Happiness is a Stampin' Up Regional.

This past weekend I attended the Stampin' Up half day regional in Branson, MO. I've been very fortunate this year: in September the regional was in Ft. Worth, only 3.5 hours away, and Branson is about 5 hours away. Such a large chunk of my Stampin' Up history was in England, where I couldn't attend anything! So I'm so happy to be able to partake in some of these great experiences.

In a regional, you have a registration fee. In that fee, you receive a free stamp set, as well as a bunch of make-and-takes. You typically have to provide some of the materials to complete the projects (for these we had to bring the ink pads that were used, adhesive, dazzling diamonds glitter, and some shimmer mist, among some other random things like the stampamajig and stuff like that). Some time is spent learning new techniques, discussing business-boosters like recruiting and selling, and then "workshop wows" where local demonstrators get to come up and showcase something they created.

In the Ft. Worth regional, we had five projects and we finished them throughout the day. At the Branson regional, which is only 4 hours long, I felt like we actually had MORE make-and-takes to complete! So I had to finish the last one at home. Here they are, using the wonderful kit "Nature Walk" from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

The little folder above housed the four cards, all 3x3 size.

Close-up of the four cards. All used the decorative label punch, as well as seam binding (my first time fiddling with the seam binding!).

And last but not least, a BANNER! This is what took so long to finish. This banner is created using a die from the mini! Its a really cute banner and so creative.

So you could get the full effect, its hanging above my craft table now. I love how there are little things added to each piece. I will admit when I was getting all of my stuff together at the regional, I didn't realize I was missing some stuff in my bag. So I had to add some different elements to this once I got home that I didn't have. I somehow didn't have the correct number of brads needed, as well as a button we should have had. And I wasn't paying enough attention to notice that I should have used the mini flower punch to punch out some flowers for this...so I used rhinestones and glimmer brads instead. At least I added the accents down the line!

The best part about this was learning a slightly new technique. I have to admit I don't fiddle with dazzling diamonds as much as I should. Now I know a great technique. Four of the circles have DD on the edges. Some have platinum shimmer mist, then glue, then DD. Two of them have Cherry Cobbler ink, then glue, and then DD. What I love about this is that the color below comes through the DD! Maybe this isn't news to some of you...but it was to me! I'll definitely be adding this to projects down the line. :)

And this is what my table looks like after finishing swaps, a regional project, getting SU orders, and just generally crafting. I love it. Means my mojo is going. So its awesome! :)

This was my first experience with regional swapping. I made about 40 cards (I think I was at 38 or 39). There were only about 100 attendees, so I'm guessing I hit about half of them for swaps. Some are awesome! Techniques I've never seen in person, great ideas for color combinations, unique ways to use stamps...that is why swaps are so wonderful! Some demos (including yours truly) put the entire ingredient list on the back of the card. Some only put their names. Some didn't even put THAT...so its just a guessing game to see what they included on their card. You just have to love that. :)

That's all from here! Busy few weeks ahead, as I have a brunch to go to for a bunch of pregnant women that is appropriately called "baby bump brunch". Next week is my next hostess club, as well as a craft for my MOPS chapter...plus a zillion activities involving my son. A SAHM is never bored, that's for sure. :)