Happy New Year, dear swap buddies!

This is my last post for 2013. If you haven't mailed your January swap package yet, don't panic...the actual mail date is January 2nd. Please email your partners when you have mailed your packages, and when they have arrived safely.

Come back tomorrow, January 1st to sign up for the February Valentine Swap. The sign ups will be open until we reach 25 participants or through January 3rd.

I wish you and your families a New Year filled with good health, love and peace. XOX Linda

I want to see!

Here is our Mr.Linky for the January "Thinking of You" Swap. Feel free to share the link to your blog post on what you made and/or received for this month. You can also upload your pictures on our Flickr group page!

one final lovely bit of inspiration for this month...

Such a pretty card! I found this on Pinterest and the origin appears to be Paper Crafts Connection. The card is no longer on the site, therefore no mention of the artist. I especially like the white paint accents and the bit of yellow stenciling which add an artsy element. Very nice!

giving it a whirl

An important message:
I have found countless cards and tags from Pinterest to share with you, but I am having a very difficult time finding the artists and/or getting a response to my request to share them here on our blog for inspiration. Some of the websites have not been updated in over a year, and often the images are already on countless Pinterest boards. So I am going to try something different. I always stive to be honest and upfront, so I want to let you know my intentions. Unless an artist contacts me to object, I am going to go ahead and feature cards that I see have already been pinned on multiple Pinterest boards, of course always naming the artist with a link to the blog or website whenever possible.
I hope the artists will feel that sharing them here for inspiration is very much like allowing them to be pinned on multiple Pinterest boards for inspiration. I have a policy that has always been in the right column of this blog and I have updated it to include a note about Pinterest.

So...I found the perfect card to help me give this idea a whirl. It was made by Kathy Martin, using a layout from Design by Diana.
Such a happy and cheerful way to say "I'm thinking of you"!

love from across the pond

I received the most lovely package on Christmas Eve...all the way from England! In the pretty blue box (just a bit of it is showing in the very top of the first picture) was a wonderful assortment of goodies! German Christmas scrap, images, buttons and gorgeous ribbon. What really touched my heart is the amazing baby photo collage and the beautiful handknit little stocking! Two of my favorite things- babies and knitting! Special thanks and a big hug goes out to Jan for this most unexpected and wonderful surprise! What a great group of ladies you are!

pretty blue wrappings

Merry Christmas

not too much longer now...

thinking of you

Such a great card! I found this on flickr with permission granted to share. The artist "Moto" calls it "a window scene card". I love the colors, the buildings, the tree...very unique and pretty.

Blue Christmas Saturday

sending warm thoughts

I found this beautiful card on Pinterest. It was made by Jennie and it is the perfect combination of "thinking of you" and Christmas/winter/January! I love the scoring technique she uses. Just lovely!

blue goodies

an all-time favorite

This fabtagstic little morsel was made by Becky. (Who is taking this busy month off from swapping!) I'm showing it in segments as well so you can see close ups of every wonderful bit. Becky uses her sewing machine for most of her paper projects and my goodness does she ever rock it!

Let me just say that if you are interested in doing more sewing in your papercrafts/journaling/cardmaking, I highly recommend taking one of Mary Ann Moss's online classes. (this link takes you to her blog, and then just click "classes" on her menu bar.) They are top notch, she is a delight, and before you know what hit you, your sewing machine will be smokin' from all the sewing you'll be doing on every little scrap you can get your hands on! If you own and can operate a very basic sewing machine, that's all the prior knowledge you need to take one of Mary Ann's classes. I really like "Remains of the Day" and "SEWN".

not blue!

Here is a card I made using a pink/orange color combo that I just love! The little square of floral paper in the background is one that I received in a swap from Joyce and I've always loved it. It's funny how a little scrap of paper can inspire a project or bring you joy just looking at it!

Oh Golly! Did I win something?

Yes! We have a winner of yesterday's Blue Giveaway! And the winner is..... Pam! She had the lucky number 4 comment that I got from the random number generator over at mathgoodies.com. I hope you enjoy your blue goodies! They will be mailing out to you today!

the Blue Giveaway is TODAY Only! Open to ALL! Leave a comment to enter

Leave a comment with your email address on this post to enter to win this Blue Giveaway package. Tomorrow morning, I will choose a number using a random number generator and the corresponding comment with be the winner! Visit tomorrow to see who won. Good luck!

Blue Christmas Saturday and a Blue GIVEAWAY tomorrow!

Come back tomorrow to sign up for the Blue Giveaway! For today, here are a few sweet Blue Christmas images and some music to enjoy!

from susie

My dear sister Susie made this one. It was a birthday card for me, but I think it could easily be a great "thinking of you" card as well.

By the way, did you notice that Susie is not swapping with us this month? I think it's because she's really, really old (way, way older than me), and needed a month off to rest. But don't tell her I told you that.

more destash inspiration

the brighter side of blue

I almost forgot...

...today's post. Better late than never, right?

I think I first saw these torn circle flowers / embellishments in a Sommerset issue or Cloth Paper Scissors, I can't remember. But I love making them. I've put them on gift wrap, on garland and on cards & tags. They are fun to make with your scraps, or for color coordinating with a gift theme, a holiday, etc. You can make them in all sizes. I like using my circle punches and then just tearing them down a size. My free handed torn circles tend to be a bit wonky.

I've really enjoyed working with the soft colors this month!

blue sweetness

destash ideas

hello, girlfriend!

mellow blueness. one of my favorite stamps, "hello girlfriend". a great image that I enlarged from the front of a vintage pattern. with a handy dandy sizzix flower die. on a hand-cut cardstock tag. easy on the eyes in a month where colors and images are often "in your face".

A Blue Christmas Sunday

lovely

a bit of this and that

a nice soothing card with some of my favorite things...soft colors, a sweet image, a bit of old ledger, a vintage mother-of-pearl button and vintage embroidery...arranged in simple hodge-podge fashion to brighten someone's day. Some elements I sewed on, some are glued. Rather sweet.

float like a butterfly...

sweet & dreamy...matchy matchy...easy peasy on my sewing machine.

I borrowed my friend's butterfly punches...(note to self "return those"!)

I punched a pile of white and blue butterflies and then sewed the white ones in a bit of a line onto to a pretty piece of blue paper using some light blue thread in my machine. Then I sewed both white and blue butterflies very randomly onto the tag.

I added thinking of you to the card, and a stamped "On a wing and a prayer" on the tag. I embellished the centers of the butterflies with pearls, and of course I topped it all of with a bit of sparkly glitter.

a fine group of swappers indeed...

...are those daring to brave a swap in the month of December! But you will be glad you did. Focusing on peaceful, soothing blue and sweet "thinking of you" sentiments will bring a certain zen quality to our holidays...right? Well that's my theory and I'm sticking with it! I will post lots of peaceful, soothing, blue lovliness to help us along.
The swappers are Debbie, Jill, Lorraine, Linda F, Jan, Mrs A, May, Marie, Bev, Joyce, Wendy, Joy and Pam. You can visit them on their blogs... see the link list in the right column >>>>>>>>>>>

Yes, today IS the last day to sign up.. What are you waiting for?

Sign Up for the January Swap TODAY!

How to sign up for the January Swap:

Send an email to aswapforallseasons@gmail.com with the following info:
1. your name
2. email address for your partner to contact you
3. link to your blog if you have one.
4. if you are willing to mail to an international partner THIS month

If you have never swapped with A Swap For All Seasons before, please list any recent swaps you have participated in and how you found A Swap For All Seasons.

I will send out a confirmation email letting you know if you have been added to the swap. When the sign ups are closed, you will get an email with a list of participants and who you will be swapping with.

As long as you are still seeing this post, you can still sign up! I will close the sign ups on the morning of December 4th or when we reach 25 swappers, whichever comes first. COMMENTS ON THIS POST ARE NOT CONSIDERED A SIGN UP FOR THE SWAP- please send an email!

The theme for the January Swap is Thinking of You. We will be swapping these 3 things:

1. a handmade card
2. a handmade tag
3. just a WEE BIT of BLUE craft destash

This swap can be a safe escape from the hustle and bustle of the Holiday seasons. Blue is such a soothing, calming color. And I do promise to add some blue holiday cheer to my daily posts to keep us all going! There will of course be a BLUE GIVEAWAY on December 15th.

Mr. Linky for December

Please add the link to your blog so we can see what you made and received in the December Swap!

The final Bad Sweater Saturday Post...and my personal favorite

Just when you think you've soaked in all of the awkwardness... you realize she has a goat on her lap.

Mailing Day and January Swap Sign Up Reminder

While you're out picking up your Black Friday bargains, don't forget to stop at the post office and mail your swap package. Or you can mail it on Saturday. I know many of you have already mailed and that's great. Don't forget to post your pictures... I can't wait to see the green Holiday sweetness!

Tomorrow I will post one last Bad Sweater Saturday. I know you're waiting with bated breath!

Monday is December 1st (really? already?) and you know what that means! It will be sign up day for the January Swap! We will swap a "Thinking of You" themed card and tag and a wee bit of blue destash. Taking a bit of time to do this swap may be just the break you need from the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Blue is so soothing...

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all of you a beautiful day with the people you love.

from Joyce

Hey, I recognize that little guy with the newspaper. And I love the folded tree! Thanks for sharing, Joyce!

one more from Becky

Images for You

These just make my heart sing!

is pink the new red?

I love using alternative christmas colors, like the colors in this paper. I bought just one sheet of this paper and couldn't wait to play with it.

I collect old Christmas Seals and stickers, which I glued along the bottom.

I painted a bit of gold German scrap with ivory acrylic paint and then lightly rubbed some of it off, leaving just a sheen of gold showing through- I used this for the border above my Christmas seals.

The vintage looking flocked angel is from Red Lead.

I don't think I make anything without at least a scrap of vintage ledger, which I used behind the angel and also for stamping "How Jolly" and "Be Merry" (Stamps from Red Lead)

I tipped the edges of all of the papers and the tag with a brown Colorbox Cat's Eye pad. Those little stamp pads are perfect for going around edges- they fit into corners nicely.

Finally, I used some very fine crystal glitter to outline some of the shapes in the tag to add a bit of sparkle and dimension.

really bad sweater saturday continues...

This one is definately a MUST for your next holiday party! The lights will help you find your car when the party is over. Although, if the lights plug in, you'll have to stand next to an outlet all night. This could be a good thing as well- it will keep you away from the food table!