Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Welcome To Our Brand New Fusion Design Team

Hello Everyone! It's such an exciting day here at Fusion, not only are we excited to be back with some fresh and fun challenges,  but we have an AMAZING new design team. We have a perfect "blend" around here, some familiar Fusion faces and some brand new Fusion faces!    So without further ado, it's time to announce the BRAND NEW design team....Drum Roll PLEASE....



 Fusion Challenge Manager 

Hi there! I have been living in Sunny S. California for 4 years with my husband, two kids and our dog. I have been crafting pretty much all my life and love it so much. Some of my other hobbies/interest besides crafting is gardening, baking, re-purposing things, reading, etc. My day job is working in my local scrapbooking store and teaching classes on the side. I am so excited to be a part of Fusion and this amazing group of ladies, while sharing our passion with you, to inspire your creative side!

2014 Winter/Spring "Zen-ologists"

I’m 30 years old and I started with the crafts in February 2012 and I became increasingly addicted to it, that’s my biggest hobby. Furthermore, I still love to read books and meet with friends. I live in a house with my boyfriend and my grandma in Germany (Bayern) and I love to cook Italian for them. I'm so exciting to be a part of this DT.


 
Cathy Weber
Hi there...I'm Cathy Weber and I live in Southern California with my husband of 34 years. It wasn't until my three children grew up and were on their own that I was surprised to discover that there was a "crafty" side of me.   I quickly became hooked on all things paper, stamps and dies.  I love to make cards, some scrapbook pages and small home decor projects.  I always loved to play along with sketch or inspiration photo challenges and I am so excited to join the Fusion Design Team which allows me to do a little bit of both!   

 
Deepti Malik
Hi friends!! I am from Cleveland, USA. I have always been inclined towards Arts be it sketching or painting. However... paper crafting is a newly acquired passion. I started with card making from January 2013 and I have been hooked. My card making style is CAS and what makes me unique... I guess is the fact that I include my own hand drawn elements in my cards. I firmly believe that besides being a creative outlet paper crafts enables you to make plenty of friends from all around the world. 
FUSION challenge for me is a fusion of creative ideas and hence an excellent enabler for your creative growth.


Hello, everyone!    Geri here, a true small town girl, from Brazil, Indiana.  And I'm a true blue crafter.  You name it...if it's crafty, I'll try it!  I do adore card making, though, and couldn't be happier than sharing my love for it right here at FUSION!  Other things that keep me hoppin' are my 3 kids, the music and kids' departments at church, my kids' schools, a local nursing home where I craft with some of the residents, and our backyard...I love gettin' my hands dirty and trompin' around in the fish pond;)  Looking forward to a great year of awesome challenges here at FUSION! 

 
Hey fellow challenge enthusiasts!  I'm Julia and I live just north of Boston, MA in the USA.  My mother was an elementary school teacher and my father was a commercial artist so between the two, my sister and I did lots of artsy crafty things starting at a very young age - and it continues into adulthood.  I discovered card stamping about 8 years ago and it has become my passion - both on cards and other objects like boxes, bags and tags!  I am just thrilled to be on the Fusion Design Team and I'm setting myself the goal of combining both the inspiration photo and the sketch as often as possible!  

 
Katie Brooks
Hiya!  I'm from Seattle & have had a love for arts/crafts all of my life, something passed to me by my parents (dad draws and does photography & mom makes amazing quilts). I've tried so many things, but making cards is my fave as I can easily share it with those I love! I really enjoy playing challenges, it's a fun way to be inspired and see through the eyes of others.  I am THRILLED to be part of Fusion!


 
Hi! I'm Kelly, and like many of us, crafting has always been a large part of my life. I have such fond memories of time spent with my Grandma at her kitchen table learning every type of craft imaginable. I also have a passion for paper, collecting 19th century valentines, postcards, scrapbooks, and whatever inspires me. I'm excited to return to the Fusion Design Team, and am happy to have stretched myself last year by using the sketch challenges. I hope you'll try something new as well! 


Kimberly Wiener
Hello! I am so excited to be on the Fusion Design Team. I love living in Washington State where my husband and I are very happily raising a wonderful boy that we are totally crazy about.  I love color, paper, being bold, and thinking outside of the box.  I look forward to being inspired by you and sharing my passion with you.  
These challenges are going to be exciting - I can't wait to see what you come up with!


 
Lyndal Higgins
Hi Lyndal here from Melbourne, Australia. I had been scrapbooking for a few years when in late 2011 my daughter and her friend thought they’d like to have a stall at their school fair, so I offered to make a few cards – and I was hooked! I LOVE this creative outlet and the on-line community that surrounds it. I LOVE combining challenges too, so I feel right at home with FUSION, I hope you will too!  



Lynn Mangan 
Hello there!  I'm so thrilled to be on the Fusion Design Team. I'm from Loveland, Ohio (just north of Cincnnati).  I'm a mom to four boys, Ryan, Jonathon, Collin and Marcel. I am married to my high school sweetheart, Pat. I work full time and I absolutely love creating cards.  Creating is the best relaxation!  I've been blogging since July 2009 and love this wonderful community of crafters!


Michelle Williams
Greetings from Brisbane, Australia! I'm so excited to be here at Fusion! I love making cards, and I love sharing them. Card making is how I take some time out from the world, giving me much needed mental relaxation while I consider colour, texture, and design. I share my life with my husband, my two girls, a dog, a budgie, and a fish. Sometime soon I may add some chickens to the menagerie!


Michelle Lupton
Hello, all!  I am from Melbourne, Australia, where I spend most of my time teaching science, but try to find as much time as I can to make cards. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, but only really got serious about cardmaking when I started my blog in 2011, and discovered online challenges shortly after that. I love challenging myself, and I enjoy seeing what other crafters come up with.  I am over the moon to be a part of Fusion - I love this international community of crafters!


Sindhu
 Hello! I'm Sindhu from India. I started card making an year and a half ago and I'm kind of addicted to it now! After a stressful day at work, making cards is what I look forward to every evening. I'm so excited to be a part of Fusion Design Team, but at the same time, looking at my super talented teammates here, I feel humbled! I can't wait to share my creations here! Let's all have fun!

Stephanie Severin 
Sending you crafty greetings from Iowa where I spend my evenings and weekends in my studio playing with stamps, inks and paper ... creating is my respite.  I also love sushi, driving with my windows down, used book stores, pedicures, planning trips, lip balm and Caffeine-Free Diet Dr. Pepper.  I am so excited to be designing with this talented group of creative souls ... and can't wait to have some Fusion Challenge Fun!


We are all so incredibly excited to be here on Fusion to help inspire you to really get those creative juices flowing! We cannot wait to see all of your beautiful creations.  As always, Thank You so much for playing with us at the Fusion Card Challenge. 

~The Fusion Card Challenge Design Team~

 

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Meet our Challenge Manager and New Design Team Announcement Coming Soon!

Happy holidays FUSION friends! I am thrilled to welcome a lovely designer and friend to the FUSION team. She is taking on the role of Challenge Manager and will be posting the challenges, setting up the winner posts and running things here at FUSION. I am so thankful for her and her wonderful organizational skills! She is a gem!!!

Please welcome, Dannielle Robeson to the team! 
I have asked her to share a bit about herself.



Hi there! I have been living in Sunny S. California for 4 years with my husband, two kids and our dog. I have been crafting pretty much all my life and love it so much. Some of my other hobbies/interest besides crafting is gardening, baking, re-purposing things, reading, etc. My day job is working in my local scrapbooking store and teaching classes on the side. I am so excited to be a part of Fusion and this amazing group of ladies, while sharing our passion with you, to inspire your creative side!

On Tuesday, December 31st, we will be introducing our new design team members! Thank you to everyone who applied, it was such a difficult decision! 

Thank you for stopping by!
Lesley

Friday, December 13, 2013

FUSION Reminder {Design Team Call and There's Still Time to Play!}


Two quick reminders Fusion Friends!  Our Design Team Call is open until December 17th.  For details on how to apply, please click here.

And don't forget...our current challenge is a MONTH LONG Challengeending on December 31st at Noon (PST). To play along and have some fun, please CLICK HERE

Here is some new inspiration from Lynn for our current challenge!


Friday, December 6, 2013

FUSION Design Team Call & A Challenge!

Hello Crafters! Surprise!!! 
We are back with a special extra long Christmas challenge and 
we are excited to be holding an open Design Team Call! 

Fusion Team Badge

When I decided to close down FUSION last month, I never imagined the number of emails and messages I would receive, asking me to keep it open!! Well, I thought long and hard about it and I have decided to reopen FUSION in January, 2014. Yippee!

But we need some more designers!!! We are looking for 5 new designers to join our team. The design team designs for 2-3 challenges per month (fortnightly Challenge cycles) and they leave comments for our players.


Here is what you need to do to apply:

Please send me an email to fusiondesignteam2013@gmail.com explaining why you would like to design for FUSION.

  1. Tell me your name, your blog name and a link to your blog.
  2. Attach 3 cards or projects that best showcase your style.
  3. Are you on any other teams?
  4. Do you use Social Media? FACEBOOK, Instagram or other?
  5. Anything else I should know?
  6. In order to be on the team you MUST have a blog and a FACEBOOK page. 
  7. NO EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY!

In the meantime, 
we have a month long challenge for you!!!

1. Make a card based on the challenge above. You may create a card, layout, tag, gift bag, the sky is the limit!!!

2. You may use the inspiration photo to inspire colour choices, textures, images or anything else you can explain.

3. You may use the sketch...all alone.

4. You may use both and create FUSION.

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team showing you how it works! 
We are sad that Amy and Stacey have decided to move on but they have many exciting opportunities coming up and so we are thrilled for them!!!! 
Good luck to you ladies!

Lesley Croghan


Geri Freeman


Guest DT - Dannielle Robeson


You have until Wednesday, January 1st at Noon (PST) to play along with our challenge.

The Design Team call ends on Tuesday, December 17th.

Good luck and have fun!!!
Lesley

Friday, November 29, 2013

Friday, November 1, 2013

FUSION Winners and a Goodbye!

Hello FUSION friends!! It is with a heavy heart that I announce we are closing the FUSION challenge. We have enjoyed getting to know new friends and visiting your amazing blogs. The artwork that has come from the challenges have been both inspirational and motivating! 

Thank you so much for your support and for joining us! 

Before we close our doors, I want to recognize the amazing designers on my team, who did so much work behind the scenes! Thank you to Amy T, Lynn, Lyndal, Geri, Kelly and Stacey. You ladies are so talented and lovely; I am honored to have connected with you all! And a special shout out to Amy T who became my partner in crime and who chose the inspiration each challenge to go with my sketches. You are a gem!

And now onto the winners of our final challenge! 
Wow, such awesome samples, it was difficult to choose!!!! 


Congratulations Karen D

I just had to choose Karen's stunning card. I loved the pop of orange in the leaves and the different designer papers she chose. The wood embellishments and the simple twine accented this gorgeous Fall creation!!!

Grab the Fusion Master badge below to display on your blog!

Congratulations to our Honorable Mentions...

Love her adorable tag and the sweet dots of orange!

Gorgeous mix of vintage with trendy...love that doily!

Beautiful cards with sweet music notes...love the pop of orange and the die cuts she used.

Stunning and soothing all in one, this card is simple lovely!

Please grab the Honorable Mention badge for the challenge you won!


Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts. 

You never know...maybe we will re-start FUSION once again...one day....

Hugs and blessings,
Lesley

Friday, October 18, 2013

Fusion Challenge #20

THIS WEEK'S HYPOTHESIS: 
What will generate the most "ZEN" card for the week; the sketch or the inspiration photo or the two combined? 


PROCEDURES:
1. Play with just the sketch challenge.
2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Experiment Page before playing along.

Here are some fabulous cards by our design team showing you how it works!


DATA {RESULTS}Will be chosen by one of our teammates in two weeks! The linky closes on Wednesday, October 30th at Noon (EST).

FINDINGS {CONCLUSIONS}Will be announced at 11am (EST) in two weeks!! 

FUSION #19 {CONCLUSIONS}

Hi Fusion Friends! Lyndal here, with the results of Challenge #19. 
It was fabulous seeing such a profusion of PINK in the gallery this fortnight, 
especially with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month! 
It was so fun to see the different ways people were inspired by the photo and/or sketch. 
Your fabulous creations have made for some really tough decisions here!
Without further ado....

The PHOTO was the most successful element of this week's challenge experiment ... 

Congratulations, Lucia!
Lucia Ardon
I LOVE Lucia's fabulous bokeh effect stamped background,
paired with this perfect stamped sentiment and finished with a gorgeous faux stitched border.

Please feel free to grab the Fusion Master badge below to display on your blog!
Congratulations also to our Honorable Mentions...

What's not to love about Lori's fabulous coloring skills,
perfect colour palette, cute clouds and polka dots!!

Gra O'Neill
I love this sweet image Gra has chosen and coloured to perfection -
and those added silver details make her card shine!

Joyce created an amazing selection of "Think Pink" cards, and this is my favourite -
I LOVE the corkboard frame and clever use of stamping and fishtail flags reflect the sketch perfectly.

I couldn't help but sneak in one more...
Allison Israels
Allison created this beauty with a combination of fabulous colouring and
superb stitching, lace, bow and pearl detailing

Ladies, please feel free to grab the Honorable Mention badge for the challenge you won!

Thanks so much for your inspiration!

Our new EXPERIMENT will begin at 12 noon EST today. 
Can't wait to see you all there!

Friday, October 4, 2013

FUSION #19 {Pink Power!}

THIS WEEK'S HYPOTHESIS: 
What will generate the most "ZEN" card for the week; the sketch or the inspiration photo or the two combined? 

PROCEDURES:
1. Play with just the sketch challenge.
2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Experiment Page before playing along.

Will you be inspired by the:
shapes (rectangles, circles, car, bows...)
colours (pink, monochromatic, black & white with a pop of colour...) 

textures (paper, cloth, brick, glass, metal...)

theme (cars, gifts, industrial, fashion...) 

from this weeks cool FUSION graphic, 

or this funky FUSION sketch - or both?!?


Here are some fabulous cards by our design team showing you how it works!

DATA {RESULTS}Will be chosen by one of our teammates in two weeks on Wednesday, October 16 at Noon. (EST)

FINDINGS {CONCLUSIONS}Will be announced at 11am (EST)in two weeks!! Please check the linky for the days left to play with us!