From Australia...with Love!

Just a quick share about my mails and happenings....these utterly beautiful and thoughtful mail came yesterday! This delectable chocolate with the lovely message came all the way from Australia from my sweet blog friend Simone

Simone's darling card

The sweet Barb E.'s card is even more gorgeous in real life!

Super talented Cathy A. send BOTH birthday card and Christmas card to me and my family.All of us met in May 2010, in London (see London trip). It was truly a wonderful time to remember! 

 I did some quick kraft gift bag decoration.

 Here is what I am working on-- Another calendar. This is a smaller calendar. I will share them starting next week. 

I will be back for CAS-ual Friday next! There are still 8 more days to enter the Birthday celebration. BIG thanks to those who are part of the celebration! Looking forward to more! 

Edited note: I had just received more birthday cards today (see birthday post). Thank you--Lin (#4), Annette (#9)  Brenda U (# 14), Rachel (#23) and Cindy C. I love love love each one of them!

Another Hello Card!

Hello!

Here is a Hello card.

Card stock: Kraft card Stock (Recollections) ,Pattern paper: Manhattan from Social Club, Cosmo Cricket, Clear stamp: Type (hero Arts), Cling stamp: Friendship Definition (Hero Arts) , Dye Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Fibres: May Arts. Accents: Hero Arts gemstones, Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Vintage photo), 3D Dots by EK Success, Glossy Accent

I am entering this for the Moxie Fab world's Pay It Forward Challenge (my 2nd entry). Lastly, I want to share funny photos of David and some yummy Japanese food from last weekend. 
(photo credit: my daughter Stephanie)

David was lamenting: " "My calculus mark is going to drop to 96%". Quite an overachiever, eh?

My Seafood U-Don Noodle

Stephanie's favorite--"Too Much Love" Roll
 Dr. John: "You always get the same thing."
Stephanie: "You can never have too much love." =)

And that was David  Sunrise Sushi! 

There is still one more week for taking part in my virtual birthday party (see here)! I hope you can find time to join the fun! I am still 40 something :)

New Stamps!

 In the last few weeks I am blessed to have received some new stamps from my Hero Arts win and I bought a few sets myself. For once, I feel like my stamps are not being inked up fast enough! Gone are the days when I had NO or few stamps! One of them I bought from Simon Says Stamps is Happy Holidays. I had made a few cards from this set (see here, here and here ). Today I am sharing the latest one!

This card is pretty simple and easy to make. There are just a few special things about it:
I stamped the trees in rocking motion (first in Bundled Sage, then in Peel Paint around the tree image)  in order to achieve the different shades of green. Then I added the dimensions with pop dots. The sentiment was embossed. I love how this Nordic stitched looks! Want more inspiration? Check  Nordic Stitching in Pinterest. And.... speaking of Nordic, my family and I are planning on going on a Baltic cruise in this coming summer (as part of my 50th birthday present!!)! I will be in Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Sweden & Russia!! How AWESOME is that!? I get excited just thinking about it :)

This stamp set is perfect for a non-sewer like me. I added one of my favorite things-faux stitching to give a more polished look!  Lastly, I added the white Pearlescent Dimensional Liquid to the trees. Lovely stuff, isn't it?
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 For my Crafty girl friend card giveaway (see here), the random winner is

#23 Maureen Morton said...

Thanks for reminding me of this great technique, Virginia. Love the happy colors! An iphone app?! Seriously, you DO get around, girlfriend! Thanks!

Please e-mail me your postal address, Maureen, so I can pop the card and some SRM Stickers in the mail for you!

Thank you, friends, for being such dedicated readers/followers to my blog! Every day I feel so encouraged by your positive feedback....you make me want to be a better blogger/stamper! HUGS to you all! 

New Toy!

Last week I bought a set of Die-namics mini Rolled Roses at the local scrapbooking store, and boy, are they ever "fun"!? After making a dozen of the roses, I was not completely pleased and then realized that I was not layering them correctly. So it happened I stumbled upon Kristina Werner's video (see Rolled roses). After watching the video, I finally had an "ah-ha" moment and got right to work...making more roses!
 
 With a row of 8 mini roses, I decided to keep the card design super simple. It only needs to have sentiment, embossed pink heart and scalloped borders added! Here is the close-up! 

This card is perfect for any woman in your life that has an important relationship with you. I am entering this for the Moxie Fab World's Celebrating Relationship Challenge. There are still 13 days to join my virtual birthday party (see here ).  I have enjoyed seeing each and every entry and I am looking forward to more! 

12 Cards with SRM Fancy Sentiment

 

As I look back this year's projects and cards, I must say that I feel so blessed to be part of the SRM Sticker DT! I know when I applied for the DT just about a year ago, I knew it will be an easy stretch to use these fabulous stickers for my cards and projects and I was so right (and also big thanks to former SRM DT Jing Jing's and Kathy Racoosin's encouragement). This DT really helps getting me out of my comfort zone! I had made tubes, wands, layouts and altered projects. It even prompted me to submit to publications. I never think I had a chance...until this year! And thankfully, I think I made SRM proud as I have 4 cards in Paper Crafts publications and they all have SRM Stickers! So big thanks to Susan (our super sweet and wonderful SRM owner) and Jenyfur (the ultra coordinator of our blog), you are the BEST! If you are interested in being part of the SRM DT, stay tuned! The new DT call is coming up very soon (hint, hint)!

Are you ready to see my 12 cards of Christmas? Yes, I made 12 cards from one sheet of SRM Stickers called Fancy Sentiment (retail for $3.00)

With this sheet, I came up with 12 cards. Are you ready?

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Ornate Ornaments

 Stamps: Happy Holidays

 By using kissing technique, I combined Music Background and Merriest Christmas Wishes

 A close-up. I love the fact that they are very flat and mail-friendly.

 And then I made some cute ones with Lawn Fawn's Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum

 

Here are the close-up

 I also tried to make some rustic and neutral Christmas cards with Ornate Ornaments

 details here

Lastly, I made a simple ornament card with the SRM Stickers (Yes, the lacy border is SRM Stickers)

So...do you like them? Hope these 12 cards inspire you to make some! Thanks so much for stopping by! If you can leave me a comment over SRM Blog , that will be super fabulous! Hope you have a great day! Now...there are just 15 days to join my birthday party! I am still 40 something... :)

Edited note: these cards were featured in Simon Says Stamps ! 

Celebrating Hobbies Challenge

 Hello! I am excited to share a card that I made with Clear and Simple Stamp and it was selected to be in the iphone App feature. You can find it here along with some fabulous inspiration from this site. It is scheduled to be release today! 

 Since it is a card for a crafty friend, I thought it would be perfect for the Moxie Fab World's Celebrating Hobbies Challenge

Sorry that the image is removed for publication.

I love using the BACKING of the clear stamps to create the images in assorted colors. They are all stamped with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. First I stamped the BACK of the images with colorful inks and then I stamped black dye ink over and that's it! {edited note:  Please see Lisa Spangler's video (from Hero Arts) for detailed instruction}. The fun part is adding the twines for the oval sentiment.

I think this card will make any craft-y girlfriend super happy. I will pick someone from this post to send this card to. Would you like to be my crafty girlfriend (that color my world)? Just leave me a comment in this post by Friday midnight Eastern Time and it's simple as that!

My next post is ALL about SRM Stickers and cards (what else?). All 12 of them!  Hope you've got time to check them out!

Did You Know...

....what is Dr. John thinking? 
About Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's break-up (shared this over Facebook already)

Dr. John: So....I see that Ashton Kutcher is breaking up with Demi Moore... (reading the gossip news on the computer) 

Me: There's your chance!! 

Dr. John: Me? No! I don't even like Ashton Kutcher.
 

Me: Haha...VERY funny :)

About my daughter Stephanie' TA Marking.... 

Steph:	This marking is driving me crazy. Every misuse of a semi-colon is like gahh!
Dad:	Are you sure you want to be a prof?
Mom:	It's because you have OCD!
Steph:	Noooooo.
Dad:	It's because she's a perfectionist.
Steph:	.....Yeahh.
Dad:	It's the same thing.   (Steph: ........oh..)

About my first publication on Paper Crafts (365 Cards A day)

Me:  Yay! I bought a copy of Paper Crafts because I just can't wait for the official copy to come!

Dr. John: How much is that?

Me: I got it at Wal-Mart...just around $14 a copy!And that is a BARGAIN!

Dr. John: What!!!? Do they sell a page somewhere?  All we need is P. 70!! Well, just a corner really...(heehee)!

Me: ....(giving him a dirty look)! 

That Dr. John always cracks us up in our house! 

I am also sharing a card that didn't make the cut for the last Paper Crafts submission call (May/June 2012). Luckily I did have one picked! I just submitted as many as I could and I really didn't think much about "Quality over Quantity" like I said I would in this post. Just go with it--it's my new motto!  This card was based on the sketch provided by PC.

 

Hope this post brings you a smile. And if you don't know about my virtual birthday party, you definitely need to find out here. There are still 19 days left for you to join the fun! 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge # 29

Friday is here! Let's get our CAS-ual Friday Challenge started!

 

Please note that this is a TWO-week challenge. Since American Thanksgiving is almost here, we'd like to give you more time to spend time with family and friends. We hope that you can still find time to take part in this fun challenge.

Our sponsor: Trade Fish Designs

This lovely sketch was provided by one of our talented DT Karen B. I just love the simplicity of the sketch. 

I used the Lawn Fawn Stamps (Ornate Ornament ) for this non-holiday card! I applied distress inks onto the back of the stamps to get the shape, and then I stamped the image over the shapes. Add some lace and glitter, voila! Those perfect Pearl accents are simply fun to play with. Hope this will get your creative juices flowing ...Please link up your card/project by November 30, Wednesday midnight Eastern Time at CAS-ual Fridays. Meanwhile, if you like to help me celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, here is the info that you can find out how to join the party! 

I can't wait to see what you create!

Christmas card with Washi Tape

This week's CREATE Blog challenge is to use washi tape in the card/project. I made a card for the same challenge before (see birthday card), but this time I decided to make a Christmas card with the same washi tape. Well, I have just 4 rolls of Washi tape, so it's not a lot of choices. BUT I am thankful for these precious Japanese Washi tapes. They were brought back by my daughter Stephanie while she had a summer exchange study in Singapore in 2010. 

I created two ribbon banners with the Washi Tape. The top strip of Washi tape has bow design and it seems perfect for this card, too! The sentiment is from Hero Arts and the cute images are from Lawn Fawn. I colored the present and bear with color pencils and blended the colors with mineral spirit.

Have you checked out the birthday party event in my blog yet? Hope you can join the celebration. I am counting down the days to my birthday...can't believe that I am turning 50!!I feel like sharing a fun photo that my kids made for me on Mother's Day in 2008.

 Aren't they sweet to make ME as the cover of the TIME magazine? As you can tell, David grew SO much in the last few years. Here is a more recent photo of my family in Feb. this year.

Good times! Thanks for allowing me to indulge in these photos!

Pay It Forward Challenge

Among all the cards that I make, I think I make the most of hello cards. It is the easiest kind of cards to make. Since this type of cards can be totally random, it does not has to be complicated or fancy. When you send one to your old friend,  he/she will know exactly where to pick up the pieces since last time you are in contact. Your new friend is certainly not expecting anything ( just yet) and will be thrilled to pieces to get a hello card.

I had made this card a while ago for Paper Crafts submission, it was not picked, sadly. It , however, remains to be one of my all time favorite cards. Today I decided to "recycle" it and enter it for the challenge over Moxie Fab's World for the "Pay It forward"Challenge.

My first publication is right here in this magazine (you did it on P.70).

Cardstock: white (Recollections), Blue (Martha Stewart, 8”x8” ,Pastel Paper pad); Pattern Paper: Basic Grey (Out Of Print) 6’x6” pad; Cleat Stamp: sentiment from Type (Hero Arts); Ink: Versamark (Watermark Stamp Pad), Pastel Embossing Powder (Lady Bug) from Martha Stewart by EK Success ; Tools: Fiskars Micro Scissors;  Accent: Gems (Hero Arts), SRM Press (Life is Good)

1.       1. Make card from cardstock

2.       2. Stamp hello sentiment with Versamark ink, emboss

3.       3. Cut out flowers form Out of Print collection, Adhere to card stock

4.       4. Apply Sticker sentiment (“how’s life?”), add gems

Did you check out my birthday celebration post (see here or the top of the post)? I hope you can join the fun and help me celebrate this special milestone.  It will mean so much to me. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Did You Know....(shh....I am turning...)

...that I will be turning 50 in short 24 years days!? Since it's a BIG milestone for me, I would love to celebrate this special day with you--crafty friends and followers right HERE!

I am also taking this chance to share my FIRST published card "you did it"

 If you know me and my creations, this card really depicts EXACTLY what I love--happy theme, use of coffee sleeves and twines...with a simple design. I am so happy that it is finally in print!

Here is what I am asking you to help me count down to my birthday --Dec. 9. What do you have to do? Please think HARD, very hard. .....if....

~my blog and cards inspire you in a creative way

~my cards or posts make you smile, even just a little 

~ my cooking posts make you drool

~my travels, family pictures, family conversations, "Did you Know...", "What Would Dr. John Think?".....etc. make you laugh

~my comment speak to you and encourage you in any way....

....any at all. I want to know! 

Here is the fun part....

You can grab this photo when you post

Please link up your post/card about it with the Inlinkz . You have to be a follower to my blog and ONE entry per person please. Your post can be just a few sentences about me/my blog OR better yet, you can make a virtual birthday card OR anything from me that inspire you. ....anything goes!

In order to thank you for taking part in this,
One random party guest will receive one year of Paper Crafts subscription.
TWO random party guests will receive an assorted prize pack (stamps, stickers, ribbons....GOODIES, value of $25)

It is my small way of saying thank-you. The winners will be announced on Dec. 10. I can't wait to stop by your blog/Flickr site and see what you create! If you have a Flickr account, please also add your card to Hero Arts Flickr Group to share.

Winner of the SRM Giveaway

Thank you for the lovely comments for my SRM holiday place cards and party favor post! Winner of my SRM feature (see here) is....(drum roll, please) 

Lilian Child 

What a fun new tradition to start for the holiday table! Thanks for sharing this awesome idea!! 

November 9, 2011 1:39 PM

Congrats, Lilian! please send me your address info, so I can get the prize out to you! Also I am sharing card that I made for Hero Arts Scramble Challenge. The theme is to use a holiday stamp for a non-holiday card! LOVE that idea, so here is my card...

This card was made under 30 min. For Trinh's Scramble challenge, I used CG377 Merriest Christmas Wishes for this non-holiday card. Sentiment is from SRM Stickers, HA ribbons, pearls

AND if you think there is MORE giveaway, then you are SO right!! My next post is going to be fun and exciting ( if I can say so myself)! Be right back! Here is a sneak peak....

and I have just the right music video to get the PARTY started!! Let's hear it from Kool and the Gang's C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N!

Operation Write Home

If you are looking for CAS-Friday's latest challenge, please scroll down or click here

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Today is November 11, I am joining my fellow SRM design team mates over SRM Blog (see here) to make our small contribution for OWH cards. The theme is to thank the veterans for their priceless service in protecting and peace-keeping. Here are a few that I made for this hop.

 

Cards with Hero Arts Stamps: It's a Parade, Musical Notes

Market Street Stamp, Basic Grey (Basic white paper)

Her Arts Stamps: Musical Walk, You're the Best (banners). All sentiments are from SRM Stickers.

For all the shipping details, please see Operation Write Home. For the specific types of cards of OWH, please check here . SRM Sticker Blog (see here ) and  Hero Arts (see here) are all part of the OWH blog hop. There lots of inspirations and prizes planned for this special hop.

I have something very exciting planned for next week. Do stop by as you don't want to miss out on the fun. See you then!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge # 28

Hello Friday!! I am amazed at the record number of entries for CAS-ual Fridays week after week! That means... you love us, you really really love us! Thank you for checking this challenge out! So ....let's get our CAS-ual Fridays challenge started!

The challenge this week is to create a tag OR use a tag on your project, easy!? MOST Definitely!
Our sponsor is Purple Onion
 
Since I do not own any Purple Onion stamps,  I used my favorite Hero Arts stamp and SRM stickers to create this tag card. The tag in this card CAN be removed and used as a book mark!

Supplies: Hero Arts You Are The Best, Japanese washi Tape, Dry Embossing( Dots), SRM Sticker (Fancy Sentiment-Thanks), gem, ribbons

Please link up your card/projects with tags to CAS-ual Fridays  by Wednesday, November 16 at Midnight Eastern time. I can't wait to stop by your blogs to see what you come up with! Have a GREAT weekend!