A Few Swap Projects

When I first started stamping and paper crafting, I did a lot of swaps. Since I started participating in the challenge blogs, I don't do as many, but every once in awhile one comes along that I want to do. I set a limit for myself of no more than two swaps due in a month, but apparently, I wasn't paying attention this month and ended up with about six. I spent today catching up on the last of them, so now I can get back on track with my limit.


This first card is for an all-white card swap that I am participating in on the Splitcoaststampers site. I posted a similar card a few weeks ago for a challenge I did. I simplified it for the swap and added a butterfly die cut. The image/sentiment is two stamps from an Inkadinkado clear set. I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. The embossed background is made with the Birds and Swirls Cuttlebug folder and the vertical piece is the Script folder. The butterfly is a Cuttlebug combination die and embossing folder. The circles are cut with my Nesties and the scalloped border on the left with the Fiskars scallop border punch.

The ATC above is for a Penny Black swap my friend Chris is hosting. I wanted to do a little more with this one, but the image ended up being a little bigger than I thought so I didn't have much room. The image is called Ooh La La. I colored it with my Prismas and cut it with my Label 1 Nesties. I inked the edges in Warm Red Chalk Ink. The sentiment is from the SU Paris in Spring set. I punched it out with a circle punch and matted it with red cut with one of my scallop circle Nesties. I scalloped the bottom of the yellow and added a black and white ribbon. I mounted the whole thing on piece of black cardstock cut to ATC size.

This final project is a recipe page. My 2nd favorite hobby is cooking and I used to participate in and host a lot of recipe swaps. This is my first one in a long time and it's being hosted by my friend Barbara. It was to be for a favorite family recipe. This is one I make for my son and husband quite frequently. It's super easy and we all love it. You can also make with fat free/sugar free ingredients and it's just as good. I also sometimes use graham crackers instead of Oreos. When I do that, I use two packages of chocolate pudding and no vanilla.

I used pink and brown Bazzill cardstock. The DP is some that I have had forever and I think it's from Paper Wishes. I used to belong to their scrapbook kit of the month club. The pink behind the recipe and in the flower is from My Mind's Eye. I made the flower with my retro flower punches and small circle punch. I ran the flower parts through my Big Kick with my D'Vine Swirls embossing folder and the center through with the Swiss Dots folder then layered them. I finished it off with some pink and brown polka dot ribbon and pink pearls.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

I made this ATC for a swap that my friend Chris is hosting for House Mouse ATCs. I am also submitting it for this week's House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge. The challenge this week is a Neopolitan color challenge - chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. I already had the ATC figured out before the challenge was posted, so I just got lucky that it worked out this way. I can complete a swap and still participate in this week's House Mouse challenge. :)

I colored the Twinkle Toes image with Prismas blended with mineral spirits and then cut it out as close as I could without buzzing Amanda's fur. I then took my brown pencils and went over the edges a little to get rid of the white edge. I added some Stickles to her tutu and then pop-dotted her on the ATC. I printed the saying on my computer, then cut it out with my oval Nesties and matted with brown and pink scallop ovals also cut with Nesties. I used a slot punch on the edge and threaded the ribbon through, then tied a bow. I was going to add some flowers, but I thought it looked too crowded so I left it alone.

Supplies
Stamp: House Mouse Twinkle Toes (Stampabilities); saying is computer generated.
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Rouge Chalk Ink (ColorBox)
Paper: Brown cardstock (Archiver's); DP - Bohemia (My Mind's Eye)
Embellishments: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinder); ribbon (unknown); ribbon slot punch (Making Memories); Stickles
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished size: ATC - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Nature Does Not Hurry - An ATC

Here's is something a little different from me. Well, actually if you know me and my past work, you would not think this is so different. My style seems to have changed a bit lately, but there was a time when most of my work was distressed, shabby, grungy, collage-y, etc. That was before I discovered mice, hedgehogs and little kids with no faces. :) It was kind of fun to do something like this again.

This is also different for me because it's an ATC. I rarely do ATCs. I don't collect them or trade them really. I do like to do them to try techniques, etc. I also do swaps for them from time to time and sometimes use the ones I get as focal points for cards. This one I made for a bee theme swap that my friend Chris is hosting. The only thing I knew when I signed up for the swap was that I love that bee stamp I used and that I wanted to use it. I had no other ideas at all. I figured the rest of it out today when I saw this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge.

The challenge this week is "Let's craft with Tim." The objective was to create something using Tim Holtz products or something inspired by his style. Well, I LOVE Tim Holtz so I came up with an idea pretty easily.

The background for the image was created with Adirondak Alcohol Inks on glossy cardstock. I also used two different colors of Distress Ink on the quote. It probably would have been a little more "Tim -like" if I had torn the quote and made it more distressed looking. I thought I was going to do something different and already had the quotes punched out, so I just left it that way. The image is a collage of three different stamps and is kind of "grungy" looking, which is very much inspired by Tim Holtz's style, even though they are not his stamp designs. I stamped the bees and flower first, then masked them before stamping the background. Finally I added the little antique copper photo turn as an embellishment. Since there was so much other stuff going on, I didn't really want to get crazy with the embellishments and I thought that kept with the overall distressed look of the design.

It was really fun doing this style again. As much fun as I'm having with the "cute" things I've been doing lately, I don't think I'll ever stop liking this look either. I guess I'm just "eclectic". :) Now I need to go make five more of these so I can get them in the mail. Be sure to check out the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog to see how others were inspired by Tim.

Supplies
Stamps: Bee (Magenta); Daisy (Club Scrap); Italian Poetry (Hero Arts); quote is computer generated
Ink: Timber Brown (StazOn); Adirondak Alcohol Inks - Butterscotch, Latte, Lettuce, Copper Metalic Mixative (Ranger); Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Paper: green cardstock; white cardstock; white glossy cardstock
Embellishments: antique copper photo turn and brad (unknown)
Techniques: Alcohol Ink background; distressing; masking

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge #20 - ATC

This week's House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge is to make an ATC. I'll tell ya right off the bat, ATCs are not really my thing. I seem to have a hard time with that small little space. For some reason, I do just fine with tags though - maybe because the ATCs "have to be" a specific size. I decided to do the challenge anyway. First I needed to get my challenge fix for awhile as we are going out of town tomorrow and I won't be able to do any more until I get home. Second, I looked at it as an opportunity to practice my coloring - and to do something with one of my favorite images.

For this ATC I chose the Happy Hopper "Seed Shooter" image. Isn't he (she?) cute? Reminds me of summer, which seems waaaay to far off right now. I colored him (her?) with Primsa colored pencils blended with Gamsol. Embellishments are a ribbon, tag (stamp is Technique Tuesday) and a Prima flower with a red brad center. The tag is cut with my fun new Big Kick and a Cuttlebug "Tiny Tags" die.

I won't be posting for a few days. We are going to visit family and my mother has a horribly slow dial-up connection. I can't stand it. I hope to see you back here next week when I get back and get crafting again.