Lily Bee DT Call

Honestly, the very moment I received my shipped orders from a local craft store here in the Philippines, I got so excited I wanted to leave the office and start scrapping! I almost did too except that my boss refused to hear any of it. LOL.

What made me so excited? My very first Lily Bee products! I've been drooling over them for ages and when I learned they were having a DT Call, I decided to give it a try. I've been following Iris Uy's blog (she's an AMAZING scrapbooker, a Lily Bee DT Member and lives here in the Philippines) just to see what she has made of her Lily Bee collections and they're all soooo pretty! Just to show you what I'm rambling about, these are just some of Lily Bee's Collection Kits that I found from Amazon.com. I love buying from Amazon because prices are usually lower and shipping is fast. And being from the Philippines, online shopping gives me more options and convenience.
 













You'll definitely love them! If you want to be even more inspired, then check out Iris' blog here. Iris is so  lucky, she's already gotten the Happily Lost Collection Kit and have already made projects from it.

So anyway, if you look at my past blog posts, you'll see I'm a cards-rather-than-layouts kind of craftie. I've always found it a bit harder to complete LOs. I was always lost at trying to figure out what paper to use or what theme to base the project on. But believe it or not, working with the Lily Bee supplies I bought made everything so easy and fun. Papers are very well-coordinated, they absolutely go well with each other. Even supplies from different collections look amazing together! I just love how my project turned out.

Here's the layout I came up with..

Aren't the papers just gorgeous? They're from two different collections! I added in a few embellies that I found in my stash like the butterfly, the lace and the charms too.

So now I'm crossing my fingers. I'm not going to get my hopes up too high, I know a lot of very, very talented ladies have already applied. But, well, there's nothing wrong with trying right? =)

Since I'm very happy with my project, I'm joining in the following challenges:
Amber's Crafts and Stuff - Use flowers
Creative Stamp Friends - Spring
Make It Monday - Anything goes
Crafts and Me - Anything goes
Scrappy Frogs - Flowers and lace
Sparkles Forum - Springtime
Paper Playtime - Anything goes

Thanks for dropping by today!

Oh, Baby!

Hi, all!

Don't you just love babies? I L-O-V-E babies! I love them in all colors and sizes! They're just so cute with the way they giggle and gurgle and baby talk.

I'm really excited because my good friend Joan will be having hers soon! In less than a month to be precise. She's having a baby boy whom she plans to name Elijah. I know, it's a beautiful name. So before she goes on maternity leave, I made her this card.

I'm pretty proud of this one because everything (except for the word "BABY") was made from scratch! I had so much fun making the baby stroller and I pretty much like how the whole card turned out. I also had a chance to do some doodling and hand-drew the grass and flowers. =)

I hope she'll like this one. This is my very first baby card and I can't wait to do another one soon.

Here are the challenges:
Trimmies Craft Challenge - new baby
Delightful Sketches - pastels and ribbon
Digi Doodle Shop Best - ribbons and bows
Dutch Dare Card Challenge - celebrations
Crafts and Me - anything goes
Scrapbook Sisters - anything goes
Anything Goes - make your own embellishments
Heart 2 Heart - babies
KB Challenges - babies
The Kraft Journal - oh, baby, it's spring!
Simon Says Stamp and Show - a word
Catch the Bug - baby
Sugar Creek Hollow - anything goes


Thanks for dropping by!

Blog Hiatus

Oh this is just so sad. Ever since I created my blog, I committed to regularly update it and not have more than 7 days between posts. But life is throwing us lemons at the moment and Hubby and I are trying our very best to still think positive and find a way to make the best lemonade! And right now, I'm 10 days between posts.. boohoo.. :-(

We're having trouble with our plans to buy a home and everything is also going crazy at work: reports to finish, programs to roll out, clients to attend to, the list just goes on and on and on! For days now, I haven't touched my craft supplies and it makes me so sad and frustrated. But these sort of things happen, you know..

And in all the problems and frustrations, I am still able to look at the positive side and I am still very grateful for all the blessings. So we're having problems with buying a home. No worries, everything will fall into place soon and God will lead us to the home He handpicked for us. Problems at work? Who doesn't have those? At least I have a job that provides for my and my family's needs.

I guess I'm just a bit sad that I haven't crafted for the past days. Seeing all the challenges {I still try to drop by the challenge blogs to see what everyone's up to} and seeing the beautiful, beautiful cards everyone has created make me want to go home to my craft area so much. But then again, my problems are nothing compared to what others are dealing with. So for the next few days, please bear with me if I won't be that active in challenges and forums. I do miss you guys and I miss my scissors too! It's just that right now I need some time to plan things out with Hubby {we're just starting out and it's kind of both exciting and scary planning out our future: where to settle, what things to buy, etc., etc.}..

Hope to see you guys in another challenge soon! Your comments have been so encouraging and inspiring! You guys are the best! Happy crafting and be back again soon!

Going Green!

Wow, it's really stunning to see so many cards in the color green! I love it! I'm not a big fan of green but seeing all the beautiful creations by everyone, I was inspired to give it a try. We don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in the Philippines (unfortunately) but I do count my blessings everyday, or at least try to. =)

So here's my take. Nope, not a tag. A card (which looks like a tag). LOL I used the arch pattern to also make it my entry for the 365 Cards challenge.

See those glittering squares? They used to be wrappers of  my favorite oh-so-yummy mint chocolates! {I refuse to admit that I ate all three. *innocent look*} That's "Going Green" literally and figuratively speaking! Cool huh? =)

Oh and by the way, I'm really, really happy to say that I got to be a Spotlight Designer for 365 Cards' Pick 5 Challenge! AND the lucky pick for the Case the DT Challenge over at Card Ideas! Yey!! I'm enjoying this joining-challenges business a lot!

Here are the challenges:

365 Cards - Arch Card
Card Creations by C - Anything that sparkles
Easy Craft Projects - Green
Card Makin' Mamas - Green
Digi's With Attitude - Anything Goes
Mami Doodles - Monochromatic Green
Stamping with Dragons - Green, Gold/Yellow and White
The Crafty Pad - Use a ribbon
Creative Inspirations Paint - Gone green
Paper Sundaes - Stripes
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes
House of Gilli - Green
Kaboodle Doodles - Go green
Karen Doodles - Green
Squigglefly - Gratefully green
Woodware USA - Sentiment Focus
Creative Craft - Thank You
High Hopes - Go green
Scrap Creations - Going green
Freshly Brewed - 3 or more patterned papers
Little Red Wagon - St. Patrick's Day Green
Paper Pretties - Ribbon
Penny's Challenges - Going for the GREEN
Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes
Corrosive Challenge - Going green

I know! A LOT of challenges and I love them all!

Thanks for everyone's nice words. You're all absolutely awesome. *sniff*

Thinking Green

Just coming back to share another card, a simpler one.

So this is my entry for the following:
Do You Stack Up - just green it!
Easy Craft Projects - green

Although there's a lot of pink here, I used green as my card base which, to my thinking, is pretty unusual..

Thanks for dropping by!

One of a Kind: A Tutorial

Just because I don't have much of the tools needed for crafting certainly does NOT mean I can't craft. And I've got to hand it to myself for resourcefulness for this card. LOL Oh and I'm also going to attempt to do a photo-packed tutorial. It's photo-packed just so you can get what I'm trying to say when I'm not as clear as I would have wanted. But I promise to try my best.

First, let me show you what we're making.

A little sad note. This was supposed to be another entry for the Card-Ideas' CASE the DT Challenge. This is a CASE of Pat's beautiful card. I was really sad when I realized that I got a little confused of the time difference (I'm in the Philippines) that I wasn't able to upload it in time before the challenge closed. Boohoo for me.. But, well, not much I can do. So I've decided to just look at the bright side. At least I now have another card I can share with you, my fellow crafties. And I had so much fun making this, it was worth all the effort even if I didn't make it to the challenge. :)

Lastly, this is going to be my entry for the 365 Cards Challenge which is to put the phrase "One of Kind" on the card. I got a little resourceful on this one.. I'll show you in a bit!

So on to the tutorial!

1. Start with a cardstock base. Choose one which is thick enough to hold up when especially when your card front gets a bit heavier due to embellishments. Cut to desired size. I chose 11cm x 14.5cm for this one, following the size of my envelope .

Quick Tip: If you're not making your own envelopes, it's better to buy them first before making your cards. That way, you'll know what card size will fit your envelopes. Much harder to find envelopes that will fit your already-completed card, believe me!

2. Choose your background. I chose one with pastel-colored circles for this. Cut to the size of your card front and glue properly. You can also use double-sided tape if you don't want it messy with glue.

3. Punch the right top and bottom corners of the card with a corner rounder punch. If you don't have one, fear not! This is where we get a bit resourceful! Rummage through your art stash and look for anything that has a rounded corner. Can be a chipboard shape, a ready-made card, anything! I found this poor, lonely fishy from one of my calendars and cut it out.

Trace the round corner into your card's corners so you'll know where to cut to make it round.

You should have something like this after that whole tracing and cutting thing.

4. Stamp an image into white paper and color the image with all your heart for a more vibrant look. I used colored pencils for this image because I'm not lucky enough to own copics. Yet. Think positive.

Quick Tip: Color first BEFORE you cut. This will give you a more stable image to color since you can hold other parts of the paper with your hand.

 5. Cut out a scalloped circle to serve as "frame" for your stamped image. Again, if you don't have a die-cutter or puncher, you can rummage through your stash to find something you can trace. OR download a free scalloped circle pattern here, adjust the size as desired, print it out then cut.

6. Glue your stamped image to your scalloped circle. If you want to give the scalloped circle a bit more emphasis, you can trace the edges with a pen like I did using broken lines. You can also use colored pens or distressing ink.

7. Make a bow out of a ribbon about 1/2 inch in width and embellish. I used paper flowers and a button for mine. Other good embellishments would be gems, brads, glitter and anything you fancy!

8. Now that you have everything you need, let's assemble! Glue a strand of your ribbon across your card. Glue your stamped image and then your pretty bow. Looking good?

So here's where I got a bit resourceful again. Remember that I wanted to make this as an entry for the 365 Cards challenge. Problem was I didn't have anything that can qualify for the "One of a Kind" criteria. SO, I sort of played with the stamped image so that it now reads "no friend like you" instead of "a friend like you". And then I wrote the phrase "Because you're one of a kind!" at the right bottom corner. Okay, you're probably thinking, "Why didn't she just PRINT the words? Argh." Hubby and I just moved into our new home and we left some of our things in our hometown, including the printer. LOL.

And so, after all that, you should have something that looks like this (if not much, much prettier!)..

Whew! That took me longer than I expected to complete. LOL. Hope you had fun! Let me know what you think, what I need to improve on and everything else you would like to comment on. I love hearing what you all have to say.

Because of a sweet comment from Yenni (thanks so much, Yenni!), I found other challenges for my card. So I'm also entering it in the following:

Catch the Bug - anything goes
Little Claire - flowers
Our Daily Bread - yellow and pink as focal colors
Send a Smile for Kids - anything goes
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - stamped flower
Card Cupids - anything goes
Ginger Loft - flowers


Thanks for visiting!

365 Cards Challenge - Pick 5

I decided to enter one of my cards in the 365 Cards challenge when I found out what the theme was and got, well, challenged by it. LOL

Pick 5 -

Use the answers to these questions to design your card:

1. Favorite color

2. Favorite design technique

3. Favorite embellie

4. Least favorite color

5. Favorite card size (dimensions)

So here's my take. As some of you may probably know already, this one's for my friend, April, who's one gifted crafter!

My favorite color is blue because it is just such a relaxing color. I love stamping and try to incorporate it in all my cards. I think lace is the best embellishment ever. I love how romantic I can make anything look by just adding a scrap of lace. I'm not so fond of the color orange though I can't point out exactly why.. I guess it's just a challenging color to work with (for me). I love working with 6 1/2 x 5 cards. I think they're just the right size for sweet messages. 

Thanks for reading my post!

Penny for My Thoughts

For the past few days, I've been restless in trying to think of what I really wanted to achieve with my addiction to arts and crafts. I mean, let's face it, it is not as affordable as I would have wanted it to be and I can't keep on hoarding supplies from my - and my hubby's - pocket {though I would SO love to do that! LOL}. I've tried selling cards to officemates during the Valentines season and, happily, I did make sales. But that's seasonal and people here are not really used to giving "everyday" cards.. So, I thought about opening an Etsy shop. That could work right? I might try it one of these days.. I'll let you know how that'll turn out. *wink*

Another goal I came up with was to become a Design Team member. I know that's quite ambitious, I have a lot of improvement and learning to do. But let's just say I was given the chance.. Wouldn't that be SO lovely? I would probably be the happiest crafter on the planet! And there's really no harm in trying right? No guts, no glory! Okay, I'll definitely try that one out. 

So those are my thoughts.. Sorry if I bored anyone. LOL. But I'm going to make up for it by sharing these cards I made last night using Miss Elizabeth paper line. I tried making them clean and simple. 

I'm entering the first card in the If the Shoe Fits Scrap It! and Stamp Something Challenges.

The third card is my entry for the CASE the DT Challenge over at Card Ideas. CASE actually stands for "Copy And Share Everything" wherein one can copy another crafter's card or simply use something in it for inspiration. You can see the original card by Debbie here. I copied the layout of the card including the punched edge. Since I didn't have the image she used, I used these yummy ice cream images from Miss Elizabeth papers and patterned papers from the same line. This card will be also entered in the For Fun Challenge where the challenge is to use purple, green and yellow. Oh I just love challenges!

Hope you find inspiration and thanks for dropping by!