ATC Swap

I recently participated in an ATC swap with some crafty friends.  The challenge was to create something that represented you or showed your favorite theme, color, etc.  This is what I made:

I tend to scrap a bit shabby chic, as I've mentioned on my blog before.  I created a card a while ago that looked very similar to my ATCs.  I loved that card so much that I never ended up sending it to the person I made it for.  (hehe)  I thought I'd shrink the idea and turn it into an ATC.


I used paper from the 6x6 My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Hazel collection pad that I've been hoarding for years.  That collection has to be one of my favorites.  It works well with my shabby chic style.  

The only thing I would have changed would have been to leave off the stamping, which says "a little {hello}."  First, I stamped it in a too-light brown that ended up blending with the paper too much.  Then, after I white washed the wood grain with acrylic paint, I ended up stamping the sentiment again with a blue ink.  Next time, I'm ditching the stamping all together.

Have you ever participated in an ATC swap before?  This is the fourth one I've participated in.  I generally don't like doing them because I always seem to choose tedious designs that have a lot of steps or just generally take forever, but I always like the outcome.  Maybe that's why I keep doing them.  Kind of like how a woman forgets the pain of childbirth the second she meets her child.  Yeah, I feel the same way about ATCs.  :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Until next time...

Everywhere a butterfly...

Happy first day of Spring, everyone!  Seems kind of like it's been spring all winter long here, minus the few weeks we had 20 inches of snow on the ground from back-to-back blizzards in February.  Mother Nature is one bipolar chick, that's for sure!

Anyway, I have a couple cards I wanted to share today.  I used butterflies on both of these cards, which I have never done before.  Whenever I've seen or pinned a card with butterflies on it, I always thought they looked so beautiful and delicate, but I've never been inspired to actually use them before.  Well, until now.  :) 

This first card was commissioned by my brother-in-law.  My sister-in-law gave up a baby girl for adoption a couple years before she and my BIL got married, so they celebrate Birth Mother's Day, which is the day before Mother's Day, every year.  This is the card I came up with:

 

I wanted to make a card that was happy and pretty and not hokey in any way.  I had to print out the sentiment myself because, let's face it, stamp makers haven't rushed out to make stamps celebrating the incredibly difficult decision of giving up a child.  But I digress...  Here is a close-up:

I have known my SIL for MANY years and I was dating my husband when she was pregnant.  I have been lucky enough to have met the little girl she gave up for adoption a few times as my SIL has been very close with the family who adopted her.  Her birth daughter is a spitting image of her.  Just beautiful.  It was an HONOR to make this card for my BIL to give her this year. 

The second card I am showing you doesn't have quite as exciting of a story, sad to say.  I made it for a challenge.  :)  I actually might be entering it for TWO challenges, so this story is actually looking up a bit.  I made it for this challenge:

And here is what I created:

 

I wanted this card to be simple with little pops of color, which I think I accomplished.  In retrospect, I wish I would have chosen a paper that didn't have so much white in it, but it still works. 
 

I used a rainbow of colors for the gemstones in the center of the butterflies.  You can't really see them well in this picture, so just try to imagine them.  :)

The other challenge I will be entering this card in is this Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge:

My card isn't SCREAMING these colors, but the butterflies definitely have these colors on them in one way or another. 

Thank you for stopping by today to see my latest creations!  Until next time...

My newest addiction...

If you have to be addicted to something, being addicted to stamps and pretty paper is one of the better ways to go.  :) Although I also seem to be addicted to washi tape (buying it, not using it).  It could be worse, right?

Anyway, I have always been a fan of Paper Smooches stamps since the first time I laid eyes on them.  I think I own all of the sentiments and I also have a few other sets.  I thought I'd make a post to show off some of the cards I've made using various PS sets.  (Side note:  I am also attempting to be a PS Guest Designer, but I'd be doing this post even if I didn't have ulterior motives.)  :)

Here are a few of my latest creations:

:)

 I have to admit, this Great Chemistry card is only my second paper-piecing project.  I love how it turned out, though!

 Maybe I am biased, but this Make a Wish card is one of the prettiest I've ever made.

I think this card is so simple, yet so fun.  It was the first time I ever used washi tape as a decorative background on a card.  I know the Welcome Home stamp is meant for redeployment (in non-military terms:  coming home from deployment) purposes, but I thought it was also fitting for a card that I gave my friend and her husband after they bought their first house.

My absolute favorite thing about PS sentiment stamps is that they can be used for EVERYTHING and they work with all kinds of stamps as well.  They are the first sentiments I reach for when I am making a card because I love all of the fun fonts.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my recent card creations.

Until next time...