Mother's Day Swaps

Our meeting theme in March was Mother's day.  I already shared with you my swap, but I thought you might like to see what else we swapped.  With team leader Jeanne's work schedule and stamping events, we actually make her swap as our project for our meeting, and she's always got something really cute for us.  This time was no different.  Although it really was too big to photograph in my portable photo studio, I did so anyway, so you'll see the edges of the white nylon pop-up photo box in the image.  Each cute flower doubles as a gift or note holder - a perfect project to celebrate Mom, or any other important woman in your life.  She found the cute glittery basket at the Target dollar store (they had the turquoise that I chose, as well as purple, pink, and a springy green), so the flower colors coordinated with them.  Such a cute project, don't you think?

Marianne and Sofia both had cards for their swaps this time.  First up is Marianne's:

I love that daisy die, but rarely use it - why is that?  Marianne also used the new Four Frames stamp set that you can buy now with any $20 (pretax) order.  The set will also be in the new Idea Book & Catalog later this summer.

Sofia shared with us this beauty.  The detail in Sophia's card is just amazing.  The DSP behind the lattice die consists of a bunch of very small triangles made into the larger square, and it was embossed as well using the Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder.  The final embossed layer was made using Framed Tulips embossing folder, and I love how you can make a rectangle or square border with this folder!

I love being a part of such a talented group of stampers - I just wish more of them could regularly make the meetings!

Favorite Occasions Mini Catty Swaps

I recently participated in a swap featuring card fronts made using products from the new Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog (thank you, Kim, for being our hostess).  Two of the swaps in particular were awesome IMHO, and I wanted to share them with you.  The first is by Rhonda Griffin.  She used the new and cute Eat Chocolate set to create her swap.  I love how real the mini candy bar really looks!  I don't have this set, and hadn't planned to get it, but thanks to Rhonda, I'm having second thoughts.  :)  Here's Rhonda's swap:

The second came from Debra Burgin, who's work I've been admiring for quite a while now.  I loved the non-traditional colors on her card, and hey, she used my favorite of the new SU! colors, Marina Mist!!  Bonus points for Debra!  :)  She stamped the Be My Valentine stamp in Marina Mist onto Bashful Blue card stock, then spritzed it with Log Cabin spritz and the effect is so cool!!  I'm going to CASE her card for my stamp camp on January 21 with just a couple of modifications - I don't have the Artistic Etchings set she used for the sentiment, so I'm planning to use the banner from the stamp, done in Soft Suede, instead.  I also don't have the Wonderfully Worn background stamp that Debra used on the River Rock card stock, so I'll use the spritzer tool with a River Rock marker for that layer.  I want to add a little more texture, so I'm planning to use textured Soft Suede for the card base.  I didn't have the Tasteful Trim die or the Music Notes wheel, but I will when my order arrives on Friday (yup, I expedited so I'd have them to play with over the long weekend).  Here's Debra's swap:

I hope you enjoyed seeing their swaps, and be sure to visit their blogs if you haven't been there before.  Both ladies are quite accomplished stampers!

Christmas Tag Swap, Take 2

I signed up for two spots on the annual Christmas tag swap over at Stampin' Addicts, and this weekend I got the second tag finished.  It's based on several ideas I've seen in the past week or so.  The first idea came from this poinsettia card I spotted on Vicki's blog.  She saw it on Connie's blog, which inspired her.  Vicki's inspired me.  I liked how well the Vintage Wall embossing folder went with the poinsettia, and it made me remember a cool technique I saw last weekend on Diana's blog, using the same embossing folder, which she called bisque pottery.  Diana has a great video showing how to do this technique, which involves using a brayer on one side of an embossing folder to add ink on the non-embossed parts of the card stock.  Such a cool technique, and it was just what I needed for my tag.  The DSP is Deck the Halls and the sentiment stamp is from the set All Holidays.  I used one of the larger antique brads for the center of the poinsettia.  The antique whitewashed one really goes along well with the bisque pottery look, but I only had seven of those left, so I had to use two of the other larger antique brads, which also look good.  I can't wait to see what I get in return!

Christmas 8 x 8 Swaps

Happy Monday, everyone!  Today I'm sharing the final set of swaps I received recently.  My swap was shared as part of a Stampin' Addicts blog hop to feature products in the Holiday Mini catalog.  You can see mine here.

The first swap I'll share was unsigned :(  Never would have thought to combine blue with this, but I really like it.

The second layout was also unsigned :(  Love the use of the new tag punch, dressed up with buttons or brads and the lace ribbon.

The next layout is by Debbie Dutchess.  I love the Cherry Cobbler seam binding - just got some of that to try out.  The medallion with the antique brad makes a nice touch on this layout.

The final layout is by Holly Pedersen.  I liked the way she stamped the background and sponged the edges of the spots where the pictures will go.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing all of the scrapbook swaps - I had a fun time coming up with my layouts and it's always nice to see what others do.  If you haven't participated in one, or if it's been a while, you might consider giving it a try!

Thanksgiving 8 x 8 Swaps

Hi there!  Thanks for stopping by today.  In my last post, I shared with you the Halloween scrapbook swaps I received recently.  Today I'm going to share with you the Thanksgiving pages.  Unfortunately, instead of receiving back four different sets, I got one of mine back with the others (see it here), so I only have three layouts to share today.

First up is the swap I got back from Holly Pedersen.  I love that she dyed the ribbon to match her layout.

This layout was unsigned :( and now I'm really glad I picked up this set.  Love the texture and popped up images.

My favorite layout was unsigned :(  We were supposed to sign our work, so I don't know why so many didn't.  Anyhow, I like this one for the nice balance of DSP and card stock, as well as room for several pictures.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the swaps.  Next time I'll share the last batch, the Christmas layouts.  See you soon!

Halloween 8 x 8 Swaps

Happy Saturday!  I thought I'd share the 8 x 8 scrapbook swaps that I got in the mail a while back.  Today I'll share the Halloween pages I received.  My swap layout can be seen here.

The first was unsigned :(  Love the use of the bat punch on the corners of the second page.

This one is from Rhonda Bischoff.  Love the double stamping to create the moon behind the tree and owl.

The third one was also unsigned :(  I'm really thinking I want this set and wheel now.

My favorite was by Holly Pedersen.  Loved the punch art and the nice balance of DSP and card stock on her layout.  I need to use that embossing folder!

I'll share the Thanksgiving pages as well as the Christmas ones in the coming days. 

September Sparkles Team Swaps

Last Sunday, my upline held our team meeting.  I'm the swap coordinator, and for this meeting, I decided that our swaps should feature one of the individual stamps that SU! has available.  I chose to use the Ornate Blossom stamp.  I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with it, and as time started to run short, I settled for using a Mojo Monday sketch and the Color Coach.  I wanted to use Concord Crush, and the Color Coach recommended a combination with Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait, so that's what I went with.  I also used the new Level 1 hostess paper pack - love it!  I stamped the Ornate Blossom in Concord Crush, then stamped over it with VersaMark (thank you, Stamp-a-ma-jig!).  I embossed the image using Iridescent Ice EP and cut out the image with my Creative Memories Circle Cutting System.  I know, I should have used my Circle Scissors, but I love my CM cutters, so that's what I grabbed.  The sentiment is from Occasional Sentiments, a level 2 hostess set.  I used the small Ornate Blossom from Friends Never Fade on the tag, and added a rhinestone for some bling.

Sofia was our hostess for this month's project, and we all loved her project.  It features the cute pansies made with the butterfly punch.  I was unhappy with how mine were coming out, but once they dried, they actually looked better.  I still would have liked to have had more So Saffron showing on them.  Here's Sofia's great card project:

Here are the swaps everyone else made.  The first is also by Sofia, using Elegant Thank You:

Then there's the cute Dasher card made by Anne:

Marlise featured Tiny Teacups for her card:

Dianna used Engraved Greetings on hers:

Cindy used the elegant Elizabeth stamp (I so need that one):

Marianne's card uses the Homemade stamp:

Jeanne used the Single Snowflake stamp, embossed using Iridescent Ice EP:

Notice all the rhinestones?  We all giggled about that as we traded cards.  It's been a while since we all got together and it was great that so many of us were able to make it.  Our next swap theme is Fall.  I think I'll do a 3D item for that swap, as I'm already working on something that uses the Autumn Spice Specialty DSP (love the thicker weight of this paper).  I'm going to try and get in the habit of sharing our team swaps with you as I've seen other stampers do that.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peaks

I've been busy over the past week making two cards for the Stampin' Addicts California Non-Convention Goers gathering next Saturday over in West LA.  I can't show you what I made yet, as a few of the gals I'm getting together with next weekend also visit my blog, but I can show you a sneak peak!

We're doing a general swap, so this is a sneak peek of the card I made to trade.  It's not my original design, but instead a card I made last month at my upline's monthly stamp camp.  I just updated the colors she used by swapping the Chocolate Chip card stock and ribbon on hers to Early Espresso on mine, and changed the Whisper White on hers to Very Vanilla on mine.  I made ten of these babies this week, although I'm only going to need six for our gathering.  Here's a look:

We're also doing a shoebox swap.  I've been trying to decide all week what I wanted to do for this one.  Last night I was playing around with some supplies, and today after looking through some old Mojo Monday sketches, it all came together.  I've got my sample card finished now, and all I have to do is cut up card stock and gather the supplies needed to make the card.  This one also uses some of our new colors.  You might spot Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz in the sneak peek:

Like that knot?  Another thing I did this week was watch some YouTube videos on tying knots in ribbon.  I don't know about you, but it often takes me four or five attempts (or sometimes more) to get a good knot tied in the ribbon.  After watching a couple of videos, now it only takes me two or three!  Sometimes I even get lucky and get it right on the first try.

Ok, that's it for the sneak peeks - stop by next weekend and I'll show you both cards in their entirety!