SUO Challenges #83 – A Favorite Sentiment

11 / 5 / 1311 / 5 / 13

If you're at all like me, there is a favorite Greeting or Sentiment stamp to which you go for a particular kind of card. This week our challenge is to make a greeting card that includes your favorite sentiment for that kind of card. Once you have your card done, post a photograph of it on your blog or in any other open online gallery, and then add a link to our Link Tool at the bottom of this post. If you have any questions about linking your project or problems in creating the link, be sure to let the challenge coordinator, Robin Messenheimer, know. We cheerfully help crafters out just about every challenge, so don't be bashful about asking for help!

Of course we have guidelines and they are detailed at the left and summarized below,, including the dates that this challenge is open.

Please remember this is an SUO (Stampin' Up! Only) challenge. Cards using non SU images, paper, etc will be removed. We also ask that you do not have advertisements for products (i.e. classes and subscription services) in your post. Please respect our criteria.

We're saying, "Goodbye," to one of our long-time Design Team Members!

We on the SUO Challenges Design Team are sad to have one of our long-time members leave the team. Deb Hoekstra will be providing her final bit of inspiration to all of us – as well as to all of you – with this challenge.
We wish Deb well and hope we will see her work back here from time to time as a challenge entrant!

We are excited already to have someone to fill the vacancy in the Design Team,
and we know you will be excited when our newest team member joins us for the next challenge!

And now on to some inspiration from our talented design team for this week's challenge!

To participate in our challenge, make a card or other paper-crafted project and post a photo of it to your blog or a gallery on the internet. Then come back here and use our link tool at the bottom of this post to share the photo with us.

PLEASE remember this: We’re looking for projects posted to the internet AFTER November 4, 2013. This is a NEW challenge! AND please mention/link to the SUO Challenge Blog in your post!

And, of course, your projects should be made with Stampin’ Up! products only. The products may be those that are in current catalogs, or they may be retired products. But (as our blog title says) SUO – Stampin’ Up! Only! This means that products from other papercrafting, rubber stamp, die-making or other companies may not be included in your project or in any other project included in your blog post if Stampin’ Up! sells a like product. For example, Stampin’ Up! does not sell sewing thread. So use of sewing thread from another company is just fine. Stampin’ Up! does sell the Sizzix Big Shot, so use of die-cuts, texture plates or other such products from another company is not fine. If you have a question, please send an e-mail to our Coordinator, Robin Messenheimer, and she’ll be glad to answer it!

Challenge Dates: November 5, 2013 (3 am USA Eastern Time) –

November 16, 2013 (6 am USA Eastern Time)

SUO Challenge 82, Harvest Time – Our Top 3!

11 / 4 / 1311 / 4 / 13

Thanks to everyone who participated in our latest challenge. Fabulous projects to give us all a wide range of ideas for the season – as usual!

Thanks especially to our Top 3 whom we felt did the best job of capturing our theme for the week!

Margaret King (Margaret K). This beautiful CAS (Clean and Simple) card caught our eye with the circle with its sentiment and the lovely Crystal Effects dew drops. The sponged leaves carry through the harvest theme as the focal point of this card.

Jennifer Kay (TX Jenny Wren). The sponged leaves in the card create a beautiful depth to the whole picture. And that background is just stunning in its artistry!

Paula Sievers. Paula's stamping on her entire project is so well done. And the card box is just the pefect accompaniment to this well-constructed project!

SUO Challenge #81, Masculine Cards – Our Top 3!

10 / 27 / 1310 / 27 / 13

Once again, thanks to the SUO Challenge Design Team for keeping the Challenges going during my absence while I traveled extensively on the USA Mainland. But I just couldn't saddle them with the work involved in compiling the Top 3 for publication. (Shhhhh – it's so much fun I keep it for myself!) So here is the Top 3 post for our Masculine Card challenge – better late than never!

Asking someone to make a "masculine" card as opposed to a "feminine" card used to be seen as a request to make something with browns and blacks and other neutrals rather than with the bright, regal and subtle colors of the Stampin' Up! palette. Not any more as was evidenced by our Design Team entries as well as by the projects of those who entered their projects into the SUO Challenge to make a "Masculine" card!

Oh, and once again, we have Top 3 representation from several corners of the Stampin' Up! world, including one from Australia as well as one each from both markets in North America – the United States and Canada! What fun to meet so many people through our Stampin' Up! experience!

Patti Corriere, USA. Our Design Team loved the textures on this card along with the beautifully laid-out scene made with the various stamps. The Natural Ribbon accents the whole card, as well as adding yet another texture element to enhance the design.

Bronwyn Eastley, Australia. We all loved the use of the My Digital Studio "punches" to create this design. And of course, Bronwyn picked the perfect Designer Series Paper to go with this project!

Brenda Hofstatter, Canada. We were particularly impressed by Brenda's use of the metallic gold which really makes this whole design pop. The "fussy cut" stars are a beautiful accent and really bring out the colors that she used in the stamped image.

SUO Challenge #80, Welcome Baby – Our Top 3!

10 / 27 / 13

As many of you know, I've been traveling for most of the month of October. While members of the SUO Challenge Design Team have kept the challenges going during my absence, we decided to leave the work of compiling and publishing the Top 3 for the last two challenges until I returned home. Shhhhh! Don't let the rest of the Design Team members know that I have so much fun compiling and publishing the Top 3 Posts that I selfishly kept this for myself!

The team's votes didn't disappoint me either! As always, I am amazed at how many of you received votes for the Top 3 honors. We truly do have a talented group of people participating in our challenges! But, oh – that's not my favorite part of this particular group of Top 3 designers! Two of the three are from the UK, and the third is from New Zealand! I'm so excited to have these three Stampin' Up! Demonstrators join in our challenge AND win Top 3 honors! Of course I delight in all our entrants and their projects, but having all the Top 3 from outside North America is definitely a thrill for us. To read more about their projects, just click on the pictures.

Nicky Dexter, from Colchester, UK. What a delightful use of colors for this Welcome Baby card! Those tiny handprints are so nicely framed with the Coastal Cabana die-cut shape. But our favorite part of this card was the use of the images from the Baby Tees Jumbo Wheel as a perfect embellishment!

Margaret King from Northamptonshire, UK. We especially liked that the front of this card was personalized with the baby's name! What fun is that! But our favorite parts of the project are those beautifully shaded and highlighted balloons. They look so real they could be popped with a pin!

Karren Johnson from Christchurch, New Zealand. What a great Clean and Simple (CAS) card this is. Our favorite part of this card is the embossed and sanded cardstock that looks just like real fabric ribbon!