Under construction

...et demain! / ...and tomorrow!

2012-01-26T22:20:00.000+01:00

Hello! Tout d'abord, je voulais vous dire un immense merci pour tous vos message d'encouragement! Je les apprécie plus que je n'arrive à le dire! <3 En ce moment, je vais mieux, surtout physiquement. Je me remets aussi à bricoler, il y a du thérapeutique là-dedans. Alors voici une page dont j'ai fait le projet encore avant la catastrophe. J'aime beaucoup ce rendu de tamponnage blanc sur cardstock noir rehaussé par des motifs embossés en couleurs.

Hello! First, let me say a huge THANKS for all your messages of encouragement! I appreciate them more than I can say! <3 Right now, I'm doing better, especially physically. I've started scrapbooking again, it's therapeutic! Here's a layout that I've sketched out before the catastrophe. I like the effect of white stamping on black cardstock enhanced by images embossed with colored powders. The story is about my kids who can fight as all brothers & sisters. But there are moments when without any apparent reason they just hug. And this melts my hearts every time...

J'ai utilisé des tampons de Hero Arts qui ne sont pas très récents mais en fait, il y a-t-il des tampons "demodables"??? Un gros plan sur la bordure qui a été tamponnée avec de l'encre Versamark...

I used some Hero Arts stamps that are not that new. But in fact, are stamps only temporary??? A close up on the border that was stamped with Versamark for a subtle effect...

Et un autre. Rien ne vous frappe quand vous regardez le titre? Et bien, il me manquait la lettre "a" sur la planche d'alphabet mais que nenie, j'ai coupé un bout dans un "q" (pardon, je raconte la vérité! mdr...) ainsi que dans un coma et voilà, j'ai pu quand même faire un titre en jaune!

And another one. Is there anything about the title that catches your eye? Well, there were no "a's" in my alphabet but what's creative approach for? I cut out a piece out of a "q" and also in a coma and here we go, I still could make a yellow title!

Merci encore de suivre mon actualité, aussi quand ça va mieux! A bientôt!

Thanks again for sticking with me, also when things go better! See you soon!

Hier et aujourd'hui... / Yesterday and today...

2012-01-20T23:02:00.004+01:00

Hello! Hier j'ai appris que ma carte avec le ballon en coeur a été sélectionnée comme gagnante sur le blog de Hero Arts. C'est une victoire au goût doux - amère. Dans d'autres circonstances je serais plus que ravie. Mais en ce moment tout cela me paraît tellement moins important que ce que nous vivons...

Hello! Yesterday I've learned that my heart balloon card was selected as a winner on Hero Arts blog. It's a bitter-sweet victory. In other circumstances I'd be very happy. But right now it all appears so much less important than what we go through...

Aujourd'hui nous avons eu une petite cérémonie pour dire adieux à notre toute petite disparue il y a 10 jours. Vous savez, ce qui a des plus navrant dans cette histoire c'est qu'elle allait parfaitement bien, même un jour avant que l'infection se déclare. Elle était née vivante! Mais était trop petite pour vivre... Dans une mesure c'est triste que tout ça s'est passé le jour d'anniversaire de mon autre fille. Mais si c'était un autre jour, je ne sais pas si je serais là pour écrire ce texte. Nous avons eu une conversation par skype avec mes beaux-parents ce soir-là et c'est eux qui nous ont rendus conscients de la gravité de la situation et nous ont dit de chercher de l'aide immédiatement... C'est une chose shockante de se dire que mon bébé m'a sauvé la vie, qu'autrement je ne serais pas là aujourd'hui. L'infection l'a attaquée d'abord, moi j'étais la suivante si ce n'est pour les antibiotiques...

Today we had a little ceremony to say goodbye to our littlest one gone 10 days ago. You know, what's so heartbreaking about it all is that she was doing perfectly fine even the day before the infection broke out. She was alive when born! But too little to live... It's sad in a way that it all happened on my other daughter's birthday. But would it be another day, I don't know whether I'd be writing this right now. We had a skype conversation with my in-laws that evening and they told us to look for help immediately... It's a shocking thing to think that my baby saved my life, otherwise maybe I wouldn't be here today. The infection attacked her first, I was the next in line were there no antibiotics...

Il y a quelques mois j'ai fait cette carte. Je me demande pourquoi j'ai choisi ce texte. J'imagine pour être un peu plus originale. Mais l'enverrai-je à quelqu'un qui traverse une période difficile? Aimerai-je en recevoir une comme ça? L'ai-je faite pour moi-même?...

A few months ago I made that card below. I wonder why I've chosen this sentiment on it. I guess I wanted to be a little more original. But would I send it to anyone who's going through a rough time? Would I like to receive a card like this? Have I made it for myself?...

Presque tous les jours Dieu me donne une pensée encourageante. Aujourd'hui c'était: combien plus serai-je dévastée si j'avais perdu mon mari ou mon fils ou mon autre fille... Alord j'écoute mon garçon prier pour un nouveau bébé et la protection de Dieu sur lui, ma fille qui me murmure dans l'oreille: "Dors bien Maman, fais des beaux rêves!", ou je sens tout simplement les bras de mon mari autour de moi et je suis reconnaissante... Je vais guérir, lentement, un pas à la fois... Surtout que je sais que mon Espérance est entre les mains d'Amour...

Almost everyday, God gives me an encouraging thought. Today it was: how much more devastating it would have been if I'd lost my husband or my son or my other daughter... So I listen to my son praying for a new baby and God's protection on it, my daughter whisper to my ear: "Sleep well, Mommy, have nice dreams!" or just feel my husband's strong arms around me and I'm grateful... I will heal, slowly, one step at a time... Especially that I know my little Hope is in good hands...

Merci de me lire, hier et aujourd'hui...

Thanks for sticking with me, yesterday and today...

Un jour spécial 2 / A special day 2 + Project 12

2012-01-16T22:49:00.003+01:00

Bonsoir les amis! Il y a une semaine j'écrivais ce billet pour fêter l'anniversaire de ma fille. Combien peu je savais ce qu'il allait arriver ce 10 janvier 2012! Il y a une chose que je vous ai caché - j'étais enceinte de 17 semaines déjà. J'attendais un moment opportun pour vous le dévoiler, avec une page p.ex., mais je n'ai pas réussi. Et voilà que mardi il y a une semaine je n'étais pas très bien. A la fin de la journée je me suis retrouvée aux urgences et peu après minuit j'ai accouché d'une petite fille. Elle nous a offert quelques moments de douceur puis est partie vers son Créateur... Depuis, mon coeur pleure et demande cette question sans réponse: pourquoi?

Hello my friends! One week ago I was writing this post to celebrate my daughter's birthday. Little did I know how "special" this day would become! There's one thing I was hiding from you - I was pregnant of 17 weeks and was trying to find an occasion to announce it here on the blog, with a layout for example, but didn't succeed. On this day of 10th of January 2012 I didn't feel very well. At the end of the day I was driven to the hospital and shortly after midnight I gave birth to a little girl. She offered us some moments of tenderness and then flew away to her Creator... Since that day, my heart mourns and asks this question without an answer: why?

La vie doit reprendre et je vais gentiment réapparaître ici pour vous montrer des projets déjà finis depuis un moment. Mais je vais probablement être plutôt discrète et peu bavarde pendant encore un moment... Aujourd'hui, c'est le tour de ma version du sketch de décembre de Becky Fleck pour le Project 12. Voilà le sketch:

Life has to go on and I will slowly reappear here to share some projects that are finished for some time now. But I will surely be rather discreet and not very talkative for a while still... Today I want to show you my take on Becky Fleck's December sketch for Project 12. Here's the sketch:

Et ma version: / And my version:

J'ai utilisé des restes d'une collection de LYB de l'année dernière et je suis vraiment navrée qu'il ne m'en reste plus que des tout petits morceaux...

I've used almost last pieces of a LYB collection from last year. And I'm really sorry that I'm left with only scraps now...

Que trois photos: notre fils avec le St-Nicolas, notre sapin et notre fille à la fabrique du chocolat que nous avons visité le dernier jour de l'année...

Three pictures only: our son with Saint Nicolas, our Christmas tree and our daughter in the chocolate factory that we've visited on the last day of the year...

J'ai fait cette rosace il y a une année et là enfin elle a trouvé sa place...

I made this medallion a year ago and here finally it found its place...

Voilà pour ce soir. A bientôt?...

That's it for tonight. See you soon?...

Un jour spécial... / A special day...

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! Aujourd'hui nous fêtons 3 ans de notre Puce. Incroyable - déjà!!! Pourtant, il semble qu'elle vient de naître...

Hello! Today we're celebrating 3rd birthday of our daughter. Incredible - already!!! But it seems that she just came to this world...

Cette dernière photo naturellement n'a pas été prise aujourd'hui, là ma fille a les mains dans les fèves de cacao plutôt que dans du chocolat. Mais ça viendra à coup sûr! :)

This last picture was not taken today, definitely. Here, my DD has her hands in cocoa beans rather than in chocolate. But it will come for sure! :)

Aujourd'hui il y a aussi quelqu'un d'autre très cher à mon coeur qui fête son anniversaire. Mais comme je n'aime pas gâcher des surprises, je ne vais pas dévoiler ce qui voyage en sa direction. Je me contenterai de dire: Joyeux anniversaire, Alexandra!

Today there's also someone else who's celebrating her birthday. But as I hate spoiling the surprise, I won't show here what's travelling in the snail mail across the ocean. I'll only say: Happy Birthday, Alexandra!

Coeur en ballon / A balloon heart

2012-01-07T22:46:00.004+01:00

Hello! J'ai tout plein de choses qui attendent un petit moment de ma part pour être postées. Mais ce soir je vais faire vite et vais vous montrer une petite carte faite pour le défi mensuel de Hero Arts. Le thème est L'amour (quoi d'autre en cette période de l'année???) et une combo de couleurs. Et voilà que ma carte combine les deux!

Hello! There are plenty of things just waiting for me to post them here. But tonight I'm gonna make it quick and will show you a card I made for the Hero Arts monthly challenge. The theme is Love and a color combo. And my card combines both of those!

Un petit historique de ce ballon en coeur. J'ai eu cette idée il y a un moment déjà, j'ai même fait une carte pour un appel mais elle n'a pas été choisie pour l'instant donc l'ai gardé sous le coude pour plus tard. Comme maintenant je vois que d'autres arrivent aux même conclusions (on peut faire des embellissements ronds en 3D, pourquoi pas avec des coeurs?), alors j'ai refait mon idée de ballon et nous voilà! En plus, cette combo de couleurs est assez rafraîchissante, vous ne trouvez pas? :)

A little story behind this heart balloon. I had this idea quite a moment ago, I even made a card that still hasn't been picked so I keep it for later. But I start to spot some others that came to the same conclusions (one can make 3D round embellies, why not heart shaped ones?), so I lifted my first card and here we are! Plus, this HA color combo is quite refreshing, don't you think? :)

J'entre aussi cette carte dans le défi sur Moxie Fab World sur l'utilisation des perforatrices. Voilà, je vais m'arrêter là. Mon lit m'appelle de façon insistante alors je vous dis à bientôt!

I enter this card as well into the Punches Challenge on Moxie Fab World. That's it, I'll stop here. My bed calls me insistently... See you soon!

Et voilà! / Here it is!

2012-01-05T23:26:00.000+01:00

...pour le pas-à-pas annoncé précédemment, c'est par ICI!

...the step-by-step announced a few days ago, it's HERE!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

2012-01-01T00:01:00.002+01:00

Bonne Année!!!!!!!!!!! / Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pssst! Vous allez bientôt avoir droit au petit pas-à-pas de cette carte sur le blog de mSB alors restez alertes!!! Et jusque là, amusez-vous bien!

Pssst! There's soon gonna be a step-by-step for this card on myStamp Box so stay alert!!! But till then, have fun!

Cadeaux maîtresses p.I / Teachers' gifts p.I

2011-12-27T21:19:00.005+01:00

Hello! Noël est derrière et j'ai enfin le temps de vous présenter un des cadeaux que j'ai fait pour les maîtresses d'école de J (qui est en même temps ma participation au concours mensuel de Hero Arts). C'est qu'il en a deux! Et c'est la première fois que je produis quelque chose. J'ai décidé de faire deux cadeaux différents et en voilà le premier: un set de cartes et une boîte pour les abriter.

Hello there! Christmas is over and finally I have some time to show you one of the gifts I made for J's school teachers (which at the same time is my participation in Hero Arts monthly contest). Because he's got two teachers! And it's the first time that I make something. I decided to make two different gifts and here's the first one: a set of cards and a box to house them.

Mon set a été inspiré par ces cartes de Tami.

My set was inspired by these cards by Tami.

Les voici empilée dans leur boîte...

Here they are piled in their box...

...avec le couvercle fermé...

...with the lid closed...

...et la boîte en entier. Pour la faire je me suis servie du tuto de Betsy Veldman.

...and the whole box. To make it I used Betsy Veldman's tuto from this post.

J'ai de nouveau utilisé la poudre à embosser avec du glitter, découpé cette grande étiquette et l'ornement aussi embossé que j'ai monté sur des mousses 3D. Voici un détail:

I've used again the glitter embossing powder, cut out the large label and the ornament that I mounted on dimensional adhesive. Here's a detail:

Alors voilà le premier cadeau. A bientôt avec le deuxième! :)

So here's the first gift. See you soon with the second one! :)

Le poste qui le dit tout seul... / The post that says it all...

2011-12-25T00:35:00.000+01:00

L'inspiration dernière minute / Last minute inspiration

2011-12-23T23:06:00.002+01:00

Hello! Alors, tout est prêt chez vous? Chez nous c'est à peu près le cas et demain les Fêtes commencent! Ca va être deux jours très intenses mais quel bonheur d'être avec la famille! Enfin, si jamais vous avez besoin encore d'une petite idée pour une carte des voeux, en voilà pas une mais deux. Je les ai faites pour myStamp Box. La première utilise les maisons du set Neighborhoods, le flocon du set Let it Snow!, les étoiles du set Deck the Halls et les voeux du set Everyday Lines. J'avoue que je suis asset accro de la poudre à embosser avec l'effet paillettes! Pourquoi personne ne m'en pas parlé avant?

Hello! So, is everything ready for you? At our place it's practically the case and tomorrow the Holidays start for us! It's gonna be two days very intensive but what a happiness to be with the family! Anyway, if ever you need an idea for an extra Christmas card, here's not one but two. I made them for myStamp Box. The first one uses the row of houses from Neighborhoods set, the snowflake from Let it Snow! set, stars from Deck the Halls set and sentiment from Everyday Lines set. I freely admit that I became quite addicted to embossing powder with glitter! Why no one told me about this stuff before?

La deuxième utilise le tag du set Road Trip et les voeux deu set Small Greetings. J'y ai aussi ajouté quelques papiers d'une collection de Cosmo Cricket et une étoile en bois que j'ai décoré avec des Stickles.

The second one uses a tag from Road Trip set and a sentiment from Small Greetings set. I've added also some papers from a Cosmo Cricket collection and a wood star that I've decorated with some Stickles.

Et si jamais cela n'était pas assez, je vous invite à faire un petit detour par le blog de la compagnie où vous pouvez glaner encore plus d'idées! A bientôt!

And if ever this was not enough for you, I invite to make a tour on company's blog where there's a Christmas cards showcase! See you soon!

Il y a de l'espoir... / There's hope...

2011-12-15T22:27:00.005+01:00

Hello hello! Enfin un petit moment pour vous parler encore de ce que je faisais quand je n'étais pas là! :) Alors tout d'abord, nous avons acheté et décoré notre sapin de Noël! Je ne sais pas qui est-ce qui y prenait plus de plaisir: mon fils ou moi! Pour lui, c'était presque la première fois (l'année dernière ne comptant pas trop...) et pour moi, eh bien, comme la plupart des ornements sont ceux de ma Maman, vous pouvez vous imaginer les émotions et les souvenirs dont s'accompagnait cette séance!

Hello hello! Finally I can take a moment to tell you some more about what was I doing while not being here! :) First, we bought and decorated our Christmas tree! I don't know who was more delighted during the decoration process: my son or me! For him, it was almost the first time (last year cannot really count...) and for me, well, since most of the ornaments come from my Mom's basement, you can imagine all the emotions and memories that accompanied this afternoon!

Je suis tout particulièrement fière de cette photo bien que je n'y ai pas beaucoup de mérite. Mais j'ai trouvé CETTE adresse dernièrement grâce au Pinterest. Et tout y est expliqué, tous les réglages. Alors je ne pouvais qu'essayer! Un bon endroit pour enfin aller un peu plus loin dans l'exploitation de mon appareil et dans le rêve de le manier comme il se doit. Il y a de l'espoir...

I'm sort of proud of that picture even if I don't have much merit. But lately I've found THIS address through Pinterest. And everything is explained there, all the specs. So I simply had to try! It's a good place to start to get to know my camera a bit better and to finally use it at its greater potential. There's hope...

Nous y avons suspendu également des ornement faits main comme les étoiles (moi) ou ce magnifique ange fait par une copine de Pologne.

We've hung there also some hand made ornaments like stars (made by me) or this beautiful angel made by a Polish friend of mine.

Sur la photo du haut vous pouvez apercevoir des bougies dans l'arrière fond. Mais, elles se trouvent dans un endroit un peu bizarre, à savoir dans la cheminé! Et oui, j'aime bien le feu qui crépite mais je ne sais pas le faire ni j'en ai pas trop envie quand il fait plutôt chaud. Alors je trouve que c'est une bonne alternative. J'ai tout simplement recouvert un plateau de feuille alu puis posé plein de bougies dessus. En plus, c'est bien moins dangereux côté enfants puisqu'il y a une protection tout autour!

On the upper picture you can also see some candles in the background. But they are place in a somewhat special place, namely in our chimney! Well, I like the roaring fire but I'm not good at making it nor do I want some when it's not really chilly. So I find this is a good alternative. I've simply covered a tray with some aluminum foil and placed many candles on it. What's more, it's much less dangerous with kids taken that there's a special protection all around!

Une autre chose que nous faisons c'est une tonne de biscuits de Noël. Il y en a tellement de sortes que j'aime et de toute façon ceux faits maison sont des meilleurs alors nous voilà à pied d'oeuvre! Avec ma fille qui met joyeusement la main à la pâte! :)

Another thing going on is Christmas cookies baking parties! There are so many sorts I like and anyway, those home made are the best so here we are, baking like crazy! With my daughter helping eagerly! :)

Alors voilà pour cette petite mise à jour. Le décembre passe bien trop vite. Mais il y a de l'espoir que je vais encore scraper avant la fin de l'année! :) Alors à bientôt!

That's it for this short update. December goes by way too fast. But there's still hope that I'll scrap before the end of the year! :) So see you soon!

Ca fait un bail... / Long time no see...

2011-12-13T02:00:00.000+01:00

Hello! Mais où suis-je passée pendant si longtemps? Et bien, le début du mois de décembre n'était pas très clément pour notre petite famille et nous avons dû livrer une bataille soutenue contre les virus. Les enfants toussent encore mais on tient bon!

Hello! It seems I was sort of MIA those last days. Well, we were hit with a major virus attack and had to fight a good fight. The kiddos are still coughing but I think we're on a recovery path...

Sinon, j'ai tout de même fait deux trois bricoles. Par exemple, j'ai trouvé CA par pinterest. Et j'ai trouvé ces maisonnettes si mignonnes que j'en ai fait des cadeaux pour les maîtresses avec mon fils. Je m'y suis prise un peu autrement, j'ai commencé avec des feuilles blanches que Jonatan s'est fait plaisir de tamponner puis découper. Puis j'ai rassemblé le tout et voilà, des ornements pour sapin!

Otherwise, I did two or three things. For example, I found THIS through pinterest. And I thought those little houses were so cute that I decided to make some as gifts for teachers with my son. We've started with blank white cards that my son stamped at will and then cut out. Then I glued everything together and voilà, here are some ornaments for Christmas tree!

Puisque il fallait découpé des coeurs au milieu des cartes, on les a aussi utilisés et fait soit des simples suspensions ou des guirlandes.

Since in the middle some heart punching was required, we've used those up, too and made either simple suspensions or garlands.

Voici encore un zoom sur la maisonnette et sa clochette! :) Vous remarquerez la technique bi-colore que mon fils a employée en utilisant les jolis flocons de myStamp Box!

And here's another zoom on the cute little house and its bell! You'll remarque, please, the bi-color stamping technique employed by my son while using those snow flakes stamps by myStamp Box!

Et puisque nous sommes dans le chapitre myStamp Box, voici l'invitation pour votre mensuelle promenade (de santé)! :) J'y présente une page assez chère à mon coeur. J'espère qu'elle vous plaira! A bientôt!

And since we're talking myStamp Box, here's the invitation for your monthly (health) stroll! :) I have there a layout that is quite dear to my heart. I hope you'll like it! See you soon!

Oh happy day!

2011-11-29T21:20:00.004+01:00

Bonjour bonjour! Les journées passent décidément trop vite! Nous voilà au seuil du mois de décembre!!! Mais partiellement ceci est aussi une bonne nouvelle puisque je vien de retirer de ma boîte aux lettres un magazine tout beau tout chaud, le nouveau numéro d'Esprit Scrapbooking. Et vous savez quoi? Je n'ai pas une, pas deux, même pas trois pages dedans mais tout un interview puisque je suis le portrait C&S de ce numéro!!! Je vous assure je dois me pincer pour me convaincre que ce n'est pas un rêve et le mail que j'ai reçu de Béa il y a deux mois environ m'était bel et bien destiné. Enfin, si vous allez visiter la page du magazine, dans le défilé des pages vous pouvez apercevoir deux de mes créations, bon, ça passe vite, je vous l'accorde (mais je vous donne un petit truc: cliquez droit et choisissez l'option "avancer" ou "reculer" pour regarder tout lentement ;-) )...

Hello hello! Time is flying at wild speed, we're already approaching December, can you believe it?! But partially it means some good news since today I retrieved from my mail box a brand new Esprit Scrapbooking issue. And guess what? I don't have one, or two or even three layouts in there. But a whole interview since I'm their C&S portrait this time!!! I do assure you I still need to pinch myself in order to be convinced that it's not a dream and that the email I got from Chief Editor some two months ago was truly for me. Anyway, if you visit their page, you can catch a glimpse of my creations in the fast forwarding picture selection (but I can give you a hint: if you right click on it, you can then chose the "forward" or "rewind" option to see everything slowly ;-) )...

Et puis il y a une publication outre-mer, une carte dans le nouveau magazine de Paper Crafts, Get Inspired. Je n'ai qu'une carte dedans mais grace à elle je peux admirer ce que les autres designers ont créé. Et c'est de toute beauté!

And then there's an American publication in a brand new Paper Crafts issue, Get Inspired. I only have one card inside but thanks to it I can admire all the beauties other designers have created!

Oh happy day! :)))

myStamp Box & Canvas Corp blog hop

2011-11-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the Canvas Corp and myStamp Box "Partner Blog Hop"!

If you have just happened upon our event now, please begin your journey on the Canvas Corp Blog HERE.

Many of our wonderful designers are joining us today to show off some inspirational creativity. See how well Canvas Corp and myStamp BOX products are working together!

Bienvenue à la ronde des blogs conjointe de Canvas Corp et myStamp BOX!

Si vous arrivez un peu par hazard ici, veuillez bien commencer sur le blog de Canvas Corp ICI.

Beaucoup de nos designers se joignent à nous aujourd'hui pour partager un peu de leur créativité. Et surtout pour démontrer que les produits de Canvas Corp et myStamp BOX vont à merveille ensemble!

START AT/COMMENCEZ ICI: Canvas Corp

Agata Pfister <--------- You are here! / Vous êtes ici! :)

END HERE / TERMINEZ ICI: myStamp Box

We are giving away some amazing product from BOTH participating companies. All you have to do is COMMENT on all designers blogs along your journey to WIN! Our two Hop winners will be drawn from all participants and will be announced on the myStamp BOX blog and Canvas Corp blog on Monday, November 28th, so all comments are due by Sunday, November 27th at 6 pm EST. Good luck!

Bien sûr il y a des prix à gagner de deux companies! Tout ce que vous avez à faire pour gagner c'est de laisser un commentaire sur chaque poste le long de la ronde! Deux gagnats seront tirés au sort parmi tous les participants et serons annoncés sur les blogs de myStamp BOX et Canvas Corp le lundi 28 Novembre, c'est pourquoi le délai pour les commentaires a été fixé au dimanche le 27 novembre à 18h EST (ou à midi en Europe, si mes comptes sont bons!) Bonne chance!

And here's my creation: / Et voici ma création:

Among the products I received, there was this diamond shape, in beautiful neutral color and soooo thick! Just lovely! I decided to use it as a mini album's cover. I needed one to write down some words and sayings of my kids, too precious to lose them! So first I stamped and white embossed two stamps from Bold Blocks set to embellish the cover. Then I added some dye inks, sprayed them with a mixture of water and pigment powder and spread everything with my finger tips. :) Here's the result:

Parmi les produits que j'ai reçu, il y avait cette forme de diamant dans une magnifique couleur neutre et tellement épaisse! Splendide! J'ai décidé de l'utiliser comme couverture d'un mini album. J'avais besoin d'un petit quelque chose où noter ces précieux mots et expressions de mes deux loulous pour ne rien perdre! Tout d'abord, j'ai tamponné et embossé avec une poudre blanche deux tampons de set Bold Blocks. Ensuite, j'ai ajouté des encres Distress, sprayé le tout avec l'eau mélangée avec une poudre à pigment and étalé tout ça avec mes doigts! :) Voici le résultat:

I've added my kid's initials in the frame using letter from Lots of Dots set.

J'ai ajouté les initiales de mes enfants dans le cadre en utilisant les lettres du set Lots of Dots.

Then I needed some pages so I trimmed some cardstock to fit inside, distressed edges and stamped some journaling and date spots.

Ensuite, j'avais besoin des pages pour l'intérieur. Alors j'ai découpé du carton en lui donnant la même forme que la couverture, j'ai encré les bords et tamponné des endroits pour écrire.

As you can also see on the above picture, to hold everything together I used some screws. I was also because I plan this album to become even thicker as my kids have plenty to say! :)

Comme vous pouvez le constater sur la photo plus haut, pour relier le tout, j'ai utilisé les vis pour albums. C'était aussi parce que je projette y ajouter des pages puisque mes loulous ont plein de choses intéressantes à dire! :)

Here are internal pages with some journaling already written down...

Voici les pages intérieures avec quelques notes déjà...

A close up of how I fixed some twine to the screw: / Un zoom sur la fixation d'une attache à la vis:

And once more the finished project: / Et encore une fois le projet terminé:

Now it's time to HOP along and find out what the next talented designer has created. Your next designer is Bettina on myStamp BOX blog. Don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to WIN one of our TWO product giveaways! Happy hopping! :)

Maintenant il est temps de passer plus loin et voir ce que une autre designer a préparé pour vous. Le prochain arrêt est sur le blog de myStamp BOX. N'oubliez surtout pas de commenter ici pour participer au tirage au sort d'un des DEUX prix! Bon voyage! :)

Famille, je t'aime! / Family, I love you!

2011-11-19T22:22:00.003+01:00

Hello! Une fois par mois, l'équipe créative de myStamp Box est placée devant un défi. Ce mois-ci, il nous fallait créer quelque chose autour du thème de la famille. Le thème tout trouvé pour moi vu que j'ai un garçon qui aime sa famille plus que tout! J'ai donc rassemblé quelques photos et voilà, ma page était née!

Hello! Once per month, myStamp Box DT is presented with a challenge. This month the challenge was to create something around family theme. It was very easy for me since I have a boy who just loves his family more than anything! So, I picked a few pictures and my layout was born.

Journaling: Among my in-laws, the saying goes that the first borns are very much "family", it's them who like to have their family gathered around them. And up till now, you seem to confirm this rule. You're never as happy as when your grand-parents, uncles, aunts and cousins are here!

J'ai utilisé le set des tampons Snapshot pour animer la partie avec les photos, ainsi que le set d'alphabet Royal Flush pour le titre. J'ai pensé que faire le journaling sur les bandes de cardstock multicolor serait une touche de couleur bienvenue!

I used Snapshot stamp set to give life to the picture section of the layout, as well as Royal Flush alphabet set for the title. I thought using some multicolor cardstock would be a welcome touch of color to the layout!

Naturellement, toute l'équipe s'y est mise et si vous voulez voir le resultat, il suffit de visiter le blog de la compagnie ICI.

Of coure, all the DT team had fun and if you want to see the result, all you have to do is to visit the company's blog HERE.

Et puisqu'on parle de mySB, préparez-vous à quelque chose de sympa! La semaine suivante nous aurons une ronde des blogs avec une autre compagnie, Canvas Corp.! Réservez la date et réjouissez- vous, il y aura des prix à gagner! A bientôt!

And since we're talking about fun, prepare yourselves for some more! Next week we're going to have a blog hop with another company, Canvas Corp.! Mark your calendars and be ready to win some prizes! See you soon!

Une médaille... / A medal...

2011-11-17T10:00:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! J'ai une petite médaille pour vous aujourd'hui. Oui, vous le méritez bien, vous tou(te)s qui passez par ici depuis plus de 2 ans et subissez le flot de paroles et mes caprices... Enfin, ce n'est qu'une médaille sur une carte que j'ai faite pour le défi de Moxie Fab World (mais je pense sincèrement que vous la méritez!) La voici:

Hello! I have a medal(lion) for you today. Yes, you deserve one, all of you who come here from more than 2 years now and endure the word flow and my whims... Well, it's only a medallion on a card that I made for Moxie Fab World challenge (although I still believe you deserve a medal!) Here it is:

Je l'ai fait moi-même en utilisant du tissu et un tuto comme ceci dont le net regorge.

I made it myself using some yummy white dotted grey fabric and a tutorial like this one.

J'espère qu'il n'y a pas trop de doute pour quelle occasion est la carte mais si jamais je vous donne quelques indices: couleur rose, des petits et gros pois, "félicitations"... Je suis sûre que vous y êtes! Et moi je sais même à qui je vais vraiment l'offrir mais chut! C'est un secret! ;-)

I hope there's no doubt in your mind for which occasion this is but if ever that be the case, here are some hints: pink color, small and bigger polka dots, "congrats"... I'm sure you're there! And I even know to whom this card will go very soon but shhht! It's a secret! ;-)

La promenade mensuelle / The monthly stroll

2011-11-16T02:00:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! Oui, c'est aujourd'hui mon tour de blogger sur le blog de la compagnie myStamp Box. J'y présente deux projets pour Noël. Si vous voulez voir un peu plus que ce petit bout, c'est par ICI. A bientôt!

Hello! Yes, today is my turn to blog on myStamp Box blog. I present there two Christmas projects. If you want to see bit more than this small peek, it's THIS way. See you soon!

Project 12 - October

2011-11-15T15:05:00.002+01:00

Bonjour! Il est temps de vous présenter ma version du sketch de Becky Fleck pour le mois d'octobre. Voici le sketch:

Hello! It's high time to show you my take on Becky Fleck's October sketch. Here is the sketch:

Et voici ma version. J'ai sorti des très vieux papiers mais qui sont tellement magnifiques!

And here's my version. I took out some very old papers that are so beautiful!

C'était un très bon choix à l'époque d'acheter des raub-ons blancs! Et enfin je m'en sert! :)

It was a great choice at the time to buy some white rub-ons! And I use them finally! :)

The story of October: we went to see our new nephew, the weather was so fine that we were quite often visiting the playground, we had two weekends off and went on a small trip where kids saw some snow and were simply delighted! At last, our daughter had a small accident while playing with a plug which costed us some time at the emergency. But all is well that ends well...

Je me suis fais plaisir à fabriquer quelques rosettes comme embellissements. Et c'est pourquoi je vais entrer ma page au concours sur Moxie Fab World. Voilà pour aujourd'hui, à bientôt!

I had some fun making few medallions as embellishments. And that's why I enter my layout for Moxie Fab World challenge. That's all for today, see you soon!

Un garçon et une fille / A boy & a girl

2011-11-02T21:32:00.005+01:00

Bonsoir! Je pense que vous le savez: j'ai un garçon et un fille. Bon, ils sont tous les deux dans une période où on dirait plus tôt un chien et un chat mais espérons que ça va passer... :) Aujourd'hui j'ai à vous présenter deux pages, une pour mon garçon, une pour ma fille.

Hello! I think you know this already: I have a boy and a girl. Well, at the moment they're in a period one could name a dog and a cat but hopefully this will pass soon! :) Tonight I have two layouts to show you, one for my son and one for my daughter.

Commençons par celle du garçon vu que je l'ai déjà publiée sur flickr. Je l'ai entrée dans le concours mensuel de Hero Arts et j'ai utilisé un des sketch proposé. Je l'ai juste renversé tête en bas pour les besoins de ma page. J'ai un peu joué avec les encres sur du papier aquarelle. Le panneau en bas à droite c'est juste de l'embossage en blanc, des encres Distress et de l'eau avec de la poudre Perfect Pearls. Par contre sur le panneau du haut j'ai voulu essayé quelque chose. J'ai encré le tampon Lotus avec du Versamark et celui de Friendship Definition avec de l'encre verte puis j'ai touché les deux ensemble (ce qui a transféré de l'encre verte sur l'autre tampon). Puis j'ai tamponné le Lotus et l'ai embossé avec une poudre transparente. Le reste est comme sur l'autre panneau. Au final le texte en vert se voit très peu, l'embossage l'ayant un peu dissout.

Let's start with the boy's layout since I've already posted it on flickr. I entered it for the monthly contest and used one of the sketches, only I've turned it up side down. I also played a little with inks and watercolor paper. The right down side panel is simply white embossing, lots of Distress inks and water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder. On the upper panel I wanted to try the same thing but with a small twist. I inked the Lotus stamp with Versamark ink and Friendship Definition with green ink and "kissed" them together (which transfered the green ink onto Lotus stamp). Then I stamped the Lotus and clear embossed it. Later on I've also added Distress inks and pearlized water. Finally, the text is only faintly seen since the embossing "watered" it a bit.

Je voulais souligné la portée du titre en utilisant cette technique qui donne un aspect brillant ainsi qu'en ajoutant des gems.

I wanted to underline the title's meaning by using this technique that gives a lot of shine as well as by adding some gem stones.

The journaling talks about love declarations my son tells me at bedtime. But the other night he went a bit further and added: Mommy, I love you! But I don't want you to die, you're too beautiful! ... What could I say? Thanks for the compliment! :) Isn't this precious? Just like my boy...

Et voilà la page pour la fillette! Elle est clairement entrée dans la phase des "pourquoi" et je voulais enregistrer ce passage par cette page toute simple. J'aime beaucoup ce papier de Hello Lucious de BG ainsi que cette photo prise sur une balançoire - c'est ma fille toute crachée!

And here's the layout about my dd! She's clearly entered the "why" period and I just wanted to record this passage by this simple layout. I love this BG paper from Hello Lucious collection as well as this picture of my daughter taken on a swing. It's so much her!

Et voilà pour ce soir! J'ai été très bavarde alors je vous laisse! :) A bientôt!

And that's it for tonight! I was very talkative so I stop here and now! :) See you soon!

Boo!

2011-10-31T22:15:00.002+01:00

Bonsoir! C'est le bon moment pour poster mon petit message! Même si nous ne fêtons pas vraiment Halloween... Mais aujourd'hui sur le blog de myStamp Box il y a un paquet de projets ayant pour thème cette fête justement.

Hello! It seems like perfect timing for posting my message tonight! Even though I'm not so much of a Halloween celebrator... But today on myStamp Box blog there's a ton of projects all about it.

En fait, c'était un défi pour moi de créer quelque chose puisque je n'ai pas un seul tampon qui serait adéquat. Mais pas de panique! Il y a toujours une idée par là! J'ai donc attrapé le Neighborhoods set et j'en ai embossé une lignée des maisons sur du papier noir. Puis j'ai découpé un rond dans un post-it et appliqué de l'encre blanche à travers directement sur ma carte pour créer une lune. Puis j'ai ajouté le "sentiment" tamponné sur du Sticky back canvas et attaché tout ça à ma carte avec la machine à coudre.

In fact, that was a challenge for me to create something since I don't own one single stamp that would do the job. But no fear! There must be an idea somewhere! So I took the Neighborhoods stamp set and embossed one line of houses on black cardstock. Then I made a stencil out of a post-it note and applied some white ink through it directly to paper to create a moon. Then I've added the sentiment stamped on some Sticky back Canvas and attached everything to my card with sewing machine.

Alors voilà pour ma petite carte. Maintenant vous êtes libres d'aller faire une petite promenade pour admirer les projets des autres membres de la DT. Et puis... BOO!

So here we go for my little card. Now you're free to go and admire projects of my fellow DT members. And I almost forgot... BOO!

Project 12 - September

2011-10-27T11:28:00.002+02:00

Bonjour! Je suis entre le repassage et la préparation du déjeuner, puis ensuite on part, alors je poste en vitesse! Voici le sketch de Becky Fleck pour le mois de Septembre:

Hello! I'm in between ironing and dinner making, and then we're leaving so I'm posting in a hurry! Here's Becky Fleck's sketch for September:

Et voici ma version: / And here's my take on it:

La première page avec des photos d'objets: nouvelle voiture, un bonhomme Duplo et mon appareil photo mort... Je ne suis plus très fière pour parler de notre voiture vu que j'ai déjà réussi à faire un petit dégât dessus. Comme mon mari aime bien dire: Femme au voéant, danger constant! Mais pourquoi ce bonhomme? Et bien, mes enfants lui ont donné le nom de leur arrière-grand-maman qui s'est éteinte au début du mois. Une façon douce de parler de son départ...

First page with pictures of objects only: our new car, a Duplo man and my dead camera. I'm not so proud speaking of the car anymore, I did some small damage on it. As my husband likes to say: A woman behind the wheel, Beware! Danger is near! But why would I put here this Duplo people? Well, my kids gave him the name of their great-grand-mother who died at the beginning of the month. For me it was a smooth way of speaking about her departure...

La page n°2 avec que les enfants, y compris notre nouveau neveu!

Page n°2 with kids pics only, also the one of our brand new nephew!
Zoom sur un des clusters... / Close up of one of the clustering...

Et l'autre, avec un yo-yo en tissu. Je m'éclate à les faire dernièrement. Mais je vous dévoilerai les détails une autre fois, ok?

And the other one, with a fabric yo-yo embellishment. But I'll tell you more about it another time, OK?

Merci de votre visite et à bientôt! / Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

Amitié / Friendship

2011-10-21T22:55:00.002+02:00

Bonsoir! Me revoilà pour un court message! Et une nouvelle promenade si ça vous dit! Parce que sur le blog de myStamp Box il y a un paquet des magnifiques projets avec pour le thème l'amitié, espoir et soutien. Alors bonne ballade et je vous promets de revenir bientôt avec quelque chose de plus resistant. Bon weekend!

Hello! I'm back with a short message! And another stroll if you you feel like it! Because on the myStamp Box blog there's a ton of magnificent projects all about hope, friendship and care. So have a good one and I promise I'll be back with something more sturdy soon! Fine weekend to all of you!

Avant qu'il ne soit trop tard / Before it's too late!

2011-10-18T21:29:00.002+02:00

Bonsoir! Je reviens vers mes vieilles, bonnes habitudes de faire mes postes en deux langues. On vera si ça va tenir, je vais essayer! Bref, aujourd'hui ça va aller vite parce que c'est juste pour vous dire que c'est mon tour de blogger sur le site de la compagnie myStamp Box. J'y présente un petit projet tout autre qu'une carte ou page. A bientôt!

Good evening! I try to get back to my old, good habits of writing my posts in two languages. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it. Anyway, today it's gonna be short since I'm here to tell you that I'm blogging over at the myStamp Box blog. I present there a project that is neither a card nor a layout! See you soon!

Another sketch

2011-10-15T22:12:00.002+02:00

Hi there! I saw this sketch first on the blog of Kathy Martin since she did the guest designing for it. It comes from Jen Gallacher's class Stretch Your sketch on Two Peas. And I was immediately drawn to it by this big journal part on the right portion of the sketch. Here it is:

I adapted it to my needs and made a 8,5'' x 11'' version. I had a topic on hand, my son's motivation for doing things since he started school. I used a picture I took of him on the first day of school. But I put my journaling somewhere else, on top of the picture. For this bottom part I used this fabulous stamp from Hero Arts.

I made a banner from Sticky Back Canvas, inked them and sewn them to layout.

I also included pictures of my son's art work.

I guess you can say that I'm one proud, happy Mama... :) See you!

Scrap Rendez-Vous

2011-10-14T09:22:00.003+02:00

Bonjour! Mes amies de Scrap Rendez-Vous ont eu l'idée d'un festival des cartes qui durera tout le mois d'octobre. Chaque jour il y a une créatrice qui montre une carte et le sketch qui va avec. Mes amies m'ont fait l'honneur de m'inviter aujourd'hui! Voici un petit bout de ma carte. Pour plus de détails, cliquez ICI!

Hello! My friends over at Scrap Rendez-Vous are having a month-long card festival - each day there's one designer showing a card and a sketch that goes with it. My friends made me an honor of inviting me today! Here's the sneak-peek of my card. For more, please click HERE!

Seeing stars

2011-10-08T21:04:00.005+02:00

Hello! Yes, I'm seeing stars. But that's how it is when you feel as if in heaven! If you remember this message, you know that I was distressed over having to change my camera now. But there was no use in repairing it, especially as it was almost 4 years old. And there was also a problem with the 18-55 lens. After lots of thinking and hesitating, today a miracle happened. We went to a nice little store empty handed and went out of there with a little baby in our hands. A little brother of my old Nikon D40x, another Nikon but a D5100 arrived at home! That's why I'm seeing stars. The best part? Its lens, 18-100, with a nice, crisp sound of well working shutter. Mmmmmmmm, that's heaven!

I also see trees, Christmas trees that is in different stamps now (that's all because of the monthly contest over at Hero Arts). Well, the following card is made with an idea I had last year and made THIS card with. So, I'm sort of into recycling again! :) Anyway, here's another Christmas tree card, brad-like this time.

I stamped the kraft panel with partially inked HA Dots Cling stamp, then added green and white brads. Since they lacked some shine, I've added some Stickles, green or white accordingly. Added sentiment (from my Stamp Box) and ribbon and adhered the panel to a green inked and stamped card base.

What a treat it is to be able to take straight pictures! I'm really happy tonight and am looking forward to playing more with my new baby! See you!

Christmas is near!

2011-10-05T21:50:00.000+02:00

Hello! I know, you don't believe me. But it's true! It's coming up fast and we all better start to think about those cards! Fortunately, some new challenges are up to help us with this task. Here's the first one, by Hero Arts. Their monthly challenge is Holiday cards, idem with non-holiday stamps and sketches. When I read the second part of the announcement, I was thrilled! Two out of my 3 published cards in Holiday Cards & More were made using non-holiday products so I just could put that thinking cap back on!

Monday night I couldn't fall asleep and was browsing my stamps in my head. Suddenly, a bulb went off! I thought I found the right stamp! I even stood up from the bed and started working on something but my husband woke up and I had to sleep on my idea till the next day... But as they say, "La nuit porte conseil" and when I woke up, I could precise my idea.

So, after all this blah-blah, here's my card. I went for the fern stamp, masked off a part of it and stamped and white embossed it. To dress borders of the panel, I inked partly Classic Fabric Design with Versamark, stamped and coated the image with Perfect Pearls. It looks a bit as stamped in white but in real life it shines and changes.

Here's a close up.

To make the tree a little more real, I've added glittery brads and a star to the top that I coated in glitter myself. The sentiment is by myStamp Box as I still, believe it or not, do not own any Season sentiment by HA. But this year I will! :)

When my son saw that card, he immediately said: "Oh, a Christmas tree!" Hopefully, you'll have the same reaction! :) Thanks for visiting!

WCMD

2011-10-01T12:44:00.000+02:00

Hello fellow card-makers! I'm very glad to welcome you to my blog!

So, as everyone knows, WCMD launches officially the season of Christmas card-making. And here's my almost first card I'll be sending soon. Because Christmas is right around the corner (something like 85 days, I believe)!

For this simple card I've chosen to work with myStamp Box Let it Snow stamp set. I stamped the snowflake on cardstock, heat embossed it and cut out. The sentiment comes from another set by the same company, Everyday Lines. I simply stamped it repeatedly and added some Stickles in between phrases. Then I matted this piece and adhered to my card.

The snowflake was adhered with some 3D adesive.

Hopefully you've enjoyed this card. Happy WCMD and happy {global} hopping! :)

Bonus!!!

2011-09-30T21:08:00.006+02:00

Hi there! I'm extremely excited to have a spotlight on PC blog today! {Doing the happy dance!} At the occasion of the launch of Holiday Cards & More, I was asked by Courtney to share some thoughts about card making and also how to wish Merry Christmas in the language of my country and be a stop in their Christmas tour around the World! If you want to know what I said, please click HERE! {Still dancing!!!} :)

Here's one of the cards I have in the issue (that I'm still waiting for). If you want the instructions on about how to make a tree like that, please turn to this special issue. There's even a digital version of it if you're an impatient cookie! What I can already tell you is that the sentiment stamp is from myStamp Box Everyday Lines set.

My fellow spotlighted friend is Jane from Croatia. And she's having a nice giveaway at the occasion! So head over to her blog, leave some love and cross your fingers!

See you tomorrow here for another tour of the world! Cheers!

Getting inky

2011-09-29T16:17:00.004+02:00

Hello! It's been a while since I haven't got inky. The Distressy-fingers style. Yesterday was the day and I enjoyed it thoroughly! I had the idea of that card in my head for a couple of days and it ripened under the mild, indian Summer sun we're enjoying those days here in Switzerland. I used colors from Hero Arts monthly challenge.

Leafs are stamped and embossed on sticky back canvas. Then I cut them out, applied Mustard Seed and Peeled Paint Distress inks. And finally I've added and smeared some Distress Stickles all over them for some sparkle.

I made a card... And maybe I'm about to make another one! Because you probably know what's coming this Saturday: World Card Making Day, WCMD for the family... :) And I decided to join in the madness of a global blog hop. See you then (or maybe a bit before? *wink*)!

Project 12 - August

2011-09-26T15:00:00.000+02:00

Hello again! It's the sketch time again! Another installment of Project 12 with a great sketch from Becky Fleck. Although there were only 3 pictures originally, I've found a way to sneak in some more! Especially that there were some important events that took place in August, like my son starting school!

Here's my take on the sketch:

I purged again my stash and went for those old OA papers and embellies. The journaling is short for there was not much to tell. So instead of one piece of cardstock, I used several to tell each part of the story separately.

All die cuts are pop dotted for dimension.
The Repeat after Me stamp set by myStamp Box was very useful again to make the border in Faux stitching manner.

And one last detail: I hand stitched those trails behind bugs - it was fun!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your visits!

All good things...

2011-09-25T21:17:00.002+02:00

... come to an end. Hello friends! Yes, that's true, there' an end to everything, also the this great sketch series over at Ella's blog. Here's, if I got it right, the last sketch by the talented Donna Jannuzzi:

What appealed to me most was that bigger part with journaling in the top corner and title on the bottom. And I decided to use all spaces for pictures, especially that we just had another *multi* photos event. We went to Europa Park. And there were several things I realized. Like that a little paint could make my son so happy, that we would all have so much fun, and that I'd love to go back there one day...
I've added some pieces of paper here and there and the title became a bit longer. A also used stamps from myStamp Box's set Snapshot, a very useful set for any layout! :)

So, I'll miss this series of sketches but I'm sure they will come up with something cool again!

Take 2

2011-09-16T13:00:00.001+02:00

Hello again! As promised, here's another take on the same sketch as yesterday, for Moxie Fab World sketch challenge.

It's a card I made for the last PC call and it didn't make the cut. So here it is, a felt rainbow, a printed sentiment and stamped rain. I still like it I guess...

What I don't like is my old camera taking pictures. I just can't get it right! And I don't know if the newer (and broken) one will ever be fixed. That's somewhat depressing. But there's a long weekend on the horizon and that's perfect news! So, enjoy!

Sketch freak

2011-09-15T16:13:00.003+02:00

Hi there! I'm sure you'll all agree: I am a huge sketch freak! I just love them! And use them quite often. I do some, too but I don't show them, I show you the result. Anyway, over at Moxie Fab World there are 4 sketch challenges currently. And I just had to try my hand at at least one of them (time, time, when will you be more clement to me?...)

So, here's a sketch by Miss Kim Kesti:

And my humble interpretation of it made with a cute stamp set by myStamp Box, A Tree for All Seasons.

It's an almost one layer card, apart from the sentiment which is pop dotted. I first drew the border with a marker, masked off one of them to stamp the tree. A 10 minutes card :)

If there's a moment in my quite busy schedule, I'll show you another one! Cheers!

Catching memories

2011-09-13T15:09:00.002+02:00

Hi there dear friends! After my last spread that demanded lots of work, I was eager to make something much simpler. And I had a very simple memory to record. My daughter is 2 1/2 yrs old. And that means some special times for us. The title of the layout tells it all, btw. In one breath she can affirm one thing and its contrary. We hear those things all day long and sometimes even at night. And this can really be exhausting! I used some old papers that I treasure but thought that I can as well treasure them on a layout, right? The same goes for that very old rub-on.

And here's one about my son and his first day of school! He sure is ready and copes with the whole thing marvelously. As for me, I was quite anxious and afraid that he would have problems with other kids or teachers. But well, so far so good!
This row of houses stamp by myStamp Box was just perfect for this theme! I stamped it continuously to create a longer border.

Both layouts are very simple but what's the most important is that they record some precious memories. And since time flies so fast, it's truly important to catch them as fast as possible!

And speaking of myStamp Box, I have the pleasure to announce that I'm staying on the DT for the next term! If you want to know who else will be there, please visit myStamp Box blog.

Thanks for visiting and see you soon with another memory!

Mayday - mayday!

2011-09-05T21:11:00.002+02:00

Hello friends! I have bad news - something went terribly wrong with my camera yesterday. It stopped taking pictures!!! I've noticed lately that the shutter was becoming sort of slower. And yesterday, I took one picture, said "in petto": "Why so slow?", wanted to take another one and then, nothing. As it the shutter closed and never opened again... That's the message I get when I press the shutter button:

So, I press and press but it keeps coming back...

Fortunately, I have our old CoolPix S10 that will have to do while I take its big brother D40x to the doctor. But boy, would it annoy me to have to actually buy a new camera right now! :(

Hopefully, I'll be back soon with some better news... Take care!

Felt is Fab!

2011-09-02T16:37:00.002+02:00

Hello there dear friends! I can't help but notice the steady approach of Autumn. Leaves changing colors, birds preparing to leave, all the fruit picking going on in our area... The other day there was a stork posing for pictures on our roof top! I can tell you, although the sky was clear, we thought there was a sudden storm coming because of cameras' flashes all around our house! We're still hot, even very hot but I'm afraid it won't last. And as I'm somehow mentally preparing for colder days, felt and other wools are very practical for someone like me. :)

Plus, somehow Fall equals Felt in my mind and hence this card was born which I made for the Moxie Fab World current challenge.

I've stamped numerous times this leaf from Floating leaves stamp set by myStamp Box and adheres them on a piece of natural linen fabric. Lot's of texture going on here! One extra leaf went for the sentiment which was computer generated. Here's a close up.

And how about your corner of the world? Are you still hot? Or can you feel Autumn coming, too? Anyway, enjoy the weekend!

One step at a time...

2011-09-01T03:00:00.000+02:00

Hello beautiful people! Today is THE day! I'm blogging on myStamp Box blog. And I'm presenting a step by step tutorial on how to make a fabric stamped cover for an accordion album. It's THIS way!

Sky is the limit

2011-08-31T15:50:00.000+02:00

Hello! Are you always ready? Well, I'm not! But this time I had THE gift for a friend of mine, for her birthday. I have had this idea for a long time - a heat gun!!! :) But when it came to packing it, I realized I was short of some beautiful packaging paper. So I've went for some stamping on kraft. I have a huge roll of this basic packaging paper and I guess I don't use it enough. But here I was very glad to have it! Because white heat embossing looks just so good on it! Even more with that fun sentiment from myStamp Box! And those flowers, aren't they beautiful?

I've added also some simple stamping for a discret pattern and a flower made from an old zipper to jazz it up a bit.

I think I won't invest anymore in packaging paper but will stick to that sudden inspiration of mine. Because as far as kraft is concerned, sky is the limit!

Thanks for visiting!

Project 12 - July

2011-08-26T14:46:00.001+02:00

***This is my second post today. For my DT Team up project, scroll down or click HERE. Thank you! :)***

Hi folks! I'm back as promised! :) This time I have my take on Project 12 - July to show you! Here's the sketch:

Now, before you start saying that it's not the right sketch, I'll interrupt. I know, it's the May sketch. But since I still haven't made my May layout I could do a little switch. Why? Because our July was so quiet, I didn't have enough pictures to fill the July sketch. Plus, the July sketch will be perfect for my May layout since there are so many pictures from that month.

Now, after all that long explanation here's my July layout. The very first one with a colorful background.

I've recently purchased some paper packs and wanted very much to use the Luscious one by Basic Grey. That ment cutting up papers and making a patchwork. To reinforce this effect, I stitched all pieces with zig-zag stitch.

Since my sewing machine was already out, I used it to sew all around both edges. That's one thing that unifies my Project 12 layouts.

Another one are SRM Stickers that I used for title and accents. They were not perfectly of the color I needed. However, they matched two pictures. And I guess that gives them the right to be on the layout after all...

OK, I'm off for good today. It would seem that the September issue of CARDS magazine is out. And I have one card in there! But I'll save it for another time once I've received the issue. Thanks to Tiffany for the reminder! :)

DT Team up Challenge

2011-08-26T11:35:00.000+02:00

Hello! Today is a special day on myStamp Box blog. I've teamed up with Rebecca to make some layouts using one particular stamp set. Here's my project and a little close-up:

To see more about it as well as to admire what Rebecca has come up with, please click HERE. See you soon!

Another lift

2011-08-24T00:15:00.002+02:00

Hello there! I can't believe time flies so fast! But well, we're truly occupied with my son's first days of school. And all other things of everyday life...

Recently I was in need of a card for out (great-)grand-mother who was diagnosed with cancer. And I've found a perfect card HERE. I love Shari's work! So I tried a lift with some different stamps and inks. Here's the result:

Supplies: pp Basic Grey; cardstock white, brown, kraft; stamps and pearls Hero Arts; inks Ranger; embossing powder Artemio; border punch Fiskars.

I won't be long tonight but I'll be back soon! :)

It's been a while... (plus DT call)

2011-08-17T00:53:00.005+02:00

... since I've last invited you to visit myStamp Box blog. But today is the day when it's my turn to blog over there! Here's a little sneak peek to whet your appetite... :)

And since we're talking mSB, here's something that might interest you, a DT call!

ATTENTION all stampers and myStamp Box fans! We are looking for new Designers to join our team. If you are enthusiastic about our stamps, love to stamp, are a good team player, and know a thing or two about blogging, you are the right match for us! We are interested in designers with a variety of styles who can creatively showcase myStamp BOX designs in their layouts, cards, altered art and other projects. No previous design team experience is necessary. International applicants are welcome to apply. Our term is 6 months from October 1st, 2011 to March 31st, 2012. Team requirements:

* 4 projects per month

* 1 blog entry per month including good quality photos of a project and instructions/tutorial

* Upload all projects to the myStamp BOX website gallery and other online galleries

* Submit at least 2 projects per term for submission to print magazines of your choice

* Occasionally help with additional design opportunities - new stamp sets, classes, etc.

* make myStamp BOX the only stamping company you design for during this term

Team benefits:

* bio and picture on the website, with links to your blog

* a starter kit of stamp sets and additional stamp sets throughout your term

* other free scrapbooking supplies from product partners as they become available

* 30% discout on purchased myStamp BOX stamps during your term

Please include in your application:

* personal information (your name, address)

* a short paragraph about yourself and why you think you'd be a good fit for myStamp Box

* link to your blog and gallery

* 3-5 examples of your work showcasing your stamping ability and style.

This call ends Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Send your application to bettina@mystampbox.com

myStamp BOX website: www.mystampbox.com

We can't wait to hear from you!

2 in 1

2011-08-15T15:28:00.003+02:00

Hi there! After a week of vacation I'm back with a quick project I made on the night just before we left. It's a 2 in 1 project, namely a card and a mini album. I made it for my brother-in-law whose birthday we celebrated lately. Here's the front. I was inspired by this card by Cristina Kowalczyk. I used the thinest stamp from Repeat After Me set by myStamp Box. Then I pop-dotted the panel and put a string underneath that serves to hold the whole thing together.

Now, what's inside? Well, my BIL wanted his nephews and nieces as his b-day present but this is hard to offer in real! :) So, I went for the next best thing: pictures! Printed the best shots I have of them and sticked them to some stamped pages. That's how it looks open.

As I mentioned, I had VERY little time to make the album so I had to be creative with materials. I've chosen pre-made notecards, stamped them and simply stitched them together.

Here's a close up...

It seems that he liked it and I even have a request from my other BIL for something similar! I do have a really cool family-in-law! :)

Bye for today, I'll be back soon!

I have a thing... for Embellish!

2011-08-04T23:04:00.004+02:00

Yes, it seems I quite often participate in their challenges. And here comes the next one!

I have quickly found a subject - my son and his dynamic kind of speaking - with his arms flying around each time he explains something. Then I took out some pp, sewn them together and voilà! I couldn't resist stamping here and there though... :) Chose myStamp Box stamps for the border and pennants which are clear embossed right under the title...

Here are the close ups:

So thanks Embellish for inspiring me to make some more layouts! :)

I have a thing for twine!

2011-07-30T22:02:00.005+02:00

Hello good people! Here's a confession: I do have a thing for twine lately! Since I've finally got my hands on some of that product, I want to incorporate it in almost everything! And of course, I have a thing for sketches, especially when it comes to scrapping many pictures at a time. So when I saw that sketch by Donna Jannuzzi on Ella's blog, I knew I could finally attack those Zoo pics! Here's the sketch:

Every time we go to the zoo this happens: I take zillions of pictures and never have the courage to do anything with them. And I know why! For this layout it took me something like two hours to select, crop and print those pics (with me knowing the size they had to be). And I won't even mention trimming! But fortunately I will learn something in the process and next time I'll find my courage to tackle the subject of multiple photos events.

Enough of the talk, here's my take on the sketch that I had to stretch a little! :) I told you, many pictures! In order to fit a good part of them on those pages I mirrored the sketch, altered some pictures sizes and embellished it all...

Page 1:

Page 2:

The only animal stamp set I have is the one by Artemio, a belgium company.

As for the title I went with this cool alphabet set by myStamp Box that's called Royal Flush. With a little background touch of Back to the Basics set.

One more close up:

Thanks for sticking with me that long. And thanks Donna for your fantastic and inspiring sketches!

Project 12 - June

2011-07-24T21:57:00.002+02:00

Hello there! Is anyone there? :) I'm still here waiting for our vacation to start and trying to occupy kids as well as I can. And I scrap from time to time. As you know (since I've mentioned it a couple of times already) I'm behind with my layouts. Project 12 is no exception. Month of May is not done and here's July almost over! But please welcome my version of June according to Becky's sketch:

So, what did we do in June? We started the month with two pic-nics in one day: at noon with our family in a forest, in the evening with our neighbours in the garden. Then, the huge event of the month - we went with my husband to Poland to liquidate ma Mom's apartment which at the same time is (was?) my home. Not easy to leave kids with my in-laws and do such a thing... A layout about it is yet to come :) Then, my son had two events that marked the end of the school year before the first serious one - he starts school in the end of August!

Page one - as you can see those two pictures here are in fact one picture split in two.

Page two - I did a faux stitching all around the layout using myStamp Box stamp set Repeat after me. Just love how it works! But I've also included some real stitching on the patterned paper, leaves and frame.

As I was missing space for one pic, I hid it under the top one making a hinge with a brad.

As I've mentioned in the previous post, I brought from my Mom's house some old sewing patterns. And I keep on having fun with them! I thought it was only logical to include some of them on the layout since I'm talking about our trip to Poland.

Here's another detail showing the frame I made from cardstock. Such a fun way to add some more dimension!

Hope you're not too bored with so many pictures! I'm for sure glad this layout exists! On to the next one! :)

And here comes another one!

2011-07-21T22:05:00.004+02:00

Hi sweet people! So here's another sketch. This one is by myStamp Box DT coordinator, Allison Cope. It was a card sketch challenge for me:

Here's my card. I used Repeat after Me set which contains that cool zig-zag stitch stamp. The sentiment comes from Small Greetings set - I love that simple font! For the background I used a piece of Core'dinations cardstock. And here's a big shout-out to my friend Isha who embossed all those cardstock pieces for me! Thanks!

Supplies: cardstock Core'dinations; stamps myStamp Box; inks Ranger and Tsukineko; embossing powder Artemio; eyelets Doddlebug; vintage paper

Did you notice those vintage sewing paper rosettes? Well, that paper comes from my Mom's closet. She kept all those old magazines and now it makes my scrapbooking happiness. More of those coming soon... For more interpretations of that sketch, please visit myStamp Box blog.

And speaking of Isha, we could finally meet last Saturday, after a year of "seeing" each other on the net, talking on the phone... We both live in Switzerland but 2 1/2 hrs drive away. Not very practical for an stamping afternoon... But this will come hopefully one day! For now, both our families met and chatted and had fun for and hour or so... Here's a pic of two of us, happy together on our couch! :)

To many happy meetings!

A new sketch

2011-07-19T22:46:00.003+02:00

Hi there! Lately, I've been MIA or so it seems. But I'm still here, trying to keep up (my head out of water most of the time :))

Sooooo, I've almost forgot about Ella's sketch series. I don't know how come but that's the truth! Fortunately, when I've run across them again, it sparkled and I was at work. Here's the first of July's two sketches:

And here's my version. We were at the Zoo the other day and I was astonished to see that my son (who usually is - or was! - very careful and not much into climbing, jumping etc.) suddenly goes onto that swinging thing all by himself! I guess that's the benefit of a year of gym we went to together... The title says "Smart" (at least that's what my dictionary tells me)...

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil Basics; PP BG; stamps myStamp Box; dye inks Ranger; alphas and eyelet AC; twine MME; stapler

I've popped up this one last picture for some dimension and in order to enhance the effect of suspension. Used myStamp Box Snapshot set which was perfect for this layout!

I guess that's it for tonight. Have a good one!

Lazy Summer Days

2011-07-15T22:10:00.002+02:00

Hello there! How was your day at the pool? :) Ready for some leg-stretching? Well, it's HERE if you feel like it! Have a nice one!

Embellish Magazine's Rainbow challenge, take 2

2011-07-07T21:44:00.003+02:00

Hi again! In fact I wanted to post this about two days ago but well, life got involved. :) But here we go! Back to the rainbow challenge over at Embellish! I'm not sure if I'm right but I sense a trend in there. Or is it only me to see rainbows everywhere? Here are two examples. I saw this one on neighbors balcony:

And then also in my own crafty supplies - my stock of felt! Yum!!!

And here comes my project. I've already used this idea on a card once but wasn't very happy with it. I feel a bit better with this version but it surely could be improved.

Supplies: white cardstock; music stamp HA; dye inks Ranger; twine My Mind's Eye; buttons

OK, that's for tonight. Thanks for visiting! :)

Embellish Magazine's Rainbow challenge

2011-07-04T22:30:00.002+02:00

Hello folks! In fact, is there anyone reading me yet? With me not visiting and not commenting almost anywhere, I know you must have all get discouraged to come here. I'm really sorry about this! Hopefully one day I'll be able again to see all the wonderful things you all do. For the moment I'm trying to keep up with life, my assignments and throwing in a challenge from time to time. Like this absolutely irresistible Embellish Magazine Rainbow challenge. Here's the announcement:

And here's my card. I made it using a simple flower from Funky Flowers set by myStamp Box and a sentiment from Mention it! set (which is among my favorites). I've added some gems to give those flowers life and some twine just for pleasure. :)

Supplies: white cardstock; stamps myStamp Box; dye inks Ranger; gems HA; twine My Mind's Eye

I'm feeling very inspired by rainbows right now. So stay tuned for some more soon! :)

P.S. I've also entered this card into Gallery Idol competition, more for fun than anything else...

Thank you MFW!

2011-06-27T23:28:00.002+02:00

Hi!

Have you seen it yet? I have, it arrived in my mail box last Saturday. And I have to say it: it's a WOW issue! I've only started to flip through the pages but I'm WOW-ing on each and every one of them! Yes, I'm talking about the new Stamp it! Cards issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. Here's the cover.

And guess what? I have one card in this one. One only (and I won't tell you how many I've submitted...) but who cares? Since the issue goes on sale tomorrow I guess I can share it here with you. It's a card with my favorite layered embossed resist technique. For details you'll have to get the mag, though! :)

But that's not all. Today this card is featured among some gorgeous ones, coming from my "idols" on Moxie Fab World! It's incredible! I thought it wasn't ever possible... What a beautiful day it was! Thank you MFW!

Lifting Maile

2011-06-26T16:21:00.002+02:00

Hello there! Have you enjoyed our Mystery Box blog hop? You can still join in the fun!

Today I want to show you a project that is a lift. I believe it happens to you to be so much inspired by something you see that you haft to use that inspiration right away. That's what happened to me when I saw a card by Maile Belles in THIS post. Here's my version:

Supplies: cardstock white, kraft, pink; clear stamp myStamp Box; white doily; butterfly punch Martha Stewart; white pearl Hero Arts; dotted ribbon; white ink Clear Snap; pink button; natural twine; black marker

I didn't have the same supplies but used a stamp from THIS set by myStamp Box to create the flowery border. I also decided not to put any sentiment on it, didn't feel right on this card.

Hope your Sunday is great! See you soon!

Mystery Box Blog Hop

2011-06-23T16:00:00.000+02:00

Welcome to the myStamp Box "Mystery Box Hop"!

If you have just happened upon our event today, please begin your journey on the myStamp Box Blog here. All of our wonderful myStamp Box designers are joining us today to show off some inspirational Box creativity.

Bettina von Gross

Jill Hildebrand

Sue Sykes

Jaine Drake

Janet Zeppa

Birgit Koopsen

Linda Abadie

Jolene Johnston

-->Agata Pfister<-- you are here!

Rebecca Keppel

Marsha Valk

Allison Cope

myStamp Box blog

We are giving away an amazing prize package from the myStamp Box shop for our event this weekend and all you have to do is to COMMENT along your journey to WIN.

We have given three of our lovely designers a mystery prize box and you could win the prize inside just by leaving a COMMENT on EVERY designer's blog. Our Mystery Box Blog Hop winner will be announced on the myStamp Box blog on Monday so all comments are due by Sunday June 26th at 11:59 pm EST. Good luck!

And here's what I made with my MYSTERY BOX. In fact there were two of those lovely, kraft boxes. And it was perfect since I wanted to make small gifts for my son's (and mine!) gym teachers (we do a parent/kid gym together). I couldn't resist the call of a simple white embossing on kraft and a splash of colorful embellishments. So first, I created a text block using words and letters from various mSB stamp sets. Most of the words are in English so as the bottom line I created the word MERCI (Thanks in French) using Many Dots set.

When this was ready I could go and stamp repeatedly the block twice on long sides of my boxes and once on the short side. I also stamped and embossed on the top flap.

Here's one finished box with its big bow, a handmade flower, a button and some twine to finish things off.

And what's better to offer to say thanks than homemade goodies? Here's a pic of what's inside my boxes!

And since my text block was still sitting on the acrylic mount, I did two matching cards. I removed the bottom line text though to make thing a bit lighter since the cards are smaller than boxes.

Now it's time to HOP along and find out what the next talented designer has created with their MYSTERY BOX. Your next designer is Rebecca Keppel. Don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to WIN one of our MYSTERY BOX giveaways!

MIA

2011-06-22T22:44:00.005+02:00

Hi there! So yes, I was sort of missing in action. But guess what? I'm back! Or at least trying to be... And here's a good place to start: tomorrow is a myStamp Box blog hop! A very mysterious one at that! So brace yourselves and be back at 4 pm CES/10 am EST. See you then!

myStamp Box monthly stroll... :)

2011-06-09T00:30:00.001+02:00

Hello blog world! As each month wants it, I have a post on myStamp Box blog. It has something to do with water but if you want to know more, please click HERE! Have a nice stroll! :)

A challenge on time

2011-06-02T23:14:00.003+02:00

Hello! If you're visiting my blog regularly, you know that since last January (because of our *new* family situation) I'm playing less in challenges of all kinds. In fact, I'm having an ongoing challenge at home: how to find time for my favorite hobby! :) And the second one right after it is the blogging. BUT! Once in a while I get to play along something nice. Like this current Embellish Magazine's challenge. Check it out:

Soon after I saw the challenge, this layout's idea was born in my head. Then it had to wait a bit till I had the said time to make it. And finally, here it is.

I've chosen this cardstock's color after seeing DT's interpretations of the challenge and reading Cristina's description as "ocean tides". It was the closest I had in my stash...

The journaling says: "It is Jonatan's expression repeated by Kesja. To name the one that is unique in the whole world. *My dearest Daddy*." AOC* stands for Apellation d'Origine Controlée in French and means something like Name of Controlled Origine and usually is used for names of wines or cheese coming from particular regions.

As the challenge was to use text on the creation, apart from the journaling and title, I stamped a border with a HA Friendship Definition stamp and embossed it in clear.

It was a challenge that came around in a good moment to document this little thing from our life right now. As I always say, an accomplished layout is one more in my scrapbook. So it's always good to take! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

An excuse

2011-05-25T22:39:00.003+02:00

Hello peeps! How's your week going so far? Mine is quite good especially that my kids are doing much better, health-wise speaking. Thanks to everyone that inquired about that! :) And since I've managed to finally finish a scrapbook layout, this week is in fact quite perfect for me! :)

The layout started with me wading through my last year's pictures, trying to figure out how many layouts I still have to make in order to be up to date. And I've found those pictures of a trip we made to a Foundation for Dogs-Guides for Blind (that's the name in French, hope it's not too shocking for you). I remember well my daughter in that beautiful, big red flowery dress, walking through the field, how we lunched on the grassy hill and the visit itself. Alas, we were not allowed to touch puppies, I believe kids would simply LOVE it! Anyway, the trip was just an excuse to spend an afternoon together and have fun. And that's my layouts title and that's what journaling says, more or less...

I wanted to create a patterned paper that would match (sort of) my daughter's dress. I stamped the background on watercolor paper, then again the big flower on separate pieces, sprayed those with water mixed with some Perfect Pearl powder, cut out, distressed with some Old Paper Distress ink and colored with some Wild Honey in the middle. Then adhered those to the background with dimensional adhesive, over stamped everything with Envelope Pattern and added seed pearls in the middle. Maybe on this close up you can see the subtle shine on the flower...

...and on this one the dimension. All this for Hero Arts' monthly contest which is (partly) about Fabulous Flowers.

OK, I guess that's all the"blah-blah" you'll get from me tonight! :) Have a good night!

Monday talk :)

2011-05-23T21:42:00.003+02:00

Hello hello! So, how was your weekend? Ours was hot, not only because of the weather but also because of our son's fever... He got it from his sister together with a bad cough and running nose. But I believe he's on the mend and will be running and laughing very soon! :)

On Friday I've shared a card that was published in the Card Creations vol.9 issue of Paper Crafts. Now, this was also the day they were sending acceptance emails for A Card A Day issue that is coming up in a few months. And well, nothing got through from me... Too bad! But at least I can share one of those rejects and take part in Dr. Amber's reject blog hop! :)

I used some myStamp Box stamps on it and the watercolor technique for the Sun. It was a bit brighter and cheerier in my mind than IRL but well, that's how it is sometimes.

Now, there's another thing I can share with you. My friend Alexandra is having a huge giveaway in order to celebrate 3 years of her blog Art, Scrap & More. I believe you'd like to participate. And in case you had some doubts, just take a look at the loot!!!

Didn't I say it was worth your while? :)

OK, that's it for me for today! Have a nice beginning of the week!

Friday talk

2011-05-20T21:16:00.004+02:00

Hello friends! Do you believe it's another Friday already??? I can't believe I practically scrapped nothing this week! But I still have something to show you today! :)

Have you seen that new issue? (It seems I ask you a lot of questions! :)) Anyway, I got my copy in the mail last week and it's really truly chock full with inspiration and gorgeous creations!!!

Plus, :) I have two cards inside!! And I can show you one! I think this one was my favorite... The little story behind this publication is that I mailed my cards right away (which was right before Christmas) and was absolutely certain they arrived. An then mid- January I received an email telling me that they were still waiting! And then we all waited a bit more. A loooooong bit more. Then they told me to make my cards over again and send them. And we started waiting again. And then, after 6 weeks total, the first package arrived! Yes!!! And the second soon after. Like this they have my cards twice! :)))

With this little card I wish you a very pleasant weekend!

Listen to your voice

2011-05-13T21:45:00.003+02:00

Hello friends! Here's the story of the following layout. It all started with this old BG paper (I sort of dig all those old papers in my stash lately, go figure! Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that I wasn't all so wrong about buying them in the first place...) Anyway, having looked at it, I had an idea for a layout's design, in one word: a sketch was born in my mind. Then I started looking for a story to go with it, was browsing through my pictures and thought: Hey, this one is so cool, I love it! Why not write something about it? The story wasn't long and was going somewhere along complicity lines, big brother was supposed to be the title and was supposed to be where the journaling is now. Then, I read what one of my favorite scrapbookers, Moon Ko, wrote on Write.Click.Scrapbook blog, about finding our own voice (and not being cheesy). And while working on my layout and not feeling completely satisfied with my little story and thinking about what I'd write about this layout here on the blog (and it was all about how much I loved my son's expression on this picture), it hit me. There it was, my voice in my head, telling me what I loved about the picture and I wasn't to listen to it? No way! So I've changed my title, squeezed it in between the papers, wrote my new journaling and well, felt much better... :)

Finally, here it is (and the new journaling reads: I like to track in your faces promises of what you'll be like in the future. Responsible big brother, a dreamer, handsome, that's how I see Jonatan on that picture. And I love what I see!)

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil Basics; stickers Toga & AC; paper BG; brads We R Memory Keepers; punch Fiskars

Or maybe that's cheesy? ;) Anyway, I'll keep the original sketch for another story. But I like this version, too! If not better! Have a nice weekend!

Project 12 - April

2011-05-11T15:11:00.000+02:00

Hello there! Yes, I'm already back with the next double layout for the Project 12! In fact, I made a resolution to finish those projects till the 10th of each month. There's no reason to wait!

Here's the sketch by Becky Fleck:

And here's my version with some of my favorite April pictures!

Fortunately there were 9 pictures on the sketch - we did something special each weekend!

As for the January sketch, I used kraft cardstock as my base and used a myStamp Box set to create my own patterned paper. SRM Stickers are back, too! As well as a flowery border.

Here are some close ups:

That's for the Project 12. But today I have two projects on myStamp Box blog. So if you have a moment, please click here to see them. Happy Wednesday!

Another sketch

2011-04-29T23:35:00.002+02:00

Hi there again! There's one thing I know and I'm sure you know that, too: I can't resist a good sketch! And I came over another one on Ella's blog, a sketch by Donna Jannuzzi. In fact, they're having another "Stretch Your Sketches" series and I'm on!!! Here's a third version of Donna's sketch as she proposed it:

I find it so versatile (and two other versions, too)! And it definitely triggered something in my head. Maybe because I've done something similar in the past?... Anyway, I had those three pictures of my daughter, taken in December and really, for the love of me, couldn't decide which of them was cuter! But why chose if you can have it all?...

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil; patterned paper MME; letter stickers Toga, AC; Clear stamps myStamp Box; Versamark Tsukineko; embossing powder Stampendous; brads We R Memory Keepers; felt snowflakes HA

The story is about the pink sled that's in our family's winter house's attic. My daughter was absolutely fond of it! And the color was perfect for her wintery outfit! I used again of of those marvelous My Mind's Eye papers and my new myStamp Box snowflake stamps.

Be assured, winter hasn't come back yet. We're still wearing T's, tongs and sun screen (almost everyday). But it's so good to look at this sweet face and remember good time! Have a good one!

After Easter

2011-04-28T12:02:00.005+02:00

Hello! How are you doing? Are you all dealing with the post-Easter-chocolatery syndrome? :) We're still eating it, slowly, a bit at a time...

I'm back with a layout made for the monthly Hero Arts challenge. This month, it was all about masculine projects, stamp layering and sketches. I went for this last part but instead of making a card, I made a layout. You can see the sketches HERE, I've chosen number 3. I've simply added a frame around it and the journaling part. The background was created by dividing the space equally and stamping with solid and "usual" images. Lots of white ink... The journaling says: You are strongly influenced by one of "Little Bear's" episodes and it is impossible for you to look at the camera without saying: "Cheese!" Because of that, it seems close to impossible for me to obtain a picture of you without the grin!

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil; all stamps HA; letter stickers Toga, AC; ink Clear Snap; embossing powder Artoz; brad We Are Memory Keepers; white gel pen Sakura; stapler

Now, on Easter Sunday we were at my in-laws. Some egg hunt was involved, we were to find eggs my son was hiding in the garden! While looking for them, I've spotted some marvels of the nature. Just have a look:

And one more thing. I hear there are some great giveaways going on over at Lucy's and Joy's. That's almost as good as the egg hunt itself! See you!

Joyeuses Pâques / Happy Easter

2011-04-23T22:56:00.003+02:00

Bonsoir! Un message un peu spécial aujourd'hui, en deux langues comme il se doit! :)

Hello! A little special post tonight, in two languages as it should be! :)

Pâques c'est demain et depuis quelques jours je suis fans la frénésie de la pâtisserie. Nous sommes invités pour le repas de midi alors je me suis donnée à coeur joie avec les spécialités polonaises. Douces, je précise! Et tout ça, quelque part à cause de ma Maman qui dernièrement réclame des douceurs à la pâte levée. Et celles qu'elle veut en particulier ne sont pas fabriquées par ici. Du coup, j'ai m'y suis mise. En voilà preuve en photo...

Tomorrow is Easter and since a few days I'm in a baking frenzy. As we are invited for dinner tomorrow, I decided to bake some Polish specialities. Sweet ones, of course (as I do have a sweet tooth!) And all this because of my Mom, who as of late wants some yeast Polish buns that are unavailable here. So, I thought, I'll try. Here's one proof...

Sur une autre note, voici une carte qui a été publiée dans le numéro de mars de magazine CARDS. J'ai trouvé qu'elle était appropriée pour vous souhaiter à tous Joyeuses Pâques! A bientôt!

On another note, here's a card that was published in the March issue of CARDS magazine. I've found it was perfect to wish you a Happy Easter! See you soon!

Project 12 - March

2011-04-21T22:48:00.000+02:00

Hello! I'm back with another Project 12 installment. Here's Becky Fleck's sketch for the month of March:

Here's my take on it. As for the two previous months I used SRM month stickers. I even sited one of them on our new couch! :) As for the papers, their choice was somehow guided by the color of the stickers. And in my stash I've found this Bella Boulevard Swing into Spring collection.

The left page came about in a whip. I've added one more picture to the layout, stickers, flowers for the border and that's it!

As for the 2nd part of the sketch I had to alter some more things since I had too much to say and my couch picture was too big (which was another addition to the original sketch). As for the stitching around the whole layout, this time around I decided to change things a bit. Since I've already stitched the papers, so I've simply stamped a border with myStamp Box stamps.

Now, as for the story, well, we had another birthday in our family (my husband's), my son was invited for the first time to a friend's birthday party, there was a show in our church, we've installed the sand on our balcony, we've received our new couch and were the first ones to maw the lawn in our quarter! The great weather continues (they're talking even about the draught already!!!) and I've started gathering the story and pictures for the month of April. I even know which one will be on the layout for sure. Greetings from Switzerland, again! :)

All together

2011-04-19T22:40:00.003+02:00

Hello world! Today, I'm in need of rest even more than the other days (my dear kiddos...) so this will again be English-only post. Désolé mes chères amies francophones!!! Je vous aime toujours! :)

The absolutely-amazing-and-incredible beautiful weather continues, don't want to disgust you or anything. Just have a look at those lilacs that are in bloom in our garden! And it's official, chestnuts ARE blooming right now in my corner of the world...

Anyway, I have some cards to show you. Lately, we had a Pattern Showcase on myStamp Box blog. It was all about creating a background with stamps. I made a card using Itty Bittys stamps set, you can see it HERE. But ever since, this stamp set was stuck with me. I didn't really take time to play with it before but had some ideas that I could finally bring them to life. And since there are some fun little stamps in that set, I made a set of cards. That's very convenient for the Moxie Fab World's challenge! :)

Sentiments on all cards are from another cool set, Mention it!

Here are the three cards, all together...

Wishing you a nice, sunny day wherever you are! Cheers!

In the Air

2011-04-13T23:14:00.004+02:00

Hello there! Things got a little less warm after the weekend, weather-wise. Kiddos-wise, they got much hotter if you get my meaning! :) Anyway, I don't even know when I made this card. Probably in between one storm and another... But since the air is hot, balloons fly better, isn't it? Especially when there's a Moxie Fab World challenge involved. If you need to know everything, I don't own any balloon related product, paper or stamp. I could paper piece something but I'm lazy those days (that goes with the Summery-like weather we just had...) So, I took one bauble from this Christmas stamp set by myStamp Box and turned it into a hot-air balloon...

The sky piece was made on a piece of watercolor paper, with dye inks and Perfect Pearls powder for the lovely shimmer...

And the sentiment was adhered to a piece of corrugated cardstock that acts as the basket which is attached to the balloon with crochet floss...

I've seen some gorgeous submissions and compared to them my card is sort of "blah". Still, I had fun working on it and hope for more hot weather! See ya!

Hot weekend

2011-04-09T22:45:00.005+02:00

Hello! The new Paper Crafts magazine hits the stands and it arrived in my mail box yesterday. I have to say, it's full of amazing projects! It's a HOT issue! As hot as the weekend we're having...

I do not have anything printed in there but I can share one of my rejects with you. A card for Mother's day (I believe in some countries it's already THE day).

Supplies: cardstock: Bazzil Basics and Swiss Dots; stickers AC; pearls HA and amuse; brad Artoz; border punch Fiskars; tissue paper, sewing machine

I know, I know, it's not perfect, far from! But, what I loved most about this card was that home made tissue paper flower - so fun to make (and to offer)! Maybe I'll have a better luck next time?...

Anyway, speaking of hot, the weather continues to be incredible here in Switzerland, it feels like Summer and I'm not kidding! So, we're trying to get advantage of this and today we did something special together. But, I won't reveal everything just yet as I'd love to scrapbook that day. For now I'll just send you a "postcard" from Switzerland so you might feel as you were there, too! Have a nice one!

What's your story?

2011-04-06T14:45:00.001+02:00

Hello! How is your week going so far? Mine is sort of... great! The weather is more than fine and I've completed a layout I wanted to for quite a long time! It's going to be this year's album's opener since this story happened on the 2nd of January. And what's the story, you might ask. Well, I guess every child has a favorite plush toy. My daughter had two: one she has to have in her bed for sleeping and a second one who became her best friend. She was carrying this teddy bear everywhere under her arm, it was all stained and grey instead of initial white. On the 2nd of January I was leaving for a short trip and since we had very little time, on our way to the airport we stopped in a restaurant to eat. The teddy disappeared in between the parking lot and the queue, in literally something like 3 to 5 minutes. We looked for it everywhere, my husband went back there and searched for a long time. Nothing. This was also the day when my daughter was not feeling very well so it was a total nightmare! And must tell you that we were all sad and very much affected by the disappearance of "our" Teddy. We wanted to buy a new one but the one presented as the same on the internet doesn't look the same on the picture... So, our daughter has a white bunny instead that she seems to have accepted almost like the Teddy. But still, it's not the same...

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil Basics; patterned papers MME; brad and letter stickers AC; sewing machine

The patterned papers are yet another story. I bought those about a year a half ago and they were still hidden untouched in my stash. But when I took them out, I fell in love with them *again*! So much texture and such beautiful colors! I can see another layout coming soon...

And what's your story today? Would love to hear it! See you soon!

Unbelievable!

2011-04-03T23:00:00.003+02:00

Hi there! This weekend was sort of unbelievable. First, the weather. Gorgeous! Warm (over 20°C)!!! We went to a park with kids and their uncle & aunt, it was fun! Then, we enjoyed some calm in the garden and today we could still go out lightly dressed with our guests...

Second, my layout for the Project 12 - February was featured on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog! Wow!!!

Third, with all we did, I've managed to make a card for Paper Crafts Color Inspiration Challenge. Here it is:

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzil Basics; Stamps: myStamp Box; Inks and Glossy Accents: Ranger Industries; Accents: Hero Arts; Gelly Roll Pen: Sakura

The pennant was stamped with dye ink, then I colored in the dots with Stardust gel pen and covered everything with Glossy Accents.

But I have to admit, after all this I'm unbelievably tired... So, off I go, to bed! See ya!

myStamp Box New Design Team blog hop

2011-04-01T15:58:00.001+02:00

It's a WELCOME BLOG HOP today at myStampBOX, and we are thrilled to introduce our new designers to you. If you stumbled upon our blog hop today, be sure to start back at the myStampBOX blog so you don’t miss any of the action!

Come visit all of our returning design members' blogs, and you will be introduced to our new team members one by one. Make sure to leave a comment on each participating blog and a final comment once you return to our home page. Leave your comments by 6 PM EST on Sunday April 3rd for a chance to win free stamps! On the way enjoy our welcoming cards made with our fun myStampBOX stamp.

But first we would like to thank all the wonderful and talented designers that are leaving our team. A BIG thank you goes out to:

Stephanie Ackerman

Maryfrances Fabbri

Cari Locken

Eva Pizzaro

Kristen Swain

Melissa Wright

Thank you for your hard work over the last 6 months. You’ll always be a part of the myStampBOX family. Best wishes from all of us in your next crafty adventure!

Now… let’s find out more about who will be joining the myStampBOX design team. Follow the blog hop and visit each of our returning designer blogs. Each team member will be introducing a new member of our team. At each stop, please leave a comment. When the blog hop is complete, return to the myStampBOX blog and leave one final comment to have a chance to win a myStampBOX stamp set of your very own!

mSB Blog

Agata Pfister

Jaine Drake

Jill Hildebrandt

Jolene Johnston

Allison Cope (coordinator)

We hope you enjoy our little welcoming blog hop! Don’t forget to leave a comment on each one of the design team blogs and the mSB blog for your chance to win! Good luck and happy hopping!

Hi everyone! Let's get introduced to Linda! Take it away, girl!

First of all, I'm so excited to be part of myStamp Box Design Team and really looking forward to get to know every one of you! My name is Linda Abadie. I am 35 years old. My husband and I have been married for 8 years and we have two children, Nicholas (6) and Christopher (3). I started scrapbooking in 2007 when my husband ARMY career took us to the far reaches of the globe. Most of my layouts was inspired by daily activity; either at home with my family or at work, nursing. I enjoy this hobby as it allows me to express and capture special heartfelt moments in my life. Some of my creations have been published in Memory Makers, Somerset Memories, Paper Trends, Card Maker and Card Creations magazine. Many of my friends consider my style as "eclectic", full of bright colors and happy. I love combining mixed media and hybrid scrapbook technique. I really hope that my work can inspire you to create more and let out your creativity be expressed through your layouts and cards...

That's so nice to get to know you, Linda and to have you on the team! Welcome! And here's my card made especially for you! I made it using one of our new stamp sets, Pennants. I love to turn one of them and make a party hat out of it!

Supplies: cardstock Migros; Stamps: myStamp Box; Dye inks: Ranger Industries; Accents: HA; Decorative scissors: Fiskars

Hopefully, you'll like it!

Now... Check out our new design team member and a fun card at Jane's blog! Happy hopping!

Summer envy

2011-03-31T22:00:00.000+02:00

Hello again! I'm back with a layout full of stamps and cut pictures! :) Yeah, I know, I'm not objective. But what would you say seeing those two on a hot Summer afternoon with their ice sticks and dressed in nothing but their pampers/undies? And it became a habit... The title says "A small naked" in Polish, a word easily used for small kids.

I stamped and cut out all the clouds from "Wishing you Sunshine" set by myStamp Box. The sun was made on watercolor paper, white embossed, inked with dye inks and sprayed with pearlized water. Love the shimmer!

Supplies: cardstock Bazzil; watercolor paper Canson; stickers AC; stamps myStamp Box; inks Ranger and Tsukineko; embossing powder Artoz; Perfect Pearls powder Ranger; button HA; twine

Now, I had a sketch for that layout made shortly after the pics were taken and it was in my sketch book ever since. But one day I had a totally different idea and here we are! Maybe it was an effect of a very warm month of March? Now I have Summer envies!!! See you tomorrow for the blog hop!

Second thoughts

2011-03-29T23:05:00.006+02:00

Hi there! I admit, lately I've been having second thoughts. About envelopes, that is! And all this because of Hero Arts monthly challenge since it's about Birthdays, Layered Backgrounds AND Stamped Envelopes! But who said that those envelopes were to be sent out?! Well, I thought so... And here we come. Please welcome an envelope aka paper lantern. Can you see that there's candle burning inside?...

I took my pictures quite early in the morning and well, they're not perfect...

Here's the inside pic...

Once this one was made, I thought about transforming the envelope into a bag for a small gift. And if you offer a candle, well, that's a two in one shot, if you ask me...

On both envelopes you can see some linen ribbon, found it in a nearby store and am quite happy with it. Very easy to stamp on!

And since I was going for texture on this one, I even braided the handles out of natural twine.

Supplies for both envelopes: stamps and felt flower HA; dye inks and Stickles: Ranger; embossing powder Artoz; watermark ink: Tsukineko; cardstock: Bazzil Basics; butterfly punch: Martha Stewart; border punch: Fiskars; linen ribbon, stapler

Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

Project 12 - February

2011-03-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

Hello! I'm back with the second installment of Project 12. Here's the sketch by Becky Fleck for the month of February:

And here's my take on it. It all started with a piece of patterned paper by Imaginisce, B-day Bash that I received from Two Peas after winning a challenge last year. I loved the colors and since we celebrated my son's birthday, it was perfect. But I didn't want to hide that paper under pictures. So, I just took colors from it, the three strips with "happy birthday" and this great springy sticker.

I also worked with myStamp Box stamps to create backgrounds on cardstock under pictures. I embossed all images with clear embossing powder and I love the effect!

As on the January layout, I used SRM Stickers with the month's definition.

Here are some details:

Thanks for looking! You may join in the fun of your own Project 12, more info on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. See you soon!

Coming soon!

2011-03-23T14:39:00.002+01:00

Hi there! It's coming soon! The New DT introduction blog hop! Join us on Friday 1st April on myStamp Box blog. We're all excited about it so mark your calendars to see lots of inspiring work. See you soon!

How 'bout a little stroll?

2011-03-22T06:00:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone! Today I have this project featured on the myStamp Box blog. But that's not all! It's a joint post with Eva! To learn more, please click HERE! Have a nice visit! :)

By numbers

2011-03-18T22:14:00.003+01:00

Hello! Another week comes to an end, a week that put to test my patience at numerous times. A test that I failed quite often... Want an example? This morning our boy put a plastic card (like a credit card) into the CD drive of our Mac... Well, whatever, the weekend's here and hopefully I'll be in a better shape to start the new week!

However, I've managed to put together the following layout that was on my mind for let's say like 6 months or so. After seeing it you might ask, what took me so long! Well, I don't know either!!! But I'm so glad it's finally done! I've got others waiting!!!

The layout is about my son's fast growing feet. They were growing so fast that we went directly from number 23 to 25! Till last Summer we could change his slippers every 2-3 months. That's why they're not used on the picture. BUT!!! Something strange happened - when I started planning this layout, his feet stopped growing! And this last pair of slippers is well worn now...

That little red elephant comes with each pair of slippers, I kept one for my layout.

I can also share a card with you, a card that was rejected from the recent PC call. I tried my hand at the color combo. I do like that card and how it came along. At least I can participate in the "rejection blog hop" started by Amber. Come and join in the fun! And see you soon! :)

Matériel: cdc Migros, Bazzil Basics; stamps and buttonHA; inks Ranger, Tsukineko; gems amuse; ribbon, twine

Give it a try!

2011-03-11T14:54:00.002+01:00

Hi there everyone! On Wednesday I watched a video by Shari Carroll with a new stamping technique. If you're interested, it's HERE. And I had to try this! Here's the result:

Matériel: cartdstock Migros; watercolor paper Canson; stamps and pearl HA; inks Ranger; Clearsnap and Tsukineko; embossing powder Artemio; vintage lace and twine; border punch Fiskars

There's still place for improvement. Thanks for looking!

Give me a lift

2011-03-08T21:58:00.004+01:00

Hello! Not much is going on this blog lately... But I'm trying to be better organized with all that goes on in my life. Some budgetary cuts have to be made, time-wise speaking. One of those is that I've noticed that not many French only speaking people stop by my blog. So for now it's gonna be English only...

The other thing is that my last year album is very much not up to date. The question is: how to catch up? Well, I have some ideas for some layouts and for some, not at all! And the best thing in such a case is to lift someone. Today way Jody Wenke's turn. :) I just loved her layouts from this post and decided to give it a try. The result? A quickly-made-I-like-it-tons layout! Hope it's OK with you Jody! YOu know I admire your talents a TON!!! So, here it is, with pics of my son taken last December at the gym show we took part in.

Thanks for stopping by today! See you soon!

A l'envers / Upside down

2011-03-03T20:41:00.003+01:00

Hello! Aujourd'hui je fais le guide! D'abord vers le blog de myStamp Box où j'ai un projet avec un pas-à-pas dont voici un petit bout:

Hello! Today I'm playing the role of a tour guide. First, please visit the myStamp Box blog where I have a project with a step by step instructions. Here's a peek:

Mais je ne vais pas vous envoyer vous balader tout de suite. Je vous montre encore deux cartes que j'ai faites dernièrement autour de la même idée.

But before you go, here are two cards I made recently using the same idea, sort of.

Matériel: cardstock: Bazzil et Migros; tampons HA; encres Ranger et Tsukineko; perfo de bordure Fiskars; rubans, button, machine à coudre

Si vous voulez voir comment quelqu'un de bien plus doué utilise la même idée, cliquez par ICI. Bonne promenade!

If you want to see how someone well more talented than me uses the same idea, then click HERE. Have a nice stroll!

Project 12

2011-02-27T22:58:00.004+01:00

Hello! Je reviens avec un projet sur lequel j'ai flashé comme on dit: le projet 12 sur Scrapbooking & Cards Today. Il s'agit d'interpréter un sketch de Becky Fleck par mois. J'ai tout naturellement sauté sur l'occasion puisque 1) j'aime les sketch de Becky, 2) avoir une année résumée en 12 pages doubles, je suis pour! Voici donc le sketch:

Hello! I'm back with a project that I was moon struck with: the Project 12 from Scrapbooking & Cards Today. It's about making a spread per month interpreting a sketch by Becky Fleck. I was on right away for two reasons: 1) I love Becky's sketches, 2) having an entire year resumed in 12 spreads is a very appalling perspective! So, here's the sketch:

Et ma version. J'ai décidé de travailler avec les tampons pour le fond de page et ajouter juste un peu de papiers. J'ai aussi utilisé quelques autocollants de SRM stickers.

And here's my version. I've decided to work with stamps for the background and add just a touch of patterned papers. I've also added some stickers from SRM Stickers.

Matériel: cardstock: Bazzil; pp: BG; tampons: HA; encres: Clearsnap, Tsukineko; poudre à embosser Artemio; autocollants: SRM stickers; brads: Gaïa, MM; ficelle, ruban, agrafeuse

C'est dans le poste ICI que vous pouvez lire tous les détails concernant ce Projet 12, ainsi que sur le blog de Davinie. Peut-être que cela vous donnera envie de jouer! Bonne fin de weekend!

You can read all the details concerning the Project 12 HERE, as well as on the blog of Davinie. Maybe it will encourage you to play along! Have a nice end of the weekend!

myStamp Box

2011-02-24T15:41:00.002+01:00

Bonjour tout le monde! Juste un mot pour vous dire que j'ai un poste sur le blog de myStamp Box ICI. C'était hier...

Hello everyone! Just a word to let you know that I have a post on the myStamp Box blog HERE. It was yesterday...

Et puisque nous parlons de cette compagnie, voici l'appel à la nouvelle DT. J'espère que vous allez tenter votre chance! A bientôt!

And since we're talking about this company, they've just issued a DT call. Hope you'll give it a chance! See you soon!

ATTENTION all stampers and myStamp BOX fans!

We are looking for new Designers to join our team. If you are enthusiastic about our stamps, love to stamp, are a good team player, and know a thing or two about blogging, you are the right match for us! We are interested in designers with a variety of styles who can creatively showcase myStamp BOX designs in their layouts, cards, altered art and other projects. No previous design team experience is necessary. International applicants are welcome to apply.

Our Term is 6 months from April 1st, 2011 to September 30th, 2011.

Team requirements:

* 4 projects per month

* 1 blog entry per month including good quality photos of a project and instructions/tutorial

* Upload all projects to the myStamp BOX website gallery and other online galleries

* Submit at least 2 projects per term for submission to print magazines of your choice

* Occasionally help with additional design opportunities – new stamp sets, classes, etc.

* make myStamp BOX the only stamping company you design for during this term

Team benefits:

*bio and picture on the website, with links to your blog

*a starter kit of stamp sets and additional stamp sets throughout your term

*other free scrapbooking supplies from product partners as they become available

*30% discount on purchased myStampBox stamps during your term

Please include in your application:

*personal information (your name, address)

*a short paragraph about yourself and why you think you’d be a good fit for myStamp BOX.

*link to your blog and gallery

*3-5 examples of your work showcasing your stamping ability and style

This call ends Friday, March 4, 2011

Send your application to bettina@mystampbox.com

myStampBOX website: www.mystampbox.com

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Bonnes nouvelles / Good news

2011-02-17T15:48:00.003+01:00

Bonjour bonjour! Me revoilà enfin... Avec une, voir deux bonnes nouvelles! Le dernier appel des cartes de Paper Crafts Magazine s'est terminé la semaine dernière (un nouveau est ici!). 1800 créations soumises, 275 sélectionnées de 110 designers. J'ai envoyé quelques unes et UNE a été acceptée!!! La deuxième bonne nouvelle est que maintenant je vais pouvoir montrer ici celles qui ont été rejetées! :) En voilà une première:

Hello hello! I'm finally back... With one or two good news! The last PC publication call ended last week (a new one is up! wink wink!) 1800 submissions, 275 creations chosen from 110 designers. I've sent in some cards and got ONE in!!! The second good news is that now I'll be able to share of those that have been rejected here! :) Here's the first one:

Matériel: cdc Migros; tampons et perles HA; encres et UTEE Ranger; crayons de couleurs Caran d'Ache; ruban Artoz

Elle va bien pour le concours mensuel de Hero Arts avec la technique "kissing": j'ai encré le tampon de fond puis je l'ai touché avec un tampon sec, pour ensuite tamponner avec ce dernier. Le médaillon a été fait avec de l'UTEE. Voilà, à la prochaine et merci de votre visite! :)

It goes well for the monthly HA contest since it features the "kissing" technique: I inked up the large flourish stamp, then kissed it with an uninked Friendship Definition stamp and stamped with the last one. The embellishment was made with UTEE. Here it is, see you soon and thanks for visiting! :)

Ronde des blogs de myStamp Box blog hop

2011-02-11T16:00:00.007+01:00

Tous à bord! Vous êtes maintenant des passagers du train d'amour de myStamp Box! Commençons le voyage et visitons les blogs de nos designers! Nous allons vous montrer aujourd'hui toutes sortes de cartes et autres projets! Il y aura même des sets de tampons à gagner! Si vous nous rejoignez à l'instant, veuillez d'abord passer par le blog de myStamp Box pour bien démarrer le voyage.

All aboard! You're now a passenger on the myStamp Box Love train! Let's travel along the tracks to each of our talented designers and see the sites! We're going to share all kinds of cool cards and projects on your journey today. We're also going to give away some amazing stamp sets, too! If you're just joining in, please visit the myStamp Box blog to begin your journey.

Tous à bord... Commençons le voyage tout de suite! Juste au cas où le train allait dérailler, voici la liste des arrêts:

All aboard... Let's begin our journey right now! Just in case your train derails, these are the stops we're going to make along the way:

Agata Pfister <--- Vous êtes ici! / You are here!

Pour pouvoir participer au tirage au sort, il vous faut visiter tous les postes sur les blogs de nos designers et y laisser un commentaire. Une fois tous les blogs visités et commentés, vous pouvez retourner sur le blog de myStamp Box pour y laisser un dernier commentaire et nous dire quel était votre arrêt préféré!

To be eligible to be our random stamp winner, you must visit each of the designers blogs listed above and leave a comment on their Love Train post. Once you have visited and commented on each person's blog you can return to the myStamp Box blog and leave one final comment to let us know what your favorite stop along your train trip was.

Et voici mon premier projet. Une carte ultra simple qui utilise un set de tampons et deux couleurs d'encres.

Here's my first project. A very simple card using one stamp set and two inks.

Matériel: cdc Migros; tampons (Royal Flush) myStamp Box; encres: Ranger Ind. (Pumice Stone, Barn Door)

Et voici le projet numéro deux, aussi une carte qui utilise un de tout nouveaux sets de tampons, appelé Repeat After Me. Ce set contient ce long tampon imitation couture zig-zag que j'aime beaucoup! Je l'ai tout simplement plié pour lui donner une forme de demi coeur avant de tamponner.

And here's the project number two, also a card that uses a brand new stamp set called Repeat After Me. That set has this long zig-zag stitch stamp that I like a lot! I simply bent it in shape of a half heart before stamping.

Matériel: cdc Migros; tampons myStamp Box (Royal Flush, Repear After Me); Encres Ranger Ind (Worn Lipstick, Barn Door, Wild Honey); Precision Pen AC

Et voici un tuyaux pour obtenir un coeur parfait. Après avoir tamponné la première moitié, posez votre bloc acrylique sur la carte et façonnez le tampon pour qu'il recouvre le motif tamponné. Vous obtenez le négatif de la deuxième moitié du coeur...

And here's a little hint on how to obtain a perfect heart. After you've stamped the first half, lay down your acrylic mount on the card and bend the stamp so it recovers the stamped image. It's the negative image of the second half of the heart...

Merci d'avoir fait ce voyage avec nous! N'oubliez pas de laisser un commentaire ci-après pour participer au tirage au sort. Maintenant, poursuivant jusqu'à la station suivante qui est chez Cari Locken. Bon voyage!

Thanks for stopping on your journey! Don't forget to leave a comment below to be eligible for a prize! Now, on to the next station... Your next stop is Cari Locken's blog! Bon voyage!

Très bientôt... / Soon and very soon!

2011-02-08T22:04:00.002+01:00

Bonsoir! Préparez-vous à un peu du "fun"! Et surtout n'oubliez pas votre ticket pour monter à bord du...

Hello! Brace yourselves and get ready for some fun! And most of all don't forget to get a ticket for the...

A bientôt! / See you soon!

Une première! / First one!

2011-01-29T00:42:00.003+01:00

Hello! Suivant dans quelle région du monde vous vous trouvez, vous avez peut-être déjà vu ce magazine:

Hello! Depending on in which part of the world you're living, you might have already seen this baby:

Perso, je ne l'ai pas encore. Mais! J'ai une carte dedans! Ma toute première publication de carte, une toute première outre-Atlantique en plus! La voici (dans le magazine elle est accompagnée d'une explication détaillée):

I don't have it yet. But! I have a card in it! My very first card publication, the very first in an American magazine at that! Here it is (in the mag it comes with the step-outs):

Alors, bonne lecture! ;-)

Have a nice read! ;-)

Mise à jour / Update

2011-01-22T22:33:00.000+01:00

Alors, j'était pas là. Mouais, je crois que ça s'est fait remarqué... Il y avait d'abord les vacances entre Noël et Nouvel An. Puis, j'ai fait un voyage bien particulier, un voyage en Pologne pour aller chercher ma Maman. En effet, nous avons décidé qu'il était temps pour elle d'habiter plus près de chez nous, sa santé ayant empiré dernièrement de façon assez spectaculaire. La voilà donc, la raison pour laquelle je ne fais plus partie de Scrap Rendez-Vous... Notre vie de famille est en train de changer, il faut trouver un nouveau rythme, un nouvel équilibre. Ce n'est pas tout à fait facile et il y aura sans doutes des moments plutôt difficiles. Mais pour l'instant la vie continue, à peine rentrée de Pologne, nous avons fêté le deuxième anniversaire de notre fille!

Soooooo, I was away. Yep, I guess you've noticed... First, there was the Christmas/New Year holidays. And then I went for a very special trip, a trip to Poland in order to fetch my Mom. Since her health got worse lately in a rather spectacular way, we've decided that it was time for her to live closer to us. Here it is then, the reason for which I've stepped down from the Scrap Rendez-Vous team... Our family's life is going through a change, we have to find a new rhythm, a new balance. It's not very easy and there are going to be some hard moments. But for now, the life goes on. As soon as I was back for a couple of days and we've celebrated my daughter's second birthday!

C'est un de ces événement où il y a beaucoup de photos et moi j'ai toujours de la peine à en faire quelque chose qui a du sens. Je me suis donc servie comme point du départ d'un sketch présenté sur le blog d'Ella. Le voici:

It's one of those events where there are plenty of pictures and I'm always in trouble when it comes to making something good out of it. So I took one of Ella's sketches as the starting point. Here it is:

Et voici ma (double) page. J'ai renversé les deux pages puis ajouté quelques nouveaux tampons de myStamp Box.

And here's my spread. I changed pages order and added some new myStamp Box stamps.

Matériel: cardstock Bazzil et Core'dinations; papier Bella Boulevard; stamps myStamp Box; encres Ranger et Colorbox; stickers SRM Stickers et Provo Craft; Stickles Ranger; perfo papillon Martha Stewart

Et voilà pour ce soir. Je vous souhaite une excellente nuit! :)

And that's it for tonight. I wish you an excellent night! :)

Première promenade / First stroll

2011-01-04T00:54:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! Et oui, ça recommence! C'est par ICI!

Hello! Yes, it starts again! THIS way, please!

Bonne année!!! / Happy New Year!!!

2010-12-31T20:29:00.001+01:00

Bonsoir! C'est avec cette carte que je viens vous souhaiter une toute bonne et heureuse Nouvelle Année!

Hello! It's with this card that I wish you a very happy New Year!

Matériel: cdc Migros; papier Cosmo Cricket; tampons myStamp Box; encre Tsukineko; brads We R MK

Je voulais vous remercier pour votre fidélité cette année, vos nombreuses visites et vos commentaires encourageants! Chacun d'eux compte beaucoup à mes yeux! Alors un tout grand merci, sans vous ce blog n'existerait pas! A tout bientôt!

I wanted to say Thanks to you all, who visit this blog and leave encouraging comments! Each one of them is precious to me! So thank you, without you this blog wouldn't exist! See you soon!

Card Patterns #96

2010-12-25T16:00:00.000+01:00

Hello! C'est Noël! Et c'est, malgré tout, un nouveau sketch de Card Patterns...

Hello! It's Christmas! And it's also the new Card Patterns sketch time...

Voici ma carte, faite avec un tampon digital de Prickley Pear. J'ai aussi utilisé les magnifiques papiers de BG.

Here's my card made with a digital stamp by Prickley Pear. I also used those beautiful BG papers.

Matériel: cdc Migros; papiers BG; tampon digi Prickley Pear; Stickles Ranger; machine à coudre

C'est ma dernière carte pour CP en tant que membre de l'équipe créative. C'était une chouette expérience! Mais toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin. Il est temps que d'autres filles (très douées!!!) prennent la relève. Et moi, je vous souhaite un très beau et joyeux Noël! A bientôt!

It's my last card for CP as a DT member. It was a great experience! But all good things come to an end. It's time for other (very talented!!!) girls to take over. And I wish you a very merry Christmas! See you soon!

Cadeau dernière minute / Last minute gift

2010-12-22T21:48:00.000+01:00

Bonjour! Noël approche à grand pas, derniers préparatifs sont en cours. C'est que chez nous on prépare aussi deux voyages d'un coup! Mais j'ai quand même réussi à faire les derniers biscuits et les décorer...

Hello! Christmas is very close now, we're making last preparations. But at the same time we prepare also two voyages! Still, I managed to bake last cookies and even to decorate them...

Quelques uns sont devenus des sapins...

Some became Christmas trees...

...et un d'eux, un cadeau pour la maîtresse du jardin d'enfants de Jonatan.

...and one if them, a gift for my son's kindergarten teacher.

J'ai ajouté un tag avec les couleurs du défi HA et du glitter adhéré avec du Glossy.

I've added a tag made with HA challenge colors and glitter, adhered with Glossy Accents.

Matériel: cdc Migros; papier d'emballage; tampons HA; encres Ranger et Tsukineko; Glossy Accents Ranger; glitter Knorr & Prandell; ruban Migros

Et voilà. Je file faire 1001 choses avant le départ...

That's it. I'm off to make 1001 things before we leave...