Okay, FINALLY, here are my convention swap cards.  Whew!  Just in time before I head off to China.                                                                                                                                                            These are the cards I made for SU 2011 Convention swaps, you know the one, back in July.  Well at least I made it before six months from convention, but only almost.  

The brown one with the sweet stamp on it is a 3x3 card and I made 125.  The other cards are all 4.25 x 5.5 or A2 size (convenient for mailing obviously) and were special sign-up swaps with limited numbers.  I would not recommend doing nine swaps in any given convention though.  I won't being doing so many swaps next year IF I can be rational and use some self-restraint.  :)  Did spell check and I think I passed this time.   :)


I know you are wondering where the other two swaps are after all, I did say I did nine swaps.  I don't know where they are.  I can't remember.  :(

Cards that Fold Swap

step card ( I think)

Thanksgiving 2010

 

Christmas card swap

3x3 convention swap 2011

Cards that Move Swap

LNS Fan Card

WOW here it is September with October around the corner.  What a rush of activity summer was.  Traveled to Salt Lake to Convention and of course loved every minute trudging up and down the halls for all the activities.  My favorite part besides the main stage activities of course were the free hand outs of products and this year there were so many.  WOW is all I can say and thank you to Stampin Up!!!

Starting my fall projects now with an Advent Calendar.  (post it soon) Opps, forgot to upload my cards I made for convention.  Need to attend to that also, AND then there is the annual packing to head back to Beijing, China.  I seem to live out of a suitcase this year. 

See you soon!

Convention is coming in July and the NEW IB&C

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait.  I sound like a child at the holidays.  I am soooooooo looking forward to the new catalog and goodies and then Convention!   I've been busy doing my basic cards for convention, the bases that is.  Going just so far till the new info is available to demonstrators and available to the public July 1 OR if you are interested in hostessing an event for Stampin Up, you can get an early peek at the catalog after June 21. Are you interested in hostessing and inviting your friends?  I do all the work.  I bring the projects, supplies, and information and directions on how to do your project.  You come and have fun!  Doesn't that sound easy?

Along with our soon to be revealed new IB & C is the current Summer Mini full of great ideas and supplies for those projects you might wish to do with your children during the summer days when they are saying "I'm bored!"  Our summer catalog is available through the end of August.

Enjoy stamping, sharing and the joy of friends and wishing all of you a relaxing Memorial Day weekend and please don't forget those men and women who have given their all and those that are serving and protecting our freedoms so that we might be with our families.

I found a quote that means a lot to me. Our son is active military and has already done two tours in Iraq and has received the purple heart twice and I have told him I don't want him to get another one.  Here is the quote:


"What men write about war, saying that it is a great plague, is all true.  But they should also consider how great the plague is that war prevents." quote by Martin Luther

Back in China

Well I've been back here in China a few weeks now.  It seems like forever though.  Cast was taken off a few days before I flew back here April 12.  It was interesting however to fly from the Midwest back to the east coast with a cast on my leg.  Besides being hugely cumbersome, it was interesting going through security.  Actually, it wasn't as I had expected at all with not much of a hassle.  Thank goodness.  It was hard to carry a suitcase however and try and gimp along.  But, I made it.

At the moment I'm working on my Convention cards.  Again, I signed for too many things, with too little time, and lots of effort to get these done..... It is nice to be settled in one place for awhile so I can figure out why it is I didn't bring the proper product from SU with me to here.  I will have a few boxes to open when I get back to my house in New York. 

Last week I accompanied my favorite guy on a Silk Road  adventure.  Lamb was the meat of choice throughout the week and I wish I could fix lamb that deliciously.  What an adventure we had with 8 other travelers from around the world.  It was a good group and we all interacted very well.  The wildest adventure was the sale of animals in the animal market in Kashgar.  Yikes!  Between seeing animals fighting all day, one hugh mean looking bull falling into a water canal out of a tractor cart, and kids trying to herd goats, there were just too many photo opts to take them all in.  Forget about the dust.  I purchased a yak tail dust-buster that works pretty good moving dirt off of your clothes.  LOL

I wanted to mention the new summer catalog and comment.   I love it for the most part.  It has assortment and has choices.  There is some carryover from the previous mini which I find very interesting.  Do you think the products will then be carried in our next year's catalog? 

I have heard mumblings that some do not like it and the catalog is too short, unlike the other mini catalogs.  And, as I understand, the mini before the hugh yearly catalog is always somewhat shorter than the others.   At any rate, the nautical themed items I love, along with the vintage style stamps.  As I love to do miniature cards and things, the smaller stamps are perfect for me. 

Did you think about using these small stamps to create paper pieces to put into your jewelry necklace and bracelet.  Sort of hard to stamp a large print and try to get it to fit into the glass area unless you use something small don't you think. 

Here are some ideas for you:

Save paper by making small gift cards, you know, the 3x3 inch size.  One 12x12 inch piece of paper will give you 8 of the 3x3 inch size cards.  Cut your paper in half so you have two 6x6 inch pieces.  Then cut that into 3x6 inch sections, fold over and viola' a 3x3 card.  Now all you have to do is decorate it however you wish.

How about gift tags.  Layer some of the scrap pieces and you can make a very unusual card with just a few embellishments and it will be greatly appreciated by the recipient. 

Then we have the awesome bookmark!  Kids love bookmarks as do adults.  I hate to bend down the corner of a page in a book I'm reading!

Okay, that should get you started in your creative process.
Create and create but most of all---have lots of fun.

See you soon,  Marilyn

Can You Believe It?

Well, I am back in the wonderful USA.  Apparently I don't know how to walk though as I tripped down four steps, fell like a lump and thinking I twisted my ankle I continued to limp for a few days.  How wrong I was.  It is broken.  Good thing I was visiting my sister who insisted I have it checked.  Yep, it is broken so now I have a cast for the next 6 to 8 weeks.  lol  But as it is a walking cast, I don't think it will slow me down too much.  ha, ha. 

So, I have my stampin up goodies to color and cut out to keep me busy and new designs to think of.

That is all for now

Amazing Children

Let me begin by saying I have visited throughout the years, many, many schools in this country.  As a matter of fact, right next door to our complex is a grade school and a high school.  It is funny to hear the little guys singing "I'm a Little Tea Pot" song in Mandarin outside during exercise class.  Yes, these children go outside to exercise and to play.  It helps to burn off some of that daily energy they expand while being couped up inside during classes.  Here in China, the children have a couple outside play periods each day.  Hmmmm, wonder if that would be a good thought to return to in US schools.  Some fresh air. 

These school trips have always been a rewarding experience but this past Sunday was a little different.

I went on a trip Sunday to visit a China children's middle school (compare to a high school in the US).  The students are a funded project for the last eight years by the Beijing Rotary Club in an outlying village about a two hour drive from Beijing.   Sunday I met 25 of these young students.  What an experience and as we talked with them about their goals and objectives we learned something of their family struggles.  You have no idea about struggles if you live in the USA, trust me.   It was interesting to here time after time that the student felt his/her grades were poor.  These young people are diligent and maintain high grades A's and lowest is a B, certainly nothing to be ashamed of in my opinion.  One student said how the mother had died, the father could not afford to maintain the student and the students sister, so the sister was given away.  That is only ONE of the heart-rendering stories.  The staff and major of the village were surprised that the student's discussed their hardships with us.  I was also.  They are so grateful for the support they are receiving that doing anything to provide them with an education is rewarding just to see their smiles and their hopefulness for their futures. 

Needless to say, they sent along thank you cards for all the help they have received throughout these eight years to the members of the club.  This week I am privileged to make for each of these students and donate a handmade card encouraging them to continue with their endeavors.  It is my great joy in making these cards that in turn will be given with a personal note written to each student by an individual Rotarian.  What fun this is and I am glad before I return to the USA, to do this.  I have already finished five cards and only twenty more to go.  I have all week.  This is so much fun.   Bye for now.

2011 IT IS HERE READY OR NOT ! ! !

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL FRIENDS AND FAMILY

I realize as we grow older time flies but goodness, so quickly did the last year pass.  I am looking forward to many exciting SU projects this coming year and hopefully you are as excited as I am.  Soon the new Spring Mini catalog will be available and there are so many goodies it is hard for me to make up my mind.  I want them all naturally.  So many options, it will be difficult to decide.  The papers are scrumpious, the new ribbon roses I am so happy to see, as now I do not have to spend time making my own.  These are dyable also, so you can make whatever your little heart desires for color.  Oh my! 

My favorite flowers are roses, so with these beautiful new papers to use with the ribbon roses, I am excited to get started.   Can't wait to arrive back in the States to start making goodies and, yes, I have already placed my order/s.  Could not wait for the sales to begin either, so guess when it starts January  27, I will have to order MORE !!!   LROTF