Birthday Random Acts of Kindness (BRAK)

If you are interested in joining us for BRAK, please leave a comment and we'll get you on the list.

BRAK is where you will receive a list of birthdays for the month and everyone who is participating, will send cards to the special individual(s). Some will also send little embellishments or anything they think someone can use.

For Example:
Brads
Ribbon
Stamped Images
Stickers

Northern California Stampin' Retreat

Hi Ladies,

There is a Northern California Stampin' Retreat scheduled for April. Check out the flyer and let us know if you are interested. Ladies have already signed up and there are still a few slots open.

August Shoebox Swap

August was our 2nd Shoebox Swap and it was a HUGE success!!! We had 16 ladies there, and not 1 cancellation. We were all SO proud. There were wonderful cards AND wonderful food. We can't wait for the next swap on October 24th. Our gracious Hostess was Betty, and she made some really cute goodie bags for everyone, and it had a post-it note holder, ribbon and some tags it is. In addition, there were several WONDERFUL prizes given out to some very special ladies. This particular swap was a "holiday" swap for the fall holidays and birthdays. We had cards that were made for Halloween, Thanksgiving/Fall, Christmas and Birthdays.

Below is a picture of the group that attended (Thank you to Betty's husband Gerry for taking our wonderful picture). And below the group photo, are pictures of all of the cards. Now, with this particular swap, we each had 1 card for whatever holiday we signed up for and then for those that wanted to participate, we could provide an additional kit for a different holiday.

Participants:
1st Row:Renee, Alex, Betty, Michelle w/ Liberty, Candice, Jo,
2nd row:Kerry, Linda, Pat, Joyce, Wendy, Bonnie,
3rd row:Julie (in back between Pat & Joyce), Jenni(in back between Joyce & Wendy)Karen, Deb




Ok, first up is a Thanksgiving card made by Candice, and she also received Honorable Mention
for this design.

This next card was also submitted by Candice for the "extra" kit and it is a Christmas card.

Our next creative card is by Michelle, and this was a Christmas card. Very cute!

Michelle also signed up for an "extra" kit and made a Thanksgiving/Fall card. This particular SU stamp is very universal and can be used for holidays or a "just because" card.

This next card was created by Karen and it is great because it has the Halloween feel to it, yet it isn't scary. Karen also received Honorable Mention for this card as well.

This is another "extra" project by Karen. This card can also be used as either a Fall card or Thanksgiving card, just by simply changing the sentiment.

This card was submitted by Rene, and is actually a dimensional card. You can't tell by the picture, but the round circles are on pop-up dots.

This next card is a Birthday card by Linda. The pink and green are great and compliment each other.

Julie designed this next card and it is a Birthday card, but can also be used as a "hello", "thinking of you" or "miss you" card. The sky is the limit with this design.

This next Birthday card was submitted by Pat. She used stickers as embellishments.

This is another great Birthday card, submitted by Jenny and she won Honorable Mention for her design.

This next card is from Bonnie and it is a Halloween card. If you look closely, there are different layers, but she took 3 smaller pieces of DP, and spread them out over another piece of DP. What a clever idea!

I just realized that this next card is a little distorted. I can take a new picture if anyone would like a better picture. This card was also submitted by Bonnie and can be used for various occasions.

Also, Bonnie did this card as well for an "extra" project. This can be used for either Fall or Thanksgiving with the stamp of a Pheasant.

Alex designed this next card and she did such an AWESOME job, that she won 1st Place for her card. Woohooo!

Kelly won 3rd Place for this next card, and what an adorable card it is. The middle reindeer's tail is made from a piece of a cotton ball. Adorable!

Joyce won 2nd Place for this Halloween card. It is so stinkin cute!

This next Halloween card was designed by Deb. It was so fun trying to get the little eyes to stay glued.

Jo designed this card, and it is a unique size of 5x7, most cards that we create are smaller then that. Jo received Honorable Mention, and it is a very simple, elegant card.

This next card was designed by our Hostess, Betty. It was also a very simple and elegant card.

Betty chose to do the "extra" project and she created a Thanksgiving card.

Next up is Wendy's creation of a Thanksgiving card. This stamp set is very universal and can be used for various different occasions.

Thanks for taking the time to look at all of our wonderful creations. Check back often to see our latest and greatest. Our next Nor-Cal Paper Crafters Shoebox Swap will be October 24th. If you are not a member of Splitcoast Stampers and want to attend our shoebox swap, you can email us at norcalpapercrafters@yahoo.com, or leave us a message here.

1st Shoebox Swap

In April, we had our 1st ever Shoebox Swap, and had 15 wonderful and inspiring ladies join us. I can't believe what a great response we've received from fellow stampers wanting to join in the fun. I am attaching a photo of all of our lovely faces...ya never know, you might know someone.
In the picture, front to back on the left side is:
Twila, Candice, Jo, Nancy, Meg, Julie, Michelle and Karen
On the right side of the picture it is:
Betty, Rene, Deb, Meg, Connie, Kimberly and Kim


Each person was responsible for designing a card, and bringing enough kits (everything stamped and cut out) for everyone. Once we started, each person talked about their card and then we assembled it. These ladies are SO creative and we all received some wonderful ideas.

This first card is Nancy's contribution. Very feminine and soft looking. The card is pink and white. Another favorite! She did some embossing on the white card, I'm not sure what she said she used. I don't think its a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The flower is actually 3 different pieces.

Our next card was made by Twila. This one is very nice! The lily has a shiny finish to it. I think she said she used Crystal Effects on it which gives a glossy finish.

This is Michelle's card. She actually stamped all those hearts and the design separating the rows of hearts. That was time consuming. Very cute and simple!

This gatefold card was made by Renee. This card is very simple yet elegant.

This next card was made by Connie. The dp and cardstock met in the middle and then the ribbon was taped over the middle and adhered in the back. It is very chic looking with the shoe and the flowered DP.

I don't remember the name of the person who made this card. This is a great Birthday card and the style can be used for boys or girls.

This next one was made by Julie. She actually downloaded the image from a website called Papercrafter.com. Another great color combination.

I absolutely love this card. I don't remember the name of the person who made this card. The colors go together so well, and again this card can be used for either gender.

This is Kimberly's contribution. A very unique card, Kimberly actually cut little squares of the two yellow papers and then adhered them to cardstock before cutting out the diecut. A few of the projects used this SU diecut. A really cute card.

This next card is Candice's contribution. A very simple card with a few layers, and it can be used for birthdays, thinking of you, sympathy, just about whatever you need a card for. A space was left at the bottom so that a sentiment can be stamped.

This another one of the favorites. Very simple and the colors match up perfect. Again this is a card that can be used for any occasion.

This is Deb's contribution. A very nice 4th of July card. Stickles were put on the flame from the firecracker. A red brad was used to dot the "i" in America.

This unique idea was submitted by Jo. This is a little bag created using the Top Note die-cut from Stampin Up, and inside you can put little candies, lotions, soaps, cookies or whatever you would like.

The final card was submitted by Betty. The card base is peach with a white layer and she used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. She also used a piece of designer cardstock for the peach layer and bordered it with Fiskars "threading water" punch. This is a great soft spring card!

Thank you for stopping by and looking at all of the wonderful creations that these talented ladies came up with.

Nor-Cal Paper Crafters Blog

Hi Ladies,

Our NEW name is now the Nor-Cal Paper Crafters. Please add this blog to your list of blog stalking as we have incredible things planned.

I hope to use this blog as an area we can announce our upcoming events, support each other in our creations, get ideas and ask questions.

Our blog and swaps will only be a time and area for positive comments, energy and morale. Negativity will not be tolerated. This is a hobby for all ladies involved and a time for creating and girl talk. Respect each creator, guests and hostess...you may not care for it, but to the hostess, guest and creator it means the world.