Happy New Year!!

Today the Inspired Stamps Design Team is sharing a New Year project.  At the end of every year, it's a good time to reflect on the year that is ending, as well as to make plans or resolutions for the New Year, what we hope to achieve, change, focus or work on.  With this in mind, I made a little album/notebook which can be kept in the bag with lots of pockets and lined pages, to record what my thoughts for 2012.

The book measures 4"x4", and I've used the coasters (which Antoinette kindly sent) as the album covers.  For the pages, I used some notecards cut to size and adhered with patterned papers. The corners are rounded using the 3/8" Corner Chomper.  I made little tabs for the pages using leftover papers.  The patterned papers are also from the pack Antoinette sent.

The image and Scripture verse on the cover is from the Inspired Stamps set Be Still Silhouettes.  I stamped the image and verse on watercolour paper and heat embossed it.  Then I added the colours using Distress Inks with perfect pearls and spritzed some Glimmer mists for added shimmer.

Here are some photos of the Album pages:

Be sure to visit the Inspired Stamps blog to check out the Awesome projects the Design Team girls are sharing today or by clicking on their names on my sidebar.  

I'll be back in January for the Inspired Stamps sneak peek.  Have a Safe and Blessed New Year!!

A Season to Celebrate

Dear Friends, this is my last FWF post for 2011.  I've had a blast this year with FWFand am so thankful for the inspiration that you have shared with me.  Earlier this week, I received this lovely Itty Bitty Scripture sentiment in the mail.  I had to use it on the card today.  The card is simple, I used several Memento Markers (Rhubarb Stalk, Pear Tart, Bahama Blue & Tuxedo Black) for the sentiment and stamped it on a white cardstock.  The star & heart images are from the free kit, "We Treasure You" (see kit image below) with KOM Dec 2011.  They are inked with Memento Rich Cocoa and stamped twice on the cardbase without reinking.  If you like this kit, you might want to sign up for the KOM club today.

Merry Christmas!  During this festive season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, may your hearts be filled with cheer and may you experience the wondrous love of God.

Warmest Wishes

HLO Winter Girl Treat Box

As Christmas draws near, we are getting all set with some handmade Christmas treat boxes for friends and relations.  There's lots of chocolates waiting in the refrigerator to fill the treat boxes - that's the downside living in a warm climate, the chocolates tend to melt when left outside ;-).

For this treat box, I stamped and coloured HLO Winter Girl with Copic Markers, I think she looks adorable in purple.  The papers are from Graphic 45's Christmas Past, and I decorated the box with Viva Decor pearl pens.

The box measures 4-1/8" x 4-1/8" square.  I adhered the lilac satin ribbons across the lid of the box, and the Winter Girl image was cut using Classic Scallop Circle layered on a Lacey Square die-cut.  The sentiment from Winter Ruth, was stamped on separate die-cuts and placed on the lid as shown.

Here is another view of the box.

Thank you for visiting today.  I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful time celebrating with your family and loved ones.

God Bless

Happiness Is...

As I was colouring this image, I thought to myself, hmmm...this is how I would define "Happiness" - a stamp and some Copic markers!!  I love how sweet this little girl is, and how contented she looks with her bucket of roses.  I love the sentiment, and it's so true, isn't it - Happiness can be found in the smallest of things.

This card is going out to a friend who is celebrating her birthday soon.  We haven't seen each other for a long while, so, I'm really looking forward to meet her and I'm hoping she will like this card.

I hope you'll have a fabulous weekend!!  I'm going to make more cards, as I have stamps coming out of my ears..shhh... hehe.

This card is also for the current Whimsy Stamps challenge.

Hugs

Stamps : Whimsy Stamps - Wee Florist, Magical Mini Letter Seals
Paper : GKD Pure Luxury cardstock - Cranberry tart, My Mind's Eye Love Me 6x6 pad
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black

Sunflower Girl

Hello!  After some tidying up my craft cabinet yesterday, I sat down and looked at all the supplies I've splurged on the past two months.  I think I should seriously spend time to use and play with what's in the stash {LOL}.  And so, here's a card for the MFT Sketch Challenge.

Introducing Sunflower Girl - this is one PI girl that has not seen ink till now.  I love the sentiments on this set, they are perfect for a happy card.  Somehow the photo doesn't capture the true colours of the card today. Well, I guess I need to figure it out {grin}.  The patterned papers are all from My Mind's Eye Love Me collection - LOVE this 6x6!  And, here's the sketch:

Hope you like the card, and hope your day is Beautiful!

Stamps : MFT Pure Innocence Sunflower Girl
Paper : My Mind's Eye Love Me 6x6 pad, Hero Arts Layering paper Grenadine & Blue cardstock
Die-namics : Open Bracket border & Sweet Stack
Copics : E000, E01, E13, B000, B00, BG0000, Y13, Y15, Y17, R32, R35, R39, YG61, YG67, YG01

Stately Flower 1

Do you have a favourite subject that you love to photograph?  Mine would be flowers!!  My happiest moment was when I visited Keukenhof, near Amsterdam.  I went a little mad, taking hundreds of photos of just flowers.  So, guess you could imagine my excitement, when I saw Melanie Muenchinger had a new stamp set called Stately Flowers 1!  It's the first in the series of all the state flowers in the US.

Lately the mailman has been taking his sweet time delivering my letters and orders.  I've been having one of those low mojo days but when this set arrived, I couldn't keep up with the ideas in my head.

First, a gift card holder - I selected the poppy image and stamped it on X-press It Blending card using Memento Rich Cocoa.  I've been meaning to tell you that for softer images, and especially for skin, I prefer to stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa - it gives a much softer tone outline compared to Tuxedo Black.  The poppy was coloured with R01, R02, R05, R08, the flower centre with YR12, YR07 and Atyou Spica Yellow and the stem & leaves with YG99, YG95, YG91

On the inside I added a sentiment that came along in the set, and you can see the pop up flap holding the sample gift card.  The patterned papers are from Crate Paper, Farmhouse 6x6 pad.

My second card is a CAS, with some die-cuts, fancy trim and a button.

I hope you'll check out Melanie's new set, and if you live in the US, there's a free download for you (at StampTV) to customise the names of the 50 states which coordinates with the stamp set.

Well, I'm looking forward to the coming set with the hibiscus (incidentally, it's the flower of Hawaii), because, that's the national flower of my country.

See you!

Inspired Stamps Christmas Projects

Welcome back to this week's Inspired Stamps post, all about Christmas!  Today I have a couple of projects to share.  First, is a Christmas card, using His Little Ones - Winter Boy & Ask, Seek, Knock sets.

I stamped the tree image from the Ask, Seek, Knock stamp set with Versamark on white cardstock, and heat embossed it using white embossing powder.  The tree was coloured using Distress Inks direct-to-paper technique. To give it a little shimmer, I brushed some Perfect Pearls powder on the tree, and spritzed some water to set it.  Once dry, I added some gems to the tree.  The HLO Winter Boy was coloured with Copic markers and Atyou Spica pens for some sparkle.  Then it was time to cut out the images and assemble the card.

Next, is a simple tag idea.  First I embossed the tag using a Snowflake embossing folder and then inked some Distress Inks over it (I used Evergreen Bough & Festive Berries).  The Snowman, from Let It Snow set, was stamped on white cardstock, coloured with Copic markers and I applied some Glossy Accents & glitter on the buttons and top of his hat.  The sentiment was stamped using Label Maker Alphabet set.

Hope you like these projects, and don't forget there is a special running till end of the week at the Inspired Stamps store, see below for the coupon code:

And, now, please head over to the Inspired Stamps blog or click on the Design Team's list at my sidebar for more wonderful Christmas ideas from the Design Team.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the hop!

It's Your Big Day

The end of the year seems to be a season for weddings, and this weekend the family has a wedding to attend.  For Chinese families, weddings are usually huge affairs with hundreds of guests.  Maybe it's a little like the Greek wedding movie ;-) It'll be like a family reunion - some cousins I've not seen in years will be there, and I guess we have quite some catching up to do.

Traditionally all wedding cards are red, but today most people are no longer superstitious and so it's acceptable to give cards in any colour.  Here's the card:

I used the stamps from Cameo Creations, Ovals - Classic Frames and sentiment from Say It Loud.  The patterned papers are from Lily Bee's Picket Fence.  My card follows this week's Waltzing Mouse sketch #77:

Thanks for visiting me.  As always, I love reading all your comments and hear what you think.

Have a great day!

Thank You Card

Isn't she adorable?  I just LOVE every single Pure Innocence girl stamp set and I wish I could own them all ;-)  This little girl is holding the Chrysanthemum which is my birthday month flower.

I've coloured her with Copic markers (Skin - E000, E01, E13; Shoes & Socks - R32, R35, R37, R00, R01; Hair - E21, E23, E25; Flower - YR00, YR04, YR07, YG99, YG93, YG 63; Shadows on her dress - N1, Outline - BG0000) and her dress is paper pieced with my new favourite from Lily Bee Design - Head over Heels collection.

The card follows the current MFT sketch MFTWSC49 (below) and hope you will play along.

Well, that's most of what I did today, plus sorting and tidying up my craft mess.  Hope you get time to be crafty this weekend!

Stamps : My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Chrysanthemum, Tag - You're It
Die-namics : MFT Tag-You're It, Mini Rolled Roses, Oval Tab, Faux Crochet Border
Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa & Cantaloupe
Paper : Hero Arts Layering paper Poppy, Lily Bee Design Head over Heels 6x6 pad, Neenah cardstock
Other : Seam Binding (dyed with Distress Stain Dried Marigold), Uni-ball Signo broad white gel pen

A Painting and A Card

Hello!  How's your weekend going - I hope you are having a wonderful one.  I have been catching up on sleep and just enjoying a quiet day.

As you know my birthday was last month and I'm excited to share a cool present I received.  I reckon it's one of the BEST presents ever.  I've been nudging a friend of mine to start painting again, and after a year, he finally did it!  Here it is :

He said he's pretty "rusty" but I think it's a marvellous job!  I love the colours of autumn and the photo does not do justice to the real thing. The colours are beautiful and I love that he added a favourite colour of mine - teal, into the painting.  Gorgeous, isn't it?

Well, I can't paint, but the painting did inspire me to create a scene card with one of my newest Paper Smooches' set Promenade.  Nothing like the fabulous painting but I tried to use some similar colours on the card.

Here's a close-up:

I used Copic markers to colour the images, and tried a different technique for the pot plants.  Perhaps the light & shadows didn't quite work out the way I planned {grin}.  The clouds image was from the set Forest Whimsy.  I cut and popped up one of the clouds, and the awning just above the door - just for some interest.

Have a Lovely weekend!

Unity Friends with Flair (09.12.2011)

What a busy week it's been, I'm glad Friday is here.  Time for Unity FWF!  Be sure to visit the Unity blog and check out the list of participants today - it's something I always look forward to.

It's a CAS card - it's pretty fun to make a really simple card sometimes. I used the stamps from KOM Nov 2011 here, and some quick colouring with copic markers (RV29 - houses, B00 - cars, R35 & R37 - heart).

I reckon this card qualifies for the KOM Sketch challenge this month as well.  It's a really nice sketch this month and so many possibilities.

That's it from me... Let's go hopping!

Take care,

HLO Winter Girl

Today I have an Inspired Stamps Christmas card to share.  This card is one of my favourites, I love the bright colours and the cute Winter Girl. I simply Adore all the Inspired Stamps HLO characters.  They are so much fun and perfect for paper piecing or colouring.

I coloured HLO Winter Girl with copic markers (see list below) and used a Spellbinders circle die to diecut the image. Then I added some sponging around the edges of the card using Distress Ink Evergreen Bough and  adhere it to two other stacked die-cuts from Labels 9 and Picot Edge die. All papers are from Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas. The sentiment is from Winter Ruth set, and I split the words so they fit on the card.  Before placing the stamped image & sentiment onto the cardbase, I tied a red organza ribbon around the card and secure it with Baker's twine and adhered a green button with Glossy Accents.  The finished card measures 4.25 x 4.25" and opens upwards.

Don't forget to Register at the Inspired Stamps store as Antoinette is having a secret stamp giveaway - read all about it here.

Now, it's time to visit the Inspired Stamps blog for more inspiration from the Design Team. Enjoy the hop.

Have a great day!

Stamps : Inspired Stamps His Little Ones - Winter Girl, Winter Ruth

Paper : Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas 6x6 pad

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Evergreen Bough

Copic Markers : Skin (E000, E02, E13, R21), Eyes (YG25), Hair (Y11, Y21, YR23, YR24), Outfit (RV02, RV04, R32, R35, R37, R39), Shoes (C3, C5, C9)

Monday cards & A Winner!!

Hi Friends!  It's Monday and the start of another new week.  This is the week to get all Christmas cards mailed.  I am determined to get really organised and finish what is required.  These are my recent creations - I guess you could say they are based on the same layout/sketch.

I am seriously in love with the Lily Bee Jingle papers, most of my Christmas cards are made using them.  And, I used the same sentiment & image stamps and dies from Taylored Expressions - Wreath of Joy, Seasonal Wreath Die & Basic Bow Die. 

Now, to announce the final Winner of my Birthday Giveaway.  Instead of checking through all comments, I decided to just take the comments from the first post of the week (as of midnight Sunday my timezone), and then have random.org to pick out a number.  Then I'll check that the person has commented on all my postings.  So... here's the result:

From the 15 comments on this post, random.org picked out Commentor No. 1, and so... the prize goes to...

Wendy ten Hove

Hoi, Wendy, Big Congrats for winning the Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles dies!! Woo-hoo, I know you have been wanting them, and I am SO glad your number was chosen.  And because you are a follower, I'll be sending you a special something too.  I'll let that be a surprise.  

Thank you, Everyone, for sharing the Birthday celebration month with me.  Your kind words and comments have meant a lot.  I hope you'll be back to visit soon.

  

Have a Happy Week!!

Stamps : Taylored Expressions Wreaths of Joy, The Craft's Meow Timeless Tags (the sentiment frame on the second card)

Dies : Taylored Expressions Seasonal Wreath, Basic Bow 

Paper : Lily Bee Design Jingle 6x6 pad

Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black & Bamboo Leaves