Goodbye... Hello! [2010 - 2011 New Year's Eve]

Hello friends!  What can you say about the year 2010?  It was a pretty awesome and creative year for me.  I was able to explore the little crafty side of me ☺.

Thanks to all you creative people, I was inspired to write and start this blog in June -  I'm thankful for my 2 wonderful followers.  It felt good to share my projects with you and at the same time learn from all of you too.  You have inspired me to be more creative and resourceful.

Here's to the year 2011!  Looking forward to new things to do:  more crafts to make, more blogs to make; many blogs to read to meet my needs.  Time to go to the store and explore more.

Have a blessed new year, my friend!  May the good Lord pour out His abundant blessing and grace upon you and our family. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ♥☺♥

Gifts for the ladies [Christmas 2010 Gospel Bracelets]

This was a "handcrafted filled" Christmas for me.   I combined jewelry making with paper quilling and handmade packaging... yup, labor of love lots-of-love ♥.  This was a Gospel bracelet comprised of 2 pairs of  7 colors of Swarowski crystals:  yellow, black, red, green, blue, white and lavander.  Why these 7 colors you ask?

Yellow:  represents GOD'S PERFECT LIGHT.  1 John 17 says:  "But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Black:  represents SIN.  Romans 3:23 says:  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Red:  represents the BLOOD of Jesus Christ shed ont he cross for us.  Romans 5:8 "God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Green:  represents ETERNAL LIFE.  John 3:16 "Fod God so loved the world that He gave Hhis one and only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Blue:  resresent obedience in BAPTISM, being immersed in water to show the "death and resurrection" in Christ.  Baptism does not save you, but we do it to follow Jesus' example.  (Matthew 3:13)

Clear:  represent RIGHTEOUSNESS, a new or a clean heart.  Once we accept Christ, we become a new creation (2Cor 5:17).  God saves us instantly through our faith in Christ, He washes away all of our sin and makes us white aas snow before Him (Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18).

Violet:  represent the CROWN OF LIFE.,  The Bible says:  "Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10)

It is nice to be able to share God's word and be a blessing to other people.  To complete the gift, I made copies of the gospel message and glued them to a #1 envelope.  To make the dimensional envelope:  I started with a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" Bazzill cardstock and scored 2" on 2 opposite sides and 2 1/2" on the other 2 opposite sides.  Cut the corners then fold the sides and trim the edges using a corner rounder.  I then added brads on the lower half of the envelope and a paper quilled daisy on the top flap.  I added embroidery floss used to close the envelope.  

Oh, it's so dainty and very girly.  I love it!

Hubby's Hat [Toujours Hat by Kim Werker]

It may be very-winter-with-snow outside but it's bright and cheery in my crafty corner today.  Here's why...

About a month ago, I started a very nice pattern from Crochet Me / Interweave by Kim Werker - Toujours hat -  but towards the end of making it, I got totally stuck!  I call it 'crochet block'... somehow, I just had a hard time following the pattern.  I wrote and asked Kim about it and she patiently told me what to do (bless her ♥).  It was my first time to do turn crochet (tc), confused with working with the yarn and i just gave up after several attempts... until last night, Dec. 21.

Seeing my unfinished project lying among my stash of yarn was just pathetic.  I could hear my projects faint voice shouting "Come back" and "You complete me" ☺.  I finally gave in last night and to my surprise, it was very simple and the instructions were easy to follow.  No wonder Kim seemed to be in surprised with my (very elementary) questions.  After a month of waiting, my project was completed in just 30 minutes. 

Oh, I love it!  My husband's gonnna love wearing it as well.  Merry Christmas!



Giving Thanks and Color Challenge [HA December 2010 Challenge]

It's mid-December already... wow, where did the time go? 

I was able to finish 2 cards for the hero arts December 2010 Challenge. 

The first card that I made was for the color challenge.  I used my HA clear sending holiday cheer stamp set and slate blue cardstock.  I made the background using the pine trees and added snowflakes that i embossed with white.  I also added glitter on the skyline.  I stamped the house, colored and cut it out.  Finally, i added the sentiment,a scallop border dp and 2 red crystal brads.

The second card that I made was a thank you card.  It's a simple card made with love.  I used F5030 Long stem blossom, stamped embossed with gold.  I matted this on a blue cobblestone embossed dark blue paper.  The hand printed the sentiment and added a ribbon.  I placed a gold flower brad on each corner of the mat.  I love the effect of the stamped brass blossom and the brass brads, though it was a challenge to take a good photo.  Simple but made wth love.  TFL ☺♥☺.

Lacy scarf [MIL's 2010 Christmas gift]

Isn't it exciting to try something new?  It may be a new career, a new recipe, a new hobby, a new project and ohhhh... a new crochet pattern.  I was thrilled to see this so i made one for my MIL.  I love my MIL - she recently had total knee replacement of her left knee and is currently doing well and hopefully, she will be home with us before Christmas.  It was tough to see her in pain and get back to her feet one step at a time.  Imagine yourself learning to walk one step at a time as if you were a baby.  With God's healing and her perseverance, she will be back to her toes in no time.  

I made this wheat colored scarf for her.  It is below zero where we are and we try our best to bundle up and be warm.   Made with love, as always.  ☺♥☺

Toddler beanie hat [Makoa's hat]

Eleven days before Christmas!  It's truly the most wonderful time of the year - especially for the little ones.

I made a beanie hat for my nephew, Makoa.  He is about a year and a half and oh boy, he is so adorable!  I followed the pattern from here but with some revisions.  Instead of adding several stripes, i only added 2 rows near the brim. 

Since i started making hats in October, this is the second hat that i made for a toddler.  I realized that making children's hats takes a little less time than adults because of the lesser stitches that has to be done.  I put a lot of love and  fun making it and I hope he would love wearing it (and fit his head just right ☺). 

I love you, Makoa!  May you feel our warmth and love this season and always.  Merry Christmas from the Cab's.

Christmas for Denami [DeNami Sketch challenge #5]

Where did the time go?  I guess most of us have been thinking of the same question nowadays.  Would you believe that it's the last day of November already?  Soon, we will be very busy for Christmas.  Have you prepared all your christmas cards?  Here's one Christmas card that I would like to share, as an entry to the DeNami sketch Challenge #05 by Ayana.  I love the detail of the design at the bottom so I thought I'd give it a try.

I used the very cute and adorable Christmas Tweetings stamp from DeNami - I stamped the image using Versafine ink in black onyx and colored them with Tombo ABT markers.  I embossed their hats and sock using versamark and white embossing powder to add dimension.   I added blue sparklets using sakura glue pen.  I added color on the background to highlight the "tweets."

I matted the image on a Christmas PP; added scalloped edges with the vine background stamp, a yellow paper quilled flower and accents at the bottom.  I placed the matted PP on a dark green card base.  Tadaaaaa!

Thanks for looking and have a Merry Christmas!

Handmade gifts and tags [Hero Arts Nov. 2010]

Today is Friday and it's the last day of submission for HA's November challenge.  It should've ended yesterday but they moved it due to the thanksgiving parteees.  Another day to zap my little creativity.  I have been busy doing crocheted gifts for lovedones.  I have finished 2 hats this weekend.  One is for a cute baby girl and the other is for my very loving aunt. 

This pink/brown hat is for my goddaughter who recently turned 9 months.  I love looking at her photos with her big ribbon and nice hats and outfits.  So, i made her a hat and a card.  The size of the card is 4.25" x 5.5".

I used stamps from CL155 Playful animals, colored, mod podged and cut them.  I added red hats... because it is Christmas!  Then, distressed the background pp and stamped snowflakes and sentiment (from CL464 Sending holiday cheer).  I matted it on a holly paper background, added embroidery floss, a red ribbon and finally placed it on a red base.  Isn't that cute?  I just hope the hat will fit her.

The second hat is for my aunt who loves the color purple.  It was a challenging hat to make - something out of the ordinary from what i have done in the past.  I am so excited to mail it to her so i had to make this tag, asap (lol)!

For the ornament, I did block stamping on a white paper and stamp embossed the ornament - I used F5276 Flourish ornament rubber stamp.  I cut it out and placed a yellow ribbon and a green bead.   I used a background paper which i distressed with walnut stain distress ink after which,  I stamped the vine stamp.   The ornament was attached using dimensional adhesive and added a twine on top.  The sentiment was from the ending holiday cheer clear stamp set.  Finally, I punched the bottom edge with MS bubble punch.

Christmas is coming very soon and I still have a lot of crafting, crocheting and everything in between to do.  Have fun!



Thanksgiving 2010 [Handmade Cards]

We don't have an official "Thanskgiving Day" in Manila so this would be my first one in the US.  I have always wondered why Americans, in particular, look forward to celebrating it.  What is it all about? 

I found a very interesting Thanksgiving website that you might want to check out.  Here are some portions of their article.

'"Thanksgiving is America's preeminent day. It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It has a very interesting history. Its origin can be traced back to the 16th century when the first thanksgiving dinner is said to have taken place.

Journey of the Pilgrims
The legendary pilgrims, crossed the Atlantic in the year 1620 in Mayflower-A 17th Century sailing vessel. About 102 people traveled for nearly two months with extreme difficulty. This was so because they were kept in the cargo space of the sailing vessel. No one was allowed to go on the deck due to terrible storms. The pilgrims comforted themselves by singing Psalms- a sacred song.

Arrival in Plymouth
The pilgrims reached Plymouth rock on December 11th 1620, after a sea journey of 66 days. Though the original destination was somewhere in the northern part of Virginia, they could not reach the place owing to winds blowing them off course. Nearly46 pilgrims died due to extreme cold in winter. However, in the spring of 1621, Squanto, a native Indian taught the pilgrims to survive by growing food.

Day of Fasting and Prayer
In the summer of 1621, owing to severe drought, pilgrims called for a day of fasting and prayer to please God and ask for a bountiful harvest in the coming season. God answered their prayers and it rained at the end of the day. It saved the corn crops.

First Thanksgiving Feast
It is said that Pilgrims learnt to grow corn, beans and pumpkins from the Indians, which helped all of them survive . In the autumn of 1621, they held a grand celebration where 90 people were invited including Indians. The grand feast was organized to thank god for his favors. This communal dinner is popularly known as “The first thanksgiving feast”. There is however, no evidence to prove if the dinner actually took place.

While some historians believe pilgrims were quite religious so, their thanksgiving would've included a day of fasting and praying, others say that the Thanksgiving dinner did take place.

Turkey and First Thanksgiving Feast
There is no evidence to prove if the customary turkey was a part of the initial feast. According to the first hand account written by the leader of the colony, the food included, ducks, geese, venison, fish, berries etc.

Pumpkin and Thanksgiving Feast
Pumpkin pie, a modern staple adorning every dinner table, is unlikely to have been a part of the first thanksgiving feast. Pilgrims however, did have boiled pumpkin. Diminishing supply of flour led to the absence of any kind of bread.

The feast continued for three days and was eaten outside due to lack of space. It was not repeated till 1623, which again witnessed a severe drought. Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of thanksgiving in the year 1676. October of 1777 witnessed a time when all the 13 colonies joined in a communal celebration. It also marked the victory over the British.

After a number of events and changes, President Lincoln proclaimed last Thursday in November of thanksgiving in the year 1863. This was due to the continuous efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor. She wrote a number of articles for the cause."

Each one of us have our own reasons to give thanks for:  family and friends good health, provision, work, blessings, etc.  Everyday is a day to thank God for all His blessings and this special holiday makes it even better.  I made and mailed my first thanksgiving day cards today.  I had fun creating these cards. 

I used HeroArts rubber stamps (F3585, F3586, F3587, F3590), HA clear pumpkin stamp, falling leaves and sentiment.  My SIL had a nice rubber stamp block with sunflowers and a table spread of fruits - i colored them with Derwent watercolor pencils and burnished it to give texture and definition. 

I love all of them and hope that it brings the reader a warm smile as well.  The inside of the card reads: 

"For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations." - Psalm 100:5

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   

Potted beret [Gift packaging idea]

My sister-in-law's birthday is coming so I made her a green beret.  The next thing I had to figure out was how to uniquely package it.  Hmmmm... I looked at my craft nook and saw a ceramic pot that I bought a few months ago.   So there...

Materials needed are as follows:

Cardstock

Quilling paper, slotted quilling tool

Scissors, craft tweezers, glue

A lot of creativity and love ☺ 

Steps:

1.  Prepare quilled flowers.  I made a balloon, white daisies, yellow buds and weaved brown paper to serve as a flower pot.  {Click if want to learn paper quilling}.

2. Once the flowers are ready, it's time to arrange them.  This is where the excitement begins. I used glossy accents - I love how the tapered opening makes it easier to get into small spaces.

3.  Attach the finished bouquet onto the base cardstock.  You may use double-sided adhesive.  Then, tape a stick behind the card - be sure to secure it properly (you wouldn't want your tag to fall off the stick and ruin the surprise ☺)

To avoid injuries, make sure you trim the pointed end of the stick.  This is important especially if you are making projects with the little ones.

There you have it!  This card will make your potted gifts extra special.

Since summer is over, I opted to use a colorful ceramic pot to "plant" my handmade crocheted green beret.  I formed it into a rose and wrapped it in tissue paper before placing it in the container.  Then, I added the finished gift tag.  Tadaaaaa!

The inside of the card reads:  "May God continue to bless and embrace you with the warmth of His love.  We love you.  Happy birthday."  ☺♥☺

Crochet Away! [Cloche Hat]

Hello friends!  How are you?  What have you been busy with?

I have been wanting to do another hat following The Art of Crochet's video tutorial.  I searched and found this:  Cloche hat.  It was a realtively basic hat to make, though it took me 4 hours.  I wanted to challenge myself by adding 2 rows of HDC near the brim and after some trial and error, it came out pretty nice.  I added 2 rows of HDC for the brim.

Lovely!  Thanks, Teresa!

HA Quickcard4

Quickcard4
Originally uploaded by cabbycraft

Today is a nice, cool, sunny and lazy Saturday. I browsed through flickr and what do you know? HA's Barb has a 90 minute scrambler challenge. It was my first time to join so with barely 35 minutes left, i grabbed my stuff. Her challenge was to make a Christmas card using flowers (emphasis on NO POINSETIAS ☺). So i grabbed my favorite flower stamp, friend definition background and punched pot. I love it! Then, i stamped the sentiment on gold paper and tada! My quickcard is done!
Next challenge for me was how to post it on the HA group and then to to the discussion board. All this computer and blogging hi tech terminologies are quite challenging to me so it took awhile before i could finally upload it on the discussion board. Geeez... i hope i made it on time.
That was fun. I never thought that being under time pressure could make my creative juices flow so fast. Hahaha... if it was like that everyday, i'd have tons of cards to upload.
Have a great weekend, my friend!

Christmas in November

Can you believe it?  It's November 5 already and i haven't made a card yet.  Hahaha.  Trust me, for a craft enthusiast, that's a dilemma.  It gets so overwhelming looking at the blogs and all the tutorials going on - it's like being in a class with so many homework to do. 

Anyway...  I made a Christmas card today.  I used HA Cl464 Sending holiday cheer set.  I love the set but somehow, i find the sentiments too large to fit regular card size (4 1/4 x 5 1/5") or perhaprs, i'm not too creative to figure the best way to use it. 

Since i will be spending my first white Christmas, i made a winter landscape.  I stamped and embossed pine trees for the background.  I stamped a house, colored and tried adding mod podge matte to it.  It was my first attempt to use mod podge and i like it.  I added designer paper on on the bottom.  I added shades of green to offset the "blue winter" scene.

Thanks for looking.  Blessings!

Materials:

HA CL464 Sending holiday cheer

Clearbox white ink; Judikins opaque white embossing powder

Versamark; Judikins Black embossing powder

Marvy markers

Cardstock:  cream, blue, white

Check out:  my Flickr

Crochet away!

It's the last day and Sunday of October, 10-31-10. 

It was a pretty cold weekend and what a nice day to be creative.   So what was your weekend project?  Mine was a basketweave beanie hat.

I checked out Teresa's blog and loved the basketweave beanie so i just had to give it a try.  I used a size I crochet hook and worsted medium yarn in brick and crocheted away!  Her instructions and video were so helpful!  It's nice to see an actual demonstration rather than reading the instructions and doing-undoing the project.  After 2.5 hours... tada!  I finished it.  I wanted a longer beanie that would cover my ears so i added another set of "rows 5-8" and finally, i added 1 round of half-double crochet.

I am totally hooked (no pun intended ☺) on this!

Have a great week ahead, my friend! 

Blessings!

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is in the air!  You can hear the good ol' Christmas songs being played in the radio.  It's the season that I love the most.    It's a time to celebrate the birthday of my Saviour and King, Jesus Christ.  It's a time of rejoicing with family and friends, giving gifts and exchanging cards.

I have my first Christmas gift all boxed up today...yay!  I combined my love for crochet and crafts and came up with a nice gift for a very special person.  This is also my first time to make a box using MS tools... awesome!  For this project, i used the block stamping technique (thanks, Jennifer McGuire and HA tutorials) and a lot of embossing (thanks Nancy Taylor and Nicky Hsu).  You can hop on to the  HA blog and check out their great tutorials and creative cards.

Thanks for dropping by.  May you have fun being creative as well!  Blessings!

 I made a square box measuring 7"x7" and decorated with with stamped images and added a border and ribbons.

Materials: 

HA F526 Flourish ornament rubber stamp

CL 464 Sending holiday cheer

Versamark ink, Ranger distress ink Walnut stain

Embossing powder Medieval metals and Black

Cardstock:  red, green, brown, white metallic

Floss:  red and green

Martha Stewart punch around the page:  Bubble bath
Martha Stewart scoring board

markers, foam tape, tape adhesive

Christmas in October

2 days ago, my husband lovingly drove me to my favorite craftstore were i found a nice HA Flourish ornament rubber stamp.  I deviated from the usual red and green christmas motif and used yellow and green shades.  I made a background stamp using the block stamping method that i learned from Jennifer McGuire HA/2 Peas Thinking Inking.
I stamped it on a DP and embossed the image using black embossing powder.  I added extra fine glitter and a ribbon.  I stamped the sentiment inside the card.
I had fun making this!

10-10-10: THE DATE TO MOTIVATE - B.A. CHICAGO MARATHON

It's been more than 2 weeks since I witnessed my very first marathon and I just had to write about that awesome experience.  First of all, let me give you a brief definition and history of what is. 

According to the Wikipedia,  "The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards), that is usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon (the namesake of the race) to Athens. The historical accuracy of this legend is in doubt,^[1] contradicted by accounts given by Herodotus, in particular.

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons are contested throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes. Larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.^"

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is one of the most sought after event in this category.  "From a struggling road race of 4,200 runners in 1977 to a world class event with a record 45,000 registered participants, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon has come a long way."   

My husband and I arrived early at Moody Bible (4th and 11th mile marker) with a group of family and friends to support and cheer our good friend, DC.  The weather was nice - cool and breezy, a good day for running.   Preparing for a marathon takes months of long hours in the gym, cardio and strength training, careful diet plus tons of love and patience for the sport.  As the saying goes, "no pain, no gain." 

We stayed at the 4 and 11 mile marker by  Moody Bible Institute.  It was inspiring to see him and the other runners endure the course.  I know for a fact that training for a marathon is not at all easy. Here he is at the 4 mile mark (La Salle Blvd.), all smiles and no sign of  fatigue ☺.  Or maybe, he was just overwhelmed by our presence and support. 

Us spectators had to do our own version of the marathon too.  We had to walk here and there, trample on shrubs, and squeeze our way in the bleachers just to have a good glimpse of the runners on the finish line. 

In contrast to the "fresh" faces of the runners at the beginning of the course, some of them seemed to be panting on their way to the finish line.  Imagine running for 3.5 hours, starting with cool weather and ending with a "HIGH" alert system described as "potentially dangerous conditions."  It was about 1230 noon and it was hot!  We didn't get to see DC at the end of the course because to our surprise, he finished earlier than expected!  Yay for him!

It was a festive reunion for both runners and supporters.  There are those who run for a cause such as World Vision's team; some run in support for a loved one.  Most run for personal and health reasons, to have a sense of achievement.  I truly admire them all!

Our group was just so happy for DC and his great achievement.  I asked if he would run the marathon again, and he answered with a smile and a "NO."  Congratulations! 

Here's something to remind us about the Amazing Race that we are in...

Pressing on Toward the Goal  Philippians 3: 12-14

v. 12  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 

v. 13  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

v.14  I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Raspberry Beret

Hello friends!  I would like to share with you one of my recent crochet project.  It's officially fall in Chicago and it's been really cold lately, hence, my obsession with crocheted hats.  I recently bought the Special issue of Crochet today (http://www.crochettoday.com/) and I fell in love with the Raspberry beret. 

So I bought a Red Heart Soft Yarn, 5oz, 140g skein in #9779 Berry and followed the detailed instructions.  It was a bit challenging for me at first, though the pattern was classified as a Beginner level...ahahaha... After 6 hours of crocheting and "uncrocheting," I finally finished it.  I added a flower brooch that I made using mother of pearl and german crystals.
Tada!  Now, I could keep my head warm while I explore the beauty of nature that autumn brings.

Christmas in October 2010

The best season of all for me is Christmas!  It's the time when people have long breaks from work and school.  Christmas was fun in our home.  We'd often spend it with our brothers' in-laws - we would play games, laugh and have our "white elephant" style of gift giving.  When I was in Pediatric residency training, we had to take turns either for Christmas or New year break.  Even though we had to be on duty, it was fun spending it in the hospital with colleagues and friends.  This year would be my first Christmas away from my family in Manila and my first to hopefully, have a White Christmas.  I anticipate that it would be a time of "confusing emotions" for me, having to miss my family but making happy memories with my husband and the whole of America.
Whew... getting kinda sentimental here.
So folks, here is my first Christmas card for this year.  I recently saw Hero Arts' Jeniffer McGuire's lessons and I decided to give it a try.  I used the "block stamping" technique for the blue background and then I added the pine trees using the "Generation stamping" technique using Versamagic hint of pesto.  I masked the house and stamped the trees; then I stamped the house using Memento rich cocoa and colored it with Derwent watercolor pencils and added glossy accents for the "snow" effect.
The sentiment and all the stamps used were from heroarts CL 464 Sending holiday cheer.

That's it for now.  Hopefully, my Christmas card making bug will keep me going.  Blessings to you!

HA World Cardmaking Day, 10-3-10

I never thought that there was such a thing as World Cardmaking Day.  I found out through the Hero Arts blog and of course, i wanted to participate.  So, with only a few hours left, i grabbed some stamps and made a card.
I have been busy crocheting hats and jewelry for the past weeks so my stamps and stuffs have been on the shelf for quite some time. 
I thought it would be nice to incorporate sewing in my theme - hence, the "You're sew Special" card, embellised with buttons that i find really cute!
Thanks for taking a peek.   Have a great week!

Materials: 
HA C1157 3 spools
HA C1158 Button cluster
Red and cream cardstock
Cream and lime green ribbon
Memento ink in rich cocoa
Versafine ink in Onyx black
round puncher
Marvy markers
Derwent watercolor pencils

Crochet 101 - Crocheted Beret hat

Hello, dear friends!
How are you?  It's officially fall in the US and pretty soon, temperatures will drop and we will start putting our warm clothes on our rack.  It will be my first white winter Christmas and im pretty excited.  Recently, i have found a new love!
I have enjoyed doing crochet when i was in gradeschool.  While some of my classmates asked their househelp or nanny's (Filipino's call them "Yaya") to do their projects, i enjoyed doing mine.  So, after so many years, i decided to give it a try once again. 

Thanks to my favorite craft stores and dear teachers at Youtube, i was able to make my first crocheted beret hat.  It took me a total of 12 hours, spread out in 2 days to finish this project.  I love it! 
I made this with my sister in mind.  I chose the color and the style specifically for her.  I am so excited to mail it to her and to see her use it when winter comes.   
My husband likes what i made and i will be making one for him too - a mans beany hat.  More about that next time.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

It's been exactly a month since my last blog.  Haha... the lazy bug caught me for quite some time.  Things have been fine with me - i decided to try other crafty things like crochet (more on that at a later blog). 
I checked out HA's blog last week and made a couple of not-so-nice thanksgiving cards.  I had a "mental card block" once again and it took some time to get those creative juices out.  Anyway... i'd like to share them.

My MIL and i went to my awesome SIL's house to do some stamping.  I used her "Thanksgiving stamps" and leaf embossed punches.  I loved punching out the maple leaves - i distressed some using Ranger's walnut stain then added glitter on the edges.

In one card, i masked/stamped the pumpkin with a stamp from the same HA clear stamp set.  It was fun to mask but it was quite tedious.  As you can see, the colors are not as pretty as it should be - hmmm...i think i should buy, stock up and try using those wonderful copic markers next time.

This is all for now, friends.  Thanks for looking!



Thinking of You...sending you warm hugs ang kisses

Hello friends! 
It's Monday once again.  I woke up at 430am as hubby prepared to leave for work.  I couldn't get back to sleep so i decided to make something creative ☺♥☺.
I made this card using HeroArts F5030 Long stem blossom woodblock stamp.  I masked and stamped the image on a metallic dark blue cardstock and embossed with Ranger's gold embossing powder.  I added a punched out vase.  I used HA "Thinking of you" and "sending you warm hugs and kisses" sentiments.  I stamped these sentiments on a white paper that i distressed using Ranger's walnut stain distress ink.  I added brass flower brads for accent.
I matted the stamped images on a white cardstock and finally placed it on a blue cardstock.
I love how the card turned out.  It's simple, neat, formal but definitely filled with warmth.