Card Swap Photos

Ok, I know it's been a looong time, but some of you might still remember the card swap I hosted a couple of months ago. A few people sent me photos of their finished cards, so let's play show and tell, shall we? :)

Angela's card - I love the layered papers and letters, and the green paper background is the cutest thing ever. Happy spring indeed!

Anabel's card - Anabel's paper art sorta blows my mind. I love the organic shapes and textures and her lovely illustration inside.

Dawn's card - I love the watercolor stripes and hand-lettered "hello." And bonus points for making a cool envelope too!

Emily's card - Emily told me this was her first handmade card, and she actually made two and sent another to a blogging buddy. Isn't that awesome? I love the colors she chose and all the sparkles...I love me some sparkle.

Heather's card - This is just so pretty! Everyone knows I love felt and flowers and this is pretty much the perfect combo. And I love that she included a little handmade tag too.

Deborah's card - How can you not smile when you look at this card? It's so cute! And the bookmark she included is covered in tiny adorable vespas. (I'm thinking I need to find something covered in tiny adorable vespas...I definitely feel like that's been missing from my life.)

Jo's card - Jo was super thoughtful to incorporate wearable art in her card in the form of a bunny brooch. It's like two gifts in one! And I'm all about rejoicing that spring has sprung. I have gladly traded numb toes for allergies and I don't care one bit!

I really hope everyone had fun and maybe found a new pen pal? Dawn and I met when we were randomly paired up in a swap back in 2011, and we can't leave each other alone. Haha. But really, I think finding new friends is pretty much the best thing about the internet. Well, that, and funny animal videos, of course.

**Also, I didn't have links for some of you, so if you happen to read this and want me to link to your blog or instagram, just let me know! xo, Mary

Handmade Swap

I received my package from the handmade swap I blogged about last week, and everything is so lovely! My swap partner was fellow Etsy seller and illustrator Caren Barry who lives in Cambridge, England.

 I love how she packaged everything up, like a little bundle of spring. :)

And inside were so many lovely floral things, a notebook and pincushion that she designed and made, a gift tag from a local shop, and a treasured postcard of Claude Monet's The Poppy Field in Argenteuil, 1873, which Caren had had for years on her wall and in her notebooks (and there's no way that Caren could've known this, but I love Monet and have had a soft spot for his work since traveling through France many years ago).

Also, it was funny that we gave each other similar gifts, not knowing anything about each other beforehand. We each made a small notebook and a card. I gave her lavender soap, and the pincushion she sent smelled of lavender too because it had been stored in the same box with lavender sachets she also makes. How weird/awesome is that? :)

Check out Caren's shop for more cards, cushions, prints, notebooks, all sorts of lovely things. You can also see what she's up to on her blog, instagram, and twitter.

Happy Friday, everyone! Here's to signs of spring (hopefully) popping up everywhere.

Handmade Swap

I wanted to share what I put together for the last swap I participated in, which was organized by the super talented and sweet Mirta. I know my partner already received her package so I won't be spoiling the surprise.

I made a little notebook with her initial on it (drawn with Sharpies and Microns, if anyone's curious) and included the confetti card I made a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to include a little something from my hometown too, so I bought some locally-made lavender soap. I've never tried this brand, but I love the packaging and it smells great.

I packaged everything up in lavender tissue paper because I was inspired by the soap, and it just felt like spring to me.

My package is on its way too, and I can't wait to get it! I'll blog photos when it arrives. This was a lot of fun, and it might be the last swap I do for a little while as life has become busy again.

Have you done any handmade swaps lately?

Let's Swap Cards!

Last week, an Etsy pal left a comment asking if I wanted to swap handmade cards, and I thought, why not see if other people want to join in on the fun too? You can draw, stamp, paint, collage, bedazzle, whatever you want, as long as your card is made by you! No need to be an expert in paper crafts, I'm certainly not and I still have a lot of fun making and sending cards.

If you're interested, just send me an email with your address by the end of the week, say Sunday night, to myhideawaydesigns@gmail.com. I'll swap the group around and email everyone with the address of a partner early next week. :)

If anyone wants to send pics of the cards they make also, I'll do a round up post later on, but that's up to you. This is a totally laid back swap. Just have fun!