Special Project

August 4, 2009

I apologize for the lack of posts! But last week, I was secretly working on a special project. On Wednesday, I got this great idea and I was really driven to work on it, which got me really excited because that rarely happens. But of course, this great surge of creative energy has to come when I have the least amount of time to work on it. I'm nearing the end of my school term and exams are around the corner (... and the procrastinator award goes to ... me). But anyway, not important now.

I was secretly working on a present for Mr. Tsoi to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary (August 2)!

I found out after I was almost finished the project that the first anniversary is the paper anniversary, which was great news because I was making a book of 365 things I love about Mr. Tsoi.

I've never made a book before so I really had to improvise on this one. Here's how it ended up looking:





I'm so glad it held together, and I'm even more glad that Mr. Tsoi loved it. Happy anniversary!

Altered Q-Tip Box

July 27, 2009


I have a feeling this might be the beginning of a (bad) trend for me. I've altered another box. This time, a Q-Tip box!

I was about to toss it into the recycling box when I looked at it again and thought, "Hmm.. I can reuse this!". And I love how it slides in and out. So I kept it. (I've always had a hard time throwing things out, but now that I've discovered that I can make stuff out of all the junk items I keep, our home is going to be filled!)

For this project, I used paper from GCD Studio's Margarita collection. One of my favourite paper textures is linen and this collection is all about linen! Plus, with the added bonus of some shimmer and foil, what's not to like about this line?

The only problem, really, with lining my box with this paper was that it's a little on the thicker side so the inner box is a little snug and a little harder to pull out BUT it's still cute!

I finished off this box with a ribbon pull and a button... just because I wanted a ribbon pull on the end and a button. No other reason, really. I think it looks cute! Not really sure what to use it for YET but I will.. I'll find something to fill it with. Any ideas?

First Challenge

July 24, 2009

I'm pretty proud of myself for actually completing this. It's nothing fancy but I think it represents a lot of "growing" for me (whoa.. getting a little philosophical here).

Here's the two things I did with this card that I never thought I'd do:

1. This card was made for a challenge*. I keep convincing myself that I'm not ready for a challenge, I can't do it. But when I saw the due date for this challenge, I knew I had to try. August 10th is like half a month away! That's plenty of time to come up with something. And whaddaya know? I've got it done already and it's only been a day.

2. Using an assortment of colours and patterns. I've always sucked at "matching" colours and patterns. For this one, I just threw caution to the wind and said, "Screw it!" and put whatever paper was within reach onto this card. Of course, there was a bit of debating going on in my head but in the end, I really tried not to care so much.

* Moxie Fab World is running a Bag Lady Challenge. I was inspired by this bag:

Paige Fabric Crossbody Bag from Fossil

to make this card:



So what do you think? You can check out other submissions over at their flickr group.

Gussy's Got A Giveaway!

July 21, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you... Gussy.

This fantastic gal is having a giveaway and you sure don't want to miss out. She's reached her 100th sale on Etsy and she really wants to celebrate with all of you. So head on over to her page and leave a comment. You won't be sorry. Because for every comment left on her post, she'll take that many percentages off of your prize!

Does that make sense? Here, let me reword that for you. If there are 50 comments, you get 50% off your next order from her! It's a lot more exciting now that it makes sense, huh?

So don't delay! Go leave a comment today!

And even if you don't want to win (but you'd be crazy not to want to win), go check out her stuff anyway! I've been drooling over it since I've set my eyes on them and you'd be doing yourself a huge injustice by not checking this talented gal's stuff out. Seriously. Go. Now. (And here's the link again - no excuses: maggiewhitley.blogspot.com)

Alana's Gift

July 20, 2009

A few of my friends are getting married soon! It's so exciting!

For my friend's bridal shower this past weekend, I didn't have a lot of time to come up with a gift idea so I headed to a store where she had a gift registry, got the ladies working there to pull out practically everything off her list and I picked and chose what to get her based on an idea I had in my head of how I'd wrap it.

Yeah, that's basically how my brain functions. I think of what I want the final product to look like and find things that'll fit into that idea. Sometimes it's restricting, but other times, it's a real time-saver.

A lot of her choices were packaged in boxes or oddly shaped so I avoided those ones. For her gift, I wanted to make a "gift basket" type thing so I ended up choosing 3 bowls (one large one, two smaller ones) as the "basket" and filled it with a few other goodies. This is how it ended up looking:



Not that professional-looking (my sister's gonna teach me how to do that next time - she's got all these tricks from working at Williams-Sonoma... fancy!) but it still looks presentable. I tucked the card inside so I wouldn't have to stick it on top and ruin the presentation. Looks pretty cute inside, I think.

Here's the card up-close:



And that's it!

Take A Peek!

July 17, 2009

I can't believe it's already the middle of July! This summer is really blowing by.

Unfortunately, I've been spending pretty much the entire summer with my nose in my textbooks, or rather, with my eyes glued to the computer screen and my fingers stuck to the keyboard. It's been an intense term of courses, but I'm almost done and I can't wait until I'm free to craft whenever I please!

In the mean time, I've updated the pictures in my card gallery so go check it out! There's a few new cards in there and while you're there, you even get a little sneak peek of my new craft space! Exciting stuff!

Garage Sale

July 7, 2009

Alison's sisters had a garage sale and I thought I might check it out, if not for the good deals that might be had, then just to meet them in person. At first I was debating whether it'd be worth the long drive, but I think it ended up being totally worth it.

They treated me like a celebrity. Really. The second I walked in the door, they knew who I was (and I have no clue how!) then took my picture! Now I kind of wish I whipped out my camera and took a picture of them too!

Then I got some really great stuff for myself. I believe it was Mo who was kind enough to remind me that as a demo, I don't really need too much of the retired stuff, but I couldn't help myself.


I'm a sucker for papers so I got some of that. Plus a couple of old stamp sets that were retired before my time that I was interested in playing with.

So thank you to Mo and Ellie for having the garage sale and for treating me so well. And whoever's house that was, you have a lovely pool. I should have told you that while I was there.