Rushing to get more Christmas cards done

It seems like there are more Christmas cards to make than I expected this year.  I normally have completed the Christmas card rush by this time already.  Looks like I have a few more to go.  :) 

I'm playing along with the Clean and Simple sketch challenge and 365 cards - "Delicate" challenge.  Glitter is definitely a delicate ingredient to work with (at least for me).  I still haven't got the courage to send cards with glitters by mail.  Not sure if it can stand the rough handling before reaching the recipient!    

Sketch challenge

After counting the xmas cards to be given to my son's teachers, there are not enough left for everyone else. So I guess I need to start making more now! :) what a good problem to solve.

I'm playing along with the clean and simple sketch challenge, and ABC Challenge "A for Almost Christmas". 

Thanks for visiting.

Sketch challenge

It's been quite stressful and hectic at work these days.  So I decided to take a break tonight.... i.e. making some card.. of course, I did some chores too! :(

I made this card fairly quickly, because I have the recipient in mind, and then I thought of the "cupcake" paper I have.  Looking for challenges to participate, I found the Freshly Made Sketches.  Excuse the quality of photo -- the room is a little dark and i'm using my phone to take it, so that I can guarantee to make it to the challenge. :P 

Bring on the Bling

I recently was trying to find a better way to take photos with the cards I've made.  I think it does make a difference if the lighting and background is right.  Hopefully I can find the best spot to take photos in my home.... if I'm not trying to rush in some card challenge and need to take it with my cell phone. :) 

I'm participating in 2 card challenges:
1) Allsorts challenge - Bring the Bling 
I got that purple ribbon/garland during last Christmas.  Just love it!  Regret that I didn't get it for other colors! 

2) 365 cards challenge - make it a white space card with minimal decoration on top. Use only 1/3 or less of the card space

I better brush off the glitter on the unwanted places before giving it out.  I'm new to glitter.  If someone has tips on how to make the glitter sticks better, please leave me a comment!!  I'm using glue pad to stamp.   

Stamp a background

Stamping the background of the card isn't something I do very often, because I found it hard sometimes to make it look good.  I'm playing along with the 365 cards challenge, I hope my attempt isn't too bad.  I've stamped and embossed it.  It's quite fun to stamp randomly onto the card. :P  

Rock your style

I'm participating in 365cards challenge --"rock your style". My style has been clean and simple.  I particularly adore cards with few elements in the cards yet still look fabulous.

Here is my card:

I recently have developed the love of glitters , may also be because of christmas is coming. :)

Thanks for visiting.

Sketch challenge

I'm playing along with retrosketches challenge this week.  I'm hoping to keep making one card per week, then I should have enough cards to cover for christmas. :)  

Hope you like it.  I start to like this green glitter. :)  

Preparing for Christmas

Now that thanksgiving just passed. It's time to prepare for Christmas. I just counted how many Christmas cards I have to make this year, including for my son's teachers. I better start making whenever I find time!!

I'm playing along with Retro sketches challenge.  

Thanks for visiting!

Summer time

I'm playing along with the clean and simple challenge. And intentionally make something that fits for the season. Hope you like it.

Butterflies

Got this butterflies card stock earlier and I'm loving it. Its the first card I made out of it.  I'm playing along with these 2 challenges:
Mojo monday challenge
365cards challenge - Sparkle & Shine

 

I tried to use glitters for the sentiment, but it turns out that the characters are not very sharp, so I went back to use regular ink.     

Happy father's day

Making a father's day card for my hubby.. I'm sure my son will make something at school for father's day. But I just love the cardstock.

I'm playing along with the retrosketches challenge.

I just discovered there are some nice features of my phone's camera. There are white balance, exposure, etc.  Although the picture quality is in no comparison with a DSLR, I'm happy that I can just take a photo of my card and post it to my blog. :) 

Paper players: Clean and Simple Masculine Challenge

It's the first time I played along in the Paper players challenge -- Clean and Simple Masculine Challenge.  I always find it's hard to make a masculine card.  But I'm quite happy with this one.

I got a set of green card stocks at Michael's a while ago, and I love it!  And the sentiment has black glitter on it, though it doesn't show very well in the picture. 

Frame it!

Got lots of inspiration in putting a frame in a card over at "Less is More" challenge blog.  Here is my take on it:



The card base used in this card is actually some textured paper which didn't show very well in the picture.  I think this will be good for a kid's birthday card.  Hope you like it.

Clean and simple

Work has been very hectic lately, so didn't really have time to make any cards or even to think about it.  With March break coming, I have an excuse to take some days off. :)   I like the sketch challenge from Clean and Simple blog because that's exactly the stickers I got a while ago.  

Here is a closer look.  I put some white glitter on the cloud. 

Hope you like it. 

Finding a good use of a flower punch

My friend got me a flower punch some time ago which I don't quite know how to use it.  I recently saw a few blog posts from the crafts site which gave me some inspiration. I've used different ink pad to stamp on the background paper and put the punched flower paper on top.  I quite like this effect. :)

Anyway, I'm playing along with the retrosketch challenge and Allsorts' "Lets Get Cute" challenge.  I guess the punched flowers qualify in the "cute" category.  Hope you like it.

Another sketch challenge

There's some big clearance event happening at Michael's around my home.  And I got some good stuff today.  One of them is glue pad.  Still too excited about this new toy.  I'm sure the following few cards I'll be making will have glitter on it. :)

Chinese new year is coming up.  Wanna create a CNY card but not too much of the traditional stuff.  Here is what I created with the inspiration of this week's Retro Sketches challenge and Allsorts Flower Power challenge. 

Hope you like it. 

Clean and simple

It's been quite a relaxing weekend... got some time to clean up the house, and more importantly, to do some crafting as well. :)  I'm playing along in clean and simple sketch challenge.

After finishing the basic structure of the card, I find it's a bit plain on the top.  So I score the first half of the card to give some texture.  Here is a closer look:

Super Sketchy Sunday

While a lot of crafters are making vday cards, I guess I should make something similar.  I'm making a wedding anniversary card for my parents.  After I'm done, I realized I haven't made a vday card for my hubby (and I thought I did!)!!  So I'll wait for another challenge to participate to make a card for him. :)

This card is inspired by 365cards super sketchy sunday challenge.

The "silver" section actually has silver embossing powder which adds a bit of elegance to the card.

The paper roses were made a long time ago but I couldn't find the use of it at that time until now. :)  I followed an instruction somewhere from this blog. Unfortunately I'm unable to find that post again.  If I find it, I'll post it here as well.

bunch of flowers

I know it's only Jan and I'm already thinking about mother's day.  It's mostly because I just realized I haven't used the Martha Stewart flower stamp set for a long time while I was de-cluttering / reorganizing my crafting closet. Then I found the 365 cards Back to Nature challenge.   And this fits into this week's all sorts challenge CAS theme.  Here is my card:

This is a closer look.  At first, I thought white/green twine doesn't go with the pink button, but I don't want to introduce another color to the card.  It turns out pretty good. :) 

Quilled butterflies

I haven't done any quilling for a long time.  And I thought it's fun to do it once in a while.  Today, I've made quilled butterflies.

It's very easy to make.  You need 6 strips of paper (dimension: 11" x 1/8") - 2 white and 4 blue.  You can make any color combination.  Blue and white is what I've used here. 

Create 2 loose coils (circles) of 1cm diameter with the first 2 blue strips.  You can look at here to find out different shapes can be made from quilling.  Then connect one blue and one white strips to make a longer strips (see below).  After the glue is dry, make another 2 loose coils (of 2cm diameter) with the remaining strips. 

Note: Make sure the glue is completely dry before quilling the blue+white strips, otherwise you won't get a nice pattern inside the coil.  

You now should have 4 coils.  Then make them a teardrop.

Arrange them in this way and use glue to stick it together. 

                                     

Hope you like it.

Missing Posts

I just found out at least 2 of my blog posts have disappeared!  Not sure why.. I suspect when I was trying to add the labels to the posts, I somehow deleted them.  :~<

Anyway, let me add back the cards for the posts.  To be honest, I forgot which card challenges I've participated, I was able to recover the cards.

For the first card, I'm delighted to be chosen to be the spotlight designer in the 365cards challenge.

For this card, the birdie card stock is one of my favorite card stocks.  :)