have you seen me?

ok, you guys can all call off the missing person search. i'm back!

i've been quite busy planning family night at aaron's school, making maddie's super late announcements, and planning aaron's 4th birthday party. plus, i've already gotten my in-laws 50th anniversary party, teachers' birthday celebration and teacher appreciation week activities spinning in my head. i swear i feel like i have A.D.D.

so here's aaron's birthday invitation. i'm not 100% happy with it; i had a creative block and time was running out. i will be posting maddie's announcements as soon as her mommy sends them out (i don't want to spoil her "surprise.").

happy birthday!

happy 4th birthday, houston!

truck load of fun for nicholas

happy 4th birthday to nicholas tanaka!

february 7, 2009

happy holidays

this christmas seemed to have breezed by. i started shopping after thanksgiving and avoided shopping during the weekends. even with "free" weekends, i didn't start making my holiday cards till the last weekend before christmas! i was able to finish 50 cards and mailed them out by monday. i'm not sure why i am so laid back, or shall i say, "lazy" this year.... anyways, here's 2008 christmas cards:

inpiration: paper source

oh, last weekend i also went to the christmas train at the irvine regional park. i DO NOT recommend it. the night was basically about waiting in line. we waited in line to get tickets; then we waited about an hour and a half for the 3-5 minute train ride to the so-called "santa's village." then we stood in line for another 30 minutes to take pictures with santa and finally waited about 15 minutes for the train back. i wished there were more things to see, but unfortunately there wasn't much. the christmas lights were not that impressive and to top it all off, it was freezing cold!!! here are some pix:

and the highlight of the night: heating lamps!!

expecting card

here's one of my favorite card. i made a couple of these cards for my girl friends who are expecting boys. this card is not easy to make because of the umbrella, hand, and shoe; they are small so it's tedious to cut them out. anyways, i forgot i had a cartridge for my cricut machine that has a pregnant woman die cut. i should try it out and make a card out of it and see which one looks better.

btw, congrats to michelle lim who welcomed baby nathan on november 26th! shelby's next!!!

card time

i finally found some time to make some cards. my new customer, joel, requested several cards. here are birthday cards for the many ladies in his life (haha):

here's one for his many god children:

i think i need to stop making new cards and start mass producing the existing cards, christmas cards and not to mention, sherri's announcements and my own christmas cards. busy days ahead of me. i can't believe it's OCTOBER already!!

baby cards

my friend and #1 customer (lol), christine, asked for a couple of baby shower cards. so here are the baby boy cards i made for her to choose from:


(don't care for the bootie one, but thought i'd throw it in. =P)

the following are the baby girl ones, which you guys have seen before; just slight variations.



so which cards reign supreme? which two will she chose?

dum-da-dee-dum ...

my friend, christine, asked me to make her a couple of wedding cards since she has a couple of them to attend next month. so i took a stab at making several more wedding cards. they were farely easy to make, except for the bouquet one. i like the bouquet, but not thrilled about the card itself. i think it needs more decorative paper. anyways, here they are. hope you like them, christine!

happy birthday to my mommy!!

just wanted to shout out a happy birthday to my mommy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

btw, i DO have the wash and go hair! i finally got to wash my hair for the first time since i got it straightened. whoo-hoo!! low-maintenance hair!!

i didn't get to work on any cards tonight because i had to make jello for my work's jello party. (no, it's not that kind of a party where it involves a kiddie pool and wrestling.) anyways, here's a card i finished up last night. it's just ok. the mistletoe word is somewhat covered with glitter and the berries are 3D. can't really tell from this picture.... oh well, don't think this is a keeper....

guilty?

this weekend was all about me... me! me! me! me! =) i spent 4 hours on saturday at a salon getting my hair permanently straightened (and boy, am i happy with the results) and then on sunday, i spent 3 hours making lasting impressions cards at the red bee. being free from the kids was nice, but felt guilty leaving them with g, especially around nap time. my man never complains even if he has a tough time; that's his nature. thanks and i love you, hon!! well, he'll get to play in 2 weeks - he gets to go on a 2 night fishing trip in mexican waters!

ok, so here are the cards i made in my class today.

boy, were they time consuming! i only completed one card and had to finish up the rest at home. the snowmen card is my favorite, but it was also the one that took the longest. each snowman was cut individually and the frame was ink distressed and also 3D. even their noses are 3D! here's a closer look at the card.

i don't think i'll be making this card in bulk. like someone said in class, "there isn't one person that i like THAT much to make this card for!" lol maybe i'll use the cricut machine to make the frame and keep the snowmen in one piece. that will be much easier!

happy birthday, aidan!

i can't believe the week is over already! it was a rocky week because of the financial market. it's just been crazy! on to a happy note: happy 4th birthday to my nephew, aidan! he turned 4 on tuesday, july 16th. since i haven't made a card all week, i decided to make one for him. so here it is:



i find it a bit difficult to part with the cards that i make. i need to start making multiples so that i can keep one for myself.

i have a full weekend ahead me - aaron's last swimming lesson for the year, hair straightening appointment, aidan's birthday party, and lasting impressions class on sunday (whoohoo!).

hope everyone have a good weekend!

getting fit with wii fit?!

in lieu of making another card tonight, i finally stepped on the wii fit tonight. my center of balance is good, but it said i have a body of a 41 year old! yikes! the wii fit just reconfirmed how out of shape i am. =( anyways, i tried yoga, hula hoops, skiing, running, soccer, aerobics, etc. my favorite is running and hula hoops. lol but boy, the simple yoga poses already were a challenge to me.

hopefully, i can step on the wii fit at least 3 times a week. my goal is to lose 5 pounds and tone up! maybe all i need to do is cut my hair. oh! there goes 5 pounds! hehe

ok, so since i didn't make a card tonight, i'll post a card that i gave to katie chamkasem for her first birthday and a wedding one for brandon and kuulei (congrats, btw!).

chocolate moose

here's another one. not 100% happy with this one though.... probably would have printed the greetings on the printer and replace those christmas trees with something else. oh, what color is a moose's antlers?! for some reason they look funny too.... i think. =P anyways, i'm also thinking of making those bifold cards so that people can insert a 4x6 picture inside the card. guess that will be my next card to make. until then, ta-tah!

christmas in july

i never really knew what christmas in july meant until last year. it's when crafters start making christmas crafts/goodies for the upcoming holiday season. i can't believe i might succumb to this tradition. i made the first holiday card tonight. i used dry embossing again (i'm telling you, i am hooked on dry embossing) and i embellished with some glitter (the falling snow that you can't really see from the pix). i think i might make more to sell and/or donate to my work's charity auction. quite a long road ahead of me....














check back for more holiday cards as i add them to my collection.

playing with dry embossing

i try to squeeze in an hour of creativity every night and i recently discovered dry embossing. i got this template today and look what i created! it was pretty easy to make; the most difficult part was figuring out the hanger. those silver miniature hanger would have probably made my life a bit easier. the question is where can i get it and how would i attach it to the card/dress? i see a visit to joann's or michaels coming....