At Convention this year our group that was going decided to do a little gift swap. There were 8 of us that participated and here is what we came up with - you all saw mine already - it was soft, cuddly bootie socks decorated with a belly band and our punches. Toni made us the little packet of wrapped chocolate in a cello bag and topper - so pretty.

Theresa http://thecardkitchenblog.blogspot.com/ made us each a sewn coffee cozy decorated with our felt posies, to go around our coffee cups - how cute is that.

Shawna did these amazing travel journals - they have envelopes inside were you can tuck journaling notes, and any little momentos you pick up as you travel - what a great idea.

Check out the little matchbox easel that Sandy http://shadeeladee.blogspot.com/ made and filled with more chocolate.
Julie http://simistamper.blogspot.com/ made us each a fabric flower we could tie on our convention bags with our initial in leather. She also laminated a tag on the back with our contact info - way cute. Sorry fot dark as I had it hanging on my bag and the picture didn't come out as clear. You also all saw Heidi's http://stampinking.blogspot.com/ butterfly pins before, but this has now been on my bag and it looks even more vintagey as it has frayed. Love it. Finally, Bobbie gave us each these little DSP pouches filled with gum for our trip - yum!
These were all wonderful - and soooo much fun to exchange and see what everyone did. Thank you ladies for your great little gifts - start thinking about next year :)

Convention and Momento Mall

Every year Stampin' Up! has great products at their convention Momento Mall, for us to purchase for our businesses and souvenirs. This year was no different - I purchased this adorable apron and matching stamp available to demonstrators only - it says "Love what you do Share what you love" - I can't wait to wear it at my workshops. This next item I didn't have to purchase as it was our convention bag - I love it!! Strong magnets hold the buckles shut, it has a pocket on it for our cell phone, and I love the cute metal Stampin' Up! tag.But of course the Momento Mall always gets me with something I hadn't planned to buy, and this year it was this amazing computer bag - I LOVE IT!!! Can you believe how cute it is?!? It uses the pattern from the Greenhouse Gala paper - which is one of my FAVS!Finally - they had these wonderful reusable shopping bags for sale - that of course I could not resist. And if you're in my first downline and didn't make it to convention this year, be sure to be at our next downline meeting on August 7 - because I brought one back for YOU! To find out more about being a "Crazy Stamping Lady" and part of my downline just email me and I'll get information right to you - trust me you don't want to miss the FUN!

CSL Convention Group Swaps

This year our group of Crazy Stamping Ladies did a shoebox swap at convention. It was a bit of a challenge as we had to pack whatever was needed to complete the projects - but everyone did a great job. We also stamped (8 of us) in my hotel room - so it was close quarters - but we did it!! So here are the ones I made -
Toni's - Theresa's -

Shawna's -

Sandy's -

Mine -

Julie's -

Heidi's -

and Bobbie's -

These were so much FUN to make ladies - can't wait till next year!

Swaps and more swaps.....

So before I left for convention I showed you all my swaps here -http://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/2010/07/convention-swap.html
I don't do a lot so I don't get a lot but here are a few of my favorites - enjoy checking them out!

Convention Check In Day

Hi all - sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. I came home from an amazing Stampin' Up! Convention on Sunday and was exhausted. I didn't even realize how tired until I got to my own home and sat down - and wow - it hit me. So I slept instead of blogging - forgive me.
Here's our little Zavian (Heidi's baby) on his first plane ride to Salt Lake City. Isn't he a doll. He cried both ways before getting on the plane - but once the plane started, slept all the way - and then cried again when we landed. I've got to say a plug for Southwest - as we took it both ways and the flights were great! The first night was our Flower Power party - we arrived to an entire room all decorated in these bright colors and tables with flower arrangements. There were demonstrations going on, game show try-outs, games to play and win prizes, costume contests and more - such fun!

Here are a few of our gals trying out the hula hoop. Theresa - Shawna -

Toni - And here is Diane showing of her 60's duds - You ladies are braver than I :)

Here's our group - Toni, Shawna, Julie, Heidi, Diane, Sandy, Me, Theresa and Bobbie. I'm so glad you all went. Next year - the rest of you out there need to set a plan to join us!

Convention Swap

I go to Convention every year - but I am not a big swapper. I've been doing this soooo long that I usually don't need a lot of swaps. But this year my last stamp camp was all with new sets and materials - so I made some extras to swap at convention - here they are. Should be fun!
When I get home I'll show you what I swapped for :)

Convention Gifts...

So nine - count them - nine - of my group "The Crazy Stamping Ladies" are headed off to convention in Salt Lake City today. It's a great group and we're looking forward to having a wonderful time. To add to the fun we decided to do a little convention gift exchange among the nine of us. Here is what Heidi came up with -Aren't they amazing. They are pins made with the Big Shot and our butterfly die - the top and bottom are a heavier leather like fabric and in between layers are a lighter printed fabric, and their finished off with one of SU's antique buttons. Then she hung a tag with each of our initials on it, and decorated the cardstock she attached them too. So Cute! Thanks Heidi

Next are my gifts to the group. I found these wonderfully soft bootie socks in these great colors at Michael's - so I got them for the group. Unfortunately when I went to decorate them - it was almost impossible for me to find DSP to match. All of these are discontinued DSP's (one is not even SU's) but I think they all look great! The belly band is decorated with a double scallop circle and then with the bird and branch from our bird punch with a gem for the eye.
Here's a close-up of one of the pairs of socks. I hope they like them - at least no one will have cold feet. I'll post more of our gifts later. Plus we're having a shoebox swap among us while we're there and I'll be sure to post those cards when we get back.

Convention Notebook

So our little group of Convention attendees got together a couple times over the last few months to plan for and get ready for convention. At our last meeting we made these adorable little notebook folders, from a file folder. This is a direct copy of the tutorial on splitcoast stampers at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/filefoldernotebook/ Here the folder is opened up. It's held closed by magnets and on the left side is a pocket. We also decorated RSVP pens to match. It will be great for taking all those notes at convention. Plus you all know me and my coffee addiction - so I need my own Starbucks cup along and I just had to decorate it to match. I wanted to add some flowers, but the folder is a thicker material so it was all that would fit. I still think it looks great!

Another SSS gift...

Someone dropped this cute little "off to convention" gift off at my house for Diane. I don't know if you can read it, but the words under the little turtle say "enjoy the journey" how cute is that!

Great Gramma's Birthday!

July 13th was my Mother-in-law Gloria's 90th birthday - isn't that amazing!! She herself is just that amazing also - she is a wonderful Godly woman who has been a prayer warrior for our family and I can never thank her enough for that. What an inspiration to all of us. And she is feisty to boot - she lives by herself and still walks miles each week with her walking buddy. My hubby and his brother (her only two children) flew to Wisconsin to surprise her and be with her on her birthday - how great is that!! Happy 90th Gramma - hope your day was wonderful! We love you! So here is a photo album Jenee, Heidi and myself worked on for her. We used a Simply Scrappin' kit from Stampin' Up! to do the whole thing so it made it quick and easy and everything coordinated. Here is the cover - And a couple of the pages - I won't bore you with them all - but this gives you an idea - hope she likes it!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Hi all - today is my birthday - but with the busyness of getting ready for convention - I don't think we'll be able to celebrate till we get back next week. But that's okay with me - just keep the celebration going. So I'm posting some of the great hand stamped cards I got - Enjoy! From Toni -

From my Secret Sis -

From Melissa -

From Julie - http://simistamper.blogspot.com/

and from Jeri - http://cyriousstampers.blogspot.com/

Today is also my downline Bobbie's birthday - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBIE!! Your card went into the mail today - hope your day is great!!