Heidi's Crafting Mecca

My team, The Gotham City Stampers, in New York City recently returned from the 2009 Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City. For some of us, we have been there before and for four of our teammates--this was their first Convention. Upon getting our Convention bags, I went to pick up my award from the Awards Booth. One of my accomplishments this year was to have TEN of my downline promote to Senior Associate. This is something that Stampin' Up! rewards with stamp sets, cash and a walk on stage. I knew I earned it and was beyond excited about it. At the Awards Booth, they handed me my stamp sets and then from behind the counter pulled out a SUPER CUTE bag and announced "YOU EARNED FOUNDER'S CIRCLE!!" I was shocked and overwhelmed with emotion. The coolest part is that most of my team was standing there when it happened. I had no idea and nothing could have ever prepared me for that news! (If you are wondering, what is Founder's Circle? SU! awards that to the top 1% of the company.)

One of my friends, Gayle, captured the moment when I first found out! I was crying for hours and continue to when I think about that moment in my life.

This is a picture of most of our team right when I found out this news! I love this picture for so many reasons. If you look closely, the person taking the picture also captured the computer screen with my Awards Information on it! HOW COOL!


At Awards Night, I found out that I was the #78 Top Demonstrator in a company of about 40,000 Demonstrators. This is awarded for sales, recruiting and leadership of my team. WOW! I started the night sitting by one of my role models, Mary Polcin, in the reserved seating for those that earned Founder's Circle. It was one surreal moment after another that night. I was called on stage to meet Shelli Gardner! UNREAL! My team said that I didn't smile much--I have to admit my knees were knocking the whole time!

I am so excited! I have landed in Salt Lake City, Utah with several of my teammates. Melissa, Jenny B, Eileen, Pat and I arrived here earlier today. We spent all day roaming around SLC. We first stopped to eat FABULOUS cheeseburgers right after we checked in. We hopped on a random trolley to see where it would take us! We stopped for drinks, shopping and some fun pictures. We ended our day with amazing food (again) and homemade chocolate chip cookies.


CONFESSION--we snuck into the SLC Convention Center to see the behind the scenes setting up of the upcoming Stampin' Up! Convention. We can't wait!

Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing! Now, off to bed!

I am so excited to bring you another wonderful Guest Blogger, Laurel. She is a very talented crafty pal and member of the Gotham City Stampers Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Team. Laurel has been on our team for about a year and a half and is very successful with her edgy meetup group, Crafting With An Edge. Laurel loves to craft with an edge!

As our team prepares to attend our second Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, we are all creating our swaps to share. Laurel brings to you a very creative swap using a technique. I hope you love it!
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Stained Glass Card By Laurel Carpenter

This technique demonstrates one of my Convention swaps for the stamping convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, that will take place next week! It is my variation on a technique that Andrea Walford, a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator whose creations I admire greatly, had posted on her blog awhile back. I think this technique really showcases this terrific stamp set!

All of the products on this card are from Stampin’ Up!, except for the acetate and small paintbrushes. I used the following items:

• Eclectic Circles stamp set
• Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
• In-Colors regular and textured card stock from Stampin’ Up! in Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry, and a little bit of Melon Mambo
• Whisper White Card stock
• In-Colors reinkers in Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, and Melon Mambo
• SU! 1 ¾, 1 3/8, and 1 ¼ circle punches (can use others as you wish)
• Staz-on Black Ink
• Crystal effects
• Paintbrushes (or Aquapainter, but it may get messy to use it and clean it for this project)
• Stampin’ Dimensionals
• Plastic palette tray
• Snips
• Snail

First, I stamped the Eclectic Circles in the black Staz-on ink on acetate, and let that dry for a minute or so. Then, I mixed each color of reinker separately with Crystal Effects on my palette tray. Using a separate paintbrush for each color, I colored in the non-stamped side of the Eclectic Circles with this mixture to create a stained glass effect. I then let these pieces dry overnight. Tip: I would advise only mixing a little bit for each color. Working quickly was important as the Crystal Effects/reinkers mix starts to get sticky after about 45 minutes.

Next, once the circles were dry, using snips, I cut out each image from the acetate, making sure that there was enough space around each to adhere it to my card. You could also use the next size larger punch if you have enough room on the acetate to punch it out.

On the 3.75” x 5” piece of crushed curry paper, I punched out three circles of varying sizes, and then flipped it over. I snailed each cut-out acetate circle to the back of the punched-out card so it would be framed by the punched cut-out. Then, using a 3.5” x 4.75” piece of Whisper White card stock, and some Stampin’ Dimensionals, I matted the Crushed Curry piece so that the stained glass circles shone through and were slightly elevated. Then, I matted this piece to the Rich Razzleberry Textured cardstock which was sized at 4” x 5.25”, and matted that to a piece of Dusty Durango card front which was sized at 4.25” x 5.5”.

For the sentiment, I used “Thank You” from Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped in Rich Razzleberry Ink on Whisper White and cut out with the 1 ¼ circle punch, and matted with Melon Mambo using the 1 3/8 circle punch