A Creative Blog Hop

Posted on January 19, 2015 by mauistamper

I love to see great ideas move in new directions, and today I’m delighted to participate in a very different sort of blog hop. I was nominated by the very talented Lisa Young to succeed her in the Creative Blog Hop, and I’ll do my best to live up to the honor.

My project today is another Berry Basket, again using the Best Year Ever DSP. This was our club project this month, and we had a lot of fun with the basket and the Spiral Flower. What is it about the hot glue gun that gets everyone laughing? Are there fumes I’ve been missing???

There was no shortage of creativity with all of that beautiful paper, and I love that every flower comes out a little differently with the spiral die.

Covering a spiral notepad is much easier than you think – just punch a line of 1/8″ circles and snip down from the top of the paper. When you adhere the paper to the front of the notepad (I use Tombo, the Wonder Adhesive) the little lines disappear. It’s magical!

It’s January, so I kept the treats of the paper sort, not the chocolate sort 🙂

We wrapped 3″ by 3″ sticky note pads with DSP and tied them with Bakers Twine. Sometimes a simple treatment really is the best solution!

Different patterns create a totally different look. The Best Year Ever DSP is easy to work with, from single color tone-on-tone patterns to more complex designs that are still uniform.

Part of the hop is to answer a few questions about my creative process. I hope you’re not expecting any deep, earth-shattering revelations here!

1. What are you working on?

Is it fair to say I’m working on the mess in my stamp room? We spent the holidays in Australia with ALL OF OUR FAMILY (yes, I am still smiling about it!) and there are heaps, boxes, baskets and bits of paper wherever you look. It’s a happy mess, though, and in the midst of it all I am working diligently on all sorts of projects featuring new Sale-a-bration and Occasions products.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

This is a tough one for me to answer, and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. I like relatively clean design, but I’m not a true Clean and Simple style stamper. I think my approach to color is one of my more distinguishing characteristics: I like tone-on-tone, or neutrals with a pop of color, but I also like fresh combinations. And I really like blues and greens together 🙂

3. Why do you create what you do?

Love this question! There was a time when I tried to create what I thought I ought to be creating, or what I thought others expected me to create. In 2014, one of my written goals was to craft more often for my own pleasure. I’ve been exploring new sources of inspiration and have learned to trust my instincts more, and that’s really changed the way I craft and the end product, as well as my satisfaction in the process.

4. How does your creative process work?

Hmmm….haphazardly??? (If you know me in real life you are laughing hysterically.) Sometimes I have a vision in my head, and once in a while the end result actually resembles that vision. More often, I have an inspiration in either color or image that I want to explore. I keep paper and embellishment scraps nearby when I’m creating, and pull things in and out until I find a combination that inspires me. When I’m finished, there’s generally a lot of “debris” on my countertop – bits and pieces that were considered and rejected. I really, really enjoy crafting with others, sharing opinions (and a few juicy stories). It’s a challenge making our schedules fit together, but when it happens it often results in great projects. And if it doesn’t, they’re REALLY ugly and we have a great laugh.

The final piece of this Creative Blog hop is to nominate two more bloggers whose work I admire, and I’ve chosen my two favorite in-person stamping companions. Next Monday (January 26), stop by HannieJoy and Co to see what Crystal Kondo is doing, and then hop over to Create with Cheryl to see what Cheryl Hamilton has for you.

Mahalo, Lisa, for inviting me to the Creative Blog Hop!

If you’d like to see a few of the past entries to the hop, visit these bloggers:

Robin’s Craft Room

My Stamp Vault

Stress Free Stamping

Stamper Camper’s Corner

Be Creative With Nicole

InkSpired Treasures

Critter Smitten

Posted on January 17, 2015 by mauistamper

I’m kinda smitten with all these Stampin’ Up! Critters!

Stamps: Cheerful Critters, You Plus Me, Best Day Ever 2015 SAB
Color Palette: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
Accessories: Hello Honey Satin Ribbon, Crushed Curry and Coastal Cabana Blendabilities, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Best Year Ever DSP 2015 SAB

Crystal and I stamped together last week in her new studio. She’s gonna kill me for this…

She’s been stamping in her garage since the arrival of The Littles (her twins) last April. (They came a month early, and she was supposed to be off that month, and We Had Plans for that time. Oh well. I digress.) We had a great set-up out in the garage, but it was chilly by Maui standards and we had to bundle up.

But back to the Critters – we were cracking up over the images and the sentiments. She kept saying “I LIKE YOUR FACE” in one of those all-caps kind of voices. It’s not a sentiment you’d send to your great-aunt, unless you are very fortunate to have That Sort of great-aunt.

I used a Stampin’ Write marker on just the words from the You Plus Me set. Can’t you just see this little guy standing on the side of the road holding this sign? I am truly smitten.

Be sure and stop back on Monday. I’ve been invited to be part of a Creative Blog hop, and in addition to sharing a project I’ll be sharing a little about how and why I craft. I was invited by the talented Lisa Young, who is absolutely one of the dearest, sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. See you on Monday!

RemARKable Love in the Air

Posted on January 8, 2015 by mauistamper

Crafters always seem to be working a season ahead, and the RemARKable Blog Tour is no exception. This month we’re focusing on love as we look ahead to Valentine’s Day, but it’s a sentiment that spans the calendar. Settle back and enjoy the tour – we’ve got some great inspiration for you!

Color Palette: Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Stamps: Best Day Ever 2015 SAB
Accessories: Big Shot and Berry Basket Bigz L die, 2″ Circle, Label Bracket, and Itty Bitty Accents punches, Coastal Cabana Thick Twine, Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

Love the combination of fonts in this SAB set! And the colors chosen for the Best Year Ever DSP are fresh and just right for spring and summer!

The basket goes together VERY quickly – I chose to skip the handle so that my big ol’ bag o’ kisses would fit.

This square card uses the reverse side of the Best Day Ever DSP rimming the basket. The corner punch adds a little roundness that echos the Berry Basket. “Be Mine” and the smaller stamped heart are from the You Plus Me stamp set; the larger striped heart is from Hello Life.

Hope you enjoyed this stop on the tour – now head on over to see what Audra has made for you this month!