Felt Birthday Birds

I love having details on a card that beg to be touched... felt birds will do just that in my opinion... ;-)

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.

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.

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 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. :-)

Vintage Thank You

Well if you know me at all, you know I hate everything vintage and antique, with the exception of old maps and old letters/postcards that I just adore. :-) Lucky for me they are all the rage this year... For this card I tried to create my own background paper with that in mind...

See, a couple of weeks ago was my birthday. I am still waiting for the cards from my crafty friends... LOL ;-) *pouts*... (Dear crafty friends if you are reading this, remember that one of my mottos is "better late than never!"... ;-)) So not only was I surprised when I received a beautiful card from a fellow DT member I haven't known for long, but she also sent me a Michaels giftcard in the cutest giftcard holder! o.O

So this thank you card is for her, and I used the supplies I got at Michaels from her to make the card! Namely Tim Holtz stamps set, and glimmer gold spray. :-)

As I said I am not comfortable with vintage so I'll admit making my own vintage background was a tad daunting at 1st, but I really like the end result. I also used PTI music sheet background stamps, and their big thank you that I heat embossed. I didn't want to hide that homemade creation behind a medallion for such a big sentiment, so instead I cut out the medallion with a Nestabilities, glued it on my card base and then glued the frame on mini pop dots around it. I added a tad of Trendy Twine, and following the trend of crinkled ribbons I decided to crumple my Prima flower in my hand... *gasp*. And surprisingly I like the frumpy flower result! :-)
And there you have it, Bee's rare attempt at vintage... ;-)

Spring is in the air

A simple card for a friend's birthday, made with my beloved Echo Park papers (Country drive collection here). :-) Love those little birds... :-) The stamps are by My Thoughts Exactly. Twine is by The Twinery.

Happy Bird Day

I made this card for a friend using my favorite tools: dies!! ;-)
The branch is a leftover from another project (SVGCuts file) but the birds and house are by QuicKuts and the leaves are by Spellbinder. The twine is from The Twinery, and this cute patterned paper is from the cupcake pack from Recollection that I used for the cupcake lever card in my previous post... ;-)

Now how's that for bright and cheery!?...

Birthday Cupcakes lever cards

While I was cleaning my photo folders I found those 2 cards that I made last month and forgot to post...
They're lever cards made with SVGCuts files. The photos are crappy but I took them at night plus I had a hard time figuring out what angle would be best... ;-)
The cool cardstocks are from Recollection (Michaels' brand), stamps are PaperTrey Ink, and twine is Trendy Twine.

If you are not familiar with lever cards, this is what it looks like from the top. As you can see the moving element (here the cupcake) appears on the outside and on the inside of the card when you open it. SVGCuts has several files for lever cards, they're really easy to put together and really fun to receive! :-D

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Lucky enough to have you

It's Trendy Twine Tuesday, and the 1st one for March, so today the whole design team has projects for you!

We went with a somewhat "St Patrick's Day" theme this month, and used Twisted Lime twine.

For my project I decided to make a birthday card for my e-friend Alice. See, everyone needs an Alice in their life! :-) She is kind and loving, beautiful inside and out. One of the sweetest persons I ever (not) met... ;-) I really hope I will meet her for real one day! It might take a while before it happens, because she lives in London... :-S
So in the meantime I will just be sending a little paper love her way. I thought this sentiment (by Papertrey Ink (Big Birthday sentiments)) was perfect for my clover card and for Alice!... ;-) I was looking for a "one in a  million" sentiment when I came across this one... ;-) I am definitely lucky to have her be a part of my life, even if it's only the virtual part... :-) One of the things I really love about acrylic stamps is how you can bend them and stamp a sentiment in a curve... :-)

I initially used twine on my leaves too but didn't like the look of it and removed it, I didn't think it was possible but there is such a thing as too much twine on a project!... *gasp* o.O
The front panel is on pop dots which allows space for the twine all around. And now that I am all finished and my picture is taken I suddenly wonder, why on earth didn't I fold those leaves down the middle and only glued them partially to give them dimension? The answer is simple: I am a victim of the post office. When I make a card now I often ponder wether it will fit into the dreaded 1/4 inch slot limit or not... I think I had that in the back of my mind when I decided to glue everything flat... ;-)

For more projects with Twisted Lime Trendy Twine, visit the Trendy Twine blog, where you will also find the details about this month's challenge:

The challenge is on from March 6th to March 30th. Your project must include a Shamrock, Glitter and Twisted Lime or Holly Green Trendy Twine. If you don't have any Trendy Twine,  you can substitute Green embroidery Floss instead. The Winner will receive 50 yards of Trendy Twine, color of their choice! :-D

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Feel better bunny...

The 3 years old daughter of one of my cousins recently fell in the stairs and broke her collarbone! :-( This happened to my daughter a few years ago (she fell from a tree) and it was a very painful and slow recovery. So I made a little card to cheer her up. :-)

I used Melanie's bunny, stamped on craft cardstock and cut out, then I bended the right paw, and made my own little sling out of Strawberry Cupcake Trendy Twine. So fun! :-)
I hope she'll get a little kick out of it... :-)

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Love Take-Out

It's Trendy Twine Tuesday and my project today is a take-out box for which I made a little twine handle.
Sorry for the so-so pics but I took them at night again... :-S

I braided 2 strands of Cherry Cupcake with 1 strand of Posy into a little string that I used as my handle.

 I added pins and a tiny knot of more Cheery Cupcake. The word was handwritten with a Versamark marker and heat embossed with navy powder. I LOVE that crackled paint heart... it's actually made using a die and it's from a paint sampler from the hardware store! ;-) I added some touches of paper tape here and there just for fun... ;-)

The angel wings were a special request on my part, and were made by SVGs by Bee. I re-trimmed them to make them a tad smaller. Finally I added a few buttons threaded with Posy twine.

To help keep the top closed I used a loopy brad and more Cherry Cupcake twine.

I kept the back super simple with just some more tape and a glitter heart. :-)

And that's it for today. Don't forget to visit the Trendy Twine Blog to enter this month challenge! :-)

Vintage Floral Tin

I made another little tin with Trendy Twine around it. I think by now the recipient must have received it so I can share... ;-)

I used double side Tacky tape so the twine will stay in place securely... I used Chocolate Truffle and Strawberry Cupcake, since my recipient's favorite twine color is pink... :-)

Everyone should have a cute little tin like that to leave on their desk to hold paperclips and what-nots!... :-)

Inside I used some more paper from the same pad. I especially love this one.

Those little chocolates feel right at home in there... It looks like it was meant to be!... ;-D

And good news: Annie's Paper Boutique now carries those little tins too! You can find them here. They are really fun and easy to work with and make nice little gifts. :-)
You can find other tin projects I made under the "tin" tag in my margin, or here. If you make one, please link to it in my comments section, I would love to see it! :-)

My Thoughts Exactly: January project...

In honor of the new year and the new Design Team term (and new members) things are a little different this month at My Thoughts Exactly.
Instead of our usual group post on the 1st of the month with a new stamps set, each DT member get to be showcased for one day and Alyssa asked us to make a project with our favorite set. And Alyssa gave us a few questions to answer to get people to know the team better...

For my project I chose the Birds & Bees set. It is pretty much impossible to chose a favorite...and I could have gone with Many Thanks or Sweet Thoughts, since they also are both go-to sets for me... but I HAD to go with the bee obviously... ;-)
After all it is my nickname, and I have been lucky enough to be on the My Thoughts Exactly Design Team from the very beginning and this was the 1st set released, so it seemed only fitting to use it... :-)

I found a little bee in my stash (from a Cricut cartridge) that was perfect for what I had in mind... I used lots of foam tape and pop dots because I love dimension and had fun creating a little flower field with my 1/2 inch circle punch... ;-) And of course I had to use a tiny bit of Trendy Twine... ;-)

Below is my little interview, although I am pretty sure you know all that already:


How long have you been paper crafting?

For about 4 years.

How did you get started paper crafting?

I decided one day out of the blue to make my daughter's birthday party's invitations and started looking into rubber stamps and such. I ended up not making  the invitations that year after all, but I was hooked and started my blog shortly after that and “met” lots of other papercrafters this way and became slightly addicted!...

What is your favorite type of paper crafting project to make?

I like making cards, home décor,  gift wrapping , scrapbooking... but cards are what I  make most often because it is fast... ;-)

What is your ‘must have’ paper crafting tool?

Most definitely my dies and embossing folders. <3

What inspires you most?

I honestly  don't know. Most of the time  it all starts because of a beautiful  sheet of paper that caught my eye...

What is your favorite thing about MTE stamps?

I love their versatility, there are SO many options with them. I just love being able to play with the words, and also play with the stamps themselves like bending them to stamp in a curve etc...

What is your favorite MTE stamp set?

I can't pick just one.  I especially like the “Birds and Bees” because it was the 1^st one to come out and since my nickname is Bee I tend to use it a lot, also the “Sweet Thoughts” and the “Many Thanks” are go-to sets. But the truth is I like them all!  ;-)

And last but not least, to celebrate the new Design Team in style (and as a reward for reading this loooong post! ;-)), My Thoughts Exactly is giving away a stamps set a day till the end of the team's introduction. Since today is my pick, I chose the Birds & Bees set. For a chance at winning it, all you have to do is leave a comment here and I will pick a random winner next week. I am not asking anything from you in return, but I can only recommend that you check out our awesome Design Team. This is a bunch of talented and fun ladies and I am sure you'll enjoy visiting their blogs. :-)

To see the previous posts about the new members, their interviews and projects, visit Alyssa's blog.

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Love is in the air

It's Trendy Twine Tuesday and today for my project I used the new yummy Cherry Cupcake! :-P

I made a vertical card (fold is at the top for a change) and used only die cuts and stamps. Only once I was taking pictures did I realize that I glued things crooked on my card... Oh well... :-s That's what I get for crafting at night with poor lighting... Let's just pretend that you didn't noticed it... ;-)

I glued the twine in the shape of little hearts to follow the pattern of the die cut. Unfortunately I also applied some Stickles on it afterwards which makes it hard to see the twine real well on the picture... But it's nice and glittery in real life... ;-) I also added a little twine "line" at the bottom...

... which is tied up inside the card. I like it when you can have a fun little detail inside the card for a change. I think sometimes I forget about the inside... ;-)

Don't forget to visit the Trendy Twine Blog to see all of the projects of the Design Team since today is our beginning of the month group post! :-D

My Thoughts Exactly Thursday: Ornament boxes

I promise, I promise this is the LAST Holiday project! ;-P
I just kept it for now because it is My Thoughts Exactly Thursday today...

So for this project, I started with 3X3 kraft boxes, from Annie's Paper Boutique.

I then heat embossed the ornament stamp from Holly Jolly Tags on each side with white powder, and colored it with Sharpies. I added little Trendy Twine bows.

The sentiment on top is from Holly Jolly Phrases. I love the font of that big H!... :-)

That's it for Holiday projects!! :-D I am ready to move on and looking forward to making a few cards for my next projects.... :-)
I hope you're enjoying a nice Holiday Season and I wish everyone a very Happy New Year! :-)

Trendy Twine Tuesday: Happy Holidays

It's Trendy Twine Tuesday! :-)
This is my project for today. I was scratching my head, trying to think of a new way (at least to me... ;-)) to showcase twine on my card...

 ...when I thought about twine "photo corners"... :-) Here I used Holly Berry for my corners.
I also couldn't resist adding a little bow to my wreath, and I decided to go with a more unexpected color: Sky

Everything is of course on pop dots, even though it doesn't show much on the picture... ;-)
The papers are from Recollection (Michael's own brand), it's hard to see in the pic but there is glitter in the paper all over. The stamp is from My Thoughts Exactly, and was heat embossed.

And now just because it is the 1st day of Hanukkah today (it starts tonight after dark), I thought I would share with you my little dreidel decoration.

Now I know it's a bit hard to figure out on this little picture but pretty much what it is is little dreidels attached with Trendy Twine to the chandelier to form a sort of mobile... Dreidels are little spinning tops with hebrew letters painted on them that kids use to play a game at Hanukkah (and win chocolate coins... ;-))

I used all kind of twine colors, attached it with hot glue, and added a little bow at the top of each dreidel for good measure... ;-D

Let me finish by wishing you all a very Happy Holiday Season. I hope you get to spend some time with your family and make new happy memories. <3

SVGs by Bee Wednesday: Fancy trees

Today is our group post for SVGs by Bee! So don't forget to visit my fellow DT members!

* Bee at Bee's Hive o' Drama
* Becky at The Happy Card Encouragement Factory
* Alyssa at My Thoughts Exactly

For my card today I started with the curtain card as my base. Since my mat was too sticky and my paper didn't like it, I ended up not using it like I had initially intended, and I made it a simple panel instead, that I matted with a red base.
My fancy trees are from the Christmas Tree gift bag files. I added a few brads, some Stickles, and a bit of Candy Cane Trendy Twine.
I did toy with the idea of a sentiment, but the card was already busy in my opinion so I just added a stamp in a corner...
Well that's it for today. I hope you are having fun preparing for the Holidays, and don't forget to go check my talented crafty friends... (links at the beginning of this post... ;-))