One Stamp Two Ways

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to get the awesome stamp set Paper Garden, which is the Stamp of the Month in September.  You can buy the stamp at its regular price of $17.95 or make qualifying purchase of $50 and get this stamp for $5!

I totally forgot that I've never shared anything made with it and to compensate for that, I'm sharing two cards that used the same stamps but look totally different.  First up is this monochromatic one:

I inked up the flower and the sentiment in Goldrush, layered it on Kraft then Chocolate cardstock on a cardbase.

Then I wanted to make it super colorful:

I used the new and fun watercolor paints to create the background, then inked up the flower and sentiment in black.  Black silhouette image on colorful background is one of my favorites!  In case you are wondering, the sentiment comes from the stamp set called Finding the Words, which is a great set where you can make different combination of words to create your own sentiment!

Today also marks the last day to get the Exclusive Hello, Life! stamp sets.  You can buy any of the stamp sets for $13.95 or if you buy all three, it is only $34,95!  That's more than 15% discount!

I'm entering the colorful card to the following challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown - Clean and Simple
Addicted to Stamps and More - Clean and Simple
Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

One Amazing Day

Last December one of the destinations of our family trip was Antelope Canyon.  It was a place where even our GPS and navigation system had a difficult time to locate.  It was winter time and early in the morning when the sun was still behind the clouds.  Cold.  Windy.  Lost.

We wanted to go there because we learned that a landscape photographer sold  a photo taken there at $6.5 million!  See the info about this most expensive photo here.

Because it was too early, we didn't get enough sunlight to take good pictures of the passageway of the Canyon.  Further, my hands were freezing (even with gloves) and shaking.  I couldn't take any decent pictures. We had a hard time capturing the rocks, let alone our faces.   When we came out of the passageway, however, the change of lighting and temperature made a world of difference (before the tour, we were told that it was at least 10 degrees lower inside the passageway).  We started taking more pictures because our faces became "visible" again.  This is one that my mom and I took right outside the passageway.  The light was not good (the further we walked away from it the brighter it was) but we couldn't wait to capture it:

I used the Zoe paper pack to make this layout because the Sorbet color matches so well with the rocks of the Canyon. I've also used several images from The Authentic Life stamp set to create a journaling box and accents for my layout.  Of course the Zoe Complements is a must, even though I've only used one piece of the die-cuts. 

I first worried that a 4x6 picture on a 12x12 layout might get lost and the layout would have too much emptiness.  But I think the colors and patterns of the Zoe paper pack have totally eased my concern.  The layers and patterns balance with the picture nicely.  

One side note:  you see in the picture that I was holding a blanket.  No, that wasn't for me even though I am perpetually cold.  We had the blanket ready for my two-year old niece.  Towards the end of the tour she woke up from her nap and started walking on her own and didn't want the blanket anymore.  

I'm entering this layout to the challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges: Change.  It's the change of lighting and temperature that prompted us to take this picture and document this story on a layout.  "Change" can be broadly defined, go see other inspiring work by the talented Heart 2 Heart design team!

Calamari

Oh Boy!  It has been a week since I last posted.  Sorry about the silence here.

I do have another one-page layout using the cute Zoe paper to share today.

This picture shows the four of us sharing a small order of Calamari at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco earlier this year.  I couldn't take a better picture after my hands became greasy (and slippery too!)  The four of us meant to have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf but guess what?  We each had a different meaning of "having lunch at Fisherman's Wharf" in mind.  Eventually we had soup and sandwiches for lunch but we grabbed some snacks while strolling down Fisherman's Wharf.

I've mentioned countless times that I love Workshops on the Go offered by Close to My Heart, whether it is the scrapbooking kits or the cardmaking kits. I am the type of person who likes to spread out my supplies then choose from the pile when I create, so even though I enjoy the camaraderie at a crop, I often wonder how I can carry my whole craft area with me to a crop.  I used to spend a lot of time packing, then unpacking, and re-packing because I worried that I had forgotten something.  The time I spent on packing was no less than the time I spent at my friend's place.

Workshops on the Go kits make it much easier.  I just have to grab the kit, a few ink pads, the Zoe Complements and I'm all set to create layouts and cards while I am at a crop or my friend's place.  If you tend to go to crops a lot, I'd suggest that you try this out!  It will lighten your load by a lot and the time that would be otherwise spent on packing can be spent on creating!

Earlier this year, I took an online class taught by Kelly Purkey at Studio Calico.  In the class, Kelly shared her awesome sketches and the contributors shared their take of those sketches.  It was a wide opening experience to see how expert crafters interpret the sketch and use it on traditional scrapbooking, cards and pocket scrapbooking.  Don't get me wrong.  I love the patterns in our How-To programs, and I continue to consult with them whenever I have a creative rut.  For me, I really enjoyed to see how others understand and interpret a sketch and make it their own.

Back to my layout here.  I've used one of the sketches learned from the online class.  Unfortunately, I pretty much followed the sketch closely without much personal interpretation.  :P  I first used Slate Ink and the smaller stamps in the Zoe Workshop on the Go to create a tone-on-tone effect on the background.  Then I put on a large piece of the Sweet Leaf patterned paper in the middle as the focus.  I added a Sorbet pattern strip and photo mat behind the picture, and some Zoe complements around it.  Below the picture are a few Cricut cut outs from Artbooking cartridge.  I cut out the title using the Artiste cartridge and finished it with my journaling.  I noticed that the vellum complements might not stand out enough so I added some white cardstock to make it pop more.  I like this sketch and I'm hoping to add more personal touch to it and make it my own!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Another Zoe layout

The more I am playing with the Zoe paper pack, the more I am in love with it!  I dug up some older photos and made a layout with it:

It is a pattern from Magic, a how-to program from Close to My Heart.  I have always liked this pattern.  That it is tilted at an angle adds quite a bit of fun.  Early this year my mom and I visited Napa.  We visited a few wineries, did some shopping and enjoyed good food.  This picture was taken at Whole Foods and we couldn't resist trying out this gigantic spinner wheel.

I like that this pattern involves a circle, which coordinates with the spinner wheel in the picture.  I've used the zip strip of one of the patterned paper.  Did you see the vertical strip with months and days listed?  I've used two small triangles to indicate the date this picture was taken.

The title was cut with the font from Close to My Heart Artfully Sent cartridge.  I added some Zoe complements here and there, and some Coral shimmer trim.  For the bottom panel, I've added some tone-on-tone stamping with the stamp set from the Zoe Workshop on the Go.  Easy to add some interest to this otherwise plain panel!

A really fun part when I was making this layout was to include the *new* watercolor paints.  I felt that the top right and bottom right corners were a bit bare so I added some white splat to those areas.  I added water to the well that contains white paint, then loaded up my brush with white paint, then just tabbed the brush end to let the paint drop in those areas.  Oh I used a smaller brush so the drops are smaller.  And I had covered up the picture before I did that.  I didn't like the paint to fall on the picture, but you may like it that way!  This is a technique that we have limited control.  That's ok.  Let go of your usual self and let the paint drops fall on where they wish.  The results will be different every time.  That makes it fun, doesn't it?

This picture brings back all the fond memories.  At this moment, however, Napa county and Sonoma county are few of the most affected communities due to the massive fire.  My prayers go to the residents there.

My layout is entering the challenge at
Lasting Memories - Ink Splatters with mixed Alpha/Fonts Letters
Heart 2 Heart Challenges - Splat

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I have been having a lot of fun playing with the Close to my Heart Zoe paper.  Love the colors and the patterns!  They are easy to work with and very versatile.  Because of that I have been making layouts with it non-stop.  Thus far I have made 5-single page layouts and I'll be sharing them here on my blog and pinterest.  Stay tuned!

Today I am sharing a card that didn't make use of the Zoe paper.  Instead, I was inspired by the color scheme of it.  It's a birthday card for my dad:

I've used Pear cardstock as the background, then used the stamp from the Zoe Workshop on the Go to fill the background.  Tone on tone is one of my favorite stamping techniques!  It adds interest but doesn't make it too busy.

The sentiment was one that I designed on Cricut Design Space using the Cricut Artfully Sent fonts.  I first created an open circle, then lined up each letter to the circumference of it.  It was quite a bit of work but I totally love it!  Further, the designed shape can be scaled up or down and used for many many cards! I cut it first in Slate cardstock then three more times in White Daisy cardstock.  The cut outs are stacked to create some three dimensional effect.

"Dad" was created similarly, except it is a lot easier.  The font used was from Cricut Artbooking.  I like to weld the letters - it's much simpler to stick one word then one letter at a time.  This time I have two "Dads" stacked up.  I like that it is not on the same level as Happy Birthday.

Another source of inspiration was from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've used its sketch as a starting point:

I'm also linking up my card to:
Cards Und More - Clean and Simple
Ruby's Rainbow - It's a Man's World
Retarte - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending You Happy Thoughts

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope my US friends are enjoying their long weekend.  I sure do enjoy this extra day that gives me extra time to play at my craft desk. :)

It has been ages since I played along any challenges.  Since it is Monday, I'm playing with Mojo Monday Challenge.  I have already made many layouts with the Close to My Heart Zoe paper, but I still have quite a bit of scraps left.  The scraps, together with the new For Family stamp set, are just perfect to create this card:

I've followed the sketch carefully:

I'm also entering my card to the following:
All sorts challenge - lots of layers
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Stamp and Punch/Die Cut

I'll be sharing the layouts later.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

The *New* Annual Inspirations and Holiday Expressions are here!

The new 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations and Holiday Expressions are live and you can check them out here.
If you want to make any purchase, you can shop with me here.

The 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations is full of eye candy.

I am amazed by the fun new products and the beautiful artwork included.

The Holiday Expressions is just as awesome.  It focuses on the Holiday-themed paper Nevermore for Halloween and White Pines for Christmas.

Not into making layouts or cards for Halloween?  How about some home decor items?

If you want to jump start on making Christmas cards, the White Pines Cardmaking Workshop on the Go Kit will be your friend:

September is National Stamping Month and whether you are a traditional scrapbooker, pocket scrapbooker or cardmaker, we have something to help you say "hello" to life.  There are three exclusive C-size stamp sets that are only available this month.  Get each of them fo $13.95 or all of them for $34.95 - a savings of $6.90!

These exclusive stamp sets coordinate with the new Artistry cartridge.  That will help you expand your artwork options even further. :)

Finally, I must tell you that the September Stamp of the Month is absolutely gorgeous.  I love silhouette images because they are oh so elegant.  Further, they are great for techniques!

Start browsing the new catalogs here and indulge yourself in the eye candy!

Thanks for stopping by!