My Thoughts Exactly Thursday: Project Life here I come, and an announcement....

(This is a long-winded post so settle down comfortably... ;-))

Today is my "My Thoughts Exactly Thursday", but it also is my last official post as one of their Design Team members. The key word here is "official", not "last", as I am sure you will still see plenty of MTE projects from me, just not DT projects. ;-)
My term comes to an end at the end of this month and I have decided not to renew it. I have really enjoyed my time with this wonderful cast of ladies (best DT ever!!... <3), and a part of me cannot believe this is coming to an end, especially since I have been with MTE from day 1. It's been fun to watch Alyssa and Brian shape this company up, and I know they are headed for success and I wish them the very best! :-D <3

But there are only so many hours in a day and I need more time... :-( This past year has been difficult and I have struggled to get some things done. My "crafting" goals this year are to scrapbook more (especially learn to digi-scrap), and to work on my photography skills (or lack thereof! ;-)) so, as the saying goes, something's gotta give... ;-)

Which brings me to today's project. You might be familiar with Project Life, a concept developed and sold by Becky Higgins. Basically you get a 12X12 binder and fill it with page protectors that contain different sizes compartments. Add pictures and journaling cards and you're all set. This saves you lots of time compared to "classical" scrapbooking. I have decided to hop on the Project Life bandwagon (as I am YEARS behind in my scrapbooking in general (by years I mean like 10 years or so?... *shame*))  and I think this will enable me to work on present pics while trying to catch up with the old ones in a more conventional way. So I have ordered a binder and pack of page protectors, and all I need now are pics and journaling cards...

So for today's project I made some using a variety of MTE sets! :-)  I used cardstocks and flashcards and made sure each had a little spot to jot down the date or a few words. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had making those! :-)

For this one I used the More Mini Thoughts set.

This one uses the very 1st set released by MTE, the Birds & Bees set.

This one also uses the More Mini Thoughts set.

That one uses the Big Thoughts set.

This one uses the Sweet Thoughts set.

That one uses 2 sets,  More Mini Thoughts and Under The Sea. I think it will go great with pics of my kiddos in the pool...  :-)

That one uses Many Thanks. I love that Polka dot Smash tape, and the pop of red. :-)

This one uses Big Thoughts,.

And lastly, this one also uses 2 sets: Big Thoughts and  Sweet Thoughts.

To hold my little cards I made a little pocket book using a manilla file folder. The sentiment is from the More Mini Thoughts set and the frame is from Holly Jolly Tags.

And that's it for this looooong post!!... Thanks for bearing with me!... ;-)

Don't forget to visit my fellow DT members today: Belinda and Tracy.

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

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Sweet forrest tin

It's TTT! Trendy Twine Tuesday... and this time I made a little tin for my sweet friend Bee and used Trendy Twine in place of ribbon to cover the sides of the tin. The paper is from the Country Drive collection by Echo Park.

Sorry for the pictures' overload but I want to show you from every angle... ;-)

I used Peppermint Stick Trendy Twine for the lid, and Chocolate Truffle Trendy Twine for the bottom.

I love the sort of "rustic" look, and I think it feels wonderful also when you hold the tin in your hand.
I used Terrifically Tacky Tape to hold the twine in place and it was really easy and this twine ain't going anywhere. ;-)

I covered the inside with more paper, and put little crafting goodies in mini zip bags that I decorated with mini twine bows....

And to finish it off, I wrapped it up like a big candy... :-)

My Thoughts Exactly Thursday: September

You might have noticed there was no release for My Thoughts Exactly this month... Not to worry, there are currently several sets in production and things got a little backed up but you will soon get to see the new sets and it will be worth the wait... ;-)  But honestly, Alyssa's sets have so many sayings in them that we could post projects for months with just one set!!... ;-)

Here I used the Birds & Bees set again, because it was such a great match for my Fluffles and my Echo Park paper, and I thought it would be a great pick-me-up for a sweet friend of mine... :-) Of course I had to add a little bit of Trendy Twine there too... ;-)

This week my partner in crime is Bee, and don't forget to also visit Alyssa's blog for more DT projects... :-D

Secrets mini Tags-album

I made this little album for my daughter to write little secrets she wants to remember later on... I used Echo Park Springtime paper, the stamps are from My Thoughts Exactly  (this is the Birds & Bees set) and the other goodies are from Annie's Paper Boutique.

Basically I just made a cardstock and pattern paper cover around little kraft enveloppes/sleeves, and put little colored tags in the pockets...

To keep everything neatly in place,  I used magnet tape strips because it is flat.

For the inside I used mini Kraft sleeves that I covered on one side with pattern paper. I LOVE those mini sleeves, they are so tiny and cute and can be used for all kind of things. <3 :-)  I punched some holes in them with my Crop-O-Dile and attached everything together with some Trendy Twine...
                 

                                     

I left the other side natural since my daughter might want to use stickers in her album or scribble on them. Plus I like the contrast of the kraft with all the other colors. :-)

Inside each pocket I inserted a colorful tag. Those are so fun to use, and they come reinforced, I just added a tiny bit of twine to each one to make a little "pull handle"... ;-)

Each little tag is individually housed in its little pocket... but you could also chose to have a tag every other pocket etc... And the number of tags or pockets is really whatever you want it to be, you just adapt the size of the cover accordingly...

Here it is when you remove the tags. As you can see this is a really easy project that is fun and that kids will love receiving. You can use the pockets to stash little memorabilia like tickets to events or you could glue little pictures on the sleeves and write journaling on the tags, etc... You could also make a booklet without tags and use it like I do: to store those Box Tops for example or other little proof of purchase or clipped off food labels. No more stashing them as is in the kitchen junk drawer... ;-)

"My Thoughts Exactly Thursday" (part 1) : Fairy Dust

It's Thursday and this week it is my turn and Bee's turn to post our My Thoughts Exactly Design Team projects. :-)
I made this card for one of my nieces whose birthday is coming up... Every little girl love fairies, right?...

I used a fairy silhouette SVG that was a freebie from SVG Cuts (cut it out twice to have 2 arms and 2 wings), and used a beautiful dark blue shimmery cardstock (from PTI), and added a little bit of stickles for the "fairy dust"... ;-) (with that sentiment there HAD to be sparkle somewhere!... ;-))
The gift is made by simply cutting out a square and tying Trendy Twine around it. :-) (couldn't decide on the yummy colors, so had to use 2! ;-))

For the sentiment I used the Sweet Thoughts set, and wanted to have a little fun with it so I bent my stamps to give them this little curve and then cut my little banner around it by hand...

This is my post #1 for today since I took a lot of pics for my card #2. If you missed it post #2 is just above this one... :-)
Don't forget to visit  Alyssa's and  Bee's blogs today for more projects!... :-D

Let's play punch buggy!

A very simple (post)card I made using the cool stickers that come in the Country Drive kit from Echo Park! 
My daughter loves to play "punch buggy" with me when we are driving around, and today I saw 6 of them while I was out running errands and it made me think about her so I just had to make her this card! When I saw the car sticker in the paper kit I knew I would use it for her eventually!... ;-) I have to say I am very impressed with those stickers, they are thick and sturdy. :-) I just added a little bit of details with markers and some twine and voila!... :-D

For the back I made it look like a postcard using PTI stamps. Isn't that cute little postage stamp just adorable? I used my favorite little bee from one of my Fluffles stamps on it, the one I use to "sign" my cards on the back... ;-) For the twine I decided to make it fun and just punched 2 holes through the card and tied 2 different colors in the front and in the back.

I think she'll have a kick out of that 5mn card! :-D

My Thoughts Exactly sneak peek

My Thoughts Exactly 1st stamps release will be July 1st, but Alyssa gave me the green light to share my very first project with you as a little sneak peek...
When I won Echo Park paper "Country Drive" pad and saw the little birds in there I instantly thought about pairing them with "The birds and the bees" stamps set! :-)
I used tracing paper to make a copy of the bird sticker and made my own cardstock bird, and the birdhouse is an svg from Lettering Delights. (couldn't resist adding little birds at the openings... ;-))

The little window was cut out with a Nestabilities, and the sentiment stamped on the inside of the card.

I'm sending this to my daughter Naomi who left for France today with her grandparents. She is 10 and it's the 1st time she goes on vacation without us! :-S She will be gone for 4 weeks so I plan on sending her a few cards... :-)

(As always click on the pic for a bigger version)