Going to Convention!!!!

I leave in the morning for Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up! annual convention and I am really excited. This is the 20th anniversary and I hear there will be lots of announcements. Plus, the new catalog will be revealed!!! Whew, I might be up all night doing last minute prep for the trip and because I'm all jazzed up!

Ok, so here is my convention swap. I made about 100 of these using the True Friend stamp set. I started with a Creamy Caramel cardstock base. Stamped the three bud flower in Creamy Caramel for the background. Then using markers I colored the one of the other flowers with Rose Red and Old Olive and stamped that on Whisper White. I also used these colors on the sentiment. I layered using Rose Red and Old Olive cardstock. The embellishments are Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon and a gold brad.I hope the other swapper like this card. It is so fun to see what stampers come up with and I can't wait to do some exchanges!

My second swap is for a technique swap for downline of the Advisory Board members. My upline is Barb Brimhall. She has been on the advisory board for 2 years. I used a 6x6 piece of Mellow Moss cardstock as the base. I used the Fresh Cuts stamp set and brown stazon for the image on Very Vanilla cardstock. I punched out a portion and colored it with Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral, and Always Artichoke markers. I layered that piece with Chocolate Chip and adhered it inline with the main image. I layered that onto Always Artichoke and Cameo Coral. I used a jumbo eyelet in the upper corner. The technique I was featuring is Spotlighting.

That's it for now! Thanks for visiting!

Hmmmm....

This card is based on Laura's sketch #4 on 2sketches4you. I thought the band hanging off the edges of the card was an interesting addition. I did my best, but I don't love how this turned out.

I used Not Quite Navy cardstock as my base and same color ink to stamp the En Francais background on the lower half. The upper half has printed paper, again I think this is Basic Grey paper. I pulled a sparkly ribbon out of my stash to wrap around and I like that you can see through the ribbon to the decorative paper.

The extra long band is River Rock and Always Artichoke. The punch is by Fiskars that I've had for a million years and hardly ever use. Flowers by Fancy Pants, rhinestone brads by 7 Gypsies. Lastly, "friendship" is embossed in white and is from the Wonderful Words set.

I will be checking the 2sketches4you blog later to see how others interpreted this sketch. Today is "Saturday sketch for you to try" on Jenn's blog. And later I will continue my swaps.

This weekend is the Hot July Nights event in downtown Vancouver. I volunteer there every year to help out the Hough Foundation. The bands are so fun to listen to. Last night was Peter Frampton and tonight is the Beach Boys. That will be fun.

Have a great weekend and happy stamping!

Sympathy cards

I've probably only made one or two sympathy cards in my life and they are so neccesary. Generally when the need for one arises it's unexpected and there is no time to make a card. Then its off to the store to buy one. Well, I decided it wouldn't hurt me a bit to make one. This card is based on Jen's sketch on i{heart}2stamp. Her sketches are awesome and I try to use them each week.

I don't think that I've ever used a circle on a card. I have a gadget called a Circle Scissor by EK Success. I actually have two... maybe some of you are like me. I don't have enough storage (still even after buying that cool storage unit a few weeks ago) so when I shop most of my items stay in the bag for up to a year. I know, it's absolutely crazy. I have 3 boxes that are full of bags with brand new stuff in them plus one whole side of my bedroom is just bags of stuff. Anyway, I wanted a Circle Scissor and had no recollection that I had one stashed in a bag so I bought another one. Heeheehee.

Ok, back to the card. I dug out this cool paper, maybe it's Basic Grey, I don't know and used it for part of my circle. I used Not Quite Navy, River Rock, and Really Rust to go with it. Then I pulled out my Close as a Memory and Painted Posies stamp set. Besides stamping there is a little bit of paper piercing in the corners of the Not Quite Navy and on the Always Artichoke strip in the circle. I stamped the flowers and sentiment on Very Vanilla. A little bit of cutting and punching, threading the ribbon through and there you go, a sympathy card ready when needed. Though I wish I never needed it.

I also had a little time to come up with a swap idea for convention. Only 16 days away.... Yikes!!!

By the way, kitten number two arrived this morning. He's a little grey striped thing, no name yet. I'll post photos of both kitties soon.

Thank you for stopping by. I love to get comments so please leave one!

A little thanks

The photography of this card is a little wiggy jiggly, so sorry....

I picked out a sheet of Basic Grey - love their papers! and used that for the basis of my colors. So Safron and Elegant Eggplant are the main colors. I used the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set with Ruby Red and Old Olive inks. Then I added this pretty orange ribbon and 3 red rhinestone brads. The sketch for this card can be found on Poetic Artistry. Julee posts a new sketch ever Monday. Take a peak!

Yesterday I took my girls to the Oregon Country Faire! We had a blast. We go with a large group of folks who work in Clark County's IT department, plus friends and family. We start with breakfast at 7:30 am and then caravan to Eugene, ride the shuttle out to the fair. At that point we go our separate ways and meet up again at 5:30 for the trek back to town and pizza. Then the long road back to Vancouver. It's 10:30 by the time we hit the house and bed.

The people watching is the BEST! Plus there is so much entertainment and yummy food and very cool and inspirational crafts to peruse. All in all a good day.

SU! Convention is just 17 days away and I haven't started my swaps yet. Yikes!!!! I did pick a set, and possible color scheme. Now I just have to get to work. Last week I had soem serious family issues going on and so I didn't get any crafting done at all. This week looks more promising. We'll see....

A heartfelt thanks to you for stopping by!

Busy, busy, busy

I have been super busy this week and it's not even Wednesday yet.... Meetings at work and classes in the evenings have made me frazzled! And I did give in and let my daughters have new kitties. Emily already has Midnight, all black and mischievious. Lillianna's kitten isn't ready to leave it's mama yet.

I've made a few cards over the last couple of nights. It's late so I'll just show you one tonight and the rest later this week. I am getting ready for a Crazy for Christmas card class later this month. I used the Sketch for you to try from Jen's site: i{heart}2stamp. I just love her sketches and I try to do them each Saturday.

I used Certainly Celery, Real Red, Very Vanilla, and Always Artichoke. The sled is Creamy Caramel. Sleighful of Toys was my set of choice this time. I glittered up al the red bows although you can't really tell in the photo. I stamped on white taffeta ribbon using Warm Words. Right now I only have Stampin' Up! markers and I am so curious about Copic markers. They are a bit spendy but everyone who uses them do absolutely fabulous coloring jobs.

I'll have more to show later this week when I am not so tired. Happy creating!