Nothing Better To Do

Reason for being MIA

2012-02-04T15:33:00.005+08:00

I thought I would do a quick post on why I have not been updating my blog. This is because I am currently 26 going on 27 weeks pregnant (if you haven't already guessed from the picture). :)) This is our first child and therefore I have been extra careful with everything I do. I had a good first trimester but was pretty tired all the time and lost some weight as I had no appetite at all. But thankfully, now that I am going into my third trimester, my appetite has come back and we are looking forward to welcome our new bundle of joy come early May 2012.

Sad to say that I have not made any cards or scrapbooking project since I got pregnant. The only upside is that I am no longer in debt due to spending on materials! Haha. It has indeed been a great pregnancy so far and hubby and I are feeling so blessed by the Lord. The feeling of a baby kicking inside your womb is unbelievable. We will be welcoming a little princess and oh my, she is a feisty one! Kicking at all times of the day and sometimes, I think she is having a little boogie night in there!

Hopefully one day I will pick up from where I left off in card making. Have a good weekend everyone!

Shu Uemura - Face Architect Glow Enhancing Powder Foundation

2011-11-17T10:13:00.008+08:00

After a long hiatus from blogging, I am back for a few short posts. But it is not a craft related post, instead, I am going to blog about some new beauty products that I have recently purchased and tried out.

Photo from Shu Uemura USA website

The first product is the Shu Uemura Powder Foundation. I was looking for something that would give me light coverage and fast and easy to use. I really like this powder foundation because the texture is ultra silky and smooth and you can apply it either with the sponge that comes with it or a kabuki brush for a lighter finish. Initially I was using a kabuki type brush because I thought that the sponge would give me a super heavy look but to my surprise, it doesn't!

I'm quite fair skinned so I use the product in Light Beige - 774. My only gripe is the price of the product. The powder foundation itself cost RM 140 but that is just for the powder which comes in a refill format. You would have to buy the case to carry it around with (it comes in either black or white) and that is another RM 50! So you would have to fork out a total of RM 190 for your first time purchase. But I don't regret buying this product because I absolutely love the fine texture of the powder.

Thank You for Your Kindness

2011-08-29T08:29:00.004+08:00

I made this card about 2 weeks back for a crafty friend who was sooooo kind to have picked me up some goodies from the USA during her last trip there. I have not posted it on the blog until now because she just informed me that she has received the card so there is no worry about her seeing the card before she receives it!

The flowers in the background were stamped in Versamark ink with Hero Arts' Flower Wallpaper stamp. The butterflies were cut and stamped using PTI's Happy Trails Stamp and die collection. The sentiment is from PTI's SAF Limited Edition set called Iconic Images. I thought the sentiment was perfect for what I wanted to express.

It is a fairly simple card but I am glad that she liked it. :)

Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a great week ahead!

So Sorry I'm Late!

2011-08-20T21:13:00.003+08:00

I made this card for my brother in-law and his wife who is living in United Kingdom as both of their birthdays fall within a few days of each other. I remembered the birthdays of hubby's two other siblings who fall within the month of August but for the life of me, can't remember why I forgot this brother's birthday!

I decided to use PTI's Tiny Treats : Birthday stamp set. I'm really loving it! The images are all too cute with its coordinating sentiments! I did not colour in the cute tortoise but decided to put some stickles in the colour Patina on it. Just to add a little something something. :)

I embossed the kraft layer with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the ribbons and buttons were from my stash. The base cardstock is from PTI and I believed it is called Spring Moss.

The card is pretty simple but I like the overall effect of how it turned out. :)

Thank you for visiting my blog and have a great weekend!

Hari Raya Cards for friends!

2011-08-15T19:33:00.006+08:00

These are cards that I made for girlfriends who will be celebrating the Malay new year. I love this dress form stamp from Lawn Fawn's Sew Lovely set and loved paper piecing it. I decided to make both the cards in the same design except for the colour scheme and the sentiment. The sentiment was made up using Lawn Fawn's Harold's ABCs.

For the first card, I used PTI cardstock in Raspberry Fizz as the card base and for layering. The pattern papers are from DCWV's Street Lace collection and I loved how it came out!! The colours just go so well together.

For the second card, I used cardstock from We R Memory Keepers. The pattern papers are from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist collection called Life of the Party.

This next card was made using cardstock from PTI as well. I stamped the border on the front with one of the stamps from PTI's Retro Background Basics set. The inner medallion image is from PTI's Iconic Images stamp set. I used twine from The Twinery because I though the borders looked unfinished and a little bare.

I die cut the main focal image with Spellbinder's Beaded Ovals and stamped the flower from PTI's Tag Its #5. I then inked the edges with TH's Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters.

For the inside of the card, I wrote out my card message and then used one of the flourishes from PTI's Fancy Flourish stamp set and clear embossed it. I like how it turned out and I got this inspiration from one of the girls over at PTI. I love it because I'm a pretty straight gal and would not have thought it makes sense to stamp after you write your message. But I think it looks great and probably something I will do more of in the future!

Hope they'll like it!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Birthday Card for Grand Uncle

2011-08-12T09:25:00.003+08:00

This card was made for my hubby's granduncle's birthday this month. I was very happy that my background set called Newsprint arrived from PTI just in time. :) Am loving that background stamp and I thought it was well suited for this card as his granduncle loves reading the newspapers. :)

For the focal image, I stamped the television set from the Boob Tubes set from Paper Smooches on to some patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's Wanted collection. Love that woodgrain pattern. Then I stamped the Happy Birthday greeting on my Cryogen Iridescent Paper (my favorite for Copic colouring as well) and paper pieced it on to the image.

The words "Cik Kong" which means granduncle in a Chinese dialect was stamped using Lawn Fawn's Harold's ABCs. I inked the edges of the Labels Eighteen die cut piece with Antique Linen and Tea Dye distress inks.

For the inside of the card, I decided to stamp the same television image and insert the word 'News' as that is another favorite past time for his granduncle, watching news on telly. :)

The base of the card is using kraft cardstock. Card is a standard A2 sized card.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Hey Chickie

2011-08-11T13:53:00.004+08:00

Time passes so quickly and now it is time for the August Card Chain Challenge over at Lily Pad Cards. I decided to make a relatively simple easel card this time round.

The image is from Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums stamp set. The background is stamped using PTI's Background Basics : Retro Stamp Set. It does not really show up in the pictures but I coloured in the centre dots with colour pencils. Colouring on kraft cardstock is a new favorite thing to do for me.

The inside border is punched using Martha Stewart's Arch Lattice Edge Puncher.

The card measures 4.25" x 4.25".

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Birthday Wishes with Cheeky Beauty

2011-07-26T15:44:00.007+08:00

For this week's Which One Wednesday Sketch #8 over at TGF's Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, I decided to use Cheeky Beauty and coloured her in with my Copic markers.

I used kraft cardstock as the base and layer for the image. The pattern papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Upcycle collection. I used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress inks to ink up the sides of the card base and layers.

The flowers are from I Am Roses and what can I say, they are my absolute favorite at the moment! The sentiment is from Hero Art's Birthday Messages stamp set and I curved the sentiment to follow the edge of the die cut.

The nestabilities used are Labels Eighteen and Classic Ovals Small.

Hope you all enjoyed and having a good start to the week! Thanks for visiting!

First attempt at altering a wooden photo frame

2011-07-22T18:39:00.005+08:00

This is my first attempt at altering anything but I am quite happy with the result. It isn't as swamped with as many embellishments or elements as I would like, but I think it turned out ok. The picture of my husband and I were taken in Como, Italy during our trip early this year. This post is quite picture heavy so I have put up smaller sized photos so that it will not take forever to load. :)

I painted the wooden frame with a layer of dark brown acrylic paint as a base. Then I painted one layer of Crackle Medium from Plaid and then another layer of cream coloured acrylic paint on top. I am liking the crackled look. :)

I love that I can learn so many things from everyone who shares their creativeness in the crafting community. I made this flower using some crocheted lace from my stash and used just a simple circle cardstock as a base. I think it was about 2 inches wide. The rose in the centre is from I Am Roses and I sprayed it with my Lindy's Stamp Gang's Starburst Spray in Dark Chocolate Truffle. I loved how it turned out but perhaps the centre rose came out a tad too dark. What do you think? :)

I stuck various buttons of different sizes in the upper left hand corner. I did not string them up but I don't mind this look anyhow. Some people will probably be cringing that I didn't right? Hahaha.

The ticket stub is from my Tim Holtz stash and the mini flowers are from I Am Roses again. These are my favorite flowers at the moment for card making.

The metal bird is from the American Crafts' Dear Lizzy collection and I almost forgot that I had that. I am glad I looked through my stash and found it because I think it gave it the finishing touch. :)

Well hope you all enjoyed reading my post today and just want to wish everyone a happy weekend!

Celebrate Today and Everyday

2011-07-21T10:21:00.004+08:00

This is my entry for the 'Circles' themed challenge over at Less is More. I am absolutely loving the card stock from Papertrey Ink now especially these two colours, the Aqua Mist and the Sweet Blush. The border was punched out using Fiskar's Threading Water punch.

The image is from a stamp set by Crafty Secrets (part of the haul my hubby bought for me earlier) and it is called Art Blooms. The flower is coloured in with my copics using R85, R83, R81, Y13 and Y11.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and it is the Happy Trails stamp set.

Well, hope you all enjoyed and thanks for visiting my blog!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC11

2011-07-18T14:54:00.004+08:00

This is my entry for CFC 11 over at CAS-ual Fridays. The theme was to create a project using a sweet or treat. So what I did was use the cotton candy image from Lawn Fawn's Admit One stamp set and created a whole circle of cotton candy! The images were coloured in with my Copic markers.

The doily is cut out from MFT's Decorative Doily die-namics. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Life is a Party collection and the card base is made from PTI's Enchanted Evening card stock. The ribbon is from my own stash.

I am also making this my second entry over at Simon Says Challenge blog where Anything Goes!

Hope everyone will have a great week ahead! Thanks for stopping by!

Card for a Father In Law

2011-07-14T22:29:00.004+08:00

A friend of mine requested a birthday card for her father in law whom she calls 'Abah'. Although the card is simple, I find the colours soothing and calming. Haha, don't ask me why.

I used patterned papers from 7Gypsies Venice collection and cardstock from DCWV. The rosette is cut from the MFT's 1/4" Rosette die. The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Year One stamp set. I die cut the 'ABAH' from Tim Holtz's Vintage Market Alphabet strip alterations die. The brown studs are from Imaginisce's Masculine Glam Rocks.

I hope she likes it!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Sketch #34 at Cardabilities & Simon Says...Anything Goes!

2011-07-14T13:58:00.006+08:00

This card is being submitted for the sketch challenge over at Cardabilities and at Simon Says Stamp challenge blog where the theme is Anything Goes!. I really love how the card came out and has got to be one of my favorites so far.

I managed to get the image from The Greeting Farm during their last Farmer's Market. I've been wanting this for a long long time ever since I started stamping and was so glad they put it up for sale again. Isn't she simply adorable? I coloured her and the lotus flower with Copics.

The patterned papers are from Echo Park's Springtime collection and the card base is from PTI's Sweet Blush cardstock.

I am in love with these small mulberry flowers! Aren't they too cute?

Thanks for coming by!

Lemon & Lavender Challenge at Simon Say's Stamp Challenge Blog

2011-07-04T16:58:00.003+08:00

This is my first attempt at entering a card for a challenge over at Simon Say's Stamp's Challenge Blog and this week's challenge is about making a project with lemon and lavender colours. Unfortunately I don't own many Penny Black stamps so I hope this card still qualifies me for entry.

The image is from Magnolia's Sister & Brother Autumn 2010 collection and I coloured in the image with my Copics. However, I think that you can use this image for husband & wife, boyfriend & girlfriend and even between friends' type of card. The image was cut out with Spellbinder's Labels Eighteen.

The lemon pattern paper is from Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry collection and the lavender polka dot pattern paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather collection.

The flourishes are cut out from Sizzix's Sizzlits Decorative Flourish Set . The brads are from Making Memories and the base cardstock is Bazzill Basics.

Have a great week ahead!

Lily Pad Cards - July Card Chain Challenge

2011-07-04T16:38:00.004+08:00

This is the third month that I will be participating in the Card Chain Challenge over at Lily Pad Cards. I really like joining this challenge because it gives me a chance to meet new crafters in other parts of the world. :)

The image is from The Greeting Farm's Miss Anya Dressy collection and I actually coloured her a long long time ago. I suddenly had the urge to use the image for this card and somehow found the papers to match it and everything came together quite quickly.

The patterned papers are from Basic Grey's Hello Luscious collection and the ribbon is from my stash. The ovals are cut out with Spellbinder's Classic Ovals and the brad inside the card is from KI Memories. The sentiment is from Hero Art's Everyday Sayings stamp set. I also added some glossy accents to the flower in her hair.

Hope my recipient likes it! Have a great week ahead and thanks for visiting my blog!

Lawnscaping Challenge #12 - Sketch Challenge

2011-06-29T21:53:00.007+08:00

This is the card I submitted for the sketch challenge over at the Lawnscaping Challenge blog. I think I like how it turned out. :)

The stamp sets I used were Lawn Fawn's Cruising Through Life and Sophie's Sentiments. I paper pieced the pinwheels and put a tiny brad through the center then used foam dots to adhere them.

The pattern papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness collection. The scallops were cut out using the Simply Scallops Medium die-namic from MFT. I decided it was time to use up some buttons and tied that around the patterned paper with some embroidery thread. The blings are from Hero Arts.

Hope you enjoyed reading and have a great day!

Memory Box Presents...Lucy's Lovely Lines

2011-06-29T17:54:00.005+08:00

Sketch for Memory Box Presents...Lucy's Lovely Lines over at Lily Pad Cards

This is my very last minute entry for the challenge over at Lily Pad Cards presented by Memory Box. I think this card is a little too simple for my taste but I tried to see if I could put some other bling on the card and it just looked weird, so I left it as it is. :)

The balloons are from Lawn Fawn's Admit One stamp set. I coloured them with my Copics then added glitter to them. I used the Marmalade twine from The Twinery. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Year One stamp set. The pattern papers from my My Mind's Eye, called Fly A Kite, part of the Lime Twist Collection.

Thanks for visiting!

Less is More - Week 21 Sketch

2011-06-29T17:40:00.003+08:00

This is my first time submitting a card for a sketch over at Less Is More. For more details on Sketch 21 this week, please click here.

I have not really made a red card before other than for Christmas so this idea just suddenly popped into my head. Red is considered a lucky or auspicious colour for the Chinese so I thought I would stamp 'Congrats' on it and I would be able to use this card as a wedding gift card. I used my new Crafty Secrets stamp set that hubby bought for me. Then I coloured in the image with Copic Markers.

The banner layers are cut from MFT's Rounded Banner Trio die-namic. The card base is from Hero Arts Layering Paper collection. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments stamp set and the twine is from The Twinery. The crystal bling is are some Hot Rocks from Imaginisce.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Lily Pad Cards is having a Hero Arts Stamp Giveaway!

2011-06-29T08:59:00.002+08:00

Have you ever checked out Lily Pad Cards? They are an awesome group of people who have come together to share their creative talent and also organises some of the most interesting challenges for you to play along with!

I am a member of Lily Pad Cards. Please go become a member for a chance to win a collection of Hero Arts stamps. Contest closes at 11.59 p.m. EST on Friday July 15th!

If you enter before July 12th, you will automatically get 3 entries for a chance to win!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a great day!

A Big Thank You to my HUBBY!!!

2011-06-24T17:10:00.003+08:00

This post is specially dedicated to my wonderful husband of 6 years. Recently, he made a trip to overseas where there is a fantastic scrapbook store and I asked him if he could just get me a few things. I didn't tell him what to get and asked him to surprise me. He returned home yesterday night with a big bag of goodies!!! I was gobsmacked!!! I haven't had time to photograph all that he got me because I wanted to write this post first. Thank you for always spoiling me!!! I am truly blessed to have you in my life!

Update : Here are the pictures!

I literally jumped for joy when I saw these stamp sets. Unfortunately I already have the Urban Chic stamp set from Tim Holtz which is the the one on the far right. So if anyone is interested in owning this beautiful set, please email me at kim8mis@gmail.com. :)

Lovely glimmer screens from Tattered Angels, Prima Flowers and embellishments from Kaisercraft!!! I've never bought any of those because they are so expensive and hubby bought me 3 different sets!!! Unfortunately also, I already have one of the glimmer screens, i.e. the Vintage Seasons, Timeless Romance one so if anyone is interested, please email me.

Various stickers and ephemera from different brands. Love them all!!

Lovely goodies from Maya Road, none of which I have...Love them!!

Hope you enjoyed hubby's haul for me! Have a great weekend everyone!

Lawnscaping Challenge #11

2011-06-06T16:47:00.004+08:00

This is my card entry for Lawnscaping's Challenge # 11 which is to make a clean and simple card. I hope this makes the cut! Unfortunately, I'm making this card for my husband since our 6th anniversary is in five days time and he subscribes to my feed, so hubby, if you're reading this, DON'T. Hahaha..

I used the ferris wheel stamp from Lawn Fawn's Admit One stamp set. The sentiment is from the Sophie's Sentiment and Smitty's ABC stamp sets. I really love the Lawn Fawn alpha sets because you can make any sentiment you want and it is the only alpha stamp set which doesn't look weird when you put words together. What I mean is, the alphabets don't stamp far apart making it look weird. Hahaha. Hope you get what I mean. The little brad in the middle of the ferris wheel is from KI Memories.

Anyhow, that's all from me! Thank you for visiting my blog!

Lily Pad Card Challenges and MFT Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch #22

2011-06-06T12:50:00.006+08:00

This card was made for the following challenges :

1. June Card Chain Challenge at Lily Pad Cards

2. Karber Presents ...Kathy's Lily Pad Palette Challenge

3. MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #22

I used patterned papers from the Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry Collection and paired it with cardstock from Bazzill. The stamp is from MFT's a la modes collection called What's Cooking. The circle doily and border strip is also from MFT and they are the Decorative Doily Die and Little Open Scallop Strip Die. The crystals were adhered with my i-rock tool which I love. :)

Hope you all enjoyed! Have a great week everyone!

Err, You Won't Believe It!

2011-06-05T17:37:00.004+08:00

I feel rather strange posting this but I HAD to. I just won a $25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp's online store from a blog giveaway that darling Vicky had on her blog, Clips-n-Cuts. Vicky is super talented and her paper pieced cards always blow me away with the level of creativity she brings to each card. She is also the co-creator of Lily Pad Cards which is a site with awesome challenges! Please do check them out.

So you see why I am still shocked?? Two prizes within a week? Am super happy!!!

Hope you all have a great week ahead!!

Winnings from Card Pattern's Sketch #116!

2011-05-31T11:34:00.003+08:00

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!! I actually won something. I'm still hyperventilating. I never win anything! I had submitted my entry for a challenge over at Card Patterns and when the results for the Sketch #116 Super 6 were posted, I was reading it and sad that I did not get picked. But that was before I read the whole post! I was the lucky winner picked by Random.org for the awesome Penny Black prize! I get to pick one transparent set of stamps and one pack of Penny Black's Mix n Match Cardstock. So here is what I picked!

Air Mail Stamp Set

Clear Skies - Pack of 9 - 80lb Cardstock

Pictures are from the official Penny Black website. It is a great start to my day!! Can't wait!!

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Sketch Book For Me!

2011-05-30T15:57:00.003+08:00

I had a new sketch book which looked too plain for me so I thought that I could spruce it up a little. So this is what I came up with. It is relatively simple because it has to be flat enough for me to sketch on. Basically, all the materials used are from Tim Holtz except for the flower in the corner and the crystals. The papers are from the Lost and Found collection. Dunno why I have not really used those papers until now. They are amazing! I am loving the fact that I can make my own fragment charms! And it is sooo easy. I also love the sayings from the stamp set by Stampers Anonymous called 'Good Thoughts'.

That's all I have for today! Have a great week ahead everyone!