Father's Day Tribute

It feels like eons ago since I joined an online card challenge. When I was not making cards, I think of the all the card designs I could have made. Oh, what can I say? I am finally back on track and today I am following the challenges again to retrieve my cardmaking mojo.

Made several of these for Father's Day. I had to gauge time for the cards to be delivered to fathers in advance since home is 13 hours flight away :)

Paper: 5"x7" Dark blue Opalescent card (Royal Langnickel), frosted damask pattern paper, black cardstock, beige cardstock, black glitter sticker

Embellishment: Leaf jewel, copper mesh ribbon, dark blue satin ribbon


I do hope the fathers esp. my Pa would appreciate this card design. Was aiming to make a classy looking card design. Often I find it tricky to give him something deem worthy as a gift. One can never out-give the man who gave you everything you had in life to make you who you are today. Don't you think so too?

This new card on the block is off to jam at these challenges:
Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
Crafty Sentiments Design - Anything Goes 
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Fat Pages Ands Cards With Attitude - Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon - Father's Day 
Simon Says - Father's Day / For A Special Male
Tuesday Throwdown - Masculine
Crafty Catz Weekly - Card For A Man

Summer Frolicking

The weather has been lovely.

Was trying my best to keep the kite flying in the unpredictable wind.

There are always people who complains about the cold when it's winter & the heat when it's summer. I am definitely not complaining when it's summer!

Hooray!

DIY Photo Studio Box

Hey Peeps!

I have finally completed my DIY studio box. After much consideration, I realized my products require better shots. With so much I hope to do with the handmade cards & crafts, the items had to be displayed professionally.

Was looking for a cardbox with the ideal dimension to make a budget studio box that works... but beggars can't be choosers.

This was what I found and couldn't wait to start the project.

 

Painted it with white acrylic paint & added frosted polypropylene card to 3 sides of the box.

A white cardboard was stuck to the background & the base to provide a flawless backdrop.






Summer light is perfect for now.....

... till I invest on some decent white lighting.

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Angry Bird Craze

Just to share with you a set of Angry Bird merchandises I got myself sometime ago ^_^

Fan, earphones & tag holder

Quaint Looking Stamp

This was one other cute thing I got at a bazaar in March. If it wasn't for visiting a friend's craft stall, I would not have discovered such cool a hang out place. The seller said the stamp was made in Germany. Isn't she a beau?

A cassette tape or a rubber stamp? :0)

A pic with my ol' friend, Mel manning her stall, Kiraishi Shoppe.

During the past two weeks, I have churned out quite a few card designs. But I have yet the time to link them to online competitions. That will have to wait until my diy photo box is ready for my product photo shoot. I am in the midst of completing the box and when it's done, the photos of my cards should be a lot better. *fingers crossed* ^_^

P/S : The sun has been lovely & luring me to go out to play the past 3 days. Oh, the heat! Loving it.




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The Christmas Card 2011

Last December, I designed a card just before I went on a long extended holiday in Malaysia.

Christmas cookies in a jar

Made about 10 of these for some overseas friends whom I wasn't meeting for Christmas or New Year. I had to refrain from blogging about those Christmas cards here to surprise my recipients. I think the intended recipients should always be the firsts to see them, right?

First time using so much glossy accent on a card

Ah, I missed making cards. But at the moment am stumped. I am not satisfied at just making them. Need to take this cardmaking of mine to a higher level. Praying for open doors & directions for the next step.



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Pashminas, Cashmeres & Mount Everest!

Boudha, Kathmandu

This trip was almost an impromptu one. Just a month ago, I wasn't sure if I could really make it to my friend's wedding in Nepal. Thanks for His providence, there I was in a land so different from my home soil. Nepal to me is like a cross between India & China. Apparently, I look like Nepali to some of the locals.

My girlfriend was the blushing bride.

R & I on Hen's Night

My girlfriend, R, a Nepali-Tibetan gal, just tied the knot with a British guy, C, in Kathmandu. They make a gorgeous pair! I am so happy for them. I am thankful that He has given her a suitable spouse who will take good care of her.

 

C&R on their wedding on 25 March 2012

My precious time with C&R was a total of 9 days. There were so much to do leading up to their wedding. I would have taken more tasks off the bride if I spoke Nepali. But fortunately, with the help of the matron-of-honour I managed to travel to town to get more stuff done for the wedding. Among the things I did was to do the bridal bouquet. The bride's request - a flat-back bouquet with some lilies (there were only calla lilies in 1 of 5 florist shops).

What do you think?

Wished I took more pics of the bouquet in better angles after it was done. This pic was taken when the bouquet had 15% more to completion. I guess I did an okay job with the very limited choice of flowers in town. I went to 5 florists to get the flowers needed.

No, I didn't write these. A note written in Nepali by Abraham.

I was one of the bridesmaids. The bridesmaids & the worship team gals wore tibetan cultural dresses, all from the wardrobe of R. Among them all, I was arranged to wear this luxurious looking one.

The Tibetan cultural dress. The stripey apron worn for married status :0)

Before my departure, I got friends to pray that I will get aisle seats for both connecting flights home. But to my amazement, I wasn't given exactly what I hoped for but better. Indeed God knows better. Throughout my time in Kathmandu, I wished to see the tip of Mount Everest or any of the Himalayan ranges but it wasn't possible due to the fog. On the 1st flight of the journey home, I was given the window seat with leg room. I decided it wasn't a big deal not getting the aisle seat I prayed for as that 1st flight was only under 2 hours. I didn't realized that God wanted to show me the Himalayan Ranges until I saw them during meal time. Like me, the other passengers in the aircraft whipped out their cameras & began snapping away.

Among these ranges might be the Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world!

 

I am glad I did not always get what I prayed for! ^_^

 

Feel good to be back home with my hubs. Since last December, it has been one thing after another on my schedule. Too much travelling & socializing for an introvert. My next 'assignment' would be to host a girlfriend from my home land. Gotta prepare the home for her stay.


I can't wait to resume my normal 'housewife' schedule or to create a new one by mid April.



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Abstinence For More Than 5 Months!

What were you thinking? Haha.

Well, I actually meant  : For the past 5 months I have not been able to do my favourite thing, making cards & craft, entering them for online contests & blogging about them!

Last December, I finished my 3-month intensive full-time dance course...

 

 

... & then 5 days after the graduation, 

A group pic of  all SDC teachers & apprentices

... I returned to my home land, Malaysia for a 2-month holiday. So, that explains why this blog has not been active. 

Taken during my day trip to Manukan Island, East Malaysia
Note : I hail from the capital city on Peninsular/West Malaysia, 5 hours flight from this Island.

I hope I will be able to pick up from where I left off. My hands have been itching to make more crafts esp. because I have accumulated even more craft materials from Create&Craft TV (UK), Malaysia, Singapore & Hong Kong the past few months.


These are among the stuff I've got :

I will be away yet again this month end to attend a close girlfriend's wedding in Kathmandu, Nepal. While that would be exciting, I really can't wait to be more grounded at home. Such introvert as myself does need lots of time on her own to gain a certain level of sanity. Crafting would definitely help for the well-being of a craft-making-deprived person ^_^

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The Last Lap

It's 4 more days of dance classes to the end of the course. How time flies. It has been an interesting and intense 3-month experience being an apprentice of the Spring Dance Company.

The day we received our apprentice t-shirts and hoodies. Ready for Hip Hop!

 
The course ends with a graduation evening where the graduates will be performing 8 dance items back to back. Not sure how that will pan out but hopefully it will all be good and memorable.


After the graduation, my course mates and I will go separate ways to return to our homes - America, Holland, Devon,West Sussex & East London. Well, I am pretty much the only one staying in London. Hopefully one day we will all cross paths again and work for His glory.

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Check-in to the Red Box

I've finally completed my Pay It Forward project. Made one small little DIY item as requested by the project and also added several little cardmaking goodies into the package :)

 

Hope my PIY recipients (Marlene, Christa & Zhana) would enjoy it.

Vintage Typewriter & Candy Jar

After months of depriving myself from card making and with hubby's full support & approval, I bought these new sets of stamps (through Create&Craft) and the Christmas paper pad :) 


I know my hubs would just allow me to buy anything but it's just nice that whenever I asked for his opinion and he would lovingly give the green light.

 

I have been eyeing these stamp designs particularly the typewriter and the jar. Glad to finally own them. Yay!


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Dance Stress

It's the 2nd half of the term now. There are tons of assignments, choreographies and rehearsals to be done. My body is strained and my muscles ache while my brain has been suffering from memory crunch remembering loads of new steps on and off. I feel I am filled to the brim. Overwhelmed.

Just ended one dance assignment and got it off my back. It was a huge relief for less than a week and the stress returned with bigger burden after that. I feel like I can't cope. Sigh.

O Lord, Your grace is sufficient for me. I pray that You will give me the strength, courage, patience and dignity as I struggle to pull through till the end of the course.




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Bookmark for a Bestie

 




Just would like to share with you a quick bookmark I made for a close gal friend who had just turned 30 on 11.11.11. Hope she would like it.



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New Toy Experiments

This is a long overdue post to show my experiments with the challenge prizes I won sometime ago.
 

The Helz Cuppleditch's Fairy Cakes stamp won from Craft Your Days Away Challenge :

The stamps and my own coloured stamp images were placed side by side to see if my choice of colours was good enough. I think they look alright, what say ya? ;0)

And one other toy, Martha Stewart's punch round the page set won from Do You Stack Up Challenge :

 

 

This was not a proper card. It was just a mock-up which I did not like, so it did not make it to a friend whom I intended it for.


Am very pleased with these toys. Looking forward to using them for cards.

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Pay it Forward DIY Project

Well, I have joined this project from Alison blog (formally known as StretchNBubbles) and taken it upon myself since 14th May 2011. The project is to be done before the end of 2011. I have hoped for five persons to join me but only 3 made it so far. It's November now and I won't have much time before I get too busy towards Christmas season. As it is, I am already occupied with dance classes and assignments to finish before the end of term.

So I have decided to just complete my project by sharing my love with the special 3 gals that had responded to the project on my blog post :

Marlene from D World Of Marlene Lo (I love her cardmaking style, go check her out!)
Christa from Serendipity Originals (My new craft friend within London who is passionate about cardmaking too  ^_^)

Zhana from Lovely Thread Garden (Another friend made through my blog giveaway, she does lovely tatting and embroidery)

 Girls, I am in the midst of preparing your gifts and will certainly send them your way by December. Hope you remember to do your PIF project too from your blog ;) 

Just thought it would be nice to mention their blog sites here... it's a also another priceless way for paying it forward ;)

I can't wait to get my hands on my craft tools and make some cards again. Time is indeed a luxury for me now. Oh, I just gotta be patient as course is ending in mid December.


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