Of course, there must be an Eiffel Tower ...

I am so excited to announce that I've finally have some Paris-inspired cards available at my Honeygo Beasley Cards shop on Etsy, and more are to come.

 This one features a photo I took outside the Louvre.

 And of course, there must be an Eiffel Tower card.

This is a small, stylized Eiffel Tower card. I'd like to make some more that are a little more realistic and some that are even more jeweled up!

Here's another rendition of my French Croquembouche wedding cake card.

 It is sooooo poofy and creamy with billows of white fabric, I want to eat it.

 It even has a tiny Eiffel Tower on top!

More of my designs to come ... this is just a start. Tell me ... how do you like them? Is there anything special you'd like to see?

Finished Paris Wedding Card

Honeygo Beasley Cards

How do you like it?

Next, I am going to make some jeweled Eiffel Towers, Marie Antoinette shoes, and other pretty Paris-inspired card designs. Can't wait to share them with you!

French Crown Jewels & Royal Tiara Cards

The surviving French Crown Jewels, principally a set of historic crowns now set with decorated glass, are on display in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, France's premier museum and former royal palace, together with the Regent Diamond, the Sancy Diamond and the 105-carat (21 g) Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel, carved into the form of a dragon. In addition, some gemstones and jewels (including the Emerald of Saint Louis, the 'Ruspoli' sapphire and the diamond pins of Queen Marie Antoinette) are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.

Do you love royal jewelry? The recent wedding in Britain put the world in a royal state of mind.

Honeygo Beasley Cards by Cynthia Maniglia

Honeygo Beasley Cards by Cynthia Maniglia

Honeygo Beasley Cards by Cynthia Maniglia

I've been making cards! Here are the royal tiara cards, based on actual Royal Wedding Tiaras from around the world.

Hope you had a royal kind of weekend!

French Croquembouche

Handmade, one of a kind -
Honeygo Beasley Cards by Cynthia Maniglia

 From Wikipedia: "One of the earliest forms of the wedding cake is the French Croquembouche. The legend of this cake says that a pastry chef, visiting medieval England, witnessed their tradition of piling sweet rolls between the bride and groom which they would attempt to kiss over without knocking them all down. The pastry chef then went back to France and piled sweet rolls up into a tower to make the first Croquembouche."

Handmade, one of a kind -
Honeygo Beasley Cards by Cynthia Maniglia

Amour: 2011 Valentines

My Paris-loving friends! You will be so proud of me. I kept the Italian French poodle card that said "Amore" and made a special "Amour" heart card.

Here is the completed set of 10 Valentines for Valerie's Diamond Lady in Washington state. I decided to keep the purple Louvre Valentine for myself, and made another Louvre card for this order with a photo I took while walking through one of the museum's many rooms.

You may recognize the statue of the lady from my previous post about my trip to the Louvre.

It's been very cold and snowy here in Pennsylvania where I live, and these "warm and fuzzy" cards have added some magic and sparkle to toast the cockles of my soul - along with several cups of piping hot tea. 

Restez au chaud mon amour!

And now ... here are the wedding cards. Because what comes first? First comes love, then comes marriage!

No more card posts for a while. I have a delightful cooking related post to share with you next time. Until then ... have a wonderful rest of the week!

The Louvre Valentine

Don't you just love the Louvre? How about a Louvre Valentine's Day card? It's one of my latest creations for an upcoming special order. This card features a photograph I took when I visited the Louvre with my tour group in September of 2010. 

During my visit at the world-renowned museum, we were treated to a private tour by an astute gentleman who had worked there for 12 years and then started his own business. How wonderful to experience the Louvre with an expert by your side to make the visit more "interactive."

As we walked through the grand halls and exhibits, I was remembering things from Art History and Art Appreciation classes and was able to ask questions. For instance, I asked, "What does the name 'Louvre' mean?" I was told it might have evolved from a slang/colloquial way of referring to the area that was used before the museum was in place, when it may have been more fortress than castle, and people would say, "Let's go down to the 'lower.'" Lower/Louvre - think how words evolve from Latin and break down, build up. Which brings me to the photo below.

In this photo, look closely at stone blocks. They are on exhibit when you first enter the museum and were unearthed when builders were working on the land where the exhibit stands. Do you see the hearts engraved on the stone (upper right side of the photo and bottom center)? That's a "brand" mark. Back in olden times, the suppliers of the block bricks would carve a simple symbol - in this case, a heart - into the stone, as a way of identifying their business.

 I loved being able to take photos in the Louvre...

I wish I could have taken more!

One of the most interesting things was not just seeing the Mona Lisa on exhibit at the Louvre, but also see all the people trying to take a photograph of that great painting!

So I took a picture of people taking a picture of the Mona Lisa! This was when I officially got separated from my group and almost began to cry like a five-year-old! Thankfully, my tour guide came back and found me.

But what if I were left behind at the Louvre? I wouldn't have minded sleeping under the Mona Lisa and staying another day ...

J'aime Caniches Français

Caniches Français is French Poodle. And if you read my earlier post, you know - I'm back to making handmade cards. Just for a special order. And so I had to show you the new French Poodle card I made last night ...

My Bichon Frise, Chloe Honeygo Beasley thinks they're divine (of, course - they're her kind) but not exactly. So she's asking, "Where's mine?"

P.S. As you'll see, the poodle may be French, but the heart ornament has the word "Love" in Italian - "Amore" (in French it's "Amour"). I got my romance languages confused! I am going to fix it ... right now. Or do you think it's okay to have a French poodle that speaks Italian? : )

Card Couture

My Bichon Frise, Chloe Honeygo Beasley now has a line of handmade cards named after her. As some of you may know, I used to make handmade cards that sold on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, CA. At that time, the line was simply called "Card Art by Cynthia." When a previous client contacted me to "come out of retirement" and make some cards for an upcoming Valentine/Wedding event, I decided to rename the cards. Viola - here they are! These are just the first few of the work in progress - a sneak peak for my blog friends. Of course, I had to include a little Paris charm into the whole business.