CHA Goodness

Hi everyone! I am back from CHA. I had so much fun and big part of it because I got some awesome roommates. These girls, Latisha Yoast, Aj Otto, and Emily Branch totally rock! They make me laugh and I learn so much from them.

I think the best part of CHA is getting to know the people that you previously only known online. And, when they turn out to be goofy, kind, and flat out crazy (but in a good way) it's even better. Warning, lots of pictures on this post. :)

I arrived on Friday afternoon and was shocked at how cold it was! You know, when you  go to California you tend to expect nice weather. Not freezing your bum kind of weather. Anyway, I met up with the girls and then we head out  to Downtown Disney and get together with the Paper Crafts crew for a yummy dinner at Naples.

And, it turned out that Kimberly Crawford and Amber Kemp-Gerstel also stayed at the same hotel. Needless to say that on our first night, we chatted a lot and didn't go to bed till 1 a.m. (that's 3 a.m Houston time) and I was whooped. I laughed my head off so much that night and if you follow me on Instagram you might have seen one or two crazy picture. ;)

Now, of course I drool over many fabulous goodies, which I am sure many of you already seen on FB, blog land, etc. So, for today how about I share some pics of the girls that I get to hang out with or meet for the 1st time.

Met with Nina Yang who was doing make & take on GCD booth.

The fun part of CHA in my opinion is when you spotted someone you know or someone that you'been chatting online with for a long time and finally get to meet them in person.

At Paper Smooches booth, with Julie Campbell, Kim Hughes,
and the super sweet Kalyn Kepner.

Of course I have to stop by Paper Smooches booth. I get to see all the new stamps and dies that are coming out, and oh my word. Let me just say my wish list for their dies is a mile long. And, I also get to meet Kalyn Kepner for  the 1st time. She's such a sweetie.

With Annette Allen & Amy Tsuruta

These 2 girls are always so supportive and are so good at cheering on others. Annette remember my love of pug and now & then she'd pointing out cute pug stuff for me just because she knows I'd love them. How sweet is that? And she has the prettiest smile, too.

Her new Dear Lizzy collection is FABULOUS.

Can you believe it that I have been to CHA several times and this is the 1st time I actually chatted with Elizabeth Kartchner? She is very nice and I love her new collection. Must have!

3 of my favorite girls.

Getting to know these girls been the highlight of my trip. They are goofy and they taught me so many things. I consider them as my mentor. And honestly they are so fun to hang out with.

I love Cammie's works. Unfortunately I haven't really get a chance to hang out much with her. But we're able to chat a bit here and there. And, Holly Anderson, she is such a cutie, isn't she?

If I have to pick just 1 scrapbooker who continue to inspire me
that would be Ali Edwards.

Pardon the daze look on my face on this pic. By day 3 I was so tired, I have to chug 3 cups of coffee to keep me going.

So, what do you like to see from CHA? Do you want to see products pics at all? What do you want to know about CHA? Post your question or suggestion and if I can do it, I'll do it. I want my blog to be more interactive to make it more fun. So ask away...

I'll be back tomorrow with card post. By today I finally feel a bit normal and can function. So, hoping to be creative tonight. 

Paper Crafts Blog Hop Winner

Hi all, just a quick post to announce the winner from Paper Crafts Creative Challenge Hop. :)

Lucy, please email me  your information. Thanks everyone for playing along. Be back tomorrow with some CHA goodness. 

Birthday Cup

Hi everyone. Today I am heading back home and knowing myself, by today my brain would be overloaded with ideas and I'll be working on a long wish list. Hah... the downfall of CHA, you always, always end up with long wish list. Hoping I'll be able to catch up on stuff and share my CHA pics and experience with you sometime this week.

Now, I have a mini card made using Avocado Arts sets. The paper is from my old, old, stash. Let's see maybe from 2003? Sad, isn't it? Anyway, I love the pastel colors with some pop of bright colors.

For this card, I used the coffee cup from Perfect Blend set, sentiment from Avocado Style Border & Sentiment, xoxo border from Sweet Treat Sweetie, and a sneaky peek from upcoming February set. Yes, I was proud of myself that I was able to used 4 different set to make this card. :)

I know my the Pit Crew has created some fab eye candy for you. So, please check out my team mate creations and don't forget to leave comments as we have 3 Avocado Arts set to giveaway. Check out Avocado Arts for the giveaway detail. Thank you for stopping by here.

·         Teri Anderson

·         Emily Branch

·         Kelley Eubanks

·         Ashley Harris

·         Cristal Hobbs

·         Emily Leiphart

·         Julie Masse

·         AJ Otto

·         Latisha Yoast

Paper Smooches Designer Draft

Hi peeps. I am still at CHA at the moment, but I have this post ready and scheduled.

Today, we have new designer draft challenge at Paper Smooches Sparks. Let's take a look at the fun sketch, shall we?

And, here's my interpretation of it, following the vertical one. I love my Jerome. :)

Isn't he cute? I do love matching him with one of the critter. I think the critter help create a fun scene. That's it for me today. Please check out Paper Smooches Sparks for more inspirations and for all  the challenge & prize detail. Thank you for stopping by here. 

Creative Card Challenges Hop

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to Paper Crafts Creative Card Challenges Hop. If you haven't seen this latest special issue from Paper Crafts you need to get it!! It's full of fun & inspiring stuff. You should get here from my CHA roomate, the talented Emily Branch.

I have 7 cards published in this one and when I get the invitation for the hop, of course I jump right in. After all as card maker we all love challenges, right? For the hop, we were challenge to create a card using music lyric.

I debated for quite a while on which song to use. At the end, I chose one of my favorite song "The Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Middler and I used that as the theme and sentiment for my card.

Right now, I kind of digging that vintage botanical book look. You know where they have the image layered with text. I am not quite sure what is the correct term, but that's where I get my inspiration for layering those vintage botanical & text stamp with the bird.

I colored the bird with distress ink and Luminarte Twinkling H20shimmering watercolor paint. In person, the bird has nice pearly sheen to it. The border, I colored them with pencil colors. 

Now, no hop is complete without giveaway. Simply leave a comment here by midnight (CST) Tuesday, January 15, 2013 and I will randomly pick one lucky winner to win this special issue. 

From my blog please hop on over to Paper Crafts blog and check out what Holly has in store for you. Knowing her, it would be a pretty fab giveaway package. :) 

And today, I am flying out to Anahaeim and spend the weekend with some crafty friends. Super excited and from all the sneak peeks I've been seeing, I know I will have a long wish list. Well, let the fun begin. Thank you so much for stopping by here. Cheers...

Heather Campbell

Chan Vuong

Lorena Cantó Lavería

Laura Bassen

Julia Stainton

Kim Hughes

Sarah J. Moerman

Amber Kemp-Gerstel

Emily Branch

Vera Wirianta Yates <--- you are here

You Are My Sunshine

Sharing another layout from the scrapbook I made for my brother. Love it when the paper looks so pretty and  you only need to add a bit of embellishment. Makes it so easy and fast to do the page.

Now,  this two lovebird has this sweet little girl. That piercing look, hah... totally my brother's look.

Earlier this week, they were celebrating Shakira 1 month old by doing the Chinese tradition blessing ceremony. Basically family member and close friends come together and gives the baby blessings so may she or he have a blessed life. And this day also mark the 1st day that the baby go outside the house with grandma taking her for a walk. 

I so love this picture. We have picture just like this when we were babies with our own grandma. And I love the fact that my mom went with the traditional, old school style umbrella for this event. You don't see this often nowadays. And somehow as I see how our family branched out and scattered all over the world, I value our heritage and appreciate it more than ever.

And, yep, our family is in love with this baby girl. Just like the title on my layout, she is our sunshine. :)

To my sweet niece, Shakira, I wish that your life always filled with sunshine and when there's rainy or cloudy days, I hope you remember that the sun will always come back and rise. And may you bring sunshine to those around you.

Just The 2 of Us

My adventure in paper crafting starts with scrapbooking  and to this day I still love it. I don't often find time to do it, but when I do my heart actually flutter with joy. Yes, that's how much I love it. There's something of working with your loved ones pictures and combining it with pretty papers.

Last year, for my brother's wedding present I made an album of him and his wife from when they first met. I plan to share the pages here, but then completely forgot. And yesterday, browsing my files, I realized how much I love the pages I made for them and it's time to share them here.

So, no card today, but a layout. :)

Yes, still sticking to my clean and simple style. When it comes to scrapbook, I want the picture and the journaling to take center stage.

I will share more layouts and after CHA I am pretty sure my brain will be buzzing (it already start to buzz) and my creativity will be in high gear. Truly hoping that I can balance scrapbooking & card making this year.

And, yep I am already filled with anticipation to see my crafting friends. I will get to meet many new ones this year and I am super thrilled about it. 2 more days before it's time to fly out! Yayness.... :)

Playing With Bleach

Back when I first started stamping in 1997, one of the first technique I learned was using bleach for stamping. But, somehow I often forget to do it. Well, that and I don't like the bleach smell.

Anyway, a while back I was working on submission that challenged us to use bleach. And this is one is a reject, but I still think it's pretty cute, so I'll share it here. :)

To stamp with bleach, I just soak in a paper towel with bleach and place it in a flat container. You don't want to put too much bleach because if the stamp get too wet, you will end up with splotchy image. Basically you just want enough bleach to wet the towel, but don't see any bleach pooling on the container.

And from my experience it's better not to press the stamp too hard. Oh, and wash you stamp as soon as you're done. I am not sure whether bleach will ruin your stamp or not (like making it too dry), but I figure if bleach could cause a hole in your shirt, better be safe than sorry. ;)

I am counting the days to CHA!! In 3 more days I get to see the girls and seems like quite a few of us staying at the same hotel. So, that would be super fun. And, on Friday I have scheduled a fun hop and you don't want to miss it. Thanks for stopping by here. Cheers....

Happy Friday

I made this card just for fun and to use up my stash. A while back when I cleaned up my room and realizing how many papers I have, I put myself on paper diet and determine to use up most of my stash before adding more. Trust me, it's like trying to resist cheesecake. Very h.a.r.d.

Here's my card using the patterned paper from Echo Park This & That set.

And.... guess what?? One week from now, I'll be hanging out with my girls at CHA!! So excited! One more week!! Going to CHA while on paper diet... hah... hopeless.

Now, it's time to announce a couple winners from Seasons Giving blog hop!! Drum roll..... please.. ;)

Winner of prize # 1 is comment # 157 left by Kim.

Winner of prize # 2 is comment # 277 left by Indy.

Ladies, please contact me with your mailing address. Thank you so much to everyone for participating and for all the lovely comments. Have a fabulous weekend, peeps!

To A Special Woman In My Life

Today, my mom is turning 71. So, today's post is dedicated to her. :) 

My mom is one of the strongest person I know. She went through several life hurdles, yet she always have the gratitude attitude. She always told me when things is rough look down and you could see many other people who have it worse, so be grateful for what you do have.

As I went through some bad life experience, she is always there giving me support and told me not to ever let bad experience makes me bitter because when you're being bitter, you're wasting life. 

We don't always see eye to eye. Trust me, she has 3 stubborn kids that she raised to stand for what we believe in and to speak our mind. Once, I asked her how does she feel when we argue with her or when we told her she is wrong. And she said well, I might not like it, but I raised you to speak your mind and parents is also human, they make mistake.

Yep, especially growing up in Eastern culture where there's tendency to just obey your parents, my mom is definitely different. I definitely don't know many parents who can accept it when their kids say they are wrong. My mom, she would ask for our reason to say so, she'd listen, and then we discuss it.

And, my sweet mom, she still doesn't get it  the impact she has on people that know her or on us her kids. When my brother published a book that highlighted women's beauty & strength and dedicated the book to her, she asked why her. 

My mommy & me on her last visit to the States.

My mom is not perfect. But she is perfect for me. She understand my stubbornness, my mood swing, and she loves me unconditionally even when I did things she doesn't agree or understand. I think of all her kids, I am the one most different from her in the way of thinking. I have tendency to think with my heart and she has to remind me to use my head. She taught me the value of family, of kindness, of being fair and just.

To my mom, thank you for raising me the way you did. You gave me solid foundation. I appreciate my root, where I come from. Thank you for raising me in mix culture, so I can appreciate both the Eastern and the Western culture and take the best of both world. 

BTW, my mom is now officially a grandma to a real grandchild. LOL, all these times her grandkids are the 4-legged kind. Hah... So, to my mom who is one cool and funky grandma, happy birthday. I love you and glad that I am your daughter.

This card is for her. Simple and yet it says it all for me.

Gahh... I got all sappy and crying writing this post. Well, if you're reading all the way to the bottom, thank you . Help me wish my mom happy birthday, will you. Hugs to you all.