Quick Halloween Thank You Cards

I wanted to give a little thank you note and gift card to the two families who provide our oldest with a ride to and from school each day.  Here's what I was able to come up with.

I used a card design by Sofia, one of my stampin' 'sisters' from my upline's team.  Hers was a Thanksgiving card with punch-art pumpkins.  I made mine into a Halloween card using some really old SU! product.

My hubby was happy because I designed the inside, too:

I put a Panera Bread gift card in each.  I hope they liked the card and enjoy a tasty treat on us!

Birthday Card for My DH

Today my dear husband is celebrating his birthday.  I wanted a fall themed card this time around, so I took one I made earlier in the month and changed it up just a little, which gave me the effect I was looking for.  I hope he likes it.

I don't know why I always wait until the last minute to make my guy birthday cards.  I really need to have a bunch of them on hand to choose from.  I have PLENTY of girly ones that will do the job, but very few in the masculine category.  Anyone else out there have troubles coming up with guy-appropriate birthday cards like I do?

Happy Blogiversary - It's Blog Candy Time!

Wow!  I actually have two things to celebrate - the first is passing 50,000 hits on my blog earlier this month (thank you) and the second is my blogiversary at the end of the month!  My first blog entry was on October 27, 2007.  Hard to believe that I've been blogging now for three years!  Sure sounds like two good reasons to celebrate - that's why I'm going to offer not one but TWO sets of blog candy!  I have two Botanical Blossoms SAB sets from two years ago, along with two Holiday Best Level 1 Hostess sets from last year.  Two lucky winners will receive a copy of each stamp set along with some ribbon and a few other accessories like brads/buttons.  To enter, simply leave me a comment on this post between now and October 31 and I'll enter you in the drawing.

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. 

Sofia's Give Thanks Card

Got go have more stamping fun over the weekend, so I decided to make the Give Thanks card that my stampin' 'sister' Sofia made last year for our fall team swap.  I didn't have the frame/border stamp that she used around the Give Thanks sentiment, so I had to alter her design a little.  She used Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust inks along with Old Olive and Chocolate Chip, so I updated the colors and used Cajun Craze in place of Really Rust, and swapped out the Pumpkin Pie for More Mustard.  Cajun Craze card stock replaced the Really Rust that Sofia had used on her card.  Once again, I cut down her card to 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches so it would fit into an envelope.  I'll be bringing this card back next time for stamp camp as several of my stampers could only stay for a little while last time we got together, and several asked me to bring this one again.

I love the rich colors on this card, and I'm so glad I bought the Autumn Splendor set last year.  It was one of those 'gee, do I really need ANOTHER fall leaf stamp set' decisions, and I'm glad I ended up getting this set afterall!

Fall Season of Friendship

I haven't used my Season of Friendship set in a long while and thought I'd best dust it off and see what I could make with it.  I found this great card by Karrie Snider and decided to make a fall version of it.  I used Autumn Spice Specialty DSP (love the heavier weight of this paper!) along with Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, and Old Olive markers.  I think the background is a bit too busy - what do you think?  I think it competes too much with the focal image.  Love the colors, though!

'Real' Paper Daisies

Back in August, I redesigned my blog background and header using My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up!s great digital design software.  I liked the look so much that later that month, I made a digital card using the paper daisies, corduroy buttons, and Elegant Soiree papers from MDS, which I shared with you here.  Wouldn't you know it, the Pretty in Pink corduroy buttons were one of two colors (the other being Real Red) that I didn't have!  I put out a 'call' and Cindy and Sofia had some I could trade for.  I had just received their buttons in the mail, when the buttons showed up on the SU! Clearance Rack (yup, I ordered another set then, along with the Real Red ones).  Well, today, during the Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon that my DH is playing, I sat down at my desk for a while and made some cards.  I made two of the paper daisies card I designed this summer using MDS, along with a card using Season of Friendship, which I'll share with you later.  I hope you enjoy the 'real' card - hope to see you again soon!

Sofia's Halloween Card

I shared last week that I featured two cards made last fall by my stampin' team 'sister', Sofia.  Sofia is uber-talented and we all oh and ah over what she shares for our swaps each time we get together.  I loved her Halloween card that she swapped last year, so I shared it with my stampers this month.  Hers was 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches, but it wouldn't fit into the envelopes I have so I cut it down to 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches.  I also updated the card stock colors as Really Rust that Sofia used is now retired.  In addition to the Basic Black, I used Daffodil Delight and Cajun Craze (my newest fave fall color!).  Today I finally had some time to make one of them myself:

The background image was sponged onto Whisper White.  I used the 2 1/2 inch circle punch to create the masks from a Post-It note (hint:  stick the Post-It to a scrap piece of copy paper first before punching or the Post-It will get stuck in your punch - trust me, I know this to be true!).  First I sponged on So Saffron and then More Mustard to create the rising full moon.  I then masked off the moon and sponged on Baja Breeze, then Not Quite Navy, and finally Night of Navy.  My fence didn't come out too well as I had a huge uninked spot in one of the posts, so I ended up going over it with a Basic Black marker.  The fence posts didn't quite match up the way I needed them to for the cat's feet, so I enlarged one post to make it work.  The cat and bats were stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink.  On Sofia's card, she stamped 'spooky nights' in Craft White, but I wanted to make it my own just a bit, so I changed it by stamping the sentiment onto a scrap of Whisper White in Basic Black, then stamping the bats in Basic Gray (stamped off once to lighten the shade of gray).  The word window punch is perfect to frame the sentiment.  To finish it off, the fence posts are highlighted with a white gel pen.  Don't you just love her card?  The gals at my stamp camp did!  I'll share the other Sofia card my stampers did last weekend once I've stamped one.

Fun with the Candy Wrapper Die

For my stamp camp this past Friday, one project was a Halloween treat using the Candy Wrapper Die.  I showed my stampers Barb Mullikin's great video on how to assemble the die, and then they got to work.  I decided I'd make some for my girls to give to their teachers, so I made 15 myself.  Here are a few of them.  Can you believe it?  I am actually ready for something ahead of time - they're all done, filled with candy, ready to be handed out, and it's only the beginning of October!  That almost never happens!  See you next time!

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!