Posted on Friday, September 25, 2015

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop & Giveaway

Happy Fall Y’all!!! The Autumn season officially started on September 23rd according to the calendar.

This is the season where we can enjoy the beautiful colorful leaves and cooler, crisp air. And it is also the time for…

The Fall Coffee Lovers Bloghop starts from today, Friday, September 25 through Friday, October 2, 2015.

Since it is Fall Bloghop, so theme of your project(s) must be Fall. You can create any project(s) that has coffee, or tea, and/or cocoa on it.

You need to link up your NEW project(s) using the Inlinkz button at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog from 6 am Pacific Time (9 am EST) on Friday, September 25 through Friday, October 2nd at 11:59 pm Pacific Time (2:59 am EST on 10/3/2015).

There are no limits to the number of entries, the more the merrier. Please remember to keep the projects with a FALL theme and NO BACKLINKING, please! Your project (s) has to be a new.

Kicking off the first day of this Fall blog hop, here’s my card:

I always always love the colors of Fall leaves. And that wanna try to jump into a pail of leaves! Wish I was this coffee cup 😉

I heat-embossed the leaves with Gold and then color them using the new color ink pads from Close To My Heart: Saffron and Pemogranate. Starting with the Pemogranate at the bottom and them the Saffron from the top of the leaves, you can see when they mix in the middle it turns into a beautiful orange. I fussy cut them and added them on the card using glue dots. Glue dots give extra dimension but not too thick like 3D foam tape, also they quick and stronger than using adhesive runner on that woodgrain embossed background.

Giveaways!!!

I am giving away a pack of prize from Close To My Heart

There are new Treat of Friendship stamp set, new Mini Calendar stamp, Paper Packet samplers, Black Mini Pigment Ink Pad, Cocoa Mini Pigment Ink Pad, Wood Veneer, and some extra stuff I will throw inside the package for you 😊

Amy will use Random.org to pick the winners.The winners will be posted at Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog.

And now to the extra prize to win on my blog! You have few chances to enter to win this stamp set:

You can do all of them or some. But if you do all, the more chance you can win! You have until Sunday, October 4th 9.00 pm EST (6 pm Pasific) to leave comments on this blog post. And I will pick the winner using Random.org and will be announced on Monday, October 5th on my blog

Leave a comment to answer this question: What is your favorite thing to do in the Fall? What is your favorite drink and dessert? Or even just say “Hi!”
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To share my blog post, you are welcome to use th share button at the bottom of this post.

Thank You for hopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful Fall!

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Supplies:

Pathfinding Paper Packet (CTMH)
White Daisy Cardstock (CTMH)
Woodgrain Embossing Folder (CTMH)
Ranger Gold Embossing Powder (CTMH)
Craft Heater (CTMH)
Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads: Pomegranate, Goldrush, Saffron, Black
My Acrylix stamping blocks (CTMH)
Watercolor Pencils (CTMH)
Sequins Gold Assortment (CTMH)
Aquash Water brushes (Pentel)
Watercolor Paper (Handmade Modern, Target)
Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors
Adhesive runner
Glue Dots
3D foam tape
Evolution Advanced Diecutting-Embossing-Letterpressing Machine (WRMK)

Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Fallen Leaves

Leaves start falling on the ground, their colors start changing and the air is cooling down. I love it here. Four seasons give different experience to me especially I came from the country only has 2 seasons: summer and rainy season.

We have a big tree behind our house and this tree’s leaves cover the ground when they fall.

I love the new stamp set, Fallen Leaves. They are beautiful leaves’ images and perfect for this season. I made a watercolor card set:

I stamped some of the sentiments from Thankful Heart stamp set and Harvest Wreath stamp set. These stamp sets are my favorite for Fall theme cards 🙂

How about you? What is your cardmaking style? Do you make Fall/Thanksgiving cards?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me and thanks for visiting!

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These cards I link up at:

Simplicity: Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge 2015

Create With Joy: Inspire Me Monday – Week 194

Two Purple Couches: Creative Spark Link Party #73

The Creative Exchange Link Party #71

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Use A Stamp Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – No designer Paper

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Supplies:

Fallen Leaves stamp set (CTMH)
Thankful Heart stamp set (CTMH)
Harvest Wreath stamp set (CTMH)
Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads (CTMH): Pomegranate, Goldrush, Safforn, and Black
My Acrylix Stamping Blocks (CTMH): 1″ x 3 1/2″, 2″ x 2″, 2″ x 3 1/2″, 3″ x 3″, 4″ x 5″
Embossing Powder (CTMH): Gold and Clear
Woodgrain Embossing Folder (CTMH)
Craft Heater (CTMH)
Evolution Advanced, diecutting-embossing-letterpressing machine (WRMK)
Watercolor paper (Canson, XL, 140 lbs)
Watercolor paint (Simple Art)
Aquash Water Brushes (Pentel)

Posted on Friday, September 18, 2015

Cool Fall Air Is Blowing

The cool Fall air is blowing here now at where we live. It is so nice to hang out and play outside, not too hot and not too cold. Sitting out side, at our backyard and sipping a cup of coffee in the morning is just so wonderful.

And inspired by the wonderful season, I made this Fall theme card plus a cup of coffee, of course 🙂

I stamped the woodgrain background from WOTG Pathfinding Cardmaking Kit (expired) using Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. The coffee cup and the sentiment is from Treat of Friendship stamp set. On a piece of White Daisy cardstock and Olive Cardstock I stamped and fussy cut the coffee cup. Then I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set on a piece of White Daisy cardstock, fussy cut around the phrase and attached on the cup using Mini Stapler.

And… this is also means that… The Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is almost here!

The fun will start on Friday, September 25th! That is a week from now! Enjoying the cool Fall air, drinking good coffee and crafting is just a great way to celebrate the National Coffee Day that is on Tuesday, September 29th, don’t you think?

I hope to see you join this blog hop and have fun creating… And… there are LOTS of prizes for AMAZING SPONSORS! Read more details at Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog.

THANKS for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Supplies:

WOTG Pathfinding Cardmaking Kit (CTMH – Expired)
Pathfinding Paper Packet (CTMH)
12″ X 12″ White Daisy Cardstock (CTMH)
Mini Stapler (CTMH)
White Card Base (the Paper Studio, Hobby Lobby)
3D Foam Tape
Mini Glue Dots
Adhesive runner
Gold – Natural Baker’s Twine
Wood button

Posted on Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Rejuvenated, Refreshed and Blessed

I am thankful for last weekend I could spend with the ladies from my church and many ladies from other churches at the Rejuvenate Ladies’ retreat at Scioto Hills Camp.

This ladies retreat is one of the camp programs from Scioto Hills Camp that I have been going since 4 years ago. I missed one time because I was delivering our second daughter 3 years ago. At this retreat, I met new friends from other churches there and also we got to spend time together to study God’s word, prayer time and also do activities together. They have camp program all year long for you, your family and even the whole church. Check them out here for more information.

I always came home rejuvenated, refreshed and blessed!

The location is at a beautiful camp where every path we walk declares the greatness of God. It is a peace retreat place.

This friendship I treasure in my heart forever! I thank God for every friend and sister he brought into my life. I count them twice when I count my blessings 🙂

Photo by: Stacy H.

Photo by: Patty A.

Time with God’s word is special. I learned how to delight in His word and presence through the reading, learning from the preacher and writing His word in my note book.

They always have so many activities, indoor and outdoor. This weekend we got lots of rain and quite cold to be outside. I chose to be inside. They had craft activity and learning about salt and herb. I made this cute little tin box as a gift to a dear friend and my friends made cute boxes for themselves, too.

When the rain stopped in the afternoon, we had chance to go outside and I bundled up for sure! The beautiful wild flowers sprung everywhere. Butterflies took chances to enjoy them. And for the first time I saw spike-ish acorn!

Friends and nature are the best this moment!

We did an outdoor activity together, too. This time we did archery. It was my first time and I liked it! Watching the Hunger Games, The Hobbits and The Lord of The Ring kinda give me the idea how to do it… LOL! 😀 Just kidding! The instructor gave us specific interaction how to do it and some ground rules that we have to follow, or get hurt! No kidding, there are steps to follow.

Photo by Patty A.

Photo by: Stacy H.

Photo by: Patty A.

Photo by: Stacy H.

The meals we had are AMAZING! The cook and the kitchen team did their best to provide delicious meals and snacks for us. They blessed us!

You can see how much God has blessed us at this retreat with His presence through the nature, wonderful friendship and His word to ponder in our hearts. I am thankful for my husband who encouraged me to go and had the girls while I was away.

Set aside some days or weeks just to be with God alone in His word and prayer time is just what we all need. I need it, not only once a year, but more than one.

Do you have Sabbath time every year? How many times do you take Sabbath time with God in a year?

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2015

DIY Wavy Blooms Watercolor Muslin Bag

Handmade gift is one of the best way of giving gifts to family and friends. This is one of our favorite way of giving gifts for any special occasions. My daughters and I love creating gifts together for special occasions, like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and gifts for their teachers.

What is your way of giving?

Today, I’d like to share with you a watercolor muslin bag I made which can be used as a gift bag or storage bag. I learned how to make this bag is from Big Picture Classes.

For this project, you will need these supplies:

a muslin bag (you can sew it or use the premade one)
a piece of cardboard or cardstock as insert inside the bag
watercolor paint (or fabric paint, or fabric markers)
watercolor brushes (or Aquash water brushes)
some water
your choice of stamp set
stamping blocks if you use acrylic clear stamps
Staz-On ink pad (or any ink pad that won’t face away when it interacts with water while coloring)

For my bag, I used pre-made 6″ x 8″ muslin bag. I stamped some of the flowers from Wavy Blooms stamp set from Close To My Heart using Black StazOn™ Ink Pad. And then, add the piece of cardboard or cardstock inside the bag to avoid bleeding through on the back of the bag. The next step is to color them with Watercolor Paints. Pick the color one by one with the paint brushes. I used Pentel Aquash water brushes medium and small sizes.

A tip for you, if it is too much color on your images, you can use paper towel to take some away while it is still wet. You can simply dub them away. Do not wipe them off because it will smear them all over.

You can see there some colors bleed out of the stamped images, that’s okay. But if you do not like that, you can use Craft Heater to dry them quickly rather then leave it air-dry slowly. Some images that do no have colors out side of the images are the ones I dried using my Craft Heater.

This watercolor bag cannot be washed. I would suggest to paint the flowers using acrylic paint or fabric paint for washable bag. I use this bag as gift bag with some watercolor cards inside. Cards that fit perfectly inside this 6″ x 8″ bag are 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ cards and 5″ x 7″ cards with envelopes.