Happy Dance times 3 Bajillion! STAMPlorations Designer

Before I rush into my over-the-moon elation, I'd like to say a big HEY THANKS! to Niki, Petra, Taunya, and Dot for willingly subjecting themselves to my ramblings by clicking the follow button. You're the best.

Ok. Now. ON TO THE SHOW! A couple of you saw it yesterday over at the STAMPloration's blog official announcement, but I MADE THE STAMPLORATIONS DESIGN TEAM!!!

EEEE!!! AAAAA!!! OOOOOO!!! and other vowel sounds!!!!

Though I've been stamping my entire infernal life, I started blogging just four piddly months ago and waited a while to apply for any design team calls because I wanted to be sure that I knew what I was doing. Many of you heard that I made the cut over at Eclectic Ellapu and Crafty Gals Corner last month. Those are both excellent challenge blogs. 

But when it came to applying for manufacturer's calls, I wanted to be really, really picky because I wanted to know that I really believed in their products and loved their stamps. So when STAMPlorations had a DT call I hopped on that trolley faster than a.... something that's really fast. Speeding bullet? Bunny in mating season?

Anywho. Yeah. If you've visited my blog for any length of time, you've heard me talk about STAMPlorations in the past because I adore their products and sketchy designs. STAMPlorations was one of the first challenges I ever participated in.

  Here's the card I submitted for the DT call. It uses both STAMPlorations digi stamps and clear stamps.

I'm liking the look of that watermark! :D I wanted my submission to be graphic, but not cluttered so I used bold colors and I used a stencil to make an embossing paste panel, which is sprinkled with gold glitter and dried with a heat tool. I also embossed the gold "you".  

If you would like the free digi stamps that I used to make this card - they're available here. 

 After looking at the work of the other acceptees, I felt so honored. So I'm going to leave this entry by telling you just a couple of reasons why I actually LOVE STAMPlorations, and why I feel so honored to be a part of this team. 

1. The Stamps and Sentiment Builder Sets:

I've been really frustrated in the past with stamp companies who have one great image in a set, but no good sentiments to go along with them. Almost every STAMP set has two or three really great sentiments. And they have these things called Sentiment Builder sets which have a ton of words that  you can hodgepodge together to make your own custom sayings. I dig that. And I love the sketchy designs of the images.

2. The Cost

These things are not gonna hurt your wallet. Complete sets start off as little as $7. For my deal-loving brain, that's a steal.

3. The People

Shery Russ, the owner, is the nicest, most down-to-earth person. Whenever I had a question about an order, she was on it! When I got my first order (and all subsequent orders) Shery included a handstamped thank you. How sweet! And the Design Team? Well they were some of the first people to leave me bloggy love. They are the nicest and most talented around. I'm not just saying that - it's a grade A team.

4. Last but not least - The Challenges:

STAMPlorations runs 3 challenges a month - Two sketch challenges and one theme challenge. You DON'T have to have their stamps to play along or to win. I really appreciate that because, as a new blogger, I had a limited collection of stamps. I won one set and since then my STAMPlorations collection has grown like wildfire. 

So you other stamp companies take note: If you let people who don't have your stamps play along in your challenges too, they might just become your biggest clients! 

All of the challenges are listed on the STAMPlorations blog. If you DO have STAMPlorations stamps, well they have an EXTRA challenge called the Anything Goes gallery. Use their stamps and link up a card. For every 50 cards they get, a prize is given away. 

So yeah. That's STAMPlorations and that's why I'm over the moon to be officially representing such an amazing company. 

Thanks for sharing in my joy!

I'm linking up my card to support the following challenges:
JUGS - Trend Week Stencils
Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - LOVE
Design Team Showcase - Show your design team work 
Spectrum Noir (Facebook) - Anything Goes