Swappin' Convention Style

Hey there, stampers! I am home and trying to recover from my trip to Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up Convention. It was a wonderful, crazy, and completely overwhelming experience. This was the 25th Anniversary for Stampin' Up and Convention was a HUGE celebration and party. There were about 5,800 demonstrators from all over the world in attendance. I'm so glad that I was blessed enough to go. I had an awesome roommate, Mindy, and we had a blast together. I also met so many wonderful new stamping friends and got to visit with old friends as well. It was truly an amazing experience!

Below are the four designs I used for my convention swap cards. I did two organized swaps and then made fifty more for general swapping. The first is for an organized swap organized by Lyssa Zwolanek. I participated in this swap at convention two years ago and got the best swaps then and this year did not disappoint either. They were all beautifully made. Here is mine...

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Simply Sketched (hostess), En Francais
Paper: Crumb Cake
Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush pad and marker, Melon Mambo marker, Pistachio Pudding marker
Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection framelits, white embossing powder, Very Vintage buttons, linen thread, Strawberry Slush ruffle stretch ribbon, stamping sponge

I love this stamp set, but to be honest, I am not great at coloring. I searched for a good technique for coloring in this gorgeous flower and decided to try the technique used by my friend, Jennifer Timko, on this card that she made for a convention swap last year. I was very happy with the way it turned out. I have to admit that this is not a typical card for me. I just sat down one day and started playing and this card happened. It is much more vintage than the cards I usually make, but I like it.

I made the next card for a swap with the Fab Friday design team. What a fantastic group of stampers they are! I loved getting to meet everyone. This was the sample card we made at my birthday card class earlier this month. My swap was the same except that I used the "You're too kind" sentiment from the Too Kind stamp set instead of this birthday one. I had a hard time getting a good picture of this one, my apologies.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Too Kind
Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, 2013-2015 In Color DSP stack
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants die, 2 1/2" circle punch, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Pistachio Pudding ruffle stretch ribbon

The  next two cards were my general swaps. I try to make general swap cards that are easy to duplicate, but that are nicely designed and stamped well. I hope that these accomplished that goal.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Remembering Your Birthday, Positively Chevron, Birthday Candles wheel
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla, Birthday Basics DSP
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green marker, Basic Gray marker, Summer Startfruit marker
Accessories: Big Shot, 3" circle die, dimensionals

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Zoo Babies, Petite Pairs
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush
Accessories: Big Shot, Alphabet Press EF, Smoky Slate Chevron ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, rhinestones, pearls

OK, that's all I have for today. My post convention goal is to blog more often and have a stronger online presence. Wish me luck! :) Pin It