Fun at training

Last Sunday, Pip and I held another of our team training days. We have moved the venue from my craft room so that more people can attend and we had 26 people there plus Pip and I and also Paula Gorry from the UK Stampin' Up! office. A fabulous time was had by all.

One of the projects that I designed used some Crystal Effects (a bottle of this was in everyone's goody bag). I'm still in love with the Sprinkles of Life stamp set so I just had to use it for the project, and this is what I came up with.

I shared some of my hints and tips for using Crystal Effects and one of them involved the stamping and making of the apples.

When preparing for the Open House at the beginning of June, I came up with a way to make the apples and birds and keeping them all in one place while the Crystal Effects was drying. It's quite obvious when you know how. I shared the information on 9 June but in case you missed it, the tip is to stamp and punch the apple or bird and then place them on a strip of glue dots. The glue dots stop the things from blowing away and hold them secure as the Crystal Effects is applied. Once dry, the apples or birds can be used straight away because they already have a glue dot on them.

Quite a few people also made swaps to take to training. I was no exception, in fact I made a gift for everyone who went including Paula. Here's a photo of a few of them.

Each box was personalised with a first initial. It seemed a good idea at the time but it turned out to be a little bit of a problem during the actual swap as I had to spend ages finding the right one for that person.

I used the Layered Letters Alphabet stamp set for the tops. Some of the letters have a Watermelon Wonder background and others a Cucumber Crush one. The actual letters were stamped using Memento Ink and then I applied Crystal Effects to give the glossy finish.

I'll share the rest of the swaps that I received soon.