Creative Blog Hop

Is it really almost the end of the year?  Is it really MONDAY?  Well I have something exciting and different for you today!  I am so excited to be a part of the Creative Blog Hop.  A big THANK YOU to Nicole Turgul (check out her post – CUTE PROJECT!!!)  for asking me to participate!!  Nicole is a wonderful, creative member of our Create with Connie and Mary Design Team!  And Speaking of Create with Connie and Mary…my friend and partner Connie Babbert is also doing the Creative Blog Hop today AND also one of our very talented design Team Members Debbie Henderson are both participating!

Oh…what to do…what to do???  I’m currently on break from school (I teach full time plus at our local community college) so have been trying to get some things done ahead of time,  We (Create with Connie and Mary) are just wrapping up our Valentine Mini Collection (still time to join and get 4 FABULOUS Valentine ideas – two card sets and two 3D projects) and getting ready to start our Spring Collection so I have been busy with both of those.  But for today…I’m doing something…that I love to do best…CAS!!!

I LOVE the look of LOTS of white in my cards so all of my cards will feature that.  I also couldn’t WAIT to start playing with some of my new framelits!  That butterfly framelit and the words have been calling my name since they arrived in my house.  It’s a little difficult to see on the picture but the top white layer is split and I layered it (using dimensionals) onto Night of Navy then the bottom white layer for just a little extra.  One way of giving ‘white’ cards a little sometime extra is to round corners.  For this card I did all 4 on both the bottom layer and the top white layer.

Okay…so here is a second card using the mostly white theme but this one is definitely a little ‘fancier’.  I LOVE square (4 1/4 x 4 1/4) card and that is what I did here.  My top ‘white’ layer is run through the new Spring Flowers embossing folder.  The butterfly (because I wanted it a little thicker) is cut out from Shimmer White cardstock…perfect for that.  The dsp is from the Best Year (SAB) dsp paper.  And thinking of you is from the new Sheltering Tree set.  Notice that on this one, I rounded just the bottom right corner (both layers) of the card!

Here’s a super simple and quick card featuring white!  I used the same basic color scheme of the other two (White, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy) with my butterfly being Calypso Coral this time.  That Night of Navy Banner strip is from the Regals dsp paper pack.  Greeting is same as the other one from the Sheltering Tree set.  Under the greeting I added some Night of Navy Candy dots.  And on this one I rounded the bottom two corners for just that little ‘extra’.  See…white isn’t so scary after all!  LOL!!!  And here’s a group shot of my projects…

What are you working on?  We are just wrapping up Create with Connie and Mary Valentine Mini Collection 2015 so I had been doing Valentine projects.  With the new Occasions Mini and SAB right around the corner we’ve (Connie and I) are prepping for and I’ve started working on my projects for the Create with Connie and Mary Spring Collection 2015 featuring products from BOTH the Occasions Mini and SAB brochure.  It is so much fun to sit down and work with NEW STUFF!!!  The projects take time since they are 3D pieces with full tutorials so as you are creating, you are shooting pictures for the tutorial.  It’s a fun process!

How does your work differ from others in your genre?  I think I have a style that is definitely my own that people tend to recognize.  I LOVE CAS (clean and simple) although mine tend to be a little more clean than simple since the other thing that tends to be on most of my projects is cutting things out!  There is nothing better than cutting out images and even if there are matching framelits, sometimes it is faster for me to just sit and cut it out!  One of my mottos is ’embrace the white’ which is what I decided to do for my projects this time.  Many people shy away from cards that are mostly white…I LOVE them!

Why do you create what you do?  I must honestly say I create what I do because of doing projects for an upcoming Create with Connie and Mary Collection, a challenge obligation or an upcoming workshop or class.  I don’t know the last time I sat down just to play.  Part of this could be that I have a full time (PLUS) regular job teaching on the college level.  That keeps me very busy so when I have time to stamp I have to be focused on what I need to get done for an upcoming deadline.  I do, for the most part (both in school and in my stamping) like to be ‘ahead of the game’ so I tend to work ahead.

How does your creative process work?  Hmmmm…can’t say there is a particular way it works…it more depends on what I’m working on, what my process is.  Doing challenges is easy…part of the work is done for you – a sketch, a color combo, an inspiration piece and then you work from there.  For my workshops and classes, I only have one word for that…PINTEREST (what did we do before this!)!  I pin things that I know my folks would like and then I usually put my own spin on it.  With my Create with Connie and Mary projects I do often (although not always) start with a general idea from Pinterest.  But by general it is really just a very broad idea or category.  From there I pick set I am going to use.  Then I kind of put those two things in the back of my mind and let them start working themselves out.  Sometimes it comes out EXACTLY as I envision it and well other times what I end up with is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from what I thought it would be.  But that is what the create PROCESS is all about!

To keep the hop going, I have nominated Robin Messenheimer and Mary Jo Price-Williams as the next two artists.  Both of these wonderful ladies are the owners/coordinators for challenges where I participate as a design team member.  Robin coordinates the SUO challenge that is every other Tuesday and Mary Jo does the Technostamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge.  So they both are inspiration for me and others who join the challenges!

Thank you for taking the time to visit and learn a little more about how I ‘create’…both generally and for Create with Connie and Mary!  Remember to check out Connie Babbert and Debbie Henderson who are both posting today and then come back and check out Robin Messenheimer and Mary Jo Price-Williams next Monday!

Until next time…HAPPY STAMPIN’!