New Stamps, colors, papers oh my! Starting on my Convention Swaps

SO, I decided not to buy all the stamps and accessories I wanted and only bought 2 with my pre order.......Then as soon as June 2nd came, I ordered at least half of the stamp sets I really wanted and of course got all the new  In Color cardstock and inks. and markers..

Now to get them inky!  

I am preparing swaps for the Stampin' Up! Convention and every year I join an organized swap for 3x3 cards.   These are cards I use over the course of the year to give to servers at restaurants who give me great service.  I just put their tip in it and leave it on the table.   Other times I have used these for Thank Yous for other reasons.......Someone in a store, whether it is Walmart, Kohl's, a Shoe Store, any store and that special worker comes up to you asks if you need help and helps you or gets the help you need....they get a card!   I carry some of these cards and envelopes in my purse, cause you never know.   I know it brightens their day.  In a store, I usually put it in an envelope and put their name on it, then hunt out a manager and ask them to give it to the person.....and they always ask if everything is ok and I say, yes that person was very helpful and I just wanted to thank them......Lets the Mgr knows the employee is doing good and the person when they get the card.

You can give to the Bank teller,  Hair stylist, nail person, vet, drs office, medical office personnel, dentist office, UPS man,  FEDEX, delivery person.

They are great to attach to a gift.
Attach the 3x3 card to a regular card layer

I have finally designed my 3x3 swap and have 80 to make!!!!  and I am so THANKful to my husband who is going to help me, actually he has been asking when I will have things for him to do...He has done cutting out items for me before, this year....it is going to be doing a lot of punching!

Here are some of my rejects

I really wanted to use the You're Sublime stamp set, but making 82 of these I wasn't looking forward to coloring them all in.   The 2 Thank Yous are ok, but this swap calls for more layers and embellishments and I liked these cards are they are....The one on the left has some crystal effects on it that you can't really see, but everyone loves touching it when I use it.

I am having a class in Florida on Tuesday and since it took 3 emails to invite these ladies (I kept forgetting something with each email), I told them I would have something extra.    I think it will be that card with the crystal effects and instead of giving them each a card, I will let them make one.

I share their cards later this week.