Convention Team Swaps

Evening all!

Remember me? I used to write this blog! Life has been a bit busy recently, and I've not had much time to keep in touch on here.  I'm due to start a new job soon too, so that will take a bit of getting used to after working where I currently work for the last ten years. It's all exciting stuff though, I'll let you know how I'm getting on.

This evening, I'm in Manchester for the 2013 European Stampin' Up! Convention, and it's my first one ever! I've been a demo for about two and a half years now and I've not managed to go to convention yet.  I was a couple of places short of booking on last year, and left it too late and it was full.  Living in Leeds, I had no excuse not to be the first in the queue this year as it's just a train ride away. I can't wait to share some pictures with you, and tell you all about what I get up to.

There was a few things we had to make to bring with us.  Team swaps, general swaps and a gift for our room mate if we're sharing a room.  I'm sharing with my friend and downline Kylie.  Today I'll be sharing pictures of the team swaps I made.

It's always tricky deciding what the perfect swap will be, and it took me ages to decide what to do.  I decided to make candles, with a Christmas image from My Digital Studio (MDS).  This seemed like a great idea, and I made the first one.  It looked great.  Off I went to Ikea, to buy enough for the 32 ladies who have opted in to the team swaps.   I realised then, that my idea may not have been such a good one after all!  I bought the 32 I needed, as well as a few extra, and by the time I had lifted all 50 candles on to the till, I was bright red and wondered what all the people in the queue behind me thought I was doing with all these candles! The man right behind me congratulated me on my dedication to lifting them all.  Then I realised I had to transport them all to Manchester! Oh well, it was too late to change my mind.

I printed the image from MDS onto normal printer paper, to make sure I had the size right.  After a few adjustments, I was happy with my image, and I then printed the image onto tissue paper which had been taped onto a piece of card with masking tape.  I then cut out the image and used a tiny bit of glue on each corner to stick it lightly to the candle.

 I then wrapped a piece of tissue paper around the candle and gently heated the image using a heat gun.  The heat melts the candle just enough to melt the tissue paper into the wax giving a smooth finish.

 I love this technique and it can be done with any stamped image or printed image. I then wrapped the candle in cellophane and tied a small length of Linen Thread to secure the cellophane then tied a length of the lovely Cherry Cobbler 1" (2.5cm) Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon around into a bow. 

 

I really hope my team like their gifts, and I can't wait to see what lovely things they have made.  It's been fun seeing everyone's updates on our Facebook page, seeing the hours they have spent crafting away, and the excitement building!

Here's a picture of the swaps altogether...see why I realised how heavy they were going to be! The next picture of the candles in the box is just over half of the full lot! My suitcase was very heavy, and one of the wheels broke as I got off the bus in Manchester, and had to drag it down the street to the hotel.  Thankfully I don't have to take them back with me to Leeds!

Gingham Garden Mini Milk Cartons

This is a long overdue post that I've had saved in my drafts folder for too long!  There's a few of them saved in there, and I need to decide whether to finish writing them or just delete them.  I'll have to have a big catch up sometime soon.  

These pictures show the swaps I made for the last team training event that I attended.  I'd got the Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper and the Washi tape as a pre order before the Annual Catalogue was released, so I decided to use those.  I'd seen lots of pictures online of clothes pegs with washi tape on them, so off I went to the shops to find some plain wooden clothes pegs.

The picture below shows the clothes pegs covered with the washi tape.  The flowery patterned one was the perfect size for the pegs.  I placed a peg in each one of the mini milk cartons, which can be seen on the next photo.

Here's the mini milk carton I made, decorated with rectangles of the Gingham Garden DSP.  I also used the Label Love and the Artisan Label punch to create a label for the carton.  I stamped onto Whisper White card stock with various colours of ink, and then covered the wet ink with the clear Stampin' Emboss Powder which I set with the heat tool.

This picture shows a close up of the top of the mini milk carton, with the washi tape holding it closed.  There's loads of things that washi tape can be used for, I've still got to try out some more uses for it.

This last picture shows all the cartons in the box ready to go to be swapped.  I got some lovely swaps that day, and loads of new ideas.  

Items Used

  

Spring card class 1 - Swallowtail

A couple of Saturdays ago, I went to a spring themed card class at my downline Kylie's house. We made four cards, and ate two lots of cake. Perfect! I'll be sharing the four cards over the next few posts so keep an eye out if you like the card I'm sharing today.

The main product used in this card is the Swallowtail stamp. This is the same size as the large background stamps, and the detail on it is amazing. We stamped the image onto Daffodil Delight card stock using Versamark ink, and then put on Pool Party embossing powder which was then heated using the Heat Tool. This gives a lovely raised effect. We then painted on Shimmer Paint to give the butterfly a shiny sparkle. This was then mounted onto Very Vanilla cardstock and then onto Pool Party card stock.

Here's a close up shot of the Swallowtail stamped image. Isn't the detail great?

Here's a close up of the sentiment, which is from Perfectly Penned. This was also stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Pool Party embossing powder.

Shoe Box Swap - Goolish Googlies

This is the project that my Stampin' Up! mummy Julie Kettlewell made for the shoe box swap event a week or so back. The items are from the Goolish Goolies bundle, from the newly released Autumn/Winter Catalogue. This is a great value set, one of the new bundles, consisting of the Goolish Goolies Designer Kit, the Googlies (self adhesive-backed eyes) and the Googly Ghouls stamp set. You can save 15% by buying the bundle at just £18.50 for the wood set and £15.95 for the clear. Basic black card stock was scored with the Simply Scored board, and then the front cut with the Edgelit dies. Versamark ink was used to stamp the Boooo image, which was then covered with clear embossing powder, which was then heated with the heat tool. The orange and black paper is from Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, which then had Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon tied around. A tag was used from the Goolies kit, which had two bats stamped and cut out placed on it, with the googly eyes. To finish it off, liquorice and mints were placed in a Cellophane bag, with ruffled ribbon tied at the top. Perfect for your halloween parties!