Ya! The Shoebox Swap Was a Success!!

I didn't think I was going to make it. I only had one day off in almost a week and a million and one things to do. Time was running out and I had not a thing made or designed. But God smiled upon me in a huge way. My "nice" boss (I have two) said I could be "sick." Now normally I don't even call in sick when I AM sick- but this was an emergency of epic proportions! Action had to be taken.

Here's the deal: I had signed up to participate in a Shoe Box Swap (for those who do not know what that is- it is where you design a card and then provide enough supplies and material for all the participants to re-create your card) in Williamsburg, VA. Then silly me also signed up for the optional 3-D swap. Now if you have ever read my blog (or even read the title) then you would probably be right in guessing that I work way too much to have time to do any of this (including my blog). So you may pose the question, "What was she thinking signing up for the optional 3-D swap??" Well, I threw caution and logic to the wind and said, "heck yeah!" I wanted all the cool stuff that would be swapped in return, what else can I say??

So two days before the SBS I found myself in quite a pickle. I had an idea for my 3-D swap, but nothing was started. I didn't have a clue what I was going to make for my card. I wanted to use items from the new SU catty (isn't it great?) but they would not be here until the day before the swap.....what to do? Well, I started on my 3-d swap but since it was also my only day off to do any chores or errands (did I mention that it was also my son's birthday?) I had to do those as well. So by the end of the day- I was barely started let alone finished. And I was EXHAUSTED. I mean I literally could not keep my eyes open. Here comes the part where my hero saves the day! My "nice" boss said I could be "sick" that Friday! He is so great- we should do a RAK for him!! I took the day off- and the morning I finished my 3-D swaps and by the time I was done with those- Mr. Brown had delivered my new catty stuff! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!

Thanks to my "nice" boss and Mr. UPS Man I completed everything and had a great time! We made so many cool cards and ate pizza. It was great to stamp with others (Jimmi, Cyndi and Jen are picutred but there were other great stampers there too!) and re-create everyone's projects. There are some very creative people in this world! Oh- the door prizes were great too! Here's a picture of the ones I won! The book and Post-it-Note holder were made by Paulette Martin- a fellow swapper and SU demo. Isn't she awesome?? The stamp set is a "bonus" door prize. I have not tried anything from My Favorite Things but I can't wait to use this set. Isn't it cute? I will be using it VERY soon.

Anyway- that is the big news for now! I will hopefully be stamping some more projects this week. I have my new sets to play with- and my friend just moved so I am going to make her some cards too.

Totally Exhausted- but I got some cards done!!

Whew! I am finally updating my poor, neglected blog. I have done minimal stamping - unfortunately, work is to blame for that. I am not so sure anymore that I am a workaholic anymore as much as I have to work because my boss gave me a crappy schedule. I used to give 110% at my job- but now I am so exhausted all the time I am lucky if I can give 90%. When I finally have a day off- I have so many household chores to keep up with- stamping gets put on the back-burner. Usually I am way too tired and what few creative juices I do have in my body are not flowing at all. BUT I did manage somehow to get a couple projects done. Check them out.

The first card is a card I made for my little sister for the Divine Secret Sibling group. (Hopefully she will not read my blog- ha ha ha) I love that group. Unfortunately, this is her second June card and I still have not mailed it. She knows I am running behind - and I am going to make it up to her in a big way this month- especially in my reveal gift. But I finally got to try dry embossing with my new template and stylus. I need more practice- but I had a lot of fun doing the paper piercing around the flower too. The designer paper is from Pocket Full of Posies Mat Stack. I bought this two months ago and still hadn't used it. So I basically designed the card around the paper. I hope she likes it!

The second card is another cracked glass creation. I love the Farm Fresh set- and it has been calling my name since I learned of this technique. I used sponging on the card stock to give it that more vintage feel. I am starting to think the vintage look is more my style than the cutesy stuff. But I could change my mind tomorrow- so I am not going to commit to that yet..... :)

The third card is just a simple birthday card for my son. He turned 16 years old now! Wow! He is growing up so fast!! He will be driving soon- but I don't have time to get into that right now.... I don't have many masculine sets and it was really hard to come up with an idea that wasn't to young or too old for a teenage boy. I needed to get it done so I settled on this design. I did paper piercing since I didn't want to use ribbon on a "guy" card. (what torture to not use ribbon!!) I did however add some sparkle with Dazzling Diamond glitter. Just for that little extra something.

Anyway- I have a lot more stamping to do this week- I am participating in a Shoe Box Swap (see my side bar for details) this Saturday. I have not designed my card yet- and I have not come up with a door prize or my 3-d Swap. I am in BIG trouble!! But hopefully when I get my next Stampin Up shipment - there's a couple things from the Preview mini in the order - I will come up with something to WOW everyone. Now if work would just give me an extra day off........yeah, right! But a girl can dream, right??