My absolute favorite presentation at Convention was on closing day when Shelli Gardner and her daughter, Sara Douglas, presented ways you could use the new fabrics coming in the Holiday Mini.
As soon as they walked out on stage, we immediately saw that their skirts were made from the new fabrics! Shelli, who usually has a very vintage style, was representing the new Deck The Halls patterns, which coincidentally are also in Designer Series Paper version, as well. Sara was cute and sweet in the new Candy Cane Christmas fabrics, which also has matching paper.
I especially liked Shelli's skirt…here it is up close…pretty!
Shelli accentuated her outfit with a handmade fabric flower "cuff" bracelet. And, her necklace was made of knotted fabric, tiny fabric flowers, and draped with Antique Brads and new Simply Adorned Baubles from the Holiday Mini. (click to enlarge)
Sara's outfit included some fabric trim on her sweater, made with a new Tasteful Trim die…
…and she had made twisted fabric flowers to embellish her headband and shoes! Too cute! Do you see all that bling on her face?! She was decorated in the self-adhesive Rhinestone Jewels, and Shelli's face was bejeweled in Pearls.
What really made this presentation so awesome was the sassy mother/daughter banter that ensued the moment they walked on stage. They were hilarious! They were both showing projects in their preferred fabric style, and it became a kind of a competition of who's was the best, and who's turn it was to talk.
On to some of their examples…
Shelli used her fabric on this gorgeous Christmas card, which also features a new Level 2 Hostess set, called Peaceful Season, that you will HAVE to have! The new Antique Brads go so well with this style!
Ooooh! I liked this one, too! She used the Notably Ornate set, Newsprint DSP, more Antique Brads, and Victoria Crochet Trim. You can see with this example, that Deck The Halls is not just for Christmas.
Sara showed a more whimsical Christmas style with her fabric using a new set called Jolly Old Saint Nick. Using the same template, she showed how easy it was to create a simple Valentine's card, stamped with the new Filled With Love set.
She was showing how to use the Pop-Up Glue Dots with Chunky Glitter when the audience started yelling, "we don't carry those anymore!" Quickly, Shelli and Sara took a moment to deliberate…
Yes! It was true, the Pop-Up Glue Dots were recently retired…we had caught them using retired product! Too funny! They covered well, and pointed out that you could substitute the Glue Dot with one of the new Glimmer Brads. You can see one on Sara's card…
She used the Beautiful Butterflies die on this lovely card, providing another example that the Candy Cane Christmas patterns were not only for Christmas. The stamped images are from Style Beautiful.
The competition continued. Next, we saw a couple of decorated album covers. Sara used Circle Scallop and Square Scallop dies for her cute cupcake. Shelli wrapped her cover in a swag of fabric adorned with a cute 2010 tag.
Die cuts and fabric go hand-in-hand…Sara used the Island Floral die for these cute flowers. And, they are easy to adhere with the new Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets. I can't wait to demonstrate fun, no-sew projects!
Shelli used another loosely wrapped fabric flower to decorate this papier maché box. The neutral-colored, Big Designer Buttons are new, too, as well as Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (they used it like ribbon for non-sewing projects)
OK—I know you are used to me gushing about products and projects, but honestly, there are some that don't do it for me…and one would be Sara's Snowman tree topper.
I like the idea, but he would have looked better in Dazzling Diamonds, in my opinion. His sparkly, yet sandy-looking face, is a complete misuse of the coolness that is the new Glass Glitter. It's champagne color and subtle sparkle is meant for more vintage-looking projects. Again, it's just my opinion…I mean, it is my blog, so I'm allowed.
The base of the topper is a 2-Way Glue cap. I do like the fabric ruffles and the Tinsel Trim (yet another sneak peek!).
Back to more cute projects! Wouldn't your vintage Christmas tree look lovely with ornaments like this one? It's made with the Top Note die and, Shelli revealed, stuffed with cotton balls!
On a similar note, there was such a vintage tree in Momento Mall, and it was covered in quick and easy fabric ornaments…
The big surprise at the end of the Shelli and Sara Show, happened when Sara stripped off her skirt (she had on jean shorts), and told us that their skirts were actually tree skirts!
The waists of the skirts cinch up around the tree trunk! Love it! I wish they had a pattern for both of them…haha, like I have a sewing machine!
You can't see them well, but I liked the stenciled gift box wrapped in fabric in the first picture, and the Tasteful Trim cut, fabric garland on the mini tree.
Wow! Are you starting to get excited about the fabric?!!! I know I am! And, there were many more examples on display that I will show you in another blog.
Closing Day Convention Surprises!
As you can probably tell, I liked the Candy Cane Christmas patterns, but I LOVED the Deck The Halls much more! I'm not a "vintage" girl, by any stretch of the imagination, but I've fallen hard for that look on cards!
I mentioned before the Shelli told us that they were trying to make the Stampin' Up! Convention a "can't miss" event. And, as an example of ways they were going to be "surprising and delighting" us, she announced, in the last minutes of Convention, that we would be going home with a little sumpthin', sumpthin'…
…how about a Cherry Cobbler ink pad? (oh yeah!)
…would we like to try the Champagne Glass Glitter (well, not on a snowman topper, but heck yeah!)
…would we like some of that Deck The Halls paper? (Yes! Eeeeeeeee!)
…how great would it be to start playing with the Holiday Mini Level 2 Peaceful Season Hostess Set? (Woo-frickin-hoo, bay-bee!)
And, so, on Shelli's cue, a couple dozen SU employees start scurrying down the aisles carrying large tote bags of FREEBIES, while the entire crowd screamed their fool heads off! I was impressed with their efficiency; they had distributed packages to nearly 2800 attendees in under 10 minutes!
It was a awesome way to top off what was already a super-fantastic event! Doesn't it make you want to be there with me and Darla next year! You can! Talk to me today about the demonstrator opportunity!
Angie