Hello again!

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted anything on here.
For starters Malik is finally out of school, yippee!!
He got all A's and a B+ in social studies.
We're getting ready for a couple camping trips this summer, the first will be this weekend for Father's day. It'll just be our little family but it'll be so much fun and relaxing!!
Then we're going to the Dells for the 4th of July in a big group of 14! We've got our sites all reserved it's going to be sooo much fun I can't wait for this trip.
The card/ invitations has been going very well also, I've had a steady amount of orders ranging from wedding, graduations, Luau's and birthdays.
Here are some previews of my orders:

(This is for my friend's hubby's Graduation/ Birthday party)

(This is an order for a 50's party)

(This is a completed wedding order)

(This is an order for a student at Malik's school)

365 Cards

Lately I've been wondering if it's "ever" going to get warm in Chicago again. The weather has been rather cold and rainy creating many stuffy noses within my family.
What started with one child ended up almost 3 weeks later with everyone having shared the lovely flu bug.

Now that I'm the last to entertain this pesky bug I'm really hoping warm weather is right around the corner so we can open the windows and air everything out. :)

Getting back to my papercrafts...

I joined 365 cards as a guest designer and my date finally arrived (yeah) :)
My challenge was to create a card using some kind of fruit. While I do have a few fruit stamps, I've got to admit I've only used them once so this truly was a challenge for me. I created my card using the peaches stamp from Lockhart stamps. I colored them using a super soft water soluable pencils from Caran D'Ache. These pencils are totally unlike any watercolor pencils in the market, I love the way you can blend colors flawlessly. I kept my layers simple with Bazzill textured cardstock and kept it clean by adding some additional texture using my Scor-it.

Tea Please

I fell in love with this stamp set from MFT when we received their catalog at the store. I knew it was one I had to have in my life. After I designed the cards for class I couldn't wait to take my set home with me and begin playing with it.
I've been on a "pink" kick lately so I decided to make a little gift for my good friend Selvi, she'll be receiving this later on this morning. :)
The card is made using Prism card stock and Pebbles pattern paper. I stamped the image on Quartz card stock, I colored the image w/ Copic markers and added white flock to the bunny with my glue pen. Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to further embellish him by added a pom-pom for his tail and black glass beads for his eyes.

I made the box using my scoreboard from Crafter's Companion, I embellished the box with Azalea Stardream Card stock, Pebbles pattern paper, grosgrain ribbon and I printed the sentiment and used my oval and scallop oval punch from Marvy.

Now comes the goodies.....

I absolutely LOVE Cherry Blossoms, so when I ran across an online tea store that sells 100% Cherry Blossom tea I jumped and order a few packs of tea and some French pink sugar.
I know Selvi would enjoy it also so I wrapped up a few of them and created little labels for them.
You can also eat the actual Cherry Blossoms once they been soaked in your cup, they also provided some Youji Sticks for this purpose.

I really enjoyed making this for her, I hope she enjoys it. :)

Commencement Invitations

Wow! Time sure flies by... I didn't realize so much time had passed since my last post.

The weather is "finally" getting warming in Chicago but boyeee is it living up to it's nickname, "The Windy City":)

I've been running around as usually not knowing whether I'm coming or going, unfortunately, it's left me little time to sit and create until this week.

I've been commissioned by my son's school to design their commencement announcements and a parent and very good friend asked me to create a personalize announcement for her son Adem who will be graduating from 8th grade.

I want Adem's cards to be unique so I started googling templates I could use as a reference point, boy, did I find a lot of them! I decided to use this a template I found on SCS. My pockets are an A6 however, I may enlarge them to an A7 once I get Adem's photo and adhere it to the side of the announcement.

I the patterned paper, "Hats off" and "Graduation" by Reminisce, these papers retail at $2/sheet, I got REALLY lucky because I only paid $.10/per sheet on clearance! Woo-Hoo!!!!

I made the tassel. OMG! Talk about tedious work! I used metallic embroidery thread, each tassel will be about 2". They took time to make but WOW, I think they came out pretty good especially for it being my first time making a tassel!

Here's a my sample:

Once I get wallet size pics of Adem in his cap & gown it will be placed right next to the announcement. I conveniently covered that half right now so it wouldn't look lonely in the photographs.

Just for fun - perfect the bachelor in your life!

After a long conversation about "strippers" with one of my "single" friends I decided to make him a card just for fun. Squigglefly provided the PERFECT gal for the job, the Disco Daze image was dressed up with plenty of bling and I added a pole to fit the occasion.

While this card is on the "wild side" it's perfect for bachelors. LOL

Onyx & Jupiter Stardream Cardstock was used for the main card and base. Silver reflective cardstock embossed with my trusty cuttlebug provided the "disco environment".

Image was colored with copic markers and spica markers. I traced and cut out her clothes using Onyx Stardream cardstock and applied adhesive and glitter, her shoes were enhanced using 3D crystal laquer. I used a skewer for the pole and spray painted in Copper using Crafter's Metallic Spray by Krylon. Last but definitely not the least I added some bling.

I computer generated the inside and created the envelope using Jupiter Stardream Cardstock.

I've been MIA

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post, shame on me...

So much has been happening in "Vianney's world". Through the lovely world wide web I've reunited with quite a few old high school & college friends. As you can imagine my time has been spent on the phone, emailing and meeting up with long lost friends catching up on 10 - 15 + yrs.

I haven't stopped my designs though... on top of working on a wedding in Canada I've also made a few cards for some of my friends. Here are a couple cards I've made:

This card is for my friend Irene, she threw her husband a birthday party two weeks ago and their home. What fun actually hanging out and having drinks with friends! I'm not much of a "hard liquor" person and I don't like Tequila at all but after a few shots, I forgot why I didn't like it. LOL

Unfortunately, I remembered the following day as I prayed to the porcelain Gods. hee! hee!

It's a simple but a adorable little card featuring a little Asian doll by Hero Arts and an intricate paper lace background by Kodomo Inc.

This card was made for one of my re-found friends Lucy. I used a digi stamp by squigglefly, I absolutely love them! She made me dinner last Tuesday and OMG can she cook! She makes my cooking skills look like Chef Boyardee! lol

It was such a great night chatting with her and another friend Irene. No kids, no whining just 3 gals hanging out at home.

Drum Roll Please.......

Thanks to everyone who participated in Cut Card Stock's Blog Hop Giveaway.

I had so much fun reading everyone's comments.

I was amazed at how many of you enjoy the silence when creating. I tried that Friday night and I've got to admit it drove me crazy :) I think it's because I'm so used the the kids running around all day so when it's quiet I crave for some kind of noise to keep me on my toes. LOL

Anyhow, I'm sure your interested in knowing who is the winner from my blog so here it is:

Here are your random numbers:26
Timestamp: 2009-02-17 00:12:30 UTC

Congratulations to Elizabeth, you were the 26th person to leave a comment.

Please email me at cuamor@gmail.com so we can send you your prize package.

This is what you will be getting:

(Brown Bag Hand Tinted & Kraft Assortment Pack 12 Sheets 8.5x11)

(Basis Cardstock Sample Pack 20 Sheets 8.5x11)

(Kraft Brown Bag Envelopes 25 pack in a A7 sz )

Have a terrific day!