Good Saturday to you! I have some BEAUTIES that will make you go ooh and ahh and I just could not be more proud of these cards….as they are all made by team members from all over!
I threw it out there if anyone wanted to do a Card Swap and just look at these super-de-duper cards that they designed! I have made up a quarterly calendar for us in 2019 to do this again so come back and see when we do another Top Dog Card Swap! The next one will be in March and the theme is Birthday Cards!
When I threw it out there I clearly said…I could care less what you make….I could care less if it was an original design….all I care about it that you get inky…NO JUDGING WHAT SO EVER!
Before you take a gander I want you to think about this…..I mean REALLY THINK ABOUT THIS and hopefully let it settle in and each and every time you are hard on yourself….you remember….IT’S OK – what matters is that YOU TRIED… what matters is that you are GETTING INKY!
I want you to think about card-making the same as a recipe!
Are you thinking to yourself…what the heck is she talking about.…YEP, I MEAN IT! Now I ask you….if you went to a friends house dinner and absolutely loved a dish that she made…would you feel terrible in asking if she would share the recipe? NOPE, – you wouldn’t! My guess is that you would make it over and over again and each and every time you made it you thought of that 1st experience of having it with your friend!
I want you to think of your card making the same way! Please be gentle to yourself…I feel that we are all so hard on ourselves and I am guilty of that as well! There is NOTHING WRONG IN CASING A CARD…I ask you – isn’t that one of the reasons that you are here!?!?!?!?
I once heard something that hit me like a big DING-DING-DING…..when someone puts something out there on the internet, they are putting it out there for the whole darn world to see….and YEP…..so true!
That does not mean that you take full credit for the design etc…(and I am not going to get into that as we are all adults) what I mean is….it is OK….it actually is very flattering, rewarding etc….when someone does that…JUST LIKE A RECIPE as YOU did something that made someone HAPPY and ins’t it all about being HAPPY!
I follow this rule…if I totally cased a card from someone…I always share where the inspiration came from. Please stampers, PLEASE DO NOT get all hung up on this…as I stated before, we are all adults and know the golden rules! The reality is…I want people to get inky, create,feel good about themselves and have ME TIME….not be hung up on the “stuff” that can clog our head from creating!
I was just over the moon thrilled that so many did this swap! I know that I was the one that fell short in the timing of it all but I can only do what I can do and family first! I mailed out all of the cards on Thursday so the surprise of what card they get will be in their mailbox soon!
I could go ON and ON with what I love about each and every card….but I am choosing not to as I would be typing for HOURS!!!! (I’m a hen-pecker) but then again I am sure you can tell that with all of my typos….
ENJOY my sweet cyber friends and if you have a wee bit of time…..please leave a comment to give these “top dogs” some love.…and PLEASE ASK ANY ?’s that you might have about a card design….I am sure that they will be happy to answer them!
What card did I receive???……well…..I asked one of my peeps to help me do the swapping as I always get so confused with who gets what etc… and I received receive the BEAUTY from Rosanne Mulhern! She is so darn tootin’ talented and I am blessed that she lives relatively close to me and we get to play with paper together…..I was tickled to death!
I just always beam with huge smiles when I see anyones work as I GET IT…they made that with THEIR HANDS….and I do not know about you but…that is a gift within itself!
If you are wondering why I have (2) pictures for a couple of cards….well…..it is as simple as I thought that they needed to have additional angles to see the details! I wish that I could have held Beth’s card open to take a 2nd picture as it is just stunning how it opens…..but I couldn’t hold it open and take a picture at the same time!
ENJOY AND SHARE THE LOVE FOR THEM….I am SOOOOO PROUD OF THEIR TALENT!
***Tammy shared with me that her inspiration for this card came from The Pink Buckaroo***
***Jill shared with me that her inspiration for this card came from Jan Brown***
Ok – I just have to sneak this below picture in as I beamed with joy! Sweet Hilda sent this to me and I melted! I just LOVE stamps…and I have never seen these before! What a great gift to tuck in to someones card or heck – even collect!
Hilda shared with me that she bought them online at the USPS and I went and could not find them. If anyone finds them….please leave a link in a comment as I would love to see if that have other stamps….as card-makers, we all use stamps and this would be a great little “something-something” to add to a card when you send one!
YEAH….I found the direct link for this adorable santa below and remember…..Hilda is right – stamp prices are going up but the forever stamps will alway guarantee you the current going rate for postage!
THAT’S ALL FOLKS for today…I hope that you are smiling and I hope that you are inspired!
Please do not forget about the Product Share that I will be doing for the new Occasions Catalog. If you missed the post with the offerings you can CLICK HERE to see it and I will be starting to send email confirmations out on Sunday!
Enjoy this last Saturday of the year…make someone smile and always remember, being kind is ALWAYS in fashion!
What a wonderful parade of beautiful cards, Susan. There’s so much inspiration here and an incentive to start my cards for next year.Thanks to all who participated.The link for buying stamps online from the post office is:
https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/_/N-9y93lv?_requestid=1718148. I can’t find the stamp above with the full artwork, but the stamp itself is available at the 50 cent price now. There is a small shipping charge but I think it’s worth being able to choose my favorites. The price for first class stamps will be going to 55 cents on January 27. Buying Forever stamps now will save 5 cents per stamp.I hope this helps. Enjoy the weekend!
WOW! Susan, your Top Dogs have created some AMAZING cards!!! Great post!!!
I just started ordering stamps from USPS because my local post office never seemed to have the stamps I wanted! I agree with Hilda, it is worth the little bit of shipping charge.
P.S. Happy Mail arrived today and I was thrilled to have received Nancy Farrell’s stunning card. Love everything about it!Thanks, Nancy, for participating. Have a great weekend.
Oh, Hilda, I am so happy you liked my card. That was my “family” card this Christmas. I was truly blessed the day I was introduced to card making.
Happy, healthy and blessed 2019.
🙂
Look under the “Collector” Section for that particular stamp. I’m not sure that it’s available to purchase though.
Hi Susan, “WOW” is absolutely right–what an amazing array of beauties! Like you, I did not have enough time to do all the cards I’d planned for Christmas, so this year I’m following through on something I’ve said every year that I’m going to do, which is “make Christmas” all year. I went to Dollar Tree this morning, bought a plastic tray (red, of course), and as I clear away most Christmas items from my worktable, I’m putting some papers, dies, embellies and stamps into the tray and have it handy to finish the things that are half-done and get a headstart on 2019. Gotta get back to work, but first, thanks for the inspiration to everyone who participated in the swap. And Happy New Year to all!
Wow. Fantastic. Yes I’m starting on next year. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow…such talent and inspiration! These cards are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year to everyone. Cyber hugs!
Love, love, love each and and every card!!! I am keeping out my papers etc so I can CASE away and be ready for next year with charity cards and hopefully my cards. Good excuse for sort of cleaning up my mess in my book. Also, can turn some into thank you notes and birthday cards. I will leave some love about the card I receive when I get it. This was fun and I really don’t care that my stamping is a bit askew. The card I made also can hold a gift card. Hence the belly band looks a little big. I made the same for my FIL’s card.
The Forever Sparkling Holidays stamps are still available online. Looks like they come in a sheet of 20/ 4 different designs. The image you posted looks like the souvenir sheet(not an actual stamp) that was available in October 2018. You can find that on Amazon still. Good luck
I found the framed art on the USPO sight, $19.95. There were other that were very cute.
I am ordering it is so darn cute, reminds me of when I was a kid.
The sight is USPS my fingers were going crazy. It is a great find. Dear old Santa.
Good Morning . . . Attention Chris Robinson . . . I got your card!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Looking forward to the future ones.
Thanks Nancy! I know I am pretty hard on myself but if basically things are just a little askew I can deal with it. I know my in-laws liked it. My step MIL asked me not to sign them so she can reuse them which I thought it was nice of her. As I know she liked them. I can’t wait until mine comes so I can see who made it. This is so much fun to get after Christmas if you ask me!
What a beautiful array of cards…how great is it that we get to see so many wonderful cards at once! I received Alene’s card and just love all the pretty details…thank you, Alene. Thanks also for the the special gift, Susan. You are always so generous. It was also great to get the schedule for 2019 swaps…I’m looking forward to the next one!
Thanks for reminding me about Alene’s card. I let my customer use it and she has not returned it and some older snowman sets. I need to hold her catalogs hostage until I get them so I can CASE her card. I loved it and all of them! I plan on CASEing your card Rosanne for some birthday cards. I had used this paper at another demo’s card night and fell in love with it. I guess when it came in the shares, it just got lumped in with all of them and I did not notice it.
Today I received Terri’s very cute mitten card! Susan, though your photography is wonderful, seeing this card in real life really made it shine! The gold embossing was so pretty when the light from the lamp hit it! The cables were perfect. The only change I would have made was to make the sweater (cables) ivory to go with a sweater I have that resembles this! Just kidding, I would not change a thing. Loved how she tucked the sentiment under the thumb of the mitten! Thank you for participating and thank you Susan for hosting this swap!
Happy New Year !! What a fun way to start off the new year ! The talent and craftiness is in full display with these beauties ! It would be hard to pick a favorite . I do love Jeanie`s little houses ! I have those and I am always looking at new colors or layouts to try . Chris certainly did a fun “Star–Bucky ” one with that sassy doily . Your little tree is just too sweet ,Susan …love it !
Maybe I will get organized enough to pull a birthday card together by March …maybe ! Giggle !
Hope your dad is mending well … Speedy recovery wishes to him .
Oh yes Sonny, make a birthday card for March. That is Jeanie’s and my birth month!!! You could just make three of the same! Just kidding but I would love to see some of your cards.