Stamp Time Somewhere

Answers to a few Question about my Artisan Projects....

I had quite a few different questions about some of my projects, so I thought I would clear up some of the confusion....

First and foremost - OF COURSE - PLEASE please use the ideas as inspiration when you are creating! I would love if you link back to my posts or give me a little credit if you decide to post your projects online. Also remember, the projects are now property of Stampin' Up! So it wouldn't be a good idea to try to recreate them to submit for any other contests or anything like that....

2. I am working on figuring out the best way to make some video tutorials on some of the techniques that I used. Now that my two oldest are in school all day, I have a few hours while the little one naps... I really want to do this for ya! (I will also take suggestions) Some of the techniques might have changed with the enhanced features of MDS2

3. The font that I used on the baseball page was Marcelle downloaded from dafont.com

4. Everything in all of the projects were printed through Stampin' Up!with the exception of the onesie ties...those were printed on Full Page Avery labels that I purchased at the office supply store.

5. The party....there are a lot of elements used, but most of it was adapted from the Hello Baby Kit (you can download it HERE)

and filled with parts of On The Go (download HERE)

This was the project that took the most time and would take quite a while to explain, but if you have a specific question, please feel free to email me.

Hope that Helps! Let me know if there is anything else you would like answered, or anything else I can help you with!

 

MDS Blog Hop - I have to HAVE these downloads!

Hi there! I hope everyone is having a great week. I am happy to say I survived the last 10 days hereon my blog, featuring my projects that I entered to Stampin' Up! that put me on the Artisan Design Team for this year! WOW. I hope you had a chance to hop along some of the days. If not, feel free to do so anytime :) Just check back a post or two :)

 

Anyhow, it has been a crazy week. On top of everything, we started back to school on Monday, my oldest turned 8 on Wed. We took a quick trip to San Diego (totally played hookie from school) so that he could watch his favorite baseball player, Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves play before he retires this year, we've started practice for Fall baseball, Ethan is also set to start Scouts now too....whew!

 

So I am going to cheat a little today. I am going to share with you the project that I submitted to Stampin' Up! this month for the Monthly Showcase on Facebook. It is AMAZING! Have you seen it? If not, go check it out. Still not sure I belong in this talented group, but I'm trying!!!! BUT, in my defense, it fits our theme for this week - the downloads I HAVE TO HAVE! This one uses quite a few!

 Anyhow, here is what I used on this project:

Software:
130644: MDS 2
Stamp Brush Sets:
130855: Natural Composition Overlays Stamp Brush Set
Paper:
131273: 2012–2014 In Color Patterns Designer Series Paper
Punches:
125785: Flag Punch
127425: Smitten Alphabet Punch
Embellishments:
130870: In Color Digitape
130979: Dahlias
Kits:
130980: Back to School Ensemble
130982: Chevron Punch Kit
126056: Downtown Grunge Photobook Template
130987: Family Fun Photobook Template

Now - I HAVE to HAVE my Downtown Grunge, Flag Punches, Chevron Kit, Digitape and Natural Compositions...oh and Smitten.

There are so many things that I LOVE and USE over and over and over - these are some of them. I also LOVE any and all Alphabet Punches (especially Lauren's Letters), and I LOVE the kits and ensembles! I love how easy it is to coordinate everything that way. I love anything that gives me stitching and if a stamp set has the word "overlay" in the title, you can pretty much guess that I am going to have it and use it a LOT!

I am exctied to see what the other gals designed this week!!!

 

1. Jeanna Bohanon

2.Rochelle Gould

3.  Mandy Grant

4. Julie Leblanc 
5.Amber Meadows

6. Terri Mongeon

7. Aly Schilling

8. Cindy Schuster

9. Erica Shaw

10. Heather Summers

11. Holly VanDyne
12. Kimberly Van Diepen

Have a great day! See ya tomorrow with a few special cards (ones with card stock and stamps!!!)

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 10

I am so SAD! I have LOVED hopping with y'all the past ten days. I hope you have enjoyed it as well. Did you enjoy Jane's post today? Pretty cool, huh? Oh, and as promised...

I had to laugh when I realized the timing of today's post. This was my "BIG" 3d project I submitted to Stampin' Up! I wanted to do something I had done often and knew I was good at - using MDS to totally pull together a party! Well, today is my son's 8th birthday!!!! I can't believe that is has already been 8 years that I have been blessed with the opportunity to be this AMAZING child's Mommy.

For this project, I used the On the Go kit, and this was really the only thing that was "hybrid" at all....Remember, almost EVERYTHING you are going to see was entirely created in My Digital Studio

sorry for the crummy lighting...this was the entire party ensemble all laid out......

close up of the banner. I believe there's something to be said about details. The circles with the letters were cut out and popped up. I also sandwiched the Baker's Twine I used in between the MDS generated pennants and one that was cut from coordinating cardstock, so from the back you saw a solid color banner.

Here are some "food tents". Each letter was a "punch" so that I could make sure that each one was colored individually.

A cute little tim with wrapped flatware ready for little ones to dig into the cake and ice cream with. Each napkin band had a different vehicle from the kit.

What's a party without prizes or favors? Cute little boxes filled with bright yummy M&Ms, tied with coordinating ruffled ribbon and nestled in hand crimped card stock shreds. The little cars are "popped up" I seriously used an ENTIRE package of dimensionals on this ptoject!

Fun little picks to add to cupcakes or other treats...housed in a box cut with the Big Shot and embellished with some "MDS DSP"

Water bottles wrapped and coordinating lids (yes, I really did)

Here are my two favorite parts of this project..... a darling little birthday hat. I created the little embellishment on a separate sheet, cut it out and popped it up. I also punched out all the little cars from another sheet of MDS DSP and glued to cardstock circle for a fun little border.

Then...are you ready for this? Tee Hee... the cutest gift bag EVER! Well, at least the cutest one I've ever MADE! I used the dump truck embellishment inthe kit, enlarged it as much as I could, printed 2 sheets facing the original orientation, and 2 of them mirrored. One of them I completely cut out all of the pieces, used eleventy-billion dimensionals and layered them onto the main piece. I used my Simply Scored to create the "box" that fit in between...

Eeeeeeeee! I seriously LOVED this entire ensemble and while it was a little hard to pass it on, I knew that thanks to MDS it wouldn't be hard to recreate.

I KNOW this was a LONG post, but I hope you enjoyed seeing the details. I also really hope that you will CONTINUE to come back and visit. I can't wait to share more Artisan and MDS projects with you!

Now, on to Marisa...and I hope she doesn't get too mad for this...but we had these cute napkin rings from our dinner, and well, I was a little "punchy" after the award dinner...and, well, this happened...

Ok, now go check out her blog and I hope to see you back...SOON, ok please? At least come back on Friday for a weekly MDS Blog Hop!!!

Oh yeah, my Starter Kit sign up special is STILL available at this point :)

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 9

Oh my gosh, it's almost over! Can you believe it? It was such a fun week last week,and tomorrow THIS blog hop will be done! Don't worry though, remember, the Artisan Design Team will be designing for you ALL year!!! That makes me happy!!!

Did you LOVE Jane's project today? I told you, that lady has some serious skills! I love her unique style. Tomorrow I will show you a cute pic I got of the 2 of us.

One of my 3D projects this year was based off of a project idea that I taught at the Henderson Regional training event last year, and was recently featured in our Demonstrator publication - Stampin Success. I created ties in MDS, filled them with an adorable Designer Paper Collection, added monthly numbers, printed them on full sheet label stickers and at Regionals showcased them with a coordinating brag book! I am also excited that the MDS team created a FULL DOWNLOAD inspired by MY IDEA (Well, really it was my BFF Christi's, but being as she isn't a Demo and I am , she told me to run with it). To keep it as "one" 3D item, I created a full year's worth of onesies! Now, normally, I print these on the label paper and gift them to Mommies-to-be with a few onesies. The reason behind printing them on label sheets instead of ironing them on is that we all know that babies come in different sizes and it would be very disappointing not to be able to put an adorable newborn onesie on a 10 pounder!!!

Now, the ones I showcased at Regionals were created in a cricle punch, but I wanted to do MORE for this entry. I had created Christi's set by hacking um, "tweaking" the software a little bit. I had to convert the tie from the Father's Day stamp brush set into a punch. NOW, MDS2 stamp brush sets are coming as svg files and this would have been SOOOOOO much easier. Actually, ALL of my entries would have probably been easier with MDS2!!!! So anyhow, I suppose you want to see them? LOL!!!

Here are the jpgs.....

I sent the all wrapped up, layed out in a sweet little basket. They were so sweet. Just so you can get an idea - here is Christi's little sweetie in some of his monthly tie onesies * I made these with a different Designer Paper)....

 

Isn't he a DOLL?!?!? I just love him!

Ok, tomorrow is my BIG 3D project.For sure one of the things I am truly most proud of! I do hope you'll come back and let me know what you think!

Go ahead and head over to Marisa's Blog... I have a really cute pic of us for tomorrow too...

Just one more day.... although I hope you continue to come back to visit even after our hop is over!

 

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 8

Hi!!! Welcome back! Did you enjoy Jane's project today? So SUPER CUTE (just like she is)Just a few more days and our blog hop will be done :( But guess what? Stampin' Up! has made it so that the 10 of us will be designing for you the rest of the year. I am SO excited about that! You have probably already seen some of our designers bring you some great projects featuring this year's new InColors. That was our first assignment...who knows what the upcoming months will bring.

Today is the last of my scrapbook pages, and probably my favorite. I love Love love the color, and it doesn't hurt that the subject is ADORABLE. This is my "middle child" oh is he ever! He is loving and caring and sweet, and rambunctious and wild and all boy. If you've been around our family for more than 10 minutes, you probably know his middle name. I love him to pieces!

See?!?! I told you he was adorable :) Kind of a fun page too. I used the Walk in the Park II kit for this one. It wasn't one I was going to get, but I LOVE anything in almost every shade of turquoise....so I kind of had to. The only thing I really did on this was to add the rectangular punches filled with Whisper White and changed the opacity. I also varied the opacity of the stamped words which are also part of the kit. The photos were taken by a long-time, very dear, very talented friend of mine, Jessica VanKirk of Pink Magnolia Photography last year when we visited the Atlanta area. She is amazing and captured each of the boys unique personalities - she is a whiz with kids!

I hope you enjoyed todays page, and everyone else's posts as well. Our boys started school this morning, so it's been a crazy and fun day around here. What am I going to do with only a 2 year old around all day?

Well, enjoy Marisa's project for you today, and don't forget to check out everyone's blogs. Please leave them comments. I can tell you that blood (well maybe), sweat, tears and a lot of heart went into the projects you've been enjoying. Let the designers know if you like them.

See you tomorrow for the next to last project :(

 

 

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 7

Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying the hop so far. I have LOVED seeing all the inspiration. If you are following the hop, then you probably arrived here from Jane Lee's blog...just keep following us around the hop until you get back where you started and you will see all 10 of today's projects.

Today I want to share with you one of the other scrapbook pages I designed. I have 3 boys, so when it said I needed to enter 3 pages, it only seemed natural that each page would focus on each boy and I wanted to make sure that I captured their personalities.

This is my youngeset....he is FUNNY, quiet, reflective, silly and my little shadow. He was a little bit of a surprise and a whole lot of blessing!

Most everything on the page came from the On the Go kit, just a little stitching and then my beloved Downtown Grunge frames :)

 

On The Go Kit Downtown Grunge Photobook Template and kit MDS2+ Full software MDS2 Upgrade (from MDS)

InLinkz.com

enjoy the rest of the hop today...can I tell you that I am going to be a little sad when this is all over? I think you will really love what Marisa has in store for you today! Go check her out!

 

See ya tomorrow!

SPECIAL SIGN UP OFFER!!!

 

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 6

 

Welcome back. You're not sick of us yet, are you? I hope not! I am LOVING seeing everyone's winning entries. If you are following the hop, you probably came from Jane Lee's blog - I just love her stuff - her page she just posted - BRILLIANT! If you're just now jumping in...enjoy and follow the links until you get back here :)

This scrapbook page is of my oldest son, he will be 8 soon. How did that happen? He LOVES Baseball, Harry Potter, Star Wars and almost anything that his Dad does. He is a little bit of a Momma's boy, but LOVES his Daddy....

I used one large photo box in the background and changed the photo to Sepia. I had to get tricky with the old MDS to recolor the Simple Stitches element, but now in MDS2 it's easy! Just a tip when you do baseball stitching - it should in go opposite directions (little detail, but look at the right and left sides) A few Extreme Elements stars in the top corner, and of course my Downtown Grunge frames again!!! I love this page, it makes me so proud of my little man

 

InLinkz.com

I hope you'll keep hopping with us and go check out Marisa's Blog. I totally fell in love with her boards at Convention and I am loving seeing her projects up close.

See ya tomorrow!!!

Are you looking for an OPPORTUNITY? A REASON to JOIN STAMPIN' UP!

(if you need to, you can click on the photo above to open it full size)

In order to claim this extra free bonus, you need to sign up by the 31st of August! The first person to join my team will receive the stamp set and dies in addition to the Printer's Tray. Any other new members on my team will still receive the Printer's Tray, plus a sampling of additional Stampin' Up! products to inspire you and get you started on your way!

You can sign up NOW via my Stampin' Up! Website, or comment with any questions and I will get back with you to answer them.

If you are looking for someone to support you in this opportunity the way YOU want to be supported, and are willing to grow with me, I hope you will take me into consideration as your "upline"

2012 Artisan Award Winner Blog Hop - Project 5

Welcome back! Have you been enjoying the hop? What did you think about Jane's project today? That girl's got STYLE! If you're a newer visitor to my blog, I invite you to look around a bit. I've been posting twice a day this entire last week, and I'd love for you to check out what I've been working on.

Not sure how I came up with this idea. Evenmore, I am not really sure how it worked!!!! Here is a photo I took from my phone before I sent it in...

Here is a version of it from MDS...

I very carefully lined up the owls as best as I could (they were not perfect and there was some "creative cutting") then I cut them out like a paper doll chain. I will warn you, the Owl Punch is NOT symmetrical and this is not for the faint of heart - even with the align feature! I was so thrilled with this card though.

This was probably my favorite card ever because it was so unique, and I am so sad to say that I accidently deleted the file...like overwrote it - it's gone. I tried to recreate it and didn't have really good luck. Maybe again in the future....

I can't believe we are halfway through the hop already. Head on over to Marisa's Blog to see what she has in store for you today! Thanks for coming!

See ya tomorrow!

 

What a Week! MDS Blog Hop - Postcards

What a week!!!! Have you been following along? With me posting all of my Artisan Design Team projects in the morning, and then joining the Artisan Design Team Winning Entries blog hop - I have been BUSY! (and a little confused at times - hope you haven't been). I must admit, it has been FUN!!! If you haven't seen the Artisan Design Team winning entries blog hop, go to my main page and you can catch up with each days hop from there.

This week we wanted to showcase some Postcard projects. This was an easy one for me, as I create kind of a postcard almost every month. Well, really they are postcard invites. I am on a commitee at church that plans a function for our women 1 night every month. I always volunteer to make the invites (I know - rough, right?) Anyhow, I thought these would be good to show you. The first one is for this month (although I changes the names, so you might not be able to join us and crash the party - hee hee)

I used the Perfectly Preserved Stamp Set, the Back to School Ensemble and Orchard Harvest Papers. Again, I LOVE that we can now recolor our stamps!

Here's your easy shop links:

 

Orchard Harvest Designer Series Paper Back to School Ensemble Perfectly Preserved Stamp Brush Set MDS2 Free Trial Download MDS2+ Full software MDS2 Upgrade (from MDS)

InLinkz.com

Enjoy the rest of today's blog hop!!!

1. Jeanna Bohanon (here you are)

2.Rochelle Gould

3.  Mandy Grant

4. Julie Leblanc 
5.Amber Meadows

6. Terri Mongeon

7. Aly Schilling

8. Cindy Schuster

9. Erica Shaw

10. Heather Summers

11. Holly VanDyne
12. Kimberly Van Diepen