June Design Team Work - Projects #3 & #4 Combo

Are you ready to see my final CCREW Design Team project for this month?!? {shake your head, yes} Great!! Let's get to it. 

Theme: Out with the Old, In with the New! What’s speaking to you from the new catalog or what will you miss that's retiring? Let’s go WILD! Anything that catches your eye with any new or existing products, it’s your time to get wild and share the muse!

DSP/Color Focus: Show us your favorite color. Try it in a color combo you haven't used before!

Hands down, one of my favorite SU! colors is DAFFODIL DELIGHT because it is such a bright, cheery, and happy yellow ... and then you add in some (now retired - UGH!!) Polka Dot Parade DSP (because we all know I'm a sucker for polka dots) and viola! I'm in crafting heaven. I used the MOJO347 Sketch for my layout and chose the color combination using my SU! Color Coach. I was a bit concerned when the color coach indicated Daffodil Delight should be paired with Pacific Point and Elegant Eggplant {yikes!} but I gave it a whirl anyway and I'm quite pleased with the result. I added in some Basic Gray to help tone down the other colors and of course I used my SU! Square Lattice and Decorative Dots Embossing Folders to add some texture to my card and that's how I got to the next challenge. 

Catalog Focus: Use your favorite product in your favorite way! Make us fall in love with it too!

If you have been following my blog for very long you know that I am an embossing folder feen. My embossing folders are my go-to tool on nearly everything I create. As a matter of fact, I'm not really sure how I functioned prior to their existence, but I did, and I'm super happy we have them now. I used the *NEW* Work of Art stamp set and oh.my.gosh, I'm pretty sure I'm in love!! Oh the possibilities!!!  Okay, so before I get lost in a day dream about my next card using that stamp set, I will show you the one I have ready to go. Ready?!? Viola!!!

 

(click photo to enlarge)

 

That wraps up this month's design team work so I'm off to print the challenges for July and *hopefully* have them completed sooner rather than later. {wishful thinking, I'm sure!} In the meantime, if you're stuck in a stamping lull and looking for some inspiration and/or a challenge, I highly recommend you boogie on over to the MOJO Monday and the Pals Paper Arts blogs. Great Stuff!!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!

~Hallie

May Design Team Work - Project #1

Hi Guys & Gals!!  I am so glad that you have stopped by today because you are in for a treat the next four days. Since it's the first day of the month, I can begin showing you my projects for the May CreativeCrew Design Team challenges.  Let's get started.

Theme:  
“Anything But Average” take inspiration from the past and show us something new! 

Catalog Focus: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Gumball Green, Smoky Slate

Use a technique of your choosing that imitates our Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper.

Okay!!! Easy Peasy ~ I got this!! Well, wait a minute, maybe not!!! This just might  be a little more difficult than I expected, you know, like a challenge!!! Yep ... it definitely was a CHALLENGE and let me tell you why.  First, if you recall, the design team members have worked with the Watercolor Wonder DSP in two of our prior month's challenges (February & April) so this would be the THIRD time to create with it and we couldn't use either of our prior month's ideas or techniques <insert some panic, confusion, and defeat as I am at a complete loss flipping through the pages of the Watercolor Wonder DSP pack>.

Next comes the point when I have to admit that I am N-O-T a fan of the paper with all of the random watercolor circles on it but it appears that it is the only piece of paper that I am going to be able to remotely mimic even though I haven't a clue how to do it!! So as I sat blankly staring at the paper the wheels started to turn and smoke poured out of my ears I began to think of the various ways that I could possibly recreate the circles. A few minutes, and a short drive, later I found myself in the toy aisle at our local Dollar General Store searching for what would hopefully be my saving grace ... BUBBLES!!  

Now fast forward to me successfully finding and buying bubbles, returning home, gathering up my supplies (watercolor paper and reinkers), and heading to the kitchen where I mixed my magic potion bubble solution with reinkers and began blowing bubbles. It took a little practice to figure out how to make the circles, but it eventually worked like a charm and VIOLA! I had successfully created a very close replica of the Watercolor Wonder DSP!!

I quickly learned that if I would blow the bubbles and gently catch them on the watercolor paper and let them sit before popping, they created a nice circle; on the other hand, if they popped immediately when they contacted the watercolor paper, they created a splatter.  Either way, they both worked to successfully mimic the Watercolor Wonder DSP which meant SUCCESS for me!! Hallelujah!

When I finally had my piece of watercolor paper, complete with circular popped bubbles, it was time for me to assemble my card.  I knew that I wanted to have some of the original Watercolor Wonder DSP on my card as a point of comparison for my created DSP so I decided to use a small original swatch as my main focal point.  After that decision was made the rest of my card came together fairly easily and I am extremely pleased with the outcome.

(click photo to enlarge)

That wraps up today's card. Make sure and check back tomorrow to see my next project ... a gatefold card with a coffee cup.

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, & Happy Stamping!!

~Hallie 

All supplies Stampin' Up! (you can order HERE) unless otherwise noted.
Stamp Set:  Four You
Ink: Tangerine Tango
Cardstock:  Island Indigo; Tangerine Tango; Gumball Green; Daffodil Delight; Smoky Slate; Watercolor Paper; Watercolor Wonder DSP
Accessories: Reinkers (Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Island Indigo); Embossing Folders (chevron, square lattice, decorative dots); Punch (scallop border); Paper Piercing Tool
Non-SU!:  Nestabilities (circles); Machine Stitching

April Design Team Work - Day #4

Greetings Stamping Friends!

I can't believe it's already Thursday again!! The days and weeks seem to be flying by faster than ever, especially when I stop to think that 1/4 of 2014 is already gone!! My parents always said that time flies as you get older and I thought they were nuts! As I've gotten older I've come to realize that they weren't nuts, instead they were speaking words of wisdom! Wow!!

Since you didn't stop by to read a dissertation about flying pigs time, I will go ahead and get to the point of today's post ... the Scrapbook and More Focus challenge.

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Scrapbook and More Focus: Show us your take on the layout featured on page 13 of the March/April 2014 Stampin' Success magazine.

Let me just say, I was NOT a huge fan of the layout until I got a little ways into it. Although I knew I wanted my page to focus on the cards that I'd made for this month's challenges, I didn't have a clue of how I was going to make that happen. I was even more perplexed when I realized that I didn't have any of the products that were showcased on the layout in the magazine. Yikes!! After walking away from my desk a few times, my creativity started flowing and before I knew it, I had a bright and cheerful scrapbook page complete with a framed picture with diagonal stripes, a cattywampus background, a film strip full of flowers, some buttons, and an arrow made with the Chevron Punch. After that I threw in a page title, a scripture, and VIOLA! my page was complete!! Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

 (click to enlarge)

This wraps up the April CCrew Design Team Challenges so I will be back on Monday, if not before, with some regular stamping goodness!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stamping!
Hallie
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8

April Design Team Work - Day #3

Greetings Readers,

I'm so excited about today's "card" that I am going to jump right into the details.  

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Holiday Focus: Choose one of the following occasions and ahow a card, an ensemble, an SB page, or a decor item! Earth Day, Historic Garden Week, Easter, National Egg Salad Week, Go Fly a Kite Day.


As I was reading the Holiday Focus challenge and saw the words "Historic Garden Week" I knew exactly what I wanted to make!! This challenge was begging for a Flower Pot Pocket Card so I was happy to oblige. Since y'all know how much I LOVE polka dots, I decided to make a cheery Daffodil Delight pot and then embellish it with Bermuda Bay polka dots that I punched out with my 1/4" Circle Punch. I used the Flower Shop stamp set with the coordinating Pansy Punch to make my flowers and then finished them off with Basic Pearls. When my pot was finished it still needed a little "something" so I decided to add the Daffodil Delight Button and some Baker's Twine. I *LOVE* how bright and cheery it turned out!

(click to enlarge)

 

 (click to enlarge)

If you'd like to make your own flower pot pocket card, you can find the instructions HERE. I'd love to see what you create, so please leave a link to your creation in the comments section below.

That's it for today so I will be back tomorrow with my fourth and final April DT project.

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, and Happy Stampin'!

Hallie

April Design Team Work - Day #2

Howdy, Blog Readers!!

Welcome to Day #2 of my April CCrew Design Team project reveal. Since I am showing you one project per day and there isn't a lot to say about the projects, my posts will be short and sweet. Of course if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will be happy to provide you with an answer!!

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Catalog Focus: Watercoloring! Whether it be with an ink pad aqua painter, markers, watercolor pencils, making a background, or dying something. What can you do with water & color?

I definitely ventured out of my comfort zone for this challenge because I am NOT one to water color.  The most water coloring I've done was when I was a small child at my parent's office. I remember having a glass of water alongside the long container of Crayola water colors and the little yellow paintbrush. Of course the paint always started out new and then the pretty colors inevitably ended up being mixed together which eventually resulted in ALL of the circles of paint being BLACK! It was then that I began scheming of ways to get a hold of my sister's water colors so I could mess them up too have colors that weren't mixed together. Sometimes my schemes worked and sometimes they didn't. Whichever the case, I only have happy memories of my childhood water coloring so I'm guessing the details worked themselves out. 

For this card I used the Triple Time Stamping technique and paired it with stamped, punched, and water colored flowers. I stamped the pansies from the Flower Shop stamp set onto some Stampin' Up! watercolor paper and then water colored them using my Stampin' Write markers and an aqua painter. Once the flowers were finished I punched them out and adhered them to my card using dimensionals. The process was pretty straight forward and easy so without further adieu ...
 

 

 (click to enlarge)

That wraps up today!! Until tomorrow ...

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, & Happy Stampin'!!
Hallie

April Design Team Work!

Happy April Fool's Day!!

April brings to us many things: a new month complete with a day to play jokes on our friends, a day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, showers that bring May flowers, and the release of this month's Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team projects!! Yippee!!

To be perfectly honest, I was going to play an April Fool's joke on you today; however, since I do not have enough creative juice left to pull it off I'm going to move on and show you the first of my four April CCREW projects. Each day, today through Thursday, I will add a new project to this post so make sure you check back.

Theme:  
April seems to open the door and invite us outside! This month let's focus on welcoming spring's attitude back into our hearts.

Designer Series Paper/Color Focus:
Watercolor Wonder DSP or the colors of Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, & Tangerine Tango.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our Watercolor Wonder DSP; however, I'm becoming a little tired of it since we had to use it last month, this month, and (shhh!) again next month in our Color Focus projects. Nevertheless, after being stuck for a very long time I finally pulled off a bright and cheery spring card that I am pleased with. 

(click to enlarge)

That's all for today. I will see you back here tomorrow!!

Hugs, Smiles, Blessings, & Happy Stamping!

~Hallie

Design Team Projects - March

I am cheating a bit by posting my March Design Team work before it goes live on SCS, so we'll just consider it a two hour sneak peek for you, my lucky readers. Okay?!? Good!! The challenges for March were great and I'm glad the time has come that I can finally share them. I hope you are as excited about them as I am.

Theme:  
Statement of the Heart
We've all read the Stampin' Up! Statement of the Heart: To love what we do and share what we love, as we help others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments . . . in this we make a difference! This month, let's live that out and share what we love!

Designer Series Paper/Color Focus: Make us fall in love with your favorite DSP! You can use any current DSP from the annual, Occasions, or Sale-A-Bration catalogs.

No doubt about it, our Stampin' Up! Polka Dot Parade DSP is by far my favorite DSP. How do I know this? Well, as a matter of fact, I used it on every.single.one of my projects without even realizing it until it was time to photograph them. I guess that could technically mean that all of my projects fall into this category in addition to the other categories that I will be posting them in. Oh well, I'm okay with that!

I used a Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge (PPA164) for the layout of this card and I am pleased with the way that everything came together. Although it was extremely tedious to paper piece the letters for the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Outlined for Fun stamp set, it was worth the time and effort.  This is such a bright, cheery, and fun card; it is sure to make its recipient's birthday Happy, Happy, Happy!!! 

(click to enlarge)

Catalog Focus: Envelope Punch Board or Simply Scored. Show us what you love about these awesome tools!

For the first part of this challenge I created a stack of File Folder Cards using the Envelope Punch Board. I dressed them up with some ... wait for it ... Polka Dot Parade DSP, the Banner Blast Stamp Set, and the Petite Petals and Banner Punches.

(click to enlarge)

For the second part of the challenge I created what I would consider to be one of my all-time favorite little containers ... a French Fry Box!! I used the Simply Scored tool to make the cross-hair score lines on the box and then decorated it using some Polka Dot Parade DSP, the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set and Framelits, Burlap & Polka Dot Ribbons, the Petite Petal Punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, and a Button with Baker's Twine. Love, Love, LOVE it!! So Stinkin' Cute!!!

 (click to enlarge)

Holiday Focus: There are 3 holidays in a row in March: St. Urho's Day (3/16), St. Patrick's Day (3/17) and my birthday (3/XX)! For this challenge, make a birthday card in purple (for St. Urho) or green (for St. Patrick). Use a technique or layout that you love!

*Note: "my birthday" refers to the person who wrote the challenge*

Not gonna lie, this challenge stumped me a bit. A GREEN or PURPLE BIRTHDAY CARD? Seriously?!? HMMM ... <insert blank stare at the paper with the challenge on it> ... UMMM ... <insert me scratching my head> UHHH ... <insert smoke coming out of my ears from the gears turning in my head> ... okay, you get the idea!!!  So after being lost in the Hundred Acre Woods for a loonnnggg time bit, I slowly started putting this card together. Piece by piece and with sweat dripping from my forehead great determination and perseverance, I finally finished it. It was Gumball GREEN and it had the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY so I considered it a WIN!

(click to enlarge)

Scrapbook and More Focus: Show us something you love on a scrapbook page, This-n-That Journal, or 3D project! Let's all remember what we love about stamping this month and share it with others!

I was super excited when it finally came time to work on this challenge. I decided to make a scrapbook page since I made pages for both the January and February Scrapbook and More Focus challenges. 

I have had my Statement of the Heart stamp FOR-E-VER and have never really had a place to use it so this provided the perfect opportunity to pull it off the shelf and dust it off put it to good use. I kept my page true to the challenge and incorporated as many things as I could that represented all of the things I/we love about Stampin' Up!

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If you've made it this far, it is quite possible that your eyeballs are bleeding from all of the reading so I'll wrap this post up and give your eyes some time to recover while I prepare my next post.

Thanks for being part of my little piece of the blogosphere!!  Happy Stampin' & God Bless!!

~Hallie