Washi & Butterfly

I am trying to catch up with all the birthday cards I am late with.... >.< My motto when it comes to cards is "Better late than never"... ;-) I think it's always nice to get a card in the mail in the middle of the bills and junk mail, no matter when it finally arrives... ;-)
So, I made this card for my sister-in-law whose birthday just went by. I started experimenting with the Washi tape and then decided to play with the sewing machine...

I finished it of by cutting a butterfly out of acetate and then embossed it in a Cuttlebug folder, then sewed all the layers together.
Tapes are by 7 Gypsies and Up, stamp by PaperTrey Ink, and the twine is by The Twinery.

I like it, and like even more that it was a total experiment for me. Sometimes you just have to get out of your comfort zone, even if it seems daunting... ;-)

Cat in the birthday hat

My autistic son Noah is 9 years old today! :-) He loves Dr Seuss' books and videos so I was thrilled when I found this free svg recently via Pinterest! :-D  Thanks to The Lady Wolf for sharing her svgs with everyone. :-).
The paper in the background is from the new Birthday Boy mini collection from EchoPark, it came out as digital today so it was just meant to be... ;-)
Twine is by The Twinery, and stamp is PTI.

~Happy Birthday Noah!~ You're as quirky as Dr Seuss and I love you to pieces! <3 :-D

Vintage Thank You

Well if you know me at all, you know I hate everything vintage and antique, with the exception of old maps and old letters/postcards that I just adore. :-) Lucky for me they are all the rage this year... For this card I tried to create my own background paper with that in mind...

See, a couple of weeks ago was my birthday. I am still waiting for the cards from my crafty friends... LOL ;-) *pouts*... (Dear crafty friends if you are reading this, remember that one of my mottos is "better late than never!"... ;-)) So not only was I surprised when I received a beautiful card from a fellow DT member I haven't known for long, but she also sent me a Michaels giftcard in the cutest giftcard holder! o.O

So this thank you card is for her, and I used the supplies I got at Michaels from her to make the card! Namely Tim Holtz stamps set, and glimmer gold spray. :-)

As I said I am not comfortable with vintage so I'll admit making my own vintage background was a tad daunting at 1st, but I really like the end result. I also used PTI music sheet background stamps, and their big thank you that I heat embossed. I didn't want to hide that homemade creation behind a medallion for such a big sentiment, so instead I cut out the medallion with a Nestabilities, glued it on my card base and then glued the frame on mini pop dots around it. I added a tad of Trendy Twine, and following the trend of crinkled ribbons I decided to crumple my Prima flower in my hand... *gasp*. And surprisingly I like the frumpy flower result! :-)
And there you have it, Bee's rare attempt at vintage... ;-)

Spring is in the air

A simple card for a friend's birthday, made with my beloved Echo Park papers (Country drive collection here). :-) Love those little birds... :-) The stamps are by My Thoughts Exactly. Twine is by The Twinery.

Happy Bird Day

I made this card for a friend using my favorite tools: dies!! ;-)
The branch is a leftover from another project (SVGCuts file) but the birds and house are by QuicKuts and the leaves are by Spellbinder. The twine is from The Twinery, and this cute patterned paper is from the cupcake pack from Recollection that I used for the cupcake lever card in my previous post... ;-)

Now how's that for bright and cheery!?...

Birthday Cupcakes lever cards

While I was cleaning my photo folders I found those 2 cards that I made last month and forgot to post...
They're lever cards made with SVGCuts files. The photos are crappy but I took them at night plus I had a hard time figuring out what angle would be best... ;-)
The cool cardstocks are from Recollection (Michaels' brand), stamps are PaperTrey Ink, and twine is Trendy Twine.

If you are not familiar with lever cards, this is what it looks like from the top. As you can see the moving element (here the cupcake) appears on the outside and on the inside of the card when you open it. SVGCuts has several files for lever cards, they're really easy to put together and really fun to receive! :-D

Changes to come and a farewell.

No project today, I just wanted to share some changes happening on this blog.

Some have been planned, and will take place in a couple of weeks (and be announced when the time comes).
And another one is effective immediately: I have decided to resign from the Trendy Twine Design Team.
The Design Team term will be over in a couple of months, and Lesley is looking for several new team members. If you are interested she will soon have a DT call on her Facebook page and her blog. If you like Trendy Twine now is your chance... :-)
I wish Lesley and her store great success, as she is expanding her business, adding Unity stamps and cute packaging tapes to her inventory, as well as 7 new colors of twine before the summer. :-)

Basketful of blessings

It's My Thoughts Exactly Thursday, and here is my project using the brand new Easter Greetings stamps set.
Thanks to the mix and match concept of the stamps I used "of" from one sentiment and added the "blessings"from another one. This new set is not just for Easter and has several sentiments about Spring too. As you can see the "basketful" can also be used for gifts (there is a "basketful of goodies" option in the set).

I paperpieced the basket from the background paper, and added a few extra tulips with a glue dot to give it a tiny bit more dimension. Coloring was done with Prismacolor markers. (basket + tulips stamps are PTI, twine is Trendy Twine)

Don't forget to visit my fellow DT members who also have a project for you today:  Bee and Tracy. :-)

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Lucky enough to have you

It's Trendy Twine Tuesday, and the 1st one for March, so today the whole design team has projects for you!

We went with a somewhat "St Patrick's Day" theme this month, and used Twisted Lime twine.

For my project I decided to make a birthday card for my e-friend Alice. See, everyone needs an Alice in their life! :-) She is kind and loving, beautiful inside and out. One of the sweetest persons I ever (not) met... ;-) I really hope I will meet her for real one day! It might take a while before it happens, because she lives in London... :-S
So in the meantime I will just be sending a little paper love her way. I thought this sentiment (by Papertrey Ink (Big Birthday sentiments)) was perfect for my clover card and for Alice!... ;-) I was looking for a "one in a  million" sentiment when I came across this one... ;-) I am definitely lucky to have her be a part of my life, even if it's only the virtual part... :-) One of the things I really love about acrylic stamps is how you can bend them and stamp a sentiment in a curve... :-)

I initially used twine on my leaves too but didn't like the look of it and removed it, I didn't think it was possible but there is such a thing as too much twine on a project!... *gasp* o.O
The front panel is on pop dots which allows space for the twine all around. And now that I am all finished and my picture is taken I suddenly wonder, why on earth didn't I fold those leaves down the middle and only glued them partially to give them dimension? The answer is simple: I am a victim of the post office. When I make a card now I often ponder wether it will fit into the dreaded 1/4 inch slot limit or not... I think I had that in the back of my mind when I decided to glue everything flat... ;-)

For more projects with Twisted Lime Trendy Twine, visit the Trendy Twine blog, where you will also find the details about this month's challenge:

The challenge is on from March 6th to March 30th. Your project must include a Shamrock, Glitter and Twisted Lime or Holly Green Trendy Twine. If you don't have any Trendy Twine,  you can substitute Green embroidery Floss instead. The Winner will receive 50 yards of Trendy Twine, color of their choice! :-D