Hi stampers! I still can't believe the title of this post :-) Welcome to the first Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team Blog Hop of 2017! If you're not familiar with us, we're a group of 20 demonstrators from all around the globe. We'll be hopping twice a month to show you how much you can do with your SU supplies! Don't be afraid to use google translate if a blog isn't in your preferred language!
And just fair warning, today's post my be a little long. I'm just SO freaking excited to be doing this. I was a finalist the first year they changed the contest to a design team and honestly, I thought that was pretty darn cool but THIS, this is just a dream come true!
I'll take just a minute to introduce myself in case you're new here. I'm Mindy and although my Artisan stuff says Bingamon, it's actually my maiden name. You may also know me as Mindy Backes...long story short, I never got around to changing my name with SU for I dunno... 6 years? Oops! I was going to change it then I got the finalist thing so I didn't want to mess things up and then I either forgot or something else like display stamper came up. Fast forward to this summer when I SWEAR I was going to change it and I won. Guess it's good I didn't, huh? :-) I've been a demo for going on 8 years now and I've met so many amazing people through SU! I cannot tell you how amazed and honored I am to be a part of this group, it's really a dream come true!
It's especially sweet for me as I struggled with my creativity and stamping since becoming a mom! I know I've said that twice now but it's true! It's especially meaningful to me now as I have struggled a lot with my creativity in the past four years. I lost most of my stamping "mojo" around the time we started trying to have a baby and then when we started fertility treatments. And then we were blessed with our little boy Ian, and I struggled with PPD and anxiety and REALLY lost it. I considered giving up this hobby altogether. And I'm so glad I didn't or I wouldn't be HERE sharing with you! I still don't stamp as much as I really want to, most of the time I end up exhausted on the couch instead of down in the basement BUT every now and then, inspiration strikes and I really feel like my old self! My hope in sharing this little bit of personal info is that it may help someone going through any of the things I mentioned above because I felt so alone in all of it before I started talking about it! Anyway, back to the actual hop :-)
This hop is all about the sealed with love stamp set and coordinating suite. If I'm being honest, I saw our assignment and said, "oh crap!" LOL! I kind of disliked, as in hated, this suite when I saw it in the catalog. I was super nervous to start off with something that wasn't my style and that I wasn't into BUT being an Artisan is all about growth right? So I'm glad I got pushed out of my comfort zone from the get go! And it turns out I don't hate it at all and kind of love my project! Yay!
I added some other colors in as I find the DSP to be a little stark with just the red and white. I think this DSP is super versatile though, with just the red and white you could accent it with any number of colors!
I made a Valentine with coordinating gift card holder. They aren't really "matching" per say, but they do coordinate and could easily be given together or separate. For my card, I splattered some blushing bride ink on watercolor paper with my aqua painter and then layered on one of the new lace doilies with the white side up. I love that they are double sided in whisper white and very vanilla! Then I layered on my little DSP envelopes and "love note" cut using the love notes framelits. While it may not be my favorite suite ever, the little envelope and love note ARE just the cutest!!!! Are they not???? Make sure to remember to line up your die the direction you want your hearts facing though. Don't ask me why I felt it necessary to note this ;-)
Then I added my embellishments with the mini paperclip with some of the sending love combo pack ribbon in white, one of the wooden hearts from the sending love embellishments, a pool party cupids arrow from the framelits, and finally, a few of the enamel shapes in pool party to tie it all together! I really love how it came out all cute and a little shabby chic!
For my gift card holder, I used the sending love glass sheets and cut it out with the gift card holder framelits. I also cut a piece of real red card stock the same size as my gift card. It may contain a green Starbucks card and green wouldn't look too cute showing through :-) I added my bow and then layered on the little envie and love note again, accenting it much the same as on my card.
I hope you liked my first project! If you want an organized place to keep up with our creations, make sure to check out our Pinterest board
HERE!
And now you need to hop on over and check out the rest of the ADT's creations and prepare to be oohed and ahhed!!! Click the button below to head to
Miriam van Eyden's blog.
Happy stamping!
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