Paris Washi...

If you love Washi tape like I do, but are sometimes wondering what to do with it other than putting accents here and there, here is a way to play with it... Basically you just cover your card with pieces of Washi in different sizes and directions. I had so much fun with this that I even did the back of the card... ;-)
And no I am not missing Paris and France... ;-) *sigh*

Party Animal...

Nathan's 4th birthday card.

Happy 3rd Birthday

I forgot Nathan's 3rd birthday card... ;-)

Cloth accent Birthday card

My son's teachers are having their birthdays this week, so I made them this card for the parents of the class to sign. I made 2 of the same because I was too tired to find inspiration for 2 cards (my mojo should be ashamed... >.<)
The idea to stamp on cloth came from my sweet friend Thienly from Mod Paperie. She has been on a cloth and burlap kick for a while now and I love the introduction of a different texture! :-)
The little heart tag is free floating, just held by the pin.

Butterfly Birthday

A simple card I made recently where the paper does all the talking. Only had to add an (heat) embossed sentiment and that was it... :-)

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.

Simple Thanks

My mojo took a hike a while back and hasn't returned as of yet... so I was a little nervous when I sat down at my desk to make a card for one of my sons' teachers who is leaving the school system to do private therapy.
I think when you are unsure what direction you are going, it's always a good bet to let the paper do the talking, so that's what I did using my favorite stack Que Sera Sera.
I simply embossed the sentiment (cut an acrylic stamp to use just the part I wanted) and added some twine (the Twinery) and some edging.

Baby Brag Book

One of my husband's cousin had a little boy and I made this little brag book to accompany the gift. Every proud new mama needs something to display pics of her new baby wherever she goes... :-)

Inside are pages of double sided cardstock that she can just glue pictures on.

This is actually quite easy to do. The cover is a piece of cardstock that has been embossed with a folder that looks like some sort of leather to me, and the pages are just cut to size and sewn with a sewing machine.

To decorate the cover I just used some of the same cardstock from inside, and some felt buttons (glued on with a hot glue gun so there is no chance they will come off even if this is carried in a purse). I used special brads and some twine to make sure this stays closed as well.

I made a simple card to go with it, using more of the coordinated cardstock, and heat embossed the sentiment. The twine on the brag book is by Trendy Twine, the one on the card is by the Twinery. Stamp is My Thoughts Exactly. The button dies are by the Cat's Pajama.

Handle with care...

If you are getting tired of all the blue cards of late, hang in there, I am sure my "blue period" will be over at some point... ;-)
This is another card using a sponged ink background. This one is hidden by some stamped text afterwards, but I just love this blue hue! (yes, it is my favorite color... ;-)) The rest is pretty straightforward with a distressed heart and more stamping.

This heart has been through some pretty rough times, you could even say it's been crumpled!... ;-)

Star light, Star bright...

As I said in my previous post, I had way too much fun inking my fingers blue to stop at one background... I couldn't wait to make a sky... (grey cardstock with different shades of blue ink sponged on it and blended with a make-up sponge). That quote and images were just screaming to be used with it... <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">

Again I used Versamark, and silver and gold embossing powder. I did a bit of a sloppy job with the powder around the stars (spread it out a bit with a brush) to try and create a "glow" around my stars. I like how it breaks up the uniformity of the sky even more...

Birthday Silver Doilies

I made this card for my grandmother's 90st  birthday. I was gonna go with bright florals when I remembered this stamps set I had been dying to use and hadn't inked yet, even though I got it at least 6 months ago! *shame* >.< Truth be told, when I got that set I had a card exactly like that in mind... Blue background and silver embossing...
I had a blast making this card, ideally I would like it even better without the sentiment hiding the background... ;-)
I started with grey cardstock that I sponged with different shades of blue and purple, I loved how it came out so much that I have already made several other blue backgrounds for other cards to come!... ;-)  -> If you ask me, it was well worth my smurf blue fingers!... (*note to self, use gloves next time*...) Then I used Versamark ink and silver embossing powder with my heating gun.

I am in love with that effect... Embossing has always been one of my favorite things to do with paper...
I think it is safe to assume there will be more blue cards with metallic embossing in my near future... Actually there's one coming right up!... ;-)

Love Graffiti

When I saw the brick embossing folder, I don't know why but I instantly thought about a wall with graffiti on it... So I went along with this idea, combining it with a teenage vibe... You know, those high school years... that crush you scribble the name of all over your notebooks, and draw tons of hearts everywhere?... That's what I wanted to recreate... ;-) Everything is a little blended together because, you know, it's an old wall, and it's been a while since high school!... LOL ;-) Now stepping back, it seems to me like a bit of a dirty wall/project, but then again that kind of was my idea, wasn't it?... ;-)

I used My Thoughts Exactly "Lovey Puns- food" stamps for the love messages...

Purple & cork birthday

Yes, I know, it's been over 2 months of total silence and now I am posting twice the same day... *gasp* Don't panic, I am not going from one extreme to the other... ;-) But my kids will be back to school in 2 days and hopefully I will soon find my way back to my desk!! You have no idea how much I missed it... I am in total withdrawal...

This is a very late card for my friend's birthday, her favorite color is purple so I went quite heavy with it and kept it rather monochromatic. The leaf and butterfly are cut out of cork sticky sheets and then stamped. The sentiment is heat embossed in metallic copper.

Birdies Thank you

A simple thank you card for one of my daughter's teacher, to go with a set of cards (here) that I made for her. :-) Used the same origami paper as background, and little birds to tie it up together...

Birdies Notes

More teachers'gifts... I know that the teachers like to give little thank you notes to some parents at the end of the year, like the room mom etc... So I made some sets of note cards for my daughter's teachers.

I used some patterned origami paper as a background and created a little stamp to put on it. Most of the time I used the same paper to paper piece my bird...

I love paper piecing and here it is really fun to see how each bird looks different... I also colored the wing on this one for more contrast.

Here they are all packaged up and ready for giving away... :-) (PTI clear boxes are pretty awesome if you like to gift cards to people.) The twine is from The Twinery, love that pop of color with the white contrast. :-)

Miss you

A simple card I made for a far away friend. :-) Started with some K & Company paper and then I used some stamps from Kim Hugues (the palmtrees, plane, and miss you) and Tim Holz (the Eiffel Tower, postage stamp and diamond pattern). I am still struggling with vintage inspiration obviously (and the distress ink gave me some trouble... LOL ;-)) But I'm working on it!... :-)

New Home

The cat is out of the bag so I can share my picture now. :-) SVGCuts Design Team members asked if we'd like to make a housewarming card for Leo and Mary using SVGCuts files. Here's my take with the house from "Strawberry Lane". I wish I had had more time to put little curtains... ;-) I just used vellum paper that I colored blue. The house is of course on foam tape.

For the sentiment I used My Thoughts Exactly "More mini Thoughts" stamps set. :-)

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

Paris Butterflies

Thanks for bearing with me through all those Holiday wrapping projects. I still have one to come this Thursday for the My Thoughts Exactly Thursday and then I promise this is all done with! ;-)

I thought we could use a little change of scenery, and remembered I forgot to post this card that I made a little while ago, using dies and punches only. You know how much I love the basic card, the one that doesn't involve getting the electronic cutter out...
It's one of those cards that got created on a whim... I found the black rectangle with white brads in my stash, something I had made for another project and ended up not using, and then the card came to me instantly... :-) I think I might have been especially homesick that day... ;-) I wish I could fly to Paris...