Recipe swap: Seafood

I'm in a recipe swap with eight local ladies. This month's theme was seafood, so I did yummy crab dip. I used a blue theme (think: water).

Here's my creation for this month:

Supplies: Paper - CTMH Notebook. Stamp sets - Star Struck, Today's Date and Playful Flourishes. Embellishments - bling and Doodlebug ribbon. Tools - Fiskars eyelet border. Foam adhesive. Recipe fonts - all CTMH.

Many thanks

I'm in a swap with some Kansas City friends and this is the card for that swap:

I just bought this stamp set from the $1 section at Michaels. I am, though, remembering why I don't like some of those Studio G sets. This one was difficult to ink, even after multiple attempts to season the stamp. Instead, I decided to be "ok" with the imperfect stamping result.

Nothing too spectacular is going on with this card. I traced over the word many with my white gel pen. I colored the image using my blending pen, as the markers added a bit too much color.

I did use a few tools - the Cuttlebug, a new Fiskars punch and my SU! punch ... so that makes me smile. And, the paper is such an old set from CTMH that the colors aren't even listed on the package insert, so I had to choose colors on my own. (gasp!) The blue ric rac, which matches perfectly, is from my "catch all ribbon discards" basket. You gotta love when scraps match well!

Ahh, it feels good to be crafting again!

Anyhow, I hope my friends in the swap like the card ...

Materials: paper - CTMH ( retired Precious Paisleys), stamps - Studio G, ink & markers - CTMH (blush, crystal blue, honey), tools - Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, SU scallop punch, CTMH blending pen, Fiskars floating water punch, other - ricrac

Merry Christmas

Well, heck, it took me longer to post the slideshow to Blogger than it did to create the cards!

Antoinette Herrin (Does anyone know if she has a blog I can link?) posted the template to make twenty cards from three pieces of paper. Of course, I had to try it.

It took me about an hour or so to make these twenty cards. But when I finished, I was at a loss at to what embellishments I had on hand. Tinsel, ribbon, and a couple Christmas sentiment stamps were all I had to add.

Materials: all papers by DCWV, Mixed Messages stamp set by PaperTrey Ink, Say It In Style stamp set by CTMH, ribbon by Offray, acrylic discs from Michaels

With Sympathy

Inspired by Lisa, this is a simple one - but I like it that way!

I ran out of that green paper, so this is Style #2. I think I like this one better. I like the white border around everything, which makes it all seem more elegant to me. Well, that's my opinion anyways. What do you think?

Materials: Bazzill textured CS, Prima flower, Cocoa ink by CTMH, Mixed Messages stamp set by Papertrey Ink, acrylic disc from Michael's

Labor of Love

Sometimes the creative mojo flows, sometimes it doesn't. This is one of those doesn't sort of times. If you could see the pieces in the trash, you might appreciate this card a little more. This was one of those times that I cut, embossed, and inked several pieces -- all of which didn't work for me and found their way into the trash. I was getting discouraged and the mess I was making with nothing to show for it was frustrating.


But finally, pieces came together to make something with which I could be satisfied.



I had a sigh of relief when I created what ended up being a rather simple card. I created something, something that I'm happy with, and something I would not be ashamed to put in the mail to a friend. Whew.


Most of you know that I spend quite a bit of time blog surfing, collecting inspiration but doing little with it than saying "Ahh ... what a great idea." Well, I finished this card and realized that I fulfilled challenges posted on Nona's blog to use "collector's items". What did I use, you ask? Well, dare I admit that I purchased those Cuttlebug embossing folders back in February and this was the first time Swiss Dots has been used for something that didn't go into the trash. And, the SU! scallop punch that I just had to have back in February as well ... well, it saw light today as well.


So, a card I'm happy with, a challenge I successfully completed, using up papers from my stash, using tools I hadn't used yet ... it's a great way to start a Sunday. Bring on the day!


Materials: CS by Canon, PP by Provo Craft (an oldie from my stash), ribbon by Michaels, SU! scallop punch, cocoa ink by CTMH, Make My Day stamp set by CTMH, Swiss Dot embossing folder.