Just before I left for San Francisco, I picked up all my mail and sorted it.. in my mailbox was one of the publications I receive as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, titled "on stage". I took it along on the plane.. for inspiration, and to stay current. Imagine my surprise when I turned to page four and found the flower from my tutorial (found on this blog).. and Chiaki Haverstick's Designer circle bag.. both credited to a Melissa Sibert from Hollins, Virginia!! Even the description of the flower was straight from my tutorial.. here or on splitcoast.. amazing! Not the first time this has happened to me, I doubt that it will be the last.... Oh well!
While we were on our trip, we received a somewhat disconcerting call from our son who is in the US Air Force.. telling us that he may be deploying (early) to Qatar, Iran, Afghanistan.. convoys, air trips, and more.. YUCK!! He, of course was excited and ready to serve.. but we had already booked our flights and trip to visit him in Utah (December). We were happy that we had purchased trip insurance.. but not quite sure what it was going to cover.. I spent most of yesterday catching up on laundry, and today I went to St. Augustine to renew the contractor license for our business.. so hadn't had much time to check into it when.. (Thank you, Lord.. ) Our son called to say that they had a change in plans, and he won't be going after all!! (Hooray!!).. So that is todaya's highlight for me.. it's all uphill now.. as I pack for the Stampin' Up! Regionals which will be held in Orlando, Florida this fall. Can't wait to share all the fun stuff we will see and learn!
Which reminds me... a while ago I attended a vendor fair with another demonstrator. We met several interesting people.. stampers, demonstrators, and people asking questions who were pretending NOT to be demonstrators (strange behavior..). But one person really stood out when she looked at my board (display of cards/projects), pointed and proclaimed "I know who you copied THAT card from!!!" Now, I take great pride in my original artwork and like many other artists enjoy sharing my projects.. as long as my artwork or a semblance of it is NOT used for contests, publications, etc.. and I am given proper credit. SO.. when I realized which card this lovely lady was pointing to, I couldn't help but laugh and respond "Well, you must have a stampin' up! demonstrator!" The lady asked "Why???" And then I explained that every demonstrator who attended the LAST regional event in the state of Florida probably has that card.. She was quite surprised!
So.. here's one of the cards that we made at the last regional event.. it's great for using your old scraps of ribbon and/or cardstock..
Now.. Isn't that a fun way to utilize scraps?? And a button affixed with Crystal Effects is also quite a nice touch! Regionals are always interesting because Stampin' Up! has various artists from around the state present their own personal form of stamping, techniques, etc.. and we all learn so much.. which we then share with our customers, downline, and other demonstrators.. a really fun time for all! With my blessings, one of the guest artists will be teaching the dimensional flower as part of her demo. I had shared it as a swap last year... so it will be interesting to see what she does with it up on stage!!
One of the fun things we'll be doing in Orlando this year is a 'shoebox' swap.. where we all bring supplies to make a card which we've designed.. and swap boxes until all the card projects have been completed by each of the swappers. We are supposed to keep the projects fairly quick and simple.. just the kind of cards many of our customers prefer. I can't wait to see what others have prepared! Here's mine!
Cardstock: Natural, Old Olive, Brocade Blue
Ink: Brocade Blue, Old Olive
Misc: Brocade Blue 5/8" grosgrain, ticket corner punch
Techniques: Ink Wash, Fiberfill
Stamps: Abundant Joy
To finish the Robert Lewis Stevenson quote.. "the essence of love is kindness." I put the rest of it on the inside of the card. Hope everyone likes the card.. It's quick, simple, and the colors are fresh and fun.
Well.. got to run.. have a good weekend!
