"SWEET"

Lately I took advantage of the deals at our local photography store. You order one set (regardless of numbers) and you get the second set FREE! So my son David went through the latest photos and chose the ones that we like to have double prints. Whether to send them out to friends or relatives or just for my scrap-booking purpose, it is PERFECT! 

So here is one of the prints we ordered. I decided to make a layout with it. Since I still have lots to learn about scrapbooking, so bear with me!! 

 

I made a layout for Hero Arts challenge. It's for/about kids. First I embossed the ice cream image ( from Life of the Party Birthday) in bright orange and mint green. Then I distressed them with TH inks (Sugar Spun, Worn lipstick, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo). The sentiment is from SRM Sticker. Pattern paper is from Cosmo Cricket. 

I am counting down the days to my daughter's safe return from China (due to be home on early Friday). Stephanie wrote me a couple of quick e-mails and told us how she was doing. Apparently she was having lots of fun, but she also came down with a cold. I think she is now ready to come home! I can't wait to hear her travel stories and see her amazing photos!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Using Felt

 I loving using felt in my cards. In this past year, I think I made about over 6 cards with felt (see here,

here and here). In fact, my first publication has the this very magic material in it!
 

 When I saw Moxie Fab World's Fabulous Felt Challenge, I didn't think I can come up with any more ideas....so many days went by!! Then one day, BING! I realize that I could perhaps try making felt flowers. I have this Gluber (or Gleuber in German) from Cosmo Cricket! Maybe I should give it a try and see what happens.... So this flower card was my first attempt. I was not entirely happy with the rolling of thin strips of felt and decided to make a different version.

This pictures says it all. I cut the little strips of felt with the Martha Stewart trimmer scissors for its evenness.(click for closer view)

  I stamped the whimsical-looking branch with one of the image from Scattered Leaves and the ground? I used Friendship Definition . Add the twines and gems! Ta-Da!

The pattern paper I used is from Cosmo Cricket . Recently I am loving stamping on pattern paper!

Can I just say...it FELT good to play with this feel-good challenge! Now I'm happy :) 

Basic Grey Paper with SRM Stickers (giveaway!)

Today I'm excited to share ANOTHER BIG project that I did with SRM Stickers and Basic Grey Paper. My DT assignment is to incorporate new Basic Grey (Out of Print ) and NEW Stickers (white numbers). I made a few projects with these fabulous products.

Project #1: layout with paper-weaving.

This photo was taken when my son David , his piano partner and friend jumped up in triumph when they just finished a spectacular performance at a piano concert.

 We've Got You Stickers XL whites
I used the new white numbers for this and it is simply perfect.
Project #2: Birthday Card. My son just turned 17 this August. He LOVES kite flying! So this is for him! The Our of Print graphic is newsprint-like as it provides a great look for a homemade kite.

 Express Yourself #42001 Athlete

We've Got You Stickers White small

 
Project #3: flowery birthday card. Lots of cutting and no stamping needed.

We've Got you Stickers Plus #54002 

Project #4: Tubes. I need to make some thank-you gifts. these SRM tubes are perfect for hostess and friends

Fancy Stickers Sentiment #55004 Thanks 

Project #5: Princess Wands. My friend is going through a tough time  I want to give them these princess wands (with bath salt) to cheer them up a bit

We've Got You Sticker#53007 Princess

 I really appreciate all the product from SRM stickers and strong support from SRM Stickers owner Susan and my DT mates. I love this DT as it has helped me stretch my creativity! For that, I'm so very grateful!

Lastly, you MUST stop by SRM Sticker Blog and leave a comment....there is a BIG giveaway that you would not want to miss! You can win Basic Grey Paper and NEW SRM Stickers. Go-- now!!

you're the BEST

This card was made for the Her Arts Scramble Challenge #23. My oldest HA stamp is this Shadow Stamp (circa 1998) that I bought in Hobby Lobby in Michigan. It was also my first time setting foot in Hobby Lobby. I remember my kids laughed at the store name at the time! My latest stamps are the Real Flower and Silhouette Burst. (I need some new stamps badly--LOL)! And yes, the Shadow Stamp sure changed my (stamping) life...I remember at the time, I was SO happy that I finally own ONE Hero Arts stamp!  I think I "danced" in the aisle at Hobby Lobby and I must have felt that I was in heaven (my first time in Hobby Lobby and getting a first HA stamp)! 

When I made this card, I had this sketch in mind. So I will enter it for the sketch challenge at Moxie Fab World (see Horizontal Sketch Challenge )
The embossing of the white flower was a bit messy...but I'll take the "special dusty effect" instead! The sentiment is from SRM Stickers. I even managed to hand stitch my button all under an hour! I must say that these challenges make me a meaner and leaner card-making machine!
I will be b-a-c-k tomorrow!

Market Street Stamp

I am so ready to PARTY....joining the Block Party here with me! Thanks to my CAS-ual Friday Team mate Michele (Studio MSG), I found out about this party! Here's what you can win:

• One randomly selected participant will win an awesome prize package full of yummy stamps & accessories!
• ONE show stoppin' paper crafter will be asked to join us for a Guest Design spot for the following month! (The winner for August will be the Guest Designer for the month of October!)

I really wound not "mind" winning either one or... just have some fun playing with stamps! I have just one set of Market Street Stamp called Follow Your Heart, which is rather sweet!

I think this set of stamps are perfect for paper-piecing. I found this Cosmo Cricket paper from the Salt Water collection which is lovely for the bird. I also used a slightly varied pattern paper and added some dimensions for the wing.

After making the first card, I noticed the little birdies in this set are SO cute...I just had to play some more paper-piecing! This paper is from Basic Grey's Out of Print. I pop dotted one of the little birdie just for the extra interest.  The sentiment and zig zag lines are from this  set of SRM Stickers. Isn't it SWEET?

If you like the Basic Gray paper, please stop on Monday as I have a series of project (including scrapbook layout) to share with you.Thanks for visiting, sweet friend!

Cosmo Cricket

 

As soon as I found out about this Cosmo Cricket Challenge (see here) , I got right to work...the deadline is Aug 27! I'm making the last minute entry!  Here's my take on this sketch!

 
Since I consider myself pattern paper and sketch-challenged, this REALLY is a challenge for me. It was fun though!

Supplies :  Hero Arts Stamp Silhouette Burst , Salt Air Crafting Kit from Cosmo Cricket Paper

SRM Stickers (hugs) , button, twine, Martha Stewart Circle Punch, Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a GREAT weekend and I pray that Hurricane Irene will be "kind" to the East Coast of North America. 

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #17

 

Welcome to Friday! I love love Fridays!!  As you may already know that I'm on SRM Stickers AND CAS-ual Friday's DT, so...this post is about my two teams! How AWESOME is that SRM Sticker is the sponsor for this week's CAS-ual Fridays?

 The challenge is to create CAS project with STICKERS! If you have SRM Stickers, that's AWESOME! If you don't, other type of stickers will be fine, too! Here is my take on my card with SRM Stickers. I used only stickers and Paiselee Pattern paper (I'm giving my stamps a tiny break!).

This card is perfect for a little girl, pre-teen or teenage girl...or ANY princess in your life. So you like it? I hope you find something to stick on your card as I can't wait to see what you create! Feel free to browse with the SRM Flickr (see and share your work here ) and SRM Blog (see here) and get more inspirations!

Please link up your project to CAS-ual Fridays by August 31, Wednesday, midnight Eastern Time! 

Desk Top Calendar

 Hello, dear friends! I am very excited to share a big project that I did with the summer CHA released mini calendar stickers from SRM. Here are the stickers ($3 for one sheet) that I used for this project. 

 

When I saw the mini calendar stickers, I love the idea of making it into a desk top calendar. Remember years ago (if you don't remember this, then you are YOUNG), when Brook Shields did the commercial for Calvin Klein Jeans?  She said ": You know what comes in between me and Calvin Klein Jeans? Nothing!"  It was controversial at the time...well, time has changed!! Today I'd say the same thing (with a twist):" Nothing can come between my stamps and SRM Stickers". With that, I present you my mini calendar.  

Stickers used:  Mini Calendar Standard 48005

Years of Memories 2012, 48004

The penguin images are from Penny Black stamps . The rest of the images are from Hero Arts and of course, SRM Stickers.

Month of Jan.: Robins’ Kingdom (Penny Black )

Month of Feb: Valentine (Hero Arts)

You can click on the image and have a better view over my Flickr photo stream.
Month of March : Row of Houses, Life of a Birthday Party (Hero Arts)

Month of April: Happy Animal Days (Hero Arts)

Month of May: Cruising with Life (Lawn Fawn stamps)

Month of June: Be Happy (Hero Arts), Basic Grey paper

Month of July: Life of a birthday Party ( Hero Arts)

Month of August: Joy Ride (Hero Arts)

Month of September : Just a Note (Hero Arts), Basic Grey Paper
Month of October:: Leaf prints (Hero Arts)

Month of November: Silhouette Grass (Hero Arts)
Month of December: (Basic Grey paper, SRM Stickers)

I hope you enjoy this post and get inspired to create your very own desk top calendar. Handmade things can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling, right? Thank you in advance if you are leaving me a comment at SRM Blog. Much appreciated! 

Hint: if you really like anything that sticks, you may also want to check out the CAS-ual Fridays tomorrow!!

Fabulous at 50!

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for my childhood friend who will be turning 50 in October. It's a significant milestone, I love to add all the fun and sophisticate details into it as much as possible...but that can be hard to do sometimes--like when do you "stop" layering and adding? I'm sure you can all relate to that!

When I made this card, I was determined to use the following elements: Pattern paper, lots of SRM Stickers and stamping. I stare at the Cosmo Cricket paper ( Upcycle) for the longest time!  I stamped the flowers with this Real Flowers  set from Hero Arts. This is what I came up with.

I added the hand stitching and a flower for the final touches. Since it's girl-friend themed,  I am entering this to the Paper Crafts August Challenge . Hope you have a FABULOUS day (whether you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s...)!

Guest Design at Penny Black

 Did you know.....that I am guest designing for The Penny Black Blog TODAY!? How shocking exciting is that! I was so thrilled to be invited by Jenyfur to be part of their blog today! The last two months I was working on the secret "projects" and today is the day to share that with you!

I will share the project that was not chosen for the PB blog here.  It is an altered project that I did. I bought some clearance cards from Michael's this Spring. A set of 6 cards cost $0.30! I bought three sets! Wouldn't YOU? I mean, just the envelopes are already worth it...right? So I covered up the images (so not my style) with kraft paper and embossed the lovely image in white.

I used the Derwent  water color pencils to lightly color the images. Since it's water-based, it is so easy to color on the krat paper. This also makes a great kiddie project! I added the embossed lines for some interest and didn't add any sentiment. Often the blank cards are easier to give as a gift set, too!

Here is a peek of my other cards....

Please go here and check the rest out! While you are there, I would really appreciate that you leave me a comment at the Penny Black Blog.  Hope you like what I create with the Penny Black stamps!! Thanks SO much for your feedback! 

Back-to-school Card

Happy Saturday!! I made a back-to-school card with the prompt of CREATE blog (see here). I tried to use as many SRM Stickers (see here and here) as possible. The sentiment "believe in yourself " is from this set.  I added some Glossy Accent onto the apple sticker. I love the shine! The stamped images are the paper clip and pencil (from Hero Arts Just a Note)

 edited note:  here is a card I made for the 90 min. Scramble challenge. The theme is to use "little things". More details here

My daughter Stephanie had arrived safely in Shanghai, China. She is on a 2-week visit with a group of Canadian university students of Chinese heritage. I'm excited for her since it's her first visit to China. 

I have never been to China myself...if you can believe that. I'm from Taiwan originally. Taiwan and China do not have official diplomatic relationship since WWII. They do have commercial relations now. But when I was growing up, no one visited China directly!!  Sorry to bore you about Chinese history but that explains why I had never been to China even though I am a Chinese descendant.

Lastly, here is my recent guest design work at scrap rendez-vous. Please check it out!  My next post on Monday is about my guest design work with a FANTASTIC stamp company. I hope you will stop by!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #16

Hello, friends! It's Friday already...I'm so glad that you stop by! 

Our CAS-ual Fridays this week is a FUN one! The challenge is EMBOSS (dry or wet, please add any kind of embossing to your Clean and Simple Card/project)--EASY PEASY, right?!!

 Our sponsor is The Stamp of Life

Please link up your project by August 24, Wednesday midnight Eastern Time 

at CAS-ual Fridays. I can't wait to see what you emboss!

Inspired by Alexandra

One of the many blogs I follow is Alexandra's art scraps and more . I find it so inspiring!! Alexandra can scrap, sketch, crochet, knit, cook, bake, take amazing photos....and make cards!! I was so loving her sketch and was inspired to make one from this inspiration. 

Alexandra's sketch

Alexandra's gorgeous card

 The upcycle item that I used here is a piece of coffee sleeve. I added the SRM Stickers directly to it and voila!

This inspiration prompted me to use the crochet that I received from Anette.  Also I have been hoarding these ornate buttons from Making Memories, it is the perfect to compliment the crochet flower! I hope Alexandra would like my take on it. Merci, Alexandra! 

 This is SO fun! (Note to myself: I should do this more often). NEXT!?  It can be YOU! I will visit your blogs and be inspired by one of you out there! So watch out!
EDITED note: Here's Jan 's card inspired by this post. LOVE her version! Jan, you are so sweet and talented! 

Fine Cusine in Lake Louise

One of the biggest treat to visit Lake Louise is to be able to enjoy all the fine dining in the Chateau Lake Louise. I don't think about the price when I indulge (nor does my DH Dr. John). So to savor all those happy moments, I am sharing the memories with you today!
(photo credit: Stephanie and David)
We tried out different restaurant at the Chateau Lake Louise every night and it is, according to Stephanie, ....epic!

"Walliser Stube" - A Swiss-German inspired restaurant. They had lots of fondue! We stuck to the regular entrees and went for chocolate fondue at the end. We could smell the cheese fondue from the nearby tables. The Alpine country is famous for ---Schnitzels!

 Even the bread sticks look and taste amazing!

 I tried Foie gras--it was heavenly! I didn't think about the fat and calories---not one bit!

 Duck Breasts with Sweet Potatoes--YUM!

Beef Tenderloin with Sweetbread (I'm not a fan of it, Dr. John refused to try it),  mixed vegetables ( I LOVE that beet)!

Then it's TEA time! The tea at the Fairview Restaurant (with 4 diamond rating) takes the high tea to a whole different level....

 Look who is salivating.....and drooling...?

 Look at the happy boy!!

 BEST. Scones. Ever. These SOFT scones literally MELT in your mouth! The buttery taste was sublime!!! Honestly they were the best scones that I have ever had!

 These are a few samples of the desserts throughout our dining at the Chateau

Chocolate Fondue!

 Last but not least, this is the most expensive snack we had at the Tea House located up in the mountains near Lake Louise. It is merely just Hot chocolate and Poppy Seed Bread

It cost $8 (US/Can)-- price of comfort and luxury. Hope this post satisfies your eyes and stomach.