More quick cards ...

Here's a couple more quick cards ... I decided to combine pattern paper and a matching piece of cardstock.

This one was done while preparing the care package for Tiffany ... sorry for the bad lighting.  Since I had the embossing folders and die out, I figure I'd make a card with the stuff since it was out.  Nothing fancy ... best part is I got to use 2 of the gazillion flowers I have! 

Care package ...

Cool ... just read that Tiffany got the package, so I can post this now.  It arrived quicker than the post office said!

Decided to put together a craft care package for Tiffany.  No clue what she has, so I figured I'd take a guess and send her some things she may not have ... however, if she has something like it already, one can always do with more, right? :)

She's asked about embossing, so I thought it would be a good idea to send her some embossed cardstock.  She'd be able to see what embossing folders are out there and make a card with them :)  Most embossing folders will cover a 4.25"x5.5" piece of cardstock.  However, there are a few larger ones out there, which cover 5.75"x6.5" piece of cardstock.  As you can see, there's quite a few designs out there ... ok, I guess that means I have quite a few designs ;)

Here's a few individual shots of some of them ... hopefully, you'll be able to see the design.  I did two of each ... nope ... it's not all the embossing folders I have .  I put a limit on the number I was doing, so I wouldn't be sending only embossed cardstock :)

In line with that thought, I sent her some die cuts to give her an idea of what she could do with a machine that embosses and die cuts.

I die cut a bunch of labels using Papertrey Ink's Jar Labels 2 die and heat embossed some sentiments on them ... this way Tiffany could see what heat embossing is all about.  Of course, I had to do a few with the Photo Finish Strips die as well.  I stopped there ... I didn't want to get carried away ;)  I sent her some blank ones as well, so she could put her own sentiment by writing it, using stickers or rub-ons.



And you can't go without a little sparkle on your cards, so sent her some glitter and Stickles.  She'll be able to add that little touch of shine to her cards!  I just love Stickles ... oh, and I just love finding glitter on hubbie ... unfortunately, he doesn't feel the same way ;)

I put some Stickles in the middle of the flowers and a bit on the butterfly to demonstrate a little goes a long way.  BTW, Tiffany you don't need to cut the nozzle.  If nothing comes out when you squeeze, just use a needle to clear the nozzle. 

You don't need a lot of glitter ... I usually just put my finger on the glitter and a bit sticks to my finger ... then I just sprinkle it on.  This little bit is enough to just add a little sparkle to the card.  I usually don't put more than that.  WARNING:  You may (ok, most likely) end up with glitter on yourself.

Here's a better picture of the card.  The flower stamp and sentiment are from Papertrey Ink, and the butterfly is from Hero Arts.  I stamped the sentiment on leftover paper from making Mei Mei's wedding invitations. 

Just a quick share ...

When I made hubbie's Valentine's Day bookmark, I had initially thought of embossing with white embossing powder.  So, I tried it out to see what it would look like.  However, I found it was too much.  Since I don't like to waste, I used the piece on a card ...

Here's a close up of it ... not bad on white cardstock.

Happy Valentine's Day ...

Here's the "card" I made for hubbie for Valentine's Day ... actually, it's a bookmark.  I was looking to do something different.  I got the idea since hubbie's been reading a book he borrowed from a friend ... instead of on his Kindle.  I used the circles border from Papertrey Ink and shorten it, so it would fit in a book.

I stamped with Warm Red Chalk Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder and repeated this on each circle with the different image/sentiment.

In the last circle, I stamped "forever", "&" and then "always" each separately, so it's not perfect.

I decided to do the same thing with the other side but on red cardstock for a more subtle look.  The first circle is a stamp with the word love in a shape of a heart, the next 4 circles are stamped with a script ... it's a love letter, and the last circle is stamped with a heart.  BTW, the cardstock for this bookmark are leftover from Mei Mei's wedding invitations :)

Hubbie's homework ...

This was way too cute not to share.  Hubbie is taking a 5-week photography course, and he has homework.  In week 1, his homework was to take pictures of a bowl of fruit or something.  He took out his California Raisins and set up the stage ... litterally.  I found a set of raisins on a higher platform facing some other raisins ... apparently, there was a concert ... LOL.

In week 2, he needed to take pictures of a person.  In support, I posed for pictures ... so nothing interesting except I got to make faces at hubbie in between shots :)

This week (week 3), this is what I found when I came out ... hubbie had set up for his homework.  I like how he gave the little guy in the back a booster seat :)  In the end, he didn't use the white bear since you could not see his eyes ... glad hubbie did not decide to give him a hair cut!  He did use a clip to hold up the arm of his remaining subject ... yup, he wanted him to be waving :)

Getting a bit more organized ...

Don't you just love organizing!?  I do it ... I usually feel great afterwards ... sort of like a cleansing of some kind ...I know I'm strange :)  In The Paper Room, this also means more space, which means more room for more stuff ;)

Hubbie came into The Paper Room on Sunday and commented "There's a lot of stuff in this room."  Yeah, but it's somewhat organized ... at least, I think so.  I added a couple of containers to the room, so I have some more storage now.  Here's one on the desk ...

And here's the other one ... yup, it's under the table ... wha!?  One should never waste space :)  Don't worry, it's easily accessible as it has wheels like the other containers in my room .. I can just roll it out!

Some quick cards ...

Made a few quick cards with some pattern paper.  What I really wanted to do is use the Photo Finish Strips Die Collection from Papertrey Ink.  It coordinates with the Holiday Photo Finishers Stamp Set, which I have of course :)  However, I wanted to use it for other types of cards.

I didn't do anything fancy ... just picked some pattern paper from my stash ...

then die cut a couple of the dies on Neenah solar white paper, stamped a sentiment in the middle, and added a touch of Stickles to give it a bit of a shine.  I was going for something really simple.  However, I did add a butterfly on one of the cards ... it looked like something was missing.

Here's a close up of the dies ... I just love these dies!



Hello ...

Just popping in to say "Hi!"  Time seems to go by so quickly ... it's already been a few weeks since the holidays.  During my 2nd week off, worked on my brother's thank you cards ... there's a lot of layers ... I've already gone through 10 rolls of double-sided tape!  I have 2 things left to stick ... one being the picture, which my brother said he would try to get for Saturday.  I also need to get the envelopes and print them, so I'm not quite done yet.  But it's getting there :)

Haven't been making cards lately ... unless you count my brother's thank you cards ;)  As you can see from her website, Tiffany's was busy making Christmas cards.  Hubbie and I got an awesome New Year's card from her.  So, now Tiffany's looking to add a touch of embossing to her cards :)  Tiffany, are you referring to dry embossing?  Dry embossing has come a long way ... you don't need to trace the image using a light source and embossing stylus anymore.  Here's a video from YouTube showing you this technique:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liehXZ5Gth0&feature=related. 

Someone smart created embossing folders!  However, this requires a machine ... Cuttlebug (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUBiq5QX-6s&feature=related), Sizzix Big Shot (http://www.sizzix.com/), Epic Six (http://www.quickutz.com/qk2/epic/) ... these machines die cuts and embosses.  If you want a machine that just embosses, there's the Sizzix Texture Boutique.  However, I find the machine limiting and not really worth it.  I have the Sizzix Big Shot and love it ... I bought it for $89.99 and find it well worth it.  Also, you could put texture plates through it as well.  However, that would lead you to purchase dies.  Here's a video by Kristina Werner using an embossing folder and the Sizzix Big Shot:  http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=7175

The other type of embossing, which is also what got me hooked on stamping uses a stamped image, ink, embossing powder and a heat gun :)  Here's another video by Kristina Werner showing this technique:   http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=7170.  Initially, I did not buy a heat gun ... I used the heat from the stove, but you'll need to be careful holding your paper over the stove :)

Production continues ...

On Sunday, I started to work a bit on the thank you cards for my brother's wedding ... things were finalized on Saturday ... finally!  I'm still waiting for the pictures; but I know the size, so I was able to start production.  Yesterday, I was working on it in the family room ... today, I've gone back to The Paper Room ... yup room's starting to get messy again ;) 

The size and orientation of the picture is different from the initial sample, so I had to tweak the card a bit ... it added a bit more work, but I think it's nicer than the initial card ... seems more finished.  I'll share that with you once they've been sent out.  However, I can share the simple mini album which will be sent to our grand parents and great aunt.  The cool thing about this paper is depending on the way the light is reflecting off the paper, the colour changes.  It's actually the colour on the left, but I love that the lighting can change it to look burgundy.

2012 ...

Happy New Year!!  Wishing you all health, happiness and wonderful new experiences in the New Year! 

Can you believe it's 2012!?  Last year seem to fly by!  Before I knew it we were at the end of the year ... not that I'm complaining ... it meant vacation was coming :)  Been on vacation for a little over a week now, and it started with a road trip to Michaels ... something I needed to do ... not because I needed to do some shopping, but a short road trip is the quickest way for me to forget about work :) 

Speaking of crafts ... I did manage to do some crafting for the holidays ... it was actually a necessity.  Initially, we went to the Village des Magi-Prix to pick up a bag for a bottle of brandy.  They usually have nice bags at the one near our place ... only they're closing, so there wasn't much left.  Since I'm quite equiped, it was easier than running around looking for a bag and box.  I did the following quickly since we were due at my parent's place that evening.  The box fit 20 Lindt chocolates perfectly ... it's a die that I had and I decided to add a gold trim and emboss a piece of paper which also reinforced and made the box stronger.

I made another box with my snowflake embossing folder using the same papers for my brother and Holly's wedding.  As you can guess, that's for them.

I got to use the new Frosty Border die from Memory Box I got a couple of weeks ago for Mei Mei and Stephane's box.  The Memory Box dies are quite delicate and detailed ... really like them ... ain't it pretty?!

Here's the box ... yup, same paper as their wedding :)

Happy Holidays ...

Ho Ho Ho!!  Hope you all had a great Christmas!

We went to my mom's for dinner Christmas eve and attended the usual Christmas day dim sum with the family ... then enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  We don't have a tree, but Aunt T made a great suggestion for a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree".  Aunt T, is this what you had in mind?  Strangely enough, I didn't have any difficulty figuring out what to use as decorations :)  The difficult part was taking the picture ... I was moving the antenna as hubbie was watching TV.



New Penny Black Inc. stamps ...

Here are the distractions from Penny Black Inc. that interrupted my playing time with my asian stamp sets from Dove of the East.  They're illustated by Mo Manning; I've seen her work from a stamping company called Stampingbella in the past ... however, for some reason these ones called out to me ... especially the 1st 2 :)



I started by stamping little elf Finn with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on solar white Neenah cardstock and colouring him with Copics markers, which was for me the quickest way to colour.

Plan was to use the Spellbinder Blossom Two Nestabilities below to have a shape in the background.  I had seen this video on YouTube showing you how to use these dies even if the image is bigger than the die.

I made a border with the next larger size in bronze metallic paper.  The rest of the image was "colour" with scrapbook paper ... basically, stamp the part of the image on the paper, cut and glued it.  Lastly, I put some white Fun Flock on the hat and top ... I don't know if you could see it well in the close up.

It's not finished yet as I still have to figure out what to do with the Christmas ornament ... I'd like to put a sentiment in there.