Some ATC's made for swaps

I have to admit I have not been in the mood

to make ATC's.

Though I had joined in on two swaps

on the Cardmaking and Papercraft forum.

The first is called let them have wings.

The first one is a gift for the person running the swap.
Then there are three very much alike for the swap.

The other swap was called oriental.The swap was three for three, but I made a 4th

for the swap organiser.The stickers on both of these are silk.
At the moment all I want to make are cards

and fat book pages.

What a day!

What a day it has been today!

I have been in the most terrible pain with my back,

its my own fault as I walked to the post office yesterday.

I pushed myself too hard, so my poor back is complaining!

No wonder really its only 5 months since I had major surgery on my spine.

Anyway, I am trying to get ready for Christmas.

Below is a gift for my very best friend,

she doesn't know I have been making a bracelet for her.

I know she wont see this as she isn't computer happy!

When ever I do an ATC swap with someone off the craft forum,

if they send a note or a card with a picture on I like to use the image for an ATC for them.

Below are a mixed selection of my most recent work.

No one knows about them yet I have to put them on the forum.The ones below are just for general swaps when I have listed them.

These are called gem animals ( I know not very original!)

Another set for swapping.... all on a garden theme.

That's it for now....

Don't forget to leave your names for the Blog candy.

I will take names on the forum too as I know not everyone likes to leave a comment on a blog!

Busy time....

Here is one of the first things I did this week, I had an ATC swap with fellow forum member MotherDuck. This is the return one I have made for her including a matching envelope.

http://forum.cardmakingandpapercraft.com/

I have also joined in my first ever Bookmark swap, I decided on an oriental theme.

The Dragon is embossed onto red card.
This one below has a really nice sticker image on it. I am quite pleased with the finished look of these. On the forum I am also running a Christmas Topper Swap. We each make 5 toppers for cards then everyone will send them to me, So I can swap them around and send 5 different ones back out. Below are my first three. Of course they match all the Christmas cards I have been making this year.
Topper 2 below.Topper 3This card is for my Niece, its her birthday tomorrow. Again here are the lovely Fairies.

Below is the final finished Bracelet made for a new Mum. The final item I added was the little silver cup with baby on it. I think its the great final touch.
The two black and silver bracelets are for another forum friend (Bubbles). She asked for two black and silver bracelets. They have worked out much better than I thought they would.

Below are two bracelets made for a fellow Mum at my sons school. She asked for them first thing Friday morning. I had everything done and made from scratch by 2.45pm. These are the first ones I have made in one whole colour.
This one was also part of the order. I amazed myself by making these and a bracelet for myself before 3pm! I still have to take a picture of my bracelet.Finally, I sat making this one late last night, that's part of the reason why I was still awake gone midnight.... This one is for my Niece for her birthday tomorrow, 7th October this is a surprise for her.So even though I have had to battle with terrible back pain and headaches I still managed to make things to keep me occupied. I love crafting... if only there were more hours to a day!

I have been creative...

On the crafting forum I belong to we have been running a 'train of thought' Atc swap.

Where we are sent an ATC from the person ahead of us and we have to take inspiration from it.

the one below was sent to me from Caro.

I took inspiration from the french words meaning air mail and the butterfly.

No surprise for people who know me well, butterflies are a favourite of mine, so I used the french word for butterfly 'papillon' and made the ATC below.

This is the front.

Looking at it now, I have noticed it needs some kind of colour added to the edges, so I think a little bit of inking is in order... just hope i dont mess it up now!

The butterflies on the front were heat embossed using a bright pink powder, I think it makes them stand out really well. I haven't done heat embossing for a while so it was nice to have a play while I had all the things out.

And then below is how it looks on the inside. I wanted to make this into something quite different so I have added an atc into the swap that opens up. I look forward to seeing how the next person takes inspiration from this.

This is the only crafting I have done today!Unusual for me though I know!

I have great news that I have a further order for another bracelet and gift box/tin. So I am very pleased to be doing another order.

Another creative time....

I can not believe how long it has been since I last added to my blog, though I have been busy trying to get ahead with up coming birthdays and anniversary's, before I begin making my Christmas cards. A big thing that does get in my way though is making ATC's. I have just been unable to stop making them. the one below is called Enchanted.The set of three below are all geisha's I have loved doing oriental theme for quite a while now, it all began when I was asked to do an altered puzzle piece with oriental theme.
These love theme Atc's were made for fun, but they kind of look nice and fun!


Some more love Atc's.

These tins below were an experiment to see if I could alter them... They turned out ok, better than I thought they would. I think they would make nice gift boxes to give my Handcrafted bracelets in.

I had to let my Son know how well he did on his first morning in reception class. He took this card in the following day to show his teacher.

This year I have been married for 7 years, the time has gone so fast. I made this card last night for my dear hubby. Once again though I have made it blue just like our colour theme on our wedding day.

The card below is for my best friend, they have been married 6 years in October. Again I have made it totally without thinking in the matching colour scheme.


This is for a special lady who turns 60 next month. I hope she likes the style of card.

And finally, one card I am really pleased with is this one, for my best friends daughter who is three next month... She loves Disney. This one being her favourite.