The Inking spot of Crain Creations

Another Christmas swap card

I apologize for the bad picture.  This is my 3rd card for a recent swap I participated in.  You can't see the details, but the brown scalloped top piece is popped up as is the red ornament.  I'll post the recipe later, gotta run out the door to the office.  Have a wonderful day and don't forget that tomorrow starts the September release Sneak Peeks for Paper Makeup stamps.  See you back here tomorrow!

Serene Snowflakes Swap card

Here is another of my swap cards from the new Holiday Mini.  I am getting better at making my swap cards more "do-able" (a little simpler than my normal 50 layers, etc.), this one was fun to make... lot's of 'random' stamping here and I got to use my Silver Encore pad.... I just LOVE that ink pad!!!  I used  Mercy Kerin's sketch #36 for this card... I love her sketches!!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes

Paper: Christmas Cocoa dsp, Real Red, Soft Suede and Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Soft Suede, Real Red and Silver Encore

Accessories: White Satin ribbon

Twick or Tweet swap card

I have been so crazy with swap cards and work, that I haven't even had a chance to post!   How sad!!  Ok, quick post because my stamp group just left and I am exhausted!  I'll post the recipe tomorrow, but this is one of my swap cards using a Halloween set from the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini.  This set is available beginning September 1st (make sure you see your Demo for a mini catalog if you don't already have one!).  See you tomorrow for the rest of this post and for Blogger's Challenge and PMS Freebie Friday! 

For All You Do swap card

What a last couple of days :(  First of all, New York kidnapped my hubby!  We were so excited for him to come home last night, and some silly storm rolls in and he got stranded... so I spent my afternoon/evening yesterday getting him another flight and a hotel (yes everyone was booked because everyone was stranded) instead of getting my Blogger's Challenge card done and posted :(.  I'll have it up by tonight.  Anyway, enough whining... Here is my 2nd swap card.  I like it, but it is certainly plainer & simpler than my normal swap cards.  Check back soon, I have several posts I need to get up here.  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: For All You Do

Paper: Bella Bleu dsp, Not Quite Navy, Kraft and Very Vanilla cardstocks

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sage Shadow

Accessories: Fresh Favorites 1 buttons, Kraft Tafetta ribbon

Herb Expressions meets Nouveau Chic

When I saw the Nouveau Chic dsp in the SU catalog, I didn't think "it was my style".  Then a customer of mine ordered it, and I saw it just sitting on her counter and asked her what paper it was cause WOW!  I really like this paper pack!!!  So yeah, of course I "needed" it, lol!  This is another swap card I made for my Nimbee group (love those gals!!!!)  I hope they like it, I LOVE WOW! cards, but I tried really hard to keep this one kinda basic/easy.  I LOVE the colors and the layout was super fun (I "borrowed" the layout from a previous Mojo Monday sketch... they have the best sketches!!!!!)  Thanks for peeking, hope to see you again soon!  I have 2 more swap cards to share with you then I have 3 more Mini Catalog peek/swap cards to share with you... stay tuned!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: Herb Expressions

Paper: Nouveau Chic dsp, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Sage Shadow and Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Basic Black ink pad, Apricot Appeal and Sage Shadow markers

Accessories: 5/8" Basic Black Ribbon, Photo Corners punch, Appricot Appeal brads

Last 2 swap cards

Here are my last 2 swap cards (remember the ones that got lost in the mail so I had to make another set?, yup still not over it, lol).  Thanks for popping in, I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin Up)

Stamps: Garden Galore, Short & Sweet
Paper: Thoroughly Modern dsp, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Rose Red, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Rose Red Brads, Small & MEdium Oval punches, Chocolate Chip double stitched ribbon

When I first saw this years In Colors, I didn't really care much for the Rich Razzleberry...funny how it now seems to be turning up in so many of my creations, lol!  Lots of layers to this one, I love the look here.  What you cannot see is that behind the white ribbon is a splash of Olive ribbon too.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin Up)

Stamps: For All You Do

Paper: Cottage Wall dsp, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry cardstocks

Ink: Old Olive, White Gel pen

Accessories: Whisper White and Old Olive 1/4" ribbon, ANtique Brads, Small oval punch, Scallop border punch, Ticket punch, 

Herb Expressions swap card

A super quick post cause I am beat and need to get to bed, will add the deets in the morning :)

This is another one of my swap cards.

 

A Country Swap card

A couple of times a year I participate in this really great Stampin' Up! swap over on SCS.  The swap hostess has just done an amazing job of finding participants because every single card I get back is something I really like!!  Which is great, the down side is that I always stress hoping my cards are good enough.  WHenever I swap I always pour ALOT of time into each card, I want it to be a "WOW!", and this last set I sent in was no different!  In fact they must have been so amazing that the Post man decided to keep them for him/herself!  lol... they never made it :( so I am make a new set (11 per group, 4 groups).  

Well here is card number 1 (of course I didn't photo all of the cards before I sent them out and of course I did not keep one for myself..Murphey's Law!).  I was looking for some mojo to get me started and came across last Monday's Mojo Challenge, this sketch was great!  I loved it!  I really love this Country Morning Hostess set, I have a feeling it's gonna see lots of ink!!  Thanks for stopping by!  Come back tomorrow for the PMS Monday Challenge!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin Up!):

Stamps: Country Morning and Curvy Verses

Paper: To the Nines dsp, Sage Shadowm Chocolate Chip and Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Basic Black, Markers

Accessories: Brads, Chocolate Chip Tafetta ribbon

What's a 'scrapling'?

In this last swap we did, we had a 'scrapling' catagory... what in the heck is a scrapling??  Ya know I am always the last to learn new things, lol.  A scrapling is something we create with those leftover scraps.  Ours had to be 4 1/4" x 1 1/2" (though I don't know if that is an official thing).  Mine is kinda boring, but there are some super creative ones out there.  Since I had no clue what on earth you would use one of these for (besides like a book mark) I had a hard time getting really creative here.  Now I know... you can use one as a gift tag, or a book mark, or just a little something for someone.  It's kinda hard finding images to use on these babies!

I love coffee! (another swap card)

I should totally be in bed right now, but it is so quiet and peaceful!!  Ahhhhhhh... Back to business, lol.  This is another swap card.  This one had to be 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  I  rather like this one too!  Simple but not plain!  Simple is not very easy for me, so I am rather proud of this one!!  I love that textured dsp from SU too, I cannot wait to see what they come up with when the new catty comes out!  Anyway, thanks for stopping by... hope to see you again soon!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):

Stamps: Font of You

Paper: To the Nines Specialty dsp, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow and Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Chocolate Chip 5/8" ribbon, Sage Shadow 1/4" ribbon, scalloped circle punch, circle punches

Bloomin' Beautiful swap card

Wow, it's been a few days since I've posted here. I've been working on some bigger, more time consuming projects and that icky thing called "work" keeps getting in the way too! hehehe Anyway, it was time for another fun swap with some super talented SU Demo "friends" of mine. My cards were a bit more "simple" than I normally do, but I have to say for the most part I really like them! I think I might make some adjustments to one of them. Here is the first of my swap cards (I'm only posting one tonight cause on top of everything else today we had Open House tonight, and now I am BEAT!!!

I think this one is my favorite!!  I was planning on using the Baja Breeze dsp's from this pack but realized I didn't have enough of it to make all 7 that I needed, so I opted for the Kraft pages.  I had to play with a few different reds, but I think this Real Red works perfectly (I almost NEVER use Real Red).  That's all for tonight!  Thanks for stopping by... hope to see you again soon!  I have some "Office Decor" to show you soon, and some goodies for Stampin Out Alzheimers as well as the rest of  my swap cards.  Oh yeah, and I don't normally post family pics...but I have a couple I just NEED to share!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin Up!):

Stamps: Bloomin Beautiful

Paper: Parisian Breeze Specialty dsp, Real Red, BAsic Black and Whisper White cardstocks

Ink: Basic Black Classic pad, Real Red, Old Olive and Basic Black markers

Accessories: 1/4" black ribbon, black brads 

Font of You swap card #1

First let me apologize for a bunch of posts at once, I normally try to space them out better but I am so far behind posting.  A couple of months ago I joined a new swap group.  I was so excited to be part of this very talented group.  I signed up for the next swap and then started sweating over what I'd make.  Now I always worry about whether or not my swaps will be "good enough", but I really wanted these to turn out well.  I have to say I am more than pretty happy with all four of these!  Normally 5 or 6 is my limit of making the same card before I get totally sick of it, but I had to make between 10 and 14 of these, and I had fun making them!  I hope my fellow swappers like these.  Tomorrow is Bloggers' Challenge day...  Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Font of You
Paper: Bella Rose dsp, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White cardstocks
Ink: Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Flower Fusion, Riding Hood red ribbon, Vintage brads, dimensionals

Watercolor swap card #2

Here is card #2.  This is a pocket card. I stamped the image in Basic Gray to soften it a little.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Wonderful Watercolors
Paper: Bella Birds dsp, Bordering Blue, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla cardstocks
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Very Vanilla ribbon

Simple Friendship swap card #3

Here is card number 3...

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Simple Friendship
Paper: Raspberry Tart dsp, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White cardstocks
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red
Accessories: Dimesnsionals 

Dear Friend swap card #4

   This is my 4th swap card.  This card is a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" card.  This stamp set is a hostess set.

Supplies (are supplies are Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Dear Friends
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Bella Birds dsp, Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue and Whisper White cardstocks
Accessories: Scallop lace punch, Chocolate Chip ribbon