CAS-ual Fridays Challenge # 80

Welcome to CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! It's that time of the year again....time to create some tags for the holiday gifts!

Our sponsor: Bossy Joscie

I sure hope that you are not tired of me using the Washi Tape...

I used CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set called Snowflake Greetings. 

  Please link up your CAS- project to CAS-ual Fridays by noon, Dec. 6 Thursday

Let's play tag!!

Turning the Negative into Positive!

The other day Dr. John peeked at my blog and noticed something.... 

Dr. John: "Hey, you've lost a follower!!"

V: "Yeah, I noticed that...thanks for reminding me! So....what do you think is the problem?" 

( grrrrr....I knew he has no answers, but I just had to see what he has to say and often times, he cracks me up)

Dr. John: "Grammar!" 

V: "WHAT!?  Why yes, you are absolutely right! After all, English is my 2nd language!"

 I love Dr. John's answer....it's not my poor card designs that turn people off after all... I am trying hard to convince myself.  Just a few days ago, I was commenting to a blog friend about her losing a follower. I wrote this:

From Virginia L.: " I don't take Donald Trumps' advice often...but this I like It's nothing personal...it's just business!. Well, we all had people un-following our blogs from time to time. It may sting a bit, but perhaps this person just has too much on her/his plate and they may be personal reasons...(remember, it's nothing personal!). I don't dwell on the reasons, as long as I am happy with my blog and people are loving to visit, that's all matters!"

With this, I like to turn negative into positive...And thank your for reading this (if you are still here and remain to be my followers)!

With my card today, I think it shows you how wonderful it is to save the negative diecut and use it in the most positive way. This card was a reject not picked for publication, but look! I can share it right here with you :)  Double YAY!

Card stock: Bazzill Basics, Earth Layering Paper (Hero Arts)

Stamps: Happy Holidays by Hero Arts, Ornate Ornament by Lawn Fawn, Ticket Frame (Hero Arts –Sizzix Die Cut)

Inks: Versamark (Tsukineko)

Embossing Powder: Stampendous (white, detail), Martha Stewart (red)

Accents: Perfect Pearl Dimensional Glue (white and blue), Stickles (Rangers), 3D Pop Dots (EK Success)

 

That's it for today. I am so addicted to blogging/card-making and I promise you a blog break from me in the coming month. Thanks for sticking around. 

Sending You Love!!

When you receive a handmade card, it certainly gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling. I always hope that the receivers of my cards will feel the LOVE. Today's card was sent to a dear lovely blog friend Kelly Griglione. who had lost her 11-year old nephew Samuel in a tragic car accident.

I have no words for such a horrendous accident. A young life was suddenly taken ....just like that. I felt compelled to do something. Through Kelly, I offered to send a card to Samuel's parents.  A card from a total stranger like me can perhaps comfort them even if just for a little.

The other day Kelly received the card and told me how much she appreciated it.

Kelly wrote me in her e-mail:
" I just got your card today, and I absolutely LOVE it! I totally forgot about getting thick images by adhering several of them together. Feeling it in person has totally inspired me, it's so luxurious. Your card is just perfect with the soft colors and pearls. And thanks for the perfectly sweet message inside! It warms my heart."  

 Thank you , Kelly, for sharing....and please know that the world is a better place because you are not grieving or feeling sad alone. Sending you love.

Crafty News!

It's official (see announcement here) 

I can now share with you that I am the Runway Girl....

for Runway Inspired Challenge! 

If you follow my blog, you would see how much I have been enjoying doing these Runway Inspired challenges. What I love about it is that every time I try out the challenges, I learn a bit more about card designs and something new along the way.

Here are the cards that I made for Runway Inspired Challenge in the past! 

Now that I am part of the design team, I want to spread that love to you. I hope that you join the fun with this challenge if you have not yet done so.

Thanks so much for your continued support and sweet comments! Please stop by Runway Inspired and find out more about our new team! I promise you, the new challenges are going to be very fun, trendy and exciting!

CASING Angeline...

Hello, this is my 2nd post for the day. For the post about my guest design over A Blog Named Hero , please visit and comment here . If you comment daily over ABNH, you will have 31 chances to win some amazing goodies!

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Here is my last minute entry for the latest CASE Study. The talented Angeline Yong is the muse for November.  These are her two gorgeous cards that inspired me.

My take....

With some masking, I stamped the Snowflakes (by Hero Arts) around the circle and then added a glittery bow to the design. Some blue perfect pearl and dimensional glue were added for the shine. The sentiment is from SRM Stickers--easiest part! Making the bow was the hardest...glitter glitter everywhere! 

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

A Blog Name Hero (Christmas-travaganza)

 It is December Christmas-travaganza over A Blog Named Hero! I am so excited to be part of this awesome blog event! Today I am sharing a card using this stamp

Aspen Festive Ornaments
Previously I had made two cards with this versatile cling stamp ( see this and this).

This time I have two different take on the same stamp.
Here is a sneak peek....

...

You must stop by A Blog Named Hero (alert: there is a GIVEAWAY) and get inspired as we count down to the holiday season! 

Please leave me your comment ( the comment option is turned off in this post) over A Blog Named Hero and perhaps you will win some goodies :) 

A Pie, A Card and ....Two Winners!

 Growing up in Taiwan, I didn't know what a pie tastes like until my 20s. It was the apple "pie" from McDonald that I got my first taste.  You can say that it was love at first "bite"!  In my early 20s, I came to Canada for graduate studies and since then I had experienced making and eating lots and lots of pies! Well, having a hubby who loves apple pies, peach pies, chocolate pies ...and pecan pies give me plenty of chance to perfect them!

Can anything evoke more hominess than a homemade Pecan Pie? This is one of the many pies that I made. Not only I am an avid card maker, you can say that I am an enthusiastic (and always hungry) pie maker!

Now we got the pie part covered, here is a card with Neat And Tangles Stamps

 I love how this Christmas stamp set Sweet Home can be used as an everyday card. The pattern paper are from Basic Grey's Clippings. The pecan pie provides the homey backdrop, don't you think?
And...by the way, the Pecan Pie was YUMMY! The filling was sweet and gooey! The Pecan was crunchy!

Lastly, here are the winners of the SRM calendar Stickers giveaway. Dr. John picked out 2 random numbers out of 54 comments. Two most favored months of my calendar are February and October.

#8 aaga said...

My fave here is January... I guess it's because of the bird. I can never get enough of it. :)

#12 Jeanette M. said...

Fantastic calendar, Virginia! I love how creative you are with the washi tape.
My favourite month would have to be May (the month my husband and I got married in.) :)

Congrats, Aaga and Jeanette! Please e-mail me your postal address, so I can send you the calendar stickers!

Thanks for stopping by!

A LAYOUT Inspired by Tuesday Trigger

( Frame by Frame)
Hello friends! Today I am sharing a layout inspired by this delightful image from Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger. It is the first time that I made a layout inspired by a photo!

What prompted me to do a layout (instead of a card) is that it seems to be easier to interpret my idea with a layout. I happen to have this lovely photo of my daughter Stephanie!

I took the inspired photo as a sketch and followed the color combo....and added elements around Stephanie's photo
(Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 20111)

Supplies: SRM Stickers, Washi Tape, Delicate Leaf Clusters,  Antique Flowers and Butterflies , Spellbinders, Basic Grey (Lucille)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Rolled Paper Christmas Tree

Happy Thanksgiving to my American blog friends!
 Today I am sharing a card today with rolled paper. There were tons of creative cards made with rolled paper. Here is a card that I made a while ago.....The latest card from Hero Art's Shari Carrol (see here ) got me inspired again.

 I am entering this for the current Hero Arts Challenge.

Supplies: Basic Grey (Aspen Frost),  sentiment (Hero Arts), white embossed strip (Life Style Crafts)

 As you can see, this card is labor of LOVE! I wasn't enjoying it so much at the beginning....rolling and rolling the paper! Some rolls were too thick or were simply not round enough....Finally, when it comes to assembling the tree, MAGIC happens :)

 For me, the trick to make it work is to use a toothpick as a guide and just roll around it. The Glossy Accent acts as the great adhesive. A tiny bit of it will go a long way. I also applied a tiny bit of glitter on the embossed strip to make it shine! The tree "trunk" is a piece of Washi Tape--easiest part!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

2013 Calendar

Caution: this is a photo-heavy post!! 

Today I am super excited to share a project that was in the making in the last little while. 
It is...2013 calendar! 

I combine my love of hexagon, stamps, SRM Stickers and Washi tape (all 18 rolls of Washi---not quite never enough!). This calendar pretty much sums up my card-making in 2012.

You will find Washi Tape, SRM Stickers and stamping in each and every page. 

So here it goes.....

January: I tore up the Washi Tape to make an interesting ground for the embossed Newsprint Bird

February: A piece of pink stripe Washi tape was cut up for the hanging heart

 

March: I embossed the kites onto the bright Target Washi tape and them cut them out. 

April: The large dotted green makes a pretty ground for the Pom Pom Flower

May: The small polka dot Washi Tape makes a lovely background .

June: The 2013 SRM Stickers was applied over the Japanese lacy Washy Tape. Butterflies were made with alcohol inks.

July: I did some patch work with the washi Tape and later dry embossed it with Swizz Dot. (I was going for the picnic look...)

August:  I created a bike scene with some stamping and Washi goodness

September: A piece of silver Washi compliments the school-themed month

October: A lot of stamping in this one---just love it. A small strip of brown Washi was used underneath the calendar sticker. Very subtle.

November: The lacey Japanese Washi tape adds a touch of elegance to the design.

December: An interesting foreground was created with a mix of Washi tape.

Are you liking what you see? How would you like to win this 2013 SRM calendar Stickers?

 You can make a 2013 calendar for your family or as a Christmas gift to someone special? Please tell me which month (in this project) is your favorite in this post and you are in for the random draw.

The deadline for the draw is midnight Nov. 24 Eastern time. 

Two luckies will get the SRM calendar Stickers!
Also, if you want extra chance to win, just leave a comment over SRM Facebook and SRM blog !!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Square Punch Challenge

 Is it possible to make a card for Square Punch Challenge  ( Moxie Fab World ) without owning any square punches? Well, since I don't have any square punches or square die cut, I was going to skip this challenge... somehow I changed my mind once I thought of the design.

So without further ado, here it is!

This card measures 4 1/2" x 4 1/2". Each squares is 1"x 1".  I used my circle punch and scored the rounded area and turned them into squares. The brown "card stock" are actually scraps of coffee sleeves. I applied some SRM Stickers (sentiment) and colored the flower...add some embellishments (button, pearl, gem, twine and brad). The paper are from Basic Grey's Lucille collection and Hero Arts Layering paper (Punch). Oddly enough, there's NO stamping in this card! Shocking, huh? 

Next is a STAMPED project that I can't wait to share! Thanks for stopping by!

A Card with Layers!

Happy Sunday, friends!
As you know, I am quite a simple stamper and love CAS style! But sometimes it's just nice to try something different from my usual style. Today's card says just that....

I had so much fun adding the layers! 

Not only with the paper-layering, I tried layered stamping as well. While I was at it, I hand-stitched the zig zag line. And at the end, I used white paint Dabber and lightly painted the edges and even the button! The journal paper is from Jenni Bowlin. I had been hoarding it for the longest time and finally got it out to play. I shall enter this for Journaling Card challenge over Moxie Fab World.

I also made this following card for yesterday's Scramble Challenge (hosted by Barb E.) over Hero Arts Flickr. Barb challenged us to use at least 3 different pattern paper.
(you can click on the photo for more details)

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have a PROJECT (and a small giveaway) to share next! 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Hello there! Today is latest stamp release from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. My cards are featured here

Without further ado, let's get to it!

This 8 Happy Nights set makes the Hanukkah card-making an easy task!

These stamps really are made of excellent quality. I simply embossed them in white over blue card stock . The images are sharp and crisp.

The 2nd card is a fun one called Merry Kiss-mas.

 I paper-pieced the gift package image with Lawn Fawn paper (called Fa-la-la-la-la). It was fun to stack up the little gift boxes! I used some pop-dots for the extra dimensions. There are daily inspiration from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. You can also see it all Flickr Group Gallery. If you have created with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, please share your work here.

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #79

Is winter here yet? Well, according to CAS-ual Fridays, yes, it is here! We are going to create something with the theme of winter blue. This is a two-week challenge. So you will have plenty of time to create!

I had some fun with alcohol inks again....I created the blue background for the snow flakes...

This stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays has oh. so. many potentials. I bended the sentiment stamp and made it curvy and I also added some glitter and gems for the extra sparkle! 

Please link up your CAS project by noon, Thursday, Nov. 29 to CAS-ual Fridays.  I will be back tomorrow with the spanking new stamps from CAS-ual Fridays! 
Thanks for stopping by! 

A "Cork-y" Card!

Again I am joining the fun over Moxie Fab World (details here). Someone stops me! 

The challenge is to create a paper crafted project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor item, mini-book cover, etc.) that incorporates canvas, cork, and/or burlap in an innovative way.

Here is my super simple card:

Card stock: Earth Layering Paper by Hero Arts

Pattern paper: Foliage Designer Papers by Hero Arts

Stamp: Newsprint Bird, Type (sentiment) by Hero Arts

Ink: Hero Hue (Night) Chalk Ink, Versamark by Tsukineko,

Embossing powder: Stampendous (white, fine)

Fibers: raffia (Michaels)

Accents: cork (Michaels), pearls (Hero Arts) 

Oh... I am also secretly happy (well, not a secret any more, is it?) about some upcoming fun crafty news. Can't wait to share with you soon!
Thanks for stopping by!