Thursday, March 31, 2011

Under The Sea

Today is one of those day where I just don't know what to write. :) No story to share. So, let's just get on with the card, shall we? 

Here's my bright color card. I have this KI Memories paper forever, from when they first started. Yep, I have lots of old patterned papers that I just love and still keep in my stash waiting to be used. Well, this one finally get some extra love. ;)


I fussy cut all the images. Love this mermaid image. Have her for what... six months maybe? And.. yep, first time I used it. The seaweed is actually leaves ribbon from May Arts. I layered a couple of the leaves with a lighter color ones for dimension.

I honestly not sure how I feel about this card. I love bright colors, but sometime certain combo can be too bright for my taste. And, I think this is the case for this card. But, on the other hand, kids will probably like this card with it's bright, cheerful colors. Oh well...

Have agreat Thursday everyone!! I am sooo looking forward for Grey's Anatomy tonight. Love that show!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pretty Flowers

Good morning peeps! How are you doing? I want to thank you all for the lovely anniversary wishes. Hubby check out my blog last night and he loves reading your comments. He thinks I have the sweetest followers. And, I couldn't agree more. :)

Dollar... ooppss... I mean Ollie, is doing better and already back to her normal crazy self, runninng, and dancing around. She's still milking it though, giving this pathetic look, so we would let her sleep with us instead of sleeping on her own bed. And... daddy is such a softie, he caved in. Sigh... she trained us so well to follow her wish. ;)

Today, I have a sweet & cheerful card for you. Sometime last year, I won a few super cute sticker sets from Sherri. And they were so cute, that I keep putting them on display instead of actually using them. Well, I finally decide it's better to share to cuteness. So, here's my card using one of Tiffany's sketch. I love her sketch. They're always so fun.
  

Challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown - Florals 

 How cute is that smiling flower? I stamped the background with Hero Arts Friends definition stamp, then added the blue washi tape, the flower sticker, and the sentiment. Easy peasy & super quick card!

Another thing that brighten my day yesterday was to find this fabulous package from one of my blogging friend Alexandra in the mail. Her card is gorgeous. I keep staring at the sky background, it's so pretty. I think her coloring is perfectly done. And ... she made these crochet flowers herself!!


Thank you Alex for these awesome package!! Love, love, love happy mail, especially when they're from my lovely blogging peeps. :) Hope you all have a wonderful, gorgeous day! Hugs...

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Oye... I had my post all prepared Sunday night and Monday I found out it has disappeared. Even after I already saved it! Let's see if this post come up! :)

Yesterday was my 3rd anniversary!! 3 years since I married my sweet hubby. What did we do to celebrate? Hm... how about taking our pug to the vet? My pug, Ollie gave us such a nice present.. a nice chunk of vet bill! Sigh... at the end hubby and I can only shake our head and make jokes about it.

I told hubby, maybe we should change Ollie's name to "Dollar" or "Richie Rich". She had scratch by the eye and her stomach was hard like rock, so of course, like any responsible, loving parents, we took her to get check out. She got antibiotic for her eyes and they had to do x-ray on her. Advise to pet owner: "always ask how much an x-ray cost".

After the bill, hubby and I pretty much just look at each other and said happy anniversary. We still went out for dinner afterward. Just low key dinner. As much as the vet bill hurt our pocket, we both think how blessed we are that we're still able to go out and enjoy a nice dinner, that our baby is doing okay.  

So, in honor of our anniversary, here's a couple pics from our wedding day. We got married at Playa Del Carmen. It was a small, intimate wedding and I love it! Professional pics were taken by my brother, Jerry Aurum, the photographer. :) If you visit his blog, he has post mostly in English and a few in Indonesian.



Since, it's my anniversary, I am just going to gush away about hubby. He's seriously one of the most thoughtful guy I know. Just this past weekend, he bought me an Indonesian recipe book. Nope, not for me to cook. But, for me to pick recipes I like for him to cook. How sweet is that? These kind of thoughtful gesture that mean so much that make me so grateful for having him as my hubby. Love you to pieces, honey! :)

Now, what would an anniversary be without a card? I made this card using Tiffany's sketch.

Challenges:
Penny Black - Wet embossing
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes

Can't go wrong with embossed cute hedgehog from Penny Black. That webby looking ribbon is from May Arts. LOVE it!

Thank you all for stopping by here and welcome to the new followers! :) Really appreciate you all taking the time to check out my blog. Hope you enjoy your visit and have a blessed day everybody!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Wee Memories Free Your Creativity

Yay... Saturday! Don't you just love that beautiful word? :) I love weekend.

Hmm.. this weekend going to be an interesting one for me. I am such a people pleaser sometime. A couple months ago my mother-in-law asked me if I'd go with her to a polymer clay class. And she's such a sweet lady and I figure it would be a great way to spend some time together. Well, later I find out that not only it's 2 days class, it's from 10-5 each day! Eeek... There goes my weekend.

I love my MIL, so I do this for her, but seriously, I am not that interested on polymer clay. So, 7 hours each day would be a long one. Hubby already said that I can't bail out as he made the cough sounds. LOL. Usually when I don't want to go somewhere I'd whine I don't feel well and make the cough sounds pretending I am sick. My MIL said that if we finish our project early, than maybe we don't have to stay for the whole day. Crossing my fingers... :)

Now, on to card. This week Wee Memories is sponsored by the awesome My Favorite Things and our theme is "Free Your Creativity" which means anything goes. Create whatever your heart desires.


For my card I used MFT Die-namics Polka Dot Greetings Die & Stamp Set Duo. I love everything about this die & stamp set. The die shape, the polka dot frames, and the sentiment style. It's also fun to play with the Pure Innocence image again. I almost forgot how cute they are. I covered the heart with Frosted Lace stickles.



Check out the DT gals fabulous creations and  the challenge details at Wee  Memories blog. Since this is such a fun and easy peasy challenge, I hope many of you will join us! I am looking forward to check out your creations. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Meanwhile... I am going to spend my precious weekend at a polymer clay clas. Hi ho hi ho off to class we go.. (imagine the 7 dwarfs from Snow White singing this) .... :)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

Welcome to Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop! I missed the PTI blog hop for the past few months and so excited that I can join this month blog hop. This month theme is to use embroidery floss.

I've been wanting to use Melissa's Flower Fusion # 1 set and when I saw Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger "A Citrus Celebration", I knew right away how I want to create my card.



That cheerful polka dots green got my attention right away and I have this Bella Blvd papers that I adore, that reminds me of that cupcake liner. Then the orange and yellow.. ahh.. what a fun & happy combination. So, here's my card. I used the embroidery floss to stitch the flower stems.



With such cheerful card like this, I think that sentiment is perfect. There's many blog for you to hop to, so I'll keep this short and sweet. Thank you all for stopping by. Wishing you all blue skies & sunshine! :)

Sweet Spring

Happy Friday peeps! I am happy to report that my mojo is only taking short vacation. It still in lazy mood, but it's willing to come out and play a bit. :) At las minute, I was able to complete a card for A Day For Daisies new releases.

I love the way Tammy draw her images. It's always have such whimsical feeling to it. If you look closely, those colorful dots are actually cute li'l birdies. And what do you think of this color combo? I think it looks different, yet pretty.

Challenges:
Stamps R Us - Spring
PWCO SS # 74 - Sketch

Here's a peek at a few of the images. There's 8 images being released today and this one I used on the card is only $2 just for today!!


Here on my neck of the wood, the weather been gorgeous and the trees are growing their leaves back in full force. I wish we have colorful flowers like in Seattle or Vancouver area. We do have flowers, but the colors just okay. Is it just me, but I notice that in area where they have super cold winter, their spring flowers are more brilliant and robust in colors. I love the colors and could just stare at those pretty flowers for the longest time.

Anyway, I am happy to see all the greens and the beautiful weather. Hope you're enjoying a waonderful weather as well. :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Paper Play Distressing

This week at Paper Play it's team B turns to play. Our challenge is distressing. And... let me tell ya... distressing was stressing me up! :) I think in my head I always associated distressing with vintage and as much as I adore other people vintage style, it just not my style.

And on top of that my mojo decided to just go on vacation and leaving me stranded. I wasted 3 cards. Each time I felt like they looked too messy. At the end, my clean style won and I just stick to this simple card. I distress the image with distress inks and use SRM sticker for the sentiment.

Challenges:
Oldie But Goodie Challenge - Pink, Blue & Brown

The other DT gals did such fabulous works. Mine is the simplest one! Sorry, when mojo is  on vacation, it's ON VACATION! No trace of it left whatsoever. Hah! :) Check out the DT work at Paper Play Challenges.

Hope you have a great Thursday! :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Stamping On Canvas

Good morning everyone! For Paper Crafts September 2011 issue I submitted 3 cards and got 1 accepted. Yay... All in all I have 5 publications coming up. Took me almost a year, but hey it finally happening. :) Last time my work got published was 5 years ago, before major life event happened and I took a break from scrapbooking & card making. 

Anyway, today I am sharing one of the rejected card. I had lots of fun making this one. My first try stamping on canvas.

I do use this Critters In The 'Burb set a lot, don't I? And that banner from Bannerific set. Both from Lawn Fawn, which is one of my favorite company. I colored the dog and the cat using Copic markers. They work really well on this canvas.

Reject or not, I think this card will bring smile to who ever going to receive it. :) Thank  you all for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Wag Your Tail "Hello"

For today I'll share a card that I made last month for magazine submission. It didn't get pick up, but I still love it. It's actually one of my favorite card. I love the simple and clean design of this card. The stamp is from Eat, Cake, Graphics.

As soon as I saw this cute doggy peering down at something, I knew it's coming home with me. :) I got like 5-6 stamps from them (really reasonably priced, especially when you get the unmounted ones) and most of them are the doggy ones.


This stamp just reminds me of my pug, Ollie, who always so curious and like to check on everything. Her way of thinking: "Oh... mommy has plastic bag filled with goodies, let me see what's in there. Or.. oh... there's the trash can, let me see what's in there, hmm... if I tip it over, let's see how much mess can I make. Well.. hello there goodies to scatter!" Yep, always peering down and checking on things.

It also makes me think of my other pug, Milo that I lost 6 years ago. Cute, cuddly little bugger that I still miss to this day. I like to think that he's hanging out with both of my dads up there now and every now then I imagine him looking down from heaven, wag his tail and say, "Hello, I am up here looking at you and looking forward to seeing you again." Maybe it just my imagination, but it sure makes me smile.

Loosing your love ones, whether it's people or pets, is hard regardless whether it's been week or years. Today is a week from when I received the news of my dad. The ache still there. But like many of you say, sweet memories of our love ones will make us smile and bring us comfort. This card makes me smile and think of many good memories. Thank you all for stopping by and I really appreciate all your sweet comments. You truly brings me comfort this past week. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

I'm Here For You

Good morning and happy Monday! This weekend was so theraupetic for me. Hubby and I spent the weekend at Galveston and it was such a nice break from the daily routine. Being by the ocean is so rejuvenating. 

Saturday morning, we woke up early, went for breakfast, got a beautiful flower bouquet for my dad and headed to the beach. As we laid all the flower blooms, we said prayers for my dad, and I really feel that he's helping me being strong.  When we finish, we walked back to the beach, and there half buried on the sand was this perfect sea shell. It's the gorgeous spiral, elongated one. And it's in such perfect condition. When I touch it, I was thinking, this is so perfect and we couldn't find  another one like that at all. And, somehow in a way I have a feeling that it was my dad's way to say he's "perfectly" happy on the other side. :)

                     

I have several very thoughtful people around me who show me that they're here for me and I truly hope that I am as good of a friend as they are to me. The sentiment, " I am here for you" when prove by the actual gesture of kindness, means so much. Some people truly have touched my life by showing me their support, by truly being here for me. And through this card, I want them to know, I'm here for them, too whenever they go trough tough time.

Thank you everyone for your kindness, support, thoughtful emails, text messages. You help me tremendously. Thank you and I am grateful for you. :) 

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Wee Memorie & Lawnscaping

Hello there. Welcome to another Wee Memories challenge.  This week we have a super duper fun treat for you all. We are doing a co-challenge with with another challenge blog that I adore... LAWNSCAPING! Just this past Thursday, I was thrilled to see my card in the Top 3 for their last challenge. So happy. :)

Now, for this co-challenge our theme is "CUTE or CUDDLY" and everyone will have TWO chances to win Lawn Fawn stamps!! How fun is that!! Not only that, we have 2 special guests joining us. The Kelly-Marie herself (owner of Lawn Fawn) and Kathy from the Daily Marker  who has such fabulous coloring skills.
For those of you have follow my blog for awhile, you know I adore cute stuff. Cute stuff can bring smile to my face any time. :) Here's what I created. The bright, cheerful stripe pattern paper is from Bella Blvd Mr. Boy collection.

Go check out what our special guests and the DT created at Wee Memories! You will also find all the challenge & prize details there. Looking forward to seeing your cute or cuddly projects.

Hopefully this post goes up without a hitch as I am in Galveston this week to spend some time on the beach. And no, not the beach where everybody is on. We have a quiet spot where we can go and just have a quiet moment. I needed to be by water this week. Somehow being by the ocean brings me comfort and I am hoping to find some peaceful moment just to think, reflect, and celebrate my dad's life. Have a blessed weekend!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Snails & Smiles

Today I feel kind of okay and trying my hardest to get back to normal. I went back to work yesterday and just throw myself to work. Not easy, I am telling ya. I'll be in the middle of typing something and holly molly I just burst into tears. What helps is every time I did that, part of my brain start saying, you know Ling, dad probably watching from above and he probably rolled his eyes and said again??! :) And he'll say something silly to make me stop crying. As I think of what he might say that makes me smile. I really think laughter or humor is important to maintain even when you go through tough times. I think it's going to be like this for a while.

So, to cheer myself and to distract myself, at night when it's calm and quiet, I just put all my focus and energy into card making. I recently found Market Street Stamps and won this Slow Movin' set from their February release. I love snail images, so of course, I was excited when I won this. 

And, when I get inky and play with it... oh my... LOVE....! It stamps smoothly and the quality of the rubber is so awesome. Seriously, my heart leap a bit when I stamped and saw the result. After just trying this one set, I am a fan of Market Street Stamps. What I love even more, this snail made me smile. It's just so sweet.

I decided to make the snail movable. And here's the result.



Challenges:
Paper Take Weekly - 3 of Something (mine: 3 stamped items)
Stampavie and More - Spring/Easter
The Outlawz - Animals

I love this snail so much, that I inky another one and play with glimmer mist as well (my first time and I love it!). Yesterday, I found out that Latrice, whom I met at CHA last year is collecting card for one of her co-worker who's son has leukimia. You can find details about Gavin HERE. I am sending this card to Gavin and hopefully this will make him smile.


As these cards brings smile to me, I know with time, slowly the healing process will continue and things will get better. Like my dad used to say, "Everything will be okay." :) As always... take the time to tell your love ones you love them! Have a blessed day.

Peacock Fairy

This week at A Day For Daisies, Tammy has plenty of beautiful new releases. To see and get all the new items, please check A Day For Daisies. And this week $2 deal is the peacock fairy (offer last till midnight today) that I used for my card.

This week also mark the start of our new challenge, which has the theme "Go Green". Basically create any project using the color green on your project. Can be as little or as much green as you can stand. I finished this card last weekend, right before my world becomes gray (in a sense).

Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp - Happy Birthday

To check out the DT creations and to enter the challenge please go to ADFD blog. Thank you for stopping by. And, I will have another post today. Something that bring smile to my face. Have a great Friday everyone!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Thank You For Your Kindness

I want to thank everyone for all their kind words and supports. I know, I have not met many of you, yet you reached out to me and comforted me. Thank you so much.

I love my foster dad as much as I love my own dad. My heart still ache whenever I think of him.  When I reached for the phone to text him and realized, he's no longer there. I simply miss him. I know my heart will ache for a long time. But, like my mom said, as his daughter, the best thing I can do is to continue his legacy. Be the kind person like he was. Always help others whenever I can.

To celebrate his life, celebrate my time with him. Count my blessings. I had 2 great dads in my life and I am thankful for that.I feel so deeply connected to my foster dad, that I know he's not really gone, cause I carry him in my heart. Someday, I'll see him again and I will give him the biggest hug. :)

And, to my friend Leslie, thank you for listening to me crying my eyes out. I tend to keep my feelings in as I always worried about being a burden to others. Even to my close friend. And when I told her I don't want to be a party pooper and feel bad to call when I am all crying, she said that's okay, I'll be a party pooper alongside you. Leslie, I just want to say thank you for being a true blue friend. I love you!

To distract myself, I started to create again. I was going to scrapbook about my dad, but I couldn't do it, yet. Soon, I will though. For now, this simple card to show you all how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness.



The one below, I made it last week, just never get to share it here.



Thank you again everyone for your kindness. Hugs.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I Love You So Much Dad

In my life, I've been lucky to meet several amazing, special people. The most special one is my foster dad. He was my uncle and my mom's close friend and I called him Dad Agung. He was a very spiritual person and I consider him as my spiritual guide. He guided me during difficult time and he was my sounding board, my pillar of strength, my guardian angel.

He met my real dad right before my real dad passed away, which for me was so symbolic. It's like a passing from one dad to another. He stepped in, comforted me, and when I asked him if it's okay for me to call him dad he immediately said yes. And he really was being an amazing dad to me in every way.

I leaned on him so much. He helped me to better myself spiritually, he helped me became a better person. He has such a gentle, kind, loving soul and spirit. He helped so many people and he was so loved. By his students, by his peers, by the people he helped.

Today, March 15, 2001 4.45pm Houston time (March 16, 201 4.45am Indonesia time), my dad passed away and started his journey to the other side. On Sunday, he got stroke and was admitted to ICU. This morning, Houston time, I talked to my mom and she was letting me know there's nothing else they could do as he's body started to shut down.  I went home right away and took the day off.


I love his smile.


My dad and me.

I cried, I prayed, and through my prayers, I let him know that as much as I am not ready to let him go, if it is his time I told him it's okay for him to leave and I pray that he could feel how much I LOVE HIM.

As much as my heart is breaking, I told God that I leave it up to Him, for His will to happen. I am thankful that I got to see my dad and spent some time with him when I was in Jakarta for Christmas. You know,  when I was planning my trip, I was worried about our finance and if I should go home or not. And, I told my mom, my heart was telling me if I didn't go home, I may regret it.

And, I am so thankful that God guided me to trust my heart and I went home. My time with him was priceless. I will cherish my time that I spent with him forever. We got to hang out, I will always remember how his eyes got so big when he ordered the cheesecake, how he joke around, how he always kiss me on my forehead when we say goodbye, how he helped us surprising my mom on her birthday. My only regret was that we didn't get to see movie together. He wanted to see Narnia and so was I, but due to one thing after another, we didn't get to do that.

Just two days ago, I saw Cath's post that has this beautiful poem. As I read this, I pray that God gives me strength and help heal my heart.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave bereft
I am not there. I have not left.

 Kindred spirits.
My heart also goes out to his wife, my foster mom, who loves him so much. My heart breaks just as much for her loss. We all trying to accept that he is in better place now. I write this to honor him, to help me in my grief.

One thing I learn from him is to always trust in God. No matter what. I might not understand why he's being taken from us so early, all I know God has plan for him. For each of us.

Dad, I love you so much. So grateful for all your love, support, and guidance. You're among all the angels now and as much as I grief for my loss, I pray that you rest in peace. May your journey home be smooth and I send all my love for you. I will miss you so dearly. Love, love, love you so much. With all my heart. Thank you for blessing my life, for enriching my life with your presence. Love you always, your daughter.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Prayers Needed

Last night, I got the news from my mom, that my foster dad, whom I love like my own dad, is in the ICU because of stroke. He's still in critical condition. If you would please keep him in your prayer, I would so appreciate it.

Besides my mom, my foster dad is my rock. Even though he's not my real dad, I love him the same. He's been there for me whenever I needed support & guidance. He helped me when my own dad passed away and ever since then I called him "Dad". Right now, I feel helpless. I wish I could be in Indonesia right now and be with him, instead of half way around the world and waiting for news.

You know, I made this card this past weekend, before I got the news. But, it describe my feeling for my foster dad perfectly. That I am so lucky to have him in my life. I am so thankful for his love and support.

Challenge:

Always take the time to tell your love ones you love them. Every single chance.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Spring Is Near

Hi peeps! Happy weekend! It's time for another Wee Memories challenge. Can you believe we're already on our 47th challenge??

Our challenge this week is sponsored by Annabelle Stamps and the theme is'spring' or 'green'... green colors, green anything, flowers, birds, trees, butterflies, etc. Anything that says Spring or Green to you!!


I got to play with this cutie bee from Annabelle Stamps. For the flower wrap, I recycled (which means I am being green) and used the tissue paper wrap that came with some stamps order. And I love the soft aqua color.



I am keeping it simple as I really want the bee to be focus here. Check out the DT gals fabulous creation and all the challenge and prize details HERE. I sure hope you will play and join us on this fun challenge. So looking  forward to seeing your creations!

Well, today I plan on being creative and doing lots of cleaning! Hope you have a super duper fun weekend! Cheers....

Friday, March 11, 2011

Happy Bark.Day

Hi, this is my second post for  today. For my A Day For Daisies post please scroll down. :)

I'm so excited that I finally get to play with Paper Smooches "Birthday Buddies" set. I love animal stamps and I've been eyeing this set when it first came out. So happy to get my hands on this cute set.

For my card, I was inspired by Practicing Creativity Sketch Challenge. I decided to add a little heart banners on the top to make the card looks more festive & fun. The yummy yellow twine is Lemondrop twine from The Twinery. Another favorite.  I am also entering this card for Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.


To create a little dimension on the doggy, after I fussy cut the image, I curled it around my markers. When you lay the image you can see where some parts can be glued directly to the card, and some parts can be adhered using thick and thin pop-dots to create different dimension level. 

I hope this make sense. Using this technique I've been able to create more depth on my image. Next time I'll try to take pic of the process. :)  For example, on the card above, the paws were glued using regular glue directly to the panel, the body was popped on thick pop-dots and the nose and ears on thin pop-dots.

This card makes me smile and I hope you have a smiley kind of day as well.

Very Very Sweet

Hi peeps, happy Friday! I noticed that I have several new followers. Yay... welcome aboard. Thank you for following my happy place. I hope you'll enjoy your visit here. Maybe I'll do another giveaway when we reach 300. What do you think?

Now, Friday, means new release day at A Day For Daisies. This week, Tammy has quite a few of adorable images to release. You can get all  the newest images at the shop HERE. There are 3 sets available: Cutive Vintage Merbabies (adorable li'l kiddy mermaids), School of Little Patterned Fish, and Very Very Very Sweet (lovely spring images).

ADFD just redesign their shop and has grand opening special going on till March 14, 2011. Enjoy 10% off all images in the store. And there's some gorgeous FREEBIES as well.

For my card, I used one of the image from Very Very Very Sweet. I love the way it looks. The li'l girl just focus on the flower, wind blowing her hairs, simply sweet and pretty image.

You can check out the DT gals creation at ADFD Challenge blog. And a reminder, you still have till next Thursday to enter ADFD Girly Girl challenge HERE.

Hope you have a great Friday!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Shades of Green

Yay... Thursday. My favorite day of the week. :) Today, I have a springy, girly card for you. This week is my team turn at Paper Play challenges. Our theme this week is "Shades of green / good luck" and we are sponsored by Whiff of Joy.

Since, I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's day and being my efficient self, I like making cards that I can actually give or send to others, I decided to just do the green colors part. I use shades of green with a little jolt of pink, orange, and aqua. :) Sketch is from Jen's March SYFTT.



Challenges:
Creative Card Crew - no flowers

I think I came down with a fever. Did you see how many layers this card have? The whole time working on it, I kept thinking wow, seriously all these layers? LOL, I don't know why, but I feel like I am not being green or enviromentally friendly when I create card with too many layers. Then I reason with myself that not using up my scraps is even worse and it's not being green either.

What can I say, I am environment concious. I recycle a lot and at the office, I am the recycle officer. I basically teach and encourage my co-workers to recycle. :)

Well, I hope you will play along with this challange and you can check out more inspirations from the DT gals on Paper Play blog. Looking forward to your  creations! Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Hero Arts Day

Like, I promised yesterday, today is dedicated to another of my favorite company, Hero Arts. Their stamps were some of the very first stamps I owned when I first started stamping back in 1996. And the people in their Flickr group are some of the nicest people I know. I met several good stamping buddies from there.

So, for today's card I am showing you one of my go to stamp from Hero Arts, the poppy flowers. Seriously, this is one of my favorite. As soon as I saw it, I saw my name written all over it! LOL. Love at first sight with this stamp.

Made this card for the current Hero Arts challenge and for Catered Crop FTR # 7. Part of the recipe that I follow is using stripe pattern paper, flowers stamp, Copic markers, and spring/Birthday theme.  

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Copic Creations - complimentary colours
Simply Create - power of flowers

I had so much fun making this one, I thought I share how I did the panel part. How to:
1. Cut a small panel and stamp the Friendship text background using Memento Soft Sky.
2. Stamp the flowers and colored it with Copic markers.
3. Using exacto knife, I cut a straight line in between the flower stems about 1/3 from the top. Be careful not to cut the stem. Then fussy cut the rest of the flower above the straight line. Hope this make sense. Color the rest of the panel background with chalks.
4. Cut a panel from purple cardstock and layer it with the flower panel.
5. Punch a  couple butterflies. Cut a small piece of acetate and glue the butterfly in front and on the back of the acetate. That way when people look from the back, it has a clean, professional finish.
6. Attach the acetate to the back of the purple panel and attach the whole thing to the card base.
7. Add glitters.


Yep, definitley love this poppy flowers stamp. It just so pwertttyyy. :)

Let me know what you think, will you. Thank you so much for stopping by and happy Ash Wednesday. Have a blessed day....

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I {Puffy} Heart Lawn Fawn

You know, sometime you come across a company that you just fall in love with the moment you find out about them. I fall in love with Lawn Fawn stamps from the very beginning. As soon as I saw their stamps, I just LOVE them. I guess because their stuff is so my style. And, when I met Kelly that just made me love it even more. She's such a nice person.

PS: I do not get paid to write this, nor do I receive any benefit from them. It's simly that I love the company and love supporting great company. 

I still remember my very first set was Critters In The 'Burb and I used them for my 2010 Gallery Idol finale. I was stumped and didn't know what to make, and Lawn Fawn stamp showed up on my door, and I knew immediately what I wanted to make. So, Lawn Fawn definitely hold a special place in my heart.Yesterday I saw Lawnscaping challenge 5 which is to use stamp in unconventional way (for example, use Christmas stamp to make birthday card, etc.) and I know right away I want to play!!

What a super fun challenge! And their DT creations were so inspiring, I can't help but play right away. :) And again, I turned to Critters In The 'Burb. For me, this set makes me thing of spring or summer and definitely land stuff. So, I decided to use them for water related card. My very own version of Noah's Ark.


Challenges:
Send A Smile 4 Kids - Anything Goes
Creative Belli - animals


Granted, the usual Noah's Ark has giraffe, lions, all kind of exotic animals. Well, as much as we all love our pets, I figure a Noah's Ark of our pets in a pair would work just as well. Squirrels as pets?? Oh yes, we used to owned 2 of them when we were kids. Snails... why not?

Here's a side up-close to show you the layering details. There are tons of layering and paper piecing here, so I am entering this card for Moxie Fab Paper Piecing challenge as well.


And, in case you didn't notice, to make the female pets, I added eyelashes on them, except for the bird and the snail. I couldn't find my super fine micro pen, which I think is necessary for fine drawing.

I couldn't decide whether I want to add water border or not as I don't want the card to look too crowded. The way hubby says it, "This is when they just loading the animal in before the rain start or like in the movie Noah's Ark, before the dam broke!" LOL.

Hope you like this card. 'Cause I do. Me and cute animal stuff go hand in hand like cheesecake and strawberry topping. :)

Tomorrow, I'll share another card I made that I also love. If today is Lawn Fawn day, tomorrow it's Hero Arts day!! Take care y'all. Hm... the Texans in me just slip out! :)
 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Wishing You All Things Beautiful

Good morning peeps! How's your weekend? I had an adventure marathon, weekend. LOL, I am talking about Indiana Jones and The Mummy Returns movie marathon! Oldies but goodies. I do love Brandon Frasier. Yummie eye candy! :)

Also, did some cleaning. I can actually see the top of my desk. From now own, I am determine to buy less embellishments. I still have tons of brads and eyelets that I just never use, acrylic flowers, etc. No more buying embellishments for me. I guess at the end of my spring cleaning, I'll either package everything in a box and just sell it or I'll do a giveaway.

On to card, shall we? A lovely blogging friend recently helped me in getting some yummy Hero Arts goodies. One of them is the Friends definition that I used as a background on this cheery spring birthday card for Hero Arts March challenge. And yes... I am soooo ready for spring. For beautiful colors to pop up!
Challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations - Photo inspiration
Simply Create - power of flowers

I am using stamping markers by American Crafts for this card. The colors really pop out, don't they? Next card is a reject card from Paper Crafts submission. I am not too happy with this card, either. I think the window idea is cool, but the rest just didn't happen quite as I planned.

Challenges:
Less Is More - Pastel Colours

Hope your week start off wonderfully and like my card said I wish you all things beautiful! Hugs...

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Woodland Friends

Happy Saturday, peeps! It's time for new Wee Memories challenge. This week our challenge theme is "Woodland Friends" and we are sponsored by Serendipity Stamps.


For this week challenge, create any projects using woodland creatures. For my card, I am using this super cute hedgehog, who's busy playing with it's bee friend. They're part of Paint The Town set from Penny Black. Sigh... this kind of card... makes me happy. Cute & cheerful.

Challenges:
Penny Black - Paper piecing

That yummy purple twine is from The Twinery. Love them!! Don't forget to check out the DT fabulous creation at Wee Memories blog. I am so looking forwad to what you're going to crate for this challenge. Should be plenty of cuteness!!

Hope you all have a great Saturday! At the Yates household, today is spring cleaning day. Time to sort stuff out!! :)

'Tis The Season

Hi peeps. Today I want to pop in to share the latest Spellbinders Stitched Die of the Month . This time I get to combine the stitched frame...