Earlier this year, when I heard about Taylored Expressions Stamp Joy event, I reserved my hotel room and bought my ticket. I was thrilled to see my friend Pam Sparks would be one of the teachers, so I would get to visit with her as well. It was also fun to finally meet Taylor (and her husband John) face-to-face.
The event facility was on the campus of the Des Moines Community College ... it was super-easy to find, had great parking, and tons of room inside. Here's a picture I took from the stairway looking down on registration & the Taylored Expressions Store on the left (there was a free magnetic sheet of dies for purchasing $100 of product ... you know those came home with me).
We got an awesome swag bag filled with magazines, a t-shirt, free stamp set and some ink. It also included all of the pieces you needed for the 10 make-and-take stations set-up in the main conference room.
I signed-up for two classes. The first was Create with Cutting Plates taught by the talented Sankari Wegman (who I learned was also an Iowan).
These were my first two cards ... I really adored the elegance of the off-set shadowing with the Bold Lace Cutting Plate.
The quality of the instructions and products were both top notch with plenty of room to create. There were even wink of stella pens to add some glitter to the balloons in this fun card.
And the last card was created by stenciling three inks through a die cut ... I loved the beautiful blending I achieved with three shades (the three colors of the flowers) of Taylored Expression Ink (usually a struggle for me).
I did a sneak out during the three-hour lunch break to check out Memory Bound and use my 25% off coupon (definitely worth a stop if you're in the area).
I also did shopping at the Taylored Expression store ... they had so many great samples. These Elf Grumpling Stamps came home with me.
My afternoon class was Watercolor Expressions 2 with the talented Jen Schults. If you look at the sample cards, you'll see I had a little trouble following directions for my first two cards (but I still loved the result & learning two new techniques I will certainly try again.
This card used a free-form watercolor technique with contrasting die cuts.
And I believe my favorite card of the day was this gorgeous watercolored Sunflower Bouquet.
The introvert-in-me was pretty much overwhelmed by the large room full of make-and-takes, but I pushed through and did them all. Here are a few of my favorites (again her inks sponge so beautifully).
Because who doesn't love a googlie-one-eyed-monster. Love those fun Party Streamer Stamps.
So if you're looking for a fun event, mark October 13 & 14, 2017 on your calendar and plan to attend Stamp Joy 2017.
wow, looks like an amazing event and you've created some fabulous cards! love your watercolouring! and aren't you lucky to get in a class with pam - her cards are so creative. the grumplings are too cute.
Posted by: linda | October 16, 2016 at 11:05 PM
So glad to hear you had a great time at Stamp Joy! It was fun having you there and thank you for your review! :)
Posted by: Taylor | October 17, 2016 at 12:00 PM
I am so jealous!! This event looks like it was amazing. I love all the fun cards that you created. I think the watercolor backgrounds are cool.
Posted by: Nora | October 17, 2016 at 07:31 PM
Gorgeous cards Stef and it was so good to see you too! Glad you came after all the stressful weeks you've had! I've got to try this ink blending! So pretty! I enjoyed seeing you in photos on FB too. Super group of card-makers this year... so many nice ladies and so many smiles in the pictures!
Posted by: Pam Sparks | October 17, 2016 at 09:31 PM
Looks like so much! Love your results!
Posted by: Toni | October 21, 2016 at 06:37 PM