Convention projects: Part 1

Yesterday I was finally ready to hit the craft room and get my fingers inky. But although I have a bunch of new stamping supplies, I was feeling a bit lost in terms of what to make. So instead of wasting time feeling frustrated, I pulled out some ready-to-make projects: my make-and-take packets from the Stampin' Up! Convention last summer. (Yes, that was more than five months ago, but better late than never.) There were four projects, so I'll share two today and two tomorrow. And while I can't take credit for the original designs, I did make a few changes so the projects better fit my style.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Hello, Lovely
Cardstock: Whisper White note cards and envelopes
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Rhinestones, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, Stamp-a-ma-jig

In the instructions for this project, each note card had a different design, but I really liked the simplicity of this layout, so I decided to use it for all of the cards. I stamped the images in a different color ink for each card, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to help with placement. I added the rhinestones and was going to stop there, but on the last card I stamped -- I think it was the Coastal Cabana -- the group of images was decidedly off-center. Figures. I'd stamped them too far to the left, so I needed to fill up some space along the right side of the card. I wanted to keep the cards a single layer, so I added two rows of pierced holes. It's not what I'd intended, but I still like the end result. I forgot to include the envelopes in the picture, but I also stamped one of these images in the lower left corner of each envelope, so they coordinate nicely with the cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Hello, Lovely
Paper: Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock, silver glimmer paper
Ink: Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Tag a Bag gift bag, 1/8" Bermuda Bay taffeta ribbon, Calypso Coral chevron ribbon, 1-3/4" circle punch, rhinestones, Dimensionals

This project also came with a little bag to package the set of note cards. It was easy to make -- first I stamped and cut out the "You make me happy" image and then layered together the other elements with Dimensionals. I tied the Bermuda Bay ribbon around the closed bag and used Dimensionals to adhere the "tag" to the bag. It's such a cute, simple idea, but probably one I wouldn't have thought of myself. And I think this is the only part of all the projects where I didn't really change anything. I'm definitely going to remember this idea for other card sets I make.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Hello, Lovely
Paper: Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana Core-dinations rdstock; silver glimmer paper
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, Sumer Starfruit, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Whisper White baker's twine, Very Vintage designer buttons, 1-3/4" circle punch, rhinestones, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

The first step in making this card was to stamp the splatter background. The large splatters are Coastal Cabana and Summer Starfruit -- to get the lighter ink colors, stamp the image on scratch paper first and then on the card base -- and the smaller splatters are Old Olive. To make the large arrow, stamp the diagonal lines on half a piece of cardstock and then trim the point on one end and the v-shaped notch in the other.

One of the things I changed on this card was the sentiment. The example card used the "Hello Lovely" greeting, but I wanted "Thank You" instead. I used a Calypso Coral marker to ink just the first part of the "Thank You, You're the Best" stamp and stamped it over the ampersand on the Crisp Cantaloupe circle. Two more arrows, a button with baker's twine and a few rhinestones finish off this card.

Come back tomorrow to see the last two of my make-and-take (or more appropriately, take-and-make) projects from Convention. Thanks for stopping by!