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)...

Polka-dots

I'm gonna take a chance posting this card before I know that the recipient got it but I think she is way too busy to visit my blog right now...

Chelsea asked if I would sell her a custom card to send her cousin Laura (a.k.a "the stampin' soldier") who's in Afghanistan. I was quite flattered that someone would offer to buy a card from me, and even though I didn't take her up on that offer, I was more than happy to make a card for Laura.

Since Nathan was born there just isn't time for cards or scrapbooking and I welcomed the excuse/motivation... ;-)

Chelsea mentioned the polka dots Prima she saw on another card and I started with that. Then I got the idea to add those adjectives (from a Cuttlebug folder) and I ended up with this strange card that I like a lot.

If you don't read Laura's blog yet (http://www.lauraevangeline.blogspot.com/), you should pay her a little visit. She shares her creativity and her experience as a soldier and she is a pretty amazing person.

Thanks Chelsea for the ego boost and making me a part of this! :-)

V-card for Naomi

Long time no see... Adjusting to life with one more family member is proving to be challenging! LOL!... Needless to say the creativity is on hold, not that I don't have the mojo but I just don't have time and the sleep deprivation makes me functionate at a sloooow pace...

Anyway, here's a little card for the fun, for my 7 1/2 years old daughter Naomi for Valentine's day... slightly flashy but it was intentional... ;-) The colors of the pics are slightly off because I used the laptop and I'm not familiar with the photo editing there...oops...

I used JustRite stamps for my custom sentiment. And funnily enough the superwoman stamp from the "kindred spirits" collection by Gina K. is called "Naomi"'!

Birthday gift-card holder

With the "new (little) man in my life", there just hasn't been time for scrapbooking or making cards!... But one of Noah's teacher's birthday is coming up so that gave me an excuse to make a gift-card holder for the class to give here. Obviously I went with simple and old design, things have to be fast these days! ;-)

(And sorry I took the pics at night so the colors are off...)

I will find the time to scrap and make cards again one day, before he enters kindergarten, right? Right?...

Now back to thank you cards and birth announcements...

BABY News!!! :-D

He's here!!! :-D

The latest member of the clan made his apparition Thursday January 22nd 2009 at 8:00 am via a planned C-section.
Nathan Eli Samuel was 22 inches long and tipped the scale at 9 lbs 14 ounces (he is actually the lightest of our babies at birth! thanks to the gluten free casein free diet I followed during pregnancy...).
He is, of course, the most beautiful baby ever, with his plump little round face, his soft little fuzzy head, his curious eyes and perfect little hands and feet...
We are ecstatic and so grateful to have been blessed with this new little miracle in our life. <3

Baby Lamb frame (PTI Guest Designer Submission)

When I came across this paper with the hills and the little sheeps I instantly thought about the card Nichole made when "Punny Valentine" stamps set came out last year and she made this little felt sheep....

So I just HAD to make this little frame for my (to-be-here-in-8-days) baby boy. I just wish I could have made a little lamb with his Mommy, I might have to try that afterwards.... (if baby takes long naps! LOL ;-))
I had to tweak the frame since I couldn't find the shadow box I wanted, but in the end it worked. I made 2 hills layers and added some nice clouded paper, all separated by pop-dots, and cut my little felt lamb with nestabilities. I cut some fringes in the paper to look a little more like grassy hills and inked the edges.

The outside is framed with a large green grosgrain ribbon and then another layer of PTI blue rain Gingham ribbon. (it's hard to see on the pics!).

As you can guess this is a hard to photograph project because of the reflections...

It was not intentional, but I think it is a pretty good match to my baby keepsake box made with the PTI heart box! :-D

I didn't make it for the guest designer submission but decided afterwards to submit it anyway...

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... :-)

Simple blooms

This is what I call a "flashcard". As I was putting away the ribbon, I had this flash in my head with this very simple card! It took no time to put together and looks exactly as I envisioned it. I'll send it to my grandmother.

Blue giraffe Thank-You

Unless she is playing the prolongations, today is the last day of Melanie's 1 week blogaversary celebration... So I made a last little card using her sets "So hippy" "So hoppy" and "Hip-hop accessories".

I am really bad at preparing things in advance, I tend to do everything last minute. Believe me, I have tried and am still trying to improve on that point!! My bag for the maternity isn't even ready yet... But I thought I would make the thank-you card for the hospital staff now! My husband can always come back home afterwards to grab my toothbrush if I deliver in an emergency but I doubt he will sit at my desk and make a card for the staff... ;-) ...

For this card I decided to go a little bit out of my comfort zone, by making a somewhat monochromatic card which is something I very rarely do. Since we're having a boy I decided to go all blue, I hope they won't be put off by a white and blue giraffe... ;-) Cutting the hair on the neck of the giraffe image was too time consuming so I made him a little "custom fringe" of my own instead with blue cardstock...

Melanie's blog-hop : my closet dividers

As I mentioned the other day, our dear Melanie is having a blog-hop to celebrate her blogaversary! :-) She nicely decided to feature the people that have been her guest-designers or have won one of her contests that past year! I was lucky to win (it was a tie with Donna) one of her contests so here I am! :-)

My project is closet dividers that you use to separate your baby's clothes by size. You might have seen those in baby stores, I used to think it was useless, but it is frustrating to put baby clothes aside because they are too big at the time, only to find them again when they are actually too small! ;-)

It's a simple project done using my Nestabilities, and Melanie's "Just so hippy", "Just so hoppy" and "Hip-hop accessories". I colored the images with Prismacolor markers (I didn't want to use OMS while pregnant), I made 2 of each so that they look the same on both sides, and I laminated them afterwards for durability and ease of use. You could certainly add little ribbons or other blings after laminating them, but I kept those simple since they are for my little one who should join us in less than 3 weeks now! :-)

{ETA: Not sure where my step by step pics disappeared over the years?... o.O But it's simple:

1- Cut ovals (I recommend layering 2 for durability or adding another layer like I did with the scallops.)
2- Punch out a circle at the top.
3- Color/decorate (keep it FLAT). Write the sizes.
4- Laminate.
5- Repunch the circle, then cut a simple thin slit (like 1/8 inch) on one side of the circle hole to be able to slide those on the hanging rod.
6- Decorate mote if you like, add ribbons etc...}

Melanie also asked us to answer a few questions so below are my answers:

Favorite technique: Paper dry embossing (I'm in love with my Cuttlebug folders ;-)) and I also love embossing with powder and my heatgun.
Favorite colors/color combo: I'm a rainbow kind of girl! The only color I don't like and use very rarely or in small touches is yellow. My favorite color is blue and I love pairing it with all kind of colors. Most of the time when I make a card or project it is with someone in mind so I get my color inspiration from the person or from the paper I feel like using that day, or the ribbon...
Favorite type of project to make that’s not a card: Anything with my kids in mind, and maybe giftcards holders. Oh and those mini albums I have been making lately...:-)
Favorite Gina K set by Melanie: It's hard to say, but I would go with "Have a cookie" and "Hand-in-hand" even though I have neither of them (yet! ;-))...
Favorite Gina K sets (from any illustrator): Same as above! :-)
Craft supplies I can’t live without: Well the basics: paper & cardstock, ribbons, stamps, coloring pencils and markers... for the "extras" I would say my Cuttlebug and the embossing folders and my Nestabilities... Of course Prima flowers and brads and... ;-)
I've been stamping for ...a little less than 1 1/2 year.
I get my inspiration from ...anything! But I am certainly influenced by all the crafty blogs I visit!.. ;-)
The most important things I’ve learned about stamping/cardmaking/scrapbooking are ...that's it's all about you! LOL! It's not about following rules or doing a perfect job or something that everyone will rave about, it's about having fun and expressing yourself! If in the process it makes someone else feel loved or appreciated then it's even better! :-D I started papercrafting to have something just for me that I enjoy and that relaxes me. It is definitely liberating and rewarding. I had no clue I would "meet" (over the net ;-)) so many wonderful people in the process! ♥...
Some of my stamping/crafting goals are: Make my kids' photo albums (much catching up to do in that area, years!!!..). Scrapbook more. Make a recipe book for my daughter with traditional french recipes from my grandmother. Maybe one day (years from now!) design my own stamps? Who knows?...
Some of my stamping/crafting accomplishments are: I still see myself as kind of a newbie in that field so my accomplishments are still ahead of me!... ;-)

There you have it, don't forget to visit Melanie's blog and check the talented ladies I was lucky to be featured with. Plus there are tons of fun stuff to win.... Now that's a celebration!!

Happy blogaversary Melanie! You sure deserve your success! :-)

Melanie's blogaversary.

Please go help Melanie Muenchinger celebrate a year of blogging and stamp designing over at her blog “Hands, Head and Heart”.
Melanie and her guest designers will be sharing cards and projects from all her sets released through Gina K Designs this past year and prizes will be up for grabs every day!
Sponsors include, Gina K Designs, My Favorite Things, Scor-pal, Paper Temptress, and Melanie herself, who is donating, among other goodies, a brand new box of Copic Ciaos! There will also be challenges, contests, and a Who’s Who “Where are they now?” on several of her past contest winners and guest designers!
Come join in the fun and help spread the word, see you there!

http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/

(I will post my "Melanie project" later this week... ;-)...)

Happy Hanukkah!

There is still one night of Hanukkah, so technically I am not late yet...

OK, well, I mailed those out late so they won't make it on time, but you know what they say "It's the thought that counts"! :-) Sorry the pics are bad because I took them in the sun, I had to mail them right away!.... The cards are very simple, there was no time for more! I embossed them with gold or silver embossing powder on beautiful shimmery cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I know in the pic you can't see the shimmer in the paper, but IRL it is really gorgeous.

Everything is really late this year, I am way behind, but baby won't!! ;-)

I hope everyone had a happy Holiday! :-)

Mini briefcase gift-card holders

I made those little briefcase gift-card holders for Noah's teachers and therapist. They were fun and easy to make, no need for a template or anything. They are closed with velcro, and I just stamped and wrote my little message in there instead of making a card.

The inside is pretty much the same for all 3, I just colored the cat in different colors.. :-)

The only problem is I discovered when I uploaded the pics, that the Prismacolor markers bled through the cardstock and made stains on the front of the light blue holder! :-( Luckily the paper has kind of an uneven color pattern so it almost looks like it's part of the paper pattern!... Phew...

Wouldn't those look cute hanging in a Christmas tree with little name tags attached to the handle?...

Winter wonderland...

This one is a quick "wink" for my friend Sandrine.

She used to be my "card-buddy" for a year and we would make cards together almost weekly, then she abandonned me last summer to move to New Jersey... :-(

Her kids must be extatic to see snow again but I'm sure she misses Florida and her pool, and the walks on the beach in the winter a little bit, so I couldn't resist making a cold winter card because I never make any of those... ;-D

I used gift-wrap (the snowman and the blue panel) and basically just added some Stickles here and there (that you can't really see on the pic, aside from the big blob on the snowflake that wasn't dry when I took the pic...!), and stamped the white panel randomly. I glued my snowman on cardstock and popped him up. All that was missing was a big cup of hot cocoa, but I don't have that in my stamps collection yet! :-D

Stationery set with My Timeless Templates

First let me tell you my pictures are horrendous, they're night pics and the colors are totally off and I can't seem to be able to fix that, so my apologies!... I want to gift-wrap this tonight since it's a gift for Naomi's teacher (to accompany some Ghirardelli chocolates) and I want her to take it with her to school tomorrow or I'm afraid I'll forget later on in the week!...)...

So, I made a little stationery set, using Lauren's template for the box (My timeless templates, available through PaperTrey Ink). By now you know how easy those are to use... ;-)

The card at the top of my post, with its "not-so-holiday-colors" is my card to go with the gift. Then you have the box closed, then the box opened (I used "Polka dots basic" to stamp my contrasting strips), and finally a sample of the cards and enveloppes. I made 4 of each, 2 different coordinating colors.

The polka dots strips on the cards are run through the Cuttlebug then inked, the little monogram circles and initials are from PaperTrey Ink.

It is a very simple set but I don't know the teacher very well and I think she isn't into frilly stuff... so I went with what I would like to get!! LOL! ;-) I hope she likes it, if not she can always use it to light up a fire in the fireplace while eating the chocolates! ;-)

Holiday card? *gasp*

Yes, I know, I don't do Holiday cards!!! ;-)

But this year being as crazy as it is, I decided there would be no "real gift" *gasp* (well, aside from our kids obviously! ;-)), only gift-cards or even checks... so I need to put those in a card! And since our Holiday card consists of a pic of the kids, and with everyone being really sick we haven't even taken said pic... You see where I am going with this! Hanukkah is in a mere 8 days and Christmas barely 10!...

So anyway, this is a card I made for my brother & family. I really like the mix of blue, white and gold for the Holidays, I am very anti red+green! LOL! ;-)

(Sorry the pic is a little blurry but you get the idea...)

Everything gold is heat embossed with gold powder, it adds a nice texture. The dove stamp is from Stampendous.

I used my new papertreyInk set "basic polka Dots" that I had been coveting for a while... the enabler was the baby to come, since I have plans to use this set for the birth announcements or most likely for the thank-yous matching the birth announcements (more about those another time, I don't want to spoil all the surprise yet! ;-)...)

Seriously...

Am I really expected to part with those? To use them on cards and gifts leaving my house? For real!??.... But...but.... they are so beautiful, how can I?

I am officially a "Primas' hoarder"... *sigh*

Any support group out there?... ;-)

Little secrets Pocket Book

This is another one of Lauren's templates (My Timeless Templates).

(You can actually download this one for free on PaperTrey Ink's website.)

Those little templates can become addictive you know ;-)... and I started with this one just to see how it would work out but without a definite idea in my head... These days this kind of creative spontaneity is very rare since I am always looking for time and my "to do" list isn't quite empty...

After a little bit of brainstorming with Naomi, we decided to personalize this pocket-book for my parents. They are coming in January to watch the kids while I go deliver the latest addition to the family and to help afterwards (Thank God for caring parents!♥). I like to make little projects with Naomi for them, because I always think it will be nice to look at her drawings and sloppy handwriting in a few years from now! ;-)

So basically the little pockets here are designed to hold little secret messages/love notes/drawings she will make for them during their stay and I'll make more blank cards (like the ones here in the picture) if need be... That way they can keep everything together in the same place, and can just open the booklet and look at those when they are back in France, miles aways from us, and missing their grandkids! :-(

I kept it pretty simple because I expect it to be all nice and colorful once it's filled with Naomi's artwork! :-D I just used Martha punches for the scallops and flowers, and scalloped scissors for the brown spine. The flowers' centers are buttons.