ELF Valentine Swap

I signed up for the Esther Luka Family Valentine Swap after skipping the winter swap. I do love this swap.
This time we had to make an album, a journal, a traveler's notebook or a flipbook for our big project.
Two handmade cards with dimension, stamps, embossing or bling.
Three samples of washi 18 inches each
Three embellishments
Two samples ribbon or lace 18 inches each
Hand lotion/scrub and a lip balm/scrub
Something extra.
I went with a journal, or at least I think that's what it is. I had taken all of the really large (I believe they were 6x8) sized journaling cards and made two journals from a journaling card kit I picked up at Tuesday morning. Here are the pages I embellished:

 I added the quote at the top of the page on this one.

 This one I sewed the corner pocket on.

 This one is another corner pocket.

 I added the quote on this one.

 This is a tuck spot at the top of the page.

 Another quote I added.

 Another top of the page tuck spot.

Another corner pocket. All of the pieces I added were from other journaling cards in the collections. I cut out the pieces, used double stick tape to adhere the quotes and a mini sewing machine (that I picked up from Hollar for this purpose, this is just the first time I used it) to attach the tuck spots and corner pockets.
My two cards:

 The top one, I followed a sketch of another card I had received in a swap. I wanted to make it sort of monochromatic, but I like the look of it. It's just a bunch of scraps off my desk, the sentiment is from a sticker book from Hobby Lobby.
The bottom one I just added a lot of layering to.
My three samples of washi:

I just added a pack of 10 rolls of glitter washi I got in a Peachy Cheap grab bag.
My three embellishments:

 The tag already had the red glitter, I added the heart and trim. I had a bunch of tiny envelopes I got in a swap, so I made a cute paper clip with a butterfly wooden veneer. The last one is actually a bunch of heart stickers layered up.
Two samples of ribbon or lace:

I actually thought it was 4 samples, I wrapped them around this cute little 'candy' lip balm I had gotten in a swap. As I was wrapping it up to add to my package, I realized I could have that be the lip balm or scrub, but I already had another one picked out.
For my hand lotion/scrub and lip balm/scrub:

The apple hand balm and the little green thing at the bottom of the picture, it's watermelon lip balm.
A few extras I gave my partner, a bag of Hershey's with almonds, a packet of pink heart doilies, and:

This roll of pink rose paper I picked up at Hobby Lobby.
Here's what my partner sent me:
Traveler's Notebook, cover:

First spread:

There's a couple tags tags on the left side and a dashboard on the right side.
Second spread:

This is the back of the dashboard with a vellum pocket that has a couple tags and a paper clip.

Third spread:

This is the back of the vellum pocket and the first notebook in the traveler's notebook.
 Fourth spread:

This is the back of the notebook, with the other side of the vellum pocket, this notebook had a phone number notebook, a bow paperclip and a binder clip holding a pen. The pink on the right is another notebook, this one a regular lined one.
 Next spread:

This is the back of the notebook with a shaker piece.
 Last spread:

The back of the shaker piece and the back cover.

Back cover:

 Handmade cards:

I love how she included a 3x3 card, I'm loving those lately.
 Samples of washi:

I love that she sent me full rolls, I did the same to her.

 Embellishments:

 Samples of lace:

I love the lace she picked out and how she sent the samples to me.
 Hand cream, and lip balm:

 Extras:

 pens, stickers, chocolate
Owl die

I'm excited to have a traveler's notebook, I've never gotten one before.

Valentine's Day Swap

One of the blogs I read, Indulge Your Shelf, had a post the other day about making Valentine's and asked if anyone wanted to do a swap with her. I said, I'd love to. I love her style and seeing what she makes and creates.
Here's what I made for her:

 I wanted to make something vintagey for her, but it turned into more of a project than a Valentine's card. I started with an 8x8 square mat, I covered it with a handwritten letter from the 40's, I love how when I put mod podge on top of the letter, it smudged the ink a bit, even though it's been dry for about 50 years. I added some paper flowers to the bottom left corner with some trailing jewels going up the mat (see next picture for a close-up). I added a gray cardstock for the background with a vintage picture layered on some pink paper. The picture was in a little sleeve with the personal note that I added to the bottom right corner, layered on some pink paper. I thought it needed a little more, so I layered up some hearts for the top right corner.
Close-up of left corner:

 The jewels/pearls are much easier to see in person, but I like the detail it creates. I should have made the smaller flowers trail off to the right.
Here's the card I made her:

I felt kinda bad that I didn't actually make her a card, so I whipped up a quick one. I also put some of those adulting stickers from Dollar Tree in the package along with a vintage handkerchief and a table runner.
Here's what she sent me:

I love the vintage part of it. Also that cupid is plastic.

Valentine's Day pocket letter

I signed up to do a private pocket letter swap in one of my facebook groups, and we decided on a Valentine's Day theme.

The background is from the Pink Parisian paper pad from Hobby Lobby. The 'be mine' and the 'always & forever' are from a gift bag I picked up from TJ Maxx last year. The gift bag had a hot air balloon on it, but it didn't fit on the pocket letter, so I cut these out of a card I picked up at Dollar Tree. The foam glitter hearts I picked up at Hobby Lobby last year.
It's kinda plain, but I really wanted to use the 'be mine' (watch out for another project I used the back of the bag on). I also love how the hot air balloons matched so well.
Here's what my partner sent me:

 I like how she basically just decorated the hearts.
Here's the goodies:

I love the heart ephemera she sent and the trim and the washi and the pop balloon in the bottom right hand corner.

Valentine's pocket letter

I signed up to do a Valentine's Day pocket letter in one of my Facebook groups. I used a bunch of stickers I have been hoarding.

The backgrounds are 3x4 journaling cards I bought at Tuesday Morning. I rounded the corners because there was always one corner left from the original card that was rounded. Like I said I used a lot of stickers I have been hoarding. What's really sad is I was going to pick up more of them when I went to Hobby Lobby the other day, but they didn't have any, they didn't even have an empty slot for them, so I guess they stopped carrying them.
All the stickers except the dogs, the 'hello love' and the pink glitter heart in the top row are from those hoarded stickers. Those other ones are chipboard stickers from Target.
I LOVE how this turned out, the look is not something I usually do. I was going to go for a more vintage theme for a different swap, and then the stickers just matched the backgrounds way too nicely, that it went a different way.
Here's what my partner sent me:

 I LOVE IT!!!
The goodies:

I'm also loving all the goodies, that doesn't happen very often. I will be passing the owl sticky notes to someone else, as I already have this set.

Valentine's Day Tag Swap

I signed up to do a tag swap through scrapping2010. Here's my first attempt:

I wanted to do something cute, but these ended up looking somewhat sad and way too flat for me. So, I'm giving them to friends. The whale stamp is from Micheal's, the letter stamps are from Target, I might have to trim them, so I don't get all the excess.
Here's what I ended up sending in:

I wanted to do something a little less traditional. The paper is double sided. The bling is from my 12 Days of Christmas swap. The large hearts are foam stickers from Hobby Lobby, I added them to white cardstock for a little more something, I don't know. I didn't like the look of the hearts on the paper and wanted something white in there. I cut around them with decorative scissors. The blue paper is actually packaging from Dollar Tree washi that I  just added some stickers to. The hearts on the top are puffy stickers from Walmart. We had to have a brad on the tags, so I added one heart brad to the center of the puffy hearts.
The groups are of 3, so I made a smaller one for myself. I added eyelets and strings to the holes.
Here's what I got back:

 I don't have a picture of this one outside of it's bag, because it looks so cute wrapped up.

 This one is from MsLittleScrappy. I love the doll.
This one is from Aretha H:

I love her use of fabric and paper in the tag.

Valentine Loaded Envelope

I signed up to do a loaded envelope swap on one of my facebook groups. I hadn't made a loaded envelope before and didn't have any unused envelopes, so I basically made my own. I'm pretty sure I made it way harder than it needed to be. The requirement was to use a 6x9 manila envelope. I took a piece of double sided 12x12 scrapbooking paper, basically folded it, so I had a 3x9 piece, a 6x9 piece and a 3x9 piece, so the two 3x9 pieces folded up to each other on the front. This paper had a little white strip where it was attached to the paper pad at the top, so I tucked that under the edge of the bottom piece of paper on the front. I didn't like the inside color of the paper, so I added another piece of paper in the opening of the 'envelope'. I did cute down the middle and roll the flaps down, that was a bit tricky with all the tape going on in that area. I also added an extra pocket on the front and back of the 'envelope'. I thought it turned out pretty good and am now in search of double sided 12x12 scrapbooking paper. I do not have a picture of just the envelope itself.
Here's how it turned out:

 I used some vintagey paper for the pocket and some ledger looking paper for the front. I basically just wanted a base for the original 12x12 paper. I guess I could have easily just used a single sided, but I didn't think of that. I added some washi to the bottom of the rolled edge. I also added some felt trim underneath the rolled edge. When I was trying to roll it, it kept tearing, so I tried to cover that up with the trim. The hearts on the outside pocket were from a swap. I added pink marbled washi to help hold the pocket on. Whenever I make pockets and adhere them with tape, they always try to fall off, so I'm trying to make them stay better. I really wanted to decorate the pocket with vintage stuff, but I didn't like anything I put on it. I finally put some sparkly heart stickers and a sparkly love sticker I got in a swap.
I put a few heart picks I got at Dollar Tree in it, I also made a wand for my partner. I tried to pin the selfie pin to the felt trim, but it wasn't happening, so I pinned it to the rolled edge. There are project life cards and some heart doilies in the outside pocket.
Here's the back:

Again, I used vintage paper from Hobby Lobby. The roses on the top and bottom are from my stash. The quote says "art is therapy, music is medicine, love is the cure". It's spelled out in individual letter stickers from my stash, sadly I lost one of the "e's" and had to add another in pink.
There's more project life cards and a notepad in the back pocket. I also added a tiny heart notepad and a paperclip. I know I put in some candy as well.
Here's what I received:

 This is it all loaded up.
Here it is emptied:

 and the back/front? I don't really know:

 And here are all the goodies:

 and more:

 And a cute tag she made me: