Tuesday, November 25

Christmas 2P LO and Birthday Card

I have been in a Scrapbook Kit Club in Splitcoaststampers for two years.  The second cycle started in January of this year and there are 12 members.  Each member is assigned a month, and that member is to make a double scrapbook page layout kit for all the other 11 members.  So each member gets 11 scrapbook page kits for the entire year, 12 if you create one for yourself on your assigned month.

And December is my month.  Which led me to design a Christmas kit/sketch.  My favorite part of this page is the title, which were cut with Cricut (the brackets too!).  To spice it up, I inked "Christmas" with a similar color from the printed paper I used.  Then I drew white lines on the edges of "Memories" using Signo White Pen.  The circles were punched with Creative Memories.  The white cardstock base is by The Paper Company while the printed paper is DCWV.  I stitched the oval on the left with DMC cross-stitch thread.  Then I dabbed ink on the stitching.  I decided to put a pocket on the left side of the photo bunch, and inserted a Georgia Pacific cardstock for more photos and journaling, which was punched with Fiskars. 


I hope the ladies in my scrapbook kit club will like this layout - especially the part where they put all the elements together to create the page.


Also, I'd like to share with you a birthday card I created for my DH.  My favorite part in this card is inside, but that's between me and DH only :)
By the way, check out the cards I received from "For The Birds" card swap here.

Hey fellow crafters!  Thanksgiving Day is just a day away.  I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and I'm sure you have a lot of things to be thankful for this year.  That would be a nice topic for a scrapbook page.

And don't miss those great Black Friday deals!

Sunday, November 23

Inchies

I was introduced to making inchies by Lisa, whom I met in SplitCoastStampers.  She is hosting an inchie swap there, and asked me to join.  I like to join swaps because they give me a really good reason to create.  And Lisa's swap was my great excuse to finally make inchies.  This swap is good for 4 months, and I'd like to share with you the inchies I have received so far.

For September, the theme was Spooky Halloween or Fall.  I decided to create a halloween one.  Because this was my first inchie creation, I decided to shoot a video about it, and you can watch it by clicking here.


The theme for October was "Turkey Day or anything Thanksgiving."  My inchie involved an acorn.  But guess what?  I forgot to take a photo before sending my inchies to Lisa.  But these are the ones I received for October.  Can you guess which one is mine?


This month, November, we were supposed to make "A Disney Christmas or Just Christmas" inchies.  I chose to make a Santa one.  I can't wait to see what I'll get back for this month.

We have one more month for this swap, and for next month, we can make a "New Year"-themed or any theme of our choice.  I haven't decided what to make yet.  I'll worry about that next month... hehe.

Saturday, November 22

November Calendar Page

It's very cold and snowy right now in Michigan.  So far, I'm not jealous with you who live in the warm countries.  I'm enjoying the first snow fall of the year.

That was the inspiration for the November page of my 2008 calendar.  It was the same month last year when my Mommy experienced her first real snow.  My parents were visiting for a month and I was really hoping that it would snow that time. 


For this page, the only thing I followed from the instruction booklet was the layout.  All I used from the kit was the cardstock, background paper and rub-on (November).  I made the big white oval using the Creative Memories cutting system, and drew the dots with Martha Stewart Opaque marker.  The main title "SNOW" is by Making Memories and the "first" is from my leftover alpha stash.  I used Copic Multiliner in 0.5 and 1.0 for the journaling.  I also adhered my photos on white vellum before attaching it to the bg paper.  The ribbon I purchased from Big Lots and the flower is by Petaloo.  For the final touch, I placed some snowflake sequins with Glue Dots.

You can see more pages of my 2008 Calendar by clicking here.

One more page to go....  woot!

Wednesday, November 19

Scrapbooking Time!

It's been a while since I did my last LO.

In this blog entry, I'll share with you my latest digital pages and a traditional page I made a few months ago.

I made this digital layout for my cousin's birthday.  She and her bf of many years tied the knot last month.  I'm really happy for her and I wish I was there on her special day.  This page was created with Memory Mixer.



This traditional scrapbook page is about my planet.  I submitted this page for publication, but it wasn't picked, so I'm sharing it to you now.  My bg is black corrugated cardstock by The Paper Company.  This page is basically an ode to my dear craft room - to show my appreciation to my place of creativity.


Here's another digital LO, this time for my vey good friend Lara, again via Memory Mixer.  We've known each other since college.  Even though we're so far apart, we still manage to keep in touch.  I cherish her phone calls when her work takes her to New York, or when she's back in the Philippines.  The last time we saw each other was in Singapore and that was about 5 years ago.  This color combination was an experiment, and I like the final product!



Watch out for my next video tutorial about making inchies.  And I promise to make more product reviews.  Can you tell I have some new additions to my planet?  That answers why I needed to make room.... hehe!

Monday, November 17

Birthday Card

I was able to put away stuff and clear my craft desk yesterday.  But my planet's still in the works with regards to the "rehabilitation" process...
With my craft desk cleared, I have no reason not to make a birthday card for my DSIL.


I used 2 Nestabilities dies - long rectangle scallop and labels labels one.  The gold flower is from Prima, and the flower in front is by Lil Davis (RAKed to me by Lisa ).  The "Happy Birthday" is one of Studio G's dollar stamp collection.  This is also my first time to use the Stampin' Up scallop edge punch (I hope you don't mind, Claire ) and I love it!


I like the end result of this card, especially its dimensions.  What I like best about this card is that most of the materials I used are leftover material.
I also stamped a sentiment inside.  The image is from Cloud 9 Designs.  I was actually amazed when I learned that the "saying" was quoted from Oprah Winfrey.  It says:  "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."


That is just so beautiful!

By the way, check out the big bunch of Christmas cards I recently got in the mail.  They are all from 3 swaps.  You can view them by clicking here.
OK, let me do some more cleaning in my planet....

Sunday, November 16

Planet in Uber State of Emergency


And I am not kidding!



If I am the president, demonstrations will be happening everywhere and I will undergo impeachment for overspending while the planet is in total chaos. 


And that is not good at all.


This current condition hampers production.


So last night, I decided to start a major overhaul in my planet.  I'm trying to reposition items who play a major role.  We need more space, so I'm trying to sort and remove those who really don't have any particular role.  My planet needs complete reorganization.  And even though recycling is one of the strictly implemented laws in my planet, I really have to get rid of stuff that have no use.  Even though the overall production has improved a lot and resources have become more abundant, there is still a big problem with overspending.

That is why I wrote and passed a new resolution.  Effective January 2009, purchase of any scrapbook/stamping/card making items will be illegal for 11 months, thus ending in November 2009.  The only exception will be the following because they are considred major necessities:

1.  Adhesive
2.  Georgia Pacific cardstock
3.  Replacement of my Cricut machine when it breaks down. 
4.  Stampin' Up Club purchases, which expires in March '09
5.  Magazines that I'm not subscribed to

A fine of $5 and a smack on the head will be implemented for each purchase other than those mentioned above.  (Details of this is still to be determined.).  RAKs and PIFs are not considered purchases.  The planet still wants to maintain good relations with other craft worlds.

For strict implementation, I asked for the support of the police force (in the form of my loving DH) to keep me away from any craft stores.  That means, I have a month and a half to get the stuff I think I need, especially some of the Martha Stewart edge punches.

Thus in 2009, the planet will focus more on production with total zero spending.  And the planet will aim to generate funds by selling handmade cards in at least one craft show in November next year.

This new decree is signed, sealed with a kiss and spat in the back for extra strength.

Monday, November 10

My Latest Card

Hello fellow crafters!  This is going to be short.

I just want to share with you a card I created over the weekend.  It's for the "For The Birds" Card Swap, and we're supposed to have birds on our cards.  This might be the last swap I'll be participating for this year.  I need to start preparing for the coming Holidays.


My inspiration for this card is from the "Star of Wonder" card created by Becca Feeken.  I love all her cards and I like to visit her blog.  I started with 2 designs, and I ended up using the one on the left.  Which one do you prefer?


Because this is my last swap card for this year, I decided to make it extra special.  I put a lot of layers and used designer paper by Mind's Eye Bohemia Collection and cardstock by Georgia Pacific and DCWV.  I inked the cardstock edges with one of my favorite inks ColorBox Fluid Chalk Inkpad in Charcoal.  I also used my recently acquired Nestabilities Labels 2.  The sentiment image is from Cloud 9 Designs and the bird image is by CTMH.  I accentuated the card with black ribbon, black flower sequin and black glitter glue by Gary M. Burlin & Co.


The swap is 5 + 1, and I made 8 cards.  One for me, and another one for Claire .

'Till next blog!

Saturday, November 8

GUESS WHAT?!?!


After 4 long months of waiting, I finally got my pre-ordered Nestabilities!!!  And that was today!!!  I pre-ordered three of them, but I got only two.  But that's ok because I like the thought that I'm still expecting some happy mail.  I still have yet to receive Shapeabilities Nested Bird.


As you can see on the pic, I ordered from 7 Kids College Fund.  I like this online store because I find their prices reasonable, and the service is really good.  My first order from them was the Scor-Pal and I love it to the max!


The ones I got are the Labels 1 and Labels 2 dies.  I fell in love with them the first time I saw them in the official website.   Also, their packaging is new, and this time, it comes with complete instructions on how you can use these dies with all the other die cut machines currently available.

I just had to make cards with these new additions to my non-surprisingly chaotic planet.  I promised Claire that I will send her some of my card creations, and I figured these cards would be a good start.


For my first card, I used Labels 1 and a bunch of leftover paper.  I also got to use Cuttlebug Script embossing folder, another recent purchase from the newly opened Joann's about an hour away.  All the cardstock, bg paper and ribbon are from my leftover stash.  The flower image is CTMH.  I stamped first with a lighter color, then a darker color.  After that, I stamped again, this time in prep for embossing.  As for the flower center, I adhered it with pop-up glue dots, then accentuated with purple Stickles.  I love how the flower turned out to be! 


For this next card, I played with my Labels 2, along with oval scalloped Nesties.  I don't know why, but I'm in love with sheer ribbon lately.  The stamp is by Heidi Grace and the eyelets are by Stampin' Up.
I was so happy on my first run of these new dies in my Big Shot Machine.  I must say that it was worth the wait.

I hope Claire likes these cards.

And I love my new Nesties!

Sunday, November 2

A GREAT WEEK and some Digital Freebies!!!

Aside from the fact that I had a fun halloween and my first poker game, this week is great because I was able to create quite a lot.

Let me start this blog with a Christmas card I created for a fellow PIFer from SplitCoastStampers.  She sold me a bunch of Bella Stamps for only $20.  So far, I only have a few, but thanks to Molly, I have more!  Check out my new Bella Stamps here.

Back to my Christmas Card. 


With this one, I didn't do any stamping, but I did some paper-piecing if you call it that.  The BG paper is from DCWV's Christmas Stack.  I also used 2 edge punchers:  one by Fiskars (threading water) and the Scallop Edge punch by Stampin' Up.  The green ribbon is one of my many left-overs.

This is how it looks like with the first flap open.


And this is how it looks like when opened all the way.


 I also want to share with you my biggest project ever.  It's a halloween board I made for work. 


It's a collaboration among the staff, and we did a great team.  I'm sorry I just had to brag.  What made this special is that this project led to a crop to take place next week.  Click here to see the board in detail.

What also made this week great is my being published once again.  Scrap N' Art just released their November/December issue, and you can see some of my creations there.  To see their latest issue, all you need to do is subscribe for free, and you get to download this jam-packed issue.  Yep!  It's loaded with tutorials, freebies and ideas.  Also, check out their page calls for their March/April '09 issue by clicking here.  By the way, my creations are on page 21 and 29 .

The Daily Scrapper just recently released their latest issue too.  And one of my multiply pals from the Philippines, Teresa, wrote a very nice article, right on the front page!  Don't forget to download their freebie for this week.  It's a very nice digital LO by none other than Alice Koh - right here.
And for more digital freebies, click on the following links:
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, fellow crafters!