Back from Convention!

I'm back from Convention, and it was awesome!! - Stampin' Up! always knows how to put on a great event! I have so many great new ideas that I can't wait to show and share. - But all in time... I also have lots of great pictures, except they're on my new camera disk - which is not liking my computer for some reason - so those will have to come later! But I thought I'd show you the little gifts I made for some of my friends that were also at Convention.

The gifts started out as some snack things and other fun stuff I gathered and thought would be practical for the Convention...

Then I decided how to "Stampin' Up!" them to be cute for gifts...

Kind of my little Stampin Up! before and after commercial there!! Anyway, all the little goodies fit inside the covered bag, and that was how I wrapped them all up - I made twelve sets. I think the presentation of how you give a gift says more than what the gift is - especailly when you spend the time to make it special!!

Anyway, I got some cute gifts from friends too - and I'll share those with you soon...

I better get back to "work" on our projects for Friday's Class - Check back soon for a Sneek Peak!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Convention Swap Card #2

So I did make another set of swap cards! Yesterday I busted out about 50 of them!! I was tempted to start a third one today, but I found other things I needed to do! I can't wait for Convention though!! I leave tomorrow - and will hit the ground running when I get there! I'm going to a little pre-convention get together with some of my uplines/sidelines - I can't wait to see their ideas. Then somewhere in between I'll be checking in to my hotel and picking up my convention bag and goodies... I'm sure I'll have lots to show and tell when I get back. So, stay tuned...

On to the details of the second swap card though. I used a piece of Designer Series Paper from Cottage Wall to help me coordinate the colors. It is Rich Razzleberry and Pale Plum (although I used them together before - and really like them!). I put in a layer of Kraft cardstock to help tie in the Natural Hemp I used on the Butterfly's body too. I used the Great Friend set, another "not new" set but it is a returnee from the Mini Catalog. Other than that I kept it pretty simple - easier to make 50!!

I'll be off to Convention, but will post when I return.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Convention Swap Card

This Wednesday I'll be leaving for the Stampin' Up! Convention, so here I am finally working on cards that I'll swap when I'm there. Every year I wait till almost the last minute before I get started on making them. I think I;m always going to be one of those "work better under pressure" kind of people. No matter How much I plan in advance, it just seems like things come together better for me later than earlier. Anyway, we just make card "fronts" for general swapping at Convention. And even though it always a real mixed bag of swaps you get in return (cause we all do have different styles and perceptions of what's "nice"!!) - I really do like the swapping! It wouldn't be the same Convention experience without it! So, even with my procrastination, I'm almost done with 60 of the card fronts above and I'm going to create one more design. We'll see how many I get done, hopefully at least 100 all together.

This card isn't anything new, but it's all current! The card is Old Olive, Barely Banana, and Chocolate Chip. The set I used is Cheep Talk. Even thought there lots of pieces in the set, I used the smallest parts. I really like that little pear - and I like how it ended up fitting just right into the large oval punch! I wasn't super happy with how the size of the "hello there" fit onto the card front - and I thought of using a bigger size saying - but I do like to show how your card can be made from only stamps that come in one set.

Well, off to get busy on more stamping!! Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Very Thankful Again!

Here's the second card from the Very Thankful swap I'm participating in! It's a 3" x 6" card, which I don't make very often. But With the smaller focal images of this set, it seemed like a good idea for at least one of the cards. The colors used are Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum and Old Olive. I liked how the Pale Plum coordinates with the Rich Razzleberry!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Very Thankful Card

This is the first of four cards I'm making for a swap I'm participating in. Sometimes the first card is the easiest because you have something already in your mind - unfortunately that WASN'T the case in starting this card!! Seriously, it was just one of those days where nothing looked right! I was tempted - many times! - to just set it all aside until another day, but I finally put htis together and I'm pretty happy with it. I think what helped was finding the background papers, Nouveau Chic, that helped me coordinate it. It may be a little hard to see, but the Sage Shadow piece has little bits of Apricot Appeal in it - so that helped in creating the background "watercolor wash" on the focal piece. It was done on Shimmery White, which in person gives it a nice subtle sparkly look.

Anyway, the set I used is the Very Thankful set, the Ronald McDonald charity set for this catalog year! It is quite a varied set!! You'll find it on the back inside cover of the catalog - and hopefully I'll be posting some more samples with it very soon!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Mom's Birthday Card

Friday was my mom's birthday, and although her gift is still on it's way back from Italy, I did make her this card. I did cheat and use my Retired Kiwi Kiss background paper and cardstock for the little leaves. This was my first try at the "Re-inker" watercolor technique, which I hope to have us do at an upcoming Technique Class! I liked how it turned out in the end, but it was really a process! I first white-embossed the Fifth Avenue flower onto Shimmery White Cardstock. Then I used my Aquapainter to spread water all over the flower - creating puddles in all of the sections of the flower. Then I picked up color with the Aquapainter (you can use direct re-inkers for deeper color, but I used color from the lid of each Stamp pad). I used Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Summer Sun. Then the "process" part comes in! My colors started to blend together A LOT, so I finally stopped messing with it and just let it dry. But that's where it became cool. As it dried, the colors all pooled into different areas amd then they kind of "mellowed out." The colors looked clearer and eventually it took about 20 minutes to completely dry. Then I cut it out and layered it with LOTS of dimensionals onto the rest of the card.

Hope you're having a good weekend - staying cool!!

Julie

Simple Gift Bag Cover

I'm working on some little gift bag ideas right now, and I'm trying to keep it simple, but of course a little bit cute! Anyway, not sure if I'm quite there yet, but I have a ton of white lunch bags so I came up with this idea (not a new idea!). You can use any size lunch bag - they do vary - and just measure your cardstock the same width as the bag. Then you cut down the bag to however tall you want it (mine here is 6" wide by 6" high - perfect for 12" x 12" cardstock). So, you cut a piece of cardstock 6" x 6" to cover the fron of the bag. Then you cut a piece a little longer, 6" x 8 1/4" and score it at 6". This longer piece creates a back cover. Then you can cover with Designer Series Paper (Cottage Wall here - LOVE it!!), and whatever else you like!

Hope you're having a good week!

Julie

My Nephew's Birthday!

Yesterday was my nephew's birthday, and this was the card I sent him. I kept it pretty simple with little fru-fru - he's 20! With only three stamped images, I ended up using three different stamp sets! Kinda crazy, but glad I had them all! The star is from Wanted; Nephew is from Wonderful Favorites; and the Happy Birthday is from Think Happy Thoughts. I also used the new In Colors, Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay. Even though it's a pretty simple card, I kinda like how the colors go together, especially for a masculine card.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Julie

A Busy Little Box

Today was not a very productive day, but I found this cute little box template on Chicnscratch's blog. She has some cute stuff! So I decided to try and make one - I always love little stuff!! I used lots of scraps from leftover class pieces!

The top of the box has a scallop circle out of Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo, and then I used the Thinking Happy Thoughts and the Razzle Dazzle Sets to layer some coordinating circles. I used Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Papers to keep all the colors workin'!

Then on the inside is the best part - the little dark chocolate and espresso pieces candy square from Trader Joe's! They're awesome - they come in a little box and all individually wrapped... yum!! So I wrapped that in a coordinating piece of DSP and added a couple circles and a coordinating pumpkin pie corduroy button to cutsie it up! I probably could have squeezed two into the wrap, but one did the job.

Hope you're having a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

Sneak Peek for Friday's Class

Not the best photo here (one of these days I'll actually switch over to my new camera - hard to break old habits sometimes!!), but I wanted to show you a quick peek at one of the cards we'll make at Friday's class. We'll use the Movers and Shakers Big Shot die, and the new Modern Label punch that coordinates perfectly (of course!) with the pieces in the die! Also, we'll use the new Melon Mambo And Soft Suede In Colors (in combination with Old Olive And So Saffron - a little new with a little old!). The sets are new too - Circle Circus and Teen Tiny Wishes.

Gotta run, but hope to see you Friday!

Happy Stampin'

Julie