Swapping Frenzy

I made about 20 of these full cards for general swapping at Convention. Swapping at Convention is exciting and overwhelming for a first timer like me! Before I went, Monika did prepare me for what to expect when it came to swapping. I did not even swap like a mad woman until day 3 of my trip.  My first Convention swap was with my friend Linda sitting at the Atlanta airport. I will never forget it! LOL I was a little bit nervous doing the whole thing. Michele my roommate is a PRO! I followed her lead and watched how she swapped in the first days. Then on the last day, I had a bunch of swaps left and she helped me get them done.  (Thanks Michele! Miss you!)

Yesterday's post showed you the 171 swaps that I received. Out of them, 59 were general swapping and 112 were organized swaps that I attended. Now I took 205 swaps with me, but on the last day I decided to hold on to these 20 cards for the meeting this weekend. 

On to the card, this color combo is a new fav of mine. More Mustard, Sahara Sand and new in color POOL PARTY! I used the fun circles from Circle Circus stamp set.  Punched with the dotted scallop and cut it in half. Ran the Sahara Sand in the Dot Embossing Folder. The Kind Thanks is stamped in Basic Black. After this picture was taken, I added a clear citty button (circle) with a piece of white baker's twine tied in front of the sentiment image. I hope the ladies like this one tomorrow night!

I made lots of mental notes about swapping at Convention so I am READY for next year's Convention. Swapping really is a important part of the whole Convention experience...you get great ideas, make new friends and share what you love!

Have a magical day!

Cindy

Totally STAMPIN spoiled!

This is EVERYTHING that I came home with! My Convention bag, catalog binder and stamp sets; things that I bought at Memento Mall; products that I won or got FREE! 

Close up of things that I bought. See that fabulous fabric bag? That was a Convention exclusive for demos! It hold the new Simply Scored coming out in the Holiday Mini! My favorite things were the gray sweater and the MDS laptop skin that will be on my new laptop SOON! (need to get the laptop first) 

The Make and Takes were amazing and over the top. I will show you the finished items soon! 

Complete product for one complete workshop! Love the bag too! I can refill it over and over with these same products. Keeps a workshop simple and easy to do!

MY PRIZE PATROL GOODIES! Thanks SU! Can not wait to open and play! 

AWESOME AWESOME +Fun class! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SU, have it next year too! 

Another exclusive Convention item! Attendance counts! Like anyone would miss attending a class. All of them were great! I love this stamp set and I WILL be using it a bunch! 

All my wonderful roomies' and friends' gifts 

My 171 swaps that I came home with!  I even had a few left that I found when cleaning out my bags! I did keep 18 general swaps of mine for my Starz/Paws meeting this weekend.

So do you want to come to Convention with me next year?

I WILL be there!

Cindy

Convention Recap Day 5

The last Convention day arrived and I was slightly bummed. I just wanted it to never end! I felt like there was more to learn or take pictures of and time was running out. Here is my dear friend Monika and I in front of the Timeless Portrait Suite.  I came to know Monika much more during this trip and I KNOW we are going to be hanging out more and sharing and swaping biz ideas. 

One of my favorite projects during Convention was these make and take cards from Shelli and Shalae.  I hope to do them at a workshop soon! 

At our last "lunch in a box" together at the Gathering Place! (clockwise)  Me, Dawn, Brenda, Linda, Cindy G. Tammy, Cara and Michele.

My best roomies in the world and I at the last General Session. We cried to Rich (our SU pres) speaking about "that he gets it now". Inspiring!  That was a AH-HA moment!

Jeanna and I found (more like stalked according to Jeanna LOL) Heather Summers to get at least a photo with her. This past year has been a big...no HUGE year for Heather.  #1 Demo in Canada, #1 in Recruiting in Canada, Artisan Award Winner, My Digital Studio Contest Winner, and so much more! She is a super talent and just the nicest sweetest person.  I have always been a big fan of her work and have done several of her online classes over the past 4 years. She loves to share and that is why she is so greatly deserving of these rewards.

Finally, I went to dinner at Macaroni Grill with the ladies from the above lunch photo. We went back to our room and shared swaps and ideas. I also shared a few tips on My Digital Studio. My best roomies and I got silly with the camera late into the night. This was the funniest shot! "Oops! We got caught!"

So as you can see Convention was a blast! I plan to be there next year and I hope that you can come too! I am moving forward with a business plan and taking action to start classes again. Monika and I are working together on a BIG project together for the fall which is all about MDS and demos! More to come on that!  So big changes in the horizon for me coming August 1st!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that these recaps have inspired you to join Stampin UP! and be apart of something where you can

inspire.create.share.

Have a magical day!

Cindy

Stampin Royalty Challenge #81

I wanted to start doing some challenges to jump start my mojo. I found Stampin Royalty thru some fantastic demos that I follow on blogs. Two of them are this year's Artisan Winners thru Stampin Up! They also have a MDS Challenge on Mondays!!!  You can find them here: STAMPIN ROYALTY
Here is their layout and here is my MDS card front.

Now the one thing I love about My Digital Studio is that it is also a great design tool for card making! I can turn this card right into a real stamped card in minutes or I can break it down into pieces and create a hybrid card too! I think I will just go and do that! Check back for the "real" thing!
Have a magical day!
Cindy

Convention Recap Day 4

Friday Friday Friday! Dawn and I got to go to the First Timers Breakfast together. We had a lite meal and got to see Shelli and other members of the corporate team. The line was super long so we missed our chance to meet Shelli in person. Oh well....next year!  Dawn and I then attend the class "Garden Showcase" and we were blown away at all the projects that Holly, Brian, and Donna showed us.

I then met Michele and Monika at the Make and Take Session 3. They were over the top make-n-takes! Three cards, a pennant swag and a covered card box.  Now I certainly did not get mine done during that 1 hour and 45 minutes window but I was able to stamp and punch the papers needed to complete them at home. I also watched the video on the box and it is a good thing I did!  Since I have been back, I did manage to finish these projects. I covered the sides of my card box as well. I will post them next week on my blog to show you them in detail. I love the card box and it will also be in the Holiday Mini coming out Sept 1st!  

Shelli's presentation at Convention is always the high point.  I have heard how great she does whether alone or like last year...with a daughter of hers.  Last year it was Sara (who went solo this year) and this year it was with her daughter Shalae (I never pronounce her name correctly). Shalae did a great job and had the whole crowd laughing which relaxed her and all of us.  When she was super nervous and about to go on stage, the stage manager told her " No one is going to die and no one is going to get pregnant". TOO funny!  I loved their projects!  I plan to do several of their projects myself in a class.

This is me and my roomies on the stage in the Gathering Place which made for a great Convention photo op!

We all went to dinner at J Wong's which was more food than I could handle!  Monika and I signed up for the + FUN classes that night.  She went to the Every Last Detail Class and I went to the MDS Hybrid Class. There I got to meet a new friend Jeanna.  She is so much fun and she rocks at MDS too!  Now I have to be honest, the MDS Hybrid class ROCKED!  Holly Linford and the whole Stampin UP My Digital Studio team spoiled us attendees to the core! We got way more than we EVER expected! Free supplies, a 10.5x5 completely printed calendar and a CD FULL OF DOWNLOADS and a complete TEMPLATE made JUST FOR US! I also got to meet Andrea Bowden (SU MDS genius) and we swapped MDS cards. I met another fellow MDS fan - Alana Jean-Louis! She gave me and Jeanna her trade marker photo avatar, a red clown nose.

What a great day it was! Great memories of new friends and new learning!

Tomorrow is the last day of Convention. Can I cry now?

Cindy

Convention Recap Day 3

Thursday began with the 1st General Session. The opening entertainment started with the Convention theme song "Grow Grow Grow".  All the first time attendees were invited to walk across the stage! THAT WAS ME! Very cool! I also got to meet Patty Bennett - LOVE her! She is also a MDS wiz and the nicest person ever!

We got a sneak peak at all the products in the Holiday Mini coming out on September 1st! Monika was surprised to see her picture on page 3!  She was interview some weeks back and her quote made it the catalog. She was thrilled!  I also won Prize Patrol! I got a stamp set, a package of Designer Series Paper and Quick Elements from the Sara Douglas segment of the session.

I attended two classes The Vitual Garden:MDS (Intermediate) and Filling Your Garden.  In the MDS class, I really did not learn much cause I either knew it or made a video on it recently. One of them was my own pleated ribbon technique. So COOL! I also got to meet Holly Linford. She was so sweet to take a picture with me. She is a curriculum developer at Stampin Up and works directly with My Digital Studio. I also got a chance to take HUNDREDS of pictures of the displays. Too many to post here! But here is a sneak of the holiday mini products.

My roomies and I decided to go to the Blue Iguana for margaritas (just one) and great food! It was a great way to kick off Awards Night.  That was great fun to see so many demonstrators receive props for their hard work and devotion to Stampin Up and the love of sharing.  I was in awe!

We did make the Awards Night Reception were I got to meet many more people and see dear friends. The desserts were FABULOUS! The melt in your mouth yummy kind!

Whew! What a day it was! So blessed!

Tomorrow is more fun fun fun!

Cindy

Convention Recap Day 2

We had a free great quick breakfast at the Shilo and then headed over to pick up our Convention Bag. It was over the top and I LOVED the colors! Yes, there was GREEN on it so I was in love from the start! We also got the new catalog in a binder with folders and pre holed punched for us. We got 4 stamp sets, a pen, a pin, a schedule book, and a FIRST CONVENTION pin!

Then we headed over to Info and Awards Booth to see Monika get her award pins and stamp sets. She got one for sales over $20,000 and one for recruiting. WAY TO GO! 

Next we took the bus to the Home Office in Riverton. We did some swappin on the bus which was lots of fun!  The Stampin Up home office is....BEAUTIFUL! I would LOVE to work there! :)  The whole place oozes creativity and fun! A happy place to work! 

I got to see the Legacy Room in person and I walked away with more decor ideas using Stampin Up products.  We got back in time for an early dinner at Olive Garden. I had a delicious dish of shrimp and ravioli. Yumm-O!  Monika, Diane(GA demo friend) and I participated in UStamp swap event. There were 42 of us and you can see the swap I made below.  They were also WOW works of art!

Stampin Up held a kick off party that night from 6-8pm. There were lots to do, but mostly I swapped and visited with friends. I had a slight headache and I was over tired but I sucked it up and pressed on. My upline Wendy had her Convention meeting after the kick off party til midnight.  It was so good to see her! She is a really great friend and I miss her being in Georgia. I also presented my hybrid projects to the group and they got to create them as well.  (more to come on that...pictures, video, etc.)

It was alot of fun seeing all of Wendy's team and guests!

Finally here is the card swap I made for Wendy's meeting. I used Wisteria Wonder, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla. The two stamp sets are Artistic Etchings with Thoughts and Prayers. I used the My Digital Studio program to create the card and make it into a real card.

A VERY LONG DAY! But again, it was a BLAST!

Tomorrow will be full of classes and LOTS of photos!

Have a magical day!

Cindy

Convention Recap Day 1

The past few weeks have been all about Stampin Up's Convention 2011!  Final preparations for swaps and projects consumed my time as the date to leave drew near.  Then we were off to a fun filled days of nothing but stampin and learning and sharing. My days were so filled that I did not have time to even post from Convention as I had planned. It was more overwhelming and over the top fun filled than I had expected it to be. So over the next week, I will recap each day and give you some sneak peaks on what is in store on my blog and in my biz.  Can you say classes, workshops, holiday projects, and lots of FUN!?

I flew with my sideline Monika and a demo friend Linda on Tuesday. We only had one problem the whole day traveling there... an hour delay getting out of Atlanta. Once we got to the Shilo Hotel which was right across the street from the SLC Convention Center, we got checked in and unpacked. Our room mate Michele had already arrived and our other room mate Dawn arrived a little later. This is our view from our hotel room. The mountains were beautiful with the snow capped peaks. 

We grabbed a quick bite at the local Subway cause we had to get to our Shoebox Swap Event that night.  Sherri does a fabulous job at getting these swaps organized and the swaps are WOW! We were there from 7-11pm in order to make 24 swaps. 24 swaps were pre-done and ready to go. So I walked away with 48 different swaps all together!!!!!!! Here are team A and B working hard on their swaps. And then the finished swaps waiting to be picked up.

And here is the swap that I had for Sherri's Shoebox Swap that night.  I just love the Pennant Parade stamp set as a Christmas tree! Colors are Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso.   I LOVE this card so plan to see it at a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack this fall!

Tomorrow's post was the first day on the real Convention action!

Have a magical day!

Cindy

My Convention DVD Case

Thanks for joining me today! I am super excited about Stampin Up's Convention next week.  So excited that I want to share something with all the demos out there!!! This will be a LONG post so bare with me!
I have to give create to Heather Summers for creating this on her blog and sharing it with her fans like me! Then the journal template is one that comes with the MDS program for a journal.

Step 1 - make a journal in MDS front and back and save as jpegs.

Step 2 - create a 8.5x11 landscape page in MDS.  Add two 5x7 photo boxes and fill with the jpegs that you just made above.  I then added a strip punch square in Baha Breeze. and the brads and stamp image.  I made sure the whole area measured 7" x 10 5/8" before saving it as a jpeg.  I also add a plain dsp page for the inside of the case to see since it is clear.

Step 3 - Print the jpegs on 8.5x11 matte photo paper or white cardstock.  I just laid the first side back into the tray and printed the back on the same paper.  You will have to trim it down to 7" x 10 5/8".

Step 4 - Insert into the sleeve of the DVD case.  Get it in place first and then close the case. It should line up perfectly.

You can email me at nutmeg1197@aol.com if you would like the jpeg files to print for yourself.

NOW here is what I did with the inside of the DVD case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Everything I need to go to Convention in all one place! Also to keep together once I get home and store.  Like a memory book of my trip!  It is small enough to go in my Convention bag too.  Wonder what color the bag will be!???! I hope GREEN!

I need a place to put my name tag, vouchers, tickets, schedule, etc.  I used two clear envelopes and mounded them on the left side of case.  I just placed them on top of each other after trimming a little.  I took a piece of Baha Breeze cardstock to hide the top.  I printed in MDS my Convention schedule and cut to 4.25x5.5. I also have important cell phone numbers of my roommates and friends to get in touch with and meet up.

To create the notebook, I bought a black mini notebook from Walmart.  I took the journal cover and printed the jpeg on my printer at 4x6.   I took a piece of the notebook paper and traced the holes on the back side and punch them out with the small end of the Crop-a-dile.  Cut slits and then glue to the front cover.  I filled a pen with printed dsp and added some Baha Breeze Seam Binding ribbon.

The convention excitement is in the air and I just had to share!
I hope you enjoyed my very long post. Thank you all for stopping by!
Have a magical day!
Cindy