Stampin' Up! Convention 2014 - Melbourne - my swap card

It was amazing how quick it was to stamp this card. I had two of my grandchildren staying overnight the weekend I started,  but after they'd gone to bed I went off for some creative time. I grabbed some stamp sets from the shelf and a handful of my favourite colours, planning to use the splash from Happy Watercolor and a couple of feathers from Fine Feathers, positioned like the paint was dripping from them.

As you can see, that is not exactly the way it developed. I used the same stamp sets I'd picked but the design is quite different. In addition to those first two stamp sets, I then pulled Gorgeous Grunge from the shelf and Really Good Greetings for the sentiment. After designing the card face, construction of a bulk card is a step-by-step process, just like working on a factory production line.

My design process is a very hands-on, so the first card was stamped out completely and I made any changes to positioning at this point. Then, like I said previously, I treat it like a production line. All the splashes in one colour times the number of card fronts. Clean the stamp, move on to the next colour and so on. It just saves time and ink to work this way.

You might wonder why you would ever need or want to make cards in bulk like this? If you choose to make just one or two designs for your annual Christmas Card, this can be a very efficient use of time and materials. Perhaps you need to make many invitations for a birthday, wedding or some other event.
Well..... I was preparing all these swaps to take to Convention. At Convention there are lots of lovely demonstrators to swap with and you get to collect up a lovely range of cards, made with current products and colours, but often using techniques you haven't tried for a while, stamp sets you don't own and in a style different to your own.

This is my box of swaps all set to go, with the project 'recipe' on the back, and bagged up in cellophane. Maybe you're a fellow Australian or New Zealand demonstrator who swapped with me, I hope you like my card. Perhaps you're just browsing my blog looking for ideas - would you like to become a demonstrator too? You can email me, or contact your own Stampin' Up demonstrator, we're a happy and inclusive group of people.
I have posted this to be published while I am still away at Convention, learning heaps of new techniques, how to use new tools and seeing some of the new catalogue items. The catalogue will be released to customers on July 1st, Very exciting!

Cheers
Rachel