Stamped Tag Swap

Hi friends and fellow crafters! I have a fun post to share today. I was in a Stamped Image Tag Swap a little while ago and received my tags on June 27th. I have been trying to get these posted for ages! It was a great  and simple swap. Use Ranger manila tags. Take 2 of your favorite images. Stamp 10 tags with one and nine with the other. Add one embellishment. For the last tag, we had a secret swapper that we had to make a special tag for. Here are the tagss I received back from my very crafty fellow swappers.

These are my tags that I made. I used Stampin Up Inks in Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise on these tags. The Stamp is from Tim Holtz and is called Urban Chic. The sentiment is from Close To My Heart and is called Wings. I cut the Hummingbirds from Art Nouveau and colored them with Copics. I also added a pin that I made.

These are my cuties from Stampotique and is called Arty. This is one of my favorite stamps. I paired her with A Picasso Quote from the CTMH Wings set. I used the dragonfly from Doodlecharms, cut them with Shrinky Dink material, colored them with copics and put them in the oven for a couple of minutes. Easy Peasy. 

So these were my tags. My special tag was for Renee. I used Tilly  by Khrista Smith at Saturated Canary. I colored her with copics. This was the first time I ever tried making clouds. I followed this video that Sis recommended in our swap thread. You can find it here
My clouds came out a little bit slanted. Sorry about that, Renee! I added some dimension using Jolees flowers and stems. I also added pins, lace, crystals and Prima Flowers.

I also made a card for Renee using a Hummingbird and a Prima Flower. The papers are from Graphic 45.

Next is a card I made for Sis. I used the cutest digi stamp from Khrista Smith at Saturated Canary called  Krafty Kate. I colored her with copics and used papers from the Dear Lizzy collection called Neapolitan. I cut a little banner using my Cricut and added brads to the ends. Sis was a great swap hostess. She had lots of inspirational videos and we had great conversations during the creative time. She also turned the swap around super fast. I can't believe she was able to sort out our tags to quickly!

Here is the tag I received back. Angela, Tiffy's Mom created this for me. Isn't it lovely? The flower is grunge paper, and all the embellishments are gorgeous!

I also received one of her stamped tags too!

Here are the other tags!

Finally, there were also 2 RAKs in the box. This cute Grungeboard frame from Sis. I am using it for my  special tag.

And Francine sent us this adorable tag. I plan on saving it for my Great Niece's 1st Birthday layout.

This was such a fun swap and we hope to do it again in the Autumn. I hope you might find some crafty inspiration after looking at them! Don't forget to stop by my blog this weekend for our Christmas in July Hop week 2! This week we will be showcasing Cards. It will be fun and there will be some candy!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

Christmas In July Week 1

 Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas in July to all my friends and fellow crafters! Welcome to the first weekend of our Christmas in July Blog Hop!Each week we are having a different theme. Today's theme is Christmas Cardholders.

Paulette, our hostess, is offering some great prizes on her blog. She is offering a different cartridge as a prize each week and will have a grand prize drawing on July 31st of a rare brand new Christmas (Noel) Cartridge! You can earn entries into the drawings by following and leaving comments on the blogs in the hop. Here are Paulette's prizes for the hop.

Week 1~July 6~Christmas Gift Card Holders:
Prize is a Gingerbread Cart & winner drawn July 12
Week 2~July 13~Christmas Cards:
Prize is a Christmas Cards Cart & winner drawn July 19
Week 3~July 20~Christmas Ornaments:
Prize is a Trim The Tree Cart and winner drawn July 26
Week 4~July 27~Christmas Anything Goes:
Prize is a Christmas Village Cart and winner drawn July 31st

Here are the blogs for today's hop. You won't want to miss any of the great projects, so if you have just fell off Santa's Sleigh and landed here first, why not go back and start at the beginning! 

1~Paulette: http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/
2~L.B: http://www.coolbeansbylb.blogspot.com/
3~FranTimme: http://lovebugtimme.blogspot.com/
4~gonescrappin'; http://scrappycol.blogspot.com/ You Are Here!
5~scrapsbygracie: http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com/
6~SeaSwan:  http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/
7~BetsyBoo:  http://betsymcreates.blogspot.com/

I chose to create a bottle or door hanger gift card holder. It was fun and super easy to create.
I used my Art Philosophy Cartridge - page 25/keypad button 5 and using my Cricut Mini, I cut it at 7.45 width by 10.80 height. 

Then I used December 25th Seasonal to cut Merry Christmas at 2.27 width by 1.25 height for my sentiment. 

Finally, I used a Cricut Craft Room Basic Accent from the bottom row on the basic tab and cut it at 3.375 width by 2.5 height. 

Decorating it was a cinch. I took the accent mat and ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Reflected Damask Embossing Folder by Anna Griffin. I used Gathered Twigs Distress Ink on the mat, then took an old wet toothbrush and dipped it in white acrylic paint, and ran my finger across the bristles to splatter the paint on to the mat. 

 

I decorated the hanger before I put it together and added some ribbon from Webster's Pages to the top.

 

I had a couple of left over tags that I made with Santa's Village using my Imagine last year, so I used one of the tags to add some interest to the center of the hanger. It just looked a little "bare" to me. 

Then I added a fun green and red wired bow with a Santa Charm attached to the top. 

I thought it looked cute as a bottle hanger, but I would leave the top bare if you want to use it that way.

Here I hung it off a Winter Candy Apple Soap from Bath and Body Works.

I also thought it would nice hanging off a larger bottle like wine. I didn't have any wine in the house, so I tried hanging it off my shampoo bottle. LOL! 

I love to give Gift cards as presents. It's so much fun to use my Cricut and dress them up in fun unique ways. I really enjoyed sharing a Christmas in July project with you today. Your next stop on the hop is the wonderfully, talented Scraps By Gracie. I know you will enjoy her project!

Finally, how about some blog candy? Leave me a comment before July12th to be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 Michaels Gift Card. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

A Very Special Birthday Banner

Hi friends and fellow crafters!

One of my best friends, who is more like my sister, was celebrating her father in law's 90th birthday and asked me to make a banner for him. Tony is a wonderful man, and having known him for well over 24 years, I couldn't have been happier to create something special for him. My friend, Elaine asked me to do a red and white theme for Tony as he is originally from Poland. He also loves flowers and loves to garden, so I wanted to incorporate that passion into his banner as well. I was trying to keep the banner from looking too feminine, so I decided to use my Cuttlebug and Anna Griffin Embossing folders for the mats of the pennants. I used the Poppy Folder because that it what we all call him. Elaine also asked if I could make a Polish flag for the banner so I used them for the ends of his name. It all came together nicely. When I was making the embellishments, I originally started with primary colors. I quickly changed my mind on them as they made the banner look childish. I switched out to silver and gold embellishments and preferred them much more.

To create the banner, I used the Cricut Craft Room. I am trying to use it more since the Gypsy was discontinued. I am getting more comfortable with it, but I find it works better with my Mini machine as opposed to my E2. I guess because it's not a wireless communication, but who knows...
Anyway, here are some close ups of the banner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used Letter Envy for the letters and mats, the pennants are from Pretty Pennants, the balloons are from MS Cake Art and the presents and party hats are from Doodlecharms.

 

Tony loved the banner and enjoyed his special day.

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

 

Happy Crafting!

Colleen