Swap Mania

I must confess. I have gone overboard. I have been stamping for the past week continuously with every spare moment, just so I can meet my swapping obligations at the Stampin' Up! Convention this week in Salt Lake City, Utah. Lucky for me, there is a help program for this overload called Stampin' Addicts, a website I can visit whenever I want with full support of all things swapping (and Stampin' Up!). So, when Bubba calls me crazy or gets frustrated, I can turn to my online friends, many of whom I am meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at a Meet and Greet.

There are two types of swaps at Stampin' Events-- General Swapping and Organized Swapping. I love the mayhem of general swapping with the music blaring, and time counting down to a speaker starting. But, I also love the quality that comes with an organized swap. These are done on Stampin' websites (like Stampin' Addicts) and you get to know the folks you are swapping with. Why am I going on and on about this? Well, you'll understand why my newsletter didn't get sent out, my phone calls weren't returned, and well, why I missed my first odd day since November, when I decided I would post on odd days of the calender. Lucky for you, I am going to share one of my convention swaps with you today to make up for it. Over the next few weeks (it will take that long to post them all), you'll see why it was swap mania for me.

Here's one of the last ones I made:

Stamps: Elements of Style
Paper: Morning Mocha Specialty Paper, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Perfect Pennants Bigz L die, Marina Mist Satin Ribbon, Pearls, Soft Subtles Brads, Piercing Tool and Matte, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Powder Pal, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz

I made this card especially for an exclusive swap run by my friend Lyssa, so it required above and beyond work.  I also used new stuff from the brand new Idea Book and Catalog. July 1st I placed a teensy tiny order (or at least Bubba thinks that), so I could get my hands on some new stuff!

 I embossed the hummingbird in black, cut it out, used dimensionals to adhere it to the Vintage Wallpapered Marina Mist Circle, which I placed on top of a scallop from the new Perfects Pennants Die. I also used the Stripes Embossing Folder on Whisper White, but I really wanted it to shine, so I sprayed it with Shimmer Spritz. I did 15 cards and still have over 1/2 a bottle left! Finally, the best part is the black page from the Morning Mocha Specialty Designer Paper, which is fuzzy! Those fleur de lis thingy's are velvet! HOW COOL!

Anyway, I have to catch my flight, but be sure to continue to check out my blog as I post all my swaps!

Happy Stamping!