A Merry Little Christmas

The Pear &Partridge Cardmaking Kit is one of my must-haves in the new Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book.  I like cardmaking kits, and Christmas cardmaking kits are just irresistable.  Love the colors of the Pear & Partridge cardmaking kit!

The kit features three designs and I'd like to share one design with you today:

The instruction guide tells us to make a little banner, while I opted to leave it plain.  I could make a couple more of this card and perhaps I'll try the banner idea in my other ones.  This card is entering the challenge presented by The Friday Mashup.  See how others are preparing Christmas in July!

Tic Tac Toe Challenge

The Paper Players presented a really interesting challenge for us.  It is a tic-tac-toe challenge:

I've chosen the first row for my card - circles, birthday & favorite color:

I've tried something new in this card.  In the big red circle, or half circle, before I heat set the embossing powder, I've wiped off a portion of it.  So part of it is embossed, while part of it presents a translucent image of the stamp.  It looks really cool in person!

Christmas Cheer!

I hope you have not got bored with my Christmas cards yet.  Christmas is always the time I am looking forward to and I am happy to prepare my Christmas cards early.

I'd like to share a Christmas card I made using the October 2012 Stamp of the Month.  The ornament and the bow were both cut with the new Cricut Artiste cartridge.  The card does not involve any patterend paper, but absolutely does its job to carry the Christmas Cheer!

I've entered this card for the challenges at Bellichallenge #148 and Timeless Tuesday #179.  Check out what other bloggers have created!

Water Fun!

Heart 2 Heart Challenges asks us to create an artwork with the theme of Water Fun!  Water Fun!  I could use the Footloose Workshop on the Go!  Here it is:

Enjoy your weekend and enjoy life!

One of a kind

It feels like a long time since I last participated in Mojo Monday challenge.  I have decided to give it a try this week.  Its sketch looks like this:

Just a couple of building blocks and a focus.  Quite clean and simple, just like my style.  Got the sketch, how about some hint of colors?  I found a color challenge from Color Throwdown:

The colors are perfect for another winter card!  Oops sorry, another winter card this week, without any intent to bore you.....

This card also enters the challenge hosted by Scrap-Creations, where the theme is water.
I made this card totally out of cardstock.  Stamps and paper alone could create a nice patterned background.  Don't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating!

Holiday Cheer

Holiday Cheer brought by Santa Claus!

I've adopted the sketch from Merry Monday Challenge:

to make my card:

I like that Santa's beard is dimensional:

The dimension makes it even more cheerful!

Back to Christmas

Let's go back to Christmas card today.

I'm happy to share with you a simple card that I made by adopting a sketch presented by Clean & Simple stamping blog:

My card is absolutely simple but I like it a lot.  This card is entering the bellichallenge again:

I'm always monitoring the great bargains in the While Supplies Last section.  A while back I got the Mistletoe paper packet and the Assorted embellishments.  Now that I'm preparing Christmas cards, they all become handy.  Want to look for good bargains?  Check them out here!

I've received Pear & Partridge cardmaking Workshop on the Go but have yet finished the cards.  I look forward to completing them and sharing with you!

Clean & Simple birthday card

I am enjoying the fun with my Cricut Artiste cartridge!  This time I've made a couple of 3-D roses.  This 3-D rose is a bit different from the one offered by Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge in a sense that the edges are more curly.  Both are pretty but you know, we always want to try something new to create pretty stuff!

I've adopted the sketch from Clean & Simple stamping blog:

the color combo from Dynamic Duos challenge:

and finally the requirement from CAS-ual Friday that asks us to use a black card base:

My simple birthday card looks like this:

The flowers look really pretty in person and I'm sure the recipient will be happy when she sees it!

Happy Birthday to You

Let's take a short break from Christmas cards.  I've made a birthday card using the new Cricut Artiste cartridge based on the sketch provided by Freshly Made Sketches:

I've always wanted to cut flowers in their outline and layer them.  With this image provided in the Artiste cartridge, I can finally achieve this effect:

The flowers are all cut from the same button, just in different sizes and different colors.  I then put them down on a Sky cardstock that was stamped with flourishes to fill the empty space, added some bling and voila, the birthday card is done!

I've made some other things with the Artiste cartridge and I just can't tell you how fun it is to play with it!

Christmas again

I've created another Christmas card again!  This time I'm using it to enter multiple challenges.  I'm using the sketch by iSpy Sketches:

Using Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, Olive cardstock and Stella paper, I've made my Christmas card:

It's super simple and super Christmas-y!

I've also entered the challenge by Makeover Monday and Bellichallenge.  Be sure to check out what others have created!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Sketch Challenge

This week Heart 2 Heart Challenge provides us with a sketch that looks like this:

It gave me quite a hard time and for a while I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with this sketch.  But guess what?  My *new* Close to My Heart Artiste cartridge has arrived and after flipping the handbook, the light bulb went off!  I was going to use three gears to substitute the circles in the card.  To a certain extent I can't believe that I wasn't cutting the 3-D items as my first try of the Artiste cartridge.  But yes, the very first image I used with Artiste was the gears!

It became apparent that it would become a musculine card so I went ahead to make this birthday card for my dad (Shhhhhh............my mom's birthday is coming up but I still have no idea what to make for her........Shhhhhhh).

My dad's b-day card looks like this:

My dad is not a big fan of bingo, so I just put this huge birthday message on the face of the card.  I'm sure he will read it.

Now I must continue to think about what to make for my mom.......

Perfect Pairs

The featured products in this month's promotion Perfect Pairs are paper packet and their coordinating embellishments.  Place an online shopping order of $75 or more this month and you'll receive a paper packet and coordinating embellishment FREE—it’s a Perfect Pair!

The specific paper packet you'll receive depends on the date you put in your order:

July 16 - 20 Lucky Paper Packet (X7137B) and Lucky My Stickease^® Assortment (X7137C)

July 21 - 25 Mayberry Paper Packet (X7136B) and Mayberry My Stickease^® Assortment (X7136C)

July 26 - 29 Sophia Paper Packet (X7131B) and Sophia My Stickease^® Assortment (X7131C)

July 30 - 31  Believe Paper Packet (X7145B) and Holiday Pockets (Z1486) OR Wonderland Paper Packet (X7146B) and Wonderland My Stickease^® Assortment (X7146C)

The Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book will be released in about 10 days.   To add more fun to the Perfect Pairs promotion, I'll send out a new Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book to my customers who place an order of $75 or more through my website.  Yes, you can enjoy the new Idea Book at the comfort of your house for FREE!  Start shopping now!

My little helper

My little helper is the Close to My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  When it comes to making items in bulk, she is the best one to turn to!  I'm just super excited that Close to My Heart will have Artiste, a new cartridge this coming August and I can't wait to play with it.  Once I receive it and play with it I'll definitely share my projects!

Back to what Art Philosophy cartridge has helped me.  I have to make a lot of small gifts so I made a little basket, a label and a tag with it.  Yup, no cutting by me.  Isn't it great when you have to make a lot of this:

The baskets are easy to assemble and I just can't imagine how much time I need if I have to cut everything by myself!

I'm using this project to enter the following challenges:
Our Craft Lounge - use a tag
Stampin' for the Weekend - tag

A note for You

Time for a challenge offered by Clean and Simple Stamping blog!  I'm using this sketch:

I continue to be using stuff from my stash to prepare room for the new products.  Here, I've used the retired Topstitch paper:

When I first got this paper I thought it was too pretty to cut.  I still think it is very pretty, but I've decided to make it to use and appreciate it from a different perspective.  It is better to use it, right?

Merry Christmas in July

Oops......I'm sorry if you still think it is too early to be prepared by X'mas.
I just have to have a headstart to avoid all the last-minute hassle.

The other reason, of course, is to clean up my old X'mas supplies to get ready for the arrival of new products from the new Close to My Heart Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea book.

I've used some old products to make a card out of a sketch provided by Merry Monday Sketch:

My simple card looks like this:

Alright.  Off to create something non-Christmas and share with you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Soar

I am very excited to see the new Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book from Close to My Heart, but at the same time, I am a bit sad to see some old friends leave the color family.

One of the retired colors is Vineyard Berry.  It appears to be a winter color to me but it carries so much elegance that it could go well with many light or spring colors.  I have used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to make a card using the color Vineyard Berry:

The stamp "Soar" was stamped with Vineyard Berry - it looks great in the light green cardstock, doesn't it:

If you like this color but have yet got its paper or stamp pad, you'd better hurry.  It may no longer be available after August 1, 2012. 

I'm also participating in the challenge posted by Hiding in My Craft Room.  The challenge is to use scraps.  Woohoo~ cleaning up for new products!

Welcome Little One

My friend just had a little girl!

This is her second child but the family is just as excited as they are having the first one.  Her family is super busy and I have yet seen the little one in person.  I've made a little card for the cute little girl:

The sketch came from iSpy Sketches:

and the color scheme came from Dynamic Duos:

I've used Baby Pink and Heavenly Blue cardstock in place of Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze.  Unfortunately both colors will retire as of August 1, 2012.  If you need these colors for your little one's layouts, you'll need to order them soon before they are gone!

Chevron strips

I still have some Dotty for You paper and would love to create some more cards with it.

I took reference of the card shown on Paper Crafter's Library to make my card:

Chevron strips are so popular right now!  The bright colors are so perfect for the hot summer.
I've also participated in the CAS-ual Friday's challenge and 4 Crafty Chicks challenge.  Be sure to check out the awesome artwork created by other bloggers!
Have a great weekend!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - A Geometric Challenge

Heart 2 Heart Challenge has a geometric challenge this week.  Not so much about angles, parallel lines, degrees, but we are asked to incoporate line, line, circle and square.

I've turn these into elements of my sketch and made my card:

This card is a simple one: the "lines" are the retired cocoa grograin ribbon, then a square in the middle stamped with one of my favorite stamp sets "The Present," and the flower in the corner represents the last element - the circle, also stamped with "The Present."

The green patch in the lower right corner is another image in the set "The Present."  After making this card, I feel like I'm making an ad for this set.  This set, truly, is one of my faves.  Its images are all elegant and this sentiment is so great!  If you want to see all the images of this set, please click here. 

Happy Birthday to You!

Let's come back to the hot sunny July from the Christmas cards of the past two days (Having said that, you'll see more Christmas cards coming later......)

I'd like to use some bright cards to make a simple card.  I found a simple sketch on iSpy Sketches and a summer color combination on The Paper Players:

Using a couple of cardstocks and stamp sets, I've made the following card:

Materials used:
1.  Olive cardstock
2.  Smoothie cardstock
3.  Creme Brulee cardstock
4.  Colonial White cardstock
5.  Olive Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
6.  Creme Brulee Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
7.  Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
8.  A Tweet stamp set
9.  Card Word Puzzle stamp set
10.  Sophia WOTG

Another Christmas card

How about a Christmas card that is whimsical?

I've used this sketch from Merry Monday Challenge:

My card was made with the Believe paper packet:

Even though the paper packet has retired, you could get it for free this month! 

Just make a purchase of $75 or more between July 30, 2012 and July 31, 2012, you could get the Believe paper packet and the Holiday Pockets for FREE!

Merry Monday Challenge

More Christmas cards coming.

Merry Monday Challenge asks that we use a past sketch to create a card.  I've used this sketch:

And this is my card:

It just feels so good that you could use papers and stamps that you are going to put away.  This card was made with the scraps of retired products but nevertheless it turned out great!

Dynamic Duos Challenge

I'm excited to participate in a color challenge!

Dynamic Duo Challenge asks that we use these two colors:

I believe that the closest corresponding colors in the Close to My Heart Palette are Smokey Plum and Olive so I naturally use the Sonoma paper packet to make this card:

Using masking technique, I stamped the flowers in Smokey Plum and Olive.  To do this, I first stamped the entire image on a piece of post-it, then I cut this post-it into half to separate the flowers and the stem.  I put the portion of post-it with flowers on the cardstock, then inked up the stamp in Olive and stamped on it.  Because of the post-it note, the flowers were not stamped on the cardstock.  This idea is basically the same as using masking tape when we paint the wall.  This is a cool technique as you could add multiple colors to a stamp.  Try it out!

Makeover Monday Challenge

I saw two cute cards on the blog of Paper Crafter's Library and learned some tricks to transfrom other's ideas into our own ideas.  Then of course, I am going to try it out myself. 

The idea I was drawn to was the repeating element in the inspiring card, so I have cut the banners in different lengths and widths as my background.  After adding some twine and stamping a sentiment, the card is done!

Christmas in July

Is it too early to start preparing Christmas cards in July?  Not for me.  In fact, I started in June this year.  I have dedicated the bi-weekly crop to my "Christmas cards" night and so two weeks ago when we started the crop I also started my preparation for Christmas cards.

It is definitely a good idea for me because I always find myself rushing through the process of making cards and could not enjoy it as much as I wanted.  Hopefully this year the jumpstart will help me enjoy it better!

I've used some retired products to make Christmas cards.  Oldies but goodies.  I've made a couple of cards that look like this:

Interestingly many crafters feel the same that we should start Christmas cards preparation early.  I found a couple challenges that call for "Christmas in July"  such as The Squirrel and the Fox,  Hooked on Craft Challenges and Through the Craft Room Door.    I'm participating in these challenges using my simple card and hopefully my card will help inspire others in preparing their Christmas projects.

Will share more Christmas projects with you.  Now let me grab some ice-cream to cool down........

Aspiration

Aspiration is the stamp set that introduced me to Close to My Heart.  Even though it has retired, it always stays in my craft area and whenever I use it, it reminds me of how I learned the great advantages of clear stamps and eventually fell in love with them. 

I've adopted this great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to use this stamp set and Unforgettable, the coordinating paper:

My card focuses on the small flowers:

It felt good when I finished the card.  The stamp set and the paper brought back a lot of fond memories!

A quick card

Oops.  I had so much fun celebrating July 4 and almost forgot to prepare my blog post.  I am so glad that I saw the sketch from Retro Sketches Challenge because I could immediately visualize the card I wanted to make.  The sketch looks like this:

Doesn't this sketch give you lots of ideas?  The card that came to my head immediately after I've seen this sketch was put together quickly:

Materials used:
1.  Stella paper packet
2.  Creme Brulee cardstock
3.  Sparkles - clear
4.  Paradise Paper Flowers
5.  Baker's Twine - Paradise Assortment
6.  Card Chatter - Birthday stamp set
7.  Cocoa Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad