All things bright and beautiful

DeNami Gift Wrapping Blog Hop

2011-12-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to DeNami's December Blog Hop! If you are following the blog hop, you must have come from the Amber Daigre's wonderful blog! If you missed the previous blog stops, you can hop back over to the DeNami Blog to start from the beginning. You have until December 12th, 2011, 11:59pm PST to leave comments on all the blogs in order to be eligible to receive one of the two $20 DeNami gift certificates. Winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck!

This month's theme is gift wrapping. The first thing that comes to mind is Christmas gifts. Many of my friends enjoy a cup of premium coffee at their favourite coffee house, so I'm planning on getting a few coffee gift cards and making gift boxes to hold them.

I made the box using a Sizzix XL die. Making the tag is the fun part. I used another Sizzix die to make an ornament, and stamped the coffee image (from the DeNami espresso petit four stamp set) on it. Then I used some Stickles to add the 'snow flakes' and to accent the ornament. Lastly, I tied the ornament around the gift box and I've got a wonderful Christmas present for my friends!

Thanks for looking! Next stop is the talented Kimberly Kendle's blog.

Supplies List:
DeNami Petit Fours Stamps (Espresso Stamp Set)
Sizzix XL gift box template, Sizzlet Christmas Ornament
Cuttlebug
Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter
GlueCopic Markers
Technique Tuesday stamp

DeNami Tasty Treats Blog Hop

2011-09-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to DeNami's September Blog Hop! If you are following the blog hop, you must have come from the talented Rochelle Washington's blog! If you missed the previous blog stops, you can hop back over to the DeNami Blog to start from the beginning. You have until September 12th, 2011, 11:59pm PST to leave comments on all the blogs in order to be eligible to receive one of the two $20 DeNami gift certificates. Winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck!

For this Blog Hop, I used the Tropical Fruit Stamp from DeNami's Petit Fours collections. These stamps are perfect for any summer themes. In making this card, I used 3 stamps only. I stamped and coloured the images on white card stock, added epoxy stickers to form a circle around the sun, and added stickles to the inked frame.

I had fun making this summery card. I love using bright colours and yummy fruits. I hope this will brighten up your day too!

Thanks again for stopping by! Your next stop is the wonderful blog of Wendy Elliot.

Supplies List:
DeNami Petit Fours Stamps (Tropical Fruit)
DCWV Pocket of Posies Patterned Paper
KI Memories Juicy Summer Epoxy Stickers
Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter
GlueCopic Markers

Monogram Box for Colleen

2011-08-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Colleen likes earth tone, so I tried to look for more neutral colours that may fit her scraproom. I went with light orange because I really love the flowers and thought it would still be a good match for her room.

Like what I did with the other monogram boxes, I started with a basic white paper box from Michael's. I used mod podge to glue the papers on and added the embellishments. I did use some neutral coloured trims and pearls to tone down the colours. I added the die cut butterfly as an accent and added embellishments sparingly so that the beautiful background colour can show through.

Supplies List:

DCWV Mariposa patterned paper

Ashland Spring Floral Bushes

Cuttlebug A2 Butterfly

Recollections Adhesive Pearls

DeNami Mini Cards Blog Hop

2011-08-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Welcome to DeNami's August Blog Hop! If you are following the blog hop, you must have come from Nicki Scheck's wonderful blog! If you missed the previous blog stops, you can hop back over to the DeNami Blog to start from the beginning. You have until August 15, 2011, 11:59pm PST to leave comments on all the blogs in order to be eligible to receive one of the two $20 DeNami gift certificates. Winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck!

For this Blog Hop, I used 3 stamps from 2 sets of DeNami's Trifle stamps. There are 3 stamps in each set, and they can be used together on one card, or in this case, used separately in three different mini-cards. The mini-cards work really well as gift tags.

I have lots of fun colouring and stickling the stamped images because of the fun girly theme. I matted the images with patterned paper.

Thanks again for stopping by! Your next stop is the very talented Karen Larkin's blog!

Supplies List:
DeNami Trifles Stamps (Fashion Purses and Sassy Shoes)
Making Memories Spring Fling patterned paper
Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter
GlueCopic Markers

Pink, White and Black for Karen

2011-07-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

This is Karen's monogram box, and it's made from her favourite colours, pink, white and black. I hope this will match the beautiful and organized boxes she has in her scraproom.

Supplies List:

Imaginisce Patterned Paper

Black Market Paper Society Patterned Paper

Ashland Spring Floral Bushes

Thinking of You!

2011-05-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is a 'thinking of you' card for a friend who's going through some difficult times. I've taken a Technique Tuesday card class at CKC last year and learned a few techniques that I found myself going back to all the time, including stamping multiple times without re-inking to get primary and secondary images, paper piecing and more.... I used the same set of stamps in the class to create the background, but changed up the colours and added the flowers, the little birdie and the borders.

The colours are from this week's PDCC Challenge #83.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies List:
Imaginisce Patterned Paper

Technique Tuesday Long Stemmed Sentiments

Technique Tuesday Black Ink
Cat's Eye Black Ink (distressing)
Fiskars Threading Water Punch

Congrats! My Grads!

2011-05-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is that time of the year! We've got high school grads, college grads, and don't forget those little kindergarten grads! Congrats to all of you!

This congratulations card is made with patterned paper as a background. The stamping is also done on patterned paper, giving the images some colours that easily match with the background. It takes a little bit of patience to cut out the flowers, but it's worth the work when they are set against a darker background and gives a very nice border effect. I really love this patterned paper so I try to show more of it by keeping the foreground simple.

This card fits the current DeNami Product Challenge #8. It's a fun challenge!

Supplies List:
DeNami Small Bold Hibiscus
Technique Tuesday Brown Ink
Basic Grey Kioshi Patterned Paper

Ranger Ink Stickles

Happy Graduation!

2011-05-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

This is a Graduation Card made with the fun colours of the Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC82. I stamped the card with a small flower stamp that matches the patterned paper and added the borders and ladybug.

Supplies List:
Basic Grey Patterned Paper (Origins; Urban Prairie)
K & Company Sticker (Wild Saffron)
Studio G Stamp
Technique Tuesday Ink

Sunshine for Kelly

2011-05-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

This is a keepsake box for Kelly.. my sunshine girl who lights up the lives of those around her. She likes bright colours and butterflies too, so I chose this paper from the Mariposa stack for her. I hope it'll help brighten up her day too!

I started out with a basic white paper box from Michael's. I used mod podge to glue the papers on and added the embellishments. The flowers are also from Michael's. I detached the flowers from the stems and arranged them on the box and glued them down using a glue gun. Kelly loves metal too, so I added a touch of metal, some retro flower pins and a watch face embellishment. The monogram is a rhinestone letter from Michael's $1 spot.

Supplies List:

DCWV Mariposa Collection

Ashland Spring Floral Bushes

Basic Grey Fibers

Making Memories Metal Charm and Flower Pins

Thank You!

2011-05-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Since I have fallen ill, I have been receiving many get well wishes and gifts from my friends. I am really moved and started making cards to send back my thankful thoughts... The DeNami Sketch Challenge #8 is perfect for this card.

I stamped the tulips on the patterned paper and coloured them, and added a little bit of Stickles on it. The sentiment is matted and attached by foam stickers to give it a bit more dimension.

Supplies List:

Making Memories Patterned Paper

DeNami Small Tulip Stamp

Technique Tuesday Black Ink

Copic Markers

Ranger Stickles Glue

DeNami May Girly Girl Blog Hop

2011-05-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Welcome to DeNami's May Blog Hop! If you are following the blog hop, you must have seen the wonderful creation of Ruza Rebel! If you missed the previous blog stops, you can hop back over to the DeNami Blog to start from the beginning. You have until May 9, 2011 11:59pm PST to leave comments on all the blogs in order to be eligible to receive one of the two $20 DeNami gift certificates. Winners will be chosen randomly. Good luck!

As for the card I'd like to share, I had a TON of fun making it! I bought a few Mimi stamps to use on my layouts to document a girlfriend trip I did during a 'milestone year'. But these stamps are great for cards as well! Here's my project:

I stamped and coloured the image and matted it with layers of patterned paper that reminded me of a Spring garden. I also used a sparkly gel pen to accent the hair, the dress and the furniture. I had fun adding pearl accents to the card to give it a little bit more girliness...

Thanks again for joining us at the hop! Your next stop is the talented Tenia Nelson. Have fun hopping!

Supplies List:
DeNami Mimi and Maddie Stamp
Basic Grey patterned paper
Recollections rhinestone
Fiskars water threading punch
Copic Markers

Black and White Chic for Rhonda

2011-05-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

This is a keepsake box I made for Rhonda. She likes black and white, bird cages and butterflies... so I decided to use the black and white pages from the Mariposa stack that I got as a gift from a great friend of mine. I would like to create an elegant look, so I chose embellishments that are classic and complement the journal spot that is featured on the box cover.

I started out with a basic white paper box from Michael's. I used mod podge to glue the papers on and added the embellishments. The flowers are also from Michael's. I detached the flowers from the stems and arranged them on the box and glued them down using a glue gun. The black centers are adhesive rhinestones. I added some pearls around the flowers. The monogram is a rhinestone letter from Michael's $1 spot. I could not find an 'R', so I bought a 'B' and did a little surgery to make it into an 'R'.

I chose the birdcage paper to line the inside of the box because Rhonda likes birdcage also. These papers work really well together.

This is the box that took me the longest to make, because I had to line the whole box with black paper. I'm also learning how to use mod podge carefully so as not to leave too many marks on the paper and it does take some practice.

Supplies List:

DCWV Mariposa Collection

Jenni Bowlin Embellished Butterflies

Ashland Spring Floral Bushes

K&Co Elegance Gems

Recollections Adhesive Pearls

Happy Mother's Day Card

2011-05-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

This week's Play Date Cafe Challenge with Sarah Anderson (PDCC79) features the colours red, lime and grey. This wonderful palette is perfect for a Mother's Day card I'm making for my mother-in-law. She likes more traditional designs so I went with a relatively simple one.

I layered lime and red patterned paper on the grey cardstock, and stamped butterflies in lime on white cardstock. For the accent, I used my newly purchased diecut to make the fun rosette. The Mother's Day sentiment is stamped on white cardstock and cut out careful to make the center of the rosette. I chose a traditional red ribbon because this is something my mother-in-law would like. To jazz it up a bit, I used red and white stickles to add a bit of bling to this traditional card.

An early Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Thanks for looking!!! I'm hoping to get some craft time this weekend to make more layouts and cards.

Supplies List:
Studio G Stamps
Technique Tuesday Black Ink
SEI, Basic Grey Patterned paper
Sizzix Tim Holtz Rosette Die Cut
Ranger Ink Stickles

Easter Recap (Thank You card)

2011-05-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a blessed weekend.. even though I am still feeling sick, my family had a great time colouring eggs, egg-hunting, enjoying fellowship time with our friends and attended a few Easter service and activities at church. I was able to bake a little here and there, and rested most of the weekend.

I joined the SBB's Easter challenge to make a Spring themed card, and waited a few days ago to complete it due to my illness. This is Joy's challenge, and I chose the theme 'thankful' because I have so many friends to thank for their prayers and thoughts while I struggle with my illness.

For the background, I chose a few Spring themed papers. I stamped the image on white cardstock and double matted it. This is my first card using the new Copic markers that I bought after taking a fabulous class at CKC by Clear and Simple Stamps. I had fun colouring the image in order to match the background papers.

Supplies List:

Making Memories Patterned Paper

Studio G clear stamps

Technique Tuesday black ink

Cat's Eye ink

Monochromatic Card - Happy Surfing!

2011-04-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

The surfer dude is so cool that I'm using it again in DeNami's Monochromatic Challenge. My last monochromatic layout was based on my favourite colour blue, and when I make this card, I borrowed some elements from it. I made the embossed surf boards and used ric-racs and blue stickles to go with the water theme. My stickle bottle is misbehaving so the swirls were less than perfect, I hope to get better results next time. This is also my first time using my new Copic markers and I had fun with it.

Here is my monochromatic layout in blue that inspired the card:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies List (card):
Cardstock - Recollections
Patterned Paper - Making Memories Paperie
DeNami Stamp
Technique Tuesday Ink
Copic Markers

Supplies List (layout):
Patterned Paper, Stickers, Journal - Making Memories Paperie
Technique Tuesday - Splash Stamp

Up and Surfing soon!

2011-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

My dear friend's son was hospitalized, and my son is very concerned about him since they are very good friends as well. My kids asked that we pray for their family and also make a card for them. So I decided to make a card wishing him to be 'up and surfing soon'. And it just happens that the DeNami Theme Challenge #6 is all about boys...so I thought I'd share...

To match the surfing theme, I embossed the background dots and waves. I colored the surfing chickies and matted them and attached them to the card with foam squares so as to add a little dimension to the card.

We sent the card with some fruit and homemade cranberry orange muffins. We wish our little friend a speedy and complete recovery!

Supplies List:
DeNami Surfer Chickie Stamp, Mini-Scallop Stamp
Recollections Rhinestones

Wedding Monogram Box

2011-04-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is box #1 in the monogram box series that I'm making for some wonderful and talented friends who are participating in the monogram swap.

The box is a basic white paper box from Michael's. I used mod podge to glue the papers on and added the embellishments. The flowers are also from Michael's. I detached the flowers from the stems and arranged them on the box and glued them down using a glue gun. The monograms are rhinestone letters from Michael's $1 spots. Did I mention I love Michael's?

This box is for our sweet bride-to-be, Candace. Her wedding colours are white, pink and light green. I picked flowers and patterned papers that match her beautiful wedding colours. I hope she can use this as a wedding gift card box or as a keepsake box. I've added her fiance's monogram also for this special and joyous occasion.

Many blessings to you both, Candace and Andrew!

Supplies List:

Basic Grey Romani patterned paper

Ashland Spring Floral Bushes

K&Co Elegance Gems

Recollections Adhesive Pearls

Wedding Day, Sweet Chickies

2011-03-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a wedding chickies card for a sweet friends. She is a friend in my blingy circle, so the card fits DeNami's Product Challenge #7 perfectly.

I received a cute bride and groom chickie stamp from DeNami in their recent promotion. I stamped the image and surrounded it with a blingy heart. I hand cut the image with the border and layered it with another piece of patterned paper. I added a few accents, a few more bling, and hope that our sweet bride will like this card!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies List:
DeNami Wedding Chickies Stamp
DCWV Luxury Stack, Glitter Stack
Recollections Pearls and Rhinestones
Prima Flowers
Cuttlebug With Love Embossing Folders

Live Simply * Love Abundantly

2011-03-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Maybe because it's allergy season and things seem a little hazy for me all the time, this week has just flown by and I barely noticed ... which means it's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge (PDCC74). This week's challenge uses the gorgeous combination of purple, blue and white. These are truly my favourite colours!

For this week's card, I layered cardstock with patterned paper. I inked the embossed white cardstock with both blue and purple ink to create a gradient look. I doubled-matted the quote sticker, and added the butterfly, the flower and tiny pearl accents. To add a little more sparkle to the butterfly, I added a little Stickles.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies List
DCWV Pocket of Posies
K&Co Susan Winget Botanical Stickers
K&Co Poppy Seed Stickers
Prima Flowers
Cuttlebug Swirl Embossing Folder
Colorbox Pigment Cat's Eye Queue Fiesta

Long Stemmed Sentiment Card

2011-03-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first time playing in the Play Date Cafe Challenge. The gorgeous trio of colours are from Play Date Challenge PDCC73. To make this simple card, I stamped the flower stems on the white cardstock, the flowers on the red cardstock and the vase on the plum cardstock. I did a little bit of paper piecing and assembled the flower vase. I added some glitter to the vase, and coloured in the leaves in order to dress up the image. As for the background, I used Cuttlebug to emboss one of the strips, and used patterned paper for the other strip. Lastly, I've added three jewels and a ribbon to finish up the card.

Supplies List:
Technique Tuesday Long Stemmed Sentiment Stamps
Technique Tuesday Black Ink
Colorbox Pigment Cat's Eye Queue Fiesta
Making Memories Patterned Paper
Cuttlebug Bloom Dots A2 Embossing Folder
Tombow Dual Brush Pen

Happy Bird-day to You!

2011-03-22T11:24:00.001-07:00

I am in love with the 'Chickie' stamps, and last week, I created a birthday card using DeNami Sketch #7 which is designed by the talented Michele.

This is a versatile sketch that is great for any special occasion. I decided to make a cheerful card based on this design.

I stamped the image and double matted it. I also double matted the patterned paper in the back as well. I colored the image with matching colours and added the border for a little more festive feel.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies List:
DeNami Stamp
DCWV Pocket of Posies Stack
K & Co Poppy Seed Border
Cat's Eye Ink, Technique Tuesday Ink
Tombow Dual Tip Brush
Ranger Stickles

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Friend

2011-03-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

I bought a set of beautiful stamps and haven't been able to use them yet. Since there are a few upcoming birthdays (for a few sweet friends), I have decided to finally break into them. This is the first in a series of projects I'm making with these stamps.

I stamped and coloured the image in order to match the background paper and the overall colour theme. I don't own any Copic Markers yet, so I'm using the water based Tombow markers. One thing I learned is that the hybrid ink I used still bleeds a little into the colouring, so I may try some different markers next time.

I doubled matted the image, and also double matted the patterned paper in the background. In order to make the image 'pop' a little more, I used dimensional foam squares.

A very simple card for my very sweet friend... :)

Supplies:
Denami Sweet Treats Stamp
Technique Tuesday Ink
Tombow Dual Brush Pen
DCWV Pocket of Posies Patterned Paper

Valentine's Day Card

2011-02-16T22:33:00.001-08:00

I made this card based on a design from the Outlines Stamp Gallery. I went back to find the link but I cannot find it anymore. The original card has similar design - with the stamp image being stamped twice, and the different components are cut out. I've made a slight modification by matting all of the components to make them 'pop' a little more. I've also turned the direction of the hearts inward and added the inking and distressing.

This is also my first time using Distress embossing powder. Although I have almost destroyed a corner of my living room carpet, the result came out quite well. I love the subtlety of the colours and the texture.

Next time, I just have to remember putting a heat resistant mat over the carpet before I use the heat gun.

Supplies List:
Outlines Stamp E-234 Inspiration Square Lg. 1
DCWV Luxury Mat Stack
Recollections silver cardstock
Brown cardstock
Rangers Distress embossing powder
Cats Eye azure ink

Valentine's Day Project

2011-02-16T22:16:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make something 'sweet' for my little helpers.. besides those baked goods. I came across this beautiful sparkly ribbon that was on sale at Michael's and got an idea. Why not make something sweet with this ribbon that reminds me of frosting or icing?

I also needed a gift bag for the little puppy keychains I bought for my sweet ones. A while back, I was very excited to find a Sizzix XL die for making takeout boxes, and got even more excited when Cuttlebug came out with this new extended cutting pad that will allow users to use Sizzix XL die. I decided to make a gift box out of the takeout box. The die makes one half of the box only, so I had to run another strip of paper through again to make the other half. I also trimmed the top of one of the halves to make the top close easily.

I used a tape runner for gluing the box together, and it was not strong enough. A wet glue would work better in this case... or a couple of glue dots might do the trick. As for decorations, I used more stickers on one of the boxes, and used the Sizzix 3-D flower die to make the roses on the other box. The Imaginisce petal roller tool helped me roll up the petals easily to form the rose.

I hope my kids love these sweet treats.

Supplies List
Card:
Pink cardstock
Pink Stickles
Jolee's Boutique Valentine's stickers

Take-out box:
Pink cardstock
Sizzix XL takeout box die
Sizzix Bigz 3-D flower die
Cuttlebug with extended cutting pad
Jolee's Boutique Valentine's stickers
Pink Stickles

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-16T22:06:00.001-08:00

As usual, we celebrated Valentine's day with.. more food! We baked some cupcakes and my little helpers helped with the sprinkles. That was for breakfast... I know.. once a year they get to do this wild thing. I guess my justification is that they will be loaded up with sugar at school anyways.

As for dinner, I had to work so I made something simple - ribs, cornbread, mashed potatoes. I surprised everyone with the chocolate dipped fruit (strawberries and organic apple slices from Costco) .. and yes, I delegated the cleaning (especially the pot that was used to melt the chocolate) to my dearest hubby. :) It was a sweet day for sure!

Made with Love

2011-02-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

Valentine's day is on Monday, so I decided to do something for my loved ones. My whole family is in love with the wonderful pineapple buns ... and I thought to myself: wouldn't it be wonderful to know how to make them in addition to the cupcakes that I make every year? I made a note to myself to attend a bun baking class next time I'm in HK.

It just so happens I saw Christine's new blog post on Facebook:
http://www.pigpigscorner.com/2011/01/pineapple-bun-bo-luo-bao-by-christines.html
As usual, her recipes are accurate and easy to follow, so I decided to give it a try. I know right off I was going to ignore the ammonia powder. I've read somewhere about the 'manual scoring' technique, so I decided to do that instead.

The key to making this bread is the 'tangzhong'. I've found this very useful article about 65C 湯種甜麵糰 from another wonderful blog, Corner Cafe
http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/japanese-style-sweet-bun-dough/

So I started making the tangzhong Friday afternoon, making sure there's enough time for it to chill in the fridge. I proceeded to make the topping , and then the dough. I used my heavy duty mixer to mix the dough.. however, the dough was quite sticky.. and it really didn't rise during the 1st proof. I then remembered that in mixing up the yeast with lukewarm water, I forgot to scald the milk when I added it in. I'm sure the yeast was inactivated. So I tried rescuing the dough by mixing in more activated yeast and kneaded some more, and proofed it in a warm oven (turned it to 400F for 1 min).. then I followed the rest of the steps. The result isn't too bad. The topping is wonderful, the bun is soft, but not fluffy enough.

So on Saturday night, with my dearest hubby's encouragement (or enabling), I proceeded to make a second batch. I still have half of the tangzhong left, and I have a little bit of topping left, so making the dough was the only thing I had to do. I wanted to change things up a bit, as I didn't want to make plain breads, so I looked at some posts from Corner Cafe, and decided to make some breakfast bun with what I had in the fridge. I was disappointed not to find any sausages, but I've got plenty of green onions, cheese and a pack of tuna. That should do.

This time, I researched the other posts, and made sure I activated the yeast with lukewarm water, and waited to see 'beer foam'-like foam appear on the surface. I lightly scalded the milk, and mixed everything except the butter in the mixer for 6 minutes. I added the room temperature butter and mixed the dough for another 4 minutes. The mixer bowl was too big for the dough, so there was a lump that was stuck in the bottom despite my continuing scraping down the bowl. I took the dough out and hand kneaded it for another 15 minutes. At first, I had to keep adding flour to my hands and the surface, but it really got a lot less sticky towards the end. When the dough was ready (able to pull out a small bit to form a thin membrane), I put it in the greased bowl in the warmed oven (warmed it to 400F for 1 min, then put in the dough), and waited 40 min. The 1st proof was very successful. When I took the dough out, it was beautiful: elastic, not sticky at all, and all fluffed up. I punched it down, let it rest for 15 minutes and then formed the dough. I also rolled in the ingredients. This time I let it proof for another hour in the warm oven.

The 2nd proofing was successful as well. The dough did grow twice in size, the way it should. The breads came out a lot more fluffy and lighter than the first batch. They still don't compare to the bakery ones, but are surely better than the packaged ones we got from the local Asian supermarket.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2011-02-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

This is the Year of the Rabbit.. hopefully I will be healthier this year. Since I'm recovering from a terrible cold/flu, I was not able to cook a feast for my family.. instead, I made the small snacks instead.

The small fryer is one of the best investment I've made last year. Deep-frying the sesame balls is so much easier with this appliance. I can also control the temperature of oil, which helps a great deal since these little dessert balls need to be fried with a medium heat. Otherwise, the sesame seeds will be burnt.

Besides making the usual rice noodle stir fry, I also made curry puffs for the first time. A friend of mine has shown me the secret - using store bought puff pastry sheets. I still have to work on getting the right taste of HK style curry, for this batch, I used a mixture of Korma curry with Japanese curry. I used minced beef, potatoes and peas and they taste great with the curry.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-01-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

We had a relaxing but busy Christmas... we baked cookies, muffins, brownies, made Christmas decorations and went sledding, running and the kids got rid of the training wheels of their bikes!

And best of all, I received a wonderful package from my secret Santa sister Sarah:

Another Heritage Layout

2010-11-02T20:37:00.001-07:00

Dad received some profits from his factory one year, and decided to take all the employees on a tour to Thailand. He visited one of the temples and took a few pictures. He closed down the factory in a few years because he felt he was too old to run it and he just wanted to spend more time with family..... He is the best employer I've known! :)

I couldn't recognize the site of these photos so I had to post it on FB and ask my friends to help. My friend Linda has helped me to identify it as Wat Arun.

This layout was done for a heritage challenge. The pics were taken in the 60s. I hand cut the elephant from the pp.. despite the fact that I have a few die cut machines.. the irony of it - LOL!

Supplies List

Basic Grey Blush - Double Dark
Basic Grey Boxer - Vintage Tee, Corduroy, Wide Tie, Wing Tip
We R Memories snaps
Jolee's stickers
American Craft Thickers

Baby Baby Baby

2010-08-26T23:35:00.002-07:00

Congratulations to a lovely couple - they are expecting a baby girl! So, our friends threw a baby shower for them, and asked me for help to make a guest book since I have , oh, you know, just surplus of papers! And I decided to make them a diaper cake because every baby needs a few diapers, a few washcloths, burp cloths, blankets and onesies...

Father's Day Album

2010-06-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am so glad I'm able to finish my dear husband's Father's Day album. He is an awesome dad and an equally awesome photographer, so it is only fitting that I combined those two themes together and made him a family photo album. This time the album features not just the most photographed subjects on earth (our kids), but also the photographer himself!

I really love doing acrylic albums. My preference is to not cover the album up with paper, but rather use rub-ons or stamping (using Staz On ink) to keep the focus on the photos and also allow embellishments on the next pages to show through. As the albums are generally 8x8 or smaller, photos will need to be cropped in most cases and the 'blank' areas are then open for embellishing. It is really fun when you finish the album, and each page adds a little to the overall album design, and you can see it all through the cover!

There are a few tricks to not let adhesive show. One technique is to put two photos that are the same size on the front and back pages in the same location. That way, the adhesive is 'hidden' behind the pictures. Another method is to paste a patterned paper or cardstock to the back of a photo and let that show through the backside of the page. The patterned paper can be part of the background on the backside design. In this album, I used paper on the film strip of 3 photos and also on the long, slim photo. You can see how the paper becomes a part of the design on the backside. Since these papers do show through, I would use either a vellum adhesive or Zip-dry glue. This way the adhesive will not be as visible.

Most clear albums have about 5 acrylic sheets in total (10 pages). I like to keep the first page embellished, yet not covered up so the whole album can show through. I then embellish different quadrants in each of the following pages. This way, there won't be too much overlapping.

Half of the album focuses on family photos that were taken by the photographer. The other half focuses on the photographer himself:

Supply List:
Clear Scraps Camera Clear Album
Little Yellow Bicycle Lucky Me paper and rub-ons
Heidi Grace Forever Love Rub-ons
Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards Life in Pictures Stamp
Bo Bunny Journaling and K&Co Blue Awning Rub-ons
Making Memories ribbons and button
Staz On ink pad

Mother's Day Report

2010-05-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

I received these beautiful gifts form my kids for mother's day. The cards are hand made by my son, my daughter, and the middle one is from my husband, who said my hand-made cards have coerced him into making a card as well - LOL! No good deeds go unpunished!!!

So, from a guy's perspective .. gifts for moms are for moms to do .... more stuff, right? He did emphasize it is because I LOVE to do those stuff.. so here it is:

So here is my report....

I discovered the no-knead bread from Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

These are wonderful recipe for homemade artisan breads. The breads are easy to make and not time-consuming at all. We will never have to buy artisan breads again!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

To all of you moms, ALL of you (including those who are, who will be, who have been, who are like one to another person, and etc and etc .....)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Fabric Flower (hairpin or brooch)

2010-04-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Sassy Blinging Babe's BlogHop! You must have just visited Kelly's Paper Dreams Blog, isn't it fun? Now on this blog, I'd like to share a fabric flower that I made as a Mother's Day project.

There are many uses for making fabric flowers. Estelle once told me that she used the Sizzix to make fabric flowers for brooches. Since I have some Sizzix flower die as well, I decided to give it a try.

I started out with 4 quilt squares I got from the local fabric store. I then used the Sizzix Flower die and the Cuttlebug to cut out flower pieces. For this thick die, I used a stack of two Plate B and an envelope to cut the fabric. The addition of the envelope underneath the smooth side of the die gave me the right thickness such that the cuts are clean. You can probably skip the envelope if your fabric is thick enough.

I stacked about 5 to 6 flowers together. Then I cut a thin strip of fabric to make the center of the flower. I found this tutorial which is very easy to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-upodt7jic

Since the flower center is very small, I did not fold the strip 3 times, instead, I just folded it once, and kept twisting it while going around. The result is a small flower center:

After this is done, I inserted a small pearl brad at the center and adhere the center to the stack of flower petals I made earlier. Then I glued the flower to a small piece of felt so that it'll go on a hairpin or a brooch easily.

Thanks for looking.. if you leave a comment, you have a chance to win! I will pick one random commenter and one random Sassy Blinging Babe commenter to receive a small RAK. Check back on Apr 24th to see if you have won (and let me know how to contact you)!

Now it's time to check out the next hop stop: Cyndi's Place! Have fun!

Heritage Page

2010-03-29T21:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't done a heritage page for a long time ... fortunately, I stumbled upon a challenge that got me going again. Of course, I couldn't have done this without the help of my friends, Rhonda and Cyndi, who 'enabled' me to get a set of Asian themed scrapbook kit from Big Lots. So I decided to scrap this picture of my parents that I absolutely LOVE!

I started with 2 pieces of patterned papers that I really love, and then added the embellishments one by one. After I was done, I thought it still lacked something.. I wanted to add something a bit more personal (in addition to the journaling) ... so I stamped the bird and the butterfly and hand-cut them as custom embellishments. I also found an Asian themed wooden stamp that I had for a long time about summer, and I made an image from that as well. Now it feels more complete:

Supplies list:
DCWV cardstock
Colorbok Scrapbook Kit
Making Memories Journaling Stamp, Basic Grey Granola Stamp
Prima and K&Co Flowers
Making Memories vintage pins, ribbon charms, antique brads
Prima and K&Co Pearls and flower centers
Maya Road Coins, OTC metal flowers
Prima ribbon

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Happy ValeNewYear!

2010-03-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been more than a month... but this year's Valentine's Day was very special. Or this year's Chinese New Year was very special. That's because they both fall on the SAME day! So, which holiday you choose to celebrate tells me how much you value your lover over your family, or vice versa!

Or maybe you can do both!?! So I made traditional Chinese New Year good eats, and some Valentine's Day cupcakes.... for my loved ones:

Turnip Cakes

For my loved ones...

Fried rice cake, sesame ball,
homemade sesame dessert dumpling
fried wonton skin

Big Valentine

2010-02-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

My daughter's school teacher planned a surprise Valentine's Day Party for the kids and requested that parents bring in a big Valentine for the kids... Being a scrappy mom, of course I HAD to make my own! :) I saw a beautiful decorative Valentine's quilt at a store and it gave me the idea for this big card. It also represents the many ways we love her. And we certainly love her in more ways than one!

Her teacher has requested for a minimal amount of sweets and gifts, so I only attached four hairclips, a cute little jelly candy and a heart-shaped template (since she is a young scrapper too). I also made a card for her using the Cuttlebug, knowing that she loves the embossed butterfly. I knew there was a reason why I bought a stack of Brenda Walton's Sweet Talk paper pad. Now I know! :)

Supplies list:

K and Company Brenda Walton's Sweet Talk

Queen and Company Heart shaped felt

Making Memories Embellishment Jar (Noteworthy - Ava)

Making Memories Vintage Finds Large Kit (baby collection)

Assorted flowers from Prima and Ava

K and Company Sweet Talk Fabric Brad

Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss Butterfly

Cuttlebug Bloom Dots A2 Embossing Folder

My renovated scrap corner (+ kids reading room)

2010-01-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

We finally moved the queen size bed from our 'multi-purpose room' (which serves as a guestroom, my craft room, the kids reading room, summer changing room for swimming, diaper changing room for our guets). We got an Expedit shelf (+table) from IKEA and a couple of 'Billies' and turned the room into our official family craft room + kids' reading room.

Rub-ons, stickers and clear stamps are stored in folders. I bought some of the storage sheets from Ebay where you can store 4-6 stamps on a page. For the Studio G dollar stamp sets, I used the baseball card holders. The file folders are those made to house 8.5 x 11 sheets. In one drawer, I stored all my Making Memories paints, the other - all my bling. I have to store my inks in another drawer and the acrylic blocks and additional wood stamps in the other. Most of my embellishments are categorized and placed in boxes. Ribbons are in glass or plastic jars, a few are in storage boxes as well.

We left the Crop in Style cubs and the overhead shelf (also from IKEA) at their original spot, added a small corner table and a couple of beanbags as the reading corner. We moved the original bookshelves to the other side of the room and placed the new shelves next to them. We then moved all the kids' books and crafts into these shelves. Because the Expedit shelf won't house the vertical Cropper Hopper 12x12 paper holders, I have to use the bottom bookshelves for my 12x12 papers.

The walls are not done yet.... I think we'll post some of the kids' drawings on the wall.. and maybe add a few more wall decors...

What did we do during Christmas?

2010-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

We kickstart the holidays with baking brownies. We made enough cookies and brownies for all the teachers and packaged them nicely in Martha Stewart boxes that were on sale.

After that, it was all a blur. What did we do during the holidays? Let's see, we cooked, ate, went up North to enjoy the snow twice, took the Polar Express, saw a couple of movies, went to a few parties and we made these ....

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

2010-01-15T21:27:00.000-08:00

I made this cheesecake for our Thanksgiving party... I know.. it's been MONTHS... I finally got a chance to write down the recipe, and maybe post some Christmas baking pics sometime soon! :)

I found two recipes originally. One for a chocolate pumpkin cheesecake and the other one for a mocha chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. Since we have many young guests, I cut down on the coffee and also simplified the procedures a little.

Ingredients

3 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate graham crackeres

3 - 8 oz packages of Neufchatel or cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar; 1/4 cup light brown sugar

5 large eggs

2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 can (16 oz) solid pack pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

4 tablespoons hot strong coffee

Preparation

Cheesecake crust

1. Heat oven to 350F. Melt 3 tbs of butter; combine with crushed graham crackers and strong coffee. Press into bottom and partially up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle half cup of chocolate morsels on pie crust.

Filling

2. Use an electric beater at medium speed, cream Neufchatel or cream cheese for 3 - 4 minutes. Beat in sugar gradually, continuing for 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla.

3. Warm rest of the chocolate morsels in warm water bath until melted. Spoon in 1/2 cup of the pumpkin mixture and mix well.

4. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the crust. Spoon in chocolate pumpkin mixture over top and swirl to make pattern. Save some mixture for mending cracks later on.

5. Bake for 60 - 65 minutes or until the rim is set and the center is slightly unset (after cooling down the center will firm up). Remove from oven and cool in pan. Remove the ring from the springform pan before the cake cools down).

6. Use the chocolate pumpkin mixture to mend any surface cracks if necessary.

Variations

Our family loves mango. So I've substituted pumpkin puree with mango puree. I will experiment with other fruit to see which ones taste good. The mango cheesecake was a big hit too:

A day in my life

2009-11-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

This is a layout I did for a challenge:

A day in my life.. that day, I happened to have:
- gone online (of course of course)
- looked for 60s stuff for my daughter's 60s' day at the school
- had lunch with my son at a nice bakery cafe
- scrapped while he napped
- given him a haircut
- picked the remaining peaches on the tree
- watered my plants
- checked on the birdies on the front door
- posed for a spontaneous 60s shoot

This is inspired by a LO designed by Ali Edwards (a Technicue Tuesday class that I took at CKC). I made quite a few changes because I had more pics... I also used patterned paper from the Rusty Pickle Lucky Line instead of just plain cardstock. The stamp set is designed by Ali and is given to us in the class kit. I also used more Ali journaling stamps for the journaling.

Happy Birthday, my dearest!

2009-07-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Kelvin's birthday. I made him a special birthday cupcake 'cake'. I got the idea when he forwarded me a few cupcake blogs after he saw the ones I made for Brian. There are many talented artists out there making cupcake toppers for sale in the Etsy stores, so I got the idea to make my own cupcake toppers....

I got some great help from the kids! I used the Sizzix Round-a-Bout alpha set to make the words "Happy Birthday". I used the Cuttlebug camera die to make the two tiny cameras.

A special cupcake for my favourite photographer.
I'm glad he really really likes it:

Happy Birthday, Brian!

2009-07-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

It was Brian's birthday last week. I baked him some cupcakes and also made a cupcake giftcard holder for him.

I've seen these cupcake gift holders before, and found the instructions from Tresa's Fabulously Artsy Blog at:

http://www.fabulouslyartsy.blogspot.com

It is surely a fabulous blog! Just follow her step by step instructions at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkVm1Tif6gI

For my version, I found these fabulous blingy sequin ribbons on sale at Michael's. I cut the sequins loose and glued them with glue dots onto the styrofoma ball.

For the cherry topper, I used a red pom pom and some white lace ribbons. Brian would like to eat it, but I told him it's for holding a gift card! :)

Love Album

2009-06-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Love is in the air! My BFF Vandana is getting married... and I made this clear album for her bridal shower. I think she may use this as a mini wedding album too, so I kept the album more formal so that she can put her beautiful wedding pictures in it.

I used the SEI Jolie Chocolat line again. This is such a beautiful line.. I love the silver and pink, and the beautiful mix of hearts and butterflies. The paper did all the work for me, all I needed to do was to cut a few patterns out and embellish the the album a little. I also discovered this beautiful white scroll acrylic album, also made by SEI. It makes putting together this mini album so much easier. I am going to get a few of these as gifts....

The backcover for the album is also embellished. I love using rub-ons and blings as embellies on the love theme.

'Adorable' Acrylic Album

2009-05-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

It's official.. I am addicted to clear albums! But they make such nice gifts.

I made this album for a friend who loves my layouts. I wanted to give her new baby something special, so I decided to make a girly gift album for her. She had two boys so I'm sure the pink will be a nice change for her. :)

In making this album, I mainly used the Animal Crackers line from Making Memories. I also used one of their earlier lines.. Emma from MM Kids. I used a variety of rub-ons and even foil rub-ons to make it more fun. Of course, Prima flowers and bling help add the finishing touches.

In order to add some variety, I also used my Cuttlebug to shape some of the papers. I used the Quickutz cookie cutter nesting flowers die to make the various scalloped paper. It is more fun when various shapes are stacked together in a clear album.

Supplies list:
Clear Scraps Flower Album
Fancy Pants Designs - Rub Ons - Write Now
Making Memories Animal Crackers Collection
Making Memories MM Kids Emma
We R Memory Flock and Foil Kit
Quickutz Cookie Cutter Nesting Flowers Die
Prima Flowers

Cherish Album

2009-04-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is another gift album I made for a friend's birthday! We went to Taiwan together.. but I decided not to use our trip photos again! I already did a photobook and I think she needs one for all the wonderful family portraits that were taken over the holidays!

I started using up my stash, so I used:
BasicGrey Lilykate patterned paper
K&Co Blue Awning chipboard and embossed stickers
Quickutz scalloped flowers die
Fancy Pants Write Now rub-ons
Fancy Pants Botanical Collection rub-ons
K&Co Amy Butler rub-ons

I love the soft colours. Blue is her favourite colour too, so I hope she'll like this mini-album.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-12T22:45:00.001-08:00

I'm so in love with being in love and loving my kids! I know.. too much chocolate! Anyway, I joined two challenges and made these 2 LOs. One about our anniversary and the other about the consequences of marriage.

I used Making Memories papers on both of the LOs. I actually used the Paperie collection on the anniversary LO. I thought I would use it for Christmas, but then when I saw the pics, I thought a red and white colour scheme will do well in the love theme. I based this LO off of a sketch found in the Oct, 08 issue of Scrapbook Etc. I usually don't scraplift, but this challenge requires it... and I have fun doing it. It is a wonderful sketch and I made some changes to the LO. I used the Slice to make the circles and the journaling spot (got to love the Noteworthy Slice Card)! I used a Fancy Pants journaling stamp as well. In order to match the tones of this LO, I stamped the title using the beautiful Technique Tuesday Big Timber Meadow stamps. I stamped the title twice and cut and layered with foam stickers to achieve the 3-D feel.

This picture was taken on our 10th anniversary, at Cafe Deco at the Peak. There is a hidden pic with us and our kids. We have arrived at the 10th year mark with 2 wonderful gifts. :) The small pic is from our wedding.

******************************************************************

This other LO is also about love:
"I'm not sure why I love you, from the second you were born
And my love will only grow, even when my body is all worn
Every tear you shed, every song you sing
You tug at my heart string
And I still don't know why I love you
I just know I'll always do"

I read every book about taking care of babies, but none talks about how to start loving you both. When you were born, I realize it is NOT a conscious decision. It just happens. Just like that. Like I was just programmed to do it, without questioning.

The pictures were taken last year, and everything in the pictures, I hand made. My daughter's teacher had a special V-day party for the class and let all the moms came in a day early to decorate each kid's desk. I used my scrapping supplies, of course, and my die cut machine and stickles. :) I also made 2 cards for my kids, with the help of all family members.

I used Making Memories' Love Notes line in this LO. I had fun making my own heart embellies. I used the Slice to cut the layers, stickled them and glued them together. The title are acrylic words (Garden Party), but I painted them white.

Another Disney LO

2009-02-01T23:08:00.001-08:00

I did another layout earlier with the Mickey ears, and I love it so much that I am doing it here again.

I chose the colours orange and blue because they remind me of Winnie the Pooh... and that's my favourite character! :) I also did this for a colour challenge.

I love using brads and I've used quite a few here to accent the Mickey ears.... I love their vibrant colours. These brads are from Queen & Co.

Queen & Co's new releases look really cool too, I think I might need to get a few of those buckets.

Laugh

2008-12-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

This is my son's favourite expression when he was a year old. We all love it when he does that. And he knows it too.... and he'll make that face to make us laugh. The funny thing is, he couldn't help laughing when he does that ... which is what happened here! He is making the funny face AND laughing at the same time.

I'm so glad we took pictures of that to remind us what a goofy baby he was!

This is my first time using the Slice die cutter from Making Memories. I used the Basic Shapes 1 card to make the stars and the title. As for the flowers, I used the Noteworthy card. I layered them using cuts with different sizes.

I got this cute SEI Chick-A-Doo Collection pack a while back and I have always wanted to use it. I'm glad I get to use it on this fun LO. I used the tags and card stock embellishments from the collection pack.

Berry Good Together Gift Album

2008-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

This is a gift album I made for my friends' two precious daughters. They are wonderful girls.. and I wanted to make a more girly album for them. I also added a page with cupcake for their birthday pictures.

For the album I used some techniques that I learned from a class taught by the Glitz Girls. The rub-ons are from various manufacturers, including Glitz Girls, K&Co. Bo Bunny. For the papers, I used two MAMBI mini album kit because the papers are very girly. The cupcakes are from one of the birthday kits. The journaling paper is from Glitz Girls also, and they are very handy for acrylic albums because they are double-sided.

Engagement Photos Clear Album

2008-11-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

I made this album for a wonderful couple who will be getting married this month. Linda is a very sweet girl , so I picked the SEI chocolat line for this album because the pink/red colours and the butterflies remind me of her and their love for each other.

I happened to find some butterfly rub-ons from My Mind's Eyes that are perfect for the album!

I had a lot of fun making the album. I really love the acrylic album because when the pages are stacked together, they create a certain visual effect. Especially when the top page has a smaller photo and the bottom page has a larger one, the resulting effect is very dramatic!

Tags - Index/Table of Contents

2008-10-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

I love tags. I've seen many beautiful ones, either pre-made or hand-made. I have always wanted to make some... but I'm not sure how to use them besides using them as gift tags or on cards.

One day, while I was planning the table of content/index page for the travel album, I suddenly remembered the ticket stubs I've collected from our trip. We went to a few places and collected quite a few of them. I failed to include them in the actual trip LOs.. so now I have to find a way to include them in the album.

Then I suddenly remember tags! They would make wonderful ticket stub holders! Or at least I hope.....

I picked the same Making Memories tropical patterned paper that I used on some of my travel LOs, and used that as the design for the tags. Embellishing them was fun. I even did one of them as a hidden tag for our itinerary. I tend to forget where we've been after a while....

Silver Anniversary Clear Album

2008-10-03T00:14:00.001-07:00

Our friends just celebrated their 25th year anniversary. In honour of such a wonderful event, I made an acrylic gift album for them.

The clear album is probably an earlier product from Clear Scraps (love their shaped clear albums). Paper and embellishments are from K&Co. The ribbons are from Michael's $1 spot!

Can you tell I'm in love with the Blue Awning line? I made my dear husband's anniversary card from this line as well... it is so classy and elegant. The colours also work well for both genders. I think it'll also work really well with Basic Grey's Periphery line.. or LYB's Vita Bella. I hope I can do a project mixing those lines ...

I took a class from the Glitz girls, and had fallen in love with clear albums. I think that clear albums make the most wonderful gift albums. I made another one for my BFF for her two girls... They are fun to make and fun to display. I'm thinking if you get a small easel, the album can be easily displayed.

I love making albums that still preserve the 'clear' part. Therefore, I usually leave the edges clear of patterned paper. I also use rub-ons on over the edges and try to do it one corner per page. This way, the layered patterns will show thru without being too cluttered. As for the main design of each page, I just put a little bit of patterned paper in there as the background for the photos. And once the little pieces of ribbons are added to the rings, the album is done!

Happy Anniversary

2008-09-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Time goes by really fast.. it seems like we just got married yesterday... but here we are, many years later, with 2 kids and a whole bunch of baggage. Good thing life is not like airlines these days.. it doesn't charge extra fees for baggage.. or does it???

So how did we manage to weather the stormy days? Obsessions, my friend! He has his photography and I have my scrapbooking! That and with many many blessings and prayers from those around us .... :)

Anyway, I fell in love with the K&Co Blue Awning collection. (Yes, I admit it, I am hopelessly in love with blue. If you have to pair it with something else, it's got to be green or purple.) I thought the blue and green and beige will make a perfectly masculine card!

This is my first time making a gate fold card. I had to add 1/2 to the total width of the card, and then trimmed the fold to give it the diamond shape. I added the blue strips to the outward facing side of the card and then added the triangle onto the front. I added a lighter colour patterned paper to the inside of the card so that I can write a message in there.

Double-sided patterned paper works really well in a gate fold card. When you fold the card, you get different patterns without having to glue another layer to it. I also love the fact that the double-side papers are usually colour-coordinated.

Special Delivery

2008-09-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a great couple of weeks. Our friends have given birth, brought back adopted babies .. there are just lots of babies and lots of love... and we have 3 more friends who are expecting! Can you say Baby Shower? Bring on the cake, the confetti and the shower goodies!

This is the 4th diaper cake I've made and it is a bit more compact because I needed to transport it in my car. So I used #1 diapers. Just one package, plus some goodies such as burb clothes, wash clothes, onesies and 2 sets of outfit. There is a baby blanket that's wrapped in the center to give it more 'volume'.

I love Michael's $1 ribbon spots.. that's where I get most of my ribbons! :) However, even after that, it looks a bit plain. Since I don't have time to fully embellish the cake, I took a short cut!

I found that the K&Co tags (or any tags) work great as a simple embellishment. I already have a set of baby girl tags from my last creation, so this time I have to buy a set of baby boy tags. And I'll get to use them on 2 more cakes. Good deal!

Simple Pleasures - Tea

2008-09-25T01:39:00.000-07:00

I was so excited yesterday! My order from Stash Tea has arrived.. and I know I'll get to enjoy some really good tea for a couple of weeks... until my cup runneth dry ....

I enjoyed the YMY Chrysanthemum tea so much that I ordered some loose tea to try. I am so pleased to find that the loose tea also has a great, light taste! I have never found any 'Western' companies that make such a good mum tea, this is the first time. So besides the YMY Special Occasion Green Tea (with matcha), I now have another green tea to enjoy.

I still have an abundance of black tea (Stash Earl Grey is still my favourite) so I didn't order any more. Besides, I like the fruit flavoured black tea from Ahmad a little better than Stash.

I did order some black peony tea (and discovered that I have some white peony too.. I'm such a hoarder). I can't wait to see how this beautiful tea brews in a glass teapot.

And best of all, I received a fantastic sampler. I am not sure what chocolate mint Oolong or coconut mango Oolong is going to taste like, but it's worth trying. I hope it'll be a better tasting experience than any of the flavoured green tea. I really like my green tea, well, green. :)