Embellished!

I stayed home today nursing a bad cold. Feeling weak and groggy form my meds ... then I found this ....


Woot woot! I'm hot :-) not from fever but from Embellish Fabric Color Challenge! Yup, that's my card {Mei Ann G.}. Thanks ladies! You made my day!

Cheers,

Mei Ann

"Paper Love at First Sight"

I stopped by our local Scrapbook supply store on my way home from work and saw their new We R Memory Keepers - Vintage Blue collection. It was "paper love at first sight !!!

Oh boy they are gorgeous - the colors and graphics are so vibrant. You can almost hear them calling your name {well, paper addicts :-) know exactly what I'm talking about}. Yeah, yeah, I'm weak, I gave in and took them home.

I worked on the first one as soon as I got home. It will be a waste not to use both sides of the paper so I cut 1 inch strip and alternately glue them together for my background. I then stamped and paper piece the flowers so I can submit the card to Moxi Fab World - Picking Up the Pieces Challenge.

I'm telling you, only fools rush in but can't help falling in paper love with these collection.

Sigh.

Mei Ann

My Realm of Papers, Inks and Ideas

I love and treasure every nook and cranny of our home simply because we collected a lot of happy memories over the last 5 years in this home . Because we are child-free {not by choice}, my dear hubby and I find ourselves spending a lot of time together in the kitchen experimenting new dishes, in the family room watching our favorite shows or singing on Friday nights, in our bedroom quietly recounting our days at work, in our home office comparing our work loads or even in the garden sipping a glass of wine while thinking of the next flowering plant to add to our tiny collection.

There's one room in the house though that I call my REALM of papers and inks, my BIRTHING ROOM of ideas, my NICHE. Hold on a sec, come to think of it I can't say it's completely mine because hubby insisted on adding a small lounge chair for him so he can just sit there to read a book or play with his camera when I am busy stamping or designing a layout.

Welcome to my world ....

This room used to be our 3rd guest room and we decided to convert it to my craft studio when we can't find enough space in our home office to organize the growing numbers of patterned papers, stamps, spools of ribbons and other tools.

This is the stamping area....

I'm always partial to blue, teal and white colors - they have a calming effect on me so if I'm buying something for this room, I keep these colors in mind.

My "techie and tools" desk....

 My hubby's corner....

 The small lounge chair we got on sale from IKEA almost 7 years ago is my hubby's little corner. During winter time, it's so comfy to just sit there with a thick wool blanket and hot chocolate while watching falling snowflakes on the window.

I've always wanted a space where I can draw, cut papers, glue things together, stamp or even just stare at colors until ideas are born. Nothing extravagant. Just something I can call "MY CRAFT STUDIO". Sounds nice. Looks nice {to me, at least}. Clean. Organized. It's my realm. Welcome.

Thanks for visiting.

Mei Ann

Palm Sunday

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem {before his passion and death} is commemorated by million of Catholics world-wide. After singing at Mass this morning I made this simple card in remembrance of Palm Sunday.



Praise to you Lord, King of eternal glory!

Je Me Souviens {I remember}

I was so excited when I read Moxi Fab World's Picking Up the Pieces Challenge. Lately. I'm enjoying cutting the details of fancy pattered papers and create a scene like what I did here and here.

So last night I searched for a photo taken by my hubby one breezy Sunday afternoon in "Ville de Montreal" where we lived for more than 3 years before moving permanently here in Ontario. I love Montreal and I really miss walking along the streets of Vieux Montreal where the "old world" blends beautifully with modern cafes, galleries, vibrant open market and colorful flower shops. I want to re-capture those afternoons we spent just strolling or people watching {who by the way are always dressed like they just came out from a fashion photo shoots} or picking fresh flowers or even just smelling the freshly-baked croissant from the "boulangerie" in a layout.


To re-create these scenes, I used Webster's pages "salon les fleur" from their postcard from Paris collection. I also cut out papers from old greetings cards sent to me by 2 of my friends { sorry, ladies. i kept the dedication though :-)} Can't help to stamp something on the layout so I added the birdbath {which I love so much} from Inkadinkado and the postcard stamp {used as background for the photo} from Prima.

Ah, Quebec, tu es la belle province! Je me souviens! A bientot!

Bonne fete semaine,

Mei Ann

In Bloom

It took me a good 20 minutes to meticulously cut the details of this supposedly "cherry blossoms". I almost gave up but good thing I did not because I love how this card turned out!

I found this patterned paper from my DCWV Far East Stack. Instead of using it as a background on this card, I decided to make bloom as the focal point. To add some contrast to the orange-red flower, I stamped the birdbath from my Inkadinkado utopiary collection.

The sketch was inspired by this week's CPS challenge. Those ladies never fail to trigger my mojo!

Thanks for visiting,
Mei Ann

A Perfect 10

My dear friend and colleague Patty just celebrated her 10th year in our company. Seeing her in action with so much passion and enthusiasm, you would think that it's her first day instead of a decade! Way to go Patty!!! Here's to 10 more awesome years....

I just love how this Stamping Bella stamp captured Patty's vibrant personality.

Ciao Bella,

Mei Ann

A "Glow"-rious Day

It's great to see the sun shining again after a gloomy weekend. I know it's not going to last though as rain is expected tomorrow. But hey, it's Monday and there's a lot of things to look forward to ... rain or shine!

I'd like to start my work week with this simple card inspired by EMBELLISH magazine using fabric as part of the design.

I used Prima felt flowers highlighted by red buttons and embellished the stamped chandelier with green gems.


Happy Monday! Hope your week will be glow-rious!

Mei Ann

Mary's Little Lambs

My husband and I visited our friends' {Marg and Doug} farm a couple of weeks ago. One of the highlights of our farm tour was the visit to the the flock of lambs cared for by a very young shepherd, named Justin.

Seeing the lambs up close, so gentle and trusting to their shepherd reminded me my all time favorite Psalm 23 ... "The Lord is my Shepherd, whom shall I be afraid?"


Ever since I saw the lambs, I wanted to make a card with them on it. So I made this 'Wool" Miss You card for Jamez, our choir pianist {& a good friend too} who will be away for some time.


"Wool" really miss you Jamez! The flock is waiting for your return!

Mei Ann

Men's World

Creating a birthday card for a guy is always a challenge for me. I can't put flowers or ribbons or lace to embellish it. That's why I'm so thrilled when Em, the owner of Stamping Bella introduced me to this stamp set when I visited her yummy store last week. I thought the stamp set really captured the world of my colleague Dave who is celebrating his birthday on Monday. Well, maybe not the fancy boxer shorts which I embellished with glitters! HA :-)!


TGIF .....

Mei Ann

Shamrock and Roll

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was browsing the Moxifab Fab World blog this morning and found this inspiration for Tuesday Trigger ....

I just love these colors! In fact these are the same colors that adorn our home.

Since it's all about green today, why not a green cake? I baked this chocolate-pistachio cream cake for our church choir practice. Yum O!

Making this cake is as easy and fun as making my St. Patty's card.

You don't need LUCK at all!

It's all about the green...

Mei Ann

Blooms and Butterflies

Daylight Saving Time begun last Saturday night. I know it's just an hour change but it never fails to disrupt my sleeping pattern! The only good thing about it is the fact that spring is just lurking around the corner!!!! Inspired by the thought of blooming flowers and butterflies, I made a couple of "Thank You" cards ....

I stamped and heat embossed the butterflies {Inkadinkado stamp} with clear embossing power and applied chalk inks in green, orange, brown and yellow using resist technique. I embellished the bow with a vintage button I found at Salvation Army store.

For the second card, I used my Hero Art flower stamp on white cardstock and heat embossed with black embossing powder.

I sprayed a touch of copper perfect pearl mist {Ranger} to match the orange bow. I added the aqua gems which I thought are nice contrast to the black blooms.

Nature is such an excellent inspiration. The sketch over at CPS is an icing on the cake too!

Don't you just love Mondays? I do.

Mei Ann

Old World Baby

Today we welcome baby Paul Matthew, our dear friends' baby boy to the Christian world. When I was at my craft studio this morning to make card for him, I decided I don't want a typical baby inspired design but something that will highlight a symbol of Christianity from the old world ... Then I thought of those beautiful century old baptismal fonts I saw in different churches in Italy.


My Inkadinkado Utopiary birdbath stamp looks like a baptismal font and to get the antique look, I apply "kissing" technique with perfect pearls from Ranger. I added the baby blue ribbon and baby sentiment for a little touch of "modern" baby design.


An old world baby indeed!

Thanks for visiting,
Mei Ann

Fine Dinning and Craft

My friend Tara hosted a dinner for her mom's 60th birthday last weekend. It was held at her beautiful house with the table fashioned like a fine dining restaurant. The food was catered and the wines were abundant. Three days before the event she told me she wanted a place card and menu for every guest .... "similar to what we had during the gala dinner at the Palazzo in Italy", she said.

Well, I don't have a fancy printing press but I have some papers, ribbons, punchers, stamps and my imagination so here's what I've created....



Not bad huh? With excellent food, good wine, loved ones and fine craft on the table, you can't have better than that!

Cheers!

In Love with Kraft

I was browsing my paper stash a couple of weekends ago and found at least 5 sheets of Kraft paper. I seldom use Kraft in my previous projects but I just fell in love with it after neglecting it for along time.

Working with Kraft is like cooking with eggplant or tofu :-) It looks bland on its own but will absorb colors and patterns and perfectly blend them together! I just LOVE it!

Happy Monday!