Meeting Lin and Savannah!

When I stumbled back into card-making in the Fall of 2008, I thought I was merely re-learning my love of paper-crafting. Little did I know that it would also open a NEW world of making long-lasting friendships with some of the most amazing people in the world.

My recent vacation in Orlando, Florida gave me another chance to connect with my mentor and friend whom I have known for over 2 years-- Lin!  To add to that as a bonus, I met the SWEET Savannah (whom I have known through our DT from Etsy Inspired Challenge since last summer).. She fast became my new young best friend even since!

Here's a video for you. I must confess that I am a little very much embarrassed about this video as I seemed to be a crazy and overly excited woman (to put it mildly)! Nevertheless, I am sharing with you as it gives you an idea what it's like to meet my BIG sis Lin and the sweet Savannah!

Big thanks to our DHs (Denny and Dr.John) and my children who joyfully make this possible. We had lunch together at the Wave restaurant in Disney's Contemporary Resort. As you can see, I was proudly wearing the famous Hero Arts Pin Flower that Lin made especially for me!

Savannah enjoyed her chili as we chatted about all things related to cards. I even shared some tips about cooking with Savannah as she is determined to learn to cook and bake more (Say NO to eating out, Savannah!). Savanna is SO talented that she shared a few of her published work in the upcoming issue of Papaercraft  March/April issue and CARDS. Huge congrats, Sav, on your pub!!

Here's a dessert that we three shared

We took the monorail and explored the grounds in the Polynesian Resort

The surroundings were absolutely stunning....we all felt that we were living in a dream!

We managed to spend 5-6 hours together! It was super short, but oh...so fun!

I was beyond thrilled to finally see Lin in person . When it was time to say good-bye, my son David said: "Here's comes the water works!!"  And yes, my tears poured right out! Thank you, Lin, Denny and Savannah for driving 3 hours to see me and my family. I will always remember this special day!

It's Oscar Night !!

I won't keep you long here today! Since it's Oscar night (details here) , I am sharing a fun dress card!! This is likely something that I would wear if I EVER wear it on the red carpet.... (LOL)!

I used the Sew Artsy Set for the entire card. The top part of the dress is from two pieces of shiny ribbons and the "skirt" is made with silver paper. Add gems--voila!

I wonder which movie is going to win the Best Picture award!? I saw King's Speech and it's likely the winner! Hello, Colin!.... Look here!....I think he likes my dress :)

edited note: I'm home from Florida (arriving 3AM!!). My family and I had a FABULOUS time meeting Lin and her DH Denny. I also got to meet our new blog friend Savannah! I hope to share photos soon some time next week. I guess in Disney World, dreams do come true, as they say!

Etsy Inspired Challenge #128

Welcome to Etsy Inspired Challenge. Our Shop: The Hidden Alphabet. Winner Prize is 8x10 Personalized LOVE Print. Example here. Our Sponsor is  Paper And Roses

Winner prize - TBD

I used this photo as the inspiration

I used the sentiment as  the dominant focus as the inspiration photo and did a bit of tweaking...This card is made mostly with stickers (LOVE is from DCWV stickers; cherish, love, adore are from the SRM Stickers). The only part that I stamped is form Hero Arts Stamp (Sew Artsy). I love the faux-stitched lines and I then paper-pieced it. Super simple and sweet!

Please check out the DT's fabulous work!

Ashley, Angi, Carole , De

Emily, Jackie, Joy,

Kerry,   Ann Cox ( Feb. guest design)

Ruby, Savannah , Sherry

Virginia (you are here).

Please link your project to Etsy inspired Challenge here. Last but not the least, today is an exciting day, I'm planning to meet my Hero Arts Flickr friend Lin (who I dearly call "Big Sis") and Savannah (yup, my super sweet Etsy Inspired DT mate!!) YIPPEE! I will be coming back from Orlando, Florida today...bye to Mickey and back to the Great White North.. Oh well, I did get to have TONS of fun and will share as soon as I recover from the excitement.

Enjoying the Florida Sunshine...

Wow! I didn't check my blog/Internet for 5 days and I am missing all of your lovely comment. We have been VERY lucky with the sunshine in Florida...sunny EVERY day and all in the 20C/80F plus (sorry to rub it in with those of your dealing with the snow and ice)!!

The most incredible meal in the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa 

 

I had been to Disney World a dozen times now and I have always managed to find something fun to see and eat....

I am leaving you with some happy photos

It's a small world after all ! (photo credit from my DD Stephanie)

Cards with Washi Tapes

Japanese Washi Tapes have always been intriguing to me! Last summer my DD Stephanie came home from Singapore from her summer study, her souvenir for me were some gorgeous washi tapes! They are really the best little crafting supplies! So pliable and very forgiving! When I tape it crooked, these come right off and you can basically start all over again. And the SRM Stickers are just about the same!

I was prompted by the CREATE Blog and had to try to make some cards with washi tapes. I came up with two cards. I used Penny Black for the Eiffel Tower and Donna's amazing hand-dyed ribbons that she sent me( thanks, sweet Donna!). I am also entering these two cards for the Moxie Fab (Get Daring with Decorative Tape Challenge)

I pleated the brown washi tapes and made it into a little border. I also used the lacy washi tape for the corners.

The background is stamped with Hero Arts Musical background. Add the ribbons, gold heart and add the SRM sticker (follow your heart). Next is a simple card made without any stamps ( I know, hard to believe!).

This card took me about half an hour from start to finish. The "present" is a piece of chip board from previous projects. Here I also used two types of Washi tape.

All sentiments are from the SRM Stickers.
Edited note: The 2nd card (Happy Birthday) was featured in CREATE Blog. Thanks for stopping by!

ME--Scrapbooking Again!

I know.... it's been AGES since I made a layout! The large space in the page is always intimidating. But seeing some of the SRM team mates' gorgeous layouts recently, I'm inspired to try it again. I used the latest release of the Cosmo Cricket (Salt Water) paper. I realized it really helps to make a layout with GREAT paper products that all match! Gone are the days that I made the page "from scratch"!

I used the doily stamp and made the lace flower with the heart button for the embellishments. This photo is my DD Stephanie. The "photographer" was my son David who took the photo during our cruise last year. I used Life is Beautiful sticker

 

I love the stickers in this layout... it make the journaling task so much easier and meaningful!  Got to love that about them! And oh....I made the lace flower (string around the lace and add a button--ta-da!). I hope to make more scrapbook pages this year! How about you? Feel like scrapping?

A Kiss From the Frog!!

I know St. Patrick's Day is not till March 17, but I can't help making my first ever St. Patrick's Day card! I have this froggie image and I don't think I used enough of it. With the help of the SRM Stickers,  it kind of gave me a chance to do just that!

I used St. Patrick's Day-Express Yourself. If you look closely, you can see that I put the St. Patty's Day's definition sticker over the green ribbons. EASY! All I need is to do is play with the frog. Here I popped up the froggie's tummy with pop dots and added a small clover leaf sticker! The froggie's body was distressed with TH Distress inks.

For more St. Patrick's Day project inspirations, please stop by at the SRM Stickers ! THANK YOU! Now wouldn't you want to kiss the frog!?

Etsy Inspired Challegne #127

Welcome to this week's Etsy inspired Challenge! Our Shop is Claylicious. If you are a clay or owl lover, this shop will give you fabulous inspiration.

Winner Prize: handmade ceramic owl desk buddy -INSPIRE(see here)
Sponsor: Your Next Stamp

winner prize: $10 Gift Voucher

I used this group of owl photo as my inspiration

Aren't they CUTE? I have never made a card with a group of owls! So this gave me the idea...I used up the scrap of the colored /distressed Label 1 diecut from my stash. I inked and masked the owls and grouped them in a row.

I colored these owls in copic markers in front of TV! What  FUN!! I decided to give them all different of color combo so they each have their own personality! Our design team is sure going to WOW you again!

Ashley, Angi, Carole , De,

Emily, Jackie, Joy, Kerry, Ann (guest design)

Ruby, Savannah , Sherry

Virginia (you are here)!

Please link your project to Etsy inspired Challenge here. I appreciate your stopping by!

Live, Love, Laugh

I have always loved this sentiment: "Live, Love, Laugh". The first time I won something BIG was this birthday card that I made for my DD Stephanie's 20th birthday and that was the first time I used this sentiment.. I entered it for the Hero Arts weekly contest  (see here). That was a humble start of my avid card-making....Now that I have the pleasure of working with SRM Stickers, I made a new card with the same sentiment.

I incorporated a few colors, punches to make it into a window-like design. The card reminds me of Spring...Hello stranger! Spring is not far away now, I kept telling myself, but then when you look at my street... bbbrrr!!!

My son David in his snow shoes (it really helps to walk on a LOT of snow...)

I'm looking forward to a scene like THIS!

This is one of my favorite vegetables--Baby Bok Choy (it happens to be my favorite Scrapbooking friend  Jing-Jing's blog ID name). Isn't this photo the cutest?
edited note: This card was featured in Create Blog (Border Punch).

Get Sketchy # 74

It's been a little while since I play with the sketch design. The latest one at Get Sketchy #74 looks promising to me. 

I almost always have a pile of stamps on my craft desk and that's where my ideas come from...( tip: do NOT clean up the mess on your desk). And it looks like I'm not the only one that leave the mess as it is (see Ashley Newell's post as she shared her creative process). I often found my card idea by looking at what I have on my desk--seriously!! This card is the example from the mess!

I often felt inadequate as card-maker since I do not know how to sew---there, I said it!! Buttons, buttons and more buttons and that is all. I wish I had learned to sew when I was younger. Now I'm too intimidated to take up that skill. Well, thank goodness, faux-stitching came to my rescue! This Sew Artsy stamp set from Hero Arts was one of the winning prizes from Get Sketchy Challenge last fall. I didn't think that I can do much with it---wrong!! I have been loving the set as soon as I start creating with it ( here are some samples in case you miss seeing this post ).

I used the stitching stamps here for this card. And boy, I love that I can finally "sew"!! The sentiment is from SRM Sticker Wishing You Well  The bike and scooter image are from Joy Ride.

Thank so much for stopping by. And oh... do try the faux-stitching as it is SEW easy! I am wishing you well!

Two One-Layer Cards

I have been trying out more one-layer cards and find that it helps me think MORE on the design elements of a card. This time Jennifer at One Layer Wednesday # 40 challenged us to use two (and ONLY two) image stamps on your card. That’s right, just two. And no sentiment. You may not use each stamp more than once.You may also use the following AND ONLY the following: heat embossing and/or markers to colour your stamped images.  (edited note: I think I didn't get this rule right....oooops!!) I had to put my thinking cap on and came up with TWO cards with different style and takes.

The first one is about using unusual combination--Hero Arts Buttons and Speckled Ornament. As you can see that you normally will not put the two together, but they "work"....I think.

And for the 2nd card, I also used Buttons and paired it up with my new HA stamp International Skyline. I embossed the image in white and stamped the heart button over and then I paper-pieced the holes and then stringed  them up with a fine black pen (which I had done in previous cards--I should have tried something different here...oh well, next time!)

It's so neat to try a new and different exercise that makes you think. What stamps will you choose if you have only two stamps to use (and NO sentiment)? I wonder :)

Valentine's Card and Treats!

What makes Valentine's Day special? CARDS and TREATS, of course and let's not forget LOVE! I'm sharing a few cards and treats that I made recently. Hope they get you into the mood to create something sweet! I embossed the card in white over red card stock and used Martha Stewart's Candy border punch (1st time using this candy punch--got it for 75% off at Michael's last year) and stitched the red paper clip onto the center, then I added the ric rac and staples. Voila!

Next one is a Hello card to a friend who loves music. I like the partial stamping on the card with the music notes for the background.

And now I am sharing the treats that I made. The recipe is from the latest February 2011 issue of Bon Appetit (see Cocoa Layer Cake )

Here's the yummy result

I also made this Cocoa Brownies with Browned-Butter and Walnuts from the same issue

My brownies almost look like the ones in the magazine cover! Here's a photo of dessert (Chocolate-dipped strawberries) I had at my friend's house last week. VERY decadent?

And that was not all...here are some more! Caramel Bars, Chocolate Truffles and Macaroons (straight from Paris!)

Happy Valentine's Day!