Creative Blog Hop!

Last week I was excited to be nominated by my good friend and fellow demo, Kristine Burns. Kristine is one of the sweetest people I've met.  Her warmth and smile instantly put you at ease:) My hubby and I, had the amazing experience of getting to know each on an SU trip and it was a BLAST!   It's not often that you meet someone and your hubbies hit it off too!  We also both come from the amazing world of raising two boys... each of us in a household of men.. LOVE IT!    To top that off... she's amazingly creative!

Here are the 4 questions I need to answer plus a few creative pics:

1) What am I working on right now?

Well it wouldn't be very exciting if I told you that I was working on report cards right now, so this forced me to make a little crafting time this weekend.  I've been working on projects for my upcoming technique and scrapbook clubs as well as prepping for my upcoming Stamp-a-stacks! November is an INSANELY busy month with all the pre-Christmas classes, so fitting in time for my own fun creations is tough. 

2) How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Yikes... not sure!  There are so many people out there who create the most beautiful projects ever.... I often look and mine and feel that they are missing something.  I think that if I had to choose how my work differs is that I've really simplified in the past few years.  I used to work on over the top cards, but I've realized that neither myself nor my customers has the luxury of spending three hours on one card. We all love the sense of accomplishment that comes from quick, easy and stunning creations!

This was a combination of numerous cards that I'd bookmarked... clean simple and reproducible for Stamp-a-stacks

 3) Why do I create what I do?

Honestly, I'm a deadline girl.  I create based on what is on the "to do" list.  What is created doesn't always allow me to check items off as I go off on tangents once I start creating, but it leads the process.  I love creating projects for the weekly challenge groups I'm part of because it forces me to make time for myself to create, but I love being given the direction to head for my creations.  The project below was recently created for a blog post for Scrapbook and Cards today that Stampin' Up was being featured in .

4) How does my creative process work? 

I'm a sketch based girl.  I struggle with layouts on cards so I save a HUGE number of sketch examples and then just draw from them when it's time to create.  Based on the sketch, I'll head to my wall of stamps and make a selection that fits the sketch, coordinating my dies at the same time.  Finally, Designer Series papers, the Colour Coach or colour challenges inspire my colour choices.   I have to remind myself to emboss and add embellishments as I seem to have put them aside a bit in the process of simplifying my cards.

This card was actually one of the rejects for my Stampin' Royalty Challenge for tomorrow:)  I let the colours of the washi tape guide the card and was really just playing from there... the theme for this week was a "thank you" card.  Easy... yes!  Needed in my stash... yes!  You'll have to check back tomorrow to see the actual card that I submitted.  It looks nothing like this:)



 Now to nominate two other talented ladies that inspire me.

1)  Emmanuelle Burelli at http://emmanuelleburelli.com/
Emmanuelle is a new demo is our West Coast Creators team.  She has been showing off the most fabulous Project Life creations in the past few months!  Her dedication to getting just the daily events of life showcased in such a simplified way has kept me motivated.  I also love the little finishings she uses:)  We've never even met, but her posts always make me smile... definitely someone I'm sure I'd get along with in life:)

2) Tanya Verret at http://www.seatoskystamper.com/
Tanya is one of my newer downline.  This girl has more creative talent in her pinky finger than I have in my whole body!  We met while working in the same school years ago and kept in touch.  Papercrafting was a passion that we both shared and now that Tanya is raising a young child she saw it as a great way to make income while being able to stay home with her daughter.  Icing on the cake... her hubby is a tech guru who seems to always have suggestions to help me out in a pinch!

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek into me and my creative process. Hop on over to Emmanuelle and Tanya's blog next Monday.
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