Convention 2010 Wrap

Hello

I can't believe that it is already a week since the Stampin' Up! Convention.  I have been busy with work since I've been back (and a pesky migraine) so I haven't had the opportunity to tell you about it. In summary, I had a blast - lots of fun, food, friends, new projects, new stamps and a lovely pile of swaps.  What more could a stamper want?  You saw the swaps I made in my previous posts - here is a photo of the swaps I received in return - it doesn't do them justice, but you get the idea. Swapping is great fun and you get lots of great card ideas and there were 3D items as well.

There were about 500 Demos at the Convention, so it was a big gathering.  They are really well organised with great attention to detail.  Here is a photo of the main room where everyone attended the general sessions during the day as well as the final Awards Dinner on Saturday night. In the foreground is one of the 'Art with Heart' team tables with the lovely Sue Madex (bottom left) and her team. This is before the Convention started.

Next is Shelli Gardner, CEO of Stampin' Up! telling her story of how Stampin' Up! came into being. She is a fabulous speaker and incredibly passionate about the company, the products and the future.

Next is a photo of our table members (starting top, L-R) - Christine, myself, Nikki, (front) Miriam and Claire Daly (leader of Art with Heart team).

On Friday night we went out for a casual fish & chip dinner at Darling Harbour.  However, the main event of the evening was dessert at the Lindt Cafe.  I didn't know there is actually one of these cafes in Melbourne as well. Christine, Nikki and I decided to share our desserts and this a photo of them sitting in front of me, prior to being divided up.  They were all really, really yummy!

On Saturday morning we got to do some 'make & takes' using two NEW stamp sets from the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue that will be released on 1 September 2010. Unfortunately, I am unable to show you the stamps or the cards we made, but needless to say we had lots of fun.  In the afternoon Shelli did some stamping, giving us her take on the 'vintage' style. In between we had other team members from the Home Office in the US demonstrating some of the products in the Autumn/Winter mini catalogue. I hope to create some of my own projects based on these ideas in the next few weeks.

On Saturday afternoon, walking back to our apartment I got a call from my friend Karen who had just arrived from Perth to spend the week in Sydney. Not only that, she was staying a short distance away and was able to come over for a cuppa.  This was a wonderful surprise and although we only got to spend a couple of hours, it was lovely to catch up as always. I'm looking forward to Karen coming to visit in Melbourne in July, hopefully.

Saturday night was the Awards & Recognition dinner.  Here is me with my room mates Christine and Nikki in our finery waiting to go into the room.

 

Members of the Art with Heart Team were recognised in various categories of awards.  Sue Madex (striped dress) and Claire Daly (next to her) both achieved the Incentive Trip to Hamilton Island in October. Here they are on stage. They also achieved #15 Demonstrator and #1 Demonstrator of the year respectively - how fantastic is that?

Finally, I have a lovely card to share with you, but not one I have made. This was given to me by my 'roomie' Christine at the beginning of our Convention adventure. It is gorgeous on the outside and matched by the sentiments expressed on the inside - thank you Christine.

The only bad thing is that the time goes so quickly, but the Stampin' Up! Convention is in Melbourne next year and will be a day longer- whoo hoo! Time to start saving ....

Asian Artistry Convention Swap

Hello

Today I want to share with you the second design I made for swapping at the Stampin' Up! Convention.   This is my favourite of the two, but that's probably not surprising to those who know my style.

This time I have used the 'Asian Artistry' stamp set, which is the new Level 2 Hostess set in the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue.  The base card is the gorgeous Rich Razzleberry with strips of Cottage Wall DSP at the top and bottom.

The strappy flowers image has been stamped twice in Basic Gray on Whisper White cardstock. Basic Gray is a permanent ink which doesn't run if gets wet. I have traced over the leaves with the fine tip of an Old Olive marker and the flower buds with an Orchid Opulence marker. Using an Aquapainter I traced over the top of the images again. This produces a soft watercolour-like effect while leaving the base image untouched. It is a little difficult to see this clearly in the photo. You need to be a bit careful with the amount of water you put on the image as Whisper White isn't designed to soak it up and will warp the cardstock. 

The finishing touches are the small buttons cut with the 'Button #5' die and the Big Shot and some Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon.

This first photo is of the set of swaps that I made with this design.

 

Here is a close-up of the card and the rest of the details are below.

Stampin’ Up! Convention 2010 Card Swap
Stamp Sets	Asian Artistry, Occasional Greetings
Ink	Basic Gray, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum
Cardstock & Papers	Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Pale Plum, Cottage Wall DSP
Accessories	¼” Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon, ‘Buttons #5’ die, Big Shot, Large and Small Oval punches, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers, Markers – Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Aquapainter

Enjoy the weekend and I look forward to giving you news about the Stampin' Up! Convention next week.

Autumn Days Convention Swap

Hi there

I have been lost in action for a couple of weeks preparing swaps for the Stampin' Up! Convention, which I'm now attending. This is a really great event combining learning and fun, stamping with new stamp sets (woohoo!) and meeting lots of people who are equally passionate about creating with Stampin' Up! products. Last year I even won a free stamp set as well, so here's hoping I have more luck.

Here is the first of the swaps I made using the Autumn Days stamp set from the current Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue. This set is great for masculine cards and it also has a great pine cone image I hope to use for Christmas cards. First up is a picture of the set of swaps I made with this design. I found it very challenging to make so many of one design. You have to get the whole production line thing happening to make it as efficient as possible but it is still very time consuming.

The base card is More Mustard and the next layer is Ruby Red stamped with the Sanded Background and Versamark ink.  The centre panel is cut using the Top Note die and the Big Shot and then stamped with various images from the Autumn Days set. The pheasant was been stamped in Chocolate Chip, cut out and popped up. It is a bit hard to see, but I used the Color Spritzer tool to add some interest to the background as well. Here is a close up of the card and the rest of the details are below.

 

Stampin’ Up! Convention 2010 Card Swap
Stamp Sets	Autumn Days, Tiny Tags, Sanded Background
Ink	More Mustard, Ruby Red, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Cardstock & Papers	More Mustard, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla
Accessories	5/8” Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, ‘Top Note’ die, Big Shot, Medium Jewellery Tag Punch, Dimensionals, More Mustard brad, Sponge Daubers, Markers – Creamy Caramel, Spritzer Tool

I will be back tomorrow with the second swap design.

Playing with Autumn/Winter Mini Products

Hi there

I hope you enjoyed the 'Art with Heart' team Blog Hop on Friday. I certainly enjoyed making the projects and reading your comments, so a big thank you to everyone for your heartening feedback.

Over the weekend I had a play with a few more of my goodies from the Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue to make a couple of thank you cards.  The first one doesn't use ink or stamps (gasp!), but I like the simplicity of it. I still managed to find a way to put some ribbon on it though - I think I'm addicted to ribbon, but hopefully there is no cure for it J. I have used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder on the top portion and the 'Thanks' Embosslit for the sentiment panel. This neat die cuts and embosses at the same time - I hope we get some more of these in the new catalogue. I've cut a second one in Baja Breeze and then trimmed off the edges and popped it up on the Whisper White. My DH chose this one for his birthday thank you to friends. See the rest of the details below.

Card Details
Stamps	None
Cardstock & Papers	Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP
Ink	None
Accessories	Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, Textured Impressions 'Perfect Polka Dots', 'Thanks' Embosslit die, Eyelet Border punch, Dimensionals

The second card is a bit more girly. I have embossed Manhattan Flower onto watercolour paper and then used the Aquapainter and re-inker to colour it. Once the main colour was dry I went over the raised outlines with a slightly stronger ink of the same colour and cut it out. Not quite sure about this one, maybe the background isn't quite right.  The details are below.

 

Card Details
Stamps	En Francais, Think Happy Thoughts, Friends 24-7
Cardstock & Papers	Kraft, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Ink	Versamark, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Accessories	Pewter Build a Brad, Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon from Ribbon Originals pack
Tools	11/4" Circle punch, 13/8" Circle punch, Scallop Circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Big Shot, Textured Impressions 'Manhattan Flower', Sponge daubers, Aquapainter, Dimensionals

Enjoy the rest of your week.