Live the life you've imagined...

I was talking with an old friend of mine (whose birthday was coming up) about the fact that Life is all about going after your dreams... and I immediately thought about this sentiment (stamp by Tim Holtz) for the birthday card... ;-) (sorry about the crappy pic, I can't get the lighting right on that one...)
The papers are from DCWV, the "Tradewinds" stack which has quite a few gorgeous papers with old world charm. A few of those papers look like fabric patterns, like the one I used for the tag, or the one used for the card base which reminds me of a chevron man shirt. There's also a pale and a dark woodgrain pattern in the stack.

I kept everything simple because this card is really about the sentiment, and I heat embossed it with gold powder for more pop. I stamped a clock at the bottom right, because life doesn't wait for you... and there's a barely visible "may your dreams take flight" (PTI) under it. The twine is from The Twinery.

Baby bear

One of my cousins welcomed a little Heidi, and I couldn't resist making a card that showcased this fun and original name. I used a little valentine bear from SVGCuts (freebie). The DP, that I adore and have used often, is from DCWV (Nana's nursery I think). It was one of those projects that make you smile... :-)
What can I say, I love baby cards...

Notebooks & gift-card holders

Another end of year gift. For Noah's teachers, I got Amazon giftcards, so I just needed a little packaging... ;-) I decided to make little notebooks to go with it (using PTI pads).

The fun cardstock is from DCWV. Stamps are from PTI. I'm beating myself up a bit for not inking the edges of all the pieces, it would have added some definition. But then again I was in a rush and I forgot! :-(

(Also I don't know what happened to my pics but the colors are really off, I was able to correct them only to some extent. In real life the pink heart is actually more red so it doesn't clash that much with the "notes" embossing. ;-))

SVG Blooms

This card was made using my computer, SCAL and Cricut. The SVG file is for 3D flowers (http://www.svgcuts.com/) but I made my design rather flat because it had to be mailed easily to France. The pot is one of their freebie files. :-) I had fun with it, even if it took me forever since I was playing around with the program... ;-) I really love the result and can't wait to try a much bigger size and real 3D blooms this time, like a real paper bouquet!... :-D

Somebunny's birthday...

It had been too long since I last played with Melanie's little critters... So today I used her bunny to wish my 2 years old niece a happy birthday. I love this springy paper by DCWV, and cut out some of the flowers to place them in the bunny's basket, same with the little butterfly I added on the ear. Bunny is on foam tape for some added dimension.

This card makes me happy. :-D

Flowers & stripes

Simple Thank You card that gives the paper center stage.... I punched little holes in the top scallop to match the bottom one. The cool paper is by DCWV... :-)

Happy Birthday Noah!

This is the card I made for Noah's 7th birthday. I'll admit I was scratching my head a little when I sat down at my desk, not quite knowing what to make... Then I decided, instead of trying to figure out what would appeal to him, to go with something that made sense to me, hoping that one day we can sit down together and re-read his old cards. He doesn't seem to care much about the cards now, but maybe one day it will matter to him that he had them.

So I leafed through my new stack of DCWV Flowers Shower and found this rainbow/clouds paper.

I always say Noah is my ray of sunshine so the tag grabbed my eye right away, I just added the Happy Birthday, and the little ladybug for fun... ;-) Then I made little rays out of cardstock and added the button to create a little sun. I love rainbows (who doesn't! ;-)) and the clouds reminded me of Noah's autism... :-( The rainbow peeking out of the clouds, is my hope that he will get much much better... Finally I added little rhinestones as rain drops (the tears I shed from watching my child struggle with life) and some Stickles on the clouds just to make it more interesting for him to look at, and because autism can be quite fascinating... :-)

The last touch was a little heart button, because I love this little guy to pieces...

Baby girl

Super simple baby card. Just letting the paper do all the talking... :-)
I am in LOVE with those papers' collections: Nana's nursery, baby girl (2 used here) and baby boy, from DCWV. I have used them on lots of cards, most of them not even baby cards, and they are awesome! :-D

Belated birthday

A simple birthday card for my niece...

Strawberry briefcase

Yet another one with the same template, this time for Naomi. I used velcro instead of ribbon to keep it closed since she isn't so crazy about tying knots! ;-)

Butterfly baby

A card I made for my cousin who had a little girl...2 months ago...the card hasn't left the house yet...Ooops.... This new set by Melanie is gonna be perfect for my scrapbooking pages of baby Nathan! :-D The butterfly wings are covered with flock. (Awesomely cool paper by DCWV Nana's nursery baby girl)

Teacher's giftcard holders

Not really any time for papercrafts lately...but it was the end of year and its inevitable teacher's gifts. I have to say I go the easy route. Amazon gift cards seem like the way to go, that way I am pretty sure everyone can find something they like. So I just made very simple holders with their names on it. I wanted to avoid stamping on it, aside from the name (used JustRite Stampers for that), so that they can re-use it if they want, as a little card holder (I'm sure I'm not the only one giving them giftcards! ;-)) or even to put wallet size pics. It's really nothing complicated or impressive but making that kind of little things make me happy!... :-)

That's what papercrafting is all about... :-)

Floral wallpaper birthday

The last one in my "DCVW + Damask" serie, this very simple birthday card for my sister in law uses only a tiny flower detail from the stamp set as a medallion (the circle sentiment is from a Stampin'Up set) but I really loved this paper too and I wanted to keep it the star of the show... :-)

I used the leftovers of the cardstock to make a little holder for the earrings I was sending, I love it when things match!... ;-)

Simple floral birthday

When you start it's hard to stop... I used the same paper collection (love, love, love this wallpaper effects) from DCWV and "Damask" again for this simple birthday card.

Damask Thank You

A few months ago I was the lucky winner of a stamps set on the Lizzie Anne Designs blog. When I mentioned I already owned that set, Tricia (the "Lizzie part" in Lizzie Anne ;-)...) very nicely offered to send me another set instead. :-D

I chose "Damask", and I thought it was only appropriate that Tricia would be the recipient of the 1st card made with that set, so I made her this Thank You card.

I just love that card. I adore this paper by DCVW, and I thought it was going well with those stamps. The colors are very "spring" to me and it was one of those "put-me-in-a-good-mood-card".

I am pretty confident it will put Tricia in a good mood too! ;-)

(as always by clicking on the pic you'll get a giant version, this will enable you to see the details of that cool paper)...