Chinese doll

Boy, am I happy to finally get to upload a picture on this blog!! :-) It has been WAY too long...
I got a new laptop (it's blue!!! :-D) as an early birthday present (yes, my birthday is in a month, so you still have plenty of time to send me a homemade card! ;-)) and so far so good, things seem to work smoothly! What a welcome change from the perpetual crashing of my Satellite!.... I still have to connect this baby to my Cricut and give SCAL a little try out but we're getting there!... There might be some svg projects in my future!! Yay!... :-)

So anyway. This is a card I made for my cousin's birthday (late of course, why do I even mention it?...) using the new "So fortunate" stamps set from My Time Made Easy. Catherine Doucette outdid herself on that one! I have a BIG thing for cherry blossoms so it was love at 1st sight! (I didn't use the cherry blossom branch stamp that comes in the set on that card though, in case I just confused you...;-)) The papers are digital papers from the coordinating collection "Fun and fortune". Did I mention I love cherry blossoms?... :-D

I used little pearls and rhinestones (colored them black with a sharpie) as accents, cut out little felt leaves by hand (PTI's wool felt is scrumptious!), and tried the Cuttlebug dies with my old acrylic felt. To my delight it cuts very well through the felt (unless the design is very intricate), as this cute little white flower can attest...

I don't know about you but, once my mojo leaves, it doesn't come back fully operational. I have to retrain it a bit first... This was my training card! ;-) It took me a awful lot of time to figure out in what direction I wanted to go, and even more time to make it happen, even though it was a pretty basic card with a classic layout!..:-S
I guess I need to make lots of cards now to get my creative wheels to turn again without creaking...

Pumpkin window box

I made this simple little treat for Noah's teachers for Thanksgiving, using a matchbox svg files ("under cover" by My Time Made Easy) and I used the pumpkin from the SCAL library to make a cut-out and covered that window with acetate. (Yes there was also a turkey in the shape librarybut somehow I thought it might not be that appealing....;-))

Citrusy Thanks

I have been gone for so long!... I had some computer problems, my laptop crashed and the hard drive had to be replaced, but luckily we were able to retrieve my svg files and such! Phew!...

In the meantime I wasn't uploading or posting anything!... :-(

I made this card a while ago, for Catherine (http://www.thedancingpear.blogspot.com/) after winning this stamp set on her blog. :-) You might not know this but, a few months ago, I decided I wouldn't buy any stamps till the end of the year. Let's face it, I still have stamps that haven't been inked yet (shame!! but time is an issue...) and well, this little hobby of mine can be rather costly so I'm trying to be reasonnable... So it was a pleasant surprise to win some stamps... ;-)

Now this is a stamps set all about tea (created in collaboration between Catherine Doucette and Lauren Meader for My Time Made Easy), but I live in Florida and I decided to show my love for citrus and the sunshine state by using the little lemon slice and no tea themed stamp instead...

The colors on my pic are a little off, I swear it is less fluorescent in real life... ;-)

Tea Box

It's my sweet neighbor Katie's birthday today, and I got her some of my favorite tea of the moment. I used the shutterfly box from MTME. Since my Cricut has been acting up I used the PDF file that you print from your computer instead and then I tweaked it a little bit by making the container shorter so that it would kind of match the height of tea bags... ;-) I was able to put 12 in there which isn't bad for something I couldn't rezize.

I decorated my box using Fanciful Flourishes and as a little wink I used the little TAZO logo that I find very cute as a little medallion on my box, (adhered with foam tape of course... ;-)) No wondering what's inside! The little tag was made with a PTI holiday set.

It is really hard to see in my pic, the leaves are actually green and I rubbed gold ink all over the edges to give it a little patina. I like messy and imperfect looks!... ;-)

Lilac Blooms

When I was about 7 years old, we moved into a big appartment (that used to be a beer brewery!) with the most magical suspended garden ever! We had a huge cherry tree (my Mom made jam every year, I remember pitting the cherries...), a japanese apple blossom tree, irises, bamboos, huge peonies, and several lilac trees (purple and white). I was very fond of this garden and wish I could show it to my kids one day, although I doubt it will ever happen... We moved to a bigger nearby city a few years later, in an appartment without a garden... :-(
Maybe it's because of this garden that lilac and peonies are my favorite flowers to this day, and that cherry and japanese apple blossom are my favorite trees... :-)

Anyway, when I saw this little flower in "Argyle Amazment" by MTME, it reminded me of the tiny flowers on a lilac bloom and I just had to try and recreate it somehow... this card was my experiment... I printed the flower in different shades of purple and with different intensity. Then I highlighted some areas with my versamark marker and embossed them with clear powder. That's what gives the glossy pink effect on the detail pic below. In real life the bloom catches the light in a very nice way. (You can see better by clicking on the pics, as this will give you giant versions)

I then embossed some more flowers and some leaves that I randomly added on pop-dots. I made the mistake of trying a branch and didn't like it but since I liked my bloom I didn't want to start over, that explains the little cluster of leaves, LOL ;-) The little rick-rack is from a Cut File called "Random ribbons", I added pearl ex on some centers, and ... voilà! :-)
I will definitely make more attempts at lilac blooms, and I think this stamp could work well for hydrangeas too (although technically I think the tiny flowers that form the big blooms might have 5 petals, but when you're an artist you are allowed some creative freedom!... ;-))

This card will go to a friend in NY with a little spring surprise. With all the snow this year I'm sure she could use a little spring flair right now... ;-)

4 Lauren

If you read my blog regularly, you know I like Lauren Meader's work... You also know that she recently decided to start her own business and now sells stamps, digital paper and templates (http://www.mytimemadeeasy.com/).
Now I am not part of her design team, and she doesn't pay me to advertise for her, but this card is made using 4 of her products: 2 stamps set and 2 Cut Files!
That's because the card is for her, a little pat on the back for her hard work and her leap of faith for starting a business in this economy. Of course the main color is purple because it is her favorite color... ;-)

The little argyle panel was made with her stamps set "Argyle Amazement", the butterfly, flower and leaves were cut with my Cricut and SCAL using her "Flutter and Flowers" Cut file (really great in svg. file since you can resize things the way you want!) I then stamped a pattern on the butterfly with her stamps set "All a Flutter" (tons of options to make your customized butterfly....) and the little border I weaved my ribbon into is also a Cut File called "Random Ribbon"...

The "congratulations" stamp is from a My Favorite Things sentiments set (I think she'll forgive me!... ;-)) and the border punch at the bottom is from EK Success.

I hope she likes it. It must be quite a feeling, albeit a weird one, seeing something made with stamps and such that you created!! :-)

Quilt

I did consider not posting this one for a second, because of my awful stitching, but I think the beauty of this craft is that things don't have to be perfect. And also that it's a learning curve and you have to be able to laugh at yourself.... My hubby is the guinea-pig recipient and I'm sure he won't mind. I hope you have a good laugh thanks to my card and that it comforts you in your abilities if you are a novice papercrafter! LOL ;-) There is always room for improvement!... ;-)
(BTW I love the card nonetheless... :-) )

Baby Box

I apologize for the yucky pic, but it was one of those "take the pic just as we leave" project and Noah tempered with my camera yesterday and I didn't have the time to figure out what was wrong (my wild guess is greasy little fingers all over the lense...).

So anyway I thought I'd still post it, even though I didn't get a chance for retakes, since it's my 1st ever project made with the Cricut Expression coupled with my laptop via the SCAL software. Pretty exciting, if you ask me! ;-D...

I used one of Lauren's template, that you can now purchase as an SVG file, which then allows you to resize it to your taste before having your machine cut it out for you.

You cannot see on that pic but I added extra detailing to the top using her matching cut-files. And the little onesie on the card is from the SCAL shapes library. I cut my little windows (before adhering some acetate) with a Nestability (now that was a joy since it was an afterthought, LOL) but I plan on figuring out very soon how to do that with my gadget and software!... ;-)

It took me some time because I was figuring things out as I went but I have to say it is surprisingly easy to use and really fun, and no doubt time-saving (well once you get the hang of it obviously!).

I am psyched that Lauren's templates will now be available in that format (and they still come with the pdf file so that you can choose to print them the usual way instead.)

Ain't technology grand?... (coming from one of the worst computer challenged girl...)

Valentine's day mailboxes

I made those little mailboxes for Noah's teachers, using Laurens' "happy mail" template (My Time Made Easy) and her "You've got mail" stamps set. This is the size that comes from the pdf file. I didn't have the right USB port to use my computer with the Cricut. I just added a few hearts on foam tape, and a bit of ribbon. The Happy Valentine's day heart stamp is from PTI.

I totally stole this button-pull idea from Catherine Doucette (http://www.thedancingpear.blogspot.com/) (BTW, pay her a little visit, she has the cutest gingham mailbox with a little mouse...) I actually had to break one of the buttons in between the 2 holes to make a slot, now that was fun!... ;-)

And to hide my button-pull attachment, I glued a little heart inside. :-)

And as you can see, the little mailboxes contain an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolate squares.... I had to eat a few so that it would fit in the boxes. Oh the things you have to do for the sake of gift giving with a personal touch!... ;-)

Simple love note...

This one is self explanatory. I used Lauren's new set "You've got mail". I love snail mail, this set is great for that! :-)

Lauren's butterfly

This is my 1st card with Lauren's new set "Flutter-by". If you read my blog you are familiar with Lauren's templates... what you might not know is that she's now flying solo and just opened her own business called My Time Made Easy (www.mytimemadeeasy.com). She sells templates, photopolymer stamps, and digital paper. This butterfly and sentiment are from her 1st stamp set, so I had to use them with purple, which is her favorite color, even though the card isn't actually for her, (it's for "my soldier" ;-))!

So for the details, easy background with Cuttlebug and DP, then a little flourish made with the Cricut Expression and a double butterfly. Stamped once on the same DP, added little rhinestones and some Stickles, then stamped on a piece of light blue vellum then cuttlebugged and glued over the 1st one that was raised with foam tape.

Now I am aware that butterflies look nothing like that in real life, with 2 sets of wings, but that's called creative freedom right?... ;-D