I Hate to Be Cliche

I really do hate to be cliche, but I seriously did pinch myself, right in the neck, to make sure I wasn't day dreaming. The other day I received a telephone call from Brent Steele who is Vice President, Creative Services of Stampin' Up! He asked if I knew who he was and and I answered "I sure do." If you have ever been to any SU! event you would know him as he is a fabulous stamper and super fun to watch demonstrate fun new ideas with new products. He called to let me know that I was an Artisan Award Winner. For those of you who don’t know, the Artisan Award is a big award with awesome rewards. The Artisan Award is based on creativity, craftsmanship, and style. To enter you must be a SU! demonstrator and you have to submit five cards, three scrapbook pages, and two 3-D projects. Each year SU! receives hundreds of entries and for me to be selected as a winner is a sincere honor.

Diamond Plate

With a house full of boys, a dog, and three race cars, being around anything girly is close to impossible. As my son was fixing one of the race cars he had this sheet of metal stuff to weld his car doors shut. I asked him what it was called and he said "diamond plate." So, I decided to make faux diamond plate at my last Technique Time! class. I thought it was the perfect addition to showcase the awesome new stamp from Stampin' Up! called Motorcyle. It is not in a set, but it is sold as a single stamp. You can find it in the Summer Mini Catalog. Come back later for my Faux Diamond Plate tutorial.

Simple Yet Sophisticated

There are not a lot of layers or added fluff on this card. I think it has clean, sleek, and simple details. If you are looking for a new stamp set for your collection--this is it, Elements of Style. It's found in the Summer Mini Catalog from Stampin' Up! and is super fabu!!! The spritz of shimmer on the card is from a clogged up bottle of Shimmer Spray mixed with rubbing alcohol. Tucked between the text are three itty bitty bits of bling from the Occasions Mini egg kit. I love those, in fact I used every last bit of the bling and all the rub ons from my kit.

Gettin' Ready to Party

The entire Island Oasis line in the Summer Mini Catalog puts me in the mood to party, bbq, and vacation. These party favor boxes are super sweet. This one here is embellished with the exclusive Stampin' Up! Island Floral Bigz die. You'll be seeing more projects made using the new die as it is perfect for summer florals and most of all creating a lei.

A Vintage Flair

Anything with a vintage or shabby look truly appeals to me. In this tag there are lots of layers. Not of papers or cardstock, but of stamped images. The best tip for achieving a shabby or worn look is to barely stamp your images in multiple layers. Instead of working to get a clean crisp stamped image try inking up and stamping hap hazzardly, kind of random. Then sponge various tones of color finishing with sponging the edges in the darkest color of your choice. Last step is to splatter ink. I like the Inkworks Art Airgun for a fine splatter effect.

Travelin' to Florida

My husband is flying to Florida today to see the space shuttle launch. Because he couldn't get tickets to the actual launch, he is going to see the space shuttle take off from a kayak. The crazy things guys do. So, I thought for today I would post this awesome "travel" card made by my very sweet friend Kaylene. She used the Sentimental Journey stamp set along with the Travel Journal designer series paper. Check out the cool cog. She first painted it with theSilver Foil Smooch Spritz and then the Log Cabin spritz to give the cog a rusted appearance.

A Touch of Crystal Effects

Look real close at the bicycle and you'll see I have added a light touch of Crystal Effects. It gives the illusion of rounded tires and it looks so shiny like a brand new bike. The added dsp along the bottom is from the Island Oasis pack. I'm telling you, you got to get this new paper--it's fabulous. It is filled with fun summer prints in colors perfect for the season.

Quick, Easy, & Summer Trend Setting

Why do I think this is a summer trend setting card? Because of the tempting turquoise, old olive, and chocolate chip color combo, the island "thatch" pattern paper, and of course the bicycle built for two stamp image. Really, I am not joking this card makes me feel like bike riding through Jamaica. Just a quick tip, the wide oval is backed with two oval scallop punched out pieces. The paper comes from the Island Oasis designer series pack and the stamp images are from Pedaling Past. Both of these items are new from the Summer Mini Catalog.

Trio-cycles

It's cute and simple and it's a trio of tricycles. I am diggin' the pumpkin pie and night of navy color combo for this card. But, most of all I like the simplicity--this card is clean and free of heavy layers. The images come from the Pedaling Past stamp set found in the Summer Mini Catalog.