Walking in the Winter Wonderland.... (our house covered in snowflakes, and sharing our annual Christmas card)

Hey all! It's been pretty quite online, and I myself have been busy as well!  Since I got just a bit of free time, I thought that I'd share some of my 'personal' side with all of ya today! (Oh, how lucky you are!)

First of all, I've been busy planning out for two parties that I'm hosting this week. One was yesterday and that was the BIG one (for my hubby's staff Christmas party), so I'm now pretty much stress free! There was about 35 people that my mom and I had to cook up for!  Still don't know how I did it, but everyone had a good time! My hubby dressed up as Santa, and we managed to get gifts for all the kids (17 kids!) and they were ecstatic to see "Santa".  The other one I'm hosting is for tomorrow night, where I host my family for a cozy, warm Christmas celebration. 

So - I decided to make my house "Winter Wonderland" and cut tons of snowflakes and hang them up all over the main floor.  I put my machines to work and managed to cut about 150 snowflakes.  I really wanted to cut more and totally go all out - and decorate like that toy department from the movie 'Elf.'  However, it's still really pretty and I love looking at all the snowflakes!

I'll share some pics with you!



Isn't it pretty??? and here's our tree!







































I didn't do anything to these snowflakes - just cut them out and hung it with fishing line. So easy but so beautiful!



Here's my little gallery of my Christmas projects!





Oh, and as I was decorating with these snowflakes, my dad just took a scissor and several pieces of paper, and whipped these up!



Isn't he talented? If I had his cutting talents, I wouldn't need a cutting machine! lol...

Second of all - I thought that I'd share our annual Christmas card with ya all!

For those that know me, I usually make about 120 cards every Christmas.  It's a big project in its own, and I stay up until 2am every night trying to get them done.  I really wanted to cut back the time and effort, so I tried to cut the number of people I'd send them to... and I did, but then I ended up adding some more, which in the end, worked out to pretty much the same number.  Then, since I got the Silhouette SD this year, thought I'd save time and do print and cut cards!  I guess it must've... but still having to print and cut 120 sheets was quite the task....

I've always wanted to have our family photos inside the windows of the house and somehow be able to open the card or slide the card, and what not... but again, without the Silhouette SD, it was impossible to do! There was no way to cut all the windows or to paste all our family pics inside each window!

This year - I found the exactly what I was looking for - it's a Card kit House from Lori Whitlock over at the Silhouette Digital Online Store. 



Then, I've been just loving Miss Tiina's graphics and papers, so I thought that I'd pick her Merry Little Holiday collection to create this card.  You can see the sets that I've used in my card - isn't it cute???









I also got shots of each one of us, edited in Adobe, and brought them over to the Silhouette Studio.

After all this - my card looked like this on the virtual mat:



...and when it's cut and assembled, it looks like this:



You can open the door, to reveal "The Azim's"



... and then you slide open the card to see our family!



Here's the back:



We also put together our annual Christmas letter that my hubby wrote... yes, he has his very own style, and friends and family actually think it's funny - so if you're up to reading it - here it is! (You can REALLY get to know my family, too!)



It is once again time for me to perform my melancholy duty of detailing the mundane events of our lives.  This letter is completely unremarkable.  Actually, it is painfully uninteresting.  You can still save yourself: Put down the letter and read no further!  That meant stop back there.  You are still reading.  This is your last chance.  Do you have a problem with authority?  Fine then, be that way.  You only have yourself to blame.

Amélie will turn 3 in January and is quite happy to hug and kiss anyone who will give her attention.  However, she is also a very loud and opinionated 2 year old who justifies every stance with “because.”  When that doesn’t work, she points her entire arm at me in dramatic fashion and says, “Daddy BAD!” (We don’t even use the word ‘bad’ at home, so where did she learn it?).  For Halloween she had a cupcake fairy costume, but she always says she was a “Princess…. paaancake.”  Oh well, close enough, until I imagined the cupcake on her head as a pancake instead, then I couldn’t hide my smile any longer.  Her current interests include fire safety (setting off fire alarms in restaurants, etc) and interior decorating (drawing on furniture and walls).  When asked, Amélie’s future aspiration is to have a bubble bath with Santa. 

This brings me to Amélie’s 4 year old partner in crime, Kai.  Kai’s lifetime goal is to have a bubble bath while wearing shoes.  Kai and Amélie make a little gruesome twosome whenever Adly is not home.  They will play, fight, boss each other around, but will always stay in the same room together. Kai has a very caring side and he tries to cheer his sister up when she is upset (which is bound to happen when you are loud and opinionated), or whisper the right answer to her when Thienly or I are upset with her.  Kai’s interests include modern dance with extensive bum-wiggling coupled with silly faces, and building surprisingly complex train tracks.

Both Kai and Amélie enjoy playing with Adly when he gets home from school.  Adly loves facilitating greater levels of troublemaking.  First he trained them to walk like zombies that make groaning sounds and come to eat you (rather embarrassing in public, but if anyone stops to stare, I just start doing it too),then he got them jumping all over the furniture pretending to be angry birds.  Adly told me this spring he wanted an iPad –when I told him it was too expensive, he told me, “I just need some technology!”  When I asked Adly what hew ould describe as his goal in life, he said it was to read this letter (Definite future problem with authority).  Well, he is still only 9, I have some time before he decides to take the family minivan on a joyride (woohoo!). 

Meanwhile Thienly, (still) 29, continues to stay at home with the kids.  It’s more manageable this year now that all the kids play together and keep each other busy, and Amélie is potty trained.  She (still) spends every spare moment on paper-crafting as a member of design teams and managing her blog, Mod Paperie.  We went on two vacations this year, one to LA and one to Seattle, and both times she met up with followers of her blog – she’s a celebrity!

These letters get easier to write the further you go, because everyone knows no one bothers to read an entire Christmas letter.  By now I ought to be able to write whatever I want!  The page looks full, so I think I can stop here.  No matter what type of year you’ve had, remember you cannot control the Christmas cards you receive – you can only choose not to read them. Take time to tell yourself how lucky you are.  We wish you a very happy holiday season and all the best in 2012.

Love,

Adrian,Thienly, Adly, Kai, and Amélie 

So... did you actually read the whole letter? Do you have a problem with authority? (Obviously, you need to read the letter to understand this)

Alright - gotta get going, and start prepping again...

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope that you get to spend quality time with family and friends :)

Oh, and I hope that you all get everything you want! ;)

But as long as you love me so... - My Thoughts Exactly project (and my annoucement...)

The weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go -
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Oh, I just love Christmas tunes - makes me feel so warm and cheerful inside! I just can't believe that Christmas is next weekend!  Eek!  Are you all done your shopping yet?  If not, maybe you should be out shopping rather than reading this??? Oh, alright - you're online shopping - that's my kinda style!

Anyway, today is my project day for My Thoughts Exactly...  AND...  I have an announcement to make...  this is going to be my LAST post as a part of the design team...  Yes, I know it's kinda crazy.  Why leave this wonderful team, right?  Awesome stamps, fantastic gals, and even fun stuff planned out for 2012.  It was a VERY difficult decision, but I guess somehow, I wanted to free up myself and be on the lookout for trying out something new...  and I don't know what that 'something new' is...  maybe I'll enter some challenges, maybe I'll apply for different DTs, or maybe I'll do nothing! lol...  Anyway, yes, I'm leaving - and that means that there's ONE more extra spot on the new DT team...  Good news for you, right?

Anyway, onto my project for today!

So, you've got that "Let it snow" music going through your head? 

Here's the last verse:

The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still goodbye-ing,
But as long as you love me so -
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I thought that this was kind of fitting with my last project as a DT member and with their stamps - and decided to create a snowglobe.

 


You likey? I got the file from here and decided to embellish a little more to it.  The clear dome part that you see is "Clear Craft Plastic" sheets that I found at Michaels, and was cut through my Silhouette.



I added some trees, snowflakes from Holly Jolly Tags stamps, some crinkle ribbon, Caribbean twine from The Twinery for the scarf and tags, and snowlayer for the ground. I even made the snowman hold a heart - to kinda go with the lyrics :)



Isn't this a cute stamp? (and no, it's not "As long as you love me so..." that's my handwriting! lol...) It's from the Holly Jolly Phrases stamp set!

This file was really easy to put together - once you figured out which piece goes where! It's so cute - my kids love it!

Here's the look from the top - you can see how the pieces fit with one another.



If you wanna see these stamp sets, upclose - here it is:

Holly Jolly Tags:



Holly Jolly Phrases:



These are $15 each, but you can buy as a bundle, too - for $25!

Make sure that you go visit my fellow DT member - SugarGem for more inspiration with these stamps today!

So, yeah, this is it. I hope that all the My Thoughts Exactly fans still come and visit me! Thanks to Alyssa and Brian for having me as a part of your team. Good luck to you in 2012 and good luck to all those that has applied to their design team. You're gonna have lots of fun.

Every girl's bestfriend.

So, I'm finally finished my Christmas cards!!!! Yay!  I will be sharing that later in another post.

For today - thought that I would make a quick card with this adorable doll from last week's SVG Cuts' Christmas Morning collection.  I've always been a fan of doll die cuts, but when I saw this one, I fell in love, and had to play with it!

I also had a chance to plug in my Sizzix Eclips yesterday and cut this out with its SVG software, eCAL.  This machine is just so amazing - it sucked in my mat into the machine crazy fast and the cut is so smooth and clean!  I've really only cut this one thing out, so I cannot tell you any more right now, but I'll definitely be using this from now on!  I'm really happy with everything - I so recommend the Sizzix Eclips!  Thanks so much Leo and Mary!


Anyway, with this particular doll, I thought that it would be really cute to make 'hair' with twine!  I put tacky tape on the base and adhered twine on it! I love how it turned out!  The twine is from The Twinery - Lemondrop Yellow.

Okay, gonna keep this post short, so here's the card:



This sentiment is from Papertrey Ink - Signature Series: Cupcake. (Please don't look at my stitching... realized the bobbin wasn't inserted correctly - but this was the last piece of this paper, so couldn't chuck it :( The papers are from Crate Paper - Emma Shoppe for doll's dress, and background is from Neighborhood Collection)



It's really cute, isn't it?



Okay, that's it. I've got a project to make for this Thursday for My Thoughts Exactly - so I'll catch ya later!

Santa Sleigh - Unity Stamp Co. Challenge.

Hey everyone! 

I've totally working away (still... ) on my Christmas cards, but couldn't help but to take a break here and there to create something when I saw these challenges.  They are both from Unity Stamp Company (which I've ordered tons of stamps in the last little while!) and one is on their blog and one of them is right on their Facebook wall.  The prizes are just so amazing, and it also gave me a reason to play with their stamps a bit. If you've got Unity stamps, you've got to take a look... I'm sure you'd want to enter... actually don't take a look... it's taking away my chances of winning! lol... No, really, you should look - very generous prizes!

One was to create a Christmas project and the other was to create anything with snowflakes/snow using their stamps, so I thought that my project would be eligible for both!

I created a Santa Sleigh using the cuts from Santa's Visit SVG kit and Santa from Christmas Morning SVG Collection, and creating a little treat gift with it.



I've used the new Cosmo Cricket Dear Mr.Claus collection for this project - loving these papers! So classic and pretty!



This stamp was from Ornamental Season itty bitty.



Here's Santa waving "hello!" to you!



...and here's the focus of my project - aren't these ticket stamps just adorable? I colored them with my Copics :) They are from Ticket to Christmas itty bitty stamps. I embellished with wooden buttons, red hemp rope cord and burlap from Canvas Corp.



Inside sits a canvas draw string bag (canvas also from Canvas Corp) which I made! I filled it up with Lindt chocolate balls :) The tag is from Tis the Season for Joy (jillibean soup) set.



...and lastly but not least, I stamped the canvas bag with snowflakes with stamps from Snowflakes Fall from Heaven (jillibean soup) set.

I personally think that it's cute and goes really well with my streetlamp which sits in the background :)

Oh, I made a quick card with Ornamental Season stamps as well:



It's pretty simple, but I wanted the clean look for this. I colored the ornaments with Copics, but also stamped another same image onto the vellum and placed it on top of it :) I also jazzed it up with some rhinestones and crinkled ribbon as well..

Anyway, here's my two Unity Stamp Company submissions... wish me luck :)

Oh, and SVG Cuts is holding their first ever Winter challenge right on their FB wall, so hope that you go and join in on that one! I guess I could go and enter this project there as well! (jk!)

Alrighty - better get back to my card making!

Christmas Lantern Streetlamp - SVG Cuts DT project!

Hey all! It's been a while!

It's now December (eek! I'm so excited about this month!) and I'm underway making our annual Christmas cards.  I decided to not go all out this year...  and put on embellishments and such...  However, I am still using my cutting machine and my print and cut ability to do something unique...  I've not seen anyone do this before, so can't wait to show you! I'll definitely share when it's done! So, that is why I've been pretty much absent... as I work away in a Santa workshop trying to get the cards done (I'm making over 100 of them!) :)

However, while I was letting everything print out and getting it cut, I still had some time to work away on my next SVG Cuts project and I get to share it with you today! I'm so excited by the way this turned out - it's simple, but so magical and makes a pretty decor.  It's my mom's fave project of mine - she says!

Anyway, this project was actually inspired by Mary's idea to take the lantern from Crisp Days of Fall SVG Kit and turn it into a 'Christmas Carol'-like version...  So, the first thing that I did was to watch the movie trailer like 10 times, and picked out objects/styles that I can use for my project... 

I was so tempted to cut out and make a whole scene - cut out little shops and all... but then I realized that it would take away from the project to have it too busy (and more like, I'll never get that done!), so I kept it simple, yet enough details to look at...

Anyway, I know that you've been waiting patiently, so now, I'll show you finally! Here it is!!!

You like? Does it scream 'Christmas Carol' out to you?? I'm totally enjoying having this sit on top of a fireplace right now... so fun to look at!

I changed the flourish window on the original lantern and replaced it with the snowy windows from Spirits of Christmas Past SVG Kit. I printed the vellum yellow to add warmth :)



I used an empty roll (parchment roll) and used it as a post. I made an opening into the lantern and the base box (from Santa's Visit SVG Kit). I also used a wooden dowel through the empty roll so I can hang a sign using the stamp from Gingerbread Kisses.



The wreath is really easy - I just cut out some hollies? holly? and glued them onto the twig wreath I got from Michaels. I put a little bow at the bottom and voila - makes a pretty wreath in no time!



At the bottom of the post, I embellished it with a bike from Spirits of Christmas Past SVG Kit... and you're gonna love my last touch to my project!



I took a crate from Caramel Apple Pie SVG Kit and made a miniature one with it to hold Christmas parcels and letters. It cut really well for me, and I was surprised to see how sturdy it was.

I added the rest of the embellishments and I'm really happy with the way it turned out! I hope that you're inspired to make this for your Christmas dinner :)

If you are interested in full details of my project, go take a look at the SVG Cuts blog - it'll have all the files and dimensions there!.. and you can also leave me some love there, too! You know that I'd like that!

Oh, and one more thing - I have a winner from my last post... it is katknit!!! Congratulations - please contact me so I can get the gift card out to ya!

Oh, and another thing - don't forget to enter in for your daily chance to win the Sizzix Eclips - announced this Sunday - click here! and for you to enter in to win ALL stamp sets from Punkin' Patch Stamps - click here!

Alright - that's it for today! Have a crafty day - and thanks for stoppin' by!

Holly Jolly Season is here! My Thoughts Exactly December Stamp Release!

Season's greetings everyone!  Are you starting to get excited for Christmas??? I'm gonna put up my tree finally this week, and can't wait to see the kids' faces covered with excitement! 

Today, you guys get a treat, 'cause it's normally on the first of every month that you see the new My Thoughts Exactly stamps - BUT I know how you've been anxiously waiting to see the newest release and also knowing that these stamps may make your life easier in all your holiday crafting projects, we decided to be super nice and release it out a few days early! (Don't expect this every month! lol...)

So, with this month's release, you are going to be seeing TWO sets - one being NON-SENTIMENT stamps! You're gonna love these! ANNND... although each set is $15 each, if you get two - it's $25 for the bundle! How can you resist???

The first one is the mix and match Holly Jolly Phrases - and again, Alyssa uses her magic into working these stamp set into a fun and practical set! Look at all the phrases here and various fonts in this set - isn't it fun? (This set is just in the works of getting them done, so it'll be a pre-order, but will be shipping out in 3~4 days!)

The second one is the Holly Jolly Tags - and comes with 5 fun tags that you can stamp away and personalize all your gifts! Even better - get BOTH sets, and use the sentiments from the first set on the tags!  Belinda, from SVGs by Bee, is working on matching SVGs to go with these stamps, so all you have to do is to cut the tags out on your cutting machine and stamp them!

So, anyway, I'm sure you're wondering what I've whipped up this time around...

I used the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly (there's a matching paper pack, too here) and did print and cut with my Silhouette to create a cute little gift bag!



You like? This is actually really easy as long as you have Silhouette or any other cutting machine that has the print and cut capability. If you've been wanting to do this for the longest time - it's the perfect time to ask Santa :) This bag that I used is from Vintage Halloween Party Bags SVG Kit and this is always a easy go-to bag whenever you're looking for a simple cute bag!

Some close ups:



So, the tag that you see here is from the Holly Jolly Tags set. I stamped them onto two cardstock, and then cut out the white oval to place them onto the stamped blue cardstock. The rosettes are also from Vintage Halloween Party Bags SVG Kit.

Here's the skates on twine upclose:



... and snowman having a solitude party!



... and that's not it! I've done the sides and the back! (sorry my photos are not crisp... had a hard time with this photo shoot... :(  )





Lastly, here's the back:



... and the tag upclose:



I used the same technique to this - stamped them on three separate cardstock, cut out the area wanted in that color and assembled it together. The scallop circle is from SVGs by Bee's file, but she's madly working away at getting the proper sizing to make sure that it's no fuss for you to use! But for now, you get to see what it will look like with her SVG together with stamp! For all the customers that buys the tag set, you will be e-mailed with a downloadable SVG file for these tags shortly ;)

Anyway, here it is!

Now for the fun part! Alyssa, from My Thoughts Exactly, is giving away $5 gift card from each of our blogs! Make sure that you are a follower of my blog and hers, and comment here on this post to win! I'll be picking the winner this Thursday!

And... one last thing! If you LOVE these stamps - maybe you should consider applying for their design team position right now! Don't waste time, because the deadline is November 30th!  It's a growing company and it's going to be exciting, especially with a new PRODUCT being announced in 2011! See this post to apply!

Hope you liked it and make sure that you go visit the other girl's blogs to see some inspiration done with these awesome stamp sets!

Have a crafty day everyone!

3D Chair Wedding favors - My Thoughts Exactly DT Project.

Helloo!!!  It's my DT project day for My Thoughts Exactly!!!  and you get to see more goodness from the Many Thanks Stamp set!

I just can't tell you how clever it is to make these sets all mix and match phrases!  It's so fun to be able to put different sentiments together, and you get so much more out from one set by having the ability just use what you want.  I haven't tried yet - but I think that I've got enough sets that I can make pretty cool phrases using various sets!

Anyway, I've been wanting to make these cute little 3D chairs for the longest time, and this project happened to be the perfect time to use it!  The chairs are from My Grafico 3D Chair Favour Box Templates.   I didn't really do anything to them - just cut them out the way they were.  For just one of them with vertical slats, I actually took my hole punch and my handy scissors and cut them out myself.  There was another chair in the file, which was the 'elegant' chair, but just didn't fit with my style for what I wanted to accomplish here :)



I spiced up these chairs with crinkled ribbons, charm from Making Memories AND I actually used my sewing machine to make cushions for these little chairs!  I think that this is my first EVER real sewing other than doing it on paper!  I was so proud of myself! (hehehe.. okay, all those seamstresses - don't laugh at me! This was a big step for me!)  and I made a 'lace' border using Martha Stewart punch.

Anyway, here it is!



Pretty, isn't it?



The back of them...



My awesome chair cushions :)



See how perfect these stamps go with my project! Thesse cute envelopes that I used to stamp my sentiments onto are from SVG Cuts My Big Day SVG Collection.   There are three different envelope SVG, and oh, so cute!



Oh, I even added on the cone on to the side of the chair (I meant to put a little bouquet of flowers, but couldn't find anything in my house that would work) I just rolled up one of those doilies that you can purchase from the baking section, and made it into a cone!



...and the chair even opens up where you can put little goodies in for the guests! Aren't these the cutest thing? I've come across so much cute and creative stuff for personalizing your own weddings - I would love to get married again! (well, to the same person, of course!)

Oh, and did you notice my good ol' flower topiary in the back of these pictures???



Anyway, that's it for today! Be sure to visit Lenae's blog, SugarGem, for more inspiration with these stamp sets!