Encre, papier, ciseaux: 2013 Artisan Entry Blog Hop

Welcome to Day 1 of the 2013 Artisan Entry Blog Hop! Every year, Stampin' Up! holds a contest where demonstrators can submit ten of their best samples in the hopes of being selected to become part of the Artisan Design Team. The ten winners are announced at Convention, but the 20 chosen finalists have been notified by phone last week. Some of us who entered but did not make the finalists list have decided to get together for a blog hop to share our entries with you.

Although it was disappointing to not make the cut, I am still grateful that for the first time this year, I was finally able to enter the contest. In the past, Quebec demos had always been excluded from the contest due to some local legislation and I have been pushing for years to get SU! to find a way to include us in the process since I really wanted to enter. It finally happened this year - albeit a little at the last minute. Due to some delays in getting everything set up, the information was posted on the French Website three weeks before the deadline. I knew making ten amazing projects in three weeks would be a stretch, but there was no way I was not entering after waiting all this time. (I had to check "entering Artisan contest" off my bucket list, you know!) I spent three weeks crafting like mad and spent a small fortune with UPS (urgh!) to get it to Utah in time, but knowing that I had so little time to prepare when other demos had a little over four months made me keep my hopes in check.

With that long introduction, let me present to you the first of the ten projects I put together for the Artisan contest.

The first project I would like to share is the first of the three scrapbook pages we had to make. I picked some pictures of my niece taken at five months. My sister has been taking a picture of her with the stuffed owl I bought her every month to document her growth. When I saw the numbered paper in the Soho Subway paper pack, I thought I could just circle the 5 in the series to make my title. It became the starting point of the page. To highlight the number, I handstitched with linen thread around the number. I then created a frame with two oval Framelits dies and added the oval frame to the page with cut Stampin' Dimensionals, and embellished with a dahlia, lace trim and safety pin.

The splatter in the background was stamped with a stamp from the first Paper Pumpkin kit. The title was stamped with the Morning Post Alphabet. (The little hand pointing to the word also comes from this same alphabet set.) At the bottom, I added cross stitching with linen thread to the punched scallop ribbon. A little embellishment was made with the Label Love stamp set. (The English version says "Cutest Baby Ever" whereas the French says "A perfect baby," which works so well because my sister always says she has the "perfect baby"). I stamped and embossed the sentiment twice with Early Espresso powder, punched the center with the Scallop Circle punch to create a window and layered the two tags together with DImensionals. A flag from the Boutique Boxes kit and Summer Starfruit ribbon were added. Speaking of the Boutique Boxes kit, the Vanilla scallop edge also came from said kit.

The little owl in the Aviary set matches the stuffed owl perfectly (it even has the same "deer caught in headlights" eyes), so I created a toppling tower with a topiary made with yet another die-cut from the Boutique Boxes kit, added the bird cage on top and a tag from the That's the ticket set. The center of the topiary was embellished with an accent made with the clay and press molds. The feather de-cut also comes from the Boutique Boxes kit.

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Aviary, Morning Post Alphabet, Label Love, T'as un ticket (That's the ticket),
splatter (Paper Pumpkin kit)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Summer Starfruit
Patterned paper: Soho Subway
Ink: VersaMark, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso, Cocktail Cantaloupe
Accessories: Oval Framelits dies, In Color dahlias, Victoria lace trim, Vintage trinkets,
Stampin' DImensionals, Gold embossing powder, Boutique Boxes kit, Clay and pressed molds,
Island Indigo Stampin' Marker, Linen thread, Scallop Ribbon border punch,
Early Espresso embossing powder, 7/8'' Scallop Circle punch, Summer Starfruit satin ribbon,
Very Vintage Designer buttons, Typeset Alphabet Bigz die, Large Oval punch,
Large Scallop Circle punch, Circle punch

Here are all the links to the participants' blogs in case you can't hop from one blog to the next properly:

Brenda Quintana http://qbeesquest.blogspot.com/
Joan Robertson http://www.dailystampede.com/
Lauri Ingram http://lauri-paperville.blogspot.com/
Laura Mellinger http://laurasworksofheart.blogspot.com/
Kandi Phillips http://kandiphillips.blogspot.com/
Lisa Hensley http://ponygirl40stamps.blogspot.com/
Anna Black http://my-creation-station.blogspot.com/
Pamela Staples http://www.sunnygirlscraps.com/
Tina Munzke http://www.craftedwithclass.blogspot.com/
Cindy Major http://www.cindymajor.typepad.com/
Mary Haugen http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/maryhaugen/blog

Comments

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So cute... the baby and the page. One thing I love and keeps me coming back to a blog is to see something used in an unexpected way. I love that you used the Soho Subway paper for a baby girl! I adore all of the amazing details you have added (and the great pictures so I can see them). My favorite is the frame and ribbon detail around the 5. I wanted to tell you that I didn't decide to enter until the first weekend in May. I went on a 3 day retreat and only worked on Artisan projects. Congratulations on getting it done :-)

Posted by: Joan Robertson | July 05, 2013 at 08:01

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this scrapbook page! I'm going to share it with one of my French Canadian friends. I love how you made the oval frame then added the details with the ribbon and brad. I'll be CASE-ing that little technique!!! Super cute!

Posted by: Pam Staples | July 05, 2013 at 08:17

AH-MAZAING! Wow. I totally and completely LOVE this scrapbook page. I'm not a scrapper, and they were the hardest part of the contest for me. But you nailed it! Great job!

Posted by: Anna Black | July 05, 2013 at 08:49