Penguin Snowglobe

Yikes... it's the end of the month already! I am so behind on so many things. Between works and Caring Hearts Card Drive, I am spread thin. I haven't even start on our own family Christmas card. And, I guess as card maker, I feel guilty if I buy ready made cards. Do you feel that way?

Anyway, the card drive will end soon. I know quite a few just mailed out their card this week and no worries, I'll wait for your cards. I am amazed and humbled by everyone's support for the card drive. Chapel Card Makers group sent 120 cards!! And quite a few individuals generously sent in 40 to 65 cards each. And a couple get their kids involve and my friend from Sweden Karin Akesdotter had her students joined the effort and their messages are so sweet & touching.

I wish I can send thank you note to everyone! Please know how much I appreciated your support, generosity, and kindness. When I started this 3 years ago, I wasn't even sure if I will received a response. And our crafty community showed me that I should have more faith. As we're reaching 1200 cards (which I am sure we'll passed soon), I am filled with so much gratitude. Thank you. 

Now, let me share another card I made for the card drive. This one using the latest set from Avocado Arts called Smitten With You. PS: in case you don't know, today's the last day for free shipping on any order over $30 from Avocado Arts.

Now, who wouldn't love a penguin and snow globe? I love both and collect them both. I am crazy about penguin. In fact on my last trip to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium with my mom, I ended up with this cute li'l fella. Yes, I am one those people that still collect stuff animal even though I am on my 30s. It's love at first sight. With his pom-pom beanies I know he has to come home with me the moment I saw him.

                                                         

With this cuteness, I am sending you over to my team mates. Check out what they have created using this new set.

Aj  Otto

Ashley Harris
Becky Oehlers

Pinky Cristal Hobbs

Latisha Yoast

SOG Everyday Smiles

Today's card makes me happy. It's CAS, cute, and I finally get to use my flair present from Joscelyne Cutchen. It's my first time using flair on my card and I think they're fun.

The fab sentiment is from this fun "Everyday Smiles" set from Some Odd Girl. I am loving their new style very much. :)

                                                   

BTW, just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who's participating for Caring Hearts Card Drive!! I have reach my goal of collecting 1000 cards and we're not even done. There's still a few days left and I am excited that we get to brighten many people's holiday thanks to your generosity. Thank you!

SOG Make A Statement

** For Paper Smooches SPARKS post please scroll down. **

I am so thrilled when I saw Some Odd Girl newest clear set! Yes, they release two sets that are totally different than their usual style, but they're pretty awesome in my opinion. Let's take a look at the set, shall we?

And, here's my first card using this set. Simple and to the point. :) 

Of course, I can't just stop at one card with set. I decided to make another card. I usually don't keep many black cardstock in my stash, but I might have to change that. Love how the color pop.

For more samples from this new releases, please checkout Some Odd Girl blog.

SPARKS & Card Drive Update

Hi everyone. How was your Thanksgiving weekend? We had a lovely one at  my SIL place and of course as usual eat way too much! My SIL is such a good cook and I am very lucky that I do not have to cook anything. Hah... for our part, hubby made his famous seven layer salad that's always a hit.

Anyway, I was slacking big time in keeping my blog up-to-date. This week should be a busy one with new challenge from Paper Smooches SPARKS, SOG new releases, card drive update, etc.

Let's start with the new Paper Smooches SPARKS picture perfect challenge.

Here's the inspiration picture.

                                                   

I used the color combo from this pic for my inspiration and here's the result. 

You have one week to play along. You can check all the details and find more inspiration HERE.

Now, how about some update for Caring Hearts card drive. First, a little re-cap. This card drive goal is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that lives in nursing home. As you might remember, this card drive is the result of my mom's suggestion. And now the card drive is on its 3rd year. Last year, I was blessed to have Jennifer McGuire as my partner on this. This year, I am back to running it solo again and my goal is to reach at least 1000 cards.

So far, I have collected 839 cards. If you need more information on the card drive or would love to participate, simply click on the card drive logo on the upper right corner. Even if you can only send 2-3 cards please send them in. 

And, here's pic of my lovely mom with some of the cards that we have received. She's the reason and the inspiration for this card drive and since she was here, of course I cannot pass the opportunity to have her pose with the pile of cards. ;) She and I thank you for your kind and generous support for the card drive.

As always, if you have any last minute question about the card drive please email me: wirianta at hotmail dot com.

Have a wonderful day everyone and may your week starts off in a fabulous way.

PTI November Blog Hop

Quick post as I decided to play along for this month PTI blog hop. This time the challenge is to create a project inspired by book cover.

I chose "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" cover for my inspiration. I normally like white background, but hey, sometime it's good to step out of your comfort zone, right? I love the colors of the tile pop out against the black background. So, Here's my card inspired by the cover:

I used VersaMagic chalk ink for these as I think they're the only inks that show up pretty good om black cardstock.

Thank you for stopping by here. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Cheers.

Mistletoe Memories

Quick post for today. A little bit of update for Caring Hearts Card Drive. So far I have received 735 cards and my goal is 1000. And there's still time to participate. The card drive runs till the end of November. So, if you have thought of sending some cards, please do so. Every single card counts. :)

And, here's a card I made for the card drive using Becky Oehlers stamp for Gina K Designs. The mistletoe, text border, and the sentiment are from Mistletoe Memories clear set and the herringbone border is from You Say Goodbye I say 'Ello set (one of my favorite border!!).

Oh, and yes... I have a winner from Paper Crafts blog hop. The lucky gal who win Paper Crafts Die Cutting for Paper Crafters magazine is:

Congrats, Kris and thank you to everyone for hopping along. Hope you get to get off work early today. I am and using this chance to have lunch with friend. :)

Die Cutting for Paper Crafters blog hop‏

Hi everyone and welcome to Paper Crafts magazine blog hop. Today, we are celebrating the latest special edition from Paper Crafts called Die Cutting for Paper Crafters.

You should have arrived here from the talented Vanessa Menhorn. If you're into using die-cut machine, manual or electronic, then you should definitely check this out! So many cool & fun projects that for sure will get your creative juice going.

For today we were asked to create a card die cutting something other than paper. I for one love this kind of challenge and ended up making 2 cards.

First up is a card I made by die cutting cross-stitch fabric (aida cloth), shimmery translucent vellum, & felt.

I die cut the cross-stitch fabric with  Papertrey Ink spiral note die and then spray it with Studio Calico Mr. Huey spray mist. Then die cut and stamp the shimmery vellum and the bird and put it all  together.

Here's a close up of the flower. Hopefully you can see the beautiful shimmer of the flower. I just love the texture on this card.

I am so happy with the result of the first card that I decided to make another one. This time I switch it around. I used regular vellum paper with the spiral note die and then die cut it again with circle border die and using the cross-stitch fabric with the bird die. For this next card, I colored the cross-stitch fabric with Tattered Angel shimmering glaze. In person, you could see the beautiful sheen on the bird.

I think my favorite cards tend to be the ones with birdie. I just love using bird on my card. 

Now, how would you like to win this special issue? Paper Crafts has generously give me one to giveaway. Simply leave a comment by Tuesday, November 20th, 2012. 

From here, please hop to Paper Crafts blog and leave a comment there, too as Holly is giving away some fantastic goodies. Thank you for stopping by here and I hope you enjoy the hop. Happy Friday! :)

·         Amanda Coleman

·         Angeline Yong Jeet Leen

·         Chunyuan Wu

·         Heather Campbell

·         Chan Vuong

·         Jen del Muro

·         Mary Dawn Quirindongo

·         Meredith MacRitchie

·         Vanessa Menhorn

·         Vera Wirianta Yates <--- you are here

Warm Winter Wishes With AA

We're finally getting some cooler weather here in Houston. It's pretty nice, except when you have to take the dogs out in the morning at 4am!! Yep, my old lady, Ollie who is  going on 15 years old like to wake us up that early. And we have to get up as she won't stop barking till we do.

On top of the dog barking, this week poor hubby didn't get much sleep since he's been dealing with super bad toothache  A visit to the dentist and some deep cleaning later, hubby face is swollen and he's in s much pain. He has a hard time sleeping as the pain keep him awake. :( Really praying that it will heal soon.

On a much lighter note, I do have a cutie card to share with you. And, psst... my card has a sneak peek of the Avocado Arts December set. Ah... penguin make me happy. I love Happy Feet not because of the story, but just so I can stare at those cute baby penguins! Hm... I get distracted easily, huh? Here's the card:

And guess what I used for the bow tie? The thingy for the kite from Perfectly Perfect Day set (not sure what you called it, so I assume thingy is the right word *wink*). Yeah, I am pretty impressed with myself that I remember to used that itty bitty little piece. Call it the simple pleasure of life. I get excited when I get to combine several sets in one card, even if it means using 1 itty bitty item. :)

That's it from me today and please check out what the Pit Crew has created for today's hop. Oh, did I mention we have a giveaway with the hop? We're giving away 3 mini sets and you can check all the details at Avocado Arts blog. Thank you for stopping by here.

Teri Anderson

Emily Branch
Kelley Eubanks

Ashley Harris

Cristal Hobbs
Emily Leiphart

Julie Masse

Becky Oehlers

AJ Otto
Latisha Yoast

Winter Wishes & Love

Quick post. Just want to share this card that I made for Some Odd Girl tutorial post. The post went up on SOG blog last week, but since  this puppy is one of my favorite, I just have to share it here as well. 

I think so far, this is still  the cutest pug stamp I've seen available. 

Of course, the real thing is much, much cuter according to Eli, my pug puppy. ;) 

And, this week Cath at Moxie Fab World is highlighting projects from the latest Paper Crafts special issue called Die Cutting for Paper Crafters and to my surprise, she picked one of my card. It's always excite me whenever my card gets picked. And I am always grateful when they do so.

Here's the card that was shown on Moxie Fab yesterday and you can also see this card on the magazine!

Pic courtesy of Paper Crafts Magazine

I have several cards in this edition and on Friday, I'll do a blog hop with some fantastic card makers to promote this edition (and of course, there's a giveaway). So, stay tune and welcome to all the new followers. Excited to have you and truly appreciate you for choosing to follow my blog. Have a blessed day everyone.

Show Me The Stamps Holiday Kick Off

** For Some Odd Girl post please scroll down. **

Hi everyone and welcome to the Show Me the Stamps Holiday kick off.  For this month’s hop, several of the Gina K Designs Illustrators have brought together their design teams and guests.  Each illustrator’s design group has fun and exciting things to share using their stamps. 

You might have noticed that I said “Holiday kick off” instead of just blog hop. That’s because this month is special. As you may know, we don’t always have a prize each month but this month is on that we do!  The Gina K Designs Illustrators want to help you celebrate the holidays in style with some Gina K Design stamps!

For this month’s hop we will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Gina K Designs store! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on each of the Illustrators blog. And you have till November 15, 2012 5 pm CST to do so.

From Becky Oehlers, she recently released this gorgeous Christmas set called "Mistletoe Memories".

And  for my card I combined the images from this set with the daschund and border from "You Say Goodbye I say 'Ello" set. BTW, both sets are available in clear and rubber stamp.

I am very happy with the way this card turned out. Clean and cutesy. Sooo me. ;)

Interested to earn extra entry to win the gift card? Become a blog follower of any of the illustrators and leave a comment letting them know you did. That’s up to 8 chances to win if you become a follower of each illustrator and leave a comment!

Start on Becky Oehlers' Blog HERE and make sure you hop to each illustrator's blogs and their design teams for some amazing inspiration. Please check out Becky's blog and my team mates: 

JJ Bolton
Latisha Yoast

PS: Pst... I am doing the happy dance. Saw my card being shown on Moxie Fab today, HERE. So happy. :)

Back To Two

Exactly 2 months ago from today, my mom arrived from Jakarta.  And, for 2 months I get to be spoiled by mom. Nothing like having mom's cooking, you know. And, just like when we were kids, my mom diligently prepared my breakfast and lunch box. :) Hubby tend to skip breakfast, so he didn't get one. But, hubby sure was happy that he didn't have to cook much while my mom was here.

Yeah, me and cooking don't get along, so hubby is the chef of the household. But, he got wonderful break this past 2 months and I think he's hoping that my mom's cooking lesson for me will stick and I will actually try to cook those recipes. Hm.... no promise from my end. LOL.

This past Sunday, she went back home to Jakarta. And, now it's back to just me and hubby. Just the two of us and the doggies. Sigh...

Seriously, I think no matter how old I am, I find it very hard to be separated from my family. Whenever I have to say goodbye to my family, I become a mushy mess. I cry. A lot.

And,  on Monday morning, I wasn't the only one that miss my mom. Eli, the puppy miss her as well. As soon as he woke up he went by my mom's room and waited by the door. The look on his face was pitiful, as if he's asking, "Where's grandma go?" She is his snuggle buddy. He loves napping on her lap and at night if he didn't sleep with us, he was with grandma. Yep.. we all miss my mom being here.

Anyway, in trying not to dwell in being sad, I buried myself in card making. I have lots of catching up to do. And, this week Some Odd Girl is releasing some new winter digi images. Today's image is my favorite from the release, called "Winter Bear".

Isn't he cute? 

Also, I want to do a quick reminder for everyone who is planning to participate for Caring Hearts Card Drive. You have 17 more days to send in your cards. Even if you can only send 3 or 4, please do send them out. Even 1. Every single card counts. Let's spread joy to as many seniors as we can.  Thank you in advance for all the supports. 

Stay tune for Gina K. Designs blog hop coming up in a few hours. :)

SPARKS Designer Drafts

 

Hi everyone. Today's post is my first official post as Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge DT. I'm so thrilled to be part of Paper Smooches and am looking forward to all the fun. This week, we get to play with this fun sketch.

And, since I have quite a few birthdays coming up, I decided to do birthday card instead of doing Christmas card. Of course, I have to do cutesy & cheerful one. Have you notice how I love using animal stamps? ;)

I hope you will play along and if you need more inspiration you can find them HERE. Thanks for stopping by here. 

Blog Hop Winners

First of all, I want to thank everyone who participate in Caring Hearts Card Drive blog hop. I truly hope that the hop will help spreading the words about the card drive and encouraging people to send in their cards. There's still 3 more weeks to go to send in your cards, so if you plan to send in cards, you have plenty of time.

Now, let's get on to the hop winners. All winners were picked randomly from the hop participant's blog that was also picked randomly. :)

Winner of Avocado Arts : Very Merry Season is Virginia Lu from Lisa Spangler blog: 

Winner of Bella Blvd: Thankful set is terriavidreader from Kryssi Ng blog:

Winner of CAS-ual Stamps $30 GC is Laurel B from Trinh's blog:

Winner of Hero Arts 4 cling stamps of your choice is Heather Sweet from Linda McClain blog:

Winner of 2 classses from Jennifer McGuire - Online Card Classes is Lisa'S Creative Niche from Kelley Eubanks blog:

Winner of 1 free set of your choice from Lawn Fawn is Judy B from Kristy Delman blog:

Winner of 2 spool of ribbons from May Arts is JJ Bolton from Teri Anderson blog:

Winner of $10GC from Some Odd Girl is  Annette Allen from my blog.

Winner of 1 free workshop from Two Peas In A Bucket is from Kimberly Rendino from Kathy Racoosin blog:

Winners you have 1 week to claim your prize. Please email me at: wirianta at hotmail dot com with your information. On subject line please put Blog Hop Winner and the prize that you won. New winner will be selected if I don't hear back from the winner after 1 week. 

Again thank you everyone for playing and congrats to all the winners. :)

Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to Caring Hearts Card Drive blog hop! Caring Hearts Card Drive goal is to collect as many Christmas/holiday cards as we can for the elderly who lives in nursing homes. 

This is my 3rd year of organizing this card drive. The original idea came from my mom who suggested that I should do something with my stack of holiday cards. Of course, I want to make sure that each resident at the nursing homes that we support will receive at least 1 card, thus born the idea of the card drive. That's where you, my fellow card maker friends come in. Many of you have shown generous support and I am hoping you will continue to do so this year.

And, to thank you for your kind supports, I have lined up some fantastic prizes as well. You can find all the details for the card drive and the prize list HERE or by clicking on the badge. Just a reminder: you have till Nov. 30, 2012 to send in your cards. And each card count as 1 entry for the prize drawing.

Now, to help promote the card drive, I'm hosting this fun blog hop. We have quite a few fabulous & generous sponsors for the hop (see below for complete list of prizes) and you have till midnight Monday, Nov, 5, 2012 to complete the hop. I will pick the winners from comments left on the participants blogs. So, the more blogs you left comment on, the better your chances are.

Now, let's get on to cards. I made a couple cards for this hop. First up, is a card I made using one of my favorite set from Some Odd Girl called Winter Friends. I just love, love, love this cute polar bear. I think this sweet bear will make anyone smile, don't you think?

Next, is my Hamster Christmas tree using the hamster from Paper Smooches Party Posse. Bright & cheerful, just like I like it. ;) I do love to stack up my critters. 

Now, these talented ladies have made some fantastic eye candies for you. Please check them out. Here's the complete list of the hop participants. From here, please hop on over to Amy Tsuruta.

Vera Yates <---- you are here

Amy Tsuruta

Laurel Beard

Joscelyne Cutchens

Kryssi Ng

Kathy Racoosin

Kristy Delman

Julie Campbell

JJ Bolton

Savannah O'Gwynn

Karen Baker

Anita Recksiedler

Virginia Lu

Linda McClain

Trinh   

Jennifer Chapin 

Gretchen McElveen 

Malika Kelly 

Jennifer Edwardson

Laurie Schmidlin

Kathy Martin 

Avocado Arts

Teri Anderson

Aj Otto

Jullie Masse

Kelley Eubanks

Ashley Harris

Lisa Spangler

Of course, no blog hop is complete without fabulous prizes!!! We have some superb & fabulous companies who donated these awesome prizes for this blog hop. Please visit them when you can. They have tons of great products. Huge thank you to all of you for your support & generosity.

Make sure you leave your comment by Monday, Nov. 5, midnight CST. 

OUR AMAZING PRIZES

Avocado Arts - Very Merry Season

Bella Blvd - Thankful Collection

CAS-UAL Fridays Stamps - $30 GC

Hero Arts - 4 Cling Stamp of your choice

 From Jennifer McGuire - Online Card Classes - 2 classes of your choice

                                       

Lawn Fawn - 1 stamp set of your choice

May Arts - 2 spool of ribbon of your choice

Some Odd Girl - $10 GC

Two Peas In A Bucket - 1 free workshop of your choice