Elegant Reflections

Monday, August 29, 2011

Card Swaps - Shoebox Card Swap

I spent some time this afternoon taking pictures of cards I've received from swaps I've participated in. I'm not finished, there are more to take pictures of. This card was for a swap that is being hosted in Australia. Lauren participated in a swap I hosted so I wanted to do her swap. I made the crochet lace trim flower. It was so easy to do. I sewed a button in the middle to finish it off.

The next 7 cards are from a Shoebox Card Swap last year.

Karen stamped and embossed the roses in white on vellum. She then added some glitter. It is a wedding card and gorgeous IRL!

The spider web on this card was embossed in black.

A waterfall card.

The next 3 cards are from a Sympathy card swap.

Hat Pins Splitcoast Stampers Swap

I made these hat pins for a Splitcoast Stampers swap. I had 5 spots, 6 were made and I got 5 back...so I got a total of 25 pins back. I just realized that I haven't taken pictures of the ones I got back. I'll have to do that. I went to Michael's and Joann's to get the beads. The pins I used are corsage pins from the wedding section. They are topped with glass pearls.

This was a fun swap and I've signed up to do a second round, 5 spots again.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

SCS Card Swaps

This first card is my submission for a Happy Kids Birthday SCS swap. The birthday cake is a Stampin' Up image that I colored with Copics. This was time-consuming. The card base is pink, then a layer of a very colorful Happy Birthday designer paper. I put a clear rhinestone sticker on the candle flame. Added the ribbon and prima flowers.

The next four cards are ones that I got from the "My Favorite Things" swap. All of them are really great.

These next 3 were from a "Background Card Swap". The backgrounds had to be embossed in some way, whether using dry embossing with a machine such as a Cuttlebug, or dry embossing with embossing powder. I chose dry embossing with a machine so the cards I got back were in the same category.

This card with the butterflies is similar to the one I did.

Here's a close-up of some of the detail that was done on the card.

This is a really neat card. Loved the way it was done.

The hostess of the Background swap also did an "Extra Card" swap. Those that joined this swap had to submit 10 cards that were either extras from other projects or cards that were received from other swaps. So here's the one's I got back. Some of them are really nice.

This card is really nice.

Here's the inside of the card.

This one is nice too.

This is a beautiful card. The top portion inside the envelope was even covered with paper.

Here's the inside of the envelope.

This last card is one that I made for Peg. I bought my ladybug card holder from her that she made especially for me. I had purchased a couple of others that were too small. It a simple layout...I liked how it turned out...and she enjoyed it.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Hat Pins

This could be a new hobby. I signed up for a Hat Pin swap on Splitcoast Stampers. They are made using different beads that are used in making jewelry and corsage pins. I'm not sure if it is new to cardmaking, however, they are being used as embellishments for cards. Michael's has all of their bead strands on sale at 40% off. So yesterday I bought 4 strands of different beads and some findings to see what I could put together. There are lots of videos on You Tube showing how to make them. They are really easy, actually. Kind of a no-brainer.

For some reason it was difficult to get a clear picture so the beads could be seen. The corsage pins have a pearl at the top. One of the videos I watched, the crafter used Copic markers to color the pearl. I didn't try that. On the one in front, I used a purple crystal, then a flower spacer, the purple flat bead, another spacer and another purple crystal. On the one in back...there's a clear crystal, an oval purple bead that is varigated with some brown and purple, a purple pearl, and another clear crystal. An earring clutch is holding the beads together, for now. In most of the videos I watched the beads were glued together using Crystal Effects. Crystal Effects is used in card making to adhere different embellishments to a card. It dries clear so it can't be seen. Another crafter used a hot glue gun. And another used a product called E-6000. I've not seen that product.

I'm not sure if I really like these so that is why I haven't glued the beads yet. So tell me what you think.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Background Card Swap/Cards Received from Four Legged Animals Swap

I made this card for a Background Card Swap. I used an embossing folder that has a bird sitting on the tip of some grass. I used my Cuttlebug embossing machine to do it. The card base is a gray blue. I added the lavender band for some color. The white punched circle strip was done with a EK Success border punch. I had some trouble using the punch. Then the butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch, popped up with foam tape and pearl stickers in the middle of them. Added the blue rhinestone stickers on the bottom to finish off the card.

I received the next 3 cards from a swap called "Four Legged Animals". This was a huge swap, 29 categories with over 200 people participating. I signed up in the hedgehog category. The cards I received are really adorable. I love all three of them.

I used my new card holder to prop the cards up. I have been looking for something to hold my card when we do our Shoebox swaps. I saw several web sites that had place card holders. I found a shop on Etsy that had these clay figures. So I ordered a lady bug and a ladybug with flowers on a leaf. I got them and was so disappointed. They were too small to use...the card just toppled over. I sent an email to the lady I bought them from and long story short...she designed this one especially for me. I didn't read the descriptions very well on the first two...I was totally frustrated with myself. The leaf is a little larger with a larger clothespin on the back that holds the card. On the leaf are sitting 2 adorable ladybugs and 2 flowers. I love them...and as you can see, it works fine.