Wplus9 Stretch It

Hi peeps. Today I am back with a post for i {heart} paper and for Wplus9 birthday celebration stretch it challenge. To stretch our creative muscle, step out of our comfort zone.

 

Well, my comfort zone is definitely clan and simple. Now and then I do like to step out of my usual style and do more elaborate or more layered stuff.  Actually one of the style that I love is the freestyle, like the one that my dear friend Emily Branch is so good at. She could throw in a bunch of stuff in 1 card and they look cool.

 

So, here's my attempt at free styling.

 

 

For this card, I did the faux press lettering with the stripe embossing folder, then add a dash of gold by adding the gold vellum border and gold spray mist. The leafy branch is from Wplus9 Silver Bells set and the sentiment is from Fresh Cut Florals. For some extra details I added a loopy string of silver thread behind the branch. I kind of wish I had use a gold color one instead, as the silver didn't really show up well in the pic (and I don't have gold color thread. Note to self: shop for one!)

What would you consider as your comfort zone? Ohh... oh.... any of you out there Grey's Anatomy fans?? Are you as excited as I am that they finally return tonight??? So, who are you rooting for, Matthew or Jackson for April? I go with Jackson, since they do have good chemistry together. I can't wait!! Cheers for Thursday. :)

 

PTI Sweet Spring Blog Hop

Yay! It's that time of the month. Time for Papertrey Ink blog hop and I am so glad that my order came just in time so I can play along using the new goodies. Gotta say, PTI really rock it with their birthday releases. So many awesome goodness.

I love the flower cluster on the bottom corner from the above pic and use that as my inspiration. I love the new Garden Bouquet set and combined it with the fun Circle Scribbles set.

I can see myself playing with these 2 sets often. They are simply so much fun to play with. So, what's your favorite from this releases?

I know you have many blogs to check out, so let me keep it sweet & short. Thank you for stopping by here and can't wait to see what everyone else created.

Hello Friend

On Friday, I came home to a surprise goodies from Technique Tuesday. I was so excited! I love TT stamps and can't resist to play with the sets right away and made this card:

 

 

 

Simple and sweet, just the way I like it. I am hoping that I can manage to squeeze in some time to do Project Life (or in my case I actually doing vacation pics) and using lots of TT sets. I ordered several sets that's perfect for our travel pics.

 

I don't know when I will find the time to do it, but I will try!! It's one of my goal for 2014 to get at least half of our travel pics in an album. I have started here and there, but there's still lots and lots of works to be done.

 

What's your paper c rafting goal for 2014? Have you started yet?

Wplus9 Trend Watch

Happy Sunday! I am popping in today to share a card I made for Wplus9 Trend Watch challenge. There are quite a few trends that are so in right now. For my card I combine the metallic, watercolor and enamel dot trend and I am keeping it CAS.

I got all my Wplus9 goodies from i {heart} papers. The feather is from the popular Wplus 9 Fanciful Feathers set, the cupcake and happy sentiment is from Sweet Treats. The enamel is from Doodlebug Bubblegum sprinkles. 

I wish I could write longer post, but right now, my mind kind of blank as what to write. Hah... I am sure you don't want me to talk about the house cleaning chore, so am also keeping my post short.

Whoops, I do want to share this pic. Yesterday, I went to visit my cousin and when I came home, this was on our fence. LOL, hubby is doing some spring cleaning and in his usual style, he did this! And, in case you're wondering what the LL stands for, that's the initial for my Chinese name Ling Ling. :)

I am glad that as we're approaching our 6th anniversary, he still love doing this. Thanks for stopping by here and enjoy your Sunday!

I'm So Very Lucky

Hi peeps, happy Thursday! Today, I am sharing a card I made for my one and only using goodies from i {heart} papers.

This card reflect the way I feel for hubby, although after I finish it, I am pretty sure it reflects the way our puppies feel for him as well. ;) Hm... yeah, in case you don't know, our household is doggy crazy household.

Last year, when I went through hard period with Ollie, my 15 year old pug, hubby was there through it all. Taking care of Ollie wasn't an easy task and we have lots of cleaning and caring to do and my hubby did it all. It meant a lot to me, because Ollie was mine to start with. But, that girl got hubby wrapped around her paw since we got together and we both feel his love for us.

So, yes, I feel very lucky to have him as my partner in life. He's thoughtful and kind. I know some people took his kindness for granted, but I want him to know that the puppies and I do not take him for granted and we appreciate him. 

Now, enough gushing. Let's talk about the stuff I used to make this card. The patterned paper is from Pebbles Walnut Grove 6x6 paper pad. This pad has so many beautiful patterned paper that I had a hard time making that first cut. Do you ever have that issue with patterned paper? Please tell me I am not the only one with that issue. ;)

The sentiment block is from the new Technique Tuesday Label by Ali Edwards set. I am a fan of anything and everything created by Ali. And the cute puppy is from Paper Smooches Woofers & Tweeters set. Enamel dots from Doodlebug.

Also, I have a project up on CardMaker blog. If you would please kindly check it out, I would so appreciate it. Thank you for your visit and have a fabulous day! xo 

Home Is Where Your Hearts Is

Good Monday morning, everyone. How was your weekend? I started my weekend, with hubby cooking us some yummy crabs for Valentine's. We both love steamed crabs a lot and we figured Valentine's Day, Friday night... every restaurant would be crowded, so we opted to stay in and do a crab feast at home, instead. Often, low key is the way to go for us. :)

 

And... the Olympic, goodness, do you watch the Olympic? US ice hockey team totally rock. And, Bode Miller... I am a new fan! The way he tackled those slopes, makes me hold my breath. Then, Davis & White, for pair skating, can't wait to see their free style performance tonight. I just love the Olympic.

 

Oh... what.. oh yeah... this is stamping blog. I should talk about stamping, too, right?

 

Hah... my mind must have been somewhere else, I totally forgot to share my card that was published on Paper Crafts Stamp It! Techniques, Vol. 2.

 

Here it is:

The sun ray is from Becky Oehler's set for Gina K. Designs and the row of houses is from Kelly Purkey sets for Simon Says Stamp. Lots of masking in making this card, but I love the result.

I hope your weeks starts of wonderfully with lots of sunshine. Thank you for stopping by here.

You Are Too Kind

At first, I wasn't sure if I'll be able to squeeze in another card for Papertrey Ink celebration. But, at the end, the challenge is too much fun for me not to try.

The challenge is to create a card based on nine design building blocks collected from PTI design team.

My card building blocks:

From Ashley: color: Hawaiian Shores

From Betsy: color: Sweet Blush

From: Cristina: color: Aqua Mist

From Danielle: neutral color: White
From Dawn: Sketch #1
From Erin: theme: thank you
From Heather: technique: spray mist
From Laura: embellishment: glitter

From Melissa: fiber: thread

Hm... I have nothing else to write. My mind just went blank and the Olympic is going on. Well, that's it then. Ciao....

PTI Birthday Challenge

As Papertrey Ink birthday bash continue full steam, I decided to play again with the color & recipe challenge. This time, I picked this color combo and sketch.

I stretch this sketch into my own interpretation. Instead of flowers, for the corner images I went with cute squirrel & birthday balloons.

After I am done with the card, I realized that I actually used images and sentiment from 5 different sets. And, the card still has a CAS look. Am pretty impress with  myself. LOL.

Well, that's it. Just a quick post. :)

Wplus9 Birthday Celebration Week 2

Looks like February is the birthday month for quite a few company. One of them is one of my favorite company, Wplus9. I just love their stuff. They are holding a month long celebration, with different challenges every week.

For week 2, the challenge is "Step It Up", which is all about adding dimension. It can be by adding texture, die cuts, embossing, multiple layers, etc. Just the inspiration I need for my i {heart} papers post. Here's my card that include die cuts and multiple layering.

For this card I used Wplus9 Fanciful Feathers with its matching dies. The sentiment is from  Neat & Tangled. I really love this ikat die cut background. I think it's perfect for so many occasions. It's fun playing and mixing bold and soft colors together.

BTW, i {heart} papers just got a bunch of new goodies. So, if you need to expand your supplies, check out the store. Crafting enabling is the best kind of enabling, right? ;) Enjoy your Tuesday....

Olympic Fever

Good morning and happy Monday! Is your household catching the winter Olympic fever? We do. I love the Olympics. I think it's a great event that brings people from all around the world together. Granted, this one has many cloud over it, but I like to focus just on the positive part and the athletes.

Especially the athletes. I respect all of them regardless where they come from. Hats off especially to those from 3rd world countries. Some of them don't have the luxury of doing this for life where they can just focus on training. Many are doing hard, labor job (I forgot from which country, but the guy day time job is a brick layer) and some has to raise money to even be able to make the trip or to even have equipment.

My dad was an athlete (he was a wrestler) from 3rd world country, and no, he didn't get to reach the Olympic stage, but he did reached the Asian Games stage and from him I learned the many hardship that athletes from poor countries have to over come.

For me, Olympic is not just about watching the game. I like learning about the the people, their background, their stories. The people's stories are inspiring and makes me cheer for them regardless where they are from.

Whoops... there I went all over the place. This blog supposed to be about crafting, right? But, hey what can I say, life is more than just crafting. Anyhoo..... besides watching the Olympic, I did play a little bit in my craft room as well.

I decided to play along with Papertrey Ink Color & Sketch Recipe Card challenge. I picked this color combo and this sketch.

And, came up with this bright card:

If my mojo not running away, I might re-try this combo and do a different card. But, we'll see. Between work and Olympic, crafting time might be limited. See ya......

Happy Birthday Papertrey Ink

Papertrey Ink is really pulling all the stop for their 7th celebration. Every day there's fun challenges and giveaway. For today, the challenge is to create birthday card for Papertrey Ink.

So, without further delay, here's my card:

I love the way this card turned out. The black and white patterned combined with the bright yellow flower really makes the flower pop-up, don't you agree?

From all this celebration, I did win one of the contest on the PTI forum and get one of my card featured on their website. To say I was elated is an understatement. :) Here's a screen snapshot I took of the site:

See the rose card? Yep, that's my card. Originally it was published on Paper Crafts magazine and now it belongs to my brother and SIL as I sent this card for their anniversary. It was one of my favorite card and I am thrilled to see it up on PTI website. 

That's it from me. Enjoy your Sunday afternoon. Cheers....

PTI Timer Challenge

Papertrey Ink birthday celebration continue with lots of fun challenges. For today, it's Timer challenge, with rules of using 7 supplies create a card under 17 minutes.

Of course, I easily turn to my go to CAS style. The rules of 7 supplies pretty much fall to 7 items you grab to create your project. So, the 7 items I grab:

1. Cardstock
2. Stamp set
3. Blue ink pad

4. Gold ink pad

5. Stickler

6. Black ink pad
7. Gold vellum

I simply love this feather set. With this set you can create simple & fast card or you can also do fancy card. Well, that's it for today's post. Off to check out what others created for this challenge. :)

Comfort Zone

Hi peeps. Just want to pop in with a quick post for i {heart} papers. I was needing some inspiration and Wplus9 provides just what I needed. Wplus9 is celebrating their 4th birthday and they are doing a month long festivities. Starting with "comfort zone challenge".

This challenge is fun, because you get to focus on your favorite. From your favorite style, to favorite Wplus9 set to favorite color combo. Whatever makes you happy and be in your comfort zone. This is what I came up with.

Me... I love bright, cheerful colors. And, when it comes to Wplus9, the Fresh Cut Floral and More Fresh Cut are my favorites. This card came together pretty quick and I sure hope this card will brighten anyone's day with its cheerful, happy color. Oh, we can't forget the gold. I love using hint of gold in my card at the moment. I am also entering this card for Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday which is has "new" theme. My something new is the SSS hello dies. It's one of my new stuff.

What do you consider your comfort zone? Elegant, shabby chic, cute, CAS (which is totally my comfort zone as well). By the way, i {heart} papers just stock up on all Wplus9 new releases. Check out the store and happy shopping. :)

Psst... I am also sharing another Wplus9 project on i {heart} papers blog today. Now, that one is the opposite. I am stepping out of my comfort zone. Check it out, will you. Have a fabulous Thursday!!

2013 WCMD Card

Yay... have you seen the new March Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking? I am excited that finally, I can share with you my card that won Paper Crafts 2013 World Card Making Day. It's what I consider one of my best card and I had so  much in making it.

This card totally show my love of the Wplus9 Fresh Cut Floral set and my love for Silhouette Cameo. Sigh...seriously I love Mister C. I die cut the linear background and the gold doily using Mister C.

And, this card is the card that turn me into using gold. Normally, I am a silver girl. But, a few months ago I start seeing gold accent popping up on designs quite a bit and I decided to give it a try and I love the result. Navy and gold is simply stunning, isn't it? Since then, I've been stocking up on gold vellum and glitter cardstock.

Here's a look at the 2013 WCMD Winners. I am excited and humbled to share this spot with these talented ladies.

That's it from me today and  thank you for letting me share my excitement. 

Smile & Be Happy

Hi peeps. How's your Super Bowl weekend? I am not a sport fan, so my weekend didn't have any Super Bowl related event.

 

I started mine with dinner with my cousins and aunt to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Since I moved to the States, we don't really celebrate Chinese New Year the way we did growing up and I kind of miss the whole tradition. I miss the midnight prayer, going to the temple with my whole family, visiting other family members, etc.

 

Yep, I learned that so often we don't appreciate traditions till we don't have that anymore. Now, I appreciate it so much more and thankful for the experience that I do have.

 

Something else that I am thankful for... my niece! Look how cute she is with her pig tails and in her pink Chinese dress. 

 

 

My niece & my SIL, Dena.

 

And, this pic!! She cracks me up. She's so like her dad. My brother is such a happy, go lucky person (except when he's hungry) and I sure hope this girl take that trait.

 

Like father, like daughter.

And, this weekend I also became an aunt again!

 

My cousin, Julia and her husband welcome their second son, Aidan Christopher Solway on Saturday and on Sunday I got to see the new bundle of joy. He was napping a lot during my visit, so I get to hold him quite a bit.

 

Yes, there's some stuff that I miss. I miss my family, my niece. I wouldn't know how it feels being pregnant, being a mother. Yet... I am still thankful. Between Shakira, Conor and Aidan, I am thankful that I am an auntie to a bunch of cute, adorable kiddies. Thankful that through Skype & FB, I can keep in touch and see them grow. I like to focus on things that I do have and not so much on what I miss.

 

With that note... I want to share this card. My mom always tell me this. Smile & be happy.

 

 

Oh hey... it just dawned on me as I look at this card. I was talking about my 3 niece and nephews. Look at that. There's 3 adorable critters on my card. I guess I could say each represent the 3 kiddies. :)

 

Oh... so I don't get in trouble, I do want to say I have other nieces and nephews, but on this post I just want to focus on the 3 youngest ones. Hah... Happy Monday people!! Cheers....

I {Heart} Wieners

Hi everyone. Earlier this week, I mentioned that there's a new challenge coming to town. Well, its' heereee!! Welcome  to Naughty or Nice challenges. 

Our very 1st challenge theme is LOVE. Now, it's up to you. You can make sweet lovey dovey card or you can make hot naughty card?;) Either way we'd love to see what you come up with. Use products from any company. No restriction there.

Here's what I made. I am a dog lover, so go with sweet image and as for the sentiment... it's up to your interpretation, right? ** wink ;)

Need more inspiration? Go check out what the other Troublemakers has created HERE. Then play along! Can't wait to see your creations! Have a great weekend, everyone.