Mr Linky for November Swap Pictures

Just click and leave the link to your blog post showing your November goodies.

Happy Halloween...and a December Swap Sign Up Reminder

Happy Halloween! I'm sharing an assortment of my treasured Halloween tags today. I use them to decorate for Halloween. I place them in vintage flower frogs and set them on my mantle and here and there around the house. I used to go all out with the decorations when the kids were young, but now just a few Halloween touches is quite enough for me. Perhaps someday if I were to have grandchildren, I might shake the dust off of some of those decorations... but for now I'm happy enjoying my tags! I hope you enjoy them too.

Sign ups begin tomorrow, November 1st for the December Swap! We will be swapping a Holiday card, tag and one green destash item. I have lots of show and tell lined up. The sign up details are in the right margin over there >>>> and on tomorrow's post. Make a note to visit tomorrow and sign up!

mailing time again

If you haven't already, please try to mail your swap package today, tomorrow or Friday. And don't forget to post pictures of your treasures on our Mr. Linky or on our flickr group page! There are already a few pictures on flickr. I can't wait to see more of your cards and tags!

one last birthday hurrah...and it's a doozy!

Last year on a "milestone" birthday, I received the best birthday present ever from my sister, Susie. She made me the most incredible birthday book. Every page is a delightful work of art. She constructed the book from paper bags and even made tags to tuck into the openings. I cherish this book, and especially my sister! I want to share every page and tag with you. The pictures are in order, from front cover to back cover, and the tags are all grouped together at the end. And yes, the snaggle toothed school girl wearing the school uniform sporting the crooked bangs who "loves to knit" is me. The cute vintage friends on the last tag are my mom (on the left) and her BFF Delores. I love that picture. Thank you, Susie! Happy Birthday to me!

The next swap sign up is getting close!

Sign ups will begin on November 1st. We will swap one Holiday themed card, tag and one GREEN destash item. Mark your calendars if you plan to sign up! Feel free to post this badge on your blog.

If you have any Holiday cards or tags that you've made and that I can share on the blog for inspiration during November, please email them to me at aswapforallseasons@gmail.com. Come on... everyone has made holiday cards! Send me lots of them to share!

one last tag

I made this quite a long time ago using one of my favorite stamps, but never used it. I was not thrilled with how it turned out. (Her hand turned out rather creepy for one thing!) But "Lula Belle Irene" herself is so adorable, I decided to share it anyway!

Stamp info: 2003 "Lula Belle Irene, Sm" by River City Stamp Works: rivercitystampworks.com

another cutie

Time for the finishing touches! You can mail your package anytime on or before November 1st. I will be posting Mr. Linky for sharing your blog links to either what you sent your partner, what you received, or both! You can also post on our flickr group page if you like. If you cannot post, you can send me the picture(s) and I will post them on the Flickr group page for you. In fact, there are already some birthday swap pictures on flickr! Wow! Where did October go?

another birthday image to share

brown paper packages tied up with string...

here are a couple of really cute "brown" packaging ideas for your swap goodies... simple to just tuck inside of a bubble envelope...

more prima doll love

Nice one I found on Pinterest. But no link to the artist. Whoever you are, it's lovely! Nice fall colors, cute stamp!

cute birthday image to share

using scraps

fast...easy...uses scraps...good card for teens & tweens...done deal

stinkin' cute

This little girl is so irresistable! From her joyful face right down to those chubby legs and white walkers on roller skates! Great sentiment too. This one was made by Joyce. Love it!

brown destash

buttons, ribbon, marker, stamp pad, paper, brads, trim.... start digging for brown treasure and choose something fab! (Remember, keep it simple!)

we have a winner

With a little help from mathgoodies.com's random number generator, we have a winner... the #6 comment, from Linda F. in Washington, one of our November swappers. Yay! Your brown goodies are on their way. Please send an email with your home address to aswapforallseasons@gmail.com.

Thanks for playing! I still have more cards & tags, as well as brown destash items to show you...so continue to visit the blog for inspiration. See you tomorrow!

Today is the Brown Giveaway Day! Leave a comment to enter!

Here are the goodies! The package includes: One of my handmade birthday cards and tag, the Birthday Apron rubber stamp from Red Lead, the brown crayolas, a birthday wand, a bit of lace, shades of brown paint chips, and a collection of brown papercrafts goodies (assorted tags, a little pocket folder, and an Einstein's Bagels coffee sleeve)

To enter, leave a comment on THIS Giveaway Post anytime today. Be sure to include your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win!

The winner will be chosen and announced tomorrow morning, October 16th by an online random number generator. Anyone can play. Feel free to spread the word!

a crabby tag and a giveaway reminder

The bad news is, this crabby little girl is "so done with birthdays". The good news is, THE BROWN GIVEAWAY IS TOMORROW! Yes, tomorrow is October 15th and that means you need to visit the blog and leave a comment to sign up for the giveaway. You will also see a picture of what will be included. SPOILER ALERT: This crabby little girl has got to GO!

it's raining jellybeans again!

Here's another of Danee's awesome tags. Wow. Really great coloring, and I love those pinwheel flowers. Very professional looking. Love it.

Right now she's got some fantastic Halloween tags in progress at It's Raining Jellybeans...go visit for more inspiration!

Set the Bar High!

This is a card/tag that I received for my birthday a few years back from my friend Heidi. She and Becky are both very talented. In my art world, those two really set the bar. I've learned so much of what I know about art, papercrafts, sewing and of course knitting from them.

This card is one of my all-time favorites, along with the pink one that Becky made a few posts back. With a keen eye and attention to detail, Heidi really worked magic on this one! This is perfect inspiration for a top notch birthday card. I refer back to it often when I need to add more detail to something I am working on.

Enjoy! And guess what! It's almost GIVEAWAY TIME!

Marie, this one's for you!

We have a squirrel lover in our midst! Marie loves squirrels, so I lovingly dedicate this card to her! I made this card to help combine the themes of brown, November and birthday. I copied an image from a vintage birthday card and created a simple card with it. Background stamp, buttons, a bit of coordinating scrapbook paper and some fall leaves. You can't really see in the photo, but I added some brown Stampin Up flocking to the squirrel. (True confession: The jar is probably 15 years old and I don't think I had ever used it before!) I was afraid to use too much, so I'm not sure that it added anything positive to the squirrel at all, but it was fun to play with!

This is why I am enjoying this swap so much ... I'm digging out card making stuff I haven't used in years and putting it to use! And having fun doing it!

prima doll love

Joyce made this tag for her friend's birthday. Oh how I love the colors, the Mary Engelbreit elements, and the happy feel of this! I would love to have at least one of these prima doll stamps, but Joyce warns that they are addictive! So I will stear clear ... at least for now.

enough about you, back to me

(just being silly!)
Today's card was once again, made with one of my favorite Red Lead stamps. (I feel like I say that every day.) It must be because for me, Red Lead is THE go to place for everything. Several years back, the owners, Chris and Sharon, along with a few other talented guest artists (like YOU, Becky!) hosted the BEST weekly demos in the store each Saturday morning. My sister and I were always there! They fueled my fire for paper crafts, teaching me everything I know about rubber stamping, paper crafts, mixed media, you name it. Such good times. Even now, many years later, whenever I lose my creative mojo, a trip to Red Lead gets me going again. I come home with my little red bag and get busy creating!

So today's simple card uses a great image, nice background paper, a simple greeting stamp, a few sparkling embellishments and that's it.

It's Raining Jellybeans!

What a great name! Danee, from It's Raining Jellybeans graciously gave her permission for me to share images of some of her great tags. I love this one. Very artsy with her use of color, and I really like the "construction of a party hat" image. Pretty embellishments too. Her blog is fabulous...go take a look!

images

This delight was made by Joyce, one of our swappers. It looks like one I would make myself! I love vintage images, especially a fun quirky one. The layout is simple, allowing the image to shine.

If you don't usually work with vintage images and are wondering where people find them, here are some ideas. I often begin with Google. Do a Google Image search for what you are looking for (funny old lady, vintage birthday party, etc). You can click on images you like, then right click and save the image as a jpeg into a file folder on your computer. I always edit the images in Picassa to make them more clear, or to change the coloring a bit, etc. You can add captions and borders in Picassa as well. Then the image is ready to print. If you do not have a good quality printer, save the image(s) you want to print on a flash/jump drive and print them at Kinkos or your favorite copy store.

There are also lots of free vintage image sites that have lots of images to browse through. You can save the ones you like. Try Magic Moonlight, The Graphics Fairy. And don't forget Pinterest! Pinterest is a great source for vintage images.

Lastly, you can also purchase ready made sheets of vintage images. This is the easiest way, especially if you don't have a good printer. Some great sites that sell collage sheets: Red Lead, Paper Whimsey. Also, Etsy. Lots of them there!

Hope this was helpful. See you tomorrow!

fairy cute!

I cut this tag from a "Liberty of London" file folder (sold at Target a few years ago). I bought the file folders to cut up and use for artwork! They had the prettiest patterns... anyway. The little fairy stamp and the "magic wishes" are two of my old favorites from Red Lead that I've used a bazillion times. I stamped with my trusty "Happy Birthday to You" stamp, just a few little embellishments,(there is a tiny pom pom on top of her hat covered up by the little tag), and all finished. Very easy. And fairy cute!

Reminder: Your tag can be any shape or size (As long as it's full sized and not tiny).

sweetness

Let the birthday eye candy begin! This is one of my favorites. My friend Becky, one of our swappers and a very dear friend gave this to me for my birthday a few years ago. It makes me smile whenever I see it. It was made on a house shaped chipboard cutout. I love every little special touch! She used my favorite things: a little girl, pink, buttons, pearls, and a bit of my "favorite paper of all time"! Such a friend! I really love the window she made on the back side.

Idea: Cards and tags don't have to be squares and rectangles- try using other shapes to add a bit of zip and variety!

See you tomorrow!

It's birthday time!

The November Swap sign ups have closed, and we have 15 delightful swappers, ready to party!

If you missed out, the sign ups for the December swap will begin on November 1st. See the announcement I've posted in the right column >>(and feel free to post it on your blog if you'd like) Also, please follow along on the blog throughout the month and enjoy the Birthday fun!

The montly GIVEAWAY will be held on October 15th! ALL are eligible for that! Mark your calendar so you don't forget to sign up for your chance to win some exciting BROWN goodies, including a handmade birthday card and tag.

Today is the Last Day to Sign Up for the November Swap

Sign up details in the post below.

Sign Up Today for the November Swap!

How to sign up for the November 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

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 October 3rd 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 October Swap is BIRTHDAY. We will be swapping these 3 things:

1. a handmade birthday card
2. a handmade birthday tag
3. ONE brown craft destash item

I'm really exacited about this one! I have loads of fun stuff to share throughout the month!