Freebie Friday – Swap Ideas Day

P. Kelly Smith

Welcome to Freebie Friday! As Susan mentioned last week, I was indeed “gallivanting in the mountains of Idaho with the ladies of the Smith family.” 

In all, 10 spirited women spent a glorious week hiking, water-skiing, kayaking, shopping, crafting and of course, eating a lot of yummy, fat-free food. Everyone knows that calories don’t count when you’re on vacation!

What you might not know is tomorrow is Swap Ideas Day. A whole day for swapping and sharing new ideas. Since I’m coming off a whole week of swapping and sharing, how about we celebrate Swap Ideas Day a little early?

Let’s begin with our night of crafting. Not all of the women in my family are die-hard cardmakers (shocking, I know!), so I wanted to bring a project that was inspiring, yet fairly easy to make. I settled on this Jessica Witty sketch:

Go-to Sketches, p. 133

Just add blank card bases, patterned paper, my 1″ circle punch, some rub-on sentiments and we were in business. These cards were so quick and easy, I decided to introduce my family to one of my very favorite techniques…fussy cutting! These mini tags rounded out our evening of paper crafting.

Then out came my aunt with her bag of beads, findings and watch faces. Brandy J made my first beaded watch for a Christmas present one year. Since I had her watch face, I went to work on stringing up this black ‘n white band:

While I was stringing (and restringing to get the perfect sequence of beads), my sister was tying balloon knots…on these cute flip-flops!

Fun projects, right? Of course, while we were crafting, we were snacking on this yummy dip that my sister made. Now I’m not a fan of creamy things – cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise…you get the idea. So when my sister swore up and down that I would LOVE her cream cheese/sour cream concoction, I laughed in her face. Looks like she got the last laugh because this dip is delicious! All the “other” ingredients totally mask the dreaded dairy.

Austin Ranch Dip

• 1 package of cream cheese (regular or reduced fat)
• 1 large container of sour cream (regular or fat free)
• 1 package of Ranch dressing mix
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 bunch of green onions
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 2-3 jalapenos
• 1 can of corn

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and Ranch mix together. Add in chopped pepper, onions, cilantro and jalapenos. Stir in drained corn. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips or your favorite veggies. Enjoy!

So there you have it! Lots of crafty ideas and one yummy recipe for Swap Ideas Day. Feel free to borrow these ideas for your next get together with friends or family. World Card Making Day is right around the corner! Leave a comment telling me your go-to place for ideas, inspiration, recipes, etc. and I’ll pick one lucky winner to take home a copy of Go-to Sketches, the card and tag sets shown above and those bright balloon flip-flips (they’re a size 7-8). All comments must be received by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, Sept. 11.

Happy Friday!
Kelly

P.S. Love Jessica’s circle sketch? Check out our Go-to Sketch Challenge #3 that features over 100 variations!

P.P.S. It’s time to announce the winner of Betsy’s Fall Color Inspiration post!

jennybean (Sept. 7, 7:16 a.m.)

Congrats, jennybean! You’ve won Imaginisce’s Happy Harvest collection and a copy of Color Inspiration for Card Makers. I’ll be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing address. Thanks to all who left comments!