Pear & Partridge Swap Card

Hi there.  I'm finally getting around to taking some photos of some of my swap cards I made last month.  For this particular card I was assigned the CTMH stamp set called "Merry & Bright".

I'm a sucker for Christmas stamp sets, so this was a great addition to my collection.  I love all of the images and they match perfectly with our new paper pack called "Pear & Partridge".  It seems like Close To My Heart alternates between traditional and more modern Christmas paper packs each Winter and this year is back to a more traditional look with Cranberry Red and a darker New England Ivy Green.  I tend to lean towards the more modern colors and designs myself, but I do like a little bit of traditional as well.

Here is the card I created using "Merry & Bright":

Isn't that new Burlap Ribbon great?  I love it and I've used it with several of the new paper packs, it looks great with all of them so far.

For this swap we're supposed to use at least one technique as well.  I used a couple different techniques.  I did one called "rock n' roll" on the partridge.  First I stamped the bird in Cashmere ink, then I rolled just the top edge in Cranberry ink (while the Cashmere ink was still on there) and then stamped on the paper to get that color fade.

I also did some paper piecing on my card.  I'm a bit addicted to "fussy cutting", so I stamped my bird both on the card itself and on a separate piece of cardstock and then cut that one out by hand and adhered it over the image I stamped on the card already.  I also did the same thing with the Cranberry Red bow on the top of the wreath.

The last technique I did was just coloring with our new alcohol based markers.  I colored in those five little flowers on the wreath before I added a cute little sparkle to the center.  And if you haven't used an alcohol based marker before, you're gonna love it, the color goes down like butter and leaves no streaks - yay!

I had to duplicate this card 26 times, but it wasn't too bad.  The hand cutting of the partridge and bow were a little time consuming, but I did them while watching tv, so not a problem.  The other shapes were cut using one of our exclusive Cricut cartridges called "Art Philosophy", it does all the work for you.  :)

Here's a closer look at the paper piecing.  You can see I popped the partridge up with a little dimensional foam adhesive.

I also stamped a Christmas sentiment on the inside of the card and added another little bird down in the corner - easy peasy.

Here's a complete list of all items used to make this card.  You can click on each one to find the item on my website:

• C1510 Merry & Bright stamp set
• X7162B Pear & Partridge Paper Pack
• 1388 Colonial White cardstock
• 1282 New England Ivy cardstock
• Z2116 Cranberry stamp pad
• Z2135 New England Ivy stamp pad
• Z2175 Cashmere stamp pad
• Z2419 Cranberry marker
• Z1760 Burlap Ribbon
• Z1263 Bitty Sparkles
• Z1763 Boutique Assortment
• Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back soon.  :)

Humble Artist's Swap - August 2012

At the end of July, I was pleasantly surprised to be asked to join a card swap that I've been an admirer of for a long time.  It's called The Humble Artist's Swap.  It's a bi-monthly swap consisting of a group of approximately 10-12 CTMH consultants headed up by fellow consultant Nancy Ball.  (I have a list of all of the "HAS" swappers on my sidebar, so you can go check out all of their fabulous work as well.)

Nancy gives a set of guidelines each round and assigns 2 different groups of swappers (so you only have to make 5 or 6 cards total).  Now these guidelines are definitely a challenge and I was a little scared that I would miss something my first try, but I think I got all of the requirements into this card.


Here were the guidelines for August:

• Minimum 8 layers
• Use ONLY neutrals and one color
• Use one stamp set with the word “Background” in it
• Use one stamp set with the word “Borders” in it
• Have at least 2 other different stamped images
• Use at least 3 Art Philosophy shapes
• Minimum 3 embellishments
• Card must be at least 4 ¼ x 5 ½ 

Whew, crazy huh?  Here's what I came up with:

I was a little worried about all of the layers, but by my count I think I got them all in there.  I counted 9 layers on my card (not counting the card base) that all overlap at one point, right under the word "make" in my sentiment.  Here's how I counted my layers:

You must also use all Close to My Heart supplies and I managed to do that as well (although, by the time of this post one of the stamp sets has since retired.

Here's a complete list of supplies used (with links to my website where available):

• S1208 August Stamp of the Month: Baroque Borders (retired)
• D1477 Universal Backgrounds stamp set
• D1491 Hooray Bouquet stamp set
• C1510 Merry & Bright stamp set
• X7156B Clementine Paper Pack
• 1388 Colonial White cardstock
• X5643 Chocolate cardstock
• Z2111 Chocolate stamp pad
• Z2164 Sorbet stamp pad
• Z2175 Cashmere stamp pad
• Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy
• Z1763 Boutique Assortment
• Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

This sketch I used was one I found on the mojo monday website.  It's #181 from 2011.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Hi, my name is Kandi and I'm addicted to swaps.

Ha!  Yes, I'm still here, just been busy making lots of stuff in my "free" time.  Actually, August turned out to be a pretty busy month because I got a little crazy and overextended myself by signing up for 4 different swaps, all due within a couple weeks of each other.

In my evenings after work and on weekends (minus one, when we went camping), I've made a few items:

41 Board Titles
82 Greeting Cards
8 Single Page Layouts
8 3D Cricut Items
* Not to mention, a few other items for a Craft Show my friend Linda and I did in early August.

Whew!  I'm so glad to be done, finally.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I just have a hard time saying no.  I normally do 2 or 3 swaps when a new Idea Book comes out, but 2 new opportunities presented themselves to me this time around and I just had to go for it.  :)

Unfortunately I'm on a computer that doesn't have my current photos uploaded, so I will be back with photos of the various swap items soon.  I also hope to post some photos of other goings on from this Summer, now that it's almost over.

For now, enjoy the rest of your weekend.  I'm off to eat breakfast at my Mother-in-law's house - yum!

Ciao!