The Studio Design Team: Kerrianne Gwin

Today is the final Wplus9 Design Team announcement. This lady is one of my dearest friends and is single-handedly responsible for getting me into card-making and scrapbooking. It was a no-brainer that she be on the Design Team, so I was extremely happy when she said that she was interested. Introducing:

Kerrianne is a new-comer on the scene when it comes to blogging. Now that she has finished her Master's Degree, she will have plenty more time to get creative! Also a professional Graphic Designer, she is crazy talented, with a unique style and an eye for color. She has a love for all things retro and vintage, so I can't wait to see her bring that out in her creations with the Design Team.

Be sure to stop by her blog and welcome her to blogland, I have promised her that you ladies are the friendliest bunch and tons of fun!

The Studio Design Team: Savitri Wilder

Hold on to your tape runners ladies, it's time to announce the third member of the Wplus9 Design Team. It's my pleasure to introduce:

Savitri was the first designer I reached out to when I decided that I was going to start The Studio. I first stumbled upon Savitri's work through Kristina Werner's color challenges, and she blew me away. Here are a few pieces of her work that stand out to me:

I think the best way to sum up her style is clean and graphic. She is magical at taking trendy images and colors and applying a clean layout that really packs a punch! I am especially drawn to her scrap-book layouts. Pure genious I tell you, I could peruse her blog for inspiration all day long. And I am extremely happy she has agreed to help me showcase the Wplus9 collection. Check out her blog to see what I mean. But don't say I didn't warn you. ;o)

And don't forget to check back tomorrow for the last Design Team announcement!

The Studio Design Team: Elise Durenberger

First, I just want to thank you all so much for your support so far! I am completely floored with the number of people that have already subscribed at www.Wplus9.com.

And secondly, it is time to announce another Wplus9 Design Team member:

Otherwise known as Mamacow "Elise, E., E-stir, Mama E, hey YOU with all the STAMPS", this is one lady who needs no introduction! Whatever you call her, just don't call her boring! In addition to being an incredibly talented artist, this one here is incredibly talented at brightening your day! Just pop on by her blog and sit a spell, and you'll surely see what I mean. But don't forget to leave her a "YEE-HAW" on your way out. Oh and try not to be too envious of her amazingly renovated "Scrapland". I'm still trying to contain the jealousy myself. :o)

Again, trying to narrow down favorites is just torture, but I have picked some samples of her work that really speak to me.

I think what I am attracted to so much about Elise's style is her fun, playful, bold cards. Her style is so different from my own, and oh though I have tried, I can not pull it off. (Geez...there's that little green eyed monster again.) It's her fearless use of color, images, and then there's that tell-tale Elise humor in them. Her personality just shines through her work, and I'm looking forward to having some of that rub-off on me...if I'm lucky. ;o)

Don't forget to check back again tomorrow, we will continue the introductions with another one that you WILL NOT want to miss.

The Studio Design Team: Maile Belles

I am very excited, humbled, and honored to share the Wplus9 Design Team with you. These are a wonderfully talented group of ladies. Each one has their own style and flair. And each have agreed to help me debut my stamp line! How lucky am I?!

I will be announcing a new designer here on the blog each day until Saturday. And today it is my pleasure to announce, the one, the only, Maile Belles!

I have long admired Maile's work and often find great inspiration on her blog. Narrowing down her work to just a few favorites is an impossible task. So here are a few samples of pieces that I have personally found inspirational.

Maile's use of color, balance, and composition are amazing and have you seen what this lady can do with floss?! It makes me feel the need to compulsively stock up. I cannot wait to see what she will do with my stamps! Be sure to stop by her blog, but be prepared...seriously, have your cup of coffee or tea, you'll be there awhile. ;o)

Coming Soon: Wplus9 Design Studio

The time has come share my secret. I am very excited about my newest venture, so without further ado:

Some of you may have noticed the small aesthetic changes that have been under way here at the blog. This was all in anticipation of starting my own business. The Wplus9 Design Studio will feature high quality photo-polymer stamps for now, with the hopes of branching out if things go well.

I have been into the arts for as long as I can remember in any medium I could get my hands on. And I have been a graphic artist/designer professionally for the last 11 years. I really love to create. And I really love to see what others create. So this just felt like a natural fit. I know it's a big risk, but it should be fun. And I'd hate to always wonder "what-if?".

I am hoping that you will join me on this adventure. Each day this week I will be announcing a new member of the Wplus9 Design Team! And they are sooo talented, I mean T-A-L-E-N-T-E-D. And I am extremely grateful that they have agreed to help me showcase my new line.

The Studio will open in early February. Be sure to stop by www.wplus9.com and sign up to be notified by email as soon as the store is open. I will also be keeping you updated here on the blog, and will be posting samples from the first release next week!

Embellish Stripes Color Challenge

Wow, what a week! I am super tired right now and apologize for the poor picture quality. I just didn't feel like getting out the light tent. I've been working around the clock getting ready for my big announcement. Be sure to check back here often throughout the week as there is going to be some big news and a ton of excitement.

For today's card I participated in Embellish Magazine's Stripes Color Challenge: Purple, Brown, and Kraft. Now it's no secret that I *almost* hate the color purple. But I thought what the heck. So here it is.

I did my infamous CAS style. Love those minimalistic designs. I really think it's the details that make a CAS card work. Here, I masked the middle with a heart and stamped right over it with brown and purple ink using PTI's Faux Ribbon set. I stamped my sentiment in the middle of the masked area, and then pre-pierced my holes in a heart shape just insided the masked area. This made it super easy to come in and do some back-stitching. Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful night!

Inspire Me Challenge #5

..is another man's treasure. So the saying goes. So let's see what you can find to repurpose, and make some of those treasures!

Details
Create a card, scrapbook page, gift item, or anything you desire. Use whatever colors you like, whatever occasion, just make sure you have used an item that otherwise would have been tossed.

Need some ideas? How about coffee sleeves, shopping bags, left over packaging, clothing labels...even the fabric from an item you were going to throw out.

Post your creation to your blog or online gallery and leave a link to your creation by clicking on the "Add your link" button at the end of this post. Remember link directly to the item post and not your homepage. (thanks!)

ETA Prize Pack

Up For Grabs
In addition to my picks, I will select one random entry to win the fabulous prize pack below. All items are brand new and still in their original packaging.

Deadline
The links will remain open until 11:59 pm January 30th. Have fun and I hope you find time to play along!

And the prize goes to...

I used the random number generator to pick the number. I did have one poster with 2 comments, so to be fair I deleted it which left us with 17 total comments.

Congratulations Leslie, email me your information and I will send off your stamps!

A big THANK YOU to those who commented and answered my question. I will be doing more of the these, so your input is much appreciated. Consider it research. ;o)

Take 3: Embellish Hearts Challenge (and some more for St. Jude)

The ladies over at Embellish Magazine have issued a challenge to use red, pink, black, and hearts. I think I am enjoying this color combo a little too much(this is my third submission), but seriously isn't that just the cutest thing ever!?

I used the train from the SU! stamp set Choo Choo. It's such a sweet set. All of the cars are separate, 4 in all, and a little puff of smoke. Here I paired it with a little heart from a Hampton Arts stamp set. To make the little trail of hearts I used a portion of a stamp from the SU! A Happy Heart stamp set. I just inked up the part I wanted and lined it up to look like a trail of hearts coming from the chimney. Would that be a chimney? Oh well, whatever it's called. ;o) Then I just added the buttons for wheels and stamped my sentiment. So simple. I'm not quite sure why I love the one/two layer cards so much, but they are definitely my go to.

While I had the stuff out, I decided to make a couple more to send to Winter for her St. Jude Card Drive. I used the same basic layout, but instead of using the pink card base I switched it out with SU!'s Sahara Sand to make it gender neutral. For the card above, I also switched out the middle car and loaded it with a load of hearts. So cute! Building the train is super easy as long as you have a stamp-a-majig. I just used the stamp-a-majig to line up each car, and then stamped.

Now to fill the middle car I used a little masking. My favorite thing to use for masking is a Post-It note. They are self-adhered and super thin so you usually get a near perfect line.

And I'll leave you with a shot of the two finished cards together. I can't believe that I've had this set since last spring and this was the first time that I've inked it up. Tsk Tsk!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous night! I will be back tomorrow with a winner from my Comment and Win post below.

Comment and Win

In preparation for my newest adventure, I have begun to clear out some of my stash. Some of which I will be giving away here on the blog. So here it is, my first official give-away. All you have to do is leave a comment for a chance to win a free Stampin' Up! stamp set.

This is the Yummy set from Sale-a-bration last year and was only available as a bonus once purchasing a certain amount. So it was/is not available in the catalog. It's never been opened or used.

Want to win it? Just leave me a comment answering the following question:

How do you store your clear stamps? Do you have a favorite/preferred packaging?

Leave me a comment by Tuesday January 12th 11:59 pm EST and I will pick a random winner. Thanks ladies!

Congrats

Raise your hand if you're glad it's Friday! I know I am. It's been a long week, but in spite of that pestering thing they call work, I've been able to make a ton of progress on my little secret. But it's not time to let that cat out of the bag yet, so on to today's card.

I don't know about you, but I've been on a kick using up my scraps since participating in Nichole Heady's Scraptastic Challenge.

Here I used up some left over plaid patterns I created when I was on my plaid kick (which I'm not officially over by the way) ;o). Since this is also a money holder, you can find the template here, I think it would make a great card for a girl graduate. I used a couple of cirlce punches to create the flower, and hand tore some strips from a square of the plaid pattern I created to layer at the bottom. The sticker alphabets are from DCWV. I like the mix of soft and bold, clean and shabby chic on this one. Hope you enjoy! And be sure to stop this weekend if you can. I will be posting a give-away tomorrow, and a new Inspire Me challenge on Sunday.

Project Supplies

Stamps
PTI Faux Ribbon
Ink
SU! Pretty In Pink; Stayzon in black; PTI Vintage Cream
Paper
PTI Vintage Cream; SU! Pretty In Pink
Other
DCWV Alphabet letters, button from stash, Jewelry Essentials twine

Embellish Hearts Color Challenge 2 and Cards for St. Jude

I told you I really enjoyed the color combo challenge over at Embellish Magazine, so I decided to do another card. I also really wanted to send Winter some cards for her Cards for St. Jude project and this one fit the bill for both. I plan to make some more "childish" valentines as well, but just in case I run out of time, at least I'll have this one and I think it would work well for a teenager.

Oh, and this was my very first time using my Cricut Expression, and let me just tell you...I AM IN LOVE! Ok, maybe in love is strong, no...it's just right! I am in love with that thing. That beautiful little magical machine. In love I tell ya.

I used the Cricut to cut out the text and the hearts. Then I sat and cut some Stampin' Dimensionals into itty-bitty little pieces to pop the letters. Wow...for such a simple design, this one took FOR-EV-ER. LOL, but it was worth it. I added the "wishes" sentiment from PTI's Giga Guide Lines set, a little faux stitching, a button, and finally...done. ;o)

Be sure to keep stopping by, I have some very BIG news to share with you guys shortly. And in honor of my big news, I will be doing some give-aways leading up to the announcement.

Speaking of big news...did you see that Courtney over at Practicing Creativity will be releasing her very first stamp set tonight?! It's a gorgeous set and definitely worth checking out. Good Luck Courtney!

Embellish Hearts Color Challenge

Oh it feels so good to get back to crafting! And there are so many challenges and calls to participate in right now, I'm having a blast. Speaking of, Embellish Magazine is having another color challenge, red, pink and black, with hearts. How fun!

I think the abundance of black helps to down-play the pink and red, making this a great masculine card. I really enjoyed this color combo and think I will make a couple more using it. Maybe some to send to Winter Sims for her awesome card drive for St. Judes. If you haven't checked it out...you should. It's for a wonderful cause and Winter is such a sweetheart for organizing it. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Scrap-tastic Challenge

Nichole Heady over at Papertrey Ink has challenged us to use our scraps to create something. I have TONS of scraps and I would love to say that I have them all neatly organized by color or something clever...but alas it's just a chaotic mess. So this was a great challenge for me.

I made a little tea gift and a matching card. These would make a great V-day gift for friends. I had this neat little wooden tray from some ornament packaging and realized that the compartments were perfectly sized for tea bags. Then used some stamped cardstock from my scraps to punch hearts. Last, I scored some transparency to create a sleeve to slide the tray into.

For the 4x4 card, I used a scrap of PTI sweet blush. I punched a matching heart from a post it note to create a mask. Then I stamped it with PTI's Polka Dot Basics II in SU! Real Red craft ink. I added a sentiment from PTI's Faux Ribbon set and a little epoxy heart from Colorbok. You know I love those one layer cards. ;o)

Project Supplies

Paper
Papertrey Ink in Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, transparency
Ink
Stampin' Up! craft ink in Real Red, Whisper White; Colorbox liquid chalk ink in black
Stamps
Papertrey Ink Faux Ribbon, Polka Dot Basics II
Other
Martha Stewart baker's twine; button from stash; Marvy Uchida heart punches; post-its; Sakura white gelly roll pen

Christmas Pics 2009

Quick warning...lots of pics and no projects on this post. I thought I'd share of couple of Christmas morning pics and a few from our vacation to PA to visit the in-laws (the BEST in-laws ever!) Jason got me a DSLR Canon for Christmas so of course I had to break it in. I'm still getting the hang of it, but am loving it so far.

First a couple of the boys on Christmas morning. This was such a great Christmas...I just love them at this age. They get along so well and are really close right now. Before I know it, my oldest will be in those dreaded pre-teen and teen years, so I am enjoying it while I can. UGH!!

These next few are some of the boys cutting up and enjoying the cold PA air. We were right on the river visiting my husband's aunt and uncle. We did a bit of 4 wheeling and played in some of the left over snow (all twelve inches pretty much melted by the time we got there!).

Here's my new favorite pic of me and my gorgeous husband (who was SO GREAT to me this Christmas!) And me and my mother-in-law...I LOVE this woman!

And finally the snow that we woke up to our last morning there. So sad to have to leave it, but Jason did take the boys up to Ski Roundtop to go tubing, so they did get to play in the snow.

Sorry for the picture overload. I will be back this weekend to post projects. I CAN NOT wait to craft. It's been over a week and I'm going into withdrawal. Not to mention I have a Cricut Expression still sitting in the box waiting to be loved! LOL