Saving My Convention Memories

Posted on August 25, 2013 by mauistamper

My Paper Pumpkin for May pushed me to work outside the box:

Before you ask, that little tile in the corner was a swap and I LOVED it!!

This My Paper Pumpkin kit from May has sat on my stamp desk for a while as I decided what to do with it. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t do a lot of scrapbooking. I have a really hard time choosing the photos – I think that’s what gets in my way. I really wanted to use this kit, but it took Convention to get me in the groove.

I’m gonna show you ALL the pages, but I’m not going into details on every product I used.

The My Paper Pumpkin kit included front and back covers, 6 pieces of DSP (6×6), 5 pre-cut DSP pages to fit the covers, 6 pages of self-adhesive embellishments, and a bag with 2 buttons and 2 arrow-shaped clip embellishments.

I needed MORE pages!! I added card stock pages and pulled out a heap of stamps. I also added mementos I collected at Convention.

Sometimes I journaled on the self-adhesive embellishments, and sometimes I wrote directly on the page.

That picture of Crystal in her Pineapple Sunglasses is my absolute FAVE.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!! Oi Oi Oi!! Wouldn’t you know it, we sat next to 3 demonstrators from Queensland, Australia for the opening General Session.

We really enjoyed meeting Stampin’ Up! staff, but Kathy Pitt (You Crew: Meet with an Illustrator) and Sara Brook-Humphrey (the My Paper Pumpkin girl – working in the Social Media booth) were special highlights.

I am so proud of my PINEAPPLE!

I’m also proud to have been part of the Guinness World Record for most greeting cards sent from a single location at one time.

Swaps!!! Need I say more?

If you don’t follow Erica Cerwin’s blog Pink Buckaroo, take a look HERE for more details on her INCREDIBLE Paper Camper. I was speechless.

Classes at convention are always outstanding. The class I enjoyed more this year was Carrie Cudney’s class “Living a Creative Life”. She had great quotes, great projects, and a great ice-breaker: We threw rolls of TP around the room!!

We wore those ridiculous Pineapple Sunglasses for 3 solid days. By Saturday afternoon my eyes were fatigued from looking through that cheapo plastic. We sure had fun with them!

Big Screen Photos…

and my name badge.

I used Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to adhere DSP to the front and back sides of the covers, then used a little Washi to dress up the edges. All the holes were pre-punched. Still, to be completely honest, this was NOT a 30 minute project. I think I spent a couple of afternoons on it – but I did more than double the pages. Here’s the kit:

Just a few more days to sign up for My Paper Pumpkin at the special promotional price of $10 + tax DELIVERED to YOUR DOOR! You’ll get a ready-to-go project with all the pre-cut paper, embellishments, stamps and ink you need. You add adhesive and a little time. These projects are perfect for taking out and about with you! Visit the Paper Pumpkin website and be sure to use promocode PUMPKINDEAL when you check out!

Convention Swap: Over the Top Tags

Posted on August 14, 2013 by mauistamper

I forgot to share my last organized Convention Swap project!

Postage Due and Loving Thoughts stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, and Sahara Sand card stock
Vellum card stock
Silver Glimmer paper
Calypso Coral and Sahara Sand FFIP
Big Shot
Dress Up and Window Frame Framelits
Fancy Fan TIEF
Bitty Punch pack, Word Window and 1 inch circle punches
Pearl and Rhinestone Jewels
Stampin’ Sponges
Calypso Coral Bakers Twine

This tag measures 3 1/2 x 6 inches. The two base layers were shaped using the Window Frame framelits – just cut your card stock to the width of the framelit, place the framelit at the top of the panel and run into your Big Shot just far enough to cut the top, then back it out.

Love that glimmer paper – I haven’t used it much lately, but Sparkle Season is coming!!

This swap produced absolutely gorgeous samples – thank you, ladies in Group 1- and a special thanks to my swap angel, Lynn Marshall, who stepped in to actually swap my tags when I developed a time conflict.

The Convention Tag It Bag

Posted on August 6, 2013 by mauistamper

At convention, Pam Morgan showed us a trick for adapting our new Tag a Bag gift bags. I brought home my Make ‘n Take projects (they were Take ‘n Makes for me! Much easier to bring home on the plane) and used her technique to step up my Tag It project.

Tag It (Ronald McDonald House Charities) stamp set
Tag a Bag Gift Bags and Accessory Kit (tags, coral twine, clothespin)
Calypso Coral card stock (I added the background flag)
Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana Stampin’ Write markers
Coastal Cabana Ruffled Stretched ribbon
Subtles Candy Dots
Uniball Signo White Gel pen and black Sharpie marker

Didja see his EYEBALL?

I had a little giggle fit over this one, I guarantee ya! This is a Maui Stamper Original Idea 🙂

Pam showed us how to put the gusset in the bottom, and I’ll give you the instructions for that too, but I also want to show you one more Maui Stamper Original Idea (MSOI – you knew that was coming, didn’t you?) She suggested we put a little piece of grunge chipboard inside the bag (that kinda junk cardboard that keeps your Stampin’ Goodies from getting bent when they’re shipped.) My MSOI was to wrap that little bad boy so when you look into the package it’s pretty, not grungy.

The dimensions for converting the bag are at the end of the post – here’s the how to wrap the base:

Cut your grunge chipboard just a hair short of 2″ x 3″. Cut a piece of DSP to 3″ x 4″. (This is Quatrefancy Specialty DSP.)

Apply a thin coat of Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to one side of the grunge chipboard. You want it to be spread smoothly and evenly to avoid any bubbles in the finished product. Center the chipboard over the wrong side of the DSP and use your fingernail or a bone folder to create the DSP at each edge (you crafters with the beautiful manicures will already have that bone folder in your hand). Trim the corners on the diagonal.

Spread a little more Tombo on the flaps and use your bone folder to press them over the edge and firmly across the bottom of the grungy cardboard.

When Pam put her bag together on stage at convention, she made it look really easy to get it squared but I had a little trouble until I had this MSOI. I put some SNAIL on one of the short flaps on the side of the bag and attached the bottom side of the covered grunge chipboard to the flap. This gives you something to wrap the bag around when you assemble the bottom. Once the first flap is secured, put SNAIL on the opposite flap, turn it under and stand the bag with the base squarely on top.

Doesn’t that little wrapped base look pretty?! And see how the wide flaps are pressed to the outside? Reach down into the bag with the bone folder and press the two narrow side flaps in place, then add a little more SNAIL to the two wide flaps and fold them in to finish the bottom of your bag. E-Z!!

To make the flat bag into a gusset bag, trim a narrow strip off the bottom – just to open it up. Score at 1 1/2″ from the bottom of the bag across the short end (I actually scored on both sides, flipping the bag over on my Stampin’ Score to be sure both score lines were solid.) Then score your bag at 1″ from each long edge. Snip along that 1″ score line on all 4 sides up to the 1 1/2″ score line – when you open up the bag it will resemble the open bag in the first couple of photos. Be sure to really press each of those score lines in well with your bone folder before attempting to assemble the bag. Don’t forget to invert and score the “gusset” fold on each side. Here’s a shot of the Big Screen at convention:

And there you have it! A package all ready for Iggy the Eyeball Iguana and some very special treats.

Be sure you stop by this weekend for another RemARKable Stamp of the Month tour featuring Tag It, the stamp set chosen this year to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Stampin’ Up! will donate $3 for every single Tag It stamp set sold. We’re proud of this support, and Stampin’ Up! as a company has donated over $1,000,000 to RMHC. In addition, Stampin’ Up! demonstrators world-wide lend their hands and hearts to RMHC, putting smiles on the faces of families in crisis. It’s just another way we’re Making a Difference.

Convention Swap: Top Notch Swap

Posted on July 31, 2013 by mauistamper

Too Kind was one of my first “Must Have” stamp sets from the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog. It was an easy choice for a swap:

Too Kind, Petite Pairs and French Script stamp sets
Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Crushed Curry card stock
Soft Suede, Old Olive, Crumb Cake and Crushed Curry FFIP
Versamark ink pad
Clear Embossing Powder
Heat Tool
Embossing Buddy
Linen Thread
Big Shot
Lattice TIEF
Window Frames Framelits
Paper Piercing Tool (aka Pokey Doodle)
Piercing Mat and Festive Paper Piercing pack
Stampin’ Dimensionals

I was surprised to see how much depth of color I achieved by using clear embossing powder for the second part of the two-step stamping. That’s just Versamark with a dunk in the Crushed Curry ink and embossed with clear. (Do you know that technique? If you don’t have embossing powder in a color you want to use, take a clean stamp and ink it with Versamark. Before pressing onto the paper, press your stamp into your colored ink pad. When you stamp, the color transfers onto the paper first and the Versamark sits on top. Quickly cover your image with clear embossing power and heat emboss!)

This card is the other candidate for my Swap Cards class on August 24th. Your vote will help me to decide!

I only made 20 of these cards and I’m glad that’s all I signed up for. This Top Notch swap yielded another set of gorgeous swaps, and everyone really did put their best effort into creating for their fellow demonstrators. Thanks to all the Top Notch swappers!

Convention Swaps: WOW Cards

Posted on July 29, 2013 by mauistamper

I wanted to do another oval card for one of my swaps. It’s fun, it’s easy, it fits in a standard envelope, and you don’t see too much of it.

The technique is simple. You fold a 4 1/4 x 11 inch piece of cardstock in half at the 5 1/2 mark and place the folded side slightly inside of your oval framelit. This works best with our lighter weight cardstocks, Very Vanilla and Whisper White. The framelit will cut cleanly through two layers of these papers, giving you the card base. Once that’s ready, I like to cut another complete oval out of my featured color of cardstock and adhere that to the Very Vanilla card – I use Tombo, the Wonder Adhesive.

Flower Shop and Express Yourself (hostess) stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Pool Party, and Crumb Cake card stock
Epic Day This n That DSP
Bermuda Bay and Daffodil Delight FFIP
Daffodil Delight Seam Binding
Bermuda Bay 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon
Big Shot
Oval Framelits
Honeycomb TIEF
Lattice TIEF
Pansy Punch
Vanilla Smooch Spritz
Dazzling Details
Tombo, the Wonder Adhesive
Stampin’ Sponges
Stampin’ Dimensionals

On August 24th, I’m holding a class to make two of my swaps. We are definitely going to make the Very Vintage card, but I haven’t decided if I should include this card or the Too Kind swap I’ll be posting in a few days. I’d love to hear what you think!

Convention Swaps: Vintage Card

Posted on July 27, 2013 by mauistamper

I really love swapping at Convention each year. I participate in organized swaps for the challenge and quality of swaps received, and I participate in general floor swapping because it’s such fun and it’s a great way to meet new people.

Today’s card is a swap I made for the Very Vintage Swap run by Barbara Welch. I received GORGEOUS swaps in return – everyone did an outstanding job. Hope they liked my card!

Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts and Affection Collection stamp sets
Naturals Ivory, Pool Party and Crumb Cake card stock
Crumb Cake FFIP
Pool Party Stampin’ Write Marker
Uniball Signo White Gel Pen
Big Shot
Apothecary Accents and Labels Collection Framelits
Beautifully Baroque TIEF
Finishing Touches Edgelits
Tea Lace paper doilies
Pool Party Seam Binding
Linen Thread
Very Vintage Designer Buttons (how could I not?)
Vanilla Smooch Spritz
7/8″ scallop circle punch
silver brads
Stampin’ Sponges
Stampin’ Dimensionals

This card was a labor of love, and I enjoyed every minute of it. One thing I’ve learned over time is that swaps with small group sizes (this one was only 12) are more enjoyable to create and seem to produce better results. It’s just no fun to make 120 of the same card, at least in my opinion!

I’ll be featuring this card in class on Saturday, August 24th if you’d like to make one for yourself. All products are Stampin’ Up!, of course 🙂

Undefined

Posted on July 22, 2013 by mauistamper

Ever wanted a totally unique stamp? Meet Undefined.

You can make any image you want. You carve it yourself.

NOW STOP. I know what you are saying. “I’m not artistic”, you say. “I can’t draw”, you say. “It looks hard”, you say.

It’s just like when you began stamping and you weren’t sure if you were holding the stamp right, or if you had enough ink, or whether you had stamped with enough pressure. You do it. You learn. Crystal and I did!

See! I’m smiling! I’m calm! This was taken BEFORE I ~~threw~~ firmly placed the cutting tool on the counter and said “THIS SUCKS.” The wonderful SU staff member behind the counter did for me what I have done for countless customers. She immediately came over and reassured me that I could do it and showed me how to hold the cutting tool. Turns out I was holding it sideways. Cutting with the cutting tool held sideways does suck. Cutting with the cutting tool held correctly is awesome! Here’s how it works:

Step One: Sketch your design true to size in pencil, and go over the design so that there is plenty of graphite on your paper.

Step Two: Transfer your image from the paper to the rubber by placing one against the other and rubbing firmly with your finger.

Step Three: Cut out your design with the cutting tool. It’s kinda hard to do this AND take a photo 🙂

Step Four: Apply the self-adhesive foam to the back of the rubber and cut out the your shape.

Step Five: When it’s all trimmed out, and before you adhere the rubber to the back of the wood block, ink up your image with Staz-On and stamp it on the front of the block.

Step Six: Adhere the rubber to the back of the wood block.

Step Seven: Stamp and ADMIRE!!

Don’t think you can come up with an original idea? Each kit comes with multiple templates for you to begin with – just trace and carve. Or you can use one of these ideas from The Home Office:

Notice that the letters are carved out, but the stamp doesn’t have to be too closely trimmed out around the outside.

I am SO going to make my own word bubble. The kit is already ordered.

This is a BIG @ sign! There are a variety of block sizes in the kit for you to play with.

Included in the Stamp Carving Kit #133402:

2 carving tools
3″ x 4″ rubber
3″ x 4″ foam
4 wood blocks (various sizes)
1 Island Indigo Stampin’ Write Marker
3 postcards
Instruction sheet
Stamp image templates

You can do this! And you will be thrilled, I promise, with your very own custom-made stamp. Visit my Online Store today!

Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013 Day 3

Posted on July 21, 2013 by mauistamper

Crystal and I were very privileged this morning to participate in a “You Crew” event. Demonstrators are selected at random for exclusive, up close and personal convention experiences and we were invited to meet with a Stampin’ Up! illustrator early this morning.

Kathy Pitt has been a Stampin’ Up! illustrator for 23 years! She shared such interesting and insightful information about how stamps are designed and selected for the catalog, and a little bit of history too. She also shared some scrumptious cupcakes!

As an extra bonus, after our You Crew experience we were escorted into the General Session and given fabulous seats in the second row! With almost 6000 demonstrators in attendance, that was a real treat.

The morning sessions were filled with lots of product demonstrations. Stampin’ Up! does not disappoint when it comes to projects! I have loads of photos but it is going to take a little time to organize them, and then I will share. I did find pictures of Shelli’s cards made with the newly announced Flip Card thinlets:

There are two sets of thinlets – one makes a circle flip, the other a label shape. They will be available August 1 (I think – there were so many announcements and dates that my head is spinning more than usual.)

We had really informative classes this afternoon, and then the final general session of the day. I’m heading home with loads of loot!

It was a great day. We finished up with the Pioneer Day concert at the LDS Conference Center, a truly lovely and revitalizing experience. Late night dinner at the La Jolla Grove and then a couple of hours of organizing and packing! We are two pooped pineapples but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Convention 2013 Day 2

Posted on July 19, 2013 by mauistamper

It’s late, the hotel wifi is really slow, and we have been going 110 mph with our hair on fire!! So much to tell – check back and I will try to update more over the weekend when I have more time.

First off is a very very cool new product available NOW. Undefined is a carve-your-own stamp kit. I made one – a pineapple – and once I got past my initial fear of starting it was fun and very rewarding! Check out the video! You can order NOW – the kit is #133402 for $19.95 and the rubber/block refill is #134808 for $9.95.

Draw your design, transfer it to the rubber (pencil transfer), and cut it out!

Don’t you love my pineapple?? I do!!

Shelli also demonstrated two new thinlets for creating swing cards. I don’t have a picture of a card right now but I do have one of a booklet she made. Look for the circles that seem to flip in mid-card. VERY exciting!!

Lots more swapping today, more free product, more opportunities to learn. Stampin’ Up! does an awesome job of providing resources for the demonstrators and Convention is where they shine.

This is one of the Dress Framelits cards – cover and inside – that Shelli demonstrated online. Please forgive the extraneous hands, cameras, etc – EVERYONE wanted photos!

Don’t have the cover of this one but love this moose card!! Haven’t seen a moose on Maui for, well, EVER, but the card is fun.

I participated in 4 organized swaps and some general floor swaps – be prepared for some INCREDIBLE projects in the next few weeks! Swappers are busy people!

The evening ended with a 80’s cover band, lots of entertainment, and dessert: mousse, brownies, cupcakes, you name it!! There was also a Washi Tape giveaway (almost as sweet as the dessert!!) and the opportunity to view more creative projects. So much to tell!! So much to show!! So ready for bed!!!

Convention Day 1

Posted on July 18, 2013 by mauistamper

Day One was full of adventure, Stampin’ Up! and otherwise! I have lots of fun photos to give you a feeling for our day.

We were up pretty late last night, so we skipped the super-early call and headed over to the convention center about 9am to pick up our convention tee shirts and do some swapping. TONS of demonstrators – Crystal met someone who turned out to be the cousin of a co-worker, and I met a fan of the Maui Stamper!

We visited but I have forgotten your name!! Please leave me a comment and remind me of your name. 🙂

We left the convention center and headed out to complete yesterday’s unfinished business, namely a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We got out to the wine store only to discover that THEY WERE STILL CLOSED.

Please don’t think I am a pathetic paper bag wino. We are eating our main mean at lunchtime (European style) and are having a little snack in the evening, and a glass of wine is a lovely companion to fresh berries, a baguette and some cheese. Oh, and perhaps a little chocolate. Anyway, we are standing outside the store with 25 minutes to go and it’s about 195 degrees outside. Crystal looks across the street and sees the next best thing to the State Wine Store:

Gourmandise provided a divine cappucino, beautiful air conditioning and lovely, warm service along with my scrumptious chocolate meringue. (Crystal had a rum ball, and she shared a little taste – also divine.)

The neon “Open” light went on across the street. Third time was the charm and we accomplished our task and then headed to Trader Joe’s. This is what people from Hawaii DO when we come to the Mainland because in spite of the fact that everything about TJ’s looks like the islands, they don’t have stores there.

Let me tell you something about walking around Salt Lake at high noon when it is 195 degrees outside. It will turn you into a crazy person in no time! You start standing in the shadow of the stoplight while you wait for the “WALK” sign to turn green. You consider opening the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in your bag and swigging it right there on the sidewalk. And then you make the excellent decision to take TRAX out to the Red Iguana for lunch (which was actually the plan all along.)

I have never had a bad meal – or a bad Margarita – at this restaurant. Today’s choice was the Mole Negro and it was delicioso! Once we were happily fed it was back to the hotel for a quick break before the Opening Session.

There are 5800 demonstrators and guests attending convention this year and it took a while to get inside. We found a couple of seats and quickly learned that our companions were from North Queensland! LOVED sharing Opening Session with our beautiful Aussie friends!! (Dearest Aussies, please let me know how to contact you so that I can send you a copy of this photo.)

Shelli shared some Stampin’ Up! history, we heard from Ronald McDonald himself about the impact Stampin’ Up! has made on Ronald McDonald House, and Pam Morgan shared some great stampin’ projects with us. We also got our bags!! Don’t know where my Convention Bag photo is now – I’ll share it tomorrow – but we have been assured that we will be heading home with plenty of convention swag. There were TWO Prize Patrols and then Shelli closed the session with an All Attendee Giveaway of new stamps from the Holiday Catalog.

Next stop was the Expo with 5,800 of our best friends! It was a little squishy at first, but things settled down a bit and we had the chance to see some great products and talk to some very knowledgable SU staff. Fabulous new stuff coming in the Holiday catalog!

I was one of the very last people to add my card to the Guinness World Record Smashing effort – 2,984 greeting cards mailed from a single location! And there’s that bag – a gorgeous backpack with beautiful Stampin’ Up! style.

It was a fabulous first day and I look forward to sharing more with you! Check my Facebook page for updates during the day tomorrow and I hope to hear from you soon!

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

Tag Archives: Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013

Saving My Convention Memories

Convention Swap: Over the Top Tags

The Convention Tag It Bag

Convention Swap: Top Notch Swap

Convention Swaps: WOW Cards

Convention Swaps: Vintage Card

Undefined

Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013 Day 3

Convention 2013 Day 2

Convention Day 1

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