Little Miss Sunshine!

I thought a cute and uplifting layout will be perfect for a day like today! It is Easter Sunday! I will be attending church and enjoy having a turkey with my family. It was exactly a year ago that my daughter got baptized on this very day.

Here is the layout! It's my grand niece Apphia who was born almost a year ago. She is the new Miss Little Sunshine in our Lu family. My kids dubbed this photo as the "Lion King/Little Simba" pose! Apphia's photo is so small and so perfect. I didn't want to add more photos to the page to steal the scene. In order to keep its the essence, I decided to turn it into a Polaroid-like photo by adding white frame around it...

With some stamping and embellishments, this page is complete!

Supplies: Love Jar (Hero Arts), Clippings (Basic Grey), buttons and Butterfly pearls (Basic Grey), SRM (sentiment--little Miss Sunshine)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

{Congratulations} card

Just sharing a congratulations card today. I gave this card to our friends' daughter who had just recently been accepted to the university of her choice. I watched this young lady growing up since she was in preschool and now she is heading to teacher's college!

This music video (Sunrise Sunset) from Fiddler on the Roof certainly came to my mind. I still vividly remember singing this very song with my room mate when I was in university!  Now I feel OLD (lol)!

Card stock: Earth Layering Paper by Hero Arts, white (Recollections)

Stamps: Single Starburst, Newspaper Skyline by Hero Arts

Inks: Butter Bar Shadow Ink, Orange Neon, Wet Cement by Hero Arts

Accessories: SRM Press (sentiment), gemstones (Recollections)

Since we are on a congratulatory theme, on a personal side,...my daughter Stephanie has been accepted into the PhD (in Health Studies and Gerontology) program that she applied to. She has decided to follow her academic dream and has already set her sights on the PhD project that she will be passionate about.  

This is how Stephanie came to realize that she should just.do.it!

The following is her brief blog post about the process. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is it!

Supervisor:	Completing a PhD is ten times harder than a Masters. You've really got to choose something you love.
Me:	...I know. I'll give it more thought.
Supervisor:	No! Stop thinking. Go with your gut. You're smart and you've got options. Choose what makes your heart beat faster!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I like her supervisor, too! Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy weekend!

Emphasize the Negative!

 Hello, I am sharing a card with the use of negative diecut. I am entering this to the Moxie Fab World's Challenge ( Emphasize the Negative)!

I have been meaning to try some masking with the Ribbon Banner Craft Die from Simon Says Stamps. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Friday's Only You

Ding----> Do take a look at your diecut and see if you can use the NEGATIVE side in a creative way. Even with a simple shape such as circle, oval, squares....you can use the negative part for some masking!
 Edited: I am not sure about entering this in the Moxie Fab challenge after all. I really dislike am not exactly crazy about this card....you know, it's one of those cards (LOL)! 
And...I really emphasize the negative (for being negative about this card), didn't I?  

Thanks for stopping by!

A layout--I love you, Dad!

Just sharing a layout that I made recently. My nephew Stephen is the new Dad to the almost-one-year old Apphia. I love how playful Stephen is with his darling daughter. You can totally see that sweetness with these photos!

As you can see, Stephen just played with his daughter as if there is not a care in the world that he needs to do. Stephen is actually a very busy guy as he is a doctor-in-training! I thought the set from "Be Silly" is perfect for this!

I also added two owls and butterfly in this layout. Since I am making layout from the approach of a stamper, I didn't use any pattern paper or ready-made embellishments. Simple! For me, there is no right or wrong in terms of how you scrapbook. I just let the photos and stamping speak for themselves. That's the best kind of scrapbooking in my view. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Playing with Scraps...

I have been having fun with the Hero Arts Alphabet Uppercase set. While I was working on other projects, I had a scrap piece from using the diecut. So I made another card with the scraps! This is the best part of paper-crafting as the possibilities are endless :)

After some stamping and layering, I think the card is still lacking "something"!?  I decided to make a button flower to go with the design. Since I did use the negative part of the diecut, I may as well enter this in the Emphasize the Negative Challenge over Moxie Fab World!

 Ding--->have you played with your paper scraps? Sometimes the best idea comes when you least expect it. Consider using up the scraps in your stash and give yourself a little exercise. You may not be happy with the result (and don't worry about it if it didn't turn out), but the process is....oh.so.precious! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Monday's Stamp Talk

Happy Monday! I am sharing a card that I made last Saturday. It was for Barb's Scramble challenge over Hero Arts Flickr Group. The theme is "Tic Tac Toe" (details here)

I chose heat embossing, Pattern paper and Stickles. It is a bit hard to see the Stickles that I add on the Easter lilies. When the Stickles dries, the flowers actually look quite lovely!

 Supplies: Sentiment is from SRM Stickers, Basic Grey Paper (Serenade), G5749 Etched Flower with Stems

Today is also the 4th week of Monday's Stamp Talk over Hero Arts Flickr. (details here). Since it's my last time to host, I am doing a more in-depth discussion.

Here is my little example to show how we can be more creative in using our stash of stamps. This stamp set So Kind and Children At Table are totally different. But if you choose the right elements from the stamps, they will work together! See what I mean now?

Anyways, I hope this stamp talk inspires you to look at your stamp collection a bit more creatively! Thanks for stopping by! 

More Ombre Effect

I have been wanting to play more with distress inks to create Ombre effect on cards. Oddly enough, it was this photo of Ryan Gosling that gave me the inspiration...

Yes, that Ryan... he rules :) 

 

It's amazing how two little stamps can do for a card like this! I used the jar stamp ( Hero Arts'

Picnic) and the "you color my world" stamp (Clear and Simple's Craft Room). I am entering this card to Moxie Fab World's Ombre challenge!

 I didn't turn the mason jars into lamps like Ryan suggested, however,  I did make them appear to have the light effect from the lamps....Yes ( insert-->cheeky smile!)?

Hope this post make you smile! Your visits to my blog mean SO much to me!
Thank you for coloring my world! 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge with SRM Stickers!

Happy Friday! I am sharing an Easter card with you today. I made the card as part of the hostess gifts to my friend Linda! We are invited to her house for dinner this Saturday! 

AND since SRM Stickers is the sponsor for the latest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, I want to make a little card to "celebrate" the occasion. I hope this will prompt you to make a CAS project for the Challenge and win yourself some AWESOME SRM Stickers.

Well, this challenge is all about using stickers (obviously), rub-ons.... without stamps! Yes, it is possible! Here is my Easter card (along with my hostess gifts) for Linda! 

Yup, I allow my stamps to take a break! With a fancy die cut, SRM Stickers, Washi Tape, this card is done!  I hope that you will join the fun over CAS-ual Friday's Challenge (details here)!
Have a great weekend!

SRM Stickers and Ribbons

 Have you tried stamping on ribbons or lace? Yes, it's do-able, but it is very challenging to do so, isn't it? Well, today's cards will show you have EASY and PERFECT to combine SRM Stickers 
and lace/ribbons!

Card stock: Bazzill Basics., Hero Arts Layering Paper

Pattern paper: Foliage Designer Papers by Hero Arts

Stamps: Zig Zag Pattern, Untitled Word Shadow by Hero Arts

Inks: (Butter Bar, Soft Brown) Shadow Ink

Fibers: Lace by May Arts

Accents: SRM Press (sentiment), 3 D Pop Dots (EK Success), gems (Hero Arts)

Tool: Corner Squeeze (Fiskars), small Lacey Circles (Spellbinders)

Card stock: Eggshell Layering Paper by Hero Arts, white and kraft (Recollections)
Stamps: Newspaper Background, Pom Pom Flower all by Hero Arts
Inks: Hero Hue Chalk Ink (Night), Stone Wash Shadow Ink, Field Greens Shadow Ink by Hero Arts

Fibers: Foliage Ribbons by Hero Arts

Accessories: Silver Metallic Décor by Hero Arts, SRM Press (sentiment)

Tools: Copic markers (leaves)

Other: white string

  

The match of SRM Stickers and ribbons/lace is SEAMLESS! 

 Ding---->have you ever tried used text in your design? You can make your own (such as the 2nd card shown here) or simply use your old dictionary or old text books! The image with text certainly adds great interest to the design. Try it if you haven't! 

This post comment has been turned off. I would really appreciate it if you can leave me comments over SRM Blog. 
Thanks so much for stopping by!

More CAS-ual Fridays Stamps-March release!

Hello, friends! I want to share a few more cards from the new CAS-ual Fridays stamps March release!
 This set called "Ka-Boom" is the bomb!!!
 
With some masking and Glossy Accent, this card is super easy to create. Isn't this FUN?
I also made a circle card with the same stamp set. Versatile, huh?
 
Lastly, here is a card from the stamp set called "Amazingballs"
 
 I started out with the pattern paper from Apen Frost (Basic Grey). This collection is technically a holiday collection, but the paper are not all Christmas-y to me, so I stamped the circle images and embossed the sentiment on the pattern paper. Now the final touches really make the card shine!! I added Liquid Pearl droplets and tied the yellow ribbons. I also stamped Hero Arts Punch Chalk Ink over the already-embossed gold sentiment. I love how it looks!

Ding---> have you tried multiple stamping on sentiment? It works BEST with clear stamps for easy alignment (obviously)! With some practice, you will be amazed with the statement that you made in your card. For this card, I combined embossing and stamping! Experiment with multiple colors! I know you'll love it!
For more inspiration, please visit here and comment to win! Hurry, today is the last day!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Runway Inspired Challenge #32

Hello Gorgeous!

The latest Runway Inspired Challenge is upon us! I decided to take a non-card approach to this gorgeous photo.

Supplies: SRM Stickers( Label, Glassine Bag), American Crafts ribbons, Washi tape, Stickles (silver), Aphabet Upper Case by Hero Arts

This project was created without any stamps (hard to believe)! Please check out my uber talented DT mates' inspiring work!
  ~Aga~ Jennifer~ Laura~ Nina ~ Pamela ~Tasnim ~Wida

Thanks for stopping by!

NEW CAS-ual Friday's Stamps--March Release!

 Hello! I am sharing some exciting happenings over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! We are having a March Release! Starting today, from March 18 to 20th, CAS-ual Fridays is having sneak peeks of  3 new sets of stamps! AND we just had a new DT joining us over the Stamp Store blog (details here)!! Last but not least, you can comment to win yourself a gift certificate from CAS-ual Fridays EVERY time you comment in the Stamp Store Blog! You can order the new stamps on March 21st! How awesome is that?

This new set called "Exclamation" will get you excited!

 I did some stamping and embossing with this one.

And here is my 2nd card

Like what you see?

For more inspiration from our talented DT, please visit here and comment to win!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Vintage Image

I don't use vintage image much, but this set from Lil Inker Designs is just too sweet! I was lucky to win some goodies from the Gallery Idol "made with Love" Blog Hop. I chose to have this set called

Stirring in Lots of Love from Lil Inker.

Since I am a lazy color-er, I chose NOT to color the image and left the image as it is! As I used some Washi Tape, I am joining the fun over Moxie Fab World (Washi Challenge).

With a bit of Washi tape and pattern paper (Basic Grey's Lucille collection), this card is very quick and easy!The button on the top left was an after-thought. I wrapped a white button with the matching Washi tape! That was my light-bulb moment (LOL).

Ding--->you can make your own custom buttons with Washi tape! Not only you can make your card design look cohesive and you will not need to use glue at all! Want to use up some extra buttons that you don't know what to do with? Now you can!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday Trigger (Elegant Emerald)

 Have you ever seen a photo that is so inspiring and it makes you want to create right away? Well, this week's Tuesday Trigger from Moxie Fab World did just that to me!

This card is truly a labor of LOVE! I had fun making this card as it is definitely one of a kind! No pattern paper was used, just green card stock and Washi paper.

I made the banners with this Banner Craft Die from Simon Says Stamps. I have been wanting to experiment with that die and the photo's ruffles prompted me to try! Perfect! I sprayed painted the banners with Mr. Huey's Color Mist

 And here is the madness my creating process-one. sequin. at. a. time. I tried embossing the sentiment in white over emerald green card stock, but it didn't work out... Washi tape and Glossy Accent are my go-to glues in this project. I folded the banners and applied a thin strip of Washi tape to secure it. This part was actually easy!

I chose this sentiment "laugh giggle be silly" from Be Silly from Hero Arts/Basic Grey Lucille Collection and it seems to fit the design.

By the way I did a Make Your Own Embellishments over CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog, please check it out if you haven't!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

A Tutorial with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

You asked for a tutorial as to how to make your own embellishments, 

well, you've got it!!

 So happy to share a TUTORIAL (yes, a tutorial!) with you for the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

Do you like what you see? 

Please go to CAS-ual Stamps Blog to check out the step-by-step instructions on making these flowers! I did spend quite a bit of time on this project and it will be SO awesome to have your feedback! Please leave me your comments here. And if you like the tutorial, let me know here, too! Hope this project makes you feel that Spring is just around the corner... 
Happy weekend!

What Is Dr. John Thinking?

I haven't shared much about Dr. John lately. In case you miss seeing this feature, here's what's new... Last Sunday, he received a photo from a sweet blog friend Katie who follows my blog. Katie was traveling in Camano Island, in Northwest Washington and snapped this photo. As you can see, she just HAD to share it with Dr. John! 

Dr. John was quite amused as you can imagine! He then wrote Katie a thank-you e-mail. This was what he wrote:

Hi Katie,

I was trying to keep the location of my Batcave a secret (LOL). Thanks for taking the picture!

Sincerely, Dr. John

 Hope this makes you smile :) 

And of course, I could not complete the post without sharing a card! This card was made from last Sunday's Scramble card challenge (hosted by Linda) and it was made under 40 minutes. The challenge theme was embossing. Easy enough, right? I decided to do something out of the ordinary (at least for me).

All you have to do is to have two colors of embossing powder ready to go. I did the white PARTIAL embossing first, then the RED one until the butterflies are fully covered with embossing powder! After the embossing, I saved the small amount of contaminated red embossing powder for next time's use! Something different, huh?

edited: this card is featured over Hero Arts Social Club today! Wow, what a pleasant surprise!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Ombre Effect

 I have been loving the Ombre Effect on cards. So I had to join the fun over Moxie Fab World's Ombre Challenge.

Supplies:

Card stock: Earth Layering Paper (Hero Arts)

Stamps: Spring Dreams by Hero Arts

Inks: Versamark by Tsukineko, Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Squeezed Lemon, Mustard Seeds, Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Tea Dye, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo) by Ranger

Embossing powder: Stampendous (white, detailed)

Fibers: May Arts Ribbons

Accessories: SRM Press (sentiment), gems (Recollections)

Tools: Distress Ink Applicator by Rangers

    Ding----> No matter what your stamping level is, Emboss Resist is such a great technique that stampers absolutely love! Have you tried it lately? Here is one of my favorite video from the talented Jennifer McGuire. It's a must-see, if you haven't already.  For my card, I first embossed the image in white, then with the help of ink applicators, I add the colors from lightest (Squeezed Lemon) to darkest (Vintage Photo)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lawn Fawn Birthday Blog Hop with Stamp Fever!

 Hello friends! Today I am part of the mini blog hop over Stamp Fever to celebrate Lawn Fawn's 3rd birthday!  

About Stamp Fever 

Stamp Fever is a charming little store in Orange, California. We carry all things related to the crafting hobbies of stamping, card-making and paper crafting. We stock a variety of stamps, papers, inks and supplies. We can also provide special orders for items you find online. We offer weekly stamping classes along with demos and make ‘n takes throughout the month. Stamp Fever participates in the Southern California Shop Hop! Our design team goes all out to deck our store in theme related finery and we always have a charming Photo Op to add to the memories of your Shop Hop experience. Stamp Fever is hosting a Lawn Fawn 3rd Birthday celebration! The party is on Saturday March 16 from 1-4. If you are in the area, please stop in for a visit and to share some birthday cake with Kelly and Mike, owners of Lawn Fawn. Kelly will share a special Make ‘n Take featuring one of Lawn Fawn’s newest sets “Summertime Charm”.

If you are ever in the area, this is definitely a great chance for you to stop by Stamp Fever and MEET Kelly and Mike today! I met both of them at last year's Scrapfest, they are such a sweet couple! 

My Lawn Fawn card for the hop

About this card: I took the inspiration from the Lawn Fawn logo and used the alcohol-inked color strips for this design. This Chevron Background is absolutely lovely!

Please note: There will be prize drawings at the party but we don’t want to exclude our blog readers. We will randomly choose one winner from those who comment at The Stamp Fever blog and one more random winner from comments on the Hop Participant blogs. To increase your chances of winning: Follow the Stamp Fever blog in a reader or by email subscription; sign up for our Newsletter; follow Stamp Fever on Facebook and leave us a comment there. Each winner will receive a Lawn Fawn Stamp set and coordinating Lawn Cuts Die set.

Comment to enter prize drawing until 10:00 pm PDT on Friday March 15. The random drawing will take place at the party. The two winners will be announced Sunday, March 17 on the Stamp Fever blog.
Here is the list of the blog hops

Nicole- Unify Handmade

Chari- MossyMade

Britta- Britta Swiderski Creative

Vera- Ling's Design Studio

Lynnette- Netter's Notables

Barb- ...Enjoying Life

Lin- Sending Hugs

Marcy- En Papillote Arts

Kathy- Wading in Creativity

Katie- Katie's Quarks

Virginia- Yes, Virginia------->you are here

Melissa- Love My Scraps

Deborah- Society of Stampaholics

Nancy- Happy Heart Studio

Lawn Fawn Blog

Stamp Fever Blog

Annette- My Clever Creations

Happy 3rd birthday, Lawn Fawn! 
 
(Scrapfest  2012)
top left--Nancy and Britta, bottom left -Mr. Lawn Fawn Mike and Virginia, middle and right--Kelly and Virginia

 Big thanks to Nancy who organized the blog hop! Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Pillow Box!

Happy Monday! Glad to share an SRM Project with you!

Did you know that SRM Stickers also make Pillow Boxes? They come in three sizes and they make such great packaging, in fact, the pillow box will make ANYTHING you pack look GOOD! 

Here is one that I decorated!

Supplies: Pillow Box (Medium), Sticker Stitches, We've Got Your Sticker (Thanks) , Swiss Dots (Provo Crafts), Basic Grey Paper (Aspen Frost), The Twinery (Platinum), Rosette Brad (American Crafts), small soap bars
 
For the detailed instructions, please visit SRM Blog. And while you are there,  can you please leave me your comments there!? This post's comment feature is turned off.

Ding---> Dig deep in your stash of pattern paper. Some Christmas pattern paper CAN actually be used all year round! For example, I used Christmas-themed Basic Grey (Aspen Frost), however, there are quite a few patterns from this collection that can be used for all occasions!

Lastly, I am starting a weekly discussion thread over Hero Arts Flickr group every Monday. Here is Week 1 and Week 2 just started. FUN read if you are interested.
Thanks so much for stopping by!