Flowers & stripes

Simple Thank You card that gives the paper center stage.... I punched little holes in the top scallop to match the bottom one. The cool paper is by DCWV... :-)

Happy Birthday Noah!

This is the card I made for Noah's 7th birthday. I'll admit I was scratching my head a little when I sat down at my desk, not quite knowing what to make... Then I decided, instead of trying to figure out what would appeal to him, to go with something that made sense to me, hoping that one day we can sit down together and re-read his old cards. He doesn't seem to care much about the cards now, but maybe one day it will matter to him that he had them.

So I leafed through my new stack of DCWV Flowers Shower and found this rainbow/clouds paper.

I always say Noah is my ray of sunshine so the tag grabbed my eye right away, I just added the Happy Birthday, and the little ladybug for fun... ;-) Then I made little rays out of cardstock and added the button to create a little sun. I love rainbows (who doesn't! ;-)) and the clouds reminded me of Noah's autism... :-( The rainbow peeking out of the clouds, is my hope that he will get much much better... Finally I added little rhinestones as rain drops (the tears I shed from watching my child struggle with life) and some Stickles on the clouds just to make it more interesting for him to look at, and because autism can be quite fascinating... :-)

The last touch was a little heart button, because I love this little guy to pieces...

School projects with the Cricut

These are some projects I made for Noah's school using my Cricut "Everyday Paper Dolls" cartridge. As you can see (or can't, unless you enlarge the pic... ;-)), I had fun with details. It was very time consuming because of all the different colors and the fact that everything is laminated, then cut again by hand. I didn't take pics of the "striped characters" but the clothes come off (there's velcro between all the layers) so that the kids have to dress the character appropriately for the weather. I love it, my only concern is that even with the laminating it might not be very sturdy over time...

This one was done using the same cartridge (and I think also the "Paperdoll Dress Up"). (Again it is hard to see, but clicking on the pic will give you the giant version.) This time it is sorting worksheets. ( in the kitchen/in the bathroom, animals in my house/animals in the jungle, toys/food, in the garden/in the sea). Same problem as above, besides the time consuming aspect to choose and cut all those little pieces, even laminated I'm wondering if they will withstand being handled by kids repeatedly. A larger version would have been better but then you don't have 2 different groups on the same page...

Anyway, I got those cartridges thinking my daughter would have a blast with them, but I have to admit I love them just as much... now if I only had the time to use them! ;-)

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... ;-)

In the spotlight: A Creative Mint

I LOVE this blog. Such gorgeous pictures, "vignettes of colors" as Leslie calls them. If you like colors and pretty pics, this blog is for you. Burst of instant happiness guaranteed!... :-D

http://www.acreativemint.typepad.com/a_creative_mint/

Enjoy! :-)

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!! :-)

"Bee-day"

A birthday card for my french friend Soizick, who knows me under the nickname of Bee, so I had to use that stamp set... ;-) And the bee dictated the yellow, which dictated the ribbon... Not my colors again, but it reminds me of spring so we're all good! :-)

Button Ballons

This is my last card for "my soldier". I just found out she is going home! :-)

If you'd like to support the troops, check out http://www.soldiersangels.com/, they have lots of opportunities for volunteers. You don't have to "adopt" someone, you can also chose to send cards to random soldiers. I think I will do that next, it was harder than I had expected to write regularly to someone you don't know a thing about without getting any feedback at all! I hope the visual of the cards did make up for the beyond boring writing inside!... ;-)

Anyway, simple straightforward card. Totally out of my comfort zone though, because those are not my colors. I hate yellow so I rarely use it but I picked my colors to match the flower ribbon so... ;-)

Baby girl

Super simple baby card. Just letting the paper do all the talking... :-)
I am in LOVE with those papers' collections: Nana's nursery, baby girl (2 used here) and baby boy, from DCWV. I have used them on lots of cards, most of them not even baby cards, and they are awesome! :-D

Baby Snail

I finally parted with the bassinet my 3 babies slept in when they were newborns!... It was time to move on... ;-) I made this card for the new baby sleeping in it... :-)

I love this sentiment from PTI. There is a lot of dimension you can't see in the pic, the snail is on foam tape, its shell is also on foam tape, and so are the button-wheels. By now you know I am a sucker for gingham... ;-)

I hope it's ok with the post office, I asked for it to be cancelled by hand...

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...)

Dunkin Donuts Birthday...

Another yucky picture taken at night... sorry! :-S A simple multi layers birthday card for one of Noah's teachers. The class got her a Dunkin Donuts giftcard so I used their color combo as my inspiration (I just went a little lighter), and a circle medallion to evoke a donut shape, since I don't have coffee theme stamps... ;-) And just for the record, she is super skinny and just likes their coffee (which she certainly needs before a day with autistic kids)... ;-)

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! :-)

Embossed planner

This is a project I just LOVE! it started with Post-It notes and a little planner and a new Cuttlebug folder. I had a few issues because of the size of the planner and pad (just a tad too big so that my cover paper didn't fit in my Cuttlebug anymore....) so I had to change directions like 3 times, but I do like the end result and it came out better than I envisionned. If it wasn't for a few little glue smears (grrr) it would be almost perfect! I was going to use my cool ATG gun, but a project I put together with it the other day came undone (to my big surprise since I used the permanent tape!) so I decided to stick with the yucky tacky glue... the monogram is made with PTI stamps and my Nestabilities.

I made this as a gift to someone but I like it so much that I think I will make another one for myself (especially since I have the same planner...;-)), using different colors, and maybe this time I'll add some stitching with the sewing machine. It came as an afterthought, and I had already glued the things inside, that stitching the perimeter would have kept my layers from ever coming undone! ... ;-)

Red Hello

Another card for "my soldier", using 2 new Cuttlebug folders, Herringbone and Moroccan screen. Now if you think my card is crooked because of the bad picture, maybe a little, but it is also in real life! LOL I noticed it actually after taking the picture, and since everything was put together I just let it be! *shame*. Apparently the herringbone folder distorted the cardstock, I guess I need to try with thicker cardstock next time... :-S Cute stamp is by Stampendous, I just added a tiny leaf because to me it was missing!... ;-)

Layered Thanks

Other quick layered cards. The 1st one has a white base, the 2nd one a cream base. I have been using more cream lately, I love the softer feel.

Paisley Thank You

By now you have guessed that my favorite accessory for paper crafting might very well be my embossing folders!... :-) Here I embossed vellum cardstock and rubbed some ink on it.

"Apple-pie"

Another simple card with the same model as the previous one. Can you tell I love that punch?.. ;-)

Flowery Thanks

I needed a quick simple Thank You card. This was it! (Although it wasn't that quick because I am a little rusty... ;-)) The cool punch is by Martha Stewart.

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.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today is my sweet little Nathan's 1st birthday!

Waow, where did that year go? One thing for sure is that there was way less papercrafting and sleep than the year before!... :-(

But he's obviously worth it, my little ray of sun, and I absolutely wanted to make a card for him today, even though all 3 kids are sick and so am I.

I was very proud of my clever gingham bear (whose purpose was to match the lovely ribbon...), until I remembered, halfway through the process, that Nichole (Heady, who created this set) made a card with a Copic-colored-gingham-look bear when the stamps set was introduced. Oh well... Guess it made its way into my subconscient... ;-)

I also tried to do a fuzzy brown bear with fun flock but I don't have a glue pad so it didn't go well... LOL

Now this isn't any ordinary bear, it's stamped 4 times actually, once on cardstock for rigidity, once on the gingham paper, then once on blue vellum to kind of give a more weathered look (didn't want a new bear, wanted a 1 year old bear ;-)...), then the last detail is the nose stamped on cardstock again. And then of course the bear is mounted on foam tape.The "one" is colored with markers and then I added a tiny higlight on each letter with my white gel pen (also on the bear's nose).

Now I wish you could have seen the smile Nathan gave that little blue bear when he saw it! Priceless!... HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN, love you to pieces!

The Love Boat

I love that card, simple and colorful. It's a mini that I made yesterday to leave on hubby's nightstand. The boat circle is on foam tape. Love the vintage carstock, also from PTI, with little flecks in the paper.

Pink, pink, pink...

Another simple card for "my soldier". I used scraps of paper I found while attempting to clear my desk, LOL! I just adore polka dots and gingham, and especially together.
I am not personally a fan of hot pink actually, but I think it makes for a happy card.
It would be perfect for a cold rainy day, wouldn't it?...

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

Condolences

This is one of those cards that don't photograph well (at least not in my crappy setting, LOL!), but I love it anyway because it's simple. The sentiment is heat embossed with silver powder and there is a tiny bit of silver also on the flower buds.
I love that sentiment from PTI, it reads: "Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us, to let us know they are happy."

Melanie's blog hop and my frog prince...

Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating two years of blogging and illustrating for Gina K Designs, and today she has invited 25 designers and YOU to join the party!

First hop through the following designers' blogs using every set she has created since January 2008, from the first to the 25th! Then go to Melanie's'blog to leave a comment for a chance to win a number of different prizes! So let's get hopping!

Here we go!

Just So Hippy-Charmaine
Just So Hoppy-Donna
What's in Your Tin 1 & 2-Donna
Hip Hop Accessories-Bee (you are here! :-))
Jumping for Joy-Barb
Cuddles and Hugs-Jessie
Little Tees-Cat
Just So Sporty-Pam
A Year of Flowers-Theresa
Say it with Flowers-Selma
Have a Cookie-Carolina
Tee Talk-Gabby
Hand in Hand-Ally
The Best Things in Life-Shannon, Sankari
A Charmed Life-Cathy
Wee Tees-Libby, Laura Jean
Arranged with Love-Selma
Sporty Accessories-Tina
Inspiration Mosaic-Jennie
School Sports Spirit-Melissa
A Year of Leaves-Geri
Hip to Be Square-Karen
Festive Frame-Linda
Tech Talk-Tech Talk- Lee


Finally, Nina and Jessica from the GinaK Senior Design Team have joined in, too!
You can also get in on the hop yourself and increase your chances of
winning a prize by creating your own project with any one of Melanie's sets and linking it in the Mr. Linky in her post, see full details here.
Hope you can join the fun! Enjoy your first hop of the year!

As for my card, it's pretty straight forward. I chose the little frog in honor of the new Disney movie "The princess and the frog" that I enjoyed with my daughter the other day. I made a simple pop-up inside with a little heart that says "kiss me".

Wishing you a wonderful NEW YEAR! May it be happy, healthy and peaceful! :-) <3>

Flowery vellum window

This is another card for "my soldier". It's a little hard to see on the picture but it's a piece of vellum cardstock that has been Cuttlebugged and then colored with Prismacolor markers, and affixed as a window on my card (so you actually can see the writing through the flowers). There's a tiny bit of glitter that doesn't appear on my pic, even though I took it in the sun... ;-)

Simple Holidays

A simple holiday card I made for "my soldier". The medallion is heat embossed with silver powder, and I used a silver sharpie for the dots on the cuttlebugged card front. The deep blue cardstock is from PTI and has this gorgeous metallic silvery shimmer (I took the picture with a flash to try to catch that shimmery effect). The stamp is from Stampendous and one of my favorite, this is all I wish everyone for the Holidays, Peace on Earth.

(as always click on pic for details).

Simple flowers for Soldiers' Angels

This is a special project for me for 2 reasons. First I LOVE this card because it is so simple! Making simple cards is actually a challenge, but they're my favorite! Second, this is the 1st card for a special someone: my "adopted soldier".

Soldiers' Angels (http://www.soldiersangels.org/) is a great organisation run by volunteeers, trying to make the life of deployed soldiers a little better. They have a lot of various team projects, and also give you the opportunity to "adopt a soldier". Basically it means that for the time of a soldier's deployment you agree to send them at least a letter/card a week and a care package a month. If you don't want to commit to this schedule or to a person in particular, there is also a "Letter writing Team" so check them out! :-)

I was lucky to have been assigned to a woman, because male cards are out of my comfort zone, LOL... So I suppose you will see some more simple (feminine!) cards on my blog very soon... ;-)

Holiday treats boxes

By now you know how much I love Lauren's templates (through PaperTreyInk until now, and soon through her own company My Time Made Easy). This one is called "Tucked away" and is perfect for chocolates and such. At first I was afraid it would be too small but you actually put more in there than I thought before it was assembled! I was able to squeeze 6 Ghirardelli squares and 10 Lindor truffles in the big size, (making sure to have a few that wouldn't fit in there, LOL!)... :-P Those are just so incredibly easy to put together and decorate, and it looks so much more polished than just giving the bag they came in!

Winter window

You know me, I don't make Holiday cards, it's way too time consuming... But sometimes you just need to make one... ;-) I had fun with this one, creating the window with a Nestabilities rectangle, and then using light blue vellum paper. I like the opacity it creates on the window like there is frost, but on the other hand as you can see, it makes it difficult to see through. So next time I'll try with acetate for a change...

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. :-)

Foil engagement card

My husband's cousin recently got engaged and this is the card I made. I used one of my favorite technique here, the kitchen foil embossed in a Cuttlebug folder, results are always stunning. The medallion is heat embossed with silver powder and the hebrew letter in the middle is then carved out, revealing the cardstock underneath. This letter means "life", I thought it was only appropriate for a couple starting a life together. :-)