Share Handmade Kindness

Hello Blogland... It's high time to dust off the three foot of dust that has accumulating. I haven't touched this blog in months, it almost feels like learning how to ride a bike again. But thanks to Google's intuitive WYSIWYG interface, it's not too bad (minus the photo editing...coughcough).

Thanks to my brilliant, honest friend Leslie I found the courage to dig this old blog up and make a re-appearance. She pointed me to this great page called Blogging without Obligation. And I love how Leslie reminded me that if I feel like jumping in I should just jump back in, and not blog for the sakes of blogging. Or feel like I need to apologize. Or feel guilty. Or obligated to explain. Or feel overwhelmed or anxious to start again ... or whatever reason there may be...?

So here is my one reason to resurface...

Have you heard of this Jennifer McGuire? I'm sure you have. If not, go check out her blog and her Instagram feed. I'm so lucky to be able to say that I have met her a handful of times now, and she is truly one of the most kindest, generous and humblest person I know. Not to mention funny and wise and open to share any good advice. This #sharehandmadekindness campaign really embodies who she is as a person and I absolutely love how she is using the reach of her audience to create an impact - to spread more kindness, more caring, more love, and to bring awareness to the Kind Campaign - a campaign to end bullying. Yes!

Thank you for doing this, Jennifer. Thank you for infecting us to share kindness through our craft. 

She's also packed up some kits made with love and these two stamp sets from Hero Arts are quickly becoming my go-to sets. They are sitting out here and have been winking at me to get my craft back on. And for every purchase made of these stamp sets, 25% of the profits go to the Kind Campaign.

Pssst - Simon Says Stamps has them in stock.

Here is my card using this stamp set

I felt inspired to play along in Ka's Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. Here is the board in case you haven't seen it and want to play along as well.

I chose OneLayer - Embossing - Kraft; right down the middle. One Layer cards are always a challenge for me, but I thought I would add interest by building lots of layers onto the card. I heat-embossed the white sentiment onto the card and then started adding layers: stamped Distress Ink Tea-Dye across the card, added layer of acrylic white paint, followed by stenciling small brown hearts by scattering them across the card. I also added some shadow into the sentiment with the Zig Wink of Stella Fine Glitter Dust Gold pen and liked how that turned out; to add more gold accents I added a few more gold hearts using the stencil again and then wiped a bit of Viva Decor Champagne as a small shimmery finish.

I find One-layer cards super challenging but I love how they carry in the mail :) I'm off to send this card to a friend...

Supplies
Stamps: (Acts of Kindness) Hero Arts
Paper: (Kraft) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Hero Hues Pigment Ink - Unicorn) Hero Arts; (Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea-dye) Ranger 
Embellishments: (Artists' Acrylics Basic Color Set - Titanium White) Utrecht; (Zig Wink of Stella Fine Glitter Dust - Gold) Kuretake; (Precision Pen 01 - Brown) American Crafts; (6x6 Stencil - Tiny Spaced Hearts) Simon Says Stamps; (Inka Gold - Champagne) Viva Decor

[Fusion Challenge] One Year Celebration Challenge

Hello there! Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2015 brings each of you good health, big and small successes, happiness, lots of laughter, much time with family, friends and other loved ones, and a healthy dose of creative mojo.

Last year 2014 was a really busy with many high highs and many low lows. Somewhere between normal work and life balance, I switched roles in my job, undergone some massive home renovations, planned a baby shower (not mine :P), planned a wedding and had a wedding in another country (let alone another continent). I've been exhausted and all the commitments seemed to hit at one. I needed to take a step back, take a breather, and re-calibrate my scale. 2014 seemed like a year in constant over-drive, and "normal" load of commitments wasn't that normal anymore.

During my breather, I took a bunch of lazy days. Took some weekends to stay in my jammies, binge watched some shows, neglected cleaning, gained 5 lbs, and didn't touch anything in crafting room (but it didn't prevent me from shopping for more crafting supplies ;)

Well, that being said, I am so happy to be back in blog-land, starting the first day of this year with a guest designer post for Fusion Card Challenge. I have heard so much of this group, so I am honored to be asked to play along.

It is Fusion's First Birthday and their design team member Betty invited me along. So make sure to stop by the Fusion Card Challenge blog and wish them a very merry Birthday.

I'm so happy that Betty asked me along and we decided, since we were both home during the holidays to have a FaceTime craft date. With a six hour difference, I scrapped in the late morning and Betty in the early evening. And this is what it looks like...

So after lots of catching up and brainstorming for the challenge, here is what I came up with...




A bit of pink, some gold glitter paper (which looks way too orange in this picture, and more lovely in person), chalkboard, and a bit of gray. Then I took the sketch and interpreted it, and made the oval my focal point, dropped the banner, because I couldn't find a good place for a sentiment, and then added the star part as paper clips.

And since this is a birthday, you need sequins, right?



Well make sure to hop over to the Fusion Card Challenge blog, and of course to my friend Betty's blog. Here is a sneaky peek of her card...

And here is us waving our cards to each other after we're done... :)



Thank you for having me as a guest designer! And hopefully I will be back with some cards soon.

Supplies
Stamps: (Birthday Blackboard) Hero Arts
Paper: (Smokey Shadow, Basic White Cardstock) Papertrey Ink
Pattern Paper: (True Love) Basic Grey; (Summer Stories) Teresa Collins
Ink: (Stamper's Select Vellum) Papertrey Ink; (Sequins - Cotton Candy, Raspberry Red) Neat and Tangled, (VÄLBEKANT - star clips, silver) IKEA

[DYSU] Challenge #84 - Four Legged Friends

Good morning everyone! Time for another challenge... Are you guys ready?

I do love this week's theme. It's a little unusual from our other themes and I was first stumped: Four Legged Friends. Well, it's not too difficult if you have dogs, cats, turtles or any other cute critters in your stamp set. But I was trying to think what I wanted to create - something that would make me happy, like this picture makes me. Isn't it cute?

So this week I got to pull whatever I wanted out of my stash. And there is one particular four-legged friend that I was obsessed about when I was young. I was duly reminded about these four-legged creatures when I saw the equestrian jumping event during the Olympics broadcast. It was so obvious what I would pull out! 


Stamps: (Back in the Saddle, My Island) Waltzingmouse Stamps; (Woodgrain) Hero Arts
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Lemon Tart, Kraft) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 11 Brown Sugar, No. 10 Malted Milk, No. 5 Chicken Feed, No. 4 Lemon Drops; Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Antique Linen) Ranger; (Versamark) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Jute Button Twine) Papertrey Ink

I use to have plans how I would keep a horse - in our tiny backyard or house in Germany (why not? Pippi Longstockings had a horse that stayed inside the house). If I moved to a city, I would buy out the top of the skyscraper and grow grass - it could graze at 150 ft above the ground. Why not? Right...

I wanted a nice manly background to go with the cowboy (or girl) and his loyal partner. To add more texture and layers without adding actual layers, I used Versamark to add a woodgrain pattern below and above the main part of the card. If you squint, you can see it in the picture below.



So how close did I get to owning an actual horse? This is it...

[Image Source: http://www.sunny-bears.com]

A lot less maintenance than the real thing, but I certainly couldn't ride this one ;) Hope you like the card - thanks for checking in. Now head over to the other girls's creations and remember to leave them some love :)...And don't forget to enter our challenge!

Our sponsors this week:

Birdie Brown
* Winner's Choice of 3 Digital Stamps

The Paper Shelter

* $20 Gift Certificate

Bugaboo Stamps

* Winner's Choice of 7 Digis

[Paperplay Challenges] Week No. 21 - Summer Lovin'

Note: If you are looking for DYSU challenge - please keep scrolling :)

Hello there! Little me again :) It's almost Memorial Day weekend and I can't wait to catch up all the things I need to do. We have visitors coming soon, so we have to straighten up the house, clean, and especially tackle the craft room which doubles as a guest room. I doubt my guests want to dive onto a bed full of pattern paper, chipboard, stamps and what nots; neither will they be able to find a small uncluttered corner and curl up and sleep (like my cats do while I craft). But onto business, shall we?

At PaperPlay Challenge we are inspiring you to whip out inspirations that make you see Summer Lovin'. Aside from the Grease song stuck in my head, summer means full of life. The farming season are in full gear, the kids are out playing, and it's the right weather to go biking. I'm not one of those hard-core bikers who like to chance it in the winter. I prefer my carefree summer days to that... so here is a card dedicated to this fun summer activity.


Stamps: (City of Lights Kit) Hero Arts + Studio Calico
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - White) Papertrey Ink; (Nantucket Collection) Pink Paislee
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 9 Spice Tin) Ranger
Embellishments:  (Stella & Rose Mabel "Little Lady" Trim) My Mind's Eye; (Tiny Twinkles - Multicolored) Taylored Expressions; (Vintage Button Autumn Mix) Papertrey Ink; (Corner Chomper) We R Memory Keepers; (Zig Zag Chain Punch) EKSuccess

This card is actually also inspired by the current Embellish Challenge, and when I saw bicycles, it just clicked that this is the perfect summer inspiration I wanted to highlight.

It was also quite an experience trying to put this card together while hearing these lyrics "I Want to Ride my Bicycle" by Queen in my head. At least I managed to get Grease out of my head. Here an unclose picture of the bikes. Aren't they lovely? I think the basket is just too cute! It's a whole bike family with Dad, Mum, and Child going on an adventure.



Everything came together pretty quickly. The orange makes a nice bold contrast to pop everything more and matches the background paper so well. The blue bikes have a little bit of pink bling to make them sparkly, and the zig zag kraft card stock gave a fun little bumpy road (and broke up the bold orange a little bit). And since the button overhangs a little, I thought it made sense to make the kraft overhang a little ;)



What is your summer thing? What do you and your family look most forward to?

Anyways, hop on over to the other PPC girls and see what they have created for this week's challenge. They have always lovely creations and bring great ideas to the table!

Our sponsor this week:

• A Whiff of Joy

Amour

Hello everyone! Here is a quick post for the Embellish challenge. I had laid out all my stamping supplies and items out that I wanted to use for this, but never got around to it. And then to my surprise there was an extension. So since I needed my crafting fix and I only have a limited amount today, I thought, why not make this card, since I already knew what I wanted to make?

These colors to me say "elegance." Perhaps it's the influence of the that aqua makes me think of Tiffany's... but hey, whatever gets the creative juices flowing.


Stamps: (Grand Starburst Lace) Hero Arts; (Paris Nouveau, French Kitchen) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Versamark; Briliance - Pearlescent Sky Blue) Tsukineko; (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink
Embellishments: (Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder - Silver) Ranger; (Pearl Strip - White; Sparklets - Crystal) Kaisercraft; (Border Punch - ?) Fiskars

I wanted to emboss this Hero Arts stamp for a while now. Isn't it gorgeous and rich with details? To give this amazing doily a place to anchor I opted for a Sparklet crystal ball.



The rest of the card has a hint of each color (the aqua and the blue) with the Brilliance ink giving this whole card a nice shimmery background. Sorry about the picture - I don't think it's picking up the shimmer very well. The rest of the card has little pearls (similar to the one lining the sentiment) speckled throughout the background.



Hope you enjoyed this little card! Thanks for looking :)

[DYSU] Challenge #48 - Ribbon

Hello DYSU-ers and lovely readers! I'm back from a wonderful vacation. However, my biological clock is pretty messed up. It's currently 545a and I have been up for the past one hour or so. So I mind as well get some blogging done, right? ;)

This week we have a great challenge:Ribbon. I have massive amounts of ribbon at home, and there is so many things you can do with it, including weaving, tying a bow, wrapping something up with it, making a flower, creating a cute little tag hanger...the options are endless.

I went back to the basics, since I was in need of another wedding card, and let the ribbon speak for itself. I hope you like it...


Stamps: (Lace Starbust Rubber Stamp) Hero Arts
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Aqua Mist) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 10 Malted Milk) Ranger
Embellishments: (Portrait Collection: Accent Cuts, Sticker Borders) Crate Paper; (Designer Brads - Claire) SEI; (Spool 'o Ribbon - Cream Lace) Offray

Here an up-close look on the little pretty lace bow. 



Anyways, I am thinking of heading in early to work...If I hurry I can be there at 6a ;) In the meantime, go check out the other marvelous creations from the DYSU girls. I know you have tons of ribbon, so come play along :)

Our sponsors this week:

Stamp Fairy Winner’s Choice of 3 Digis

Copic Markers Scrapbooking 6 Copic Ciao Markers (North/South America) Martha Stewart punch (rest of the world)

Sparkle Creations Charlotte with a Rose and Scooter Chloe

HEART to HEART Card Drive

Do you know Carolyn King? I don't really know her, but a certain Belinda friend mentioned that Carolyn is doing a HEART to HEART Card Drive - a drive to thank the caretakers of Alzheimer's patients. From her post, I could tell that she cares deeply about this cause, since she was doing this to honor her grandma. A lot of time went into coordinating and finding sponsors to donate to the prize package, writing up a detailed post (it's long, but jam-packed with information and pictures, right?), and organizing this event. I don't know about you, but that kind of person seems to be determined, kind-hearted and really moved by those that have to provide continued care and support to enduring Alzheimer's patients.

My only regret is that I didn't think of checking out this sooner, since the card drive closes on Oct 3, 8p CST. Do go back to Carolyn's Heart to Heart Card Drive blog post. I really am touched by her effort and would like to contribute my card-making skills to make one well-deserved person's day happy - even if it's just for a moment.


Stamps: Rescue Remedies - Addition, Free Spirit - Sentiment, Victorian Fripperie, Asian Gardens (Waltzingmouse Stamps); Arigato (Hero Arts); Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pigment Ink - Black (Colorbox); Earth Elements - Ruby Red (Stamping Up!)
Embellishments: Ribbon Red/White Stripe Grosgrain (Paperchase); Ribbon - Red (Michaels); Taylor's Tiny Twinkles - Red (Taylored Expressions)

I will be sending this card to a friend, whose dad is suffering from Alzheimers.



Do consider supporting this - I know there's not a lot of time left - but it's worth the cause.

Thanks::Arigato::Merci

Another fun Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge has inspired me to get my carding groove on.  Don't get used to so many posts in one month -- much less in one day. It's all just poor coincidence and a horrible need to want to participate and try everything. Not to mention I've been getting really excited about the comments that pop up on my blog. It's proof that someone skimmed or at least looked at the pretty pictures making it all worthwhile! Thank you ladies -- you are my motivation! On to card deets, shall we?

I recently received a wonderful hand-made gift and wanted to created a thank you card in attempt to express how much I loved the gift.  


Stamps: Arigato (Hero Arts), Asian Gardens (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink) 

Paper: Preppie Pack - Plum (Bazzill Basics Paper), Dotted Swiss (Bazzill Basics Paper), Cream (Recollections), Marbled Grey (Scrap Pack Recollections), Paperie Poolside & Greenhouse (Making Memories)

Ink: Brilliance - Pearlescent Blue, Pearlescent Sky Blue, Graphite Black (Tsukineko)

Embellishments: Nestabilities - Classic Small Ovals, Classic Scallop Ovals Small (Spellbinders), Ribbon O' Spool - Light Blue (Offray), Stickles - Baby Blue (Ranger)

I am still trying various supplies out and must say I love how the Brilliance ink comes out on dark card stock. The picture, unfortunately, does not show the true warm color that the Plum card stock really is, but I thought a green would complement the rest of the card well. The color combo was probably influenced by all the Asian Garden set I had on my mind (when I was cutting out those tedious flowers) and because I kept craving green tea during my crafting session. The oval image begged to be framed on a nice scallop and by creative license I left out the yellow panel of the template. And there you have it. Here is hoping that the recipient does not read my blog first ;)

I can't wait to see what the other gals made...