A short break from invitations ...

Last weekend was another busy one ... running around from store to store ... yup, still working on those invitations!  Here's a run down of that weekend ... on Saturday, hubbie and I  went out for breakfast ... in other words, got the fuel we needed to run the errands of the day.  Then it was off to store #1 to pick up the paper I had ordered for the invitations ... and a couple of other items ;) ... went to store #2 to pick up another pack of invitation envelopes (this was a quick stop) ... and last stop, store #3 for more paper and RSVP envelopes.  On Sunday, I cut and embossed the paper and made a slight adjustment to the invitations ... it looks better ... don't worry, I got approval :)

This weekend, I ended up taking a break from the invitations.  On Saturday, I had my class and afterwards hubbie and I went out for dinner.  The class was fun ... I had 2 ladies from my An Asian Touch class attend this one (An Asian Touch II).  It's always nice to see familiar faces :)  When I got home, I fell asleep on the couch pretty early ... I was pretty tired ... couldn't keep my eyes open.  Today, I did some long over due cleaning around the house and made a birthday card for a friend, which I needed for tomorrow.  Usually, I'm not that last minute but it's been hectic ... thankfully, inspiration hit and I think I'll be make this card in a class :)

Bought a few stamp sets on Saturday from a new company ... Heartfelt Creations.  I didn't have a lot of time to shop after the class, so I was good ... only got 3 stamp sets ;)  I can't wait to play with them!

  

Iguana Love Stamp Set ...

Got this Iguana Love stamp set by Stampendous a while back.  My plan was to use it to make a Valentine's Day card for hubbie.  I thought it was quite cute ... I don't have any iguana stamps so thought it would be a nice additon to my stamp collection :)

Here's the card I made for hubbie.  This is my attempt in making a film strip ... it's not perfect; picture's a little fuzzy ... but I think you can tell it's a film strip, right ? :)

Here's what hubbie got me ... what a delicious sight ;)  Yummy!  It came with specific instructions ... imagine that this is chocolate.  Nah, I'm a chip girl so definitely prefer this to chocolate :)  

Busy, busy, busy ...

Sure been busy ... where to start ... let's continue where I left off from my last post.  Oh yeah, that was on Chinese New Year ... wow!  Well, we were at my mom's for dinner the next day (Feb. 4) ... dinner to open the New Year ... so I brought the final version of the mock-up invitation for my brother and Holly to see and confirm that this is it.  The design and paper are finalized ... yaay!  Went to get the RSVP envelopes and paper for the invitations last Saturday ... they were having a sale, so that was cool :)

This weekend I started working on my brother and Holly's invitations ... at least what I was able to.  I'm waiting for some paper to come in and some details regarding the wedding before I can begin the real work.  However, I did redo the RSVP template and got all the embossing done :)

Let see ... what else have I been up to ... been playing with the Delicate Blossoms stamp set.  Just love this Hero Art stamp set!  Don't you think it's gorgeous?  I finally got it back in November ... I did use it to make a sample invitation for Mei Mei.  However, it didn't make the cut :) 

Here's a card I made for hubbie's co-worker last week.  Nothing fancy ... I wanted to make a simple card to emphasis the simplicity of this stamp.   I'm planning to make a card set with these stamps later when I have a bit more time :)

 

Here's the birthday card that a friend asked me to make for her.  She told me the person likes black & white and flowers ... so of course I had to use this stamp ;)  The top card was my inspiration for this one.  She also asked me to make a gift certificate.  They're doing a collection to give her to go on a shopping spree ... I know what I'd be buying if I received such a gift ;)

 

Initially, I was going to make a gift certificate.  However, these days gift cards are the way to go!  I had a lot of fun making this matching gift card!  I would have put a magnetic strip on the back of the gift card, but there wasn't any room.  Next time I'll make it with the magnetic strip; however, I think it still looks ok.

  

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!! It's the year of the Rabbit ... I wonder if it says that the year of the Rabbit will bring those born in the year of the Dog one really busy year!!!  It seems that will also be a busy year for those born in the year of the Dragon ... who happen to be married to a person born in the year of the Dog.  This is my attempt of providing hubbie with a subtle warning.  Hopefully, I won't drive him too crazy ... just a little ;)

Work's been even busier than it was before the holidays!  I thought I'd be able to catch up when I got back from the holidays ... nope!  However, I'm not stressing out on things ... I did promise myself to focus more on family and friends ... basically ensure work/life balance.  In order to ensure work/life balance, I've taken a few days off for Chinese New Year ... initially, it was to just do a few things and relax.  However, things have a way of changing.  Yesterday, I was busy cleaning the house, finishing my card samples to be displayed for my class at the end of the month, and going through a snow storm to get to my mom's for New Year's eve dinner.  It would have been a good day to stay home.  However, the trip to my mom's allowed hubbie to rack up some brownie points since he was weathering the storm for me ... of course, he'll be using those points to do his own crafting ALL DAY LONG!  I think he already picked the day in which he will be doing this!

Today's been a bit more relaxing ... at least so far.  I'm taking a break to post this before continue things I need to get done in The Paper Room :)  Oh before I forget, here are the samples for my class with Ketto stamps.  BTW, I've done more than 4 cards, but these are the ones that will be displayed at the store.

I've been so busy with the invitations I do wonder if I'm crazy trying to fit in a class!  Oh and I agreed to make a card for a friend by February 25 and one for hubbie's co-worker for next Wednesday.  Ok, gonna get back to the card required for next week ... and start on the other one.

Wedding updates ...

Finished the mock-up invitation for my brother and Holly's wedding with the actually papers to be used for the real invites ... however, they won't be needing it ... at least not that one :)  There's been a change of plans!  They won't be having a destination wedding ... it'll be a ceremony at City Hall, off for the honeymoon, and then a dinner afterwards.  I don't have all the details ... I think they're still getting married in May.  All I can say is:  "Don't do it in July during the Carifiesta weekend!  The streets will be blocked, and you may not get to City Hall on time."  Yes, I'm speaking from experience!

So, I guess now I can post pictures of the invitation on my blog and not have to wait until after they've been sent out.  Sorry, but you will have to wait a bit longer since I haven't taken pictures yet :)

Save the Date!  Mei Mei has a date for the big day ... August 20!  They've booked a place for the ceremony and reception (BTW, both are held at the same place) ... so it's really official now!  Next on the list ... finding a dress and everything else!  I guess I better get a move on finalizing the wedding invitations ;)

Back at work!

Nothing new to share today ... just wanted to check in. 

Been back to work now for about a week ... you can probably tell from the long gap from my last post.  However, it's just not due to work ... been busy on the weekend working on my brother and Holly's wedding invitations ... actually, more like hunting for paper!  We went to at least 5 places looking for a specific paper in hopes of finding paper that I bought about 10 years ago ... I knew I should have stocked up!  The good thing about all this running around is that hubbie can now say that he played a part in helping with the wedding invitations ... all that driving around from store to store :)

Well, 3 packs of paper later ... I think I found a suitable replacement to what I used in the mock-up ... yaaay ... I'm sure hubbie's happy about that.  Here's the winning pack of paper:

What a mess ... but loving it!

Normally, the house is clean when I'm on vacation ... not the case this time around.  Still on vacation ... and The Paper Room is a real mess!  However, it's a good thing ... I've been playing :)

Started working on my Ketto stamps class samples and took a break and worked on my brother's wedding invitations.  I've haven't gone back to finish my samples for my class ... I know I know ...

  

Wha?!  The invitations are a priority :)  Anyway, tweeked the mock-up of my brother's wedding invitation a bit more and completed the RSVP card ... I did have to stop myself because I've found other things that can be tweeked.  Moved on to Mei Mei's invitations :) 

As you can see, I did not lie ... it's a mess!  However, to be fair, it is a result of 3 different projects!  This side is not too bad ... BTW, the picture's dark, so you can't see too much of what I'm doing ;)

When hubbie saw this side of the room, he said "It looks like a bomb went off in here!"  Yes ... a creative bomb!  I need a longer table!  The one I have is not long enough ... I had to work on part of the process on the floor.  However, if I got a longer table, I'd need a bigger room :)  Maybe hubbie will have a light bulb moment and want to finish the basement and let me use it as a huge craft room ... now wouldn't that be cool!  Ok, back to reality ... but it's nice to dream ;)

Lots of fun ...

What a great day I had today!  Mei Mei came over this afternoon (oops, I mean yesterday afternoon ... just notice the time ... it's after midnight), and we talked wedding stuff ... and had a lot of laughs in between.  I always have a good time with her ... she's so wacky; it's hard not to have fun!  Yeah, ok ... I'm a bit wacky too ... what can I say; she has rubbed off on me over the years ;)

I've been having fun working on my brother and Holly's wedding invitations ... pretty much most of the day on Sunday and a bit yesterday morning ... I think I got a mock up that I'm ok with ... next I have to finish working on the reply card.  Then I could show them and get feedback.  Can't wait to start working on Mei Mei's invitations :) 

However, I should finish my cards for my class ... at least for one of my classes.  I'm almost there ... I do take long to prepare since I tend to go a "bit" overboard.  Hubbie would leave out the "bit" in my sentence :)  Here's a peek of what's in progress.  Please forgive the mess ... I actually tidy things up a bit and zoomed in, so you don't get distracted by the messy room ;)  I'm planning to make 4 cards with a different Ketto stamp showing different techniques.  Some of the cards require cutting the outfit after stamping it on pattern paper or pattern's that I made ... I feel like I'm a kid again and making clothes for my dolls ... I had fun doing that back then too :)

The cards on the left are for the class I'm working on ... the 8 on the right you may recognize are from my last class.  I like to have them out there for inspiration ... and so I don't make any cards too similar or the same :)

It's 2011!!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  Wishing you health, love, happiness, prosperity and all that good stuff :)

Hope everyone had fun ringing in the New Year!  This time of the year is usually one of reflection for me ... the lessons learned and memories from the previous year and the goals and opportunities of the new year!  I'm really looking forward to all the new adventures this year will bring ... and of course all the new stamps, papers, inks, tools, embellishments to be discovered ;)

Hope you'll continue to share in my creative journey in the new year!

Reflections ...

December 31, 2010 ... wow, can you believe 2010 is coming to an end?!  "What happened?!" ... that's what I usually ask hubbie after falling asleep on the couch ... however, I definitely did not sleep through 2010.  Actually, I think I was a bit sleep deprived this year.  Looking back, it's been a year of learning and new challenges ... started a new job and learned a lot this year about myself and what I'm capable of.  I did focus a lot on work this year ... adjusting to the job, working in a virtual team, and team changes.  I'm happy to say that after all that's happen, I do feel like I'm at the right place at the moment ... for me and the company. 

Also, I'm thankful to hubbie, family and friends who have kept me sane through the year!  It's funny though ... I always get reminded in some way of what's important in life ... paper, stamps, inks and all that fun stuff ... LOL ... just kidding but my crafts are a part of me! 

Anyway, I will focus on ensuring a balance in 2011.  I already know it's going to be a busy year ... there's already 2 weddings that will be happening ... my brother is planning to get married in May and my best friend will be getting married later in the year!  The weddings will certainly help me achieve a better work/life balance!

Ok, let's end 2010 on a creative note!  Here are cards from my Creative Kickstart class with Jennifer McGuire.  I really enjoyed this class and the techniques we learned.  One of my favorites is using the Ranger's Pearl dabber paint as a resist (middle pic).  Just  love that butterfly stamp and the shape of that card!

  

Got to play with some sticky back canvas (left pic) ... was fun to use something other than paper and really like the result.  And love those mini frames ... BTW, the reason I have 2 is because one was from the Hero Art make and take that Jennifer did in Framingham (one on the right ... in case you wanted to know).

  

Hopefully, this class as well as the other classes and experiences will help me kickstart the New Year with some new crafts to share with you :)  See you in the New Year!

Festive Techniques ...

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas.  Hubbie and I had dinner Christmas eve with the family at my brother and his girlfriend's ... oops, I mean fiancé's.  We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes ... lots of food and desserts!  I was sooo full!  On Christmas day, we had the usual family dim sum get together with my mom's side of the family ... 4 tables ... which is basically about 40 people!  The evening was nice and quiet ... just hubbie and me :)  The past few days have been really lazy days!  I guess hubbie was right ... needed time to re-energize.

Hubbie and I don't get each other gifts ... this has been the case since we bought the house.  However, we do get each other things throughout the year for no reason.  To be quite honest, I prefer those moments ... I still remember working in The Paper Room one morning and turning around to go cut some paper ... when I see a box on the stool, it was an airbrush compressor!  I've been thinking about getting one and had not quite decided yet, and hubbie went out and got me one ... it was in The Paper Room for a couple of days before I discovered it!  I was so touched by this surprise ... I had to wait to thank him since I didn't want to wake him up at 7 a.m. on a weekend!  This Christmas I did have something to open ... to help me start my lazy days :)  Apparently, Santa brought me a bag of Miss Vickies Crinkle chips ... yummy!  Hubbie ... I mean Santa set it on the dining room table and "borrowed" one of my stamps "a merry Christmas to you" (actually the one in the card below) ... he leaned the stamp against the bag.  Sorry, I didn't think of taking a picture of it ... I should have ... it was really cute!

Keeping with the current theme, here are the cards from the Festive Techniques class with Jennifer McGuire.  I really like the technique we used on the transparent card.  We created the background with an arcylic block, some Distress inks, and pearlized water ... really simple!  I also changed it a bit and used one of the Christmas greeting stamps I have from Penny Black.

I love the music background stamp used below (middle pic) ... could also use it for a birthday card.  BTW, it is suppose to be a tag where you could slide a gift card in.  However, you also have the option of using this for the front of the card.  I haven't decided yet, so I hid the hole behind the music background layer.

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

  

May you have a great Christmas filled with wonderful surprises and all the best for the New Year!!

Just a quick share ... it's the1st card set that I made ... and since I did not have a box for it, I made one!

 
Next time, I'll use 3 different images ... I didn't have another image with this Penny Black kitty that would fit in the blossom shape, so I just did 3 different colors.

Woo hoo ... I'm officially on vacation!!

I actually survived until the holidays!  Yipeeeee!! 

After such a crazy and busy year, I can now take a real break ... I'm off for 20 days!  I worked a couple of hours this morning to finalize a few bits (my 1st day off), but that's ok ... I am now off ... no connecting to work, no emails ... just focusing on spending time with hubbie, family and friends, and of course lots of quality time in The Paper Room.  Needless to say, I plan on blogging more frequently ... so stay tune!

I'll be starting the vacation with a nice breakfast with Hubbie ... hopefully, he'll wake up soon ... I'm getting hungry ;)

Still within reach ...

Here's a picture of how things look now after I added the Gracious Living containers to my current
"towers".  It felt so good after I organized everything ... yeah, I know I'm a bit wierd ... hey, to each their own, right? 

Hubbie keeps saying that he's going to get me a mini step ladder if I made it any higher.  Hah!  It's higher, and I'm still able reach the top drawer ;)  However, I don't think that will be the case if I go higher than the 2 highest ones.

Wow, time sure goes by fast!

It's been over a week since my last post ... ooops!  I've been busy finishing some of my cards from my classes with Jennifer McGuire and working on some cards for my next class.  I have so many ideas going on at the same time ... I decided it was time to focus! 

However, I first needed to get organized.  Hubbie picked up one of those "Gracious Living" bins while he was at Canadian Tire for me ... you know the ones where I've stacked up and have all my stamps, inks, papers etc.  I'll take a picture of how high they are now and share it in a later post.

Once I got organized, I made this card for a friend who needed one for a baptism ... nothing amazing ... just a simple card.

Finally, here's card #3 from the Colour My World class.  It's not exactly how it was suppose to be ... I kinda of tweeked it a bit since I ripped too much.  Can you tell which one is mine?  I'll give you a hint ... it's the badly taken picture!  (The nicely taken picture of course is Jennifer McGuire's.)  You know I really don't take good pictures when there's no sunlight ... who am I kidding!?  I'm not sure it makes a difference :( 

BTW, can you believe it's already December!  We got 30 cm of snow yesterday ... hubbie had a nice little workout shovelling the porch and stairs ... thankfully, we got someone to do the drive way or hubbie would have had a major workout :)

Colour My World ... Card #5 & 6

Can't remember if it was during card #2 or # 3.  As Jennifer was going around the room, she passed by and said to me "Your husband's funny."  I think he was in the store for not more than 15 minutes ... I have no idea what he said ... and unfortunately, with his memory, he doesn't either! 

Here's card # 5 and #6 from my 1st class.  I really enjoyed the technique on card #5, where we used my favourite Ranger arcylic paint dabber ... Pearl ... as a resist to create the background.  You can't see it in the picture, but the Pearl colour gives the background a nice shine ... not too flashy.


With card #6, I went back to my usual colours ... wha!? ... you have to admit browns and blues do go well together :)  We spritz the image with pearlized water (Ranger's perfect pearl + water) and got this wonderful pearlized effect, which of course is not showing up in the picture ... you'll just have to take my word for it and use your imagination :)  I'll try to take better pics in the future ... but no promises ... I'm an amateur when it comes to taking pictures!



Colour My World ... Card #4

No, I don't have a problem counting ... and I did not forget about card #3.  Card # 3 is not ready ... I didn't like the results of that card, so I want to redo it.  Here's 4th card:

We used the distress ink, perfect pearls and water to create the background.  Then combine them to create a paint to colour the butterfly. 

BTW, the old letter writing stamp that I mentioned I did not have ... I actually have it.  However, I don't have this butterfly stamp or the flower stamp in card #1 ... just to show you I don't have everything! 

Colour My World ... Card #2

Here's the 2nd card from the class ... I decided not to stamp a sentiment in the circle until I plan on giving it.  Who am I kidding!?  I'll probably be keeping this as a sample ... I'll stamp it later :)

Me staying away from my usual colours did not last very long ... back to the browns ... Vintage Photo to be exact.  Hey, at least there's a bit of red on the card!

Colour My World ... Card #1

Yaaaay, I got to play in my room this weekend ... I finished some additional cards with embossing folders and The Greeting Farm images ... you know the big-headed girls ... I actually have a big-headed boy now :)  I also started to work on the cards from my 1st class with Jennifer McGuire.

Working on the cards brought me back to last weekend ... when we arrived at the store, there was already a line of ladies waiting to get in.  After I got my name tag with my table number, I started to head to the back as Jennifer came to the front ... I said "Hi" and she said "Hi, it's good to see you again."  I was a bit surprise ... I met her back in March and since then I'm sure she's met 100's of people, so I did not expect her to remember me!  But it was a nice feeling that she did :)

To be quite honest, I started the day quite tired from the craziness preparing for my team's arrival during the previous weeks.  However, I knew this day would relax and re-energize me for the week to come.  Here's the start of my journey to relax ... ah yes, this 1st card, it was my effort to stay away from my usual colours and decided to do something different ... so I picked up the Barn Door Red and Wild Honey distress inks ... and here's the final result:

Quick post ...

Apologies for disappearing for a bit ... a few members of my team were in town last week, so it was quite a hectic week.  Also, hubbie had a minor operation on Monday and has been home recovering and mommy's back from her trip.  So, lots have been happening!  Therefore, I didn't have the time to post anything ... however, my plan this weekend is to play a bit in The Paper Room, so I can relax.

Here's a quick post about another one of my favorite stamping companies "Hero Arts".  Of course, one of the advantages they have over other companies is that Jennifer McGuire works there!  Here are a few cards I made with their asian stamps ... I love these stamps ... and a lot others from them ;)

  

... in other words, I have quite few stamps from them!  It was really apparent just how many Hero Arts stamps I had when I noticed I had most of the stamps used for the classes with Jennifer McGuire.  I did get a few more that I did not have by the end of the night ... the only one I couldn't get since they did not have anymore was the old letter writing (it's a letter Jennifer McGuire's grandfather wrote to her grandmother ... I think I got that right).  Don't worry though, I will get it eventually along with a few others :)

Classes with Jennifer McGuire ...

On Sunday, I attended 3 classes (Colour My World, Festive Techniques, Creative Kickstart) given by Jennifer McGuire ... from 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.  It was amazing ... it wasn't just all the techniques we learned that made it so great ... it was her fun and inspiring personality.  She's really sweet and generous and that really shines through.

As I mentioned in a previous post, her classes are fast paced ... she prepared 8 cards for each class ... we worked on 6 and the other 2 were to be done at home.  However, 6 cards in 2.5 hours was still a lot since each card had many techniques ... so I have homework :)  As you probably guessed, this is definitely homework I don't mind doing ;)  I figure I'll post the cards from the classes as I complete them ... so stay tuned.  This will allow me to share what I learned and my experience ... who knows maybe one of you would be inspired to take a class with Jennifer!

A few more cards ...

Thought I just share with you the other cards I made during the weekend.  The style is pretty much the same ... just different color, embossing folder, or image.  Yup, they're a few of the other stamps I have from The Greeting Farm ... translation for hubbie:  Yes, more big-headed girls!

I tend to use the same image and make variations ... I do that all the time ... it's like I need to do every color combination, etc.  in order to get it out of my system.  BTW, it's not out of my system yet, so I'll be doing some more.  I do need to practice coloring with my Copics markers ;)