Each Passing Year is Another Journey Travelled

Hi everyone, hope all of you is enjoying the week so far.

I'll be flying back to Indonesia on Thursday evening as it's Eid ul-Fitr (which translates to lots and lots of yummy food for the whole weekend, wooohooo!!!), so I thought I'd publish another post tonight.

Today's card is a card for my brother in law's birthday, which falls sometime this week--I've already mailed out this card a couple of days ago but I'm quite certain that's it's gonna reach him late! Oooopsss, my bad!

Anyway, here's the card using Card Pattern's Sketch 80. Not sure that the pattern is 100% as sketched, as it turned out that the bicycle image was too wide for a rectangular card T_T.



My brother in law loves cycling, so choosing the bicycle image as the topper was not a hard choice :). I created this bike silhouette digistamp from an image from Modish at SXC.



The cardstock and patterned paper I used were SEI's Oasis range; it's definitely one of my favorites although I think they might have discontinued this range :(.



As an embellishment, I printed a verse on kraft paper and adhered it to a punched scalloped circle cardstock (cut by my new Marvy Uchida Scalloped Circle Punch). Font credit goes to Kevin and Amanda's Free Scrapbook Fonts.

I'm submitting this cards to these following challenges too: CCCB Week 21 (One for the Boys, using the color blue), Paper Cutz Challenge #57 (1 ribbon, 2 button, and 3 colors--blue, brown and cream), and also enrolling them for the second time at Bee Crafty's Anything Goes (with digi-image), Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge's Anything Goes, and Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge (Write Me a Message).

Okay people... Gotta go now, got some packing to do :). Hope you enjoy the rest of the week and keep an eye out for my next post 'cos I may be posting loads of photos of oh-so-yummy food!

Cheerios!

Much love,
F

New House! - Set of 3

Hi people, enjoying the weekend so far?

I've been meaning to make these cards ever since my husband and I moved into our new house, but welllll... being me, I've only gotten around to make them today ^_^. I made a set of house-themed digistamps to 'celebrate' moving in to this house and I thought I'd make a set of 'change of address' cards.

So here they are, using CPS #183 sketch.


These cute cards are so quick and easy to make, especially with my Woodware craft punches. Gone are the days of painstakingly cutting circles with scalloped scissors! :) The cardstock I used were plain colored 160 gsm office supply papers, patterned paper is DCWV's The Spring Stack.

I colored the digis using watercolor pencils. I quite enjoy using pencils to color stamped images; I think it's easier to fix when I make mistakes. I can actually erase and recolor some parts of the image, like what I did on these three images :D.

On top of the CPS blog, I'm also submitting these cuties to Stamp Something's Something Cute Challenge, Digi Doodle Shop's Best Write Me a Message Challenge, as well as Bee Crafty's Anything Goes challenge (have to use digital image, though), and Daisy Doodles Creative Challenges Anything Goes.

That's all for today's post, but I promise I'll be back early next week with another card that I made for my brother in law :D.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your weekend!


Much love,
F

Dressed For Success :)

Hi again :)!

Since I haven't posted anything in four weeks, I thought I may as well publish two posts in a day now, LOL!

Anyway, one of my colleagues who also happens to be a dear friend of mine is leaving next week :(. Yes, it's very sad for me as she's very, very funny and she keeps our office alive (and makes those dreadful workday afternoons bearable, LOL), but I'm also happy for her as she's making a move into her own business :).

Anyway, I made her this card to go with her farewell gift (and again keeping my fingers crossed that she does not see this post until I gave her the card, LOL), using Sketch #182 from the Card Positioning Systems Blog.

I made the digistamp of a party dress a while back, which I thought goes quite well with the theme; wishing my friend all the best of success in the future :). To give the dress a fabric-looking effect, I printed one image onto a white paper, another on a SEI Juliette Lady's Boudoir pearl paper, and another on a plain gray paper that I smeared with silver glitter glue. I pieced the three layers together and voila! A glitzy, girly and glamorous party dress :). Simon Says Challenge Blog has their Paper Piecing Challenge this week, therefore I'm entering this card to the pool too!


I made and printed the sentiments "Dressed for Success" on a normal printer paper; font credit goes to Kevin and Amanda at Free Scrapbook Fonts. The rose I used for the embellishment was made from off-white flannel. Lastly, I'm posting this card to Bee Crafty's Anything Goes challenge, that requires the use of a digi image; as well as Stamptacular Sunday's Challenge Pretty in Pink. Aly's Sunday Challenge has the pretty in pink theme too, which makes it super convenient for me ^_^


Well that's all for today... I still have some more cards to make this week but more on that later :). Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for viewing!

Much love,
F

Birthday on Wheels

Hello there!

If you have been reading my previous posts, you'd probably know that August will be a super busy month for me. Not only will I be moving to a new house (yaaayy!!), but I also have to make five birthday cards to send out throughout the month (pheeww).

So I may as well get a head start, I thought, by making one of the birthday cards this weekend.The first person who's having his birthday in August is my brother in law, who's a huge fan of cars. Yep, you guessed correctly, that's why finding a theme for this birthday card was a piece of cake, LOL. Today's card will be the card that I'd send to him next week, so I'm basically keeping my fingers crossed that he won't be reading this blog post before the card's off in post, LOL :).

As I was blog hopping, I also happened to come across the Paper Cutz Blog's Challenge #51, which is to make a creation that features something with wheels, which is a perfect match with this project's idea. I combined the theme with Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog's Challenge 36, create something vintage, and came up with the design for this card.


I used Martine's Sketch from Simon Says Challenge Blog, although I think I might have made quite an alteration on the sketch as I thought following it as is might disrupt the topper's balance on my design--sorry, Martine :).


I also used Donna's recipe from the Cards for Men blog, which is Challenge #15. They'd asked readers to combine one image, two papers and three embellishments, which is exactly what I've done (well, although I used more than three embellishments. Couldn't resist the temptation! But I did use three buttons, though).

The Fussy and Fancy Girls over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge have also posted an exciting challenge a week ago, which is creating a design with scallop, stitches and sparkles. I used faux stitches for this card, adhered scalloped edges to one of the papers, and used four sparkly (well, metallic, to be exact) eyelets to embellish the card. And last but not least, I'm also posting this card to Digi Doodle Shop's Best Anything Goes Challenge.


Again, I used two of my "For His Eyes Only" digital papers for this card. I have not grown out of it for now :), plus I haven't gotten around to designing another kit for men :) :).

Well, that's all for tonight. It's gonna be the start of a busy week tomorrow, so I'd better kick it off with a good night sleep!! Thanks for visiting and have a great week ahead!

Love,
F

Happy Birthday Super Star!

Do you like sports? I don't. Wait--let me just rephrase that--I detest sports. My husband (or my poor, poor PE teacher back in the days) would have to either drag me by the feet or bribe me with a ridiculous amount of money just to get me into my trainers and burn some kilos. The closest thing to sports that you'd see me do is listening to the occasional snippets of World Cup 2010 coverage from the BBC's World Service (yep, I don't even like watching live sports on TV, LOL).

What I do like, though, are challenges. Just like when one of my cousins turned seven a few weeks ago, as it was the first time I created a birthday card for a boy.

I was browsing through my favorite craft shop--UrbanWrite--for ideas, when I came across this lively American Crafts' Junior patterned paper collection. Perfect for an active young fellow.

But what do you know, since I don't exactly adore sports, nor have I done any design with this theme, I didn't have any stamps or embellishments that would go with it. So as I got home, I only managed to sit still in front of my desk, doing nothing except for staring blankly at the cute patterned paper.

An idea popped into my head a couple of days later, irrelevant as it may be, when I was washing my hubby's Judogi (which is, by the way, an incredibly bulky uniform for judo, made from tremendously heavy fabric. Can you imagine how physically draining it is to hand-wash this thing?? Thank god he only practices once in a blue moon nowadays). I decided to make my own hand cut topper from a plain cardstock and embellish the card my self.

I cut a jersey-shaped topper from a red cardstock, adorned it with white stripes and a number "1" from plain printer paper, and stamped the name of the birthday boy on the jersey.


The topper turned out to complement the paper perfectly, but as I thought the card still looked pretty plain, I decided to make a mini "medal" that says 'Super Star'. Perfect for a star of any field!

I adhered the topper onto the patterned paper, and attached it on a red pre-folded cardstock with golden brads.

Although I must say I am quite proud of myself for creating this sporty card :), I do hope that one fine day something can change my mind about sports, that I'll be more active, that I'll be healthier and that at least I'll lose some weight :P. But for today, I guess this card will just have to do!

Much love,
F

CPS 173 - Woven Ribbon Birthday Card

Hello there!

I couldn't believe last week went by so fast, but what's worse is, now the weekend is almost over! Pheew! My husband and I went house hunting almost all of yesterday, so between doing the laundry, making Macaroni Casserole and cleaning up our second bedroom-cum-my craft studio, I have not been able to get my usual dose of crafting :(. It has also been raining cats and dogs here in Singapore for the past few days. This morning I woke up to the sound of a blazing thunderstorm, which, to my regret, has soaked all the clothes that I washed last night!!! Aaarghhh!!

As some of you probably know, the creative folks at Card Positioning Systems always release a new challenge every Saturday. Their sketch this week, CPS Sketch 173, is clean and simple--which is a style I quite like. Here's my take on the sketch:

It's my husband's birthday next week and since we're going away for the weekend, I thought of making a birthday card for him :). But since he poked around the studio when I was making this card, I think I may have to dismiss that idea and create a new card for his birthday now, LOL!

The original sketch included six ornamental squares at the side of the card, which I was going to create using patterned paper. But at the end, I decided to weave a piece of cream satin ribbon into the cardstock topper. I cut twelve slits on the bottom of the topper and wove two pieces of ribbon into the cuts; one piece from the right end and another from the left.

As a finishing touch, I tied the ends of the ribbon to a wooden ring that I bought at my local haberdashery store (which is a treasury for amazing cardmaking finds!!), and embellished the knot with a brown plastic button, tied with a piece of jute string.

Here's the list of materials I used for this card:

Cardstock: ArtFriend pre-cut cards
Topper: American Crafts AC Cardstock Caramel
Patterned Paper: SEI Poppy Espadrille
Stamp (for sentiment): Anna Griffin by All Night Media

Well, that's all the crafts for today and I'd better get back to doing the ironing now :(... Hope all of you had a great Saturday and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Much love,
F

Another Father's Day Card :)

I'm back with another Father's Day card!

As today is Father's Day, for this week's cardmaking challenge I made another special card for all dads in the world :).

Today's card is inspired by a sketch designed by the folks at the CPS blog, and I must admit, when I saw the sketch, I thought it was a bit challenging as I don't usually do asymmetrical layouts. Nevertheless, the sketch turned out to be really fun to work with, and although I intentionally left out the arrow element, I am quite satisfied with the design :).

Having the same theme in spirit, I also submitted this design for CardsforMen blog for their Father's Day challenge.

So what do you think of it?


I found a pre-folded cardstock at the bottom of my craft-supplies drawer, which was handy because its baby-blue color matched the feel of the patterned papers that I used. The patterned papers were from my digital paper pack collection, For His Eyes Only, which will be listed on Etsy soon. Follow FebruaryLane on Twitter if you want an update of when it's listed :)

I was also excited about the sketch because it had a circle element, which meant I could use my new Woodware scalloped circle punch :) :). I bought the punch when I went to the UK three weeks ago, but I have yet to find the chance to create anything with it.

I used the scalloped circle punch to make the recycled-paper base for the topper, which I printed on an ivory 80 gsm parchment paper. The image is of an antique beetle car that I had edited using CorelDraw with oil pastel effect. I used jute strings (I know, I know, I use too much jute in my designs) to tie the topper to the patterned paper and adhered them on the baby blue blank card.

Okay, that's all for today, I really have to go to the library and return a book before I get fined :). Wishing all of you a great Father's Day and hope that you can celebrate this special day with a man who is very dear to you!!

My Super Hot Crush

Have I mentioned lately that I am head over heels for SEI's paper collections? If I haven't, well, here goes, I am officially mad for SEI papers. I think their designs are just so sophisticated, while whimsy and pretty at the same time.

My personal favorite is definitely the Moravia range, although the color scheme is not my usual cup of tea (being the self-proclaimed girlish design addict). Regardless, the designs and color moods just go well with mature and sophisticated looking cards, especially if you're making one for a grown-up.

I made the card below for my father-in-law's birthday. The background paper is SEI Moravia Vevcie, which comes with a beautiful die-cut edge.

The Mimosa range is another one of my personal favorites, and this range really portrays the inner me! The patterned paper are both pretty and fresh at the same time, with a playful combination of guava, mango and key lime colors. Love, love, love!


I made the card above with Mimosa stamps, and the paper is Sangria glitter paper.

I still have a few more cards made with SEI's collection, but I'm gonna keep it for later as I really have to get out of bed soon and get some shopping done :). I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a new card for the CPS challenge!

'Til then,
F

I'm Back :)

Woohoo! If you noticed that I've been MIA for the last month or so, it's because I have just got home from a holiday in Europe (which was sadly preceded by a one-week episode of flu and fever). It was truly an amazing experience as I got to meet many of my husband's wonderful relatives that did not make it to our wedding in October last year.

Hubby and I at the Triumphal Arch, Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels

It was definitely refreshing to go somewhere new, although to be truly honest Europe was not exactly what I expected--or rather imagined--it to be. For instance, being the celebrated fashion capital of the world, I had this naive picture in my mind that Paris would be all about the pristine, modern and crisp window displays of an endless array of high-end frocks. But it's not.

Also thought that London was just another concrete jungle that boasts dozens of skyscrapers and gadgety-looking offices that sells, well, gadgets. But guess what? It's not. (Note to self: What have I been reading all this while?)

The incessantly-photogenic Eiffel Tower, Paris

Anyway, it was a very, very interesting journey and I am now happy to know that Europe is perhaps one of the most beautiful, artistic and well-preserved places that I've visited.

On board SS Sir Walter Scott, Loch Katrine, Scotland

So still in the spirit of Victorian slash Georgian slash Tudor Revival, I created this antique-looking card, which is topped by a stamped image of a cherub. Yup, definitely not my usual style; if you've seen any of my other cards I won't be surprised that you'd most likely judge my taste as rather muted, whimsy, or shabby.

Well not anymore!


This card was made with dark red textured cardstock, embellished with 3D stamped image of a cute Cherub from Prima Marketing (in crimson red ink). As always, square foam pads are always handy to give a face-lift on any topper and create a 3D feel on them.



I further embellished the topper jute strings (my newly-found puppy love, more on this later) and a brown-colored button. Sentiment stamped on recycled paper on hand-cut tag in crimson red ink, adhered on same cardstock and tied to a 0.48" eyelet hole with jute string.



The background paper is not patterned cardstock; it is actually recycled paper stamped with more Prima Marketing stamps (love these guys for their amazing classic designs).

That's all for today, gotta go to work, but I will be back with a post on my newest, hottest new crush!!

Love,
F

Float, Flutter, Fly!

For no apparent reason, I have recently developed an unprecedented fascination of butterflies.

Well, it's probably not for no reason at all, actually.

It all started one sun-stricken day when a few of my colleagues and I ran out of lunch options and decided to go to a Chinese fast food restaurant a few blocks away from my office. The food wasn't great (which was a given counting there was barely any crowd at lunch time, which in turn is usually a bad sign), but the wall behind the serving counter caught my eye.

Yep, it was covered, top to bottom by tiny little paper butterflies. Handmade, accordion-fold, paper butterflies. Apparently, as and when the waitresses were free (which is probably quite often, judging from the non-existence of any type of diners that day), they gathered in a corner and folded scrap papers--used receipts, brochures, leaflets, and other tiny pieces of colorful papers, to make these dainty, little charmers.

Needless to say, once I got home that evening, I Googled "accordion paper butterfly" and found a handful of links that gave me the step-by-step instructions of how to make it.

This was the first card that I made that very evening:



I made the butterfly from leftover wrapping paper that I found in my studio and used florist wire to make the body and antennae (PS: If you're making one too, be sure that you use thin or low gsm paper as it makes the crease look sharper and you'll get a more streamlined shape). Shaping the wire was unexpectedly difficult, though! Note to self, I really should buy smaller diameter wire next time.

I adhered the butterfly onto a piece of white cardstock and placed this topper on a violet pre-folded cardstock, and I also found some leftovers of my most favorite, beloved DCWV Spring 2009 paper stack. As a finishing touch, I embellished the card with three dainty jewels from Prima.

Another photo of the card:


As with what happens every time I get fascinated with anything new, come the following weekend; I found myself with a new Carla Craft butterfly punch. I was quite excited because that was the first craft punch that I'd bought in a long, long time!

I forgot where I saw the inspiration to make this card, but I remembered that it was a framed image of three butterfly collages that gave me the idea for this design. I actually intended to send this card for a friend's birthday, but somehow I didn't send this card and ended up making another one.



By the way, the button that I used for the embellishment was rather 'special' because I bought it in Cebu, the Philippines. Yep, even when I was having a holiday with my hubby I managed to scour a few scrapbooking shops and bought a few bits and bobs, LOL ^_^.



The last card in the butterfly series is a simple birthday card with a cut-out shape of a butterfly, which was made with one of the papers out of my DCWV Spring 2009 paper stack.


Unfortunately the paper was a bit too thin for this shape, so I had to stick quite a few pieces of tiny craft foam squares at the back to support the form. As I was out of the violet cardstock, I used a shocking-lime-green colored pre-folded cardstock, which is a color I'm not typically in favor of. But it works out quite well at the end I think, thanks to the light green elements on the wrapping paper that I used as a base.



I've only created three of these butterfly-themed cards, but surely I'm still anticipating more to come. I am thinking of experimenting with felt... needle-felt... tissue paper... crochet... OMG! The possibilities are endless! I'd better get crafting now!! Bubye!!


Much love,
F