Monday, April 27

6 Cards in 1 Night

6 Cards in 1 Night SplitcoastStampers conducted its Mini Virtual Stamp Night this past weekend, and I made sure that I participated.  Even though I wasn't able to do it on the actual night, I still tried to do the challenges yesterday.  The theme for this one is Viva Las VSN - so cool!  All the challenges have something to do with Las Vegas and I love it!
 
There were 10 fun challenges but I was only able to do 6 yesterday.  I'm hoping to make a few more tonight before the deadline, but it won't probably happen.  But still, I had so much fun making these cards:


For the first challenge, the theme was a "buffet" and we were to use our favorite stamp set as the main dish, cardstock and ink for the side items, and choice of embellishments for dessert.  I used SU Thoughts and Prayers, 3 layers of CS (the top layer dry embossed with SU Backgrounds 1, buttons, flower sequins, Nesties die cuts, and the image I accented with Spica At You Clear Glitter Pen. The small dots on the sentiment are actually accents for nails.


In this card, the challenge was called "Let's Play BlackJack" where points were given per layer (1 point), patterned paper (3 points), stamp (5 points), ribbon (2 points) and hard embellishment (1 point) used.  If I calculated it right, I accumulated 43 points because I used 5 layers (excluding card base), 2 kinds of patterned paper, 6 kinds of stamps and 2 eyelets.



In the third challenge, we were to use gold in our card.  Anything gold.  For this card, the golden embossed girl image is by Inkadinkado, while the Rockin' Girl sentiment is by Paper Company Studio. The background is from the DCWV Rockstar Stack.


I love the next challenge called "Cirque Du Soleil".  DH and I saw their show "The Beatles LOVE" in Vegas about 2 years ago and I loved every moment of it.  That show itself was my inspiration in making this card.  I used the following tools and materials:  
 
- SU Seeing Spots
- Verve Feeling Groovy
- Creative Memories curved trimmer
- Nestabilities Nested Birds and Daisy Heads
- Prima flowers
- bg cardstock by DCWV Rockstar Stack
- glitter cardstock by Best Occasion and DCWV
- misc: flower brad, leftover cardstock


 
 

The next challenge was called "The Strip" where we were to use strips of papers in our card.  I like this challenge a lot because it gave me a reason to use my paper scraps.  All the paper/cardstock used here are are scrap paper (except for the card base). The stamp is by Deadbeat Designs.



The last card I was able to make is a fun one.  We had to make a flip-flop or swing card, and I've never done one before.  I always like to create something fresh and new.  I used Kraft Cardstock by the Paper Company, stamped with SU Watercolor Garden images. The sentiments are from the SU Congrats, stamped on parchment paper. The white cardstock is DCWV and the flowers are Prima.

Why don't you try doing these challenges for fun?  I had a really great time making them.  You can see the rest of the May Mini VSN Challenges here.

Sunday, April 26

Super Ultra Fun Weekend

Super Ultra Fun Weekend I was looking forward to this weekend for two reasons.  One is a karaoke contest, and the other is a Scrapbook Shop & Crop Show hosted by Great Scrapbook Events, only 15 minutes away from home.  Even though I didn't have enough sleep the other night, I made sure I went to this Scrapbooking event yesterday.



The crop area was so tempting with all the tools available for use.  So I stayed away from there and went around and checked out the different vendors and booths.  The popular brands were there like Stampin' Up and Close To My Heart.  And there were locally based vendors too like my LSS The Paper Manor.  There was a product that really caught my attention called the Fantasy Fiber being sold by Til Dawn Paper Crafts.  I had to buy several colors and I can't wait to play with them!  There were lots of good deals like dollar bins and marked down prices.

 
 

What totally made my visit to this fun event was the Make & Take project by Stampin Up.  For $4, I was able to make this really cool pull-out card.  It seemed so complicated, but it was actually easy to make.  The best part was, I was able to use a lot of Stampin' Up tools and supplies - especially the ones that I don't have.  I got to use the blender pen for the first time and I actually liked it.  It was nice to see a lot of the SU products right in my hand, especially the ones I've been contemplating on buying.  It gives you a better perspective of the products than just seeing them in the catalog.  Now I know which ones I should get for my next SU club purchase.


For this card, I used the Owl Together Now stamp set, which is such a cutie!  Then I used three SU colors:  Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip for the cardstock, ink and ribbon.  When you pull the ribbon on top, another part of the card comes out from below.  Really cool!  Thank you Ms. Denise Carpenter for teaching me this really fun card.


But it doesn't end there.  About an hour after I got home, I got a phone call from Great Scrapbook Events and they said I won a prize in their raffle.  It's a Making Memories Tag Curler, sponsored by my LSS The Paper Manor.  Who doesn't want a new tool for free?

Now I'm looking forward to another Scrapbook event in October, and another one in November.  My calendar's already marked for these 2 events, and I'm already excited!  Kudos to Great Scrapbook Events for putting up fun shows like these.
 
It was a really ubber great weekend!  Woot!

 

Friday, April 24

Mystery Box

Mystery Box This will be really short and quick.
 
I got this in the mail today.  But I have not time to open and see what's inside.  Can you guess what it is?



One thing's for sure, my DH won't be happy with it... hehehe.  Maybe my Puppy too!  Haha!

Thursday, April 23

Earth Day

Earth Day I may be a day late, but I'm proud to say that I do my part in preserving the planet by doing a lot of recycling, especially with my crafts.  Here are some of my "green" practices:
  • Re-using any form of packaging from craft products, especially the acrylic/plastic ones
  • Re-using mail envelopes and boxes
  • I have a special place for scrap paper and other scrap materials and I try to use them as much as I can.  Anyway, isn't this hobby called SCRAPbooking?
  • I re-purpose old furniture, kitchen/office organizers
  • I try not to throw away anything because I know that I'll make good use of them in the future.
And in celebration of Earth Day, I made this tree, using recycled products or products made from recycled materials.  



The tree itself is cut from a corrugated cardboard box, painted with brown acrylic paint.  Then for the leaves and the owl, I used DCWV Green Stack, which is made of 70% recycled paper - cut with Nestabilities.  


The stamped image is one of the many Michael's dollar stamps.  To see more photos of my Earth Day Tree, please click here.

Let's make everyday Earth Day!

Did you see anything different with the photo above?  This is my first time to use my new portable photo studio.  It's called the D-Flector by Sharpics.  




For more info about this cool product, please click here.  I'll be playing with this new tool some more then I'll write a review.

Wednesday, April 22

Wednesday

Wednesday I had a terrible headache last night.  So I went to bed early at 9 pm.  Yep, that's early for me!  LOL
 
Here's a digital LO I made using Memory Mixer.  This is actually a quick page I downloaded free from Scrap N' Art.  All of the elements are also Scrap N' Art freebies (Spring Zest kit) from their March-April Issue, except for the "Spring" alpha which is Ledger Monograms by K. Pertiet.  The "Fever" alpha is also downloaded free from Scrap N'Art.



Also, Paula Pascual featured my planet in her blog.  She features craft rooms from all over.  Be warned that her blog is loaded with a lot of ideas from other crafters when it comes to craft room organization and craft storage, therefore you might get stuck browsing for a while.  Thanks Paula!

Monday, April 20

Hemp

Hemp I always like hemp accessories/jewelry.  But I rarely buy them.  Why?  Because everytime I see them in the stores, I knew I can make them - given the proper instructions.  I know.  I'm cheap.
 
Then last week, I saw a student wearing a hemp necklace.  I asked her if she made it and she said yes.  The necklace looked pretty cool. 




That inspired me to make a piece of hemp accessory.  I finally took out 2 hemp instruction books I bought in Japan a few years ago and started reading.  It is a challenge to read the instructions in Japanese, not failing to mention that their measurements are in centimeters.  But the illustrations are pretty good, so I was able to follow.  This piece involved 3 knots.  I'm sorry I don't know what each knot is called, because the book was all in Japanese characters.  But this one was pretty easy to make.  It took me for only about an hour to finish.
 
So, I was intending to make a bracelet.  But somehow it ended too big for my tiny wrists.  So maybe it could work as an anklet.  Still too big.  Then I saw my puppy staring at me.
Guess what happened next?  Click here.


Sunday, April 19

Another Verve Card

Another Verve Card I was supposed to submit this card for one of the Verve April 2009 Release challenges in SplitCoastStampers, but I just couldn't make it to the deadline.  DH wanted to go to town and buy some trees, and of course I couldn't say no.  We got 3 Japanese maple trees and 3 white Cherry Blossom (Sakura) trees.  One of the Japanese maple trees will be planted in front of my craft room :)  


 
Anyhoo, following the second sketch, I was able to make this card and added a twist to it by changing the fold.


 
I just wanted it to be simple this time, and focused on the smaller details.  I love the piercing on the two corners, I used with Ornaire Piercing Template.  The shape in the middle is Nestabilities Labels Four.  The embossed image is from Verve Artful Elegance set.  The dots in the middle are epoxy stickers.  The edge punch is by Fiskars.


 
This is how the card opens.  The lilac paper, I cut with Nestabilities Curved Rectangles die.  I had to cut both ends to fit the card.  Then I adhered the cut ends on the top and bottom.  The sentiment is from Verve Beautiful You set, which I touched up with Spica AtYou purple glitter pen.

 

Thursday, April 16

Verve Card

Verve Card Hello dear friends and fellow crafters!
 

I guess it's time to turn my planet back into it's normal messy state.  Haha!  





Verve, one of my favorite stamp brands, is currently hosting 4 challenges for their April Release.  Tonight, I was able to do one of the challenges.  I've always liked to participate in their challenges whenever I can.  Their card sketches are really cool and they keep my creative juices flowing.

 
I decided to take a different approach with this card and used a different fold. The fold is actually in the bottom, and the top right label die keeps the card closed. I embossed the sentiment with gold powder. As for the label on the left, I couldn't throw the small piece that I

cut off, so I attached it on the right edge instead.  


 Materials used:
Verve Serenity
Verve Filigree Fantasy
Fiskars border punch
EK Success border punch
Black Memento ink pad
Gold embossing powder
Clear embossing ink
Nestabilities Labels 1 and 4
Leftover gold ribbon
Michael's gold bead sticker
Gold Stickles
 
You might want to try their challenges (click here).  The fun thing is that you don't have to use Verve stamps.  Who knows, you might win a gift certificate to the Verve Online Store and finally own your own Verve stamps.  You can also check out their blog here.
 

Monday, April 13

A Better Planet

A Better Planet I've been trying so hard to finalize my Planet's new look.  Avoiding craft stores and limiting my craft spending sure helped a lot in cleaning and organizing my craft room.  There has been some new additions to help make my planet a better place and I'm very happy.  I wish it will stay this way forever, but I doubt that will happen.  I'm sure my planet will be messy again sometime this week.


For now, let me just enjoy the moment :)  Please join me through these pictures.


Saturday, April 11

Crocheted Doll Dress

Crocheted Doll Dress I was able to do this today while I was pitching in for DH at work.  


I  had a ball of different colors of leftover yarn knotted together, and I used that to finish this dress.  No, I didn't follow any pattern, and I'm proud to say that I crocheted this all by myself.  I just used basic stitches from slip stitich to single, half double, double and triple crochet.  For closure, I just used a regular hook, attached with clear thread.  I was a little worried if it would fit my Pullip doll, but when I fit it on Zuora, I was really happy.
 
Have a Happy Easter!
 
 
 

Thursday, April 9

Birthday Card

It's DMIL's birthday tomorrow and since we moved to the US, I've always made a birthday card for her.  This is an 8.5 x 5.5 card - actually the biggest card I've ever made.  I played with my Nestabilities dies with this one.  My bow is alright - but I wish it was better.  Thanks for looking...


 


Wednesday, April 8

Free Stamps From Inkadinkado

Free Stamps from Inkadinkado Want some free stamps from Inkadinkado?  I just learned about this promotion from SplitCoastStampers.  All you need to do is mail your latest Inkadinkado creation to:
 
Inkadinkado Contest
1801 N. 12th Street
Reading, PA 19604-1527

 
When they receive your project, they'll thank you with a FREE STAMP.  Just remember that you have to use Inkadinkado stamps in your project.  Along with your creation, provide the stamp name and item number(s) you used, along with your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and name of your favorite stamping supply store.  There is a limit to 3 free stamps per household.  Your submission should be postmarked by April 15th to qualify for the free stamp/s. 
 
And guess what? I've seen people who have posted the free stamps they have received.  Woot!
 
I was able to make 3 cards for this promotion, and they are ready for mailing tomorrow.  Click here to check them out.
 
So what are you waiting for?  Go dig for those Inkadinkado stamps and start creating!
 

Monday, April 6

April First Creation

Today is the official start of our Spring break from work.  And I'm enjoying it.  No, we're not going anywhere, but that's ok.  My goal this week is to do a lot of cleaning and organizing around the house, including my planet. In fact, my planet's been neat lately and all I need to do is update the labels of my drawers.  Then I'm ready to take photos.



Also, I wanted to start my Spring break with some creativity.  I don't know why, but I'm so into "clear" lately.  I have created some clear projects before like a clear card and some mini ones.  And just this weekend, a clear album was brewing in my mind.  So what I did was take out all my leftover packaging.  I've been hiding them and it was time to make some space (since I'm Spring cleaning!).  

I browsed through my Sizzix and Big Shot dies and found 2 dies to play with:  Sizzix Pocket Die (RAKed by Claire) and Stampin' Up Bigz Top Note Die (manufactured by Sizzix).  After cutting 10 pieces from each die, I was really happy.  There's a clear mini album in the making!  As you can see on the first mini album below, I inverted the pages and bound them together using the Bind-It-All.  It is best to bind your pages before you actually add all the embellishments to make sure that each page has holes in the exact same position.


 
T
oday, I concentrated on my clear inverted-pocket mini album.  This album will be about friends, near and far, who are dear to me.   It took a while for me to figure out what elements to use  because of the clear pages.  On a test page, I tried Copic markers, and they worked fine.  I also tried Staz-On ink pad, and it worked too.  But I knew that if I use Copics and Staz-On, it will take forever to do each page. 




So I searched for something that will make my project easier to make.  Then I saw a book of clear flower stickers RAKed to me by Claire (again).  I knew those would be perfect.  Then to place my photos, I cut black cardstock with Nestabilities Labels 4.  Then for some words, I used word sticker strips by 7Gypsies.  I arranged the flower stickers in such a way that they looked like they are layered as you go through each page (see photo on the left).  Then I attached the word sticker strips on the bottom left on the page front, and did the same procedure on the opposite page, this time on the lower right, so that it covers the back of the sticker that's attached in the front.  After that, I folded each black cardstock in half, then ran it through my Xyron sticker machine.  I adhered the black cardstock where the first half is in front right edge of the page, and the other half is in the left edge of the opposite page.  As you can see on the photo in this paragraph, I positioned each word strip and black cardstock in such a way that they are right behind each other when the entire album is closed.


For the front, I just adhered a sticker on the left, then a layered flower on the right.  The big red flower is by Bazzil, the clear flower is by Making Memories, and the smaller flower is by Prima.  I added a gem stone for the final touch.  In the opposite side, I just adhered a small flower My Moments Creative Co-Op. In this album, even the opposite pages are being used.  In total, there are 17 pages, not counting the cover page and the back page.  All this album needs now are the photos.  
 
To see the album in detail, please click here.

Wednesday, April 1

April Full

April Full So what silly thing did you do today?  None for me really...  But today was a good day at least.

Tonight, I just updated my 2009 Calendar.  It's my first time to change months, and now I like my calendar more.


 
Also, I took out the elements from the Qwik It Pocket page about our dog Chichay, and finished it.  I still followed the layout, then I added embellishments and added borders to some of the photos.

Tomorrow, Chichay will undergo an operation.  I wish I could be there to take her to the vet, but I can't because of work.  She will go home on Friday.  The good thing is it's Spring break next week, and I can be with Chichay 24/7 until she gets well.

Have a good night, everyone! :D