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I love Paris so much so when this set with the Eiffel Tower was new I ordered it right away. I am sorry to say that it is retired; however, it was perfect for making some cards to take on my trip to France. I wanted a few thank you cards and the dies included the word merci.

The flowers are from the stamp set Framed Florets which is also retired. I used blends to color the leaves and a sponge dauber and Petal Pink ink to color the flower centers. 

This is the card I used to write a thank you note to my nephew and his wife. Even though they don’t live in Paris it is a very “French” card. I left it on the little table by the bed I used and in addition to thanking them for such a wonderful time I told them that I think they are doing a great job with the baby and know their mothers, who have both passed, would be so proud of them. They both sent me separate texts saying how touched they were. It has to be so hard for them not having their mothers to enjoy this time in their lives and especially that little baby.

I used the smaller notecards to write thank you notes to the hotel staff in Paris, to the flight crew on the plane from Paris back to the states and to my daughter who took me to and picked me up from the airport. What does not show is the inside of the cards which is stamped “Life is a magnificent adventure” and my personal note thanked them for being a part of my adventure. It is true, life holds many adventures and I feel very fortunate that this trip was one of mine. 

Just a reminder that there are select papers on sale until the end of the month. You can check them out in my online store here.

I created this card for a class last month and when I did I actually had not realized the die I used had retired. It has 3 cut outs which I wanted in the card however you could make the card by creating your own cut outs with other dies or just not even have cutouts at all. And then, maybe you already own that die. I did create a PDF tutorial for the card:

Little Monkey PDF

As many of you know I went to France a few weeks ago and just got home on Friday. I am still trying to get back to normal. Jet lag is real. My nephew lives in southern France where he and his wife own a flower farm. In November they had a baby boy and I told him I was going to come visit when he told me they were expecting. Baby Harry is now 7 months old and an absolute joy. 

If you are on Facebook you can see their page by searching Lunaria, Ferme Florale.

Their website is: Lunaria Ferme Florale

Pauline is from France. Kevin moved there about 5 years ago to be with her after his mother (my sister) and her mother had both passed away. 

Pauline getting flowers ready for market. They sell them there every Saturday.

Kevin busy selling at market. 

Their house was built in 1850. Of all the photos I took of the house and farm this is my favorite. The walls are very thick, there is no air conditioning, no screens on any windows (would be way too expensive) and so doors and windows are open during the day. Surprisingly about the only thing they have an issue with is mosquitos and before going to bed at night each bedroom is checked for them with a zapper. 

After leaving Kevin, Pauline and baby Harry I headed for Paris by train. I was in Paris several years ago and pretty much saw all of the things tourists want to see. The only thing I really had on my list was the Orsay Museum which I had not been to before. My hotel was right next door to the museum.

This photo was taken from the moving cab window and I was surprised it turned out as well as it did. The renovations on Notre Dame are still going on. Thankfully I was able to tour it on my previous trip.

I only went to places I could easily walk to from my hotel. This is one of many bridges over the Seine river and the most beautiful.

Even though I had see the Eiffel Tower before and have so many photos of it I had to see it one more time. 

My trip home was fine from Paris to DC but once I got there it became a bit of a nightmare. Long Disney-like lines to get through customs and then another long line to have all bags security checked.  I swear I heard It’s a Small World playing overhead.  We were sitting on the runway ready to take off when bad weather in Orlando resulted in the airport stopping all flights. We sat for an hour then they took us back to the gate. A new crew had to be called in (one person coming from Aruba) and we finally were able to leave 5 hours later. When I got home I had been awake for 27 hours. Needless to say I spent all day in bed sleeping on and off.

One of my friends recently asked me to make her two special wedding cards. She had searched online and found a few she liked. I chose the example with the “bride” and “groom”punched hearts. I have seen many cards done with this idea and with a few changes came up with this one that she loved.

Most of the products used on this card have retired but I keep much of what has retired, especially punches. The embossing folders are Tufted and Lace. I loved how the lace embossing folder wound up looking like a dress on the heart. The hardest part of making this card was cutting the bow tie. It took 3 tries. The tiny buttons on the “grooms” heart are tiny pearls colored with the black Blends marker. The leaves and tiny flower buds were punched using the Sprig Punch.