Swaps for On Stage Live!

Hello and welcome back! It's hard to believe that a week ago I was in Salt Lake City with over 2,000 of my closest friends at On Stage Live! This is the semiannual gathering of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from all over the world, and it's always fun and interesting.

I hadn't originally planned to make any swaps, but I was going through some supplies that I've had in my craft stash for a couple of years and thought it was time to use them up! So without further ado, here's what I brought to Salt Lake City:

This first card is actually a matchbook-style gift card holder. The inside contains two coin envelopes - one to hold the gift card and one to hold a small card you can write a greeting on.

I found this tutorial about 5 years ago and planned to do a class, so I ordered the coin envelopes on eBay. But I never held the class and the envelopes have been sitting on my shelf ever since, so I decided it was time to use them.

Supplies used:

Stamp set - Jar of Love
Paper - Perfect Plum, Lemon Lime Twist, Smoky Slate, and Whisper White Cardstock
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Perfect Plum, Versamark, Lemon Lime Twist Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories - Clear Wink of Stella, Gold Embossing Powder, coin envelopes, Lemon Lime Twist 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon
Tools - Simply Scored, Big Shot, Heat Tool, Everyday Jars Framelits, 1/8" Handheld Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, SNAIL, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

These are the card fronts I made for general swapping:

These cards have an identical layout, as you can see, but I used four different color combinations. 

Fresh Fig/Blushing Bride

Tranquil Tide/Calypso Coral

Lemon Lime Twist/Night of Navy

Berry Burst/Pool Party

I wouldn't have predicted it, but the most popular color combination was the Fresh Fig/Blushing Bride combo.

Supplies used:

Stamp set - All Things Thanks

Paper - Color Cardstock as noted above, Whisper White cardstock, Fresh Florals DSP

Ink - Fresh Fig, Tranquil Tide, Night of Navy, Berry Burst

Accessories - Finely Woven Ribbon in Fresh Fig, Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, and Berry Burst

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Starburst Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

I also had some sticky note pads and mini gel pens left over from a church retreat craft project a couple of years ago, so I made a little something for some of my closer friends and roommates.

I had originally planned to do some die cutting with the Quilt Builder Framelits, but when I looked closer at the Christmas Quilt DSP, I realized it would be much easier to just use that! I don't remember where I found the original instructions, but here is a tutorial that is virtually identical.

Supplies used:

Paper - Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White, and Lemon Lime Twist Cardstock, Christmas Quilt 6 x 6 DSP Stack

Accessories - 3 x 3 sticky note pads, mini gel pens (from Staples)

Tools - Big Shot, Quilt Top TIEF, Tear & Tape, Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Finally, I also included another item in my roommates' gift bags:

I got this idea from Kelea Nevis on the Demonstrator Planning Place page on Facebook. She made coasters for all the women in her church for Mothers' Day - what an undertaking! I had made a couple of these earlier in the summer and they seemed to work out fine, so I thought I'd do a couple for my roomies! The only problem I had with these was that the Sharpies didn't seem to last long when I was coloring. I'm not sure if they're old, or if it was just an issue with using them on the rough surface of the coaster.

Supplies used:

Stamp set - Crafting Forever

Ink - Basic Black Archival

Accessories - coasters (from Dollar Tree), Sharpie fine point markers

Well, that's it for now! I'm looking forward to next November's On Stage Live in Orlando, where Stampin' Up! will celebrate its 30th anniversary! That should be quite a party!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

More convention swaps

Hello and welcome back! Today I have for you the card I made for Amanda and Robbie's 3 x 3 "love notes" swap. This swap appealed to me because of the small number of cards I needed to make - only 16! So, here it is:

You would think that because it is so small, it would be quick and easy to make. You would be mistaken! It was definitely a labor intensive card, but well worth the effort. Here's what it looks like on the inside:

This card was inspired by the project we made at this month's technique club that my upline has. We made a full-sized card, but I adapted it to make this little gem.

Here's how to make the butterfly:
Using the Watercolor Wings stamp set, stamp the two bolder images for the small butterfly with Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry on Whisper White cardstock. Die cut with the small outline from the Butterflies Thinlits dies.  On a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the same two images using Delightful Dijon and Tangelo Twist. Use Early Espresso to stamp the smaller accent image. Then die cut this with the small lacy framelit from the Bold Butterfly Framelits set. Stamp the body on the butterfly with Early Espresso. (Note: wait until after cutting to stamp the body, so it lines up correctly.) Sponge the edges of the solid butterfly with Crushed Curry and the lacy butterfly with Tangelo Twist.

To make the card:
Cut Bermuda Bay cardstock 3 inches by 6 inches and score at 3 inches. Using the largest "scalloped" circle from the Circles Framelits, trim off the bottom of the front. (Note: be sure to only roll the sandwich into the Big Shot far enough to make the cut, then back it out.) Use the small outline framelit you used above to cut out a window in the card front. Now you can emboss the front with the Decorative Dots embossing folder, using the score line as a guide. Use the window as a guide to adhere your butterfly to the inside of the card and then stamp the antennae and the sentiment.

You could adapt this card for many occasions, and it would be the perfect addition to a gift bag or a bouquet of flowers.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Convention swaps

Hello, and welcome back! No challenge card today, but I thought I'd give you a look at the swaps I made for this year's Stampin' Up! convention. Since I am primarily a hobby demo, I don't usually make too many swaps, since I don't really have that much need for samples. However, swapping does provide an opportunity to meet some really wonderful folks, so why would I pass that up? :)

This year's batch contains 60 cards that look something like this:

And here's a closer shot of one of the cards:

I was really inspired by this rainbow stamp set. When I made my batch of cards, I created some that were monochromatic, like the one above. But just for fun, I also made some that have the colors mixed up. When they are all lined up in the box I'm using to transport them to Salt Lake City, it definitely looks like a rainbow!

I hope to see some of you in Utah this week. I will try to post at least once during convention, but it all depends on how my technological stuff cooperates! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog