Baby Shower for Aga!

Hello! Today we are celebrating one of our Runway Inspired Challenge DT Aga's new baby girl!

 The following photo was provided by our DT founder Jennifer Rzasa via Marc Jacob's baby fashion.

I took the photo inspiration and added the color pink!
 
The only stamped image was the polka dots ( Raindrop Background by Hero Arts). The sentiment "welcome little one!" came from SRM Stickers. Recently I bought some Co'ordintion glitter paper and I am putting it into good use. By using the fancy Alphabet Uppercase diecut, I am able to create any glittery sentiment!

Please join my amazing team mate to celebrate this special occasion. I know you will be immensely inspired!
  ~ Jennifer~ Laura~ Nina ~ Pamela ~Tasnim ~Wida
And guess what? The winner of this challenge gets a spot to guest design over Runway Inspired Challenge!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mad About....Mad Men (Part 1)!

Call me a MAD woman!

I am mad about the TV period drama Mad Men from the very first season and I have been hooked ever since. In case you don't know anything about this series, the story focuses on the business of the agencies as well as the personal lives of the characters, regularly depicting the changing moods and social mores of the United States in the 1960s, according to Wikipedia.

As I was catching up on the latest updates on the show in the AMC website, I came across a few screen shots of the handsome actors/actresses.... and it dawned on me how much I enjoy admiring their fashion and style in that era--1950-1960s. Suddenly I had a light bulb moment!

----->Ding!

I felt inspired...and decided to start a little series in my blog the next few Sundays!

Here's the plan: I will be sharing my projects that are inspired by Mad Men series!

Today my card was inspired by this dress ( a video). It was beautifully showcased by the Canadian Actress Jessica Pare (aka Mrs. Megan Draper). In the story, Megan tried to be her own new woman and was often caught between her dreams and marriage. 

My inspired card

 Supplies: Zig Zag, Heart Butterfly, Pale Tomato (ink), American Crafts (pattern paper), embossing powder (Michael's), (sentiment) SRM Stickers, sequins (Michael's)

I am looking forward to tonight's new episode of Mad Men :)
Happy Sunday!

laugh giggle be silly

We should always laugh, giggle, be silly whenever possible--every day! Easier said than done, maybe?
I am sharing a layout that will make you smile. This is a photo of my nephew Stephen holding his darling daughter Apphia--the star of  all my recent layouts! Isn't she a cutie? I also love the joyful expressions of Stephen :)

I started off with a bright orange (Letter Jacket) masked background (Mister Huey's Chevron mask). After I did that, I realized that I don't have a "game plan" as to what to do with that super bright background....grrr! After looking at the photo pile, I found this photo does seem to have a bright hue and colors...so I went to work. In order to tone down the colors, I used all neutral colors to balance the page. With the stamping from Be Silly, Frame and Feathers, I created a half "frame". I also stamped Etched Daisy on my old dictionary and then cut them out to balance to layout. I added some faux stitching around the sentiment from SRM Stickers --live love laugh [today]. 

 I am actually happy how it turned out! 

 On a personal note, we are so relieved and happy that my son David has finally got a co-op job to work at Institute for Quantum Computing this summer.  It has been quite a process since he started the job search early this year. As a parent, it's hard to see the kids struggle and face rejections. Thank goodness, he is excited to start this summer job that he has been eying . The best thing is he gets to live at home and can still make his Lemon pies, squares and cookies! Yup, I am a happy Mama!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Loving the Watercoloring!

Back in my junior high days,  I did very poorly in Arts!! I dislike drawing, stitching, sewing and doodling. I did enjoy learning how to cook though. There was no way that I could predict that I would enjoy anything arts and crafts. And the latest? Water-coloring--wow! What a transformation!

What started me off was a submission I made for Paper Crafts call early this year. It was for a category with the water element. That call really got me interested in water-coloring.

The Watercolor Challenge over Moxie Fab World gives me the chance to play some more.

 With the Water Brush pen (love that tool!),  I applied the assorted distress inks on the acrylic ink blocks and just dabbed it away. Here is an awesome video (by Kelly R. over Hero Arts) that will help you to get started. I love how rich the water color background gives.

Ding---> how do you achieve the various shades of color? One word--blending! You can add depth with the various shades of colors by using more ink or more water. Just experiment and have fun!
 This is what I love about stamping. It makes me feel like an "artist"! With a good stamp, anything is possible. What do you think? There is an inner artist in you...waiting to be unleashed...go ahead!
Just. add. water! 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Layout Made with Scraps!

 Got scraps?
Make a layout/ card!

 I am sharing a layout that I made over the weekend. As I cleaned up my craft desk, I found so many scraps that I had been accumulating. What to do? While I was looking for ways to either use or toss them, this layout was then "born". 

Previously I had used the alphabet diecut and had lots of leftover alphabets. Now it seems to be the perfect time to use them. This photo shows my brother-in-law (Dr. John's older brother Calvin) and sister-in-law Florence having fun with their first granddaughter Apphia.  Isn't it precious? I purposely had their names hidden in the alphabet frame (can you spy them?). I am hoping some day that Apphia can find her grandparents' names that were hidden in this layout. I did spell out Apphia's name in pink, so she can easily identify that herself :)

I did some altering for the stamp sentiment. See the original stamp here

Stamps: (Only You) Cas-ual Fridays Stamps, (Alphabet diecut, My favorite, Wood Background) Hero Arts

Pattern paper: Basic Grey (Knee High), Studio Calico

Accessories: SRM Sticker, sequins (Neat and Tangled---> thanks, Donna M.)

This truly is a page with scraps. Love that about scrapbooking! By the way, I am loving the entries over MUSE challenge. Check them out if you have some time! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday, Michele!

Hello! Today we are celebrating the birthday of our CAS-ual Fridays Stamps owner/founder/designer Michele Gross! We girl Fridays from the Inky Squad are having a "surprise" birthday blog hop for Michele! If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I have been a Girl Friday for a long time (two years!!)...the reason why? One word: Michele! She is the bomb :) 

Karen B. who organized this hop gave us each a letter from the word "birthday". We then use the alphabet for the choice of color ( b-for brown, I for Indigo...etc.). I happen to get the letter "A"! What to do with the A? I decided to use the color Aqua!

Here is my card for this special occasion:

I used the April new release "Bold Wishes"
For this card, I used the Tim Holtz Water Brush to ink up the Peacock Feathers and Tumbled Glass Blue for the Ombre Effect. Water-coloring is all the rage and I can see why..it is so fun! Just make sure you use Watercolor paper for this purpose. I am also linking this up to Moxie Fab World's Wonders of Watercolor challenge!

Here are the blog hop order. Please check out my DT mate's beautiful work !
Karen B
Dana I
Laurie R
Lynn T
Michelle H
Piali D
Virginia A
Kelly Y
and much more from our Girl Fridays over the challenge blog (through Kelly' blog)
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Guest Design for MUSE Challenge!

Hello Friends!  I am super uber happy to share a guest design project with you today! When the founder of Muse Challenge Jacki Rockwell asked me to guest design for her Muse Challenge this week, I was absolutely thrilled! Of course, I tried hard to come up with a design that hopefully will inspire you to create.

Ready to see the card for the Muse Challenge?
This is my card....

 What do you think? I hope this card inspires you to create!! I made this card with CAS-ual Fridays' New April release called Mums The Word which comes with 3 sizes of flower stamps. I basically created a colorful background with a circle for masking. You can use any shapes/stamps/colors and just stamp to your heart's content. 

Ding---> 1. Cut out a piece thin paper with the punch/diecut. 2. Apply washi tape underneath (as double sided tape) to secure the mask. 3. Stamp around the mask. tip: The more intense the stamped images are, the more defined the masked area will be,

And please note the 3 simple rules for the Muse Challenge

1. Use the Muse card as inspiration, explain your interpretation and link back to Muse.
2. Provide supportive comments to at least 3 of your fellow member’s submissions.
3. Vote for 3 of your fellow member's submissions that you find inspiring.

 They are as easy as 1-2-3! And tons of fun! I can't wait to see what you create! I would love it if you can check out the Muse Challenge if you haven't! Thanks for stopping by!

Using Multiple Sentiments-a Ryan post, too ;)

Happy Sunday! I am sharing a card with multiple sentiments. This set called Be Silly (Hero Arts) has several sentiments and I think they will work together beautifully. It really takes no effort to throw in all the sentiment in one card! The Etched Daisy just makes the card that much more inviting and happy! 

With the arrangement of placements and colors, the sentiments are great together, huh? I actually hand stitch the "thinking of you always make me smile" with black threads. They are hard to see from the photo, but the card does look prettier and more refined with the hand stitching. And the best thing is I don't really use the sewing table...unless....

Thanks for stopping by ;)
PS: please come back tomorrow as I have a guest design project that I am super excited to share! I know you'll love that challenge. too!

Feature A Friend Guest Design--A TUTORIAL!

Hello friends, today I am sharing a guest design project with you. I am very honored to have

Elizabeth (Broken Treasures) asking me to be her Feature A Friend in her blog.
  I am sharing two cards using a mask that I create with Haxagon diecut. Recently I am quite intrigued with stencils ( costs around $4 each) that are making presences in all the on-line stores and LSS! That gave me the idea of creating my own. Basically we can make good use of our own existing diecut and create a customized stencil! This is a great way to stretch your creativity and maximize the use of your diecuts!    Here is the step-by-step tutorial

Card #1—

After the masking, I added a few tiny droplets of pink splatter (mixture of Worn Lipstick and water). A sentiment and some stitching (the black straight line on top) and faux stitching ( top and bottom corner, SRM Stitching sticker) were added. With the flower embellishment and sequins, this card is complete!

Card #2

With a colorful background, I kept the design simple. I added the pop-up owl, stamped text and sentiment and jute.  This card was very easy and fun to create.

I hope this tutorial inspires you! You can use the mask for card-making and scrapbooking or any craft projects! Circles, ovals, scalloped squares, hexagons, fancy floral /tree images...any diecut that you that you already have will do! The sky is the limit! Thank you, Elizabeth, for inviting me to share my love of card-making.

I would really appreciate if you can stop by Elizabeth's blog (she made a gorgeous card inspired by this tutorial)!! 
Thanks so much for stopping by! 

The Play Date Cafe Challenge

Hello! Today I am sharing a card that I made for the latest Play Date Cafe Challenge. The challenge sponsor is....CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

Aren't the colors gorgeous!?

 I did some partial embossing and simple stamping for this design. I used Neon pink for this card because the colors in the challenge look pretty bright to me.

I hope you check out the Play Date Cafe Challenge and get inspired by the talented PDCC DT. Come and join the fun..and perhaps you just might win yourself a fabulous set of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! I can't wait to see your take on the colors!

 The comment feature is turned off in this post. Thank you for the birthday wishes for my daughter Stephanie and Dr. John. They felt so loved by my blog followers/subscribers! Please be back tomorrow for a TUTORIAL which I am excited to share. Thanks so much for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps April Release-Day 3!

This is my 2nd post for today! If you want to see my SRM project and wish Dr. John Happy Birthday, please click here!

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  Today is our Day 3 for April's new stamp release over CAS-ual Fridays! I love this set called Bold Wish! The gorgeous flower images and bold and trendy fonts are all packed in one!

 I used all Hero Arts inks (Butter Bar, Cornflower, Pale Tomato) and VersaFine Onyx Black.

Isn't stamping FUN? The flowers come in three sizes, so you can mix and match to your like!
 
I thought the flower images are a bit folksy, so I created a card with a folksy feel. The images can do so much! You can clearly see I had fun making this card!

Please check out CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog for more inspiration from this new stamp set!  Sorry about the frequent posting in the last three days! I hope you are not tired of visiting this blog :)
Thank you so much!

SRM Tubes...and Happy Birthday, Dr. John!

I am sharing a SRM project with you! These SRM Tubes are perfect for gifting! Here is a sneak peek at my project!

I would really appreciate your comment over SRM Blog! And while you are there, check out the blog for more inspirations! 

 This conversation just happened last night....
(I was viewing Paper Crafts digital on computer. On top of the issue is BoBunny's ad)

Dr. John: Who is BoB  unny?

V: You silly! It's bo-bunny!....You knew it...you just like to make fun!

 And wouldn't you know that today is Dr. John's birthday! Yup, Yesterday was Stephanie's. We have back-to back birthday celebrations! Dr. John has been a great "contributor" to my blog and card-making (whether he likes it or not) with his wise-cracking jokes and remarks. As his long-suffering beloved wife, my life is not the same without him. His sharp sense of humor and unconditional love are sustaining me, for better or for worse :)

 I am going to shower him with all his favorite homemade treats-Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Pudding Pie! My card for Dr. John

Supplies: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (RAD), Hero Arts (So Kind)
 It will be awesome if you want to wish Dr. John a happy birthday!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Mums The Word!

This is my 2nd post for today. For Runway Inspired Challenge, please click here or scroll down. I absolutely love what I made for this challenge, so I hope you take the time to check it out!

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It's Day 2 of our CAS-ual Fridays Stamp release! This set called Mums the Word is absolutely gorgeous!

I did some simple stamping and incorporated pattern paper (Basic Grey's Konichiwa) into the design. 

And since this is a Mother's Day card, I must tell you how much I enjoy being a mom!  Today is my daughter Stephanie's birthday! I am truly blessed to have my sweet daughter as she has grown up to be a thoughtful, mature and intelligent lady! Not only is she the perfect daughter and a great friend/mentor to her peers...she also is the best sister to her brother!

 Happy birthday, my sweet Stephanie!
And do go here to comment to win $20 gift from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Runway Inspired Challenge #34

Hello Gorgeous!!

It's time for Runway Inspired Challenge! Isn't this photo stunning?
When I saw the photo, I was so tempted to stamp the design, but then I decided to use the Daisy Craft Die from Simon Says Stamps instead. The sentiment "You are so loved" is from Loving Thoughts (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps).

I cut out a few black and white daisies and arranged them accordingly like a puzzle. Because the diecut images are so delicate, I glued them directly to the paper and kept the surface rather flat.

 And if you wonder why I used red? Why, the model's lips are red! Also, in Asian culture, red is the lucky color, so I had to add red into the design. There is no right or wrong way to use the colors, it's really just a personal taste/choice! I can't wait to see how you interpret this runway photo!

Please check out my amazing team mates' work. I know you will be immensely inspired!
  ~ Jennifer~ Laura~ Nina ~ Pamela ~Tasnim ~Wida
I will be back later today for Day 2's CAS-ual Fridays Stamps new release!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamp April Release-Day 1!

 

Hello! This is going to be an exciting week over Cas-ual Fridays Stamps! We are having 3 sets of new release--yay!
This new set called STOP is super fun!

I used a emerald green card stock to create a chalk board effect! I embossed the images in various colors and kept the design fairly simple. Not sure about you, I did have a lot of green chalkboard when I was growing up...

My 2nd card was stamped in various colors. I did use the "stop sign"  for the sentiment in this card!

What do you think? Please go check out here to see the beautiful examples from my DT mates!
Happy Monday :)