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....

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.

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!

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!

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:

• NBK
• Shabby Princess
• Scrap N' Art

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, fellow crafters!