Cards with Carole

My friend Carole came over last week to "play with paper and past!" Well, it really was glue, but that isn't alliterative. The group of cards below are Carole's creations - Chocolate and Coffee, St. Patty's for JJ, and a dramatic floral card that could be used for many different occasions.

These are the cards I designed for the day. We first made Flower Pot Cards (see "Going Potty" for more details. Then we created cards for spring and Easter.

We ended in the early afternoon with lunch - Adventures Wild Rice Chowder (thank you Juli for the recipe) and brownie cheesecake. Good thing we worked hard in order to work off some of the calories!!!!

Working in the Grotto - February

Just because I wasn't blogging doesn't mean I wasn't down in the grotto making cards. Here's some of what I created.

The above Valentines were created for older patients at Children's Hospital.

This card I created for my grandson is a re-working of a swap I received.

Looked perfect for a little boy!

Here's another card I made for Children's for the older boys.

The cards below were all created with one stamp.

"F" Swap

Last month I joined the "ABC" swap on one of my groups -- and that month's letter was "F." Here's what I came up with:

I covered a Frame with a Floral napkin and added the image of a Floral butterFly Fairy. I couldn't believe I actually had the sticker which says "Flitter Flutter!"

Gone to "Pot!"

A few weeks ago I was surfing through the projects on splitcoast.com and found the tutorial for the Flower Pot Card -- it looked intriguing, so I gave it a try. Much to my dismay, it is actually not too difficult, just a little "putzy." I eventually made some with a group of friends, then with my friend Carole M. who came over earlier this week for a day of stamping.

This shows where the sentiment is stamped.

I think I'll make a few more for people who enjoy flowers and flower gardening.

Haiku Bunny Swap

Spring Haiku Bunny Swap

The Haiku Bunny stamp by Hero Arts is very popular and impossible to purchase as it was discontinued a number of years ago and never reissued. Those of us who own one guard it with our lives!!! Oriental Stamp Art (OSA), a Yahoo group which focuses exclusively on Oriental art, hosts a Haiku Bunny swap every year. Since 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, this is a special year for the special bunny. Here's my Spring bunny. I stamped some floral scrapbook paper with the grass stamp from a set by Stampin' Up, stamped the bunny separately, cut him out, and layered on the base. A silver butterfly floating by is the perfect accent. I sure hope spring comes soon to the upper Midwest!!!!

Collaborative Calendar for 2011

A few years ago my friend Bonnie and I decided to enlist a few other stampers to create calendars. This is what the six of us made for 2011.

January - Jane

February - Ashley

March - Maggi

April - Karen

May - Jane

June - Billie

July - Maggi

August - Bonnie

September - Billie

October - Bonnie

November - Ashley

December - Maggi

Everyone agreed that this was a fun project, even the two newbies who had never done this before and were a little taken aback that they would make 12 (!) of the same pages for each month!!! The calendars were bound using a Bind-It-All and mailed out to the participants. I hope we can continue this project for 2012.

"E" Swap - Elegant Embossed Frames

I finally am able to publish the scan of this fun swap that I made for my friend Carol. Due to "technical difficulties" (my IPhoto disappeared!), I could scan, but I couldn't transfer the image. Thank goodness for good tech support! The frames are made from small magnetic frames that I had received for free. To make them "elegant," I embossed metallic paper with various Cuttlebug folders and colored with alcohol inks. I ran the frames through the Xyron to put adhesive on the front of each frame, then placed each down on the embossed/colored paper. After carefully cutting out, I had a set of frames for Carol to display pictures of her grandchldren. This was a fun project. Now if I can only get some more frames!!!!!