Ever been to a Shoe Box Swap?

  ... if not you are probably imagining it has something to do with other peoples USED STINKY SHOES and the thought of swapping them with your own ... but nope that's not it at all ... a Shoebox Swap in this context it is all about the fun amazing and therapeutic task of making hand stamped creating cards!  

Those of us who love to share papercrafting get together to 'shoebox swap' as a way to make a whole bunch of different cards all in one night!

What each participate does is designs ONE quick and simple card and than puts all the supplies needed for the rest of the group to make that card into a 'shoe box'. At the night of the swap we sit around the table laughing and conversing about life while we take turns 'swapping boxes' until we've made all the cards in the group OR if it is a large group until we've made whatever 'cap' we put on the night ~ usually it is 8 cards to get done in the 2-2.5 hour time frame. 

You can have an 'anything goes' theme to your swap or you can organize it around themes such as 'thank you cards' or 'birthday cards' or 'sympathy cards' or 'masculine cards' or 'feminine cards' or this time of year Holiday themed cards. 

The great thing about 'shoe box swaps' is that it is an awesome chance to play with stamp sets and tools you might not yet have and either decide if you want to add them to your collection OR to just add some variety to your greeting card stash that is different from your own stamp sets or style! 

They are also a great thing to do with the 'kids' for some family fun ~ children love to make stuff and spend time with adults crafting ~ inspire them young and nuture that creativity flare! Paper crafting and expression is a great form of meditation and therapy for children and adults a like!

I try to attend a swap every other month with a great group of ladies who are a part of the team from Stampin' Up! ... here are some examples from end of October's swap ... are they just so darling! 

Reason for the Season - Stampin' Up!

Festival of Trees ~ Stampin' Up!

Snow Place Stamp set ~ Stampin' Up!

Joyful Season - Stampin' Up!

Home for Christmas ~ Stampin' Up!

Embellished Ornaments Stampin' Up!

Zentangled Festival of Trees Stampin' Up!

 If you do not have enough fellow paper crafters in your circle to form your own swap and would like to join in on a shoebox swap with others and meet some new fellow paper crafting please swing on over to Facebook here and like the page to find out about upcoming options and either join us in one of our current ones OR if there is enough interest we can start a second one!

It's LIVE!

It is finally LIVE and I can not only share it with all of you but you can ORDER your favourite must haves to get started on your holiday paper crafting!

Check it out here! 

Here are a couple showcase samples made with my favourite products! 

The Light Hearted Leaves pair so nicely with the Lighted Hearted Leaves Stamp set ~ you get 10 photopolymer stamps that will help to create wonderful  'Gratitude' paper-crafting this fall.

See the full 10 piece stamp set that created this gorgeous card here. 

My next favourite items are the amazing 'kits' that are available ~ great thing about kits is that the designers at Stampin' Up! have done all the work for you! 

The will allow you to  shake it up as your holiday cards will stand out from the others, thanks to these easy-to-create shaker frame cards. Folded size: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2". Pair it with the suggested stamp set our use your own sentiments!

The Oh What Fun Tag Project Kit You can step up your tag game and make gift tags that will surprise and delight. Kit makes 30 tags total: 10 designs, 3 of each. Pair it with the suggested stamp set or use your own sentiments!

Another great thing about the 'kits' is that you can use them to get social ... they are awesome fun for a 'night in' get together with your family/friends and order  yourself a few kits and make your Holiday cards together over some munchies!

Happy Stampin'
Margaret

Like FREE stamps?

In addition to all the other benefits during the month of June choose TWO stamp sets of your choice when you join Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! career plans offer lots of flexibility to demonstrators depending on your WHY of joining! 

We welcome the 'Hobby' demonstrator. Those who join to help support their own paper crafting needs with an awesome discount on the products they love! They are their own best customer basically just selling to themselves.

We welcome those we call the 'Social' demonstrator ... this person steps up the hobby demonstrator path by taking advantage of hosting regular workshops or classes for family and friends and earning an additional stream of commission income by selling products to those who love paper crafting to help support their own hobby. Great thing about the 'social' aspects of demonstrating is you can earn as much as you need depending on how many events you want to book into your calendar! Some demonstrators focus just on holding events around the 'big seasons' others host several a month. Lots of flexibility. 
 

Finally we welcome those who are looking at the full business potential of Stampin' Up and want to make a career out of paper crafting! The career stampers not only love the discount they get to support their own crafting, they not only love the social aspect of sharing Stampin' with others and earning commissions from products they sell but they also want to grow and mentor at team of fellow demonstrators who can build their own flexible business model!

And the most awesome part is that being a flexible business models is that you can move through whatever 'level' of commitment you want during your time with Stampin' Up from the hobby up to a team leader and back to a social stamper and so forth as your own needs and life commitments require!

So if you love to paper craft ~ give me a shout!

Happy Stampin'
Margaret