Halloween Swap

The last swap for A Swap For All Seasons was Halloween/Orange. My partner to send to was Debbie of Kitten Creates. I don't have a lot of Halloween items, so I found some not so crafty items to send my partner.

 There were some leaves, a couple buttons and some clip art in the bag. I also sent a pencil, some bouncy things, a bookmark, a couple kitten figurines, Boo, an eraser and an orange burlap rose.
Here's what I sent for tags/cards:

 I ended up sending her two of both as I really wasn't that excited about the first group I made. The cat card at the top I didn't like because the cat image is crooked, if I'd pulled it off and re positioned it, it would have ruined the background paper. The tag in the lower left just didn't really look quite together enough for me. So, I created the pumpkin card (there is a line from the spider to the top of the card) and the shiny tree tag. I liked those better, but I thought I'd send her both. Good decision as she told me the cat card was her favorite.
Sherry from Createology sent to me. Her package came before I even thought about getting it (mostly because I'm bad and send at the very end of the month). Here's what she sent me:

 A K&Company pack, foamy cat, black and orange scissors with beaded chain, beaded bubble want, Halloween treats cards, press on nails, California card, tiny monster tag, sparkly cat pin, and some paper leaves.
Here are her card/tags:

I think the card is one of the envelope cards she mentions on her blog, I love the old house.
I believe she made the beaded chain and bubble wand that she sent me.

Like I said above, this is the last swap for A Swap For All Seasons, Linda does say on her blog she has another swap in mind. I am rather bummed I didn't get to do the full year (I joined in time for the January swap). It seems that I don't hear about swaps much lately. I love doing them, especially the ones where I get to make things, but I haven't read/seen many around lately. It was also nice to have one every month and know I was going to have one every month.
Sadly, I never received my package for July. I was kinda hoping it would come for my birthday, but I never saw it. I emailed my partner, but never heard back from her.
If anyone knows of any swaps around, I'd love to join in.

August Swap

Apparently, I forgot to post about the August, Just My Style swap for A Swap for All Seasons. This month is going by so fast, actually the week itself is going by fast.

I sent to Deb, this is what I sent her:

 Some of my favorite items in my stash, a crocheted flower, a pom pom caterpillar pin I had made, some cool jeweled hearts, some gears, a cute owl clothespin, a few 3D embellishments and some flat embellishments. And here is what I sent her:

 I love the bright coloring on the card, there's an alien in a spaceship on top. I think it's a cute card. The tag is made with some stickers, a formica tag and a resin fairy. I did add some fibers to it after this picture.
And, Marti sent this to me:

 This is what came out of the package when I opened it.
Here is the card and tag:

 Very cute, love them.
And the destash:

Also loving all this.

I have a hard time using destash that people send me. I have a box with the cards/tags, and then I hoard the destash.

This month the theme is Halloween, and then I believe it's the end. I hope Linda decides to do something else, I really like these monthly swaps.

Altered Box

A few weeks ago for my birthday, my mom and I went on a Junkin' Trip, go here to read about.

On our travels, I found this cute little box for $2. I saw it and knew it needed to be altered. I found some great clip art and it just all came together.

Here's what I did to it:

This is the front, it's covered with some striped scrapbook paper, I added the flapper girl image.

This is the back, I just added the "Love" piece.

Here's a look at the side, you can't see it very well, but I covered the sides in a green washi tape to tie into the green on the front.

Here's a look at the inside, I just glued the two pieces into it.

I feel it should have something cool in it, but I haven't figured out what to put in it. I might also add some mod podge as a protective coat. I think it turned out really cool.

Purple swap

The July swap for A Swap for All Seasons, was to "Share a Smile" and purple. Here is what I sent to my partner, Joyce:

The card and tag:

 I liked the bright colors, the tag says "Thanks for being you". The front of the card is a person standing behind a bunch of desserts, inside it says "Remember, stressed spelled backwards is desserts".
And my destash:

 papers, some purple fiber, the envelope at the bottom is filled with purple butterfly punches, a tiny purple notebook,

 fabrics, some clip art pieces, misc pieces,

buttons and beads. I also wrapped it all up in some purple fabric.
Joyce said I spoiled her with destash. I admit I do go a little overboard with the destash, I just love sending it to someone else, plus I'm trying to downsize, so this helps.

My partner sending to me was Jayne, but I'm still waiting on her package. I emailed her last week, but still haven't heard anything back from her.

True Blue Sweetheart Returns

Last week, I received my returns for the True Blue Sweetheart swap. I had forgotten about it, so when I saw the envelope in my mailbox, I wasn't sure what it was. When I opened it, I found this nicely wrapped package inside:

And inside that package were these packages:

And inside those, the cards:

This one is from Kelly:

This one is from Sylvia:

And this one is from Michelle:

Thank you ladies for the beautiful cards and thank you Kimberly for hosting.. If you want to see what I send, go here.

My birthday is next Wednesday, I'm going to be turning 31. I meant to post this earlier, but I'm asking people if they would help me with a card shower. A card shower is where lots of people send me cards for my birthday. If you'd like to help, just leave me a comment.

True Blue Sweetheart Swap

I joined ArtJoyStuff's True Blue Sweetheart swap and finally put something together and sent it off last week.

 It took me forever to figure out what to make, everytime I put something together it didn't look right. I started out with a blue background and added some vintage pictures. I thought they all kinda looked like they were in love. I had everything laid out on the background, and it just didn't look blue enough, so I pulled out some blue vellum and adjusted my layering. The trim at the bottom is vintage.

And, since I've noticed some people package their cards so beautifully, I thought I'd try out some packaging.

I took some blue sparkly mesh and sewed it into a pocket. I learned mesh is not the easiest to sew. I don't usually use a sewing machine, but I figured it'd be a better pocket if I did, and I had a hard time sewing a straight line.

 

I can't wait to see what I get in return.

June Black/Grey Swap

So last month's theme for A Swap for All Seasons was Guy and black/grey. My partner sending to me was Elizabeth, she was really on the ball and got her package out early, I received it May 16th. Here's what I saw when I opened the package:

 I love how she packaged everything, it's so cute. And here's what was in the packages:

 some tool images, buttons, washi tape, trim, tiny bags, tags and some flowers. Here are the tag and card she sent me:

 Very cute! She said she didn't have a lot of guy stuff, but I love what she came up with.

I don't do much guy crafting either, but I found a lot of cowboy stuff in my craft stash, so I ran with it. My partner to send to was Pam, here's what I sent her:

Like I said, I ran with the cowboy theme. The tag, I used a paint chip for the background, and I found this picture of the two weightlifters and added that, along with some guy colored ribbon.

I found the stamped pocket and thought it would be a great idea to make a card kinda like a pair of pants with the pocket as a real pocket. I used the cowboy hat, cowboy and cowboy boots charm to make an ATC to put in the pocket. The "Stud" is from a playing card. I really liked how this card turned out.
Here's what I sent for destash:

Some vintage car stickers, a bunch of black tiny folders, some black and white fabric, some beads, some punches, a vintage photo,

Another pocket, some "guy" book pages and a black and white canvas frame.

 

This month's theme is Purple, Send a smile, there's still some time if you want to sign up, just click here.

 

If you're interested in getting some artwork from me, go here.