Iron Craft Challenge (Inspiration 1)

Hi there! I am popping in to share a card that I made for Iron Craft Challenge.

Chaitali is the hostess of this creative and inspiring fun blog called " Cuts, Crops and Creativity"! She is into her 2nd season as she started out with 5 video interviews with some of my favorite and talented card-maker/ bloggers!

With each of the guests, Chaitali picked out 5 themes for the challenge. I plan to tackle all of them. Here is No. 1. The inspiration came from Julie Ebersole's  interview.  It's all about latest TRENDS- watercolors, stencils and dies are the top 3.

 

With that and the inspiration photo in mind, I came up with this...

About this card: 
 ~the polka dots background was created with Heidi Swapp stencil, Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste (mixed with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink)
~the heart dies were created with CAS-ual Fri-Dies (see here) with pink vellum and paper
~The flowers were punched out from watercolor paper with a Stampin' Up punch
~gold is another trend that I love, so I added the gold strings and gold-embossed the sentiment
~let's not forget the Washi tape and sequins!

 I am hoping to do all 5 challenges from Chaitali's inspiration. Let's see if I make it before the deadline! Let the fun begin!

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog Feature!

 
Hello! Time for me to share my projects with you over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog! Lately we have so many new Fri-Dies and stamps that I have been having so much fun creating! Here are the proof!

My next card is a fun one!
 

For more details and information about these two projects, please stop by here to check them out. The comment feature in this blog post has been turned off. I would love your feedback and comments over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.
Thanks for stopping by!

SRM Prize Pack Giveaway Alert!

Over Virginia's View Challenge, there is a SRM prize pack giveaway! Details are here.

Here is a project that I share over Virginia's View Challenge.

 Supplies: SRM Stickers (sticker and purse), sequins, Fresh Squeezed Stamps

If you like what you see, go here, link up and enter to win!  
Thanks for stopping by! 

Something from Nothing...

Hello! Today's card was from all the discarded parts. In my attempt, I put them together and re-created a decent one, I think. It's hard to tell that all these elements were unwanted parts at one point.

"Make. it. work!" as Tim Gunn would say....

~the card base was a reject from a previous project (it covered up by white card stock) 

~the thank you sentiment was a die cut from my random water-color paper (that didn't go as planned)

~the added bow is a cover-up because tiny part of the diecut was cut off

 So when you see your discarded elements sitting on your craft desk, just try and make something out of nothing....you will be surprised what you can do. Use it as an exercise! Why not!? I think this card had a re-birth and is now good to go!

On a side note, over last week while visiting my in-laws in Ottawa, I received this huge packed box of Stampin' Up goodies!

 I am so blessed to have a sister-in-law who totally gets my stamping addiction. Florence got this box for me from a charity auction!!! She bid it just for me! You've got to love a sister who does great deeds (wink), right?!

Today we are moving our son David to Toronto. He is starting a summer term co-op job!! My little "baby" is going to live in a city jungle all by himself! I hope that he will have a great experience gaining some independence and job skills. I know our house will be a little quiet now....Thank goodness we are only one and half hour away :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Create for Fun

Hello! I am sharing a card that I created...just for the fun of it.

I had these stamps sitting in my pile, so I decided to be a match maker and see how that works!

The stamps I used are (Hope Seed Co from Wplus9) and Hero Arts (Lattice Background)

I kind of like it when I just play...for no reason. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Design at Time Out Challenge!

Hello! I am absolutely honored to be the guest designer over Time Out Challenge!
This is a fairly new challenge blog and the DT behind this team are talented and sweet! I was asked to create a card as an inspiration. So here it goes!

I love this collection of Basic Grey (Fresh Cut) and had used it a few times already. So this time I stamped on the pattern paper and used only one stamp for this card. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (CAS-ual Elegance).

(Night Flower by Hero Arts)

What do you think? I hope that this inspired you and that you will join the Time Out Challenge!
The challenge is to CAS my card with YOUR own twist!!  I will love it if you can stop by and check out the challenge! Big thanks to Sandie and Nonnie for the invite! I can't wait to see what you create from the inspiration with this card!

Thank you for stopping by!

MORE Watercoloring Fun!

In case you think my love for water-coloring in on the wane.... well, not so fast.

I am sharing another card with watercolors today!

I started out with stamping and masking some flowers, then I added a watercolor background.

Stamps: Poppy in the Wind, Painted Poppy (Hero Arts), sentiment (Simon Says Stamp)

Growing up in Taiwan in the 70s,  taking Art lesson and getting good at Art was never a priority. The key to the so-called "success" was getting into a good university in Taiwan. Everybody (including myself) crammed and studied so hard for numerous entrance exams....  I never thought I could make anything artsy. This is as good as it gets :) 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Scramble Challenge (Paper-piecing)

Hello! I am popping in to share a card that I made for Hero Arts Flickr Groups Scramble Challenge
(details here). The challenge is to complete a card within 90 minutes (including taking photo and uploading a card). The theme is paper-piecing!

 I chose a stamp set (So Kind) that was easy to cut and assemble.
 
 I love pattern paper and could never use enough of them, so I jumped at the chance to play with Basic Grey's RSVP collection. My idea of making it into a quilt-like design came quickly, so I had plenty of time to do hand-stitching. See the white threads? They are hand-stitched!

I find it hard to use RSVP pattern paper, but this challenge gave me a push and I actually love what I made! Also, there is a new wrap-up post over Virginia's View about the stencil challenge. You can check it out here.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am Pattern Paper-Inspired!

Hello! Have you ever been inspired by patterned paper? Well, I have! Today's card is the proof! I was inspired by the rich and gorgeous Fresh Cut (from Basic Grey) and decided that I will make a card with it!

I gold-embossed Linked (from CAS-ual Fridays' Fri-Die) and Remember (Hero Arts). The gold- embossed flower was colored in copics. What do you think? Easy, right?

Here are the highlights of our birthday celebrations

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Runway Inspired Challenge # 58 ( A Good-Bye)

Hello, gorgeous! 

 

Welcome to Runway Inspired Challenge! 

We are having a special challenge this time as we are combining the runway photo with CAS(E) the Sketch Challenge! Fun, huh?

My take on this sketch AND runway photo

In this card, I used the stamps that Runway Inspired DT Tasnim ( now co-founder/owner of the new Altenew) designed. Have you heard of this new stamp company Altenew run by Tasnim and Jennifer? The stamp designs are top-notch as you can see how amazing this rose stamp is. I know all of their stamps are so popular that some of them were sold out on the first day of release!

 It is also a bittersweet moment for me to say good-bye to the Runway Inspired Challenge DT.  I am stepping down after this challenge. It's been a very fun and creative ride being on this amazing team. I want to thank Jennifer (founder of RIC) for offering me the chance to be on this awesome DT. I hope that you will continue to follow and be inspired by Runway Inspired Challenge! The new DT members will be announced at a later date!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy Birthday, Stephanie and Dr. John!

Today is my daughter Stephanie's birthday....and tomorrow is Dr. John's birthday!!

 The father and daughter are practically birthday twins!!

Yup, there are significant birthdays going on in the Lu household.

We are celebrating this special milestone by going out to a nice dinner and hosting a dessert party on Friday.... My card is perfect for this very special occasion.

The following photo was taken while we were on Panama Cruise this past January. All 4 of us won a bottle of champagne by playing the trivia game!
We got 1st place! Now it's time to open the bottles...

It would be oh.so. lovely if you stop by to say happy birthday to Stephanie and Dr. John. I know your comments will make them smile! 
Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamp Blog Feature

 Happy Tuesday!

 

Today is my turn over CAS-ual Fridays Stamp Blog! I have two cards to share with you.
This funky card was made possible because of the Fri-dies ( Linked) ! 

The 2nd card is also a colorful one. The sentiment from Wait For It is the focus for this design.

For the details of these cards, please visit CAS-ual Fridays Stamp Blog. I would love it if you can leave me comment there!

Lastly, just a reminder for Virginia's View Challenge, you have 3 more days to enter! I hoping that we will reach 200 entries (it's 179 as I write this post)!! That will be super amazing! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

A Stencil Card over Virginia's View Challenge!

Hello! Happy Monday!
Just to let you know that I am sharing a card (with stencil) over Virginia's View Challenge! 

Hope that you stop by to check it out! AND there is STILL time to play the challenge (see here)! So get your thinking cap on if you have not tackled stencils already!

A random share:

These are the Butterscotch Blondies that I made a little while ago...You can find recipe here.

The comment feature has been turned off in this post. 
I would love it if you can leave me your feedback over Virginia's View Challenge. 
Thanks for stopping by!

My Local Scrapfest

 April 12, Scrapfest in Kitchener, Ontario

I live half hour away from this two-day paper-crafting convention. It is held yearly and is very popular in my province of Ontario.  I have been attending this event almost every year since 2009. I happen to visit one of the store booths called Stamplicity. A few weeks ago, Michele asked us Girl Fridays over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog to send out a few cards for this exhibition. So I did! In this video, you can see the display cards from me and my design team mates at the the booth. It was really fun and satisfying. I got to tell my local stamping friends about it and show them off, too!

 Stamplicity owner Brenda and her team put a lot of work into setting up the booth. The demo/Make and Take was excellent and well-received. I bought two Wink of Stella pens from them and I can't wait to use those pens that I have been hearing so much about....! 

 Owner of Stamplicity Brenda and Virginia.

 As you can tell, the set-up was very prominent and it was the only booth that was doing stamp and diecut demo/Make and Take. I wish I had the close-up of the card sample that they made. It was GORGEOUS!....but you get the idea :)

 While I was busy checking out the other booths, I also met up with my two Canadian Girl Fridays Challenge DT--Ardyth and Tracey! This is our 2nd time together. Three hours flew by so very quickly! We had lots of fun browsing the stores and did some shopping!

I also met Karen Dunbrook ! Karen is a talented stamper living in my city and is a now a frequent participant in Virginia' View Challenge!

I am looking forward to more craft time today. Now that I have new inks and supplies, I can't wait to get inky. Enjoy your Sunday!

Colorful Watercolors!

Even though Virginia's View Challenge#1 is over, I am still obsessed with playing with watercolors...

The latest Avery Elle Challenge is calling my name again :)

I decided to create a very colorful card and let watercolors be the STAR! So, I took out my one and only handy dandy 4" x6"AE stamp set To the Point

Well, I went all out on the colors! These colors just make me happy, happy, happy....

About this card:  

~mask and emboss the sentiment in gold and arrows in white

~color the small arrows in Distress Inks and water

~flick the water brush pen to create tiny splatters

~use fine pens to add a colorful border for faux stitching

~color the white strings with Distress Inks to match the arrows

~swipe the Distress Inks (with a few spritz of water) along the edges of the white card stock 

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired by Lisa Spangler!

I have been a fan of Lisa Spangler since I started stamping in the online community (circa 2009)! A few days ago, Lisa made a beautiful card for the blog hop (see here) and I was so inspired by her card. Isn't this scene amazing? Lisa's combination of stamps is superb! I adore the night sky that she created.

 

By Lisa Spangler

I got my tree stamp out and played! This is the result. 

I started with a very large piece of watercolor paper and created the background with water and distress inks. Then I stamped the tree in black and then clear-embossed the tree. The tree images were not perfectly lined up, thus you can see the white shadow (which is alright , in my view). Once that's done, I took out a new Heidi Swapp stencil and used the white  embossing paste (mixed with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink) to create pink hearts around the tree. After the paste dried, I applied Stickles with a paint brush. I then added my latest craze-- hand-stitched gold thread. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamps (Handwritten).

Ding---> when creating a fully water-colored background, I find that the key to is to use a much larger piece of water-color paper (when possible). That way, you can choose just the section that looks "perfect" for your design. For this card, I used about half of a standard piece of water-color paper. I trimmed off all the edges (as the inking was splotchy) and chose the section that suits my design.

Thanks to Lisa's inspiration, I now have this card that I love and will send to someone special!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stencil and Stamp--a great combo!

If you can believe it...I was not keen about playing with stencils last year. But with all the new products and inspiration (see Virginia's View Challenge), I think I am finally convinced. Stencils are great tools for hand-stamped card-making.

 I have been wanting to try stamping smaller images within stencils. Here's the photo of what I used to create this one layer card. Yes, I am a messy card-maker...my stamps, acrylic blocks, marker and stencil are super dirty well used!

About this card:

~tape the stencil down and make sure it's secure

~stamp the flower image within the open stencil space with various colors

~color the stem with Le Pluma marker (any marker will do)

~move the stencil slightly and add a shade of yellow

~add Liquid Perfect Pearl droplets, let dry

~stamp the sentiment and add a sequin and a gem (I used a toothpick as my picker-upper)

I am linking this up to Moxie Fab World's Styling with Stencils Challenge! 

 Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps New Release (Day 3)

 

Welcome to Day 3 of  CAS-ual Fridays Stamp release! This new Fri-dies called "Casual Vine" is a matching set for Beanstalks. How cool is that?

 I did some subtle background stamping and bent the sentiment from this set (Out Loud) . The pattern paper is from Basic Grey's RSVP collection.

Hope you check out the new designs from my team mates (here) and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win new stamps! Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps New Release (Day 2)

Hello friends! Today is day 2 for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps new release! This new Fri-Dies called Linked is amazing!

 I did some diecut with a piece of gold and white paper. I then colored the small white ovals with a mixture of Distress Inks and water. Then I put the small colorful oval pieces back into the links. By using the pattern paper, this card came together very easily. This set of Fri-Die is really intricate and versatile!

 

Hope you check out the new designs from my team mates (here) and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win new stamps! Also, a reminder... please check out Virginia's View Challenge. There is a featured guest designer and she mentioned me in the video (yes, a video!)!

 Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps New Release (Day 1)

 

Welcome to CAS-ual Fridays April new release! This Fri-dies called Stalk up is a matching set for Beanstalk. I love the fine details of these dies! There is very little you need to do to make it look fancy...you know what I mean? 

I used Basic Grey pattern paper and did some die cut first. I colored the stamps in TH Distress Inks. Then I fit the stalks back to the spots like a puzzle. So the surface is smooth! I stamped the sentiment at the top right corner and added some faux stitching. 

Hope you check out the new designs from my team mates (here) and be sure to leave a comment over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps for a chance to win the new stamps/Fri-Dies!

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with Embossing Paste

Happy Sunday! Today I am sharing a card that I made with Wendi Vecchi Embossing Paste and Simon Says Stamp diecut (All Season Tree).
 
 Basically I made the stencil with the tree diecut.

Card stock: white (Michale’s), pattern paper (RSVP from Basic Grey) Stamps: CAS-ual Comfort by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Ink: Distress Ink (Mowed Lawn), Royal Red Mid tone ink by Hero Arts Accessories: Die cut (all Season Tree from Simon Says Stamps), gold thread (from Michael’s), Wendi Vecchi Embossing Paste by Ranger, Scalloped Rectangle (Spellbinders), gold thread (Michael’s) 

1. Make card from card stock
2. Adhere two (or more ) diecut to create a stencil
3. Mix green distress ink with embossing paste
4. Apply paste over tree image, let dry, stamp sentiment
5. Add Negative frame and hand-stitch with gold thread

I am entering this to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Anything

Thanks for stopping by! 

Another Easter Bunny Card!

Today's card is another idea I had while I made this card (see here).
Yes, you can say that I had the Ding moment....

What could be more perfect than to make a paper-weaved basket with the Easter Bunny...?

I am linking this up to Paper Smooches Challenge (anything goes)

Thanks so much for stopping by!