How do you organize your cards?

So I think it's time to start getting organized with my card collection. And start making specific occasion cards. I do tooooooooo many general "hello" cards. 

It's pretty lame to send someone a "hello" card on their birthday, right? *LOL*

What about you? How do you organize your cards? *winks*

P/s: Last week to play along with LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party! :)

Never a dull moment when these two are around...*winks*

You are know how entertaining kids can be...there's never a dull moment when littlest nephew J and niece S are around. :) The 4 year old recently discovered the merits of using his baby sister as "leverage" to get his fabulous aunt [aka me *lol*] to comply to his little whims....

"Gu Gu, Sophie wants to [insert things he wants like watch a cartoon, go to the playground etc]....."

It is hard to say "no" when they just look so cute together. He would hold her hand and they would go down the slide together...[All together now, "Awwwww..."] *LOL*

I had fun with my Blue Fern Studios chipboard pieces on this layout. They were all coated with a layer of gesso first.....
1. Coloured with Faber Castell gelatos
2. Covered with a thick layer of Liquitex glass bead gel
3. Painted with Daler-Rowney acrylic gold paint

Playing along with Sketchbook 365 and Scrap Africa.

P/s: Happy weekend friends!:) I would love for you to come play along with my guest Ashley's patterned paper challenge and LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party :)

*Edited* This layout made Top 3 at Scrap Africa! :)

An altered book using Xyron, Graphic 45 and Petaloo products...

This week is a fun week as the design teams from Xyron, Graphic 45 and Petaloo join forces for an incredible week of creative projects and prizes. I got to play with Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells and Petaloo Darjeeling embellishments for my altered book. :)

I started with a hardcover book from the second-hand bookstore. I used a metal ruler and a box cutter to cut a window through the cover and some book pages. It do

Scrunch some wrapping tissue and adhere to book cover with gel medium. Then apply a coat of gesso all over.

Measure and cut Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells patterned paper for the book cover.

Colour parts of the book cover that won’t be covered by the patterned papers with colorants. I used Faber Castell gelatos.  Then I did some subtle text stamping and toned down the bright colours by smearing the ink from the marker with my finger.

The patterned papers are run through the Xyron 5” CreativeStation and then adhered to the book cover.

I taped up the cut pages with masking tape, then adhered some Petaloo trim to cover up the tape. Cut off the excess trim.

Add a decorative border using MT washi tape for a little more interest.

I painted the Blue Fern Studios chipboard frame with Daler-Rowney liquid acrylic and added Liquitex black lava medium for a sheen.

Fussy-cut the hot air balloon and adhere with Xyron foam squares from the Teresa Collins Adhesive Kit . Add some vintage buttons and Petaloo bloom.

Adhere chipboard frame to cover and decorate with Petaloo bloom and leaves.

Finish by adhering a Petaloo trim and a metal lock charm.

Don't forget to check out the Xyron, Graphic 45 and Petaloo blogs all week for creative inspiration as well as giveaways! Check out this awesome grand prize [as pictured]! :)

A tag with lace scraps....

So I had little remnant bits of lace left over from previous projects that were sitting in a ziplog bag, begging for some love..*winks* 

They were in various shades of white...but after gluing them down with gel medium and running some gelatos over them, you can't really tell! *winks*

Playing along with The Color Media Challenge at Moxie Fab World.

P/s: Come play along with my guest Ashley's patterned paper challenge andLESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party.

The decorated mooncake box...

You know how I just LOVE sturdy boxes...so I am always excited when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes around. We get mooncakes [super sweet pastries in a variety of flavours] that come in lovely sturdy boxes. :)

I love the beautiful texture on the box so I left some parts of it uncovered. The rest of the box was measured and the DCWV patterned papers were cut. 

The patterned paper for the cover was given an even coat of adhesive with the Xyron 9" Creative Station.

The smaller pieces for the sides of the box were ran through the Xyron 5" Creative Station.

The pieces were then adhered to the box. I added some washi tape at the edges to create a little more interest.

The Blue Fern Studios chipboard was given a coat of gold paint.

Choose some patterned papers to decorate the cover and fussy-cut them.

Adhere them to the cover and add some blooms for texture and interest.

What do you think? :)

Morning tea at The Tearoom...

So I finally got to enjoy morning at The Tearoom at the iconic Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. It was a decadent indulgence after a long red-eye flight. :)

The couple seated before us was dressed to the nines in labels to match the grand decor of the place....while I was still wearing my in-flight outfit because it was too early to check-in! At least they didn't turn me away...*LOL*

The morning tea was scrumptious and terribly sinful. Even the macaron was yummy. [I typically find meringue-based confections too sweet for my liking.]

Lot of fun with a new medium - Liquitex resin sand, mixed with glass bead gel and mica flakes. Love the shimmering effect.

Playing along with the challenges at Skissedilla and The Studio.


P/s: Come play along with my guest Ashley's patterned paper challenge and LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party.

Decorating a pillow box...

You know how much I love decorating boxes. I tend to get more dimensional on my altered projects than on my layouts [because I prefer them relatively flat in albums!]. *winks*

I started with this pillow box that used to house some Tim Holtz embossing folders [yeah...I'm wondering too if I've ever used them...*LOL*]

After choosing patterned papers, I cut them to size and ran the pieces through my Xyron 5" Creative Station. The pillow box is curved so having an even distribution of adhesive really helps to stick it down well. :)

Then comes my fave part....picking out embellishments to decorate my pillow box. Lots of yummy goodness from the Zeus and Zoe store. :)

The key to creating an interesting embellishment cluster is to mix textures and colours. The possibilities are endless! :)