Mini Loaded Bag-Sent/Received

So a few weeks ago I shared with you the beginnings of this Spring Themed Mini Loaded bag.  The person I swapped with has now received.  So now I can show you the whole thing.  

So to the right is the bag I showed you prior to putting anything in it.  Pretty plain and basic.  I started out with Recollections Khaki paper for the base.  I also added some Recollections patterned paper in pinks and purples.

So it had a main "pocket" and then another smaller pocket on the front.

Here is another picture of the two wands I added before I finished them as well.  For these the base were cupcake liners I picked up at dollar tree.  The stems are paper straws I also picked up at Dollar Tree.

I did forget, which isn't anything new for me, to take a picture of the completed project.  But, I did video all the goodies I put in the bag along with the completed project.

You can watch that here or head on over to YouTube.

St. Patrick's Day Tag Swap

Remember that St. Patrick's Day tag I tore?  I finally get to show you the end result.  Yep, a bit late, but still hopefully worth the stop by.

Here are the tags I sent for my St. Patrick's Day Tag swap.  My partner has received them safe and sound so I can share.

You can see the three tags above. All the cut out images that are print and cut were from Lori Whitlock( the horseshoe, pot of gold and the hat) or Miss Kate's Cuttables (the owl).  The shamrocks, the doily, and the shape with the sentiment on it came straight from Cricut Design Space (part of my subscription).  

So this is the tag I tore.  I cut out the tag and patterned paper to go on top from Cricut design space.  I layered the pieces. I added a border punch along the bottom 3rd of the tag.  Added my print and cuts.  I also stamped the arrow and the sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black ink.  The sentiment came from a set I bought from Unity Stamps.  The arrow was part of a travel set of stamps my sister gave me but I do not know the company.  I then added some hole reinforcers, a large eyelet, and threaded my ribbon through from my stash.  (This is where I tore it and you already know how I fixed it.  If you missed that post you can find it here.)  I did add some clear wink of stella to the horseshoe, gold coins, and the shamrocks to add some glimmer.

This tag I had a blast with.  I got to use some of my favorite toys.  Distress inks and a stencil.  So the stencil here is from Heidi Swapp.  I decided to go with a rainbow look.  I started with broken china, then mustard seed, and finally pickled raspberry.  I just lightly put down some color, then taped on my stencil, adding on more color.  I loved the rainbow look of it.  I then added some glimmer mist to the whole tag.  Who doesn't want shimmer?  I added the cute print and cut owl adding wink of stella to his hat, bow tie, and balloon.  I then added a stamped image of what kind of reminded me of clover to the edges in Lost Lagoon ink.  The sentiment is one of many I created using my computer on wonderful Cricut sticker paper. Again I must tell you how much I love that sticker paper.  It is wonderful.  Hole reinforcers were next with a large silver eyelet.  I added in some twine I got at Christmas from the Target dollar spot. 

Ok, I kept it simple for the last tag.  I know I wanted some type of Irish blessing on the tag because it just seemed like the right thing to add.  I found this sentiment thanks to Pinterest.  I added it to a cut out shape using my Cricut by letting the machine write it all out.  On the tag I added some green glitter tape, a doily cut out and some shamrocks.  I added some bakers  twine along with some more of the green twine...then called it quits.

Now if you have never done a swap.  You typically then also send some extra goodies.  If you want to see what else I sent, you can find it here in my You Tube video.

I am adding these tags to Digi Choosday Crafting Challenge #11-Anything Goes.  Check this challenge out here.

Mini loaded spring swap bag

Tonight I was able to get my 4x6 mini loaded bag made.  This is just the skeleton of it.  I did go ahead and add some Recollections spring patterned paper to it in purples and pinks.  I felt it would be easier to add it while I was putting the bag together.  I have add the paper afterwards before.  That is not as easy.

I am still deciding if I want a pocket on the back of it for some other goodies.  This is for a spring swap I signed up for later this month.  Now it's time to fill this baby up with some crafty goodies.

On a different note, my computer is sick.  It's in the hospital, so I am trusting on the ol' laptop to get me through.  Usually this is what I use mostly anyway, but now I am going to have to share it with my son since he is likely to go through withdrawals with no computer....😉

Hope you have had a great weekend.  Got some projects done?  Feel free to share in the coments.

Blast from the Past....

 Thought I would show you today something I made for one of the swaps I participated in last fall.  I wasn't blogging much during that time.  Not a really go reason not to blog, but I was working quite a bit so I just did not take the time to share the things I was making.

But here is a loaded flip bag I made to swap with a Halloween theme.  It was my first loaded bag.  I really had a blast making this.  I put my cricut through it's paces.  I made the ghost, picket fence, and cat you see here on the front of the bag. I made plenty of tags with the cricut.   I also added a few things I found at the Target dollar spot or at Michael's to share with my partner.

I think the coolest haloween item I purchased were some glittered bats.  They were too cute.

Below is a close up of a rosette I made with my cricut.  I decorated the front with that cute ghost image.  

Since the beginning of December I haven't participated in any swaps.  I am finding that living in an apartment with limited space just does not always make swapping feasible.  I just don't have places to store the things I get.  So, over the year as I use some of my cool goodies I received I will let you know.  I plan to use as many up as possible before I do another swap.

Of course, knowing me I will probably break that because you just need to collect more stuff...right?😏

Those Dreaded Cards for Men

So I have joined quite a few swap groups via Facebook.  It has been loads of fun trying my hand a new things like pocket letters, flip books, loaded flip bags.  I love getting to know a little bit about my fellow crafters out there.  It also gives me the flexibility of joining as many or as few swaps as I think I can handle each month.  Not to mention the inspiration....there are some amazing talents out there.

I am currently taking a break from all that.  With the Christmas coming, I knew there would be some handmade projects I would want to tackle so I decided to take a break.

That being said, there was one personal swap that kept getting bumped.  Since somethings in my life have been a bit stressful I just kept putting it off.  There was no actual date so it finally worked out where I had a moment to breathe and put something together for this person.

She will be sending me some, I am sure amazing embellishments, while I am sending her 6 cards that would be perfect for men.  

Now, I don't know about you but if you are a papercrafter, this is the area that a lot of us struggle with.  Bring on the flowers and the You go for it girl sentiments...we are in our element.  Trying to come up with something handmade a man would enjoy in a card form though can seem daunting...heck it is daunting.  I struggle each year for Father's day as well as my husband's birthday.  I get it ....cards for men are hard.

But, I was up for the challenge.  I went to my favorite place for inspiration...Pintrest.  How did you guess?

So over the next bit I will be sharing with you these 6 cards I made just for this swap.  It was fun.  I loved how they turned out.  So get out your die cutting machines, paper, stamps, etc.  Dive in, I know you can do it too!

Here is card #1.  I got out my trusty Cricut machine to put this one together.  I started out with a A2 card base in creme.  I then added some super cute patterned paper by Recollections.  This 6 x 6 paper pad I used throughout these cards.  The paper has a travel theme, but are the perfect shades for cards for men.

The vest and tie was from Cricut's design space.  I layered on the tie, buttons, and the pocket.  To make sure I had the correct color scheme I printed this as a print and cut.  The Happy Birthday sentiment was written by my Cricut using the font babycakes.  I then in the lower left just added a enamel dot I made with those perler beads you see everywhere.

Didn't take too long...the biggest obstacle is getting the computer for a few minutes from my 7 year old because he was playing on it.

I am entering this into CAS(E) this Sketch's #201 sketch as it was the inspiration for the sketch.  I love that challenge blog because the sketch's are really my style, simple.  You can see the other entry's for this challenge here.

Here is a copy of the sketch:

Hope you all have a great week!