Silhouette & stamping

A couple months ago, I put my Silhouette machine to work and had a bunch of cuts made. Since, I have no idea what project I am going to do with those stuff yet, I use white cardstock for all of them. That way I can color it to whatever color I needed.

Last night, I just want to do quick cards. So, I looked on my lovely messy piles and see what can I use. I swear I try to keep my desk clean, it last at the most a day. ;) If you have looked at my cards before, then you know, I love this heart vines from Silhouette. Can't seem to get away from this shape. They are just so pretty.

           

                      

Since it was just a plain white cardstock, it needs something. I stamped the antique handwriting on the vines and then using a sponge (dabbed on to Stampin Up! Gable Green and Sage Shadow inkpads) colored the vines. Love this technique as it created such a soft look.

Punch the scallop border using Martha Stewart border punch and the butterflies are digital print from Hero Arts, colored with Copic markers. The good thing about digital is that you can make a bunch of them in different sizes. Distress the edges of the background with Colorbox Colonial Blue inkpad. And ta... da... you're done.

Before I end this post, I want to say thank you to all who stopped by and for all your well wishes. You all are so thoughtful and kind. I am feeling much, much better today. Enjoy your Thursday... (yay... Gray's Anatomy tonight!!) and have a blessed day. Hugs, Vera (Ling)

Taking it easy

Tonight, I feel much better compare to yesterday. At least, I can walk pretty straight, although slow. I tend to walk fast, so walking in slow motion can get very annoying for me. My husband was teasing me and calling me grandma. Good thing he took such a good care of me, that I let his comment passed. :) LOL, I can't stay mad at him. He's truly a great guy.

I decided to go back to work as I don't want to waste my sick day. I have to say I have amazing bosses. All of them took the time to check on me and making sure I am okay. The owner of the company was telling me if I need to lay down, just do so. I mean, she's just super cool. Anyway, I didn't feel too bad. Should be all back to normal in the next day or so.

Since I couldn't do a thing yesterday, tonight I am being super productive by making 3 cards. One is Christmas related (for magazine submission), so I am not going to post it here. Would be kind of funny putting Christmas card when it's almost Easter. Anyhoo, here's the first card. I'll post the other card tomorrow. That way I'll have something to post. :)

I made this card for Simply Scrapping Craft color combo challenge. I use baby wipes and dab it to the inkpads to create the soft colors on  the background. Flower silhouette stamp is from hero Arts and the border on the bottom is from Papertrey Ink Background Basic Tin Types.

Popped

Hi there everyone. Today has been one of those day. Woke up with severe pain in my lower abdomen. Husband just ready to roll me to the ER. But, I insisted we just go to my doctor and after the check, the doctor confirmed my suspicion that the cysts that I have had raptured.

After a few hours, the pain like slowly go away. SLOWLY...  Well, it's still there, but as long as I don't move, it's not bad. :( Although, I did thought of going to work for the rest of the day, since I can walk and I can just take it easy. I hate using my off days if I don't have to. Hah... I am  the type that if I use my off days it better be for vacation. Good thing my husband has more sense than me. He said no, he'll take home & pampered me to wellness. All I can say, I'm so thankful that I am blessed with such loving husband.

So, now I am just laying on the sofa and blogging. Wish I can play with my new papers that just came in yesterday, but that would have to wait till I can actually move well. I made this card a couple days ago. Just a quick card using my scraps. Hope you like it. That's all for today, back to lounging with my spoil pug. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully by tomorrow I can be back to normal :) Hugs, Vera (Ling)

Just because...

Today, I made cards just for the fun of it. No challenges, no contest. The last few months or so, I've been making a bunch of cards for many different challenges. And to be honest, I did feel a bit burn out.

It made me look back and think how did I get here. Making cards is one of my passion. I love how coming home from long day at work, I can look at my colorful papers and feel soothed by the colors. I love how the creative process help me relax and unwind. And last night, I asked myself, when was the last time I made cards just for the fun of it. Not following any sketch, any requirement. I reminded myself that the main joy in card making is not about being recognized by others (although don't get me wrong, it does the soul wonder when my card being praised by others), the main joy for me is in the creativity itself.

So, today I made these 2 cards just because. No particular reason, except creating. Not following anybody's criteria, not showing off any particular techniques. Just being me doing what I love. And I love simple cards. The idea for these cards came last night while I was having a restless night sleep.

 

The colors on  these cards, made me happy. Colors could affect me like nobody business. :) LOL. I can't quite explain it. I love M&M because of their colors, I love colorful socks cause it makes me feel much better compare to wearing white socks. How's that? BTW, the dots background on the 1st card, I used part if the PTI package label. Why not reuse instead of just throwing it away. I am all about being green.

Well, that's my post for today. Getting ready to watch Oscar. As much as I love Merryl Streep, I kind of hoping Sandra Bullock would get the Oscar. Who are you rooting for? Enjoy your Sunday evening. Hugs, Vera.

Lucy's Challenge 6

I think the last few cards I made were either using flowers or butterflies stamp. I was like, hm... do I need to buy more new stamps? Can a girl have too many stamps? I am trying to control my spending, while waiting for Papertrey new stuff that coming out this March. But then, I remember this sweet birds stamp that I have only used once. It's perfect for Lucy's challenge.

This time, Lucy's challenge is to create a card that inspired by someone else's card. If you follow me regularly, you know my top two favorite card makers are Jennifer McGuire and Lucy herself. For this card, I was inspired by Jennifer's card here and by Lucy's love of dots.

Dots background by Papertrey Ink, birds by Inkadinkado (colored with Copic markers), and greeting by Hero Arts. I love how Jennifer put her flower outside the border a bit and that's what I repeat here with the bird. I did layer the bird for extra dimension, too.  

I love making cards that have that clean looks to it, but yet have certain thing that just popped up. In this case the color of the birds really make them stand out. I look at this card and it makes me smile. It's cheerful and like the card says, "Find joy everyday."

Oh yeah, in case some of you wondering if my name is Vera how come I named my blog Ling's Happy Place? See, I have 2 names. Being born in Indonesia with Chinese heritage, it's normal over there to have 2 names. One is the legal name that we use on all our paperworks and one is your Chinese name. I do love the name Ling, cause it sounds like a bell and most of those that close to me call me Ling. Call me Vera or call me Ling, whichever you prefer. :)

Okie dokie, that's it for today. Enjoy the card and if you want to join Lucy's challenge you have till March 7. Thank you for stopping by. Cheers, Vera (Ling)

Challenges & Olympic

About a week or so ago, Love My Tapes were looking for product tester for their adhesive & tape products. So, I entered, wishing and hoping, and guess what??? Yippie yay ay... yours truly is one of the lucky winner. You can see the announcement here.

I can't wait to get the goodies and  try it out. I've been hearing good review about their adhesive and will definitely let you know what I think. I love sharing good finding.

Now, Papertrey Ink is doing another yummy color challenge. You can see all the challenge detail here. I don't have Spring Moss color inkpad, so I used Stampin Up! Mellow Moss color instead. That's  the closest I have. :) All stamps by Papertrey Ink. They have several color combo options and I chose Dawn McVey color combo.

Now, switching gear from card talk, I have to mention the Winter Olympic. Didn't you just love it? I think this winter Olympic was one of the best in history. I think all of the athletes went all out and many truly shine. I love Kim Yu-Na, the ice skater from South Korea. The way she skates just mesmerizing. And, did you watch Ryan Miller on ice hockey?? Love him. :) He did such a good job defending our turf. Yes, we we ended up with silver, but still to stop 139 shots out of 147?  He deserves the MVP title. That was truly an amazing game. I do have to thank my husband for getting me into loving ice hockey.

This Olympic really impressed me and I actually enjoyed watching most of the sports, which surprised me, since I am not a sporty type of person. I could discuss it on and on. I am officially addicted to the winter Olympic. :) And yes, I want to checkout Vancouver. Definitely on my list as a must see place to visit. Basically Canada in general. I am doing reseacrh on things to do and places to visit right now. Okay, enough rambling. Don't want to bored you with my Olympic gushing.  Hope you all have a lovely evening. Hugs, Vera

Hero Arts giveaway...

Quick post for today. Made this card for Hero Arts 30 grand giveaway this weekend. You can check out the detail here. There's still time to play.

I am using HA Flower Blossom set and PTI Asian Fusion for the greeting. I used chalks in different shades of blue to create the soft background. For the center of the flowers, I did the french knot (3 knots for the big flowers, 2 for the medium one, and 1 for the smallest flower). I also covered the flowers with Radiant pearls and to make it even more sparkly, I add diamond stickles to each petal.

Up close you can see the soft pearl showing in between all the glitters. Add butterfly for a little accent.

OK, short one today. Off to the mall for some shopping therapy. :) You all have a great Sunday and if you're into the Olympic like I am this afternoon should be fun watching US vs Canada in ice hockey. Exciting!!!

Another easel card

I am in love with my Papertrey Ink collection. They're just so awesome. From the versatility to create your own background in seconds, to the variation they provide in 1 set, I just love it. And no, I don't get pay to say this. I am pretty particular when it comes to my scrapbook or stamping stuff.

I am one of those careful buyer. I don't just splurge and buy stuff. Whatever products I buy, I really consider and think how much am I going  to really use this stuff. Sometimes I do get the urge to follow the trend, but usually after some thinking period, 90% of the time, even if it's the trend, but it's not my style or I don't believe the quality, I don't buy it. Back to Papertrey Ink stamps, all I can say, I am glad that I branch out and tried their stuff.

Tonight I made another easel card. I do like this style. All stamps by Papertrey Ink. I bought 3 new sets from them and made 4 cards already and still playing. What's your favorite brand of stamps? Please share and leave your comments. I do read each comments and really appreciate the time you take for my blog. Thank you all for stopping by and have a good evening. Hugs, Vera.

PTI Blog Hop

I am super duper excited to join PaperTrey Ink blog hop for this month. I am pretty new to PTI stamps, but I can tell you that I LOVED PTI stamps! After waiting for a long time (hey a week wait is long when you're waiting for new stamps, especially if you've been drooling for it during the sneak peak), my 2nd order from PTI arrived  yesterday. I loved it that they took the time to wrap each set in tissue paper. It's like unwrapping a present. Even their small labels that wrapped around the set makes me happy. :)

This month blog we're supposed to make cards that inspired by PTI design team. I love Maile Belles style. Her cards have that clean look that just simply gorgeous. I made this card, inspired by her technique here (the 2nd card). The french knot on the flowers from Asian Fusion set really make the card unique. I usually use my needle to unplug my Diamond Glaze, LOL, now I am glad that I actually get to put my needle to other use.

Here's the close up of the flowers with the french knot.

I am soo in love with my PTI stamps that I actually made 3 cards for the blog hop. I love the simplicity of Dawn's card here. Her row of flowers inspired me to make this row of butterflies on my card.

I like browsing for inspirations and see what I can come up with. I know I could use the bigger butterfly to make it look more similar to Dawn's card, but I love this tiny butterfly. It just look so gentle and breezy.

Hope you enjoy the cards. Thank you so much for stopping by and please leave comments if you stop by here. Would love to know what you think. Have a super duper great evening, Vera.

Simplicity

Flower Blossom
Originally uploaded by Vera, Ling's Design Studio

The term "less is more" that we so often applied to make-up, also works for card making. :) There's something to be said about simple design.

I think often time, the blank space provide that eye catching balance for the whole design. Like this card for example. The white space on the left side make the flower stand out more.

I stamped the flower vine first using Stampin Up! Mellow Moss color. And, I have to say I have this inkpad for years and it still works awesome. Then on scrap paper, I stamped it again using Stampin Up! Rose Red inkpad. Cut the flowers, curl the edges a bit and attached to the green vine. Add pearls to the center of flowers and glitters on the leaves. For soft shimmer, I brushed Radiant Pearl in Oyster Shell on each of the flower petals using fine brush. And voila... you're done.

And actually, after I posted this on Flickr, I decided to rounded the right corner of the card. Just one side and it really completed the card even more. Hmm... maybe one of this say I'll try to do challenge on my blog. What do you think? What would you like to see on my blog? Please share your idea. Thank you so much and hugs for you all, Vera. :)