Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

I was depending on Hallmark for my Chinese New Year cards, but unfortunately, I waited too long and they were sold out. So, I was forced to use my craft supplies, lol. I bought the Firecrackers stamp from Hanko Designs in December when Sister Stamps announced their closing. So a big shout out to Hanko for letting its customers know about the sad news. Unfortunately, the Firecrackers stamp is sold out, but it looks like the Lion Dance stamp is still available.

The reality is, I would have hoarded this stamp for years, had not Hallmark forced my hand. I enjoyed the stamp so much, I had to place another order before all of the Sister Stamps are sold out. If you're interested in any, I suggest you order now since I noticed a few more stamps were sold out since I ordered.

I hope the Year of the Monkey brings you prosperity and good fortune!

Another sympathy card

This is a follow-on to last week's posting. I made another sympathy card because I wanted to send sympathy cards to both my aunt and cousin. Unfortunately, it feels like you've finally grown up when you send or receive sympathy cards.

Supplies: My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, Martha Steward punch, Memory Box die, Unity stamp, Hero Arts pearls.

Sympathy card

I got to play with watercolors at a recent craft retreat and came up with this card. It isn't any fun to make sympathy cards, but this stamp made the process a little easier. Just something simple with the right words.

I'm posting this at Unity Stamps for this week's Friends with Flair. The sentiment came from the Beautiful Life, Blessed Memories kit. The sentiment looks silvery in the photo, but it was actually stamped in Tim Holtz Soot Distress Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. It looks more grey in real life.

Thanks for visiting!

It's just a number card

Here's a peek at one of the cards for my upcoming class at Perfect Day Scrapbooking. I worked on a couple of samples, but I'm going with the lower right card for the class. I like the darker base and the direction of the layering.  What do you think?

I dug into my precious Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd stash for these cards. That means I even cut into whole sheets for my small squares (it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, lol). I wanted these to be birthday cards, but I couldn't find the right stamp until I dug out my Birthday Jubilee set.

DCWV card base, Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd patterned paper, American Crafts twine, Colorbok ink, Unity stamp

The class is Thursday, November 14, 6-8 pm. Just call the store at (714) 369-2862 to sign up. Hope to see you there!

Please bring the usual class kit (adhesive (tape runner, pop dots/dimensional foam), scissors, pen/paper if you want to take notes). And for this class, the following would be helpful: a corner rounder, 1 1/4" square punch or small trimmer, and light brown ink for shading. If you don't have the tools, you can use mine. Of course, class will go a little faster if you have your own.

I'm submitting this card to Unity Stamp's Friends with Flair. The stamp is from the July 2013 Sentiment Kit-Birthday Jubilee.

Thinking of you card

I recently attended a crop at with some of my Nor Cal scrappin' buddies. I brought my new fern die with me that I got just a couple weeks ago and ended up using it with my July card kit.

Supplies: WRMK patterned paper, Bazzill and Coordinations cardstock, Colorbok ink, Unity stamp, Snug Hug seam binding, misc. twine, Memory box die.

I thought I would send this card as a fall hello, but unfortunately had to make quick use of the card this week. My coworker's brother suddenly passed away so I used this card to express my sympathy.

I'm submitting this card in Unity Stamps Friends with Flair . Check out all the awesome cards there.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to "see" you again soon.

June card kit

For the past few months, I haven't been posting the cards from my monthly card kit swap because we've been posting our cards in a private Facebook group. But I miss sharing the cards with you so here's this month's cards. Wendy sent a huge sticker sheet and some great patterned paper and embellishments.

With these goodies, it didn't take long at all to make my cards. I made a good dent in the supplies, but I can probably get a couple more cards out of the kit.

If you're interested in joining the swap, let me know and I'll get in touch with you in a few months when we start the next round. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy birthday!

I'm finally posting some cards from my April card swap. The celebrate stamp is from the Birthday Jubilee July 2013 sentiment kit, and the 29th sentiment is a new favorite from Unity Stamp Co.

I'm posting these for Unity Stamp's Friends with Flair. Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome little one card

I was tasked with making a baby card over the weekend for a coworker (other duties as assigned? lol). This necessitated a visit to my LSS (because I couldn’t find any of my baby paper/embellishments at home), but inspiration was hindered by not knowing if the baby is a boy or girl (mom-to-be isn't telling). Still, I was able to find some non-baby paper and ribbon that sparked my creativity and came up with cute, gender-neutral card. I’m very happy with the result and hope the mom-to-be enjoys it.

Since this card was being handed to the recipient and not being mailed, I decided to go bulky and try using one of the trendy embellishments (straws, does anyone have any advice on cutting them without crushing them?). Plus, I pop-dotted the cloud and of course, the buttons add some bulk. Note that if this card was being mailed, it would have to be shipped at package rates in a padded envelope.

Supplies: Cloud paper: Bella Blvd (Flying High from the Sand and Surf collection); ribbon: May Arts,;cardstock: Bazzill, Neenah, Paper Reflections; straws, buttons, thread: unknown; Tools: Quickutz Frankie Skinni Mini, Fiskars scallop border punch

On a funny note, one coworker said, “Oh wow, you even used dental floss.” So much for being impressed with the silk thread I used to hang the buttons, lol.

July card swap

Yes, I'm a little late in posting. Heck, I'll admit I'm a little late in getting the cards done. Once again, I forgot to take a picture of the kit so I stole this photo from Susan's blog. Laurie sent this kit and included a great Thank You stamp and some fun card bases, along with the other goodies you see here.

I has a little trouble with the black and white papers so I made just one card with those papers. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Unity.

I love how the colors came together in this card. The card base and blue paper is from the kit. The ribbon is from Peggy's May card kit. The dotted circles are Inkadinkado, ink is Versamark, and I used a Prisma pencil to color in the "Thank you."

Wendy posted her cards and I took a peek at them before I finished my cards and um, borrowed one of her ideas, which was to emboss the card front. I love how it looks. I broke out a new Cuttlebug folder for this one. The stamps are Studio G and the ink is Colorbox Mixed Media Ink By Donna Salazar, one of my new favorite inks.

Actually, what I like is the Colorbox ink, but I dislike the packaging. It has a round rubber base and the lid doesn't really seal; it just sits loosely on the rim. I suppose the rubber base allows for flexibility when inking up mixed media goodies, but I don't see that I'll be able to travel with these inks unless I tape them closed.

Please visit the rest of the cardmakers and leave them some comment love. They all did a much better job of mixing the black and white patterned papers with the bright colored papers/embellishments:

Susan:
http://simplysusansscrap.blogspot.com/

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

We're taking a break for August so you'll see the next card kit in September.

Card swap, round 2, month 5

This month, we received this awesome, but challenging kit from Wendy. At least it was challenging for me because is full of ephemeral and embellishments outside of my comfort zone. But that's the good thing about this swap, helping us create outside of our comfort zones. I was scared when I saw all this goodness: an almanac page, journaling cards, lace, pearl sprays, sequins. All stuff I never use. But I was determined to do it justice.

I made just three cards, but have enough supplies to make several more. Here's the first. Wendy sent the punched hearts and the stamp and I thought they went together nicely with the journaling card. I added the base, brads, button, and twine from my stash.

For this next card, everything but the circle brads came from the kit. I usually don't like lumpy, bumpy on my cards (extra postage, ya know), but I thought the pearl spray added the perfect finishing touch.

This last card is sooooo out of my comfort zone. Stamping? sequins? ephemeral? Simple, but I loved how all the pieces came together.

All the sentiments are from Unity so I'm linking this up to their Friends with Flair.

Please visit the rest of the cardmakers and leave them some comment love:


Susan:
http://simplysusansscrap.blogspot.com/

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Be the change...

I am waaaay too easily influenced by my scrappy friends. My friend Miwa is addicted to Unity Stamps and now I think I am too. I am having a hard time resisting their latest birthday stamps, but since I didn't make a killing at the the last LSS sale and I haven't used half the stamps in my stash, I really can't justify buying any more (not that that usually stops me).

So here's to using my stash. I even broke out a new stamp pad. I love this quote set and finally took the plunge and bought it a couple weeks ago. I wanted to highlight the quote so the card is very simple.

I'm linking this up to Unity's Friends with Flair.

Card Swap, round 2, month 4

Happy June! Obviously, I'm behind on posting my May cards. Peggy sent an awesome kit and it inspired me to break out a bunch of my tools. I didn't remember to take a picture so I stole this one from Susan's blog.

There are a lot of firsts in these cards. If you've been following my blog, you've already seen this first card. I linked it up with Unity Stamps Friends with Flair (for the first time). That means I finally used a Unity Stamp set. Plus I broke out my new hexagon punch (more on that later).

For this next card, I broke out a Stamps of Life set I bought from the last LSS garage sale. The tag goes in the bag, obviously, but I left it out so you could see it.

I broke out a Tim Holtz die that I've had for a couple of years, plus a TCP stamp set I got on clearance from JoAnn (only 99 cents!). This card is going to a friend who loves gardening.

Obviously, I was really inspired by this kit. I was also inspired by a new scrapping space I'm carving out in one corner of the house. If it works out, I'll give more details later. If not, forget I said anything about it.

Thanks Peggy for a great kit. I already received Wendy's kit for June and I tell you, it is taking me out of my crafty comfort zone. But that's a good thing! If I keep up with this swap and cardmaking, maybe I can justify all my crafty purchases.

Please visit the rest of the cardmakers and leave them some comment love:


Susan:
http://simplysusansscrap.blogspot.com/

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Unity Stamps: Friends with Flair

I've been slowly collecting Unity Stamps and finally, thanks to encouragement from my friend Miwa, I'm participating in my first Friends with Flair Friday. I used the Dragon Fly of Beauty set, which is one of their Stamps of the Week sets, and my new hexagon punch. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, MME patterned paper, Unity stamps, Colorbok catseye ink

Congratulations!

We took a few days off to travel to Texas for our nephew's wedding. Mr. Fix-it asked if I was going to make their wedding card (of course dear!), but he was getting a bit anxious since I didn't finish it until two days before we left.

I envisioned something slightly different, but when I got my dies out, I saw that a redesign was in order because of the size of the die. Guess that's part of the creative process, right? It was a country wedding so I didn't want to go glittery or too bright. I'm really happy with how it turned out and hope the bride and groom like the card.

supplies: Quickutz die, Club Scrap textured paper, Coordinations pearl paper, vellum, Papertrey Ink stamp, Martha Stewart pearls.

Card swap, month 3

Katie was this month's hostess and she sent out a lovely selection of papers and card bases as usual. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the kit before I dug into it. Hopefully, someone else did and I can steal their photo. I made three cards, as usual. I had hopes for more, but I got too busy (my usual excuse).

I loved the foiled butterfly paper in this first card. I had only this small piece so I left it as is (I debated fussy cutting the largest butterfly). I also wanted to keep the card simple to highlight the paper. Everything except the butterfly paper came from my stash.


Katie always sends us neat card bases and this base had the label cut out. I cut the base down a little so I could run it through my Cuttlebug to emboss it. I had to run it through twice and unfortunately, I couldn't get the top part to emboss as deeply. Ah well, maybe Mom won't notice. The patterned paper and butterfly sticker are from the kit. The pink ribbon at the bottom, flower, and button are from Susan's kit from last month, and the Happy Mother's Day ribbon I printed with a printer I borrowed from work.


I also loved this scalloped card base and I hope I did it justice. Katie also sent us some die cut butterflies. I used one as is and punched the smaller two out of another one. The large butterfly is attached with an "action wobble," which a plastic spring with adhesive, so it "flutters." The patterned paper is from the kit and the metal tag is an old Making Memories tag.


I am sooo enjoying having a selection of cards on hand. If you're interested in joining us in the future, let me know.

Here are the rest of the cardmakers. Visit them and leave them some comment love.

Susan:
http://simplysusansscrap.blogspot.com

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Card Swap, month 2

This month's hostess was Susan and she put together an awesome kit. Now, if I were smart, I would have put together my cards when we got together for a scrapping weekend, but nooooo, I had to wait, as usual.

This kit was full of beautiful Basic Grey. I can't believe it was a collection I didn't buy. I probably have a couple hundred sheets still. I used to love Basic Grey until I figured out I didn't know how to use the paper. But maybe I just need to use the paper for cards? The kit was also full of yummy embellishments like Lasting Impressions buttons (which I now covet), all kinds of die cuts and chipboard, an assortment of American crafts goodies, card bases, and much more. Although we're not supposed to buy anything for the kits (the supplies are supposed to come from our stash), Susan was a rebel and bought the lovely MFT stamps from an Operation Write Home fundraiser. Here's a photo of the kit after I made my cards. You can see that I could make half a dozen more cards with what's left.


My first card is a variation of my standard design of a rectangle with border. This time, I added some flowers from the kit. I got the "love" ribbon from an LSS giveaway and I love how it matches the papers. I used some Making Memories paint on the chipboard and some LI brads from my stash.


Of course, I had to use the bunny. I couldn't think of how to use the sentiments from the stamp set, so I decided to break out a Quickutz die. The journaling circle is Jillibean Soup, the stamp is Papertrey Ink, the ribbon is a scrap I had sitting around, and the brads are from Joanns. I hope a service person will enjoy sending this to a loved one.


For my last card, I broke out a Paper Shapers punch. I bought it last year at an LSS sale and am so happy I have it in my tool bin. I curled the petals around a pen and also used foam adhesive to help keep the petals poofed up. The stamp is from 3bugsinarug.
.

Thanks for an awesome kit! And thanks for the card bases. I need to get some of that good cardstock.

Here are the rest of the cardmakers. Visit them and leave them some comment love.

Susan's cards:
http://simplysusansscrap.blogspot.com

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Card swap month 1

We started another round of the card swap and I again hosted the first month. We have some players from the last round, plus a few new friends so I'm really looking forward to the next few months of cardmaking. Since we have six instead of four players, I found it a little more difficult to put the kits together, even with my extensive stash. For example, when I include ribbon, I usually include 12-inch lengths, but had trouble finding 2 yards of matching ribbon. Next time, I'll have to remind myself that a six-inch sample is long enough for a card.

Here's what was included in the kit:

Patterned paper from A to Z and Basic Grey.
DCWV glitter card bases
Bazzill cardstock
Kaisercraft journaling tags
Doilies
AC black buttons
Pearlized green brads
Velvet grey ribbon (from LM!), black and white checked ribbon, pearl daisy trim, teal ribbon, washi tape. The ribbons and washi are in 12-18 inch sections.
Yellow tickets
envelopes

At the last minute, I decided to throw in the ginko paper. I have no idea who made it. The paper on the left is really silver, not gold. The paper is really shiny and difficult to photograph.


As you can see, there are multiple themes going on. Obviously, I couldn't decide what to include so I just kept adding stuff. I've got the classic black and white, bling, Asian, French (the journaling tags are from the Bonjour line), and fun with the yellow tickets.

This first card is just a simple card. I still need to add white liner so it is usable. And I'm not very good at adding sentiments so this one may go to Operation Write Home as a blank card. All the patterned paper and embellishments are from the card is from the kit. I had to add the card base since I didn't include any in the kit. I also used my favorite border punch. (It is a Martha Stewart punch, in case you need one for yourself.)


I couldn't decide if I should add ribbon or not to this next card, but then I thought that ribbon would make it too feminine. (I was trying for a masculine card.) Next time, I'll think about adding some baker's twine. The sentiment is a sticker from DCWV and again, the black cardstock and use of a die are the only additions.


I really like this next card. I tried to get all "artsy" with the overlapping words, but that didn't turn out as well as I liked. The wedding dress was inspired by this tutorial. The rubons are Making Memories and the pearls are from a previous card kit.

Here's are links to everyone else's cards (or blogs if the cards aren't posted yet). Go visit them and leave them some comment love. It is really fun to see how everyone came up with different designs from the same supplies.
Susan's cards
Katie's blog
Peggy's cards
Wendy's blog
Laurie's blog