GASC

     I am still putting away goodies from the Great American Scrapbook Convention that I attended last weekend! There was such a wide variety of companies and products offered. I went a little crazy, as usual, but it was so much fun! I even won a door prize, the first one in many years of going there. It was a much-appreciated gift certificate for $15 at one of the booths that I really liked!
     I met some old friends there and met a new friend from one of my swapping groups. Everyone there is on a mission to have fun, so it is really a great atmosphere (except for the ladies who thought I cut in line at the first booth; thanks Janell!!!).
     I took three classes, one from Wendy Smedley and two from Jenni Bowlin. Both are considered famous in the world of scrapbooking, so of course, I had to have pictures taken with them! My friends and I found many photo opportunities; imagine that! Besides classes, I did lots of shopping and visiting with my buddies.
     My favorite finds were some unusual ribbons and trims, clear pockets for adding more pictures to pages, 99 cent bling, and pearl pens. I actually hit the jackpot in Leesburg the night before the show, finding a bead store that had a huge bucket of charms for 25 cents each. Cha-ching! By the time I got done digging my hands were black from the pewter, but it was totally worth it!
     The only downside to my trip was the trek down I-95 South. Ouch! A 3 hour trip took 5 1/2 and I was seriously ready to scream by the time I got to my hotel. I don't know how people deal with that stretch day after day and still stay sane. The return trip was much smoother and for that I was grateful. Hope everyone is doing well!

     Hey, everyone! I have two more stick pin swaps to share with you. These swaps are really addicting and I am enjoying them so much! The two I will show you have Americana and summer themes.
     For the Americana Swap, I made a trifold card in red and added red, white, and blue accents, mostly from 4th of July paper and embellishments. The smallest fold in the front holds the pins in place and I also used patriotic colors for these. It was a great use of my stash and I was happy with how they came out!

      For the Summer Swap I fashioned a beach bag out of fun foam and ribbon and added stickers to the fronts and backs, with a fish motif. I added gems to look like bubbles coming from the fish's mouths. The pins were made using summery colors.

      Thanks for looking. I have been so busy making pins and swivel charms for swaps, that I hadn't scrapbooked a regular page in weeks. I remedied that last night with a  page about my adorable nieces. I hope everyone has a great week as the official first day of summer approaches.

June Charm and Dangle Swap

     Hi, everyone! I am back to share my latest swap from Life On The Scrap Beach, which was a charm and dangle swap. The theme was pink, using things like lace, love, and roses on the dangles and also on the presentation piece.I am going to use these to decorate the outside spines of my scrapbook albums.
      For mine I used a plain clasp from A. C. Moore and pink, clear, pearl,  and silver beads. I included rose and heart charms. For the presentation, I stamped a sweatshirt stamp I have had for a long time from Toomuchfun Rubber Stamps. I stamped it in purple and colored it with shades of pink Copic markers, adding some puffy heart stickers randomly.  Then I cut the whole thing out. I formed soft wire into a hanger. The Tim Holtz hangers I had were too small, but these didn't come out too badly. I put the hanger through the top of the shirt and attached the charm clasp to it. I printed my contact info and put it on the inside of the sweatshirt.
     I am having so much fun making these. I can now add collecting beads and charms to my other vast artistic collections (like I really needed more). Those 50% coupons come in handy! Have a great week everyone and thanks for looking.