Quilled Glitter Birthday Balloons Card

First day of spring is here!!! Everything in small portions--winter felt way too long this year!

Today I present to you a card that I made for a co-worker's birthday yesterday. I remember her sporting argyle socks and expressing her love for the pattern, so I found this embossing folder (Darice brand) with the impression for the white background. It works well in my old Cuttlebug!

I don't know if you can see from this side view, but the center is popped up and this enabled me to slip the balloon and conceal the stems of the flowers behind the square.

The writing I put together in my Word processor and printed it out. Simple as that!

These quilled balloons I left as a symbol (without the string on the bottom) and I applied glitter to one of them to jazz it up a bit. :) The glitter stayed put pretty well from what I could tell--didn't create a huge mess and detach too much--yay!









Btw, head over to Spanish Crafter and leave her a comment on this post to enter in her giveaway!

Enjoy your day!

P.S. This card was inspired by My Paper Obsession's card and The Sweetest Thing's Sunday Sketch!

Quilled Heart with Flowers, I Love You Card

This is a card that I made for Valentine's day, but as we all know it is never a bad time to tell someone that you love them. :)

Why is the heart shape not symmetrical you may be wondering? I followed the grooves of a cookie cutter I got from IKEA! Many, many tiny tight coils were rolled for the perimeter. The inside I felt like decorating with husked flowers. The center is actually 2 layers with a white quilled flower base on top of a die cut. Background is a rub-on. 

I'm currently writing from a hotel in Philly. It's so nice to get away from things once in a while.

Unfortunately, there isn't much of a view of the "city of brotherly love" from this 17th floor room.

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-Aud Sentiments Girl Power
-Cute Card Thursday Anything Goes
-In the Pink Mother's Day/Floral

Blue Letterpress Butterflies Birthday Card

March is a busy birthday month for my family as both my brother and I's birthdays are coming up! I hope this year is better than the last (totally not complaining about last year either)! How does time pass by so quickly?!?

I'm working on simple things at the moment. I can't tell you why I'm in a slumber, but that's the status of my craft life right now. :T Slowly, but surely I will get there. :)

These butterflies were stamped in various mixtures of blues, purples, and off-white ink, then wet embossed with a pearlescent gloss. Sentiment was letterpressed. It's simple, but elegant. The mesh ribbon is actually a bit shimmery too, but it's hard to capture such details on camera.









Daylight savings this weekend--enjoy it... -1 hour!

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-Happy Campers CC 12: Flutterby Butterfly

Updates; First Batch of Body Butter!

Hi there! It's been a while. I can't believe it's March already! Here are some updates from the last couple of months (I apologize for posting about some of it so late):

-I want to thank my former teammate for a Liebster award! :) She is a wonderful woman and so full of life from all the way in beautiful Hawaii! Her blog, Loves Happy Hour, really reflects that playful side!

-I was one of the few to accept the last prizes for DYSU challenge blog. I'm sorry to see them go with their dynamic challenges. Many thanks for selecting my card as a winner and I also want to thank their sponsor, ElizabetaKushner, for sending me her super detailed digi stamps!

-A few weeks ago, I made my very first batch of body butter:




It was very similar to cooking and I enjoyed the process as well as the outcome very much! It was a Shea/Cocoa Butter combo that I whipped using our new stand mixer! Very exciting. :) I'll need to work on mixing up essential oils.

-...And, I've been hanging out with my cats:

Hope you're all doing amazing!!!

Happy Chinese New Year

Today is the eve of Chinese new year (follows Lunar calendar). It's when everyone gathers with the family to have dinner. The snow storm is over but now we have to drive to Brooklyn to meet my parents. Luckily we didn't lose electricity.

It's been really busy at work and I've been coming home super tired, so I apologize for not keeping up with the blog. I will strive to change that very soon. :)

Have a very happy new year to all of my Chinese friends out there!

Quilled Blossoms Thank You Card (CAS)

Happy Thursday all!

Thanks for stopping in today. We are all frozen over in NYC making it extremely depressing to go out. Makes me wonder how on earth I lived in Buffalo, NY for 2 years. :D I hope it's warmer wherever you are! :)

I have here a card that is currently circulating my office at work to be signed by everyone. Shanta's last day will be tomorrow and I will miss the energy she brings. Hope she'll feel the love in the card. :)

Card details: Layout was based on this sketch. 3 quilled blossoms were formed into bowls with white paper strips. Depth is created in this way. Chalk was faded into petals to bring out colors. Vellum was printed on for the words. Flourishes were wet embossed. The only regret I have is making the flowers so thick. I wanted to partially conceal some petals with the banner, but in order to do this I would need to put the banner on stilts of foam dots! You may not be able to tell from this photo except the way that it pops out, but I have to say it is pretty unflattering looking at it from the side. This also caused such a raised card that it far out-sized the A2 envelope I had prepared for it. It had to go into an envelope one size up. I'll have to work on that. ;)

Below are 3 close ups of the card. In sharing my joy in making a new blog friend, Lenetta, I would like to participate in her new blog hop which encourages self-accomplishment--Weekly Goals Linkup # 3. For every picture, I will put down one goal for the week for a total of 3. Yes, I know it's weak, but you have to start from somewhere...right? 

1. Write 2+ blog posts.

2. Beat my old bowling record of 167 tonight (Good luck to me--
I did that in 11th grade and only recently started playing again).

3. Make 2+ cards this weekend.

If I fail to meet my first goal this week, then I'll be back next week. :X Just kidding...I will try my best to make good on that one. ;) Have a good one!

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-Chalk N Stock Jan '13 Anything Goes w/ Chalk
-Papercrafting Journey For a Girl Challenge
-Aud Sentiments Inspirational Bingo (Diagonal: Flowers, (Wet) Embossing, "You")

Quilled Flowers Vase I Love You Card

Valentine's day is coming up--I remember when my girlfriends and I were single, we would still try to send each other things to make ourselves feel not so lonely. :)

If he were alive today, I would've said happy birthday to a dear friend who'd have turned 27 in 2 days. This bouquet goes out to all of you who are in need of a hug during this long stretch of holidays that may remind you of loved ones who are no longer with us.

About a month 'til Chinese New Year--cheers to all you snake babies!

Entered in:-Cards Galore Anything Goes-Tando Creative Feeling Blue

Welcome 2013--Happy New Year! Handmade Season's Greetings Kraft Card

It is a new year on the east coast of the US in approximately a minute! Within this time, I would like to thank you all for sharing this past year and, now, ringing in the new year with me! I am overjoyed to have been able to reciprocate ideas, encouraging words, and share this craft with all of you! It has been a delight to grow together, as a person and as a papercrafter.

This is a card that's based off of the tags I made in September 2012 and inspired by LoveofCreating's card. Snowflakes were wet embossed in white on a super thick kraft mat and rhinestones adorn a few of their centers.

Thanks for stopping in today! Without further ado...

Happy 2013!!!

Cream Colored Quilled Snowflake Handmade Ornament

Today I will be visiting my boyfriend's family in the afternoon. Since they speak Russian, I feel lost half of the time. It will be exhausting to keep up. It isn't the first time, but it doesn't get much easier if you know what I mean. The way I feel after may be the equivalent of running after a hyper child all day. lol Wish me luck! :D

This snowflake ornament was made using creamed quilling paper--37 cut strips to be exact. It took me about double the amount of time planning and putting this one together as compared to the other ones I've been posting.

Below are two pictures taken a week before Thanksgiving at Astoria Park during sunset. 

RFK Bridge, formerly Triboro Bridge

Upper East Side, Manhattan

Best,

Silver Quilled Star Snowflake Tree Ornament

Only a day away from the new year. Do you have any plans? I'll tell you the truth...I just want to sleep! The energy here is too exhausting. I don't know if any of you have been to Times Square for the ball drop, but it was far from fun the only time that I decided to go 6 years ago. Unless you're totally committed to listening to deafening levels of music, being without toilet breaks, cold, hungry, and crammed to stake out for hours upon hours, I would say to avoid the craziness there. Much of Manhattan is closed off to traffic and even certain train stations are closed to accommodate for the massive crowd gathering which causes even slower than normal commute times. Go figure...I wouldn't say to not try it if you are into the experience itself, but being the party pooper that I am I would strongly advise against it. :) How does your local area celebrate?

Here is a two-tier star ornament. The top layer is more of a standard layout of a flower. 16 strips of paper go into the making of this one.

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-2 Sisters #124 Anything But a Card

Quilled Mr & Mrs Wedding Shaped Card, Butterfly Flourishes

It has come to my attention that I am only 3 posts away from 100 for the year while typing this entry! Therefore, I will strive to make it to the 100 mark by 2013. Though crafting is rewarding in and of itself, it is also a good feeling to see documentation of the progress. For those of us who blog regularly, it may seem so routine at this point. I was thinking about how initially foreign the idea was to write posts about what I make. Familiarizing myself with Blogspot and blogging communities, in general, was sometimes intimidating. Please give yourself a pat on the back for me for coming this far in your own craft journeys and especially to those of you who journal about your crafts--I am so proud of us all! :)

A few months ago, I made this card for another crafty friend's wedding. We met in our teens during one of my first jobs at a tutoring center in Brooklyn. For a while, we lost contact due to our 2 year age difference and attending different schools and colleges altogether. Facebook. Ah, what my generation would do without...I can't even imagine. Anyway, we reconnected through there as many others did during our freshmen year in college when it was first introduced to the college world. Who would've thought that we would find this unlikely connection through crafting so many years later? You see, it is very uncommon for those growing up in a place like NYC to be taking on any hobbies. Unless you're born to a hippie or into a privileged family, it is more likely that we would have a part-time job in school than pursue our interests. It wasn't until college that I was able to pursue papercrafting.

I notice that I put in a bit more effort into designing things when I know I am gifting a handmade item to another artsy person. Why is this? Well, this person will be better able to appreciate and connect with what is presented to them, for one. Another thing that may or may not be true is my impression that I am suppose to WOW this person because they have been exposed to so many more amazing works by the array of talent out there. I cannot accurately make this comparison, but it is still an illogical reasoning I have. Do any of you ever find that you are in this situation as well?








Lastly, I should comment about the actual card. :D "Mr & Mrs" are paper pierced and then the paper I used to fill in the letters was taken from gift wrapping scraps. It actually shimmers through and does not take away from the overall look, in my opinion. Silhouette butterfly is embellished with tiny rhinestones. Flourishes are quilled.

Here is a shot of the interior. It's also lined with the same gift wrap as the lettering that peeks through the front of the card. I am still holding onto the cut-outs from "Mr & Mrs"...perhaps for another wedding project I will integrate them.

We are expecting a snowstorm in the Northeast today, so we'll be staying in. Hopefully everyone is doing the same to stay safe and warm.






All the best,


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Almost 2013 Quilled Gold Snowflake Star Ornament

Catching up with posts!!! Here's the first ornament I made this season. It's gold, quilled, and I tried to make it look as compact as possible for a snowflake. It's got that star shape because I gave it 5 points.

Hope you like it! Enjoy your Friday everyone!

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-Tuesday Alchemy #46 Anything Goes

-Make it Monday #120 Anything Goes

-Through the Craftdoor #50 Anything Goes