Artisan Finalist Blog Hop Day 1

I am so excited to finally be able to share my projects from this year's Artisan Award contest.  Over the next 10 days, all of the Artisan finalists will be sharing their amazing designs.  You'll definitely want to follow along!

What is the Artisan Award?

Each year, Stampin' Up! holds a competition for demonstrators based on the creativity, style, craftsmanship, composition, color, and consistency of their projects.  To participate, you must produce 3 scrapbook pages, 5 cards, and 2 scrapbook pages.

Twenty finalists are chosen from among all the entries.  From the twenty finalists, 10 are chosen to be on the Artisan Design Team.  While we are not the ones who were selected for the design team, we still thought it would be fun to give you a closer look at our projects.  I know you will be absolutely blown away by the talent in this group of demonstators.

Here is my first project:

I created this page with My Digital Studio using the Keep This Memory Photobook Designer Template.  This download is probably my all-time favorite!  It includes a complete 26-page template for creating a 12" x 12" photobook.  All you have to do is add your pictures and you are done.  OR.....you can do as I did, and really step it up.

There are quite a few small details such as stitching and small buttons that I added to make this page POP!   One of the great things about MDS2 is I can now give you a list of supplies used.

Background
     Color = SOFT SUEDE

Embellishments
    Designer Kits\Keep This Memory - embellishments
    Staple & Stitching\Very Vanilla - Stitching Straight
    Round Buttons\Soft Suede - button
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - White
   
Stamps
    Designer Kits\Keep This Memory\Keep This Memory

Punches
    Hexagon Punch
    Round Tab Half Punch

 

And here is a little piece of trivia......You can't use a picture of yourself on any of the contest entries.  Do you know how difficult it was to find a family photo that I wasn't in?  I actually had to ask a friend if I could use HER family's photo for this layout!  How funny is that?

 

Here's how the Blog Hop works. Our blog hop makes an endless loop, so matter where you begin, you should find yourself back where you started. If you lose your way then you can refer to the list below. If there are ten of us, then why only nine names? Unfortunately Mary Haugen was not able to join us due to technical difficulities.

1.  Connie Collins

2.  Holly VanDyne

3.  Melissa Stout  YOU ARE HERE!

4.  Amy O'Neill

5.  Sandie Conner

6.  Amy Rogers

7.  Mercedes Weber

8.  Tara (Murphy) Bourgoin

9.  Mindy Bingamon

 

You may have just visited one of my favorite digital divas, Holly VanDyne. 

You are now ready to visit the one and only Amy O'Neill.

See you back here tomorrow!

Comments

[Connie Collins]

Awesome page Melissa!

[Tara (Murphy) Bourgoin]

Melissa, I just love this page! The colours are so soft and inviting, and the hexagons are so fun.

[Amy O'Neill]

What a great page, Melissa! You incorporated so many fun, trendy things in this one page. I had to laugh about you using another family's photo! What a great idea!

[Erica Cerwin]

I LOVE this page Melissa! It jumped right off the boards at me when I was looking at the artwork! You really hit it out of the park friend! Great job!

[Holly VanDyne]

OH Melissa! I LOVED this page on your board at convention! The colors you used are beautiful and I love the design. Great job! :)

[Amy Rogers]

I love the details in your digital scrapbook page. I know exactly what you mean about finding pictures that you are not in - I had to use photos of my dog for my entry. Great job!

[Mary Davis]

Wonderful page. Love all the embellishments. Thanks for sharing and giving inspiration. I will have to get this MDS2+ and finally start scrapbooking!