Linda Tolson Designs

In years past Stampin’ Up! has given the annual gathering of US and Canadian demonstrators (a/k/a Convention) a theme name.  My first Convention in 2010 was “Share What You Love,” 2011 was “Grow,” 2012 was “I Am,” and 2013 was “Be the Difference.”  For 2014 they opted to return to the basics of what Stampin’ Up! is really all about — to Inspire.Create.Share. with others our love of Stampin’ Up!

I return home from Convention full of energy and the desire to share with others the new techniques I have learned and wait with anticipation for the release of the wondrous new products that are revealed on Main Stage and in the Demonstrator Resource Center so that I can show you and tell you all about them.  This year is no different, with one exception — I REALLY want to follow through and I am asking for your help to keep me on my path.  Who is with me here?  Anyone?

Did you know that Stampin’ Up! has a “Statement of the Heart”?  They do and it reads as follows:

My first step in sharing with you what I love is to show you the two cards I made and took with me to Convention to swap with other demonstrators.  I usually make four to six different designs, but after working on my wedding stuff for so many months, I was a little fried mentally and waited until two weeks before I needed to leave for Convention to even begin thinking about what I wanted to create (procrastination is not a good thing when getting ready for Convention!).

While designing my wedding invitations I had cut all my layers for the folder that I put them in to mail but realized I had to scale down the folder to fit in the envelopes — but I forgot to resize my layers BEFORE I adhered them together — OOPS.  So I had about 75 matted Pool Party and Whisper White pieces just laying around and was determined to use them in at least one of my swaps.  Thankfully it worked out nicely …

Each mat was originally 6.5″ x 4.75″ and I simply cut them in half and added a strip of Real Red cardstock punched with the Dotted Ribbon punch on the cut edge and no one is the wiser!  One example of how there are no “mistakes” in paper crafting … just opportunities to embellish.

My second card slowly evolved from me knowing I wanted to use my new Blendabilities markers and one of the  flower stamps from the Bloom with Hope hostess stamp set from the new Annual Catalog.

I originally was just going to use the label in Old Olive under the greeting but then realized it would be cool to use the negative from the die cut framelit to make a window (good thing I am a stickler for centering my framelits when I run them through my Big Shot!).  So don’t throw the “remnants” away crafters, they could also have been used as a mask to stamp an image or sponge a shading (like I did on my first card, above).

I hope you have enjoyed my post and that you learned something new that you can’t wait to try out for yourself.  If you have any questions about how I created the above cards, do not hesitate to send me a message or email me at lrtolson@tx.rr.com.  And in case you want to give these card designs a try, here are the supplies that you will need:

Swap #1:
Stamp Set:  Groovy Love (clear-mount) (wood-mount)
Card Stock:  Pool Party, Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad
Tools:  Artisan Label Punch, Extra-Large Oval Punch, Sweetheart Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch
Other Supplies:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, Crystal Effects, Sponge Dauber

Swap #2:
Stamp Set:  Bloom with Hope (clear-mount) (wood-mount)
Card Stock:  Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Inks:  Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad, Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and Old Olive Blendabilities
Tools:  Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lovely Lace Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack
Other Supplies:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, Jewels Basic Pearls, Crystal Effects

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, stamp on my friends,
Linda