First Day of School

My daughter turned 5 this summer, and so she starts school this year!!! Her first day of Kindergarten was on Tuesday when she went for a 30 minute visit. Later this week, we will go in for a welcoming conference with her teacher. She is super excited to be starting school as she will be learning Mandarin as part of her Kindergarten program. She will spend half the day learning in English, and the other half of the day learning in Chinese. How awesome is that!!!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I sewed her a tote bag (as you can see in previous posts) and we also planted a Japanese Maple tree in our garden. Each September before school starts, we will take her picture beside the tree to mark her growth. Love the photo op!!

I also bought her a book to go into her library tote bag (The Night Before Kindergarten) and of course, I had to make her a card to go with the present! Here it is.

Library Tote Bag

Well, here it is!! I finished the tote bag this afternoon. I've even got a special gift to go inside. I bought a book called "The Night Before Kindergarten". We'll read the book on Monday night. Sunday night, I'm going to read the Kissing Hand and we'll make a craft based on the story, that she will be able to attach to her backpack to take to school. It will be a new family picture cut into heart shape which she will embellish.

My sweetie chose the butterflies and kitten to go on her tote. She would have loved a puppy, too. But I thought the tote looked pretty cute as it turned out. What do you think?

Work in Progress

My sweet little five year old is starting school on Tuesday! I am so excited, yet a little sad to see her go to Kindergarten. She is an amazing kid, and I look forward to the new growth and activities school will bring. So with that in mind, I am working on a project for her to mark the beginning of the school years. It is not exactly a paper project, but one that will be used for paper products... I'm making her a library tote bag for her school library books. She has a ton of books at home, and ones that we borrow from the public library. So I thought that a special tote bag would help her to keep the school books separate and organized from the other books. I went to the fabric store last week and picked out some cute fabrics I thought she would love. And she does! I've finished sewing the body of the bag, and have to attach the handles. As well, I've picked out some iron on appliques to embellish her bag. Here is a pic of the work in progress.

Sparkle and Shine!

Here's another card that I made up the other night at my LSS's crop night. It was sooo good to get out and create some cards. Creative Card Crew has a sparkle and shine challenge and I thought this card fit perfectly for the challenge. The cardstock has glitter and I added some bling to the dragonflies and the centers of the flowers. :) Hope you like it.

Color Throwdown Challenge

Hiya everyone,

It's good to be crafting again... it's been a while as the summer has been crazy busy!!! Here's a card I made for the Color Throwdown #107 Challenge. Enjoy. :)

time to catch up!!!!!

It's been a busy time the last few months!!!! We had a few vacation trips planned so as to take advantage of the relaxed summer schedule before the little one begins Kindergarten in Sept. We have had sooo much fun and it's been really rewarding!!!

Some projects I have endeavored to accomplish in this time - trip to San Diego, first camping trip as a family, meeting up with friends and catching up on long overdue playdates, starting piano lessons with the munchkin and some personal craft time fit in whenever possible. Also, there was a birthday party (or two or three) and of course the planning and preparation that goes with that. Road trips to see the inlaws who live 5 hours away, and some personal sewing projects to really bring joy to my sweetie.
I look forward to getting my sweetie into Kindergarten so I can try to fit in some of the personal time I have not really been able to fit in this summer. Of course, I would not trade one minute of this summer for anything - except the strep throat which I thought was the flu for almost a week before I went to the doctor to confirm my illness.

Keep your eyes posted on the upcoming blog posts for new projects and inspiration!!!! Thanks for your patience!!!!

some new cards

Hi again. It's been a crazy busy month since I was able to get some crafting done!!! Here are a couple of new cards that I made with my new favourite paper by My Mind's Eye - "Penny Lane". It's good to get into the groove again!

I'm entering these cards in the Play Date Cafe Challenge for the colors Pale Yellow, Light Green and Pink. :) The cards are also entered for the Papertake Weekly challenge to use flowers on the cards. Hope you enjoy them.

re-draw for blog candy

Hi! I haven't heard from Carolyn, so I redrew the names for the blog candy using the Random.org site. Sharon, please contact me within the week so I can send you the prizes!

1. . Sharon W
2. Postal Orphan
3. Melody
4. Sheila
5. Carolyn
6. Gitana
7. Brenda

baby cards - adoption

Hello! I made a couple of cards today using SRM stickers for the baby sticker challenge on their blog. I was soooo happy to dig through my stash of stickers and find some SRM stickers to use for this challenge!!!

I used the SRM Adoption baby girl stickers for the first card, and their Family stickers for the second card. I created these cards with my little one in mind as we're coming up to our 4th anniversary as a family.

I used some pre-made patterned cards from My Mind's Eye that I found at Winners on the weekend. The images for the teddy bear and the butterflies were die-cut at my local scrapbook store at my Friday night crop. And the gemstone stickers are from Forever in Time. The heart brads are from Recollections. I used a googly eye for the snout on the teddy bear! hehehe! Finally, I used my Marvy border punch and my cuttlebug to add more interest to the cards.

I've also added these cards to the Paper Take Weekly Challenge. :)

Ladybug Shower Invitation

Here is a card I made for a baby shower invitation. I tried to keep it clean and simple, as per Lucy's card challenge. I love the bright, cheerful ladybugs! They are my favourite bugs, next to butterflies!

Ladybug stamp from Hero Arts
Invitation stamp from SonLight Impressions

Easter Cards

My friend at work asked me to make her some Easter cards. So here are is the set of cards I put together for her. I used the imaginisce d/p, easter paper by bo-bunny, and stickers from the dollar store. I used my new nestabilities "labels 12" to cut out the focal image and matted c/s. And, of course, I used my marvy punch for the scalloped border.

Prize Giveaway Today!!!

Hi Everyone,

I used Random.org to help draw the names for the prize giveaway today!

There were 7 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Carolyn
2. Brenda
3. Sharon W
4. Sheila
5. Postal Orphan
6. Gitana
7. Melody

Timestamp: 2010-03-27 15:58:01 UTC

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and joined the blog!!! Carolyn, please send me an email with your contact info so I can send you the goodies!

Relay for Life Fundraising Event

Hi Everyone!

I have just signed up to walk with a team from 10 am to 10 pm on Saturday, June 5, 2010. We are walking in the Relay for Life event for the Canadian Cancer Society. I will be walking in memory of some dear family members who have succumbed to cancer, and to honour the brave friends and family members who have successfully fought this disease, or are fighting it now.

Please visit my website and make a donation if the spirit moves you! I'm very excited to join this campaign and I know there will be some crazy, wonderful energy in the crowd that day.

http://relayforlife.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=330263&supId=287460645

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Cindy

My favourite Asian Cards

Hiya everyone! It's so nice to see some new faces on the blog! I have some of my favourite Asian Cards to share today. I made a new one for the OSA layout challenge, but will post that once I do the last finishing touches.

For these cards, I created the background using acyrlic paints, then stamped over the paper once dry and finished with embossing powder to give it a little more texture. The first card with the red cheongsam dress is fussy cut from a pattern that I got from an OSA member years ago.

Enjoy!

Blog Candy Update

Hi everyone!!! Here is a peek at what may be coming your way!!! I've just started to go through my many stamps and supplies, and I will have more to add to this lovely pile of goodies.

This what I have included in the giveaway so far:
Chinese metal bookmarks
About Art Accents unmounted asian stamps
origami paper
Heidi Swapp clear stamp
ribbons and fibers
envelope seals - great for masculine cards or scrapbook pages
brads

Thanks for stopping by!

Blog Candy giveaway!!!!!! Read on!!!!!

I can't believe that I have close to 500 visitors to my little blog since I started in January!!!!! Thank you to everyone who comes by to check out my cards and scrapbook projects. I truly appreciate your kind words, they motivate me to continue with challenges and reach beyond my comfort zone.

As a little thank you, I would like to give away some blog candy to people who leave a comment about my blog. I would love to hear what you are enjoying, and any suggestions for what you would like to see in the future. You must leave your comment on this specific posting in order to qualify. I will be sending out the prize to anywhere in the world. So please feel free to pass on this blog candy giveaway .

I am going to go through my massive collection of very fun stuff as a thank you.

In order to qualify, you need to sign up as a 1) public follower, 2)spread the word about the giveaway on your blog IF you have a blog (share your link) and 3)you must leave a message in this comment section. I have a variety of Asian stamps, all purpose stamps and other embellishments that I have not even touched in the last 15 years. I have to admit that I am a little obsessive compulsive and will buy anything that catches my eye because it is trendy, or because it is on sale... After all, who doesn't love a great sale!!!

Tomorrow I will add a picture of the giveaway as an incentive to those who would love some free eye candy of the giveaway prizes/! I will close this blog candy giveaway on March 26th... so please check back to see if you are the lucky winner!!!! I really have a lot of stuff to share, and am looking through some unmounted stamps of various images, some lovely embellishments, stickers and whatever hits my fancy!!!!

Please spread the word on your blog IF you have one so we can really spread my love for this passion of mine and show my appreciation for almost reaching 500 visitors (something I didn't think I would reach so very quickly as I only started this blog in January!!!!!) Any questions, leave them in the comments, and I will answer them in the most timely manner that I can!!!!!

Good luck and thank you for visiting my site!!!!

Cindy

Color Throwdown Challenge

I made a fun card with the great colors in the Color Throwdown's Weekly Challenge. I love this color combo!!!! They are so bright and springlike, really fresh!

I used Imaginisce DP, Forever in Time gem stickers on the butterflies, felt brads and Forever in Time paper flowers. Butterflies were die-cut at my local scrapbooking store, and I used my Marvy punch for the border.

Celebrate!

I made another baby card for the SRM stickers monthly challenge. I just LOVE making baby cards. This card was made with a DCWV square card as the base. I used DCWV "Nana's Nursery" for the DP, and stickers are by Jolee's Boutique and Studio112. I need to get my hands on some more SRM stickers to play with! This is too much fun!

I used a sketch from the Paper Take Weekly blog, so combined two challenges into one!

Caardvarks birdcage challenge

I love the inspiration challenge posted on the Caardvarks blog this week. It is so springlike! And it doesn't hurt that I got a set of bird stamps for Christmas that will fit this challenge so perfectly.

I used two bird cage images, a little topiary and a cuttlebug bird embossing folder to complete the theme. DP is from Imaginisce.

Lifebook layouts

I've been working on putting together a lifebook for a friend of my sister. They recently adopted a baby boy!!! How wonderful is that!!! I've been creating pages that will be used to tell his life story, with space for pictures and journalling. I had to keep it simple as the album is pretty bulky, and it has to be sent in the mail. I didn't add any buttons/ribbons/brads, etc as per my usual style as I really wanted to keep the album flat (as per my sister's request). So what I created is a little simpler, but I still love it. I used cardstock from the DCWV Far East stack, and stickers from Creative Imaginations, Marah Johnson. I created the titles for the 6x6 book on my computer. At the back of the book, I typed out the legend of the little boy's name. Here is a glimpse of a few of the 40 pages I created.

A girly card

I made this butterfly card with two challenges in mind. I wanted to use the colors from the Paper Sundaes challenge and I wanted to make something "girly" for the Stamp Something challenge and the Simon Says Challenge.

I used my Inkadinkadoo flourish stamp with HA shadow ink for the background of the card and added some gemstone stickers by Forever in Time for the dots in the flourishes to make them stand out a little more. I used my Marvy punches for the border, scallop circle and the corner rounders. Of course nothing is complete without a little love from my cuttlebug embossing folders. I die cut the butterfly at my local scrapbook store, and just love how it fits into this card.

I love all the swirls of this card, so very girly!!!

Blog Candy!!!

Thank you so very much to Lori from the Paper Yard blog!!! She sent me some fabulous blog candy that I won from a previous ZVA Creative blog hop. I love all the new goodies, and will be looking to incorporate them into my next crafty projects!!!! It's so great when something nice arrives in the mail - what a fabulous pick me up!

Framed Baby Art

I made a little framed art for a co-worker who is going on maternity leave this Friday. I used neutral colours as we are waiting to find out who this little bundle of joy will be. I used my Born to be Wild baby scrapbook kit for most of the papers and stickers in this piece. I love the collage animal page, and punched out images with my Marvy circle punch. I used yellow and purple cardstock for the matted scalloped circles behind the images and animal stickers.

I glued green plaid ribbon over the green polka dot patterned paper and glued the circle pieces on top to finish it off.

I think it turned out pretty cute! Let me know what you think!

inspiration challenge

As you can tell, I have been playing with my new flourish clear stamps. I found inspiration from Dawn McVey's blogpost using flourish stamps in an unusual way to form a butterfly.

On my card, I used the flourish stamp to create a flower as the stamped image on my card. I accented the dots on the flourishes with gemstone stickers by Forever in Time and a Prima flower with a gemstone brad in the middle. The sentiment is stamped with a Papertrey clear stamp. I love using the DCWV Far East cardstock and embossed it with the Swirls Cuttlebug folder. I punched the blue cardstock with my Marvy border punch, and finally tied it all together with a silver ribbon and bow.

Moxie Fab World Stamp challenge

I made a "Thinking of You" card that I'm going to send off to someone special this week and decided to submit it for the Moxie Fab World Stamp It challenge.

I'm really having fun with some new stamps that I have been waiting SOOOO long to buy!!!! These are new clear stamps by Inkadinkadoo "Dot Flourishes" that I just bought with a 40% off coupon at Michael's Arts and Crafts. I stamped the flourish to give the butterfly wings to fly. Then, I used some gemstone stickers by Forever in Time, a Japanese 3-D butterfly sticker that I bought at Daiso dollar stores, some Bo-Bunny designer paper, brown ribbon, Marvy border punch and a Papertrey clear stamp for the sentiment. I love the color combination in the paper and played up on it with brown and orange cardstock.

SRM sticker challenge

Hello again! It's so good to be able to be creating again! I've been sick the last 5 weeks, and finally am well enough to break out the paper, glue and lovely embellishments!!!!

I made this card today using the SRM sticker "Family Ties", some coordinating Imaginisce chipboard flowers and cardstock paper and stickers, gemstone stickers by Forever in Time, Prima flowers, and heart brads. I used my Marvy punches for the scalloped border and the scalloped circle for the sentiment.

I'm going to submit it to the SRM blog and Caardvarks as well! Hope you like it!

Adoption Cards

I haven't been able to craft for a while now, so I thought I would share some of my favourite adoption cards that I have made in the past.

orange sticker challenge

This card is made with a 3 dimensional sticker - gotta love them! I made it awhile ago, but it fit the SRM challenge of using stickers and the color orange really well! So, I thought I'd share it with you.

featured card!

I was very happily surprised to see my card featured on the Cards challenge blog today! Yippee!!! The card I made is the "Ten Little Fingers" card, and was part of the square card challenge. Here's the link to see other cards featuring squares:
http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/cards/

Photoshop sentiment

Hello! Today's card was made with the Far East DCWV cardstock, embossed with the cuttlebug swirl and stamped with a Local King Rubber Stamp clear stamp. I had some paper left over from when I painted the background with red acrylic paints to give the paper more texture. I stamped the bird onto this paper to give the card more interest. I used a Recollections black metal brad for the bird's eye. Finally, I used Photoshop to insert a sentiment on the bottom of the card. Hope you like it!

Challenges:
Play DateCafe Creativity Challenge #13 - using colors
Practical Scrappers - using patterned paper

Get Sketchy Challenge

Hi again! I was really inspired to craft today. This card incorporates two challenges. First I used the sketch from Get Sketchy Card Challenges (GS 21) and then I used the colours from The Color Dare: CD52 - only orange, olive green, chocolate chip brown and brocade blue.

Because I used scraps for this card, I don't remember who made the patterned paper.
emboss - cuttlebug (swirls)
stamp - All Night Media
flowers - Prima
brads - Recollections

Hope you like it! I had fun with these colors. :)

10 little fingers

Today's card is a submission for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge. It called for the use of the number 10 in the card. This took some thinking to come up with a theme... finally I came up with the idea of "10 little fingers, 10 little toes".

patterned paper - The Slab by Provo Craft (first patterned paper I bought many years ago!)
ribbon - sold by spool
cardstock - dcwv card pack of 5 x 5 cards and envelopes
sticker - unknown as it was leftover from a previous project
embossing - swiss dots
sentiment - dymo label maker

happy day - mojo card week 122

First of all, thanks so very much for the very kind comments left for the cards I have made. They really make my day and I enjoy reading each comment. They are the highlight of my day to know that other crafters are looking at my cards and enjoying the creative effort put forth to make the card that I am showcasing.

I made this card with the goal to incorporate a sticker (I have a ton of stickers I haven't used!) and to try to follow the sketch so as to stretch my card making abilities.

I made this card with the sketch from Mojo Mondays Challenge for week 122 as the jumping point. I used a variety of supplies that I had on hand and tried to incorporate as many elements as I could to make a card that was making me create something that was different from my usual designs.

Sticker - Creative Imaginations by MarahJohnson
punches - Marvy Uchida - circle, scallop and corner punches
sentiment - Hero Arts
embossing - Cuttlebug swiss dots
ribbon - unknown source as it was in my grab bag of leftover ribbon
patterned paper - Far East stack by DCWV - lovely cardstock that is my absolute fave!

What do you think? Please leave a comment if you have the time!

fun kids cards

Hiya! I've been making some more fun cards for kids. Birthday cards and some baby cards, too. Love using pink and blue for the colours and fun embellishments on these cards. Let me know what you think!