Stamp It! Cards Meets Stamping Royalty Blog Hop

Welcome, thanks for stopping by...I'm glad you're here!! As you know, I was selected as 1 of 15 Stamping Royalty 2011 winners. So, today I'm participating in a blog hop with the other members of the "royal" court.

Hear ye, hear ye!! Queen Stephanie of the 2011 Stamping Royalty court hereby announces...okay, okay, I'll spare you all the royal jargon. But, I would love to fill you in on a little background about myself. I have been stamping for about 4 years now. Prior to that, I did a lot of scrapbooking and even taught classes at a local craft store. In January 2007, a dear friend of mine introduced me to Stampin' Up. One month later, I signed up to become a demonstrator. I LOVED everything about the company, stamping and card making. There's just something special to me about inking up my stamps to make a card for a friend or family member. Plus, I can finish a project quickly, well, much quicker than a scrapbook. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to have an extremely talented upline and local mentor, Beate Johns. I began stamping daily and was later asked to become part of a very talented card swap group. It was then that I set a personal goal to one day have some of my creative work published in an paper crafting magazine. (Little did I know then that one of my cards would be published a couple years later in the 2011 Nov/Dec issue of PaperCrafts Magazine).

Fast forward to February 2011. I was 7 months pregnant with our second child when I decided that it might be fun to submit a small stack of my favorite creations to the PaperCrafts Magazine 2011 Stamping Royalty contest. A few weeks later, while watching my husband teach our daughter how to fish on the back porch of my in-law s home, I received an email on my smart phone. WOW, oh WOW...I was a winner!?! I was SO excited, I nearly went into labor...ha, okay, no I didn't but I kind of wished I would have as I was D-O-N-E being pregnant. I learned that this announcement would be made public on April 14th, 2011. Coincidentally, on the exact same day we were scheduled to meet our little man. Our son, Jonathan, arrived as scheduled that morning and we welcomed him into our happy little family consisting of me, my husband of 7 years (this coming Sunday 7/3) and our 3-year old daughter, Addison.

I received my AMAZING prize pack (see previous post here) not long after, actually the timing was perfect. I had just started to get a newborn routine going and a little bit of shut eye when my package arrived. As I opened it, I ooh'd and ahh'd over every single item and then thought to myself "...wow, these companies and company owners are so generous. I feel so lucky be the recipient of all this crafty goodness". It then occurred to me how happy I always feel when I give back. It is so rewarding and heartwarming to give. I have always enjoyed philanthropy work, it is a passion of mine. To me, I feel that it makes me a better person and helps me to become more of an understanding and considerate individual towards others.

And guess what?? You can have that same warm, fuzzy feeling too! How, you ask? Because the queens of the Stamping Royalty court have chosen to host this blog hop to benefit Operation Write Home. You can read more information on the organization's current needs here. And if you choose to make a card or two or ten, head on over to PaperCrafts Connection and look for Mr. Linky to post your awesome card creations there. Personally, I can't think of a better way to celebrate Independence Day!! Oh, and while you are there, leave a comment for your chance to win one of two fabulous stamping prize packages that will include a copy of Stamp It! Cards, Vol. 8 and all of these other goodies:

• Fountain, Dear Lizzy Whistle stamp sets, Gold, Silver, Bronze embossing powders – American Crafts
• Look Up Additions stamp set – Practicing Creativity
• Hello Friend stamp set – Lawn Fawn
• Elegant Elements, Vogue Vases stamp sets – Gina K. Designs
• Music of my Heart stamp set – Unity Stamp Co.
• Assortment of stamp blocks (3) – Stampin’ Up!
• Assortment of Glimmer Mists (3) – Tattered Angels
• Pitch Black, Espresso, Denim, Cranberry, Meadow and Ginger Adirondack Earthtones dye inks – Ranger
• Non-Stick Scissors #5 – Fiskars

So, here's the part you've just been dying to get to (of course, I know you're not here just for the opportunity of winning a hot off the press copy of Stamp It! Cards, Vol. 8...pssst, insert the following comment here "No, Stephanie, of course not!!"). Yes, don't worry, I've listed the details for that below. Anyways, here is my creation, ta-da:

I used Unity Stamp Company's Undeniably You set. Our challenge was to create an all-occasion card with one of the stamp sets in our prize pack while using a patriotic color theme. Because this stamp set is so cute and classy, I had to use a little creative thinking in my patriotic color selection. So, I went with Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White & Not Quite Navy for my ink and card stock. I also added in some Stampin' Up Crumb Cake card stock as well. I created the embossed background with my Big Shot and Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates. I punched the sentiment out with the 2 x 1-3/8" extra-large oval punch and used dimensionals to adhere. Then I finished my card off with a bow made out of Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and 2 - 5/16" Whisper White jumbo brads.

For more inky inspiration, you can continue along in the blog hop by stopping by to visit the blogs of the other queens:

• Amber Daigre
• Lynn Darda
• Angela Fehr
• Mariana Grigsby
• Shelly Kurth
• Sarah Jay
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Karolyn Loncon
• Laura Pryor
• Mary Dawn Quirindongo
• Kelly Silva
• Julia Stainton
• Laurie Willison

But, before you go, please leave a comment telling me what your favorite 4th of July tradition is or what your plans are for this year are and I'll pick one lucky winner to win a spiffy copy of Stamp It! Cards, Vol. 8. All comments must be posted by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, July 3rd. You may also purchase your own copy here.

Happy "Ink-dependence" Day! I hope that you and your family enjoy a wonderful 4th of July holiday filled with fun, food & fireworks. And be sure to remember all of the men and women who sacrifice their lives for our freedom. God Bless Our Troops!!