Hello Fellow Stampers -
How is everyone this lovely Thursday morning? I have to say that I have been a little bit tired this week. Convention wore me out!! LOL :-) Honestly, I was going about a hundred miles an hour the two weeks prior to leaving for Convention, and then of course, Convention itself is a non-stop experience with all the workshops, general sessions, gatherings, parties, etc., etc. So I'm just sort of struggling to get some "get-up-n-go" this week! But we'll get there ;-)
So we have no Pals Paper Arts challenge this week. It's a 5-week month, and so PPA always take the 5th week of 5-week months off. So that gives us a chance to do other things. Which is really nice too.
I thought I'd take this chance this week to share some highlights of Convention with you, and to share all about our Stampin' Pretty Pals Sip and Swap event the very first evening everyone arrived. I look forward to getting together with our Pals group. We are all very spread across the country, and although we're "tied in" via a private Facebook chat group, it's not quite the same as actually getting to see each other face-to-face, and spend quality time together. Here are a few pics from our Sip and Swap last Wednesday evening.
Sip and Swap night is always an evening everyone in the group looks forward to. Most of us have just arrived in town within the short hours before; we usually all gather for a Lisa Pretto training session at about 4:00 SLC time, and immediately after we break for wonderful hor's doerves and swapping of cards. This is a planned swap. This is how a swap works for those who don't know. You make a certain number of cards based on number of participants -- i.e., I made 60 swap cards for this years Sip and Swap and convention. The cards have to showcase current product, and be a "full" card. This means, no card fronts only. In other words, some card swaps you would just create a "card front" -- a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of cardstock that has been decorated/designed. Our swap requires a complete full card that is useable and mailable. I love seeing other people's work up close and personal, and best of all, get to bring it home.
We hold what's called an "organized" swap. Everyone lines up in a straight line (or what should appear to be a straight line -- apparently we didn't learn anything in Kindergarten -- LOL) That's Susan Itell in the foreground in case you follow her blog -
Then the first person starts down the line, giving their card in exchange for the other person's; and each person follows.
By the time it's done, you've gotten one of each person's card, and they've gotten one of yours :-)
Have you ever seen so much fun :-) It really is a blast -- a real highlight!!
So I thought, as promised, I'd share some of the beautiful swap cards I received last week. I want to take a little bit of time and show off some of the other Pals work. This group is talented and I think they all deserve a moment in the spotlight. I won't do them all here today -- we'll start with some of my favorites here; and we'll look at some more later in the week or next week :-)
I showcased my swap card to you last Saturday -- you can see that post HERE.
Let's take a look at some others :-)
Design by Susan Itell
Designer Unknown
Design by Ginger Toivonen
Design by Susan Galbraith
Design by Jason Casper
Design by Lynn Kolcun
Design by Vicki Lozier
Design by Sherrie Gross
Design by Judy Newsome
Design by Windy Ellard
Design by Tina Johnson
Design by Candy Ford
Design by Shawn de Oliveira
Pretty Fabulous, don't you think?!? I look forward to sharing more of these beautiful pieces of art with you soon. I feel like I should find someplace in the house to hang them all up to enjoy :-)
So which one of today's postings is your favorite? I have one -- but I'm going to keep it a secret for now :-) Won't you leave me a comment and tell me which one was your favorite? I'd love to read your comments.
Have a great day everyone!!
Until Next Time . . .
Until Next Time . . .
