Creative Blog Hop

August 25, 2014

Hi Stampers and Crafters!  

My friend, LeAnne Pugliese at Wee Inklings invited me to participate in a Creative Blog Hop!  I am very honored to be tagged by LeAnne.  You may have heard of the Blog Hop already, but if not, it is a venue for crafters of all kinds to share a few things about themselves  and hopefully make a few new friends/followers along the way.     

LeAnne has been one of my most faithful followers----she always leaves the most encouraging comments!  I love her stamping style and she is so kind and thoughtful!  Be sure to stop over and visit her blog!  

The Hop asks me to answer four questions----I'll try to make my answers short and sweet!  


What am I working on right now?

I am working on a special gift box and birthday card for one of my best friends. She will be having a "BIG" decade birthday and I wanted her to know how special she really is to me!  (She loves bees)  I have also been working on samples from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I will be hosting an Open House in October to feature the new products, so I have lots of projects started.   I am also on two Design Teams, so I am always posting comments and making examples!  I also, try to enter at least two card challenges a week.  

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

This is a difficult question for me!  I can not really say I have a certain style.  I am not an artist, so I struggle with questioning my work all the time.  I am more eclectic, I guess.  I dabble in many different styles and watch a lot of YouTube videos to learn new techniques.  I am an avid Pinterest, Splitcoast Stamper and Stampin Connection viewer.  I love to study other crafters work.  An idea always pops in my mind and I go from there.  I LOVE bright colors and tend to use them in most of my work.  I also adore lots of layers, ribbon, pearls and bling.  CAS is very difficult for me, but I also love distressing and shabby cards. I think you can tell by my answer, I don't know my style!  :)

Why do I create what I do?

I have always loved crayons, paint and paper.  When I was a child I would spend hours coloring and making things with paper.  I taught Elementary School for 27 years (20 years of First Grade), when there were no die cutting machines, etc.  Countless hours were spent cutting out things for Art class and bulletin boards.  I used to tease my Principal and ask him if I could just decorate bulletin boards all day long.  After I retired, I started scrapbooking.  I always told my friends that it fulfilled my need to cut and paste.  I was introduced to Stampin' Up! two years ago.  I fell in love with the paper, inks and stamps  and became a Demonstrator that day.  I enjoy teaching classes and sharing what I do with anyone that is interested.  I have always sent cards for every occasion and now I can create special cards that fits that person.  All my friends and family say they save my cards.  I hope when they look back at them it will always remind them how much they meant to me!  They were made with love!  

How does my creative process work?

I usually am inspired by a sketch or a color combination that I see on blogs.  Sometimes, I see something in nature, a catalog picture or a piece of fabric that catches my eye.  I wish I could say that I start in a clean area, but that is not the case.  I spend more time cleaning off my work space than I care to share with you.  I always get out several shades of paper and play around with the colors.  Then I start looking through my stamp sets.  I pull out several that appeal to me for the project.  Instead of putting them back, I leave them out and I usually end up working in a space about 10" x 10".  It drives me crazy, but I keep going in that manner until my card is finished.  By the time I am done, I have ribbons, paper, stamps, inks and total clutter everywhere!  My extremely organized husband can not understand how I accomplish anything. (I won't share a picture of my mess!)   Then I clean it all up and start the process over again.  One other strange thing I do is STAND Up while I am working.  I don't know why, but I like to be over my project while creating.  Working in my craft room is so relaxing and rewarding to me!  I absolutely love what I do!  

I am so thankful you took a few moments to read my blog.  Now, I would like to introduce you to two wonderful stampers that inspire me every day!  They will be sharing their stories next Monday!  Be sure to check out their blogs!  




Angel introduced me to Stampin' Up!  She is extremely talented and encourages me every day!  I can never thank her enough for introducing me to stamping and blogging!  She is not only my biggest fan, but, she is a daughter I never had, and my dear friend!  
 

Hello! My name is Angel Johns. I am wife, mom to boys and a very passionate paper crafter. I started down this journey when I was a sophomore in high school and fell in love instantly. I have fallen in and out of love with scrapbooking or I've just gotten frustrated with being behind. Thankfully, I was introduced to card making, stamping and the ways of Project Life. I love all that you can do with each of these. They all provide a different outlet in my life. Making my own personalized cards, being a Stampin Up demonstrator and documenting our family life thru Project Life they all complete me. I couldn't imagine my life without this creativity and I'm thankful that I was given talent by God above for it. 

I met Cindy through entering card challenges and blogging.  She inspires me every day with lovely comments and beautiful work!  I was honored to meet her at the Stampin' Up Convention this summer.  She is such a lovely, caring, and creative stamper and I am so thrilled to be her new friend!  

• Hello, crafty friends! It’s Cindy Brumbaugh a.k.a CindyLeeBeeDesigns.com. Although I have played around with card making for about 12 years, I got really obsessed three years ago when my husband Jim surprised me with a trip to a Stampin’ Up Convention in Utah for our a 25^th Wedding Anniversary. I was not even a demonstrator, but he made sure I was going to be one before I left Salt Lake City! He is known for making dreams come true for many people but I knew he had an ulterior motive (wink)… He wanted to make sure I did not go crazy after the last of my three homeschooled children had left for college. The void that could have been huge was filled with creating cards, teaching classes, blogging, and best of all…meeting new people. I have met wonderful people in my local Pittsburgh area as I have shared my passion of stamping with them. I am very grateful for each one of them. I have also met beautiful and talented crafters online through blogging…people like Claire Broadwater who I got to meet this year in person at Convention! I just love her work and attention to detail in every project she tackles. She is an inspiration to me, and I am humbled she  asked me to participate in the Creative Blog Hop. 

  
  

  My husband can work wherever there is a phone and internet hook-up so I travel between Pittsburgh, PA and Orlando, FLA following him and his adventurous spirit. I have two of my three grown children now living in Orlando, too.  I admit it gets “very” crazy sometimes but one thing that keeps me sane is my stamping hobby and business. I have two wonderful groups of stampers in both cities who I absolutely adore and love spending time with when I am there!  

  
  

  Thank you very much for taking time to read my blog.  A BIG thank you to LeAnne for tagging me and to Angel and Cindy for being tagged.  Please make sure you check back next Monday to learn more about them!
  
  Happy Stampin'!
  Claire
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