You Make Me Smile

Lately I wasn't much in the mood for card making. I guess I am  going through one of those creative slump. So, to get my mojo going, I've been spending lots of time browsing. And... right before we were going to watch movie, I saw this Runway Inspired Challenge pic from the Bottega Veneta collection. 

So, I told hubby to postpone the movie and give me half hour to make a card. He knows I've been feeling blah with my card making lately, so he's happy to oblige. :) And, I whipped up this quick, feminine card.

This card is sooo airy!! I think I normally go for brighter colors, but now & then I guess it's  good to do soft. 

Okie dokie, that's all. Hubby and movie are waiting. Happy Thursday!

Grateful For You

Hi everyone. Quick post. I made this card for the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Spot & Dots challenge. Here's the inspiration pic from Curtain Call challenge:

And, here's my card.

The flowers & leaves are from Wplus9 Spring Blooms set and the sentiment is from Paper Smooches Blossoming Buds. The patterned paper is from one of my favorite Echo Park paper pad, Dots & Stripes Bundle of Joy Girl. 

That's about it. I don't have much else to write at the moment. You know... sometime you just have those brain fart moment. Hmm... can I say brain fart on a blog? That's still pretty polite, right? Oh well, I better stop while I am ahead. ;)

Christmas in July

What??? Yeah, I know, I know, it's super hot out there. It is summer after all. And, we're thinking about Christmas already?? Well, I guess deep down we're wishing for a cooler weather, thus we just imagine it's almost Christmas?

On the other hand, we can pretend that I am that well organized that I start working on my holidays cards this many months in advance. Hah... Well, this is actually the latest Riley &Company challenge (simply  click on the link if you'd like to play along).

I made a mini card for this challenge as for the life of me, right  now, my mojo is out the window. Mini card is just so much easier to do. Maybe I left my mojo back in Bali and it still on vacation mode. I think this been the longest where I am struggling to create. Like it's been over a month!

Hoping that my mojo will come back soon. Cross fingers. :)

Hello Little Prince

Hi everyone and happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was a pretty productive one in a sense that we got lots of house cleaning & laundry done. Hah... fun stuff, right? 

We also tried out new thing. My SIL convinced hubby and I that we need to try out bonsai class. It wasn't quite my thing, but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Be open minded. LOL, typical me, during the lecture part, I was bored out of my mind. But, the hands on part was pretty fun. We each came home with a start up bonsai that we'll have to maintain as it grows. I don't think I'll be attending the next class.

I like instant gratification, not something that takes months or years to finally see the result. You know... like card  making. ;) But, hey at least we tried it. That's our thing now as couple. To try out new things that we both can enjoy. Hubby is thinking of glass blowing or glass beads making class next. Although that class is not as easily available here in Houston as far as I know.

Anyway, back to instant  gratification. Cards!! I made this sweet card for i {heart} papers.

I really don't know anyone who's expecting a baby boy at the moment, but this cute frog from Lawn Fawn Hello Baby set is too cute to resist. At first, I was going to keep the easel plain, but then remember that I have Lawn Fawn Woodgrain Backdrops that would make it more interesting. I think it would have been too plain if I had kept it plain. Added a bit of shimmer to the crown with Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush and the enamel dots are from Doodlebug Swimming Pool Sprinkles.

I was going to make another card using the easel again, but one spoiled puppy decided it's nap time. So, who am I to argue. :) 

Oh... wow... I just realized that I had published 1200 post on my blog. This post is post number 1201. I had to edit my post to add this as that's pretty surprising to me. Never ever thought that I'd enjoy blogging and never thought it would continue this long. And, most important.... I am thankful for the people I met through my blog. And thank you to all of you that come here regularly and kindly leaving sweet comments & encouragement. I really appreciate you. Hope your week starts off wonderfully!

What You Sprinkled

Happy Friday! After waiting for almost 2 months, my Papertrey Ink Sprinkle kit finally arrived!!I really get this set because of the stamp set and the word dies. I like the word sprinkles, so the moment I saw this kit, I was like I have to get this!

When hubby & I was dating, I made a mistake of saying that it's sprinkling when it was raining lightly, instead of saying it was drizzling. Being English is my second language, sometime when the word I needed doesn't come to mind, I'd use other word to try to explain thing. And, other time it was just reflects. Like when I was saying it was sprinkling.

So now, whenever it rains hubby would say it's sprinkling. :) And, to top it off, one of my favorite way to eat bread is with peanut butter & chocolate sprinkles. I think we see a pattern, right? Yes, this girl like sprinkles. I think it's such a pretty, happy word.

Well, I get to play with the kit right away and made this card for Iron Craft challenge #3. I was interviewed by Chaitali HERE and now there's a challenge based on the question asked during the interview. 

My question to the blog readers was, "What is your passion outside of paper crafting?" So, for the challenge based on my question Chaitali challenge us to make a card that reflect our passion. Mine was dog rescue & being kind. I believe deeply in trying to make this world a better place even in your own small way. Whether it's by helping dogs that needed help, helping a friend in need or offering kindness to a stranger, etc. And, I feel like the sentiment on this card totally reflect my principal in life.

Pretty fun challenge, right? Something different. I just couldn't pass it. Especially, in this past weeks where there's so many sad news, between the war in Syria, the Israel Gaza situation and yesterday the Malaysian airline being shot down, I feel the need to spread good positive energy, positive thoughts. Let us sprinkle goodness whenever we can. Let us take the time to use our passion, whatever it is, to make a better, positive world. Peace. Yes... let's sprinkle lots of goodness so may there be peace.

Kate's Birthday Blog Hop

Hi everyone. Today is a very special day because it's Kate's birthday. You wonder who Kate is? Well, Kate happens to own and operate my favorite online store i {heart} papers. And, to top it off, as dog lovers, I admire her commitment to dog rescue. She tirelessly help rescue, foster & help homeless dogs find their forever home. 

She's a pretty special person & her birthday is definitely the perfect time to celebrate her. The design team is having a little blog hop to share our birthday cards and wishes. 

To Kate.... Happy birthday! May this birthday brings you lots of joy & happiness.

For my card, I have to go with the dogs of course. The big dog is from the oldie but goodie Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies set. The other 2 dogs from Lawn Fawn Critters in the Burbs set and the sentiment from Reverse Confetti Lots To Say set. For the balloons I used Paper Smooches Balloons Dies. And, the patterned papers are from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer 6x6 paper pad.

Please stop by Kate's blog to wish her a happy birthday! And, be sure to hop along to each designer and leave these talented gals some love! Thank you for joining us on celebrating Kate's birthday. :)

Lindsay

Lisa guest DT

Lori

Melissa guest DT

Sarah

Sheri

Tracy

Vera <--- you are here

Thinking of You

Hi everyone and happy Monday. My blogging still up and down. Lots of catching up at work to do after being away for a couple weeks and I was also dealing with some personal stuff. 

This past week been a difficult one. Let just say it was a week that I'd rather not ever repeated. However, when you go through difficult time, that's really when you realize who are your true friends. And, it also makes me even more grateful for my family, especially my mom. 

I am beyond thankful that I have a mom who I can confide in, can lean on. She is my everything. I don't know where I'd be without her. With that in mind, I want to share this card to let her know that I always thinking of her even though I am on the other side of the world. :)

I love making mini card. For this one I used the frame from Avery Elle Air Mail set and the duck& butterfly from Avery Elle Storybook set. The cloud is from Lawn Fawn Hello Baby set. And the enamel dot from Doodlebug Swimming Pool Sprinkles. All from i {heart} papers store. BTW, the store is in a process of moving and it should be back up and running in early August.

Now, my last installment from my trip back home. You see, normally I don't go home in June. I normally go home during the holiday season as that's usually when work is not as busy and I love spending the holiday season with them. However, I realized that I haven't celebrate my birthday with my family for over 20 years.

I moved to the States back in 1995 and even before that, with my older brother away for college, the last time I had a birthday with my whole family complete was probably in 1988. So, it really been a while. And, since last year, I told hubby that I 'd love to celebrate my birthday with my family. I was tempted to do it for my 40th birthday next year, but you know what? Life is too short. I decided to do what I can do right now. Why wait longer.

And, it was the best birthday ever. We didn't do anything super fancy. And, I actually got super sick a couple days before my birthday. So, I was pretty much on bed rest for 3 days to make sure I get well before it's time for me to fly back home. because, it was birthday dinner, nap, then airport at 4.30 in the morning.

Here, me with my little princess that totally help made this birthday the best ever.

My kind of birthday. Being with all my loved ones. I didn't get to eat too much actually, since I was still not feeling super well & I'd rather have my niece on my lap as she learned to feed herself with the spoon. Oh yeah, I was squeezing in every extra second with her.

Me & Shakira, Denada, Jerry, Regina & Jeffrey. Mom was busy taking picture. :)

To top it off, without really planning it, hubby face-timed me right when they brought the cake out. So, hubby all the way in the States, get to join the festivities. It was perfect. Like he told my mom, my big smile says it all. Oh... and you know, how I love pugs, right? My awesome SIL, made me a PUG CUPCAKES!!

My Ferrero chocolate cheesecake surrounded
by Pug cupcakes

And... yeah, a couple of the cupcakes travel all the way to the States as I told her I want to share it with hubby and show it to Eli, my pug baby. Then, my other SIL who has beautiful voice, serenade all of us with a folk song from where we grew up. I mean seriously, I was just beaming non-stop.

We had a trio of musicians that hop from table to table and they ended up playing a bunch of songs for us, including some children songs to entertain my niece. It was a trip down memory lane. I was like, goodness, I haven't heard that songs for ages!! Even the birthday song, I totally forgot that we have our own version of birthday song (which hubby love so much that he likes to hum it now & then. I still need to teach him the words, but for now humming is the way).

My niece Shakira, my li'l brother Jerry, me & my SIL Denada.

Truly the greatest blessing of all is my family. Their love & support keep me strong. I know that no matter what they always have my back. Even both of my SILs, I look at them as my own sister. Pretty much, once you joined the family you're family. Simple as that. :)

Well, that's the conclusion of my trip. After my birthday dinner, I flew back home the next day, got sick & went straight back to work. 2 weeks later, I finally feel more human. ;) Now, I'm ready to get back on the saddle. Here's to a great week!!

On Your Special Day

Hi peeps. So, I still haven't quite get back to card making, yet. There's thing going on at the moment that kind of take my mojo totally out the window. However before I left for my trip, I did finished several cards that luckily I can use for my i {heart} paper post. :)

I just can't get away from flower card. I guess this Wplus9 Fresh Cut Florals with its matching Fresh Cut Florals dies is my most used stamp set!!

I love the bright colors of the floral arrangement against the white background. That little bit of blue really popped, isn't it? The blue is from Memento Luxe Danube Blue ink pad. Added some shimmery to the leaves with Wink of Stella Brush Glitter marker.

I hope you're not tired of seeing flowery card from me. i'll try to come up with some critter card next!

Oh, just in case you missed my first video appearance on blog land, check out my interview with Iron Crafts, HERE. We're also giving away 5 Riley & Company stamp sets. So,  you get to know me a bit better and you could also win stuff!! Awesome, right? Thanks so much for stopping by here.

Family Visit Part 2

Hi everyone. I'm back with the 2nd installment of my family trip. But, before I share more pics, let me share a card first for those who just interested in card. :) 

After a few weeks of not crafting, I do feel a bit rusty. But, I did manage to finish a card for the latest Riley & Company challenge. This time the challenge is to create summer related card. Well, for me, summer means bright colors. So, for my card, my only focus is to use bright colors and I made this simple card.

To play along simply go to Riley & Company blog. You have 2 weeks to play along.

Now, back to my family visit. The main purpose of our trip to Indonesia was for me to meet my niece, Shakira who was born in December 2012. I honestly wanted to be there for her birth. You see, she is the first baby in the Wirianta's family. My mom's first and only grandchild. So, yep, she's a BIG deal. :)

All this time, my family makes sure I don't feel left out by sending pictures of Shakira regularly. And, my mom always try to Skype with me when she stays over at my brother's place so I could see Shakira and she could see me. 

Seriously, I have waited for this moment like forever!! And, when I saw her, I can't quite describe it. It just feels like I am flooded with love. I looked at her and I am like in awe. Wow, this is part of my li'l brother. To see my li'l brother as a dad is also very heart warming. 

This first pics are of my mom with my niece. I just love seeing my mom's smile on this pics. She just glow whenever she's with my niece. This li'l girl means the world to her.

Play time with Oma.

Considering her mom is a singer, this girl definitely got rhythms. She loves music and she loves to dance. She's cute, sweet, spunky, stubborn (hm... this is family trait from both her mom and her dad), curious & so  much more.

Now, this look on the pic below, totally my brothers' look.  The way her eyes looking up, her expression looks just like both my older and younger brother when they're being silly. It's amazing to see how depends on the angle she can look like any one of us. I can't get enough of her!!

Now, here's the happy auntie!! Can you see how big my smile? She completely captures my heart. I love everything about her. I want to kiss that face all the time!!

This girl likes her space though. You can't hug her when she doesn't feel like it. But, when she does, oh my word, it's the sweetest hug ever. One time, I feel like I was on top of the world when she let me take her out of the swimming pool and she just want to cuddle. And, normally when someone take her out of the pool, she'd cry because she's mad. LOL, she loves playing in the water. But, she didn't even made a noise when I carry her. She just hugged me. And, that made me feel very special. ;)

I don't have kids of my own, so all my love goes to her. I am happy being an auntie. I am happy at the joy she brought to our family. And, yes, it made saying goodbye so much harder. Heck, I started crying thinking of saying bye to her, while I was still there and still had a few days left.

Selfie time!!

It really does make my heart ache when I think of her and missing her. I had a video of her saying bye bye and I kept replaying that whenever I want to hear her voice. Yep, even typing this post I cry just thinking about her.

Here's one of my favorite picture with her. It's not the best picture composition wise (there's a darn box messing up the pic), but it's the moment that I love. I love the way she looked at me on this pic and it looks as if we're trying to do the John Travolta's move from Stayin' Alive. I just feel we connected at this moment. :)

Sigh... I wish I live closer to her. I'd love to baby sit and be the cool & fun auntie to her. I pray for this li'l girl every night. I pray that even though I live far away, she'll know me and know that she is loved.

Okay, the water work really start in earnest. I better stop my post or I couldn't stop crying from missing her. Thank you for letting me share my love for my niece here. Next segment, I'll share about my birthday. It's a big deal because the last time I celebrate my birthday with my whole family has been over 20 years ago!! See you on the next post.

Iron Crafts Interview

So, a few months ago, Chaitali Narla from Iron Crafts messaged me through FB and asked me if she could interview me. I was pretty much dumbfounded. I was like, me?? Are  you sure? What for? Etc., etc. Not to mention I never ever do any video for crafting or craft related.

After some convincing I agreed to do it and we did the taping back in early May. Well,  today is the day. She has the post and video up and ready for view on her blog CUTS CROP CREATIVITY.

Cuts, Crop, Creativity

All I can say is I was a nervous wreck and when I am nervous, I tend to hold my breath. So, if the video show it, please don't laugh. This was my first time ever doing craft related video, even though it's more of an interview and not a tutorial or anything like that.

Hope you will check it out and come back here and let me know what you think. Please be gentle. ;) Whoops... almost forgot... yes, there's a giveaway. After you watch the interview, scroll down on Chaitali's blog for the giveaway details. Good luck!