Wee Memories Challenge

Hi all. Today my awesome SIL, Gina is celebrating her birthday. So, I want to do a birthday shout out to her. I simply think of Gina as my sister. She's simply the sweetest and I am so lucky to have her in our family. When she was dating my brother, lots of people actually think I was her sister because they think we're more look alike than me and my  brother. And she always let people think that way. :) Simply adore & love her. Wish you all  the very best, Ci!!

And, today I have my first post for Wee Memories Challenge. This week it's all about "CHIPBOARD" and we are sponsored by Cosmo Cricket. One of my favorite company! Create any project using chipboard. The prize will be 2 packs of Cosmo Cricket Paper (Garden Variety and Core Impressions) and 2 packs of alphabet chipboard.

Here's my card for this challenge. Seriously... note to self, need to get  more Cosmo chipboard.

The patterned paper is is from Cosmo Crickets Material Girl set. Actually, I used the cover paper that comes with the set. Hey, why waste it if it's pretty? Recycle, reuse is my motto. :) I stitched all around the strip of paper first before gluing it to the card.  Added some rhinestone. The label stamp is from Papertrey Ink.

So, what'cha waiting for? Come join the fun and check out all the DT cool cards at Wee Memories! Thank you for stopping by. I'll be back home tonight and can't wait to see hubby and the kids (doggies)!! Have a super dyper great weekend! Ciaoo.....

CHA & Wee Memories

Hi peeps!! As this post goes up this morning, I'll be on my way to CHA! It's going to be a long, but fun day for me. I start at 5am, leave home by 5.30am to head out to the airport. Have my coffee & audio book to keep  me company. I can't do long drive (anything more than 30 minutes I considered as long drive) without coffee. Thanks hubby, for getting the coffee & breakfast ready for me. :) Hubby does spoiled me. Heh... so lucky.

Here's a quick card that I made this week. I actually have these type writer alphabet stamps for hmm.... about 2-3 years?? And it's still rand spanking new. Guilty as charge for hoarding. LOL. Finally decide to use it. This card is inspired by the typewriter challenge from Paper Craft.

And I have another exciting news to say. I've been an admire of Jenny's Wee Memories blog. Her card style is sooo me. Fun & cute! I am delighted to say that Jenny has chosen me to be part of her DT. Her DT coordinator is Kim, who I also been following for awhile. How fortunate am I to be working with these 2 ladies along with 6 other talented ladies? You can see the announcement here. Eekk.... so happy. Please come back tomorrow for our Wee Memories Challenge.

Have a wonderful Friday and I am going to spend my day meeting some peeps and maybe if I am nerdy enough, maybe I'll even ask them to give me some signature. :) Happy Friday!!

Paper Play & DDSB Challenge

Hi peeps!! Eeekk..., one more day till CHA Super Show! I got my stuff packed (not that there's many to pack since I am only going to be gone for 2 days), my list ready, and list of phone numbers on hand. I am guessing I probably will have a hard time sleeping tonight as I am so  giddy. Although I really need the sleep, considering the next 2 days going to be a long day with lots of walking. I hope it's going to  be as good as I expected.

On to today's card. Today is the rare occasion where my card fit my two DT assignments. Love when this happens. Hah... I made this card for the challenges on both, Paper Play Challenge & Digi Doodle Shop's Best (DDSB) challenge. This week Paper Play Challenges theme is "EVERYTHING GOES" and Digi Doodle Shop's Best challenge theme is "PUNCH IT OUT" (which create a project using punch or die-cut).

Now , you know I love die-cuts. Would never have thought I'd say that. If you asked me this question 10 years ago, I would said that's one of my least favorite item to use in scrapbook. But, with all the current stylish design, convenience, and quality of the tools, now I love using die-cut.

The dies that I used for this card is the new Spiral Note Die from Papertrey Ink and the clouds cut with Silhouette. The hot air balloon is from Digi Doodle Shop's Summer set. I printed it twice, once on the patterned paper and second one on white cardstock. Cut the balloon part from the patterned paper and the basket part from the white cardstock (I colored the basket with Copic markers). The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink also.

I have to say that my collection of Papertrey Ink grows the fastest. I found them back in Febuary 2010 and by now I already have 15 sets, some inkpads, several dies, cardstock, etc.?! My digi stamps growing pretty fast, too. At least they don't take extra storage space. Nice thing about digi stuff! :) Who's your current favorite company? Let's enabling each other here. :)

You all have a great Thursday and hopefully Sunday, if I am not whooped, I can post about my CHA trip! Hugs, Vera.

Becky

Today I feel a bit bummed for my sweet sister-in-law & my brother who lives in Jakarta. Early this morning their time (last evening our time here in the US), they had to put their beloved dog, Becky to sleep. Beacky has been with them for almost 15 years. She came into their live soon after they got married along with her sibling, Barney.

She's been sick a lot and blind, too. Letting go of a beloved family member always heartbreaking. I just want to wish them both comfort during this sad time. At least now, Beacky is free from any pain and hopefully she's having a blast in heaven!

OK, on to today's card for MyGrafico challenge. This week we're featuring the work of Zenwaredesigns, called Slumber Party. The challenge is to "Glitz Up" your project. Add glitters, rhinestone, etc., to your project and then upload your card at MyGrafico Challenge Blog.

And here's what come in the Slumber Party set:

Plenty of cuteness. Would be fun to use this to make invitation for a slumber party! I also make another card last night using CPS Sketch 177. This one is using the Hero Arts design for Silhouette. I loved, loved my Silhouette and it's great that slowly many manufacturer have their design available to Silhouette.

Going to Paris is one of the item on my bucket list! So want to go there. I love travelling, especially to Europe. I just love the history they have and the mix of old and modern together. Isn't this Eiffel Tower die-cut so awesome & detailed?

Well, for now, travelling to Chicago is on  the list. 2 more days!! LOL, I already get excited that I can barely sleep last night thinking of all the goodies I am going to see, the people I am going to meet, etc. :) Hope you will join us on this week MyGrafico challenge. Let those glitters out!! Hugs, Vera.

2S4Y Sketch 57

Hi there! How are you all doing? Just a quick post for today. Here's a card that I made last night for Wee Memories Stamping challenge, following 2S4Y Sketch 57.

Stamps: Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink

Butterfly punch: Martha Stewart

Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny

I actually added glitters to all the flowers, but with my lighting and all, the camera didn't quite capture the glitters. This week I feel really good in terms that I finished all my DT works for this week and one of them isn't even due till Aug. 13. Hah... this one actually happen by accident as I thought it was due this week. LOL.

I am also working on a couple layouts & some cards right now for one of the manufacturer. They will spotlight my works in August. So excited about this opportunity. Hopefully I can come up with some good stuff! :)

That's it for today's folks. I am going to check around and see all the CHA sneak peeks from my favorite companies. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you have a fantastic day!

FTL 100 Blog Hop

I am so excited. This week the CHA start and that means sneak peek of new products from all  the manufacturer! Do you have particular brand that you're looking for? I have tons. So far, some of the sneak peek I saw are totally YUMM....IE!!! :) Plenty of gorgeous papers, embellishments, etc.

I, for one cannot wait for Friday! I'll be leaving Friday morning to the CHA Super Show in Chicago and going to meet up with some crafty blog friends. So happy that I finally will get to meet them in person. I am looking forward to meeting Belinda, Tiffany, and Shemaine from Gallery Idol. Looking forward to say hi to the Papertrey Ink peeps, Cath from Moxie Fab, the Paper Craft gang, some Hero Arts gals, etc.

Will definitely give you all full report of my trip, next week, here. :) For today, I have this CAS card for Clean & Simple Stamping FTL 100 Blog Hop. And since this card is CAS it's going for Moxie Fab Clean & Graphic challenge as well.

Been wanting to use this stamp from Papertrey Ink Round & Around set. That image is so adorable. I loved it!

I have to mention this awesome movie real quick. Last night hubby and I watched the movie "Hachi". Oh my gosh, I cried my eyes out. It based on true story of this dog Hachi, who always meet his owner at the train station. Then the owner passed away and years after years till he dies, every day he'd waited at his spot by the train station for his owner. You know, I always appreciate the joy and love that my doggies brings me. But watching that movie, made me appreciate the loyalty and the huge, huge love that an animal can feel. The real Hachi did that for 9 years of waiting at the train station. My heart was breaking just thinking about it.

I like to think all dogs go to heaven and  that they always looking forward to that time to meet with their loved ones again. Go see that movie. Even if you're not a dog lover, I am sure you can appreciate the story about love and loyalty. Still get teary eyes thinking about it. I am such a cry baby when it comes to animals. Love them. :)

 If this is your first time on my blog, please take the time  to look around and I hope you can find some inspirations! Thank you for stopping by here. May your week started beautifully!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Welcome to Papertrey Ink blog hop! Most inspiring time of the month! :) This month the theme for the blog hop is office supply.

Since we have lots of blogs to check out, let's get started right away, shall we? Here's my 1st card using the "Just the Ticket" set and the new spiral note die. I can tell you this quickly become my favorite stamp. Simply love the look. I used the paper clip as my office supply for this card.

For my 2nd card, I used the Post it note paper and again used the spiral note die to cut the shape. And the "Enjoy the Ride" die cut & stamp set is part of the goodies that I got from my Gallery Idol Top 5 winning. So excited to finally able to play with this set! Loved, loved PTI dies. The quality is simply superb and their style is so awesome! I'm entering this 2nd card for Wee Memories Challenge 15, too.

I hope you like the cards! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I really appreciate it if you would leave me a comment, too. :) Have a great time hopping around. I will be hopping around myself and ready to be amazed by all your talents!

Layout, card, & scrap room

It's Friday!! Yay.... One more week before my CHA Super Show trip. I am counting the days! So looking forward to meet some crafty blog friends. To meet them in person would be so much fun and the shopping?? Super duper excited! :)

I was so inpired by all the goodies that I received the day before that I actually made a layout! It's been awhile since I made pages for myself. This past couple of years I completed several albums, but all of them are for presents. It feels awesome to make layout just for myself.

The papers I used is not part of my goodies, but I've been wanting to use it ever since I got it. It's from American Crafts Dear Lizzy line. This pic was taken on hubby's birthday last year.

Just like my card style, I like clean and simple style as well for my layout.  Those tickets were made using my latest Papertrey Ink goodies "Just The Ticket" set. I loved, loved this set. I have the matching dies as well and I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite stuff to use! Sigh... love Papertrey Ink very much!

Hmm.. back to the layout, I am really slow in journaling part. I love writing, but I have to be in the right mood to do my layout journaling. I probably will added some more personal journaling later on.

I also made a simpler version of my Gallery Idol card. This one just flat, instead of accordion folded, so it can be framed. Planning to give this to my niece, Maddy who's such an animal lover. I love my niece to pieces, she's just so beautiful inside out, goofy, & smart. Entering this card for Jenny's Wee Memories Summer challenge as well.            

 

I am not sure how smart it is for me to put picture of my scrapbook room. It's so messy lately as I've been so busy working on many cards & projects, that I haven't really get a chance to straighten my room. So, don't laugh, okay!? :)

As soon as you enter the room, to the left is my paper rack and computer desk that also hold my Cricut and Silhouette cutter.

Next to my computer table is my Ikea shelves that I so need to re-organize. As you can see this shelves hold all kind of stuff. One day soon I want to reorganzie it and make it looks neat the way it loooks in catalog! Next to it is the drawers that holds my Hero Arts and Stampin Up! stamps.

On the opposite side of the wall is this messy area (that's why no close up pic of the desk, LOL), which is my working area. The tall glass cabinets hold my completed albums. The drawes hold all kind of stuff. The plastic drawer next to it holds my most often used inkpads, chalks, and Papertrey Ink stamp. On my desk, my Cuttlebug, spices tubes that filled with buttons, papers, drawers where I store my pens, color pencils, embellishments, etc.

Above my desk is a skinny ledge shelf that holds variety of pics. Some of them are my brother's photography works. That sleeping owl on the right edge, is one of my favorite of his works. You can view more of his photograhpy work here. Next to the desk is another plastic drawes that holds my 8.5x11 papers & embellishments. On top of it smaller drawers that holds my scraps. On the floors 3 additional boxes of scraps. :) What can I say, I don't like to waste stuff. The very last drawers holds all my tools, fibers, & adhesive. And the red magazine holder has the latest magazine or idea books.

Messy, yes. But this is my happy place and this is the way it looks most of the time.  One of this day, when I actually have more free time, I want to redo this room. Not sure if I will change the color, since I do like the color blue. Or maybe I'll use lighter blue. For now, I am thankful that I actually do have a scrap room that's all mine. OK, I share with Nick my sheltie, since he always follow me everywhere and like to guard me. :)

Okay peeps, that's a long post for today. Hope you enjoy your stop here and I wish you all a super duper great Friday & may your weekend be filled with loads of fun stuff! Hugs, Vera. 

Happy, happy, joy. joy!

Yay... I am in cloud 9. Why?? Cause my goodies prizes from Gallery Idol finally arrived late afternoon yesterday. Aaahhhh.... I practically grab the box from hubby and ran upstairs to my scrap room. I was so giddy and excited.

And peeps, if you have followed me for a while, you know I looooveeee pretty papers and colors. If there's such a thing as paper addiction high, that's how I felt when I went through the goodies. There's stuff from October Afternoon, Cosmo Crickets, Papertrey Ink, magazines, etc. I was so happy I started to dance & bust the move! LOL. After I calmed down a bit, hubby took my picture and the goodies.

Here's my pic holding the certifcate from Paper Craft and trying to smile normal instead of my goofy grin and pic of the stash. Just have to share my excitement. Pretty papers come to mama!! :)

 

Papers, stickers, stamps, dies, pin, sigh.... happy, happy, joy, joy! I was so inspired that I even did a layout!! Will share it soon!

OK, earth to Vera, earth to Vera... plase come back and settle down. :)

 I do have cards to share with you as well. First up, is my card for Paper Play Challenges Week 29. This week it's color combo challenge. Cream, blue & another color of your choice. We're sponsored by Craft Brulee who provided us with some beautiful ribbons & lace. This beautiful peacock is from Hero Arts.

Next, is my card for Digi Doodle Shop's Best challenge. This week it's "Anything Goes". Super easy challenge. With summer and the hot, hot weather, I chose this summer drink as my image. Make me wish I am on a beach somewhere sipping mojito or mai tai! The pic didn't show it too well, but I added crystal glaze on the drink, so it looks shiny.

So, there's 2 fun challenges you can join. And y ou can easily combine both challenges in one card. Hope you will join the fun and I am looking forward to your creations!! Have a great Thursday!! Ciaoo....

MyGrafico Challenge 58

Hi peeps. It's time for MyGrafico Challenge 58. Create any project using any of MyGrafico digi stamp and use embossing as well. The DT get to use this summery images from Dilek Design Studio called Summer Sweet Girl Stamps. Here's my card:

Here's what come in the set:

To join the challenge they do ask that you use MyGrafico digi stamp. But they have lots of freebies that you can get here, to get you started. Just go look under "Freebies". As of this morning, there seem like some technical issue over the site. Hopefully it will be fix by later today and you can swing by there and get yourself some freebies. :)

I'm entering this for CAStastic summer challenge as well.

I am short on crafting time lately, so I stick to CAS style card. I love trying new technique, but lots of time I come back to my simple style. I do love card that has lots of white spaces. Have a great Wednesday and hope you will join us for MyGrafico challenge! Hugs, Vera.

Which style?

On the latest Paper Crafts special edition Card Style, they said there's 4 different card styles. Fun & cute, clean & graphic, shabby chic/vintage, and elegant.

Well, I know I like clean looking cards. I can't do vintage or shabby chic. I tried and it just isn't me. And, I also for sure love cutesy stuff. There's no way of denying this. Like  this card below is so me. But, the question is does this card fall under fun & cutesy or clean &graphic? Cause I think this card is both.

The clean design and plenty of white space easily make this card fall under clean & graphic. But, the image itself (from Lawn Fawn Just My Type set) I think fall under cute & fun! I am entering this card for Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and Card Style Fun and Cute Challenge in the Moxie Fab World . Peeps, what do you think?

I just thought about it, how cool would it be to find an antique typewriter that looks just like this. I would so want it! :) Have a great Tuesday everyone! Ciaoo!

Last minute for Moxie Fab

A while back Moxie Fab World has this challenge to create card that inspired by a layout. This is the layout:

And this is my card inspired by that layout. The idea been swirling in my head for awhile. It just that between all my to do list, this get pushed behind and guess what?? Tonight is the deadline fo rthe challenge. Nothing like last minute rush. :)

I took the sketch of the layout and some of the colors. Not sure why, the grid papers looks kind of pink on the picture, while in real life it's more orangey, kind of peachy looking. Anyhoo..., just a quick post so I can enter my card before the deadline. Thanks for stopping by. Have goodnight, Vera.

What?? Hmm yeah...

Hm... my brain still not fully functioning today. See my title? Yeah, that's how I felt all day yesterday and even this morning. I was down with allergy yesterday, and boy I think it was one of the worst I ever experience. Feel like my nose and cheek were swollen and throbbing with pressure. Pretty much spent the whole day in a daze.

I checked my emails, etc., but today I have to re-read all of them. None of what I read yesterday registered on my mind at all. You said something to me yesterday? Hmm.. yeah, can you repeat it again today? It was like puff... the magic dragon took all my memories. Today, I feel much better. Still a bit groggy, but better. :)

I started this card on Friday night for Cherie Reve for MyGrafico. I didn't finish it till Sunday as Saturday I was busy all day long and Sunday, with my head up in the sinus cloud, finishing this was the only thing I accomplished. 

You can get this cute girl surrounded by all these balloons here. I added the crystal glaze on all  the balloons so it has nice shiny finish to it.

That's all for today. I still have tons of works to do. Hoping for a very productive week this week. Hugs to you all, Vera.

Down with allergy

Ugh... today's no fun for me. I've been sneezing all day long. Took Claritin already, let's hope it works soon.

This weekend I get to catch up with my friend, Lori. So, wishing she lives close by. I don't see Lori that often, cause we live in different city, now in different states. Yet, despite the distance we're able to maintain our friendship and yes, she's been with me through all the up and down of my life this past few years. I know she's just a phone call away. She and her husband, are just amazing people and I love them both! And she has a rockin' daughter, Sarah, who's kind, fun, and talented! Hi Sarah!!! Sorry that I didn't get to see you! :)

Anyhoo... we went to CKC Houston yesterday and we were bummed, beause there wasn't that many vendors and not many have current scrapbook stuff. A couple vendors were actually pretty rude, that I ended up just walked away eventhough I was interested on their stuff. If you want to sell your stuff,  you need to be nice to your customers in my opinion. We didn't do much shopping at all. We did volunteer at the CK booth and hmm... warning when you volunteer for the last hours, it turned out that it involved lots of labor! I felt so bad for Lori cause she drove all  the way from Baton Rouge, been up since 5am, and now had to do some labor works. We didn't know this when we signed up.

We still had fun, cause that's the type of person, Lori is. She'll make the best of every situation. CK did take care of their volunteers, though. Annette who works for CK is super sweet and even gave us extra goodies for our hard work. But we were whooped. Came home all tired and hubby made dinner for us. We chatted, catch up on family stuff, etc., that we both kind of lost our voice by the time we're done. Yes, so wishing she lives close by. Then I'd have my scrapbooking gal and hubby would have his fishing buddy.

So, that's what happen on my  neck of the wood. What happen in yours? :)

How about a card? Made this using Lawn Fawn stamps. I've been using their stamp a lot lately, haven't I? Just love their cute style. I'm entering this card for Jenny's Wee Memories Summer Fun challenge.

I was kind of bored when I made this card and just playing with my scraps and ended up with this color combo. What you think of this color combo? OK, that's it for today. Can't think. Nose running, eyes itchy... ugh... yeah that scrapbook page that I suppose to work on and that tutorial... hm... no progress, yet. So sorry peeps. Hugs, Vera.

Happy Friday!!

Hi peeps! Aren't you glad it's Friday? I do. I've been brainstorming a bunch for some scrapbook layouts, so I am ready to play. Ready to play, but don't know about completing the page. LOL. I get distracted so easily and then somehow when it comes to scrapbooking, I keep questioning myself whether that's the paper I really want to use, or is this the right stickers, etc.

I guess that's why I've been making card a lot more lately than scrapbooking. When it come to scrapbook, I am pretty hard on myself. Goal for this year is to change that attitude. Meanwhile here's a card I  made for Mami Doodles Challenge 7. This week it's very easy challenge. ANYTHING GOES!

Somehow the color of this pic come out really funny. My beloved Canon G9 went kaput. I am debating whether I should get a new camera or just fix it as I really loved my G9. One of the best camera, ever. Most likely I'll just have it fix.

OK peeps, short post. Don't have much to say. :) Have a great Friday! Hugs, Vera.

Paper Play Challenges & DDSB

Hmm... I am seriously tempted to stalk my mail lady. LOL. Kelly from Paper Crafts said that our goodies already been mailed out and I am impatiently waiting for it to arrive. Hoping I'll get it by this weekend, so I can start playing! Or to just look at them. LOL. I just love staring at pretty papers.

Actually, I'll be doing a lot of staring at pretty paper this Saturday as I'll be attending the CKC Expo in Houston and will be volunteering at one of the booth. I know I'll be over the moon looking at yummy goodies this weekend.

Oh yeah... back to reality. :) Here's my card for Paper Play Challenges this week. We have sketch challenge & this week we're sponsored by Meljen's design. Meljen has bunch of cute stuff. Me likey cute stuff. Since  this is such a cute style, I am entering this for Card Style Fun and Cute Challenge in the Moxie Fab World as well.

Next  card is for Digi Doodle Shop's Best scrap challenge. Create any project using your scraps. I have boxes of scraps. I tend to save too much scraps. When I used to teach scrapbook classes, my students would actually offered me their scraps. LOL. Why waste it if you can still use it, right? Save the environment by not wasting papers. :) I try to purge my scraps and I still have a bunch. Well, this is what I made using my scraps based on sketch from TESC120.

Isn's this giraffe just so adorable? I colored it with Copic markers. The pic didn't show it well,  but the scarf on the giraffe's neck is very pretty as I added glitters to it. Very chic, I would say. :) I just love the way it looks. You get 2 giraffes in this one set, one with scraf and one without.

I hope you can join both challenges. They are both fun and you can win some goodies. Looking forward to seeing your creations! Hugs, Vera.

Banner card

Isn't banner such a trend right now? Seems like we see it everywhere. This is my second card this year that incorporate banner. And... me likey.

For today's card I used the banner from MyGrafico "On The Line Digital Set" by Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I loved the way this card turned out. After I printed the banners, I colored it Copic markers, stamped the letter using Hero Arts Printer's Lowercase alphabet set. Oldie but a goodie set.

I am slo entering this card for Card Style Fun and Cute Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. I am sure you'll agree my style most of the time either fun & cute or clean & graphic. What do you think is your card making style?

See all those flags? Yeah, at first I was like what was I thinking, looking at those little triangles. But, luckily cutting them didn't take much time once I figured out the quickest way to cut them. I just snip from one angles first, then snip from the other angles. Take about 10-15 minutes to cut all of them. And my desk is filled with pretty tiny confetti once I am done. :) I glued the string using my must have Tombow liquid glue, then added the banners on top of it. I just loved the cheerful colors. At last minute decided to add the cute Penny Black mice. Love  the result.

Here's preview of what come with "On The Line Set":

Check out this week MyGrafico challenge here. It's free to join and they do have loads of digi freebies. Have a great Wednesday peeps. Hugs, Vera.

Glittery Typewriter

Do you remember the day before computer take over? When we used to use typewriter? I still remember those days, from regular typewriter back in elementary school, then at junior high upgrade to the electronic typewriter, then computer. Every time we have school project, somehow I always get to type the papers. Maybe that's how my love affair with typewriter begin.

I don't know why, but I do love the look of old fashion typewriter. I almost bought an antique one just for display. But, since I am trying to reduce clutter in our house, I resisted the urge to buy one.

Anyhoo..., I love this typewriter from Lawn Fawn's Just My Type set. I really love Lawn Fawn stamp style. It just have such a clean style to it. Have to say they're quickly become one of my favorite stamp company. I make this card using sketch TESC120 from Taylored Expression challenge, and the color combo inspired by the Color Combo Challenge 50. Only after I finished the card I realized I supposed to use gingham or flower patterns as well beside the color combo. Oh well, can't enter the card for that, I guess, but still love the color combo. :)

Here's my card. I am entering this card for Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, too. You have till August 2, 2010 to play along.

I colored the typewriter with Copic markers and I added Perfect Pearls to each of the letter buttons. Just like me, my typewiter is quite girly. It has glittery handle. :) LOL. I had to chuckle when I added the glitters. I could sooo see my friend, Leslie saying with her," Vera... seriously?? Glittery typewriter? Eyebrow raised, then she would just sigh and said, "Oh well, it is so you!" Yep, could totally see her expression. She could make me laugh just by the look she gives me.

This antique (can I call it antique??) typewriter makes me happy just looking at it. Am I weird? Hmm... probably. Oh well... LOL, I accept my weirdness. Enjoy your days, peeps.

Tropical Card

Hi all. Happy Monday! A new week, full of anticipation. This weekend is the CKC expo in Houston and my friend, Lori will come down from Baton Rouge, LA and join me for some scrapbook fun. And I am going to meet with Danielle from Gallery Idol. I know this week just started, but it's always fun when you have something to look forward to. :)

Yesterday, I had some much needed chillin' time. Went to movies, then read my magazine, nap, etc. Luckily by evening I did have some productive time. Completed 3 cards. Yay for me. :) Here's my card for today. I entered it for Mojo Monday 156 at very last minute. I actually had to enter it through flickr as my blog wasn't ready. Here's my tropical card:

I never though I'd love using googly eyes as much as I do now. But, on cute creatures, it does make them look even cuter. All stamps are from Hero Arts. Love this set. Very tropical. Make me think of home. We used to have a bunch of coconut trees in front of our house and when we have heavy rain or windy days, I remember my brother and I would watch from  the window and keep debating whether any of the tree would fall or not, because they were swaying so much. And yes, we used to drink fresh coconut water.

Our gardener would climbed the tree and picked some fresh coconuts for us. Miss the carefree childhood days. Indeed we had the perfect house for our childhood. I was so sad when we had to sell the house. All of us used to think that's the house where everyone of us will always come home to.

Wow... there goes Vera rambling away. Wasn't even thought of writing about my childhood place. Amazing how a scene from a card can trigger your memories. BTW, have you check the latest release from Papertrey Ink?? My goodness, so much temptation. They have such cool stuff coming out each month. Love them all. Sigh.... Happy Monday all! Ciaoo.... 

Catching Up

Hi peeps... How's  your weekend? This weekend I finally get to recharge myself. After I came back from the vacation, it was rush, rush, rush. Now, things finally almost caught up. Yesterday I spent literally the whole day just sorting our vacation pics. Between hubby and me we took about 800 pics and I managed to cut it down to 400.

Many of them just panoramic pics, but I still love them. I often feel like I have this thirst for travelling and just want to memorize everything that I saw. I am a firm believer that the only thing you can take with you is your experience and I believe one of the best experience are the ones you gained through travelling. Seeing new sights, experience new things, new food, new culture, etc. That's part of why I love photography, I guess. My brother, the photographer made me see & appreciate the world through a whole new perspective. Anyway, between sorting & editing the pics, my whole Saturday just gone.

Today, we went to see The Last Airbender and Knight & Day. I have this childlike imagination and I love fantasy stories from Never Ending Story to Harry Potter, etc. Needless to say, despite the shaky review of The Last Airbender, I still love the movie. So yeah, card wise my weekend hasn't been very productive. I realize I cannot just keep pushing myself to the limit. I still need to have a life. LOL. :)

So, instead of my card, I am going to feature this card by Elaine. She made 2 adorable cards using my Doodle Bird (you can download  them free here). It's always fun to see how others used my doodling. Here's the card she made and you can check out Elaine's blog here.

I love the color combo she used. Okay peeps, that's it for today's post. Still have tons of works to do. I am excited that in July my works going to be featured at one of the big manufacturer's blog. You'll have to wait till August though to find out who  they are!! All I can say, thank you Paper Craft for opening all these doors for me. Have super duper great Sunday afternoon. Stay cool. It's way too hot here in Texas! Hugs, Vera.

Paper Play Challenges & DDSB Challenge

Yay... Thursday! I am soo ready for Friday. Hubby is down with the cold. So, nice relaxing weekend is definitely needed.

Okay, on to  today's cards. This post is for Paper Play Challenges and Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge.

Up first is my card for Paper Play Challenges. This week theme is "Your Number's Up". Create a card or any project that use number prominently. I've been looking for reason to use this number border from Silhouette. I thought it's such a cool design.

The stamps are from the new Hero Arts Let's Chill set (except for the sentiment, it's from Papertrey Ink). Love that little crab. Isn't this number border just fun?

Now, my card for Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge 15. This week it's all about texture. I used my Cuttlebug for the dots embossing. Once I embossed the dots, I rubbed the raised dots with Color Box Apple Candy ink pad. Just enough to give a hint of teal colors. Cut the waves using Silhoutte. This cute whale is part of the "Sea Life Set" from Digi Doodle Shop. I printed it on Bo Bunny papers. Kind of getting into paper piecing a lot lately. :)

And peeps, I am super excited that.... I am  going to CHA Super Show!! Yay... Super duper excited. Hoping to meet up with some HA gals, some peeps from Gallery Idol, and hopefully some blog followers who's also going. I am going with my MIL & we're going to have some girls time. This is my first time and I am so happy at the thought of finally meeting face to face with some of the peeps. Gonna be hectic as I'll go Friday and coming back Saturday evening. But, I am looking  forward to it and if you're going, let me know so we can all meet up!

Hope you'll join me on both challenges. Looking forward to seeing your creations!! Hugs, Vera.

MyGrafico

Good morning all. Don't you just love short work week day? I am glad it's already Wednesday. Can't wait for the weekend so I can take some time to just create. After being away from my desk for awhile, now my head is swirling with ideas and not enough time.

I am hoping that I can go through my vacation picture and have some printed. Really, really hoping I get to scrapbook & completed a couple layouts this weekend.

Today, I have a new card using this adorable digi stamp from My Grafico by Revidevi. It's from a set called Better Together. This set is so much fun and you get quite a few images. Here's what come in the set:

And here's my card:

Bird: MyGrafico, sentiment: Papertrey Ink, heart accent:

Hero Arts, pp: October Afternoon; ribbon: American Crafts.

MyGrafico has weekly challenge. You can join our challenge here. Please stop by and check it out when you have a chance. They have some different groups you can join as well. If you have Cricut you might be interested to check the site as well, as they provide SVG images to be used with Cricut.

Also, any of you going to CHA Super Show at the end of July? Or any of you ever been to one? Please share your experience. Am thinking of going and just like to know what it's like.

And, I haven't forgot my promise to make the ribbon fish tutorial. Hoping to get it done soon, too. Okay peeps, have a wonderful super duper hump day!! Cheers, Vera.

Back To Reality

Hi peeps! Today we're back to reality. Back to work. Yesterday, pretty much I spent the whole day just cleaning up my emails and working on DT projects. And, of course going through the 700 plus pics that hubby and I took during our Seattle/Vancouver trip.

LOL, we're both into photography. Although hubby more into clicking away and I thought more of composition, etc. :) We're both influenced by my brother, Jerry, who's the actual professional photographer. I wish I had him with me during our trip, because my photography skills just couldn't capture the magnificent beauty of the views that we saw the way he could. I am not keeping all 700 pics. I only keep the very best ones. I sort it by thinking will I put this in our srapbook? If the answer is no, then I delete the pics.

Okay, on  to today's card. Nothing get me to get back in the swing of things like CAS style card. I saw the FTL # 97 from Clean & Simple Stamping and it just inspired me to create. As always, this Hero Arts Poppy stamp always do wonder for me. This card also goes to Jenny's Wee Memories Challenge 13.

This is a one layer card. I colored the flowers with Prismacolor pencils. The nice thing about working with color pencil is that I don't have to worry about ink showing up on the back side the way it does with markers. Added Stardust stickles and butterflies and it's done. Pretty quick & simple.

Hope you like it and again thank you all for your kind words & encouragement. It means a lot to me. Hugs, Vera.

Home Sweet Home

Hi peeps.... I am bacckkk!!! :) How are you all doing? I had a wonderful vacation with hubby, sightseeing around Seattle and Vancouver.

Let's do some quick recap of what happened while I am gone. First of all, by now you would have known that I only made it to Gallery Idol Top 5 and Belinda Chang Langner won the competition. Big congrats to Belinda!! You rock, girl! I am so happy for her! I've been her blog follower for almost a year now and she's also one of my HA Flickr gal.

Of course, I am not gonna lie, I was bummed that I didn't win. I put so much love and works on the final card. And I was so hoping to have the chance of having my works get published. It's one of my goal for this year. But my family, friends, & blog followers are amazing. I received many words of encouragement. That totally made my day (beside the fact that I got to make snowman in July that same day, read about that below!). Reading those encouragement words (one was actually from one of  the Paper Craft editor) actually made me cry as I was so touched by everyone's support.

Big hearty THANK YOU to all of you who supported and voted for me during the whole competition. I did my best, that's what matter and I love you all for your kindness & supports. And the good news is since I didn't win, I can play again next year! Yay for more playing time! :) And to honor all  the ladies with whom I shared this experience please check their blogs. I have them listed under my Creative Links tab. They're fabulous!! Many of the girls have become my friends and that is something that I will always treasure. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with them & hopefully meet them all one of this day.
To celebrate this fun, amazing journey, here's a recap of all my cards for Gallery Idol.

Now, recap of my vacation. While in Seattle, we visited the Pike Market, home of the flying fish. I love the fresh market. And they have tons of beautiful flowers. I was telling hubby, I am not one asking for flowers for birthday or anything, but if the flowers are that gorgeous and that cheap, I would ask for it all the time. And, beside the flowers, first thing I saw at the market that made me say, oh... wow... is this display (sorry for bad pic, but it's  the only one I have for this):

Sweetness... Lots of yummy sweetness.

You should see my eyes just sparkle as soon as we saw that. Hubby had to pull me away from there. LOL, what can I say... I love great dessert, even for breakfast. We took the hop on, hop off bus for the rest of the day. The next day, we took the train to Vancouver and spent a couple days there. Of course, I timed it that we visited during Canada Day. So, lots of activities there. We visited Granville Island & Canada Place on our 1st day. They lighted the Olympic cauldron just for Canada Day, so bonus for us. Second day, we went to Stanley Park, the aquarium (we're big aquarium fans), Capilano Suspension Bridge (this was so much fun), and Grouse Mountain (awesome, awesome views).

I love Vancouver. Love the atmosphere & the energy there. It's like a melting pot. In one day we heard at least 8 different languages.  At Grouse Mountain we went all the way to the top. Once we get to  the top we took the ski lift and went up even higher. There's plenty of snow on the ground, so our nerdiness (is that a word??) came out & we made snowman. Only small one since we didn't have any glove. some people passed by and our only explanation was we're from Texas. They laughed and thought it was cool. Grated, it's not a fancy snowman and I could only find super skinny twig for the nose. Peeps, here's our snowman in July.

Phew... still so much things to tell. But, I don't want to bore you out with my personal stuff. Long story short, our vacation was amazing. I asked hubby if we can move there. LOL.  I think next year, our aim is to go for Alaska tour. Okay peeps, I have hundreds of emails to go  through, DT works to be done, blogs to check, I better go and do some works. Hugs to you all, Vera.

DDSB & Paper Play Challenges

Hi all, today again I have this post scheduled before I left. Today's post have both challenge for Digi Doodle Shop's Best & for Paper Play Challenge. Meanwhile, as this post go up, hubby and I should be getting ready for our train ride from Seattle to Vancouver. 4 hours long ride. I am ready though. I have my book, ipod, and camera ready as we're supposed to pass some gorgeous area.

First for Digi Doodle Shop's Best challenge is all about dots or circles. Me likey dots. You can get the Digi Doodle owl that I used for the card here. I love this owl. He's just too cute!

Then for Paper Play Challenge this week theme is "Kids/Teenager". Here's my card. I think Li'l Sinead from Mami Doodles will brighten any kids day when they receive this!

Now, peeps have you vote for your Gallery Idol?? Today is the last day to vote. You have till 1PM CST to  vote.

I am hoping all the walking that we have to do, will get me tired enough to have a good sleep tonight. Cause you know that the waiting always so torturous. Tomorrow they will announce the winner. Crossing my finger, my toes and pray that may my dream come true. Hugs and have a blessed day everyone, Vera.