Swaps

The weather is lovely today--I wish I could take more advantage of it, but Boo is having a fussy day and Piglet just went down for his nap, so I guess I'm just going to have to enjoy it through the window. I did get out to the gym and grocery store this morning, so at least I got a little taste. I really have nothing interesting to impart today--I'm so tired from the weekend, I just want to sleep for a week. But a mother's day never ends, right? Speaking of tired, I took this photo last week one day when I went in to wake up Piglet--he likes to "snuggle with Andy" during his nap, and had pulled the doll's legs over his head at some point. I had to chuckle.

One of the things that we do at downline meetings every month is participate in a swap of card fronts. It is a great way to gather ideas, see new products in action and ooh and ahh over gorgeous techniques. I don't always have time to get a swap together (we have to make 12-16 fronts, depending on the size of the meeting), and I always accept pity swaps, but this month I had my act together. I started with a color combination from the Color Coach, dusted off my Choo Choo set, and went to work. And,....not so much. I scrapped it after an hour of fiddling and just not liking the results.

I was stumped then, and sat for a while, trying to figure out where to go from there. The color combo I really wanted to try out (Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie) I didn't have enough cardstock to make 12 fronts. In the end, I went back to my Haiku paper, and used the color combo from that--So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard, Old Olive and Whisper White. I used the Because I Care hostess set and I'm quite pleased with the result! I had a ton of Tangerine Tango scraps that are 3.5x5.5 from a project that I did two summers ago, and have been trying to whittle away at the stack. I think I'm down to under a dozen, so that is good! I'm really looking forward to our meeting tonight--a chance to get away and stamp some of my stress away. Plus there is usually chocolate involved, so can't go wrong there!

Supplies:
So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard, Whisper White cs
Because I Care, Short and Sweet stamp sets
So Saffron, Old Olive, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango inks
Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
Square lattice embossing folder