Stampin' Up! Convention 2011 was awesome!!!!!

Hello all!!!  I know it's been a while since I've been on here, but I just got all caught up in getting ready for convention, then going and now I'm back home!  My how time truly does fly when you are having fun!!!

Convention this year was a blast!!!  Shelli spoiled us way beyond any year that I have been there and I can't wait to see how this new year plays out!  The new catalog is FANTABULOUS!!!!!!!   And the stamp sets we received are just awesome!  And the Holiday Mini coming is filled with even more wonderful new stuff!!!!  Have you heard we will have our own scoring tool - Simply Scored???  Can't wait to order that!!!

Here's some pics of convention to give you a taste of what went on:

My friend Brandy and I at Momento Mall.  We drove out from Michigan!!!

The theme this year was "Grow".

That is Rich Jutkins on stage, he is the President of SU!

Brandy & I during General Session.

Brandy, Chrissie, Lisa and I at the Garden Party on Wednesday night.

We had sooooo much fun!!!!  And the drive from Michigan to Salt Lake was not bad at all!!!  You could be there next year with me too!  They have an awesome sign-up special right now.  If you have any questions, let me know.  I would love to share the fun and excitement with you too!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

A Thank You Pear - CS40S

Hello all!!!  Wow two posts in two days!  Well, over on the Creative Sketches blog it's Thursday and time for another sketch!

The sketch this week made me stop and think for a minute and I wasn't quite sure what I was I going to do!  But once I looked at my dsp and thought of the new stamps I wanted to ink up, it just fell into place from there!  Don't you just love it when that happens?? :)

The card base is Whisper White, layered with Poppy Parade and a piece from the Pocket Full of Posies dsp.  Now, I have to admit when I first looked at this dsp in our pre-order period, I wasn't all that thrilled.  I mean I like retro and funky, but this seemed even a little funky for me!  But, I ordered to give it a try and I have to say I am glad that I did.  I've been cutting into it like crazy!

The center panel is Pear Pizzazz layered with WW.  I stamped the pear from one of the new hostess exclusive sets, Faith in Nature.  I used black staz on and then watercolored with the different stamp pad lids.  I really like how my pear turned out!  Not sure how much you can see, but I spritzed it with my Soft Suede marker after.  The sentiment is stamped in Poppy And a piece of linen thread is also wrapped around it.

The double ribbon strips are punched from So Saffron and then pearls are attached.  The entire center panel is is up on dimensionals.

Enjoy!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~~Ann~~~

GCA #137 - Buy Anything New Lately???

Hello all!!!  Yes, I seem to be behind the eight ball lately!  Leaving for convention next week and I spent the entire weekend working on my swaps to get ready.  Besides doing the normal things like laundry, starting to pack, buying groceries and dealing with a totally annoying (non-life threatening) family drama.  My friend who is going out to convention with me and I, are driving out to Salt Lake City!!!!  Are we crazy you ask??  Maybe, but we are going to see how it goes!  We've traveled several times before and do it fine together.  I'm just excited to be going!

So, in reference to the new catalog year with Stampin' Up!, have you seen it?  I love this catalog and think it just may be one of my faves.  I'm trying very hard to resist buying anything from the catalog until after convention.  We did have a pre-order period of sneak peek products and that is what I have to show you today.  Two card, actually!!  So I'm going to keep the descriptions short.

Both of the cards use one of the new In-Colors - Pool Party!  Think this is my new fave!!  They also use Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi and WW.

The first card uses the new Pennant Parade set along with the co-ordinating Pennant Punch.This is a double punch that gives you both the scalloped one and the smaller layered pennant.  The "Thank U" is in the set.  The dsp is from the new set of "Just Add Cake".  White baker's twine was used to string the pennant's "together".

The second card uses the Touch of Kindness set from the current Summer mini.  New to me since I just ordered it!  It is the most delightful set, too!  I watercolored the birdbath and such and then on the water drops I added some of smooch paint, but you can't see it very well.  The belly of the kitty is paper pieced.  One other brand new item this year is the Lace Ribbon border punch.  OMG!!!!  I'm in love!!!

Upload your creation to either your blog or to an online gallery and post a link to your creation to this blog entry by July 9, 2011 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner the next day. If you upload your card to SCS, PaperCraft Planet, Stampin' Addicts, Stampin' Connection (for SU! demos) or Stamp TV, please put GCA137 in your keywords. That way everyone can see all of the wonderful creations at once!


Even if you can't make the deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenges and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~~ 

GCA #136 Winner is....

.....Rebecca!!!!!  You can view all of Rebecca's work on her blog Little Miss Princess Scrapper.  She makes delightful cards so pay her a visit.  Here is her winning card for this week:

Thanks to all who stopped by, played along, left comments or just took a look!

Up Next:  GCA #137 - Buy Anything New Lately???

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~