Swap with a Friend! { 1:1 Card Challenge }

Have you tried this idea for a FUN swap with a stampin friend? Read on and I'll explain...

This is the second one-on-one card challenge that I've done with Donna (craftingcrazy) in Oregon. It was her original idea and it is SO FUN! She started it all by putting together a packet of card supplies with a few "rules" for each of us to follow. We each made a card using the same supplies and then when done, we sent our creations to each other. Does this make sense?

Below is a photo of the supplies I sent her a month ago. Last weekend, we both finished our cards and put them in the mail on Monday. Yesterday, she received my card and today I received hers and it is AWESOME! Please check back tomorrow and I will post photos of both of our cards so you can see how different they are, even though we used all the same items. :)


Donna & Pam’s 1:1 Card Challenge "Rules":

We can optionally use: ( in addition, to create uniqueness)
1) one punch
2) one additional embellishment (ribbon, brad, eyelets, etc)
3) one image stamp or stamp set
4) any means of adding a sentiment to the front (i.e. pc, rub-on words, stamp)
5) we have to use ALL items in the packet, but not in it’s entirety
6) we can alter the foldover card as long as the finish size doesn’t change.
7) we can use any tool to add visual effects (i.e. piercing tool, stylus for dry embossing, sponging, and small hole punches such as 1/8” & 1/16” don’t count as your one punch in #1.
8) we can use any ink pads, markers or colored pencils
9) we must use items in our current inventory - we can't go buy anything! (dang!) LOL
10) Most important... NO STRESS! NO DEADLINE! Just have FUN!!!



If you want to see photos of our first 1:1 card challenge, you will find them HERE.

{ Altered Card Tin } Made with Aloha!

My daughter Katie in Hawaii likes me to make cards for her to use, so my DIL Jami { Crazy Daisy Creations } and I have altered a tin and filled it with a collection of cards we made. With some candy packed around the tin, it doubled as her Easter basket! :) The other photos show the inside dividers and just one of the cards.

Supplies: Provo Craft tin, Patterned Paper by Creative Imaginations ~ Island Floral & Island Stripes, Chipped Chatter Pressed Petals~ HIP chipboard letters, lots of coordinating ribbon, primas, brads.
Live & Learn Hint: this is the first one I've made and I learned that you should put a layer of mod podge on the tin before attaching the paper. I put the paper on with glue tape and then gave it three coats of mod podge. The paper bubbled doing it this way. I'm telling myself it's OK, but will do it the right way next time! : )











p.s. I thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of Katie with her Dad and I. This was taken in January at the North Shore of Oahu on a perfectly glorious day! Well, every day is a glorious day in Hawaii . . .

EeeeeeeeK!! { There's a Mouse in the House! }

First of all you must know... I really DON'T like mice!!! But, my love of these adorable mouse images started when Ethel (vintagegal) sent me the Hula Mice rubber stamp from Great Impressions. Then Thanh posted a super cute card with the mouse fishing under a palm tree. Joanne (tojoco) heard that I was looking for these stamps and sent me some images of two other mice! This is one of them and the other I'll use at Thanksgiving...a mouse with a turkey! I wonder how many of these little mouse stamps there are in all? Does anyone know?

Supplies: Stampin Up cardstock & ribbon-blue brocade. Decorative paper-My Mind's Eye, Kaleidoscope Green/Blue Multistripe. Colored the image with prismacolored pencils/gamsol and doodled the edge. "Hi" is from a TAC set Nobby Neez.

Stamp for a Cause! { AUTISM }

Have you all heard about the new stamp set released today by Gina K. Designs?

"Love You To Pieces" is not only an awesome set, it benefits such a worthy cause. This set of eight deeply etched stamps can be purchased mounted or unmounted and come in a clear plastic storage case. Gina K. Designs will donate $8.00 for every set purchased to "Autism Speaks," an organization whose mission is to provide help, raise awareness and raise money for research to help those with Autism. For more details, card samples and to find out how to purchase this set, please click the following link- Autism Stamp Set- Stamps for a Cause.

{ Barbella } ~ You Go Girl!

I'm still using images and punches that have been sent to me recently by my generous online friends from the Stamp Shack! Don't you just adore ALL the Bellas? This is "Barbella" and she's lookin' pretty good after her workout!

I've really enjoyed coloring the Bellas with my prismacolored pencils and then doodling around the edge with a fine tip zig pen.

Supplies: Stampin' Up! cardstock - green galore & barely banana. Decorative paper is from The Paper Studio - "girl dots". The sentiment "You Go Girl" is a $1 M's rubber stamp. Accented with 3" scalloped circle punch, large brads from the Paper Studio. The green galore cardstock was put through my Cuttlebug with the Bloom Dots embossing folder.