And the winners are...

Two swaps that started a couple months ago have finally come to an end. They were called Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice (the girliest of girl card swaps) and Snips, Snails and Puppy Dogs Tails (cards for the boys (with cooties!). Things were slow to start so I decided to offer up some prizes to increase attendance. It turned out to be a really fun swap and all the cards have been great! I think it will really provide some inspiration for those little or big kids that we just don't have any ideas for. Thanks for a job well done, Everyone! So...here's the prizes...aren't you just dying to know who the winners are???

You're invited to a Soiree

Some of you may remember the Summer Soiree swap from July 11...well, here are a few of the cards that were created. The challenge was to create an invitation of any kind and to send along a recipe for an appetizer, cocktail, entree or dessert. These cards were so much fun. Thanks to everyone for participating! (card in above pic was made by Susan aka PSU_Mom).

Lorie64

2CuteCats

Scruggle

B-gin-R

3boysathome

JAM123

I get by with a little help from my friends

I'm blogging today to pay special tribute to a couple of my SCS friends who did something incredibly sweet for me. I received these cards in the mail last month congratulating us on moving to our first home. And it really did bless my heart when I received them. It is an honor to know that the friendships we've formed in our swaps really do extend beyond that: into caring about each other as people. It is such a great thing to be there for each other through good times and bad and I'm continually blessed by all of you daily.

Thanks to Kelly MiamiKel4 and Paola Sama!! These cards are dispayed in my home, reminding me that people care and also welcoming with open arms all that visit our house.

Cruisin on the Greek Isles

As I said in the previous post, I've been having a blast with this virtual cruise! We've had 2 Days so far and each day has been packed full with a schedule of projects---all diverse and for all ability levels. Sunday will be Day 3 of the cruise and I'm giddy with anticipation. Each day there is an inspiration challenge, several projects, a recipe and a contest. Here are my two contest entries. I'm a sucker for a contest ;) Thanks for looking and it's not too late to participate. Since it's a virtual cruise you can still get in (I think) !

Porthole Card Challenge--MFT stamps: Going Places

Inside the Porthole--did you notice the top says "cruise"

This was a fun PP I found and I actually ended up cutting off the bottom of the front of the card and thought of using it here, on the inside.

Our ship pulled into port and we got to go see "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" in the movie theater. How fun! Here is my "traveling pants" inspired card.

Hope everyone on the cruise is having as much fun as I am. Enjoy the wine and don't forget to tip the pool boy ;)

Virtually Cruisin

As many of you know stampinkaren and lauriloo have put together a virtual stampin/scrappin cruise through the Greek Isles on the S.S. Inky! I am utterly impressed by all of the ingenuity it took to put this together! I have yet to post any of my creations but have thoroughly enjoyed all of the creative ideas and tutorials, as well as all of the cards, scrap pages, survival kits and other items that have been posted already. Here's a shout out to some talented gals and a few of the projects the cruise has offered thus far. A big thank you to Karen and Lauri---what a fun way to spend July and August...and what a fun way to visit the Greek Isles. I can't wait to try some of the delicious recipes and compile my recipe book! Thanks for inspiring me, Ladies!!

Life Jacket Card by OhioMary

Santorini Inspired Card by Lauriloo

Suitcase Giftcard Holder by Lorie64

Porthold Card by Tinkerbelaboo

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

I'm sorry to post something on the "card" blog that's not about cards, but so many of you have asked to see pics of our new place...so here you go. Actually, these aren't of ours, they are all of the model home. There are differences in tile and color and layout choices in ours. DH and I feel very very blessed by God to be able to live in such a beautiful place and pray that whoever visits our home would feel welcomed and be blessed as well. Thanks for looking! :)
Our kitchen has the same cabinets, fixtures and appliances but the granite is black and the backsplash is a mosaic tile of the same color scheme
Our unit is reversed, where the kitchen is shown here is our living room and the kitchen is beyond that. The space where the fridge is shown here is a bathroom in our home and the pantry and fridge are on the other side of the wall.

Our fireplace is completely tiled in front (no white sheet rock showing) and wood mantle.
This is pretty much what our bedrooms and bathrooms look like but again, this is the model home so these are not our furnishings.

This is NOT a room in the home but it is the bedroom set I'm looking at buying eventually when we have some more money. :)

anyway, there it is (kinda) and it looks fancier than it is...we often feel so guilty to be moving here when there are so many people who don't even have homes...but we know that we will continue to pay forward and give back to the community in any way we can.

Who Is That Headless Woman?

I hope you've all had the pleasure of taking a look at the My Favorite Things (MFT) website. I just adore these stamps. It's such a fun idea. I have only acquired one MFT set so far, but I already have my eye on several more (now if my pocketbook would just catch up...)

So who is this headless woman??? It's YOU and you and you! At first I was a little frustrated that the MFT woman almost never has a head but then I found it to be quite endearing...she's anyone we want her to be and at the same time she's all of us...doing all of the activities we love: lounging, traveling, shopping, spending time with friends, etc. I love these stamps and wanted to share my affection with all of you. And for those of you who aren't into the headless woman they have many other stamps as well. This one is next on my list...mmmmm cupcakes.

Check out these examples c/o the MFT gallery.

"Meet Me at the Cafe"

"Can ya' dig it?"

"Rain or Shine"

Note: These stamps are unmounted acrylic stamps

Let's get together ya ya ya

It's time to Partay!! I always get excited when summer comes around because that means alot of opportunities to get together with friends and family. BBQ's, dinner parties, cocktail parties, pool parties, tupperware parties...wait...and stamping parties!! I have all these great ideas for parties but not a lot of ideas for the invitations. A few of us were talking about swapping recipes for appetizers, desserts and entrees (which I'm lacking in ideas for as well) and I thought that would be a great card swap...invites and recipes. And that's where the Summer Soiree card swap came about. Thanks to all who have participated in this. Your ideas are Fabulous and I can't wait to try out all the new recipes!
Here is the card I came up with for this swap.

card front

recipe

back of card

Ode to Summer

submited by Aunt CarolThank you all so much for participating in the Ode to Summer swap. This swap was SO much fun and I've had a blast getting to know you, chat with you and receive all these creative and fun ideas!! Here are a few of the cards that were submitted for this swap!

submitted by OhioMary

submitted by MrsE

submitted by miamikel4

submitted by B-gin-R

submitted by 2CuteCats

submitted by KristineMB

submitted by Sama

Note: let me know if you have a blog and will link your card to it :)

Summertime On My Mind

We have had some crazy weather this year, so back in April or May I decided to start a swap to get us in the mood for summer. And it certainly did because once these cards started to roll in, the weather started to get nicer and nicer. And now I'm happy to report that summer has finally arrived (at least that's the case in Seattle!!)

Here is the card I made and gifted away for a few Ode to Summer participants.



The seed packet template can be found at katydidcreations