Last of the Convention Swaps

Good morning and Happy Tuesday!

So far this has been a great morning. Yesterday, I decided to lay down a couple rules for the kids as last year was a nightmare trying to get them ready for school. My oldest son, gets up and gets ready, no problem! My younger son...trying to get him out of bed is like trying to wake the dead. Once he gets up, you have to push him through eating breakfast, brushing teeth, getting dressed, getting his bookbag and lunchbox and his coat if needed, etc. Sorry to drag it all out, but that's what it was like. Sometimes he would get dressed faster, so he could play his Nintendo DS and then trying to get him out the door, so he wouldn't miss the bus was so hard. I let them know yesterday, that starting today, there will be no DS in the mornings at all. If they follow instructions and get out to school with no issues, they can play with them when they get home. There are also times when they try to get out of school, so I told them if they don't go to school. They won't get to play with the DS at all that day. I'm proud of myself. They didn't give me any grief at all this morning. It went so smooth. Once the bus picked them up, I took my 10 month old puppy for a nice walk. I haven't done that in so long. I need to exercise and I have a reason to now that I have Tebow. I haven't shared a picture of him in a while, so here he is:

Well, here are the last of the Convention swaps that I have to share.

I love the colors in this one and Fun Flowers is my favorite die.

(Robbie Cox)

Here's another beautiful card.

(Cris M.)

I love this new set. I don't have it yet, but it's on my wish list. Another beautiful card.

(Karen T.)

I also thought this was really pretty. I love the Posy Punch stamp set and this one shows off the new In-Colors.

(no name on back)

Here is a really cool card. You can't see it in the photo, but the main image is stamped on a flap, that is tucked in under the circle. When you lift it, you can see the sentiment. Very cute! 

(Cassie M.)

And this last one is a bookmark card. I scanned it with the bookmark pulled out, so you could see it. I thought this was really clever.

(Kayleen C.)

Thank you so much for the beautiful cards ladies!

I'm really enjoying this peace & quiet. I need to make several cards today, so I better get busy! I hope you have a wonderful day:)



Extreme Guitar Birthday Card

Good morning!

Today I would like to share a card that I made for my 16-year old nephew. I had originally planned to make a card with this stamp using a polished stone background, but I wound up not having the Real Red re-inker. (Can you believe it? I don't have Real Red? Oh boy!) Anyway, just to get an idea of what it would have looked like, I dipped the cotton ball in the top of my ink pad and then adding a couple drops of Pacific Point with alcohol. Once I started dabbing it on the Glossy White card stock, it just looked too dark to me. I decided to do something else. I was already late with his card. His birthday was while I was away at the Convention. I just decided to go with my favorite colors...the "Brights Collection"! I just stamped the background images randomly and then stamped the guitarist in the middle. I used the "You Rock" stamp from the Just Jawing stamp set, which is now retired. I then made a layer behind it and curled it up on the end just using my finger.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Extreme Elements, Extreme Guitar (retired) & Just Jawing (retired)

Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red & Whisper White

Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Real Red, Pacific Point, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie & Daffodil Delight

Other: Black Flourishes rhinestones (retired) & Stampin' Dimensionals

I also have more (yes, more! I will actually have one more batch after these.) Convention Swaps to share.

I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of the Blossom Boquet punch. I thought this card was really pretty.

(Cindy R.)

And I love the way this artist used the punch for a beautiful border.

(Laura H.)

This card is an MDS Hybrid card. The only thing on this card that's not MDS, is the flower tops, which were done with the Blossom Boquet punch & the centers, which were punched from the Itty Bitty punch pack. How cool is that?

(Cathy C.)

The next card was made using the Scallop Square punch. I thought this was really cool, because this artist demonstrated a way to conserve card stock. She actually punched her scalloped squares using the card stock from the background paper. I do this whenever I can:)

And here's the back of the layer, showing you how she conserved card stock.

(Robbie Cox)

This card is so pretty and I love all of the details. The background is beautiful, I love all of the punching, dies, & the colors are so pretty.

(Sandy B,)

Thank you for the beautiful swaps!

OK, so that's it for today. Tomorrow I will be back with the last of the Convention Swaps. I'm finally getting better at posting regularly and I'm hoping to keep it going now that my boys will be going back to school starting tomorrow. I can't believe the summer is almost over. Where did it go?

I hope you have a terrific day!

Even More Swaps!

Good morning and Happy Saturday!

I'm back today with more Convention Swap photos to share. I love the colors in this first one. This is one of my favorite stamp sets. What a great layout!

(Pam L.)

I love this embedded technique and the Bold Brights are my favorite color family!

(Rainy S.)

I love this stamp set and there are Crystal Effects on one of the Pumpkin Pie colored candies!

(Meg M.)

I love how this artist used the Triple Blossom punch as the bow on the gifts!

(No name on back)

The last two cards were made with "The Open Sea" stamp set. I'm so sad that this one didn't make it into the new catalog. It was perfect for making masculine cards.

I love the layout on this card and how she used the Baker's Twine. Very cute!

(Melinda P.)

I love the coloring on this card! I don't understand why the artist didn't put her name on the back. If I did work this pretty, I'd want the whole world to know that I did it:)

(No name on back)

Aren't they beautiful? I decided to store the swaps I received at the Convention in the Card Keeper Box that we received for our Make & Take. I only made about 75 swaps, so the swaps I received, fit in it perfectly:)

I will be attending an upline meeting today, so I'm sure I will have something new to share with you soon. I look forward to your return:)

Have a great day!

More Convention photos & swaps

Hello and Happy Friday!

I found some more photos from the Convention that I'd like to share. Here are some pics of us girls goofing off and having a blast! If you've never gone, I just can't tell you how much fun it is. I didn't think I'd be able to afford it, but I saved $20 a week starting right after the Convention last year (since I wasn't able to go then) and with the help of my hubby (scheduling his vacaton then to watch the boys) and my roommates (we chipped in money for hotel and car rental to save), it all came together.  

My Roommates! (Jen & Cathleen)

Becky H, Jen, Cathleen & me

Debbie, Me & Becky F.

Cathleen, Me, Jen, Joszette, Becky F., Becky H & Debbie

Cathleen, Becky H., Jen & Me

I also have more swaps to share! These particular swaps were made by the girls in our group!

  

Shawn B.

Jen M.

Debbie J.

Cathleen M.

Joszette C.

I thought it would be really cool to share these swaps along with the photos of our group. I absolutely love these cards ladies!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will be back with more swap photos soon:)

  



Convention Swaps

Good morning!

Today I would like to share some of the swaps I received at the Stampin' Up! Convention last month. I can't believe it was a month ago...

This first card was so unique, because the designer used Wood Sheets (on page 216 in the current Idea Book & Catalog) and she ran it through the Big Shot using the Top Note die and then stamped the images  on the wood. Such a great idea! The photo does not do this card justice.

Nancy A.

And more of my favorites...

Cheryl R.

Cheryl R.

Betty G.

Jane R.

Aren't they fantastic? Thank you ladies for such gorgeous cards:)

I still have plenty to show you, so I will be back tomorrow with more. I hope you have a wonderful day!



Convention Gifts

Hello!

Sorry it's taking me forever to get my posting done about the Convention. I'm trying to get better at it, but I might as well face it...I won't be winning any blog awards this year. LOL!

In this post I would like to show you the Convention gift that I gave the girls in our group. I bought these adorable little mini paint cans that I found at the local craft store. They are clear, so I cut a 1 1/13" x 7" piece of the new Flirtatious Specialty paper and rolled it up, placing it in the can and letting it unravel, tucking it up under the inner rim. Then I filled them with Peppermints. I punched out circles from the other side of the same sheet of DSP and put them in the top of the lids using snail adhesive. Then I just tied a small piece of the new 1/2" Scallop Dots (Melon Mambo) ribbon on the handle. So simple and everyone loved them.

I also wanted to share a couple Convention gifts that I received. The first one was from my roommate Jen! She gave me this beautiful tin filled with chocolates. A girl that evidently knows my worst weakness! LOL!

 

The second one was from my Upline, Debbie. She made this absolutely gorgeous book, with a matching tag, so I could personalize my Convention bag. She also made a name tag (at the bottom on the right-click to enlarge) and this amazing Button Bracelet! She used the Simply Adorned 8" Bracelet and I think every color button Stampin' Up! has! She gave these to everyone in our group. I had to ask her if I'd get a backorder message when I went to order buttons:) This photo just doesn't do these things justice.

Do you notice anything about all of the Convention gifts? We all used the Flirtatious Specialty DSP! I love this paper:) Great minds think alike;)

I will be back soon to share some of the swaps that I received. I hope you have a great day!

Convention swaps

Hello stamp friends! Happy Sunday to you! I'm trying to avoid going out in this heat today, which gives me some time to catch up on things. I've been having a hard time getting back into the groove since coming back from Convention. I was so wound up for so long about going, so it's a big let down now that it's over! Convention was awesome! It was everything I thought it would be and more. A break from the norm, a chance to have fun and let loose, (I didn't have to worry about my boys, since my hubby took the week off to spend time with them. He's such an awesome dad!) meeting new people, including getting to say hi and introduce myself to some of my favorite stampers from the blogs that I follow. (Patty Bennett, Dawn Olchefske, Robin Merriman, Tiffany Bauer, Lyssa Zwolanek & Mary Fish) All were so very kind. I saw Diana Gibbs and was in such shock, I accidently called her Donna. I could have slapped myself. LOL! She just smiled and waved. So sweet.

We arrived on Tuesday and after a 5-hour flight, we picked up our rental car and got on the highway heading for our hotel. I just couldn't believe the majestic sight. Despite temps in the 90's, the mountains were snowcaped. I said "Look at this scenery!" and I screamed! My two roommates just laughed at me. You'd think I never get out. LOL! We dropped off our luggage and went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Then we relaxed the rest of the evening.

On Wednesday we went to the Stampin' Up! Headquarters in Riverton and took a tour of the building. There were numerous displays to look at. We got to see the Distribution Center and see how the orders are handled. We even got to walk through the office, which was decorated with cards and projects for inspiration. Afterwards, we went to the Gathering Place and swapped cards until the Kick Off Party began. When it was over, we walked back to our hotel and relaxed until we fell asleep. We were exhausted from all of the festivities that day. Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep. The bed was so comfortable, but I just couldn't calm myself down for some reason.

Here are the two swaps that I made for Convention. I made 25 of the Fabulous Florets card and 48 of the Scaredy Cat Halloween card. Everyone seemed to like them, so I was very happy about that:)

On Thursday, we went to our first General Session where there was entertainment, etc. They also showed us some of the new products. Then they had Prize Patrol for the new "Simply Scored". (If you have not seen this yet, it's so much nicer than all of the others I've seen!) I can remember looking down at my bracelet and seeing orange & white checkers and saying to myself "Come on orange & white checkers!" and when they appeared on the screen, I jumped out of my seat and scream out loud! My upline Becky took this shot of me after I got it.

I still can't believe I won Prize Patrol at my very first Convention:)

I have to run for now, but I will be back to share more from Convnetion, including some of my favorites from the swaps I received. I hope you're having a great weekend:)