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!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour Day 1

Hi stampers!  Well it's finally time to share my Artisan finalist projects!  And not only can you see mine but you can see eight of the other nine finalist's amazing projects too!  If you're following the hop then you just came Tara (Murphy) Bougoin's blog and wasn't her project awesome?  Don't worry if you didn't start at the beginning though because we make an endless loop so you can see all the projects.  And keep coming back!  There will be 10 days of hopping:-)

The first project I'm going to share is the first thing I made for the contest.  I thought that was fitting when I was trying to figure out what to show you first!  I just kind of decided to enter all of the sudden once I saw they changed the rules and there was a chance to be on a design team but I had to wait for the rules to post which took a while.  I guess I work better under pressure, ha!

So, for this card I wanted to use a lollie since they are so "in" right now and I think this is a fun and cheery card!  I also went for a different size than I usually make.  Looking back at past winners I saw that they made a variety of different card sizes so I decided to go square on this one and it fit my medallion well. I like this card because the lollie gives it a wow aspect but it's still rather clean and simple which of course is very me.  I wanted to make sure that all my entries were still "Mindy" cards!

It's hard to see in the photo but the sentiment is heat embossed in white.  For some reason I couldn't get it to show up well in the photo.  It's also on textured cardstock.  Have to say I miss that stuff...although I may have some hoarded...I mean saved;-)  I also added some extra special touches inside each of the cards for good measure:-)  Also something I had picked up on from past winners.  And I have to say while looking over past winners I was sure I'd never even make the short list.  So, if you're on the fence about entering or afraid to...just DO it!  You never know:-)  Here's the inside.

You will note that a lot of the supplies I've use are now retired...but they were current when I entered:-)  So, I'm not going to list my supplies since most are retired.  If you have questions though just let me know!

I'm last on the tour so if you started here or somewhere in the middle you can head over to Connie Collins blog and start all over!  Head on over and check out her gorgeous project!

And in case you lose your way here is a list of the other finalists in the hop!
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....or should I say hopping!