Fa La La

Another Play Date

2011-09-07T20:40:00.003+08:00

I guess I need to photograph my cards rather than scanning them. I don't want to hassle with it honestly. It means I have to clear my camera's memory so I don't reload my pictures. (A couple of weeks ago I deleted literally hundreds of duplicate photos from my PC!) But when the cards have dimension to them the scanner just doesn't do justice to how they look.

This is another card for The Play Date Cafe challenge. The colors are black and white with just a splash of red. My white IS pure white, it just looks yellow because of the scanner.

I cannot focus to write this. While I was finishing up my card we found the 2nd baby snake in 2 days in our house. I was not too terribly bothered when we found one, but two has me thinking that there must be a mother some place. Just when I thought I was getting used to things creeping around my house in Taiwan...now things are slithering around! At the moment I am feeling like this year cannot pass quickly enough. I am SO ready to go back to the States where I do not have to be constantly on guard against things creeping, crawling, flying, jumping or SLITHERING through the room!

~La

Challenge: Color Throwdown #157

2011-09-04T07:52:00.005+08:00

I am finding that there are a lot of card challenges in blog-land. They are great starting spots for inspiration. The one I chose to work with yesterday is on a blog titled "Color Throwdown", and they had a rather difficult combination in my opinion. Here are their chosen colors:

I pulled out the colors, except crumb cake which I do not own. I substituted Simply Suede because it's the closest thing I have. It occurred to me that this color combination might appear in Asian things and, since I have an Asian stamp set I've been itching to use, this might be the perfect time.

My original plan was to make a clean and simple card, so I stamped the girls and the Chinese lanterns onto one piece of white cardstock. After coloring the girls dresses with markers I stamped the lanterns onto various Asian papers that I've purchased here in Taiwan, and embossed them in gold. (The main reason for the embossing was so that I could see the images to cut. The papers are so busy that I didn't think I would be able to see regular ink!) I then cut out MANY lanterns before choosing which ones I liked best for this card. I ran them through my Xyron sticker maker, which was a life saver for attaching these little pieces!

After stamping, coloring, embossing and assembling, I decided it was time to add some background. Here things went horribly wrong. I created masks for the girls and the lanterns but when I stamped the background images everything just looked like a muddy mess. So I had to cut again. I cannot say how many times I cut lanterns yesterday, between embossed images for paper pieces, masks and then cutting the whole thing off of the original piece I am rather tired of Chinese lanterns!

It was necessary to rethink the background, so I turned to an extremely talented blogger, Michelle Zindorf, for inspiration. (See here if you're interested.) Try as I might, I cannot brayer on color like she does. I always end up with a hard edge. So I just look to her for guidance on colors and then I sponge them on. I wanted a look of glowing light around the lanterns and I knew Michelle would have the inspiration I needed. So here is my card:

And here is the inside:
This card will go to a dear friend who has a listening ear like no one else I know.

~La

Shabby at Last

2011-08-25T10:21:00.003+08:00

I love the look of shabby chic, and I am trying to copy some fabulous cardmakers for whom that is their primary style. Here is my first try:

Flowers and pearls are sort of essentials for shabby chic. I picked up as many as I could while in the States, but I am sure I will run out of flowers long before I get back. I've never seen any here, although I will continue to keep my eyes open.

My card was inspired by this week's sketch at Our Creative Corner.

~La

Not Too Shabby Baby Boy

2011-08-17T16:11:00.004+08:00

I've just begun looking at "The Shabby Tea Room" for inspiration. This week their challenge is to use polka dots, which I happen to love. I especially love them for baby cards and, since I needed to make a baby card, I decided this would be a great week to play along with the Shabby designers.

For color inspiration, I turned again to The Play Date Cafe. This is my second card this week using their colors. I didn't want anything too soft and fluffy, since the baby is a boy, so I thought teal and brown would work great.

I must confess, as I was making this card I forgot that one of the inspiration blogs was The Shabby Tea Room, and so my card isn't "shabby" at all. (And I happen to love shabby.) Oh well... Here it is:

I hope you like it! More importantly, I hope the recipient likes it!

~La

Evolution of a Card

2011-08-12T15:04:00.003+08:00

Using colors from The Play Date Cafe and a sketch from Mojo Monday (as usual, on both counts) I made this card and thought it was okay:

After I scanned it I thought it was too plain. So I attached a ribbon around the circular opening using glue dots.

But that, I decided, looked really tacky. So I carefully took the ribbon off. All was well until the very last glue dot. I saw the damage happening but could not stop it.

So I covered it with a couple of flowers.

I don't love it, but it's okay. Still, just okay.

~La

Viva la Verve August 2011 - 1

2011-08-05T20:07:00.003+08:00

I am (only slightly) bummed. The inspiration for this card was, once again, Play Date Cafe. Except this is last weeks color challenge. I loved it (as usual) and went straight to work. But after I completed the card we left for a short vacation. I didn't get the card scanned into my computer and so couldn't put it here or enter it into Play Date's weekly contest. Darn it. On the other hand, for the layout I went to Viva la Verve's weekly layout and I have a month to enter cards into that challenge so I will put it there.

I love this card. I will be keeping it for myself. I made one with this same image and a different Bible verse a couple of years ago when I was going through a tough time. The Bible verse jumped out at me at that time and so I made it for myself. Now I think I will have a sort of series of these cards reminding me of how God cares for me through the years.

~La

Mojo 201

2011-07-27T16:33:00.003+08:00

I've been having a great time playing in my stamp room. I am tempted to feel guilty about the amount of time I've spent stamping lately, but all of the cards have been necessary so... No guilt!

It's Wednesday but I used the Mojo Monday sketch for inspiration - again! Here is their sketch:

and here is my card:
My daughter needs to send out thank you notes for birthday gifts so I kept everything cute for this card. Pulled out some very OLD stamps and 1 brand new one.

Thanks for looking!

~La

Inspired by Play Date

2011-07-25T17:58:00.000+08:00

While looking at other entries in this weeks Play Date Cafe challenge I came across one that I thought would be a simple yet beautiful card to add to those I am making for my friend. The card I copied is here.

This is my first take on it. I like it, but I hand sewed the pink line and I thought that was a little too time consuming.

So next I made this one and I simply glued down the ribbon and a line of embroidery floss. Much simpler, but I didn't love the flowers.

Finally I tried this, and it was so quick and easy that I made 2. I think I am now ready to send out my cards. Well, I need to package them nicely first, but at least all of the cards are made. There are a couple more which I haven't shown yet but I will post them soon.

I don't know if it shows in the photo, but I drew in some dashed lines between the flowers - a sort of "chain stitch" to go with the sentiment. It is a very nice card and so quick and easy! Many thanks to Judy for the inspiration.

~La

200th Mojo

2011-07-24T20:00:00.001+08:00

I haven't come CLOSE to making 200 cards for Mojo Monday but who's counting? Well, the people at Mojo Monday are, but they are counting how many challenges THEY have issued and this week marks number 200.

I would have liked to have produced a better card but this is what I made and, since I'm busy trying to produce many simple cards right now, I couldn't take the time to try again. Perhaps I will do better for 201...

~La

2011-07-24T19:57:00.000+08:00

I just want to show off some of the cards I am making for my friend.

Because I am trying to make a quantity of cards I am looking for simple cards. Today (very early this morning actually - jet lag!) I came up with this idea which I must say I LOVE:

As I am playing with ideas I have come up with cards that I like but which are not practical to produce en masse. This is one such card:

Two things about the poppy card: 1) It looks better in real life (I say that a lot.) 2) It was sort of a happy accident. I was trying to make a poppy garden but I didn't have any stem stamps that I liked. I tried drawing some by hand and ended up with a mess. However, I had a piece of vellum sitting nearby and held it over the poppies to see if they would look any better under vellum. Then I decided to stamp another poppy on the vellum, thereby hiding my awful stems. I think it looks a bit weird in this scanned image but in real life it really does look quite nice.

I will send the one-of-a-kind cards to my friend too and hope that she likes them. I have an idea for another simple card that I will make tomorrow. But for now it's off to bed!

~La

Verve's Diva Dare

2011-07-23T05:58:00.000+08:00

I found another challenge to inspire me: Verve's Diva Dare. This week their challenge is to use patterned papers and allow a sentiment to take center stage. I chose papers with pink intending to use this as the card I send to my friend who is fighting breast cancer. (see earlier post) I must also say that I copied many of the elements on my card from Andrea Ewen, another blogger whose cards I LOVE. You can see her beautiful card here.

While I was in the States I purchased Verve's entire July release because I knew they would be perfect to make thank you cards for my friend. This sentiment from their stamp set "New Mercies" was perfect for my friends card. I think this set will be seeing a LOT of ink in my home.

~La

Challenge: PDCC91

2011-07-23T05:20:00.000+08:00

I'm back from the States and stamping in the middle of the night thanks to jet lag!

I missed some wonderful color combinations at The Play Date Cafe. But I guess I can still use them for inspiration!

This weeks challenge is to use black and white with just a splash of any color you choose. I chose pink and here's why: while I was in the States I got the news that my friend with breast cancer learned she is stage 4. She has been told her cancer is not curable, just treatable. I don't like that diagnosis so am praying for a miracle. When I heard her diagnosis I tried to send her some flowers. Thankfully the florist I called was aware of limitations for chemo patients so told me I could not send flowers. As I looked for something else to send I thought about the fact that this friend has tons of friends who will undoubtedly be performing countless acts of kindness for her. I decided the best thing I could give her would be handmade cards which she can use to thank her many friends. With that in mind, in the coming days I will be making many cards as a gift for my friend. Here is my first:

The "L" in the sentiment reminded me of the pink ribbon used as the symbol for the fight against breast cancer. So I stamped the image with black ink, wiped the ink of the "l" and colored it with a pink marker. I expect someone will give my friend gifts of chocolate so I think this sentiment will work fine.

Here is the inside:

The inside doesn't stick to the black and white theme, but I think the front is the part which must fit with the challenge so this should be fine.

Thanks for looking!

~La

More Color to Love

2011-06-20T15:01:00.000+08:00

Another color combination for me to fall in love with at The Play Date Cafe. I had started this card with the orange stamping but was not sure what colors to add, so when PDC came out with orange, pink and blue - voila! I had the rest of the colors for my card!

This card will go to a friend who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. I hope the bright colors will cheer her up for a moment when she receives it.

Tomorrow I will be heading to the States for a month, so no more stamping for awhile. (Insert sad face here.) BUT, it will give me a chance to stock up on embellishments and adhesives - yeah! More importantly, I will spend a lot of time with my Dad who is still really grieving the loss of my Mom.

If anyone is reading - - thanks for stopping by!

~La

The Play Date Cafe #85

2011-06-10T15:18:00.000+08:00

When I checked The Play Date Cafe this week I thought I fell in love with their colors. As I scrolled through the card samples I felt a little disappointed because none of them seemed to sooth me with color as the board had done. I thought I wanted to see something saturated in the week's colors. As I pondered how I could do such a thing I realized that what I loved was not actually the colors so much (although they are lovely) as it was the color board itself. Each photo on the board shows something lovely and sometimes something evocative of warm memories. So I decided to try to make a little story board on a card, showing some of my favorite things. Here is what I came up with:

Here are the birds close up, because I think they look blurry on the photo of the whole card:

I hope to make another, entirely different card using these colors. I still think I would love a saturation of those colors but I don't know if it's possible to achieve it. I don't own any Dusty Rose (darn it) so I am using some other pinks that have a hint of gray in them. If my next card turns out nice I will post it.

~La

Father's Day X 2

2011-06-08T22:29:00.000+08:00

I had to make this card twice. I had just finished the first one (which I intended to send to my Dad) when my son came in, saw it, and claimed it for his own (to give to his Dad.) If I had said no he would have gotten upset, so I just let him have it knowing I could make another.

No great stamps for this card. I ordered a Father's Day set but, since it has to be shipped internationally, it hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully I can use it next year!

~La

Surprised by Mojo!

2011-06-08T21:27:00.000+08:00

I have a confession: When I first saw this weeks Mojo Monday sketch I didn't like it. At all. I thought I would skip this week, which would be no big deal since I'm not a regular anyhow. But then, for some reason, I thought I would just give it a try. And...SURPRISE...I love the card I made! So once again I have to thank the Mojo designers because this is something I never would have done without their inspiration.

Photo note: I usually scan my cards. However, tonight I accidentally sat something across the fan on my card and it wrecked what HAD BEEN a perfect fan. I'm sure the scanner would have flattened it completely. So I took regular photos which I think turned out just fine.

~La

Play Date with Mojo Monday

2011-06-04T20:01:00.000+08:00

For the first time I am participating in a challenge from "The Play Date Cafe". Their challenge is to use these colors:

I have combined that color challenge with a second card from this Mojo Monday sketch:

And here is my card:

I'm afraid it looks like I didn't know when to stop adding embellishments - it's a little busy. At the same time, I am a bit frustrated by the embellishments I am limited to. Living in Taiwan I do not have access to most of the beautiful things people are using stateside. BUT, I will be heading to the States in 2-1/2 weeks and plan to shop for embellishments while I'm there. I only hope they don't change too much in the next year, after I return to Taiwan.

I hope this isn't too busy for anyone who might be looking here.

~La

Birthday Mojo

2011-06-02T07:59:00.000+08:00

I really love this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. I think I will use this layout many times. Thanks, Mojo Divas!

This is also the first time I have ever "paper-pieced". Not sure why I haven't done it before. I see it on other peoples cards and think it is lovely. And I am very pleased with how mine turned out so will definitely do more of it.

~La

Put Your Sunglasses On...

2011-05-08T11:48:00.000+08:00

This is a very bright card; definitely not for those who like subtle colors!

I put it together following this week's Mojo Monday card, and I actually completed it before the deadline!

I am very thankful for the Mojo Monday blog. It gives me endless ideas for putting cards together.

~La

Past Due Mojo

2011-05-06T12:20:00.000+08:00

Every card I have made recently has been a sympathy card. Making sympathy cards is a new thing for me, but I guess I will be getting better at it. I've come to an age where people I know are losing parents. I have 2 friends who have lost parents to lung cancer in the last 5 months as well as others I know who are losing parents and other loved ones.

So here's my card:

I followed a Mojo Monday sketch for this card, but didn't get it done until after the deadline. Oh well, I like the card anyway.

~La

Eembroidery Floss

2011-05-06T12:02:00.000+08:00

I thought I would try some challenges beyond Mojo Monday so went to Our Creative Corner for ideas. Their challenge this week is to use embroidery floss - something I happen to have quite a lot of since I also embroider. Looking at the samples from their divas I can see I can and should get much more creative than I did - perhaps I will try again. But in the meantime, I cased this card from Sleepy in Seattle.

I had a lot of fun making this. I used water color pencils and the bleach stamping technique as well as my sewing machine and Xyron Creative Station (to laminate the bookmark).

~La

Two in One!

2011-04-15T22:53:00.000+08:00

Okay, so I should take better photos, but it's 11:00 p.m. and I need to get to bed! I actually made 2 cards today! First, the card for Mojo Monday:

(The reason I need a better photo is I need to straighten the bow at the top of the card.) I even pulled out my sewing machine and stitched on the card today - wow! First time since moving!

The next card was made because I wanted to play with my new Copic markers. I've begun buying them here because I THINK they're a tad cheaper than in the States. And I found the little pot they're in at the flower market. I love it!!

Today was a great day! Perfect weather, no obligations and stamping. Yeah!

~La

Upside Down Mojo

2011-04-06T12:36:00.000+08:00

I don't know why, but when I looked at this weeks Mojo Monday sketch I immediately thought of how I could use it upside down! My Dad's birthday is looming so I needed to get a card together. The scallops made me think of clouds so I decided to use hot air balloons in the clouds. My Dad is a pilot, though not a hot air balloon pilot (although he DID used to pilot a giant cow blimp for the Idaho Dairymen - sort of like a hot air balloon!) I guess my card is quite a departure from the sketch, but at least it gave me a great starting point. And after all isn't that what it's supposed to be about?

~La

Easter Blessings

2011-04-01T22:24:00.000+08:00

After weeks, MONTHS of trying to play along with Mojo Monday, a card I am truly proud of: When I saw the sketch I immediately thought of this cool die cut I bought in Taiwan. It is unique compared to what everyone in the States has and it is the perfect size for a round card.

I guess I varied a good bit from the sketch. I left off the top ribbon and my center is a circle rather than a square. Perhaps I will try another one because I truly love the sketch; this just seemed to work together.

Here is the inside:

And a close up because I really love it. I used paper that I had water colored, then stamped the sentiment over.

As usual, I want only to send this card to my Mom. Since that is not possible maybe I will just keep it. We'll see...

~La

Not for my Dad

2011-03-25T15:53:00.000+08:00

I set out to make a card for my Dad today. This isn't it. I had a watercolored image I wanted to use and I thought it would work with the sketch from Mojo Monday. However, as I started assembling the pieces my original image was too large and it eclipsed all of the other layers. So I pulled out the circular image you see here and then reworked each layer.

I am happy with this card, but it is too flowery for my Dad so I will still have to figure something out for him!

BTW, I stopped including card details since I think I am the only reader of this blog. (No surprise.) Someday if I have readers and if they are interested I will post details.
~La

Happy Card

2011-03-19T20:37:00.000+08:00

Every time I make a card I think "maybe NOW I will get back into the swing of things. Hasn't happened yet though.

Over the weekend my daughter wanted to paint together. She painted page after page of hearts so I followed suit. I used Luminart watercolors on real watercolor paper. This had become my favorite media before moving to Taiwan but I haven't used it since moving. So I pulled them out again and began playing. Next I stamped various hearts all over the page, then drew little swirls between them. I liked it so much I hated to cover anything up! But it looked rather naked so I went to the "Mojo Monday" blog and used their current challenge as a template for finishing my card. Inside I stamped "You Make Me Happy" from SU's Sassy Sayings set. I like the card, though not sure when or for whom it will be appropriate. Oh well, add it to the stash...

~La

2011-02-19T12:55:00.000+08:00

Having recently bought oodles of new supplies, I am TRYING to stamp again. Prior to Mom's death I had another awful life event which seemed to spur my creative juices and I created all sorts of cards that I thought were great. However, since Mom died that hasn't happened. I go to my craft room and sit there looking at everything, not knowing where to start. But I am trying.

Casing a very simple card

2011-01-08T13:37:00.000+08:00

I saw these very simple cards and thought they were beautiful. I also thought I could copy them, so this is what I did:

The blue border is not part of my card, I just put it back there because the white card against the white of the scanner wasn't looking too good. And the photo looks as if I forgot to round one of the corners. I did not.

2010-12-13T10:38:00.000+08:00

Around Thanksgiving I discovered some awesome local paper. I used a bit of it on a Christmas card. I hope to have time to make some more, although time is running very short! If anyone is reading this blog, you may be getting tired of seeing the ornament stamps. I didn't bring much with me in the way of Christmas stamps so I have to use them a lot. Sorry!

You might not be able to see the "Merry Christmas" on the front of the card. It is the only sentiment I used because, as I've said before, I'm not feeling very merry about Christmas this year. So I pretty much leave my insides blank and write a note in them.

~La

A Santa Card

2010-12-10T21:50:00.000+08:00

I don't generally use Santa on cards, preferring to focus on Jesus at Christmas. However, I do have this one very old stamp with Santa (or a version of Santa) on it. The image fit nicely for this weeks Mojo Monday sketch, that was my sole motivation for using it!

This card is a conglomeration of supplies from so many companies! There is a stamp from Stampin' Up (the background), the Santa stamp of unknown origin purchased a thousand years ago, ribbon from who-knows-where, Stampin' Up paper, Creative Memories paper, Copic markers, SU markers, etc. Hmmm... nothing from Verve - the sponsor of Mojo Monday! Oops! I don't have any Christmas stamps from Verve yet and at the moment it's hard to do anything other than Christmas.

~La

Baby Card

2010-11-20T08:22:00.000+08:00

I'm going to a baby shower today so needed a card to go with the gift. When we moved I must not have anticipated needing baby cards because I didn't bring any appropriate stamps with me. So coming up with an appropriate card was challenging. I did find this stamp within a set of stars. It says "Twinkle Twinkle little star do you know how loved you are" and "Baby" in the middle of the star. The recipient is choosing not to know the sex of the baby (Yeah for her!!!) so I couldn't use blue or pink. For some reason I also did not bring any basic yellow ink with me, or for that matter any babyish green. The closest I could come was Certainly Celery, which I think works.

My daughter badly wanted to help, so I told her to work on some designs while I looked for white cardstock. (Another thing I brought very little of. What was I thinking??) She actually started the polka dot idea and did something similar to this final version. It reminded me of a card I had done a couple of years ago so VOILA! - we had our starting point! I let my daughter stamp the polka dots and she did a great job. It was nice to be able to allow her to help.

Poinsettia Gift

2010-11-16T08:52:00.000+08:00

I liked the poinsettia from my Fa La La card a few days ago, and I liked the coloring with copics on shimmery paper from my last post, so I combined the two and got a shimmery poinsettia. As I worked with paper placement I realized if I set the poinsettia at the top of the DP it looked like a Christmas present, so I continued the idea and used gold cording as a ribbon.

~La

2010-11-15T19:09:00.000+08:00

It looks like the sentiment won't show here, so I'll quote it: Each day comes bearing it's own gifts, untie the ribbons

This card is not for any challenge. I was browsing some of my favorite stamping sites today and saw a note about stamping on shimmery papers. They said if you color the image with Copics the shimmer comes through. Well, I have some shimmery paper and I happen to have a few brand new Copics - my first ever! (I found them at a store here in Taipei so decided now is the time to try them.) It does look quite pretty, although I doubt any of the shimmer will show here. (What exactly IS showing here??) I was able to use some very old designer paper I've had sitting around. I think this may be some of the first paper I ever bought! Yeah me for finally using it!

~La

2010-11-15T09:52:00.000+08:00

Today I went to Our Creative Corner for inspiration, and found a color challenge. The colors were gold, brown, rust and blue. No problem!

I used an image from one of my favorite old sets. It is so old in fact that I don't know what it's called. It's from SU and I looked through my old catalogs but couldn't find it. I call it "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" because that is part of the "sentiment" that is in the set. (It is also part of a poem by Emily Dickinson that I love.) Anyhow, I first stamped the French words background and clear embossed it, then stamped the main image, colored it a bit and clear embossed over it. Then I sponged a bit of blue around the image and the edges.

I'm not sure if I never bought Chocolate Chip paper or if I forgot to bring it with me, but in any case I couldn't find any. I have Close to Cocoa but that isn't rich enough with gold and rust. I managed to find this perfect piece of dark brown with polka dots (blue no less!) and thought it would be perfect. I thought I would crimp a strip of the polka dot to make it look like a ribbon but, alas, I left the crimper behind. Oh well, I like how this turned out!

~ La

New Christmas Colors

2010-11-11T16:44:00.000+08:00

I went outside my traditional box a bit for this Christmas card:

The layout comes from the Mojo Monday blog, again. If it wasn't for them I'm not sure I would get any cards made!

(BTW, I found "Fa La La" printed on some paper I have and I couldn't resist!)

~La

2010-10-28T09:54:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I was looking at the blog of a stamping diva and "my Stampin Up Lady", Robin. She makes amazingly beautiful cards. She had just posted some beautiful "one layer cards" (see her fabulous creations here.) What a great idea! I hopped right on the bandwagon and made this:

I know Robin's cards are nicer than mine - not false humility, she is just a master. But I think if someone didn't see hers they would think mine was fine.

After making this I thought of how the trend in the stamping world appears to be to throw as many embellishments as possible onto a card. I think it has gotten to the point that the cards have too much on them - truly. So, not that I would want every card to be one dimensional, but it is refreshing to see something simpler. And on a practical note, those hyper-embellished cards are impossible to mail, especially from Taiwan, so I think I will be making a lot of simple cards that I can use when writing letters.

Thank you for the marvelous inspiration, again, Robin!

~La

Christmas Mojo

2010-10-27T14:38:00.000+08:00

I am back to looking to the blog "Mojo Monday" for design inspiration. I don't know if my brain is thinking more creatively or if this weeks design was just easy, but when I looked at it I immediately knew in my head what I would do - a first for me!

This card is ALMOST perfect. I would be so happy if I could drop the "almost". The vellum adhesive shows - darn it. If I would have thought I should have put adhesive on the entire piece so it would have looked uniform. Oh well, live and learn I guess! (And BTW, the colors actually match in real life. For some reason the cranberry looks too red in this picture.)

~La

Practice Hospitality

2010-10-25T17:12:00.000+08:00

I think I made this card for myself, because it is my new goal. (Actually, not just a new goal - the first time I've ever had a goal!)

2010 Christmas

2010-10-18T16:33:00.000+08:00

I bought some Christmas things from Stampin' Up on sale last year, either after Christmas or after it was too late to make Christmas cards. I love the ornament stamps so have begun making cards with them.

It is hard to make Christmas cards this year because I don't feel "merry" or "joyful" or even "peaceful". I guess more precisely it is hard to put a sentiment on Christmas Cards this year. So I've decided I won't put much, just the obligatory "Merry Christmas".

Here is today's card:

Deck the halls and fa-la-la and all that stuff.

Breaking the Rules...

2010-10-18T09:26:00.000+08:00

So I believe I am finally, officially, back to stamping. I used a sketch from the blog "Mojo Monday" to get me started. Except, right out of the gate, I broke one of the rules! The ribbon is supposed to go horizontally across the top of the card. I just did not like how it looked that way, at all, so I did it vertically instead. It doesn't matter because: 1) I don't think the blog people are terribly concerned that I follow their rules exactly; 2) There is no prize up for grabs; and 3) I am strictly using them for "inspiration" and they certainly gave me that this week!

Here is my card, front:

and inside:

Making this card made me realize something good and something bad about my Mom being gone. The bad: I don't get to show my cards to my Mom and listen to her tell me how great I'm doing. The good: I can send the cards to ANYONE. In the past I had to fight not to send every card to Mom because I knew she would think they were wonderful whereas anyone else will not necessarily think that.

I like this card. I wish I could send it to my Mom.

Beginning Again

2010-10-11T18:39:00.000+08:00

After my long hiatus from stamping I made the card shown in my last post. As I said, it was for my Mom. The date of the post shows as August 30th but, in fact, in MY time it was made on August 31st. (I am in Taiwan which is 12-15 hours ahead of America.) I finished the card in the afternoon. That night I received the news that my Mom had died so, obviously, I never got to send her the last card I made for her. Mom died on August 31st, 2010.

Today is October 11, 2010 and once again I have returned to stamping. I made this card for a woman who reads my other blog. She comments frequently and has a blog of her own which I love to read. I recently mentioned on my other blog that Mom was the only person who sent me letters. Elizabeth commented that she would happily write real letters to me. I cried when I read that. I quickly sent her my address, and she sent me hers. So today I decided I need to write to Elizabeth and I cannot do it on ordinary stationary; I needed a handmade card.

I made a watercolor image because I love water coloring. Since I am living in Asia I turned the image on its side so that it looks kind of like an image of cherry blossoms. Because Elizabeth and I are both Christians I chose to include the Bible verse. It speaks to where I am at emotionally right now. The card was not looking good; too stark, too sparse and too... I don't know. Then I thought of the Bible verse that talks about seeing through a glass darkly but that someday we will see our Saviour clearly, face to face. (That also speaks to where I am at now as I consider my Mom now seeing Jesus clearly.) I decided to put vellum over my main image, which sort of distorts the image. It just seemed fitting to me.

I am sorry that I cannot do a better job of explaining this card. It's clear in my head, but at this time I am having trouble translating the thoughts from my brain onto "paper" (as it were.)

I'm rusty. But I have begun stamping again and I intend to keep at it. I have missed it and I need it.

For My Mom

2010-08-31T11:50:00.000+08:00

After 5 months away from my stamps, I'm back. I am in a new house, in a new country. I don't have a stamping room set up yet - that has to wait for some more furniture to arrive and a certain dog we're watching to return to it's home. So I stamped on the dining room table today.

I have been longing to stamp, and I have been longing to make a card for my Mom. I missed making her one for Mother's Day because I didn't have any stamps with me. Mom is in the process of dying, so this could be the last card I ever get to make for her. I hope it is okay. I kind of wanted to add a bow but I thought that: a) it would get too "fussy" and, b) it would make it difficult to mail. Since I have to mail it internationally that could be a real issue.

So here it is. The front:

And the inside:
My Mom made a difference in the lives of a lot of people. She quietly modeled the life of someone who serves Jesus. My siblings and I have heard this from childhood friends. I know that I have not shown the same servant heart as my Mom, but I do sincerely hope that I am at least a little bit like her, and that somehow people will see Jesus in me, as they did in her.

Just checkin'..

2010-06-22T16:49:00.000+08:00

To see if this blog still works. I've had an extended absence from my stamp and I miss them! I don't expect to be reunited until September, at which time I hope to resume posting cards here.

~ La

Circular Valentine

2010-01-28T00:55:00.000+08:00

Hello!

Verve's "Mojo Monday" blog challenged readers to make a circular card. At first I didn't think I could do it because I don't have a lot of the fancy equipment that some people have. But then I realized I have doilies and I thought I could use one as the base. Looking at it, I realized it was too flimsy. But then I thought perhaps I could use my archaic Creative Memories circle cutter to cut a card base. I was thrilled that it worked! I cut the first circle, leaving about 1 inch uncut at the top. Then I lined up my cutter so that the top of the second circle would align with the top of the first, and it worked perfectly - hooray! Sometimes I think figuring out a way to "make do" is more fun than having all of the perfect supplies.

Here is my card:

~La

Supplies:
Paper: Pink Pirouette, old Christmas DP (SU), miscellaneous doilies
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Stamp: Love You Much (SU)
Accessories: Chocolate chip and miscellaneous designer ribbon (SU), Prima Flowers, K&Company adhesive pearls

Hello

2010-01-27T02:56:00.000+08:00

I made my card for this weeks Viva la Verve challenge. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I was trying to keep it clean and modern but I think perhaps it is too boring. It definitely did not capture the elegance from my inspiration photo.

Here is my card:

and here is the inspiration photo:

I was once again attracted to the gray. But when I tried to incorporated gray with my black and white it seemed too busy. Also, as I've said before, my stamps tend to be flowery so I was hard pressed to find anything modern. But now that I'm looking at the inspiration photo again I feel like I didn't really have to be that modern. Oh well, it's done and it's going to have to do for now.

~La

2010-01-23T08:24:00.000+08:00

All righty then... My husband helped me find the photo. I don't know why I couldn't find it - it was filed with 2003 photos, naturally! (????) We got a new computer after Christmas and downloaded the updated software for my photo printer from the internet. Everything works differently, so obviously I'm on a learning curve!

This is my entry for this week's Verve's weeks 3 Viva la Verve challenge. I see they've already posted week 4, so I'd better get busy!

I used one of my oldest stamps for this (2-step stampin' rose from SU) and two from my newest set (Filigree Fantasy from Verve).

2010-01-23T03:52:00.000+08:00

I am so frustrated! I made a card that is too bulky to scan. I photographed it. I uploaded the picture to my photo software. I cannot FIND the picture to put on here! I have looked, and looked, and looked some more. I shut down the computer thinking maybe it needed to shut down to save it. No luck. It doesn't seem to be anywhere! And yet, every time I open the photo program there it is. AAAAAAAGH!

Any ideas?

Button Balloons

2010-01-19T04:37:00.000+08:00

I never managed to enter the contest I wanted to enter last week. I only completed 1 of the 5 projects. Too bad, because the prize was a lot of very beautiful stamps. Oh well...

I have managed to make just one card in the past week. I'll post it, although it didn't scan well because the buttons prevent the top closing on the scanner. I copied the idea of the button balloons from my new favorite card blogger. You can see her card here. I have the greatest collection of vintage buttons - a whole tin that belonged to my Grandma. The yellow button on my card is from her collection. I hesitate to use them because they are irreplaceable; however, I recently became aware of the TV show "The Hoarders" and it scares me, so I am tossing things and using things with a new purpose!

Coffee

2010-01-14T09:18:00.000+08:00

Verve Stamps has a 5 part challenge going this week and I am hoping to enter. I'm not sure I'll be able to though, because it's Wednesday night and I only have 1 part done! (The deadline is Friday.) I've had to work 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there to get this card done. If the rest doesn't go more smoothly I won't get to enter. Oh well... It is still great inspiration for me!

Here is the one that I have finished. It was perhaps the easiest for me because all you have to do is follow a sketch they provide. The rest will require more creativity on my part, so we'll see!

One delay for this card was trying to find a ribbon that looked good. I have loads of ribbon to choose from, but nothing looked great. However, today I stopped at the scrapbook store and found this ribbon which couldn't be more perfect!

~La

Supplies:
Stamps: Delightful & Delicious, Filigree Fantasy (both Verve - yeah!)
Ink: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue (mashed together with a Bordering Blue marker to get the right color)
Paper: Blue Bayou, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and - once again - an unknown DP, all SU

Challenge: At Home With Verve

2010-01-10T11:27:00.000+08:00

I went to my neighborhood's "Scrapbook Club" over the weekend. They had a 2 day event but I was only able to be there for 3 hours. I decided to stamp rather than scrap because 3 hours is about enough time to unpack all of your supplies and pack them up again. I thought I would get so much stamping accomplished in 3 hours. Ha! I ate lunch and visited with old friends and new. In 3 hours I managed to make just one card! Oh well, it was a nice time. And I do like my card. I made it for another Verve challenge, and this time I actually had a Verve stamp to use on it! I placed my first order from Verve around Christmas time - it was my "Merry Christmas to me". I was shocked to find out that the company is in Idaho - where I lived until 2-1/2 years ago. If only I had known about it while I was there!

So here is the challenge sketch:

Here is the picture I chose as inspiration:

I don't know why, but lately I have been very drawn to the color gray. If I was decorating right now I think I would be painting dark gray walls.

I decided to think toward Valentine's Day for cards I am making right now, so I used gray with pink, which there is a bit of in my inspiration photo. I also thought my new Verve stamp was a great match to the flowers in the inspiration piece.

I think I will make this card again, with some changes. I didn't like the fact that I stamped the entire image in red. I colored over some of the leaves, which helped a bit, but next time I will color onto the stamp to get a more realistic image. I'll put that card here when I'm finished, because I think it will look better. I'll also be sure to scan it straight!! AND I'll straighten out the "always". I was literally out of time so just had to go with this. I'm anxious to do a new and improved version!

~La

Supplies:
Stamps: Because of You (Verve) and Small Script (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink and unknown DP all from SU
Ink: Real Red
Markers: Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke

First Viva La Verve Challenge Card

2010-01-08T05:25:00.000+08:00

I made another challenge card today, but I'm afraid I didn't follow the directions exactly. I thought about doing it over, but I think I'll just let it go. It's not like I'm really in the same league as the other participants anyhow.

So here is the sketch (that I didn't follow!):

and here is the inspiration photo I chose (there were three to pick from):

and here is my card:

In my opinion I copied the photo too literally. But I had this stamp which was practically the image in the photo so I couldn't help it! Thinking outside the box is not my strong suit. It's something I hope to work on as I participate in these challenges.

Supplies:
Stamp: Flowers for Daisy (Gina K)
Ink: Yo Yo Yellow, Soft Suede
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Ballet Blue, Soft Suede, DP from my scrap drawer
Accessories: Cream Ribbon (SU), Embosslits Die "Hi" (SU), Eyelets that came with the Crop-a-dile, SU watercolor pencils, Twinkling H20

2010-01-07T08:18:00.000+08:00

I just finished the most challenging card of the year - my husband's birthday card. I don't know why, but I have the hardest time making a decent card for him. Year after year he has received truly inferior cards, not because I don't care but because, because... I'm not sure! Partly because I don't have much in the way of masculine stamps and anything I do have that remotely qualifies as masculine I've already used.

So here's what I came up with. It's no prize winner but it's probably the best he's received from me.

I'm glad to have that done. Now I can get back to flowers and flourishes and stuff I like!

Supplies:
Stamps: French Script, Elegant Greetings
Paper: I honestly have no idea the color of my cardstock! It is something from SU, probably a past In Color, but I cannot identify it.
Ink: Night of Navy, Sage Shadow (SU), Silver Metallic and Versamark
Accessories: Pewter Buckle from SU Hardware, French Blue ribbon, Silver Metallic Calligraphy Pen.

~La

2010-01-06T01:50:00.000+08:00

Today's card was not made for a challenge, I just think it is very pretty. I love the blue/white/silver combination. I actually stamped the image on the Top Note Die when I was trying to design this year's Christmas Card. I loved it, but it didn't end up working with what I wanted to do. But I thought it would work nicely on a thank you card after Christmas since it is wintery looking.

Supplies:

Stamps: Scandanavian Season, Elegant Greetings (both SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Sky Blue
Ink: Sky Blue, Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue (all SU), Silver Metallic (Encore)
Accessories: Silver Metallic Calligraphy Pen (Marvy), Blue organza ribbon, Sizzix embossing template, Nestabilities, Giant Scallop Circle Punch (Marvy?) Embossing Powder - don't remember the name but it's clear with "sparkles" in it.

A New Blog!

2010-01-05T09:52:00.000+08:00

I've decided to start a new blog. The idea is to have a place to show my cards. I've been posting some from time to time on my "regular" blog, but I want to make this change for two reasons: 1) People who read my blog don't necessarily care about cards; and 2) As I enter cards into contests I don't want the other participants and/or judges to have to read my personal stuff.

As I prepared for this new blog I looked through pictures of past cards. I can see that my work has improved a lot. But I also compare my work to many uber-talented people whose blogs I read and it shows me that I have a LOT of room for improvement. I am a bit hesitant to enter into the fray, but I think it will push me to improve if I have to compete against these insanely talented people.

So without further ado, here is my "first" card. It is for "Mojo Monday". First, the Mojo Monday sketch:
My apologies to the people at Verve - I placed my first order for some of your stamps but they haven't arrived yet, so this card utilizes SU stamps and supplies. (All except for the jewel brad, which is from Michael's, and the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder.)

Amongst the things that need improvement is my method for capturing the image of the cards. I currently scan them and the image usually looks, well, "less" than in real life. So I am forever saying "This looks so much better in real life." In this image the colors don't look too great. They are all from SU's current "In colors", so they really do coordinate with each other! I cannot say I'll work to change this right away, but I will see what I can do eventually.

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by. I would LOVE it if you'd take a minute to say "hi" in the comments.

~La