NEWS!!!!...

What do you think?.....

The cover of a planner I bought recently....

Detail on the first page of my planner.....

With this obvious clues, you now understand why I have been absent from "paper-blogs-world" over the last months!... I was feeling exhausted and nauseous, among other things...

Yes, I am pregnant!! :-D After a long wait and a 3rd miscarriage in March, I am now 17 weeks along in a new pregnancy. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing, the first trimester was very stressful and we spent way too much time in the doctor's office with reasons to believe that this baby would not make it. :-(

But he/she did! :-) We are now in a much better place, even though there are still some issues that might become problematic, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it (if we ever have to!). We are so grateful to have this little life with us, and I want to thank the people that were in the know and prayed for us. Your support was greatly appreciated!♥ :-)

Our baby is due end of January, and I bought this little planner (in the back to school section ;-)) to record some of my thoughts and/or facts about this pregnancy. I thought the little tees would be a nice fun little touch... :-) I might decorate it a little more once I know the baby's gender... ;-) ...

Giraffe window tri-fold

Lastly, the card to go with my niece's gifts for her b-day. She likes pink and purple, like any 4 years old girl ;-), hence the choice of color for the cardstock!...(and the addition of Stickles around the windows).

I colored the image with Kooh-i-noor pencils and baby oil. I was a little worried by the oil stains the baby oil makes on the paper but it almost completely disappeared when it dried and, since the panel is then glued on another layer, you don't see the stains that are on the back of the picture! ;-) I find it much harder to blend colors with oil than with OMS though.

For the budding writer

underside of the tin...

This is the other project for my niece Laura. There is also a little scrapbook album with pictures from her visit in Florida last summer but as you can see I am slightly behind, so that one won't make it on time for her b-day!... :-(

For the tin I used the same model than the one I made for Naomi months ago (http://dare2beecreative.blogspot.com/2008/04/message-tin.html) , with Melanie's stamps sets "What's in your tin 1 & 2".

Since my niece is only turning 4, and her Mom told me she loves little boxes of all kind and can carry them around all day, I decided to stick with a flat design (no flowers or raised embellishments on the top) this way it is also easier to slip them in a little bag without damaging anything! This time also, I added a layer of Contact paper (self-adhesive transparent paper) on the top and the bottom, that way the ink won't run and the paper won't get scratched.

The inside is pretty much identical to Naomi's tin: Mini Post-it notes and little gel pens, so she can leave little notes all around the house! :-D... The little heart is a paper clip.

L is for Laura

August is a busy month for birthdays just in the close family!

My husband, my Dad-in-law, my Dad, my Mom, my Grandma, and 2 of my nieces!!...

Needless to say I am slightly behind with the cards and such... :-S

Here is a letter for my niece Laura who's turning 4. I used this doodlebug design paper I really love, I should have just enough left to make her a little pens-tin, and make Naomi a letter too (when I find the time!)...

Berry sweet tee

I was waiting for the 15th to post this one, because of Gina K. guest designer call, but then it hit me that I used stamps from Paper Trey Ink alongside Melanie's "little tees" and that I am probably expected to use all Gina k. stamps for my submission... I guess that will give me an excuse to make more tee cards! (Heee!) ;-)

This card is for Lee, who has such a big heart it sure wouldn't fit in a little tee. She knows why I have been MIA and sent me the sweetest little note (in a beautiful handmade card of course! ;-)) alongside some pearl stickers and ribbon! She's so sweet I had to use that stamp from PTI...

And since it's for Lee, I just had to put some pink somewhere and some glitter, so I put Stickles on some of the stripes of the DP, it's hard to see but as always click on the pic and you'll get the giant version with all the details! ;-)

Going coastal tee

This new set by Melanie Muenchinger is so fun to play with... I just had to make a little "french sailor tee" because I adore them!

You know I like to mix up different stamps set from different companies... so here I used Melanie's set "Little tees", as well as Lizzie Anne's "Shore thoughts" and "By the sea", since it was perfect for my nautical theme...

I'll send this card to my friend Sandrine who just moved to New Jersey, she left the Florida coast for the Jersey coast so I guess she is still "going coastal".... She used to come scrapbook or make cards with me almost every week and I miss her and that special time! :-(

Patchwork

I was going through a Vera Bradley catalog the other day and thought I would use the fabric pics for a patchwork card. It was really a no-brainer but I like the mix of patterns and colors and it's a little different from stamps... :-) The pink flowers are Cuttlebug die-cuts.

I think it will be my Mom's birthday card.