ICSketches #70 - Happy Father's Day!

Hi again!!

Well, as if this week has not been busy enough, I managed to squeeze in another cardmaking challenge on my agenda--although it meant neglecting my poor husband who has just sprained his ankle two days ago. Apologies, love.

Anyway, this week's card sketch was provided by Inspirational Card Sketches, and I thought their Design Team has put together an array of wonderful examples using the sketch. Here's a glimpse of the sketch:


As this coming Sunday is Father's Day, I decided to make a Happy Father's Day card using one of my digital paper packs.

Here's my take on the sketch:


I printed the digital paper pack using an inkjet printer on a heavy 200 gsm cardstock. I designed the topper using a cool photo of a classic car taken by Michal over at Sxc. I gave it an 'ink-pen sketch' effect in PhotoShop and recolor it in Corel Photo Paint to bring out a vintage feel.

I printed this topper on a 110 gsm ivory parchment paper, which emphasized the 'rugged' feel of the design. Then, I adhered the print out on a rectangular craft foam for a lifted effect that accentuates the topper.


As always, I think jute never fails to give an amazing touch to any card. So when I ran out of paper after cutting a few miscalculated pieces (although the good thing about digital papers is that you can always print a few more!!), I reached out to my left over jute bundle and found a scrap perfect for the job :).


After putting the pieces together, though, I still felt that the card was still too plain for my liking. Thus, I decided to give the honorable task of embellishing to a pair of brown plastic buttons, which have done the job quite well, I think!

If you are wondering, the digital paper pack that I used was a kit that I created for my Etsy shop, although I have not listed it yet. This kit is called "For His Eyes Only", and as the name describes, this is a very masculine, rugged yet classy kit of 8 digital papers, which you can use to create digital scrapbook, cards or other crafty stuff for a beloved guy ;).

Here's a peek of the pack:


So that's all for tonight's challenge, pheww, I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday!! Wooohooo!!

Much love,
F

CPS 171 - English Bouquet

I have been a HUGE fan of the CPS - Card Sketches blog since I started making cards a few months ago.

However, being the biggest procrastinator that I am :), it is not until now that I decided to play along with their weekly card sketch challenge. So here goes!!

This week's challenge is CPS 171, sponsored by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. Here's a peek of the sketch:


And here's my creation today:


I used a cardstock that I actually bought for father's day cards that I planned to make before I went to Europe, but that plan never rolled out in the end ^_^. Hence, I was left with a few masculine-themed cardstock and papers, but it turned out that this grayish-blue color worked well with the topper.


In case you are wondering, the topper that I used is from my English Bouquet Digital Paper Pack Set that I sell on Etsy. It's not listed as yet since I haven't finished designing the entire range, LOL. But you'll be able to view (and maybe buy a set ;D) them in a week's time or so. Follow February Lane on Twitter if you'd like to know when it's listed :).



The three diamond-shaped embellishments were made from hand-cut jute fabric, which is perhaps officially my 'signature' material by now, LOL. The rose was one of my hand-made 'scout' roses (I call them 'scout roses' because I learned how to make them when I was in the scouts :D), made using crimson and moss-green satin ribbons. The sentiment was printed on recycled paper.

That's all for tonight, I will come back again next week with new posts!

Much love,
F

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

Hello!

Hi there!

This is my first post on this blog and I am sooo excited about it ^_^. I have been intending to publish my own blog forever and a day, and being the lazy gal that I am, well, it dragged on for months on end :P.

I have always loved arts and crafts since I was barely a teenager, and have been selling my own handmade stuff since I was in Junior High. The first 'art' that I sold was a handmade journal, or, to be overly concise, a journal with a handmade cover (I literally just scrapped off the cover and replaced it with a jute cover that I made) and sold it to one of my besties for about $1 because I wanted to buy a new pair of baggy jeans (which were very much in trend back then, I swear).

Anyhow, my crafting pursuits carried on for years, ranging from paper crafting, sewing, painting, sketching to loads of other stuff (I christmas cards, crafts, digital paper, digital scrapbooking, hello cards, Jute Cardseven hand sketched my best friend's portrait for her birthday gift, lame as it is), until I went to university.

I majored in Architecture in uni, thus my 'crafting' endeavors or any part thereof, became--shall I say--an 'obligation'. Never in my life have I seen so much crafting needed to be done in one day, as with my days in Architecture (and I am sure my uni friends can vouch for me on that). Studio hours were endless, handmade modeling of buildings kept us awake for forty eight hours at the least, and watercolor lessons were 'recommended' in order for us to pass one of the studio subjects. Even I, being much in love with crafts in the beginning, became desensitized to its daintiness and started to see arts as an industrialized course, if nothing else.

That was ten years ago. I started working not long after my graduation (ironically not as an architect, pheeww), days come and go and I was far away--million miles beyond doing anything crafts-related.

And there was I, about a few months back, preparing for my wedding. Yet in the midst of an excruciating episode of planning three different weddings in two different countries (with one man, mind you! But don't ask, I'll save this story for another time!), the one thing that I had in mind was to get DIY everything for the wedding(s). I was overwhelmed with the invitation samples, favor samples, patterned papers, etc., etc., etc., and I must say that I was so astonished at how the craft industry has changed so much in a decade.

I mean, some ten years ago, I created patterned paper by sticking a dried leaf on a foam block and stamping it on recycled paper in green acrylic ink. Now, you can go to virtually any shopping malls, find a scrapbooking shoppe, and get all the patterned papers in any design you can imagine--all on the cheap. And it's not only limited to brick and mortar businesses, go Google 'cardmaking' or 'scrapbooking' and you'll find hundreds, if not thousands, of resources to back you up in your crafting pursuits.

Then, a few weeks after we came back from our honeymoon, I realized that I was craving to do something creative again. So I went back to those scrapbooking and craft stores, and went on a maddddd shopping spree for papers, stamps, ribbons, punches, and just about anything that I could get my hands on without my hubby scowling at me (:P Luv ya hunny).

As it was a few weeks before Christmas, the first cards that I made after the long crafts-hibernation-episode were, of course, Christmas cards that we sent to friends and family (so I had an excuse to spend on supplies as I was saving us the price of a few Christmas cards, LOL). I wasn't so sure that I made, well, 'presentable' cards, but surprisingly I received positive responses from the people whom we sent the cards to.

These are the first two cards that I made in Christmas 2009:


I made this card for my beloved hubby. He always likes scruffy, vintage looking stuff and I was browsing around some digital scrapbooking blogs for this kind of theme when I bumped into Summer Driggs' website. I think she's one of the coolest Digital Scrapbook Artist ever, and all her kits are available for free on her blog. I printed some of the papers and elements from her Believe kit, and it worked very well on recycle paper, giving me the exact vintage look that I was looking for. I inked the edges with Tsukineko Coffee Bean ink for the extra 'aged' look. Thanks a bunch for your kit, Summer!



Another one of the initial inspirations for me in the first weeks of my cardmaking crave was Complete Cardmaking Magazine. Its Christmas 2009 edition was indeed a treasure chest for a beginner cardmaker like moi! This magazine always comes with a free CD with loads of designs and themes, and the paper and card topper that I used for the card above was printed from that very CD. I sent this card to my parents in law :).

Lo and behold, four months on and a few more cards under my belt, I pulled myself together and am determined to get my crafting endeavors underway once more. I recently opened up shop on Etsy called February Lane, and I am hoping to list new handmade cards and some craft supplies for fellow crafters very very soon.

I must say at the moment I am very, very lucky to be living in Asia, where craft supply wholesalers are a dime a dozen, and that I have a very, very lovely mum who's always happy to help me source some strange materials from the corners of my hometown in Indonesia :). And have I mentioned that my office is a stone's throw away from the biggest textile center in Singapore, where fabric, beads and ribbons galore? Now, go figure how blessed a crafter I am!!

And what could say a simple hello better than my own, handmade card?? ;) This is one of my mixed-media favorites: hessian (aka. jute aka. burlap) fabric topper that I bought from a fishing shop two shop houses away from my office, embellished with a needle felted applique. I needle-felted the daisies myself, and it was supposed to be a 3D daisy. But at the end I was too distracted by the new episode of 24 that I managed to skip the next 2 layers and made it into a 2D applique (LOL). I hand-shaped the word "Hello" myself using florist wire and ouch, did it hurt my fingers! But it was super worth it.




So this card brings us to the end of today's post... I will try my best to post new stories in the upcoming week, to share with you a few of the cards that I made in the past few months. But as I do have a full time day job, please pardon me if I don't post regularly at times!! ;) See you!!

Much love,
F