Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day is this Sunday, June 19. It's too early to say "Happy Father's Day". However, since we will be in Boston on Sunday, I see no harm in having the kids give their Papa, their cards and presents earlier.

Just a simple card. Simple enough for me to prepare, and simple enough for the kids to assemble. The kids chose the embellishment they want for their card, and I helped them cut the paper.

Darling son KW opted for big "DAD". Just stick and paste. He was more interested in writing on the inside of the card than "decorating" the card. He didn't refuse though, when I offered him the star hand held punch, to add more "interest" to his card. Can you see the stars on the bottom right corner of the card?

Darling son YW, on the other hand, was very keen in decorating the card. When asked if he would like a ribbon on the card ... OK! How about stamping on the card? YES! And so, he happily stuck the ribbon and embellishment, stamped the inside and outside of the card, and wrote. A lot more work than his GorGor's card =) And he was all smiles after completing the card.

To all fathers, here's wishing you a very Happy Father's Day!

Birthday Cards

What kind of card says "whoop-dee-dooo!"?

Open the card and the inside reads :

Happy Birthday, We are helping you stretch the celebration!

I popped the bee, which was part of the stamped image, and added some liquid pearl to the centre of the flowers. Happy belated birthday, Judith! Hope you like the card =)

How about this one?

It was only after I took a photograph of the card that I realized I should have used the same card stock for both the card base and the square piece to mount the mouse on. The finished card didn't look too bad despite the color difference.

Happy belated birthday, Anna!

No worries, no extra calories intake from the cake =P

Just Saying Hello

A friend back home sent me a card, knowing that I picked up card-making as a hobby recently. What a sweet and girly card! Thank you, YM, for this very pretty card.

Here's a close up look at the card .... I love that green gingham ribbon, and those pretty flower embellishment. Like the outfit of the girl too. I'm saving up for the Cuttlebug Die-cut and Embossing Machine. Meanwhile, I'm patiently waiting for sales and free shipping offer at the online store =)

It had been a busy week, but I managed to make three cards. One Hedgehog card for YM, since she loves those Penny Black Hedgehog stamps, and two belated birthday cards. Drove to the post office and sent all three at one go! Hopefully, the cards won't get lost in the mail ... it's a long way to travel, halfway around the globe.

I love coloring, but I'm not keen to spend lots of money on Copic Markers, Prismacolor or Koh-I-Noor color pencils. I like the blending method, but I do not like using mineral spirits for the blending. Normal color pencils yields a dull colored image. So what should I do?

Since I have a box of oil pastels sitting in the drawer, I decided to use them, to try out the blending method. I read with interest from forums that GooGone and Baby Oil work great as well! The bottle of GooGone which I already own, not only helps remove the goo from all my bottles (I can then recycle these bottles), I can now use it for blending colors in my stamped images.

The blending effect didn't turn out too bad. I did however, found it difficult to color in the small spaces in the stamped image. Oh well, you can't have the best of both worlds, I guess =)

Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week was two weeks ago. Unlike Teachers' Day back home, which is a one-day affair, the kids in the woods have one whole week to show the teachers their appreciation. Many of the activities are parent initiated ... tea and luncheon for all teachers, parent volunteers of each class coordinating "Snacks and Treats" day, "Thank-You Card" day, "Class Party" day, "Flower" day etc. Each class will have different activities. It all depends on the parents of that class.

Darling son YW's teacher in Kindergarten was heavily pregnant with twins during Teacher Appreciation Week last year. The art teacher, who is also a parent of the class, initiated a class project to thank the teacher. The kids painted a rocking chair (chair donated by parent) during their art class! Don't you just love the way the parent, kids and teacher work together as a team? No wonder my little boy said to me on the very first day of school ..... "I love school!".

This year, Darling son YW is in a different class. He helped me with owls, for this ThankYou Card in a photo frame. This is a chipboard frame with a plastic cover. I don't have to worry about my son breaking the glass cover while carrying it from home to school.

I made a big envelope and placed the "Card" inside. Made an owl badge to seal the envelop =) The little one was very pleased with the wrapped up "card". He came home and said "Ms B puts the frame on her table!".

He was very happy indeed.

The parent-volunteer of the class suggested treating Ms B to some snacks to help her start off the week. So we wrapped some packets of dried fruit crisps. Some healthy snacks to help fuel her through the week! We contributed some cash and gave her a gift card so that she could get a small gift from the nearby mall, to pamper herself =)

As for Darling Son KW, he was given a piece of white card to write a message for his teacher, MrsW. The parent volunteer would stand outside their classroom in the morning to collect the cards, and compile the cards in an album, to be presented to the teacher at the end of the week. What a neat way to present the ThankYou cards! And so I helped my boy with the card.

Yes, owls again. All gifts to the teachers were owl related =)

Our "Thank-You Card" in a photo frame was already done up prior to the parent volunteer's suggestion of card compilation.

Here's a close-up shot of the owls.

I love these little cuties and I love my Owl Punch!

We didn't want the trainee teacher to feel left out, so we also got a little gift for her as well ... a healthy cereal snack bar to fuel her through the day! It was all nicely wrapped up with an owl tag attached, to bring on a smile =)

It was a busy week ... cutting and wrapping!

I had fun, the kids had fun, and most importantly, the teachers feel appreciated!

Owl BookMark and Card

Another Owl-Bookmark, for a new friend in Singapore! I hope she finds the bookmark useful, since she is frequently flipping through various baking books for ideas and inspirations! And we, the readers, benefit from the recipes she posts on her blog, as well as all the tips she shares.

The paper clip with the owl attached can be removed from the rectangular bookmark. It can be used as a bookmark on its own.

However, if your book is very new, and you don't like the paper clip bookmark to leave a mark on your page, then put the paper clip back onto the bookmark and use the bookmark as it is =)

Look, who's peeking?!

In addition to the bookmark, I also made a "Thank You" card for her. To thank her for her kind thoughts and the extension of friendship to someone far, far away. Really appreciate the friendship, especially when it is from a fellow Singaporean! Warms the heart =)

The inside of the card ... the top owl is supposed to be popped-up.

I should have taken the photograph at another angle.

Can you see the watermarked leaves on the background?

So here's taking a photograph of the card at a different angle ... can you see the watermarked leaves and the popped-up owl? However, the watermarked leaves seemed to have vanished after I wrote on the card =( Lesson learnt ... use the watermark ink on coloured paper instead of white paper.

I had so much fun making these owls! Here's another owl "badge" to seal the envelop =) I hope SH enjoyed the card as much as I had fun making it!

Thank You Card and BookMark

I made an owl bookmark for a friend, who helped me babysit the boys in the evening while I went to take my driving test. With four boys and a girl at home, I was very sure she had a headache during that two hours!

Here's the Thank You card for her =)

And I tried watermarking the inside of the card. Here's how the inside of the card looked after I stamped it with watermark ink. The colour of the card just reminds me of brown oak leaves in Fall.

Thanks, Janice! I was less stressed out during the test since the kids were not at the centre with me. And thanks for being my passenger and going with me on a practice drive the day before the test. It really helped =)

Weekend Activity - Making Bookmarks

Darling son YW has been bringing home chapter books to read as homework. He is in Grade 1, the equivalent of Primary 1 in Singapore. He is currently reading the book on Stuart Little. He brings the book for two days, and will be asked to finish three chapters or so during these two days. Sometimes, in between chapters, he will be given a sheet that says "Draw and retell the story from Chapters 1 - 3". It is very much like summarizing the chapters, with your own illustrations. Sometimes, he will have to do a story flag, or complete some comprehension questions after finishing the book.

Very often, he will come to me and say "I don't remember where I stop reading" when I ask him to do his reading homework. Since their swimming and chinese lessons have ended, they now have more free time to do their own things. I asked him if he would like a bookmark, since he kept forgetting where he stopped for his reading. He readily agreed, and I asked him to help me with it. Under my supervision, he was allowed to punch out the various parts of the owl, and put them together. He was happy putting together the bookmark, and used it for his reading homework thereafter. No protest about having to read. Phew!

And I made a bookmark for myself too, from the scraps I have =)

I love the glitter on the blue dots, and I love the bling on the circle!

The above owl card was made when I first received my owl punch from Stampin' Up. Darling son YW liked it so much, I gave it to him and called it an "Owl Badge". Now the little owl bookmark and his owl badge sits side by side on his table, awaiting their next assignment =)

For A Dear Old Friend

A card for my dear old friend, Jean, to brighten her day and week!

Hope it brought on a smile as you pull the card out from the envelope =)

I am not a fan of pink, and I have only one pink shirt. However, I'm in love with this pink chipboard button, and the colourful glittery strips on the card. Do you like the pink as much as I do?

To quote what some of my working friends say to me "You have too much time hor". Not really. Being a stay-home-mom does not mean that I am free most of the time. In fact, my day starts at 7am every morning, and does not end till 8pm. Cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, baking, teaching and babysitting. Baking is not only a hobby, but a necessity. I am not keen in feeding my boys store bought cookies and high-sugar content cakes. Hence the need to bake. Sometimes, I do manage to squeeze in some time, an hour before the kids return from school, to do the things I like ... Watching Korean/Japanese/HongKong dramas online, card making, reading the news online. But otherwise, I am just as busy as other working moms, unless I chose to do nothing ... leave the laundry to pile up, clean only when the dirt yells in your face "I'm stuck", feeding the kids store-bought cookies and cakes, cooking sausages or whatever "fast food" from the supermarket, and reheating leftover lunch and dinner.

Teaching my kids so that they do well in exams is not the reason I chose to be a stay-home-mom. I want to stay home as I want to spend time with my kids, during their growing up years. And I think being able to be able to make a choice, that is, to be a stay-home-mom, and it is a blessing to be able to do so. I was there to witness their many "firsts" ... their first smile, first step and the first word muttered. Being able to understand what they like and don't, and being able to help them deal with their emotions. Explaining what is right and wrong, and getting them to understand how others might be feeling as a result of their actions.

So stamping, card-making, and baking are the things I do to de-stress.

Yes, being a stay-home-mom can be stressful at times =)

To all stay-home-moms, happy baking, stamping, shopping, exercising ... doing whatever that makes you happy!

My First Card

The first card I made! A belated Happy Birthday card for hubby dear's friend in Singapore. I made the envelope too, as I couldn't find a "right" sized envelope for my odd sized card =p

The ribbon was from Darling son YW's pencil case =p It kept coming off the zipper handle, and he decided to take it off for good. So I recycled the ribbon and used it for the card instead! To open the card, just slide the ribbon down =) The owl was not inked very well, as this was the first time I used my clear stamps and block.

Here's the inside of the card. I cut out the tree using a puncher, and the owl from the pattern on a card filled with little owls!

A close-up look at the owl. Don't you love the print of leaves on the left? Looking at the silly owl, I felt happier. I will definitely be making more cards, as it helps in lifting my spirits. I'm happy making it, and I hope the card brings joy to the person receiving it!