Tacoma Regional Swaps - Christmas Theme

As promised yesterday the following are Christmas cards I received as swaps during the Tacoma Regional My Way Meeting.  What a great collection, I'm sure you'll enjoy them! 

Several of these swap cards have no identifying information on them, so I'm not aware who created them.  They are "unnamed" cards and if anyone knows who the originator is let me know so I can pass a long some credit. 


CHRISTMAS:

This very simple card is made with the Scentsational Seasons stamp set from the Holiday Catalogue.  This is one of those "unnamed" swap cards, so I can't pass along any credit.  What do I like about it:  The color combo.  The base is Bashful Blue and the layers are in  Raspberry Ripple and Gumball Green.  The two inks used are Raspberry Ripple and Gumball Green as well.

This next beautiful card was created by a demo  who goes by txtornado on her yahoo email account.  She used Greetings of the Season for the sentiment on this card and it's stamped in Early Espresso Ink, on Crumb Cake cardstock.  A very simple Whisper White lace border was punched out with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, however only half of the strip has been added to this card.  The beautiful big snowflake was die cut from Shimmer White cardstock using the Bigz Die - Snow Flurry.  The center medallion which is stamped again in Early Espresso is from the Mixed Medley stamp set in the Holiday Mini hostess section.

 

 

The next two fabulous cards were created by Maureen Pollock a very talented stamper from Surrey, BC. Maureen is a member of the Colourful Impressions group and is well know for her talents as well as her boisterous laugh. It was so good running into you Maureen and I loved both your cards! 

If you love the Ornament Keepsakes Christmas stamp then this card is definitely for you. The ornament has been die cut using the Holiday Ornament Framelit Dies, which match this stamp set.  You can save 15% if you buy this as a bundle.  Check it out here, or you can get a free Festive Paper Piercing set if you purchase this stamp set bundle and the Candlelight Christmas Speciality designer series paper.  Check out this link for the current promomotion. 

 

The ornament Maureen chose is stamped in Pacific Point Ink which looks very bold striking against the Whisper White background, which has been embossed with the Holiday Frame Embossing Folder. The ornament has been adhered with dimensionals to the center of the frame.  Although you can't see it in this picture, Dazzling Details was added to the raised impression on the Holiday Frame to give it an irridescent glimmer.  The last two touches are a Basic Pearl in the center of the ornament and a small strip of 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon.  Beautiful card Maureen. 

 

Maureen's second card is just as captivating as her first one. She's combined a number of different elements.  Maureen began by stamping the oval image from the Joyous Celebrations stamp set on Very Vanilla cardstock in Real Red ink.  Then she stamped a small ornament image from the Ornament Keepsakes Stamp set in the center of the oval with Lucky Limeade ink.    The ornament was embellished with a small Rhinestone Basic Jewel and a bow made from Lucky Limemade Baker's Twine.  

 

For her next part of her design she die cut a piece of Real Red cardstock with one of the 6 layering dies from the Labels Collection Framelits and embossed this piece with the oval shape from the Designer Frames Folders textured embossing folders.  The ornament image was adhered to the center of this oval making a very lovely element to layer over the card base. 

 

The base of Maureen's card is Lucky Limeade cardstock that has been topped with a 4" x 31/4" piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock that was embossed with the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder.  A piece of Real Red cardstock was punched out with the Scallop Trim Border punch and sandwiched between the very vanilla layer and a 4" x 2" piece of Candlelight Christmas Specialty DSP. 

Look at the work in this beautiful "unnamed" card.  It was made with Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler cardstocks.  The top layer of Soft Suede was embossed with the Holiday Frame Embossing Folder.  The raised oval was glammed up with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details.  The Ornament from the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set was stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder before it was cut out using the Holiday Ornament Framelits.  The finishing touch is a beautiful Crumb Cake Seam Binding  Ribbon.

Another beautiful "unnamed card" was made with Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler and River Rock cardstocks.  Layers were embossed with the new Fancy Fan Fold Embossing Folder.  The large snowflake from the Snow Flurry Bigz Die was cut in Silver Glimmer Paper, and then layered up with the ice skates image from the Winter Memories stamp set.  The ice skates and flower image were coloured with markers and adhered with dimensionals to the snowflake.  The sentiment "Warm Winter Wishes" is from the Winter Memories stamp set too. 

Diana Scott-Pasco of Washington State made this lovely winter card using the Triple Stamping Technique.  What a beautiful job she did on this card.  The card base and layers are in Night of Navy and Whisper White cardstocks.  She stamped the beautiful snowflakes from the Snowflake Soiree stamp set in Pacific Point Ink.  The center of the snowflakes were glammed up with Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details.  The layered snowflakes are from a retired snowflake die. 

OTHER OCCASIONS:

I absolutely loved this Masculine Card by Candee Smith.  Candee combined two of my favourite stamp sets The Open Sea and Word Play to create this delightful card.  She has used the new InColours Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple for her colourful stamping.  The card base is Basic Gray layered with Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock.  A small piece of Neutrals DSP was used on the side.  This is a great card that could be used for a graduation, new job or male birthday. 

This stunning card was created by Jillibling.  The card base is Lucky Limeade covered with a layer of Island Indigo thats been randomly stamped in Whisper White with images from the Clockworks stamp set. The Very Vanilla layer is stamped with the wonderful Postage Due stamp set in Midnight Muse ink and has been torn across the bottom.  The beautiful postage images are stamped in Lucky Limeade, Perfect Plum and Cherry Cobbler inks.  Simply a great card!

 

This card by Cathy Parise of Washington State, is one of those truly great CAS (clean and simple) designs you want to have on hand.  The cardstocks are Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White.  She's  used Clear Embossing Powder to heat set the flower image which has been coloured with Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade and Versamark inks.  The images are from the Love and Sympathy stamp set.

This delightful card was created by Trina Gentry of Benton City, WA.  The card front is comprised of 3 layers of Whisper White Card stock.  Strips of Polka Dot DSP in Primrose Pink, Gumball Green, and Midnght Muse measuring 1 1/2" x 3" have been added to the last layer.  The flower stem image was stamped in Midnight Muse on Whisper White cardstock then layered with Scallop Oval, Large Oval and Bohp Blossoms punches.  A beautiul 5/8" Organza Bow adds some more dimension to this card.  The sentiment and floral stem are from a retired stamp sets.   

 

That's it for my Tacoma Regional Swaps.  Hope you enjoyed them and they've inspired you to get creative!    Please note that all the links for the stamp sets were for clear mounts.  If you're interested in ordering any of the products used to make these cards please click here to go to my On-Line Store.  Happy Stamping! 

 

 

 

Tacoma Regionals More Swaps

At the Beginning

Checking out what's in our goodie bags are Diane, Erin and my down line Ethel DeTemple. The bags contained our Make N' Take project packages for the day and our lanyards. 



Adel Klassen and her down line Gloria.  Both of these awesome gals  are demonstrators in the Chilliwack BC area.  If you're looking for some talented demos, these two fit the bill!

Diane Ison a Richmond BC demo and her guest Erin Parcey.  Erin just moved here from Winnipeg and wanted to make new friends.  Her mom advised her to join a stamp club, and that's just what she did.  She looked for demonstrators in Richmond and found Diane's stamp club.  Way to go Erin and Diane!

Here's Erin's great swap card using the Perfectly Preserved set from the Holiday Catalogue.  I love the little hearts escaping from the jar........... so much love!  It was so great meeting you Erin and exchanging swaps and sharing a table........... now we're friends too! 

 

Prize Patrol:

Prize Patrol brought lots of prizes.  They gave away lots of stamp sets and $50.00 gift certificate for the best swaps.  Everytime they called out Prize Patrol we pounded on the tables and anxiously waited to see if we were one of the 10 lucky names to be drawn.  We didn't win anything at our table, but we sure cheered on those that did.  Besides, Stampin' Up! is always so generous.  Everyone got one of these FREE clear mount stamp sets called Seasonal Sayings and the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin kit.  WOW, can't wait to use both of these.



Here's Ethel checking out her goodies.



Can you tell I'm happy to be there?  I'm showing off my great swag bag  I got for registering at Convention in July.  It's awesome and great for holding my supplies and swaps.  You just have to love those bold chevron stripes and the colour!

Here's a closeup of all my pins.  I love this bag so much I used a closeup shot of this on my Penny Tokens Face Book page for my banner.  I received all these beautiful pins and badges as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator.  Gonna get me some more!

Demonstrator Gift Exchanges and So Shelli:


From a Down Line to her Up line.  How Awesome!

From an Up line to her Down lines.

Boy I hope I got that right.  Never met the ladies personally, but if you're out there and read this post let me know who you are.  Both of these gifts are fabulous and sure demonstrate Stampin' Ups! Statement of the heart.  

This picture although dark gives you an idea of how big the Tacoma Regional was.  I don't know how many demos made it but I heard that Tacoma was the biggest Regional so far this year. 

It pays to look over your shoulder and check out the other tables. A lot of the tables were exchanging hand made gifts for their up lines/down lines.  On my way back from the Swap boards I came across the above gift exchanges.  Wouldn't you want to be the receiver?  I know I would have.   


Shelli Gardner, Scott(y) Nielson, CFO, Brian Pilling, Carrie Cudney and Holly Linford were sitting just two tables behind us, which was super exciting.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of them but they all looked fabulous!

Shelli gave the opening address and finished up with a wonderful demonstration of this card, which I instantly fell in love with.  Now I just have to have the French Foliage set and I just have to order some of the Natural Composition Specialty paper............. that was used for the leaf.  The leaf is really beautiful!  

 

 

Gloria and a fellow stamper in an earnest discussion about how a swap card was made.  Serious but fun stuff!  I can't believe how much you learn at these meetings.  Someone is always sharing! 

 

Stampin' Up really knows how to treat us.  We were served a very tasty box lunch for our break. It included a salad, wonderful mixed meat sub sandwich, chocolate chip cookie that was to die for, an apple, cheese and a bag of lightly salted chips. Yum!

Make N' Takes:

Doesn't this look cool?  Our first Make N' Take was a set of four thank you cards and matching envelopes all bundled up in a really easy to make vellum envelope.  The envelope is tied with Calypso Coral Baker's Twine and has a small sentiment attached that's been stamped with a sentiment from the One in a Million set.  To give it a little bling a small Rhinestone Basic Jewel was added.   

What a great hostess gift this would make. The transparent envelope was made with a 7 1/4 x 7 1/4" piece of White Vellum Card Stock which was scored with the Simply Scored tool and Simply Scored Diagonal Plate.  Envelope making couldn't be any easier. 

A stamp set called Clockworks was used for all the projects today.  We inked it up with Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, More Mustard and Pool Party inks.  Wow did they look awesome and what a great combination. 

This is the stamping on the envelope. Love the colour mix.

This is the card front.  Very simple but beautiful.

For our second Make N' Take session we made this awesome card holder.   Isn't it cute!  Love the flower which was made with the Fancy Flower punch. The scrunched up paper in the flower and on the box is made with First Edition Specialty paper.  This is a very lightweight paper similar to old encyclopedia pages, so it scrunches really well.  Oh and it's stamped on too with the Clockworks stamp set.   

 

The big surprise for me was that it's made with the Two Tags Bigz Die. If you're interested in how to make this box check out Heather Cserni's great tutorial, it's posted here.   

Here's another shot of the card holder and the cute cards that are inside it.  The cards are only 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" so they are tiny, but oh so cute.  The stamp set used for this project is called Clockworks.  Looking at this 8 piece stamp set in the Idea Book and Catalogue (page 105) I would never have guessed what a terrific stamp set this is.  It's definitely on my Wish List and I have plans to use it for a future card class. 


Our third and final Make N'Take was a very trendy scrapbook page called Above and Beyond. And, it truly was!   Again, we used the Clockworks stamp set and added some texture with buttons and some scoring (Baja Breeze piece was scored in 1/4" increments in both directions - kind of a cool technique).

The background Basic Gray card stock was stamped with the large image from the set in Basic Gray ink.  By stamping off some of the images it gave a grunge appearance to the scrapbook scene. 

I love the variety of card stocks used for the pennant pieces and how easy they were to assemble.  They were cut long and in a variety of widths.  The photo is layered over them.  Some of the pennant pieces were stamped or textured and all of the pointy ends were cut freehand, although you could use a square punch to make them more uniform.  Just sayin............  

This shows some of the lovely buttons and the colourful clock face.

 

Well that's it for this rather length post.  Tomorrow you get to see the actual swap cards I received .  Sorry for the suspense but I had so much fun I wanted you to share in my excitement.  Hope you've found it interesting.  See you back soon!

 

Stampin' Up Tacoma Regionals

Well stampers, I have to tell you this past weekend more than met my expectations! 
My downline Ethel and I attended Stampin' Ups "My Way" Regional Meeting in Tacoma Washington on Saturday and we had a ball!

 

We set out early Friday morning, enjoying a leisurely coffee and muffins in Linden, then did some shopping in Bellingham (can you say an hour in Michael's with no one bugging us "how much longer"), followed by a quick lunch and some casino time at theTulalip.  We arrived in Tacoma shortly after 3pm after a hectic but uneventful drive to Tacoma. Awesome!

 

We stayed at the Best Western Tacoma Dome hotel, which was  located in close proximity to the Tacoma Dome, Glass House, Zoo and Historic Car Museum.  During a short walk we found free transportation to the Convention center just blocks away at the historic Freight House Square. This old fashioned mall which stretches along several blocks, is a hub for a multi-modal commuter station and shopping district.

The shop keepers were very friendly and helpful.  One shop called Reclamation Candle Company run by Barney and Tammi Loucks proved to be a terrific place to browse.  The owners were more than friendly showing us all their wares and they had tons of great things including fun funky jewelry, antiques, candles and small inexpensive gift items. We bought ultra blingy lanyards for our event badges and I got a Mandles Cup O' Joe coffee scented soy candle that's to die for! 

 

View of our lovely room at the Best Western Tacoma Dome.

Freighthouse Square Shopping District

Ethel and I waiting for the free commuter train which runs every 20 minutes.  It's a lot like Sky Train on tracks. 

 

We met up with several members of Kristina Koch's Colourful Impressions stamping group during our stay. Kristina wasn't able to come but sent her best wishes to everyone for a good time.  It was wonderful seeing members of this group as it's been awhile since we've had a gathering.

 

Ethel and I had a few laughs when we saw this sign outside the Freighthouse Square and had to share it with our group.  Although spelled the American way, this signage was quite a coincidence!  Inside the shop they had lots of paper crafting supplies, including some Stampin' Up cards for sale.

 

Some members of Colourful Impressions .... Debbie, Sandra Farrell, Jenn Picard, Paul Jensen.  What an awesome group! 

 

 The following are some pictures of our swap cards and convention highlights. 

For my first card swap I chose the Jolly Jingles Jumbo Wheel and Four Seasons Hostess Set.  I embossed the images from the Jolly Jingles wheel with Silver Embossing Powder on Midnight Muse cardstock base.  The other layers are Brushed Silver, Midnight Muse and Whisper White cardstocks.  Some Rhinestone Basic Jewels were added for a little bling. 

The card base measures 4 1/4" x 8 1/2" and is scored at 3" and 4 1/2". Front fold will be a mountain and inside fold a valley. 

 

Tip:  If you make this style of card, make sure the layers all match up.  To do this, assemble the inside layers first and secure with adhesive to the inside of the card.  Next, assemble the front layers.  Press down on the front fold of the card so it lays flat, then line up the front brushed silver layer with the inside brushed silver layer, before securing with adhesive.  The other layers will automatically line up as long as you have made them all the same distance around.  

My second card is made with Button Buddies and the Mixed Medley Hostess sets.  The card base is Sahara Sand and I've used a 4 x 1" strip of striped DSP from the Be of Good Cheer Christmas paper pack.  The Cherry Cobbler layer is 4 1/2" x 3 1/2", the Gumball Green layer is 4 1/4 x 3 1/4" and the Whisper White layer is 4" x 2". 

The snowmen are coloured with Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green Markers. A 2/8" strip of Red Glimmer Paper is adhered on top of a 4" strip of Gumball Green cardstock that was punched out with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.  This is a really fun card to make and my card class stampers really enjoyed making it. 

Tip:  To get those little snowmen lined up in a straight row I recommend using the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool. It makes stamping so much easier.   Start by colouring and stamping the center snowman first (if you're doing a class get everyone to do this step then switch to the other colours).  Then, clean off your stamp and ink up with the Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black markers and then stamp the snowmen on either side of the center image, matching up the little twig arms.  You'll have to reink the snowman image in between stamping each of the Cherry Cobbler images to ensure a bright, crisp image.  Voila 3 little snowmen in a perfect row!  The rest of the card is just layering and a little bling.  I used Rhinestone Basic Jewels and some of the awesome Gumball Green 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon on the embellisment.

Here is Ethel DeTemple's beautiful swap card.  The card base is in Whisper White and the next layer which is embossed with the Framed Tulips Folder, one of my all-time favourite embossing folders, is in Baja Breeze.  Her little angel is fan folded using Snow Festival Designer Series Paper featured on page 10 of the Holiday Catalogue.  She used the Simply Scored scoring tool to make those folds a 1/4" apart.  The halo is punched from Silver Glimmer paper using the large oval punch.  She used the Scalloped Oval punch for the sentiment. Layered Boho Blossoms were used for the embellisment on the front of the angels dress. 

On Friday evening we spent some time with Paula Jensen, Sandra Farrell and Jenn Picard.  Jenn and Sandra, both placed in last year's Stampin' Up! Artisan Award Contest Top Ten, and let me tell you they are both such awesome and talented papercrafters, we could see why.  Ethel and I got to watch them assemble these swap cards, and let me tell you we were amazed at their assembly techniques, not the least of which was speed and craftsmanship.  We were star struck!

Jenn Picard's Swap card features one of the lovely ornaments from Delightful Decorations from the Seasonal Celebrations section of the Idea Book and Catalogue.  Her sentiment stamp is from the Greetings of the Season stamp set featuredon page 8 of the Holiday Catalogue.  Both winners and when paired up with the beautiful First Edition Specialty Paper and the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, absolutely sensational.

Sandra Farrell's Swap Card made with the Scentsational Season's Bundle in the Holiday Catalogue. 

Sandra's second swap card is equally awesome.  It's made with the Christmas Wishes hostess stamp set from page 39 of the Holiday Catalogue.   This card layout is perfect for this stamp set and would just as easily showcase the other two stamps from this set (minus the clouds of course)

Okay, well that's it for today, but I'll be back with more cards from the Tacoma Regionals that you're sure to love.  Come back again!