Quarterly Swaps

The Quarterly swaps were, as usual, inspirational!  I always come away from Quarterly with so many good ideas.  This time was no exception.

Here are the cards I received in the Spring Swap:  A lot of them use items from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog so you are getting a Sneak Peek!!  (I've identified the creator if I know them - a lot don't sign their work!!)

Travel Log stamp (Summer)  By Jeria

Dogwoods

The Open Sea stamp plus Nautical DSP - summer mini (by Janie)

Bold Blossom stamp (summer mini) 

Flower Garden Embossing Folder (summer) plus Beyond the Garden DSP (no name but I think it was Danielle's)

Strength & Hope (summer mini) by Tina

Bold Blossom (summer) 

New Triple Layer Blossom Punch (Nicole)

Easter Blossoms (Martinette, I think)

Sew Suite (Alana)

by Becky

I'm off tomorrow to meet an old high school friend for lunch.  We are going to meet at 131 Main Restaurant in Cornelius.  I'm looking forward to seeing Judy.  In the 5 years I've lived here, we've only gotten together twice.  That's pretty bad!  She just lives in Charlotte but she has 5 kids and several grandchildren and still works.  So, her time is pretty tied up.  We have known each other since 4th grade!!

Quarterly Rejects

I am going to a Quarterly NC Stampin' Up demonstrator meeting this weekend in Fayetteville.  These are always so much fun.  We have a Shoebox Swap on Friday night where each participant puts the ingredients for a card together in a shoebox.  Then each participant makes a card from each shoebox.  On Saturday we have several people who demonstrate various projects and techniques.  I love teaching others about card making so this is a fun part for me.  I will be doing one of the demonstrations.  We will be making the little Hand Sanitizer holders that I made at Christmas.  (I'll share it with you later this week.)  It is such a fun weekend visiting with friends from all over the state.  The past couple of years, Marianne has gone with me as my guest.  Unfortunately, she has a soccer tournament to attend this weekend so guess I'll be going solo.  I'm still trying to talk Sonny into driving down with me but not having too much luck!!  After being gone for 3 weeks, he is not eager to leave home again so soon.  Plus, he and his brother-in-law are planning a fishing trip the week after Easter.  

We do a lot of different kinds of swaps at Quarterly.  I signed up for a punch art swap, the shoebox swap and a spring/summer card swap - plus I have to get the project that I will be demo-ing cut out and prepared.  Monday I was getting a little worried.   I just could not come up with any good ideas for the card swaps and that clock kept ticking!  Here is one of my rejected ideas:

Card Recipe:

Cardstock:  Sahara Sand; Very Vanilla; Marina Mist; First Edition DSP (winter mini)

Accessories:  Marina Mist Ribbon; Big Shot; Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder; Circle Punches; Sponge Dauber; Distressing Tool

Stamp:  Friends Never Fade (pg 99 catalog)

Ink:  Marina Mist; Crumb Cake

Today though, I got my mojo back after I finally got out of bed!  I took a decongestant last night and just could not wake up this morning.  Once I got up, took my shower and ate some breakfast though, I was ready to go!  Here is the card I finally settled on for my Shoebox Swap.  It needs to be an easy card to make since we just have a few hours to do 19 cards plus visit and eat!!  

Card Recipe:

Cardstock:  Pink Pirouette; Whisper White; Melon Mambo

Access:  Big Shot; Finial Press Embossing Folder; Label Punch; Pearl

Stamps:  Awash With Flowers (pg 99, catalog); Four Frames (a sneak preview from Summer Mini); Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Melon Mambo; Pink Pirouette; Peach Pizazz

So, what do you think?  Would you like to make this card????

Quarterly Recipe Swap

I got to talk to Ashley this morning via Skype which allowed me to see her as well as hear her.  She was able to see Sonny & I but couldn't hear us since I didn't have a microphone.  So I was typing all the conversations on this end.  I'm still just learning about all this!  I sent Sonny to Best Buy today to get us a mic so tomorrow we'll see how it works.  While we were talking to her, she took us on a video tour of her quarters.  She wanted to show her Dad around so he could give her some advice on how to fix a few things!  We were quite impressed.  She has her own place with a bathroom and a walk-in closet!  The person who had her room before she did left her a couch/futon, desk, chair, shelving that they had built plus shelving in her closet.  They also left a small refrigerator, microwave and tv.  So she doesn't have it too bad.  She plans on buying a larger tv so she can watch some Steeler football (hopefully)!  I don't know what kind of tv shows she gets there but I think she can pay for cable as well as internet coverage.

I want to share the 6x6 Recipe Swaps from Quarterly.  I wasn't too thrilled with my card but the others were great!  I'm going to put them into a book.

My Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup

Kathy Hunt's Easy Taco Salad

Marianne's Pineapple Cheese Ball

Mary Bergere's Stuffed Jalepeno Peppers 

Mary's Recipe - peppers

Gwen Phillips Yummy Chicken Pie

Cathy Snipes Candy Bar Pie

my favorite!  Janie's Ham Rollups

Dina Wilson's Fudgy Brownie Cookies

Pat (I think - no name) Super-Chunky Christmas Cookies

Danielle Blech's Apple Cheesecake

Tina Lesson's Easy Cream Cheese Pie

Nancy Carr's S'more Meltaway Pie

Janet Marks' Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Aren't they great?  If you can't read a recipe and you want one of them, let me know and I'll send it to you.  These make me want to cook now!

Quarterly Holiday Card Swaps

I got an e-mail yesterday from Ashley letting me know they arrived safely in Mosul on Tuesday.  They ended up flying straight from Kuwait to Mosul.  She already has her computer hooked up in her quarters.  So, hopefully tomorrow we'll try out Skype!

As promised, more swaps from Quarterly.  These are holiday cards that we swapped.  A few more ideas for my Christmas cards - and prehaps yours too!!

no name - but I love this little bunny - image from the Holiday Mini



by Lynn Creech - just love the monochromatic Soft Suede!



by Janie Murphy - using the new Waffle paper

by Marianne - don't you love how she did the circle?  It's the scallop circle.  Then she took the 1/4" circle punch and punched into the scallops.

by Chaille O-Neal - that cute bunny again!

by Danielle Blech - using the Build A Bear image

by Nancy Lewis - a nice Thanksgiving card

by Marcia Enns - she used her acrylic block for the shadow stamping background.

by Becky Campbell - love that smooch spray - it's on my list!

by me - I used the Decor Elements stencil to sponge inside before stamping the Bells & Boughs on the ornament.

no name

no name

Quarterly Shoebox Swaps

Sorry I've been slow about putting my swaps and projects from Quarterly on my blog.  I've been working all day on the Newcomers Newsletter that I usually do on the 15th.  Just a tad late this month!

Without further ado, here are the Shoebox Swaps we did at Quarterly.  I know there are several who were unable to go who are waiting for pictures.  I tried to put the originator by the ones that I remember!



by Becky Campbell



by Jane Hunt

by Marianne Webb

by Janie Murphy