Summer Fun!

I feel like I am truly enjoying the month of June this year.  I lovingly call it the "Friday of Summer," but sometimes the Friday of Summer flies by.  It's usually due to preparing for a crazy July or filling June with lots of stuff.  We are prepping our firstborn for college, but, honestly, that has been slow and steady as well.

This week was full of some fun cardmaking, dabbled with some scrapbooking that is not-quite-ready for photo ops just yet.

First, some cards among friends.  Our friend, Mama Kate, is moving to Florida.  So we threw her a shoebox swap to celebrate her presence in our lives.  We tried to make a card that captured the moment or captured Kate.  I think we did a great job.  Some of these cards are not "finished," as we wanted to save them for moments when we needed them.  For example, on the US card, one could color in two states from which people are separated.  For the flower card, we left the stitched oval blank to be able to choose the appropriate sentiment.

Tonight, I had some fun stamping with Lawn Fawn.  A friend of mine is going on a trip to Australia with her family as part of her son's band trip.  I felt the need for a card, of course.  I borrowed Kim's Critters from Down Under set as well as some Pinspiration from this crafter.  I also used a bit of the Bon Voyage set.

I used two Spellbinders' dies (rectangles and squares) to create the Polaroid frame.  The black frame is hand-drawn.  I loved using the woodgrain background rather than patterned paper for this one.  I think it really let the image stand out.

Loved mixing Stampin' Up! linen thread with Lawn Fawn's baker's twine.

I cut out the individual pieces with die cuts and colored them with Copics.  For the background, I sponged some Distress Inks on white cardstock.  The kookaburra is popped up.

I tried several different ways to incorporate the boomerang because I thought it was adorable.  Finally snuck it in after my sentiment inside the card.

All in all, it's been a very creative week so far!

Free Lemons

This card is my very simple contribution to this year's Shoebox Swap, honoring our friend, Kate, who turns 80 in 2 weeks (she is my birthday twin!).  Kate is notorious for finding witty stamps, so we decided that we would prep a funny card in her honor.  I just bought this Simon Says Stamp set, and I was pretty excited to use the sentiment.  The yellow-hued ink is SU! So Saffron.  I also used my Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen on the words "Free Lemons" and the popped up tiny banner.  The larger banner is an SU! die cut, and the smaller ones are punched with an SU! punch.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...

I had to prep some cards for a shoebox swap I am attending.  If you have read my blog in the past, you have heard and seen about my adventures with shoebox swaps.  It's just a fun time to prep some cards for other crafters.  We usually end up gathering sometime in the summer for this event.  We could design one card and provide enough supplies for each participant to do two cards with that design, or two designs and each participant would make one.  I chose two designs, mainly because one of my designs will be somewhat labor intensive.

I went with the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" philosophy.  Hey, it's been 18 years since I was a bride, so why not?  The first card hits, something old and something blue.  I started with a totally different card concept... and I mean way different.  That became too complex, so I decided clean and simple was necessary (especially since I made this card after my first one).  I pulled out my Encore Ultimate Metallic silver ink for this one.  I stamped using A Muse's Bomb stamp, and the inside of my card uses the same ink with their Da Bomb! stamp (beware: after a while, this ink fades... not a good choice if you're keeping something in your stash).  I loved these stamps the first time I saw them because this is one of my pet phrases.  After stamping on a piece of 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 black cardstock that had been corner rounded, and allowing it a few minutes to set, I pulled out my SU! Crystal Effects to give the bomb some sheen.  I also used my Waterfall Stickles on the sparks to pull in some of the blue from the base of the card, and to add some more dimension.  I used SU!'s Bashful Blue (and then realized that was my only sheet, so many of my fellow swappers will be using SU! Baja Breeze, which is just slightly darker in hue) for my base for a 3 x 3" card.  You can't really tell from the photo, but I affixed the black panel using Dimensionals, which gave it a little lift from the blue.

I went fairly girly with my next card.  It, too, is the culmination of a few different tries.  I love how it turned out.  My something new: I am using my new Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding cardstock and my new Dawn McVey Signature Greetings set also from PTI.  I have the whole set in the shoebox, so my fellow swappers can choose a sentiment they need.  Something borrowed is the idea of crumpling patterned paper for flowers.  I crumpled some SU! Bella Birds DSP, then punched some flowers with my SU! Daisy punch (another oldie, but goodie).  They have a fabric-like feel to them when punched from crumpled paper (click on the photo for a closer look).  I affixed the flowers with some brass brads (I think they are from Hobby Lobby).  I used SU! Barely Banana for the panel, which I paper punched as well as inked with SU! Perfect Plum ink.  I also used the SU! Scallop punch for the panel.  I mounted the Barely Banana panel on another panel of Bella Birds.  I stamped the sentiment using SU! White Craft ink... a staple of mine when it comes to sentiments on darker paper.  I placed a panel of Barely Banana inside for note writing.  I love the heaviness of the PTI cardstock.  While it's not the best when you want to cut out an image (a little too heavy...scissor boo boos become glaringly apparent), it's a fabulous 4.25 x 5.5" base.

Shoebox Swap

One of my favorite things is coming up next week: a shoebox swap. Such a celebration occurs when a few of us get together and bring a shoe/craft box with materials for the participants to make cards. This blog entry is my teaser to my people.

Not that I wanted to be morbid, but I decided upon cards that people may not have a lot of in their stash... get well, praying for you, sympathy-type cards. I also have a growing pile pf perfectly good scraps that I tried to use as a limit. That worked fairly well, although I have to say I was not 100% "scrapped" in my creations.

Praying for You Card:

This card is mounted on a 4.25 x 5.5" SU! Basic Gray base. The next panel is a piece of textured paper in a sunflower-type color. The patterned paper is Bella Birds DSP from Stampin' Up! The sentiment (Thoughts & Prayers) and its frame (Great Friend) are also form SU! I found some very cool ribbon in my stash, and I had enough for about 4 of the cards. The others have a substitution of sheer white ribbon. I used a gray brad from Spare Parts to mount the sentiment. I used SU! Basic Gray ink and Going Gray marker.

Earth Has No Sorrow Card:

This card is mounted on a 4.25 x 5" Kraft cardstock base. The three layers of SU! DSP are punched with the SU! Scallop punch and then inked with the SU! Going Gray Marker. I think the DSP is from the SU! Spring Mini-Catalog... I can't really remember. Faux stitching was added to the top panel as well. The sentiment panel was stamped and inked in Cameo Coral using the Close as a Memory set. I then added a square piece from Tim Holz Fragments. I Mod-Podged this to a piece of the top panel of DSP, and then I cut and sanded around the sides. It is affixed using Memory Mount.

The box shown gives a little idea of a way to organize for a swap such as this. I took a cue from Karen and put most materials needed in a Ziploc bag. This helped me with knowing whether or not I had enough materials for all participants. Other, more general needs are just placed in the box. I am so excited to see what cards my buds make!