You Color My World

Hi peeps. Happy Monday. Today I want to share this card that I made inspired by the classsic View Master toy. I remember loving this toy & always have fun viewing the various reel.

I actually made this card long time ago for a submission & I realized that I never share this card. Can't let that happen, right? 

I cut the circle using Silhouette Cameo and then I traced out all the opening, so I know where to stamp my images. I love Panda, maybe because when I was growing up the most famous panda back then was named Lingling. Same as my name. :) So, for this one I used Mama Elephant Pandamonium & they're are just perfect for the opening.

Looking at some classic toys, I can't help but wonder if kids nowadays still know these toys. I think our kids this day spend so much time on gadgets & are missing out on a lot of classic toys that feed your imagination & sense of wonder. Maybe I am old school in certain way. Hah!

Well peeps, that's all from me today. May your weeks starts off wonderfully. Cheers....

XOXO

Hi peeps. How's your weekend? Mine was busy with working around the house. We re-painted our closet and fix and touch up various stuff. Let's just say my arms feel like jello now.

For today, I want to share  this card that I made a while ago. Just haven't got a chance to post it here. So, today is the day. Hah!

These cats are from Mama Elephant Little Cat Agenda set. They sure are fun to color. On 3 of the cats I added the letter I, a heart and the word you. Hidden message that's hopefully not too hidden. :)

That's all from me. Thank you for stopping by here. Cheers...

Hello Friend

Hi peeps. Just popping in for a super quick post to share this card. During our crafting  together, Therese Schaefer, kindly letting me play with this awesome Enveloper Little Birdie Stamp set from Waffler Flowers. Come to think of it, I think this is my first time of playing with this brand. This design simply speaks to me & they're super fun to color.

I finished the card with sentiment from Mama Elephant Sunday Sentiments set.

And.... that's it from me. Told you it's super short. :) Hope you all have a fab day!

Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop

Do you know that today is World Kindness Day? I think our world need to really focus on spreading kindness and since Caring Hearts Card Drive is based on love and kindness, we think today it the perfect day to have our 7th annual Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop.

The purpose of this card drive is to collect handmade holiday cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes around the world. Since 2010 we have been bringing joy to many nursing homes throughout the US, Canada and Australia. And this year, we are branching out to the UK! 

What better way to share our love of card making than to bring joy to others, right? We hope you'll join us in supporting the card drive. You still have time to send in your cards. We just need to receive your cards by November 25, 2106. Details for the card drive can be found HERE on my blog & on Jennifer McGuire's Blog

For this hop, I have made 2 cards. First up is a sweet nativity card that I made using SugarPea Designs Let Us Adore Him set combine with Simon Says Stamp Christmas Blessing dies for the sentiment.

Just seeing the smiling baby Jesus makes me happy. I seriously love this set. :)

My next card is a cutesy one that I sure hope will bring a smile to whoever receive it. For this one, I use an oldie Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin and the tree is from Simon Says Stamp Color Me Trees set from Believe in the Season collection.

I love the funky & unique shape of the tree. The way it all wonky make this clean & simple card fun, don't you think? And, one layer card, great for mailing!

Now, no blog hop is complete without a fun giveaway, right? 

Simon Says Stamp has generously offering $150 gift card for this hop. All you need to do is visit and leave comment on each blog. Winner will be randomly selected from one of the participant blog. You have till midnight Thurday, 11/17/2016 to leave comment. Winner will be announced on here on my blog on Friday, 11/18/2016.

Here is the Blog Hop List...

Vera Yates

Jennifer McGuire

Laura Bassen

Shari Carroll

Debby Hughes

Heather Ruwe

Julie Ebersole

May Sukyong Park

Yana Smakula

Ruby Ianigro

Jessica Frost Ballas

Wendy Ramlakhan

Kathy Racoosin

Amy Lee

Simon Says Stamp

I hope you enjoy this hop and will join our card drive. Every single card counts. Let's share handmade kindness. Let's share kindness period. Let love and kindness be part of our daily life. Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

You Are My Happy Thought

In case you don't know, I love animal. I love learning about animal (gotta love Discovery & National Geography channel) and I respect the animal kingdom. I grew up having dogs, bird, fish, bunnies and squirrels (my brother found them as babies & ended up rescuing & nursed them). My mom used to shake her head when she found out my brother & I would sneak the squirrel to our bed & nap with them. So, yeah, I love animals. I think they're awesome.

As you can guess, my love for animal goes into crafting as well. Give me anything that related to animal and I am happy.

When I saw Wplus9 Happy Mail & Party Animal set, swoon... that was love at first sight. I was going to say especially the giraffe, since I have like 5 giraffe stuff animal and one of them like 4 ft tall, but who am I kidding. I have several bunnies & bear stuff animal as well. And, I didn't  mean when I was growing up. I mean now. as adult. Hah!

I am very excited to share my first result of playing with these adorable sets.

I was inspired by Joni Andaya's card HERE. I love her style and her works are amazing. I made this card with my niece in mind. What a cute gathering, right? Makes me think of children storybook that I used to read. Out in the meadow, the animal gathers & have a little party. 

Here's a close up look of the gathering. :) I used Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush for the watercoloring.

Entering this card to Simon Says Stamp Challenge to create project using your favorite technique or products. This card is it! Watercolor & my favorite stamp sets.

I am super giddy with the way this card turn out. Will be sending this out to my niece. She's only 2,5, but I hope later on she can appreciate the card. Hah,.. I'll make her daddy save this card for sure. So much work & love goes into this card.

That's all from me today. I hope you have a beautiful day. Enjoy the little things.

Best Friend Forever

You know, when I look at my stash of stamp, there's a few company that stands out. Meaning, I have a lot of their sets.

My top 5 (in the order of the amount of sets I have) are Papertrey Ink, Wplus9, Mama Elephant, Technique Tuesday and Avery Elle. And, currently, growing rapidly are my stash from My Favorite Thing & SugarPea Designs.

For my card today, I combined 2 of my favorites. Papertrey Ink & Mama Elephant. I actually made this card sometime last year & totally forgot about it. 

Yep, I was cleaning up  my folder and realized that I have quite a few cards that I haven't share here. So, I'll be sharing those cards slowly or use them as back up for post when I don't have time to craft.

Be back tomorrow with new MFT sketch challenge!

Do What You Love

Growing up, I never quite know what I want to be. At first, I thought of becoming engineer because that's what everyone in my class put as their career goal. Realized I have no interest on it whatsoever. Then, I thought of becoming a journalist. But, I had major case of shyness issue and had hard time talking to new people, so scratch that.

Next, I was contemplating career as fashion designer as I always love fashion. However, I am really bad at sewing. And, I believe to be a good designer you need to be good at sewing as well. Another scratch. I finished high school not knowing what career I really want to go for. I went to finance major and hated it. Switch to management. Still didn't feel like it's the right thing. 

Well, fast forward to now. I now work for a home builder managing their purchasing department. After spending my 20's with no clear direction, I spent my 30's finding that direction. And as I am in the last few months of my 30's I am happy to say that I finally in a good place. Where I do what I love. 

Being purchasing coordinator for construction company was never in my list, but it turned out to be something that I enjoy and pretty good at. You just never know what God plan for you. All you could do, just trust that He'll guide you.I was my boss first hire almost 4 years ago and am pretty darn proud of where we are. Most important, I love what I do. 

My inspiration during my journey is my brothers. Both of  them are very passionate about their job. My older brother is a cardiologist and my younger brother is a photographer. They live life to the fullest and they love what they do. Doing what you love is good for the soul. I totally believe this!

And yes, that's including paper crafting. Paper crafting is one of the thing that always constant for me. I always love it. Whether it was scrapbooking or card making. 

This card below totally reflect this. 

Today, I am counting my blessings that I get to do what I love and I love what I do. Hm... I am thinking that maybe every Friday I should do a post that focus on what we're thankful for. It doesn't have to be big things as so often it's the little things that makes life amazing. What do you think? Would you enjoy a positive, encouraging post like that? 

To participate, all you need to do is leave comment about what you thankful for. I think being grateful is a good habit to have. Let's try it. I'd love to have you share what you're grateful for and why. :)

Penguins Christmas Love

Last time I made an interactive card, it was such a hit. So, I thought it'd be fun to repeat the design, but this time with 2 moveable penguins!!

I just love this Arctic Penguins set from Mama Elephant. And, this time I want it to be a bit more festive, so I sprinkle some fine confetti on the hill. I always believe, when it comes to Christmas, make it sparkle & shine!

Here's the 1st pic showing the two lovely penguins apart, staring at each other, wondering if they'll get together, if the heart is meant to be given. ;)

Ah.... yes, of course the heart is meant to be given. After all, part of Christmas is about giving and receiving love, right?

The only boo boo on this card, I already glued down the tree when I realize my sentiment would be a bit too high/too close to the frame. Oh well... I decided not to stress out over a little imperfection. It is what it is.

Now, some Caring Hearts update. Yesterday, I opened up the packages that arrive after Thanksgiving. 68 packages total and about 1935 cards. Now, mind you, I already have quite a bit of cards already on the table, before this stash being added. And, thank goodness, I already mailed out about 3000 cards before hand, otherwise, I wouldn't have room to put all the cards!! All in all, there's probably close to 4000 cards on the table.

What was fun for me was when hubby offered to help open and sorting the packages. I normally decline as I know he's not into card making and thinking I don't want to give him extra chore. But, I was drowning in packages, so I said, yes please. It turned out to be so much fun! 

Hubby was enjoying opening the packages and looking at all the details. He'd be like, look at this one! It looks so fancy. Look at the coloring. Or when he open the ones from kids, he'd take the time to read what the kids wrote and thought it's so cute! It ended up being a good bonding time for us. I could see he's enjoying the process as much as I do. It was really a good moment. I look at him and remember thinking, I am so blessed.

I have this fun hobby that have the ability to bring people together. I have people from all over sharing my mission and it's humbling and joyful at the same time. And, now I found out this is something we both can enjoy together. Opening card drive mails!!

Normally, we received around 3500 cards, more or less. So, we didn't expect to receive in the 12,000 range. With that, please be patient before we announce the prize winners. We have to go through so much mails and packing them. I am hoping that by the end of this week, we'll have everything organized and pick the winners.

That's all from me today and be back tomorrow! Cheers...

Seeing Star

  

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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. ;)

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.

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

Ellen Hutson

Savannah O’Gwynn

Caroline Bredeson

Julee Tilman

Chaitali Narla

Reverse Confetti

Amy Kolling    

Amy Sheffer   

Sarah Gough   

Amber Hight  

Lisa Henke  

Kathy Martin   

Laurie Schmidlin   

Susan Liles    

Stacey Schafer   

Linda McClain

Latina Crafter

Newton’s Nook Design

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!)

Inspiration Emporium - $25 GC

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

 Latina Crafter - $15 GC

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking - 1 year free subscription

Simon Says Stamp - $50 GC

Verve Stamps -  $30 GC

Card Creations 12 Blog Hop

Hi everyone. Happy Friday and welcome to Card Creations 12 Blog Hop. We are celebrating the latest special issue from Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking and seriously, this edition is filled with many, many awesome inspirations.

You should have arrive here from the talented Katie Gehring. In case you missed any link, you can always find the full list at Paper Crafts blog.

Now, for this hop we're asked to create projects based on sketches provided for us. Here's one of the sketch:

And, here's my card. Yes, it's one bright, happy pandamonium card! Can you guess what art work inspired this card? Yep... my own version of Andy Warhol. ;)

Then, since I was all inspired and my desk covered with stuff, I figured what the heck, just go ahead and make 1 more card. This time following this sketch.

Hm... yeah... you might need sunglasses for this one. Brightness!! 

Except for the sentiment,  this card is one layer card. Well, that's it from me. I have a desk that need much cleaning. From here, please hop on over to the coloring master, Alice Wertz.

No hop is complete without a giveaway. I am giving away 1 copy of Card Creations, Vol. 12. Simply leave a comment here by midnight, Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

Thank you so much for stopping by here and I hope you enjoy the hop. Cheers....

Stencil Day 1

Lately, you see more and more project using stencil and just for fun I decided to join Jennifer McGuire's Stenciled Online Classes.

I don't own many stencil, but my Silhouette Cameo solve that problem easily. I simply make my own stencil by cutting background pattern on acetate piece and use it as stencil.

One of the first stencil I made is this triangular background and use it as a mask and use the sponging technique. Well, actually I combined 2 techniques from the lesson from day 1. Sponging and layering and masking.

For the tag I used Mama Elephant dies and the bird is from Papertrey Ink. I am glad I join this class. Because, even though I know many of the techniques, I forgot about it and the class help me remembering them and I've been having a blast rediscovering old techniques.

You can bet that you'll see many more projects from me using stencil. :) Well, that's all from me this weekend. Thank you for stopping by here.

Naughty Or Nice?

Hi everyone. It's been quiet here on my blog lately, isn't it? I've been struggling to create. My mojo decided to skip town without telling me. Like everyone else, I go through the up and down of creating. There's moment where I can create like crazy and then of course, moment where I just sit there on my desk and for the life of me, couldn't come up with anything.

 

However, I did finished my Christmas cards. Like I mentioned before, I don't normally do repeat design, but I love this one, so am repeating them, and to keep things fun, I either change the critter or the sentiment.

 

You can see the original card HERE, where I used the polar bear. Since, many of my family members are doggy people, I have to make some cards with doggies of course. Here's the first one.

 

 

The wreath was made using Wplus9 Woodland Wreaths set. The cute dog is from Sisters Stamps, Santa Hat from TSG Pugalicious and sentiment from Papertrey Ink. For extra texture, I added liquid applique on the white of the Santa's hat.

 

On this one, I used the sentiment from Mama Elephant Winter Wonderland set.

 

Bunny... gah... I love bunny. I guess because I was born on rabbit year, bunny has special place in my heart. Hm... who am I kidding. LOL, I love animals in general. This cute bunny is Buttercup from Purple Onion Designs.

 

You couldn't see it on the pics, but all the wreath and the bunny hat has soft glitter on it. I used Wink of Stella clear glitter pen, which is so awesome. Love this pen!

 

Well, there you have it. This is my Christmas cards for this year. I think this year Christmas would be very low key for us. Nothing big, just family dinner on Christmas day and that's about it. And, of course there's Christmas presents for the doggies as well. And yes.. our doggies totally behave like kids. I have to keep the presents away from them, because if they see it, they want to play with it right away. I mean... they'll do what I call the war cry, which is actually excitement/demand cry asking for us to give things to them.  Nope... our kids not spoiled at all. Ha...

 

Enjoy your holiday season......

Sparkle & Shine

Well, I finally have a pile going for my Christmas cards. And, what I love about my cards this year is the fact that I get to combine stamps from different companies in 1 card. Love it when the images works together.

 

Let's take a look at the card first.

 

 

Now, the wreath is from Wplus9 Woodland Wreaths set. I simply draw a circle and then layered the holly and the pine leaves to create the wreath. The cute bear is from Purple Onion Designs, colored and fussy cut. The hat & scarf are from There She Goes Stamp Pugalicious set. And the sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

 

This is the basic design and while I am not a fan of doing a repeated design over and over (because I tend to get bored real quick), right now time is of the essence, so all my Christmas cards will basically have wreath this year.

 

I do change the critters for variation. I'll post all the variation, soon. Right now, I am just having fun coloring and cutting all the critter images. I'll have puppy, bunny, deer, etc. Yes... cuteness overload. :)

 

I give myself till the 15th to finish my stash! How's your stash going? Or yours already mailed? Heck.. I haven't even done Christmas shopping. Is there more than 24 hours in a day???

Winter Wonderland

I fell in love with Mama Elephant Winter Wonderland set from the moment I saw it. It took me a while before I got it, but I finally did and I just love the serene, sweet look of this set. And love the font combo on the sentiment.

Here's my first  card using this set. 

I have tons of Christmas cards to make and this set makes it so easy to create gorgeous simple card. I lined the bottom of the card panel with stickles for some soft glitters. This card goes to Caring Hearts Card Drive.

And, peeps this week is the last week to send in your cards for Caring Hearts Card Drive. If you plan to send in your cards, please do so. Our record was roughly 3500 cards. Would be great to break  that record. We appreciate your support and thank you for making this drive successful every single year. Hugs, xo

Sending Smiles Across The Miles

Just a quick post to share a card I made for Mama Elephant photo inspiration challenge. I love the sharp, clean design of the inspiration pic and just have to play along. Besides it's about time I use my Mama Elephant sets more often.

                                              

I love white sofa. I always want one. However with 3 dogs I wonder if that's possible?? I just feel white sofa is like a canvas, you can make interesting by adding a splash of color or pattern here and there. One of this day, I'have a white sofa. ;) I stay with the CAS feeling for my card.

I added glossy accent on the balloons to make it shiny. And some sequins for added fun. I hope this card makes you smile. I am sending this card for my sweet niece, Shakira. I dream of kissing her cheeks, but for now some xoxo across the miles.