What's for dinner ...

No card to share but thought I'd just check in.  Hope you're all having a good weekend!  I am ... had a nice dinner with mom and hubbie ... and placed an order with Papertrey Ink yesterday :)

My mom had her eye operation last Tuesday, so she's suppose to take it easy.  Therefore, we decided to go out for dinner yesterday ... no cooking for her and to get her out of the house.  With the exception of the doctor's appointments, she hasn't been out since last Saturday. 

We went to Mikasa for sushi ... we ordered the usual ... veggie tempura for hubbie, garden salad for mom and me, and the usual maki sushi.  I started to flip through the specialities they have, and we decided to try one of their entrées ... Katsu Salmon.  It's pieces of salmon lightly tempura and served with 3 sauces.  Sorry, the picture's not that great, but you get the idea ... it was quite good.  Next time, hubbie wants to try the tuna.

Difficult card ...

Here's a card I made last month for a friend ... her father passed away :(  When I heard the news, I immediately thought ... I need to make a card.

I seldom make this type of card (... thankfully) ... it took me a while before I figured out what to do.  It wasn't just figuring out the colours or stamp I wanted to use ... that was actually the easy part ... used one of my favourite colour combos.  My thoughts went from being sad for her and imagining what she must be going through to the reality that we will all endure difficult times in our lives ... this is inevitable. 

However, I realize (and hope it's her case) that there is some comfort in having family and friends around her during this difficult time.  On a personal note, I tend to focus on the memories and what the person or event has brought to my life ... that always leaves me with a sense of gratitude and hope that I've touched someone in the same way.  Ok, I'm going to end there and leave you with the pics of the card before this becomes a weird post!



Already 11 years ...

Hubbie and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last week.  It's amazing how quickly time goes by!  What happen to the time!?  Happy to say we've survived another year ... and we're giving us another year :)  I usually don't ask him, but this year I did ... I usually tell him ... ok, I'll give you another year ;)

My day started in The Paper Room making his card.  I wasn't inspired the previous weekend, but through out the week, I had flashes of what I wanted to do for the card.  Something simple ... and I wanted to use the Memory Box Heart Delights die and some of the scraps of cardstock from Mei Mei's wedding invitations.  Oh and I finally got to use something from the monthy card kits I've been receiving since April ... the sentiment is from one of the stamp sets.  Here's the card ...

For hubbie, the day didn't start off that great ... he woke up with a slight headache.  However, with the help of a good cup of coffee, it seem to go away ... probably more due to time.  We went off for dim sum at the new Kam Fung restaurant that opened in the West Island.  Later on, we went to the movies and saw Spiderman ... hubbie's favorite superhero.  He's a kid at heart as you can see :) 

After the movie we went to Baton Rouge for dinner, hubbie had a steak and baked potatoe ... such a good boy.  I, on the other hand, had ribs ... fries and fries.

The day ended with this ... guess, hubbie was not that good after all ... I  was worst ... I stole some ice cream from his dessert ;)  BTW, that's hubbie's hand in the corner ... spoon in hand waiting patiently for me to take the picture, so he could have his dessert :)

Hours of fun ...

Nope ... more like days and weeks according to hubbie.  We went to the dentist last week; and while we were waiting, hubbie found something to entertain/amuse himself with.  "The objective is to get all 3 rings on the yellow piece." he explained.  He was only able to get 2 on ... every time he tried to get the 3rd one, one would fall out.  Oh well, maybe it'll still be there when we go for our next check up; and he could try again :)

Care Package #2 ...

Quickly put together a quick care package for Tiffany Saturday morning.  Ok, perhaps it was not that quick ... I was in The Paper Room at 5:45 a.m. going through my stuff!  I had already a few things in mind that I wanted to send her after the 1st package; but I had a possible courrier service (Mei Mei was going to Toronto and would be seeing her mom), so I wanted to take advantage :) 

Yaay, the package did not put Mei Mei pass the allowable weight limit, so she brought it with her to Toronto.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to write Tiffany a note, so I'm using this post as my note :)

Hey Tiffany!  Hope all is well with you.  I didn't prepare the care package as well as I would have like ... apologies for horrible "wrapping" ... let's just say it's a vintage look :)  There's some pattern paper and stickers for you to play with ... I find they're great when you want to make a quick or simple card.  (Just adding the pics for future reference ... so I don't end up sending you the same thing in the future!)

I don't know if you've embarked on the stamping journey yet; but since you've made your own stamps not too long ago, I thought you'd like to try the different kinds of stamps out there ... wood, cling, clear.  Here's a link that give you the differences http://heroarts.com/learning/beginners0.cfm.  I was planning on sending you the Snowman set of stamps a little later on ... but figured what the heck, it's never too early to start on your Xmas cards :)   The arcylic block for the cling and clear stamps is something I had ... so it's used ... sorry!  I don't think they make it that thick anymore ... it's has lines on it, so you could use it as a guide when placing your stamp on it and when stamping the image on you paper.

I didn't know if you had any ink, so I included a couple of small one's that I received from my monthly card kit subscription.  The Memento Tuxedo Black ink is my favourite black dye ink and seems to be the most versatile, i.e. is recommended as the ink to use in combination with other products (Copic and Tombow markers, mineral spirits/odorless solvent).  The other ink is a Chalk Ink ... another one of my favourite inks ... gives the stamped image a great "chalk" like look, and you could emboss with it too.  Here's some info. on different types of inks out there:  http://www.heroarts.com/learning/ink-chart.cfm

Since all this was quite last minute, I didn't have a chance to pick up a stamp cleaner for you at the store.  You should be able to find that at Michaels or your local scrapbooking store.  I usually clean the stamp at the end of my playing time and each time in between stamping if I use a different colour ... you probably already you know that.  Here's a link to the basics of stamping:  http://heroarts.com/learning/beginners.cfm

You probably have white cardstock and envelopes, but one can never have enough and I thought I'd share some of my stash ... gives me an excuse to get some more ... who am I kidding?!  I don't need an excuse ;)  I scored the cardstock, so it already to go ... also, rounded the corners with the We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.  I love this tool ... it cuts through thick card stock and cardboard like butter.

There's some ribbon you could use as embellishments on the card.  I love using ribbon ... gives the card some dimension.  If you use the double-sided tape to stick the ribbon, stick the tape on the card, peel the tape and stick the ribbon.  For some reason, sticking double-sided tape on the ribbon and then the ribbon on the card does not always work.

Of course, I had to include some stickles :)  Hope you have fun with this stuff!  Happy Creating!!

Hello ...

Just posting a quick "Hello" ... it's been a hectic 5 weeks going back and forth to Saguenay.  Thankfully, we finished the sessions, and I can get back to the routine :)  It's been 3 weeks since the last trip, and it's only now that I feel like I'm getting back to normal ... "tired" instead of "reeeeally tired".

Here's a pic of the place we stayed during our last visit to Saguenay ... Auberge des 21.  It's a really nice place.

The place is near the port and has the most amazing view.  Here's a pic I took early one morning before meeting my colleagues to head out to work.  Lovely, isn't it?  Too bad, we had to work.

Birthday card ...

Here's a birthday card I made a few weeks ago.  It isn't anything new ... just need a quick card.  I love this little guy ... he's so cute!  I have a few of him with ballons, so I put him on the inside of the card as well ... love doing that :)

Mother's Day Card ...

On Mother's day, we took my mom to Mikasa for sushi ... yummy :)  We order quite a bit of sushi ... enough for a boat ;)  We also entertained ourselves with some origami using the paper the chopsticks came in ... as well as our napkins.  Mommy made a bunny and mouse with her napkin ... just like she did when we were kids :)

Here's the card we gave her ...

and here's the inside of the card ...

The flower and frame comes from the anniversary stamp set "Pretty Peonies" from Papertrey Ink.  I love this stamp set!

Card share ...

Sorry for going MIA for a while.  I'm still adjusting to the new job ... not working from home anymore since I don't have anymore evening calls or receive 20-30 emails the next morning :)  We've been in meetings in Saguenay last week and will be going back for the next 3 weeks.  Hopefully, I'll be sleeping better than the last couple of weeks.  The new job has definitely allowed me to do things out of my comfort zone!

Here's a card that I've been trying to get done for sometime now.  Initially, I planned to work on it during my vacation.  Since my vacation was cut in half, I didn't have time to work on it.  At first, I was going to make a bunch of onesie into cards ... one for each team member.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the text from everyone, so I decided to make a regular card.

My colleague and I also got some gifts from the Montreal Canandian's store ... yup, we're trying to turn Mia into a HABs fan early on ;)  I re-package everything to give it a more personal touch and to reduce the size of the package we were sending through.  The original package was quite big!

Here's the original packaging:

 

This is what I did with a plastic container my stamps came it ... recycling!  I added some ribbon and a tag ... et voilà!

I didn't have a box for the botties, so I made a box ...

Yaay, one down ...

Well, finally finished my brother's thank you cards ... yaay, one down one more to go!  Decided not to go to my mom's today, so I could finish them.  Got the pictures from my brother about a week and a half ago, but I didn't start on things until yesterday.  I've been on vacation since last week and been taking it easy ... more like recovering from the craziness of work.  It was really busy before I left on vacation since I was trying to finalize and transfer things before going on vacation as I'll be starting a new role when I get back.

I finished the thank you cards yesterday and printed the envelopes this morning.  It's all pack and ready to go.  I guess we'll be dropping it off next weekend when we go to my mom's.  I've also been working on Mei Mei's thank you cards while waiting for my brother's pictures.  She actually gave me her pictures last month ... the bulk of the work is done ... just waiting for 2 things before I can finish them off.  This gives me a chance to finalize a few things for the thank you ... hopefully, I'll get them completed before she gets back to me :)

Another card ...

I was asked to make a card for someone leaving the company, where there would be 40-60 people signing.  It took me a bit of time to figure out what to do.  I didn't really know the person well.  The only thing I knew was I wanted to use the 12.25"x9" peach coloured envelope.

Initially, I thought I would die cut the sentiment "Tu vas nous manquer ..." (translation: We'll miss you ...) and put flowers around it.  The sentiment was quite large, so the card would be bigger; and I would need to make the envelope instead, which was fine.  However, I didn't like the way it look; and with the size, it would be tight or too much space for 40-60 people.  So, it was back to the drawing board ... I started looking at my stamps again, and it came to me ... thankfully as I just had the weekend to do this :)

I decided to go back to the peach envelope and used one of my other Stacy Stamps sets.  First, I printed the sentiment on glossy paper.  The glossy paper allow the ink to stay on the surface, so I could cover it with embossing powder ... not sure you could see this.

I stamped the large tulips from the stamp set and coloured the tulips pink and peach colour, so it would match the envelope.  I use 2 different green colour pencils for the leaves.  Then used the odourless solvent and paper stomps to blend ... see I was not kidding when I said I love this technique :) 

I added a couple of matching butterflies that I colour a while back and a dash of glitter ... and there you go!  Sorry, I was at a weird angle and the colour of the picture isn't the best. 

Another birthday card ...

Here's another birthday card share.  For some reason, I associate purple with the person this card is for ... don't know why.  Anyways, I did the purple and green combo ... I like those 2 colours together ... so the decision of what colours to use was easy.  I went through my stamps a bit before finding the right one.  I have a few flower stamps by Stacy Stamps and decided to use the large stamp from the Snapdragon set.  I coloured the flowers with colour pencils and used odourless solvent and  paper stumps to blend ... I know I keep saying this, but I really do love this technique :)

When I stamped the sentiment I didn't put enough pressure on the left, so part of the "B" was a bit light.  I didn't want to redo everything, so I used my Momento marker and went over the word "Birthday".  I left "Greetings" the way it was ... it gave the card some extra dimension.  I don't think what I did is too noticeable.

Birthday Card ...

Initially, I was going to post this in early March.  However, I've been so busy at work that I've been really vegging out during the weekends.  Before I forget ... Tiffany, thanks for the card!  Love getting cards especially handmade ones :)

Here's the card I made for my good friend's birthday at the end of February.  BTW, she's lucky she doesn't age as quickly as the rest of us as her birthday comes every 4 years :)  Initially, I had plan to make a step card.  However, it somehow changed along the way.  I'm still happy with the way it turned out.  It's not as simple as the usual cards I make ... however, I don't think it's overdone.

Here's a close up of the card and the inside.  I repeated the same design inside and wrote my message.

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.