Convention Swaps Are Underway...

I am so excited, in just a few weeks, I will be driving across the country again out west to Close to my Heart's annual convention. 

This year it is in Las Vegas!

I've been to Las Vegas, once before a few years ago, to visit my husband's family. 

While out there this year, I am going to try to spend some time with them again. 

If you have ever been to a Scrapbooking/Stamping convention, then you know swapping your handmade cards is a big deal!

Last time, I think I swapped over 100 cards. 

My goal this year is at least 50, but I am going to try to reach 100 if I can. 

So since I have such a lofty goal, I knew I needed to go ahead and get started. 

So this weekend, I didn't have much planned, so cards it is. 

Now some folks like to make all of their cards exactly the same, kind of like an assembly line. 

I personally like to make mine that way, but in small batches, then switch the colors, layout, etc. 

So today I am sharing with you my first batch.

I made 6 cards to swap at convention, and a card for a dear friend that is feeling under the weather. 

I used the One-Sheet-Wonder Technique, to create the floral print paper. 

The flowers, and leaves came from the stamp set Beautiful Friendship-Scrapbooking by Close to my Heart.
The cards are all based with the White Cards and EnvelopesValue Pack.

I used Thistle, Smoothie, and Bashful for the two-step stamped flowers and Sweet Leaf for the leaves.

Most of the cards, have the top panel of White Daisy, distressed with Pewter ink.

The "Life is Better With Friends"sentiment came from that same set. 

These were both stamped in Pewter ink. 

The "Simply Beautiful" sentiment came from the "A New Adventure" stamp set. 

This set is so versatile and definitely one of my personal favorites. 

I used our new Thin Cuts- Stitched Ovals and our Thin Cuts- Basic Ovals for the sentiment and them mounted it with 3-D Foam Tape.

These were stamped in Pewter on White Daisy cardstock, then layered on Bashful cardstock.

I used the Grey Gems to embellish a few of the cards.

For the card I am mailing to a friend, I used a layer of Bashful under the three panels of White Daisy I created.

The "A Beautiful Friendship" sentiment came from the "Beautiful Friendship- Scrapbooking" stamp set. 

Each panel was distressed with Pewter ink.

I will start working on my second batch in just a few minutes. 

As I create batches over the next few weeks, I will post them here on the blog to share them with you.

As always if you have any questions at all please let me know.

Lovely Layers-CTMH Technique Blog Hop

One of my favorite color combinations has always been a soft pink and navy. 
So I was absolutely thrilled when Close to my Heart released the 
Beautiful Friendship Collection. 
It has a gorgeous blend of pinks, blues and even floral patterns. 
While, we don't always see Sapphire flowers in nature, they are stunning in this new patterned paper pack. 

I chose this collection to highlight the "Lovely Layers" technique for this month's Blog Hop. 

Not only did I use one of our newest stamp sets to layer my flowers on my card, I also layered my cardstock as well. 
There are also 9 other Close to my Heart Consultants sharing there amazing artwork with you, so please be sure to make your way around the entire Blog Hop. 
You are going to love what you see!

If you are coming from Darlys's Blog, you are on the right track. 
Should you get lost along the way, all participant's links can be found here. 

Before I share my newest card with you, I wanted to highlight the 
Beautiful Friendship Collection. 
There are several components to the collection including the 
Scrapbooking Kit, Card making Kit, Embellishments and more. 

Beautiful Friendship Paper Packet

12 – 12" × 12" sheets (2 each of 6 double-sided designs)

Featured colors: Bashful, Canary, Heather, Linen, Sapphire, Smoothie, White Daisy

For this card I started out with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 Sapphire cardstock card base. 

The Sapphire cardstock is available in individual packs or with several coordinating colors. 

I used a layer of Kraft cardstock. 

Then a layer of the smaller flowers from the Beautiful Friendship paper packet. 

The little horizontal band across the card, is a layer of Kraft and the polka dot smoothie colored paper from the packet.

The circles are layers of Kraft, patterned paper and White Daisy for the sentiment space. 

The little strip of cardstock is Bashful.

The sentiment "Simply Beautiful" actually came from an existing stamp set "A New Adventure".

Which if you recall, I used on a cute space themed card in a previous post.

I stamped the sentiment in Sapphire Ink.

I used the layering flowers and leaves stamps from the "Beautiful Friendship" Scrapbooking Stamp Set.

The shading of the flowers was stamped in Bashful Ink. 

The detailing was stamped in Smoothie ink. 

I hand cut the flowers and leaves out and popped them up on 3-D Foam Tape.

I then also brush each flower with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The shimmer is more noticeable in person.

The leaves were stamped with Sweet Leaf, and for those with the stems showing, they were stamped off, then the stems stamped with full ink.

The inside of the card has a layer of both Kraft and Bashful cardstocks.

Finally, I added just a few little pink dot embellishments from the Documented Dots pack.

Thank you so much for stopping by, before heading over to Melissa's Blog, please consider leaving a comment and enjoy the rest of the creative talents in this month's Blog Hop!