Holidays 2013.

Good Sunday morning, everyone!

I hope you all had the Merriest of Christmas! We had a nice Holiday that started off on Christmas Eve when we went to the children's mass at our church. We, then, headed to my parents' where the rest of my cousins and aunts/ uncles got together. It's tradition for our family to get together on the night before Xmas and have a big party. There were lots of wonderful Filipino food, and catching up. It wouldn't be a party without picture taking of course! And then, we stay up till close to midnight and pass out presents. We open them up right then and there and just bask in the warmth of family and bonding!

Hopefully, I get to blog in a little bit and post some pics of our Christmas. For now, though, I have a project to show you featuring a Time for Tea Designs' digi image (Princess). She is so pretty and regal, so I wanted to make her into a special gift card holder for one of my loved ones. I paired her together with some of Tina Azmus' Holiday kit goodies.



Ok, gotta go since I've got lots to do!!

Frou Frou Sweet!!

Hi all!!

Long time, no post! So sorry... I have been so busy with the Holiday, I felt like I was up to my ears in shopping, going to the post office, and wrapping presents all throughout my week of staycation!! I hardly had time to make any cards!!




I was able to play with this cutie from The Greeting Farm though! It's my first time coloring up Miss Frou Frou Sweet! And, man, I think I may gave acquired a tooth ache coloring her up!! Tee hee!! I felt like licking her skirt... it somehow reminds me of cotton candy for some reason!! :)

I was inspired by my niece's Nutcracker performance...especially the second part of the show where they see the Sugar Plum fairy!

Hope you're all having a great Holiday week! Alas, it's back to work for me!!

See you next week!

Anya Strolls.

** If you're looking for my Milk Coffee Challenge post, please scroll down.**


Morning, folks!

I had made this card for my niece a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share it.

Isn't it cute? It's my first time using one of the 'bigger' Anyas, and she was fun to color! I especially love Anya Strolls'(from The Greeting Farm) outfit, hair, and little doggie (which looks like my niece's dog, too!).




Haven't made a scenic card in a while, so I decided to make one here. She's walking her pup in the park (haha!). Hope you all have a great day! See you in a bit!

Love,

Anything Christmas at Milk Coffee!

Hello!! And welcome to Milk Coffee's Anything Christmas Challenge.

I went pretty traditional with the colors -- green, red, brown tones. But I went with a fairy tale theme again -- this time with the digi, Tiffany as Snow White. We were given this image in the beginning of the term, and I've been dying to use her! Thought she'd be perfect for a Holiday card.



My favorite Holiday line this year was from Glitz Designs. Love the modern vibe with traditional aspects. The graphic component is also very strong -- hello, woodgrain deer! You are perfect with my Snow White theme!! **swoooooon**

I hope you all play along. You have until 8pm EST on January 1st or 8am January 2nd in West Indonesia, depending on which part of the world you live in! Pls visit the Milk Coffee Blog to see the other Design Team's creations. They are fab and really got me in the Christmas mood!!



Speaking of which, how's your Holiday prep going? I have a little vacation this week, but it's going too fast, and as usual, I've planned more than time allows. But I read Amy Tangerine's blog last night and the article she linked up really helped as far as letting some things go. We, as women, tend to think we can or should do it all, but why stress yourself out when you should be enjoying the joy of the season, right??

I loved that article so much that I've linked it up here as well. Here you go (you can thank me later, LOL!).

Love,

Happy Birthday, Rosemary!

Hi all!

And welcome to a very special blog hop for Rosie's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Rosie!! She is super creative and talented!

For this hop, I thought I'd try something different. I have bought some art work from Roben Marie called art pops. They are mixed media pieces from her art journal, and they are beautiful!

I wanted to show y'all the versatility of stamps, especially the ones from Yumi and Fumi Handmade. Fumi looks great on mixed media pieces, don't ya think? I opted to color her hair a little differently. :)

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend!!

Blue Santa.

Good Thursday to ya, folks!!

It's time to show you another Time for Tea Designs card. This one features Santa Hat. She is too cute! I love to keep things interesting so I colored a blue suit and hat for her. And this girl is so cute, she can pull off pretty much anything!



And since I love making lists, I added in one of her own. That is, what she thinks is the best Holiday day ever!! And speaking of days... Are you all doing a December Daily? I sure am. Going the simple route though. I'll be sharing more later.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's basically an album of your every day in December. It is truly the most magical time of the year for me (& my family), and I wanted to document it.

Ta-ta for now!!

Photo Inspo at Y&FH.

Good morning, folks!

I totally goofed and didn't post for my Yumi and Fumi Handmade Challenge last week - Monthly Challenge # 3. I had been sick (already with my second cold of the season - bleh!), and I got confused with the dates. So here's the current challenge for Y&FH -- I am posting with Team Fumi for the day :). It's a photo inspiration (shown above). Man, that room looks super classy and cozy. My mom would totally love that room. She has a gold and white Christmas tree up too!

Here's the card I made:



I took elements of the gold and white, of course, but also took in the redness of the chimney and the black accents of the twigs on the mantle. I also added in some silver from the presents. I even tried to ink up those wooden tree veneers with silver ink but this picture doesn't do it justice. It's pretty sparkly in real life! :)



I really love this image I used of Bob the Yeti -- he is so darn adorbs and snuggly-looking, right? He's perfect for Winter-themed projects! And this project of Bob the Yeti disguised as Sulley from Monster's Inc by Team Fumi member, Melissa, BLEW MY MIND!!!

You have until January 3rd to play!! The top card maker wins a $10 gift certificate! And top three wins a 10% discount. Such awesome prizes!! And you guys have seen the winner badges that Y&FH give out, right? They are incredible!

See you soon!

Non-Traditional Christmas Colors at Milk Coffee.

Hello, folks!

Good evening, or good morning if you are on the other side of the world!! It's time for another Milk Coffee Challenge, and today, it's about non-traditional Christmas colors!!

As you can see, I went all the way to the most unexpected color... that is, yellow!! I love how bright and happy this card turned out, as the blue deer seemed kind of sad and ethereal. I welcome challenges like these that make you think outside of the box sometimes. It's quite refreshing to not have to do red and green! And this image is just wonderful...you can make it like a magical fairy tale like I did here, or color them realistically as well.

Hope you join the rest of the DT. You've got two weeks to play. Please head on over to the blog for more info, rules, and details!

Christmas Pud.

Good evening, folks! It's been a busy last few days here at the Mercado abode, but I had some time to craft! I find that it's always hard to get some mojo after a long Holiday!

Here's a card for Time for Tea Designs' Christmas Pud digi image. She is perfect for this season! I decided to pair her up with Glitz Designs' Hello December as it is my favorite Holiday line of 2013 (I just love how graphic it is!).



I hope y'all have an amazing rest of the week! I'll be coming back at ya tomorrow!

Pud

Cyber Monday Blog Hop at TGF

Hi, and welcome to The Greeting Farm's Cyber Monday Customer Blog Hop!!! (so sorry for the lighting).



I've decided to do something a bit different and do a scrapbook page. Not only that, but a Project Lay-out page! :)

Here's an Alice in Wonderland themed one from Halloween back in 2010 when my co-workers and I dressed up for our patients!



My son, MK, was one then and I dressed him up as the caterpillar!!! I can't believe that costume existed!



Luckily, I wasn't working that day, so I was able to go all out as the Queen of Hearts!! We also had Alice, the Cheshire cat, the Mad Hatter, and even a card from the deck of cards! I had fun saying, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!" a thousand times during the day! LOL!



TGF's AIW themed beans stamps were perfect!!! I'm not sure if they're still available for sale, but they were so cool to color. I just love them!!



And these miniature bottles and mushroom embellishments from Paper Tales were just the right embellies! Still trying to find out how to adhere them, he he.

Have fun hopping and shopping! Don't forget that TGF is having a sale! See this post for more details and to go back to the blog hop list!

Thanksgiving Milk Coffee- style!

Hi all!

Milk Coffee is having another challenge these next couple of weeks. The theme is Thankful or Thanksgiving! And this new digi is perfect! Isn't he handsome? I almost messed up with his skin tone, but I'm quite happy with how it came out.

If you had asked me a couple of years ago what my least favorite time of the year was, I'd have said, "Fall." Since I love Christmas, I adore Winter. And since I was born in April, I love Spring. And Summer time has always been my favorite! Now, I am falling in love with Autumn more and more. The shades of the leaves, the crisp air... I really, really like it now!

Remember that you have a couple of weeks to play! For more DT inspiration and the rules, please go to the MilkCoffee Challenge Blog!



Toodles!!

Lists.

Happy Monday, peeps!

I've got a card for you featuring Time for Tea Designs' New Year Resolutions Digi.

It's a bit early, but I am so inspired by all the planner/ filofax pics on Instagram about decorating your planners! I, myself, love to make lists and still carry paper calendars even though my iPhone is always at my side. There's nothing more satisfying than having that pen hit the paper and seeing your month ahead of you. Please tell me I'm not alone (or crazy! Haha!).

When I saw her with this long list, it made me think of all those times I've made lists. Decided to even use a stamp made for planners (those lines on the tag) by Studio l2e - plan it. There was this one time, I was in class and I made a list on the notes section of the handout. My friend saw it and she added a # 4. It went something like this:

1. Wash dishes.
2. Sort out clothes and pack for trip.
3. Call post office.
4. Take a poop.

BUWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!! Haha, Melissa!!!!

And the paper clips are by Kate Spade's new office line (the gold ribbon) and from Studio Calico (the arrow). The papers are from Shanna Noel's Print Shop line and the letters are Amy Tangerine.



By the way, I make lots of New Year's Resolutions too! I just don't keep up with them come February! LOL!

Yumi Yummies vs. Fumi Faves Blog Hop.

Good morning everyone!!

You're in for a real treat today. We've got a battle brewing between Team Yumi & Team Fumi and you're invited to a front row seat of the feud. No we're not really fighting, we're just having a bit of fun between teammates and what better way than to show off with a crafty style blog hop? We're going to give the teams a theme to create with and you will be the judges. Now it wouldn't be a blog hop without prizes yes? Well you're absolutely right! As you hop along make sure you leave comments on each blog post because each team member is giving away something on their blog. Yep your eyes do not deceive you, so there are lots of chances to win.




There will be 4 types of winners:

1. Overall Design Team winners
2. Individual DT winner
3. Overall Blog hop winner will receive a stamp of our choice, plus similar items each DT member shares in their picture on their projects (it could be you)
4. DT will choose a winner from their own blogs to receive something as well (it could be you)

Battle #1 - Embellishments
Team Yumi Yummies vs. Team Fumi Faves
Starts: 11/15/13, Midnight pst
Ends: 11/18/13, 11pm pst.

Each DT member will:
1. Share their project
2. List their embellishments
3. Share a picture of what they are giving away on their blog

Here's what you need to do:
1. Go through the blog hop and leave a comment on everyone's blog post
2. When you come back to the Y&FH blog you will vote 1 time by leaving a comment with your favorite designer who you think used the theme the best. We'd also love to hear what you liked about their project so please include that in your comment.
3. Link up below

Now let's get ready to rumbbbbbbbbllllllllllllle! I mean to the hop order (LOL):
Rosemary (TY)
Denice (TF)
Lisa (TY)
Melissa (TF)
Cebelica (TY)
Sheena (TF)
Rinne (TY) --> You are here!
Kathy (TF)
Olivia (TY)
Leanne (TF)
Renate' (TY)
Y&FH -> come back to vote and link up!

Hope you enjoy the hop!
Yumi & Fumi Handmade DT

So here's my card:



And my Favorite Embellies:
1. Twine or washi tape.
2. Epoxy dots or bling or sequins.
3. Stickers.



One of the lucky commenters here will receive some embellishments from me. They would be similar to my faves list above. I'll pick someone by the end of next week!



P.S. Did ya see the oh-so-cute patterned paper I used here? They're from Shanna Noel's new line at Studio Calico called Print Shop. Love it!!! These two were perfect for my project featuring Y&FH's Yumicorn (teehee, that name!!). But it also comes with these bold, graphic papers! So versatile!

And did ya notice the l'il mushrooms? I got those from Paper Tales in San Diego! I'm a sucker for cute ephemera that go so well with what I have in mind for my creations!

The rest of my embellies came from the lovely Leanne Poe, who sent me some happy mail the other week. Thanks a bunch, chica!!

Happy Hopping, peeps!!

Steam Punk.

Happy almost Hump Day, folks! Have you seen that commercial with the camel and he's going around the office saying, "Hump Day, Hump Day!" or something like that?? It's hilarious!! LOL!

So I've been off for the last couple of days. My DH has been sick, and although it was busy, it was nice having him around the house. I even got to do some coloring while taking care of my three "boys." Ever since I first saw SteamPunk Kaylee from SOG, I had been wanting to make a card of her!

I first learned about Steam Punk when I watched one of those reality Wedding shows -- the couple wanted a steam punk themed wedding, and the network was helping them achieve their dream. Here's a link on what steam punk is all about via Wikipedia. Basically, it was during the 19th century / Victorian era when America was becoming more industrialized. There's a lot of mechanism, futuristic, fantasy, modernism involved in the style. The show was very interesting, and I had been intrigued ever since.

So I gathered up what I perceived to be "steam punk-sh" among my stash of papers. I came across that metallic, shiny, embossed paper and a few with lots of vintage keys. I also found those cool keys and bolts/ screws embellishments.

For the sketch, I wanted something special so I followed The Deconstructed Sketch # 124, which was unique and interesting, and showcased SP Kaylee (& all her ephemera) just right!!



Thanks for visiting! I'll see you soon!!

Thankful!

Hey blogland! Are you ready to see another Yumi and Fumi Handmade Challenge? You've got two weeks to play from now, and the challenge this time around is a card/ project that depicts Thankfulness.

Since I (try to) work ahead of schedule, I made this card back in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month. As I have worked with oncology patients, I know how devastating cancer could be to someone and their family. It is very difficult to find an image of a lady without hair so I played Frankenstein and altered bodies around. Her head is actually Summer Chuckles and the body is from Yumi. I just added lipstick and eyeshadow and positioned her head in the correct angle.



I hope you don't mind the mistake of not blending the eyeshadow and face well. Eeeeek, I need to refill my pens!!

For more info on the Challenge or if you'd like to see more inspiration, please visit the Y&FH blog! Here are some rules from the post:

"You can now use ANY stamped image in our bi-weekly challenges!!!
•
As a bonus for using a Yumi and Fumi Handmade image, your name will be added a maximum of one (1) extra time after the last linked entry.

•
All projects/cards must have a hand-colored image, "sentiment only" cards are NOT allowed.

•
One (1) entry per person

•
All of the challenge rules can be found on the left side bar.

•
The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to the Yumi and Fumi Handmade online store. Our Top 3 will receive a 10% discount code to be used in the Yumi and Fumi Handmade online store."


Tata!!

WonderWoman and Winter Wonderland!

Happy Saturday, folks!

I'm back with not one, but two Time for Tea Designs cards for you today! And this first one is from the new Winter release:



Isn't she cute with that outfit? I especially love the long socks! If I could pull off this look, I would totally wear all of it.

I have been really into making my own background. Here, I wanted to create a lot of dimension and texture. I stamped the background with gold ink using SOG stamps. Then, I layered with a Hambly print overlay. The sentiment is also from Hambly (although, now I see that it doesn't really make any sense :)).

And lastly, I want those same boots in that particular color!!

Next, here's a card featuring Wonderwoman Digital stamp! I kinda messed up coloring her legs and hair, but other than that, isn't she a beaut? And looks sassy and strong too!




I thought Paper Issues' Super Hero pack was perfect for her. I just love all the little details like the evil eyes stickers! I especially adore the washi tape that came with it -- a strip is shown on that yellow ribbon! The only things I added were the sentiment and border dots that I hand drew!



Have a wonderful day, peeps!