Creative Blog Hop

Hello stampers,
     Hope y'all had a great weekend! I had a bit of time to do some stamping for today, YAY! Have y'all heard about or seen links to a Creative Blog Hop? I'm not sure how long it has been going but I was asked by my VC Rocks friend & fellow demonstrator Robin Messenheimer to participate, you can check out her post HERE of what she did last week.
     So here are 2 cards I did for today, yes that's right double the fun. I decided to work on some love/Valentine's Day cards for the hop.
     For the first card I used the hostess set called Nuts About You, kind of appropriate for a love card I think. I stamped the tree using the Soft Suede Ink Pad & Pear Pizazz Marvelous Marker & added the grass using Old Olive Ink Pad onto Whisper White Card Stock. I stamped the "You & Me" in Memento Black onto Real Red Card Stock & punched it out using the Itty Bitty Accents Heart Punch. This is then backed by Soft Suede Card Stock. I then stamped the "I Love You" from the retired hostess set Good Greetings in Pear Pizazz onto Whisper White Card Stock, punched it out using the Word Window Punch. This was backed by using Soft Suede again & punched out using the Modern Label Punch & I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up. For the next layer, I used the new DSP from the Occasions Catalog called Stacked With Love & this is backed by Whisper White.

     For the second card, I used the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #348. This is also Mary Jo's Creative Blog post is you want to head over & see what she did with Robin last week. This card I used Whisper White Card Stock as the base, followed by Basic Black Card Stock. I also used the same DSP as the last card Stacked With Love & cut them into 3/4" strips. I then stamped one of the sayings from Groovy Love onto Whisper White & punched it out using the Sweetheart Punch. To finish it off I used a greeting from the retired Hostess set Good Greetings & cut it out using the Banner Framelits. Both the heart & the banner were then sponged using Real Red. *TIP* I couldn't find my ink pad, so I was wondering if I used the brush side of the marker across the sponge if it would work as well & it did.

     For my part in the Creative Blog Hop I had to answer the 4 questions below to let you know a little bit more about my stamping habit. I had a hard time with a few, so I had to sit down & really think of what to say. Hope it comes across well!

1.  What are you working on?

First priority, getting my MOJO back!!! Once I get that accomplished then I will need to start on some birthday cards I'll need shortly & of course some "love" cards as my anniversary is at the end of this month & then shortly after that is Valentine's Day. At some point, I will have to make my hubby happy by getting my stamp room finished so I can move everything from the dining room table upstairs to its proper place, which would then free up the dining room we never use & the extra bedroom which will someday become an office.

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

I don't really think mine differs that much from my fellow stampers, since a lot of my ideas come from them & are pretty much CASE'd. I do think I tend to go a bit overboard on adding things to a card & then have to scale back because once I have the card all ready to be put together I think it is a bit too much. I think I am my own worst critic, so I do tend to ask my husband what for suggestions a lot of the time. 

3.  Why do you create what you do?

I do it because I love stamping, although it can also be frustrating because my mojo isn't always in sync. When I'm in my zone, it is very therapeutic to me to the point I can lose track of time. I enjoy bringing a smile to someone's face when they get a card & know that I was thinking of them.

4.  How does your creative process work?

First off, I am a HUGE procrastinator! My saying is I do better under pressure (for the most part, that is). For the rest it depends on what I find first- the idea (like a sketch or challenge) or the stamp set I want to use & then I try to figure out what I want to do from there.

     The second part was that I was to find 2 other stampers to continue the hop. I was only able to find one, Karen Gibson said yes, YAY! Karen, is another demonstrator I virtually met years ago on my group VC Rocks. She does wonderful work so I can't wait to see what she does next Monday, you can check her blog out now & follow up with her next week to see her project.

    

~Enjoy your day!