Life's Music

 

"Life is like a piano... what you get out of it depends on how you play it".  It's pretty true isn't it?  Sometimes things are outside of our control but we certainly can decide how to face it.  Recently, I was told the vitreous gel layer in both my eyes are very thin, and I could have retina detachment sometime in the future.  For one who loves to travel, my first thought was would this stop me from travelling?  There's nothing that I can do to prevent the tear nor know when it will happen. But I can't stop doing what I love.  I'd just have to trust that things will be fine ;)

This card is inspired by this sketch on MFT

as well as the colours of this card by Tanya :

I'm not a purple girl but Tanya's card is so lovely & the flowers are so gorgeous.  I saw her card at Lily Pad Cards, and if you visit Lily Pad and are inspired by something you saw, you can play along too with me in the Inspiration Challenge #2.

I hope your week is lovely, and thank you for visiting me.

Stamps : My Favorite Things Who's That Musical Girl

Paper : Lilybee Design Picket Fence 6x6

Ink : Memento, Copic markers

Other : MS border punch, MFT lace border die-namics, Spellbinders Label 16 & Scallop Rectangle

Something to Brighten Your Day

Yesterday I created a card inspired by the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World.  I've long loved this blog!  But, it's my first time playing along with the Tuesday Trigger.
Here's the inspiration pic:

It really reminds me of the pyrex my mum had, and how it's always used to hold curry or our favourite Straits Chinese vege dish.  The colours of the stacked pyrex also reminded me of a tie-dyed top I once had.
Here's my card:

I coloured the PI girl's apron to mimic the tie-dyed top I had, and the rest of her clothes in shades of orange and red.  I also created the pattern paper with the birds and flowers, inspired by the bird & flower image on the white pyrex.  It's been awhile since I made anything this bright!  I kinda love it.

I hope this brightens your day!  Have a good one!
Cheers,

Stamps : My Favorite Things - Pure Innocence "You Color My World" , Lawn Fawn Bannerific (birds) & Critters in the 'burbs (flower)

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa & Tangelo, Copic Markers

Other : Echo Park Paper - A walk in the Park border sticker, Uni-ball signo white gel pen

Hello Weekend & Exciting News

It's the end of another busy week, and I'm glad the weekend is finally here.  I'm planning to do some shopping, meet up with friends and make some cards!  What about you?  I hope you get to do all that you enjoy this weekend!

Now for some news... I've been invited to join the Daisy Doodles Design Team!  It's exciting because I've never been on a DT and so I can't wait to join the fun.  Daisy Doodles is owned by Julie Ball and she has some amazing digital stamps!  I love how easy it is to achieve great results with digital stamps.  You can resize the image to fit your project, print on patterned paper for paper piecing technique, colour in the images if you love colouring like I do, and more.  There's lots of fun at the Daisy Doodles' challenge blog with prizes to win, and check out the store as well.

When Jo, the Daisy Doodles DT Coordinator, asked for a photo of me for her post, I gave this pic:

 

I was on a boat in Halong Bay (translated as "Decending Dragon Bay"), a UNESCO World Heritage site in Vietnam.  It's a beautiful bay a little south-east of Hanoi, with beautiful limestone formations and calm waters. The weather was a little cloudy and foggy but it was still lovely, and we spent the night on the boat. It was one of the most beautiful places I've visited in Vietnam.

I'd love to share a card with Daisy Doodles' digi stamp.  There's a current challenge on the blog in conjunction with Memorial Day in the US.  Here's my card:

The boat image was coloured with copic markers and I added a little clear glitter where the water is.  The card measures 4.25x4.25".  

I hope you'll have a safe weekend, and have fun!

Stamp : Daisy Doodles Summer Fun, GKD Tropical Flowers (sentiment)

Paper : Red cardstock , GKD PLC Ocean Mist

Ink : Copic markers

Other : Red gingham ribbon, Sakura Pigma Micron 0.1 Sepia

Unity Friends with Flair

Hello Everyone!! It's Friday again and time for Unity Friends with Flair!!  Click on the link here to view everyone who is participating this week.  I look forward to Friday's FWF because there's always fabulous creations to inspire me.

I have a fast and easy card today.  It looks like a bit of effort but it's really simple.  Here's the card:

I stamped the bird image using the kissing method - first I inked up the bird image with Distress Ink Tea Dye and then inked the Giving It All Meaning text stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa and kissed the two images.  This allows the text image to transfer to the bird stamp.  Then I stamped the bird image on a piece of patterned paper.  To add a little interest, I embossed the paper using Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals, added some Distress Ink Antique Linen all over the paper without removing the Spellbinders die.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment at the bottom right corner.

Thank you for visiting me today.  I hope you will have lots of fun seeing what everyone is sharing!

Stamps : Unity KOM May 2011, Giving It All Meaning, KOM April 2011 (sentiment)

Paper : BasicGrey Cappella, GKD PLC Ivory

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Inks Tea Dye & Antique Linen

Other : Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals, twine & button

Papertrey Ink - Make It Monday

I find the hardest thing about making sympathy cards is finding the appropriate image and sentiment.  It's one of the hardest cards to write as well, for often I struggle to find the right words to say.  So, it was very helpful that Dawn McVey's video gave tips and pointers on creating sympathy cards. 

Here's my attempt for a simple sympathy card:

I decided to use soft colours and a really simple design for the card.  I used a combination of 2 stamp sets, Year of Flowers, Violet and Carnations for the card.  The violet was coloured using copic markers (Y11, Y15, RV00, RV02, RV04) and its leaves (YG03, YG11, YG91, YG93, YG95).  I did some white faux stitches to frame the border and then added a score line just below the faux stitches with Scor-buddy.

I'd love to hear what you think of the card. Thanks!

Take care.

Stamps : Papertrey Ink Year of Flower : Violet & Carnations

Paper : PTI Kraft cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Togetherness

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Copic Markers

Happy Wednesday!

How time flies, it is already mid week, and I feel I've not accomplished much this week.  I finally got round to making a card with some of my favourite colours, in the early hours of the morning when it feels like there's just me and my stamps (lol!). 
Here's the card:

I used my favourite Itty Bitty stamp, the cute strawberry from Unity, Jillibean Soup's Sweetest Day, and a sentiment from Unity's Faith set. The strawberry is coloured with copic markers and adhered with pop dots onto the large scallop ovals.  I hope the card will bring much cheer to your day!

With the card, I'm playing along with the Tooty Fruity challenge at Unity, Card Patterns Sketch 116 and Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge #90.  I love Grace Nywening's sharing, it's so true that the words we speak have power to hurt and, to build and encourage.  May we strive to live with a constant awareness of being kind and encouraging with our words.

Stamps : Unity Itty Bitty Jillibean Soup Sweetest Day, Faith

Papers : Lilybee Design Picket Fence, GKD PLC Bubblegum Pink

Ink : Memento, Copic markers

Other : MFT Die-namics Star Border, i-rock glam rocks

Papertrey Ink - Make It Monday

Sometimes I get lazy and skip all the techniques which require some effort, so it's nice to participate in the Make It Monday with Papertrey Ink and make my own spray mist.

Here's what I did:

My spray mist formula was made with Tsukineko's All Purpose Ink (Vegas Gold), Adirondak Denim Color Wash and rubbing alcohol.  There's quite a bit of gold shimmer in the mist.  I sprayed it onto calligraphy paper, and heat set it.  Then stamped the hot air balloons.  The photo doesn't really show the lovely shimmer, but IRL it's pretty awesome.

I'm pretty motivated now to make more colours!  Maybe a pink mist with some perfect pearls added as well.

Have a great day!

Stamps : Papertrey Ink Up, Up and Away

Paper : October Afternoon

Ink : Versafine Satin Red, Vintage Sepia, Deep Lagoon, Olympia Green

Other : Spellbinders Scalloped Oval, Sakura Pigma Micron 0.5 Sepia, PTI jute twine

Calligraphy Paper

Yesterday, while out shopping for some stationery, I came across Chinese Calligraphy paper.  I was really curious if it would work with stamping.  The paper is really thin and soft, it's a little textured on one side and smooth on the other. 

Here's my card:

The paper takes to stamping beautifully, and I love that the grains of the paper show through and the ink does not bleed.  It's always fun to find new mediums to stamp on.  I used all images from Gina K stamps, and the card was inspired by their new challenge, Let's Be Krafty.

What are you creating this weekend?  I'd love to hear what you do.
Have fun!

Stamps : GKD Springtime Silhouettes (butterfly), Garden Silhouettes (sentiment)

Paper : GKD PLC Kraft, Calligraphy paper

Ink : Versafine Toffee & Onyx Black

Other : White gel pen, and Sepia marker

Critters Hello

Happy Weekend!! I'm always excited when it's the weekend and I get to have more time to play with my stamps.

Today, I'm playing along with Lily Pad's sketch challenge :

I love Lawn Fawn stamps and Kelly Marie is such a lovely lady (I got to meet her earlier this year).  So happy that Lawn Fawn is going places and I really enjoyed reading the lovely interview with Kelly by Lily Pad here.

I have a little girl in mind when I was planning for this card, and I wanted it to be a fun card - like all the animals are looking at her and saying hello. I hope she'll like this card.

Ok, I'm keeping this post short, cos I'm off to make more cards...

Hope you'll find time to be creative today!

 

Stamps : Lawn Fawn Critters in the 'burbs, Jessie's ABCs

Paper : October Afternoon, GKD PLC Cranberry Tart

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Copic markers

Others : MFT die-namics, Sakura Pigma Micron 0.5 Black

Friends with Flair

It's Friday!!  And, it's time for Unity's Friends with Flair!  Click on the link and you will see lots of awesome ideas and projects of everyone participating.

This week has been pretty busy for me, so it was timely that there is a Unity KOM sketch which I can draw inspiration from.

Here's my card:

I love this new image from the May KOM!  It's always fun to send and receive happy mails in the post and this image is perfect for making a card to send out.  I stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa and did a little colouring with Copic markers.  To add a little interest, I separated the sentiment and stamped it twice.

I hope your weekend will be Wonderful, and you will be refreshed for another week ahead.

Take care & Smiles,

Stamps : Unity KOM 05/2011

Paper : October Afternoon, GKD PLC Cranberry Tart & Ocean Mist

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Versafine Deep Lagoon, Distress Ink Tea Dye

Others : Spellbinders dies Labels 4 & Large scalloped rectangles, Martha Stewart border punch Modern Garland, i-rock & ribbon

A Rose for You

Today is one of those days when the mojo is a little lacking.  I sat at my desk thinking about making a card and... blank!  Then, I remembered there's a sweet sketch at Waltzing Mouse which I could use for my card.

And, here's my card:

I LOVE flowers and whenever inspiration runs low, I'd stamp and colour flowers.  Or take a walk and take photos of flowers or eat ice-cream! ;)  Today it was colouring for me... no ice-cream.  I'm not sure if this card strays too much from the sketch, because I could not finish the card without the rose.  What do you think?


Thank you for visiting.  Maybe now's a good time for ice-cream, as a reward ;-)

Stamps : Waltzing Mouse Faux Fun Circles (stamped border & underneath the rose), Roses in Bloom, Afternoon Tea (mini tag)

Paper : October Afternoon, GKD PLC Ocean Mist

Ink : Memento Desert Sand, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versamagic Key Lime, Pixie Dust, Pink Petunia, Sea Breeze

Other : Spellbinders Circle die, Fiskars Border punch Apron Lace, WRMK corner chomper

MFT Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch

Hi, I've been wanting to play along with My Favorite Things' Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch for some weeks.  Finally, sat down and inked up my new stamp Girls Rule WTG.  Yupe, Girls Rule, I love this set!

Here's the sketch and my card:

I think my copics colouring skill is still lacking, but I reckon the main thing is to have some fun.  I used October Afternoon papers and three different die-namics for this card.  I can't have enough die-namics!  Love, Love them!!  I hope you like the card, although for friends who know me, I'm never seen in a dress.  Yupe, I'm a jeans girl! {grin, grin}


 Have a lovely day!!

Stamps : MFT Girls Rule WTG

Papers : October Afternoon, GKD PLC Cardstock

Ink : Memento & copics

Others : MFT die-namics Scallop Ribbon Border, Simply Scallops, Upsy-Daisy, Felt, Sakura Pigma Micron 0.1 Sepia

Joyful in Hope

"If I had three wishes - I would not ask for health because unbroken health might rob me of experiences that come through sharing illness and suffering.  My first wish would be for sympathy and understanding of others.  My second wish would be for a sense of humour; and my third wish, a very firm one indeed, for the gift of faith, the Christian faith, because men and women get from such a faith strength to live."
- Malcolm Sargent

I don't know who Malcolm Sargent is, but I think his words make sense and are relevant.  In midst of tension brought upon by political rumours and religious debates, I wonder if we will ever experience real peace and harmony where I live.  It is really sad that some of us are not really at home in the land of our birthplace.  But, we won't give up hope, that someday this land and its people will embrace each other's differences and learn to live together.

I made this card, as a reminder that we need to persevere in life, and to place our hope and trust in the Lord.  Despite trouble times, we can find joy and the strength to live.  I am also encouraged by Chris Olsen's sharing based on Psalm 121:2-4 here.

 

I used two Unity stamps in my stash which have not been inked before.  The teacup is from KOM Dec 2010 and the sentiment is from the Faith set. The teacup image was stamped on a piece of Pink Paislee patterned paper and the sentiment onto a white cardstock using Versafine Vintage Sepia.  

With this card, I'm playing along with Stampin' Sisters in Christ's challenge #89 as well as ATU's challenge #31.

Have a blessed day!

Stamps : Unity KOM Dec 2010, Faith

Paper : PTI Kraft cardstock, Pink Paislee 6x6 Butterfly Garden

Ink : Versafine Vintage Sepia, Distress Ink Antique Linen

Others : Zva Creative pearls, MFT Framed Greetings die, Ribbon

Waltzing Mouse May Blog Waltz

Hi Everyone!  Today, I'm participating in the Waltzing Mouse Blog Waltz.  It's my first time and I'm really excited to share with you the theme for this month's waltz, i.e. Masculine cards.

Like most, I seldom make masculine cards simply because it's easier to make girly ones.  So, this was a fun challenge for me.  I decided to make a simple card with a masculine patterned paper, which is manageable for me (LOL!).  Here's my card:

Closer look at the card

I used a paper from BasicGrey's fun collection,Oliver, added some piercing all around the edge of the paper and used pop dots to adhere it to the card base.  Then, I drew some faux stitching (because I can't manage my sewing machine ;)) all around the the cardbase with a white gel pen.

The stamped image was created from two stamp sets : Vintage Label 4 (frame) and Roses in Bloom (sentiment).  I added some Antique Linen distress inks to the frame and three dots of Enamel Accents in black and finished it with some faux stitching in black.

What do you think?  Did I do alright?

Thank YOU for stopping by.  I hope you will have lots of fun and inspiration with the blog waltz!

Blessings,

p.s. I just added a new gadget for followers at the side. It's a new thing for me, so I'd be so thrilled if you like what I create & would like to follow my journey. Thank you ;)

Stamps : Waltzing Mouse Vintage Label 4, Roses in Bloom

Paper : BasicGrey Oliver, GKD PL cardstock Chocolate Brown

Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Distress Ink Antique Linen

Other : Spellbinders Labels 4, Ranger's Enamel Accents (black), Copic Multiliner 0.3, Sakura white gel pen

Birthday Wishes For You

Wow! I'm so honoured to be given an award for my Gallery at StampTV!!  It's an Awesome feeling, and I'm truly Thankful and Appreciative for this. StampTV is a Fabulous place to hang out - with Fantastic videos from Gina each week, challenges and of course the wonderful community of crafters there. It's especially dear to me as it's a place where I can connect with friends who love cardmaking and stamping. (Update : You can check out my featured cards here)

I have a card to share today which is a response to a challenge at StampTV - DIY Patterned Paper.

My background paper is made with stamps from three sets: Springtime Silhouettes (fancy swirl), Branching Out (berries) and Spring Basket (leaf). I stamped them using Memento inks.  The focal image is from Framed Greetings coloured with copic markers (B00, R81-frame, R0000, R01, R02-flowers, YG01, YG03, YG05-leaves & stem, BG11, YG22, BG10-butterfly).  There's still time to play along in this challenge, and you might win a stamp set of your choice!

Thank you for stopping by.

p.s. I just added a new gadget for followers at the side. It's a new thing for me, so I'd be so thrilled if you like what I create & would like to follow my journey. Thank you ;)

Stamps : Gina K Springtime Silhouettes, Branching Out, Spring Basket

Paper : Gina K PLC Ocean Mist, Lilybee Design Picket Fence, Pink & white cardstock

Ink : Memento Angel Pink, Summer Sky, New Sprout, Tuxedo Black, Copics

Others : twine, button, Spellbinders Labels 16, MFT Die-namics Scallop Ribbon Border

Round Shaped Card

It's the end of another weekend.  The weather seems crazy today - it was a heavy downpour with thunderstorms.  I've not seen such display of "angry" lightning across the sky for a long time.  But it was good to stay in and do nothing and in darkness too, as the lightning caused the power to keep tripping. 

But, after the rain, it was much cooler, and I was so glad to turn on my computer and follow the StampTV blog hop.  The inspiration for the blog hop was based on this sketch :

 

I think it's a terrific sketch and I couldn't wait to try it out.  Here's my card:

The focal image is a piece of sticky back canvas.  On it, I stamped the vine using Stazon Metallic Gold, and then added the flower in red.  The butterflies were stamped on white cardstock and coloured with copic markers (BG11, B00, YG05, YG11), then cut out and adhered to the canvas with Glossy Accents. To secure the card, I tied the top with some twine and a button.

I wish you a blessed week!

Stamps : GKD Branching Out (background), A Year of Borders (butterflies), Gifts From the Sea (sentiment)

Paper : GKD cardstock Pumpkin Spice, October Afternoon - Modern Homemaker

Ink : Stazon Metallic Gold, Versafine Satin Red & Vintage Sepia, Memento Tuxedo Black

Other : White gel pen, Spellbinders Lacy Circles, WRMK Corner Chomper, PTI jute Twine, i-rock blings

Unity Friends with Flair

Finally, Blogger is working and we can all post our FWF cards!!!  ;)  I'm really into CAS the past few days, so here's my card using the Bella Fiori set with sentiment from Happy Everything and a butterfly from KOM April 2011.  I stamped all images with Memento Markers/Ink Pads in various colours and added some shading with copic markers.  Then I drew some lines to frame the images, plus adhered the felt leaves on one of the flowers... and done!

It's already Saturday morning where I am, and I'm about to dash out the door to meet some friends.  I can't wait to see what all of you have posted.  Be back to check it out.

Happy Weekend!!
Hugs

Miss You

It's the weekend again, and I hope you have something enjoyable planned.  I'm going to be meeting up with some friends to catch up and just have a good time.  Plus, I hope to be making some cards as well.

Today, I have a really simple card to share, inspired by Papertrey Ink's Make It Mondays #14 Selective Inking.

I used the Simple Sentiments set and stamped part of the sentiment in a row.  The focal image is from All Booked Up which is a set I really love.

That's it!! ;-) I hope you'll have a marvellous time this weekend.

Stamps : Papertrey Ink Simple Sentiments, All Booked Up

Ink : Versafine Satin Red & Onyx Black, Versamagic Pink Petunia

Paper : Lilybee Design 6x6 Picket Fence, PTI Kraft cardstock

Others : Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 4 die, buttons & twine.