Thursday, July 26, 2012

Vive le France!

Hello dear friends!  Welcome!  I hope you like what you see today and stay for a while!

Today I have a card that started its life, in my brain, as a tag.  It was shabbier and pinker.  I don't know what happened between my brain and my fingers but what I came up with is not how it started life.  Maybe my muse was working hard to make it come out her way.  Anyway, its done and it is what it is.  My oldest daughter has claimed it for her room so it must not be too bad.  She didn't see the picture in my brain anyway!  My inspiration came from the challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room.
Isn't it gorgeous?  Like I said my card started its life as a tag with a lot of pink.  I had to drive to the city and back today and I guess my muse was doing a lot of whispering in my ear while I was driving because I couldn't wait to get in my studio when I got home!  And this is what she came up with:
As I was thinking about the inspiration photo I started thinking about enjoying that pink lemonade with a close friend.  At an outside cafe.  In France.  And there ya go!  The Eiffel Tower is from Janet over at By Digital Paper.  I printed it on vellum.  The cream paper is stamped with an old SU stamp called French Script.  The lace is a very vintage piece from my stash.  The rose is made from the Spellbinders die called Rose Creations.  I used 3 shades of pink to make it and I edged the petals with a burgundy ink.  The leaves are inked with green and a touch of the burgundy.
 You know I like to follow the same sketch pretty much for the inside.  On the left I added the first part of a poem by Langston Hughes called Dreams.  I learned this poem in 4th grade!
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
There's a story to this poem, too.  See, the ladies over at Word Art Wednesday have a challenge to "never give up".  They have some great word art to go with that.  And I started thinking about perseverance and keeping your eyes on a goal and seeing something through.  And somewhere in the dark recesses of my battered brain this beautiful little poem came out.  I couldn't remember the poet but google helped me with that.  And here it is.  (And yes I had my caffeine today for a headache and I am still going strong at 12:03AM!)
I had fun playing on the computer, typing it out and getting the words different sizes.  It could be way better but of course I wanted it done NOW.
And the back.

I am entering my card (or glorified tag) in the following challenges:

The Shabby Tea Room - Oh, So Pretty in Pink; Add a Flower
Word Art Wednesday - Never Give Up
Papertake - Make Your Own (I made my flower)
Shopping Our Stash - Something New (new paper today!! new charm today!! very old lace from my grandma's box)
Tuesday Alchemy - Very Vintage (I hope this looks vintage enough)
The Paper Shelter - Metal Embellishment (my charm)

I think that's about it.  I should really be off to bed, but since my hubby is leaving in the morning with the boys for a fishing trip I think I will head over to Pinterest to see what's new!  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs

Michelle

15 comments:

  1. Ooohhh . . . your creation is absolutely fabulous! All of those details are just stunning. I'm oh, so glad you played with us at Tuesday Alchemy!

    Want to play more? Join me at {PIN}spirational Challenges http://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com for another fantastic craft challenge!

    Lots of joy . .

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  2. oh my!! What a wonderful piece of work :D This is so vintage and shabby chic looking I LOVE it!!

    Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Tuesday Alchemy this week
    *hugs* Shell x

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  3. I love love LOVE this Eifel Tower image. I made some similar cards for a customer, and fell in love with this style. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Word Art Wednesday.
    Blessings,
    Karen L
    Word Art Wednesday

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  4. Beautiful beautiful card and of course I love anything that has to do with the Eiffel Tower. Thanks for sharing with us at Tuesday Alchemy.

    With smiles

    Laine

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  5. wow..This is just stunning! Gorgeous design paper and gorgeous flower.

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  6. What a perfect blend of old and new! And yeah, most of my ideas morph into something completely different .. it's kind fun, actually!

    Thanks for joining us at Shopping Our Stash!

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  7. Absolutly stunningly beautiful!! Love the soft colors and sweet adorable details! Thank you for joining us over at Tuesday Alchemy Challenge this week! Good Luck! Hugs and sunshine

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  8. Amazing card!

    Thank you for joining us at Tuesday Alchemy!
    Hugs Katya x

    P.S I am having a blog giveaway at my personal blog, you are very welcome to join
    http://madewithlovebykatya.blogspot.ie/2012/07/my-blogs-1st-birthday.html

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  9. Wonderful card, thanks for joining us at The Paper Shelter this week.
    Hugs, Bente

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  10. Breathtaking work! Thank you so much for joining us at Word Art Wednesday. ;)

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  11. Michelle, your card is wonderfully done! Such attention to detail, it is truly gorgeous! Thanks for sharing it with us at TSTR!

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  12. This is fabulous! There's so much work and detail in it! Thanks for sharing it with us at Tuesday Alchemy!

    Eileen

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  13. Your card is lovely! Thank you for playing along with the Papertake Weekly challenge.

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  14. Wow, I love that color inspiration.
    And I love how your card turned out.

    Thanks so much for sharing your art with us on WAW.

    Wendy

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  15. lovely shabby chic feel to your card

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