Sunday, November 30, 2014

Hummingbird Thanks

I  love long weekend. It's nice to get a little break from work. I didn't do any Black Friday shopping at all. Nada. Zip. Zero. The only time I went out during Black Friday is to go to the post office to drop off some Caring Hearts packages.

Saturday, we took the doggies to the dog park. The weather was perfect for outdoor time and the park was quite full. The doggies had lots of fun running around with some new friends.

Well, for today, I decided to take a little break from Christmas cards. I want to share this card that I actually made for Paper Crafts Stamp & Ink submission. The cool thing about this card, I was stamping on a cork ribbon!!

How cool is that?

Supplies: Wplus9 Flora & Fauna stamp setWplus9 Hand Lettered Thanks,
Wink of Stella Glitter brush Marker, Scor tape

And, am happily surprise that the cork ribbon take Copic coloring pretty well. Granted, you can't blend as good as on cardstock, but it did take colors in.

Well, I have tons of cleaning to do today. Somehow all those sales ads, have the opposite effect on me. I feel the need to scale down and clean up my house before I bring more stuff into the house. So, off to cleaning! Happy Sunday!

Friday, November 28, 2014

Purple Onion Design Holiday Sale

Holiday 2014 sale banner


Hi all. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving  with your loved ones. I spent my Thanksgiving day with the family of course. For lunch, I celebrated with my cousins and nephews. I paced myself and didn't eat way to much, but enough to make me feel soooo sleepy. 

But, I didn't really have much time to rest. Continuing the tradition, in the afternoon we went to my SIL's place for Thanksgiving with hubby's side of the family. She always serve good cheese & crackers that I can't stop munching on, that by the time dinner was served, I barely able to eat anything.

The funny thing, I was kind of sleepy & tired the whole time, until after dinner. I always help my SIL with cleaning the dishes and that chore woke me up! Suddenly I was energized and then she made me a really good coffee latte, that when we got home, I started packing the cards from Caring Hearts Card Drive. I didn't go to bed till past midnight!

Anyway, that's how my day went. Today, I am staying at home. Nope, not even going to try to go out for Black Friday. I am doing it all online!!

And, speaking about online shopping, Purple Onion Designs has Holiday sale going on right now! All stamps are 25% off through Wednesday, December 10, 2014. In addition, there are several pages of specially priced stamps for Black Friday - Cyber Monday. You can find them all HERE.

Here's a POD card I made using the latest Stacey Yacula's collection:




Gotta love penguin, right? With the holiday sale you can get lots of Purple Onion Design cuteness at good prices! Check out the store and happy shopping!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

i {heart} papers Black Friday Deals

Hi peeps! Just want to let you know that i {heart} papers Black Friday sale is on starting today.  Hurry and check i t out to get all the best items. Happy shopping! :)



SSS Designer Spotlight & Caring Hearts Updates

Psst... warning long post ahead. Caring Hearts update below. :)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog

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Wow, this month fly by so fast. This is my last post as SSS Designer Spotlight for November. To Simon Says Stamp, I want to thank you for this opportunity and also for your generous support to Caring Hearts Card Drive. I enjoy working with the team and it's been a blast. 

This week the challenge is easy peasy... ANYTHING GOES!!

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From one of his trip, my boss got me this fold-able card that I thought is such a cool idea, so, I made one myself using SSS Birthday Farm Animals.

Here's a pic of it kind of flat. Once you insert it into an envelope it will lay totally flat. Like those priority mail box. Flat till you pop it. :)




And, here how it looks when you square up the box. It really is such a fun card to make. I want to make more of this kind of card, as soon as I find more time!! I hope you'll play along.





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Simon Says Stamp


And, as we're getting close to the end of the Caring Hearts Card Drive, I want to do some update. I love sharing the process & updates as I think you all like to know what happened to your cards and seeing behind the scene pics. 

As of yesterday we have received over 8000 cards. Quite possibly closer to 9000 maybe. That's almost triple what we received last year and we're supporting close to 50 nursing homes including Friends For Life program. Friends For Life is a volunteer base program that provide help and protection for the elderly and disabled. 

Every year, I am always humbled by the response for the card drive. When I started, I thought I'll be lucky if I can even get 100 cards. And, I was surprised that I actually received 750 cards. 5 years later, I cringe when a friend put out the challenge to collect 5000 cards. And, what do you know.... We received almost 9000 and counting.

Last weekend, we started packing some of the cards and Trinh Arrieta came down from San Antonio to help me out. Here's some pics for you:



Trinh was helping me stuff in all the envelope and making sure they're all signed. At this moment, there's slightly over 3000 cards on the table. After about 5 hours, we got the table clean with only a few cards left. My table is ready for the next batch!




This picture was from Monday's mail! Yep, tons of packages. The last week always bountiful!! I have about the same pile came in on Tuesday. And, below is picture of my dining table again covered in cards. This is from 2 days mail. Roughly about 2000 cards. :)




LOL, I have some non card making friends asking me what all my package picture on Facebook all about. What can I say, I love sharing the process and I hope people get a kick out of it like I do. Every year, I debated whether I should do it again or not. And, every year, I am glad I did. 

There's a lady that sent in note that she sent in the cards in memory of her husband who loved Christmas. There's another one who written such beautiful message inside each card, that totally made me all warm and fuzzy. Even hubby was touched and said  this is what Christmas is all about.

I mean, this card drive makes me feel so good inside. It's a priceless thing. I am filled with gratitude. Gratitude for the support, for the kindness, thoughtfulness and dedication people put in making these cards (I have 2 ladies who together sent 499 cards!!). 

For those that friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, I hope I didn't drive you crazy with all  the packages and pile of cards pictures. I promise we'll be back to normal post soon. :)

Thank you for reading this long post. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. Hugs, hugs, hugs.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

A Moose & A Penguin

I love Thanksgiving week. The traffic is so much better and the short work week is always something to look forward to. I feel like knowing that I only have to work 2 and a half day makes me feel more energized. Hah...

Do you have any big plans for Thanksgiving? I am going to cousin's place for brunch and my SIL place for dinner. I have no plan to battle the Black Friday crowd. I find myself has no patience to hunt for parking and battling people. Online shopping in your pj is so much better. Besides, sometime I like to do things last minute. Christmas still a month away, what's the rush, right. LOL, this got me in trouble quite a few time.

Speaking about last minute, that's what happened with today's card. For Riley & Company they have recipe challenge this week. 3 patterned paper, 1 ribbon and 1 embellishment. When I saw that, I cringe. I don't use 3 pp on 1 card. So, naturally, I waited till the last minute to tackle this and came up with this card.


moose, penguin, riley & company


Yes, there's ribbon on this card. See that tiny silver ribbon tied on the button? I admire my friends who could do layers beautifully. Me, I am a simple & clean girl at heart. I personally prefer the card with 1 pp. ;) If you think, you're up for this challenge, please join us at Riley & Company challenge HERE.

Thanks for swinging by here and I'll be back tomorrow with some card drive updates. Cheers....

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Christmas Bells

Ahh... weekend! How do I love thee. You got any bog plan for this weekend?

I plan on having a productive weekend. As of today, I have received 3170 cards for Caring Hearts Card Drive. All in all between all the girls in the States, Canada and Australia we collected almost 7000 cards so far. There's still a few days left for the card drive and who knows what our final number will be.

Again and again, the card making community surprise me with their generosity. Every year, I am worried that I won't have enough cards as the list of nursing  homes we supported also grow and ever year, I am blown away by the support.

Your generosity makes all the paper cuts I got on my fingers from stuffing all the envelopes worth it. Hah... Who would have thought card drive can be dangerous, huh? ;)

All kidding aside, thank you!! And, since we're still on the spirit of giving, I want to share this simple beauty I created using Wplus9 Silver Bells set.


Christmas; bells
Wplus9 Silver Bells stamp setWplus9 Silver Bells dies
Simple Stories 24/Seven 6x6 paper pad

Sometime, classic style is the way to go, don't you think? All the supplies are available at i {heart} papers. And.. psst... get ready. i {heart} papers will have some awesome Black Friday deals coming next week!

That's all for me today. I have boxes to package! Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Embrace The Moonlight

With the news of PC closing down soon, I was feeling melancholy and spent some time browsing through my submission folders. And, looking through some of my submission stuff, I realized that I never shared any of my project from PC Cool Tools 2014 edition. Of course, I have to correct that, right?

Here is my favorite project in this fun issue. I just love the way the red popped against the blue background. And yes.. of course.. the birds. I love projects with birds. :)




BTW, have you send in your cards for Caring Hearts Cad Drive? If you haven't, please send them ASAP. You have till November 28th! Wanna see some of the cards that have made it? 

Here's a peek into the pile of almost 3000 cards on my dining table. We rarely use our dining room as hubby and I usually just use our breakfast table for dinner, so... dining room turned into mailing room.




There are tons of gorgeous cards! I think whoever got these cards will be smiling ear to ear when they open it. It truly warms my heart seeing the support that you all pour into this card drive. Thank you so much for supporting us. 

I am sure, by this evening the collection number would change. Every day we received lots of packages. My goal is 6000 cards as I am hoping to support over 40 nursing homes. We can all dream big, right?

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

SSS Wednesday Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog  
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Hi y'all and happy humpday! I am back a with a new card for Simon Says Stamps Wednesday challenge. This week or theme is Thanks or Thanksgiving.


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For my card I used this beautiful Simon Says Stamp & Clearly Besotted collaboration set .


Thanksgiving card
Supplies; Simon Says With Clearly Besotted Autumn Blessings
ZIG Wink of Stella Glitter Clear Brush
My Mind's Eye Follow Your Heart Enamel Dots Record It

I love the sentiment's font. It's so pretty and feminine. I think I'll be giving this card to my SIL who always host our Thanksgiving dinner.

Do you give out or mail out Thanksgiving card? I guess, on my side, because it's not a tradition that I grew up with, I don't normally give out or mail out card for Thanksgiving. And.. this helps when it comes to eating as well. I never got into eating turkey, so I never got to eat too much during Thanksgiving dinner. Hah...

I do love the get together part of Thanksgiving. I think it's a lovely tradition. I just wish my family is here. For me, nothing beats my family time. Our family get together always filled with lots of laughter & goofing off. For this, I am always thankful for my family.

As you're getting ready for your family get together, I hope you will find time to play along with us! Cheers...


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Simon Says Stamp

Monday, November 17, 2014

Wishing You Blessings

Hi everyone and happy Monday. How was your weekend? Ours was pretty laid back. It was a cold, gloomy weekend. And, for the 3rd time in a week, we have a fuse blown that thrown all 37 houses in our neighborhood into darkness for a few hours.

I guess, good thing it's winter at the moment. To have no power in the summer in Texas even just a few hours would be unpleasant. And, our winter is not bad like winter in the north. So, we bundle up with dogs and went to bed early, since there's nothing we can do.

Oh, we did do something fun. On Saturday morning we went to the Indonesian consulate and found out that in the afternoon they're hosting a Culinary Festival. So, I attended my girlfriend baby shower and then dash home to go straight back to the consulate again. The thought of a bunch of vendors selling good Indonesian food was dreamy!!

Lucky for me, hubby is just as excited. He keep asking me what was that, what about that one, etc. Then while walking around, I heard someone calling my name. I ignore it thinking I don't have any Indonesian friend in Houston. Well, turned out it was my friend from 9th grade!! What a small world! LOL, I thought the only Indonesian people I know in Houston are my cousins.

To complete my weekend, I also play with some new stamp of course. I recently won this gorgeous MFT set from Lisa Johnson. Pretty rare where I do fall cards, but I love the shape of the leaves on thi set. 


Thanksgiving, blessings


And, I chose a brighter colors as I just couldn't do dark or jewel tone fall colors. I like bright, happy colors. Don't get me wrong. I love fall colors in nature, jut not on cards. ;)

By the way, have you send your cards in for Caring Hearts Card Drive? 2 more weeks to go before it ends. I hope you will send in some cards. Right no we have about 35 places to support and I sure would love to able to cover all the nursing homes on our list.

Thanks for stopping by here and may your week starts off wonderfully!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Paper Crafts Reflection Time

Let me just warn you right away. This is going to be a long post. Lots of personal feeling here. By now, I am sure many of you my fellow card maker have heard the news that Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking is closing down. February 2015 will be their last issue.

When I found out this afternoon, I was speechless. I was like, no it couldn't be!! It's a joke! I mean, this is what in my opinion is the best card making magazine out there. They are one of the reason I like to make cards. They make me challenge myself to create better, to be more creative and they gave me the confidence that I needed when I started my creative journey.

I used to think I wasn't creative enough. My younger brother said once that he thinks I should pursue career in graphic design and I balked at the idea, because I didn't think I was creative enough. But, when I made it to Paper Crafts Gallery Idol back in 2010 and soon after have my cards accepted regularly for publication and made it to other PC contest, I finally see what  my brother sees in me.

Then, I met the PC  team. They are so warm, encouraging & so positive. Susan, always the cheerleader, help me believe in myself. I am so grateful that I get to hang out with some of them at CHA. These moments are short, but I cherish them. Most of all what Paper Crafts means to me beside being an amazing creative outlet: they means friendship.

Because of PC, I got interested to attend CHA and that has opened so many friendship doors that I otherwise would have missed. Priceless, priceless memory. Lots of amazing girls that I just adore. Many I met and many I have not, but feels like I  know them through blogging, chatting online, etc.


                                                


This pic below was from one of the most memorable night at CHA for me. We all just kicking it back, laughing hard, sharing story. This was the CHA that brought some amazing girls to my path, who become so dear to me.



I honestly have no idea where my post going with this. I feel such loss. I know, some people will probably just say, oh it just a magazine. But to me, they are more than that. They are friends, amazing people. My heart hurt for the people that loss their job. My heart also hurt for the loss that our community is now experience.

All I can say is that I hope the friendship I gained through the door that PC opened, will continue to flourish despite this setback. I plan on maintaining the friendship and I pray that all the PC team will find new jobs. 

With that in mind, I want to share this card that was accepted for Card Creations Vol. 13 that now we sadly won't see. 




We all, at one point of our lives facing changes, the unknown. I know I did and will face more as it is part of live. Each time, I got scared. And, my mom always said have faith that things will work out the way they should be.

Tonight I mourned my loss, our loss. It's okay to mourn. Any loss is hard to accept. Sometime they are hard to digest. But, like I told Susan, sometimes bad thing must happen, so bigger, better thing could happen. We just have to allow faith to be our guide...

Thank you Jennifer, Susan, Stacey, Holly, and everyone at PC for the fun journey, for the friendship, support and joy you have brought us paper crafters. Just thank you. <3

Joy To The World

Hi all. Happy Thursday. I don't know about you, but the time change and the colder weather makes me sluggish. After work I find it hard to resist the sofa when it called my name. Especially when two pair of eyes with their wagging tails look hopefully for some snuggle time.

However, I did manage to resist the temptation and made one card before I comply with the doggies request for mommy time. Hah...

Here's a Christmas card that I made. 

Supplies: Chickaniddy Jolly Good 6x6 paper pad,
Wplus9 Stag Trio die, Hand Lettered Holidaydies,
Hand Lettered Holiday stamp set

I have to admit, now & then I still find it hard to use lots of patterned paper on my card. But, I think this card turned out okay.

Well, short post. Doggies whining and it's my duty to keep them happy. :) Cheers....

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Seeing Star

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog  
wed-designerspotlight-header.

Hi y'all. I am back with a new Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week our theme is "Seeing Stars". Hah... I freaked out a moment when I realized that I really don't have stars set. I have to dig my stash to see what kind of stars I have. Thank goodness, a couple of the sets have some small stars that I can use. ;)


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And, here's my card:

Supplies: Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin , Mama Elephant Make A Wish , Simon Says Stamp Birthday Balloons , Simon Says Stamp Christmas Blessings

Gah.... I just adore this penguin set. They are just too cute. For the ice, I stamped it on vellum to create the icy look. And, finally... I get to use this SSS Christmas dies that just been sitting there on my desk waiting to be used. Of course, if I just use the word Christmas it doesn't look finish. So, more digging and I thought the word wishes from SSS Birthday Balloons set would work.Hey... way to expand the use of your stamp sets, right? Mix and match, baby!

I hope you will play along with us. Can't wait to see what you create! Thank you for swinging by here.


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Simon Says Stamp

Monday, November 10, 2014

Caring Hearts Blog Hop Winners

Hi everyone! Just a quick post to announce all the winners from Caring Hearts Blog Hop. Ladies, I will email each of you and thank you to everyone for participating in this hop. We really appreciate you all.

We have 3 winners for Online Card Classes. Ladies, you each get to pick 1 free class of your choice. And the winners for Online Card Classes are:
1. From Laura Bassen's blog: Melissa Friedrich
2. From Ellen Hutson's blog: Lucille K.
3. From Latina Crafter's blog: Emily Lauritzen

Winner of Simon Says Stamp $50 GC is from Kristina Werner's blog: Lisa Petrella

Winner of Inspiration Emprorium $25 GC is from Chaitali Narla's blog: Janet Trapp

Winner of Verve Stamps $30 GC from Sarah Gough's blog is: Barb Schmidt

Winner of Latina Crafter $15 GC is from Paper Crafts blog: Lynnea Hollendonner

Winner of 2 rolls of May Arts ribbons is from Kathy Martin's blog: Becca Cruger.

Winner of  one year of free subscription to Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine is from Vera Yates' blog:  Connie Cox

Congrats everyone!!

CASEing Genius

                   ** For Caring Hearts Card Drive details please click HERE on click the badge on the left. **

Hi all! Recently, a dear friend of mine, started this new feature on her blog every Monday called CASEing genius. And, I am so honored that she has chose to feature me this week. I hope you will go to Kelly Latevola's blog today and check it out. 



Kelly, thank you so much for featuring me. 

Kelly had asked me to share 3 of my favorite cards for her to CASE. And, I can't wait to see her beautiful creation!

That's it for now and I'll be back with another post with the winner announcement for Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop. Stay tune!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Hummingbird Joy

                  ** For Caring Hearts Card Drive details please click HERE on click the badge on the left. **

Happy Friday! The weather is so gorgeous here right now on my neck of the wood. One of those perfect fall day. Day like this make me wish I have a window in my office. Right now, I have one of those office that tucked inside, away from the window. So, no view. I guess, the good thing is there's no distraction either.

Anyway, last night, after seeing all the beautiful video by Dawn Woleslagle from Wplus9, I decided to pull out my watercolor stuff again and made this card for i {heart} papers


Wplus9, Vera Yates
Supplies: Wplus9 Flora & Fauna stamp set,
Technique Tuesday Labels by Ali Edwards

I am not super satisfied with the result yet. I think I need to practice more watercolor technique to achieve a result that I really want.

My plan for this weekend is to work in my craft room, open the window and let the breeze in and practice, practice, practice. Sigh... I really need to clean my desk. It's getting pretty bad. Not gonna lie, I am not one of those crafters whose room always organized. Mine, especially during submission time, looks like a shipwreck. Hah... Pile balance on top of another pile.

Well, hubby is suggesting some remodeling soon and my room is one of them. Am pretty excited over the idea as the way he suggested it, I'd have more wall space & may include a simple build in cabinets & hopefully I can be more organized. Not quite sure when it will happen, but hopefully before the end of the year.

That's it for me today. BTW, you still have time to join Caring Hearts Blog Hop. Lots of fabulous inspirations! May your weekend starts of wonderfully.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Be Jolly

Hey... look at that. Two post in 1 day. :) Yepper... After a short break, Naughty or Nice Challenge is back with a new challenge.


This time our theme is holiday animals. With that in mind, I want to share this cute bunny hugging snowman card. It's one the new stamp from Purple Onion Designs called Warm Hearted.



Gotta love that bunny. I always find it hard to resist stamp with bunny on it. :)

I hope you will play along.And, you will have plenty of time to join! the challenge run till November 25th, 2014 and we'll pick 2 winners. 1 for naughty and 1 for nice. We're also welcoming some new team member as well. Please give them warm welcome HERE.

May your day be filled with sweetness.

Simon Says Stamp Designer Spotlight

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog  
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I am so loving November. The pretty, cooler weather (okay, not today as today our forecast is thunderstorm), my card drive is in full swing and am excited to share that I am guest designing for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog for this November. Pinch me!

Simon Says Stamp is one of the generous sponsor for Caring Hearts Card Drive and I am so glad to have this opportunity to guest designing for them.

And, we kick off this month challenge with thinking of you theme.


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Supplies: Altenew Painted FlowersAltenew Super ScriptSSS Best Mom Ever,
Mama Elephant Sweet Lilac

I love the way this card turned out. The color combination is just so yummy, don't you think? At first, I was thinking to use fall colors, but except for in nature, I am not a fan for fall colors, so I decided  to try using my new Mama Elephant Sweet Lilac ink pad. It's very rare where I used purple, but this purple is sooo pretty!

I hope you will play along. There's fab prize for the challenge and you could be the lucky one to win the $50 GC!


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Simon Says Stamp

Monday, November 3, 2014

Caring Hearts Blog Hop Day 1 & Giveaway


** For Caring Hearts Card Drive details please click HERE on click the badge on the left. **

Hi everyone and welcome to Caring Hearts blog hop day 1. I am glad that you can join us. As you  may know, Caring Hearts Card Drive is all about bringing holiday cheers to the elderly that lives in nursing homes through our handmade cards. Many of the elderly might not have any family member or maybe their love ones live far away, etc. Our goal is to collect as many Christmas/holiday cards as possible and let them know that they are not forgotten.

When I started this card drive 5 years ago, I never thought it would grow by leaps and bounds. I am so grateful that so many of you my fellow crafty peeps continue to support it. This card  drive is possible because of you and of course because of the help of some amazing ladies. I hope many of you will send in your cards. Please send in your cards by November 28, 2014. There are lots of fabulous prizes!

To get you into the holiday card making spirit these talented ladies have step in to share their cards that I hope will get you inspired (see below for all the links). You can find all the card drive details HERE or simply click on the badge on the upper left corner of my blog.

Now, I have a couple cards to share. First up, is this interactive card I made using sets from Mama Elephant & Lawn Fawn. Gotta  love the sweet penguin set.


Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin, Lawn Fawn Snow Day

For this card, I use acetate to create the track to move the penguin while still able to show the snowy background. Here's how it looks like when the penguin skate to the right.




Next, we switched from cute to simple elegant card.


Wplus9 Silver Bells stamp set, Wplus9 Silver Bells dies,
Simple Stories 24/Seven 6x6 paper pad


Here's a complete list of today's hop participants (yes,  you read it right... tomorrow we have more inspiration starting from Jennifer McGuire's blog).

Vera Yates <-- you are here
Amy Kolling    
Susan Liles    


And, here's our awesome prize list. You have till midnight CST, Saturday, November 8th, 2014 to leave comments. Winners will be chosen randomly based on collective comments left on the designer's blogs. So, be sure to leave loads of love for everyone.

Thank you to all  these fabulous companies for their generous support.

Jennifer McGuire - Online Card Classes - class of your choice (3 winners!)




 May Arts - 2 rolls of ribbon from May Arts Holiday Collection


 Latina Crafter - $15 GC


Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking - 1 year free subscription




Verve Stamps -  $30 GC

'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...