Sender's Choice loaded bag

On one of my facebook groups, I signed up for a sender's choice loaded bag swap. That meant I got to choose what my theme was. I went with flowers.

 It looks like I didn't take a picture of the front of the bag by itself. I put some flower patterned paper on the top and some diagonal striped paper on the bottom. I added some lace and jeweled flower 'washi' to the bottom. I added a flower cutout from my stash.
Here's the back:

 I loved this paper, and added a little decoration of some vines I drew on it.
Here's the goodies:

 I found some journaling cards, some tags, a spring game tablet and some stickers. I gave my partner a sample of every kind of flower washi I had. I also made her a little rosette paper clip.
More goodies:

Some paper straws, stickers, notepaper and a pen.
Here's what I received back:

 Here's the goodies:

 I'm loving that giant paper clip, the shaker sticker and the elephant paper clip.

 She sent me a lot of planner stickers, I don't do the whole planner thing, so I'll probably send those out as a RAK.
Here it is empty:

Birthday card

One of my supervisors' birthdays was this past Monday, so I made her an envelope flipbook card. I'm loving making these envelope flip books.

 This is the outside. I used a piece of blue cardstock as the background, and since you can't put the template on the paper straight to get it to fit on the paper, I had to cut out this piece because I specifically wanted it to say "Happy Birthday" on the outside.
Here's the inside:

I don't have close-ups. Basically I covered the inside with a paper that had presents all over it. I added her name in stickers to the top flap. The right flap has a circle I cut out of a journaling card, it says "start each day with a smile" I just brushed the edges with some purple ink. The bottom flap, I cut the piece out of a journaling card as well, it says "Blow out the candles", I edged it with brown ink. The left flap has another piece I cut out of a journaling card, it says "Part of cultivating a good life is determining one thing you can do today that will make it better than yesterday", I layered it on some pink paper. All the details on the flaps are stuck on with foam tape. The middle, I added some colored chevron paper with some banner stickers from Dollar Tree and some balloons I stamped in different colors, I also added some cupcake washi at the bottom. It's rather plain from what I normally, but since she doesn't craft, I didn't really know what to do with it. She was very touched by it.
I think it's funny that I love making cards for my co-workers, but my mother's birthday is on Monday, and I'm not really wanting to make a card for her. Mostly because I think she expects it. She thinks I have all this time on my hands and I should make her a card because I'm crafty.

Birthday cards

I signed up for a birthday card swap on one of my facebook groups. We were supposed to make 2 birthday cards and send them to our partner. I signed up for two partners, here's what I made:

 The top one has washi tape banner on the top with a project life card cut down to fit and washi tape cupcakes on the bottom (both washi's are from the Dollar Tree).
The second one has a background from a pad of paper I picked up at a garage sale. The 'happy birthday' banners are from a chipboard sticker sheet from Hobby Lobby, I just added some washi cupcakes to the bottom (the washi is from Hobby Lobby).

The top one is just scraps from my stash, the top and bottom pieces are washi I got in a swap. The 'celebrate' is also washi I got in a swap.
The bottom one is a project life card cut down layered on some cupcake paper I got from Hobby Lobby.
Here's what I got back:

The top two, my partner included numbers to add to customize the cards. I love how the bottom one opens.
Here's what I got from my second partner:

I love how she used die cuts.

Envelope flip book

One of the swaps I signed up for in my facebook groups was an envelope flip book. This was something new I had never done before and it took me forever to figure it out. I realized I was trying to fit the envelope the wrong way on a piece of paper.
Anywho, here's what I created. The front:

I used a paper pad from Hobby Lobby with bright colors for the outside, this is a 4x6 cut apart.
Here's the back:

I lined the edges with black washi and layered some green striped washi on top of it. I think it gave it a more finished look.

Once you open it:

I used paper from the Newsworthy paper pad from Hobby Lobby for the inside. I also lined the edges of it with some pink washi.
 Close up of top corner:

 The 'hello' die is from a swap. I made the banner by cutting paper from a paper pad from JoAnns. It's amazing how I found colors from so many different things in my stash that went so well together. The jeweled flowers are a 'tape' from recollections from a swap.
Close-up of right flap:

 The flowers are stickers from Dollar Tree. The quote is from a Snap pack from Hobby Lobby, I just cut it up so it would fit.
Close-up of bottom flap:

 The washi is from Michaels, the butterfly is from Dollar Tree
Close-up of left flap:

 The sticker is from Dollar Tree.
Close-up of inside:

The background paper and the flowers on the bottom left are from a snap pack from Hobby Lobby. The 'messes is what we do best' is from a project life card, I just cut it down to fit. The jewel sticker is from a swap. We had to include an envelope for goodies, this envelope is from a swap. I believe I added some more of the colored paper I used for the banner, some scraps and a butterfly sticker.
Here's what I got from my partner, the front:

 What I saw when I first opened it:

 The whole thing, unfolded:

 The whole thing, minus the goodies:

 The goodies:

I love how she used that beauty paper pad from Micheal's. I'm not a girly girl, but I really liked this.

Oceans of Fun pocket letter

I signed up to make an 'Oceans of Fun' pocket letter in a facebook group. The guidelines were anything to do with the ocean and double sided.

Here's what I created:

 I used some paper that looked like waves as the background. The stamped images except the fish on the top are from a Stampin Up set (I'm trying to use my stamps more), I stamped them on some paper I picked up at JoAnns and fussy cut them out, I then colored some of them in with gel pens. I love how the fish in the second row turned out. I was originally gonna make a shaker pocket, but I accidentally burned right through the plastic with my heat gun. So I put a blue paper in the middle and added stickers throughout the rest of it. The washi at the bottom is from a swap. The silver things by the crab are sand dollar buttons. The fish on top are stickers from Michael's, the stickers in the top row are from Dollar Tree, the fish on the top is from a swap. The mermaid is from Dollar Tree, the sequins with her are from Hobby Lobby.
Here's my back:

 I'm not good at doing double sided, so I chose this paper.
Here's what my partner sent me:

 I love how she had it packaged up in the envelope.
Here's what was inside:

 I also love the charm thing she put on the edge. I'm loving this pocket letter. The ship on the bottom actually moves.
Here's the back:

 And the goodies:

The pencil has little mermaids on it. Also loving that castle paper clip.

Rainbow pocket letter

I signed up to do a rainbow pocket letter in one of my facebook groups. I originally wanted to do each pocket a color of the rainbow with the other two being pink and purple, but I ran out of time. I came up with this instead:

 The background is some rainbow paper I picked up at a garage sale. I just added a bunch of stickers to the plastic so my partner could reuse the rainbow paper if she wanted. I did cut out another rainbow and layer it with foam tape on the first card. The second card has jewel butterflies, the third card has hot air balloon stickers. For the second row, the first card has some layered butterflies, the second a pegasus, and the third some more butterflies. For the third row it's all butterflies.
Here's the back:

I try to add bits of what I've used on the front when I add goodies, so I sent some of the jeweled butterflies, the rainbow colored butterflies, some stickers from the pack the pegasus came from and a hot air balloon sticker. I also included some rainbow washi and a package of instant coffee.
Here's what I got in return:

 It's basically colored paper with goodies on top. To me that is not a pocket letter anyone can cut up paper and put it in a sleeve. The weren't even cut straight.
So, I fixed it:

I used the original paper sent to me and just embellished it. Basically, I did every pocket the same with a little variation in the pieces used. I layered a butterfly with some kind of bling as the body on a round piece. The bottom has a couple layers of banners with a stamped quote on them and then either butterflies or round pieces on the bottom. I had a few butterflies, I ended up just tracing one onto different paper.
I used a sticker for the circle, a traced butterfly on pink paper, some pink bling (kinda recreating those butterfly stickers from the Dollar Tree), with pink butterflies. For the orange, I used an egg toothpick topper for the round piece, a butterfly punch from a swap, some clear bling for the body and some orange round stickers. For the lilac one, again with an egg toothpick topper, this was a traced butterfly with clear bling and light purple jewels.
For the blue, a punch from a swap, a traced butterfly with blue bling and blue butterflies. This middle piece I kept, I just glued the die cut down. For the green, a punch from a swap, the butterfly is also from a swap with pearls for the body and green butterflies.
For the purple, another egg toothpick topper (actually the other side from the one I used on the lilac piece), the butterfly is from an envelope with pearls as the body and some purple rub on flowers from Target. For the red, a die cut from a swap, a butterfly from a swap with red bling for the body and red butterflies. For the yellow, a cupcake liner with a butterfly from a swap and pearls for the body and yellow butterflies.
I love how this turned out.

RAK Challenge

One of my groups on facebook regularly sends out RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) as one of the requirements in the group. I signed up to do the RAK challenge for this month. I was sent a package in the mail that included a base for a journal, pages for the journal, some jute, a bunch of flat back pearls and a couple pieces of patterned paper. The challenge was to make a journal with the pieces provided and only 3 more things from our stash.
Here's the journal that I created.
The front:

 The background paper was given to me, as well as the circles of patterned paper, the jute, and the flat back pearls. I added the lace at the bottom, the medallion and used ink on the patterned paper.
I added the medallion to the front, used the larger patterned paper circle as it's middle. I inked the edges of the smaller circle and glued the jute around the outside of it. I wish I could have added more to the center of the circle as it just looks unfinished to me.
The back:

 The background paper was given to me as well as the green piece. I added the lace at the bottom and the medallion.
The inside:

The pages and the bird were given to me.
I started creating and then stopped to ask if I could add more than three of my own items, the answer was no and I was glad I stopped to ask because I had already added the lace and the medallion. I thought the medallions went great with the paper I was given. I really wanted to use the bird, but couldn't find a way to add it to the front, so I stuck it in the inside.
We were supposed to have the item done by the 19th, we send a picture (I sent three: the front, back, and inside) to the group owner, she puts them in a post and people vote on them. Later we send them out as RAKs to other people in the group.
I think this will be a fun group.

Fabulous Flip book

Another facebook group was having a flip book swap, there was no set theme. I went with bright colors and summer. I'm still having fun with the 4x6 size flip books.
Here's the front:

 I used a project life card that looked like water and added a jewel 'hello' sticker.
When you flip it up:

 Close-up of top card:

 These two cards are from a RAK someone sent me, I used these two martini glass paperclips to hold them closed.
When you flip them open:

 Close-up:

 I just added some jewels with tape. That middle card is from the same RAK, and the background is a project life card.
Close-up of bottom card:

 The background is a floral project life card. I added some sticky notes I got at Target, I thought the colors went well with the flip book, I gave her 10 of each.
When you flip this one down:

 Close-up of middle card:

I didn't do much to this one, I just added a couple flowers.

Close-up of bottom card:

 The background is a project life card with hearts. I added the washi tape, which says 'hello sunshine' and some stamped bicycles at the bottom that I colored with gel pens. I also added a tag of washi with a binder clip.
When you flip that one down:

 Close-up of third card:

This project life card had a place to write on the end, so I covered that up with a pocket. I put some stickers and project life cards in it.

Close-up of last card:

I just added the arrow stickers at the bottom.

The back:

I added this envelope with my note in it.
I don't know about other people, but I have the hardest time getting my flip books to stay shut, I try to leave enough room when taping them, I also try to trim down the individual pages, but they always end up pretty bulky.
Here's what I received from my partner:

She made me an envelope flip book, here's the cover:

 The first flip:

 The second flip:

 The third flip:

 The back cover:

It's a nice fall theme