My Very First Pocket Letter Ever

So...I spent much time reading about PLs - what they were, how to create them, what to put in them, what their purpose was. I kept wanting to jump into a swap but I was afraid! Having never created a PL, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.

I finally decided to create a PL for a dear friend from church. Her name is Billie and she is crafty. I have had the pleasure of working with her on a couple of large projects as well as seen her work throughout the congregation from time to time. I figured she would appreciate a PL and could put the goodies to use.

Billie absolutely LOVES pink. I've never seen anyone love a color as much as she does. She also love shabby chic. So, I made her a pink shabby chic PL. Or tried to anyway. I never did quite love this PL and plan on attempting another pink shabby chic someday.

Without further ado, here is the PL.

This is the front:



The background is a sheet of 8.5x11 scrapbook paper. The roses are a throwback to the first project we worked on together which involved French shabby roses. The four corners are a small pink doily that I cut in quarters. I added texture with the lace, bow, pearls and crocheted flower. The rhinestones are probably more my taste than Billie's. (I LOVE bling and glitter. I think I drove her and our other friends nuts with my want of glitter and sparkle in our projects.) The stamped image is one I bought from Hobby Lobby. It says:
"Some people strengthen others just by being the kind of person they are."
This quote is very true of Billie.

This is the back of the PL:



I packed it full of goodies that she can hopefully reuse on her many projects. There are doilies, crocheted flowers, stickers, lace and ribbon, stamped images and washi tape. The empty pocket eventually held tea and my letter to her. Since I already know Billie, in my letter I just told her about PLs and why I chose her as my first recipient.

I bundled it up all pretty (again, the packaging can be reused) and put it in her mailbox at church.



I had fun making it and have since made about a dozen more. I'll be posting more so check back!

Thanks and happy crafting!

My Twist on an "Angel" for Dolly's Angel Swap

Over the past few months, I have participated in the swaps over on the Cricut Messageboards. They are so much fun, a ton of work and extremely addicting!

One of the more recent swaps that I have participated in was an Angel Swap. There were twelve spots, and I signed up for one spot in the first group.

My original angel was going to be a cat angel. I had planned on cutting out a doll base from either EDPD or PDDU, then adding the cat head from DC (using mulberry paper and making him tear-bearish) as well as a cute outfit and angel wings. Next thing I know, I had decided to make a "rockstar" heart - you know...the heart with wings. It was going to say something like "Rockstar Angel". Well, I couldn't find a heart I liked, so I started searching and came across a cool guitar. I don't know what happened to that idea as I ended up using an SVG file of an old key with a heart for the hole. The wings were also an SVG file. I will have to find the location of the files so I can share them as they are beautiful.

I sent 11 of my 12 in to Dolly as I just HAD to make my husband's Valentine's Day card with mine. Here is the result:



I call this "Key to My Heart Angel". The key is cut out of yellow card stock (see the little heart at the top of the key?). The wings are cut from white card stock and glittered. I then tied a thin piece of sheer, red ribbon around the key above the wings and finished it off by gluing a jewel to the top of the key.

I started the card by stamping the background image using Blazing Red StazOn Ink with Stampbabilities Swirls and Curls stamp on white card stock. I then tied a knot in a scrap piece of ribbon I had lying around and taped the ends on the back of the stamped background. I then pop-dotted the key and added it to the background next to the ribbon. I matted this embellished background piece with red mulberry paper and then glued the whole thing down on a Paper Studios Kraft Card. The Kraft Cards have matching envelopes.

Inside, I stamped the word "LOVE" with the Red Stazon Ink and a stamp I received from a participant in my inchie swaps (Thanks Kelly!!!). I added my own sentiments with a red glitter gel pen from American Crafts which matched the Stazon Ink perfectly.



It turned out beautiful and my husband loved it!

Happy Valentine's Day!