Lovely Cards in the Mail.......Card Share

Look at all my love cards! 

I love receiving cards in the mail, and Christmas time is just the best time of year for this particular treat!

Although I love all the cards that arrive, my heart understandably beats faster when I open the mail box and there's an envelope from one of my stampin' friends. I can't wait to get home and check out the treasure within .

Here are some of the awesome cards I received in this year's Southern batch. I know you'll love them as much as I did. 


Joni Metras sent me this beautiful card which features a telescope ink technique which is just jaw dropping!  Joni's card was the first to arrive in my mail box as part of a Pre-Christmas Technique card swap that she organized for our Cal Am Convention Girls group.  I was and still am blown away by this card which looks so awesome in real life...... the picture doesn't do it justice as the blend of colours fairly dance off the page.  Awesome card Joni!

Lighted Easel card

Diane Ison sent me an exceptionally beautiful easel card for our Cal Am Convention Girls Pre-Christmas technique card swap.    This easel card was fabulous just as it was, but Diane added a special twist for her technique.  She made this card into a luminary by adding a velum window where the big snowflake is stamped.  I kept this on display with a battery operated candle adding cheery little light in the background.  All my guests oohed and awed when they saw it. 

Adel Klassen from my Cal Am Convention Girls group created a beautiful textured card for our card swap using the Coredinations Early Espresso Designer Card Stock and the Lovely as a Tree Stamp Set.  She did a Shaving Cream Technique card to go with the swap. 

My wonderful and uber talented sister Heather created this delightful card for me using the Textured Impressions Holiday Frames Embossing Folder and the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and matching framelits (available as a carry over in the Spring Mini Catalogue).  As you can see from the closeup shot she added some cute detail to the top of the ornament with a  little bird die cut from the Silver Glimmer Paper and some leaves from the Little Leaves Sizzlet die cut.

 

A dear friend, Betty Lee, created this beautiful card featuring the glorious tree and vintage sentiment from the Christmas Lodge stamp set.  Although you can't see it clearly in this picture the sentiment is embossed in Gold embossing powder and the gorgeous double scallop trim was achieved by layering a piece of brushed gold and certainly celery cardstocks that had been punched out with the Scallop Edge Border Punch and then offset in layers.  Very clever and oh so pretty! 



This beauty from Jan Meyns took my breath away!  She embossed a piece of metal foil with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder from the now retired holiday mini catalogue.  Simply awesome.  A Champagne and Silver Glimmer paper snowflake cut with the Bigz Snow Flurry Die Cut adds to the dazzle on this card. 

 

Spotlight on "Swap Shares" #1

Hi Stampers.  Today I'm going to begin my new series "Spotlight on Swap Cards" with a group of very talented stampers I had the pleasure of attending Convention with in July.  Not only are these gals talented but they were funny, spontaneous and oh so sharing................ great attributes for a group you just want to have fun with!

In this group photo Joni Metras from Charlton, Massachusetts is on my left while Adel Klassen and Diane Ison from British Columbia Canada are on my right.  For obvious reasons, we called our little group the "Can/Am Girls". We had so much fun this year we're hoping to join up for Stampin' Ups! 25th Anniversary celebration next summer.  It's sure to be a blast.  When we parted after convention it was with this thought........same time, same place, same group and more fun! 

 

And now for their great swaps.  I've thrown in some product and technique details but if you want more information just click on their links below I know they'll be thrilled to help you out with any questions or kudos.  I hope you enjoy these little works of art as much as I have! 

 

Spotlight on Diane Ison:

What new mom wouldn't want to receive this sweet little baby card? It was created by Diane Ison a very talented stamper from Richmond B.C.  Diane's featured stamp set is called Baby Prints. There are 7 great stamps in this set and she's used two of them to complete this great card. 

 

The image of the baby's feet was stamped in classic white ink and embossed.  The card base and the circle with the baby's feet were made with Baja Breeze cardstock and the Scalloped Circle is in Certainly Celery.  What a great colour combination. 

 

The sentiment Cherish the Moments is also in the Baby Prints set.  The cute ribbon detail is achieved with two small strips of 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Baja Breeze and Old Olive and the base ribbon is a strip of Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Striped Ribbon.  The Whisper White background  layer was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder. 

Spotlight on Joni Metras:

How can you tell this card was created by a gal who loves the seashore with a passion?  When I look at this card I can feel the sand between my toes, the breeze on my face, and hear the roar of the waves.  Fantastic! 

 

Joni has featured the appropriately named Stampin' Up! stamp set "By The Seashore".  She used Naturals Ivory cardstock for her base and layered it with Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake that have been torn into strips.  Her seashell images are stamped with Early Espresso Ink on Crumb Cake, Natural Ivory and Baja Breeze cardstocks.  She's embellished the sand dollar image with a basic pearl.   The beautifully scripted sentiment "Imagine the Possibilities"  is from the Word Play stamp set and stamped in Baja Breeze ink. 

 

Don't you love the glitter along the water strip?  That was achieved with by laying down a strip of multipurpose liquid glue (pg. 177) and covering it with Glass Stampin Glitter.  This beautiful Glitter, which comes in Champagne and Silver is a chunky glitter that slightly tarnishes over time giving an aged vintage look to your projects.   

 

The final detail on Joni's card that I love is how she tied it with Linen Thread and then added some Baja Breeze Seam binding.  Can't get enough of that ribbon. 

Spotlight on Adel Klassen:

I travelled with Adel Klassen from Chilliwack BC to Convention this summer.  We were both first-timers and we had a couple of great pre-convention "swap assembling" sessions before we left on our big adventure.  This is one of many swaps Adele made.  She put so much work into this card and I was simply thrilled when she gave me one.  Thanks Adele!

 

Adele's beautiful wedding card features the "Love and Laughter" stamp set featured on page 38 of the IB&C.  This beautiful set has eight wonderful stamps that can be used for weddings, anniversarys and engagements.  The side-step card features five of the stamps from the set.  Adele did a beautiful job of embossing the dress in Pewter Embossing Powder and the cake and Congratulations sentiment in Black Embossing Powder.  Now that's a lot of embossing for one card. 

 

The side-step card base is made with Basic Grey cardstock and the contrasting Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White details really add some pizzazz to it.  The three Basic Pearls on the waist band of the wedding dress were coloured with a tempting turquoise marker and the heart on the top of the wedding cake was coloured with Perfect Primrose. 

 

Other accessories used to make this card included the Modern Label Punch, the Scalloped Oval and Large Oval Punches and the Labels Collection Framelits.  I can't remember how many of these cards Adele made but the number "50" comes to mind........... it might have been even more, and she told me her grandma, whom she adores fussy cut every single cake image by hand.  Now that's love!



Just in case you've never made a side-step card and would like to try, here is an easy video to help you out.  Side Step Card Video showing how to assemble the card base:



 

More Convention Friends

I just want to share some more pictures of the great friends I made at convention.  Some I knew already like Cheryl and Jenn, while others like Joni, Nikki, Olivia and Sherrill were new to me. 

This was taken during one of our Make N' Take sessions.  What fun we had.  Sorry I don't have a picture of DaVita our Make N' Take Helper, extraordinare.  She made it so much fun.  Cheryl LeFore and Jennifer from LaQuinta California and Joni Metras from Charlton Massachusetts.

Cheryl Lefore (in white) was the top Artisan Winner at the 2011 SU Convention.  She's an amazing artist and I'm blessed to be able to attend her workshops and Stamp Clubs when I'm in California.  Jenn (in the orange) is part of her downline.  It was really great getting to meet Jenn again.  She's always so gracious and sweet.  And of course there's Joni and me hamming it up in the Center! What fun!

Here are Nikki Smith and Olivia from Washington State.  Nikki just won a fantastic prize box filled with Stampin' Up Goodies.  Way to go Nikki.  I'm hoping to meet up with both of these gals at the September Regionals in Tacoma Washington!  See you there girls!!!

Here I am with Joni Metras.  Joni made my Convention adventures so much fun I just know we'll be life-long friends.  What a treat it was being able to share the fun of our Make N' Take and Late Night Stamper sessions with her.  Hey Joni you're the best!

These were the awesome "Purple Margaritas Joni, Diane and I had in the bar at the Radisson.  I had to share this photo with you.  These drinks made with Chambord, Tequilla and Lemon were so tasty and refreshing.  

This was the night I met Joni at the Late Night Stampers Welcome Soup and Salad Dinner.  Sherrill Graff is the gal in the Pink and is the pivotal driving force behind Late Night Stampers! 

Here's Sherrill Graff of LNS taking a well deserved break.  This session of LNS as well as the Friday night 80+ swap and Soup and Salad dinner were one of the major highlights of my convention attendance.  What a great group of women and the talent was amazing!  Thanks Sherrill for making LNS pre-convention events possible.  The Radisson Hotel where all the LNS events took place is awesome too.  Can't say enough about the Soup N' Salad buffets..............the soup was to die for.