As a Stampin’ Up demonstrator I often have the opportunity to enter “card swaps” with other demonstrators. It’s main purpose is for us to be able to share ideas and creative card designs with each other. One of the main rules is that we all use only Stampin Up products. The most recent card swap that I participated in was one where we all used a new stamp set from the Stampin Up 2017-18 catalog. There were 11 different participants in the swap and each of us committed to create a quantity of 11 cards of the same card design. We would then send all 11 cards (plus return postage) to the person who is “hosting” the “swap”. The host collects and “swaps out” all the different cards. In return, all the swap participants would receive 11 completely different cards, the one they created…plus…10 more designs, one design each from the 10 other participants.
For this particular swap, I used a stamp set called “Happy Birthday Gorgeous”. There is also a coordinating “die” for this set. The stamp set is available on its own or can be purchased as a “bundle” with the coordinating die…which is what I enthusiastically chose to do. I used the “Happy Birthday” die-cut as my focal point of the card. It is cut out in two different card stock colors & then layered on to the base which was stamped with some of the stamps in the coordinating set. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is my pile of swap cards ready to be sent out.
(We all agree to place each card into a clear envelope to protect it during handling.)
The next photo is of all the different designs that I received back. See the one that I made near the center? I only had to design one card…and duplicate it 10 more times. But look at all the different ideas I received back! I now have a variety of designs that I can either duplicate or that might inspire me to come up with another design of my own. I usually display as many designs as I can fit on a display board and take it with me to my stamp classes and events.
This photo does not do these cards justice. The cards are beautifully made using quality Stampin Up products and their best work. I will be sure to try to have all of these cards on display at my next event.
Many times the person hosting the swap will offer more than one group of swaps at a time. We can sign up for as many groups as we want but for each swap group, we need a different design.
For this recent swap, I did sign up to be part of two more swap groupings. As I don’t want to overwhelm this post with too many photos at once, I will be posting those swap photos a little later this week. Please come back and visit soon. Thanks for reading my blog!
always,
Mary “uplatestampin” Shields
Always Up Late Stampin 