DeNami Design blog hop - July 2013

Ohh my goodness, are you all ready for another fun filled blog hop hosted by DeNami?!?!?! I know I am!!!

 

With summer in full gear, this is a perfect theme to cool us down! It gets mighty hot here in the Midwest!

 

When: The blog hop starts on July 14th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until July 15, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).
Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

 

You should have arrived here from the fabously talented Lisa Elton's blog. If not, that's okay, you can just head over to the DeNami blog for the full list of participants to get back on track :)

 

 

As usual, I have a lot to show you...why can't I ever decide on just one little thing???

 

We'll start with a pair of cards I made....

Isn't she cute and don't you just love all the little accessories for the Large Chickie stamp?? :) I love making scenes and since I hadn't made any in quite a while I thought this theme would be perfect!

 

For these little cuties I used the Large Chickie, Festive Hats stamp set, small cloud, small watering can, small spring flowers, grass border, Bitty Bugs stamp set, Playful Puppies stamp set, and the Cars & Trucks stamp set.

 

Notice that darling little wagon the chickies are pulling...here's a little hint, it has something to do with tomorrows guest on Tool Talk!!! She's talking about a little product that I use a lot and love! Also if I remember correctly, DeNami DT member, Emily, uses it quite often too, you won't want to miss this one!!!

 

For my next little item I created yet another scene...I was on a roll, lol!! Did you get a chance to see the little candle wrap tutorial that I did not so long ago? Well, I had some paper clay left over and thought I'd try my hand at making a little hanging tile of sorts...

 

I cut my square straight, but since paper clay is mostly paper, when it dries it kind of does it's own thing. However, you can easily trim it up with a nice pair of scissors and even sand it with a nail file. I opted to leave it as is...it added a little character. ;) I "stamped" my little scene into the wet paper clay, then after letting it dry for a couple of days I colored it in using my Copic and TomBow markers. Stamps used: small cloud, small spring flowers, curly butterfly, grass border and flower bloom.

 

 

That's all I have to share with you today, now off you go to visit with Katie Brooks!
 I can't wait to see what she has to bring us for eye candy and she's new to the DeNami hop so please give her a warm welcome :)

Don't forget to stop in tomorrow for a visit with my surprise Tool Talk guest (and a special little give away surprise from her company) and don't forget to check out the DeNami Addict birthday giveaway! To enter all you need to do is make any type of birthday card and link it up (no DeNami products necessary) and I will pick a random winner for a DeNami gift certificate on August 1st!

 

Take it on the chin and keep going...never give up on YOU!

*Blogger Note: I wrote and scheduled this post before Friday's announcement by DeNami. I'd like to congratulate Pattie on  her new position as a DeNami Design Team member and am looking forward to seeing her beautiful creations!!!


Hello everyone!! Today's subject is one of mixed emotions for me. I'm still flying high over being chosen the June sketch challenge winner over at Paper Sweeties, but at the same time am a little bummed about receiving yet another "thanks but no thanks" letter for something else.We'll get to that letter in just a minute.

It's no secret that I love entering card challenges online whenever I get a chance and that I have branched out into submitting to magazines. Most of the time when it comes to challenges and being published I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. It's almost like being in High School again and I'm the nerdy little girl in the corner reading a Stephan King novel while all the "kool kids" are hanging out in the smoking area laughing and having a great time talking about last weekends party. I see the same names winning/published over and over again...it's almost like a private club and no one else is allowed in. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I. Don't. Care.! Okay, I do, but just a little.  I may not be one of the Kool Kids and don't have the secret password to gain entrance to the "club", but I refuse to let that hold me back! That being said, even when you know going in that you don't stand a chance you'll be chosen you still feel deflated, that's only natural. Do I get a little down...yes. Do I shed a tear or two sometimes...yes. A sweet friend mentioned to me the other day..."you know how us girls are". Sometimes I'm all girl and my feelings get the best of me, I cry, pout and even get angry, then I work through my feelings to get over it. But nothing is going to stop me from applying to design teams or submitting to challenges and magazines. My son has a tattoo that reads "To move on is to grow". I LOVE that saying. I will move on, grow and keep trying! Yes, my feelings get hurt and deflated, but I pick myself up and keep trying! Someday this nerdy girl will break through the barrier and kool kids will notice me and ask me to join in the fun!!

For about a year and a half now I've been wanting to be on a design team. There are a small handful of blogs that I have my eye on. I'm sure that ya'll can easily figure out that one of them is DeNami. I'd give my left arm and lets be real here...I'd give a leg too, lol, to be on the DeNami team. However, DeNami doesn't do an open call for their design team members, it's just by special invitation...sigh. Luckily the others I have my eye on do an open call!

 I know my work is nothing special when compared to the gals that enter the challenge that runs on the particular blog I'm referring to, however, after talking with the blogs owner and her encouraging me, I decided to heed my own advice that sometimes in life you just have to take chances and frankly, it would be good to have one application under my belt. So, last month I applied for my very first design team position. My resume is pretty lacking and I have nothing big to bring to the table. With that being said, I like to think of myself as being friendly, out going, willing to learn and very dependable. Someday those attributes will out weigh my lack of challenge wins and overall popularity, until then, I'll take it on the chin and just keep plugging along. I can't let a rejection stop me from doing something that brings such joy to my life. I LOVE creating cards and being able to share them with you. I also LOVE getting to meet such wonderful people out here in bloggy land...you gals are amazing, an inspiration and just plain ole' rock!!

Many of you know Paulina from DeNami Design runs a personal blog called Pretty Pink Posh and hosts the fun 10 Minute Craft Dash. The entries for that challenge always blow me away...there are some amazingly talented people out there and they even come from all over the world!! She had a Design Team call and as part of the application we were to tell a little about ourselves and submit 4 pieces of work that we've created in under 10 minutes. I knew back on June 11th that I wasn't picked (received my thanks but no thanks e-mail) but didn't want to talk about it until after her new DT was announced. Not sure that it matters, but it felt wrong to talk about it until then.

My 10 Minute Craft Dash Design Team card entries:

Time: (can't remember the time but it was 8-something!)
Colors: blue, green & kraft



Time: 9min 40 sec
Colors: teal, orange, golden yellow



Time: 9min 03sec
Colors: green, orange, golden yellow, teal

Time: 9min 59sec (that was a close call!)
Colors: charcoal, light grey, pink

Well there you have it, my step outside of the box. But like I said, I WILL NOT give up. When I don't win a challenge or when I receive the "no thanks" e-mail from a magazine, I may have a moment of sadness, I am only human after all, but will chalk it up to a learning experience and keep going! Don't give up on your dreams and keep doing what makes YOU happy!! Winning or losing doesn't define you, it's how you react to that win or loss that does. Take the experience and learn from it and don't be scared to put yourself out there again.

HUGS to all of us nerdy girls!

Whimsical summer flowers

Today I have a fun little card to share. I just love pairing DeNami's magenta and red cardstocks together, they really compliment each other nicely. I decided that since I wanted to use such a fun and bright color palette that I'd pull out a fun stamp to go with it...

I also broke out the new grass border stamp...LOVE it!! I was head over heels as soon as I saw it...it's perfect for little scenes like this one. I really wanted a whimsical look, so for my leaves I traced outside the lines with my green marker before coloring and added just a touch of Lime Sherbet and strawberry freeze glitter to finish off the flowers.

Fresh Florals blog hop

Well hello and welcome to another fun DeNami blog hop!!With spring in full bloom, Paulina thought we should show off some pretty little flowers this month....

When: The blog hop starts on May 19th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until May 20th, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website! 

Prizes: They are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to their website! One gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop! 

You should have arrived here from Deb's blog. If not, no worries, just head back to the DeNami blog for the full list of participants to get back on track.

When I saw this theme I decided right off that I didn't want to make a regular ole card. I mean, I do that all the time, right? So after a little thinking, I decided how fun it would be to make flower seed packets!

Here's what I came up with....

 Aren't these adorable? I found the template for the two small packets on the Internet and the larger one I drew in the Paint program on my computer. Just add a little ribbon or washi to the little planter boxes and these would be cute little gifts or place settings for a garden party. For the one on the right, I plan on tucking in bible verses for a few friends.

I had so much fun creating these little packets that I wanted to see if I could come up with a card using one....

And for a little surprise....

The seed packet is removable and the card is still adorable because there's a matching panel under it.

That's all I have for you today, it's time for you to go visit with Jennifer Harris
Remember to leave comments along the way to be eligible for the random drawing for the two gift certificates :)