My Convention 2013 Swaps

I have returned from another Stampin' Up! convention completely rejuvenated and exhausted!  Three days of adrenalin rush is not good for this old body, but somehow, I survived to tell the tale!  There were 5800 demonstrators from all over the US and Canada (along with a few from the South Pacific and Europe) and most of them brought cards to swap!  You can't believe the craziness that goes on when Stampin' Up! demonstrators get together to swap cards!  It's more like a swarm than a swap!  Cray. Zay.  I did two swaps this year, but I didn't make a bunch because I figure if I swap it I have to bring it home and store it somewhere--so I keep it to 40-50 cards.  I did a remake of my baby stacking toy card (don't you just love MDS!!!) printed four to a page and mounted them on coordinating colored card stock.  I had none left and I didn't take a pic before I left so I will show you the digital rendition:

I love how you can change a project in MDS to fit your needs, maybe next time I'll do it in pastels!
The second swap card was actually done for a organized swap, or a swap that has a theme and usually a set amount of people, in this case 10.  The theme was coordinating DSP and stamps which we have so many of!  I love that Stampin' Up! has "suites" of paper, stamps, and embellishments that coordinate with each other so you don't have to think, "Does this go together?" All you have to do is let your creativity run! (unless you're like me and you hit "the DEAD zone"! You know the one! Nothing, nada, zilch, zero!) Yeah, I started working on this weeks ago and all I had was the Chalk Talk tag punched out--that's it!  It just wasn't working!  I wandered around Pinterest and I saw a few ideas that caught my eye and then two days before I had to leave it all came together! (Sadly, that is my MO, hurry up and wait till the last minute! I finished my cards in the truck on the way to SLC!)  Luckily for me I only had to do 11 of them!  I used Soho Subway DSP and Hello, Lovely stamp set along with a little bit of Gorgeous Grunge on the Alphabet Press embossed background.

Besides the tag, the accessories I used were: Scallop edge punch; 1 1/4" circle punch; and a bit of 7/8" Cotton Ribbon which is easy to stamp on!

I don't know if you see a pattern here, but I REALLY like Summer Starfruit and Pool Party!!
Tomorrow I will post some of the swap cards I received! Stay tuned!

Julie