A Card Exchange You Should Know About

When is the last time that YOU received a handmade card in the mail? I usually get some from my crafty family around Christmas and my birthday but, other than those occasions, handwritten correspondence is few and far between.

That's why, when I came across the Card Chain Challenge, I signed up lickity-split! The big reveal of all the cards was posted today! There are some genius, inventive cards this month. The Challenge is the brainchild of the fantastic Deborah Nolan. Every month, you get the name and address of a crafter to send to, and somebody else mails you a card, too! I've made such fantastic bloggy friends through the site. If you think you might be interested, you have until the 15th of the month to sign up for the November exchange here. People from all over the world can participate!

This month, I sent a card to Lin of Sending Hugs. Here it is!

I'm entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes and the STAMPlorations anything goes challenge. 

The flower and sentiment are from STAMPlorations Sketched Blooms set. I used the colors and sketch suggested by Deborah at the CCC. That flower is actually created out of an old brown paper bag. It creates such a delicate petal-like feel. To see how it was made, check out my blog post "Burning Paper Bags - FIRE!".

The pennants were handmade too!

First I brushed a mixture of Dusty Concord and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks onto a piece of thick white cardstock. Then I used a hexagonal stencil and applied crackle embossing paste. 

 

I put some clear embossing powder over the top of the paste and heat dried it. Sometimes I like to heat dry paste because it starts to bubble and raise up, which I think creates a neat texture.

Lastly, I mixed some of my Perfect Pearls (Perfect Copper and Forever Violet) in a mini mister and spritzed the heck out of the card. 

I think I'll be making many more pennants like this in the future because the final screamed with shimmer and texture. In real life it was just so dang beautiful!

I just want to gush a little bit about the card I received from the very talented miss Robyn Oliver of Waterlily Cards. Robyn makes some AMAZING designs, but my favorite are her handpainted watercolor cards. They are just stunning!

This is the card I unwrapped with glee:

Isn't it gorgeous?! And you guys can't necessarily see how shiny the foreground is, but it's so sparkly!!! It's hanging up with the rest of my card exchange cards and makes me smile. 



Speaking of things that make me smile: Leave me a comment and follow my blog, won't you? I'll be sure to do the same!