~mY hAndMaDe gReetiNG cARd~

2011-01-13T23:32:00.000+08:00

We're moving!

...tooo another space on the web. It's at http://www.maiefaazhar.blogspot.com. I'll be updating all my arts and crafts over there, hopefully on a regular basis. Heh. This blog will still be here though. For the archives of two year's works. Allright then. See ya there!

2010-12-28T23:55:00.001+08:00

Under Construction

I'm working on a quite last minute project. But it's a very good elated feeling stamping and stamping with all my heart. Will update once it's done.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking I should like to combine this blog with my primary blog. Should I? Well, I thought that since I do have art projects (some I've shared here) aside from greeting cards I might as well dump it all into one space. Otherwise it'll be kind of confusing and contrary of the blog title. Plus it'll be easier to maintain only one blog! Ha ha. Wee~

- Posted using BlogPress from maiefa's iPhone

2010-12-09T16:25:00.000+08:00

Barakallah to Atun..

The wedding card was specifically ordered in blue. I tried to find the perfect baby blue colour card but unfortunately to no avail. Instead I only got this card which is kind of tiffany blue. I wasn't so keen with the colour at first. But the more I work on the design, the more I fell in love with this colour. In fact, tiffany blue is fast becoming the chosen theme for weddings nowadays. They're rare, unique and there's something romantic about it. Have a look at the wedding photos of this girl. I absolutely adore all the deco until the itsy bitsy details. So gorgeous! I just recently found out that she's a wedding planner as well. Ah, no wonder everything looks perfect.

A garland of roses, never fails to delight me. I used Versafine in onyx black to stamp the collage behind and I must say that I am absolutely satisfied with this brand. I've been looking for the best black ink for me in the market and I must have read hundreds of review from around the world. So basically I chose Versafine because it won't bleed hence it's suitable for coloring inside the images even with watercolour. It captures every fine details on the stamp and it's very clear. I absolutely want vivid black. Some ink pad just didn't produce the 'clearest' black. Also it's oil-based hence it's permanent. Yet it won't leave stain on my stamps. It's really easy to wash out.

Love is a many splendour things.

2010-12-05T12:21:00.000+08:00

Simply cupcakes

I had a last minute order for a birthday card and a wedding card. Both for the same person. This girl is getting married a day before her birthday. Nice birthday present. Hehe.

Stamped cupcakes. I meant to leave it black and white at first because it looks so classic. But then, colouring it would be fun too and so I did.

Tiered foam for the 3D effect.

A peek on the inside. I know the card is really simple but that's what I like about it. The stark contrast of white card with colourful cupcakes. Sometimes the beauty lies in the simplicity :)

I'll post the wedding card later on. My lunch is waiting. Ciao.

2010-12-05T12:20:00.000+08:00

Sneak peek 2

2010-12-01T22:45:00.001+08:00

Sneak peek

- Posted using BlogPress from maiefa's iPhone

2010-11-22T05:00:00.002+08:00

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity

~ John Ruskin

Like I said before, I cannot get enough of these roses. Haha. I love the way it adds dimension to the cards and I love that it looks good in almost every colour. So here's the paper roses again. This time, I used a crinkle cut scissors instead. The roses look cool eh? ;)

What's great is the new rubber stamp set that I bought at a local bookstore. There's various patterns in one set and it's so cheap! I've noticed that more art supplies are becoming available at that bookstore nowadays. I guess the art of scrapping and crafting is starting to grow and spread here in our country. Hence the increasing demand for such things but still, the stores in KL has much more to offer.

My friend wanted a bigger card to fit in the box she'd already bought. But I'm not so fond of larger card because it tend to be flabby and difficult to construct. Then I thought why not I just put together two cards with the back one aligned a few cm forward. I got to make it the size she wanted and it's more sturdy and stable.

So it's actually double layered. Isn't it great that there's more space to write inside? Those who always seem couldn't say enough would really appreciate this kind of card. Hehe. By the way, it's for her niece who's sitting for SPM soon.

Sometimes luck is what we wish for in life :)

2010-11-18T11:23:00.000+08:00

Aiseh. I meant to post a new card. Hmm, not exactly 'brand' new. It was done and sold last 2 weeks. But clever me didn't transfer the picts from my camera yet. And I was so excited to share this one because it's kinda different from everything else I've done. Guess it'll have to wait until I got my hands on the camera back home. So in the meantime can I just share the picture of this beautiful flower instead? It was from my honeymoon trip at Cameron Highlands. Believe me, I only used Canon S90 for this :)

2010-10-20T13:00:00.002+08:00

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone

~G.B. Stern

Ok, now I have a thing for blue roses. The one I made here is quite a spontaneous idea. I feel it will be too pale a card if all were in pink colours. Then I remembered my wedding hand bouquet of blue and purple hydrangea. Blue is not in my list of favourite colour but now I do find certain hue of blue as striking and interesting. While I'm fiddling with these blue roses, my head is brimming with ideas of blue rose's cards. I can't wait to start on one but I have tons of laundry and cleaning up to do after my wedding leave. Patience honey.

A peek on the inside

This card is a request from a colleague for another colleague. I hope Puan Mimi likes this card :)

2010-10-20T12:59:00.002+08:00

Click!

Woot! I have a brand new camera now. So I'll be taking my card's photos with lots of enthusiasm. I'm so excited that now the actual colour of the cards won't be compromised. You may have notice that lately my cards have been photographed outdoor because the natural daylight really helps compared to indoor photos. But now I don't have to worry anymore. Yeeha!

2010-09-07T13:17:00.006+08:00

Dreams. Believe. Inspire.

I'm too tired and too lazy for words. Just picts for sharing.

I like that it's grunge looking even with flowers :)

For Fairuz (my colleague's brother). He'll be pursuing PHD in Paris.

Dreams. Believe. Inspire. All the best!

P/S: Paris reminds me of Moulin Rouge. Can I say that the card looks Boho too? ;)

2010-09-01T07:00:00.001+08:00

The countdown has begin =)

It's my wedding in one month! Ooh, so happy and excited. Who wouldn't eh. Hee. But most of all I'm so thankful to God that I met him. He has been so sweet and caring and nice and gentleman and patient with me. Not just to me, but to my family as well. I'm praying for a life of happiness ahead. I want to share all my joys and sorrows with him.

I made this card for my fiance. Hope he receive it first before reading this post though ;)

I looked over the net to find a nice 'number 1'. Kind of flowery, romantic and victorian but couldn't find any. So I made this using PhotoImpact. Phew, quite a number of try. Alas I'm really satisfied with this.

Pray for me and wish me all the best eh ;)

2010-08-27T11:27:00.005+08:00

All the other colors are just colors, but purple seems to have a soul. Purple is not just a noun and an adjective but also a verb -

when you look at it, it's looking back at you.

~Uniek Swain

Ngee hee. Forgive me for obsessing with purple then. Who is this Uniek Swain by the way? I've a habit of checking out who's the owner of every quote I found. I just want to know more about them and what inspires them. But this one dude is nowhere to be found. Even on wiki, though he's quoted all over the net. Hmm.

Anyway, this is quite a simple card. Basically I used white cardstock, American Crafts patterned paper, mauve grossgrain ribbon, computer generated 'happy birthday' wish, purple beads, round purple button and bright pink eyelets. Yey, I love the eyelets colour! It's where I stuck the ribbon through.

Oh, I found a new use of the tracing wheel. The one we used to trace pattern for sewing. Well, I run it over the front a few times to create a dashed pattern. Make sure to place a cutting mat or a piece of thick paper inside the card first to avoid hitting the inside.

I had a clumsy moment with the ribbon. Hehe. When I managed to fold it nicely in shape, I had to let go one hand to reach for the glue and there goes my ribbon. So I find it easier to use double sided tape. Cut a few ready on hands. Ha!

This week's card is posted a bit early since it's holiday today for Nuzul Quran. So, I am all energetic to finish a card after sahur and take pictures. I'm so happy that I don't have to grudgingly dragged myself to work today. Hehe. Have a happy weekend everyone!

2010-08-22T11:38:00.004+08:00

Something blue?

I've heard the phrase somewhere but I've never quite understand what does it mean. Then it was uttered by nanny Fine in The Nanny during her wedding day. She went panic when she didn't have something old something new, something borrowed something blue. By then I get it that the phrase has something to do with wedding. But what exactly is still unclear.

Lo and behold, I met the phrase again on my 7Gypsies wedding rub on. I didn't notice it before. It was accidentally that I made a blue wedding card for I want to use the blue heart shaped bead. Then I saw the phrase, I was like 'Hey, perfect!'. Naturally being a curious person, I decided to google it up. So, it was actually a modern tradition in the customs of British wedding. It is considered as good luck for brides to wear or carry 'something old something new, something borrowed something blue'. Ok, so nanny Fine married the handsome brit Maxwell Sheffield. In her case, the something blue was an old earring given by Val which she actually borrowed from Fran sometime ago but never return it yet. Lol. Get it? It was old, it was newly returned, it was borrowed and it was blue. Haha.

Ah well, you could read more on the phrase here and here.

2010-08-14T20:57:00.006+08:00

Soft and sweet pink

To me this is a sweet card indeed. I really adore soft pink and wedding. Much like I adore white and wedding. In this card, I assemble a few shades of pink. The base cardstock is the softest followed by a brighter pink paper which I inked the edges with white stamp pad. Then followed by the patterned paper with circle shapes in pink and chocolate.

The wordings were from 7 Gypsies wedding rub on and I stamped the pink circle cut out with collage pattern in white before rubbing on the words. I also add eyelets each and am so excited using it for the first time =)

I just love the pink roses. And I made it myself! Learned it from here. It is awesome since I really have a thing for roses and now I'm able to make it from any colour and any type of paper to embellish my project. The blogger has many other tutorials as well and it is very generous of them to share. Their art craft is amazing too. Do check out the awesome blog.

I'm so addicted that I make plenty in a go for keepsake. So it'll be easier to use whenever I want to. Oh sweet pretty roses=)

2010-08-07T17:54:00.004+08:00

Gratitude

The feeling of gratitude can be express in so many words. Best of all we are able to recognize it from some other language. Thank you, shukran, arigato, shukriya, gracias, terima kasih, merci, kamsahamnida, xie xie, em koi, khawp khun khrap (I hope I had the spelling right=p), maraming salamat and so on. At least I do from watching all the films and drama. Hehe. But I'm sure many people can too.

Doilies are a wonderful embelishment. Previously they are crocheted or knitted out of cotton thread. Nowadays they are available as papers to decorate plates as ornamentation underneath the foods. The various patterns are really beautiful that many scrappers and card makers have been using it in their artwork too. I've always been awed at the many ways doilies can be used in greeting cards but I haven't buy any for myself yet. To be truthful, the one I used here was snagged from the table I sat for a contact lens workshop last year. It was used on the sweets plates. Haha. Hey, no point of wasting right. I'm sure it's gonna be disposed afterwards. Might as well make a good use of it ;)

I don't have a recipient yet for this card. Just an idea out of the blue. Plus I wanted to try out my new 'Thank you' clear stamp. Well, I'm sure I'll need to use this card one day.

Till then. Thank you!

2010-06-15T16:00:00.000+08:00

~It's wedding season again

Yes, it's school holiday in Malaysia and it means wedding bells around each corner. The scent of love and joy. Plus the scent of yummy foods as well. Hehe. I make this wedding card for my distant niece who got married last week. It's in deep purple! =) The shiny cardstock is a new type of card that I found at the bookstore. Really beautiful and makes a nice card.

I'm still in circles/ round/ polka dots mood. The excitement is further enhanced since I bought my first ever Making Memories Instant Setter. It punches holes and sets eyelet wherever I want it! I've been eyeing it for some time. I still have to buy the cute colourful eyelets to use with the eyelet setting but right now I'm fully enjoying the puncher kit. There are three sizes of hole punch tips available. I got the idea to make this kind of card from a handmade card magazine.

After punching the holes, I paste a piece of green patterned paper behind. Then cut a piece of mauve grossgrain ribbon, paste it and add on top a nice layered glittery poppies. It's from Blossomwood I think. The wordings are printed on a pearly white cardstock.

It's best to punch from in front of the card to get a clean cut result so I draw the circles inside and I marked first with the setter inside. Then only I punched through from in front of the card. There's a lot of ideas swirling in my mind now so watch out for more circles card from me. Hehe.

There are lots of eyelet setter available but currently I'm satisfied with mine. Very costly though, probably the most I spend for card making stuffs. Still I love it. Like my dear fiance said, it can do wonders. Hehe. If you still have no idea what an eyelet setter is, you can watch a tutorial here.

2010-06-10T08:47:00.003+08:00

A good friend is cheaper than therapy

~ Author unknown

Indeed. Good friends are hard to find too=)

You know how we always walk in a straight line. Well most of the time everything is straight in card making too. Come to think of it, I rarely used circles in my cards. Or make a round base card. Through online and magazine, I found many refreshing ideas to incorporate round patterns. Polka dots are cute!

Like in this card I used pearly white cardstock as a base and patterned paper by American Crafts from the Sixth Avenue Collection. It's double sided and I used the pink part inside the card. The front cover is smaller to give a view of the pink side trimmed with craft scissor. A new way for me to add a zest to a card. Hehe.

I found the cool alphabet sticker at Tesco. For those who don't know, Tesco do offer a variety of art and craft supplies. Once in a while, I can find something unique there. The wordings are computer generated, printed on the same pearly white cardstock. I really love that cardstock. Pearly white is romantic. Ngee.

~to all my f.r.i.e.n.d.s

2010-05-22T18:10:00.002+08:00

Daddy's girl

I am a daddy's girl. I believe most girls are. He is the first man in our life after all. Our first hero.

So it was my father's birthday yesterday. 61 years old yet he still looks as handsome as ever. At least to me. Hehe.

This time, I try to make a cheery colourful card for him. The base is light purple cardstock and I kind of mix and match a few elements in this card. Ribbons, foam, caption label and corrugate paper. Experimenting? Every cards are ;)

Caption label are really great. Now not only different type of fonts are available, but they also include symbols and numbers. There's also different colours of label available. But black suits just anything. The cake and the wish was cut out from a wrapping paper. So is the colourful round pattern paper. So never throw away any left over of wrapping papers. Even little scraps of left over from the other cards you've made is bound to be useful someday.

Beautiful ribbons! Sometimes ribbons is all you need. Not so expensive and very useful. See the black ribbon with gold circle, it's given by my good friend. She got it from a wedding's goodie bag and she knows I like this kind of stuff. I'm a left over junkie I guess. I practically keeps everything. Hehe.

Finally I got to use the new rub on. Weee! It's the 'love you' wording. Rub on a gold coloured paper. I can't wait to use the others. Really easy with awesome result. The gold paper was mounted on a black foam before I paste it on the card with the rest of the embellishment.

It certainly was a night of celebration. The family went out to the new A&W restaurant. It's not so often that my father appreciate fast food compared to proper home cooked meal. But he did last night. Happy birthday Ayah! =)

2010-05-16T14:37:00.006+08:00

Salute to Teachers

So today is Teacher's Day and it's the last year of my mother as a teacher. I'm always proud that my mother is a teacher and I believe that most of the things I did today is influenced by her. She teaches Integrated Living Skills majoring in cooking and sewing. That's where I got my passion for art and card making I guess. She teaches me well.

Just like I mentioned last time, I am in possession of a few new art tools. It's been really fun experimenting in this card. I'm using my new clear stamps which is Prima Collage stamps diana and Prima Collage stamps ticker. The rest is available stuff in my collection. The base is dark brown cardstock.

That's the collage diana stamped with Brilliance 3 color pigment inkpad in Peacock. Lovely aren't they? The colour is both excellent and shimmery. I'm keen on buying more of Brilliance inkpad in other combination of colours.

That's the collage ticker stamped using the same colour. Both were stamped on an off white shimmering paper. I wrote the word 'teacher' using a black ink pen. They do look like rub ons huh. But no, it's hand written and I must say it's a bonus I can write symmetrically. Hehe.

Then all the pieces were assembled like in the image. On the bottom right I added a strip of seaweed green colour structured paper punched with leaf pattern showing the beneath same structured paper but in different shade of green. Then I added some flower shaped beads on the top right corner.

So here's to you mother. Happy teacher's day! =)

2010-05-14T13:34:00.006+08:00

I.ENJOY.ART

I am so excited today. My parcel of art goodies just arrived today and I can't wait to start using them. There are clear stamps, rub-ons and a few patterned paper plus stockcard. On my next project, I'll be working on a card for my mother again. She's a teacher and Teacher's Day is coming up. Plus she's retiring this year and this is her last Teacher's Day celebration. So I just want to make something special for her =)

Till then peeps!

2010-05-10T13:45:00.000+08:00

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.

~Graycie Harmon

True enough. A mother's comfort is never forgotten. It lingers in our heart and our existence. For my mother this year, I want a sweet soft theme card to represent the woman she is. So I picked this soft pale orange embossed card. It's actually embossed with rose pattern and I've used this type of stock card before in blue.

I don't want to go overly with the design. Therefore I simply paste a white transparent ribbon horizontally. Before that I pasted the word 'mother' using the foam letters in pink underneath. I was contemplating to add more embellishment underneath but none seems to suit the idea I had in mind. So, I just then add a few flower beads along the top strip of the ribbon. I really like the sparkly effect=)

I love you mother! Happy mother's day (^_^)

2010-05-08T23:44:00.005+08:00

weee~

OOH..I miss this blog so much. It's really been a while. I do have new cards that I've made once in a while. Hopefully I'll find the time to post them one by one. For now, this really feel like a comeback. Haha.

This is probably one of the fastest card I've made. For the record, the idea, the layout and the card was completed in just ten minutes! I was rummaging through the leftover cardstock when I chance upon this shimmering soft purple card which I've only used a quarter of it. The idea just pop into my head and the material was all there so before I knew it, tadaaa! A lovely card it made. Hehe.

I love the combination of the colours! Feels exotic. And the leaves are just so cool, aren't they? Found it at the beads shop and I'm so in love with it too! The bottom of the card was actually trimmed with a craft scissor when I used a quarter of the card before. Now i just fold the card to half and it did add a nice touch huh.

2009-10-19T12:20:00.005+08:00

~beary beary happy birthday~

Yikes! This is so bad. I've been neglecting this blog way too long. *paangg* a smack on the forehead. But what to do, television is such a distraction. Hehe.

Picture up above was the birthday card that I made for my boyfriend this year (^_^) A simple soft blue card. As I've mentioned before, it's hard for me to design cards for men. I'm a girly, flowery girl. So I'm trying hard to restrain myself from embellishing this card with cute flower sticker or glittery items. Hehe. Maybe I can find a way to incorporate flowers in men's card one day especially if it's in black and white.

Here I simply cut out strips of two tone blue foam and paste it not quite in a straight line one the front. On top of it I just add buttons of various colour and a brown cute bear. I don't know why but buttons and the colour blue reminds me of Tom Sawyer. Huh? (Never read it? Go and read Tom Sawyer! Such a delightful one)

I've had the bear quite some time. In fact I have it in three colours. Beary happy birthday is simply a cute way too say 'very happy birthday'. So the bear just fit in and also I happen to think that my boyfriend is very cute with his round face, that I would really like to pinch his cheek. Round like a bear. Heee~ (OMG, he's going to kill me reading this=p)

I did the writing by hand and I dotted the card with short line around the side. Inside, there's an inscription 'to you' (read it with continuation from 'beary happy birthday') and also personal wish from me to him (that I won't show here=p)

So here's the card in it's transparent blue envelope. Posted it with his birthday gift with love. Weee~ =D

2009-09-14T00:01:00.001+08:00

~Sweet September

Today is my dear's birthday. Happy birthday dearie! Something special is coming your way =D

2009-07-24T14:37:00.006+08:00

~klick klick..there goes my needle

~wee..a month long of silence..But then again, I’m not sure if there’s anybody reading this blog. Hehe..

I have been so preoccupied nowadays. There are a few cards I’ve made but I haven’t had the chance to take pictures, crop and edit and upload it here. I’m one of those people who get excited at trying new things and these new things take up my time leaving other hobbies neglected for a while. Hehe.

So this card is special because it combines two of my favourite things right now. Recently I’ve ventured into crocheting! It’s knitting but using only one knitting needle. I’ve been watching other people knitting and it looks like fun and the result is very nice. So I decided to conquer the art myself, lol.

I learned by book which is my mother’s old knitting books. At first, I was baffled with all the terms and diagrams. So I said to myself, be patient and practice first with the basic one. Therefore I turned to the very last page where all the basic type of stitches was shown in illustrated instruction. I practiced every type of stitch at least twice and it’s really very easy once I’ve master the basic stitch. Now I can start knitting a real piece and here comes the next baffling moment. How do I read this pattern diagram? Where do I start? They look easy when one by one. But now they were combined in one drawing, the stitches interlinking with one another to create a pattern. Help! Luckily I have my mother who was an ardent knitter once upon a time but unlucky for her to bear with her daughter’s constant nagging. Love you mom. Hehe.

yup, it's a bit lopsided=p

So as you can see on the card, there’s my first completed crochet flower motif! Yey! Hehe. I got the idea to put it on a card because I meant to give it to someone and I’ve been finding a suitable way to do so. And I love how the card turns out=)

I used a shimmering deep maroon stock card to get a nice contrast with the white crochet thread. To use glue will be quite impossible and messy so I simply stitch the edges of the pattern onto the card. Then I used my super cool new Dymo caption maker to emboss the words ‘~for you..’ (noticed the small sun after the words..super cool!=p) This new tool of mine even has three changeable wheels for multi fonts and symbols. I like!

Then I pasted the black label onto a silver paper before sticking it to the card. On the inside, I just pasted cream paper to write my personal wish with some embellishment. Done! =)

:: wish me luck for my next knitting task!=)

2009-06-07T21:39:00.022+08:00

~WEDDING ALBUM 1~

Wow! It's been ages since my last post. Been occupied with work and stuff. Finally I've finished my first custom made wedding album project. Yey! And it's safely delivered to it's owner last week. I'm a bit sad to part with it though. Hehe.

At first I was a bit slow down by lack of idea. Luckily the bride leave it up to me to decide everything so I have a total freedom here. I decided to go with the theme colour of both wedding which is blue and yellow. From there I was able to build a continuous pattern for the whole album. It helps too that the pictures taken and edited by Aryuel were all gorgeous.

So, here they are! (^_^)

The first page

Here comes the best part. I learned a new art from the net which is pop ups! For this album, I made the seven flowers pop up which looks so gorgeous. It adds a really nice touch to the album. Also, I didn't have to do anything else on the pages because the pop up itself is enough. I can't tell you how excited I am to see the flowers popping open everytime. Here's one of my favourite, the yellow flowers=)

Here's another one, the blue flowers=) In this album, there were three pages with pop up flowers.

Below are some of my favourites from the other pages. I used lots of material. Foam, beads, patterned papers and teeny weeny seequins. I must have really strained my eyes. Hehe.

The last page

Our logo ^^

They were twenty pages and it took me about one month to finish. Phew. Exhausting but fun. Not to mention the nervous feeling anticipating the owner's response. Well, they love it and we're glad. Looking forward to the next project! Heee~

:: I learn to make the seven flowers pop up here. Try it!

:: Pictures by Aryuel

2009-04-28T14:00:00.005+08:00

Girly n handsome~

You like it? I love it. Hehe. Had the opportunity to explore the many wonders of foam, this really cool material when I was asked to make a frame specially for a clinic staff who's retiring. We just had our photo taken and everybody get their own copy and so, it will be really cool to give it to her along with a nice frame. It's been a long time since I made one. Anyway, I've decided to use foam as the body since I have them in abundance. It was a simple clean cut frame, just that I added ornaments on top of it. And that, was the fun part=p

That white wire thing is actually a paper clip in the shape of an eye. Cool huh? Got them from a local bookstore. And that big yummy flower is made from foam too=)

Love the bright yellow colour=p

Oh, and here's the group photo tucked nicely inside. Hehe.

****************************************************************

Well, inspired I am, I made another frame for someone special (^_^) Doesn't it look handsome? Hee. He loves black and white. So, black and white it is. With a touch of grey. Hehe. The strip of ribbon on the bottom frame is really beautiful. It's one of the many design available here. They have such an impressive array of ribbons that I have such a hard time to choose one. Easily available at bookstore and gift shop.

See, that's the cool paper clip again. There's many other shape as well. Who knows paper clip can be so much fun!=) I love the numbering on top too. It's metalic and I got a whole lot of them in a whole lots of colour in a packet for only RM3! Cool!=p

Phew, it was fun making those frame. Hope to be making more and I'd love to mix and match more colours and materials. Look out for more of these funky frame dudes! Heh=p

2009-04-17T20:44:00.003+08:00

Black Beauty

What is that? Yup, it's a wedding album. One that I'm working on to design and decorate in collaboration with Aryuel, the photographer. Hehe. My first attempt actually. And of course the man on the cover will be removed=p Wish me luck! I'll post the result when it's done =)

2009-03-15T17:24:00.009+08:00

Soft and sweet blue..

For my friend's wedding last week, I chose the colour blue since it's her favourite colour and also her wedding theme was blue. So I'm very proud to say that the card really really fit in the wedding=p This is the first time I used my new border punch and they're wonderful! But it's a bit crooked because I tried to punch two-layered and they got stucked. However I managed to fix the card so that it's not that obvious. See if you can find it. Hehe.

The stock card I used were glittered and then I pasted small hearts using the same colour on the upper two-third of the card. It makes the card look embossed and very nice. I'm loving it=)

Inside I inserted soft blue paper and I wrote simple inscription on white patterned paper, adorned with punched pearl white flowers.

Here's the card in it's transparent handmade envelope, slipped behind the paper fan on the wedding gift from us. Oh, he wrapped the wedding gift and make the paper fan himself. So sweet. Hehe.

::Pictures by Aryuel and edited by me=)

2009-02-19T11:12:00.000+08:00

Simplicity=p

It was Ina's birthday last week. I only remember it at last minute when she asked me out for dinner (yummy chicken chop=p). So this was kind of last minute card too. Hehe. I want it to be simple yet sweet. So, what else would be sweeter than flowers?=)

I used shimmery white stock card. Then I pasted colourful punched flowers in my fav hue. Hehe. On each flower, I dotted silver glitter glue in the middle.

Inside, I inserted soft pink paper for writing my personal wish. And I must say that the combination of the inside paper and the colourful flowers outside looks so sweet=)

Here's the card attached to the present. Err, and yeah, I used the leftover of the same wrapper in the previous gift card post=p Well, I like it and I don't like to waste good things. Hehe.

2009-02-11T16:30:00.004+08:00

With all my heart~

Here's another card themed love! A favourite theme in the world I must say. Hehe. This card was ordered by a colleague who wants to give it to her husband. Not for Valentine day, mind you. Just as a pleasant surprise for someone she love=) As you can see, the card is full with red and pink colour. The wordings is made from twisted paper in pink. I even sew beads (me obsessing with beads=p) scattered on the card. Love the end result, sparkly with lots of love and someone who's already got the sneak peek loved it too. Wee~ (^_^)

And I just LOVE the big love which is cut out using foam in red and then I pasted small love one by one on top of it. It was fun to do too! =)

Inside I pasted a reaaally big red heart as requested. She wants to write her love message inside it. Uuuu...Hehe.

Finally, this is the card in it's transparent handmade envelope. I even added a decorated piece of beige paper on the envelope for her to write her hubby's name=)

2009-02-08T20:26:00.004+08:00

Beads and flower

Tadaa! My next attempt with beads. Hehe. Ever since the first one, I really am excited to use more beads in my card. There's still so much more to explore=) This is yet another small gift card. Here I used shimmery gold yellow card with red and black beads. In the shape of flower. Two flower as a symbol of togetherness. Handsewn, of course. Hehe.

So I decided to use the card for Sya's wedding gift that I went to last saturday in Alor Setar (the new spelling enforced by Kedah's MB. Hehe) The wish 'Selamat pengantin baru' (@ congratulation to the newly weds) was simply handwritten. But of course the card can also be use for any other occasion, not just weddings. I'll simply write another wish.

The card looks nice attached to the present. Hope you like it Sya! And may both of you live happily ever after=)

:: You can view Sya's wedding picas here

2009-02-04T16:00:00.003+08:00

Nice and small

I suddenly had this gazillion ideas with beads during a visit to an old bazar which is famous at my hometown. This one particular shop has a vast choice of beads and buttons which makes my head spinning with ideas and I had to stop myself from buying the whole lot of them. Hehe. So I got myself a packet of pale gold, dark grey and pearl white. I'm planning to buy the deep red colour this evening to use in a new card ordered by my regular customer=)

This time I'm making 10.4x7.4 card which is suitable as a gift card to attach on presents, wedding gifts, flower bouquets and such.

This is the first design. Quite simple as I'm still experimenting. I'm using patterned paper (Egyptian) and the pale gold and pearl white beads. The beads were hand sewn and it's like an addiction to sew them. I did it in just 5 minutes!=p

Here comes the second design and this time I arranged them in a cluster of four. I think this design looks much more elegant than the first one. This one took ten minutes=p

I used the card on a wedding gift to a friend's wedding recently. Inside I pasted beige colour paper for writing personal wish. Doesn't it look nice? =)

2009-01-26T22:26:00.007+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!

Blazing gold and red aren't they? Hehe. I made this card for Dr Ng, my head department. This is my first attempt at Chinese New Year card and boy, was it hard to find the right theme. I want it to be modern yet oriental and was so glad to come across this symbol. It means 'money' according to my colleague=p I used gold paper for the pattern and wordings. It took hard work and calculation to make the symbol symmetrical. The pattern was then pasted on top of red foam to make it look elevated and stand out. Love it!=)

Inside I inserted beige paper and decided to inscribe prosperous wish on double layered paper. Simply hand written with black ink pen.

This is the blazing red card in it's transparent handmade envelope!=p

Ooh..and I finally made my own sticker with my blog address to paste it behind my handmade cards! Wee~ =)

2009-01-14T16:24:00.007+08:00

~A bouquet of flowers for you

sneak peek=p

18/01/2009

~updated~

Tadaa! Hehe. Took some time to post this. Hopefully it's worth the wait=p Hmm, it's the first card this year. This is a card meant to wish good luck to our specialist who's going to specialize in glaucoma pretty soon. I've chosen pale green and flower motif to suit the feminine doctor. First time I worked with this colour though and I like it! Hehe.

Love the flower bouquet!=) They're simply punched heart arranged into the shape of flower and I think the ribbon makes it look sweeter. Hehe.

Inside I inserted beige soft paper for the wish. The good luck wish was hand written on layered papers with colours to match the front cover. And as the sneak peek picture shown, the card was paired with a green transparent handmade envelope. Love the end result=)

Simply red =)

2008-12-29T18:26:00.010+08:00

A simply red birthday card that I made for my younger sister=) Red is her fav colour by the way. And there's also the picture of the card with her birthday present. Hehe.

For the wordings, I used the cool material, foam in red colour. What I really love about the foam is that it's flexible and I can twist and turn it while cutting out the alphabets without leaving marks. Especially when normally I didn't draw the words first if it's really small because it would be really hard to follow the line. I simply cut it with the shape figured in my head.

Inside I inserted a beige soft paper for writing my personal wish. And again I'm using a transparent handmade envelope. Happy birthday Uda! (^_^)

2008-12-22T14:35:00.009+08:00

Two souls with but a single thought,

Two hearts that beat as one.

~Franz Joseph von Munch-Bellinghausen

Hmm..sweet words. Meaningfull eh? Hehe. With so many wedding taking place, I'm in such a romantic mood=p This is yet another design of wedding card that I made for my fellow friends. The cards are the same except for the theme colour. The blue card was given to Mariyatul as she really loves the colour blue (how delighted she was when she received the card! ~o^_^o~ ). While the sweet pink one was given to Suraya as it really suits the petite and cute girl she is=)

The cards were done in a hurry so they might looked kind of bare. I simply punched flower shape on the front cover to expose the colour of the paper inserted inside. Just a simple trick to make your card more interesting=p The wordings were computer generated and pasted double layer on white patterned paper and shining kind of knead paper. But what I really like is the butterflies which I had to sew on the card. They looked really sweet..two hearts, two souls=p Wish I'd done more with the stalk though. Hehe.

And so this is how the cards looked like in their sweet transparent handmade envelope=)

Thank you En. Ali!=)

2008-12-09T12:26:00.008+08:00

Finally found the time to post this! Been traveling during the weekend. Hehe. This is a thank you card I made recently for our clinic's PPK who got transferred. I got the idea of drawing glittery eye on the front card from a long long ago dinner programme/address book that I'm entrusted to make for my senior's final year dinner. Last time it was in purple. But to make this card more presentable for a male receiver, I chose blue (still prefer purple though=p)

The card I used is actually embossed with rose flowers. Sweet huh?=) I have it in a few other colors which I hope to explore with other design.

Here I used my new stamping equipment to stamp the letters on white shimmery stock card before pasting it on cut-out silver paper. They were then pasted one by one on the soft beige paper I inserted inside. Notice you can see the glittery eye from inside? That's because they were hand drawn on transparent paper and I cut out the centre of the card. Hehe.

So this is how the card looks like in it's transparent hand-made envelope. Hope En. Ali won't find it too girly=p

A serious birthday wish=p

2008-11-26T12:19:00.002+08:00

Hmm..I rarely design card for men so it's quite a challenge. Of course I like to embellish my cards with flowers, ribbons and girly colours. But men's card has always been neat and simple with straight design. This one is for a customer's husband whom I've met several times. Hopefully it suits the serious guy he is. Hehe.

This card came with a transparent handmade envelope. The wordings are simply computer generated and pasted one by one on shimmery off-white card. Then I used black foam for the stripes. But I really like the present box which I draw on silver paper and adorn with silver glue. Notice how it looks elevated? That's because I paste it on a bit of foam before sticking it to the card=)

Inside, I inserted a soft white paper for her to write personal wish. And I decided to add double-layered heart at the corner for her as a symbol of love. She's giving it to her husband after all. Heee~

happy birthday adik!

2008-11-21T10:00:00.009+08:00

I just finished this yesterday. My customer requested a birthday card for her younger sister and she was very specific. She wanted a combination of purple and pink as the front cover. She also didn't want typical straight line on the card so luckily I have this new craft scissors which I've been meaning to use =)

This time I used colored foam for the wording. It's not easy to cut the small letters but with great effort comes great reward. Hehe. I really love how they turn out to be! Then I simply decorate the card with punched flowers dotted with silver glue in the middle.

Inside, I inserted a soft pink paper for her to write personal wish. My customer also requested a big heart shape at the corner of the card inside. So I put two hearts layered with colors to match the front cover which looks so sweet=)

This is how it looks like in it's sweet purple transparent handmade envelope. My customer really love the card! And so do I. One of my fav so far ~o(^_^)o~

Simple yet elegant wish~

2008-11-18T18:00:00.001+08:00

Another wedding card with the wish 'Selamat Pengantin Baru' in front. This is a really simple design yet I think it looks really sweet=) Still using the shimmery white card and at first I thought of lots and lots of heart in gold. But then I found this really nice blue knead paper which looks really good on the white card. So I decided to give it a try and I really like the end result. The edges are crinkle cut and it was really fun punching and pasting the blue hearts. Did it while watching Amazing Race. Haha=p

The card came with a transparent handmade envelope and I put a blue heart at the back of the envelope too. Heee~
This is how it'll look like in the envelope and I think I shall try with different colour for the hearts as I really like this design=)

Wedding bells!=)

2008-11-18T16:17:00.001+08:00

It's school holiday. Yey for the kids! Hehe. School holiday means it's the wedding season too. Ooh, lots of love everywhere=) What better way to congratulate the newly weds than with special handmade wedding card. This is the first one I made this year. I'm still using the shimmery card with a touch of gold ribbon.

I really love the gold and silver heart, carefully drawn and cut. I chained it to each other as a symbol of union. See how they sparkle when they catch the light=) The wordings are written down by hand using a special gold ink pen. And also there's two small heart attached to the ribbon. Not forgetting on the envelope too. Hmm, sparkle everywhere=p

I also wrote the inscription inside, paste on a layer of silver paper, crinkle cut edges and added with small hearts too.

The card came with a transparent handmade envelope and this is how it'll look like. I think I'll give it to a friend whose due to wed next week!=)

For him and for her

2008-11-17T13:56:00.001+08:00

I love this card! Especially because of the colors. It's really a very simple design but so fun to do. And I found this new material, colored foam which is so cool. It makes the simple design looks great. Hehe. This is also the first time I used craft beads on my card. A bit costly though. But doesn't the jelly letters look sweet?~(^_^)~

As you can see, they come in two colors. One for him and one for her. A simple way to convey your message to someone special=p

The card I used is kind of shimmery and it's really beautiful but maybe it's not that obvious in the picts.

Here is the inside of the card and I draw the letters on the foam and cut it out one by one. The small loves are also hand drawn and cut out with plain scissors since the foam material cannot fit in the craft punch. Quite a work but it's really worth it. Hehe.

The card 'for her' came with a sweet pink transparent handmade envelope=)

Below is the 'for him' version. All the same except the theme color is blue.

This is how the card will look like in it's transparent handmade envelope. Hope you like them as much as I do!=)