Just Call Me 'Swiss Miss'

I got one of the biggest surprises of my life today! For Valentine's Day, Kevin booked me a ticket to Geneva to go and visit my friends! I have talked (more than I realized I guess) about how I miss Switzerland now that we are in the USA. Moving here has been a big adjustment for us....

So, I dug out my scrapbooking albums and decided to post some layouts. This layout depicts images of the village in which we lived. Two years of our lives were spent here.....in this tiny village on the out-skirts of Geneva.

It is difficult to make out some of the photos.... If anyone out there has tips on how to scan 12x12 pages on an 81/2x11 scanner, please share! For now, I am stuck photographing my pages. Such a shame!


The village of Bernex has everything a Swiss village should have....bakeries, mountain views, vineyards, a quaint little church, and chalet styled houses.

I just can't wait to get back.....

Dum, Dum, Da Dum

....think wedding music when you read the title.... I am sure it makes a lot more sense now!

A recent card order I completed contained a request for wedding cards. I made a special effort to stay away from pinks and purples...they just conjure up bad wedding visions for me! I remember when Kevin and I got married (1997)...all brides maids at that time seemed to be wearing various shades of pink or purple. Hence the reason that I picked yellow for our brides maids!

In the card below, I stuck with blues and browns...that is one of my recent favourite colour combinations. It is a criss cross card...the tutorial for making them can be found here, at Split Coast Stampers.

The flower stamp on the front and the swirl stamp on the inside are actually big, chunky foam stamps from Making Memories. I stamped the images and then embossed them with clear embossing powder. The second stamp on the inside card...the ring stamp, reads '....and the two become one'. It was purchased at A.C. Moore. A bit of bling for the flower's center, and it was ready to go!



The bride and groom stamp on this card was actually purchased at a stationary shop in Geneva. It was in Old Town....but I couldn't even tell you the name of it any more. If anyone is really interested, leave me a comment and I can find out for you. I think these papers are from Close To My Heart, if my memory serves me correctly.

Once again, I stayed away from pinks and purples. I didn't want anything too feminine, but it still had to look 'wedding-ish'. After all, it was for a wedding! :)

One Layout, Two Looks

I recently had an order for one dozen sympathy cards. Nothing religious, nothing sentimental......my customer wanted something more on the sophisticated side. I worked mainly with earthy tones and subtle patterns so as not to be overwhelming or too 'cheery'.

Below are two pics of cards that I made from the same basic sketch. I tweeked it a bit, but the fundamentals are the same. Each card has a very different look, despite beginning from the same seed of thought.

This card has a very clean and more sophisticated look to it. I used stamp sets from both Close To My Heart and Stampin' Up. Inside the card it reads 'With Deepest Sympathy' which was stamped in brown ink from StazOn. The papers are from Basic Grey.

This card has a more 'earthy' feel to it than the one above. I distressed the edges of the paper and inked some of them as well. These are two techniques you will see me use a lot. I love the distressed look, and I am gradually expanding my repertoire of techniques with that goal in mind.

Stay tuned for more sympathy cards to come....

Another Coffee Card

I had to send a thank you note to my coffee loving friend, Penny. I haven't figured out how to send her the 'real thing', so this was the best I could do.

I love this cute little stamp from 'My Favourite Things'.....as soon as I saw it, Penny came to my mind.

I stamped it, I folded it, I coloured it, et voila!

I hope you like it Penny!

Christmas Cards - Part II

So, here are my remaining Christmas card designs. I know, I know.....it's only two months late! Ughhhh.

I am pretty sure I have posted this type of card before. The center rectangle pivots around to reveal the other side when it is opened. It is quite an impressive design for which I found a tutorial online, here.

This is one of my 'go to' designs...very simple and it always looks good.

This design was one of my favourites. It is a double pocket card. Perfect for holding a photo, gift card, money....leave it to your imagination. In this case, the pockets held a stamped greeting and a photo of my two adorable kiddos.

I don't know what I will do next year....one design or several? I guess I have all year to figure it out! :)

Star Album

This is one of the mini albums that I like to make. The inside pages are 6x6, so the outside cover measures slightly larger.

As you can see from below, it takes a lot of paper to make one of these babies! It is layer after layer, but the finished effect is quite nice, don't you think?!


This album is obviously unfinished, but the intent is that each of the white pages pictured would have a photo and/or journalling on them.

I love that this album can be displayed in a open/standing position on a table for everyone to admire. Much better than stashing it away on a book shelf, isn't it?!

If you want info on how to make or order one of these albums, please leave me a comment. :)

Boy Birthday Cards

I find cards for males the most difficult to make. Little boys are easier then men though. You can always go with cars, planes, reptiles or sports.


The card below was made quite some time ago for my friend's son for his birthday. It is a Z-fold card, which means.....you guessed it......it is folded into a 'Z' shape.






The stamp and ink are from Close To My Heart and the paper is some random pattern that I got as part of a scrap stack at a general craft store.




This next card is of the same variety.....little boy birthday. This one actually went to my nephew in Canada. It is the same paper as above, but it is a traditional open and close card. The stamps are from Stampin' Up.

Well, that is all for now. I will be back later!