party animal

Just jumping in for a quick post to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my closest friends, Gary.

It's a fitting card because, yes, he actually does make animal balloons:)  This card will be entered into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge "animal antics".

I've known Gary since we were little kiddos in college and I think of him as a little brother.  We sang in choir together, and a year after I moved to NYC, he decided to join me.  Gary is one of those people who seems to know how to do everything...he's very accomplished in his career, he can sing and write songs, he has a side-gig as a hair model, he can whip up a mean cocktail, and he can plan the best birthday theme parties.  Here's a photo of some cupcakes I made for his pig-themed party last year.

Eek, a little frightening.  These were less scary: some bacon-sprinkled red velvet doughnuts to stay consistent with the pig theme:)

Happy birthday, Garyman!   Love you lots and lots.

Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle Party Animal
Inks: Memento Luxe (dandelion, love letter, nautical blue, pear tart); Memento (tuxedo black)
Other: glossy accents, Wink of Stella glitter brush (clear)

reach for the stars

This goes out to all the kiddies and students who just went back to school.  Work hard, stay focused, and reach for the stars!

For the past couple of weeks, my Facebook feed has been full of back to school posts...my friends and family members posting photos of their kids' first day of school, from sending off their kids to their very first day of preschool or kindergarten (and holding back the tears) to sending off their grown children to college (and again, holding back the tears).  My heart is with you.

I'm submitting this card into the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge and Cas-ual Friday's Back to School challenge.

In the spirit of going back to school, here's a photo of some back to school cupcakes I made for my friend's church function a few years back.  They're red velvet cupcakes with a mini red velvet doughnut on top to add some height...then frosted, covered in sprinkles, and topped with a tootsie roll stem and a fruit roll-up leaf.  Phew!

Extra hugs and love to the parents who have children in school.  Loving, guiding, and supporting our students is one of the most important jobs out there.

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant Cosmic Stars, Starry Night
Inks: Memento (tuxedo black); Tim Holtz (broken china); Copic markers
Other: Martha Stewart glitter, Mister Huey's color mist (blizzard), glossy accents

hey there

Here's another card that I'm sending to my friend, Junard, in the Philippines.  It will be entered into the Runway Inspired Challenge.  My first entry can be found here.

The photo inspiration...

 

I really like the black, grey, yellow combo -- it feels smart and sophisticated, and appropriate if you want to give a  masculine card.  I've been thinking about just continuing with the color scheme until I have a nice set of coordinated cards to send overseas.  Here's my start to that collection...

Thanks for taking a look:)

Supplies:
Stamps: WPlus9 Sweets and Treats
Inks: Hero Arts (wet cement)
Other: patterned paper, sequins, enamel accents

hello x 3

I'm making more cards to send to my friend, Junard, in the Philippines.  Next to thank you cards, I also think you can never have to many just because cards...you know, the ones that simply say hey, or hello, or in this case hello, hello, hello:)

This card will be submitted into the 10 Minute Craft Dash hosted by Pretty Pink Posh.  Since this week's challenge is being sponsored by Lawn Fawn, I decided to use the Lawn Fawn circle dies and one of my favorite Lawn Fawn stamp sets, Flying By.  It will also be entered into the Lawnscaping Challenge.

    

I'm actually not sure if the color of my sun matches the yellow (or is it light brown?) that was assigned to us, but it's all I got!  Hope it passes!



I finished the card in 9 minutes and 48 seconds.  I would've finished a lot sooner, but I was trying to fix a glitter brush accident...that glitter glob by the paper airplane shouldn't be there, so clearly I didn't succeed.

At least this card is better than my first attempt in the craft dash.

Hehehe!  It's good to laugh at ourselves every once in a while, right?



Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Flying By; Papertrey Ink Hello Sunshine
Inks: Stampin' Up (bashful blue, soft suede, crumb cake); Tim Holtz (wild honey)
Die: Lawn Fawn Flying By Lawn Cuts, Circle Stackables; My Favorite Things Flat Bottom Cloud
Other: Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (clear)

salamat (thank you)

For the next week or so, most of the cards I'm going to make will be sent to my friend, Junard, in the Philippines.  We met in February when I was in General Santos City, the Philippines' southernmost city, for a medical mission.  He was one of the brains behind the whole mission -- doing lots of outreach and testing of patients -- so that by the time the volunteers like myself showed up, everything was very neat and organized.  Junard did a fantastic job, and although this is very very late, I would like to say salamat (thank you).

I'm submitting this card to the Runway Inspired Challenge; for this week's challenge we have to make a card using the bold and graphic photo below as our inspiration.  I'm also submitting this card to Retrosketches, so I designed my card to fit this week's sketch also seen below. 

 

I focused on the grey and black pants and pulled in the yellow from the model's top to match the bars in the sketch.

Using paper strips and having a more modern look isn't really my style, but I kind of dig this card.  Its masculine and it's multilingual!!!  That's pretty exciting to me.  I haven't seen any sentiments in Tagalog (one of the many Philippine languages) available for purchase, so I made my own with Mama Elephant's Midnight Letters.

I sent Junard a message to let him know that I finally made him a card (better late than never, right?) and he informed me that General Santos City was celebrating its annual Tuna Festival.  I so wish I could be there!!!  Aggggh!!! The week that I was there for the medical mission, I probably ate the most tuna and the best tuna I've ever had.  Ever.

Here's a photo from the early morning fish market where we watched fisherman haul these gigantic tuna from the sea and off their boats.  It was fascinating and somewhat terrifying...to guarantee freshness, the men sprinted off their boats to have their fish weighed, assessed for quality, and then auctioned to the highest bidder.  If you didn't watch where you were going, you could have gotten smacked by a big ol' fish.

   

Supplies:

Stamps: Mama Elephant Midnight Letters

Inks: Memento (tuxedo black)

Other: sequins, patterned and solid paper

hello sweet baby

This card is for my friend, Malika, who just had a baby boy.  The card is colorful and sparkly, just like Malika:)



Malika and I met through some mutual friends, and she and I actually don't know each other that well.  I think we've hung out a total of 3 or 4 times, but there are just some people that I click with instantly and she's one of them.

When I first met Malika, she made me laugh.  The kind of laugh that hurts a little.  Then years later, I met the man she would later marry and he made me laugh, too...again the kind of laugh that hurts.  Their baby is one lucky kid as I'm sure the house will be full of laughter.

Malika already said that her baby is skipping naps because he just wants to stay up and hang out with the grown folk:)



I'm entering this card into the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, hosted by Karen Giron of The Sweetest Thing.  Here's the sketch that I used.

Here's to love, laughter, and a beautiful baby boy.  Congratulations, Malika!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant Nursery Deco
Inks: Memento (tuxedo black); Memento Luxe (lilac posies, pistachio)
Dies: Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts Set Craft Die
Other: glossy accents, Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (clear), patterned paper

a card for my dad - love

This card is for my dad.

When I was home visiting my family over the summer I taught my parents how to text, take photos, and send photos via text using their new phones.  Dad will now occasionally text me photos of what he and my mom are eating for dinner, which is cute an all, but hello?!? For someone who misses a home-cooked meal, that's just mean:(  But, I love it...



My dad sent me a funny text message this morning, so as I made this card, I was a little giggly.
It's blue and gold, the color of my alma mater.  When my dad knows that I'm coming over to the house, he wears one of the many Cal (Berkeley) shirts I've given him over the years (Go Bears!).  One time, I came home unexpectedly, and I noticed my dad go into his bedroom to change his shirt.  He came out rockin' the blue and gold.  I mean really, is that love or what?!





I'm submitting this card to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  In this week's Trend Watch Challenge, we were asked to use flowers as the focal point.  Flowers work perfectly for a card for my dad, since he's been all about gardening these days.  He has a beautiful rose garden in the front yard, and all sorts of fruits and veggies in the back...calamansi, tomatoes, peppers, oranges, and his  favorite -- a bunch of bittermelon that he planted in a narrow strip of dirt at the side of the house.  For my card, I actually tried to mimic the way the vines climb up the stakes and wire.  See it here...



And, here's the text message that put a smile on my face.

I'm quite sure my dad knows how to spell Jose, but "hosey" is just awesome.  Thanks, Dad!  And, thanks for the fun challenge, Paper Smooches!

Supplies:
Stamps: Paper Smooches Spring Fling
Dies: Paper Smooches Love Word Die
Inks: Memento (tuxedo black); Stampin' Up (certainly celery); Versamark (champagne); Delicata (golden glitz); Copic markers
Other: gold embossing powder