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Freshly Made Sketches #97

Freshly Made Sketches #97 published on 10 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #97

FMS Final 97-001I am so happy to bring you the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I am the sketch hostess this week and I hope you enjoy playing with us this week.  I actually used my sketch a couple of weeks ago to create swap cards for the Control Freaks swap.

FMS97 - Merry Little ChristmasWhen I got my new Holiday Catalog, one of the first sets that drew my eye was Merry Little Christmas.  I just love the variation of fonts!  It is designed to go with the Merry Little Christmas Simply Created Card Kit but I wanted to show that it can be used on its own too.  I paired it with another favorite, Season of Style Designer Series Paper Pack.  The best part about these packs??  They come with 24 double sided sheets of each design.  That means you can really use a good sized piece of DSP on a bunch of cards.  Love that!  I chose the candy striped piece and then used the polka dot scraps (back side of stripes) to create the little banner.  Quite an efficient use of the paper, if I do say so myself!  *smile*  I stamped the words in Cherry Cobbler ink.  Then I stamped again in Early Espresso, inking up only the “little” banner with a marker.  I cut them out and put them up on a Glue Dot.  An Early Espresso button tied with Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine finish it off.  I LOVE how the stripes of the twine go with the DSP!!

The design team has come up with an amazing variety of takes on the sketch.  I know you will love them all!  Make sure you stop over to see their fantastic work!

Tomorrow starts the Artisan Design Team 2013’s blog hop!  For 10 days, we will be showing you the projects we all submitted for the Artisan Award contest.  I am really looking forward to this.  We will all be sharing close-up pictures the details on our work. I hope you will join us!

Thanks for stopping in today!  See you tomorrow!

Stamp:  Merry Little Christmas; Paper:  Season of Style DSP Pack, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Neutrals Button, Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine, Dimensionals

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“Freaky” Hexagons

“Freaky” Hexagons published on 1 Comment on “Freaky” Hexagons

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the pictures of the boards of Convention that I shared last week.  I am always so impressed with the amazing amount of talent on display!!  Speaking of talent…I was lucky enough to be in a swap with the extraordinary Control Freaks!  Wow, what a stunning variety of cards I received!

Control Freaks Convention HexagonsFor my card, I wanted to show off the new Hexagon Punch and the Epic Day DSP.  I am so in love with both of these products!  I started with a Crumb Cake layer and used the splatter stamp from the introductory My Paper Pumpkin kit (Gorgeous Grunge would work beautifully here too).  Then I sponged the layer.  I added a little Crumb Cake ink to the doily and then added a banner layer out of this cool speckled print. A quick punch of three patterns with the Hexagaon and you have a super focal element.  They are just popped up on Dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from Six-Sided Sampler (the coordinating set with the punch) onto another of the prints from the DSP and slid the banner under a Vintage Faceted Button tied with Linen Thread.  If you want to see more of the swap cards from the Control Freaks, many of them are on display on this Pinterest board.

Now I have some awesome news for you!!  On Thursday, the Artisan Design Team 2013 will begin its blog hop of the winning projects.  Plan to sit back and be amazed for 10 days!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with another of my Control Freaks swaps which is also the Freshly Made Sketches card of the week.  I’m the sketch hostess and I can’t wait to show you.  Thanks for stopping by today.  I look forward to seeing you tomorrow and then for the following 10 days!  Have a great day!

Stamp:  Six-Sided Sampler; Paper:  Epic Day DSP, Crumb Cake; Ink:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede; Accessories:  Tea Lace Doilies, Hexagon Punch, Linen Thread, Sponges, Hey There Try It Kit (My Paper Pumpkin)

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Tag It

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One more day of the display stamper boards.  They really are amazing, don’t you think?  I also have some more 3-d displays to show you.  I suspect these are some of the Artisan contest entries since they are simply amazing (I know who one of the artists is so make sure you tell her how beautiful her project is!).  The boards for today use the Tag It set which is also the Ronald McDonald House Charities set this year.  Did you know that Stampin’ Up has donated over $1 million with the sales of these sets over the years!  Just another in the many ways that this company makes a difference!

Tag It 1 Tag It 2

Tag It 3 Tag It 4

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Beach project by Amy Jasper

3D 8 3D 9

This final project was made by Lisa Hensley of The Shabby Stamper.  You can see more details by clicking the link to her blog.

3D 7I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the sights of Convention!  Up next week, I have some pictures of new products and swaps!!  And yes, with any luck some new cards for you too!

Thanks for stopping in today!  Hope your weekend is great!

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Gorgeous Grunge

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I have more pictures of the Convention boards today.  Again, these are display stamper pieces created by some wonderful stampers.  The stamp focus of the day is Gorgeous Grunge (love this set!!) plus some more amazing 3-d items.  As before, I’d love to know if any of these are yours!  Click on the picture to see it larger.

Gorgeous Grunge 1

Gorgeous Grunge 2

Gorgeous Grunge 3

Gorgeous Grunge 4

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Today starts my check ride and training so I’m off to our Training Center in Denver.  Didn’t get any new stamping in this week but I look forward to some after this training is over!!  I did get my very first Artisan box and WOW!!!  I had to close it and put it in the other room so I could study, lol!

I’ll be back to tomorrow with some more boards and projects.  Thanks for stopping in!  See you soon!

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Hello Lovely

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I thought it would be fun to share some of the boards from Convention today.  The display boards are always a big hit and these are some of the ones with cards made by display stampers.  Rita Wright and Amy O’Neill are among the talented designers featured!  Up today, Hello Lovely and a 3-D item display!  Click on any picture to see it larger.

Hello Lovely 1

Hello Lovely 2

Hello Lovely 3

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Hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I did!  If anything on here is yours, please let me know!!  I’d love to see who created these beauties!  More tomorrow!

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Convention Highlights

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It might be a misnomer to call this the highlight post because for me, ALL of Convention was a highlight!!  Seriously…every minute was full of something amazing.  I got to hang out with my friends, see all the great new stuff that Stampin’ has coming our way and see my name in lights.  Pretty crazy!!  So I will start with the boards.  Here are my projects.  I’m not going into any detail because we are planning a blog hop with all of the Artisan Finalists.  I can’t wait!!!

Artisan 3D projects

Artisan board

 

And I have a picture of us up on stage.  I look forward to getting a copy that the camera man took since some of us were blocked a bit.

Artisans on stage

It was so fun hanging out with friends!  I have used pictures taken by some of them so I hope they don’t mind!

wendyjen
With Wendy Weixler
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With Brandi Diaz
With Brandi and Heidi
With Heidi Baks and Brandi Diaz
With Amy O'Neill
With Amy O’Neill
With Marla Reed and Mindy Backes
With Marla Reed and Mindy Backes

Oh, and then there is the stuff we got!  Seriously…a lot of stuff!!  Great stuff!!!  Especially now that it is home because that bag was heavy!!!

Convention HaulAnd this doesn’t include the swaps (WOW!!!) and amazing upline gifts!  I know I mentioned that I need to study so you can imagine how hard it is to focus when all of this is calling my name!  *smile*

I’ll actually have a card for you tomorrow.  We have a fantastic sketch from the remarkable Amy O’Neill.  You are going to love it!  Until then, have a great day!

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Thank You!!

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Artisan Finalist AnnouncementOk, I know the picture is a little dark but this is me when the 20 Artisan Finalists were announced at the Awards Night.  I do have some more pictures and will post as soon as I get them edited.

I am finally home and recovering from all the excitement of Convention!  Wow, what an amazing few days!  I cannot believe that it went by so quickly.  On the bright side, I actually slept in a little this morning…the first time in a couple of weeks!  I will say that the song lyrics “back to life, back to reality” have been playing in my head all day but I’m still enjoying just thinking about all the fun!

So for the thank yous.  I’m pretty sure that I have a list about a mile long but I really do want to make sure I get as many as possible.  First, my family!  I owe my husband, my boys, my mom and all of my family a huge thank you.  Without you, none of this would be.  They have allowed me to stretch this new and different set of wings and encouraged me to do so (albeit with funny and mocking Stampin’ Up songs in the house!).  I came home to find this last and most special Artisan prize.  I love my boys!!

1002871_10200930944649505_511147686_nThen I have to thank my friends who started stamping with me.  Anyone who has been a demonstrator has probably had a customer just like me.  I went to my first Stampin’ Up event basically kicking and screaming as a favor to a friend.  You see, I told them that I was not crafty and I don’t do crafty.  Yep….never let anyone get away with that one!!  Lisa, Christine and Candice, thanks for getting me into that first club!

My local customers…well, they are really simply my friends who stamp with me.  All of you inspire me and yes, put up with me making you tie lots and lots of bows.  I appreciate your humor and your never-ending support of my business!!

Now, the community of stampers.  My upline Brandi, my second level Lisa, my stamping friends over at Stampin’ Addicts, the FMS team, my former SUO Challenges team and all of you who follow this blog.  Stampers are the most kind and generous group of people that anyone could ever hope to meet.  There is just something that is deep in the DNA that makes them want to share!  The support I have had from so many of you has overwhelmed me and I am grateful beyond words.

I would be remiss if I didn’t add a shout out to United Airlines.  You see, when I signed up to go to Convention I didn’t have a schedule.  So, when the July flying schedules started coming out, the first thing that happened was that I was schedule for a check ride (flying test) the same weekend as Convention.  Another pilot switched with me to make it work. Three cheers for Brian!  Then the regular schedule came and I was supposed to work for 3 of the days.  I called my flight office and they managed to move days around to allow for the days off.  I know that airlines can seem impersonal but United really stepped up on this and I just want to thank them!

So the box.  Yes, we got a cool box as we walked off the stage!  Want to see what is in it??

Artisan box

Artisan box inside

The yellow box holds a specially designed bracelet that all the Artisan winners get.  The little box on the right has a back of card stamp with my name and the Artisan logo (yippee!!).  The card in the middle congratulated us and gave us all the info we need to know to get started.

Ok…this is really long so thanks for staying with me.  That check ride I mentioned, well it is this coming Friday so I will try to post more if I can.  I have a lot of studying to do (yep,  that song is still playing in my head).  Thank you so much for stopping in today.  I look forward to sharing all the projects I made for the contest with you.  I’ll post the pictures of my board tomorrow!  Until then, have a great day!

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Artisan Finalist Card Swap

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I am so excited to share some news from Stampin’ Up Convention.  Last night was Awards Night and the announced the Artisan Design Team.  I am humbled and awed to tell you that I am one of the ten members.  It has been such an incredible few days and I have lots to share when I get back.  Until then, I want to show you a card I made for a swap created for the 20 Artisan Finalists.  The cards I got in return are stunning!!

Artisan Finalist Swap 1I really wanted to make a Christmas card for this swap and decided that this beautiful leaf from Simply Sketched (hostess set) would be the way to go.  While this card has a lot of “white” space, it is in no way simple to make.  Especially not simple times 27!  I’ll give you the basics though.  I stamped the leaf with Early Espresso and then using a mask, stamped it again to get the leaves to layer properly.  I colored them with a blender pen using Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler ink.  Then the waterspots were added with Crumb Cake ink (stamped off) and the stamp from the intro My Paper Pumpkin kit (the spots from the new Gorgeous Grunge would be great here but I won’t get it until Convention).  The sentiment from More Merry Messages seemed perfect.  That set is a carry over and is still available!!  Then I pulled out my distressing tool and distressed all the edges.  After that, I went back and sponged all the distressed edges with more Crumb Cake ink.  I created shabby bows with Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and tied them up with Linen Thread and Vintage Faceted Buttons.  Of course it would not be complete without the inside so:

Artisan Finalist Swap 3I stamped the leaf again and watercolored some more.  The sentiment is another one from More Merry Messages.  It is a must have set, in my opinion!  For this swap, we created full cards and I did say 27.  While there are only 20 finalists, some of the Concept Artists from Stampin’ Up joined in the swap.  How exciting!!!

I loved this card so much that I am planning on using it as a class card in August.  Local stampers, watch for the invitation!  *smile*

Thank you so much for stopping in today.  I look forward to sharing more of my Convention pictures next week!  Until then, I hope your weekend is wonderful!  See you soon!

Stamps:  Simply Sketched (Hostess), More Merry Messages; Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Cherry Cobbler; Ink:  Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Accessories:  Blender Pen, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin’ Distress Tool, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Vintage Faceted Buttons, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

 

Convention Gifts

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Today is the day!!  Stampin’ Up’s annual Convention begins at 5p and I am so excited!!  One of the best parts of this event is seeing my amazing stamping friends.  Traditionally, roommate gifts are given and it is fun to conjure up what to make.  Since we all are given the same bag (can’t wait to see it), bag tags are always a big hit.  I thought it would be fun to create monograms for them.  Hint:  I used a variation of this idea for one of my Artisan projects!!

Roommate gift 2Roommate Gift 3

 

I took some basic wooden letters that come from the craft store and painted them white.  Then I layered on the Gingham Garden Washi Tape.  Just leave the edges hanging at first. Once the letter is covered, use an exacto knife to trim around the edges.  This is a remarkably quick project once you get the hang of it!  To add to the durability of this, I put on a couple of layers of Modge Podge.  Once dry all I had to do was add the Rose Red Seam Binding.  I think they are really cute and I hope they like them!  The “B” is for my immediate upline Brandi and the “L” is for my second level upline Lisa Curcio.  They have both been such amazing supporters of my work so it was fun to make a little something for them (Lisa isn’t a roommate but she “needs” one!)!!

Roommate gift 1I kept the rest simple.  These fun retro mason jars were too cute to pass up!  I stuffed them full of Convention supplies and just tied on some Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon.  Hopefully they will be able to use these jars in their craft rooms.  I love them for holding all kinds of things!

Ok, that is it for today.  If you have any extra questions about the tags, just let me know.  I’ll be back on Saturday with the card I made for the Artisan Finalist Swap.  Think Christmas and watercoloring!!  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  See you again soon!

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