Onstage 2017 Swaps

Last weekend I attended our Onstage Local event at Luna Park in Sydney.
I decided 3 days out that I'd do some swaps, so I set about making a quick bookmark using the beautiful Flourish Thinlits, the Stitched Shapes Framelits and the Layering Circles Framelits.

As usual, it was a production line cutting all the pieces to get ready to assemble.

Those flowers took me ages to do because I made black ones for the front, and cut out the coloured ones for the back - 4 flowers per bookmark, 30 bookmarks.  Do the math......and it's 60 times through the Big Shot!  Thank goodness for Harry Potter.  I watched 3 movies!

My top tip for attaching the flowers to the stitched shapes piece: Get an old embellishment pot (like the ones we get with buttons in them) and put a squirt of liquid glue in the bottom.  Then, using a wedge of a sponge with a bulldog clip handle, dip into the glue and dab it onto the back of the flower.  You get just the right amount of glue without any mess.  And while I love my fine-tip glue pen, it would've been way to slow in a production line task like this one.

Finally, I love the way the bright colours work with black.  And the Wink of Stella....Pow!

Finished result, front and back, packaged into bags with my recipe on the back.  Love!

Now, how about what I got in return........here's a sampling......

This is a tealight gift box from my upline Linda Dalke.  So pretty!

This clever creation is by Vanessa Chivers who credits Gosia Mackinnon's original design.

It's a clever use of the Detailed Floral Thinlits die, containing a battery operated tea light.

And doesn't it cast a lovely shadow? Imagine a bunch of these decorating a table for a  party.

A special treat box containing chocolate easter eggs is the creation of Cath Reed.

 Love the topper using the Foxy Friends stamp set.

This One Wild Ride stamp set looks great with the Brick Wall textured embossing folder as the background.  It looks like Tanya's added some ink before running it through the Big Shot becuase it really pops.  By Tanya Kane

Who doesn't love the Stylish Lady in Beautiful You.  A touch of sparkle from the glimmer paper and the Swirly Bird Thinlits takes it up a notch too, don't you think? By Rosie Spezzano

The Lift Me Up stamp set and co-ordinating Up & Away Thinlits has some great layering oppotunities, thanks Anna Wheaton

Love the copper embossing on this card by Nerida Carter.  And how cute is that little bee? 

Scissor charm by Anna Wheaton - a close up is on my facebook page at

www.facebook.com/PaperLadyKarenCumming

What a great way to showcase a monotone design.  I love everything about this card.  All that texture is so pretty.  Thanks Charmaine Andrews

By Genna Gifford.  Love how she's hand drawn the outline around the flowers and the stitching with a Rich Razzleberry marker 

This cute little holder by Fiona Bradley hold two tea bags.  It would be a nice addition to a letter for a friend.  I know, I said letter, not email, right?!

This one layer card is so effective using Timeless Texture and Balloon Adventures stamp sets,

by Deb Krupa 

By Sandra Lill.  You can't see the detail as well on the photo, but Sandra has wet the paper then added Pacific Point ink and sprinkled some rock salt over the top.  It's made a lovely background.

If there's anything there that you like and want more info, message me and I'll try to help out with the supply lists that came with each swap.

Happy stamping!

Karen

Swaps for Convention 2013

Well, I finally got my swaps done after A LOT of deliberation.  I had even toyed with the idea of not doing any this year!  OMG!

I thought I'd share the process with you that I went through to decide on my final project.  And also to explain the mess in my craft room of a few days earlier.  See here.

I should start by explaining that I've never made a card for a swap before.  I always do some kind of 3D project.  There are lots of card swaps and I like to make something that stands out a bit.

That said, this year I wanted to do a card.

 

I got the idea for this card on a U.S. blog......I can't remember the one, as usual I was just surfing in blogland and got lost somewhere!   Anyway, I based this card on that layout.   I love looking "through" to the feature image.   But since I wanted something CAS for my swap, this was obviously not the right one for me! 

 

I then dug out some things I'd made recently.  This card is one of my absolute favourites.  Trouble is, I couldn't remember if it was my design, or if I'd copied it from somewhere.   Not wanting to take the risk, I decided to delve further into my creativity.  I'll use the colours from this one....maybe!

 

Ah, next came a technique I love - Faux Silk.   Everyone likes swap cards with techniques they can try out so this was a real possibility.  It has the colours I'm after - I think, and the cute little embellishments, but there's no looking "through" like the card in the first sample.

 

Then, wham, it hit me.......and here's what I ended up with......

 

I love the simplicity of this card.  And I got my wish - the cute little "look through" window, the heart and butterfly embellishment, and all in the colours I wanted.  Yay!

The Cherry Cobbler heart is embossed with Elegant Lines, and the little Rhinestone jewels just finish it off nicely.  You can't really tell from the pic, but I've used textured cardstock in Pool Party.

And lastly, surprise!  I couldn't help myself and had to have a 3D item so I settled on these fridge magnets which are pegs that you can use to attach a shopping list or school notes to.  Nothing new about this one (I taught it in class for Mother's Day) but it's cute and I like it!!

 

Keep an eye on my blog for updates on Convention.  I hope to post as I go this year, but we'll see.  Sometimes it's just too busy.  Fingers crossed.

 

Yours, in crafting heaven!

Karen

 

Catching up is Tricky!

I've been so busy since I came home from Convention....giggle.....kids, hubby, dog, shopping, classes, good heavens!

I have had another drool look over my swaps and just photographed a few of my favs to share today.

This gorgeous brooch/pin is by Suzanne Barnard.   It is made from our beautiful Timeless Portrait fabric.  Far more beautiful in real life. 

The wonderfully talented Nerida Carter created this yummy origami folded pouch....why is it yummy?  Because it contained a coffee bag AND chocolate......um mmmmmmmm!

Someone stole the chocolate........oh no, that was me!

Anyone for cake?  It would go rather nicely with the coffee above and the tea below!   This clever creation is by Sonya Alcock.   I love it!

My clever downline Michelle Hughes made this gorgeous little sachet.  Yes, there's a tea bag inside for emergencies. Michelle doesn't have a card blog so I'm sending you to her cake website.  Yes, she's multi-talented!

Now, one final treat......this real looking strawberry was made by Michelle Davis..  Don't you love the seeds?

This angle really shows the shape very well.  Super Cute

Well, that's all from me for now.  Stay warm & dry, it really is winter today!
Cheers
Karen

Circle Circus Swaps

Thought I'd share the swaps I received at our PaperLicious team meeting last night.   This was our first team swap and the brief was to use Circle Circus.

Wendy

Irene

Tracy

Julie

Julie put a scratchie inside.  And I won $2!!

Joey

Me

Aren't they gorgeous?    I will add Michelle's when I get it, but we missed her last night as she was sick.  Get better soon!
Happy Tuesday.
Karen

Sydney Regional Training Day

This was a little wearable brooch that I made for each of my group.  Just in case anyone got lost!

Yesterday we enjoyed a full day of Stampin' Up! fun at the Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.   This year was a bit smaller in numbers than I remember but then again in those massive halls it's easy to feel a bit dwarfed! 

We were treated to some wonderful craft presentations and workshop wows by demonstrators and staff.  As always I came away with a lot of new ideas and was inspired to try some projects with our new fabric line and Big Shot dies.   

One presentation that really stood out was about the creative process involved in designing a card or craft project.  The projects used our stamps to create a scene and the first example was a Christmas setting looking through a window into a house.  It was lovely with the family dressing the Christmas tree (Welcome Christmas set), decorations hanging from the ceiling and the roof with a big wreath over the top.   I wish I'd taken a photograph of the finished card!  But the main thing I took away from the presentation was about looking at our stamps in a different way - using them to create a picture.  Sketching a design beforehand is rarely something I do.  I usually have a stamp set, colour scheme or technique as my starting point and jump right in!   I might try some preliminary sketches to see if I can view my products from a whole other perspective.

I would also like to mention a big thank you to Jenny H for bringing her donation of cards for the troops with her.  We did the handover after lunch and had a nice catch up chat!  It's lovely to connect with other demos at these events and continue to build our friendships.  And of course, this year I had an extra treat having both my downlines, Tracy & Irene and 6 of my gorgeous customer friends along for the fun.  That's the first time I've been able to take a group with me and it was lovely!

Anyway, enough chatter.   Here's some pics!  All images are copyright to Stampin' Up!

Here we all are, very happy to be stamping and crafting all day!

At the table, BEFORE we got it all messy with our make n takes

Me & Susie checking out our swaps

Gloria offers tips on how to put this card together......it's all about the glue & where NOT to put it!

Michelle is in her element

Tracy won the first door prize of the day

Could you give us a bigger smile Susie?!  It's all about the glitter - FREE champagne glass.  No wonder she's grinning.

The swap board

More swaps

Susie's swap is a memory game.  How adorable is that! Check out her blog here.

A close up of the flower on the top of the box - I love it!

Tracy made these pinwheels as little party favours

How cute!

Irene used the Top Note to make these lolly bags - and put lollies in too!

This is Avril's swap.   She's layered stamped images from Autumn Days, Upsy Daisy, Pocket Silhouettes, Clearly for You & Curvy Verses.  Doesn't it look amazing?  It reminds me of a cottage garden. And she had a variety of colours for people to choose from too.

My swap - it had a freddo frog inside - emergency chocolate is always handy!  But crazy me, I didn't keep one for myself!!

I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed ourselves, from the moment everyone arrived at my house to car pool. Thanks Michelle & Tracy for being our able chauffeurs.  

One last word, if anyone has any spare lunch boxes that they don't want - or cutlery, Wendy will gladly take them off your hands!!

Have a great week!

Karen