Coffee time ...

Sorry for going MIA ... my boss was in town the last 2 weeks, so it's been rather busy.  I meant to share this last weekend but ... well, better late than never!

Hubbie and I went into Starbucks to pick up a coffee.  No, I haven't started drinking coffee ... hubbie got the coffee ... I got an empty coffee cup.  I got this idea to alter the coffee cup while we were in there for a friend's birthday.  I thought I could make it into a card somehow or something ... had not figured it all out at the time.  Here's the before and after pics ...

I ended up filling it up with Lindor Coffee Truffles ... hubbie loves these ... I didn't use all of it, so hubbie got a few :)

Now for the card ... I decided to base it on the bill for the coffee.  I also made a loyalty card where a full card would entitle my friend to a free lunch ... hubbie wanted to start getting his coffee at that place :)  Here's a picture of all 3 things.  What do you think?

Birthday wishes ...

Just a quick post to send some birthday wishes to a friend ...

Happy Birthday CHG!!

Wishing you a great day filled with lots of gifts, cake, and everything that you like ... pizza ... coffee :)

Hedgehog inspiration ...

Took a couple of days off ... and Monday's a holiday ... so nice long weekend :)  Here's a card for a co-worker ... thought of putting the birthday wishes in circles ... then thought I could somehow make the circles look like bubbles and use part of this Penny Black stamp. 

 

Then figure it would be easier to look for an image of bubbles and put the text in the bubble and print ... found quite a few images but decided to go with this colourful and feastive one.  Amazing what one can find on the internet!

After cutting the printed image to size to fit the card, I could see that it would have been better if the Happy Birthday was at the bottom instead ... oh well, it still looks ok.

Here's the inside of the card.  I spent more time with the inside of the card ... tweaking the bubbles, so they would be large enough to put birthday wishes in them.  I added the birthday wishes I received via email from co-workers.  I think I like the inside better.

Matching CD cover ...

Finally transferred the picture's from Mei Mei's wedding from my camera to a CD for her ... it only took a little over a month :)  Since I was playing in The Paper Room, I decided to make a CD cover for it ...

This resulted in a little clean up since hubbie had to connect his old laptop (now mine) to the printer.  I got rid of the really old tube monitor and the computer under my desk ... it made some room and actually looks cleaner ... and love that I have more room :)

Another birthday card ...

Here's a quick birthday card I put together ... sorry, it's not the best picture.  I took it quickly and didn't notice I was at an angle ... didn't feel like retaking it ... ok, was too lazy to retake it ;)

 

The plan was to use my Papertrey Ink die and I had the perfect sentiment ... just the right shape :)  I also got to use a stamp from an asian stamp set I got a few months ago.  I love asian stamps ... I'm always on the look out for new and different ones.

 

Another card for the team ...

Lucky for me, it seems to be 2 birthdays each month for my team ... which is good ... not sure I could manage more ... especially since I still have a few wedding things to complete.  However, I'm still waiting for the pictures before proceeding, so having a little break ... well sort of ... making bday cards :)

So here's the 2nd September birthday card for my team ...

Yup, using scrapbooking paper yet again!  Don't worry, unlike origami where I would make a box in every colour combination, I won't be making a card with every scrapbooking paper I have.  However, I should start thinking about the October birthdays before I end up using more scrapbooking paper ;) 

Oh and I got to use a stamp from one of my new Papertrey Ink stamp sets and die on this card ... I really love Papertrey Ink stamps and dies!  I've been thinking of placing another order :)

Posting for a year now ...

It's already been a year since I've started this blog!!  I can't believe it ... I guess what they say is true ... time goes by quickly when you're having fun :)

Of course another reason to celebrate last weekend ... it was Mei Mei's birthday!  Happy Birthday again Mei Mei :)  Here's the 1st card I made for her ... yup still playing with scrapbooking paper.  I liked the idea of the flowers on the bottom; however, the flowers were very large.  Therefore, this card turned out to be 9" x 12"!

I didn't really like it, so back to the drawing board.  Anyone need a big card :)  After going through my paper, I found the perfect paper with smaller flowers ... and dah dum ... a normal size card (6" x 6")!

 

Yup, using scrapbooking paper continues to inspire me.  However, finding the right one isn't always that easy ... but when you do, everything just falls into place :)

Quick and simple card ...

Needed a quick card to send out on Monday, so I put together something quick and simple last weekend.  All you need is a scrapbook sheet with a nice pattern ...

a suitable sentiment ...

and of course some stickles (I love stickles) ...

et voilà ... a card!

The thing about this card ... it's actually for my co-worker who is the one that gave me the pad of scrapbook paper that I'm using for this card ... I wonder if she'll recognize it :)

Another recycled card idea ...

Here's the 2nd card for one of my co-workers ... yup, it's a "she" :)  Again, I used a previous card idea; however, I did get to use one of the new sentiment stamps that I purchased from Papertrey Ink.  Stamped it on vellum paper, so that the image can still be seen through.  I must confess I also didn't want to muck up my image if I stamped it direcly on.  I actually like it this way ... also it means I could colour a bunch of the Delicate Blossom image and add to sentiment later depending on the occasion ... emergency cards :)  Hmmm, I guess I should figure out a "less feminine" one too ;)

So, that is the last one for the August birthdays ... good thing there were only 2!  Going to work on cards for the September birthdays.  Have a great day!

Here we go again ...

Well, I decided to make birthday cards for my team.  I did that in my previous teams and stopped since ... well, let's just say it was time to stop.  I hoping this will help make us all feel more like a team even though there's quite a distance between us ... also, I guess it's a sign that I'm feeling like me now ... at least enough to do this.  So, here we go again ... in hindsight, I think I should have started this after Mei Mei's wedding :) 

Oh and since most of my team are male, it will be a challenge for me to come up with cards for guys!  Here's the 1st card I made ... stuck with Stampscapes :)  Wha?!  It's my 1st one and was still working on wedding stuff ... however, I did add some mountains in the back ... that's new :)

Tiffany's blog ...

Guess what!?  Tiffany created a blog to show her artwork!!  I'm looking forward to seeing the progression of her work over the years.  Check it out:  http://www.artinchinatown.blogspot.com/

Now, you can all see what I was referring to when I said she can draw :)  She put some of the drawings she did when she was a "young girl" ... I think I really felt my age after reading that ... to me she's still a young girl!

The creativity continues ...

Wah Biu Goo sent us a couple of pictures of some origami Tiffany did.  Isn't this cool!  I gotta try this :)  It would make great decorations for a party or wedding ;)

Actually, Tiffany's creative side is already known, so it's not a surprise to see creativity from her.   She's a real artist ... unlike me, she can draw and has worked with various mediums.  I use rubber stamps to create my images ... I guess we make due with what we have :)

Hey, just think if I could find a way to make it big enough, a pair could be made for a wedding and the fortune inside could be like a sign-in book with the wishes from all the guests to the happy couple.  Or it could be the bonboniere with the chocolates or sweets inside.  Now, I just gotta figure out how to do this ...

Not quite done yet ...

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of the preparations for Mei Mei's wedding.  There were the table numbers, menus, place cards, coupons, flowers, tags ...

 

 

 

Oh and here's a pic of the production line and completed bonbonières ... BTW, no chocolates went missing during this process ... that's probably  because Mei Mei and I were handling this ... hubbie was outside battling the weeds :)

To be honest, I had no clue how we were going to set things up except for 2 menus at opposite end of the table and the place card in front of each place.  Mei Mei, my mom and I arrived at the Maple Pavillion a couple of hours before the ceremony to set up.  Initially, we did not know where the bonbonières were, and the stands for the table numbers were missing.  However, things always workout somehow ... even if there are some early arrivals as you try to set up the place :)

Dah dum ... all done!  Not quite ... still have the thank you cards to do for both weddings!  I've made samples for my brother's thank you card and mini album for my grandparents and great aunt since they could not attend the wedding.  Got the ok to go from Holly ... just waiting for the final count and pictures then I could start the production line :)

It's already over a week ...

Time sure goes by quickly!!  Initially, I had started a post and it read 8 weeks left to go ... then I modified it to 4 weeks ... then 2 weeks ... then 9 days ... now, it's been over a week since the wedding!  The bride and groom are now on their honeymoon ... hopefully, relaxing and enjoying the sun!  Congratulations again Mei Mei!!  

I'm not sure what happen between the 8 and 4 weeks ... honestly, it seemed like I lost 4 weeks in a blink of an eye.  The week before was also a blur.  The wedding was fun ... Mei Mei looked great and survived being the center of attention :)  Everyone seem to have a good time!  It was a smaller wedding than my brother's, so I got to catch up with family and friends ... it was great!!

Of course, we had some fun after the wedding and I learned that my aunts are quite crafty ... my Wah Biu Goo and Aunt T did some crafts.  They not only demonstrated their craft skills but their team work as well :)

Baby card ...

My co-worker in Australia is having a baby, so I thought it would be nice to make him a card from the team.  Initially, I was going to bring it with me to Australia in June; however, I didn't take the trip since I wasn't feeling 100%.  I thought of circulating the card throughout the team, which means ... Montreal, Salt Lake City, Perth, and Melbourne.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time, so I got the team to send it their messages ... it didn't turn out too bad. 

I really love this little hedgehog ... such a cutie!  I love making a card with the same character stamped throughout the card :)

It actually looks like they signed it ... amazing what you could do with computer these days, huh? :)  The 2 empty boxes were for co-workers to sign since I didn't get their text in time.

More space ...

Sorry for going MIA ... it's been rather busy at work and been too tired to post anything.  Let's see ... what can I share?  Oh, about 3 weekends ago, hubbie and I took a trip to Ikea to get a CD/DVD bookcase for The Paper Room.  It's a nice addition to the room giving me more storage space ... just when you thought nothing else could fit in here, there's always a way ;)

Within an hour of putting it up, I reorganized and filled it up :)  Hubbie was impressed ... ok, it was more like disbelief!

Where does the time go?

Hubbie and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary a couple of days ago!! 

Where does the time go ... hubbie usually replies "out west" when I ask that question ... I'd give him a "that's not what I mean" look and he'll reply "Wha?  It's true ... it goes west."  That's one of the things I love about him ... he makes me laugh ... guess what I actually mean is I married one silly guy!

Here's the card I made ... yup that's it ... just a simple heart with a message.  It's been so hectic at work I haven't had time to make a proper card ... actually, my brain was so tired.  I cut out this heart with my Quickutz machine since I wanted to use it in the card I was going to make.  Well, I sat there for a good 30 minutes staring at this heart ... once it hit midnight I realized I was just too tired.  I decided to give him "my heart and love again" ... yeah, kind of corny I know.  I actually stuck the letters in the morning right before I gave it to him ...

Hubbie liked it ... he thought it was simple and straight to the point.  He wish he had thought of that ... I guess that would have been the one thing he would feel comfortable doing in my paper room ... no stamping or colouring required :)

Happy Birthday ...

It's my brother's birthday! Happy Birthday big brother!  Here are a few pics of the card I made for him. 

I think this is be best part :) ... it's a turning point for me!  In the past, I would never dream of putting something like that on the back of my cards ... now, I'm even thinking about having a stamp made.  Hmmm... I guess this means that this blog is here to stay for a while.

You've probably noticed a few of the earlier posts now have my name in the picture ... I was playing around with that and decided I'd put that on my pictures ... then it got me thinking about making a stamp again.  I previously thought about it but guess like the blog wasn't ready yet ... not to mention I thought it would be silly just to have my name :)

Just love this stamp ...

Remember the Delicate Blossom stamp by Hero Arts from a previous post?  Well, like a lot of my other stamps, I still haven't gotten this one out of my system.  To be honest, I'm not sure I ever will ... I love this stamp!!  When hubbie asked me for an anniversary card ... my first reaction was "Am I making my own card?"  Our anniversary is coming up, so I thought he was planning ahead and pretending to ask for a co-worker.  Nope, it really is for a co-worker :)

So this is what I made ... you've already seen this stamp and technique in the previous post ... but here the card is put together.  What do you think?  I printed the text in a matching colour.  He's co-worker provided the text ... they've been married for 30 years! 

Starting summer camp soon ...

When we were kids, our summer camp was going to Cleveland to visit my aunts, uncle, great aunt and great uncle ... good memories ... fun times :)  Guess what!?  I've registered for summer camp, and it's starting on June 27 ... Summer Card Camp 2011! 

It's a 4-week online card class with Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner & Friends ... isn't this just the best idea!!  I'm so looking forward to this :)  With how busy things have been preparing for the weddings, I honestly did not think I would have time to do much craft stuff other than for the wedding ... I'm glad I was wrong ;)

Here it is ...

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks, and it seems like some of my aunts have received Mei Mei's invitations last week, so I guess I can now post them :) 

Initally, when trying to match the border with the bamboo, green was suggested to me ... but I thought it may look too Christmassy ... you know with the red and green thing going :)  So, we decided on brown and kept the stems of the bamboo brown ... even thought bamboos are completely green.  Anyway, here are the pics ...

The envelopes were suppose to be red ... the same paper as the invitations.  However, the store would have to order 1000 envelopes from the supplier ... eeeek ... I would have needed 60 of the 1000.  The other option was the same paper as the brown border ... it looked ok ... then it all came together ... natural white ... same colour paper the invitations were printed on.  In the end, it was the better choice ... I was able to print directly on the envelope, which was nicer than sticking a label on a red or brown envelope.  And I was able to add a little something ... I thought a double happiness symbol to seal the envelope would be a nice touch ... seems more completed.

Quick share ...

Here's a card I made with one of my Papertrey Ink stamps ... the "In Bloom" stamp set.  I used colouring pencils and odourless solvent to color the flower and leaves ... I so love this technique!

Oh and I stamp the sentiment on left over scraps from making Mei Mei's invitations ... the sentiment is also from a Papertrey stamp set.  Did I ever mention how much I love using scraps?  Some may think I'm silly, but I don't like to waste anything ... especially PAPER!!  Here's some more sentiments on the scraps all ready to go on a card, and as you can see, I have a quite a bit of scraps to use up :)