Crazy 8 swap

I signed up for a swap called a Crazy 8 basically we send 8 different items, but 8 of each item.

 I chose 8 paper clips, 8 clothespins, 8 pieces of ribbon, 8 project life cards, 8 stickers, 8 tags, 8 buttons, 8 stacks of sticky notes.
Here it is spread out:

 I realized after putting it all back in the bags, I forgot to put out the buttons:

Here's what I got from my partner:

 embossed paper:

 stamped images:

 washi samples, ribbon, gemstones:

 Die cuts:

 Die cut sentiments:

Happy Mail

There's always a few swaps that I do that I don't really post on here, so this post is about those swaps (where I don't make anything, but I still swap things), and random crafty things I get in the mail.

This first picture is what's called an Ugly Paper Swap. We had to send each other 8 pieces of 6x6 paper that we weren't going to use.

 I didn't include doubles in the picture. We were also encouraged to make a tag using at least two of the papers sent to us as the background:

And you can see, I used three of them. I layered the 'smile at the camera' on some pink paper and foam tape. I added the pink ribbon with camera ribbon on top of it.
This was a 'secret cupid' not exactly a swap, just if people wanted to send me something. It was through a facebook page, you listed 5 things you wanted and someone else could decide what they wanted to send you.

 I had listed coffee ephemera, handmade embellishments, vintage buttons, Valentine's ephemera, and hedgehog anything.
The card that came with these:

 Another secret cupid gift:

 What was in the bag:

 The stickers:

 The card that came with it:

In my Lollipop subscription box every month I get a stencil, I don't use stencils, so I swapped them out. One person sent me teddy bear die cuts:

 Another person sent me Valentine's Day cards:

 And another sent me random die cuts:

One of the groups, the owner of the group sent me a thank you gift for some things I do:

 This is my other 'ugly paper' swap:

 I haven't gotten around to making a tag with them.
I also signed up for a pink washi swap, we were to send 6 samples of pink washi, one had to be solid. Here's one partner:

 And here's the other:

Butterfly Fairy

OK, last post (don't get used to this many posts).
I started this project when I was doing my Gypsy ATCs, she became a piece of her own. I started out creating the dress by cutting out a dress, and then painting the top with Pearl Ex Turquoise powder mixed with mod podge so it wouldn't rub off. I added the blue filmy fabric for her dress, and then the blue ribbon around the waist and the black gems from the collage packet. The head was also from the packet and once I added that she was too big for an ATC, so I just continued making her, just to see where she went. The butterfly wings are from a butterfly stamp that I cut in half and then colored with chalk. Her hair is yarn I received from my friend, Loretta. She is mounted on a chipboard tag covered with purple mulberry paper. On the tag is a row of blue German scrap stars, and a blue edging piece layered with the same blue ribbon as her dress and some black 'pearls' to tie into the dress.
She ended up without arms or legs because nothing looked good. Now, I'm not sure what to do with her.

Any ideas?

Paper Giveaway pictures

OK, as of now, only Susan wants all this paper. Which I'm sure is totally OK with her. But, here are some pictures of what you will win:
There's plain and patterned cardstock, lots of miscellaneous little pieces, a lot of this is from paper packs where I didn't like a certain pattern.

There's handmade paper, stamped images, paste paper, napkins.

A Butterick pattern, with only one piece missing, a printing of a digital file of art dolls, book pages, misc. promotional cards.

Promotional pieces from an art college, origami paper, calendar pages, some pieces of fabric, plus some sequins.

But, if no one else wants it all, I will gladly just send it all to Susan. Please tell your friends, pass the word.

Like I said before you have until April 5th to enter, then I will use the random number generator, or if there's only a small amount of entries, I'll just pull a name out of a hat. Anyone can enter, just leave a comment on this entry, or the orginal one to enter.

Good Luck!

Baby shower gifts

This weekend I went to my friend, Amanda's baby shower. I bought her a couple cute gifts at Walmart, but I also made her a Survival Kit for New Mothers, and the card below:
I love buttons, I like to buy the mixed button bags at Hobby Lobby, I've been trying to cut back lately, because not only do they have the cool buttons like I used in the card above, they also have a lot of boring ones. The pacifier, bib, rattle and stork are from one of those bags. Across the top I attached a "clothesline" with mini brown brads. On the bottom in the middle is a baby image from a piece of vintage baby wrapping paper I had. I also attached a tag in the corner with the words "Welcome, baby" stamped on it. Inside there is a stamped quote about babies being from heaven.

Survival Kit for New Mothers

I got this idea out of the book The Ultimate Paper Crafts Collection published by Primedia, the projects and ideas in the book came from Papercrafts & Stamp It magazines. I got the idea for the "bag" from here. I attached the black and white floral paper as accents on the front and back of the bag, as well as on the sides. For the handles, I found a piece of pink plastic mesh and attached it with some "studs" I took off of a belt I bought awhile back.
The tag sticking out of the bag says:

The New Mom's Survival Kit

Hershey Hugs - for you and the baby, because you both deserve them.

Clock - to remind you that time will pass by too quickly, enjoy every moment.

Mirror - to remind you that you are important, too.

Marbles - to replace the onew that you will lose.

Rubberband - to remind you that flexibilty is the key.

Lifesavers - to save you from one of those days.

Tissue - to dry those tears, the baby's and yours.

Lollipop - To lick all your problems away.

Eraser - t0 reminde you that every mom makes mistakes.

Puzzle Piece - Because you are an important piece in your child's journey through life.

I didn't have a clock, so I took a chipboard one, added some hands with a brad and layered it on a piece of matboard.

I also took a round mirror and framed it on matboard.

This is a downward view of the front of the bag.

This is the back of the bag.

Also, a question for everyone reading this, or just passing by. I noticed when I uploaded these photos, I'm apparently using 94% of my allotted space for photos. I find that kinda weird, as I have way more photos on my other blogs. Does anyone know if there's a way I can save my pictures on my computer, so they take up less space?