Card Swap Creations :)

If you read my previous post, you know that I recently participated in my first card swap with the design team at Becky's Sweet Creations. Last time I shared with you what I received from the two-part swap (fall-themed cards and Halloween cards) and today I'm going to show you the cards I made for the swap. I wanted to wait until I knew that most of the other ladies received my cards before posting them so that

With my limited supplies, I knew that creating both of these cards were going to be a challenge. I needed materials that I could use a lot of without having to buy more. (I'm trying to cut down my crafting budget, it isn't easy but so far it's successful!) For the fall card, I knew I wanted to use the Cuttlebug fall leaves die cuts, and you know how I love my glitter, so I combined the two to have the best of both worlds. :)

Close-up of the card. I embossed the leaves with the D'vine Swirl embossing folder and then created my own glitter glue using an Elmer's glue pen and the appropriate color glitter (yellow with yellow leaves, orange with orange, etc.)

Here are the other five cards I made for the fall swap. 

The second part of the swap was the Halloween group. I have only made a few Halloween cards since I've started paper crafting, but so far I haven't been pleased with ANY of the Halloween cards I've created. These turned out all right.

The one aspect I absolutely love about this card is the polka dot paper! I love polka dots and think the Halloween colors look so cute together. :) I handmade the ghosts and gave them googly eyes to liven them up a bit, and also embossed the green paper with polka dots and used my iRock to apply the gems in the corners of the card.

Close-up of the chipboard glittered letters. I painted each with acrylic paint and then sprinkled glitter on them before they dried so that I wouldn't have to go back and apply glue in order for the glitter to stick.

The seven Halloween cards I made for the swap.

Inside of the card. I felt so bad about leaving it blank! I found the cute jack o' lantern stamp at Michael's in the $1 bin and couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately I didn't have a 'Happy Halloween' stamp, so I hand wrote it and also distresses the bottom of the card with green ink to represent grass. 

I had so much fun making the cards for this swap! I hope to do plenty more in the future. It does get a bit tiring after a while, though, having to make the same card over and over again. I usually use what I call an "assembly line" process and make the same element for each card all at the same time rather than individually making each card. 

How do you go about making multiple cards for a swap? I'd love to hear your strategies and techniques!

Thanks for taking the time to read! :)

Ashley