A Weekend Stampin with Selma

Hey girls - guess what I got to do this weekend!?! My good friend Selma Stevenson came out from Washington state to teach a workshop at Joan's Garden in Indiana. Well I just couldn't pass up a chance to meet Selma for real AND to attend a stampin' workshop as well!!!
First off let me share a few photos...

That's Selma in the foreground with Joan and her husband Jon in the background. They were totally delightful hosts for all of us and Selma was amazing in her projects that she shared with us.

Here we are - the silly ones :-)

Oh I suppose you want to see what we made - right? Well here ya go.

First up is this gorgeous pink shadow box. We used two MS punches (Garden Trellis and Lattice Arch), a CB embossing folder (Victoria), 2 Just Right Stamp sets, the MS Monarch butterfly (doubled) and some nesties to create this beauty. Don't cha just love it??? Well we all did for sure.

Next up we made this adorable little card (the real trick here was to learn how to use OMS with pencils and how to reduce the thickness of the multiple layers to cut down on the weight.)

Selma will post how to do the layering frames when she gets home (maybe next week?). Cute as a button and I always forget to layer the flowers like we did here. I love the dimension and depth it includes. I also forgot how much I love coloring with OMS (almost more than using my Copics sometimes.)

Lastly we made this stunning black box. WOW was all I could say once they were done.

We used a beautiful DP by Webster Pages. (Available from Joan's store)  I chose to focus the top of my box on the butterfly image but if you check Selma's page next week she'll show you the beautiful bird cage option SHE used (from the same paper). This box went together in a snap but it makes a truly lovely gift box. It's a generous 6x6x3 completed size.

Here's the inside of the box (see - the DP was used to decorate the sides and inside as well).

AND here's the inside of the lid...

Isn't that gorgeous. I LOVE this sentiment - Live the life you have imagined!!!

Finally, here's a close up of the flowers on the top... some fabulous mulberry flowers from England... WOW! (Joan also carries these beauties in her store.)

So there you have it - three wonderfully creative projects, a day spent with 26 women all in one good sized room - all of us stampin away the day and breaking bread together as well. Met some other gals from Stamp TV, too (Hi Betty, Hi Darlene, Hi Carol...)

Oh yeah - one last bit of fun for me... Jon has a brand new 2010 Harley so guess who got to go for a ride.... yep - yours truly... THANKS, Jon (and Joan for allowing me to borrow your hubby for a bit).

Loved my ride - what a great time. So - that's all for now - thanks for stopping by - hope you enjoy the projects - they were fun to make and I strongly encourage you to go to something like this if you get a chance. Please also stop by Selma's blog and Joan's store and leave them some love too.

Have a great week. Hugs n smiles,