Swapping for Insanity

It's been awhile since I've signed up for a swap involving more than one of the same card, and now I remember why! Actually, making these swap cards wouldn't have been too rough at all except for the fact that I wasn't feeling good this last week and my sleep was messed up. And now for a rousing chorus of "If Only I Had Started Sooner..."



At any rate, I'm pleased as punch with the way the cards turned out. The only thing worse than making a sucky card is having to make multiples of it. I think the swappers who get these will be happy, though.



The first swap I worked on was themed "Hot Pink and Lime Green," so naturally I pulled out my florescent cardstock which hasn't seen the light of days in years and years. The bursts/blooms are from SU!'s One of a Kind set, and the "find Joy everyday" stamp is by Hero Arts. Technically speaking, there's not much to this card except a lot of fussy cutting and layering. The cool embossed zig-zag border is a Martha Stewart punch. I made 6 of these for the swap and 1 for myself.






My second swap card this week ("Bird" theme) was loosely inspired by this card by Beate Johns. The SU! set is Always, and I chose to work with the colors Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, and Kiwi Kiss. Since I was making eight of this card and the clock was ticking, I left off many of Beate's details; but I think it's still a pretty decent card. The printed paper is Walk in the Park DSP from SU!'s current Occasions mini catalog.



I have to laugh now -- although I felt like crying at the time -- because I sponged and stamped all my center panels with Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss; and then managed to stamp the Chocolate Chip sentiment crooked on every single piece! I sulked while working on other pieces of the card, and finally ended up redoing all the center panels, this time using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig. Moral of the story: Never trust yourself to stamp straight by just eyeballing it when you've been up over 24 hours!