Swaps for Convention

So, why haven't you seen anything new from me lately? I should be thrilled that the new catalogue has gone live and I should be madly playing with my new stamp sets and paper right? That's exactly what I would be doing except that I am going to Convention this year. Convention is Stampin' Up!'s famous event for demonstrators (and guests if enough room) where they give out awards, highlight all the new things and just generally have fun, Stampin' Up! style. Going to any kind of Stampin' Up! event means that I have to prepare swaps. Technically I don't have to swap but I feel I would be missing out on one of the experiences. It's so great to see other people's card ideas and get samples of stamp sets and paper that I don't own. In my spare time, I have been cutting paper to get ready to assemble and stamp my swap cards. Here's the mess so far. I thought doing this card (which was a make n take at my summer mini release party) would be simple because it's just punching and glueing. Yeah. I am getting repetitive strain in my hands from punching so many little squares and I didn't realize that sticking all those squares down in a non-crooked manner is extremely difficult when you are making 48 card fronts.

I haven't even started on the flower embellishment which involves heat embossing and...you guessed it...more punching.

I planned to do 48 of these cards and then 48 card fronts using the Nature Walk stamp set. (on a side note, I am soo soo soo happy that Nature Walk made it into the new catalogue)

I am starting to despair that I will get everything done. You won't believe what I am doing this week. I had decided many weeks ago not to send my younger two kids to camp. I figured I could save the money and do my own home camp so I could really focus on some school preparation skills for my youngest child. My kids are thrilled. We are calling it "mommy camp". They figure they will have all the fun of camp but still see mommy so it's all good for them. Me, on the other hand, is now completely stressed out because it's 11:00pm the night before mommy camp and I haven't even started preparing the camp craft, camp snack and camp games yet. Fortunately, as a mother of three children, I have learned that spontaneity is possible.

Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a while, you know what I"m up to. I will definitely post again before I go to convention next week.

Summer's here!

Okay, maybe the weather doesn't seem like summer but the summer mini catalogue is now live which is fun.

In case you missed my summer mini party yesterday, these are the cards we did as make and take projects.

At first I loved the Open Sea card but when I did the flower fest card, I was so happy with the bright colours that the not quite navy one looked a little dull in comparison. The cute little sentiment is from the set called "short & sweet" I eyed that set for so long and finally caved and bought it during sale-a-bration.

It's fun to do such different cards. If you didn't receive your copy of the summer mini, make sure you contact me to get your copy.

I know you've heard me say it before but one of the best things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is the wonderful friendships and relationships that develop. I really believe that God uses relationships as a way for me to bless others but also I experience so much joy and blessing in return. It's amazing how it happens. I was blessed last week because someone I met through the business, invited me over for lunch. We have developed a friendship and for that I'm glad. I'm also glad that I got invited for lunch because her husband is a chef; that should give you an idea about the calibre of food I got to enjoy. I was also treated to creme brulee for dessert. Here's Mai's husband holding the fabulous dessert. (Must give credit to Mai for making the dessert)

I met Mai because she learned that Stampin' Up! cardstock is the best for making her card bases and she contacted me through my website. She makes beautiful handmade cards using special Japanese paper. You can see her beautiful artwork through her website or at the One of a Kind Craft Show. If you check out her creations, you can see that she really is an artist!

Paisley Petals Gift Card Holder

Here's a super easy gift card holder. All you have to do is cut the cardstock in half at 4.25" (I used river rock here) and then score at 2 1/4" and 6 3/4" (thanks Vicki O'hara for sharing this at Leadership!)

I decorated with some paisley petals paper and used the word window punch one and a half times to make the slot for the gift card.

I wanted to share some words of inspiration from the bible with a friend and Easter seemed like a great time to write them to her and send a card. So instead of slipping a gift card in the slot, I made up these little cards with the verses on them. I like this idea so much I might have to make more!