Convention 2014 Continued . . . Day One . . .

Day One of Convention started with the crazy swapping in the Foyer of the Melbourne Convention Centre. There were over 700 women running around very excitedly, catching up with friends they hadn't seen since last year and meeting new people. Some people were also collecting their bags, but I was lucky enough to get mine the night before when I attended a class on the Wednesday night before Convention officially started.

The bags were a little smaller this year, but a fabulous red (Real Red) with a blue lining. The gorgeous bag tag on the right hand side was one of my roomie swaps, made by the very talented Judy May and my room mate for the week at the Best Western Riverside Apartments. It's actually a scissor charm, but since I had no scissors with me I hung it from my bag for the week. We also got a pen with a stylus on the tip for using with a tablet or smart phone. Inside the bag was our program, lanyard, name tag and any pins and awards for sales and recruiting. I didn't qualify for anything this year, but have set some goals for next year - more about that later.
The General Session for Day One was opened by one of the lead singers from the Musical "Wicked", singing "Popular" and she was fantastic. Shelli Gardner - the Founder of Stampin' Up! then welcomed everyone to Convention and got us all inspired for the days ahead.

Our first Inspire. Create. Share. Workshop was very exciting as we received our second free stamp set of the day and made two beautiful cards with it. The "Share" part of the session was to send one of the cards to someone who had made it possible for us to come to Convention, so one of the very special people in my life will be receiving this soon.

This card is made with one of the stamp sets from the 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue which starts on the 1st July 2014. It also shows several of the new IN COLOURS - Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Tangelo Twist (the fifth colour is not pictured and is Lost Lagoon). The two cards are slightly different in design - see if you can pick the differences!

Project Details
Stamps	Kinda Eclectic
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Hello Honey, Vellum, Blackberry Bliss DSP
Ink	Crumb Cake, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist, Staz On Black
Accessories	Linen Thread, Mini Paperclip from Basics Hodgepodge Clips Set, Dimensionals
Tools	Elegant Butterfly Punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch, Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Scissors

Please contact me if you would like to receive a copy of the new catalogue when it becomes available.

Happy Stampin'

Kayleen

Stampin' Up Convention 2014

Wow - where to begin? I have just returned from Stampin' Up's Annual Convention which was held in Melbourne this year - my home town. I decided to stay in the city for the 3 nights so I could immerse myself in the whole experience (and not have to battle the traffic morning and night). It was absolutely fantastic and I am thoroughly INSPIRED to come home and CREATE lots of new samples for classes to SHARE with all my family and friends. Can you guess what the theme was for Convention this year - that's right . . . INSPIRE, CREATE, SHARE.
Here is the first project I want to share with you - my Convention swaps - I made 50 of the same swap, but in the five 2012-2014 In Colours, Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit and Primrose Petals. It took me quite a while, but I had a bit of a production line going in the end and managed to finish them one evening while the boys were watching the footy.

Here is a close-up of one of the colours - Midnight Muse:

Project Details
Stamps	Dictionary, Happy Watercolour
Card stock & Papers	Naturals Ivory, Midnight Muse
Ink	Midnight Muse
Accessories	Basic Pearls, Stitched Satin Ribbon
Tools	Daubers, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Scissors

The idea of the swaps is that you come home with (in my case 50) swaps made by other demonstrators to give you ideas for future projects. It's also lots of fun swapping and meeting other demos from around Australia and New Zealand.

More to follow soon

Happy Stampin'

Kayleen

Something a little bit different

I'm not sure what I do with my time each week, but it seems to vanish at a rate of knots and all my good intentions of regular posts go out the door. I have been catching up on some non-card making crafts - a quilt for my daughter Jess and some scrapbooking. I have been making lots of cards, but I also made this candle and card set for a dear friend of my Mum's. The candles are decorated by stamping onto tissue paper and then heat setting the image onto the candle. I also made a matching card to go with it. . .

Project Recipe
Stamps	Million & One, Simply Soft, Occasions Alphabet
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink	Perfect Plum, Versa Mark
Accessories	Basic Rhinestones, Ribbon
Tools	Heat Gun, Embossing Powder, Sticky Strip, Embossing Buddy

From all accounts, she was most appreciative of the gift. I did make this back before Christmas, but couldn't post the pics until Mum gave this to her friend in case she saw it beforehand. I also made several sets for friends and class teachers for Christmas. . .

As always, if you would like to learn how to make anything I have posted, please contact me for dates of upcoming classes.

Happy Stampin'

Kayleen