Stampin' Up! Convention 2009 starts today...

...aaarrrrgggghhhhhhh! I am sooo excited!! But this is not the reason I am posting at 5:30 am . The dog next door is howling and barking himself silly. I think his owners have gone away again and left him there by himself. But not even a howling dog is going to spoil my day. Today is the first day of Stampin' Up!'s annual convention, and it is being held here, in my home town Canberra. I may nod off at the table in the afternoon...but I'll hear the screaming if they announce anything special.

So, since I couldn't sleep anyway, I thought I'd get up and show you my swaps, and a few other bits and pieces.

This is my swap card:


Do you think it looks yummy enough to eat? I've made 20 of them...and almost completely exhausted my supply of Sweet Always DSP and Choc Chip cardstock.


I also made these little matching accoutrements while I was watching Grey's and Private Practice last night:


Well, I might be back later. The dawn is breaking over the hills to the east...the howling dog seems to have fallen asleep (Grrrrrrrr)...its gonna be a great day!

Sam.

Sydney Regionals 2008 - Swap Card

I went to Sydney on the weekend, and spent a fabulous day at the Convention Centre being WOW'ed, and swapping, and making cards, and hearing business tips and meeting up with lots of demo friends. It was great fun, and I've got lots of ideas to share with you at upcoming classes and workshops.

I managed to make some swaps last week, and this is my card:




My swap was only the card front, but I recently used this design at a workshop and we made the whole card (of course ;-), and this is the inside:



This card uses Always Artichoke and Purely Pomegranate cardstock, Holiday Harmony DSP, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon and the Season of Joy stamp set, the latter three being available in the current Stampin' Up! Spring Mini Catalogue. I have also used gold brads, sponges and Purely Pomegranate Classic Ink, dimensionals and glue dots.

I had originally designed this card as follows:




But the opposing angles felt a bit odd, so I did not end up going with it in the end!

I hope you all had a fab-o weekend too!
Thanks for dropping by,
Sam.

My Convention 2008 Swap card...

...ok, as promised, here is the recipe for my swap card. As it turns out, I had help from some Stampin' Friends up in Brissy and we got the remaining 18 cards made on Friday night...THANK YOU DIANE AND JANINE. You guys are the BEST!

I did have to fire them both a few times, for various appalling card-making infractions (e.g. a dimensional with its cover still on...and one, where the recipe was upside down!!!...well that was almost the last straw ;-), but in the end they put up with me (everyone should have friends like them) and we got the cards put together in about an hour!



The cardstock colours are Elegant Eggplant, Real Red and Whisper White. The background cardstock has Faux Stitching around the edge. The Real Red layer is mounted up on Dimensionals and has been crimped.

I stamped the flower petals from Pick A Petal on Whisper White cardstock using Ballet Blue, Summer Sun, Real Red and Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. Each petal has been stamped off once, and I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align them. I then did the Two-Step Stamping, using the loopy overlay stamp in Elegant Eggplant and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. Each flower therefore involved 15 stamps! I then cut it out using the paper snips and mounted it up on Dimensionals, on another piece of Whisper White cardstock.

I traced the flower using the paper piercer (these holes are just eyeballed in). The 'Thank You' sentiment is from Cheery Chat and is in Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. I ran the Two-Way Glue pen over each petal and then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds. Last, but not least I affixed a Green Galore (or Real Red) Button from the Bold Brights Buttons selection, to the flower centre using a Mini Glue Dot.

Stampin' Up! Convention Swaps

I have been meaning to take photos of my TWO convention swaps and upload them here. It was a mammoth effort on my part (taking the photos and actually making swaps). I had a grand total of 35 swaps. Next year I have PROMISED myself I will start earlier, and make more. Ahhhhhhh dreams ;-).



This one is my favourite, but it took ages to make, so I only had 8 of these. The colours are Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning, True Thyme and Whisper White.



This one is just a bit of fun. I enjoyed making it, and used a tonne of linen thread...which I love. I also love ribbon and cord. My favourite accessories! The colours are Buckaroo Blue, Marigold Morning, True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp. Gold embossing for the cricket and words. The sun is a stamp from Little Pieces, and is on a dimensional. The scalloped edge is made using the slit punch.