Happy Birthday, Shay!!!

Welcome everyone!  Today is a very special day!  The winnie & walter Design Team and I are here to celebrate my friend and co-owner, Shay on her birthday! 

By day, Shay works for her family business, and works tirelessly on all things w&w in her spare time, and let me tell you, she is fantastic at what she does.  Being her business partner is amazing because she is so organized, she has so many fantastic ideas and she has so much patience for me. LOL

Here are a few things you may not know about her.  She likes to read, when she affords the time, and loves to explore new recipes and cuisine with her sister, Rachel.  They are often found at the farmer’s market picking up fresh fruit and vegetables, and they are huge fans of Trader Joes! As for her crafty side, she loves fonts, bold graphics and geometric shapes like triangles and chevrons, and creating her own patterned backgrounds with stamps.

Shay and her family would not be complete without their precious four-legged friends. Winnie is just one of the cuties, with her siblings Fitz, Remy, Bella, Sophie, Violet and Jack-Jack.

I am excited to celebrate Shay on her birthday along with some of our special friends - aka The Talent as well as our Talented Free Agents Laura Sterckx and Suzanne Dahlberg!  Shay is a wonderful person and friend and I'm blessed to have her in my life!

Before we get to the blog hop list, I will start with a card I made for Shay that is inspired by her in several ways.

When designing this recent release, some of Shay's favorite elements were the balloons from The Party and the infinity chain / crepe paper design from the aptly named Scenery: The Party Hangover.  I started with the chain and stamped it repeatedly to build my own background (how did I do, Shay?)  and embossed it with clear EP on watercolor paper.  I then used the "smooshing" technique from Laura Bassen (one of Shay's favorite designers) in a grouping of blue distress inks (tumbled glass, broken china, peacock feathers, stormy sky, faded jeans, and one of Shay's favorites chipped sapphire). I love how the colors blend in this technique, and how they pool differently in some of the chain links.  I will definitely be doing this background again!

The balloons are stamped with versamark and distress ink on vellum and hand cut, gathered with grey embroidery thread and tied around the h on the In a Word: Happy Cutaway.  I cut this from watercolor paper too, but I used an ink blending tool with peacock feathers and a little chipped sapphire. I then gave the die cut a glossy look with two coats of clear embossing powder.  I wish you could see the shine better in this photo, but it is pretty in real life.  The sentiment is finished with one of the banner strips from the Essentials: Katharine Cutaways and stamped with the birthday sentiment from Sugar Rush.

I hope you are ready to hop with us and take a look at the fantastic cards these uber-talented ladies have made for the birthday girl. You are all in for a real treat today.  Your next stop is  Joni


 To help you with your hop, I've provided a handy dandy list.

w&w blog   <= You are here!

Joni

Suzanne

Kelly

Mayuri

Vanessa

Gayatri

Heather

Laura

Here are a few previews to get you ready for the hop.

 

We hope you enjoy the hop and please leave some love for these fabulous ladies on their blogs too.

And CHEERS to Shay on her birthday!  I hope your day is filled with fun, laughter and lots of  love and doggie kisses! Davis, Walter and I are sending you great big hugs!