Gettin' Jiggy with mah new BigShot

Hidy Ho crafty peeps!

If y'all have read my post on Facebook, then you know that I spent my weekend at the Scrapbook Expo in Grapevine, TX. It was held at the Gaylord Texan resort/convention center. Can you say HUMONGO??? I'm totally not kidding when I say the parking garage was at least a half mile away from the convention center. Then, once you reach the convention center...it's like another half mile to where the Expo was...inside the convention center building.

I must say, the Gaylord Texan is quite an impressive "little" (hahaha) set up. The place is Ginormous. Truly.

There is a life-size replica of the Alamo inside the atrium of the hotel. LIFE SIZE. Plus a river with a walkway and waterfalls, and rows of high-end boutique shops with facade fronts that look like an "old" town. It's more than just a little bit impressive. It truly does epitomize the "Everything's bigger in Texas" motto. I do have a bone to pick with the Gaylord though...$13 for self parking? ($18 if you're there more than 4 hours). Seriously??? Add that to the $10 entrance fee to the Scrapbook Expo and I had spent almost $30 just to walk through the flippin' door. SERIOUSLY. Okay, I'm finished ranting. OH WAIT...NO I'M NOT FINISHED. Their concessions were exorbitant. $10 for a dry turkey sandwich? $3.50 for a bottle of water? $2 for a banana? That's just at the little concession cart. I can't imagine what their restaurant prices were. Oh yeah...I forgot they had set up a baked potato bar. Only $13 for a baked potato. And, they pretty much had you captive...because there was NOTHING within walking distance (remember, the parking garage itself was a half mile away) and once you leave the parking garage...you have to pay AGAIN if you come back. SERIOUSLY??? Okay, now I'm finished.

Climbing off soapbox.

 

As for the Expo...it was your typical Scrapbooking expo. Scores of vendor booths, all packed to the gills with stuff. So much stuff it made my head swim. After about the third booth I just couldn't look at any more STUFF. But, I had gone to the Expo with 3 goals.
1) To buy one of those Tonic paper distressor thingies.
2) To buy the Sizzix Bigz Accordion Album die (since every retailer on the internet is sold out, all of 'em).
3) To see if my old friend, Maria B., was there.

Maria owns both a brick-and-mortar scrapbook store (in Colorado) called Album Memories, and she owns an online store called "ItsCheaperThanTherapy.com". I just love that name. It makes me giggle. Well, guess what? Not only was Maria there, but she was so happy to see me that she put me in a bear hug for about 30 seconds. Then she asked me what I was doing on Saturday. I told her, "nothing, why?". She asked me if I would do demos for her all day Saturday.

Now, those of you who have known me for a long time know that I LOVE doing demos. I've demo'd all over the world at conventions and expos. But I haven't done any demoing for about the last 5 years. Basically, I haven't done any demoing since I moved to Texas. Don't ask.

Of course I told her I would demo for her. Then I asked her what she wanted me to demo. She asked me to demo the new line of interactive card dies from Sizzix called "Flip-Its". They are the brainchild of Stephanie Barnard. She's a genius, I tell ya. I actually got to meet her at the Expo. She's just so cute and sassy!

It took me seeing one card and I was HOOKED; like a catfish on a line baited with Kentucky Fried Chicken and Snickers bars. I LOVE THESE DIES. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM. Gone are the countless HOURS of masking of parts of dies, measuring, scoring, folding...just to discover you measured incorrectly by 1/4 inch and have to start all over. You can LITERALLY make a PERFECT interactive card base in 5 seconds. I'm not kidding. I had people time me. And the second best part is that I got to play with a BigShot. Before Saturday, I had never laid my hands on a BigShot. But it's like...it's like...heaven.

I am now the proud owner of a BigShot (thanks to Maria).

So...I have crossed over into the Sizzix zone. This does NOT mean I have forsaken my beloved Spellbinders dies. Nooooooooooo. But, it does mean I have retired my faithful Wizard in exchange for a super fabulously smooth-as-buttah BigShot. O M G. My hands don't hurt when I use it! I don't get hit in the boobage area by projectile-force cutting plates that come shooting out the other side! AND, it actually cuts my Memory Box and Papertrey Ink dies in one pass...without shims.

I think I hear angels singing.

Who wants to see my very first card made with my new BigShot???? I used the Flip-Its Ornate Card die (but I just realized the packaging says "Orante"..hahahaha). Here it is!!! 3 views of the same card to kind of show the movement of it. The middle section magically flips over to reveal the other side when the card is pulled open from the right edge.

Isn't it COOLIO?? I tell ya, these card bases have SO MANY possibilities! They come in many different shaped flip parts. Oh and Maria had my coveted Accordion album die in stock! YESSssssssss!!! Well...she HAD it in stock until I demo'd it and she sold out in like 30 minutes. Hahahaha. And I found a vendor with the distressing thingy! It was a very successful venture!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

• Artistic Inspirations - #30 Fancy Folds
• Cutie Pie Challenge - #38 Pretty Pastels
• Pink By Design - Sweet Treats
• Ooh La La Creations - #124 Sparkle and Shine
• House of Gilli - #50 Anything Goes + Pastels

Ingredients:
dies are also available at ItsCheaperThanTherapy.com at a discounted rate!
Flip-Its Ornate Card - Sizzix
Framelits die/stamp set (Birthday Cake) - Sizzix
Labels, Ornate nested dies - Sizzix
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Corner punch - EK Success
rhinestone swirl - Want2scrap.com
patterned paper - Rusty Pickle
cardstock
Adirondak Stamping ink - Ranger