Welcome to Day 9 of the 2013 Artisan Entry Blog Hop.  As you visit each blog in this blog hop, you'll see various projects from a handful of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators representing only a small portion of individuals that submitted and entered 10 different projects to Stampin' Up! for the Artisan Design Team contest.  Although we were not selected as one of the Top 20 Finalists, we are all winners in that we took the time and effort to send in our projects knowing that it is some of our best work!  

As an Artisan Design Team hopeful, each blog hop participant submitted 10 projects to Stampin' Up! for the Artisan Design Team contest consisting of the following:

• 5 – Handmade Cards
• 3 – Scrapbook Pages
• 2 – 3D Projects

 2013 Artisan Entry Blog Hop – Day 9

Today I'm featuring the last of the five cards I created for the 2013 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team contest.  I really had fun creating this card and making a 3-tiered Easel Card using the Labels Framelits.  The theme of the card is Adoption!  My son, Caleb, was adopted 3 1/2 years ago and our family is currently on a waiting list for adoption #2 so you can see how the Cuddles & Kisses stamp set featuring an adoption stamp has a special place in my heart!  If you have every been personally touched by adoption either through a friend or family member, you know and understand the special meaning behind this card!

The card base for each layer of the 3-tiered easel is Marina Mist cardstock cut using the Label's Framelit.   I cut three of the same size Marina Mist Label's for each level of the 3-tiered easel. I'm currently loving the look of paper-piercing so I used the Stampin' Up! Festive Paper-Piercing Pack to pierce each layer of the easel.  Next, I again used the Label's Framelit to cut out the Whisper White for each layer of the card.  

To the right is a close up of the first level of the easel using the smallest of the Label's Framelits to cut out the Adoption sentiment from the Cuddles & Kisses stamp set.  To keep this layer anchored when open, I placed three little flowers created using the Itty Bitty Punch Pack with a Rhinestone Jewel placed in the center of each flower.  I kept this level of the easel simple to really focus on the sentiment.

On the second level of the 3-tiered easel card, I stamped the cute little feet from the Baby Prints stamp set onto the Whisper White cardstock using Marina Mist ink.  The attached banner is Whisper White cardstock layered with So Saffron cardstock.  The "congratulations" is a sentiment from the Curly Cute stamp set.  Final touches for this tier included adding more of the little flowers with the Rhinestone Jewel accent.

The final layer features the Hearts A Flutter framelit.  I cut out the different flags for a flag banner strung on a piece of Linen Thread.  In the background, you'll notice that I used the Cloudy Day embossing folder on the Whisper White cardstock for an added whimsical touch perfect for a baby card.  On the flag banner, each little flag is decorated, stamped or embossed.  I used the Hearts A Flutter Stamp set which coordinates with the matching framelit to stamp some different hearts using Midnight Muse and So Saffron ink.  On the middle flag with the letter "B" which comes from the Occasions Alphabet stamp set I used Stampin' Markers for the two colors.  For the final touches I added the arrow from the Cute Clips and more flowers with Rhinestones.

I invite you to pin any of my creations to Pinterest and to share your thoughts or questions by leaving me a comment.  I love hearing from all my readers – word of mouth is one of the greatest forms of flattery.