Design Team Process & Projects - January

For those of you who are Design Team (DT) members, I'm sure you will relate to this post. For those of you that are not, I'm sure you will get a couple of giggles along the way. Enjoy!

In mid-November I received a PM (private message) on Splitcoaststampers asking me if I would consider joining the Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team. Say What?!? Me?!? Really?!? Seriously?!? No Way!!! So after recovering from the initial shock re-reading the message and processing what it said, I ran through quite the gamut of emotions. The first was that there was NO WAY! I'd just received an invitation to be part of a Design Team. Second, there was NO WAY! I was qualified to join such a team of talented artists. Third, there was NO WAY! I was going to accept the invitation because, quite frankly, I'm really not "that good"! And finally there was NO WAY! I would be able to produce four (yes, FOUR!) projects per month for FOUR consecutive months. Heck, I hadn't created four projects during all of 2013, much less sixteen projects in the first four months of 2014. *YIKES!*  Nope, Not Gonna Do It! was my final decision, and that was that! Until .... I made the mistake of mentioning it to my overly encouraging and supportive husband who said, "Oh yes you are going to do it!", and my mother who also said, "Oh yes you are!" ... and since our cats, dogs, donkeys, cows, and chickens can't talk (well, speak human anyway), their opinions didn't count, although I am SURE they were on my side!! *sigh*  After stalling a bit longer, it was clear that I was losing my battle so with great hesitation, I replied to the private message and accepted the position!! *gasp!* 

And that my friends, was probably one of the worst BEST stamping decisions I had ever made!! 

As the DT, we receive instructions each month of what we are to create for the following month.  Although the assignments haven't all been easy and I've struggled at times, I have always been pleased with my end results; ranging from cards, and scrapbook pages (I am sooo NOT a scrapbooker), to 3-D items. I have to admit, the limits of my creativity have definitely been stretched beyond what I had imagined  possible, and I have enjoyed every.single.minute I have spent working on my DT projects. If I were to be completely honest, I'm kinda sad that I only have one more month on the Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team because I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a team member. Oh Well - this just means it's time to seek out more design team opportunities! So without further ado, the January assignment and my projects are below.  I'd love to hear what you think of them!!

Theme: 
January in Michigan can be like a Crystal Ball: Icy, Shimmery, White, cool blues, soft pinks, all mixed up with some earthy tones of red berries, evergreens, and tree branches all coated with clear stuff! 

Designer Series Paper (DSP)/Color Focus:
Show us your take on Fancy Foil Designer Vellum, using some cool wintery colors listed above.

While visiting my in-laws during the Christmas holidays, my MIL had an adorable little lamp sitting on her table. When I commented about how cute it was, she quickly picked it up and revealed that it was a votive candle in a wine glass covered with a shade. SAY WHAT?!? It was at that very moment that I knew EXACTLY what my project for this assignment was going to be. So I cheated grabbed a piece of paper and the shade and traced a pattern. It wasn't long after we arrived home that VIOLA! project #1 complete. Mission Accomplished!

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Catalog Focus: All the world is glittery! Show me something with glitter, it can be a glitter technique, glitter sheets, anything that glitters! 

Wow, I had no idea where to begin on this task because I am so NOT a sparkle freak, much less a glitter queen!! So after wandering in the desert for forty years sitting at my desk for a long time, things slowly starting coming together. Since I needed a wintery theme with soft pinks and blues, I decided to use the oldest, most versatile, non-retired stamp set in the Stampin' Up! catalog, Lovely as a Tree. It was perfect!! Next, I knew I wanted to use embossed vellum to soften my background, but how was I going to attach it because it is a pain in the b*tt to work with adhesives show through it. Ugh!! That is when I decided to use a MOJO Monday Sketch ( #303) for the layout which solved the problem. Now there was plenty of space to adhere the vellum without it being visible and the rest of the card fell into place. Hallelujah!! On to project #3.

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Holiday focus: January is National Hobby month, share something crafty besides a card, it can be a wreath, a banner, a tablescape, or picture frame, a headband, some jewelry, something crocheted with our crochet cotton, it's totally up to you.

Shabam!!   Score!!   Done!! That's right -- a twofer!!  On to assignment #4.

 

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Scrapbook Focus: Whether you're digital or traditional, or even if you don't really scrap at all - maybe you prefer a framed art piece or a This & That journal - Whatever you decide show us how you would use the attached layout.

I had no idea of where to even begin to begin on the task at hand because of three underlying facts 1.) As I mentioned above, I am not a scrapbooker, 2.) I am not one to post pictures of my family openly on the internet and since I will be a popular and famous, in high demand, household stamping name one day our projects are posted in a public gallery, I knew I wouldn't use any family related pictures for reasons of blackmail later on, 3.) Scrapbook pages of random people and their pets are just weird, unless you are a doting grandparent, of which I am not; although I do have the *cutest* 1.5 year old white lab on the planet!! Where was I, oh yes!, a scrapbook page!! After spending another forty years wandering in the desert more time sitting at my desk at a complete loss, I finally had an AHA! moment! I should scrapbook the design process I used for this month's challenges!! Yep - that was it!! I gathered up the materials I needed and went to work incorporating all of the papers, colors, textures, elements,and embellishments that I had used on my projects into the page. Not long after that, my page came to fruition and I was done with my January assignments.

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So there ya have it ... all in a days, or twos or threes, work!

 In the words of Winston Churchill, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."  

I hope each of you has a blessed day and can find the courage to continue!!
~Hallie

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_success.html#kLLFk6gSOKJgkY8D.99

Friends Help

I received a text from a friend who is dealing with a handful of life's struggles right now so I decided to send her a little note of encouragement to let her know that I was thinking about and praying for her during her time of trials and tribulations.

I decided to use the Pals Paper Arts sketch as the layout for my card.  I started off with a Night of Navy card base, adhered a piece of Polka Dot Parade DSP onto a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock and then added the embossed (Perfect Polka Dots EF) Night of Navy banner.  I stitched around the edge of the Polka Dot Parade DSP and over the top of the banner, added the paper pierced sentiment that I cut out using my rectangle nesties, and then attached the ribbon, flower (embossed with the Square Lattice EF) and Basic Jewels.  Easy Peasy!!

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That's all for now!! 
~Hallie

All supplies Stampin' Up! (you can order HERE) unless otherwise noted.
Stamp Set:  Feel Goods
Ink: Night of Navy
Cardstock:  Night of Navy; Daffodil Delight; Whisper White; Polka Dot Parade DSP
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities (Rectangles); Embossing Folders (Perfect Polka Dots, Square Lattice); Punch (SAB Banner); Ribbon (1/2" stitched grosgrain - Daffodil Delight); Basic Jewels; Dimensionals
 

Canadian Cards

In my Valentine's Day post, I made reference to the cards that I made for my hubby while he was on a business trip in Canada earlier this month. I made him one card per day he was gone to let him know I was missing him, thinking about him, loving him, and excited he was coming home.

If you follow me on Facebook, you have already seen these cards.  If you do not follow me, please go check out my page and give it a "LIKE".  

So without further adieu ... 

Monday:

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Tuesday:

 

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Wednesday:

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Thursday:

 

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That's all for me today. I'm working on some crafty goodness to share with you, my dear readers, in the near future.

Happy Friday & God Bless!
~Hallie

Sweetheart Treat Bag Kit ... Card

I have been seeing a lot of the Scallop Tag Topper Punch cards lately so, after doing a bit of research and watching a YouTube video, I decided it was my turn to give one a try. I knew I wanted to use Basic Black as my card base, but I was at a loss of what DSP (that's Designer Series Paper, for those of you that aren't familiar with Stampin' Up! lingo) I was going to use for the background. As I was pondering world hunger what the heck I was going to do, I had an aha moment and decided to cut apart carefully dismantle a treat bag from the Sweetheart Treat Bag Kit (SHTBK) to use. Perfect!! Now it was time for the card engineering making to commence!!
I started by using the Scallop Tag Topper Punch and Stampn' Trimmer to make my card base. Next, I cut and adhered the sweetheart background paper onto my Whisper White cardstock panels, used my new Perfect Layers tool (best tool EVER!) to cut a 1/8" mat, and machine stitched around the edges. I stamped the Eiffel Tower from the Follow My Heart stamp set in Soft Sky ink on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, once again used my Perfect Layers tool to cut a 1/16" mat, and machine stitched around those edges too.  I wrapped some Soft Sky Baker's Twine from the SHTBK around the panel, tied a nifty little bow, and put a Basic Jewel in the center. I punched a small heart with the (retired) SU! three Heart Punch and attached it to the Eiffel Tower using a Glue Dot. Next, I used Dimensionals to give the panels ... dimension, of course, put some Basic Jewels in the bottom right corner of the right panel, tied the two sides of the card together using the remaining piece of Soft Sky Baker's Twine, and Viola!! My Sweetheart Treat Bag Scallop Tag Topper Punch Card (did you get all that?!?) was finished!!!

 

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That's all from me today, folks!!  I hope you have a blessed day and visit again soon!! 
~Hallie

All supplies Stampin' Up! (you can order HERE) unless otherwise noted.
Stamp Set:  Follow My Heart (Valentine's Promotion)
Ink: Soft Sky
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Whisper White; Soft Sky, Sweetheart Treat Bag
Accessories: Punch (Scallop Tag Topper, Small Heart); Baker's Twine (Soft Sky); Basic Jewels Dimensionals

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You ...

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You Mean The World To Me!

I've struggled for a couple of weeks with where to start and what my first blog post should be about. This morning I decided to start with my husband's Valentine's Day card. Totally appropriate, right?!? It's not a sappy "I Love You" card, not because I don't love him, I actually love him to the moon and back forever and always, but because he just got back from being in Canada for a week and his cards (one for each day he was gone) were all either "I Love You", "I Miss You", or "Yippee-Skippee! You're Coming Home". No need to fret, I promise that you will see each of those cards in an upcoming post along with some of my past SU! Creative Crew Design Team work that I can now show.  Since my goal is to keep my babbling to a minimum, I won't make you wait any longer to see his card! I hope you like it and I would *love* to have your feedback in the comments section! Here's to a Happy Valentine's Day!!
P.S. I Love You, Honey!!

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All supplies Stampin' Up! (you can order HERE) unless otherwise noted.
Stamp Set:  Love You More (Valentine's Promotion)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Real Red
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Whisper White; Real Red; Night & Day DSP
Accessories: Nestabilities (circles); Framelits (hearts); Embossing Folder (perfect polka dots); Punches (1/4" circle, crop-a-dile; Baker's Twine (white); Buttons (brights, neutrals); Dimensionals