Viola Mahr

~ beautiful burlap ~

***ETA: my blog has a new name... and look; for better or for worse?? ;)***

oops -- I shouldn't have gone off a whole week without anything to share, but today, I'm back, for a little burlap love.

excuses first :) -- I've been workin' and studying hard for two things next week: my music theory exam and a string/choir recital. So you probably won't hear from me again till next weekend, ok?

on to the fun things! I trailed after my mother and sisters to "arab street" (a cute, old, antique-y place here in Singapore) to find material for our choir girls' dresses for our next season.. and I found a big roll of burlap in one of the stores! .exactly.what.I.wanted.

  
 So I asked the "auntie" to cut half-a-meter for me, and I took it home and snipped it up and made these little gift-pockets, all warm and snuggly.

trimmed with real, crocheted lace (found on etsy somewhere) .. and fairy wings, tea-dyed buds and a felt rose. And the most beautiful chandelier drops I found in a beads-and-trinkets store.

little lockets and key trinkets I found somewhere on "arab street". these stores are nameless and I'm not sure I can find them again next time. *frowny face*

 
And I made a card with a little burlap too.. here 'tis..

  
 
   .. see the cute, eensy-weensy wall-panels behind my card? I picked it up for just a few dollars at the wonderful beads-and-trinkets store ... the old fashioned kind of place with lots of cute things to pick over -- and I just love that little panel! here's a full photo -- darling isn't it?

 
  .......and.... today is.....

 
 ~ give away day ~

... here are some of my very favorite goodies that I used in the creations shared today... and I would love to give a bundle of them away to you as a "thank you" for all the times you've come to visit. whether you come often, or this is your first time popping in, just say so.. I love to get to know my readers too :) ..

only one rule: if you don't leave a comment, you don't get to be picked :D Easy? you can say anything you please in your comments. No nice-ness enforced here :)

*sometimes, just sometimes, I feel cranky and don't participate in giveaways... if that's you today, please do still leave a comment because I'm just aching and eeking all over to know just who reads my silly little blog :) ... will ya? you're a dear :)*

Next weekend, I will be back and draw your name. And if ---- just if -- we go more than 50 comments, I will pick two winners :) ... each will get this goodie bundle...

 
~ my favorite mulberry roses ~ chandelier drops ~ locket-trinket ~ key-trinkets ~ tea-dyed buds ~ my favorite, favorite tea-dyed lace trim ~ all tucked up into your very own burlap baggie, ready for you to dress up for yourself.

 
Ok --- see you then. Next week, after my exam is over :)

Happy weekend!
~miss vio~

 

spring colors }

I hear spring is coming in America...
And I kind of wish we had our spring here too -- instead of our year-round summer!

But... I do know what spring is, and I love the colors, the flowers, and everything new that comes with it. And the colors make the sweetiest cards! (i think) :)

Something made for my best friend...

 

... the clothesline and sentiment seem unrelated... most of all for teenage-gals like me and my bestie ;) but believe me, they are totally relevant to us and somewhat symbolic :D ... it's a long story so I won't go there.

And then. Well, I love flowers, all kinds and all colors... but roses are my favorite, and any kind in pink. So I love to browse bouquet-photos and save them for color inspiration. And...

 
I made a card to go with it.... with my very own rose. Rolled from tea-dyed lace trim and tucked with pearls.

 

And then. One more...

 

 Something sweet, simple, with burlap and a cherub too...

I'm so tired now that I'm almost incoherent. Pardon me and let me skip off to bed..

Nighty-night...

Miss Vio


 
 
 
 

{ blossom boxes with sweet lemon }

 
 Oh, I'm just going to squash a whole lot into this post... time is so short for me these days, and I don't think I'll be able to be back till the weekend. Thank you to all the kind souls who sent warm wishes for my exams :) I've still got two weeks to the first one, and then the whole month for the second one to be over at the end of March.

Ok, on to the blossom boxes!! using the apple pie box template .. stuffed full of sweet lemon potpourri and ready for my sister to bring for her colleagues in Thailand (business trip this week) ..

 
 
 
 

 sorry for the picture overload ;) ... <3 the template... I hope you had time to make some too, and if you do share them with me ok?

and... a card for Miss Mona's challenge here. I rarely have the time to sit and let a color challenge work me out, but this time I did, and I loved it.

sweet inspiration photos ---> not-half-as-sweet card ;)

 
 
 

and lastly, exciting news... :) PaperCrafts new issue is released today (Feb 15)! Clear and Simple Stamps has a special, special feature...... flip to page 33 as soon as you lay hands on your copy, and there will be a barcode for you to view exclusive CSS designs on the website. Get your barcode reader here and have fun learning to read barcodes ;) ... and of course I am also excited because I have my first three publications in this issue of PaperCrafts. They might be my first and last :) since I am so terribly caught up in other things right now.

***ETA: Sorry!! I lied!! :( after your questions in the comments, I went back to check exactly which issue I will be published in... and it is 225 Cards and Gifts. Oh, I am so terribly sorry for the mistake!! ;)***

Happy day!
miss vio
 

music is filling the air }

I must quickly-quickly... there is homework and practice to be done (even on the weekend! eeek!)

 
 Just to leave you with a little thing-y for the weekend --- here is a card for a dear friend. Her birthday is almost ten days past (yes, ten days) but then, my pals all know that I can't be trusted to remember birthdays till it's more than a week late... *grin* :)

 Just this week, on one of my runs I managed to squeeze a trip to the local LSS :) and I found Prima's new Madeline line... so pretty, fresh, and spring-y. Bunched together with sky-blue melody scrunchy ribbon, mulberry roses, tea-dyed trimmings, and a frosty-silver-berry trinket pin... 

 
And a little neighborhood, with more sky-blue melody love... 

 
 ... shabby bits and bobs, scraps and more -- so much fun. I hope I can do more of them soon.

 

 And, if you saw it -- music is filling the air -- patterned paper on the card, and the ribbon on the house. You better be glad you can't hear me practicing for my exam... scales, and scales, and scales... and more scales.

Need to run.

hugs,

Miss V 
 

apple pie l o v e

I love apple pies... especially those that come in a special-shape-box (read MacDonalds!)... *grin*

 
 So... I found a cute little template for a "pillow box," as it's called, and created my own apple pie boxes. The perfect size, and an awesome shape for all kinds of little gifts.... trinkets, jewellery, potpourri, and anything you please. Especially apple pies ;)

 well... I actually made the card first. Then the apple pie box. But I think I'm more in love with the box :) Both made with shabby paper from K and Co... and Masculine Motif stamps. Scrunchy ribbon from MemrieMare and some old, old trim...

 
 This is the guy version :)

-- here's the girly one...

 
faded, beautiful raindrops from this stamp set... from one of my favorite companies :) ... layers of vellum butterflies, tea-dyed trim, a tiny tag, and silky ribbon, with buttons.

 

Thinking... of you -- wings, trinket pin, and all --

and apple-pie hugs! I'm dreaming of tasting one now :)

Thank you for visiting me today!

miss vio

 

p/s... if you would like to create your own apple pie boxes, find the template here. so much fun :) 
 
 
 

 
 

a special group project

***edited-to-add: there is something wrong with me... I posted on the seventh, when the hop was only due on the eighth... so check the other ladies' blogs tomorrow*** :)

 
 
I am so cross. The photos just won't behave today.

Ok, that is a really silly little thing to get cross about, so I will quit :) .....

Today we are having a happy little hop among the CSS design team, showing gift ensemble ideas with the set-of-the-month, Spring ... and I thought, while I'm at it, I'll toss in a special method of gift-giving.

First, I have my goodies... in this case, my favorite, Kinder Bueno :)

... bundled together with some twill ribbon. Then slipped into a glassine baggie, and wrapped with twine...

  
A little tag made with Webster's Pages scraps, and darling stamps from Spring ... this is just the first layer of wrapping (or second, if you count the twill ribbon as the first :) ...

Next:

Stamp a paper sack using the eeek-cute raindrop border! I love that little thing so much...

The "stack" of animals were trimmed from the patterned papers used on the tag earlier... and that sentiment is also from Spring; finished off with scrunchy ribbon, baker's twine, a doily, and a on-the-catwalk-cream button.

And... while I'm at it, here is another CSS project, for this week. Another baggie... all dressed up with a tag, using Spring.

 
 

 Pardon, pardon the photos. I am sooo fussy about them, and today has been a bad day for them...

Now... to carry on the hop... make a visit to these other lovely ladies for more Spring treats!

Dana Grothaus

Cristina Kowalczyk

Kim Howard

Ryann Salamon

Lori Tecler

Tracy Schultz

---> Clear and Simple Stamps
 
 

many hugs and thank-yous :)

miss vio

 

 

fairy wings

Fairy wings, dipped in tea -- a new favorite of mine... miss marilyn sent me my order of scrunchy ribbon, and fairy wings. It has been so fun the last few days, when I have a few moments to create, to mess around with her beautiful creations. I also recently got some lovely trims from this etsy store... so wonderful; you can see some of it stitched onto the shimmery heart on this card...

 
... I keep a little pot of tea in the refridgerator, and when my trims want to be aged a little, and even sometimes the fairy wings, or tiny tags, I open up the little pot and stir away. Good times :) ... sometimes that's even more fun than actually using the tea-dyed darlings.

Another new etsy favorite:  this store, where I can find such beautiful patterned papers...  like these I used on the cards and albums today. (if you can't find the same collections in that etsy store, you can search online for them: the collections are Bailey, McKenna, Life's Journey, and Ancestry -- all so pretty) ...

Just some bitty inspiration books created for an etsy order.. it always makes me happy to imagine up something she will love.

 

 Yes, I have officially decided that miss marilyn's scrunchy ribbons are the best.. to be found... anywhere :) Give it a try and you'll not ever want any ribbon but hers!

  
I love butterflies.. felt ones, especially :) isn't it fun when you can make them soft and fuzzy?

 
I have to run off now... next week will be busy, busy -- and the rest of the month, preparing for two music exams in March. Eeeks!

Thank you for dropping by... I appreciate all your kind, thoughtful words :) You all make my day bright!

 

have a restful day!

miss vio

{ inspiration from roses }

 
I'm learning... my big brother handed me a camera outfit -- one of those big, black ones with a long lens... and I'm learning to compose and shoot. And enjoy it :) ... Here are my firsts... taken over the weekend.

Once a month at church, we have a fellowship dinner, and my Mom arranges the beautiful flowers for all the dinner tables... here is one of them...

 

 The roses this time round were simply beautiful! large buds that blossomed even with the "freezing" rain falling outside. The colors were so very fresh.

  

...soft, velvet petals, and clouds of babies' breath....

 
 ... and a little artistic shot with my sister's headband over the rose :)

Well, I wanted to show you these photos because later on I became inspired by the beautiful colors and the roses themselves, to create a few cards. Here they are.

 
oh, my gracious.. these photos didn't turn out so well... but anyway, the card was made with patterned paper, tea-dyed trim and a mini tag, Love Lives Here stamps, little pearls and trinkets and buttons. And scrunchy ribbon.

this one, with miss dawn's set: dressform... and stitched felt leaves, scrunchy ribbons and trinkets and more tea-dyed trim. I so love that sentiment! so perfect for every loving occasion. For moms, sisters, friends ... and even men! I'm sure :)

And then, the roses inspired me to try to create my own, as miss betsy showed how here... so very darling.

 

... and the beautiful, victorian lace border die from PTI, some lace trim, little trinket pins and felt leaves.

 
 
Such a thoughtful and kind sentiment; a new one I love. From the Masculine Motifs stamp set.

I hope you will be inspired by something around you today... A vase of flowers is just about my favorite right now, and I will always, always love roses. Don't you?

happy weekend!

miss vio 

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

spring in february

 
Happy new month! February is here, and it's time for the new stamp-of-the-month at CSS... a fun, cheery little set called Spring! So many cute little images and sentiments to show you today... 

Starting with a Maya Road clear album -- and finishing it off with a hundred little things...

the sentiment "you make me smile" on that mini-tag is part of the Spring set. So is the little sun peeping out from behind the same tag! The album front is dressed up with patterned paper from BasicGrey's Curio collection, scrunchy ribbon, a tissue flower, shimmery glitter, baker's twine, CSS buttons and a brad, and a few other bits and bobs...

let's look inside -- more fun-cute stuff!

 
 the big word strip, stamped on a manila tag, and the umbrella are both from the set too! There are four different brolly images... and they are each sooo cute! I colored in the sections on this brolly using my standardly-lazy way -- cotton buds and ink pads ;) the little pearl tops it just right.

and on this page, the little raindrops (raining mud?) surrounding the tea-dyed flower are also part of the set...  


ohh, how about that? brighten your day! the little words tucked in this set are so sweet. I love how the doily shows through from the other side... that's the neat thing about clear albums.

... and the rain-drop border is so very cute too. The pockets for the two manila tags were created from a mini glassine bag, and stitched all around. Just like how Melis and Mish do it :) And, because I had some ink left on my cotton buds when I finished coloring the litle brolly, I added some color to the lace trim below the pocket. Just a few, simple touches to finish the spring album...

 
-- it does look like an avalanch doesn't it? :)

That's it for the release day project! I hope you were a teeny bit inspired by what I shared.. maybe you can create your own spring album, or something similar... if you do, link me up; I'd love to see it! 

Over the next few weeks of February, I will share a few more projects created with this set...

until tomorrow then! (I have some cards to show you that I'm rather excited about!) :)

hugs,

miss vio