New Nest

My elementary school friend is having a housewarming party tonight. I made her a little card. :)

I was so surprised when my friend announced that she was moving out with her bf a few months ago. I guess because most of my closest elementary school friends still live in the same place close by our elementary school. It always amazes me how we still keep in touch after all this time. In fact, they have been there through my milestones and have an important place in my heart.

It took me a long time to make this card mostly because I was experimenting with different ideas (textured background, distressing, spritzing with water, text art) and I finally settled on this. This was the kind of card I've been making last year and I guess I've come full circle back to simple quilled cards again. The nest is made based on the tutorial from Do More with Less with the Guest Designer Miae Rowe and there is a little challenge over there to use that masking tape technique. Give it a try :)

Tonight I am heading off on vacation so I may not be posting for awhile although there may be a surprise later next week :)

A little getaway...

I just spent the last 2 days over at my Mom-in-law's house in a little town near London, Ontario. The decision was made to take the 2 hour drive there after my little 2 year old somehow convinced my husband to take her to grandma's house while I was at work. Either my daughter is very persuasive (taking on her dad's trait) or my husband is too soft hearted to say no to her. Either way, the spontaneous little getaway was a lot of fun.

My daughter got to see her grandma (who had saved so many toys and books for her granddaughter in case she were to visit at anytime). They both spent a lot of time together which was nice since we didn't visit since Christmas time. The weather was beautiful in the last 2 days too. It was also nice for my husband and I to get to have a little break from the full responsibilities of being a parent.    

My granddaughter also got to see her grandpa. We met up with him and had lunch at a burger bistro called "The Works." While the burger beef patties were a bit on the dry/bland side, I thought the rugged/construction thematic decor was soo creative!

Salt and pepper shakers made to look like light bulbs, measuring cups used as glasses for water, humourous descriptions in their menu-I loved it!

Since we were in the western part of Ontario, the farms there were plentiful and nothing short of farm fresh foods. The strawberry season is just coming to an end (early this year) so we caught the last of it and bought some freshly picked strawberries-SO sweet and juicy! My husband (aka Chef Quan) had meant to make this awhile back but never had his hands on fresh strawberries. Here is his creation!

Cheesecake in a mason jar <3 and it was delicious! The consistency wasn't very thick since it was a non bake cheesecake so we decided to call it Cheesecake Parfait instead :) 


That's my post for tonight! I've got 3 more days till I take a vacation to the beach!

Wedding Recap

Yesterday I attended a beautiful wedding and I thought my daughter was the star of the show as a flower girl (other than the bride of course). It was definitely a long day though and my daughter was really good about the whole thing.

Previous to the wedding, I had been playing "wedding" with my daughter and used imaginative play to help her practise being a flower girl and know what to expect. She practised by throwing these origami creations I made ages ago (back in grade 7 lol) and walked down the aisle (hallway). It was too bad she didn't get to throw flowers at the real wedding though. I found out on the day that they weren't allowed to throw flowers at that particular church.

I thought she looked like a mini bride hehe :) She definitely melted a lot of hearts yesterday. She was also a super dancer and spent most of the night dancing away.

When I took this pictures, I had a glimpse of seeing her as a real bride in the future...

This was the card I made for the couple. I've never made a wedding card before so this was my attempt at making it wedding like (I was told later by my husband that this was not my style...but I've still yet to discover what's my style o_O). I made the flower based on this flower tutorial.

Since I didn't know the couple too well, I kinda did stray away from what I might've done (possibly something with a little more colour, a little cuter?). I have a new idea for "take 2" of a wedding card which I will make as soon as I catch my breath on the busyness of life. It is much easier to make a card without an intention to give it to anyone in particular.

I have one more week till vacation at the beach!!! :D I do need to make a house warming card before that though.

Creative Inspiration: Quilling

When I saw this image, I was in awe. <3

Maybe one day I can quill like this. heheh...rightt...

The image is from a talented quiller, Leesandra Diaz at The Sweet Spot. Her blog offers a glimpse of her work that she sells from Etsy. She has also made two fabulous tutorials (one recent one) on quilling-a great place to start and I'm hoping to try out some of the techniques she's shown :)

In the meantime, it is so, so hot here in Toronto and without AC, I am melttinnggg these days x_x.

Happy Father's Day (Part II)

My daughter had some stamping fun for her daddy too.

I picked up some non-toxic, washable stamp pads for my daughter from Michael's for this. I think the ink is almost gone after her artistic stamping statement though. hehe.

These were the captions I wanted to include...

Put your hands up in the air for the best dad ever.

 Thank you for walking with me as I grow. 

Of course, my husband had different captions in mind...
"These are the hands I dah (chinese for hit) you with."
"These are the feet I teh-k (chinese for kick) you with."
 Yes, my toddler is at the hitting stage -_-. Hopefully that will pass over eventually...

The frame on the left was a mother's day craft I made with my mom-in-law 2 years ago when my daughter was not even 3 months old. Time sure flies. Actually the foot in the frame looks almost the same size 'cuz of the angle lol.

I'm very lucky to have such a great father for my child. He is so supportive, involved, funny, and just adds a whole lot of fun to everything. Just the other day on his day off, he took my daughter and I on a scavenger hunt around the city. It was definitely a memorable day and I'll make a later post about this.  Thank you for being the best and most amazing dad for my daughter! <3

Happy Father's Day!

I woke up at 7:30 this morning to make a card for my dad as I just passed out last night from being overtired. Anyway, this was what I came up with in the 30 mins before my daughter woke up.

I think this is my first masculine-ish card (yes, I snuck some flowers into the masculine-ish card; hence the -ish). I meant to quill a bamboo for my dad since he loves bamboo but that was not happening in the short time that I had. I quickly drew a boot (based from Dr. Marten's), stamped the flowers , stamped "happy" and "day" but didn't have time to stamp father's and quickly wrote it myself.

I chose boots in the card because my dad owns a shoe store and has been working day in and day out ever since it opened 20(?) years ago. He has been supportive in everything I do and I would say I got some of the creativity from his artistic side :) He's also pretty easygoing especially with putting up with the mess that I make. Yes, I'm a really messy person (but actually I'd like to say, I got that from my dad too haha).

Anyway...
Happy Father's Day!

Challenge:
Use it Tuesday (all about dad)
I found out about this card challenge blog yesterday and I really like it 'cuz it encourages you to use up the craft stash that you have especially if they're collecting dust. So things I've used: boot was drawn on scrap kraft paper that I made test stamping on the back, flowers stamped on the huge pack of scrapbook paper (200 sheets) I got from Costco last year for $15. I told myself not to get anymore scrapbooking paper till I use up at least of that pack...must resist urge to buy!

Thank you

I've been making almost a card every night since I've finished my teaching last Saturday. I think I will try to spend more time on cleaning the house and preparing for attending a wedding (my daugher's going to be a flower girl!!) for the coming week...It's just too addictive with card-making and seeing everyone's cards and challenges though!

I came up with this card for the CASE Study Challenge #95. I love this challenge blog. I just seem to always get inspired to create a card and especially if I don't know what direction to take, it's a good jump off point. The muse of the month and DT comes up with the most gorgeous cards. I'll also be entering the card into Lollipop Crafts (flower theme).

My card is stamped with my handmade stamp I made a while back. The flower is actually made from tissue paper I like to save from packaging (in this case it's from Victoria Secret lol...you might be able to see the VS on the tissue paper if you look carefully). Also, I finally found kraft paper! It's from Michael's...I wonder why I didn't look there first. The thank you card is for my husband who seems to get a thank you every week for putting up with my cardmaking night owlness. He brought me to Michael's while he took my daughter to the bookstore so I could really look at things.

I may be posting later on next week...cards to still make:
-Father's Day card
-Grandma's birthday card
-wedding card

June is a busyyy month!

Sweet 16

My husband's niece is going to be celebrating her 16th birthday later this month. This is the card I'm planning to give her :)

The cake image I used is a digi image from Mellymoopapercrafting. I got a chance to practice using the Copic markers some more but I still need to learn more about them. There was also a lot of fussy cutting on the bottom of the cake and I realized I probably should have gotten the Honeybee precision scissors rather than the Martha Stewart ones as it might be even more precise with a flatter blade. I went with a more fun background (thanks to my husband's advice) rather than my original thought of using a black with polka dot background that would give it a more sophisticated feel. It's interesting how the background paper can totally change how a card will be perceived.

I'm entering this card into a new digi image challenge blog at Digi Haven. This is the second digi image I've used in my cards and I think it's good practice to try different styles. I think my preference is still playing around with stamps, inks, and paper though. I'm also entering it in the Clip n' Cuts Link Manager Challenge.

Supplies

InLinkz.com

Recollections Neutral Cardstock Paper, Memory Star 2 Sided Designer Cardstock, Studio g Clear Glitter Glue

That's why I love you...

This is my second take on the rainbow colour inspiration. Having made a fringe flower recently, I decided to make a rainbow coloured one :D

I glued the strips of origami paper I had left from the previous card, cut the fringe, and rolled it up. I was so excited to see how the rainbow flower to turn out :) The background is the leftover music I printed out. The only part I'm not too happy about is the writing/sentiment which I tried using the Versamarker and white embossing powder for. I need to work on my calligraphy skills and find my nibs for my calligraphy pen or get a white gel pen. Anyway, my husband liked it so that's what matters :)

True Colours

Over at Yes, Virginia, there's a fabulous photo inspiration for a card challenge.

Virginia's blog is one of my favourite ones to visit as it's always full of inspiration with simple, amazingly designed cards. After reading her post about being inspired to make a card by her salad, I learned to look for inspiration just anywhere too.

I've been meaning to enter in this challenge but I've been so busy lately and now I'm free! I have so many ideas I want to do but this is the one I came up with late, late tonight. I'm hoping to create more cards with that photo inspiration even if the challenge is over tomorrow night. The rainbow colour is my inspiration and when I think of rainbows and its vast array of colours, I think of the song, "True Colours". This is my abstract-ish representation of the song. 

The paper folding was inspired by a window display I saw at the mall a couple of weeks ago but never got to make a card out of it. It was an amazing backdrop to the mannequins. I can't remember exactly how the display looked but I remembered the square folded diagonally and arranged in an interesting pattern. As for the quilled heart, you can't tell but it's actually cut from the music True Colours that I printed out...I love that song :)

Another thank you

I also work at a tutor centre and my employer's wife gave me a late mother's day present. I really think these employers are the sweetest employers I've met. I'm going to give this card to her tomorrow.

I was inspired from the beautiful card over at CASE Study so I'll be entering this card into their Challenge #94 as well as the challenge over at Clip 'n Cuts. I had a lot of fun with this as I finally tried to make my own fringed flowers. I find the combination looks good together all thanks to the inspiration card. I also used a flash card for the middle white strip. I think I'm going to be using things around the house in my future cards :D

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Memory Star Scrapbook Paper, Flashcard (Dollarama), Make-It Special Scrapbook Paper (Dollarama),  Smart Papers Passport Granite 

Thank You Card

I've been pretty busy the last 2-3 weeks working on the 108 report cards that I've finally finished 2 days ago. Whew! There were so many enticing card challenges that I had to miss because of it. Oh well. I'm hoping to be more active on my blog now that my teaching on Saturdays has ended (last day today!). I made a simple card to thank the principal for the teaching opportunity.

I'm also entering this card in the Clip 'n Cuts Challenge. I gave Data Manager a try and it is fantastic! It's so easy to use to list the supplies we've used. Unfortunately, I've only listed two materials as the rest of them I couldn't find online. I really like the Data Manager and I'm hoping to digitize all the craft supplies I have one day.

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Recollections Pedal Opaque Embossing Powder, Recollections Blank Cards and Envelopes 4 in x 5.5 in, Autumn Leaves Stampology stamps (sorry I don't know the name as I've thrown out the packaging :S), Studio g Glitter Glue, Dollarama Twine

Quick birthday post...

I didn't get a chance to post this from before. It was a card for my boss' granddaughter that turned two.

Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge (Anything goes)

In other news, I am still really busy preparing for my final week of teaching on Saturdays. 5 more report cards left! I can't wait to have time to make cards and art again. Hopefully I will be more active on my blog after that. :)