Sunday, May 31, 2015

Production Line Hawaiian Grand Vacation Swaps

Aloha Peeps!

Thought that I would share some of my last minute preparation with you in the lead up to handing over my swaps at Hawaiian Grand Vacation.

Because my swaps were so bulky they took up a heap of space in our suitcases travelling over to Honolulu. I thought that it would be better to put the together at the hotel rather than carry them made up. I had discovered prior to leaving Australia that the split rings I had for the 3D swaps were too small so I figured that I would buy split rings in Hawaii. . . surely there would be a Michaels lol. Well there wasn't a Michaels on Oahu but there was a Ben Franklins - wow! A story for another time!!

The night before swaps were due I sent the four kids for an ice cream with darling husband and requisitioned one of the beds as a work bench.  This is the sight which greeted DH on his return (and of course I had used his bed hehehe!).
I had left attaching the Simply Pressed Clay Flowers until construction time. . .
The split rings were the easy part as I had pre-punched all of the holes. . .
I had also stuck all of the 3D flowers onto my card swaps and was waiting for the last 12 to dry. . . the other 14 had been inserted into cellophane bags and boxed up for delivery to the Swaps Counter at the Hospitality Room.
Not too shabby when you see them all laid out.

And its only as you are adding the final touches that you see how much time, love and inspiration has been injected into every one.

It is an extremely satisfying feeling when you have a vision, break it into steps and accomplish it to the standard you hope.

Mahalo
Shanni xx

Saturday, May 30, 2015

3D Swap for Grand Vacation Hawaii 2015

In my wisdom I signed up for the Card Swap and 3D Swap for Grand Vacation and then wondered where I was going to magic the designs for them from lol. . .

Traditionally I have received the most amazing 3D swaps from my European friends on Grand Vacation ~ the Germans in particular really rock this style so I was a tad anxious about what I was going to pull together.  I was sitting on our back deck with a lovely glass of white wine while the kids played in the pool, despite being the start of winter here is was quite mild. . . and I looked at the coaster under my glass and had "a moment".

Here is my 3D swap:
A wall hanging with coaster size panels. I made them with the grunge card stock that is in the Glimmer Paper packaging. I embossed pieces of Very Vanilla using the Lovely Lace TIEF and stuck them to the backs of the "coasters.  The front base card on all three panels is Very Vanilla.
Texture and layers appeal to me so that was my fundamental brief. Firstly I stamped the top right hand corner of the base card with the script stamp from By the Tide in Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Ink. I then embossed the corner of the base card with the Lovely Lace TIEF.

The Blended Bloom was stamped in StazOn Black ink. I coloured the petals with Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Ink and an aqua painter. The centre was coloured with Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Ink and I added little elements with a white Gel Pen. I then coated the entire flower with Crystal Effects so that I could daub and stamp over and around it but have the ink resist.
The fern leaves are from Butterfly Basics stamped in Mossy Meadow. I wanted a vivid contrast so stamped the scroll image from Everything Eleanor in Tangelo Twist. The Butterfly is from Papillon Potpourri, stamped in StazOn Black, coloured with Pool Party and Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Inks and an aqua painter. I then punched out the butterfly with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and coated the whole thing with Dazzling Detail.

I wanted to add a sense of luxury and of course no project is complete without bling. . . so this involved the Sahara Sand Lace Trim and the bracket made from punching the edge of Champagne Glimmer Paper using the Decorative Label Punch.  The Basic Pearls are scattered on the project for added interest.
Postage Due is Retiring but I still wanted to use it in the project because it fit my theme. . . so I stamped it in Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Ink.

The Central flower was made by stamping Simply Pressed Clay with the blossom image from Beautiful Bunch., I then fussy cut the stamped impression and shaped it slightly, let it dry then painted it with inks and an aqua painter. I used Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist and Rose Red Classic Stampin' Inks. I then coated the entire flower with Crystal Effects and placed the Basic Pearls in the centre.
For texture on this coaster I embossed the leaves (cut using the Flower Frenzy Bigz Die and Mossy Meadow card stock) with the Lovely Lace TIEF and adhered them with tombow glue. I stuck the flower down with Crystal Effects and added the gold sequins from the Gold Sequin Trim with glue dots. Random pearls add a little more glamour!
Kinda Eclectic is one of my favourite stamp sets ever so I incorporated the leaves from that set in the background here. I stamped them in Mossy Meadow for consistency and of course did generational stamping to get different shades and add to the layering impression. Gorgeous Grunge (fly poo stamp lol) in Crumb Cake and the lattice from Serene Silhouettes in stamped off Garden Green.

Petite Petals flowers were stamped in StazOn Black and coloured using an aqua painter and Rose Red Classic Stampin' Ink. Then I punched them out with the matching punch and shaped them to add dimension. The Basic Pearls in the centres make the project seem richer. . . I also punched out the smaller flowers using the punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and Rose Red card stock (and basic pearls).
The butterfly is from the Papillon Potpourri set, stamped in StazOn Black and coloured with Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Ink and an aqua painter. I punched it out with the Bitty butterfly Punch and coated it with Dazzling Detail.

For texture and added interest I cut some Burlap Ribbon in halves and glued it on using tombow and then accented it with gold Metallic Bakers Twine and more gold sequins from the Gold Sequin Trim.

Of course I needed to add words and what better sentiment than inspire, create, share? The letters were all cut out using the Little Letters Thinlet Dies and Pacific Point card stock. I daubed the edges with Early Espresso.  As a final step I daubered the edges of all the coasters with Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Ink. I punched holes with a crop-o-dile and used brass split rings and iridescent blue florist wire for the hanging wire.

I hope that the people I swapped with liked the non-traditional take on the swap theme and hang it somewhere to remind them of the awesome time they had on Hawaiian Grand Vacation 2015.

Mahalo
Shanni xx



Friday, May 29, 2015

Card Swap for Grand Vacation

I was feeling quite challenged about what type of card to make for Grand Vacation swaps this year because I am ever conscious of just how talented the people are that earn Grand Vacation; they are the top of the tree and they produce the most amazing work.

I am usually torn between doing something that is true to my style (you know square and a little over the top) or simple so that people can copy them for workshops. . . but then I get to thinking, these people know how to do workshops. . . they do them all the time - that's how they earn Grand Vacation lol. So I fell back on what I am comfortable with.

Here is my Grand Vacation swap for 2015:
Base card is Mossy Meadow, mounted with Whisper White, layered with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and then layered again with Whisper White.  Ovals were cut out of the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and top layer of Whisper White using the Oval Thinlet Dies.

As you know I am all about texture and layering so I added the Tea Lace Paper Doily between the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and the Whisper White.  I also embossed some Whisper White card stock with the Fun Frames TIEF and fussy cut the whole thing out including the middle rectangle.
Behind the oval frames (before I adhered them together I stamped the script writing image from the By the Tide set in Smoky Slate three times one under the other. I stamped off before stamping on the Whisper White (so its second generation) so that it would not be too dominant.

I used the leaves and flowers from Butterfly Basics - I just adore these stamps and am so happy that they are being carried over to the new annual cattie. The fern leaves are stamped in Mossy Meadow ink. I simply stamped each generation of this image so that the foliage would appear to be layered. The stamping is below the Fun Frames layer.
The smaller flowers were stamped on Whisper White using StazOn Black ink. I coloured the flowers with an aqua painter using Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow Classic Ink pads. I highlighted the centres with Dazzling Detail. Of course I fussy cut them and adhered them to the card with glue dots.

Beautiful Bunch is such a great set and the fact that it has a matching punch is a bonus. I love them so much and use them heaps. . . The feature flower is made using this set.
Like the smaller flowers I stamped the blossom from the Beautiful Bunch stamp set in StazOn Black on Whisper White card stock three times and coloured them with an aqua painter and Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Ink. I then punched them out with the Fun Flower Punch. I turned the flowers over and distressed the back side of them with a folding bone until the card stock was quite distressed. I stuck two of the flowers together with the petals off set.

With the third I turned it over and then folded the petals back up to make the centre of the flower. To keep the dimension and glue the petals I used bathroom silicon (from the hardware shop). The reason for choosing this is that tombow took forever to dry and was quite heavy. I used a dollop about the size of a nickle (10 cent coin in Australia). Silicon is lighter in weight and dries faster. It also stops the centre from being crushed in the post.

You can see the dimension here:
My goal for the card was to have it represent a tropical garden. . . one that has lush blooms and creeps and intertwines.
I hope that you like the card and I hope that the people who received them were happy with their swap. I was certainly delighted with the ones I received!

All of the items used are available at my shop on line - check it out on the side bar.  Special mention should be made of By the Tide which is on the Retirement List and may only be available while stock lasts up until 11.50pm AEST.

Mahalo
Shanni x

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Stampin' Up! Grand Vacation Achievers Hawaii Blog Hop


Aloha Everyone! Am still a bit jet-lagged despite being home for five days. . . I am waking at 3am in the morning and can't sleep only to hit a wall around 6pm at which time I look and feel like a character from the walking dead. . . picture me walking uber slowly and not making much sense lol.

Grand Vacation Hawaii was totally awesome. Met amazing and beautiful people. Relaxed with my hubby and four kids and saw some breathtaking sites (and these are just from my hotel room lol):

The highlight of the trip was getting to spend quality time with Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from all over the United States, Canada, New Zealand and of course Australia and with it being hot on the heels of the South Pacific Convention I was extra energised. So many talented, energetic and inspiring people in one spot made for a contagious week of fun activities, laughter and heaps of memories to cherish for years to come. Thank you Stampin' Up! for making that possible.

You have possibly just dropped by from Rose Marie's beautiful blog . . . how stoked am I to follow in her footsteps?!

Down to business right?! This is my Hawaiian Grand Vacation inspired project:
I took my inspiration from the Designer Series Paper that I won in the Hospitality Room on the second day of the trip. I was so fortunate to get Timeless Romance which I have to admit to having coveted since receiving the catalogue and seeing all the Convention announcements theming. . . and well you know that I can't not use some neutrals in my project.

Holy smoke the Timeless Romance is such a beautiful suite of patterns and designs. . . cannot rave enough. You are all going to love it! Yum!!

Base card is Very Vanilla mounted on a square of Basic Black to act as a frame for the card front.
I then mounted the square piece of Timeless Romance DSP on a square of Smokey Slate and then another layer of Basic Black before adhering to the base card.
 I stamped the bouquet of flowers from a new Hostess Exclusive Stamp Set, Best Thoughts (its one stamp) in StazOn Black on Vellum and Very Vanilla card stock. I stamped the image a second time on both materials so that I could pick out some additional blooms. The leaves in the background at from Kinda Eclectic, stamped on Vellum and fussy cut.
Using an aqua painter I coloured the reverse side of the Vellum in Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow, then fussy cut around both the Vellum and Very Vanilla stamped images. I stuck the coloured stamped Vellum image on the vanilla card stock with Glue Dots and then adhered the bouquet to the base card with dimensionals.
The sentiment, "the best is yet to come" is from the same stamp set, Best Thoughts. I stamped in StazOn Black on Very Vanilla card stock and used the framelit from Chalk Talk Framelits for the shape. I traced around the outside of the framelit on Basic Black card stock for the mount behind the sentiment and stuck it directly on the base card.  The flowers on the corner are dimensionalised for texture and interest.
I know that everyone has endured their own trials and challenges over the recent restructuring of the company's compensation plan but I genuinely hope that those who have always worked hard and consistently at their businesses (and this accounts for everyone I met on Grand Vacation and their team members) will continue to flourish. The best is yet to come. . .

Mahalo for dropping by. I am sure that you will love the creations that the truly talented and amazing Sharon Armstrong has come up with to inspire you for the coming catalogue. . .

Cheers
Shanni xx



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