August C.A.T.S. Swap

Hey y'all! Today I have a lot to share with you so brace yourself . . . THIS IS A LONG POST WITH TONS OF PICTURES!!!!  :)

I am participating in Joy's C.A.T.S. swap (card and tag swap).  It's a 3 month commitment . . . if you want to participate and join in on the fun, check out Joy's blog for more information regarding this C.A.T.S. swap.  For the month of August, I was paired up with Cami.  OMWord!  She is so creative and so detailed oriented, I nearly crapped my pants!  Well, check this out you'll see why . . .

This month's theme was to use RIBBON.  Ok, don't you just adore this?  She used a bright fuchsia-ish ribbon like seam binding.  I can't believe it!  Cami made beautiful handmade flowers out of the ribbon and also added a bow to the hair of Candy Pip (Sugar Nellie).  I'm just in awe!

Now let's take a look inside the card.  Can you say, WOW!  What a luv-ly scene from the blades of grass to the white picket fence to the cute house Cami created!  Cherry Pip is one lucky girl to be a part of this scene.  I luv how Cami created the roof sidings with velvet pink ribbon.  So, so clever!

Now this is the tag using Cherry Pip.  Absolutely luv the soft pinks (ahem, one of my fav colors)!

The front swings sideways to reveal or write a little message.  Neat-o, I really need to snake this idea using a brad to do that!  Aren't you just floored?  And guess what?  They are MINE to keep!   :)  Cami's coloring is out-of-this-world!  THANK YOU SO MUCH CAMI . . . I'm so honored to have these in my possession!  You amaze me!

Now, receiving this made me a bit weary and I had sweat pouring out of my skin!  I needed to come up with something special for Cami.  What to do, what to do.  Well, I saw a triple easel card made by the talented Pam Sparks.  Click {HERE} to see Pam's card . . . gorgeous!  I completely CASE'd her card.  Oh, Pam has a wonderful video tutorial on how she photographs her cards.  Click {HERE}.  I'm always curious about how others photograph their work.  Since viewing Pam's video, I have built my own light tent . . . yes, ALL BY MYSELF!  Couldn't wait for the hubs to do it 'cause it'll never get done.  Thanks Pam!  You are a true inspiration!

For the front, I colored up Twirl Anya and created a background for her.  The scalloped border, which is a scalloped velvet ribbon, was attached to the back of the image piece.

After coloring Twirl Anya, I decided to add a Maggie to the scene.  Cami is an absolute Maggie fan and couldn't give her a card without it.  I also added this cute Fairwee Josie to the scene.  She is created by the very talented Amy Young.  The mushroom Josie is sitting on is from the new clear set by TGF, My Fairy Princess.  There's my attempt at making a flower using the scalloped ribbon.  My flower just doesn't cut it compared to Cami's flowers.

Here's a side view of the easel card.

This is what it looks like laid down flat.

Now on to my tag.  I used the Lacey Circle nestie to create my tag and again, I've colored up Twirl Anya.

Here's the back side of the tag.

Phew, you made it to the end of this post!  Thanks for stoppin' by today.  I'll be back tomorrow with a FF Challenge . . . you won't want to miss this!  :)  A sneaky peek coming your way!