About me...

I am so excited at the opportunity to apply for Paper Garden Projects' Design Team. I have been stamping for about four years now and have really grown to depend on my stamping/creative time as therapy and my 'escape' from the real word. And while it is a total escape, the same things that hold true in work and home life, hold true in stamping. I thrive on challenges and projects as well as deadlines.

As far as favorite techniques, projects and/or products: I would have to say that I love my Scor-Pal and designing non-traditional folding cards. I also tend to gravitate towards the cute and cuddly stamp images, and I love to color the images in. As true with my Kindergarten days, coloring is still my favorite hobby!

I have a blog that I post on and use for entering challenges, etc. http://shadowscastle.typepad.com In addition, I have posted projects on Split Coast Stampers. This is my first application for a Design Team since I began stamping. For this application I have chosen the three projects listed below. None of the projects have been posted on my blog yet, but will be posted within the next couple of weeks.

Card of 'My Choice'

For the card or non-card of My Choice, I chose to create this Halloween card. I am a huge fan of Halloween and had lots of fun with this card. The picture below of the closed card shows off the vintage buttons that I used as a fastener with some simple white and black twine. The cup cake imaged was colored in with copic glitter pens and glaze pens to give my sprinkles some depth.

Below you get the full effect of the card opened.

Technique of 'My Choice'

For the technique of 'My Choice' I chose to show you a Father's Day card I had created this summer. I used my Scor-Pal to create this card and give my sea a 3-D feel. The sub is glued to a tab that was inserted to the side of the card, so as you fold and unfold the card the sub moves through the sea. I put two holes on each side with my Crop-o-dile and wrapped the ribbon through them so both sides of the card have a finished look. As for the sentiment, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to piece together a few different sentiments to get the saying I wanted.

With the photo below you can get a better idea of the box-effect of the card.

Non-Card Project

Last but not least is my non-card project. I chose to showcase my 'Passport to Alaska' for this category. In September we took a two week vacation to Alaska and Vancouver which prompted the creation of this Passport. I needed a book to hold all of our confirmation numbers, travel information, hotel information, etc. I also wanted a place to write down all of the memories and experiences that we shared on our journey.

In this Passport I used lots of stamps, ribbon, brads, rub-ons, etc. Basically you name it and it's in there. In addition, I added an elastic closer on the right side to protect all of my receipts, papers and documents. Here is a photo of the book closed and empty...

Below is a picture of what it really looked like as we journeyed through the great Pacific North West...

Pictured below are page samples: