12 Tags of 2014 - November

Just a quick post to show my not-so-successful November tag here:

I knew that I'd be playing the 12 tags rather late, so I bought the snowflake die + embossing folder set instead of the leaf set. 

Unfortunately I don't have the foil sheet that Tim Holtz used on his tag, so I tried using whatever I have on hand.  The distress glitter wasn't the best choice.  But the good news is that I could die cut a huge "NOEL" from a mirror sheet and stick it across the snowflake so the failure on the snowflake isn't that obvious.  LOL.

Go check out other entries at Tim Holtz's 12 tags of 2014.  You will find loads of inspiration there!
Thanks for stopping by!

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

Don't you think it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?  We already celebrated Thanksgiving and some of you may have grabbed the best deals on Black Friday, and today is the last day of November, which means that Christmas is less than a month away! 

I have most of my Christmas cards done and have to start mailing them out next week.  Many of my cards will be sent to friends and relatives overseas so it is not early at all.  My local celebration is starting the first weekend of December so those bulky cards for local friends will be given out at that occasion.  We all wish we had more time for card and gift preparation, don't we?

But I've learned that most people who receive my card do not care if the cards are not "publication-worthy."  They are happy to receive the card and never notice that the inks have smudged or if the placement of the snowflakes does not follow the rule of three.  To the contrary, many of them ooh and ah and wonder how certain things were done.  I said most people because most people in my life are not crafty.  For my crafty friends I do pay more attention to the details.  But I'll say, all cards were made from my heart!

I'm sharing a card today that was inspired by Day 3 of Kristina Werner's Holiday Card Series 2014.  I love her sky background and have to try it out myself:

I love it so much that I've actually made two!  I made one starting from the lightest color (bottom, Antique Linen) and the other starting from the darkest color (the top, Black Soot).  I would think that it is natural to start from the lightest but guess what?  I like the one starting from Black Soot better.  I think that one has colors blended much better but that could be due to the practice from my first attempt.  Looks like I'll have to make a third one to decide which is the better way to go.  LOL.

I'm entering the card to the following:
Catered Crop - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Amusing Challenge - Anything Goes
Weekly Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes
Crafting When We Can - Clean and Simple
Craft to Celebrate - Waiting for Christmas
My Perfect Life - Christmas

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

I am grateful for a lot of things and I'll share those that are craft-related here.

First, I am grateful that I have easy access to craft supplies.  There are a lot of wonderful companies that manufacture craft supplies of excellent qualities, and I understand that those who live in certain parts of the world do not have quick and easy access to them.

Second, I am grateful that the crafting world is a wonderful community.  Many papercrafters love to create hand-made gifts for others and preserve memories by scrapbooking.  They are some of the greatest and kindest people in my life.

I am grateful for each of you that stopped by my little blog and spend time with me.  This blog has always been my "creative diary" and I'm thankful that you are here to leave me kind words and comments.

I've made a simple card for today:

I'll admit that any simple card could take me ages to finish.  For this card, the longest time was spent on creating the background - I used Cricut Explore and Close to My Heart Artiste cartridge to cut the leaves.  The next challenge was the big leaf you see on the left.  I've tried many many leave images as I wanted to do some coloring so badly.  Unfortunately none of them went well so I opted to die cut this one from the Stitched Leaves set from Lawn Fawn.  For the last step I added a banner with an embossed sentiment to finish off the card.

I'm entering my card to the following:
4 Crafty Chicks - Die cuts
Crafty Creations - Embossing
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafty Sentiments - Die cuts
Bitten by the Bug 2 - Thanksgiving

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Hello Deer

It seems that it has been forever since I last entered any card challenge.  I miss challenges!  I miss my craft desk!  There has been quite a few impromptu visits from friends and relatives and thus I have not been able to sit at my craft desk and create.  I'm back, even though it will be a short window between now and Thanksgiving.  Are you ready for the holiday season?

I have not got everything ready but I have decided that that if I can't finish everything, everything will still be just fine.  This season is about being thankful for what we have, not about focusing on what we forgot to prepare.  I am thankful that everyone in my family feels the same way.

Now onto today's card.  I wanted to make a Christmas card and started with the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

Do you see the subtle stars in the background?  That got me into thinking what to do for the longest time.  I first wanted to use a stencil but most of my stencils are too small.  I thought about using patterned paper but I couldn't decide which one to use.  Finally I thought I could use one of the overlays in the Cricut Artbooking cartridge.  I tried out the star overlay and it worked very well!

I've added a deer die cut from Maggie Holmes Open Book collection.  When I bought it I could never imagine that I would be using it at all.  I like everything else in the die set but that deer.  How nice I could put it on a Christmas card!  That reminds me to go through my stash again because what I didn't like before could make me feel different now.

I tied the ribbon in a way that there wasn't any knot.  I punched two holes on the front then loop the ribbon through from the front, and criss-crossed it at the back, then thread it through to the front again.  I used to do it a lot on invitation cards but I doubt that I ever did it on other cards.  I guess I will do it more often though, I really like that I adds quite a bit of dimension but not as much bulk as a regular knot or bow.

In addition to entering my card to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, I'm also entering it to the following:
Crafty Calendar - It's all about Christmas
CHNC - Getting Ready for Christmas
We Do Doobadoo - Christmas
My Perfect Life - Christmas
Stamping Sensations - Simply Christmas

 

 

 

Mass production again

Even though I say mass production, I normally do not make more than 4 copies of the same card.  I like to switch up things a little bit to give it a new look, or at the very least, a different look.

The cards I am sharing today are almost identical, except for the color of the background.  Do you like the red background better or the green background better?

I first made the green one:

Then I thought I could make it in a different color so I went to grab my red cardstock to make this:

I wish I had some green baker's twine then the two cards could be a true mirror image of each other.  Oh well, red baker's twine is just as fine.

Here's a collage of both of them:

I can't decide which one I like better.  What about you?

I'm entering my card to the following:
Christmas stampin' all year long - Anything Goes
Completely Christmas - Anything Goes
Creative Corner - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Fun with Shapes and More - Christmas

Thanks for stopping by!

You Warm My Heart

I have a simple Christmas/Holiday card to share today.  :)  It is really simple but it took me a long time to finish it.

For this card, I started with the products I wanted to use:  the snowman stamp set and the Stitched Hillside border die from Lawn Fawn.  Naturally I would love to create a scene.  So I first created the snowbanks with the die, then added the snowman on it.  The snowman told me in a very sad voice that he was very lonely so I wanted to add some more to it.  I tried various things - trees next to him, a bird, another snowman but nothing seem to cheer him up.

Finally I  tried to add some snowflakes in the background and bingo!  That's exactly what the snowman wanted.  With the snowflakes the card looks a lot more lively.  The snowman is happy now!

I could have never imagined that this card could take me so long to finish.  It was a fun process nonetheless and I hope the card recipient will like it.

My card is entering the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
A Random Fan - Red, White and Green
Creative Card Crew - Christmas Joy
Our Daily Bread - Holiday
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes
Dream Valley - Getting Ready for Christmas
Crafty Cardmakers - die cuts

Thanks for stopping by!