Sneak peek into the Man's den..

Ooooo.... my MAN's quite sentimental.

Of course I had to share the table with mints and chewing gums, but oh well, it could be worse!

At least the projects to commemerate our 14th Anniversary, plus the girls' Fathers' Day gifts, all laid proudly on the table :)

I made this flip around frame to show the BeFORE and After ... 

This is where we are NOW.... 

(a contemporary classic feel to accompany it)

AND this was us YONKS ago !!! gosh... how i've aged !!!

(thus a dye-stained, distressed look !!)

Used Tim Holtz's alpha masks here to set the background look,  then inked all around them...

Loads of rub-ons to complete the effect...
Sorry didn't manage to quite get the bronze medallion which has 'Cherish' etched on it...

haha... i'm on a roll posting... gotta keep it up from my 2x a month posts... yea, i'm working on it...

Welcome home Papi !!

Papa was away for a week and we had to keep ourselves really busy ! Gosh, it is so tough being a SINGLE mum !!! Yet, the kids enjoyed the novelty of keeping the house as 'untidy' as they liked cos' Papa's not home. But he was sorely missed certainly... as seen from these handmade cards they made with my stamps and which they coloured using their own LePlume markers....

Here's my contribution... and a short tutorial if you gals wanna scraplift this...

Love this cutey racoon that i coloured in using a brush dipped in my tea dye, antique linen and walnut stain distress inks, mixed up with some Ranger's glimmer pearls for shine, stamped on a white tag. Inked the sides, tied some twine (doubled), added cocoa pearls and he's complete !

 

As you can tell, I have not gotten over using my embossed texture dies :)

So here's a sky blue notecard that i ran through the Big Shot using one of Tim Holtz's texture dies, sanded the embossed portion like crazy, and added distressed ink over the top for visibility and a worn feel. Added strips of Scenic Route paper from long long ago and a sentiment and DONE !

Oh yes, those lovely hearts !! Used my new EK success double heart punch (not sure why i didn't discover it earlier), stomped distress inks all over them in Tumbled Glass and Marigold, then spritzed them with pearlized water for shine. (Nb to Self: must check out if Michaels has more of these double punches !). You can notice some of the shine in the picture, but in real life - it is really lovely.

Lastly, i attached foam dots behind the small hearts so they 'POP' and a layer of Glossy Accents for an almost 'acrylic' feel to the center hearts. Love this - you will certainly see more of these hearts in upcoming projects !!

AND a 'POP UP' sentiment inside....

thanks for dropping by !

Cards

Haven't really been much of a card maker, but this is certainly an addiction coming along ! It's quick, fun to do, and wonderful for trying new techniques and stamps

The first one here has a more vintage-gy old feel, and love how the Perfect Pearls accentuate the stamped image. Stamped first with distress ink then pulsed it with the shimmer of the pearls. Misted at the end to seal the pearls so it bonds with the paper...

Love this 'silly' over the top peacock from Hero Arts. Coloured with Copics and adhered to background that i had run through my Big Shot using one of Tim Holtz's embossed folders.

 

Of course, couldn't spare the bling at the end with Ranger's stickles...

Crafty goodies...

Hey ALL !
Sorry for the silence as we've been on a ROAD trip all around CA !! It's amazing - the Big Sur coast, Monterey Bay, cutting across the High Sierras via Tioga Pass to Mammoth Lakes, and down past the Mojave Desert. Spellbinding stuff....

But here's some crafty goodness I managed to squeeze time for !!

Played with lots of inks and white paint here. Stamped image all over the frame with white paint and then wiped off excess with some pearlized spritz using Ranger's mini mister and distress inks !

Love the softness that resulted and the meld of colours, and the sparkle under the light ! Totally pretty.  Used copic colours for the flowers and of course can't resist those butterflies and ladybug for some textured effect.

 

Another quick layout that allowed me to experiment with different ways of using Perfect Pearls, Tim Holtz's masks and distress inks.

Celebrating 14 years.... time flies...

Welcome frame for doorway...

Totally altered this plain pine wood frame with inks and had soo much fun !!
Used a ton of Ranger products here too :)

And it's perfectly easy to do ! Here are some tips :

Frame:

• Ink up sides of frame with distress inks like crazy :)  I did this in a variety of colours - fired brick, dried marigold, broken china, tea dye - all using Ranger's distress inks 
• Spritz with pealised water mist ( i used Ranger's mini mister, filled with water, and added some white perfect pearls powder for the 'blingy' spritz.. ). Allow to dry.
• Stamp your favourite images around the frame. I used a Hampton Art rubber stamp, and some random ones from 'Recollections' and Ranger's distressed ink in "Black Soot". I also masked on a Tim Holtz compass in 'Broken China'

Interior:

• Using a blue cardstock, I stamped the background with my polka dot stamp using Ranger's perfect medium and then brushed on some metallic gold perfect pearls powder. Should have spritzed on some water to 'seal' the powder but forgot - oh well, have to live and learn :) !!
• Took a maya road tag chipboard and inked it in walnut stain, then spritzed it with some pearlised water using the walnut stain reinker, mixed with gold perfect pearls, for a 'metalized' look
• Attached prima flowers - gave it a brush of tea dye distressed ink first; added the bird charm; a chipboard heart; a tag on which I hand-wrote the word 'welcome' for a more personalised touch.
• Hung on wall. HAPPY :)

thanks for dropping by !!

Yosemite Mini Album

Ah..... Yosemite....
All i had were my impressions from Geography textbooks which hardly prepared me for what nature had created over millions of years.

Using Tattered Angels gatefold album, i played with distress inks, rub-ons, masking, cut-outs and stickers to create this...

close ups of the cover page...

the embossed tree as a subtle backdrop was just perfect for this album

of cos' I had to add the bling... :)

I wanted the album to also capture the "why(s) and how(s)"  of Yosemite's formation ... 

sneeks of some vistas

Kiddos at play...

But beyond the beauty, it was sharing it with family that counted :)

thanks for dropping by !

Kids Craft Idea

We've been BUSY !!

I got the girls new markers (Le Plume - Marvy Uchida), new stamps and they just can't stop crafting ! So we declared ourselves a holiday from school, and had fun colouring these and getting all our fingers dirty ...

TA-DA !!
 all the individual coloured images,

which i then assembled into a frame.
HERE's the FINISHED PRODUCT ...  that is now hanging atop the girls' craft table.

Super easy to do ! 
So if you have a long afternoon ahead and need to keep the kids occupied, here are some tips if you'd like to give this a go:

• I used white cardstock. Kids chose what they wanted, stamped them using Versafine black ink, and got busy. If you do not have stamps, just print whatever the kids like from the computer or tear pages off colouring books and let them get going.
• I then cut them out, inked the sides using distress inks, assembled them on black cardstock and put them in an Ikea black frame.
• I couldn't resist and had to 'contribute' 1 image - can u guess which ?
• I did the focal title tag, stuck the 'happy' sticker and 3D flowers, girls added the pearls to their animals and flower centers and DONE !!!

HAPPY :)

June Butterfly Crafts Visual challenge

Don't you just love the colours on this ? The roses, the butterflies, the soft whimsical hues of blue (or is it green?) and pink - perfect for a girlie page !  Just upload your entry onto the Butterfly Crafts gallery and you could win 3 digi-stamps from Wink Wink Ink  ! Easy Peasy :)

Here's my take!  Started with a plain white cardstock and had loads of fun using glimmer mists and inks to create the soft hues i wanted. MAMBI's papers went perfectly here layered atop lace and trims, and detailed with stickles :) Oh yes, those butterflies from Websters Pages are still the best ...

Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT's work HERE.

thanks for dropping by !

Cards and such

The girls totally outdid themselves in the Mother's Day concert they put up for me ! Filled with sassy moves from MJ's 'Thriller', Madonna's 'Like a Prayer', Hannah Montana and even the musical Les Miserables.
I was too touched and made this little token for them - enclosed with a Build-a-bear gift card :)

Some close-ups...

And a little personalisation of a maya road tin, as a gift box for a wonderful lady we met last weekend...

thanks for dropping by !

Butterfly Crafts' May Visual Challenge

Isn't this such a wonderful sketch ?  AND you stand to win goodies from Nikki Sivils !!!! ALL you've got to do is to upload your entry into the Butterfly Crafts Gallery HERE

Check out the fantastic work by the DT on the Butterfly Crafts BLOG 

and here's my TAKE. I loved these recent pictures of C and couldn't wait to scrap them :) 

She's really such a light of mine :)

 

Thanks for dropping by !!

Butterfly Crafts' April Visual Challenge

This challenge was too fun !!! Lifting from an Avril Lavigne ad....

Here's my take of my very own superstar...
She has been hooked on the musical Les Miserables for the past months and has been practicing to rival Susan Boyle's 'I Dreamed a Dream' !  darn cute...

Journaling reads:

"All the dreams I prayed you'd be,

 are ALL the things you ARE.

You were once my little girl,

and now my SHINING STAR."