I'm an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in Wilmington, Delaware. I've been stampin' under the supervision of my cat Onyx since 2008.
I’ve finally got my Artisan project photos all edited, and have started writing my posts about them. So starting today I’ll be posting one Almost Artisan project a week – roughly in the order I created them. Here is Card #1 – Cupcake:
This card was inspired by a photograph of Liz Lemon’s cupcake pajamas in Entertainment Weekly. I’d originally imagined it as a standard sized card with a bunch of color blocks with a cupcake on each.
But when I mocked that up I was really unimpressed with it. So then I decided to scale down to one cupcake on a 3×3″ card – I wanted to make a confection-y nugget of a card.
The card base is Shimmery White card stock that was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Die.
The ribbon is from the Masterpiece Ribbon Originals collection. It is actually two pieces – one long one, and a second shorter one that was folded to make loops. I sewed the two ribbons together to make sure they would stay together.
The next layer is a Love Notes Kisses (from the Occasions Mini) that I dyed using a Pretty In Pink Reinker. On a plate I mixed reinker with water and then let the paper soak in the mixture until it had soaked up the color. It took several tries to get the color I wanted, and unfortunately I didn’t keep track of the ratio of reinker to water! After it dried, I paper pierced around the edges to add some extra detail. It is popped up with two layers of Stampin’ Dimensionals to give the ribbon enough room underneath.
The last layer is the little glittery cupcake. I stamped the cupcake in Black StazOn and then colored with Stampin’ Write Markers. I then heat embossed the cupcake with a combination of clear embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds. I then cut it out and covered it with Crystal Effects to make it extra shiny and button-like. It was popped up with a Stampin’ Dimensional.
Recipe:
I’ll be posting detailed posts about my Artisan Award projects weekly on Thursdays. If you can’t wait, you can check out the photos by clicking on the “Almost Artisan Projects” tab above. Also, please check out the great work of my fellow Almost Artisans, listed below.
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Cindy Jamie Jackie Patty |
Katy Melissa Tina Kelly |
Ashley Carmen Monika Tracy |
Sam Jenn Renee Carrie |
At long last – here is the project I had planned for my Earth Day Challenge…more than a month later! I had a busy and fun month – I hosted my book club and then had a friend from Hong Kong visiting. So I spent a lot of time cleaning, traveling, and obsessing about Artisan Award results until I finally got around to getting started on this project. That is when I saw the Embellish Butterflies Color Challenge and my idea fit perfectly for the challenge they put forth…projects using butterflies and the colors olive, black and Kraft.
Starting at the top, the mobile is held up with some black braided cord that I got at my local craft store in the jewelry section. The top of the mobile is made from five cat food cans that I dressed up with paper. I stamped the butterfly from Dreams du Jour in Basic Black on strips of Old Olive cardstock cut to cover the outside of the cans. I dressed these up with a strip of Kraft (soon to be Crumb Cake) punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch that will be available in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. I also added a thin strip of Basic Black cardstock for an added touch.
The butterflies were cut using the Beautiful Butterflies die. The large butterflies were cut from Kraft and the smaller butterflies from 5 retiring colors (Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Lavender Lace, Brocade Blue, Blush Blossom). All were run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder. I used a Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker to add color to the polka dots on the big butterflies. Crystal Effects and Dazzling diamonds were used on the small butterflies to add some sparkle. I then stapled the butterflies together and then used Crystal Effects and the black glitter from Chunky Essentials to make the body of the butterfly and to cover the staple.The butterflies are hung with a hemp cord that is very similar to Stampin’ Up!’s linen thread.
I used the Crop-a-dile to punch holes in the sides of the cans so that I could attach them to each other with brads and hang the butterflies. I used a small awl to punch the holes in the top of the cans so that they could be hung.
Supplies
Well, the winners’ notification date has come and gone, so that means that I was not chosen as an Artisan Award winner. I’m not surprised or terribly disappointed because this was my first time entering the contest. It was an amazing experience, and I grew a lot as a stamper. I learned that I’m capable of a lot more than I thought (thanks to my uplines Amy and Jess for egging me on!) and that I shouldn’t be afraid to play with new techniques and styles.
I’m very proud of the work I did and am excited to share it with everyone! I’m joining up with a bunch of other fantastic SU! demos who also entered the contest for an Almost Artisan Blog Hop. So over the next 10 weeks I’ll be posting the 5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages, and 2 3D items I made. You should also check out the fantastic work of the following inspiring SU! demos:
So please come visit again, or bookmark me in your RSS reader so you’ll know right away when I’ve posted a new project!
For this challenge I was inspired by the Friskies “Together We Can Recycle Pet Food Cans” campaign. In addition to educating and having people pledge to recycle their pet food cans, Friskies also asked people to create cat themed art out of their left over cans. So it occurred to me that this would make be a great Earth Day themed challenge:
Repurpose your left over pet food (or other food cans) into somthing fun and crafty, not necessarily cat themed.
I have the most fantastic idea in mind, and I’ll post the final product on Thursday in honor of Earth Day.
Post a link to what you create in the comments below. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
This is a card I sent to Stampin’ Up! last June for one of the monthly design contests they have for Demonstrators. I’d saved it to post later, and just re-discovered it!
I really love this card because of the bright colors – Apricot Appeal and Melon Mambo, and the black gingham ribbon adds a sweet and edgy touch to the card.
The weaving isn’t as difficult as it looks – the trick is to get it set up correctly at the beginning. Here is what I did:
Recipe:
Dates: April 1-30th
The deal: To celebrate the arrival of spring, Stampin’ Up! is offering some great deals on Tw0-Step Stampin’ sets.
- Purchase or earn the sneak peak set Awash with Flowers. This set won’t be available for purchase until July, so if you like it, get it now. You earn it for free by hosting a workshop that earns more than $350, in addition to the regular hostess benefits.
- 4 current Two-Step Stampin’ Sets are discounted by 20%: Greenhouse Garden, Fifth Avenue Floral, Flower Fancy, and Trendy Trees.
You can order online via my Stampin’ Up! website or contact me to schedule your April workshop!
Welcome to my blog! Here I’m going to focus on my creative endeavors…my inspirations, my successes and my failures. Most posts will be about paper crafts (cards, gifts, scrapbooks, etc) but who knows, if I’m particularly proud of something I’ve photographed or cooked or built…that may show up too.
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