Sketch Week With Guest Designer

Good morning stampers!

We really enjoyed checking out your Perfect Pairs last week, 

and the Design Team have chosen these lucky ladies for our

 Top 3

Carolyn
Paula
Margaret K

Well done ladies don't forget, to grab our Top 3 banner to display with pride on your blog!

Little Reminder

Don't forget that in order to be considered for the Top 3 you must use one Stampin' Up! image or sentiment and we reserve the right to remove submissions that do not represent the challenge,  link to non-SU promotions, or do not use at least one Stampin' Up! stamp, designer paper, punch or die.

Guest Designer

As you will know by now the first challenge of the month see's a guest designer join the ranks of our Design team to give you even more inspiration! This month we are very proud to be joined by my Stampin' up! mum    Amanda Fowler of  Inspiring Inkin'

now we couldn't have Amanda join us without asking her a few crafty questions too!

Why did you join Stampin' up! and what do you love about it?

I joined Stampin' Up! when it launched in the UK, November 2007 I was looking for a business that would include my love of crafting and Stampin' Up! was a perfect fit.  Over the past 4 1/2 years I have turned my hobby into a full time business and now lead a team of over 150 Stampin' Up! demonstrators across the UK from the Shetland Islands to Penzance.  I love that Stampin' Up! fits around you, your family and what you want from your business and of course the stamps, card and ink are the best available anywhere with amazing colour co-ordination.

 How long have you been crafting for?

Since I could pull a chair up to the worktop to help my Grandmother.  I have always made things, sticking and colouring in was my favourite past-time as a child, now I get to do it as a grown up !  I even remember making 'perfume' from crushed rose petals, it wasn't pleasant ! I have been stamping for 24 years when I bought my first stamp and ink pad, things have moved on since then!

What are your 3 desert island Stampin' Up! items,things you just can't craft without?

3 only 3, I can't just choose 3.........Okay if I must, stamps, card and ink !!!!  In all 50 colours please !  

I guess you really want to hear of 3 individual products, my Stampamajig ( because I stamp wonky), my blender pens because I can use any Stampin' Up! ink pad and be able to colour in and Whisper White card, it makes every stamped image look amazing.

What is your favourite Stampin' Up! colour?

I'm afraid I am really fickle, my favourite is usually the one I am using, and right now that is Pool Party, although if you talk to my customers they are almost bound to say Chocolate Chip or Early Espresso as they are both such excellent neutrals that go with almost every colour combination.

Which is your most reached for stamp set?

These questions are tough.........! Right now I think it's Petite Pairs, I like to put sentiments on all of my cards and this set seems to have the right words, but then so does Teeny Tiny Wishes, can I pick both ?

Next up we asked Amanda to send us a few of her favourite projects she's made.

What inspires your crafting creativity?

My crafting friends certainly, my team of demonstrators and my customer friends.  I have recently become addicted to Pinterest and find that a great source of inspiration too.

Whats your favourite crafting technique?

I love the vintage look, so distressing is probably my favourite technique, I love the way you can take a crisp piece of card and make it look like a prized antique!

Right now we've delved into Amanda's world, let's give her a breather 

while we tell you about this weeks challenge.

This week we have another fab sketch for you to play with

Don't forget a sketch is meant to be a jumping off point for your creativity, you can use it exactly how you see it, or you could flip it or rotate it. As long as we see you have used the sketch for your project!

So here's is Amanda's take on the sketch

Amazing wouldn't you agree?! That pleated ribbon and all the pearls really give it an opulent look!
Thanks so much Amanda for being this months guest designer! Make sure you visit Amanda's blog to see more stunning examples of her work.

Do you remember a while ago we had a Design Team call?! Well this week we are sadly saying goodbye to some of the current design team, we'd like to thank them for all their hard word on the challenge. 

This also means that we can  now introduce you to the newest member of our team. So give a big hello to Debs, whose DT call entry blew us away!

Debs

Niki

Alison

Becky

Kelly

Kirei

Ruth

Amanda

As always if you want to visit the any of the Design Team, just click on their photo in the sidebar to checkout more of their work or leave them a comment.

So now it's over to you, let's see what you make of our sketch.

How to enter

Post your project to your blog (if you don't have a blog you can still enter the challenge by sending your entry to our email address) and link back to us.  Then come back to us and link to your project using Mister Linky below but remember to link to the direct post rather than your general blog. No back-linking please.

Thanks for joining in, can't wait to see what you come up with! xxx