Off to Stamp Camp

Spent the day yesterday packing my car up with half of my stamping supplies to head south to St. Simons Island in GA for a 4-day stamping retreat.  As I'm packing for retreats (9 boxes in all) I ask myself over and over, "Why am I packing up all this stuff to go stamp all weekend when I can just stay here and stamp all weekend?"  Well, then I get there, I totally relax (no beds or meals to make, hundreds and hundreds of ideas, many creative, talented stampers, etc.) and in minutes I realize why I went to the trouble.  I love stamping retreats.  If you ever get the chance, take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and give yourself a treat.

Take a look at the swap I made to participate in the swap this weekend ...

Here I used the ommited embossing technique with the Oval Scallop Frame Bigz Die (pg 222) and the new Pines & Poinsettias stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog (pg 21).  After inking the stamp with Cherry Cobbler ink pad, I took a Q-tip and removed the ink from the green leaves.  Then I simply applied Always Artichoke ink from a Stampimn' Write Marker (pg 202).  Sponging was applied with Cherry Cobbler Ink on the embossed areas.

The ribbon is Cherry Cobbler seam binding (pg 195).  Here I took a piece of Sticky Strip (pg 206) and simply ruffled the ribbon across the tape.  I left an unruffled area on the left and added 3 pearls from the strip of pearls in the Basic Pearls (pg 198). 

The final touch was Dazzling Details (pg 42 Holiday Mini) to the 3 small white flowers.  Hope the gals will like my swap.

Stop back tomorrow for details on how to make this oval stencil for the omitted embossing technique!

Off to Georgia ... I'll be posting photos of a few of the hundreds of ideas I will be getting over the weekend.  Stay tuned.