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!!

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!

What a Blast!

Yesterday I went to the Meade Girls' Shoe Box Swap and boy, what a FUN time we had!!! Amanda did a fabulous job planning the swap! We had great cards to make, lots of delicious food and tons of great friends...with some 'strange' conversations!... to make the day so special! Here are the cards that I made at the swap with the designers' names...(sorry for the crooked scans! It's hard to keep those cards still with buttons and bows!

(left) Michelle (top right) Kathi (bottom right) Tracy

(top left) Sara (top right) Linda
(bottom left) Pete (bottom right) Rose

(top left) Jeaneen (top right) Jill
(bottom left) Linda (bottom right) JoAnn

(top left) Theresa (top right) Paula
(bottom left) Jane (bottom right) Stacy

Gloria
Lynn

I just LOVE going to these swaps! What a great way to try new techniques and use stamp sets that I probably never would have tried otherwise!!! Thanks, again, Amanda, for hosting this swap! I can hardly wait till the next one! There is still one card that I need to make, and one Valentine treat box I'll need to photograph. I will post those a little later.

Meade Girls' Shoebox Swap

One Saturday, I'll be attending the Meade Girls' shoebox swap. I kept putting it off and putting it off, but today I FINALLY got my card made. Here's what I came up with:

It's a simple card but I really like it. The card base is Basic Black. I took a 4 x 5-1/4" panel of Cameo Coral and embossed in in my Cuttlebug using the Leafy Branch embossing folder. The bird image is from Inkadinkadoo's Birds Galore stamp set and is stamped onto GP110 white cardstock using Black Staz-On. I used SU's markers in Garden Green and Cameo Coral to color the image. I then sponged the edges of the image using Cameo Coral. I attached that to a scrap of Basic Black cardstock. Using the Martha Stewart Branch punch, I punched 3 branches using True Thyme cardstock (a great way to use up old scraps!) and adhered those to the back corner of the image. Then I attached the image panel to the front of the card on a slight angle. I attached a black Prima flower with a gold brad in the center to the upper left corner using a pop dot.

I hope the girls will enjoy making this card.

What a FUN time!

The Baltimore Shoebox Swap yesterday was SO much fun!!! Lots of wonderful cards, yummy food and a group of friendly stampers made it a very enjoyable day!! CindyL did a wonderful job of hosting the swap!! I can't wait till the next one she will host in November!

Here are some of the cards that I made at the swap yesterday (there are still a few that I need to put the finishing touches on!)

The best thing about doing these shoebox swaps is the ideas that you can get from other people! Lots of great layouts, color combinations that I never would have though of, and great ideas for different ways to use embellishments. There were even a couple of stamp sets that I looked at in the catalog and didn't like, but once I've used them, I have to have them!!!

I'll be going to another large swap next month and can hardly wait!!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Meade Girls' Shoebox Swap

Tomorrow the Meade Girls will be having a mini shoebox swap hosted by Stacy at her house. We always have such a FUN time at our get-togethers and I'm sure this time will be no exception!

Here is the card that I made to take to the swap. I used the pumpkin patch stamp from Sherrod Studio's brand new set Harvest Blessings. The image is stamped onto GP110 white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. I sponged around the edges of the image using SU's Pumpkin Pie ink. The image is layered onto Basic Black, then Wild Wasabi (I'm almost at the end of my supply of Wild Wasabi- what WILL I do??!!). The card base is Wild Wasabi with a 5-1/4" x 4" panel of Basic Black. I then cut a 3-3/4" x 3" piece of Cast-a-Spell DSP from SU and adhered that to the bottom half of the black panel. I then adhered the pumpkin patch image to the upper half of the card about 1/2" down from the bottom of the black panel, making sure to cover the top portion of the patterned paper. I stamped Happy Halloween (an OLD SU stamp!) onto GP110 white CS and carefully punched it out using the new label punch, (it JUST fits!), sponged around the edges using Pumpkin Pie ink and then, using a 1-1/6" hole punch, I punched a hole at each end and inserted a silver brad. I attached the sentiment to the center of the lower half of the card using pop dots. It's a simple, but cute card. I hope the Meade Girls like it!

On a side note, I hope everyone got to check out Sherrod Studio's website for the 3 new stamp sets that the design team showcased this past week. If you haven't, take a mosey on over there and check 'em out!!! It's worth the peek!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!! Work has been hectic, so I'm REALLY looking forward to it!!

What a fun time!

I had such a fun time at the shoebox swap yesterday!!! We made 20 different cards, but here are 4 of my favorites:

This first card was created by my friend, Gloria. Isn't it cute? I love the pearl 'snowflakes' and the rick-rack. This little girl image is very cute, too! Not sure who makes this stamp, though, but I belive the sentiment is Amuse.
This next card was created by another friend, Kathi. I LOVE the Old Olive and Real Red together!!!! The little red sparkles and the snowflake brad are just the perfect 'extra something'! Love that DP, too! All papers and stamps are from Stampin' Up.

These 2 cards were created by Kim, the owner of Create IT Crafts. They're both made using Amuse stamps. I was never an Amuse fan, but these 2 cards I love and I actually bought the stamps that we used to make these 2 cards. On the first card, the stack of packages is stamped again, cut out and popped up. Love the colors of this- again, the olive and red are great together! I plan on re-creating a similar card to send out at Christmastime.

This last card I think is SO pretty! I guess it's the pink- a very non-tradional Christmas color- that I like. I had a hard time lining up the ornaments on the branch within the size paper that was cut, but I still like it. The largest ornament was stamped again, cut out and popped up. I also made sure to buy some of the pink Amuse DP that we used here, too!

We made out like bandits at the swap, though! It only cost us $15, which included lunch, snacks and drinks, but we each received a 'goodie bag' which contained about $15 worth of stamping goodies and each of us also received a door prize- a stamp set, valued at $15. THEN, since I was the first one finished all of my cards, I received a special prize- a Scor-Mat, again valued at $15. So, for the cost of the swap ($15), I came home with about $45 worth of "stuff". PLUS we received 15% off our purchases! Can't beat that!! :) Create IT Crafts is thinking about having another Shoebox Swap in September with a Halloween/Fall theme. I'm really looking forward to it!

Shoebox Penguin

Tomorrow I'm going to a shoebox swap at our LSS, Create IT Crafts. The theme is Christmas in July. This is the card that I'm taking to the swap. I used one of High Hope's penguin stamps. Isn't he cute? I stamped in onto GP110 white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored him with Copics. I then doodled around the edge of the image using the fine point on my SU Basic Black marker. The rest of the papers are from Stampin' Up...Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue and an old DP from a Christmas pack from a couple years ago. I embossed the DP in my Cuttlebug using the Snowflakes embossing folder.
The light blue grosgrain ribbon is from Michael's. I stamped the Merry Christmas image (from Bombshell Stamp's Holiday Accessories set) onto GP110 and punched it out using the medium oval punch from SU. I punched the scallop punch (also from SU) out of Always Artichoke and layered the white oval to the top of the scallop oval, then using pop dots, adhered the sentiment to the center of the ribbon.

It's a simple card but I don't know the levels of the stampers coming to this crop. I hope they like it. One note, though...when I take my supplies to the swap, I'll be taking SU markers for them to color the image with- no way am I taking my beloved Copic markers to let strangers mess them up! :) They'll just have to deal with it!

I'm hoping I'll be able to make some nice cards at the swap that I'll be able to use for Christmas this year! Here it is, mid-July and I only have 2 Christmas cards made!!!

Woo Hoo! It's SUNNY!

Happy sunny Saturday!!! The rains have FINALLY stopped and the sun is out and it's been a beautiful day! I'm SO tired of rain!!!

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I stamped!! I made this card today for my senior friend, Miss Laura. A Rose In Winter is a favorite of mine. I haven't used this set to make a card for her so thought I would use it today. All papers are from SU- Basic Black, Whisper White and Bella Rosa DSP. The ink is all SU as well- Real Red, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Wild Wasabi, with the exception of the black ink which is Memento Tuxedo Black (you know- all this time and I never realized I was spelling Memento wrong! Oops!) The Notebook Paper stamp if from Cornish Heritage Farms.
Last Saturday I was supposed to go to a shoebox swap with the Meade Girls. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well and didn't go. Amanda sent me the card that she took to the swap- isn't it beautiful?! I believe that the set is Cheep Talk by SU, but I'm not totally sure. I LOVE the wide dotted ribbon that she used. I'll bet she bought that on one of the Meade Girls' ribbon runs!! Fabulous colors and fantastic layout! Thanks, Amanda, for thinking of me!! You're a doll!

Then, today in the mail I had a package from Tracy. She sent me a kit for the card that she took to the swap. What a cute card!!! The set is called Forest Friendzy by Cornish Heritage Farms. This was such a fun card to make!! When she made her sample card, she colored the sky and grass using Copics, but I don't have the right blue for the sky so I opted to sponge on the color using Bashful Blue for the sky and Old Olive for the grass. I think it came out cute! Tracy, thanks for being so sweet! The Meade Girls are the BEST!

...a brighter place...

Saturday I'll be going to an impromptu shoebox swap at a friend's house. It will be a small group, but it'll be fun!!! The Meade Girls are ALWAYS fun! ;) Here is the card that I came up with to take.
I have had this SU set- A Light Unto My Path- for a while and hadn't used it, yet. I wasn't quite sure of a good layout for it. I stamped the image using Momento Tuxedo Black ink onto GP110 white cardstock. I used SU Basic Black and River Rock- a color I rarely use. I ran the black background layer through my Cuttlebug using the Mesh embossing folder. I originally wanted to make this as a Father's Day card, but I couldn't find a Father's Day sentiment that I was happy using with this layout, so I pulled out an old SU sentiment set that I've had for ages. The edges of the image and sentiment are sponged using Momento Tuxedo Black. The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals and I placed a silver brad at the bottom of the oval. The ribbon is some I found in the $1 bin at Michael's and it's a perfect match for River Rock. I hope the girls at the shoebox swap enjoy making this card.