The Color Purple (and a Future Giveaway).

Good Friday morning, everyone! I decided to play along with Card Pattern Sketch # 165.
For the stamp, I used TGF's Birthday Anya II. I used papers from Wild Rose Studio's Bella. I even upcycled kraft packaging from CatShy Crafts. Speaking of, that is where I got this beautiful homemade felt flower.
Isn't it gorgeous? I highly recommend Cathy's shop for these amazing embellishments!
And in the near coming future, I will be telling you how you can get a chance to get a hold of Cathy's felt flowers for free! :)
BTW, in case you were wondering, the recipient of this card is also named Cathy. I love it when up cycling works perfectly!
Love,
Rinne

Sunday Flashbacks!

Happy Sunday!

Welcome to Sunday Flashbacks! I changed it from Throwback Sundays since that term is already familiar at TGF.

Anyway, here, we get to share old projects from the past that were never showcased before. Either because it was before we started blogging or it just never had the chance to be in the spotlight. Hope you join me on Sundays!

What I love about this lay-out were the bright, strong colors, soft shadows, and feminine accessories. The same pic repeated four times made it look artsy, I thought. Plus, with the fabric and lines, well this l.o. is one of my faves of all times.

When I was in High School, I was one of the yearbook editors and our theme then was oxymoron - the book title was "Organized Chaos." Each section also had oxymorons.

"Timid, Yet Bold" isn't actually an oxymoron, it's not two opposing words that form a phrase when put together. But you get the jist? I feel like that's my personality (in '06 when I made this l.o., and now). I'm shy at first but once you get to know me, I can be quite loud and assertive :).

What could be bad about these Sunday Flashback projects is the fact that I never wrote down what supplies I used. So I'm sorry that I'm not able to list them down. I could tell you though that I upcycled two of the embellies here. One was a friendship bracelet (horizontal, near bottom) that my good friend PM gave me. And the other is that bracelet that spelled out my name -- one of my BFFs, M, had given it to me for my birthday.

Ok, now it's your turn! Hope you join in & link your older creations every Sunday. And everyone here, pls visit each other's blogs / projects. I'm working on a blog button soon!

ABAC - Love Sign.

Good Sunday morning, everyone! Hope you are all doing well!

For my Anything But A Card project today over at PaperWorks Co., I decided to decorate this wooden sign I bought at the local craft store.

This sign could be used as decor for a wedding or even at the newlyweds' home. I went with a wedding theme because our dear boss-lady, Peggy, will be getting married soon!!!

I used Echo Park for the patterned paper in the background. In fact, I got the paper from the monthly PaperCard kit back in June. The stamp is PWCO / RAM Happiness is a Piece of Cake.

Aren't they such a cute couple? They scene was so fun to color, especially that cake! And I was in the mood to do the same shade as a Tiffany's box :).

The flower image and nestability were actually items I upcycled from packaging when I ordered a stamp pad. I could never waste something pretty and handmade! The pearls are from Creative Imaginations, and the stitching is hand-drawn. The ribbon is from my stash.

Have a wonderful day!

Lessology DT entry

Hello everyone!

My project today features an altered item for the DT call over at Lessology. It's a new challenge blog on upcycling.

I do love to upcycle when I can. My style of upcycling may not be as elaborate as most people's. But it's good to show that it could be done very simply, easily, and fast.

I took my phone case and altered it into a gift certificate holder. (I know, I know...this is my second phone cover. Go here to view the first one I upcycled).



I cut some strips of KI Memories' Love Elsie paper and Jolee's stickers and voila!

This is for a family member who have done a phenomenal job losing weight and becoming healthier. For her birthday, I wanted to give her a gift certificate so she could go shopping for new outfits. What's with the theme of swimming, you ask? Well, she lives in Arizona where it's currently 100- 115 degrees during the summer. And she goes swimming on most days. Plus, bikini equals sexiness, am I right? :)

Thank you for visiting! I think it is so important to upcycle. It's so easy to find things around the house that we could all use in our craft. In fact, my favorite item to use is an earring that has lost its pair, and I often use them as charms on my cards or scrapbooking. You can see an example on this post.

Have a wonderful evening!

ABAC- Charlotte's Gift Card Holder

Happy Sunday, everybody!

Today marks my last time to do an ABAC (Anything But a Card) project at PWCO for a while. I'll be moving on to a different assignment for the month of August.

As I am a big fan of upcycling, I decorated this case for a phone cover to be a gift card holder. I liked how the cover was clear .. that meant I could also embellish the inside and it would show.

For the main image, I decided to use some of the Love Freckle Stamps that are on the sale (blow-out) section of PWCO. Charlotte and her sweets are so adorable. This gift is perfect for my niece!

Supplies:

Stamp- Love Freckle Stamps - Sweets from Charlotte (from Little Loud Stamps, found in the blow-out section at PWCO).

PP- American Craft's Dear Lizzy.

Flowers- Reminisce.

Thanks for visiting, folks!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Card

Good morning!

Before I discovered stamps, I used to create cards using pictures. For example, see this blog post about thanking my girlies for my bachelorette weekend.

So for Jo's daughter's birthday, I wanted to make one using her pic. Not just her pic, but elements from the actual invitation (did anyone say UPCYCLING? LOL!). Jo had the great idea of making "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as M's party theme!

Before I had Mattie, I hadn't really read the book but had bought some art papers inspired or marketed by Eric Carle. I was so bummed when I couldn't find them. I had probably thrown them away when we moved!

So I just grabbed this red polka dotted paper by October Afternoon and found this ribbon with "holes" bought from Babies 'R Us. There are a couple of apple stickers from K&Company -- I took these and the cut-outs from the invites and punched holes in them. Just like the caterpillar ate holes in all those food! :)

See you soon!

Trendy Babies

Another simple card today. The duckies are colored by Sunghee for the carnival creations she gave me. I recycled the ducks when the merry-go-around got torn apart. :(

Sunghee gave me the go ahead, so here's the card. I just love how she colored them. I think they're watercolors?

The CS are from previous Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kits. The PP is from EK Success (Baby Collection).



Speaking of babies, I wanted to share one of my favorite gifts for Mattie:



Cute, quirky COW shoes!!! O. M. G.!! The brand actually translates to wacky or crazy in French, hehe! Perfect for moi!

Not sure if it's appropriate for the summer but we'll make it work! Love these! My friend, Jerico, got them from Aldea Ninos, which I'm hoping to visit soon. I'm always on the look-out for unique baby stores.

See you later, gators!

I'm FREEEEEEEEE......

All I gotta say is "WHEW!"

The whirlwind of a weekend is done, and my DS's 1st birthday party was a success!! Mostly, anyway...but I'll tell you that story later :).

For favors, we had a candy bar. It was a hit! Of course, I added Sunghee's creations to decorate, and those made it even more stellar! I can't get over what Sunghee sent me. All of our guests loved her projects.

When it was time to pack, I was sad to see that not every creation survived the party. Most of these paper lovelies had to be thrown away, but I couldn't bear to part away with perfectly good colored images. So I asked Sunghee if she minded that I make cards/ projects out of them. I'm a big fan of upcycling and Sunghee gave me the green light.

This actually helped me a lot. I've been dying to make a card but just couldn't find the time. This little cutie card was created in less than five minutes this afternoon. Thank you again, Sunghee, for allowing me to make a card around your previously colored image (awesome coloring btw!).

The card elements were totally from scraps. Thought I'd do something different by photographing it outside. I usually crop my pics but since the card was so narrow, I left the photo wide, dried bushes and all! :)

Hope you have a wonderful Monday! Stay tuned for some Circus pics!!

Hosting Monday Mania @ CA&F .... plus my Birthday Blog Candy!!!

The time has come for me to say WOOT WOOT!!!! I wanted to scream on top of the rooftops when Amy asked me to host this week's Monday Mania at Club Anya!!

For my challenge, I wanted to do something diffrent... something that hasn't been done before. Incorporate some type of paper ephemera or jewelry that is not your typical, run-of-the-mill paper crafting supply. Include such things as mementos, ticket stubs, price tags, packaging material... ANYTHING!

I am FOREVER collecting souvenirs or inspiring tidbits here and there. This card is actually for my preggo self last year. I'm probably going to include this on a scrapbooking lay-out.



The embellishments are:

1. an old earring bought at Etsy as an owl mobile.
2. a crib made out of incense sticks' ends.
3. clothing tags (whale, swaddled babe, and tag behind the sentiment).
4. a strip of a favorite handwriting (kol laj).
5. a drawn heart/initial by my niece, I.
6. picture of giraffes saved from party favors made by my sister.

The embellies were saved from my baby shower for MK. I am quite a pack-rat but am so happy I got to "recycle" these special items. I have enjoyed my pregnancy tremendously. And all the feelings associated with that bliss & promise of a new beginning for me are embedded in these mementos that I saved. Anyway, I am going to stop right there before I start tearing up. I'm corny like that!

I did want to add that I also like re-using old jewelry as charms. Isn't that owl 'mobile' darling? :)

I hope you all join in on the challenge at CA & F. Please upload your entry at the Gallery under Monday Mania. Select Rinne's ephemera. Can't wait to see your creations!

And this *blissful* post, DRUMROLL please.........

Here's my birthday blog candy:



There are more than 40 items that include some of my favorite items -- Dear Lizzy rub-ons, Love Elsie stickers, kol laj papers, distressing inks, 6x6 patterned papers, small & big brads, a mini canvas and a cardboard album to name most of them.



Three stamps are also included -- an anime stamp from In Style, a ching chou kuick stamp from Sweet Pea, and a Cheeky stamp from TGF.

Please leave me a comment below and link back to my blog by April 25th, midnight Standard Pacific Time. I will pick a random winner by the afternoon of that day. If you can, please also post a pic of my blog candy on the side bar of your blog. I will ship ANYWHERE.

Thanks for visiting!!!