Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas to you!

To all my dear friends...

Merry Christmas!!!


I pray you'll have a wonderful time

  of celebration with your family & loved ones.

May joy and happiness,

grace and blessings

fill your

homes

this season and

throughout the new year!

I am thankful and so honoured to share a little of my passion for cardmaking with you. I hope you have been inspired.  Thank you for often taking time to visit my blog. I truly appreciate it. 
 Have a wonderful day!

Hugs
Kary

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A Weekend in Bangkok

No cards today, as I have been away on a short trip to Bangkok.  It was a wonderful trip, and I got to eat lots, shop, eat again and walked a lot.  Bangkok city was as busy as ever, and wonderfully decorated for Christmas.  Every night people take to the streets with their fancy cameras clicking away, and it was fun to watch each person capturing a moment to remember in the city.

So, here are some of the shots I managed... not many though.

A Christmas tree in the city centre

My favourite dessert - Mango & Sticky Rice

Something I have every day, Coconut!

At Paragon - Gourmet Market, I have never seen mini apples before!

A Swarovski tree

The only picture of me, at the shopping mall

Trying to capture a shot of the moon

Dinner at a beautiful restaurant away from the city

Don't you think the reindeers are so cute?
I came home with some shopping (not a lot) - a pair of shoes, some clothes and of course craft supplies! (I just can't go away without buying some craft items, right?)  It was a fun trip, and so much nicer because I had a swell time with my friends.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Happy Wednesday...

It seems like the weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy.  I feel I haven't done much and it's like I'm running behind time in everything.  Some cards are not mailed yet, all the plans I have in mind are not done yet... but, one thing I had a little time for is making cards ;-)

So, here are the cards:

My new stamp set arrived in the mailbox, and I just had to make a card with it.  I followed the sketch at StampTV - this is an easy sketch.  The cardbase is a window card and I just cut a piece of white cardstock to size (to fit behind the oval frame), adhered the red cardstock and inserted it behind the oval window with the corners as shown. The mug was stamped on Teresa Collins paper and the mini cupcakes were coloured with copics.

This is a perfect card to make when in a hurry. Just insert a lovely patterned paper (Pink Paislee Father Christmas) onto the window cardbase, and stamp the greeting, and the card is done.

I hope your week is going well. Take care!

First card
Stamps : GKD Mugs & Kisses
Window card : Purchased in Amsterdam, can't recall the brand
Papers : White & Red cardstock, Teresa Collins
Ink : Memento & copic markers

Second card
Stamps : Hero Arts
Window card : Purchased in Amsterdam, can't recall the brand
Papers : Pink Paislee Father Christmas 6x6 pad
Ink : Memento


Friday, December 10, 2010

Cards Inspiration Friday

So glad it's Friday again!  This week has gone by so quickly.  My father is so excited today because he knows my brother is coming home tonight after a month in UK.  I'm sure he's coming back with lots of goodies - my mum is looking forward to sugar free chocolates, and I'm of course looking forward to the new Nigella Lawson cookbook bro is bringing back for me plus a few of the Waltzing Mouse stamps!  So glad!  And I still have not mailed out the Christmas cards... so disorganised :(  That's how the month has been...

Amidst all the crazy schedules, I managed to squeeze in time to create some cards.  My two boxes of craft goodies also arrived this week, so I've been wanting to use my new papers and tools but perhaps this weekend, there might be time.

Here are the cards:

I love the Pink Paislee Father Christmas 6x6 papers, they are so pretty. I just added the Lovely Labels 2 frame and a sentiment to the card.  This is a gatefold card.

 
 This card was made for the sketch challenge at StampTV.  I wanted to make a glittery card, used stickles and glitter pen but the glitter doesn't show up much on the photo.

This card was for a colour challenge at StampTV.  I embossed the card with Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Victorian.  The roses image was coloured with copic markers (R81, R83, R85, YG01, Y000, YG91), I kept the leaves and stem really light so that the focus is on the flowers.

 This card was the Unity Hip Hop sketch challenge this week at Splitcoaststampers.  It's a simple card with just layers of patterned papers and lace and some ribbon. The stamped image on watercolour paper was coloured with Twinkling H2O.

I hope these cards cheer your day.  Have a good one!

Stamps : GKD Lovely Labels 2, GKD Blessed is the Season, GKD Buds and Vases, Unity Spring Unity
Papers : Pink Paislee Father Christmas, October Afternoon Farm Fresh, GKD Cardstocks
Inks : Memento, Versafine, Copic markers, Twinkling H2O
Others : Fiskars Scallop Border punch, Spellbinders Labels 16 & Scalloped Ovals & Big Scalloped Ovals

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Unity Addicts Challenge #30

Hello again.  Today I'm a guest for Unity Addicts Challenge #30 at Splitcoaststampers, and the challenge is to make tags.  Here's my tag:

I love making tags for Christmas especially.  Today's tag is made using Kraft cardstock, with stamping using two of my favourite Christmas stamps from Unity (see below) and a pretty patterned paper from Pink Paislee. 

First, cut the tag using Spellbinders Labels 4, I used the largest die.  Distress the edges with Distress Ink Antique Linen.  Add some stickles around the edge of the tag.  Leave to dry.  Then stamp the snowflake scalloped stamp (from Snowflakes Fall From Heaven set) randomly with Versamark on the tag.  Ink up one of the cute trees from the stamp set Peace.Love.Joy with waterbased markers, and spritz some ink blending solution so that the colours blend and stamp on the tag.  Next, stamp the Christmas definition stamp onto a cream cardstock.  Cut out the cardstock to fit the bottom of the tag & adhere with foam adhesive.  Use a fancy edged scissors to cut the Santa image from the patterned paper and adhere to the tag with foam adhesive. Tie a red gingham ribbon around tag and adhere a chipboard button on the bow as shown.  Add some blings on the tree.  Punch a hole at the top and add some jute twine and the tag is done!

I've made another tag just for fun.

This one was made with a stamp from All Worth It stamp set and the ornament is from Bright & Merry Winter Wishes.

I hope you play along with the challenge and you could win a prize. ;)

First Tag
Stamps : Unity/Jillibean Snowflakes Fall From Heaven, Unity Peace.Love.Joy
Paper : Kraft cardstock, Cream cardstock, Pink Paislee Father Christmas 6x6 pad
Inks : Versamark, Memento Markers, Tsukineko Ink Potion No. 9, Distress Ink Antique Linen
Others : Jute twine, Red & Green twine, Red Gingham ribbon, Making Memories chipboard button, Imaginisce i-rock crystals, Stickles (Burgundy), Fiskars Paper Edgers (Stamp)

Second Tag
Stamps : Unity/Melody Ross All Worth It, Unity Bright & Merry Winter Wishes, Unity/Jillibean Snowflakes Fall From Heaven
Inks : Distress Inks Antique Linen, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Others : Jute twine, button, brad, blings, Scor-buddy

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Digital Stamp - Anya

Not long ago I downloaded a digital stamp from The Greeting Farm, called Cupcake Anya.  I've never owned any of TGF's stamps but I saw Anya, and gosh I think she is so adorable.  Not wanting to be a fan of too many stamp companies (otherwise, I'd be broke ;)), I decided perhaps digital is the way to go if there's an image I really like.

Here's a card I made with Cupcake Anya:


I haven't decided on a sentiment yet.  Perhaps I'll add one when I'm about to give the card away. 

The card sketch was from Card Patterns's Sketch 93.  If you are a fan of card sketches, come play along with this week's sketch.  I think it's a very nice one.

I'm off to watch Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader shortly.  And yes, I'm a fan of Narnia and will have to read the book again soon...

Enjoy your day!

Stamps : The Greeting Farm - Cupcake Anya (digital download)
Papers : October Afternoon, K&Co
Ink : Copic markers (sorry, I forgot what I used)
Others : Spellbinders Labels 1, EK Success Dotted Lace punch (I've been using this a lot, right?), white gel pen, gingham pink ribbon

Monday, December 6, 2010

You've Got Mail

I really love the Pure Innocence stamps from My Favorite Things.  I think I've said this sooo many times.  I don't know what it is, but the stamps are just so cute!!
Here's a card I made today, using the set Happy Mail:


If you love colouring, then this stamp set is perfect!  I'm still practising using copic markers, so you probably can tell I don't have the right skin tone colours yet, but this will have to do for now.  For the clouds, I die-cut them using the MFT Cloud Trio Die-namics on a separate cardstock, then used them as templates to draw the clouds behind the girl image. Then I coloured the sky around the clouds with my copic marker (BG000).  I also wanted to break out my new Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 6x6 pad.  I love this collection!  I think it's my all-time favourite Cosmo Cricket papers.

I hope you like the card.  As always, I do appreciate your thoughts.

Have a good week!

Stamps : MFT Happy Mail
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934, red & lemon cardstock
Others : Organza ribbon, EK Success Dotted Lace Border punch, Sakura white gel pen, MFT Clouds Trio Die-namics

Saturday, December 4, 2010

A Bunch of Cards

Hi. Today I thought it might be nice to post some cards I made for challenges which I've not posted on my blog before.  They are made with some of my favourite Unity stamps.  There's a card for every season and I've enjoyed creating them.


A sketch challenge
For this card, I used Graphic 45's tag & papers, with a sentiment stamp.  This is a really quick way to whip up Christmas cards.
This card was for a challenge where I used black and white with  a burst of colour.  The card is almost like a gatefold card with the top flap held closed by the embossed hearts.

This was a challenge where I had to create a card & envelope set.  I used scor-buddy to create some texture on the cardbase.

This was a really simple Christmas card with just one stamped image and embossed with White embossing powder.

This challenge was to make a card with a handmade flower.  I cut a strip of paper measuring 1 1/4" and used Fiskars Apron Lace border punch along one edge of the paper.  Scored the strip (every 1/2") and make accordian folds and adhere both ends of the paper strip together. Added a button to finish up the flower.  I love the sentiment by Mother Teresa.

This last card is a shaker card.  I placed the stamped image inside the shaker, just for some fun.  It's a fun card to make.

I hope these will inspire you to create this weekend.

Have a good one!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Emmanuel - God With Us

Earlier this week, I received a lovely gift from my friend, Christine.  She made me a felt gingerbread man which is so, SO Cute!!  And, with the gingerbread man is a beautiful poem she composed.  I thought it would be lovely to share this in today's post, and Christine said I could ;) 

Here's the poem:

              Emmanuel - God With Us
                      (composed by Christine Ang)

      In a humble manger the child King laid
 Shepherds found Him, just like the angels said
         Three wise men traveled from afar
  To offer gifts by following a shining star. 

       To all, God brings a message of hope
And to those who find life too difficult to cope
     You may seem alone on life's rough road
   But God is there to carry your heavy load. 

           Though silent He may be to you
    His abiding presence will see you through
      In His loving arms you will find refuge
    A safe haven when storms of life deluge. 

    With His hands, He wipes away your tears
   With His comfort, He allays all your fears
    Or through the valley of sorrow and pain
   God's love is there to uphold and sustain.

       He is faithful, always by your side
      And in your heart, He wants to reside
   He came to seek the lost, not worldly fame
  Emmanuel - God with us is His blessed Name.
                      ************
Such a lovely poem, so appropriate as we prepare for Christmas this December.

I've also made some really quick and easy cards using the Making Memories card pad & some stamps.  Here are some of the cards, and you can see the super cute gingerbread man Christine made amongst the cards..





I hope your hearts are encouraged today by Christine's poem.  Have a lovely day!

Stamps : Unity Bright & Merry Winter Wishes, Unity Snow Wonderful, Unity Snowflakes Fall From Heaven, Unity Peace Joy Love, GKD A Year of Borders, Hero Arts sentiment
Paper : Making Memories Noel Card pad
Inks : Copic Markers, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamagic, Distress Inks
Others : Making Memories Poinsettia Notes, MS Vintage Lace punch, MS Frond punch