2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 10

Hi stampers!  Well here it is, day 10 of our blog hop.  I can't believe how fast it's gone by and how many fabulous projects we've seen!  Speaking of fab-boo projects you should have just come from Tara's blog and her amazing project, no?  If not, no worries since we make an endless loop!

So I'm back with yet another baby project....I know, I know:-)  It just kind of worked out that way though that I did three baby themed things.  I may have baby on the brain but I swear I didn't intend for it to show through my Artisan entries.  I actually made this card because I had another baby card I had made with the same color combo that I kind of wanted to enter but since I'd made it long ago and already posted it to my blog I decided to try something new.

I used the simply scored diagonal plate to make a "baby quilt" background.  I can't tell you how many tries it took me to get it right, lol!  Me and that diagonal plate don't get along too well...I seem to get cross-eyed and score in the wrong track.  But, I think the card turned out cute and I think it's my favorite entry of all which is why I saved it for today, the last day of our hop.

I like the inside of this one almost as much as the front, hehe!  I wanted to make a little nursery scene since the little additions set is so cute!  The teddy bear is cut out and attached with a mini glue dot to give it a little dimension.

Now head on over to Connie's blog if you haven't already and check out her final gorgeous project!  And here's the list to the rest in case you missed any.

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

And now it's back to your regularly scheduled blog postings:-)  I've got quite a few new things saved up to share with you over the next few weeks.

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 9

Hi stampers!  Welcome to day 9 of our blog hop!  Wow, where has the time gone???  You probably just came from Tara's blog and her fabulous project!  Didn't you love it?  Don't worry if you didn't come from her blog though, we make a big loop so you can still see all the pretty pictures:-)

So, in the theme for the last three days I've got another baby project.  This was my other 3-D project and it's a cute little baby onesie that not only did I sew on but stamped on too!  I had seen some ruffled onesies on Pintrest and it got the wheels turning!  Most of them on Pintrest had ruffled bums but I wanted mine to be more like a skirt.  I can't thank my mother in law enough for helping me with this one too!  I'm so not a seamstress so she helped me big time!

Isn't it cute?  It turned out great although next time I think I'll spread my ruffles out a bit more.  So, besides the ruffles I added some eggplant ribbon (which I safety pinned on so it could be removed for washing) and I also stamped the giraffe from fox and friends and the word baby from pennant parade using craft ink (sadly craft ink has been retired).  I used my iron to heat set it.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for my very favorite project of my entires!  Now head on over to Connie's blog to see her awesome project! And make sure to check out everyone else's too!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 8

Hi stampers!  It's day eight already of our blog hop!  You probably just came from Tara's blog where you saw her fabulous creation!  If not, don't fret...we make a big loop so you can see everything!

I've got my final scrapbook page to show you today.  Now, the scrapbook pages were probably the hardest thing for me and not because I have a hard time scrapping (I just don't do it as often as I should) but because we couldn't use any pictures of ourselves to make the judging objective.  Well, without kids who/what the heck was I supposed to use? LOL!  But, my cousin had just had a baby and I had the cutest pictures of her so the timing could not have been better!  Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have my own baby to use when I enter next year!!!! :-)

This is my hybrid page where I combined MDS with traditional scrapping.  I added some wisteria wonder polka dot brads to the title and a very vanilla button with baker's twine to the journaling.  I wanted to keep it simple for obvious reasons...who would want to overwhelm that sweet face:-)  I pulled my colors from the photo, both the tone of the photo and then her cute hat...who cousin Mindy just happened to get her, hehe.  I used some overlays over the whole page to make it kind of soft/vintage although I can't remember all the exact downloads I used.  As for the photo I edited it on my phone using instagram.  I just love that app and it's GREAT for scrapping and making your photos look cool!   Ok, so now I want to go visit my cousin and hold little (or not so little anymore) Kyleigh:-)

And I have to laugh as I think about the last two projects I have for you....they are both baby themed...think I have something on my mind???  LOL!

Now head on over to Connie's blog to see what awesome creation she's got for you today! And here's the list in case you missed anything!  Come back tomorrow ok!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 7

Hi stampers!  And welcome to day 7 of the Artisan finalist blog hop!  You should have come from Tara's blog and her ca-yoot project!  Don't worry if you didn't start at the beginning though, we make a big ol' circle.

I've got another card today and it's another vintage-y one.  I wanted to do this one to pull out all the little tricks.  And what's funny is that it's purple.  I rarely use purple in my cards for some reason even though I really like purple in general!  But, concord crush and wisteria wonder went together so well didn't they?

So, onto the "tricks" on this card.  First, most everything is distressed and sponged.  The vanilla panel and the first edition paper were all distressed with the tea stain distressing ink.  Next, the butterfly was cut from textured card stock and then I clear embossed the floral image from elements of style over it.  I then took concord crush and wisteria wonder ink and an aqua painter and colored in the flowers.  The outer edges are also rimmed in the silver smooch accent ink...or wait...maybe it was gold, heck it's been so long I can't remember!!!  Oh...maybe it was just the regular iridescent one, ha!  Anyway, I then added a vintage brad and pearls and then FINALLY topped it off with those little concord crush flowers with rhinestone centers.  Oh but there's even more.....I also added a piece of the crochet trim which I rubbed the tea stain distress ink over first to dirty it up a bit.  Whew!   I think that's it:-)

I don't often do this many fancy little tricks to cards but I wanted this one to be pimped out so to speak and I think it worked without looking over busy or too fussy!

The inside was pretty simple...

And there you have it.  Make sure to come back for the remaining three projects!  I've saved a couple of my favorites for the end!  But before you go, head on over to Connie's blog if you haven't already done so and check out her fab project!  And here's our whole list if you get lost!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 6

Hi stampers!  It's time for day 6 of the Artisan Finalist Blog hop.  You've probably just come from Tara's blog, wasn't her project so cute?

I've got another card to showcase today.  This one is kind of an accidental entry.  In the middle of working on my projects I needed a gradation card for my cousin.  Now, she's not overly girly so I came up with this card which had just the right amount of pink and I really liked it.   The longer I looked at it sitting out on my desk and waiting for the weekend the more I loved it!  I finally decided that I might as well just make another one and enter it, ha!  So, that's what I did and here it is.

I think all of the supplies I used for this one are still current!  I love the footsteps in the background and the brads as well as the multi-colored sentiment!  I also love how bright and vibrant it was.  As I was trying to enter a variety of styles and color schemes I think this is just what my entries needed!

And I totally can't find the picture of the inside of this one but it wasn't all that exciting, ha!  It was just white on the inside with one of the flourishes on the sentiment panel stamped in one of the lower corners.  Hope you can forgive me:-)

Now, if you haven't already made the loop you can head on over to Connie's blog and check out her ah-mazing project for today!  And here's the whole list if you want to jump around or got lost!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Come back tomorrow!!  Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 5

Hi stampers!  It's day 5 of our Artisan Finalist blog hop!  Halfway there!  This is sure taking a lot less time than it did to actually come up with and make the projects, ha!  You have probably just come from Tara's blog where you got to see her fabulous project!  Don't worry if you didn't though, because we make a big loop and you can find the whole list at the bottom of this post!

I have another scrapbook page today!  I wanted to share this one today because it features my awesome hubby....who let me buy a macbook yesterday:-)  I shouldn't say let me but actually encouraged me to, lol!  And he graciously said that if for some reason I don't like it, he'll take it off my hands, lol!  Big of him, no?  He's been talking about it for a while now and I finally said I'd consider it this week after playing around with MDS2 (which, OMG is SOOOO much faster on a mac, holy cow) and dealing with my old laptop being slow and locking up and what not.  So this page has a couple of pictures of him on our trip to Vegas last year.  He's so photogenic....hehe!  Too bad you can't see how HUGE that margarita is in the one picture!  He's about six feet tall and it was down past his knees!  Silly boy!

This is my one completely digital page.  There are no traditional elements on it.  I wanted to use the hexagons since they are very "in" right now and wanted to keep it simple too so I could focus on his cute smile!  I also love those candid fames and downloaded them (and I can't even tell you how many other downloads, lol) just for this project and the Artisan contest!    But I think making them look like polaroids is totally cute!  I miss polaroids!  They remind me of all the old pictures my granny used to take:-)  It's hard to see in the picture but the background paper is actually DSP, it's tiny dots.

Now it's time to head on over to Connie's blog if you already haven't been there since we're back to the start!  And just in case you get lost or started in the middle, here is the whole list.  Make sure you check them all out and come back again for the remaining 5 days!

1:  Connie Collins 
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Award Blog Tour - Day 4

Hi stampers!  Can you believe it's day four of our blog hop already?  Where has the time gone?  Oh yea...for me it's gone by at football practice!  Ha!  At least I had today off!  It's 6 day work weeks for me until the end of October...that means a lot of stamping squished into my Sunday along with the grocery shopping and laundry!  So, you've probably just come from Tara's blog.  Didn't you just love her project????

Today I've got another card to share.  This one is also a different shape....I have to say I really like these long cards.  I went for more of a vintage look on this one just for some variety and I took my color combo from the attic boutique paper from the Occasions Mini.

The flower was made by punching a bunch of scalloped circles and spritzing them with water and then crumpling them up.  I also stamped on the framelit cut out but I stamped off once before so it would be a bit softer.  The ribbon is simply ruffled up on some sticky strip.  My favorite part is probably the little ribbon tails.  I miss that striped ribbon.  That's a piece that I cut in half long wise and frayed a bit.  Love doing that!  I have to say I wasn't thrilled with this card while I was making it but by the time it was done it wasn't half bad:-) 

And here's the inside...just a simple little detail:

Ok, now you're off to Connie's blog...or back to the beginning if you started there!  Don't worry if you didn't though...just keep clicking those links as we make one big circle!  Here's your map!
1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)
Make sure you keep coming back so you see ALL 10 projects/days!

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalis Blog Tour - Day 3

Hi stampers and welcome the the third day of the Artisan Finalist blog tour!  You may have just come from Tara's blog....wasn't her project fantastic....but don't worry if you didn't...we make an endless loop so make sure to check out everyone's entries!

In honor of the third day I'm sharing one of my 3-D projects today!  We have to submit 5 cards, 3 scrap pages and 2 3-D items.  Now, I know most people say they struggle with the 3-D submissions the most....and I did too but for a slightly different reason...I couldn't decide what to enter....I had too many ideas, lol!  I really like doing 3-D items, especially home decor stuff and now with Pintrest I had SO MANY ideas!!!!  I have a list a mile long of things to make and thing to possibly enter next year!  I finally decided on doing a framed subway art though as subway art is HOT right now!  I used MDS and created a hybrid frameable.  Feel free to click on it to see it larger for more detail.

This was also my least favorite project in the end because I messed it up slightly.  I was in a rush (big surprise there) to get this done and printed and back to me so there wasn't time to fix it.  I actually had to pay a rush fee to get it here to me on time.  That ought to teach me for next time!  But as you can see in the picture some of the words and images are slightly cut off under the frame but live and learn...I know for next time now I guess.  So I was really extra surprised when I found out I was a finalist since I had "messed" this one up:-)  It's still cute though!

I used a LOT of downloads in this and just played around with colors and sizes until they were how I wanted them.  MDS is SO fun and SO great for this kind of thing!  However, I should have written down exactly what downloads I used because we had to include that information and I probably spent more time looking them up after the fact than I did creating the thing, lol!

 I added on a few little extras like the pearls, punched flower, brad, and rhinestones for a bit of extra fun!  I debated about what occasion to make this for and finally settled on a birthday theme because it was a bit out of the box and not just some fall or Christmas or other season/holiday that you would normally see subway art for.  How cute would this be out on a table for a birthday party or in the birthday girl's (or boys....) room the week of their birthday?

Well that's the end of the tour....unless you started in the middle in which case you're off to Connie's blog to start all over!  Her project is just the cutest!!!!  And in case you get lost here's the list!  And be sure to come back each day for the rest of the 10 projects!

1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour - Day 2

Hi stampers!  It's day two of the Artisan Finalist blog tour!  You probably just came from the super talented Tara's blog! Wasn't her project cute???  Now don't worry if you didn't come from her blog or you get lost on the tour....I'll have a list of all the stops at the bottom of the post!

Today I thought I'd show you my favorite scrap page from my entries.  This page is a 8 x 8 size and is a traditional scrap page.  I did one traditional page, one digital page and then one hybrid page so we'll start with the tried and true.  The reason it's my favorite page out of all three is because it features my momma:-)  She looked absolutely gorgeous at our wedding so I've been wanting to scrap this pic for a while now.  I chose the summer smooches paper because she loves bright colors and I knew she'd like it and her dress was purple and went with the colors perfectly!

Now, pay no attention to the date...I totally wrote the date on the journaling as 2012 instead of 2010...oops:-)  Anyway, I used a lot of different sets for the words and a lot of punches and dies for the flowers!  And I have to say my momma is all of these things!  :-)  Love you mom!

I have to laugh because my mom kept telling me I was going to win because of this page...because of her that is, ha!  She did keep telling me I was going to win and I didn't even dream of making the finals so I guess she might know what she's talking about some days!  I do feel bad for scaring her though....we were in Vegas when I got the phone call letting me know I was a finalist and I was crying when I called her to tell her the good news.  Oops:-)  Had to quickly reassure her they were HAPPY tears!  Oh and the other thing she told me (well texted me) after I sent her the photo of the finished page is that she wanted it, ha!  She was sad I had to send it off to Utah so I'll probably have to remake this one!  I should probably get to work on that!

Now keep on hopping over to Connie's blog if you haven't already and check out her cute project!  And if you started with Connie then you should have seen all of us!  But just in case you get lost here is a list of us hoppers:
1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)


Thanks for visiting and come back tomorrow for more projects!


Happy stamping!

2012 Artisan Finalist Blog Tour Day 1

Hi stampers!  Well it's finally time to share my Artisan finalist projects!  And not only can you see mine but you can see eight of the other nine finalist's amazing projects too!  If you're following the hop then you just came Tara (Murphy) Bougoin's blog and wasn't her project awesome?  Don't worry if you didn't start at the beginning though because we make an endless loop so you can see all the projects.  And keep coming back!  There will be 10 days of hopping:-)

The first project I'm going to share is the first thing I made for the contest.  I thought that was fitting when I was trying to figure out what to show you first!  I just kind of decided to enter all of the sudden once I saw they changed the rules and there was a chance to be on a design team but I had to wait for the rules to post which took a while.  I guess I work better under pressure, ha!

So, for this card I wanted to use a lollie since they are so "in" right now and I think this is a fun and cheery card!  I also went for a different size than I usually make.  Looking back at past winners I saw that they made a variety of different card sizes so I decided to go square on this one and it fit my medallion well. I like this card because the lollie gives it a wow aspect but it's still rather clean and simple which of course is very me.  I wanted to make sure that all my entries were still "Mindy" cards!

It's hard to see in the photo but the sentiment is heat embossed in white.  For some reason I couldn't get it to show up well in the photo.  It's also on textured cardstock.  Have to say I miss that stuff...although I may have some hoarded...I mean saved;-)  I also added some extra special touches inside each of the cards for good measure:-)  Also something I had picked up on from past winners.  And I have to say while looking over past winners I was sure I'd never even make the short list.  So, if you're on the fence about entering or afraid to...just DO it!  You never know:-)  Here's the inside.

You will note that a lot of the supplies I've use are now retired...but they were current when I entered:-)  So, I'm not going to list my supplies since most are retired.  If you have questions though just let me know!

I'm last on the tour so if you started here or somewhere in the middle you can head over to Connie Collins blog and start all over!  Head on over and check out her gorgeous project!

And in case you lose your way here is a list of the other finalists in the hop!
1:  Connie Collins
2:  Holly VanDyne
3:  Melissa Stout
4:  Amy O'Neill
5:  Sandie Conner
6:  Amy Rogers
7:  Mercedes Weber
8:  Tara (Murphy) Bougroin
9:  Mindy Bingamon (You are here)

Happy stamping....or should I say hopping!