okay, another Convention swap

I've been almost too excited to stamp this week, because I'm waiting for my Big Shot! I just know that as soon as it comes, I'll want to break it out and play with it, and I don't want to get started on anything and have to pull myself away from that. Oh yeah, and watching Olympics coverage.

So, how about another of the cards I swapped at Convention?



Like I said, I made fairly simple cards to swap, but I just loved the bright colors on this one!

Stamp sets: A Beautiful Thing
Ink: Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Green Galore, Gable Green, Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise classic stamp pads
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

I crumpled up the Lilac card stock, then flattened it out before adhering the white layer on top, to give it a little extra dimension. The other thing I did to make this go a bit faster is to take a whole sheet of Whisper White card stock, cover it with the flowers and swirls, and then cut it into strips. It means that each card comes out random, but I think that's part of the fun! :)

convention swap!

Quick post, or else it'll NEVER get done...I guess it's been a couple of weeks since I was in Salt Lake City for the Stampin' Up! Convention, and boy, did I have a great time! Lots of new stuff learned, I'm so excited about our new products (especially the Big Shot!!!), and I got some great ideas from swapping there too!

Now, those of you who know me may know that a couple of years ago, faced with the daunting task of making hundreds of swaps, I just said no. I wasn't going to do it, it was too much pressure, I'd let my friends swap and hopefully they'd let me see some of the samples they got, but I just couldn't do it myself. So I didn't. And I have to say, it was a little sad to not participate in all the fun, but at the same time, it was GREAT. No pressure to make the Best Cards Ever, no worrying whether someone would turn up their nose at mine, or whatever. I still had a great time learning stuff in the classes, and I did get to see swaps from my friends, but I didn't have that added stress.

But then this year, I couldn't resist the temptation, and I made 4 different card(fronts), and just a few of each, for a total of about 85 swaps. That was it, it wasn't too much work, I didn't get a repetitive stress injury from too much stamping, I had fun working on them and on swapping, and it was great. Maybe I'll keep doing that, just make a hundred or so and not let it take over my life. Stamping is supposed to be fun, right? :)

Anyway, after all of that, here's one of the cards I made. It was the first one that ran out, so I guess that means it was the one that people liked the most.



Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive Classic Pads; Very Vanilla Craft Pad
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories: clear embossing powder, sponges

The word at the bottom was stamped in Very Vanilla Craft ink, then I embossed it with clear embossing powder. I felt like it needed a little more something, so I rubbed in Elegant Eggplant ink around it, to help highlight it a bit more.

Picture taken in my hotel in SLC, because I completely forgot to do it before I left home! I'd even started swapping, and then realized I didn't have pictures of these, so I needed to hold back a few to make sure there was a record of them.