Your Brightest Year Yet Workshop

I'm taking Your Brightest Year Yet Workshop by Amy Tangerine and feeling inspired to share what I have done so far.

I received the email about this class while I was on vacation in December 2019.  It has been a while since I took an online craft course so I thought, why not?  Frankly I was not even paying much attention to the contents or the format of the class when I signed up.

Amy Tangerine never disappoints us.  Her positive energy and good vibes, together with her style and bright colors, often bring a smile to my face and inspire me to play at my craft desk.  This course is no exception.  At first class Amy asked us to set an intention, and for me, it was to have fun.  Along with having fun, I have also discovered more about myself, a few of my favorite things, other crafters' enthusiasm in sharing their work and fun, etc.

There is still so much I want to add to the pages for Class 1 and Class 2, but I'll let it evolve organically, and if the end product does not present everything in order, I know I am having a lot of fun in making it!

Sharing some of the pages I've made so far:

I'm excited about next class!  If you'd like to know about the workshop, click here.

Happy 2020 and May it be your Brightest Year!

with hugs and love

This week I'm on call for jury duty.  I'm glad to serve the community.  While waiting, what's better than putting a new post on my blog?

I'm continuing with my mini-series of cards using the same Lawn Fawn set.  I can't say how much I love it enough!  Versatile, fun and pretty!

This time I'm using the sentiment that comes with the set.  My friend just needed a pick-me-up and I think it's perfect for her.  This card is so easy to make, and the sentiment in the center can be changed to anything.  Perhaps a "hello" or "thanks" die cut will make it super awesome too!

My card is linking up to the following:
Creative Moments - Anything Goes
Double D Challenge - Flowers Galore
Crafty Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

The Fab Flowers Stamp and die from Lawn Fawn is just an awesome set!  The flowers can be arranged in so many ways and of course with different color combinations the possibilities are endless.


When I first saw this set I didn't see I would fall in love with it but after I've bought it I couldn't stop playing with it!  This is the birthday card I made for my SIL:

I love that it is so easy and guess what?  Because you can always make something different with it, the novelty never wears away!




My card is entering the following:
Cards Und More - Cards for Women
Retarte - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day card

I hope you all had a fun National Scrapbooking Day last weekend. I went to a small crop with a friend and we sure had fun.


I didn't scrapbook but I got several cards done.  They all made use of the Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers stamp and die.  I didn't bring much with me to the crop and with that set, I made several cards.  So glad that I got my mom's and my grandma's Mother's Day cards completed. :)


This one goes to my mom:

I had so much fun making this one.  The one for my grandma is very similar.  Will share that soon.

This card is entering the following challenges:
Always Fun Challenges - For a Female or Mom
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Crafting with Dragonflies - Lots of Flowers/Mother's day

Thanks for stopping by!

Shaped birthday card

Happy Monday!

My blog has gone really quiet for the last two weeks.  I was travelling for work non-stop.  Although I like to be away from the office from time to time, I also miss the time that I can actually sit at my desk and focus on work.  Sometimes, spending hours a day on the road is draining, and if I hit traffic jams, I sing to the songs on the radio to keep myself entertained.

But things are getting back to normal and that means I'll have time to craft! :)

I'm sharing a birthday card today:

It is a shaped card and it makes all the difference!  So much fun!  The card front doesn't say happy birthday and honestly, I couldn't find a space to stamp that.  LOL.  The birthday cake itself will make it obvious. :)

My card is entering the following challenges:
In the pink - Birthday
Seize the birthday - Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon - Birthday boys
Stamps and fun - Animals
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

I'm sharing the last Easter card today.  It's the simplest one and doesn't have any interactive element.  I still like it for its simpleness:

A flat card is very postage-friendly! :)

My card is entering the following:
Crafting with friends - Anything Goes
Crafty Katz - Anything Goes
Kitty bee - Easter
Simply papercrafts - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Easter!

Easter card

Third Easter card of the week!  It's also an interactive card!

It is very simple to make, with the new Lawn Fawn goodies.  The Easter Egg spins on its own and also runs the circular track around the little chick.  I kept the rest of the card simple because I do not want too many distractions and if I add too many things, the egg may not run smoothly.

There are many things I want to do with this die.  It's so fun!

My card is entering the followgin:
Lawn Fawnatics - interactive card
Crafting with dragonflies - Easter
Simply paper crafts - anything goes
Kitty Bee designs - Easter

Thanks for stopping by!

Easter card

Another Easter card today!

This time it is much simpler, but it is still interactive:

The bunny is attached to a spring and it's fun to play with it:

I hope the two year old who will be receiving it will just like it as much as I like it!

This card is entering the following:
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes with a critter
A bit more time to craft - Anything Goes
Animal Friends - Easter
Craftaholics R Us - Easter
Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
Lawn Fawnatics - Interactive cards

Thanks for stopping by!

Easter card

I had a great Easter/Birthday party this weekend.  Now it's time to catch up on the rest of the Easter cards.

I have to prepare those that will be mailed out (hopefully they will arrive in time).  Here's one of them:

I had loads of fun making this one.  It did take me a long time as I wasn't sure what the best way was to decorate the card.  The silly me actually had assembled the card before the stamping.  The tiny images on the background were easy but the sentiment on the front panel was tough.  In fact the ink smeared and I cut another panel to cover it up.  After that I put a row of Easter eggs to cover the joint.  Shh.....

My card is linking up to the following:
Color Inspiration - Anything goes with hand-coloring
Artistic Inspiration - Easter
Always fun challenge - Anything goes
Stamp & fun - Easter
Lawn Fawnatics - Interactive cards

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

One-day Flash Sale!

My blog has been super quiet.  Yes, I am preparing for a big party which is tomorrow!  A lot of decor items to be made and I'm busy for that.  After that expect a few fun Easter cards!

I'm excited to share that Close to My Heart is holding another one-day flash sale.  It will start today at 3pm MDT and end at the same time tomorrow.  It's just ONE day.  You'll see a lot of product bundles from Annual Inspirations and Seasonal Expressions 1 at 30% discount!  Woohoo!

Click here to start browsing and when the clock hits 3pm, shop here!

Happy shopping!

Birthday card

I came to my blog and realized that several scheduled posts did not publish!  Oops.

But that's okay.  One of the scheduled posts was a birthday card that I decided not to give out to my nephew, because I've made another one more awesome!

The new Lawn Fawn goodies are so popular that it took a long time for my order to arrive.  I'm glad that I finally get to play with them and it is literally just in time for my nephew's birthday.

The pop-up card is certainly fun to make, and it's just as fun to color the astronaut and planets.  I hope my nephew likes it as much as I like making it.

Did you know that Lawn Fawn has started its own challenge? You can find the details here.  I look forward to participating in more of its challenges!

My card is linking up to the following:

Lawn Fawnatics - Happy Birthday

A gem of a challenge - boy's birthday

Polka Doodles - Anything Goes

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You

I am sharing a Thank You card today.  Check it out to see if you can find a boo-boo:

What do you think?

If you look at the green slope, You'll see two layers.  The bottom layer has the stitched details while the front does not.  What happened was that when I ran the die on the paper, I put the die in the wrong direction, so the part with the stitched details was too small to ground the bunny and that's the last small piece of green patterned paper.......

Time to be creative!  So I layered those two pieces, the front one doesn't have the details but the details from the bottom one will peak through.  Not too bad, right?  This card will go to my co-worker, who is not a crafter, so I guess she won't notice the difference. :p

My card is entering the following:
Color Inspiration - coloring
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Incy Wincy Designs - Thank you cards
Crafty Hazelnuts - Patterned paper

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

March promotions

It is a little late but better than never. :p

Let's look at the promotions offered by Close to My Heart this month:

First up it's the Stamp of the Month:

It is nice and sweet.  Not only is it good for your friends who are tea drinkers but you could use it for Thank you cards and Mother's Day cards!

Some projects that may inspire you:

This set will be great for us to practice coloring using your favorite medium!

The second campaign is Cut it Out!

Yes, you've read it right!  All thin cuts are 25% off this month.  What a steal!

Click here to start shopping!

Birthday card again

This time I'm sharing a birthday card for a one-year old.  Little James turned one!  Time flies.

The stamp set Party Animal from Lawn Fawn is always a wonderful helper in making birthday cards.  Here, I only needed this one stamp set that has all images to make this card.  I like that I could use the small images to create a subtle background like it is some patterned paper.  I added a star shaped die cut as the focal point for the bear and the birdy.  Finally I cut out a banner for the greeting.

This card came together at no time, which was awesome as I was running late to his party. :p

My card is entering the following:
Jo's Scrap Shack - anything goes
Cut it up - birthday cards
Come and get it - cards for kids
The Paper Players - cut it out

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday card

I have a few birthday parties to go to in March so I'm whipping up birthday cards.  Many of them are guys so they will challenge my creativity!

I started making one for Carlos, a soon-to-be 89 years old.  Wow.  I have seen him many times over the years at parties or celebration but I never knew his age.  I couldn't believe he is approaching 89!  He is definitely young at heart!

I decided to make a cute card for him, using some new Lawn Fawn goodies!  I love pinked circles so I have to have this new zig zag circle stackables.  The Happy die is fun and super versatile too!  And I just can't get enough the birdies from love letters.  Absolutely fun and easy for making quick cards.

So I got one done.  Tomorrow I'm going to my friend's son's 1 year old party.  Need to make another one now!

My card is entering the following:
Seize the Birthday - Birthday
Inky Chicks - birthday
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes

Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

One more wedding card

Today I am sharing another wedding card.  I used the same stamp and same ribbon but different papers and sketch from this one from last Friday - and this card gives a very different feel:

This one seems much softer, don't you agree?    

I was really uncomfortable when I was asked to prepare wedding cards but now that I've made two, I'm happy to report that my comfort zone has expanded! :)

My card is entering the following:
Crafty Calendar - love is in the air                                                                                                                 Crafty Purple Frog - love is all around
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Heartful stamping - Anything Goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Happy Wedding Day

My mom asked me for two wedding cards and I'm happy to oblige.

But I must say that I don't make that many wedding cards........ so I need to get some inspiration.  As usual, I went to my stash and checked those items that are love-themed.  I found an older set of Close to My Heart paper called Veranda (still love this paper although it is rather old).  That's perfect!

I used a sketch from Make it from Your Heart to create this card:

Guess what?  I've spent more time looking for the right products than making the card itself.  Well, it happens very often but this time, search for the products look at least 5 times as long as making the card. :P  Is that a sign that I should purge more?

My card is entering the following:
Craftaholics R Us - love
Crafty Purple Frog - Love is all around
Paper Creator - Love is in the air

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Hello!

I love sending Hello cards.  It is one of the most versatile type of cards - great for lazy crafters like me.

Hello cards are similar to all-purpose cards for me.  It says "Hello" on the outside but you could write anything you like on the inside.

When I made the V-day mermaid card last week, I colored additional images and of course I'm making a second card with them:

Simple and neat, right?  I used several shades of blue for the sea, and a dark shade of blue for the card base.  Although it is a mermaid on the card front, the blues could make it a guy card.  Love this idea! :)

My card is entering the following:
Crafty Friends - anything goes
Cardz 4 Guys - underwater
Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Mermaids

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and love card challenge is everywhere!

Over the years I have bought a lot of V-day products but never have much opportunity to use them.  Inspired by the challenges I decided to break open some of my products and play with them.

I've made a card using Mermaid for You from Lawn Fawn:

Yes, it is another clear card!  I still have the pack of clear cards laying on my desk and I can't resist using it!

This Mermaid for You set is so fun and while I have the supplies ready, I've made a Hello card for my friend whom I haven't seen for a while.

This card is entering the following:
AAA cards - Shape your love

Addicted to stamps - love
Come and get it - love is in the air
Dragonfly Journeys - love is in the air
Just us girls - hearts

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentine's Day!

Whale you be mine?

Although I am quite romantic at heart (since I was a romance novel junkie) I am not too big on celebrating V-day.  Once upon a time I saw a movie where the boyfriend pisses off his girlfriend as he took her to some random non-romantic places to dinner with his friends on V-day.  They broke up soon as girlfriend thought he wasn't a romantic person.  Boyfriend argued that V-day had nothing to do with romance as it was just an occasion for business to encourage consumers to spend.  Boy did he piss off his girlfriend?

As for me, I make V-day cards just for fun.  I also notice that I have many sets dedicated to V-day that haven't seen any ink yet.  Oops.  So to give my stamps some love, I decided to make a V-day card.

It's a clear card!  Isn't it fun to switch up the card base to something other than cardstock?

My card is entering the following:
Cards in Envy - Be My Valentine
Coloring in Scrapland - Love
Crafting by Designs - Love and Romance
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!