I'm SOOOOOO tired!!!!

I have spent the past few days staying up till midnight and getting up at my normal time of 6:15 - 6:30.  I'm trying to get my system used to it because I *know* I'm gonna be lucky to see 6 - 7 hours of sleep in Salt Lake City.  I aggravated my carpal tunnel today so now every time I pick anything up or squeeze anything, I get a shooting pain up my arm.  Fun.  It's made stamping a real challenge.  LOL!  I'm about halfway done with my last batch of swaps.  I'm hoping to get them to the point where all I have to do is mount them on the base and label them.  I can do that on the plane.  And get Cherie and Lori to help me!  LOL!  

Here is a peek at one of my swap cards!  Stay tuned during convention for more!  LOL!

  Everything on the card is from Stampin' Up!

The stamp set is "Fresh Cuts" from the new catalog, stamped in the new Tangerine Tango onto Whisper white and then cut and layered onto a Tangerine Tango mat and again onto Chocolate Chip.  The flower in the center is also from Fresh Cuts and is accented with a Rhinestone Fire Circle brad.  The card base is Apricot Appeal and the sentiment from "Heard From The Heart" (also from the new catalog_ is stamped in Chocolate Chip. 

I made "mountable" card fronts for swapping this year, meaning that they are cut 4" x 5 1/4" so they can layer onto a folded card and have a nice border of color around the edge.

THIRTY SIX HOURS FROM NOW I WILL BE IN SALT LAKE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!

Tick tick tick......

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the future......   

ACK!  TOO MUCH TO DO LIST LEFT!!!!!  LOL!

I have 26 General swaps cut out and partially stamped that are waiting to be assembled.  I have started packing.  I have stripped the bed and am running the bed linens thru the laundry which should have been done this weekend.  Now, all I need to do is find a way to get about 6 more hours inserted into today and into tomorrow.... LOL!

The clouds part, the angels sing and light beams down from above.....

I AM DONE WITH Spamily and Roommate gifts for Convention!!!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!  And now that it's all packed up in a box that I'm shipping tomorrow, I realize that I didn't take pics of most of my stuff.  Oh well.  Tomorrow I finish packing the box and ship it to the hotel.  Fed X Ground will get there Tuesday afternoon and is under $10.  An overweight bag is $25 - $50.  No brainer!  LOL!  I may even think about shipping my shoes and some clothes and stuff.  The less I have to haul, the happier I will be!  LOL!  This weekend I am hoping to crank out another 20 - 40 general swaps that I totally CASEd from Dannie Graves who CASEd it from Stephanie Hargis in the Featured Stamper Challenge over on SCS.  LOVE THAT LAYOUT! 

Then all I have to do is laundry and packing and prepping dinners for Russ to have while I'm gone.  I have the meat for 2 of them in the freezer already.  Tomorrow will be the third and final.  YAY!

NOW I'm starting to REALLY get EXCITED about Convention!!!!!!  We get to check-in online tomorrow.  Woo hoo!  I ordered my Fall Catalogs today.  They should arrive on my doorstep shortly after Convention.  If anyone (other than Julee- I got you covered!) needs one from me, let me know.  I have 3 to 5 available to send out.  They will go out as soon as I get them.  Watch this blogspot for me to upload a link to photos from convention of the new goodies.  I'm guessing Thursday afternoon is when I will start uploading.  They will upload to either Photobucket or Flickr, whoever will take my 8MP photos and squash them down automatically for me!  LOL!

Everyone have a FABULOUS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

A Special Birthday Shout Out!

 

To Julee over at Poetic Artistry and Verve Visual!!!!!

A Sneak Peek!

OK.  Last night at midnight, I finally finished my 10  "cards" for Kim Bolzenthal's "WOW Swap" at Convention.  The card is a Diagonal Double Pocket card.  The instructions for the card itself can be found HERE.  All materials used are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

 

The front pocket contains a little mini clipboard with a small pad of Post-It notes (from wherever!) that slip into a scalloped pocket.  The clipboard is a large (3.5" x 5") laminate sample from Home Depot.  It is covered with paper from the new Bella Rose DSP and topped off with 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain and Pretty In Pink Taffeta.  The post-its slip into a little pocket of contrasting paper that I used the new Scallop edge punch on.  The Bulldog clip came from an office supply store and is topped with Pretty In Pink Gingham. 

The back pocket tag is printed using Stampin' Up's Write Me A Memory Journaling Fonts CD, Vol. II.  The font is Girly Girl.  It says, "It's a new catalog!  DREAM BIG!  Here's a little note board to help you keep track of your new catalog wishes!".  It is printed in RGB 115/87/86 (to match Chocolate Chip) on Whisper White, sponged with and layered onto Pink Pirouette and then onto Chocolate Chip.  The corners of the white and pink pieces are rounded and the hole was punched with the Horizontal Slot Punch.  The ribbon is 1/4" Pretty In Pink Grosgrain and Pretty In Pink Gingham.

The card itself is also made of the new Bella Rose DSP.  I used the new Scallop Edge punch to scallop the middle section.  I accented the front with Gold Brads, ribbon (I used different colors on different cards - 5/8", Taffeta and 1/4" Grosgrain were all used) and the stamped image.  The image is from the new Dreams du Jour set.  It is stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink on Pink Pirouette and colored in with Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and Certainly Celery markers.  The corners were punched with the 1/4" Square Punch and then layered onto Chocolate Chip and again onto Riding Hood Red.  I used the piercing tool from the Crafter's Tool Kit to add the holes for a little extra detail.  The image is attached to the cardfront with Dimensionals.

Here are the six different patterns:

And a picture that shows the scallops on the card:

I am TOTALLY relieved to have this swap DONE.  It was the last of the ones I signed up for and was the most challenging for me to make.  I changed DSP *TWICE* on this project and really had no clue until yesterday what I was going to do for the tag in the back pocket.  I now have 10 days left to finish the gifts for my roommate and group and to hopefully make more swaps for trading out on the floor at Convention.  WISH ME LUCK...... 

Today I take a brief break from Convention stamping to do a birthday card that's a bit challenging for me because the recipient is a VERY talented stamp artist, so for some stupid reason, I always feel a little intimidated sending her stuff I make because the stuff she does is just so OVER THE TOP gorgeous that I feel like my cards look like a kindergartners' next to hers!  LOL!  I know.  I'm insecure and nutso.  LOL!

Hope you enjoyed this little sample of my convention stuff.  I promise to upload more of my swaps after convention.....

***************

P.S. FOR JUDY V - Are you sitting down?  Swallow whatever you have in your mouth.  I FOUND A REALITY SHOW I LIKE ENOUGH TO TiVO!  I'm in love with "America's Top Dog".  LOL!  I've been a fan of Tillman, the skateboarding Bulldog for a long time.  You should have Mocha watch it... he might learn a thing or two.....  He he he.....

I'm home and I'm TIRED!

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.... mostly because I changed my mind on papers and didn't have the coordinating colors with me and on another project I brought the wrong size punch.  I did get 42 card fronts done plus the bulk of the work on my little bottle collar drink mix holders (that's the project I brought the wrong punch for....  All the images are stamped, I just need to punch, layer and adhere them).  I have a UPS box coming tomorrow with the new Bella Rose designer paper which I decided to use on a couple of things I'm doing.  It's REALLY pretty.  Based on the sneak peek we got of the little camera bag they are going to have at memento Mall at Convention, I'm really going to like the new Maine Blueberry paper too.....  This could be an expensive catalog!  Tomorrow I will unpack the 4 container of stamp room stuff and tidy up in there.  I'm hoping to get a LOT done on Friday and Sunday.  I also have a birthday card and gift to make for someone and get that into the mail on Monday.  BUSY WEEKEND AHEAD!

I wish I could post what I've been working on, but since the Spamily read my blog, I won't be posting my Convention stuff since a good deal of it is stuff for their gift bags!  LOL!

Hi, ho, merry-o, a-stampin' I will go!!!!

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off!  My annual "Pre-Convention-Swap-Making-Escape-to-the-Cabin" begins on Friday.  Four full days of uninterrupted, undistracted STAMPING.  (I don't count the travel and packing/unpacking days of Friday and Wednesday)

I eat and sleep when I want.  No cat wanting attention.  No laundry.  Nobody wanting me to make dinner.  So I've been working hard getting the prototypes for my swap cards made and stamping and cutting everything I can to assemble up there.  I got three done - all bagged up like little stamp camp projects!  I still have one more swap to decide color and stamps on.  Don't think I'll have time to pre-cut that one. 

Today's time in the stamp room will be spent picking out papers, stamps, inks and embellishments for the gifts I'm doing for the Spamily and my roommate, Heather, as well as trying to figure out how I'm going to finish the 10 "WOW" cards for a swap I signed up for.  It's a double-pocket card.  I have the paper cut and scored for the base, I just don't know what I'm putting in the pockets or how I'm decorating it. 

It was 106 here yesterday and it's going to be 108 here today (I call that "STUPID HOT").  Needless to say, I will be staying INDOORS as much as possible!

Wish me luck.......

Just Waitin' for the UPS truck!

And while I was waiting, I decided to "whip up" a quick little something for Randy, my UPS driver. 

Sorry the picture is so huge, but for whatever reason, Blogger is putting "?" instead of the photo, and I've tried 3 different times to upload it, so I pulled it over from my gallery at SCS instead and it comes over in LARGE size.  SORRY!

It's a little Nugget Box (4 nuggets inside) that I made using Taken With Teal and Tempting Turquoise and Not Quite Navy ink.  The Stamp set used was "Lots of Thoughts" from SAB this year.  I punched the sentiment out with my 1 3/8" circle punch, edged it with my ZIG Painty Pen and then used dimensionals to mount it on the Scallop Circle.  The ribbon is the 5/8" Vanilla Grosgrain. 

OH! THE DRAMA!!!!

OK - for those of you in touch with the Stampin' Up! world, July 1 is the day that the demonstrators can pre-order selected items out of the new catalog, including the new "In Color" card stock and inks.  The list posted just after midnight.  Of course, Order Entry wasn't updated quite as swiftly, so I waited patiently (OK, I SLEPT most of it away) to place my order this morning.  They are still ironing out the bugs, but there is something quirky every time we get a new product pre-release, so I've learned to roll with it.  LOL!  So, some time in the near future I will be the proud owner of the new In Color card stock and inks as well as a new punch, new Designer Series Paper, a new greetings set and another stamp set.  We also had the opportunity to order a Level 2 and a Level 3 Hostess set.  None of them really make me think, "I GOTTA HAVE THAT!", so I haven't ordered any of those.  I have a while to decide if I want more.....

I have set aside July 12-15 to work on Convention stuff.  Four days of crafting.  Nothing else.  No laundry.  No work.  CRAFTING.  I've got to GIT 'R DONE!  We're less than a month away now!  EEK!  Somewhere in the middle of it all, I also need to get birthday cards/stuff done for July.  I have birthdays to recognize on the 12th, 15th, 19th and 24th.  I'm definitely waiting for my pre-order stuff to do the one on the 24th.....  she needs a card done with NEW COLORS and STAMPS!  LOL!

So that's what's going on in my little crafting corner of the world.  In case you hadn't heard, half of Northern California seems to have had wildfires burning in or near it.  Our air quality was pretty bad last week.  Yesterday it was nice.  We could even see BLUE SKY again.  Not too bad today, but the breeze we had yesterday seems to be gone.  Oh well!  Hopefully the smoke will stay gone!