5 Tag Swap with Pen Pal

5 Tag Swap featuring Graphic 45's A Ladies Diary

Hello and welcome back! 

This is a scheduled post and today I'm sharing a Tag Swap I made for a dear friend in India. We originally met through Pocket Letter Pals and although I left PLP's we have remained friends. Earlier in the year she was battling cancer and in July I was diagnosed with cancer also. I'm happy to report that she is doing very well and has recovered. I am beginning my journey and on the 17th of this month I had surgery to remove the cancer and received a chemo treatment during surgery to kill any remaining cells. I have a rare cancer, Peritoneal Carcinomatosis, and just grateful that I was a candidate for the specialized surgery they now offer to patients. My family and I are praying that when I go for my first PET scan in November it comes back NED (no evidence of disease). It seems cancer touches so many people all over the world and it tends to bond you to each other in a very special way. That is why I wanted these tags to reflect beauty with a vintage touch (which she loves) and I couldn't resist adding encouraging notes using Tim's word stickers. 

Close up of the first tag, the sentiment is a cup apart from one of the designer papers. I die cut Tim's beautiful butterflies using another dp and inked the edges with Gathered Twigs distress ink. Liquid pearls were added to each tag and flat back pearls to the butterflies.

Fussy cut images really make these tags pop. I die cut a doily by Taylored Expressions and cut it in half and added to each side of this tag. 

Another die cut doily but this one is from My Favorite Things and I love the vintage feel of it.

The papers and cut aparts in this collection are so pretty. I added foam tape to some of the elements to add some dimension to each tag.

 

The flowers are a great feature and I fussy cut several types to add to these tags. The stamps were inked and two were popped up on foam tape. Every tag has a kraft base and all edges were inked with Gathered Twigs distress ink. I love the warmth this color adds. A O-ring was used to hold the tags together and I added various ribbon/trim to it as a finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope these tags inspired you to create some of your own and swap with a friend or gift someone. I would appreciate your prayers for my continued recovery. It will be a long one but I knew that going into it and fully believe that I have more to do here and God is not finished with me yet.  I'll be back on Thursday (also a scheduled post) with a companion gift that I sent my friend as a happy. ;) 

Until then take care and I'll see you then!

Crafty Hugs,

Lisa xx

Friendship Card for Pen Pal Swaps

In a recent pocket letter swap I received a friendship card from my dear friend in Germany. On the back she recorded her name, address, birthday, anniversary and her social media links. It's a great way to have that info at a moment's glance and she requested that I exchange one with her. 

For my friendship card I used a designer paper from the Oh My Heart collection by Paige Evans for Pink Paislee. I chomped the corners with a We R Memory Keepers corner punch and inked the edges with jet black Archival ink. On the front I added puffy stickers from the same collection by Paige, washi tape, a holographic bunny sticker and two punched gold hearts. The rubber house is from Crate Paper's Cute Girl embellishment collection. I finished by spelling out BESTIES with Paige Evans alphas from the OMH sticker collection. 

I love the idea of including a friendship card for my pen pals and collecting them as well. I placed my card in a vellum sleeve and it's held in place with a pink unicorn paper clip which I'm sure she'll use in one of her many planners. 

Have a great weekend everyone! For all US moms who are celebrating Mother's Day this Sunday, have a blessed day with loved ones.

Lisa xx

Flipbook Swap w/a Pal from Sweden

Quick post to share some happy mail that made its way to Sweden earlier this year. I made a flip book and filled it with crafty happies for my friend, Veronika. She loved it which made me happy!  

It's a basic flip book with a waterfall design on the right panel. 

More photos below...

Inside left pocket and the word strips are from The Reset Girl. I used clear floral stickers and did some faux stitching with a Pilot fine tip pen. A card and other crafty supplies were tucked in the pocket.

I used papers from one of Maggie Holmes collections by Crate paper to create my waterfall pages. This one features photos of us and a concertina fold crepe paper strip with tiny word stickers by The Reset Girl. 

I tucked in crafty goodies for her to use on future projects. Included on this page was a sample of washi tape and a large gold paper clip.

On this page I included our furbaby, Jasmine. :)

The last waterfall page had a deep pocket that held several pieces of paper and ephemera. 

It was easy to make and fun to decorate!

Thanks for dropping by and I'll be back tomorrow with a pocket letter to share. 

Lisa xx

Happy Mail from Christina Betts

Halloween Card designed by Christina Betts

Hello and Welcome!

I have some happy mail to share today that came from my new pal, Christina Betts, in Canada. I reached out to her after I watched several of her You Tube videos and Instagram posts to see if she'd like to swap. She's a real talent and I'm tickled to have one of her pocket letters and a beautiful card. Thanks for the amazing swap Christina! 

Her pocket letter is a Fall / Halloween themed pocket letter and I love it! 

Christina's pocket letter :)

Love the currently card and we want the same thing Christina. I think every mom does!

I pulled the shaker pocket out so you could see it better.

Love the spooky bats on this fab house. 

I'm a sucker for fall leaves. 

Christina used an image from Andrea Gomoll for the swap tag. 

It's colored beautifully and I love it!

The back of her pocket letter is full of goodies.

Love the washi tape and so excited to have a Starbucks card which I'll be sure to put to use soon.

Thank you Christina!

Christina colored another image by Andrea Gomoll and scanned it then printed out extra copies. She used one, which you'll see below, to decorate the envelope with my letter.

I love customized ribbon!

Here's the image again and love the vintage typewriter. 

Her pocket letter was in the envelope (in back) and she included two adorable bookmarks, some fab trim, a flair and a packet of buttons and charms.

She gifted me 6 x 6 paper collection by Kaisercraft, some gorgeous trim and this stamp set which will work perfectly with a cookbook project I'm currently working on. Yay!

More goodies, can you believe it?!?  I love the stickers, vintage cooking magazine and the Wild Cards she included. You may notice the tissue underneath which was used for packaging, it is so pretty and can't wait to use it on future mixed media projects. I love all my crafty goodies and thank you again Christina for everything.  

Be sure to check out Christina's You Tube channel  

Christina Betts on You Tube

also on Instagram

Christina Betts on Instagram

Have a great weekend everyone, wherever you are. 

Crafty Hugs,

Lisa xxx