Week #10 Blogger's Challenge

Today's challenge involved using the layout of the card on Page 92 of the Stampin' Up! catalog. It didn't need to be a pocket card, just using the front of the card as inspiration. I must admit, I didn't give that card in the catalog a second look before this challenge, but I do like the variation I came up with.

When thinking about it this week, I was going to use a winter theme...snowflakes. But, as I went to start working on this, I saw a pile of my Creepy Crawl Designer paper scraps and thought they would work great! Then I pulled out my Batty for You set (such an EASY set to use!) As you can see, I maintained the same over-all layout of the card, but added a strip of paper and ribbon across the bottom. Happy Halloween is layered squares and then popped up with Dimensionals. The background is wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo wheel. Hmmmm, I use that wheel a LOT!

Check out the rest of the Blogger's to see how they intrepreted the card layout this week! The few I peeked at this morning were all very different!

Sets: Batty for You, All Holidays, Rough Texture Jumbo wheel
C/S: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, More Mustard, Creepy Crawly DP
Inks: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie jumbo cartridge
Other: 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 square punches, 1 1/4 circle punch, Antique gold mini brads, slit punch, black and pumpkin grosgrain ribbon

Wanted

My husband tells me at 10:00 PM last night (after I've spent ALL day stamping) that he needs a Going Away/Good Luck card for a male co-worker. Any of your hubby's wait until the last minute??? Anyway, for a female...no problem! TONS of floral cards, etc. Masculine cards...not so many finished ones sitting around, especially with a generic greeting like Good Luck. Most of my masculine cards get used up pretty quickly, or I'm making them specifically for someone.

So, I love the Wanted set I received at Convention, PLUS I won the door prize at Convention for the Outlaw paper and Jumbo eyelets! This is what I came up with! Pretty easy to put together. I lined the inside with Confetti Cream cardstock because everyone in the office will sign it. My husband was even VERY complimentary about it! In my haste last night, however, I forgot to stamp my name on the back (smacking head...) Oh well... lol!

Sets: Wanted, Sincere Salutations

C/S: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Confetti Cream, Outlaw DP
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust
Other: Scallop circle punch, 1 3/8 and 3/4 circle punches, Gold mini brad, Dimensionals

Peaceful Wishes

Sorry I've been out of touch, I'm working on several assignments that are due out by next week. I finished one today and have it ready to go in the mail tomorrow! Yeah! I always feel a sense of relief to finish something...this one took me several days to complete all the projects.

So, I'm posting the card I used as my Christmas card last year. Hard to see the glitter on the berries. I did get a lot of comments on it, people thought it was elegant! Usually I do some kind of snowman or winter type card, so it was a departure for me!

Hopefully I can do some new stuff tomorrow...I did just get another SU order today! I expedited it on Monday at 4:00 PM Eastern and it arrived TODAY! I was shocked! Already cut into my Bronc Buster...the samples I've been seeing are awesome with this set! Makes a great masculine card!

Sets: Peaceful Wishes

C/S: Sahara Sand, Shimmer White, Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant

Inks: Sahara Sand, Elegant Eggplant

Other: Word Window punch, gold mini brad, liquid glue, dazzling diamonds glitter

Wisemen, Take 2

I had a very nice day...lunch with two of my special stamping friends! We ate and talked for several hours, but the time just FLEW by!

Yes...still have another Wisemen card! This one uses the combination of Purely Pomegranate, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip and Brushed Gold. If you closely at the Scallop Circle, I used the Pick A Petal brass template to dry emboss the scallop and then pierce around the edges of the Scallop Circle. Merry Christmas circle was punched from the hostess set, Party Punch. I used the 1" circle to just punch the inside words. So Swirly used on the Artichoke background and the Wisemen were gold embossed. Pretty quick and easy for a Christmas card!

Sets: Holy Triptych, Party Punch, So Swirly Jumbo Wheel

C/S: Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Brushed Gold

Inks: Versamark, Always Artichoke ink cartridge

Other: Gold EP, Pomegranate double stitch ribbon, Ticket corner punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1" circle punch, Pick A Petal brass template, paper piercing tool and mat

Holy Triptych Wisemen

Yes...I'm hooked on this set! Actually, I had a bunch of stamped images left over from when I was doing trial and error for my Control Freaks swap. The only image I've inked up is the Three Wise Men! I need to work with the other beautiful images in that set, too!

This is very elegant looking to me..River Rock, Always Artichoke and Vanilla combo with Gold embossing The background of the Wisemen is actually River Rock ink direct to paper application to vanilla cardstock! I used a sponge dauber in a kind of stripe effect. The shade variations are really pretty! I then used my Coluzzle to cut the ovals. Part of the backgrond is the Holiday Harmony Double Sided paper in the new Holiday Mini. A touch of Vanilla Taffeta and River Rock double stitched ribbon adds to the elegance!

Sets: Holy Triptych

C/S: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, River Rock, Holiday Harmony DS paper

Inks: Versmark

Other: Gold EP, Vanilla Taffeta, River Rock double stitch ribbon, Coluzzle

Get Punchy Bloggers Challenge Part 2

I'm glad you liked my Three for You punch Geranium card. I was inspired by the flowers that I have in pots outside my front door. They still look pretty good even though this summer has been very HOT for them!

As you might have guessed, the Three for You punch red Geranium blooms also reminded ME of Hydrangea flowers (many of you mentioned this in your comments!) I had the blossoms done, but finished up the card yesterday for this Hydrangea card! I have a row of bushes in my front flower beds. I didn't get many blooms on them this year...we may have cut them at the wrong time or else it was simply too hot for them. However, the neighbor across the street has a HUGE hydrangea TREE and his is FULL of white blooms! I'm sure it is a different species, but it is gorgeous! I'm tempted to go across and ask him if I can cut and dry the blossoms!

I used the Tent Card template for my card out of Bordering Blue cardstock. The Three for You punch flowers were made using shades of Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Lavendar Lace cardstocks. I lightly sponged Brocade Blue on the edges of the flower blossoms for some dimension. I think they are very realistic looking! The So Saffron background is stamped with the Whimsey Jumbo wheel. I had a hard time using punches for the leaves since they are more pointed, so I pulled out my Serene Sunflower stamps and inked those in Mellow Moss with Wild Wasabi sponged along the edges. I love the texture of the new Taffeta ribbon...I just finished purchasing every color! Enjoy!

Sets: Serene Sunflower, Stem Sayings, Artfully Asian (Thank you), Whimsey wheel

C/S: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Lavender Lace, Whisper White, So Saffron

Inks: Brocade Blue, Basic Black, Mellow Moss, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron cartridge

Other: White Taffeta ribbon, Three for You Punch

Blogger's Challenge Week #9 - Get Punchy

FINALLY it is Friday! Time to post my Blogger's Weekly Challenge! Our assignment this week was to create a card using punches. I've been waiting a couple days to post this... I am in LOVE with punches...I have tons of them. I knew the minute I heard about this challenge that I was going to use a couple of Stampin' Up!'s new punches to make this flower card! It came together VERY easy and I'm happy with it!

The small flowers in the geraniums are from the Three for You punch, punched MANY times from Real Red and Bravo Burgundy cardstock. The leaves are punched from Wild Wasabi with the Circle Scallop punch and rubbed with Bravo Burgundy direct to paper for texture and color. The stems I cut from Always Artichoke with the On Board Ginormous Pieces templates like they showed at Convention. They are also rubbed with Bravo Burgundy for texture.

Make sure to check out the rest of the talented Blogger Challenge participants! I'm anxious to see what everyone does this week!

Sets: Priceless, All Holidays

C/S: Real Red, Bravo Burgundy, Wild Wasabi, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Soft Sky

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Bravo Burgundy, Soft Sky

Other: Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon, Three for You punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Halloween Challenge

I was supposed to go out of town the past couple days to do a Technique Class and a Stamp Camp, but unfortunately came down sick in the middle of the night. Started running a temp of 101 and feeling VERY sore and achy. I slept most of the day Tuesday and all night. Yesterday and today I am feeling MUCH better! I'm glad...cause I have a LOT to do!

One of the email groups I belong to is holding a Halloween Challenge. We are to make a Halloween treat holder. Since mine was small, I made a matching card to go with it. The holder is an adaption of a pattern Mary Brown did last year and holds a small package of Peanut M&Ms (of course, I had to buy a whole BIG package of small M&M bags in order to get that ONE bag I needed...poor me!) lol! I think it turned out cute using the new Creepy Crawly paper...I LOVE that paper!

I started using my camera to photograph my cards. I noticed when scanning that I lost a lot of the original colors...it turned Wild Wasabi into River Rock, etc. I think the colors are much truer with my Canon. I'm still working on the light situation. Unless I photograph early in the day, I seem to get a shadow.

Sets: Batty for You, Batty Jumbo Wheel

C/S: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Creepy Crawly DS paper

Inks: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie jumbo cartridge

Other: Orange eyelets, Designer Label punch, Scallop circle punch, 1, 1-1/4 & 1-3/8 circle punches, dimensionals

Wild About You

This cute kids card is one that we did at my Technique's Class a couple weeks ago. This rolling marbles technique is one I can remember doing in elementary school! I used reinkers in the colors of Taken with Teal, Apricot Appeal and Gable Green...enclosed a few drops in an empty stamp box with three marbles and cardstock and rolled them around! Fun! A quick and easy background!

I'm off for a couple days...have another Technique Class and a Stamp Camp out of town. I've been crazy busy trying to get ready today. Still need to work out a couple things in the morning before I leave. I always have worked best under pressure! ha!

Rain, rain, rain here. It is either too little or too much! I think they expect rain all week! Have a good one!

Sets: Wild About You
C/S: Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal
Inks: Taken with Teal, Gable Green, Apricot Appeal reinkers and Classic pads
Other: Apricot grosgrain ribbon, Ticket corner punch

Holy Triptych

I've been busy the past week working on my Control Freaks swaps. I signed up for both the New Catalog Swap and the Holiday Mini Swap. Of course, my intention was to finish up the new Catalog swap BEFORE convention...ha! That didn't happen... So, I've been down to the wire getting two 40 card swaps done this week. I did it! They were popped in the mail on Friday! Yeah!

The New Catalog swap was a breeze. I had an idea and executed it! It was time consuming with all the punches and layers, but it went together easily from my mind to the card. I want to wait to share that card when I know everyone has received it...probably next week some time.

Of course, the Holiday Mini swap card didn't come together nearly as easily! I absolutely knew I HAD to have this stamp set the minute I saw it. I think I was one of the first to send off an emai to Lisa telling her I'd be using that set. I had some generic thoughts in my head on what I wanted to do, but they weren't coming out on paper the way my mind's eye saw them! Has anyone else every had that problem??? My initial thought was to use the angel from Holy Triptych...so how come I ended up using the Wise Men? Anyway, here is one of my "rejects" for the swap!

I actually did like this color combination and format...the embossed gold looks very nice on River Rock! I think it was just the overall card didn't speak to me...although I do really like it and will probably use it as one of my Stamp-A-Stack cards this year.

Sets: Holy Triptych, Many Merry Messages
C/S: River Rock, Always Artichoke
Inks: Versamark, Always Artichoke ink cartridge
Other: Gold EP, Oval Coluzzle, Ticket Corner punch, Key tag punch, Oval punch, So Swirly Jumbo wheel

Blogger's Challenge Week #8

Our Blogger's Challenge #8 task for today was to find an inspiration piece and duplicate it in our stamping. I was at Easton Crate & Barrel and saw this pillow, then found it on their Internet site. I have no blue in my house, but I'm always drawn towards the white on navy colors. It looks so fresh to me! I also like white embossing, but rarely get it out and work with it! So...a double challenge for me.

Of course, the vines reminded me of the swirl in Baroque Motifs...one of my favorite sets from the new catalog (and a lot of yours, too!) so I stamped the swirl with White Craft and then used white embossing powder. The flowers from In the Spotlight hostess set were stamped with Night of Navy craft ink on Whisper White cardstock, punched with Stampin' Up!'s new 5 petal flower stamp and secured them together with a little bling, bling...Ice Rhinestone brad! Fun! The Define Your Life layers are popped up to give some dimension to the card! It was a fun card to make! Enjoy!

Make sure to check out the other participants in the Weekly Blogger's challenge...names are in my sidebar! I'm sure they will come up with some really creative inspirations.

Three for You Punch a Bunch Specials!

Our new Three for You punch box is one of the hottest items in the new Stampin' Up! catalog! To make it even MORE popular, Stampin' Up! is offering an August only special on this exclusive box! Order the Punch Box for $45.95 plus tax & shipping, which includes one exclusive trio flower punch, a 9 piece die-cut rubber stamp set and 1 each of Basic Black, Purely Pomegrante and Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Spots, all contained in a Keepsake Tin!

As a bonus, Stampin' Up is including a package of textured 3x6 Love Notes with envelopes in the exciting new colors of Purely Pomegrante, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron. These colors in Love Notes are only available in this promotion. The folded and scored 3x3 size make creating and giving a note to someone quick and easy.

PLUS...for anyone ordering this Punch Box from me during the August special, I am including a FREE Stamp Camp to be held in September! We will make 5 cards/projects using your new Three for You Punch, Love Notes and stamps! Join me for a FUN time! (Class locations in Canton, Ohio and Dublin, Ohio only...long distance orders will receive unfinished projects with directions to complete on their own for an extra shipping cost of $4.60.)

Contact me today!

See photo of Three For You Punch Box My website Art Gallery

I'm Published in Rubber Stamper magazine!

I knew the minute that I saw the large envelope from Rubber Stamper magazine that they must have used one of my cards in their magazine! For those that don't know, magazines usually will send you a complimentary copy when a card you send to them is published. It was truly an awesome feeling to see my card in their September/October magazine...my first time with them! I don't know if I'm allowed to post a picture of it to my blog, so I'll just say that it is a Halloween card. I used two techniques on it...one was spot bleaching...I bleached out the moon area of the stamped image. The other technique was frosted filters using reinkers! The background was an awesome orange, black, yellow and purple! Run out and get a copy...or just check out my card on page 84!

My hubby called just as soon as I had picked up the mail, and I was telling him of my excitement...somehow...he just didn't get it. So...I emailed a couple of my stamping buddies...THEY got it! lol!

No card posts tonight. I've been working on my designs for the Control Freak Holiday Mini swap. I have it narrowed down to two selections. I'll post the one I decide NOT to use tomorrow!

Another Fast & Fun Notes!

This card is the one that my Technique Class did last week. The technique is Embossed Watercolor Crayons, although it is hard to see the shiny look to the image on screen. It is one of my favorites and I always get a WOW when I demo it. It has sold a TON of Watercolor crayons for me! lol! Again, I love the little chick in this set! So fun to color.

Sets: Fun & Fast Notes, On the Spot BG

C/S: Summer Sun, Wild Wasabi, Pink Passion, Basic Grey, Whisper White

Inks: Wild Wasabi, Basic Grey, Versamarker

C/S: Clear EP, Mustard mini brad, white grosgrain ribbon, Watercolor crayons

Fun & Fast Notes

Fun & Fast Notes is one of the free sets we received at Convention! I mounted the words on the side of the block, so I could use them separately from the image design...I think it makes the set more versatile...one of the reasons I'm glad we can mount our own stamps!

I love the little chick in this set. I had fun playing with this stamp set when I was getting ready for my Technique Class last week. Here is one of the designs I didn't use. Simple and clean lines on this one. I also opened up a new package of Basic Grey cardstock and Ink pad! I really like the color of it...very neutral and more subtle than Basic Black! I know I'll be using it a lot.

Sets: Fun & Fast Notes, On the Spot

C/S: Summer Sun, Basic Grey, Pink Passion, Whisper White

Inks: Basic Grey, Pink Passion

Other: Watercolor crayons, Aquapainter, Wild Wasabi double stitch ribbon, yellow mini brad, slot punch

My Halloween Display!!!

I helped my upline put on a Convention Round Up yesterday for the demos in our downline that were unable to make Convention. Four of us talked about Convention tips and ideas, made up displays and provided Make & Take projects from things we learned. My focus was on the Home Decor items that Shelli demonstrated. I was especially taken with her Halloween display, so I set out to recreate her ideas. I spent several days last week working on it. Here is a picture of my table scape before I took it to the meeting. Of course, the garland is not hanging...I just have it laying on the table, but I think you can get the overall effect of the display. I'm pleased at how my recreation of Shelli's ideas turned out!

The tree I found at Michael's in their Halloween display area, it was already black. I wrapped some berry garland around the center of the tree to add some color and texture. I used Batty for You stamp set, the 1 3/8 circle punch and Scallop Circle punch to make the ornaments. They are tied on the tree with black gingham ribbon.

The tall cylinder is a empty Pringles can that I wrapped with the Creepy Crawly designer paper. I cut some strips of cardstock in black, yellow, and pumpkin and crimped them, then stuffed some in the top for the "firecracker". I used the Batty jumbo wheel and designer paper to decorate the candy jar I found at Target.

The boxes were paper mache stacking boxes. I spray painted the lids with Matte Black and then covered the bottoms with the Creepy Crawly designer paper. Made a paper bow from the designer paper and hung some more ornaments from it. I also crimped the black cardstock band around the boxes after I punched 1/2 circles along the edges. I also used that Designer paper on the pumpkin "lanterns" on the garland...in both large and small sizes. Overall, I used almost a full pack on designer paper. It was a LOT of fun and I did get a lot of great comments on it! I can't wait to put it out on MY sofa table this Halloween!

Baby Shower card

Wow...two posts in one day! I needed a card for a Baby Shower I'm attending tomorrow for the daughter of some great friends. It is a large gift (a high chair), so I like to do BIG cards so it doesn't get lost on the package. This is a 5 x 7 sized card. I took my inspiration from the gift wrap...it has little footprints in yellow, pink, green and blue randomly around with the words Pitter Patter. I didn't have a footprint stamp, but I do have a handprint. So...this card was born! After I stamped the handprints, I felt it needed a little focal point, so I used my Big Deal Alphabet to spell the word Baby. They know they are having a little boy, so I primarily used the Bashful Blue color. Simple, but cute. Enjoy!

Toot the horn!

I woke up this morning to several emails telling me I was featured on Stamper's Showcase this morning! For those that don't know, this is a wonderful tool on the Demo side of Stampin' Up!'s website that features 3-5 cards each day that we can use as a resource for designing our own classes and workshops. We mail these cards into Stampin' Up! for inclusion via swaps, contests or when we attend Convention and Regional events. I feel honored that they included my card out of the thousands of entries they get! I've posted this card on my Blog before, but this is the one they used. You may remember I went thru several tries before I settled on making this card for my Control Freaks Please Don't Go Swap a couple months ago. Woohoo!!!!!

Weekly Blogger's Challenge #7

Being gone the past two weeks at Convention, I've missed doing the weekly Blogger's Challenge. Today's challenge was to Alter something. I love to alter things, so the hardest part for me was narrowing down what I would show you! lol! Here is my Challenge...an altered Notebook. I love to jot down thoughts, colors and ideas as I have them and they usually end up on little post-it notes all over the place. I guess this will be my creative journal and everything will be in one spot. I found a simple notebook at Big Lots that has lots of pages. The harlequin pattern was cute, but I knew I could do better! lol!

No stamping on this, but one of my most FAVORITE Stampin' Up! designer papers is Cutie Pie, so I had to pull it out and use it. I'm already close to breaking out my second pack of this paper. I think it is the colors (and flowers) that appeal to me so much! It just makes me smile. The center of the flower has a little glitter bling and love that double-stitched ribbon. It needed a little ribbon on the spiral binding, too! The back is also covered with the flower paper. I debated whether or not to put some words on it, but decided not. Enjoy!

Check out the other fantastic blogger's on my list and how they met the challenge!

Double Line Doodles

GOSH...no one wants to guess how many punches I used on yesterday's card?

It is HOT, HOT, HOT here in the Midwest! I went out this morning to get my nails done and get some groceries. I felt like I was melting just going from the car to the stores! It is clouding up now, so hopefully we will get a little rain and break this heat wave! I love summer and hot weather, but this is pushing the envelope! lol! If I didn't have so much to do to get ready for our Convention Round Up this weekend, I'd head out for the POOL!

Remember the Blog Challenge card I posted a couple weeks ago? I refined it so I could use it as my swap card for the SURAS group. No hardware or scalloped edge because of the time and expense issue, but I think it turned out pretty neat! Plus, I used up a bunch of flowers I had cut out while watching TV when I was in Florida. Enjoy!

Sets: Double Line Doodles, So Swirly wheel

C/S: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi

Inks: Wild Wasabi, Basic Black

Markers: Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery

Other: Green mini brad, 1-1/4 circle punch, 1/2 circle punch, Small & Large Oval punches, Dimensionals, 1/16 punch, Cutter kit

In the Spotlight!

My third swap for another email group, SURAS (Stampin' Up! Rubber Art Scans). I've been in this group for almost 5 years and always get some awesome swaps. Again, we were to make two different cards of 25 each. I wanted to use my new Snowflake punch and In The Spotlight was the only stamp set I had that I could stamp the image and punch it out. I also goofed and grabbed my 3/4 square punch instead of the circle to punch out the words...then I liked the look...so I utilized it. Funny how a mistake can work out! This card uses 3 of the In-Colors, too! I'm amazed at how many packs of In-Color papers I've gone through already! lol! When I finished, I counted that I used 6 punches! Can you spot them all? Leave me a comment!

Sets: In the Spotlight, Aida Cloth BG
C/S: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava, Whisper White
Inks: Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava
Other: Groovy Guava stitched ribbon, Navy mini brad
Punches: ????

Glorious Garland

Here is a scan of my general swap for special online friends I bumped into at Convention. Every year I try to do a Holiday card for a swap. I wanted to use the wreath from my new Glorious Garland set. I then had the idea that the Circle Scallop punch would be useful in making the wreath...and the 3/4" circle punch to punch out the inside. Well, it was a little more complicated that I thought it would be! I stamped the snowflake wreath, then marked the center with a punched 3/4" circle, punched out the 3/4" circle, then punched the Scallop circle...just so it all lined up correctly! Whew...

I don't know if you can tell, but I used the So Swirly wheel on the background red, then on the edges of the center Bashful Blue piece (actually this is my sample card and I used Priceless here...but it is the same effect). A little bit of red gingham ties it together! And I love the saying...Peace, Love, Joy.

Sets: Glorious Garland, So Swirly wheel, All Holidays
C/S: Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Inks: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Real Red & Bashful Blue ink cartridges
Other: Scallop Circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/8 circle punch, Ticket Corner punch, Red Gingham ribbon, dimensionals

Priceless, Take 2...

Here is another Swap card for my SSUS group (Sensational Stampin' Up! Stampers). It is similar to one I posted earlier when I first bought this Priceless set. I switched things out and added the Key Tag punch and put in the larger Old Olive ribbon. I used the Faux Diamond Dust on the scallop punch behind the butterfly and the So Swirly wheel on the background. These are colors suggested by SU on their In-Color chart...I would never put them together, but they did look nice together!

Sets: Priceless, So Swirly wheel

C/S: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Glossy White, Soft Sky Designer paper

Inks: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, Key Punch, Double rectangle punch, 5/8 Olive grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Convention tidbits:

Registration night at Convention was the Pajama Stamp-a-rama party! It was a new format this year...we did most all of the Make & Takes that first night. SO nice to be with EVERYONE in one big room. Lots of fun and crazy to see all those women (and a few men) walking around at night in downtown Denver in their PJs. The Denver newspaper even wrote up an article about it...check it out here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6468448 My upline, Candy, was a Make & Take helper this year. Poor thing lost her voice that first night due to trying to talk above the noise, music and laughter!

This was my 6th convention. I remember going the first year with my upline, Candy, and she seemed to know everyone. I wondered how she had met these women who lived so far away! Now that I've been going six years, I know people, too! It was fun to meet up with online friends, and gals I've met in previous years...and share HUGS all around! Also, it is fun to recognize the presenters. I try to take a minute to stop them and tell them what a great job they did in their presentation or skit. Many times they have mentioned how much they appreciate me telling them! Stampin' Up! has a great staff!

Denver has quite an awesome downtown area. 16th Street Mall was two blocks from where we stayed at The Curtis...a fun, hip hotel that is revisiting the things of my youth! My roommate Annette and I walked about the street during the day and ate at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Fun!

More tomorrow!

I'm BACK!

Woohoo! I'm back and FULL of excitement about the recent Stampin' Up! convention. I heard SO many great tips, ideas and awesome projects, that I'm still trying to process it all. I really need to go back through my notes and pictures to implement and capture all of them. I thought the classes were the best I've heard as far as applying the principles of marketing, etc. directly to Stampin' Up! The team at SU really needs to be applauded for their great efforts!

I was one of the lucky convention goers who won a door prize! My wristband color was called FIRST at the Pajama Party on Monday night. I received a free package of Outlaw designer paper (yummy!) and a container of Jumbo eyelets! YES!

This is one of my swap cards for a special group...SSUS (Sensational Stampin' Up! Swappers!) I enjoyed meeting several of these gals and having dinner on Wednesday night. We swapped with both Session 1 and Session 2 gals, so I had lots of fun seeing all their creativity!

Check back this week! I'll be showcasing several of the cards I swapped at Convention!

Sets: Baroque Motifs, Holidays & Wishes
C/S: Purely Pomegrante, River Rock, Always Artichoke
Inks: Purely Pomegrante, Always Artichoke
Other: Key Tag punch, Ticket Corner punch, Scallop punch, Crop-A-Dile, Jumbo eyelets, Double Stitch pomegrante ribbon, dimensionals