Look Who I Met at Convention

I was always one of those people who was to self conscious to ever ask anyone for their autograph. But at the Stampin' Up! Convention I got up the nerve (with some encouragement from the rest of my team - thanks) to get my photo taken with none other than Shelli Gardner (the founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!). She is fantastic and so lovely, her demonstration on the vintage look was amazing.

Another special person I was able to get my photo taken with was Bonnie Thurber (Stampin' Up! Director of Demonstrator Training). Poor Bonnie was not well and had practically lost her voice, but even still ploughed on to give a fabulous demonstration and workshop tips.

Well I didn't quite get their autograph, but a photo will more than do - LOL.

Some Gifts

I wanted to give my fellow team members a little gift at Convention. So I came up with a version of a box I had done previously (see here). This time I again used the layered flower in tissue paper, but I had learnt my lesson from the swaps and used the En Francais Background Stamp (it covers a lot more paper with one stamp).

I used the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to emboss some Vellum, I layered this on Melon Mambo or Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White, added some Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon and sentiment from the Short & Sweet Stamp Set.

I managed to find these cute little packets of tissues (they are smaller than the normal size packets), and added a lip balm. I would have added some chocolate too, but unfortunately there was no room.

Back from Convention

Well I am back from the Stampin' Up! Convention - boy did we have a ball.

There will be a few posts this week showing some highlights from Convention, but first up I thought I should show my swaps. I managed to create approx 60 in 2 different designs.

This first design was done in two different colour ways - Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry and used the layered flower.

I created the flower that I had done previously, but this time I stamped the flower image from

the Vintage Vogue Stamp Set onto Tissue Paper (I very quickly decided I should have picked a larger stamp, stamping a whole sheet of tissue paper with a stamp not much bigger than your thumb was not a great idea).

I added some texture with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon and tore away a corner to reveal some Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper.

The second design was done in Not Quite Navy and Rich Razzleberry and uses the Medallion and Heard from the Heart Stamps.

I stamped the Medallion Stamp with Versamark and then applied Stampin' Up!'s Pastels using a sponge dauber. All the edges were sponged with Close to Cocoa and distressed. The base card is Old Olive. I received some great swaps in return and will show you some this week.

The Stampin' Up! Convention is open to all Stampin' Up Demonstrators, if you are interested in becoming a demonstrator now is a perfect time with 20% off the Starter Kit (normally $324, now only $259). If you are interested drop me an email.

I will be back soon to show you more things from Convention.

A Bird Card (that didn't make the grade)

This is one of the cards that didn't quite make the grade as a swap for convention. It just didn't quite have enough 'something'.

I used the same technique for the background and bird as the border of the Easel card - versamark and Stampin' pastels. The branch is from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue (I just trimmed one of the branches so the birds would fit).

Yeah the weekend is almost here.

Blog Award

A special thanks to Christine and Angie for sharing with me the Beautiful Blogger Award. I have so enjoyed getting to know Chris both through her blog (check it out here) and in person at my classes. Angie's work is just stunning (check out her blog here), you must check out her latest creations with the Vintage Vogue set - gorgeous.

Part of the condition of this award is to share 10 things about myself, so here goes:

1. I am a Chocoholic - those who know me, know that I will go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy a chocolate craving and being able to stop at one piece of chocolate is unheard of in my house!!!

2. I have a very busy full time job as a Procurement Manager for a large Australian manufacturing company (not many people know what procurement is - essentially I negotiate and write contracts!).

3. I have only been making cards for 12 months, yep started about May last year and was hooked, I think it helps keep me sane with my day job (maybe it is a left/right brain thing!).

4. I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in only July last year.

5. I have done all sorts of crafts over the years - knitting, crochet, scrapbooking (to name just a few). I made my first jumper at about age 10 (I remember I was still in primary school at the time).

6. I avoid ironing every chance I get!!! I try not to buy anything that needs any serious ironing!

7. I hate shopping for shoes - when you have size 5 feet it is almost impossible to find anything that fits properly and kids shoes just don't always suit the occasion!

8. I am over 40 (that is all I will say on that matter, can't give away too much).

9. I was born in Geelong, but have lived most of my life in Melbourne.

10. I love relaxing with a good book, by a pool, or on the beach, or curled up under a rug by a fire (and preferably being waited on 'hand and foot' - that sounds like such a funny term when you actually type it out).

So that is a bit of an insight into me, now I would like to pass this on to some other lovely bloggers, in no particular order.

Debbie - Debbie P's Place

Leonie - A Stampers World

Philippa - Cards from the Cauldron

Amanda - Addicted to Stamping

Petronela - Keep Stamping

Liam - Inspire Stampin

Another Easel Card

This Easel Card was the second card that we made at the Cutting & Scoring class.

I wanted to give the ladies a chance to add a bit of dimension to the card and practice there scoring skills by adding a scored square to the front panel. It is a bit hard to see in the photos. The border of the card was stamped with the flower stamp from Vintage Vogue with versamark and then using a sponge dauber and Stampin' Up Pastels to give it just a touch of colour.

Hope you are having a good week.

Apologies for being MIA

It has unfortunately been a very busy time lately at my 'day' job and for Stampin' Up! demonstrators who are attending convention we are also madly trying to get our swaps ready so my apologies for not blogging much lately. I can't show you the swaps just yet as that would spoil the surprise but I will show you this week one design that didn't make the 'grade'.

I have also had a couple of classes this weekend which has kept me busy. They were great fun with a bunch of lovely ladies who I think, all enjoyed themselves.

This is one of the projects from the Cutting & Scoring class. Tip: doing a class where you need to think is probably not a good idea for a Friday night after we had all had busy weeks - but we did have a lot of laughs!!!

This is a Gate Fold card (I'm sure you have probably seen lots around the place. I wanted to couple up with one that was relatively simple in decorations so we could focus on the cutting.

This card uses the Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper, and Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla Cardstock. I used the Upsy Daisy stamp set and the Butterfly Punch to add some further dimension to the front.

I have received a couple of blogs awards lately and I want to take the opportunity to sincerely thank Shari and Christine, I am honoured they have passed them on to me, I will be back very soon with the details and those I am passing them on to.

Take Care