Convention 2010 Meets MDS

One of the highlights of the convention every year is the convention bag and stamp sets we get on check in day. The bag this year didn't fail to please with it's bright orange and pink circles. So fun! You will see the projects we made with the stamp sets later.

Today was such a wonderful day at the convention, I won a prize this morning from the "Prize Patrol" in the morning meeting. Imagine 3000 Stampin' Up demonstrators in a huge convention hall, all excited about the possibility of winning a set of stamps, Designer Paper and bling! The cheering was nearly deafening! Then imagine my joy when I was one of the winners! I look way past goofy in the picture but I was pretty excited.

After a wonderful day of classes and projects on Friday I got a chance to go to the Stampin' Up corporate office and distribution center, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. It is an amazing facility and absolutely beautiful. We got to see where the staff works and creates and comes up with all the wonderful ideas that make Stampin' Up such a great company to work for. There were thousands of boxes of stamps in the warehouse, it smelled like opening a box of goodies when the UPS man delivers my orders. I love that smell!!!

On the way back to the convention I decided to put the time spent on the bus to good use. I had my camera with the pictures I had just taken and my computer so I did a scrapbook page in the MDS program. In less than the 30 minutes that it took to get back I had this page completed. So quick! It was fun to see the layout of where we had just been. I'll do the other half of the layout later but wanted to share the first page. The office building is impressive, just like the company. I'm loving the convention but I need to get some sleep so I can stay awake tomorrow.

More Convention Fun!

Wow, am I tired! I haven't been getting enough sleep and my brain is on serious overload! I'm having a ball though and learning so many new ideas. I can't wait to get home and share with everyone. Before I get to more convention pictures, I want to have a convention special. If you place an online order on my website while I'm away I will give you a $10 coupon to spend on your next order you place with me. A $100 order will get a $20 coupon! Take this chance to get some great products from the new catalog. There are some great new stamp sets as well as embellishments that are fantastic. I especially love the new pearls and rhinestones, so easy to step up a project with these goodies! I'm coming home Tuesday night but it will be Wednesday by the time I land in Nashville so the special will go till Wednesday, July 28. Have fun shopping!

OK, to get you in the mood to order, here are some of my favorite projects I've seen:

Amazing, wonderful, great!

I'm having so much fun! I'm seeing so many great ideas and wonderful creations here at the Stampin' Up convention. I love Stampin' Up demonstrators, they are so willing and eager to share what they have discovered, learned and created. I'll just post a bunch of pictures of swaps that I wasn't actually in. They had 3-D swaps and I didn't even think to make any of those, what was I thinking???? I'm going to post some of the 3-D swaps for you today. I wonder how many pictures I can put in one blog post. I reckon I'm about to find out!









Humm, that's 14. I'm thinking I will stop now so the poor souls without high speed won't have to wait 2 days to view all the pictures. I really do wonder how many pictures I can post in 1 post though. I'll try to post some more pictures later today. I think I'll change my blog to where it will only show 10 blogs per page instead of 25. That should help with the speed a lot since I'm crowding things up!

Having a Wonderful Time, Wish You Were Here!

I'm having a great time here in Utah. The actual Stampin' Up convention doesn't start until Thursday but I've been going to some classes and shoebox swaps the past 2 days and have made some amazing projects. I'll share some of my favorites but I don't think I can put all the pictures I've taken in 1 blog post!

Yesterday afternoon I did a shoebox swap. I made 6 cards that were very impressive. Look how amazing this first one is. We used the Presto Paper to stencil on and then sponged additional color around the stenciled design so you could see the design show through. Notice the 3 little pearls in the lower left corner. They are a new addition to our catalog and I'm loving them! We also have clear rhinestones. They come in a package of 150 for $4.95. I think that is a great price for so many of them and since they are adhesive backed, they are a very quick way to add the "wow" factor to your projects. This beautiful card was designed by Virginia Killmore.

The elephants on this baby Congratulations are precious. You will see the half-backed pearls again on this card, they are on several of the projects I've done the last 2 days. The Scallop edge punch and corner punch are a nice addition to any card and I love the creative way the designer' Shermala Austermann, used them on the focal piece.

It can be very hard to make a card for a man. They might appreciate flowers but we steer clear of them anyway. I love the design Pam Rhodes used on this tool card and the way the polka dot embossing looks like a peg board when you turn it to where the dots go in. Love it!

I showed the brayered embossing folder technique recently on my blog and Diane Glenn's pink card features the same folder, Vintage Wallpaper. It looks great as the pink background for the Fabuloous Friend card. We also used 3 of the clear Bitty Buttons across the bottom with the coordinating punch and the cute flowers from the Birds and Blooms die. I love the shape of those flowers. I'm also pleased with the addition of 1/8" ribbon to the catalog. It is a great touch to finish off a project that needs a little something else.

I love the little frog that was watercolored on this card. It doesn't open up like a regular card, the blue piece is hinged on with the brad and opens up to reveal the message underneath. Very fun idea, thanks for sharing it with us Linda Romer! The dark spot on the green isn't a goof up with the ink. It is the camera strap that got caught in the light. Notice the 1/8" ribbon again. So cute!

The last card in our shoebox swap was another card that

is made differently from the "normal" card. We made a little pocket to fit the card tag into. I think it would be a fun card to get, you would certainly remember it! This fun card was shared with us by Chi Nguyen.

Well, I'm worn plum out so I reckon I'll hit the hay. I should have time to post more of the fun projects I've been creating tomorrow. It's been a long and very fun day though.

Flying to Convention

I made it to Utah safe and as sound. I took a great class last night but totally forgot to take pictures when I got to the motel and I didn't bring them with me so I will have to wait untill I get home to share those with you. We made 20 cards and they are great. It took about 5 hours to make that many. That averages out to 4 an hour, a little more actually since we had supper too. Not bad for 10-15 minutes a card.

Those of you who know me know that I tend to be a little late now and then. I just get sidetracked so easily! On the way to the class last night we heard reports on the radio that VP Biden was in Nashville and Interstate 40 was closed between the airport and the place he was going. We decided to go on Briely Parkway instead to avoid the traffic. What the traffic report didn't know was that he wanted to go by the Opryland Hotel and see the flood damage and the progress they were making in restoring it. We saw the back-up in traffic soon enough to get off but it took a lot longer to get there so I was a little late to the class. See, not my fault at all, I can blame this one on the VP :~)

This morning I figured I needed to be to the airport by 7:30 for my 8:30 flight. We left the motel about 7:30 but since the airport was about a 5 minute drive that was no big deal. My husband was going to park and go in with me but the parking has been changed and we couldn't figure out how to get in so we ended up driving back out and around and I told him to just drop me off in front instead.

Security, gotta love it! The bag that had my stamp supplies in it had the x-ray guy concerned. He ran it back through and still couldn't figure out one item. He asked if I minded if he opened it. No problem, just hurry! I told him it was probably a punch and he put that baggie through and sure enough, the Jewelry Tag Punch was what he was concerned about. I got everything put back in the bag (which was a major challenge) and headed to the terminal. I was departing from gate A4 and about the time I saw gate A1 in the distance I heard the intercom asking me to come to the gate. I hurried a lot faster but before I got there they said "Elaine Wright, your flight has boarded. Please report to gate A4". Yikes! I hurried even faster and made it there before they decided to leave me. I can blame this one on my husband, right??? Or maybe the security guy who didn't recognize a cute little punch. . .

I went through the door to go down the flexible hall to the plane and immediately noticed sunlight at the end. Had my plane left??? No. It was one of the little planes. I had to walk down a long ramp and across the tarmac and up the stairs of the plane. Every seat was full except mine. I was pleased that I was in the front row though, I have a tendancy to get sick on the small planes if I'm in the back. I look at the seat, it measures about 6 inches across! Well, that is an exaggeration but I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't lost 25 pounds the last few months I wouldn't have fit in that seat!

So, all the way from Nashville to Denver, over 1000 miles on a small plane. Luckily, there was no turbulance and I didn't need the barf bag. I got ribbon attached to the 75 swap cards I was working on and got the layers all adhered. All 4 layers. One swap down and another of only 70 cards to go. At least the other one isn't so complicated. I tied as many of the little bows for the second card as I could in the barely 1 hour flight from Denver to Salt Lake City. We got a big plane for that flight which was a good thing since there was a LOT of turbulance!

The weather is nice here but hot. Without the humidity it is so dry I've put lotion on my hands about once an hour though! I'll try to post pictures for you during convention next week so you can see all the great projects and fun. If you are still reading, thanks for staying with me for a long post with no pictures!

Stampin' Up Convention next week!

The Stampin' Up Convention is next week and I'm so excited that I get to go again this year. They have absolutely wonderful conventions and I come away with lots of goodies and so many ideas, I just totally enjoy it! The convention doesn't start till next Wednesday but I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. I have a class at Julie's in Mt. Juliet and it doesn't end until 11 so I'm getting a motel room near the Nashville airport so I will be able to get 2 extra hours of sleep. I have to be to the airport at 7:30 Saturday morning.

I'm bringing my computer and camera so I should be able to post often at the convention and share some of the fun with you :~) I have 75 swap cards for one swap mostly finished. I have my Wow presentation nearly finished. I have 2 of the 3 shoebox swaps done and have a good start on another 80 swap cards. Something tells me that 1400 miles on a plane won't be enough time to finish everything! There never seem to be enough hours in my day. What? You are saying that maybe I should have started all this more than a week ago? I reckon you are very right! Maybe one day I'll learn . . .


I got this adorable little card from Julie as a congratulations on my last recruit. It is so cute and made me feel so good when I got it. That is one of the great things about sending a homemade card. It not only lets the recipient know you are thinking about them, it also lets them know you think they are special enough for you to spend time creating that card yourself. Who can you send a card to today to brighten their day and let them know that you care?

Friends Never Fade

I actually found a few minutes to make a card. That happens far too rarely these days for me. I'm frantically working on my swaps for the Stampin' Up Convention next week too. The blackberries, corn and tomatoes are coming in so I've been busy not only in the garden but also in the kitchen. I really need a clone! Of course, I'd stick her in the kitchen and I'd head to the stamp room!

Speaking of my stamp room, when I'm busy like this my desk (and right now my chair) get buried in all kinds of paper, ribbon and other goodies. The busier I am the worse my stamp room gets. Right now I have been taking my stamps and supplies out to the kitchen table to work on my projects. My 7 year old grandson spent the night with us last night and he followed me into the stamp room to get something this morning. He looked around and said "If every room in your house looked like this you could get on America's Messiest Homes". I didn't know such a show existed but I'm afraid he is right. My stamp room is in dire need of help! I reckon it will have to wait till after convention though.

I love the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I brayered some Tempting Turquoise ink over one side of the embossing folder and placed a square of Whisper White paper in it to get the background for this card. I really like the way it turned out. Then it was as simple as layering it on a piece of Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Tying 2 lengths of ribbon around it, stamping the image from Friends Never Fade in Pumpkin Pie and mounting it above the ribbons with Stampin' Dimensionals. I'm sure you will see a few more cards made with the Friends Never Fade set here very soon.

3 Beautiful Cards and Lawn Mower news

I have gotten 3 beautiful cards the past couple of days. I thought yall would enjoy them too. The first card is from Marisol Gutierrez and features the Beautiful Butterflies Embosslit, Finial Press Embossing Folder and Inspired By Nature stamp set. She brayered on blue and green ink onto Glossy White Cardstock to make the striking focal point of the card and added a couple of strips of blue ribbon for more texture. I think it is a beautiful card.

Second is a card from Diana Eichfeld. She used what is currently my favorite Designer Series Paper, the Island Oasis paper from the Summer Mini catalog. I just love the bright colors and cheerful designs in that pack! She also used the big flower from the Punched Posies stamp set, punching it out with the new XL Fancy Flower punch. Adding a border on the Tempting Turquoise strip with the Scallop Trim Border punch and a grossgrain ribbon were the perfect finishing touch for a very happy Happy Birthday card.

Third is another great card from Wendy Afflek. She used the fabulous new Because I Care stamp set to cover the background yellow paper and then ran it through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. It makes a great background for the card. Also notice the 1/8" Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon. This new ribbon style comes in 13 of Stampin' Up's colors and is so pretty and fun to use.

Last of all, I wanted to show you what the Husquvarna Dealer delivered to our house. One of the things I've always loved about Stampin' Up is their great customer service. They are so quick to get any problems straightened out for me. Well, I reckon Husquvarna is the same way because they delivered our brand new, bigger and better model of riding mower today. They even hauled off the burned out mower. The driver was amazed at how burned the mower was. he wasn't expecting it to be TOTALLY burned out! It is great to find a company who stands by their product. Molly is checking out the new mower. She has to give everything the sniff test!

Tagged Again!

I've gotten several tags and the cards are all beautiful. I got another one today. I didn't share my last one with you either so I'll post both of the cards today. The one I got today was from Sharon Field, I love the Sage Shadow and Basic Gray colors and all the layers. The pattern paper is the Nouveau Chic from the catalog that just retired.

I got the second card a couple of weeks ago but never got around to posting it. It is another beautiful card made by Karen Barineau. It uses the Very Vintage wheel, probably my favorite wheel. I love the way she sponged the color on the card. A nice technique that brings muted color to the card.

July Classes and blog candy winners

I'm only going to have 3 classes in July but I do have a few dates left for workshops if you want to be one of the first to have a home workshop and get to use the new stamps and paper and a copy of the new catalog. It is a beautiful catalog filled with wonderful projects and products!

For a full schedule of classes and events, go to my website calendar.

Here is our July layout, perfect for a day in the pool, at the beach or on a cruise - pictures from just about any summer day would work! We will use the beautiful, bright and fun Island Oasis paper and the Tropical Party stamp set. Also, we will add texture with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder, paper beads and hemp twine. The Scrapbook Class will be Tuesday, July 13 from 10-noon. Cost is $15 or free to club members with their $25 purchase. I have room for a couple of more people in my scrapbook club so ask for details. I plan a great layout every month and provide a pre-cut kit. You can use my stamps and punches, just bring scissors, trimmer and adhesive. You will have the opportunity to be the hostess and get the free hostess set and $15 in other Stampin Up merchandise during the club's run.

Right before the Scrapbook Class I will hold a New Catalog Blast Off so you can see what is new, get your own catalog for the 2010/11 Stampin' Up year, enter for doorprizes and have a chance to buy some of my retired product. I will also have a make-n-take table with a fun project for you to make. This will be from 9-10 on July 13.

On July 15 I will have a Retirement Party. We will create several projects with my retired paper, ribbon, buttons and stamp sets. I will have what's left from Tuesday's New Catalog get together sale for you to purchase as well as more doorprizes to win. There will only be a $5 supply fee for this class. It will be from 2-4 on Thursday, July 15.

I'll be going to the Stampin' Up convention the week after that! I was shocked that airfare has almost doubled since last years convention. I'm sure it will be worth it though, I love the conventions. They are packed full of fun, swapping, inspiration and projects. After I get back from convention I will have a Card Class using some of the brand new papers, inks and stamp sets from the new catalog. That will be on Friday, July 30 from 2-4. Class fee will be $10 for a set of 3 cards and a fun card holder.

To sign up for a class or to order your new catalog, email me at wrightplace4@mindspring.com

I totally forgot to draw for the 200th post blog candy Friday so I finally got around to drawing today. And the winner of the set of 10 cards is: The Wheeler 5! I also had a card set for the 100th blog follower and her name is Mary B. Thanks girls, one for being a loyal follower almost from the beginning and the other for signing up to be my 100th follower. Email me with your address so I can get your cards sent to you.

And 2 more pictures, not of SU projects but of the main excitement around here for the day. My husband was mowing the lawn and had 1 more pass to make until he was finished. Then the lawn mower caught on fire! We couldn't get it out with 2 fire extinguishers and called the fire dept. I love all the advantages of living in the country but one of the disadvantages is that the volunteer fire dept that serves us is almost 15 minutes away. Even if they had been next door though, the mower would have been a total loss. Maybe not as total as it is but a goner none the less. We are hoping that since it is only 14 months old and still under warranty they will replace it without too much hassle.