A Mother's Day card

Now that Easter is over I can move on to my next big project - Mother's Day.  I have made a couple but really have a long way to go.

I'm sharing this card today that made use of a wide variety of products:

The origin of the sketch came from Freshly Made Sketches:

This card is so fun to make!  I have used the paper, stamp, textile and buttons from Close to My Heart, ribbon and Die from Stampin Up! and a die from Memory Box.  I think they match quite well for this card and I love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is enjoying this special day.

For me, today and the week leading to it have been quite busy and I barely had any time to craft.  Nevertheless I did make an Easter card that I'd like to share:

This card is based on the sketch at Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 256:

and is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Egg-cited for Easter!

Happy Easter again and thanks for stopping by!

Paper weaving

Trying another technique today: paper weaving -

It is fun and helps me use up some scraps!  The card is entering the Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Mustache.

Thanks for stopping by!

Overcoming fear

In many cases the sketches at Sketchbook Saturday challenges intimidate me.  I am not good at multiple layers or sophisticated sketches.

However, I keep trying and that's one purpose of participating in challenges!  This time the sketch looks like this:

I thought of my Memory Box dies and tried it out with the retired Florentine paper packet:

I think it looks pretty good and I like it!  Yay!  Fear overcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Feminine Birthday card

Just a quick post today.

I've tried a new technique on pattern paper with the sketch at Seize the Birthday:

I've used pattern paper from Chantilly for the middle panel:

 

The paper was cut into strips then put back together with a small gap.  It does add some interest to the pattern, doesn't it?

This card is entering the challenge at Seize the Birthday and Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring Forward.

Thanks for stopping by!

Multi-purpose card

I have made this multi-purpose card using the sketch from Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge:

The sketch looks like this:

I've used the retired Florentine paper as the background, then used the Champagne cardstock for the flower cut out from a Memory Box die, and put the flower on top of Cocoa and Creme Brulee cardstock.

This is the first time using this die and I like how it turns out.  I think it will be good for many occasions!

Thanks for stopping by!

Watching DVDs non-stop

When everyone has slept, when it is dark and quiet, when I am addicted to a particular show, I will craft simultaneously as I am watching the show or DVDs.

Last night I was watching the DVDs of a TV series and I could not really craft and watch at the same time, I guess I need quite a bit of focus when creating.  So, I decided to something that did not require much brain power - fuzzy cutting!

I dug out my old Miracle paper and fuzzy cut the patterns on the paper.  I've been reluctant to use the paper but it really is time to let go of such emotion.  However I found it a bit difficult to use such big patterns on a card so I fuzzy cut the patterns and meant to save them for future use.

Then this morning I saw the sketch at The Paper Players and I thought the sketch would be perfect for the patterns cut yesterday.  The sketch looks like this:

and my card follows the sketch strictly:

All the flowers were hand cut.  Thank god I didn't cut my fingers as I was not paying full attention while cutting. LOL.  The cutting, of course, took me a long time (4 episodes' time) but I must say that layering the images using foam tape was quite time consuming too.  Nevertheless this card turns out to be cute and I am happy that the sheet of paper is finally put to use.

This card is entering the challenge at
1.  The Paper Players
2.  Amusing Challenges - Kraft
3.  Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Spring Forward

Thanks for stopping by!

A Christmas Tree

What about a Christmas tree for my card today?  It is a tree made of 5 layers of mustaches!

Don't you think it is cute?


The mustaches were cut with Artiste cartridge, started from 1/4" to 1 1/4" at 1/4" increment.  The start was cut with Art Philosophy cartridge.  I just cut a square from Cocoa cardstock as its trunk and used gold embossing powder for the sentiment.  It is fun!

This card is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges - mustache.  It is my 19th entry this month.  Playing along is fun but checking out fellow crafter's creation is even more fun and inspiring.  After all, sharing ideas and learning from each other make this blogland an amazing place to be in.  So I strongly encourage you to check out the challenge page and see what fellow crafters have created!  Happy crafting!

Birthday card

Recently I'm playing with my old patterned paper and challenging myself to put as many of it on a card as possible.  Today I am sharing one where most of the real estate on a card is covered by patterned paper:

My first time using a mustache on a card.  It looks cute, doesn't it?

This card is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart challenge - Mustache.  It will be my 18th entry!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flowers...

Thanks to my expertise in procrastination I do not have much time for this post.  But I will make a confession.  I have had this die for a long time.  Long.  It is probably one of the first dies that I bought last year but I have never used it. 

I can't really explain why I have not used it. Perhaps dies designed by Tim Holtz are designed to carry the vintage-y feel that I am not good at.  Perhaps it was impulse buying (Shhh.......) and perhaps I just don't know how to use it.

In late February, Tim Holtz started this Tattered Floral challenge and I wanted to participate so badly because of the guilt I have been having for this never-used-die and of course it is fun to play along!  I first wanted to make a brooch in dark colors for myself but you read my first line - procrastination kills the deal.

So it was not until about half an hour ago I watched the video by Jennifer McGuire (you can't miss it! Her girl is totally darling and I've learned to make my flowers from her video.) then started working on it and it leaves me just the shortest time to take pictures and prepare for this post.

Thanks for reading all along and I won't bore you anymore.  May I present these very first embellishments I've made with this die:

The fabric looks familiar?  Yup!  It is the Chantilly textile and the For Always textile from Close to My Heart!  It is also my first time trying them out.  Cute?  I love making them!  Check out  the black and white flower on the top left - it also has two layers of tulle ribbon on it. 

Pictures for each flower:

then the pink one:

And my last one:

They are super fun to make and I love love love making them!  I can't decide which one is my favorite and in fact I love them all!

Thanks to this challenge and Jennifer's video and of course, Close to My Heart's new textiles I finally gave some love to the tattered floral die and the textiles!

The flowers are also entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart challenge - Spring Forward.  How can we forget flowers for spring?

Thanks for stopping by!

A Retirement Card

My uncle and aunt are retiring and of course I'd like to send them a card.  Then I thought whether I should give each of them a card or make a card for both of them......

I've decided to make one for both, partly because they decided to retire at the same time, and partly because I think it is a bit weird that they will each open up a card from me.

So I based the sketch of my card on this from The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

I did have a bit of hard time to look for the paper and stamp that is gender neutral and finally settled on the retired Footloose paper:

Instead of "Congratulations on Your Retirement" or "Best Wishes for Your Retirement", I've chosen this "Enjoy Life" to go on the card front.  They plan to do quite a bit of traveling and so I think it fits the situation well!

I'm very happy that this card made use of three patterned papers!  I am getting more and more comfortable with putting them on my cards!

This card is also entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Go Green (the color green, recycle, etc.)  This will be my 16th entry!

Thanks for stopping by!

My birdie

It has been a while since I joined the fun at Dynamic Duos and I really want to play along this week as the color scheme is one of my favorite combos:

and I've used the sketch at The Sweet Stop to make my card:

The Sweet Stop asked that we put a spin of Springtime to our card and so I did:

This birdie has been my companion for quite a while and he appears to be perfect for all sorts of occasions so even though this stamp set A Tweet has retired I still want to see him from time to time. 

Did you see my patterned paper?  I stamped the same image on the cardstock to create them!  For the top piece I've stamped the flowers in black then for the bottom piece I white embossed the same image.  Isn't it great to create our own paper?

This card is also entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring forwad, time, clock, etc.  Flowers and birds always remind of spring and I do want to see more blossoms than brown!

Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy the Ride

Still catching up on masculine cards.  I'm using the sketch at Deconstructed Sketch for inspiration:

And I'm using my trusted Lucky paper again:

This card is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Go Green (my 14th entry this month).

Thanks for stopping by!

Happiness

Finally, I mean, finally, I am using more than one sheet of the paper from the pack!  I've been in love with the subtle Sweet Leaf pattern and using it a lot, while neglecting the rest in the pack.  I am a bit intimidated by the big patterns as they tend to be difficult to use on a card but I guess I made it:

I've used a combination of the patterned papers: big floral patterns (but I purposefully cut it so the bright pink flower sits at the bottom right color), the medium pattern on the strip and small monochromatic as the background.  First attempt to use many patterned papers on a card and I like it!

This card is entering the following challenges:
1.  Shopping Our Stash - Spring or Easter
2.  Bearly-Mine Challenge - Anything goes
3.  Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring forward, time, clock, etc.  and this is my 13th entry!

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly card



A butterfly is fluttering by to say Hi!

The side view of him:

I can't tell you how happy I am to have made this card!  It is actually very simple to do:  I cut the base of the butterfly with Blush cardstock twice using the Art Philosophy cartridge (at 4.25"), then cut the layer of it with Buttercup cardstock.  I glued the Buttercup layer on top of the Blush butterfly shape to create the card front.  For the base of the card, I scored it at one inch from the top to act as the hinge and this hinge is stuck to the card front.  Finally I stamped the sentiment in Olive ink on Sweet Leaf cardstock.  It is a card in the shape of a butterfly.  How nice!

This card is entering the following challenges:
1.  Heart 2 Heart challenges - spring forward, time, clock, etc.  (It will be my 12th entry!)
2.  CAS on Sunday - flutter by
3.  Addicted to CAS - Wings

Happy Easter

Are you ready for Easter?  What will you be doing at church?

My home does not have much about Easter, unfortunately, as some work will be done on the fireplace and the chimney so I'd rather put all pastel-colored things at work or at church rather than at home.  Having said that I still like to make a couple of Easter cards. 

I'd like to introduce this cute bunny to you today:

Isn't she cute?  I'm worried that the egg is a bit too heavy for her! LOL!

This card is entering the following challenges:
1.  Less is More - Frame it
2.  Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring forward, time, clock, etc. (This is my 11th entry of the month!)

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Time to Celebrate

I'm trying to catch up on masculine cards but when it comes to making one it always poses a challenge.

The sketch over the Seize the Birthday provided a good starting point:

But  I realized that I don't have that many manly papers or stamps.  I'm using my trusted Lucky paper and some retired stamps for this card:

The clock and the houndstooth pattern came from an old Stamp of the Month called Wonderful Friend, while the letters came from Tiny Typewriter Alphabet and Vintage Type.  I'm glad that the pocket watch is finally seeing ink!  I think it shares the same vintage feel with the Lucky paper and am happy to put them together.

This card is also entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring Forward, Time, Clock etc.  Have you heard of the March Madness that is going on?  No, not the sports, but over at H2H challenge.  Hop over to check it out and enjoy the artwork by fellow crafters!

Working on my big project

The big project is the large volume of Mother's Day cards!  This year I need to send even more as more friends have become a mom.  It looks like I am a bit behind my schedule but I'll continue to catch up.

My Mother's Day card made use of the March Stamp of the Month  Isn't that flower gorgeous?

It is based on the sketch at CAS(E) this sketch:

Apart from the flower, everything else is green - the green patterned paper from Chantilly paper pack, Olive cardstock for the center panel, Sweet Leaf cardstock for the banner stamped with New England Ivy ink.  The leafs were inked in Olive but stamped as second generation, but the veins were inked in New England Ivy.

The flower and the banner were raised using 3-D foam tape.  Love that a little dimension makes this card more interesting.

Apart from CAS(E) this sketch challenge, the card is also entering the challenge at Dream Valley Challenge http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com/2013/03/challenge-52-mothers-day.html52 - Mother's Day, 4 Crafty Chicks 4CCC-133 Clean and Simple and Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Go Green.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Day

Today I'm sharing a quick card that I based on the sketch from Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge.  I wanted to make masculine cards as I always seem to be low on manly cards (do you feel the same too?) so I dug out the old manly papers from my stash to make this card:

Do you recognize the patterned paper?  The vertical stripes come from the old paper pack called Passages and the blue paper at the bottom comes from Lucky.  Back in those days CTMH's B&T paper was much thinner.  One side of it had a colored pattern while the other side had the same pattern in a monochromatic color scheme.  I've used the monochromatic side of these two papers here.

I've also used two retired stamp sets for the sentiment: Vintage Type and Bingo Alphabet.  Look cute together, don't you think?

This cardis entering the following challenges:
1.  Color My Heart Color Dare - Use two CTMH paper packs
2.  Heart 2 Heart Challenge - go Green [I'm so happy to use up the scraps!]
3.  Monday Lunchtime sketch challenge where the original sketch looks like this:

Wishing you well

A quick post to share a card that uses one of my favorite stamp sets - Take Luck.  It has images of four-leaf clover, a horse shoe, a banner saying "Good Luck" and my favorite one is that it says "love means to wish someone well."  Every time I read this my heart is warmed.

Because we are so close to St. Patrick's Day, I really need to give this stamp set an opportunity to see some ink:

This card is based on a sketch from Mojo Monday:

Love this sketch!

This card didn't tae me to long to make.  The Wishing you Well circle was cut from Cricut cartridge at 1.5"  (just perfect size) then the scalloped circle was punched out by the 2" scallop punch from CTMH.  The four-leaf clovers were stamped in second generation to create a faded look for the sentiment in New England Ivy.  I love playing with the seam binding ribbon!  Just a couple drops of Olive re-inker and some rubbing alcohol the ribbon turned Olive!

This card is also entering the challenge at
1.  The Pink Elephant - Happy St. Patrick's Day
2.  Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Go Green
3.  Papercraft Star - Green
4.  Use it Tuesday - Diecuts, Punches and Cutouts
5.  Mojo Monday

Thanks for stopping by!

Bunny

I saw the sketch at Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge and wanted to play along!  In particular, I wanted to put the bunny in the big circle!

The sketch looks like this:

The bunny in the card looks like this:

I'm using Bamboo cardstock to make the card base,  and the bunny sits in the circle matted with Buttercup then Twilight.  The banners are Sweet Leaf, Blush and Buttercup.  Yes, it is the Chantilly patterned paper again.  Love this paper!

This card is also participating in Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Go Green!

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper crafting?

I love ribbons.  One of the reasons is that I have to mail most of my cards and ribbons add a lot of touch to a card without adding a lot of bulk! 

Ribbons can do a lot.  I like to use them to make a rosette!  Today I'm sharing this ponytail holder that I made out of ribbon:

I know a little girl that loves hair accessories (well, a big girl like me loves hair accessories too! lol) so I've made her a ponytail holder.  It was made up of retired Close to My Heart Sweet Leaf ribbon, a Sweet Leaf button and retired Bohemian assortment embellishments, and of course, a scunci.  The little girl has dark hair so I'd use a black one.

This accessory is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart challenge - Go Green. 

Isn't it cool to use our paper crafting supplies to make non-paper products?

Thanks for stopping by!

Stepping outside of comfort zone

My style has been CAS but sometimes I do wanna try things that are not so CAS.  I saw the sketch at Sketchbook Saturday Challenge and thought it should be the time to step out of my comfort zone.  The sketch looks like this:

Using Chantilly paper pack, I've made this birthday card:

Yup.  Apart from participating the challenge at Sketchbook Saturday challenge, this card is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Spring forward.  Don't you just love the Chantilly colors?

A Bird-day card

Just want to share a quick birthday card.  I happened to be thinking of this old stamp set so I dug it out to give it some love.  Since I wanted to put the birdie in a cage sitting on a long stand, the sketch from Seize the Birthday is just perfect for that:

My "bird-day" card looks like this:

This card made use of the retired stamp set called "Love Birds".  I just love this set!  After putting a strip of Chantilly patterned paper on the left, I stamped the Sweet Leaf panel with the music and hearts tone-on-tone with Sweet Leaf Ink.  I've masked the birdie before stamping the cage, then colored the birdie with colored pencils, added some pearls and heat embossed the sentiment on a piece of Twilight cardstock.

Guess what?  I've tried to stamp the birdie right on top of the cage.  That should better portrait the reality because the bird is sitting in the cage.  However, I guess I want to set the birdie free or I just want to make it more pop, I've decided to mask it off.

This card has so much in Sweet Leaf so it is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart challenge - Go Green! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Wishes...

Does making more Spring-themed cards help Spring arrive sooner?  I sure hope so!

I am so looking forward to Spring indeed.  There are days that it is warmer and I see some buds in the tree branches but in general it has not fully gone into Spring effect.

Nevertheless I will continue to make more Spring-themed cards because I love the Chantilly paper so much!

Today's card is a birthday card:

This card is using the sketch at Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge:

and it is entering the challenge at Heart 2 Heart challenges - Spring.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care

Have you sprung forward?  To me it feels that I will lose an hour of crafting, or I'll sacrifice an hour of chores so I could craft.  (Shhhh..........)

I have prepared a Spring card for a couple of challenges:

I've used Cricut Artiste to cut the two "halves" of the clover (Valentine button).  I really wish either Cricut Artiste or Cricut Art Philosophy has a four leaf clover, but well, exercising our creativity isn't so bad.

This card is entering the following challenges:
1.  Heart 2 Heart Challenges - spring
2.  Bitten by the Bug - So Lucky Shamrock challenge
3.  Black Tie Friday - Ribbon, Buttons, Brad (but we get to pick two!)
4.  Gingerloft challenge - the color Green

Thanks for stopping by!

A Rainbow

Just want to share a super CAS card today.  I stamped the sentiment "Happy Birthday" in Archival Black ink, then used watercolor pencils to create the rainbow behind it.  Finally, I used a waterbrush to blend the colors and added some blings to finish it.

It is not only CAS, but also QAE - quick and easy for me.

This card is entering the challenge at OLW - Centered Sentiment, and CAS on Sunday - Happy Birthday.

Thanks for stopping by!