I'm really into the chevron trend.

 

I'm really into the chevron trend right now. Judging by the patterned papers in my stash. And the chevron stencils.  *winks*

What trend are you into right now? Any chevron fans? *High fives*

Just wanted to play along with birthday challenge at Challenge Me Happy.

Supplies: Fancy Pants patterned papers, Crafter's Workshop template, Maya mists, American Crafts thickers, SRM stickers, Jenni Bowlin stickers, Fiskars border punch, white pen, buttons, ribbons, stick.


P/s: Come play along with my guest Isha's challenge and LESSology Challenge #16: Bubble boy or girl.  :)

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The decorated black box

 

Well, you know about my box obsession. One of my faves are these standard rectangle black boxes that typically house a corporate gift. 

I get very excited because
1. I get to use the box to store supplies.
2. There is usually a foam core used to house the corporate gift that I can use as a piercing mat.
3. I get to "dress" up the box. :)

Love it when I get to use the really tiny pieces in my "keep-it-for-a-rainy-day" stash. Yes, the belt is an orange cable tie. *winks*

Supplies: Graphic 45 patterned papers, Prima swirls, Ranger stickles, cable tie, trim, ribbon.

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Beyond hilarious

Kids can be hilarious at times. Here is a typical Saturday afternoon with the 3 nephews and 1 niece. I wanted to take photos of the girl with her hair adornments while the boys were watching a dvd...she refused to cooperate...and nephew #1 took it upon himself to "entertain" the rest of us! *LOL*

I was inspired by the sketch at Creative Scrappers and the challenge at Bird is the word.

Supplies: Sassafras patterned papers and stickers, Crafter's Workshop template, Maya mists, Fontwerks stamps, 7 Gypsies tab, American Crafts thickers, white pen, black ink, black pen, twine, ice-cream stick, ribbon, buttons, tag.

P/s: Come play along with my guest Isha's challenge! :)

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Thanks for sharing your Top 4 must-have craft supplies! :)

I must say I really enjoyed reading about your Top 4 must-have craft supplies! :) Thank you for sharing them with me!

A majority of you went with the usual precision scissors and trimmers as the #1 must-have tool with the scoring board coming in a close second...[which resulted in me scooting down to my LSS to buy one...you are such enablers!] 

Other things among your Top 4 include inks [Momento black, Versa Fine black, Stazon black], stamps, gesso and Copics. 

Top adhesive of choice is the Scotch ATG gun...[glad I already have one!]

One of the most interesting must-have tool was Sonia's self-retaining forceps [Sonia is a medical doctor!]...guess I might be needing one of those too. *winks*

The randomly picked winner of my giveaway is.....Snehal!

Snehal, please email me your mailing details and I'll get your RAK sent out to you! :)

Supplies: GCD Studios and Carta Bella, Prima swirls, Ranger distress ink, twine.

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How to choose titles for your layouts.

 
Like most people, sometimes I struggle to come up with clever and apt titles for my layouts. Especially when I've done the cliché ones many times over. You know what I mean...adorable, beautiful, family, today et cetera. *LOL* Here are 8 suggestions on how to choose titles for your layouts.

1. Describe the sound of something in the photo.

This layout was about my littlest nephew J playing with my toy car and the title aptly describes the sound he was making as he played.

2. Steal from a television show/movie.


This layout features my niece after her "makeover" by me...*LOL* so I stole the title from the show "How do I look?" 




3. Use numbers.

I was drawing a blank here but I really wanted to use up my puffy number stickers so I titled it 123...*LOL* You can also use numbers for dates and age.

4. Use descriptive words.

Sometimes you just need a whole slew of descriptive words to describe a scene. Here, littlest nephew J was having a blast at the playground.

5. Use a phrase to describe what the photo reflects.

I was so happy to have captured this hearty toothless laugh of my niece so I used the first phrase that came to mind.

6. Name the prominent feature in the photos.

Sometimes you can be a little obvious in your title. *LOL*

7. Describe the place.

I looked at the photos of this restaurant I went to and instantly remembered "what a quaint little place it was..." [Of course, I had fond memories of this place because it was closed for the day when we went there but I looked pathetic enough for the chef to open the kitchen just for us. *winks*]

8. Use the name of the place.

Sometimes it can be as easy as naming the place your photos show. :)

There you have it. 8 suggestions for how to choose titles for your layouts. What do you think? Do you have any more ideas to add?

P/s: What are your must-have craft supplies? Read about mine and enter yours for a chance at a giveaway. I'll announce the winner on Monday July 9. Happy weekend friends! :)

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The "I love you too much!" story.

So the other day littlest nephew J ran up to his grandma and declared very loudly, "Grandma, I love you too much! " 

Beaming grandma corrected him..."so much, not too much." 

Aunt Y [aka me] asked "What about me? Don't you love me?" 

He answered, "No. Only grandma." 

Puzzled since Aunt Y is only his fave person ever *winks*, Aunt Y tried to hug J, hoping to change his mind...but he ran away. When she finally "caught" him 5 seconds later, she discovered his dirty little secret - he just pooped in his diaper and wanted grandma to change his diaper! Once he was in a clean diaper, he happily ran over to Aunt Y and said, "I love you."

Turns out he really didn't want me to change his dirty diaper and will run away from me every single time it's soiled. *LOL* Gotta love how considerate he is towards me! :) 

I wanted to play along with True XOXO scrapbooking's challenge to complete a layout under an hour. I went with the minimalist approach...did a little masking and misting, a little fussy cutting and embellishing and lots of journaling...to complete this in 45 minutes. The bulk of the time was spent colouring the chipboard letters with a black Sharpie and then outlining them with a white pen. :)

Supplies: Sassafras patterned papers, Maya mists, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, black Sharpie, SRM stickers, embellishments, black pen, white pen.

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The other playground

 

My nephews really love this other playground that I occasionally bring them to. They love the walk through the park leading to the playground because there are fun things to climb along the way. You know how it is with boys. *winks* They don't get to go to this playground very often though. Because it's quite a bit further and a lot more crowded...stressful on the aunt to keep her eyes on all three boys. *LOL* 

So I made a mini album for them to reminisce about their fave playground....my project for LESSology Challenge #16: Bubble boy or girl.

I used watercolour paper as the base because I wanted to mist both sides.

I went all-out to use up my American Crafts scraps...

I made a pocket with pull-out tags for my journaling.

Love how the bubble wrap adds such cool texture.

Supplies: American Crafts patterned papers, chipboardm ribbon and stickers, Carta Bella patterned paper, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Crafter's Workshop stencils, Maya mists, Sharpie pen, EK Success edge punch, Ranger stickles, yellow masking tape, tags, twine, buttons, bubble wrap, white pen, brown pen, googly eyes.


P/s: Loved reading about your must-have craft supplies...will be picking a winner soon. :) Don't forget to play along with my guest Miae's masking tape challenge...it ends on Friday!

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Create a distress-inked scene with Isha Gupta!

My guest today is the lovely Isha Gupta of New Ideas. Isha has a great eye for colour and makes the cutest cards. She is an amazing stamper and has mad colouring skills. She is a whiz at using distress inks to create really awesome one-of-a-kind backgrounds. Today she shares how to create a scene using the masking technique with distress inks! She's also hosting a challenge with a wonderful prize for a lucky player! :)

Let's have a look at her beautiful work, shall we?

I’m excited and honored to share some of my creations with you all. When Yvonne invited me over,  lots of ideas came knocking at my door, which was confusing...lol. Finally, I decided on a small tutorial along with how and what got me inspired. As you may know, or maybe not, I live in Switzerland. One of the first things I associate with Switzerland are, of course, Chocolate, Cheese and not to forget the Swiss Alps. I got inspired by the Alps on this yogurt box:

 

I love stamping and trying out all kinds of techniques. However, here’s one of my all-time favorites: Creating scenes using Distress Inks. It requires a lot masking, but there are so many possibilities, you just have to plan a bit ahead. 

Step 1: Mask the grass area.

Step 2: Color with Distress Ink

Step 3: Cover the grass area and the sky (the unmasked part will be the mountains)

Step 4: Distress the mountains

Step 5: Cover mountain and grass area.

Step 6: Color the sky

Here's my completed card....

Now let’s all have some fun! Create a new project inspired by packaging. It would be cool if you could incorporate the featured technique as well, but it’s not a requirement. Play along for your chance to wina $15 gift certificate to the Lil Inker Shop.

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Ready to play along? Please link your newly created projects via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by 3 August.

This is Isha's first ever tutorial! Please leave her a little love. :)

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A bottlecap magnet.

 

Hello friends! Hope you had a great weekend...aside from the usual nephews-and-niece sitting, I was distracted by the Downton Abbey marathon on the local cable network...I really love the pretty clothes...:)

Did manage to make a bottlecap magnet with these yummy October Afternoon papers though....:)

Supplies: October Afternoon patterned papers, Ranger stickles, Maya Road bottlecap, corrugated cardboard, brad.

P/s: Can't wait to introduce you to my guest blogger tomorrow!  Don't forget to play along with my guest Miae's masking tape challenge...it ends on Friday! :)

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