Hello Beautiful

My goal this year is to give more love to the stamps that I already owned. With design team assignments and all, I find myself often neglected the stamps that I have & love because I often run out of time. 

Well, I am trying to fix that. I mean, after all I bought these stamps because I love them, so I shouldn't let it just sit on the drawers, right? :)

Case & point, this Wplus9 Hibiscus Bouquet. I love, love this set, bought it last year and keep thinking I am going to play with it right away. Wrong... It got neglected instead. So, I am correcting this error. Hah...

I stamped and colored it with Copic and then masked the bouquet and color the background with distress oxide. Once that done, I die cut the word Beautiful (from My Favorite Thing), add the hello and some enamel dots.

I love the way this card turned out and happy that I finally use this beautiful set. My goal is at least each month I'll use at  least a couple sets that I haven't use just because. Not because DT assignment or challenge, simply just to create. :)

Well peeps, that's all from me today. I'll be back on Saturday with a fun hop with Honey Bee. See you then...

Birthday Otrichs

Hi peeps. How's it  going? This weekend, I immerse myself in some crafting time. Often, this hobby, card making, helps me to deal with things. It allows me to just let my  mind wander & become a therapy for me. :)

I work on some design team assignment, but I also make card just for fun. It's been a while where I see a set & immediately think I have to have this set. Well, it happened with this Wplus9 Oh My Gostrich! set. I saw it & it was love at first sight. I just thought the ostrichs look soooo cute! Can't resist them.

For this card, I combined it with Honey Bee Hello Gorgeous set. I love the way the flower wreath frame the banner & the ostrichs.

Seriously, this is the cutest ostrich set ever! As animal lover, I sure love cute animal sets.

Well, that's all for me today. 

Oh yes, I can't go without announcing the winner from Get Cracking on Christmas hop. Congratulations, Sue D, you're the lucky winner for the Pinkfresh Studio Joy & Cheer stamp & dies set. Please email me with your mailing information. 

May your week starts off wonderfully. Cheers....

You Are My Happy Thought

This is my 2nd post for today. For My  Favorite Things post please scroll down.

When I saw the theme for this week challenge I got all excited. This week theme is "Die Crazy". To create card using dies. I love using dies and this week we're highlighting Wplus9, one of my favorite company.

Of course, immediately, I know I want to work with the Happy  Mail set. I am making this card with my little niece in mind. 

I had so much fun creating this sweet scene. Seriously, how could you not love this adorable set. 

This is such a fun challenge, so I sure hope you will play along with us. To enter and to see more fab inspirations for the challenge please go to SSS Wednesday Challenge Blog. As always, by playing along, you could win a $50 GC to the Simon Says Stamp Store. Can't wait to see your creations!

    

Happy Belated Chinese New Year

Hello there. Whoopsy, things were piling up on me a bit and I missed blogging for a few days. And, to all my family and friends that celebrated the Chinese New Year, happy belated New Year! I celebrated long distance by face timing with my mom, brother & SIL.

In case you didn't know, this past Thursday we enter year of the goat. Random fact. ;) I have to say that besides Christmas and birthdays, I miss celebrating the Chinese New Year. I miss the  tradition of going to the temple with my family in the morning of the new year. I miss the midnight prayer. I have always love those moments and now that I am older, I appreciate those moments even more.

On the new year day itself, I went out to lunch with my cousin and that's about it. No big celebration. Sigh... The downfall of being away from my main family. However, my family always make sure I don't feel left out and they sent me quite a few pictures. Gahhh... my niece... she melts my heart. Here's some pics of her doing the greeting for the new year.

                                     

The Wirianta's family.

And, yes, on this side of the world, on that day I was wearing red as well. Here's to a prosperous year filled with good health and many blessings. :)

Now, let's get on to card shall we. I have this card for i {heart} papers that I want to share.

i {heart} papers supplies: Wplus9 Spring Blooms,
Technique Tuesday AE Loving Words

As you know the store is closing and Saturday, February 28th would be the final day. Everything in the store is 65% off and whatever not sold, Kate will donate the to charity. There's still a few stamps and misc. items left. Hurry if you want to score some good deals before it all goes away. I will totally miss ihp.

Well, that's all for me for this Sunday. Hoping to catch a movie and watch the Oscar  later today. Enjoy your Sunday.

Elephant Love

I grew up in a family that loves animals. My brother had a collection of encyclopedia that teach about animals. I remember that I love browsing and reading about them and in fact as a kid, I never got into dolls, I always to this day prefer cuddly, cute stuff animals. 

That love for animals still continue to this day. I support all kind of animal rescue group and I also love collecting animal related knick knacks. I have weaknesses toward those. My favorites are the giraffe, bunnies and elephant. I think my Pinterest board also reflect that. 

So, needless to say when I saw Wplus9 Unforgettable set featuring some super cute elephant, it was love at first sight! I really wish I could do watercolor the way Dawn Woleslagle do. The way she does her cards are simply amazing.

I think I spent more time looking at this set than actually playing with it. Hah... I was having some creative moment trouble. Sometime we all just went through that creative slump, huh. I only manage 1 card so far with this set, but I can tell you that this set has become one of my favorite set because of it's cuteness.

I love elephant. I think they are very smart, family oriented animals. The way they protect one another and the way they protect their babies totally amaze me. I love elephant. Wait... I said that already, right? 

Well, that's it for me today. Be back tomorrow with new MFT sketch challenge. Stay tune!

Just For My Mom

Today is my dear mom special day as she's celebrating turning 73. For those who have followed my blog for a while, you know how close I am with my family and how much I look up  to my mom.

Growing up, just like any family, my mom and I went trough that period where we couldn't quite understand each other. I am very much a softie, super sensitive, struggling with a major case of shyness. My mom, the opposite. She's strong, level headed, confident. Pretty much the kind of woman I hope to grow up to be. 

One of my tutor used to say, "When your mom walk into a room, you could feel she radiates intelligence, strength." I tend to think with my heart. She's much, much more level headed. So, yeah... we went through a few rough patch.

My mom doesn't have a college degree, but most people who have met or work with her thought she had engineering degree. What they don't realize was that she educate herself constantly just  by reading and asking question. She worked for company that make heavy machinery & she learned everything about it. She read about current stuff constantly. From Times magazine to Newsweek, etc. None of the girlie woman magazine for her. That's me. She could talk about everything from politics to flower, etc. Except sport. Hah...

Today, as I am getting close to 40 (still a few more months left) I cannot be more thankful for my mom. She taught me so much and every strong part of me comes from her. She always there for me as I went through the up and down of life. She cried and ache for me when I went through difficult period, she keep pushing me to get up and be strong. I am where I am today because of her faith in me.

To my mom, I just want to say....

Supplies (all from i {heart} papers): Wplus9 Pretty Peonies set,
Pretty Peonies dies, Simple Stories Vintage Bliss 6x6 paper pad,
Avery Elle ink pads

Happy birthday and thank you for being my mom. Thank you for lending me your strength when I was weak, for your wisdom when I need guidance, for pushing me & give me tough love when I need it. Thank you for showing me it's okay to be different as long as I am being a kind human being. Most of all for always loving me & being there for me even when I was being stubborn & for teaching me about love & family. I love you. And as what a lot of people say: you're one cool, rock 'n roll mom/grandma! So, may you rock 73! xoxo

Quick & Easy Christmas Cards

4 more days till Christmas! And only 10 more days before we hit 2015. With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I want to share a couple quick and simple Christmas cards in case you need some last minute cards.

First up is this super quick card, where I just trim part of a patterned paper for the main image.

Supplies: Chickaniddy Jolly Good, Dear Lizzy Daydreamer
6x6 paper pad &  Lawn Fawn Snow Day

I almost go with no stamping at all, but decided to add the stamped bunny. If you super short on time, you could leave it just the way it is, with no bunny.

Next, is a mini card, using the other part of that same sheet of patterned paper from the above card.

Supplies: Chickaniddy Jolly Good,
Wplus9 Twenty Fifteen, Spotlight/Disco Gold sequins

Now, have some cleaning and organizing to do. You know how it is. Christmas, family coming over and yesterday we just had some windows and tiles replaced at our home. So, lots of cleaning to be done. See y'all later, alligator. :)

Silver Bells

Happy Monday. We're only 10 days away from Christmas!! Seriously, where did the time fly? I finally started to work on my own Christmas cards this past weekend and mailed some out. Yes, yes, I am behind.

To my mom and brothers, please know your cards were sent, but most likely will arrive around or after Christmas. I just pray they'll actually be delivered and be in good condition. :)

I always send what I consider my best cards to my family, but whenever I send cards their way, I send  them with lots of prayers. Sending post any thicker than regular letter sometime feel like gambling, when you mail it to Indonesia. It might arrive or it might disappear. That's just the fact. And, that's why I get nervous this time as I am sending them my interactive cards, so they're slightly thicker than regular card.

As I work on sending out the cards, I also work on new ones. Fr today, I want to share this card I made for my i {heart} papers post. 

Supplies; Wplus9 Woodland Wreaths set, Wplus9 Silver Bells set,
Woodland Wreaths Dies, Echo Park Bundle of Joy Dots & Stripes

If you click on the picture, you can view the card in larger view and you could see how the bells are covered with micro fine glitters. It sparkles really pretty in person. I am also entering this card to Simon Says Stamp Bling It On challenge.

So, how about you? Are you done with all your Christmas cards? Have you finished decorating? We have our small Christmas trees up and that's about it. We decided not to risk putting up the big Christmas tree as Eli think every tree is a place to go pee and considering Abby's curious nature, seeing the bird ornament on the tree might make her think it's real bird and try to catch it.

One of the small Christmas tree we put by the fire place and so far they're ignoring that one. :)  I am curious, how's your dog react around the big Christmas tree? 

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

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 set, Wplus9 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!

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.

Wplus9 Silver Bells stamp set, Wplus9 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!

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....

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. 

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.

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

i {heart} papers 6th Birthday

Woot... woot... i {heart} papers is turning 6 and we're celebrating with 6 days of saving. Use the code below to save 25% off your entire purchase!

Trying to decide what to purchase? Well, one of my new favorite is the latest Wplus9 Stag Trio dies and Hand Lettered Holiday dies & stamp set.

For this card, I combined the dies with Chickaniddy Jolly Good 6x6 paper pad and My Mind's Eye Record It! enamel dots. I stick to the simple design as you know with Christmas cards easy and quick is the main key. :)

Also, I want to mention a quick update. Now, Caring Hearts Card Drive also have a volunteer for Australia side. If you're in Australia and want to participate please send your cards to:

Linda Langes

℅ Gilston State School

588 Worongary Rd

GILSTON  QLD  4211

This card drive is always evolving and I am glad that this card drive inspire others to do the same in their country. As always, detail of the card drive can be found simply by clicking on Caring Hearts bade on the top left side corner of my blog. 

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Joy To The World

This past weekend was definitely a creative weekend for me. On Saturday, I visited my cousin to help her with a couple Halloween projects for boys. She found a fun project on Pinterest to create wall decor using the boys stamped hand and feet on canvas. My nephews are so adorable. They sit there sweetly while I painted their feet and hand. Sigh... I wish they don't grow up so fast. For now, I am enjoying the fact that they let me do stuff to their hand and feet for creative purpose. Hah... :)

Then  the rest of the weekend pretty much working on submission and DT projects. Came Sunday evening, I was like, what... the weekend already over?! And, I feel like I didn't even get to accomplish as much as I want.

Anyway, one of the card I finished was this holiday card.

Supplies: WPlus9 Woodland Wreaths, Hand Lettered Holiday
Dies: Wplus9 Stag Trio
Pigment ink pad: Avery Elle Sea Glass

I love the way the background turned out for this card. The colors are so pretty. Mixing a dark purple with the dark blue really make the dark blue pop. This card would be great for mass producing. It's pretty quick & simple to make.

By the way, packages for Caring Hearts Card Drive already start to rolling in. Woohoo... you all totally rock. One of the girl shipped 126 cards!! I am so thrilled and grateful for your support. And, yes, my mailman already asked me what's going on and joked that he has to work over time to get my boxes delivered on time. :)

Can't wait to see how many packages coming this week. Have a blessed week everyone!

Smile

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

TGIF! I'm ready for the weekend. The weather been so gorgeous here, that it'll be nice to spend some time outdoor instead inside in the office. I think the dogs would enjoy the extra time running around outside.

I also been slacking in my card making. You know, now & then it's nice to not to let it rule my life. As much as I love my hobby, it's always nice to find balance. Enjoy life, do other stuff that you love. But, last night, after finish watching Grey's Anatomy, I played a little bit and made this girly card for Simon Says Stamp watercolor challenge.

Supplies: Dear Lizzy Daydreamer paper pad, Wplus9 Pretty Peonies set
& dies, Doodlebug Sprinkles Bubblegum

I used to not attracted to yellow before, but more and more I find myself liking the color. I guess I love the cheerfulness it represent. I even bought shoes in yellow. I try not to buy black shoes unless I have to. The older I get, the more I stray from being too conventional. I choose to be more colorful, in a good, happy way of course. Hah... I am rambling, aren't I?

Okay, I stop here before I rambling even more. ;)

You Bring Me So Much Joy

So, did you all have lots of fun celebrating WCMD the day before? I sure enjoyed browsing all the blogs and finding all kind of inspirations. So many awesome projects out there and lots of fun challenges as well.

I made today's card based on 2 challenge. The first one is Moxie Fab WCMD Challenge. Here's the inspiration pic:

I was inspired by the colors on the clock. Then the second challenge is Butterfly Reflections Inc. sketch challenge and here's  the result:

Stamps: Wplus9 Flora & Fauna 2, Technique Tuesday Labels by Ali Edwards,
Dies: Wplus9 Flora &Fauna 2, Fanciful Feathers

In making the stripe border, I get to used a  few of my paper scraps to make this card. Yay... And, no it didn't really decrease my scrap stash. I have way too many scraps! I really need to sort & clean my stash.

But, not today as today I am celebrating my hubby's birthday. My other half is turning 45 and I have to do a shout out for him.

So, happy birthday to my dear hubby, the one person besides my family who makes me feel so loved. The guy who can always surprise me by suddenly burst out rapping to Run DMC. Yes, my blue eyes Michigan boy loves rap and he knows their song by heart. I still shake my head every time he does this, because if you have met him, you  just wouldn't think he's into rap. Let me re-phrase that, he's into classic rap, if there's such a thing. Hah... I am not int rap, but I love pop country, so you could see we're opposite on this.

This is the guy who would take care of me when I am sick. The one who didn't demand for me to cook (thank goodness, or we'll be starving and eat ramen noodles all the time), the one who would sing love songs to me & be cheesy. The imperfect guy who accept his imperfect wife. May this coming year be one filled with many blessings. Love, your wifey. :)

You Are So Loved

Yay for Friday! Is it 5 o'clock, yet? Hah... I am so ready for weekend already. After all I have several stamp sets that waiting for me and quite a few to do list.

Well, for today, I want to share this card that I made using a bunch of Wplus9 sets. Their floral sets are definitely my favorite. I love how their sets work together. Actually this card was one of the card that I submitted for Card Creations and it' didn't get picked up. I did get 7 cards picked up for this edition though, which I am super thrilled. Card Creations has special place in my heart since my very 1st publication was for Card Creations back in 2011.

I love the way this card turned out. 

Supply list:
Stamps: Wplus9 Fresh Cut Containers, More Fresh Cuts,
Flora & Fauna 2, Hand Lettered Thank You
Dies: Wplus9 Flora & Fauna 2

I wish we have hummingbird where I live. They're so pretty. I used to see them back when I was living in Lake Jackson, TX. They're pretty mesmerizing to watch.

BTW, you can get all Wplus9 new releases at i {heart} papers and they also just got quite a few new paper pads in. Check out all the new items HERE.

That's all for me today. Hope your Friday be a fabulous one! 

CASE Study Challenge

Hi all. Quick post here as I want to play along with CASE Study 4th Anniversary week 3 challenge. I was so inspired by Julie Ebersole's card, which was inspired by Aga's card.

Here's Julie's card:

                                                       

And, here's my card:

I used Wplus9 Flora & Fauna 2 and Hand Lettered Thanks set. The banner is from Avery Elle To The Point set.

That's it from me. Hah... I think I have an hour left before the challenge close. Cutting it close... :)