The day has finally arrived......................

Hello, Crafters.

After a visit to the dentist for us both yesterday evening, we spent the rest of the evening making last minute preparations for today. My final count of swaps made is 120.

It's not often I see this early in the morning but we have to leave by 6.45 am to drive to Ebbsfleet.

We're travelling by Eurostar and are allowing ourselves plenty of time just in case there are any hold ups on the road.

I'd rather arrive early and enjoy a cup of coffee while we wait, rather than get stressed out worrying that we're going to miss the train!

The main rules for swaps is that we must use current Stampin' Up! products only and we must include a list of ingredients together with our contact details.

Next week I'll make a video showing the swaps I receive.

Today's first photograph is the card I made that inspired my swap, except I decided not to put the plain layer behind the bauble on them - sometimes this worked well, other times it didn't!

The rest of the photographs are all swaps. 

On some of them the DSP is just too dark for the matching card stock. 

Other times, I didn't choose the best colour of glimmer paper for a particular DSP and/or card stock.  

Starting from the top, I think the Night of Navy Card Stock with the snowflakes DSP goes really well together, but I should have put the darker part of the DSP towards the bottom so the words were more prominent.

I like the Cucumber Crush combos, especially the Dotted Lace Bows.

The next photograph is Always Artichoke and it could be argued that the DSP isn't current but it's what I have left over from my old style Designer Series Paper Stack -  which hasn't actually retired, it's just that the colours and designs have been changed!

Bermuda Bay is a beautiful colour and the white goes with it really well - unfortunately, the DSP is so close in colour to the cardstock, the bauble almost disappears! This swap would really have benefitted from having a white layer behind the bauble.

The red selection of swaps is quite a mixed bunch! The red and white DSP definitely doesn't work well and the stripe design only does slightly better! I really like the "plain" red DSP designs with Gold Glimmer Paper because I think there is a sufficient contrast between the card stock and the DSP.

If you'd like to see a few more photographs, please pop over to my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JanBCards
 
Well, I must dash, we have a train to catch! ☺ I'm taking my laptop so I can keep you updated with the Convention and just about anything else!

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.