Another Alteration, a RAK and a Blog Award

It's the Victoria Day holiday here so it's taken me only seven hours to finish this post. :Þ In my rare bit of spare time, I managed to do another alteration for my son because he loves certain images too much to part with. (You can see the previous one HERE.) He has a hard time when the seasons change and he can't wear the clothes that he's grown to love. This top was a gift from my sister but it was the wrong style for the wrong season at the wrong age so he never got to wear it. Sometimes that happens, right? My son loves his construction vehicles so I had to cut this one off the original Carter's sleepwear and put it in a BabyGap t-shirt he can enjoy wearing this spring and summer.

This:

And this:

Became this!

Next up is a card from my long-time friend, Bonita. I think Bonita has a ton more craft supplies than I do but she doesn't have a blog or a gallery. Can you believe it? I think work like this should be out there for all of us to enjoy! After months and months of trying to convince her to start a blog, Bonita says she's working on one. Even I had never seen her work 'til she sent me this card. Isn't it amazing? I hope you get your blog up soon, Bonita!! I think more than a few of us will be excited to see more of your work!

Last, but not least, Priscilla gave me The Versatile Blogger Award just over a week ago and I'm delighted to accept it. Thank you, Priscilla! I supposed to tell you seven things about myself and then pass the award on to 15 bloggers. I think I've done so many of these surveys that you all know a lot about me already. If you want to ask me something, here's your chance! You can ask me just about anything and I'll provide you with answers in a future post. ;) As for passing on the award, I've tried to spread the love to various readers in the past. Some people (like me) love these blog awards and others don't care for them. I personally love them because it's like getting recognized by my peers. Here are some newer-to-me blogs that I love going to, whose writers visit me often and have never received a blog award from me (yes, I keep a list because I'm anal organized that way):

Anita Rex
Emily Keaton
Heather
Helle
Isha Gupta
Jane Beljo
Jessi Fogan
Jocelyn Olson
Judith Gowdy
Lai-Yoke
Lisa Alonzo
Pauline Pollington
Shauna K.
Tammy Hobbs
Tiffany Ervin

If you haven't been to these wonderful blogs, I suggest you check them out! I'll be back a little later with a card! :)

Amber Ink, RAK Heaven and Three Blog Awards

This is going to be a looong post so I hope you have your beverage or snack of choice on hand when you sit down to read this. ;)

First up, I have another reject from the Paper Crafts Go-to Sketches call. This one uses Amber Ink's Hostess with the Mostess and a bunch of Amber Ink iPapers. I'm rather pleased with how this one came together since I'm not great getting better with sketches. :Þ If you're a new follower and missed my Torchbearer days, I urge you to check out Amber Ink's fun and stylish selection of stamps and iPapers. Most of the stamps are available in both digi and clear stamp formats!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft and 120lb pure luxury white cardstock; Bazzill Basics textured yellow cardstock; SU Real Red cardstock; Amber Ink Bubble Fizz - White, Bubble Fizz - White: Tiny, Eat Me, Drink Me - Blue: Tiny iPapers; Amber Ink Hostess with the Mostess; Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Copics; MFT Open Scallop Border die; Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 14; QuicKutz Epic Six; Stampin' Dimensionals

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Now, on to some stunning RAKs I've been very lucky to receive!

This first one is from Ujjwal who's the only Ippity Chick in India! I'm so pleased for all my Indian crafter friends who now have easy access to some of the world's finest stamps!! I loved this card when Ujjwal posted it but I had no idea the size of it which is about 5" x 7". Seeing it in person left me speechless at all the handstitching that went into it. WOW! I just love the way you use your stamps and I'm always amazed at your creativity whenever I visit your blog. Thank you so much, Ujjwal!

I'm ecstatic that Alice took me seriously when I commented on one of her cards (shown at left) and said that I loved it so much that I wanted to own it. LOL I couldn't believe it when she sent it to me along with another one of her masterpieces! If you've never been to Alice's blog, you must!!! She's my Copic colouring idol and I also love the way she uses patterned paper and dies! Every single card she creates is a stunner. Thank you so much, Alice!

And this beautiful St. Patrick's Day card from Meg! Green is one of my favourite colours and I love that this card is all green. I did chuckle over the fact that I, a Chinese girl, was on the receiving end of an Irish holiday card. LOL Thank you so much, Meg! You know I love you!

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And now the blog awards.

I'm exceptionally late in posting these blog awards and I'm sorry for that! These ladies already know how much I appreciate their inspiration and friendship!! I'm happy to receive these awards multiple times.

This Cherry on Top Award is from Savannah who's the current Moxie Fabber of the Week! Sav is one amazing crafter who loves Unity as much as I do. Okay, she might love it just a tad more. ;) LOL

To accept this award I need to do a few things:

1. Thank the person who gave it. Thank you, Sav! I love the comments you leave on my blog, the compliments you leave about me on your own blog and the fact that you make me want to strive for the best in my crafting!
2. Post this award on your blog. Done!
3. List three things you love about yourself. I appreciate my friends, I'm generous and I love to learn new things.
4. Post a picture that you love.

   

   This is a cellphone photo of my son on his second birthday as I was running backwards ahead of him. I promised him a Thomas balloon and he wanted to go pick it up with his bike. Little did we know how huge it was and that the wind would be smacking it on his head over and over. (Insert sound effects here.) After a few metres, he asked me to carry the balloon home. LOL!!!

5. Tag five people to receive this award.

• Alice Wertz
• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Jing-Jing Nickel
• Julie Lacey
• Kasia Curry

I received this Stylish Blogger Award from Smita, with whom I enjoy sharing fun toddler stories. Smita has an exotic, colourful and ornate style that I could only dream of achieving! Thank you, Smita!

To accept this award, I have to meet the following requirements:

Share 8 things about yourself.

• I'm out of things to share so I'd like to know what you'd like to know about me! Maybe I should ask you what things you'd like to know about my crafting. LOL No, seriously, anything goes here. Ask away!

Pass it on to 8 bloggers.

1. Anne Harada
2. Beth Ranney-Thomas
3. Janna Werner
4. Katrina Hunt
5. Laurel Seabrook
6. Monika Reeck
7. Savannah O'Gwynn
8. Tifany DeGough

Kasia honoured me with this Liebster Blog Award. Kasia's work can be seen in the March/April issue of Paper Crafts, currently on newstands! Her quirky, clean and simple style always makes me think, 'Why didn't I think of that?'. Thank you, Kasia!

The aim of this award is to bring to light three to five new bloggers who have very few followers. I'm delighted that Kasia gave me this award even though I have almost 200 followers. This just shocks and thrills me at the same time! A year ago, I only had a handful of followers and I'm speechless at how many of you think I'm worthy of following now. Thank you!!

Please visit these amazing blogs and leave some love! You will want to become a follower while you're there. ;)

1. Brenda Urbanik
2. Chan Vuong
3. Kary Lim
4. Paula Muse
5. Wendy Michels

If you received one of these awards, I urge you to pass them on. There are so many wonderfully talented paper crafters out there in blogland who would love to receive these, too!

Well, I hope this post wasn't too boring for you. ;) Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you've all had a great start to your week!

A New Video Tutorial, Three Blog Awards and Paying It Forward!

Remember The Twinery necklace I made here? I finished the second one and Lindsey wanted the kit for her granddaughter so I made a video tutorial!

In the last couple of months, I've been lucky to receive several blog awards and I happened to receive two of them twice. I realized that it wasn't fair to the lovely ladies who passed them on to me that I didn't acknowledge it the second time here on my blog. I did thank them on their blogs or via email but now I think the right thing to do is pass them on again because it gives me the opportunity to brighten someone's day! So now I have three blog awards to pass on to more wonderful friends.

First up is the Cherry on Top Award which was first given to me by Meg in August 2010 and again by Lynn in October 2010:

To accept this award I need to do a few things:

1. Thank the person who gave it. Thank you, Lynn! This means a lot to me and so does your friendship. When I do visit my sister I would also love to meet you!!
2. Copy the award and put it on your blog. Done!
3. List three things which you love about yourself. I'm generous and loyal to my friends, I love red wine, and I would love to live somewhere in Europe someday. Did you already know those things? ;)
4. Post a picture that you love.

   

   This is a photo of my son when he was nine days old. I'm amazed at how alert he was. We used this blabla doll to measure his growth each month and the photos are so much fun to look at now. You're probably wondering why I don't scrapbook?! I'm asking myself that very same question. ;) (Oh, and the dolls are extremely addictive. My son now has four of them and I...er, he wants more. Heehee.)

5. Tag five people you'd like to give this award to.

1. Cindy ~ The Crafty Frugalista
2. Donna Mikasa ~ three umbrellas
3. Julie Hoffman ~ Julie Makes Cards
4. Lynn Miller ~ millers-ink
5. Virgina Lu ~ Yes, Virginia....

Second is the Stylish Blogger Award which was first given to me by Jen W. and again by Erika in January 2011:

To accept this award, I have to meet the following requirements:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pass it on to 8 bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

Thank you so much, Erika! I'm delighted that you were inspired to start a blog and share your wonderful creations. I can't really think of anything to tell you about myself so I'll ask some questions that I'd love for my readers to answer.

1. I really need to buy a printer. I would like it to print digital scrapbook layouts, have individual colour cartridges, be able to take 120lb cardstock and print photographs with no problems. Any recommendations?
2. You may be shocked by this but I use children's scissors to cut out my images. Now I know I need to invest in a good pair of snips. What would you recommend?
3. How do you keep up with your Google Reader?
4. I never thought I would make a single video tutorial but now that I've made three, it's become quite addictive. What types of tutorials would you like to see on my blog?

And now, to spread the love, here are the lovely ladies I'd like to pass this award to:

1. Amy Tsuruta ~ Tsuruta Designs
2. Angie Blom ~ { My Scraptastic World }
3. Erin ~ Erin's Heart Sprinkles
4. Kirsty Vittetoe ~ Handmade Little Things
5. Lynn Mangan ~ The Mango Boys and Me
6. Tejal ~ Creative Expressions
7. Ujjwal Gupta ~ Handmade With Love
8. Yvonne Russell ~ Paper Flourish

Last, but not least, Cindy awarded me this Liebster Blog Award last week. Thank you so much, Cindy! Your blog is a gem and I'm so happy to have stumbled upon it during one Friends With Flair Friday a couple of months ago.

There are a couple of conditions for this award if you have been tagged and want to participate. Create a post where you post the 'Love Blog' image. You should also blog the person's link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award. You can then choose three to five favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then each blogger will inform you that they have been tagged.

Please note: The aim of this action is that we bring unknown, good blogs to light, so it is probably best to choose great blogs that are just starting out or who don't have a lot of followers. Not a requirement... just a suggestion!

1. Angela ~ Paper Cupboard
2. Jen Wills ~ JENerally Speaking
3. Lindsey ~ Bashful Blogging
4. Lisa Louten ~ Forever Nomads
5. Meg ~ Corgi Creations

Also posted on Cindy's blog was the Pay It Forward badge.

Here's how it works: I promise something handmade to the first five people who leave a comment here specifically stating they want to join in the Pay It Forward fun. The original "rules" state that you must repost this status on your own blog, offering something handmade by you to five other people and it must be sent to your five people some time in 2011. However, I am not requiring this. If you would like to repost this and offer something to your readers, that would be lovely, but feel free to enter even if you do not have the time/money/desire to pay it forward at this time. You should be able to be able to get some goodies in the mail even if you can't do it yourself! Come join the fun! I look forward to creating something just for five lucky bloggers who leave a comment on this post.

Also, in light of Paying It Forward, I am giving away a couple of stamps from Unity Stamp Company. I happen to have two of each of these. One set was part of my welcome package when I joined the Kit Club and I eventually purchased both the stamp sets that included these. The bird image is from a Melody Ross set called She Did It Anyway and the sentiment is from Nothing But Blue Skies. They'd work wonderfully together on a card or other project. All you have to do is leave a comment here and make sure you're a follower. I will randomly draw a winner tomorrow night and announce the winner on my Friends With Flair post on Friday!

See you tomorrow for Pink Cat Studio's new digi release! Have a wonderful (snowy) day!!

Stylish Blogger Award

Jen Wills of JENerally Speaking honoured me with this blogger award yesterday. To accept this award, I have to meet the following requirements:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pass it on to 8 bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

Thank you so much, Jen! I love receiving these awards from my blogland friends and there's no such thing as having too many!

1. I love receiving catalogs in the mail. I will flip through them a million times and dog-ear way too many pages 'til the next one comes along and the old ones go in my recycling bin. Among my favourites are JCrew, Dwell Studio, Anthropologie, Restoration Hardware and RH Baby & Child.
2. I've been house-hunting for more than two years and I'm really hoping we find something before winter is over. I need my own studio space!
3. I wish I didn't have an acute sense of smell. Anything that has a fragrance bothers me and it's gotten worse over the years!
4. I love the comments I receive on my blog and am fully appreciative of them! So far I've been able to reciprocate that love and hope to continue doing so each and every time. Occasionally though, there are some whose emails and profiles are blocked and that upsets me! If you're one of those people, just know that I thank you!!
5. I haven't had a real vacation since my son was born and I desperately need one.
6. Being the mother of a toddler is tough. In fact, it's much harder than I ever imagined.
7. I will be an aunt again this week!
8. Generally, I'm a minimalist but I have hoarded a few crafty things that I have goals to use up (or give away) this year. ;)

And now, to spread the love, here are the lovely ladies I'd like to pass this award to (in alphabetical order by first name):

1. Barbara Hache - Barbara's Cards and Crafts
2. Erin Thiem - Homemade Cards by Erin
3. Julie Elak - The Last Minute Crafter
4. Karin Martin - With an "i" for Paper!
5. Lindsey M-P - Bashful Blogging
6. Monique Hansen - For the Love of Paper
7. Vicky Hayes - Crafting Clare's Paper Moments
8. Wendy ten Hove - Wendy's Blog

I will have a Hero Arts post a bit later today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I hope it's sunny and fun, even if it's cold. :)

PDCC59, a Blog Award and an Amber Ink Winner!

This is a birthday card for my mother-in-law whose birthday is in the first week of January. Her favourite colour is purple and since purple was included in this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge #59 I used that brilliant combination for this card.

I created the sentiment panel first, then randomly stamped three different snowflakes in three different colours in the area where I wanted to place the sentiment. I punched holes, threaded the twine and adhered the label to the card base. I thought the card was missing something so I added rhinestones to the centres of the brilliant blue snowflakes.

More than a week ago, I received this blog award from the fabulous Julie Hoffman. Thank you, Julie, for honouring me with this wonderful gift!

Blog awards are dear to me because they are from very special crafty friends. I know that sounds sappy but it's true! I'm supposed to tell you three things that make me, me, and then I'm supposed to pass it on to three friends:

1. I'm possessive about my "stuff" which means I get paranoid when friends ask to borrow my books, CDs, DVDs, stamps, etc. I always write a note to remind myself to ask for them back the next week. Eeek!
2. I'd rather purchase and prepare my own food to eat at home which means I enjoy going out to eat once in a while but not too often!
3. I love to sleep and could use 10 hours of sleep a day but somehow I've been surviving on less and less, especially since my son was born. ;)

It was really difficult to choose only three but here are the beautiful and inspirational ladies I'm passing this award to:

1. Cookie Groover
2. Janna Werner
3. Jennifer Hagfeldt

After the Amber Ink Holiday Blog Hop on Tuesday, voters were encouraged to vote for their favourite card in the hop and mine was the winner! Thank you to all of you who took the time to participate in the hop and vote. The past and present torchbearers had a fabulous time creating holiday cards and they were all fabulous. I'm honoured that mine was chosen as the winner and the best part of it is that one of the hoppers who left a comment here will now win a $10 gift certificate to the Amber Ink store! That lucky lady is... drum roll, please...

Congratulations, Meg! Please email Amber Alvarez at info@amberink.com and let her know that I chose you as my blog hop winner of a $10 gift certificate to the Amber Ink store.

Sources: SU Tempting Turquoise cardstock; GinaK 120lb pure luxury White cardstock; SU Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise & Lavender Lace inks; Papertrey Ink Fillable Frames #4 & die; QuicKutz Epic Six; Martha Stewart stamp & punch polar snowflake; Marvy-Uchida 1/8" long reach circle punch; The Twinery baker's twine in Lilac; SU Basic Rhinestones; Stampin' Dimensionals

Another Blog Award!

On Friday I received another blog award, this time from the lovely Sally Atkins who first became a friend on Splitcoaststampers and then recently joined me on Pink Cat Studio's design team! Sally, I'm truly honoured to have you pass this award on to me. Thank you so much!!

Now I need to pass this award on to seven favourite blogs. Favourite could mean so many different things and it was difficult to whittle my list down to seven. Most importantly, I want to spread the love to those who inspire and entertain me so here they are:

Alice
Jennifer
Erin

Meg

Angela

Smita

Susan

It's been a busy few days and I'm trying to be good to myself, hence no posts, but I've been busy working on some cards that I'll be posting at 10 p.m. tonight. ;) I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

More Good Things!

After all the wonderful things that happened on Saturday, imagine my surprise when I received another blog award yesterday! I received this one from the adorable Meg at Corgi Creations.

To accept this award I need to do a few things:

1. Thank the person who gave it. Thanks, Meg! This means a lot to me and so does your friendship!


2. Copy the award and put it on your blog. Done!
   
3. List three things which you love about yourself. I'm genuinely nice, I love deeply, and I can do almost anything well the first time around.


4. Post a picture that you love.
   
   

   This is a photo of my son when he was almost three months old. He was trying to talk to me and kept saying, "Ah-Oooo". It was the cutest thing I'd ever heard and everytime I look at this photo I smile and think of his enthusiasm which he seems to accumulate as he grows. ;)

5. Tag five people you'd like to give this award to.

• Donna at My Scrapbox
• mustavcoffee at Crafty Musings
• Cookie at Cards by Cookie
• Mariska van der Veer at Sending You a Little Smile
• Inge Groot at Patterned Paper

Next, I found out that my team Creative Critters won the Third Place prize in PaperWork Co.'s Ultimate Summer Challenge! Way to go girls!! I'm so proud of how well Angela, Donna, Meg and I worked together. I can't wait to see what everyone makes with our new PWCO stamps.

Finally, I found out that I'm going to have a nephew! My sister has a 16-month-old daughter and her son will be born in January so she'll have two under two. I'm excited for her but also laughing at what she's going to have to deal with, especially if her son is as spirited as mine! Her daughter is so easy to manage and you know what they say... if you have an easy first, the second is... Heehee.

Well, I sure hope you've all had some great moments in the last few days. If not, I hope that my happy news has brought you a few smiles!

Good Things Come in Threes

I woke up this morning to find out that I received a Beautiful Blogger Award from the delightful mustavcoffee. She was one of my very first Followers and always leaves the nicest comments which make me smile. Thank you so much! As a recipient of this award, I need to tell you seven facts about myself and then pass the award on to seven other bloggers.

First, more about me:

1. I have one sibling, a younger sister who's three inches taller than me.
2. I have a degree in anthropology.
3. I'm also a certified makeup artist who has a magazine cover to my credit. No doubt, I love fashion and photography. My favourite clothing stores are JCrew, Banana Republic, Club Monaco and Lululemon, and my favourite shoe store is Cole Haan. I'm a label snob when it comes to handbags and I judge those who buy fakes (here's why).
4. I've kept every single report card I ever received, all the way back to junior kindergarten.
5. I love to receive postcards from friends who are travelling.
6. I get upset if I receive a gift that is not accompanied by a card!!! That's how much I appreciate cards.
7. I've been to 22 of the 50 United States but only 3 of Canada's provinces and territories. However, I've been fortunate enough to vacation in 13 countries and live abroad. My dream is to show my son the world and hope that he is able to experience even more than I have.

And now, seven amazing blogland friends I'd like to share this award with:

1. Sunghee at Creativity in Progress
2. Angela at Paper Cupboard
3. Meg at Corgi Creations
4. Saskia at Snippers & Co.
5. Karen at The Bald Dragonfly
6. Emily at Emmie-Lou Who...Stamps & You!
7. Lynn at The Mango Boys and Me

I wish I could've given this award to more than seven friends but rules are rules. Just know that I appreciate everyone who visits my blog (commenters and lurkers alike). I love to visit your blogs in turn and I'm always amazed and inspired by all your work as well! Thank you for making my blogging experience a fun one! It's what keeps me going.

The second great thing about today was that we were able to get our hands on a free Thomas & Friends wooden railway car for our son. Toys R Us was having a rare free giveaway so we got to the store just before opening and got in line. Of course they had limited quantities and when the opened the doors, the people who didn't have strollers rushed ahead of us and got in line first even though they arrived behind us. Is there no common courtesy anymore? All the parents with strollers were shunted to the back of the line but luckily we were able to get a hold of one train each for our little boys. They had four options: Thomas, Smudger, George and Rheneas. Our son had a hard time choosing but he finally settled on George whom we thought was the most unique.

Lastly, I found out that I made the finals in the Fall CAS DT search! I couldn't be more happy or excited and the final challenge is perfect for me. I can't wait to start on that card but not before finishing the card for my Summer CAS Guest Designer spot on Monday! :D