.  But, I think the card turned out cute and I think it's my favorite entry of all which is why I saved it for today, the last day of our hop.

I like the inside of this one almost as much as the front, hehe!  I wanted to make a little nursery scene since the little additions set is so cute!  The teddy bear is cut out and attached with a mini glue dot to give it a little dimension.

Now head on over to Connie's blog if you haven't already and check out her final gorgeous project!  And here's the list to the rest in case you missed any.

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

And now it's back to your regularly scheduled blog postings:-)  I've got quite a few new things saved up to share with you over the next few weeks.

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 9

Hi stampers!  Welcome to day 9 of our blog hop!  Wow, where has the time gone???  You probably just came from Tara's blog and her fabulous project!  Didn't you love it?  Don't worry if you didn't come from her blog though, we make a big loop so you can still see all the pretty pictures:-)

So, in the theme for the last three days I've got another baby project.  This was my other 3-D project and it's a cute little baby onesie that not only did I sew on but stamped on too!  I had seen some ruffled onesies on Pintrest and it got the wheels turning!  Most of them on Pintrest had ruffled bums but I wanted mine to be more like a skirt.  I can't thank my mother in law enough for helping me with this one too!  I'm so not a seamstress so she helped me big time!

Isn't it cute?  It turned out great although next time I think I'll spread my ruffles out a bit more.  So, besides the ruffles I added some eggplant ribbon (which I safety pinned on so it could be removed for washing) and I also stamped the giraffe from fox and friends and the word baby from pennant parade using craft ink (sadly craft ink has been retired).  I used my iron to heat set it.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for my very favorite project of my entires!  Now head on over to Connie's blog to see her awesome project! And make sure to check out everyone else's too!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 8

Hi stampers!  It's day eight already of our blog hop!  You probably just came from Tara's blog where you saw her fabulous creation!  If not, don't fret...we make a big loop so you can see everything!

I've got my final scrapbook page to show you today.  Now, the scrapbook pages were probably the hardest thing for me and not because I have a hard time scrapping (I just don't do it as often as I should) but because we couldn't use any pictures of ourselves to make the judging objective.  Well, without kids who/what the heck was I supposed to use? LOL!  But, my cousin had just had a baby and I had the cutest pictures of her so the timing could not have been better!  Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have my own baby to use when I enter next year!!!! :-)

This is my hybrid page where I combined MDS with traditional scrapping.  I added some wisteria wonder polka dot brads to the title and a very vanilla button with baker's twine to the journaling.  I wanted to keep it simple for obvious reasons...who would want to overwhelm that sweet face:-)  I pulled my colors from the photo, both the tone of the photo and then her cute hat...who cousin Mindy just happened to get her, hehe.  I used some overlays over the whole page to make it kind of soft/vintage although I can't remember all the exact downloads I used.  As for the photo I edited it on my phone using instagram.  I just love that app and it's GREAT for scrapping and making your photos look cool!   Ok, so now I want to go visit my cousin and hold little (or not so little anymore) Kyleigh:-)

And I have to laugh as I think about the last two projects I have for you....they are both baby themed...think I have something on my mind???  LOL!

Now head on over to Connie's blog to see what awesome creation she's got for you today! And here's the list in case you missed anything!  Come back tomorrow ok!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 7

Hi stampers!  And welcome to day 7 of the Artisan finalist blog hop!  You should have come from Tara's blog and her ca-yoot project!  Don't worry if you didn't start at the beginning though, we make a big ol' circle.

I've got another card today and it's another vintage-y one.  I wanted to do this one to pull out all the little tricks.  And what's funny is that it's purple.  I rarely use purple in my cards for some reason even though I really like purple in general!  But, concord crush and wisteria wonder went together so well didn't they?

So, onto the "tricks" on this card.  First, most everything is distressed and sponged.  The vanilla panel and the first edition paper were all distressed with the tea stain distressing ink.  Next, the butterfly was cut from textured card stock and then I clear embossed the floral image from elements of style over it.  I then took concord crush and wisteria wonder ink and an aqua painter and colored in the flowers.  The outer edges are also rimmed in the silver smooch accent ink...or wait...maybe it was gold, heck it's been so long I can't remember!!!  Oh...maybe it was just the regular iridescent one, ha!  Anyway, I then added a vintage brad and pearls and then FINALLY topped it off with those little concord crush flowers with rhinestone centers.  Oh but there's even more.....I also added a piece of the crochet trim which I rubbed the tea stain distress ink over first to dirty it up a bit.  Whew!   I think that's it:-)

I don't often do this many fancy little tricks to cards but I wanted this one to be pimped out so to speak and I think it worked without looking over busy or too fussy!

The inside was pretty simple...

And there you have it.  Make sure to come back for the remaining three projects!  I've saved a couple of my favorites for the end!  But before you go, head on over to Connie's blog if you haven't already done so and check out her fab project!  And here's our whole list if you get lost!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 6

Hi stampers!  It's time for day 6 of the Artisan Finalist Blog hop.  You've probably just come from Tara's blog, wasn't her project so cute?

I've got another card to showcase today.  This one is kind of an accidental entry.  In the middle of working on my projects I needed a gradation card for my cousin.  Now, she's not overly girly so I came up with this card which had just the right amount of pink and I really liked it.   The longer I looked at it sitting out on my desk and waiting for the weekend the more I loved it!  I finally decided that I might as well just make another one and enter it, ha!  So, that's what I did and here it is.

I think all of the supplies I used for this one are still current!  I love the footsteps in the background and the brads as well as the multi-colored sentiment!  I also love how bright and vibrant it was.  As I was trying to enter a variety of styles and color schemes I think this is just what my entries needed!

And I totally can't find the picture of the inside of this one but it wasn't all that exciting, ha!  It was just white on the inside with one of the flourishes on the sentiment panel stamped in one of the lower corners.  Hope you can forgive me:-)

Now, if you haven't already made the loop you can head on over to Connie's blog and check out her ah-mazing project for today!  And here's the whole list if you want to jump around or got lost!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Come back tomorrow!!  Happy stamping!

HSS 131

Hi stampers! Happy Tuesday!  It's time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  And if you're looking for the Artisan Finalist blog hop just scroll down one post!  I had to make this post today, sorry!  This week is a vintage theme!

I love vintage cards which is funny because when it first became popular a few years ago I was not a fan...and then I succumbed to peer pressure, ha!  This card was inspired by a sample in the new catalog.  I just love those tiny label punches and the matching stamp set! How cute!!!!!!????

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Lovely little labels, papaya collage
Paper:  Very vanilla baja breeze, midnight muse, summer starfruit
Ink:  Soft suede, baja breeze, midnight muse, summer starfruit
Accessories:  Neutrals glimmer brads, linen thread, vintage wallpaper embossing folder, little labels punch pack, apothecary accents framelits

Looks like a lot of fussy cutting but really that frame is pretty easy to cut out.  Other than that it was just lots of sponging.  One detail you may not be able to see really well is that I crumpled up a few of the little punches to make them look a bit more weathered.

Now head on over to HSS and see what the rest of the ladies came up with!  Then play along with us!

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 5

Hi stampers!  It's day 5 of our Artisan Finalist blog hop!  Halfway there!  This is sure taking a lot less time than it did to actually come up with and make the projects, ha!  You have probably just come from Tara's blog where you got to see her fabulous project!  Don't worry if you didn't though, because we make a big loop and you can find the whole list at the bottom of this post!

I have another scrapbook page today!  I wanted to share this one today because it features my awesome hubby....who let me buy a macbook yesterday:-)  I shouldn't say let me but actually encouraged me to, lol!  And he graciously said that if for some reason I don't like it, he'll take it off my hands, lol!  Big of him, no?  He's been talking about it for a while now and I finally said I'd consider it this week after playing around with MDS2 (which, OMG is SOOOO much faster on a mac, holy cow) and dealing with my old laptop being slow and locking up and what not.  So this page has a couple of pictures of him on our trip to Vegas last year.  He's so photogenic....hehe!  Too bad you can't see how HUGE that margarita is in the one picture!  He's about six feet tall and it was down past his knees!  Silly boy!

This is my one completely digital page.  There are no traditional elements on it.  I wanted to use the hexagons since they are very "in" right now and wanted to keep it simple too so I could focus on his cute smile!  I also love those candid fames and downloaded them (and I can't even tell you how many other downloads, lol) just for this project and the Artisan contest!    But I think making them look like polaroids is totally cute!  I miss polaroids!  They remind me of all the old pictures my granny used to take:-)  It's hard to see in the picture but the background paper is actually DSP, it's tiny dots.

Now it's time to head on over to Connie's blog if you already haven't been there since we're back to the start!  And just in case you get lost or started in the middle, here is the whole list.  Make sure you check them all out and come back again for the remaining 5 days!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

Mac attack

Hi stampers, this will be a quick post because one, I'm in the middle of my Artisan finalist blog hop....so if you're looking for the blog hop just scroll down one post.  I don't mean to make you hunt but I just HAD to do some challenges this week!  I needed some stamping stress relief from football:-)  You can also find all the blog hop posts by finding the "2012 Artisan Award" link over on the index.

And two, I got a Macbook!  Eek!  So all my free time is needed to figure the darned thing out, lol!  So, if you see crazy posts from me or wonky photos you'll know why!  Right now and probably all this week I'll be using both the Mac and my old laptop, lol!  Wonder if there will be room on my desk to stamp???  I still can't believe the hubby got it for me!!!!  I love him....and speaking of that very subject I think it's quite fitting that I just happened to make this card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge....he will be getting it this week!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Blue ribbon, family reunion
Paper:  Very vanilla, early espresso, crumb cake, world spectacular DSP
Ink:  Cherry cobbler, daffodil delight, island indigo, early espresso
Accessories:  Chevron embossing folder, circle punch, scallop circle punch

I just loved Jen's sketch and I'd been needing to ink up the blue ribbon set for weeks now!  Funny how it worked out that I happened to make the very card I could really use this week!

 And I know that this is Freshly Made Sketches but there is just the TEENIEST bit of sponging on the card....shhhhh...don't tell...but I just had to!  The center didn't look right without a light edging of daffodil delight.  I also wore in the No: part since he is No: 1!!!!

Ok, I'm off to figure out what I do instead of right clicking;-)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Award Blog Tour - Day 4

Hi stampers!  Can you believe it's day four of our blog hop already?  Where has the time gone?  Oh yea...for me it's gone by at football practice!  Ha!  At least I had today off!  It's 6 day work weeks for me until the end of October...that means a lot of stamping squished into my Sunday along with the grocery shopping and laundry!  So, you've probably just come from Tara's blog.  Didn't you just love her project????

Today I've got another card to share.  This one is also a different shape....I have to say I really like these long cards.  I went for more of a vintage look on this one just for some variety and I took my color combo from the attic boutique paper from the Occasions Mini.

The flower was made by punching a bunch of scalloped circles and spritzing them with water and then crumpling them up.  I also stamped on the framelit cut out but I stamped off once before so it would be a bit softer.  The ribbon is simply ruffled up on some sticky strip.  My favorite part is probably the little ribbon tails.  I miss that striped ribbon.  That's a piece that I cut in half long wise and frayed a bit.  Love doing that!  I have to say I wasn't thrilled with this card while I was making it but by the time it was done it wasn't half bad:-) 

And here's the inside...just a simple little detail:

Ok, now you're off to Connie's blog...or back to the beginning if you started there!  Don't worry if you didn't though...just keep clicking those links as we make one big circle!  Here's your map!
1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)
Make sure you keep coming back so you see ALL 10 projects/days!

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalis Blog Tour - Day 3

Hi stampers and welcome the the third day of the Artisan Finalist blog tour!  You may have just come from Tara's blog....wasn't her project fantastic....but don't worry if you didn't...we make an endless loop so make sure to check out everyone's entries!

In honor of the third day I'm sharing one of my 3-D projects today!  We have to submit 5 cards, 3 scrap pages and 2 3-D items.  Now, I know most people say they struggle with the 3-D submissions the most....and I did too but for a slightly different reason...I couldn't decide what to enter....I had too many ideas, lol!  I really like doing 3-D items, especially home decor stuff and now with Pintrest I had SO MANY ideas!!!!  I have a list a mile long of things to make and thing to possibly enter next year!  I finally decided on doing a framed subway art though as subway art is HOT right now!  I used MDS and created a hybrid frameable.  Feel free to click on it to see it larger for more detail.

This was also my least favorite project in the end because I messed it up slightly.  I was in a rush (big surprise there) to get this done and printed and back to me so there wasn't time to fix it.  I actually had to pay a rush fee to get it here to me on time.  That ought to teach me for next time!  But as you can see in the picture some of the words and images are slightly cut off under the frame but live and learn...I know for next time now I guess.  So I was really extra surprised when I found out I was a finalist since I had "messed" this one up:-)  It's still cute though!

I used a LOT of downloads in this and just played around with colors and sizes until they were how I wanted them.  MDS is SO fun and SO great for this kind of thing!  However, I should have written down exactly what downloads I used because we had to include that information and I probably spent more time looking them up after the fact than I did creating the thing, lol!

 I added on a few little extras like the pearls, punched flower, brad, and rhinestones for a bit of extra fun!  I debated about what occasion to make this for and finally settled on a birthday theme because it was a bit out of the box and not just some fall or Christmas or other season/holiday that you would normally see subway art for.  How cute would this be out on a table for a birthday party or in the birthday girl's (or boys....) room the week of their birthday?

Well that's the end of the tour....unless you started in the middle in which case you're off to Connie's blog to start all over!  Her project is just the cutest!!!!  And in case you get lost here's the list!  And be sure to come back each day for the rest of the 10 projects!

1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 2

Hi stampers!  It's day two of the Artisan Finalist blog tour!  You probably just came from the super talented Tara's blog! Wasn't her project cute???  Now don't worry if you didn't come from her blog or you get lost on the tour....I'll have a list of all the stops at the bottom of the post!

Today I thought I'd show you my favorite scrap page from my entries.  This page is a 8 x 8 size and is a traditional scrap page.  I did one traditional page, one digital page and then one hybrid page so we'll start with the tried and true.  The reason it's my favorite page out of all three is because it features my momma:-)  She looked absolutely gorgeous at our wedding so I've been wanting to scrap this pic for a while now.  I chose the summer smooches paper because she loves bright colors and I knew she'd like it and her dress was purple and went with the colors perfectly!

Now, pay no attention to the date...I totally wrote the date on the journaling as 2012 instead of 2010...oops:-)  Anyway, I used a lot of different sets for the words and a lot of punches and dies for the flowers!  And I have to say my momma is all of these things!  :-)  Love you mom!

I have to laugh because my mom kept telling me I was going to win because of this page...because of her that is, ha!  She did keep telling me I was going to win and I didn't even dream of making the finals so I guess she might know what she's talking about some days!  I do feel bad for scaring her though....we were in Vegas when I got the phone call letting me know I was a finalist and I was crying when I called her to tell her the good news.  Oops:-)  Had to quickly reassure her they were HAPPY tears!  Oh and the other thing she told me (well texted me) after I sent her the photo of the finished page is that she wanted it, ha!  She was sad I had to send it off to Utah so I'll probably have to remake this one!  I should probably get to work on that!

Now keep on hopping over to Connie's blog if you haven't already and check out her cute project!  And if you started with Connie then you should have seen all of us!  But just in case you get lost here is a list of us hoppers:
1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)


Thanks for visiting and come back tomorrow for more projects!


Happy stamping!