Meet Pamela

Happy Tuesday everyone and thank you for visiting the blog today! Today is my individual post here at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration and I can't wait to share a little bit about myself with all you readers out there.

This is my 2nd year with the group and I am loving every minute of it! It helps me be creative and motivate me to blog and make cards on regular basis. I am originally from San Jose, California and just relocated to Evanston, Illinois (13 miles North of downtown Chicago) 3 months ago because of my husband's job at Northwestern University. Beside crafting, I enjoy reading, going to plays and festivals, playing pool and love sticker planning in my Inkwell Press Flex Bound planner! 

I've been with Stampin' Up since 2010 and been to 1 convention and few OnStage events! I found Stampin' Up through my upline - Jennifer's Meetup group when I was just looking for something to do. Then I bought the starter kit and the rest is history! Along this fun journey, I've made some really wonderful friends that I will forever be grateful for. My style of stamping is mostly clean and simple and I also love looking at Pinterest for ideas and inspiration. Below are few cards that I made recently, they are all pretty different, right?! 

Thank you for hanging out with me today and be sure to visit us at SSINK on regular basis and join us every Monday for unique and fun challenges!!  - Pamela Wu

Masculine Monday

Congrats to Susan S.

January Technique Challenge Winner

On months like this when we have 5 Mondays, we like to celebrate the men in our life by making projects for Masculine Monday. Our designers pulled out all the stops (and several tools) to make these non-frilly cards today! 

Visit each designer's blog to learn more about their individual project. Pin your favorites so you can CASE them later! Come back next Monday for our February Color Challenge!

Tobe Buffenbarger - The Craft Sea

Pamela Wu - Stinky Tofu

Cathy Autrey - Maine Mountain Stamper

Diana Eichfeld ~ Stampin' Fun with Diana

Cheryl Hamilton - Create With Cheryl

 Jen Guarino - Faith. Grace. Stamp.

Nichole Loe - Scrappy Stamps & Ink

Jennifer Gregorsky - Jenny G Paper Crafts

Melissa Stout ~ The Stamp Doc

Friday Favorites: Sale-A-Bration

So now that Sale-A-Bration is well under way, have you earned everything from the brochure?  There are so many great items to choose from; stamps, DSP, Ribbon, a card kit, and a fabulous card tin!  Today our designers are featuring our favorite Sale-A-Bration items.  There was one overwhelming favorite, Tasty Trucks!  

Cheryl Hamilton - Create With Cheryl

Tobe Buffenbarger - The Craft Sea

Jen Pitta -  By the Shore Stamping

Breelin Renwick ~ Craft-somnia Momma

Favorite SAB Item: Tasty Trucks Stamp Set

Cathy Autrey - Maine Mountain Stamper

Nichole Loe - Scrappy Stamps & Ink

Favorite SAB Item: So Very Much Stamp Set

Jennifer Gregorsky - Jenny G Paper Crafts

Favorite SAB Item - Avant Garden

All About Diana

Good morning!  My name is Diana Eichfeld and I’m one of the original Stylin’ Stampin’ INKspiration design team members.  I love this group of amazing creative and fun ladies and enjoy their friendships and inspiration.  I live in Bristow, VA with my husband (Chris), son (Aidan who’s 11 and fully embracing the craziness of teen years early), and our dog (Mocha).  My husband and I met in Providence, RI while in college where he was studying to become a chef and I was in business school.  Ever since I was a kid I said I wanted to marry a chef so I didn’t have to cook so it all worked out (but I still do my fair share of cooking). We both love to travel and are Disney fanatics so it’s a perfect fit.  We also got into fitness about 5 years ago when we made the commitment to lose weight and I’ve fallen in love with running and racing (my favorite distances are 10K and half marathons) and try to do as many as my family will tolerate, including incorporating races into our travel plans, haha!

 Combining Running and my love of Disney!

Aidan is in 6^th grade and is really busy will all sorts of activities, including Boy Scouts, Tae Kwon Do (he’s a second degree black belt), Baseball, Basketball, Battle of the Books Club, Chess Club, and Cooking club, along with playing the Trombone.  Aidan also loves Disney and traveling so he’s more than willing to take on any of our adventures.  He and Chris are also huge Star Wars fans so on any given day I’m learning about this empire.

Snowtubing

 50 mile Bike Ride with Boy Scouts

Off to Summer Camp

Mocha is a Chiwinnie (Chihuahua and Dachshund mix) and spends most of his time sleeping and cuddling.  Mocha does go on short runs with me but with his short little legs he works hard to keep up, walks he prefers and gets to explore the neighborhood.

Really mom?

I have a full time job as a Contracts Manager for a small Aerospace company working with the Government.  It’s close to my home and Aidan’s school which I love!  I became a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator in 2007 when Aidan was 2 (I actually signed up while we were on vacation) because I wanted the discount but quickly found that building my business was a great way to meet new people in the neighborhood (my development was still being built out) and I love teaching people the joy of paper crafting, at all ages.  

My stamping style is clean and simple and I enjoy making masculine cards as much as softer one’s (perhaps it’s because of all the guys in my life) but don’t tend to be “over flowery” if you know what I mean.  I’m a little obsessed with glitter and bling and will try to add it as much as possible (except on my “dude cards”).  I love using different challenges to help stretch my creativity as well as fun new techniques.  Here’s a picture of some recent Valentine’s projects I made to coordinate.

I thought you would enjoy seeing where I work.  I was very fortunate that a few years ago we built out an unfinished area in our basement and turned it into my studio.  I love spending time down here creating by myself, with friends, or teaching classes. We also use the studio a lot for Aidan’s school projects and it’s nice to have a place to spread out for bigger projects (and the ability to shut the door to hide the mess when company comes).

View from the door

I cleaned up for your visit (usually I'm working on about a 6"x6" space, haha!) 

I like to display different ideas for inspiration for class attendees. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know a little about me and hope you will continue to follow the SSINKspiration team for lots of fun and creativity!

Diana

Valentine/Love Card

It seems lots of people have anniversaries in January and of course February is the month of Love and Valentine's Day, our designers have been busy making cards for Valentine's Day or with a Love theme. When it comes to cards for Love Stampin'Up! has lots of wonderful options and our team has lots of variety to Inkspire you. We have hearts, flowers, kisses and so much more, I think the only thing missing is chocolate. ;-) We are so thrilled that you stopped by and don't forget that each designer has more information about their card on their personal blog.

Pamela Wu - Stinky Tofu

Tobe Buffenbarger - The Craft Sea

Cathy Autrey - Maine Mountain Stamper

Jen Guarino - Faith. Grace. Stamp

Diana Eichfeld ~ Stampin' Fun with Diana

Cheryl Hamilton - Create With Cheryl

Jennifer Gregorsky - Jenny G Paper Crafts

Meet Melissa

Hi! My name is Melissa Stout and I am a returning member of the Stylin' Stampin' INKSpiration design team.  I had to take a little hiatus during the Fall to complete a few other design projects, but I am now back for at least the next six months.  This is a wonderful group and I am thrilled to be working with them again!

I live in Kokomo, Indiana with my husband, daughter, and our 2 furbabies.  Just so you know.....Kokomo is nothing like the old Beach Boys song.  It's approximately 1 hour north of Indianapolis and we're surrounded by corn fields.  No beaches and I don't drink margaritas all the time.

My husband and I met in chiropractic school, married, and opened up a practice together.  Somehow, we manage to combine work and family life successfully.  We'll be celebrating 15 years of marriage later this year.

My oldest is currently serving in the US Navy.  I'm still adjusting to him being gone and learning how to be a military mom.  We've been very fortunate to see him frequently this past year, but it looks like there will be multiple deployments in our future.  

My youngest is my mini-me and tends to be my shadow.  She's at that great age where she still wants to be with her mom and mom is the best.  I'll take it!  I know this time will pass and soon I'll be persona non grata in her life.

And then there's these two.....Gizmo and Jasmine, our rescue dogs.  Jasmine is a 13 year-old Border Collie mix and if you've watched any of my videos online, you've probably heard her "talking" as well.  She always thinks I'm talking to her and must respond.  LOL  Gizmo is some sort of crazy-haired, moody mutt.  She's a young one and is always up for snuggles.

So, as you can see, my family is very important to me and most of them (looking at you, Jasmine) are very supportive of my stamping business.  I've been a Stampin' UP! demonstrator for 15 years and I truly love it!  My style is very clean & simple.  I love using sketches and color challenges for inspiration and I currently belong to several design teams.  

Up until recently, I had been holding local card-making classes.  I have decided to take a step back from that for awhile to focus on building my online business and spend more time with my family and friends.

Below are a few samples that I created for the ONStage event in Madison, Wisconsin this past November.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

#SSINKTC41: January Technique Challenge

Congrats to Lamia S.

January's INKspiration Challenge Winner

We offer a new challenge every Monday and we love it when our readers play along with the challenges! The challenge opens on Monday morning at 7am CST and closes at 12pm CST the following Sunday. Voting then takes place from 12pm to 5pm CST. Use the link up tool at the bottom of this post to share your submission. 

1st Monday: Color

2nd Monday: Sketch

3rd Monday: INKspiration

4th Monday: Technique

Have you tried the Bokeh technique? It is very easy and makes for an elegant card whether you use it as a background or the main focal point. Check out how our designers used Bokeh on their cards for today. 

Cathy Autrey - Maine Mountain Stamper

Pamela Wu - Stinky Tofu

Melissa Stout ~ The Stamp Doc

Tobe Buffenbarger - The Craft Sea

Diana Eichfeld ~ Stampin' Fun with Diana

Cheryl Hamilton - Create With Cheryl

Jen Guarino - Faith. Grace. Stamp

Jennifer Gregorsky - Jenny G Paper Crafts

An InLinkz Link-up