Last Sunday, my friend Julie had a Stampin Up show and afterwards we had a card exchange. Even though, this particular group of friends and I frequent stamp shows in the Wisconsin and Illinois area, we still love to see what new ideas and products Stampin Up has. We have a wonderful demonstrator that we work with, Sheryl, who is so kind to put up with our group and always has cool new ideas and product uses that we have not heard about. Sheryl knows that we all love our Cuttlebugs so the first card was made (actually by Julie so we could all peruse the catalogs Sheryl graciously gave us and get our orders ready) using the template plate and some die cuts- I think (I was busy placing my order) and she patiently showed us how to use the Stampin Up dies and plates with our Cuttlebugs. Thanks Sheryl!!!





This next card I actually did make-and of course ended up ordering the stamp set because it was just so cute! It's so easy to get carried away with all the paper, sets, templates...and of course the free Sale-a-Bration sets (which I ended up "earning" 3 of...glad Mike doesn't read this). Can't wait to get all the stuff!!!


Again- a huge thank you to Sheryl for putting up with our silliness and always bringing us new ideas. After Sheryl left, we opened our goodie bags from Julie. Whoever is the hostess puts together a variety of crafting stuff; it's always fun to get! Below are just some of the goodies in the bag!!! Lucky us!

Our theme for this particular exchange was pink or red. We always joke about being (or not being) overachievers, as the rule is 3 cards for the exchange. Holly, who was sick, but sent her cards anyway, was the winner of the Overachiever Award with probably about 7 or 8 cards. I was only able to complete 4 which are pictured below.

Since everyone does tend to overachieve a little bit in our group, we always come away with lots of beautifully creative cards. Here are a sampling of what was made. Talent abounds with this group!

Julie gave me an early birthday present; a bag filled with vintage images, labels, cards, and embellishments. How fun!!!!

Our next swap theme is collage and polka dots, so I rummaged in my stuff today and came up with the images in the picture below. I wonder what they will end up turning into? So, if you are ever in the neighborhood, I have plenty of card stock, adhesives and glitter and the Cuttlebug is always plugged in and ready to go (lol), so please stop by so we can "play" and create!