China Doll

Here's the second layout I finished this week. Actually, I just finished this one last night. I just found an old stash of Pink Paislee papers recently and decided to use them for this layout. Also taken on the first day of Chinese New Year, the photo is of my younger DD standing at the entrance to our house, in her brand new cheongsam. I matted the photo with a turquoise blue hambly transparency to match the colour of her cheongsam.



The little butterfly on the bottom right of the layout was created by stamping the butterfly using a mixture of black and brown inks, and then outlining it with distress stickles for that vintage look. Fun!

Materials used:
Die-cut Paper - Pink Paislee Spring Fling Collection - Umbrella Scallop
Patterned Papers - Pink Paislee Spring Fling Collection - Skipping Stones, Flower Beds
Transparency - Hambly Screen Prints - Vintage Patchwork
Flowers - Prima
Brads - Prima Urban Cosmos Collection, Making Memories Flower Patch Collection
Crystal Swirls - Prima Say It In Crystals
Laces - Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes Ribbons, Daiso Lace Ribbon
Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers - Shoe Box Chipboard Letters in Turquoise
Stamp - Pink Paislee Pop Fashion Clear Stamps
Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap, Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Antique Linen, VersaFine in Onyx Black, Tsukineko Dew Drop Brilliance in Coffee Bean, Elements by Mark Richards Crystal Stickers

Live In The Moment

Amidst all the Chinese New Year festivities, I actually managed to finish two layouts this week! So I'm very pleased with myself - haha!

This first one I did is based on a lovely sketch by the talented Anam Stubbington, for Prima's Build-A-Page January Contest. I used papers from Prima's Tea and Silk Collection, and applied two types of stickles to the designs for some added texture.

I also applied stickles to the flowers and the Prima brad on the left flower, for some sparkle, and used cut-outs to make the layout interesting.

The photo of my two DD was taken on the first day of Chinese New Year this year, and the journaling reads:

Materials used:

Patterned Papers - Prima Tea and Silk Collection - Nijo, Katsura, Kyoto, Daigoji, and Nanzenji

Flowers - Prima

Brads - Prima Angelique Collection, K & Company, Karen Foster Designs

Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers - Chipboard Jewelry Box in Brown, Prima Whispered Words in Brown

Journaling Sticker - 7Gypsies

Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap, Ranger Ice Stickles in Crystal Ice, Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Antique Linen, Hero Arts Gemstones, Elements by Mark Richards Crystal Stickers

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Or Happy New Year in English.

With Chinese New Year just two days away, I'm in a New Year mood and so I decided to do this layout with a photo of my two DD taken during Chinese New Year a few years ago. I thought this very oriental looking artsy.licious filigree paper from Chatterbox is so appropriate for this layout, and decided on a white background to make the reds in the layout really stand out. I then added on some black embellishments for definition.

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous Year of the Ox!



Materials used:
Patterned Paper - Chatterbox artsy.licious Filigree Paper in Red
Cardstocks - Bazzill Basics Textured Cardstocks in White, and Red
Transparency - Hambly Screen Prints - Urban Chic Frames in Black
Flowers - Heidi Swapp, Prima
Crystal Swirls - Prima Say It In Crystals
Butterfly - Blue Moon Beads Lost & Found Metal Charms
Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers - Platforms Chipboard Letter Stickers in Red
Journaling Sticker - Heidi Swapp Verb Stickers in Black
Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot, EK Success 3D Foam Dots, Pearls

A Simple Plan

Here it is - Butterfly Crafts' 4th Challenge is to create a layout showing your goals, hopes and dreams for 2009. What do you want to achieve in the coming year?

For my layout, I used these gorgeous papers from Webster's Pages, mixing three different lines of papers - from their Reflections of Nature, Inspired, and Calendar Pages collections. I love how their papers from different lines can be combined into a single layout.

I cut out additional butterflies to stick over the printed butterflies for a 3D look, and added crystal swirls for a little bit of sparkle.

I also used Distress Stickles on the butterflies, flowers, swirl cut-outs, and photo matting, for some texture.

My journaling is written on a separate piece of layered patterned papers, and then tucked behind the photo and held in place by a Making Memories pebble clip.

The journaling is about my "Simple Plan" for this year - to fully embrace life and wisdom, to be the best that I can be, and to simply stay happy. And to put the family first, as always!

This month's winner at Butterfly Crafts will get to be February's guest designer and also receive a fantastic RAK from January Sponsor 'Red Oak Lines' - that's a double bonus for you. So go play along!

Materials used in my layout:

Patterned Papers - Webster's Pages Reflections of Nature - Secret Garden, Bee Balm, and Chestnut Mocha; Webster's Pages Inspired – Crushed Velvet; Webster's Pages Calendar Pages - Inspired Calendar

Crystal Swirls - Prima's Say It In Crystals

Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers

Pebble Clip - Making Memories Pebble Clips - Travel

Others - Daiso Lace Ribbon, Pearls, Tim Holtz Distress in Antique Linen, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap, American Crafts Slick Writer in Fine Brown

Kreativ Blogger Award

Well, Michelle has given me this wonderful award, so now I have to pass it on to another 7 talented, creative bloggers. Here are my choices:

Susan Lui
Anne-Marie
Aniza
Deb
Anam
Gabrielle
Susan Dupre

They're not in order of merit, of course, as all these ladies are equally talented!

Take A Bow

The photo for this layout reminded me of Madonna's song from some years back titled 'Take A Bow', hence the title for the layout! The photo is of my older DD taken when she was still in kindergarten, and it remains one of my many favourite photos of her.

I used papers and chipboard embellishment from Basic Grey's Ambrosia Collection for this layout, which is inspired by a sketch by Anna Bowkis, the founder of Pencil Lines. I love how the Basic Grey papers lend themselves so well to cut-outs!

For the butterfly, I stickled the Basic Grey chipboard butterfly, and then layered another butterfly cut out from their Winsome paper and also stickled, on top of it.

The flower acts as a kind of "pocket" for the two journaling cards, which can be pulled out and read.

Materials used:

Patterned Papers - Basic Grey Ambrosia Collection - Citrus, Orange Smoothie, Quince, Chutney, Marmalade, Winsome, and Grove

Flower - Prima

Crystal Swirls - Prima Say It In Crystals in Black

Gems - Elements by Mark Richards Crystal Stickers

Chipboard Butterfly - Basic Grey Ambrosia Chip Sticker Shapes

Sequinned Laces - Maya Road

Journaling Cards - Maya Road Sheer Scallop Cards, and Sheers - Tickets - Brown & Cream

Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers - Chipboard Jewelry Box in Brown

Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap, Ranger Ice Stickles in Crystal Ice, EK Success 3D Foam Dots, American Crafts Slick Writer Pen in Black Fine

Sneak Peek

I just completed my third DT layout for Butterfly Crafts today, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it! The layout is for their second challenge for this month, which will be revealed on their blog on 15 January, but in the meantime, here's a little sneak peek. Don't forget to check out their blog for the challenge!

Cupcake Party Invite

I did this birthday invite for my younger DD's birthday party next weekend, using pages from Maya Road's Cupcake Chipboard Coaster Album. The details of the party are printed and pasted on the reverse of the cupcake. I used glittered patterned paper and added lots of stickles to the rest of the invite for that extra sparkle!

Hong Kong Mini Album

I made this mini album of our recent Hong Kong trip, using Prima's Build-A-Book Clear Album. I so love the flower-shaped tabs of the album! Most of the materials used in this album are also from Prima, and I used patterned papers from their Tea and Silk Collection for an "oriental" look, the album being on Hong Kong after all.



I used Maya Road's sheer journaling cards for the journaling as I wanted a totally "clear" look to the album.





Here's a look at the individual pages.








For the back cover of the album, I used patterned paper over the clear cover, applied lace and ribbon to the right of the cover, and then cut out flower motives and glued them over the patterned paper and lace. I then applied Distressed Ink to the edges of the flowers and leaves for a more pronounced outline, and added Distress Stickles and gems to them for some sparkle. The journaling on the back cover is stamped and written on transparency and then glued onto the cover using Glossy Accents.



I really had fun creating this album!



Materials used:
Clear Album - Prima's Build-A-Book - Fire and Ice Designs
Patterned Paper - Prima Iron Orchid Designs Tea and Silk Collection - Ryoanji, Daigoji, Nijo, Katsura, Nanzenji, and Kyoto, and Prima Corina Nielsen Designs Whisper Collection - Flutter
Transparency Overlay - Prima IOD Clear Paintables - Era Collection
Flowers - Prima, Hero Arts , Petaloo
Brads - Prima Urban Cosmos, K&Company K-ologyMetal Art - Hannah Stitched Beaded Brads, Creative Imaginations Signature Collection, Karen Foster Design Princess Brads - Pastel Regal, Making Memories Crystal Brads
Gems - Prima Say It In Crystals (Swirls and Flower Centres), Hero Arts Gemstones
Laces and Ribbon - Prima IOD, Prima Elysee, Daiso Lace Ribbon
Metal Butterflies - Ribtex Jenni B Collection, Blue Moon Beads Lost & Found Metal Charms
Cover Title Alphas - American Crafts Thickers - Chipboard Jewelry Box in Wine - Metallic
Page Title Alphas - Provo Craft
Journaling Cards - Maya Road Office Sheers Journaling Cards
Stamp - Prima Clear Stamps
Others - Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot, Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Antique Linen, American Crafts Slick Writer - Black Fine, Staz-On Ink in Jet Black, PVC Binding Cover, Book Rings, EK Success 3D Foam Dots, Inkssentials Glossy Accents