ANOTHER Fun Shoebox Swap!

Last Saturday I attended a fabulous shoebox swap hosted by my friend, Amanda. Her swaps are ALWAYS so much fun!!! She does a fabulous job of being hostess! Here are the cards that I made at her swap (I can't remember who all created each card, but I put the name of the ones who I remembered- and I DO apologize for any crooked scans!!)

Vera

???

Theresa

(Theresa's original card was SO much better than mine! I got my sentiment off a little which threw off the entire card!)

???

???

Jane (?)

Cindy

Paula

Linda

Jeaneen

Mich

Mich's butterfly card above opens up to show butterflies 'flying' on acetate strips. SO cool!

Jean (aka Nana)

Fran (?)

Rose

Kimme

Kathi

Gloria

Amanda

Dawnmarie had us make the cutest little Tic-Tac covers, but I'll have to get the camera out to take a picture of that.

I LOVE these swaps and can't wait for the next one!!

Thanks, Vicki!

I have been blessed with some wonderful 'cyber" friends. One of those beautiful women, Vicki, gave me this Sweet Blogger award. You HAVE to check out her blog! Her work is absolutely gorgeous!

I would like to pass this award on to all of my blogging friends. If you would like, please grab this award! You all make me happy with your friendship and your inspiration. Thank you!!

Getting Ahead...

Well, I'm actually getting ahead on the cards that I will need in the upcoming months!!! Here is the first of the Mother's Day cards:

This image is from Stamps By Judith, and I LOVE it!!! I stamped it onto GP110 white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it using Copic markers. I then cut the image out and sponged the edges using Close to Cocoa ink. The card base is this years' "In-Colors" Soft Suede textured cardstock and is cut to make a 5-1/4" square card. The next layer is Crushed Curry and a layer of Razzberry Lemonade DSP. I put antiqued copper brads (Recollections from Michael's) in each corner and attached a length of Apricot Appeal grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment was stamped, punched out with the tag punch and sponged with Close to Cocoa. Antiqued copper brads were added, then I attached the sentiment and the flower image using dimensionals. I kinda like the color combination...I'll need to make one more Mother's Day card and a birthday card for my mom and my cards will be done through May! Woo Hoo!!

Meade Girl's Swap Card

On April 17th, I'll be attending the Meade Girl's Shoebox Swap. These swaps are always SO much fun! This is the card I made to take to the swap:

I made a card like this for an online swap years ago, but I love the way it turned out and it's so simple to do! SU's retired Paint Prints is an all-time favorite set of mine. One that I'll never get rid of. For this card, I cut a 3-3/4 x 4" piece of GP110 white cardstock. Using the "brick" image, I stamped it using Creamy Caramel ink in a brick pattern. I then randomly stamped the large flower image using Eggplant Envy and Certainly Celery for the leaves. Lastly, I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the flower centers and the sentiment, which is from a VERY old SU set- I can't remember the name of it but it's something critters. I attached a length of Certainly Celery twill ribbon then a knotted length of Eggplant Envy grosgrain ribbon. The main image panel is layered onto a 4 x 5-1/4" piece of Certainly Celery and then that is attached to the Eggplant Envy cardbase. CUTE CRITTERS! That's the name of the set that the sentiment is from! I hope the ladies at the swap will enjoy making this card!

American Bombshell

Well, we're back from our trip to Florida. The weather started off rainy and cool, but warmed up nicely before we left. We drove all the way home from Sarasota on Thursday. It was a long drive, but it was good to get home. We saw 3 Orioles' spring training games while we were there, and they lost all 3. Oh, well- a bad spring training means a good season, right?!? Let's hope so!

I got a few minutes to stamp today. This card, although great in my head, didn't come out quite as well as I had planned...this is my version of an American Bombshell.

I used the sailor bombshell image from Bombshell Stamps' Ahoy, Sailor stamp set. She's one of my favorites. I stamped her onto GP 110 white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored her with Copic Markers, then I cut her out. I found an American flag coloring sheet online that I printed out and cut a circle using my Cuttlebug and Nesties. I colored that using Copics and then layered it onto a circle of Brilliant Blue cardstock and then onto a scalloped circle of Real Red, both cut with my Nesties. The sailor girl is popped up using dimensionals. The card base is Brilliant Blue with a layer of retired SU DSP. The sentiment was computer generated. In an attempt to make it feel old, I sponged the image and sentiment with Creamy Caramel ink.

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Make sure to check out Bombshell's challenges for the month of April. Ms. April Bombshell, Cheryl, has a fabulous challenge of us...Baby Got Back- to create a card without patterned paper (gasp!!)- but to create our own patterned paper using the smaller Bombshell stamps. What fun! Kathi, our Sketch Queen, has created a wonderful sketch challenge for us as well. And don't forget our monthly Blog Hop challenge on April 28th! The challenge given to us by Kas is Pretty in Pink- to create a card or project using pink, pastels, or be spring inspired. We hope that you will play along. For each challenge that you play, you will be entered into a drawing for a fabulous prize from Bombshell Stamps! Check out all the details- plus lots more!-on the Bombshell Stamps' forum.