First Letter

Tomorrow is the birthday of the daughter of my friend and "scrapbooking buddy" Sandrine.

Turns out, it's also Ebeth's daughter b-day!...

So happy birthday to the little ones... :-)

The other day at Walmart I bought those big wooden letters to put in my kids 'rooms. I've always wanted to decorate those, and seeing Lauren's recent creations with letters made me take the plunge. So I also bought one for my friend's daughter and gave it a try...here it is!

The paper is a "Borders" wrapping paper find, on sale the other day, and I really love it. It is double-sided, the back being the backgroung of my pic...

She is 6 years old so I hope I didn't make it too "old" for her, but every little girl loves flowers and hearts right? The only thing missing is a butterfly! LOL!

C is for Cassandre.

Chic French Flair! ;-)

Here is my entry for this month "guest star stamper" contest at PaperTrey Ink.

It is the new "Out on a limb" set, with it you can create a branch bearing whatever your heart please, pretty cool!! :-)

I used the same lay-out (my very basic one! LOL) than with the oriental set since I wanted to give my "designer paper" a big part of the stage.

I love how it turned out, very classic and simple.

After I stamped my background paper I looked at it and it reminded me of the Louis Vuitton toile, so I guess my card has a chic french flair too! LOL ;-)

Toadally fun! :-)

Ever since I saw this little toad (from "Once Upon a time" set by Lizzie Anne) and the lotus flower (from "Far East" set by Lizzie Anne also) I have wanted to marry them! I had this picture in my head of the toad on a lily pad!!

I actually used the fan in the oriental set to make my pad. I clear embossed my little toad, and the text is written by hand obviously! ;-)

This was so much fun to make and especially have something clearly in your head and being able to put it down on paper! :-)

I gave the card to my little princess...

Stamps: "Far East" and "Once upon a time" by Lizzie Anne.

Ink: Palette Hybrid Landscape, Versamagic Pink Petunia and Sea Breeze.

Other: Glitter pens, colored pencils, ribbon Target.

Playing in the Cherry Blossoms...

When I was a kid, we lived for a few years in a house that had a fantastic garden. It was huge and was what's called a "suspended garden". From there you could peek down at the whole neighborhood or if you were keeping your gaze horizontal you would only see the sky!

There were all kind of plants and trees, and we even grew our little lettuces and radishes and strawberries. I was very fond of that garden and remember it pretty well, there were huge peonies (probably my favorite flower to this day), tulips, daffodils, narcissus, and also some bamboos and a huge cherry tree (we would make jam every year) and also an adorable japanese appletree with bright pink flowers and a red trunk.

So when I saw the new set from Lizzie Anne "Far East" it brought me right back in my garden and I had to have it! But I also needed the PTI "Out on a limb" because I wanted some leaves for my tree!

For as far as I can remember I have loved drawing trees with leaves. When I am doodling on a piece of paper, the 1st thing that comes to me is a tree and I then draw each and every leaf...

At first those 2 sets seemed a little too similar and I tried to choose just one of them (too many stamps, too little money!!) but I finally gave in and bought both of them because in my mind they are complimentary.... The PTI features a branch with lots of options from dogwood blossom to leaves to berries, but not cherry blossom. And I needed the cherry blossom. (well it's my b-day next month so I got myself my present!!) Plus the lotus flower in that set looks like a lily pad to me and I love lily pads too (they remind me of Monet) and I had an idea in my head when I saw it...just didn't get the time to get to it yet... ;-)

It is funny how oriental designs and cherry blossoms are very "in" lately, you see them everywhere, from stamps to designer papers!

Did you know that the cherry blossom (and also the tree) is called "Sakura"? :-)

So anyway here are 2 cards I made combining this 2 sets. I am in love with those sets and I know they will stay among my favorite of all time because they are timeless and versatile enough for any occasion, plus they bring me back in my childhood's garden... and that is priceless.

The 1st card I made was the red one, I was just playing around when I just got the stamps and I liked it enough to make a card out of it, the 2nd was because I so loved my background paper that I had to duplicate it! I love it when stamps sets give you tiny little details to use whichever way you want! ;-) I can't wait to play more with those sets! :-)

Bookmark

I received my new Papertrey Ink set yesterday and just had to try it!....
I wanted to make simple bookmarks for some friends in France. I love bookmarks and have to try to make some more often (for me I mean!! ;-))
I was trying new ink at the same time so I wasn't always happy with the results, and the quote are so small that I will need special ink for that (or have to learn to have a gentler and more even touch...) but it was fun experimenting.
There will be a lot more of this with that set...and with other ones that I am expecting and that I hope to marry together...

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by Crissy ( http://scrapbookingcrissy.blogspot.com/)

The rules of the game:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Have fun!

I am racking my brain to find 7 things to share with you... I'll go with random.

* I currently have 3 blogs.
One about (my) life (in american), one about my crafts (here!), and one in french to give family and friends some news. This explains why I don't share much about my life here and mainly stick with crafty stuff.
At some point I also had 2 autism communities (one in french and her american twin) where I was trying to post info & such, but I closed them because that was too much work and I was the only one really involved in it.
It's hard to find the time to update everywhere so there are dry spells on all 3 of them! LOL
And all of that even though I am "computer challenged" (obviously!!)...

* Some people probably think I am rude, because I am outspoken.
I don't think I am rude, and am in no way a mean person. But I have no tact! ;-)
I am just plain honest (and I still sometimes sugarcoat it or keep things to myself if I know it will be hurtfull!), but I really wish people would be the same way with me.
I hate fake people who play a character and brown noses. :-(
With me, what you see/hear/read is what you get!

* In France we say that the size a kid has when he/she 's 2 is half his adult size.
This was true for me, I am 5' 7 and if it's true for my kids they will be way taller than me!!

* I know it's a cultural thing, but I hate when people I don't know call me "Honey", "Darling", "Sweetie" and such, like in a doctor's office or hospital or at the hairdresser or grocery store!!! O_o

* I love watching cooking shows (www.foodnetwork.com) especially Ina Garten, Alton Brown, or Giana De Laurentiis... My favorite part of the week-end (when I can) is having breakfast in bed while I'm watching those! :-)

* Before moving to the States I was a nurse in France. I cannot work here with my french degree and would have to take some tests to get an equivalence. (I started studying for that at some point and gave up once my daughter was there...) I sometimes miss the relationship with the patients and the nursing care altogether but surely not the hours and stress from working in an hospital.

* I bought my first stamps last May because I wanted to stamp my daughter's b-day party invitations. I ended up not making the invitation but that's what started my interest in stamping and scrapbooking.
Yes I'm quite the rookie. ;-)

I'm tagging (even though they have likely be tagged already!) those lovely ladies because I'd love to know more about them ;-) :

*Lauren (http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/)
*Elizebeth (http://www.ebethonline.com/)
*Fe-Fe (http://fe-fesworld.blogspot.com/)
*Samantha (http://ascrapaddictsblog.blogspot.com/)
*Erika (http://www.stampinmama.typepad.com/)
*Gina (http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/)
*Alli (http://www.allistamps.blogspot.com/)

First Valentine...

I made this little card today using my new PaperTrey Ink set "a Punny Valentine".

This little squirrel is just too cute ;-)

I think it will be Naomi's Valentine's day card if she doesn't find it before then!... She loves strawberries! :-)

Several layers are on dimensionals, and the squirrel, pie & big strawberry are heat embossed with clear powder.

I also used the tiny flower from the "Borders & corners (circle)" set.

The scalloped oval is of course made with Nestabilities, now that I am looking at it, it makes me think of a big dollop of whipped cream ;-) LOL

As always, if you click on the pic a giant version will appear! (you'll then see the yellow dots on the strawberries, the funny paper frill on the strawberry-heart, and the tiny strawberry flowers...and the green eye on the squirrel!... ;-) )

I would have loved to add a little ribbon or a prima in there but it was already overcrowded as it is, but I like it that way: bright, cheery and juicy strawberries for my little Mimi, and a little sneaky squirrel that loves strawberry pie so much that he's sitting in it! ;-D

I think she'll love it!... :-)

Stamps : "A Punny Valentine" & "Borders & Corners (circles)" by PaperTrey Ink.

Ink : Versamagic: Sahara Sand, Pink Petunia, Aloe vera; Brilliance: Moonlight white, pearlescent Poppy, Coffee Bean; Versamark.

Other: Markers, gel pens, clear embossing powder.

Get well soon Naomi!

Last sunday, Naomi (my 6 1/2 y.o daughter) fell from a tree at the playground and she broke her right collarbone. :-(

She has been a good little trooper (except when the doctor tried to convince her to wear clavicle rings!...;-) ) and was in a lot of pain but is already bouncing back to her usual happy bubbly (and opiniated) self!...

My parents left this morning , after spending 3 weeks with us, and I needed a little stamping-therapy to change my mind. The first days are always hard when family leaves... :-(

So I made Naomi this little Get Well card with the new set "Just so hippy!" by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K. Designs. Gina is just so generous, I won this set on her blog and it was in my mailbox before I knew it! :-)

For the love of Pim's...

OK this one was made just for the fun of it, and I really love that it is crazy and a little over the top, LOL!

It will ring a bell with my french friends specifically... ;-)

You might not know very well the famous french cookies brand "LU". Their cookies are delicious and in the past you could find some of them in the US but with difficulty sometimes. LU has since been bought by a big american company so now more LU cookies are imported in the US and you can easily find "le petit Ecolier" (cookie + chocolate bar on top) which is my daughter's favorite cookie, or my favorite the "Pim's" (a moist cookie with fruit filling on top (rasperry or pear or orange) wrapped in a crunchy chocolate shell. I just saw that there is a new version with chocolate mousse inside!

If you haven't tried them yet, it is time to!! You won't regret it, they're yummy! :-)

So the other day I was eating raspberry Pims (my favorite flavor) and I noticed the picture of the different flavors on the side of the package. It made me think of the little squirrel in the new Paper trey Ink set " A punny Valentine" and I wanted to make a card with the squirrel eating a Pims cookie.. :-)

I cut the tag "le chocolat" from another box of LU cookies "Le chocolatier"."Le chocolat", my squirrel and his cookie and the big Pims at the bottom are all on pop-dots, but of course on that pic with the flash it looks all flat...:-S The squirrel was made from clear embossing on brown paper.

Making that card was fun and looking at it makes me smile and reminds me of my love for those cookies!! It would be best suited to a lay-out for a scrapbook page but I don't have pictures of me indulging in my Pims addiction...(Luckily! ;-))....

Happy 2008

Happy New Year everyone!

Wishing you the best, starting with a good health.
May 2008 be the year that you follow your dreams or finally catch them. :-)
And of course let's make a lot of fond memories that we can scrapbook... ;-)