It's your birthday!

I am sad to see that Card Patterns Weekly Sketch Blog will be discontinued soon.  I had such a great time participating in their challenges and am always inspired by the artwork created by the Design Team.

I cannot miss to participate in their very last challenge.  The sketch looks like this:

My card is made for my aunt who will be celebrating her 60th birthday:

Thanks for all the great sketches Card Patterns!  All the best for your future endeavors!

Celebrate

One of the perks of organizing your craft supplies is that you get to see the products from a different perspective. 

While I was putting away my stuff in the new storage unit , I saw the "You Rock" paper with the stamp set that came with Workshop on the Go.  Boy, the stamp set has been sitting there crying "use me!" without any response for two years.  So I've determined to use it in a project before putting it away (Note: this is one reason that my craft area can never be truly organized, I got distracted too often.  Just want to play with them rather than putting them away. :p)

I've chosen the sketch from CardPatterns to use the stamp set:

And my card using the You Rock paper looks like this:

Alright.  Back to organizing my stash.

Well Done!

As the busy week continues, I continue to seek sketches for help.  Today I've adopted a sketch from Card Patterns:

I wanted to use the Crusin' paper packet but after a lot of incubation time without satisfying result, I've turned to the Super Hero Workshop on the Go and made this card:

I think it will be good for my friend's little son who just received an award from school.

Materials used:
1.  Super Hero Workshop on the Go
2.  Moonstruck Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
3.  Cranberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
4.  Sky Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
5.  Sparkles - Clear
6.  Twill ribbon (retired)

Hip hip Hooray...

Have you seen the sketch on Card Patterns' blog this week?  It appears to be quite simple yet it has a lot of potential:

Since I am constantly in need of musculine cards, I've decided to make a manly card with the sketch:

What I really like about the card is that I'm using the back of a patterned black ribbon.  I am so happy that I can use it in an unconventional way.

Materials used:
1.  Crusin' paper packet
2.  Mini-Medley Accent Collection - Black
3.  Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
4.  Card Chatter - Birthday stamp set
5.  Black Floral Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Colorful Pennants from Dotty for You

I'm entering the challenge hosted by Card Patterns.  A sketch was posted last Saturday:

The sketch reminds me of the insert in the Dotty for You paper because one of them uses the pennants in a scrapbooking layout.  I think it works just we well when they are used on cards:

Because the pennants are colorful I chose Grey Wool and the other complementary patterned paper that the pattern is not too busy.  The combination works pretty well!

Materials used:
1.  Dotty for You paper packet
2.  White Daisy cardstock
3.  Bulk Ribbon - Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon
4.  Buttons - Pink Assortment
5.  Embellishments - Bohemian Assortment
6.  4 My Friends stamp set
7.  Grey Wool Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

For A Wonderful Mom

While we are approching the end of April, it means that the time to prepare Mother's Day card is becoming limited, especially I have to prepare a couple of them for my mom, my relatives and many of my friends.  I turned to my good friend Cricut, as I know she is my best friend when I have to clone greeting cards.  I've made a couple of Mother's Day cards using this sketch from

I have flipped the pattern upside down and made this card:

It is Dotty for You paper again.  The virtue of it is that I can make this card in bulk easily but the different color combination gives each card a different feel.  How nice!

Materials used:
1.  Dotty for You paper packet
2.  Colonial White cardstock
3.  Lagoon Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
4.  Sunset Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
5.  Seam binding ribbon
6.  Tulip reinker
7.  Buttons - pink assortment

Enjoy Life

We all have our ways to enjoy our lives.  One of the ways is, of course, crafting!

Kick Back, a stamp set from Close to My Heart, always reminds me of a vacation in Hawaii.  The sun, Hibiscus, waves......my mind has already gone to Hawaii.

I can't tell when my next vacation will be, but for now, participating in a challenge using the stamp set helps me relax!  The sketch from Card Patterns looks like this:

I used the Footloose paper packet and the Kick Back stamp set to create this card:

How I wish I could go in the pictue and sit under the sun and observe the waves!

Can you tell how many colors have I used on the sun?  The answer is three. 

The picture may not have picked it up well, but it involves two techniques to stamp the sun.  Because I wanted to give the sun a solid color, I first flipped over the stamp and use that as a stamp to create a yellow background.  Yes, I was using the side that generally sticks to the acrylic block as a stamp.  Then I flipped it back to normal and stamped the sun in Creme Brulee stamp pad, before it dried up I used the rock-and-roll technique to add some Goldrush to the edges of the sun.  I usually use the rock-and-roll technique on flowers or solid images, but my experiment today proves that it works on other images too.  Why don't you try it out?

Materials used:
1.  Footloose paper packet
2.  Kick Back stamp set
3.  Cocoa Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
4.  Sunny Yellow Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
5.  New England Ivy Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
6.  Lagoon Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
7.  Creme Brulee Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
8.  Goldrush Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

For you

I have missed the opportunity to participate in the challenge posted by Card Patterns on February 18, 2012.  However, the sketch is so cute that I still want to play along:

When I was preparing my card I cut only eight squares instead of ten.  Oops........

Because I only had eight squares, I had to improvise and I thought "For you" is not a bad idea.   What do you think?

Matierals used (All Close to My Heart products):
1.  Miracle paper pack (retired)
2.  Kraft Color-ready Borders (retired)
3.  Colonial White Grosgrain ribbon (retired)
4.  Buttons - Basic Assortment
5.  Vineyard Berry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
6.  Brad Assortment - Basic Assortment

Easter Greetings

Too early for Easter? I am with you.  In fact, I do want to make some St. Patrick's cards first.  It is just that I found a card sketch online which is perfect for my Easter Stamp set so I start my Easter cards early:

One of the reasons I wanted to try this sketch is that I wanted to use the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection to cut out the oval and the scalloped border.  The shapes match perfectly with the bunny:

Materials used (All Close to My Heart products):
1.  Colonial White cardstock
2.  Mayberry Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
3.  Smoothie cardstock
4.  Bulk Ribbon - Colonial White (retired)
5.  Buttons - Basic Assortment
6.  Choclate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
7.  Watercolor Pencils
8.  Sensational Season stamp set (retired)

Many Thanks - Card Patterns Sketch 151

I am falling in love with using the card patterns found online.  I came across Card Patterns, a Weekly Sketch Blog, and saw this sketch:

I was attracted to the clean and simple sketch and was about to make another Valentine card.  Yet I wanted to take a step further - can I make it a Musculine card?  Yes, I can!

It was fun to turn the sketch into this musculine card.  The star is my favorite piece.  Here are the materials used to make this project (All Close to My Heart products):
1.  Kraft cardstock
2.  Bamboo cardstock
3.  Bulk ribbon - Cocoa
4.  Hemp - natural
5.  Embroidery Floss Neutral Assortment
6.  Victory Workshop on the Go stamp set
7.  Thoughful Tidings stamp set (February 2012 Stamp of the Month)
8.  Bamboo Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
9.  Barn Red Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
10.  Twilight Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
11.  Desert Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad