Last Artisan Entry

Here's the very last of my Artisan Award entries...and one of my most favorites that I created for the contest.

I stamped, cut, sponged & adhered my background, then I added some texture by running the piece thru the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

{Stamps}  Up, Up & Away & Teeny Tiny Wishes

{Card stock} Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White & Brights Collection Patterns DSP

{Ink} Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive & Island Indigo
{Tools & Accessories} Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 3” Circle Originals Die, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Sponge Daubers, 1¾ Square Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon & Brights Button

Framed Peace Within

Here is my other 3D project that I submitted for the Artisan Award Contest.

Here's a closer look...

{Stamps} Peace Within

{Card stock} Very Vanilla, Pool Party & Everyday Enchantment DSP

{Ink} Black Stazon, Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade & various other Classic Inks for water coloring

{Tools & Accessories} Aqua Painter, Blossoms Punch, Blossom Petals Builder Punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, Pool Party & Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding Ribbon, Lucky Limeade 1/8” Organdy Ribbon, Everyday Enchantment Brads, Sponge Daubers, Sanding Block & Sticky Strip {Non SU! Supplies} 6x6 Frame, Mod Podge, Foam Paint Brush, Cereal Box Board (to punch out flower & leaf shapes)

Thanks for visiting.

Mixed Bunch Page

Here is the last of my scrapbook entries for the Artisan Award contest. I think this ended up being my favorite page I created for the contest. It features a photo I took of my Mom in my garden on the day she married my Step-Father.

There was a lot of fussy cutting on this one...all the leaves were cut from the Petals & Paisley DSP and the butterflies are cut out images from the Creative Elements stamp set. I love the way the lacy looking flower image from Mixed Bunch coordinated with my Mom's dress...as did the lace ribbon. I used the image from the center of the flower and my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp each scallop cut from the Tasteful Trims Die. Here's a closer look...

I really need to recreate this page for my own scrapbook. Thanks for looking.

Beautiful Season Easel Card

Here's another one of my (non)winning Artisan Award entries. I really loved the way this one turned out.

I used the Bells & Boughs set to stamp my background and cut several poinsettia images, which I water colored, layered and popped up for a pretty embellishment. The piercing around the die cut Label was done without the aid of the new Paper Piercing Pack...cannot wait to get my hands on that! It's available in the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog.

I still have a few more (non)winning entries to share...hope you check back again soon.

Elegant Embossed Medallion

Here is an elegant card I created as one of my entries for the Artisan Award Contest.

I used a couple of my favorite, now retired sets...Medallion & Vintage Vogue along with the Very Vintage wheel. The Medallion is embossed in White EP and then I sponged on Crumb Cake & Early Espresso ink. Then it received some shimmer with some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

Thanks for visiting today.

Cute Well Worn Page

Happy 4th of July! I thought this page with it's patriotic colors would be a good one to share today. It's another one of the scrapbook pages I entered into the Artisan Award contest. I used one of my favorite photos of my now 24 year old son.

I had originally planned for the title to say "2 CUTE", but no mater how I tried to add the 2 it wasn't working without taking away from the photo, so in the end I just went with "CUTE". The Well Worn papers were my favorite pack of DSP last catalog, and I think this page really shows off the patterns nicely. I made the buttons using the Buttons Sizzlet and I cut out several layers including cereal box board and glued them together for extra thickness. I then sponged them with Early Espresso ink and embossed them with Clear Embossing powder.

I gave the Top Note die cut from River Rock a distressed look to blend with the DSP by using the splotch stamp from French Foliage and the Very Vintage Wheel. I then added my journaling with my Not Quite Navy marker.
ENJOY the holiday and thanks for visiting!

Snow Much Fun Artisan Entry

Here is the first of my two 3-D projects I had to submit for the Artisan Award Contest.

I ended up working on both of my 3-D projects last because I just couldn't decide what to make. I created a Halloween luminary a while back that was completely my design using chipboard coasters, so I thought I'd create another version for Chrismas using the Snow Much Fun set. Here's a closer look.

The coasters are covered in Shimmery White card stock, so along with all the rhinestones, silver embossing and Brushed Silver card stock this had a lot of sparkle & shine. I embossed and stamped a small design all the way around too...

Here's what it looked like lit by the battery operated candle.

I thought it turned out cute, but I knew going in that the 3-D catagory was going to be my weakest, since I don't sew. Some of the other non-winning entries I've seen so far are spectacular...makes me wonder what the winning entries looked like?

With the heat we've been experiencing around the country this week, I'll bet this snowman probably looks really good! Have a great weekend!

French Foliage Faux Tile

Here's another Artisan Award entry. I tried to show a lot of variety in the work I sent in. This one uses a fun technique and is very masculine.

After I stamped this I embossed it in Clear embossing powder so it really did look like tile. Check out this close up view.

Here's what I used:

Stamps: French Foliage, Happiest Birthday Wishes

Card stock: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla & Well Worn DSP

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake & Versa Mark

Tools & Accessories: Simply Scored with Diagonal Plate, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Early Espresso Marker, Regals Buttons, Linen Thread, Large Oval Punch, Decorative Label Punch & Sponge Daubers

Thanks for all the encouraging comments many have been leaving me regarding my entries. I really appreciate your kind words.

Elegant Elements of Style

Yesterday I shared my first project, a scrapbook page, that I had submitted for this years Artisan Award Contest. Sadly, I did not make the finalist list so that is why I am able to share all 10 of my projects with you here over the next two weeks. Today I'd like to share one of my favorite cards that I created for the contest.  

Since I love to water color and I feel confident with my watercoloring skills I thought this was a good choice. I used many favorites here...such as my choice of stamp sets & colors...I'm sure anyone who visits me regularly has noticed I LOVE purple! Maybe that's where I went wrong? Seems Stampin' Up!'s love affair with purple took a huge hit with the last color renovation, and I sure didn't pay attention to that huge detail when I designed this one! lol

I did pay attention to lots of other details tho...check out that paper piercing! It was all done without the ease of using the awesome new paper piercing templates too! You'd think all that old school piercing alone would score me points and impress the judges!

Stamps: Elements of Style & Teeny Tiny Tags
Card stock: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Black Stazon, Whisper White Craft & various other Classic Inks for water coloring
Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Sponge Daubers, Jewelry Tag Punch, Basic Pearls, White Organza Ribbon, White Bakers Twine, Regals Button & Aqua Painter

Thanks for visiting today...stop by again soon to see my other (un)winning Artisan Award projects!

(Non) Winning Artisan Entry 1

Well, here I am finally uncurled from the fetal position I've been in since I found out I didn't make the finalist list for the Artisan Award! OK...I'm exaggerating, but I must admit it was quite a let down after all the hard work I put into my entries...agonizing over every detail and then the excitement of waiting and hoping. Oh well...at least I tried, right?

This is the first year I have entered, because in previous years I was afraid to set myself up for failure. My family encouraged me to enter and I am really proud of myself for making the commitment and taking the chance. They say there's always at least one positive in any situation and in this one it's that at least I can share my projects with you now...so here goes...

I guess I'll start by sharing this scrapbook page. It was this page that initially made me consider entering the Artisan Award contest to begin with.

I just loved the way this page (which originally was part of a two page layout) turned out...so I decided to duplicate it for the scrapbook portion of the contest. Note to self: If you enter again next year, leave time (ha ha!) to make duplicate pages of all the layouts before sending them off. At least I wouldn't feel so empty handed right now. However, I do have the photos as inspiration to hopefully "some day" re-create them. Here's what the original 2 page layout looked like.

For my entry I decided to take out the die cut doily (maybe that's why I didn't win??? LOL) and I had to add some journaling for it to qualify so I raised the photo and added the names of the bride & groom along with their wedding date. (looking back, I do like my original page without the journaling better...maybe that's why I didn't win???) Can you sense a theme here...I'm picking apart my work even more so than normal looking for the weakest link...oh, well. Thanks to my beautiful niece and her handsome husband for being the inspiration for these pages. She was so excited that I was using photos of them for one of my entries.

Here's what I used to create this layout:

Stamps: Wedding Words Jumbo Wheel, Creative Elements, Tiny Tags & Letter It

Card stock: 12x12 Crumb Cake, 12 x 12 Very Vanilla, 12x12 Pink Pirouette Textured, Pink Pirouette Smooth, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink

Ink: VersaMark, Pretty in Pink

Tools & Accessories: Big Shot, Serif Essentials Alphabet Bigz Die, Hearts Framelits, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Stripes Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Sponge Daubers, Tiny Tag Punch, Boho Blossom Punch, Antique Brads, Victoria Crochet Trim, White Organza Ribbon, Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, White Baker’s Twine & Basic Pearls

I'll be posting the remainder of my projects over the next two weeks. I hope you like what you see, and if so I'd love to hear what elements caught your eye.