Simple Butterfly Card

Sorry that I lied changed my mind....I decided to make a CAS card for this challenge (again...my VERY LAST... I think). There is no flower, no distressing and just the good old-fashioned embossing.  I thought the design of the butterfly stamp (from Antique Engraving ) is perfect for the Botanical theme. The butterfly looks like the specimen straight from the bygone Biology class, don't you think?

 

 I love pairing this stamp up with Basic Grey paper ( Out of Print and Basic White ) . The butterfly was embossed in Martha Stewart red embossing powder. The hand -stitching were added for the extra touch. The sentiment is from SRM Stickers . It really IS a simple card! Have a great summery day!

Botanical Flowers--Again!

Are you tired of my botanical flowers? I promise... this is my last entry for the Fanatical About the Botanical Challenge at Moxie Fab World. I had the feeling that I will become a fanatic if I keep this up... (LOL)!  To add the extra fun and challenge, my daughter Stephanie suggested me to make a card based on the inspiration from this "Bon Appetit" cover. What a TASK! She thought the color combo are so cool, refreshing....and delicious!! I think she is right!

With the colors, I came up with this....

Stamps: Hero Arts (Earth Flowers)

Supplies: May Arts ribbon, TH Distress Inks (Weathered Wood, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed), SRM Stickers, Fiskar punch, Glossy Accent

  I wish I could re-take the photo of the card (the frame should be brown, but it's a tad too dark!!) ...but I need to pack and ...so much to do before the trip. Now go get yourself a piece of Lemon Meringue and Blackberry Pie!  

PS: for all the details about CAS-ual Fridays' challenge, please scroll down to the previous post . Sorry ...that post has no card for you to see. The Lawn Fawn stamps did not arrive in time for me :( 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #13

Hello, it's Friday and that means another new challenge at CAS-ual Friday.

Our sponsor:

The challenge: create a 4x9 card. Resist the urge to fill it and embrace the "white" space

This sounds like FUN!!!!!

Unfortunately my Lawn Fawn stamp did not arrive in time due to the Canada post strike a few weeks ago and we are still playing catching-up! I also don't own any LF stamps (boohoo). So no card today. BUT that should not stop you from playing! 

Please link up your project by  Aug. 3, Wednesday, midnight Eastern Time to CAS-ual Fridays . Have fun making a tall card! 

Simple Paper-Piecing

I found out that Two Peas in a Bucket has a month long vendor's challenge. So I jumped on the bandwagon. See details here. I made simple paper-pieced  card with Basic Grey (out Of Prints).

Originally I made this for publication, but then I got busy and then it's almost too late to submit---oh well :)

 
The sentiment is from SRM Stickers. The card is pretty much self-explanatory!! Notice the gem and floss details for the stencil flower?

 That is as fancy as it can get from me!
Have GREAT day!!

More Botanical Flowers

 Have you ever had used one set of stamps and then you just can't stop playing with that set? Well, this Real Flower set really has my interest peaked! This is my second entry for the Moxie Fab World's Fanatical About Botanical  challenge. The deadline is Aug. 8, so there 's still lots of time to enter!!

My previous card really got me thinking....that perhaps I should go big and bold with the flower. So here is the result. I had so much fun layering the flowers and background with different shades of colors (Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Fire Brick--center only)  and textures. This is really what I love about stamping. You can layer different colors, especially with clear stamps, it works like a charm!

And at the end, I decided to add some faux stitching.  I don't know what got to me.....I took out my Tim Holtz ruler and started to paper-piece the holes. Somehow the line had gone terribly crooked, to my dismay!!
Noooooooo!!! After a few minutes, I gathered myself....., I took a BOLD move and paper-pieced the holes along the crooked lines and made another crooked line...and there you see two curvy faux stitching! I actually LIKE it ....a lot!

I {heart} happy stamping accident! 

  
 By the way I'm still here....I haven't gone on vacation yet. I will have a few blog posts for my DT and perhaps a little giveaway coming up?  AND I have a secret guest design gig coming up. So yeah, you still have to come back   you are not seeing me disappearing just yet.

Did You Know...

.....that I will be taking a little vacation soon? I bet you are tired of coming to my blog to comment time after time. I think YOU need a break! Well, that time has come! I will be off to to one of the most beautiful places on earth--Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada.

 These stunning photos were taken by Dr. John from our last trip there in 2006.

 

 It's recommended as the most scenic place to visit, so you should put that on your bucket list. I plan to explore a bit at the lake and see the scenery up close and personal. And maybe see some wild life...

 

I also plan to do the proper afternoon tea at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

 
 Here are two cards to make you smile. I made this one two weeks ago for the Hero Arts Scramble challenge. 

 And this one....I used hot pink felt and white Styrofoam...and of course, coffee sleeves for the cones.

Lastly, my Monday Feature....

What is Dr. John thinking about CHA that was just wrapped up in Chicago?

I didn't make it to CHA, but I told him that I really should have! This was overheard from our conversation when we had the dinner out last Friday...

Dr. John: " Hmmm......so what am I going to do when you are at CHA? Do a "make and take"?--kind of cheeky of him to say that and I assume that he wants to tag along!

Virginia: " That's an idea...." (uh...what can I say!?)

Dr. John: " I know!!!!  I'll go talk to Tim Holtz!"

Virginia: "....About... WHAT?" (I looked at him in the eyes and thought that he is nuts)

Dr John: " Keep Calm and Carry On...and stop distressing!!" 

 THAT sounds like a plan :)

Happy Day!

I just want to share a card from the challenge at CREATE Blog (using baker's twines).I find myself using the twines a lot more in my projects. Late last year I ordered some baker's twine from The Twinery and I LOVE them so much! Here's my take for a card with twines. You can see it featured here.

 

 I stamped the kite image from The Stamps of Life onto the new Basic Grey Paper "Out of Print" and made a CAS card. The sentiment is from SRM Stickers.

 It was truly a Happy Day last Wednesday. Not only I found out about my win for the Moxie Fab Stamp It challenge and that the card will be published (!!), my daughter Stephanie also got the offer of a full-time position. She started out as part-time research assistant at the university here in May. That all happened on the SAME day! So this card is most appropriate in depicting my excitement that day! I will cherish it.

The "...did you know" feature is coming up next. Happy day! 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #12

Hello, Friday! Let's get our CAS-ual Friday Challenge started!  

Our challenge is to create CAS projects with rub-ons or stickers!!  If you don't have rub-ons, stickers will be GREAT!

Our sponsor is EAD Designs

 guest designer Ann Cox

 I'm happy to get a hold of the EAD Stickers to work on my project today. As you know, stickers are dear to me and I love incorporating them into my cards/projects!

 This card came really easily together! I applied the hot air balloon stickers to the new Basic Grey (Out of Print) Paper and place them along with the cloud stickers and that's IT!

 

Have fun and please link your creation to CAS-ual Fridays by Wednesday, July 27 midnight Eastern Time.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!


Lastly, I want to thank you for the wonderful and heartfelt congrats on my win at Moxie Fab Stamp It Challenge. I'm still basking in the glow and now have a permanent smile on my face :)

Botanical Flowers

BREAKING NEWS! 

Did you see  this from Moxie Fab World?  Be. still. my. heart.......
What awesome news to wake up to!! I broke out and cried  got teared up a bit...I am still in shock! And did you know.....that card was my initial submission to Papercraft (Jan/Feb 2012) and did NOT make it? I am so glad that I re-entered it for this challenge!! Oh ...I'm still in shock!! One of my goals this year (and the last and before) was to win a Moxie Fab challenge, my wish finally came true today! I have all of you to thank for and cheer me on!! I will have to find a way to celebrate it (margarita, anyone?)  today.... Yippee!!

And now we return to the regular schedule of program post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 When I saw the stamps called Real Flower at Scrapfest this year, I didn't think I would know how to make this set shine! But I figured..".just get it, you never know!" I am sure you can relate to that feeling when you see a new stamp set that is not your usual style.  

The current challenge Fanatical About Botanical at Moxie Fab World prompted me to try out this set some more. The design of these flowers are definitely realistic and are perfect for the challenge! Here's my take using this set for the challenge.

I made this into a square card. The 4 squares measure 1.8 x1.8 inch. I chose the smaller stamps from the set. First I stamped with text and then built up the colors with varies of shades and size.  Lastly, I applied the newly-released SRM Stickers ( see Fancy Sentiment-thank you) .

The twine and buttons were added for the final touch. Thank you for leaving me such positive feedback and sweet comments. They are so addictive... I think that's why I keep posting (LOL)!! 

Wee Memories #62

I am joining the fun on making CAS card at Wee Memories Challenge #62. 

 Since it's sponsored by The Stamps of Life, I'm using my one and only set from The Stamps of Life called kites2fly.  With a bit of paper-piecing, masking, added textures and patterns, this card is as easy as can be. Lastly, I added the twines for a little extra color and interest.

I am also entering this card for Simon Says Stamp (Anything Goes).You can enter ANY card that you made since last Wednesday!  If you help them reach 1000 entries, there will be 2 $50 vouchers! Do you love new and free  STAMPS? I think so!

 

Indeed, the sky is the limit.  Well, I'm working at hubby's medical office for two weeks, it IS extremely challenging to keep a waiting room-full of people happy. I intend to try my best.

Did You Know...

.....that I made this card for Paper Crafts Jan/ Feb 2012 publication call (on the technique "kissing"), but I thought it was not good enough? I thought the music notes were a bit too black and prominent on the images and the colors of the distress inks were too bright...etc. So I did not submit and here it is.

 
 Sometimes we doubt ourselves too much.  Well, the more I look at this card, the more I like it. I wish I had submitted it. BUT I'm happy to share this with you today. And that makes it a HAPPY DAY! Your feedback and comments always make me smile. They are my daily dose of sunshine! 

Here's our Monday feature...

I asked Dr. John a while back: "If you were a stamper, what would be your signature style?"
Dr. John: "Clean and simple".

Here is  his "prescription for happiness".  When I started stamping actively in Hero Arts Flickr group in 2009, he wanted to make a card with his own twist. His desire of stamping dwindled since then... boohoo! Some of you may have seen it already. Here's the re-cap.

Please note: there is NO substitution. Enjoy your prescription for happiness.

Tuesday Trigger and City Crafter Challenge

I found out about City Crafter Challenge through my sweet blog friend Cheryl ( my little Miss Sunshine who encourages me tirelessly). I'm so glad that I finally got to do a challenge! The CCC blog (#65) is to create a project with the word or image of SUN.

Then I saw the  image of Perty Flirty at Moxie Fab World for the next two weeks....I was all the more intrigued.

So with all that, I present you this...

The ribbons is from May Arts. I simply used a thin strip of double sided tape and sew up the two black buttons for the special ribbon treatment.

Hope you have a sun shiny day ....and don't forget the sun screen though!

Edited note: Extra! Extra!!  I won the guest design spot at City Crafter's Challenge ! How awesome! I'm so excited and will keep you posted about it! 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #11

Are you feeling the HEAT and in need of sweets and treats....I mean COLD ones! Come on in for our CAS-ual Fridays. The challenge is this has NO calories! Yes, you can't beat that!

Since July 16th is National Ice Cream Day and July 20th is Lollipop Day. We are challenging you to create project that incorporate sweets and treats, namely ice cream, candy, cupcake, desserts...etc. Anything sweet really!

Our sponsor is PSA Essentials You MUST check out the most generous prize!!

Here is my little card to cool you off. I used this Hero Arts set (Life of a Birthday Party) and used the ice cream cone to create "wavy" background. Add the sentiment from SRM Stickers "Chill Out"!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out about the Social Club feature on Thursday at Hero Arts Blog. My Seashell cards were featured  at Hero Art blog  here along with our talented CAS-ual Fridays co-coordinator Julie Ranae. These cards will definitely give you a taste of summer!

Have fun and please link your creation to CAS-ual Fridays by Wednesday, July 20 midnight Eastern Time.  I can't wait to stop by your blog to get a taste of your sweets and treats! 

Ribbon Carousel Challenge # 11

"Mommy, I'm bored !!"

  I heard that a lot in the summer time when my kids were little. Nowadays they both can drive and have a little job to keep them busy. Stephanie works as research assistant and David works at the Science camp as a junior leader. The only person that is bored..? ME! I so needed that "fix", you know. I want something to challenge my creativity. Then I found out my sweet blog friend Savannah is joining the Ribbon Carousel Challenge DT, I immediately found my calling.  Check this inspiration photo! 

Isn't it delicious? I got going right away.

 I started with the DIY embellishments. Thanks to the inspiration Gallery Idol #3-Debbie Carriere , I made my first sets of rosettes with ric rac ribbons (brilliant idea, huh?). Debbie's blog has the detailed instructions and provided a link to tutorial for the ric rac flowers. I did used the smallest flower stamp (from Real Flower) for the base of the rosettes. All you need is some strong adhesive like Glossy Accent, and you are on your way to DIY embellishments.

The delicate borders and sentiment are NEW SRM Stickers (new release at CHA)! 

  How gorgeous is that! I was particularly excited to use that delicate border at the top since it's perfect for the design. The floral pattern and pink paper are the new Basic Grey (Out of Print). LOVE them!

I don't normally make classy and elegant style, so this one is definitely something different from my usual ones. I kind of like it! 

Lastly I'm sharing the S'mores  that David made. Perfect summer snacks!

Boring no more. 

Did you know.....

 ......that I was so inspired by Kate/Duchess of Cambridge's style? These photos were taken during her first visit to Canada during the Canada Day celebration. She is the new fashion icon who has EVERYTHING--the style, the figure and all....to pull it off.  Please do check her latest fashion here. If that link is not still enough, check Pinterest (search Kate Middleton)

I knew that I must try making cards inspired by her visit here!

So with that, I came up with two cards. Yup, I got carried away....I made this card's background first. My favorite thing to do these days--emboss resist. Then I find the entire white maple leaves and red backdrop are too much....so I scaled down and made it into a square card-very prim and proper!
 
Since Kate often wears very subtle colors and lots of grey and brown, I want to  take the maple leaves into different direction. So here's comes the 2nd card.

It was so fun to use on single maple leaf stamp for two cards with two different looks. Lastly I asked Dr. John about the must have-tools for card-maker. 

 .......What is the most important tool that you must have as a card-maker?

Virginia: "Fiskar micro scissors. I can not do without it when I did these fussy cutting with the maple leaves."

 Dr. John: " ....there is no. such. thing."   ( I think he is trying to save his wallet).
Just the answer that I was looking for.

Stamp Some More!

Here is my 3rd entry for the Stamp It Challenge. I think I will keep stamping until the challenge is over....

 This time I used the "kissing" technique. I love the music background with this image called Dancing with Flowers.

The entire stamped image took the stage and very little embellishment was needed. But then I decided to  add the tulle on top for that dreamy feeling.  Here's my step by step in case you want to try this out.

Supplies: Cardstock: (Grandma’s Feather Bed) Bazzill Basics Paper, Cling stamp: (Dancing with      Flowers, Music Background) Hero Arts, Pigment Ink by Colorbox (Pink, Aqua, Lilac, Lime, and Apple Green), Memento Ink (Tuxedo Black), Bazzill Adhesive Pearls, SRM Press (Life Is Good), Glossy Accent, tulle (aqua, 6”x2”)

Instructions: 

1. Make card from card stock 
2. Ink the solid image (Dancing with Flowers) with Colorbox Ink 
3. Ink the Music Background with black ink and stamp it onto the solid image 
4. Stamp the solid image on white card stock, trim to 4 ½ x4 ½ 
5. Layer all the paper and adhere to card base, apply sentiment sticker 

6. Tie a knot with tulle and adhere to the top with Glossy Accent, add pearls.

My next post is " Did you know..." feature. It's a fun one :)

Beautiful Borders

I always love the border punches. Can you name one that you love most....just one!? Well, you can't , right? They are the unsung hero in many projects and cards! No wonder I find myself mesmerized by the ever growing punch selection at Michael's and scrapbook stores.

The challenge at Moxie Fab World's Beautiful Borders got me all excited (OK, it doesn't take much...). So I took a serious look at my punches and came up with this design. This border punch was a generous gift from my dear sista Kathy R. She is one amazing (and shall I say, colorful) card-maker. Check her blog out  if you haven't!

First I punched the two pattern paper from the Bazzill's Grandma's Feather Bed collection. Then I popped up the top of the "curtains" for extra dimensions. Then I found the sentiment from SRM Stickers....it's simply PERFECT for this design!

I kind of like to keep this design simple as the colors and patterns really speak for themselves! I hope you are enjoying the summer!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #10

TGIF!! It's CAS-ual Fridays time! 

Are you into getting in shape? Well, look no more! We are having a shape challenge and there is no exercise required! The theme is to create a CAS shaped card using a template or fun shape. Anything but square or rectangle.

 Our sponsor is Paper Smooches

	Guest designer: Leigh Ann Baird
	Please go here to check out the fabulous prize and inspiration! You will not disappoint, I promise you! I am lucky to get a Paper Smooches shape to work with. You can buy them here. They are only $2 each. It's so great to mass produce,too! Boy, the choices are so many that I had a hard time to pick one! Finally I chose the shape that is dear and true to me--an Apron shape!
	I used bright color combo for this apron and I love the result! Some masking (for the border) and stamping are all what were required ! I stamped the back side of the utensils for colors and then stamped the utensils in Tuxedo black...and there you have it! I can think of more possibilities to decorate this apron! Can you? Have fun and please link your creation to CAS-ual Fridays by Wednesday, July 13 midnight Eastern Time. Can't wait to see what shape you are in! edited note: And oh....I'm VERY happy to report that I have one card picked up by Paper Crafts magazine for Jan/Feb 2012 issue! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for cheering me on for the Gallery Idol.  It's just as well that I didn't make the list as I will be off to ho take a blog break for our 25th anniversary celebration. I'm also featured in My Scrapbook Nook . What an honor! If you have time, please check it out.