Trendy Twine Tuesday: RED Project

As you know, Trendy Twine has just started a Design Team and I am one of the lucky members! :-) This month starts the beginning of our monthly projects. Each month we will focus on a different color and make projects with it. The 1st Tuesday we will all post together, and every Tuesday afterwards a different member of our team will post a project with that color.
For September we chose Peppermint Stick RED as we are all in the mood for back to school and apples come to mind... ;-) In honor of this kick off, Peppermint Stick Trendy Twine will be on sale for $7.50 this whole week. :-)

My husband was in France last week and he brought back some nougats (probably my favorite treat...;-P). He wanted to share some with his coworkers, so I made a cute little packaging for them.
I started with some adorable (and so easy to use) Mini Kraft Gable Boxes  from Annie's Paper Boutique. All I had to do was stamp on them and decorate them a little. The beauty of those little boxes is that kraft goes with everything and with all of the twine colors! ;-) 

Here I used some organza ribbon and some Peppermint Stick RED twine. I really love the color combo of red with craft and white! :-) I finished it off with a little tag, attached with matching twine, and a little medallion glued over my twine and ribbon using foam tape (this way the medallion is glued to the box and the twine and ribbon can move freely under it).
The square medallion stamp is by Stampin'Up, and this adorable little ladybug with a flower is from Stampendous. :-)
As you can see, I was really good and ate the props only after I was done taking pictures... ;-D

So in order to kick off this month's introduction of twine, we decided to have you participate in a little challenge.
The theme this month is "what's your favorite use of twine". For me aside from cards, I like to use twine on packages and gifts and with tags just like above. I think it always adds a little something happy and fun to gifts.
Once your project is done, head over to the Trendy Twine Blog, where you will find a Mr Linky at the bottom of the post where you can add a link to your project. You have till September 29 to enter.
The DT will pick their favorite project, and this person will receive a big spool (160 yards) of red twine, then we will pick a random winner who will get 30 yards of red twine. I hope to see how you like to use twine on your projects very soon! :-)

And last but not least, don't forget to check Alyssa's and Kim's blogs to see their projects featuring Peppermint Stick Trendy Twine. :-)

Fleur de Lys

I made this card for my cousin's birthday, mainly to try out my new Cuttlebug folder... ;-) I always liked Lily flowers, although it's funny that in the US it is seen as a symbol of France but in France it is a symbol for monarchists!... White lilies were actually my favorite flowers till I realized their strong smell made me incredibly sick. :-(
Obviously my goal here was to make the flower centerstage, hence the extreme simplicity of the card. I just rubbed metal paste on the embossing, so it has a more shiny effect in real life. And the medallion is heat embossed with gold powder. And I used cream cardstock and ribbon for a softer effect than white.

Foil wedding card

Another "foil fun" card, this time for the wedding of my friend Catherine. The idea for the foil came from the fact that her wedding reception colors were silver, red and black. The middle is heat embossed with silver powder as well. A very simple card but I love how the light plays on it. :-)

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!... ;-)

Tall birthday

My cousin is turning 40 in a week and I made her this card to accompany the new year's greetings... Since it's going to France I refrained from using brads or anything that would be a problem with the post office. The background is stamped with versamark and the medallion is embossed with copper powder. I love how simple it is and the color combo, even though ideally, I would have loved to add some brads and maybe some cream ivory ribbon with a bow somewhere... :-)

Baby Brag Book

Still not much creativity going on here since the whole family is super sick!! We all spent Thanksgiving in bed, the turkey is still in the freezer!... With all the coughing involved I'm surprised my little one is still safely tucked inside!! I had to take a little trip to the ER a week ago for an asthma attack, I am still not back on my feet but hope I will soon. Realizing it IS December freaked me out big time!!...

Anyway my little project here is a mini brag book for a friend who had a baby girl a few weeks ago. The inspiration is from a kit I bought last year, I can't remember the brand but everything came on a 12X12 sheet and was pre-cut. I made my own little version and will make more of those. (I'm working on one with Naomi as a little Thanksgiving keepsake, and I hope I'll find the time to make one with our new baby...)

I'll try to make a mini-tutorial if anyone is interested.

Basically it is 2 mini booklets nestled together in a cover, you can decide on the size or the number of pages...

This one here has 3 double pages in each booklet. I made little mats with the Nestabilities where she can just add her pics (wallet size works perfectly for those) and on the opposite pages I stamped a spot for journaling where she can add the date, who's with the baby or where it was taken etc... I made a little 4X4 (somewhat) matching card with the pea (from Stampin'Up).

The little giftbox is made with Lauren's template "Music Makeover" My timeless templates. If you haven't heard about My timeless Templates yet (is it possible?) they're available through Papertrey Ink, you download them in your computer and just print them, it doesn't get any easier than that! I obviously kept mine super simple, (didn't want Lauren's box to steal the spotlight of what's IN the box! LOL ;-))

New Home

On the rare occasions that I click on my craft blog lately, I smile when I read the title because it seems like there isn't much creativity going on around here lately! LOL! I suspect it won't improve once my little bundle of joy gets here.... *sigh*

To my defense.... the last 2 1/2 weeks have been spent fighting headlice in the whole family... Naomi brought them home from school and she has been the one more affected but we all ended up with an itchy scalp at some point and we had to treat everyone (but the cat) at least twice (Naomi up to 5 times I think! And I cut a good 5 inches off her hair to make it easier!). We tried all kind of products on different family members, and let me tell you that, just as I suspected, the natural products work as well (even sometimes better!) than the nasty chemicals... So basically I spent my time combing heads for nits, and washing sheets, towels, stuffed animals, cushions.... It was a nightmare, Naomi missed a whole week of school altogether and Noah almost as much ! :-( And now that we seem to be seeing the end of it I am sick! I have a cold and bronchitis and feel like hell. :-( At least I'm glad my little guy is still inside and not in the middle of the pest and germs! Can you imagine dealing with headlice on a newborn?... Ack!

Anyway, in the meantime, my brother & family were busy moving in a new home in their beautiful Connecticut, and I found a little time this week-end to make a card for them! I used this set from Stampin'Up that was one of the very 1st stamps sets I ever bought and that I really love with the little tree in all 4 seasons... the house is from the $1 spot at Michaels. I saw pics of their beautiful garden and they have all those gorgeous trees and I instantly thought about this combination of the little house in the middle and the trees around. The ribbon looks black on the pic but it is really brown IRL. The house is very pale but I wanted it to be somewhat like their new house which is grey I believe... ;-)

As usual, with a click on the pic, you will be able to see a bigger version.

Birthday Carte Postale

This is a card I made for my Dad's birthday (which, ahem, was a month ago...)

I am still not very comfortable with masculine card so that is an area that needs more practice... ;-)

My dad loves to write and he's the one sending postcards to people when he goes on vacation so I thought "Carte postale" was the set to use, especially since I had found this paper with pics of old postcards. My attempt at making the paper look more vintage didn't go so well though since the distress ink I used was obviously too dark, but I like the end result nonetheless. The sentiment and bird are heat embossed with copper powder so it has a nice patina IRL.

I don't know that it is very masculine but I like those colors, and if you can't send cards you're not too sure about to your close family, whom can you send them to? ;-)

Happy mail and experimenting... :-)

I made this card for Elizebeth, who is a sweetheart, and sent me a big enveloppe of happy mail that I received yesterday! :-) In it were stamps, ribbon and tons of designer paper (and of course a gorgeous card ;-))... So I had to use some of those goodies to make her a thank you card...

Now that the card is finished and I'm looking at it, I can't decide if I like it or not. I think it is a little weird, which makes me love it, LOL, but if I had to re-do it I think I would do some things differently. I would likely lose the scalloped circle and find another way to place my sentiment.

This is something I like when I papercraft though, I never really know where it is taking me. Sometimes the result is completely different from what I had in mind when I started. Sometimes I don't even have something in mind and I just go with the flow... I think I learn so much about me like that, by experimenting, it helps me discover what I like and what I don't, what feels like me and what doesn't... I'm still looking for my style I think, and I know I tend to always use the same old layout that I am comfortable with but I want to do other things !

What I also like is that there isn't really rules in stamping/card making, and that when there are rules they are made to be broken. ;-) I'm really admirative of the stampers that can think out of the box, but I am not quite there yet!... One day maybe! I already have fun looking at the very 1st cards I made about 10 months ago... :-)

Birdie

Birds seem to be everywhere with the desire for spring.... and I received my new Cuttlebug embossing folders with birds and swirls so I had to go with it....

Light blue and brown is a color combo I obviously really like ;-) and I wanted something somewhat monochromatic (or should I say bi-chromatic?)... The flower is a little big for my taste but that's the only way to have the word appear in its heart... The bird is on foam tape and embossed with copper metallic powder.

Stamps: "Carte Postale" Stampin Up

Ink : Versamagic Sea breeze, Versamark, Brilliance Coffee Bean

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folder "Birds and Swirls", Copper embossing powder (Ranger), Prima flower, ribbon Target, gel pens

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I am especially thankful for all the wonderful people and fellow crafters I met over the internet. You guys are fun and inspirational in a lot of ways...

I am also thankful to have "found myself" through this new hobby of mine. 6 months ago I had no clue I could make cards and just play with paper & colors the way I enjoy doing it now.

This has been a new creative outlet for me and it feels really good!

Also I started my personal blog almost a year ago and have really enjoyed writing (it was always one of my favorite things), I have "met" some pretty awesome people along the way.

So Thank God for a year of self discovery and for bringing those lights into my life.♥

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS: For this card, it was the 1st time I was using my watercolors in 10 or 15 years and, boy am I rusted!!! I used to watercolor a little when I was (way!) younger and I think it's time to get back to it! I hope that with some practice it will come back to me!! :-)

Brown medallions card

I made this card today for my aunt (who's also my Godmother) who just turned 60.

It is belated but better late than never, right?...

I love this stamp set and I think it works very well with heat embossing.

I used copper brown powder, I wish it looked a little more brown and a little less copper but I like the monochromatic result.

Baby variation

Babies seem to be "blooming around" so I needed another baby card... :-)

Since I liked my little gift card holder so much I made a card with the same flair and patterns.

The card opens just like the gift holder but there is just a little note glued in there since it was designed to accompany a gift.

I think I need new baby stamps! ;-)

Sweet Pea

It's the middle of the night and I'm fighting my insomnia by uploading my latest cards. Those are my first baby cards. I made them tonight for cousins (2 sisters) who are both pregnant.

The pink one is for the one expecting a girl, I don't know for the other one so I went with cheerful colors....

Inspired by a card from Momontherun I printed my sweet pea on white paper first (and punched it out) then printed it again on different colored papers.

I cut each pea and the leaf out and glued them with pop-a-dot for some dimension (which obviously you don't see on my lousy pic...).

I added a little more definition with my metallic gel pens and used colored pencils, then of course I thought a little glitter (stickles) would finish it off nicely.

I punched 2 little holes and threaded a ribbon in it and added a little flower brad.

BTW, a big Thank You to Erika who sent me the nice stamps set from Stampin'Up that contains this sweet pea... ;-)

P.S: I don't know why the pictures I'm taking are always crooked, I swear I try to get them horizontal ! o_O