This is why I am so busy...

Hello blog friends!

Gosh! It is nearly Christmas and I am so so so behind with my Christmas cards and here is why- because... it is my daughter Jasmine's 6th birthday soon!!

I have been busy making the brithday invitations. Then party bags, cup cakes, and the cake will soon be on the production line. Oh my goodness and all these have to be done before this Sunday! Wish me luck!

No more wasting time, I just want to quickly share these invitations with you. With lots of help from my daughters colouring the images, here is what I came up with:

I've actually made more than three but don't know how to fit them all in one picture. But you get the idea! Both my daughters said they like all the fairies to be different and I guess why not?! So they have used their own artistic skills to colour and make each fairy unique in their own way. Here are a couple of the cards in close up.

And a medium close up photo of another card:

The fairy image is designed and drawn by myself. I am lucky enough to have had this image made into a rubber stamp by Elzybells, which unfortunately is closed now. The image is stamped onto white card and die cut by using Spellbinder labels nineteen. It has then been chalked while still in the die for definition.

This one has been coloured in by my eldest daughter Aimee. I love the way she created the stripy top and just used simple lines for the skirt. She also added extra lines around the star which made it really shine.

This one is coloured by Jasmine. I love this bright and colourful fairy. I have added Stickles Crystal glitter glue on all stars and flowers on the head.

Oh.. forgot to mention the inside of the card. I have printed all the party details on the computer. (For privacy reasons I used Photoshop to remove some of the details.) I cut these to size and punched a half circle on the right hand side. Then I simply attached double sided tape on three sides so that it became a pocket for the RSVP slip.

WOW! I don't think I have ever added so many photos in one post. Hope you have not been bombarded too much with all these pictures. I certainly enjoyed making these invitations with my daughters. Thank you for reading, if you managed to get this far down. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Yes, Virginia... Happy Birthday!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Virgina Lu is celebrating her 50th birthday on 9th of December and she is holding a virtual birthday party here at Yes, Virginia. Everyone is invited to join the birthday fun!

I've only knew Virginia for a few months. Her blog is very inspiring with lots of wonderful cards and her family stories always make me smile. So here it is, Virginia, my card for you. Hope you like it.

The main stamped image is from Precious Moment. For some reason I don't think Precious Moment stamps are available in the UK. (If anyone knows where I can buy them in the UK, please let me know. I just adore them!!) This stamp, given by a good friend of mine, came all the way from Taiwan. I guess it has a special meaning to use it on a card for Virginia - a blog friend also from Taiwan! Here is a close up photo of the main image.

This image was coloured by Copic marker and water colour pencils. I have added glitters on the flowers and bow on the hair, but I don't think it shows up on the photo. I have also made a small charm and added the Chinese word "珍惜" meaning cherish on the bottom right.

For this card, I have followed the sketch from Quixotic Paperie Sketch Challenge - No. 2  but rotated it 180 degrees.

Happy 50th Birthday, Virginia!! 

May all your wishes come true & have a great day! 

Hugs,

Christmas Cards with Wreath

Hi friends!

I am slacking off big time this month with my blogging. Naughty, naughty!  Well... there is life outside the blog world and it is usually so busy that you just cannot ignore it!

Anyway, I would first like to say welcome to my two new followers: Mary J and Sandra_how. I will promise to blog more often to share more cards.

OK, better get on with it. I am sharing two cards with you today. Yes, not one but TWO. I got this Christmas stamp set which comes free with docrafts Creativity! magazine issue 23. I was impressed by the magazine example as it uses one small holly stamp to create a wreath. I have always admired those people who can think 'out of the box'. Hence, I have to give it a try by recreating the example. So here it is.

I made a circle aperture card and stamped around the edge of the aperture with the small holly image. I also stamped additional holly images on to a spare white card, then cut and decoupaged them with foam pads. This will give some dimension. After this I stamped the robin and bow on to white card, coloured, cut and then attached them onto the wreath. Finally, the text was stamped, cut and attached with foam pads at the base of the card. Here is a closer look of the card.

I was pretty happy with the result. But hey! I can't just recreate what they did in the magazine. I had this other idea of my own using the same technique. The wreath around the aperture is just too huge. It took me ages to stamp and colour all those leaves and berries. Not to mention those extra holly leaves for decoupaging. Cutting them out nearly killed me!! So here is the other card I made.

I decided to make a smaller wreath, thinking that it might be easier and quicker. However, it didn't turn out as I wished because I decided to cut the whole wreath out!! Why did I do that??  All those little pointy holly leaves... my hand hurts even more after all that cutting. But I have to say it turned out quite nice. Do you think? Worth the effort!! The wreath and robin were attached on an embossed card with foam pads. Then I added a red ribbon and bow to finish the card. Just to add some texture, I have attached some beads on some of the berries and glitters on others. Here is another picture of the card close up.

  

Can you believe that? It will be Christmas in less than a month. Although this is a great idea to use a small holly stamp to create a wreath, I guess, due to the time it takes, I will not make another one like it this year. Have you finished all your Christmas cards? I am way behind. Quick and easy Christmas card designs are what I am looking for at the moment. Any suggestions?!

I will be entering my small wreath card in the following challenges:

Goylou's Inimitability- Christmas with a Wreath Twist
ABC DT Challenge- A Christmas Card Challenge

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!