I will try to add some pictures and thoughts about Group 3 soon.
The directive for making a crisscross card requires using some striped paper on a portion of the card - but I should point out here that it does not have to look like a male themed card or a baseball themed card at all.
I'm just loosely associating baseball uniform pinstripes with scrapbook paper as a way to tie in a spring catch phrase with something in the crafting world.
Make sense?
Same with Fire UP the Grill. You may come up with a great idea truly associated with the grill or you may instead just choose to go with a red/white checkered scheme - whether you choose to use some checked paper or a stamp and color in red and white, etc. You could weave paper with red and white strips to make a back ground and that would work too.
It's harder to come up with ideas that are real personalized in this group of ladies as you are all pretty new to swapping so not a lot of history to seek out on any of you. But it does get easier to come up with some neat ideas as you continue to swap and more is learned about each of you.
Tags have been so popular for a couple years now thanks to Tim Holtz and his tag die. But even before his die, tags have still been popular as one idea to craft for each other. They can come in handy when you are wrapping a special gift or giftbag and would love to tie on an extra special pretty tag to the gift.
If you are like me and tend to pick up papers every time they are on sale, then you probably will discover some tie dyed paper in your stash. I know I have some. But even if you don't, it's fine with me to just go with "very colorful", or even a rainbow of colors or splotches of color. It's okay to think outside the box. I'm not going to toss you in jail! I just ask that you make an attempt to associate the directive in some way, whether it be major or minor.
Here's an idea to make your own (sort of) tie dye look.
It requires a tag cut out of white glossy paper; a tray of water; and Tim Holtz Adirondack alcohol inks. Just drip a few drops of the alcohol ink into the water. Don't stir it up! Just let the ink lay on top of the water. Then carefully SLIDE your tag into the water, underneath the ink drops, letting the alcohol ink lay onto the top of the tag. Then slide back out. The longer you leave the tag in the water, the more color the tag will pick up. You can use just one color or use a couple colors. You will see that you end up with a neat effect on the paper.
I will try to find my picture of my tag done that way and post. Though, once embellished, not sure how much of the background you'll be able to see! As you can see below...the alcohol ink turned the entire white tag pinkish red, but it's blotchy, if you look closely. So adding another color to the water should add some interest to the look of the tag. And note that this was a very simply embellished tag, but still very striking (imo) to add to a gift bag.
To explain why I posted some of these pictures:
I posted some crisscross cards that just happen to have some striped paper on them.
I posted the Halloween altered laughing cow cheese container just to show you how so many things in our home can be altered fairly easy to use in these swaps. It made a perfect little gift box presentation to place a chunky charm dangle in. My point being that sometimes the presentation of the item you crafted is just as much fun to work on as the actual project. It will make your partner feel all the more special.
I posted the stamped image little file folder to show you another good idea for presentation. Easy to fold up the paper to make the little folder, easy to embellish the front using diecuts required in this swap, and makes a cute gift.
I posted the tissue box cover with the squirrel on it just to show yet another idea on how you can step it up a notch by doing something special with diecuts you make for your SS.
I posted the tag with the clockface as crackle glossy accents was used on the clock face. You can easily raise the bar to a wow factor by adding a simple ingredient. The clock just looks 100 times better with the glossy accents to give the look of a real clock. Wouldn't have to be crackled, but that was look I was going for in a vintage way. So just think how much better raindrops would look if you colored in each rain drop with glossy accents! Makes all the difference in the world....
Edited by user Wednesday, February 13, 2013 7:36:00 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
ScrappinGwen attached the following image(s):