Happy For You–Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger!

 

Hello Stamping Friends!!

 

Happy Easter!!  I hope that your day has been enjoyable so far and that you’ve had some lovely family time.  We went to church and out to breakfast with my mother-in-law, and I’ve been in my stamp cave ever since.  That’s my answer to a perfect day!  How about you?

I’m popping in really quick today to share a card that I created for a couple of reasons.  First, it’s for this week’s Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger, a weekly inspiration challenge sponsored by Paper Crafts Magazine’s Trend Editor, Cath Edvalson.  She always finds the most amazing photographs to inspire us, and this week’s trigger is no exception.  I was inspired, of course by that amazing gingham bow, but decided against using gingham ribbon.  I also took inspiration from the delicious embossed texture of the white box – it reminded me of doilies or Battenburg lace.  So I still have the “white space” with the clean and simple design, but I’ve included the inspirational elements in a different configuration.

 

I also created this for a sweet young lady that I’ve recently become acquainted with.  She and I have discovered that we have several things in common, despite our age difference (age is only a number, right?!).  On Friday, she was announced as one of Paper Crafts Magazine’s 2012 Stamping Royalty and I am so incredibly thrilled for her – almost as thrilled as I was the day I got the same email a year ago.  She oozes with amazing talent and creativity.  So, I thought I’d drop this in the mail to her to let her know how over-the-moon happy I am for her.  If you want to drop by and share some love with her, you can find her blog here:  Parker & Molly.  Prepare to be blown away!!  Congratulations, Heather!

 

That’s it for today, peeps.  I’ll be back tomorrow with a goodie that I threw together for i {heart} papers.  See you then!!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

 

Hi Peeps!

 

First of all, thank you all for your sweet, sweet comments last week – you all are so very kind and generous!  Second, I wanted to pop in really quick to announce the winner of the free issue of Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 from last week’s Stamp It! Cards Meets Stamping Royalty Blog Hop!

 

 

64.

Amanda said...

love the little flowers! thanx! prhmangel@gmail.com

July 1, 2011 11:20 AM

 

Congrats, Amanda!!  I’m so happy for you!  I’ll be contacting you by email to gather your mailing information and will get your free issue out to you ASAP!  You’re going to love it – seriously this is the BEST issue ever!!

 

If you’re reading this and you weren’t the winner today, Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 is available HERE or at a bookstore near you (I found mine at Barnes & Noble, but I’ve seen them at JoAnn’s, too).

 

I have nothing crafty to share with you all today, but I hope to have something for you tomorrow.  Thanks so much for stopping by – see you soon!!

Stamp It! Cards Meets Stamping Royalty Blog Hop!!

 

THIS IS MY SECOND POST FOR TODAY – PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT POST FOR MY CAS-UAL FRIDAYS CHALLENGE SAMPLE!!

 

Hola Peeps!

 

If you’ve landed here for the first time from Paper Crafts Connection – Welcome!!  If you’re one of my regular blog readers, I’m so glad you stopped by today!!  You’re going to want to read all the way through to the end of my post for some amazing prize opportunities!!

 

Are you as excited about the newly released Stamp It! Cards Vol. 8 issue as I am?!!  I mean seriously, people – this baby is jam packed from cover to cover with some of the most beautifully stamped cards I’ve ever seen!

To wrap up this week’s launch of Stamp It! Cards Volume 8, the Online Editor of Paper Crafts Magazine, P. Kelly Smith, has organized a super fun blog hop with the winners of the 2011 Stamping Royalty contest – and I just happen to be one of those 15 lucky winners!!  Fun, right?!!

 

The Stamping Royalty “Queens” were asked to create an all occasion card based on the current needs of Operation Write Home, a wonderful organization that provides hand made greeting cards to our troops overseas to send to their family while they’re deployed.  We all agreed that since the 4th of July is coming up soon, we’d use a patriotic color scheme for our cards.  We each chose one of the stamp sets that were included in our amazingly generous prize package for winning the Stamping Royalty contest, and away we went!

 

I chose to work with the uber fun Cake Shoppe and Cake Shoppe Too! from Mint Motif.  Oh my goodness, these stamp sets were a blast to play with – the mojo was oozing as soon as I placed these clear photopolymer beauties on my acrylic block.  I will definitely be inking these sets up again!!

 

Stamping is an important part of my life, and more specifically stamping to create cards is my passion.  I was beyond thrilled and honored to be one of the 15 winners chosen for this year’s Stamping Royalty . . . in fact, it was truly a dream come true.  I am blessed beyond belief in my life, and so many of those blessings are due to the freedoms we enjoy because the men and women in our military risk their lives every day to protect us.  I can only imagine how difficult it is to be thousands of miles away from your loved ones for months and sometimes years at a time.  How can I NOT thank them in a way that makes a difference in their lives?  So to be able to provide our troops with cards that they can send home to their loved ones was an opportunity that I felt compelled to act upon.  When P. Kelly suggested that we tie this blog hop to Operation Write Home, I felt as though the planets were aligned – it was meant to be.

 

You’re definitely going to want to hop over to the remaining Stamping Royalty blogs to enjoy some additional stamping inspiration – these ladies will blow you away:

• Amber Daigre
• Lynn Darda
• Angela Fehr
• Mariana Grigsby
• Shelly Kurth
• Sarah Jay
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Stephanie Nagel
• Laura Pryor
• Mary Dawn Quirindongo
• Kelly Silva
• Julia Stainton
• Laurie Willison

Wanna win some prizes?!  Well, of course you do!!  You have TWO chances to win.

• First, head on back to the Paper Crafts Connection blog and leave a comment to win one of two amazing prize packages as pictured above!
• Second, leave a comment here on my blog for a chance to win a free copy of the Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 issue!!
• All comments must be posted by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, July 3rd to be eligible to win!

 

Lastly, we’d love for you to get involved and donate some of your handmade cards to Operation Write Home.  There’s a Mr. Linky set up on the Paper Crafts Connection blog if you’d like to post your cards for the campaign!!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I so appreciate it!

What an Amazing Week It’s Been!

 

Hello Sweet Friends!!

 

First, I want to thank you all for your very kind and generous words about my Stamping Royalty win.  I continue to feel the warmth and love shared by all of you with me, and hope that this feeling never goes away.  As each group of winners was announced, I felt more and more honored as many of the winners are women whose work I have admired and been inspired by for a very long time.  The idea that I stand next to them in this journey fills me with a sense of awe and humility . . . many of these women are stamping celebrities!!  To be in the company of these women is a total and complete honor for me.

 

Second, I want to share the cards that I submitted for the Stamping Royalty contest that didn’t make the cut.  I still like them, so I’m hoping that you’ll look at them and say to yourself, “Hey, I can do THAT!”   Here ya go:

 

Thinking of You/Hello
(I think I already shared this one with you)

 

Holiday/Season’s Greetings

 

Birthday

 

Love #1

 

Love #2 (this was my fave)

Thank You

 

There ya have it!  I’ll be entering these in the Reject Blog Hop that Dr. Amber (another of the Stamping Royalty winners!) is holding over at her blog, Damask Love.  Check it out – there’s some yummy inspiration there for you!!

 

Now, I want to tell you a little story about these cards.  A good majority of them are RE-WORKED cards that I had either created for challenges or had previously submitted (but were rejected!).  The SR entries could not have been seen on line at all . . . but with a little tweaking, they were “official.”   So I changed color schemes or added additional elements so that they differed from the original cards.  Only two of them were new creations – Love #2 and the Birthday cards.  I tell you this why?  Because I am a testament to the fact that you don’t have to be a brilliant, super creative stamper to win!  If you have projects that you love, and they haven’t been shown online (or have been previously shown or submitted, but can be reworked), it’s very possible that your submission will be chosen!!  The only way to know is to ENTER!!!  So please, friends, when you see the advertisement for next year’s Stamping Royalty contest, I hope that you’ll enter.  You can’t win if you don’t enter, right?!!

 

Okay, that’s it for me today, kids!.  Thanks again for all your kind words . . . they mean more to me than you’ll ever know.  We’re off to have dinner with some sweet friends.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend – I know I will!!

Not In My Wildest Dreams . . .

 

. . . did I imagine that I would be sharing this secret (that has absolutely been KILLING me!) with you all.  When I say that, I’m seriously not fishing for compliments . . . I truly did not imagine that what I do (stamping) would even come close to being worthy of winning a contest.  But in fact, I have won . . . and now I get to share the most amazing news with you all.

 

Yes, my sweet crafty friends, I’m one of the three winners in the Thinking of You/Hello category of the 2011 Stamping Royalty Contest (there are 15 winners in all)!!  You can find the official announcement HERE.  Can you believe it?!!  I am still floating on cloud nine since I received that amazing email from P. Kelly Smith last week.  I screamed, then I cried, and then I screamed again!!  LOL  Sadly, no one was home when I got the email, and I had VERY EXPLICIT instructions to not tell a soul.  Are you KIDDING me?!!  LOL  Luckily, I got ahold of my hubby on the phone, who was on his way to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, GA.  Here’s how our conversation went:

ME:  Honey!  Guess what?!!

HUBBY:  What?

ME:  I won!!  I won the Stamping Royalty Contest!!  Can you believe it?!!

HUBBY:  Great!!  But what does that mean?  Is it like you won the local club championship (yes – hubby is a golf freak)?

ME:  Ummm . . . NOOOOOO!!  It’s like I won the freakin’ MASTERS!!

HUBBY:  Oh!!  Well, that’s just great then!!  Congratulations, sweetie!!

Yeah . . . he doesn’t REALLY get it.  LOL  But that’s okay.  I am thrilled beyond belief, regardless.  I can’t share my winning card with you just yet – that’ll have to wait until the November/December issue of Paper Crafts Magazine comes out (on October 11th!).  But I will be sharing the other cards that didn’t make the cut with you in the next several days.

 

I am so incredibly humbled to be included among the other winners that have been revealed so far, and all the great stamping geniuses that came before us.  I’d like to thank the editors of Paper Crafts Magazine who chose my card . . . you’ll never know how much this incredible honor means to me.  I’d also like to thank all of you who have left me sweet comments that served to encourage me in my stamping journey.  I love what I do . . . I dream about stamping, I obsess about it, and I study others who inspire me so that I can become the best stamper that I can be.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

 

 

In honor of you all, I’ve created a card to thank you.  Consider this my personal thanks to you for all that you do to inspire me each and every day.  I’ll also be submitting this for the Moxie Fab World current challenge, In My Beautiful Balloon.

Source: None via allegra on Pinterest

 

I was inspired by this amazing photograph that I found on Pinterest (another obsession! LOL).  I love how the balloon is floating over the fog-covered cityscape, and knew that I would combine my love of cityscapes with this challenge.

 

Well, that’s it for my big news today.  Thank you, again, for all of your encouragement and support . . . it means the world to me.  Thanks, too, for stopping in today!