My First Christmas Photoshop

I'm not good in Photoshop but I like to play around with it and sometimes explore the functions by learning easy tutorials. Wish I can learn or take class on Photoshop. 

Got the owl from Free Christmas Owl Wallpaper by MagnetStreet and modified it. 

*personal use*

I learn the design below from adobetutorialz and modified the Christmas tree using one of the free Christmas brushes I downloaded (I can't remember which site, but credits to the brush contributor.

*by request*

and this one below is Santa with nine deers flying up up

*personal use*

Soufflé Pen from Created with Love, Taipei, Taiwan

I would like to share this new pastel pen I bought from Taipei, Taiwan. Few weeks ago, my friends and I went to Taiwan for a holiday. So, as usual, I will take the opportunity to look out for any craft store to explore if possible... and I found a shop name 'Created with Love'. I think I found it by google-ing 'scrapbooking store Taiwan near MRT' :D because I wanted to go somewhere near to MRT and easy to find. I contacted the shop for direction and Laura, the owner of Created with Love gave a quick reply with a clear instruction on how to get there; putting a smile on my face :)  The place is near to MRT Shandao Temple. It was a rainy day and we were already wet from our previous stop at Chiang Kai Shek and we were lost under the rain finding the shop (which is actually near but we missed  the small lane infront of us.. hehe). To cut a long story short, at last we found the place (with messy wet hair look... haha). Sorry girls for the trouble :P  and we got a very warm welcome when we finally arrived. Thanks so much, Laura! There were two classes on-going on that day; card-making and stampscapes if I'm not mistaken. Below are some snapshots I got.

Spotted: Paris Eiffel Tower Stamp and Owl Stamp 

Spotted: Keep Calm and Carry On Stamp

Spotted: More rubber stamps!

Spotted: Colte Washi Tapes (my new weakness)

Upon browsing the items there, we saw many pretty handmade cards. Laura introduced to us Soufflé pen, where one of the pretty cards were made by using the pen. Unfortunately, she doesn't have new stock for the pastel Soufflé pen but I love the pastel colour so much and...  she offered her used set since she's going to order again. Aww... thanks alot again ❤❤❤  Tadaa...these are the the pastel pens. I'm not sure if the Soufflé pens are available in Malaysia. It's under Sakura brand which also offers Pigma Micron ink pen. 

Soufflé® 3-D Opaque Ink

You can see some ideas on how to use the pen from their website, sakuraofamerica. I have tested the pen on glass surface and on paper but it wasn't as pretty as the one we saw. Maybe will need more practice as the ink needs time to dry completely. Speaking of that, I have left a 'Thank You' note on Mango53 inn's guestbook (place where we stayed in Taipei) using the black colour Soufflé pen and I can't imagine how the page look like as it surely hasn't dry at that time (I didn't know and treated it like a normal pen). Found out that there's a note stated in Sakura's website that "Souffle is a special craft pen for colouring or lettering. Since the ink flows thickly and takes time to dry it is not ideal for any lengthy writing". Ouch, sorry 对不起 for the messy thank you note...

I babble alot in this post and I shall post more pics soon. For those who are looking for scrapbooking stores in Taiwan, I found juliekintaiwan blog has a list on it.

Created with Love Address :

No. 22, Lane 6, Sec. 1, Hangjhou South Road, Taipei

杭州南路一段6巷 22 號

Tel: 02-2351-1566 

tw.myblog.yahoo.com/cwlblog  / www.pcstore.com.tw/cwlinc

Merry Christmas 2012!

May love be in your life. 

May hope be in your heart. 

May peace, happiness and goodwill be with you 

and your family not only on Christmas, 

but throughout the year and beyond. 

Wishing you 

Merry Christmas

and Happy Holidays!

7 days until Christmas!

Sis shared a link on free Christmas printables and I thought of sharing it here. The above pics are few of the free Christmas printables design that I've combined. From Keep Calm theme, typography Christmas tags, Merry Owl! and colourful Christmas wordings. You can get 100+ free printables and some last minute & quick Christmas home deco from craftionary.net If you have any ideas/designs, feel free to share. Happy Christmas Crafting!

9 days before Christmas!

My unused pink polka dots ribbon. I shall think of what to do with it or perhaps sell it to someone who will make good use of it? A quick simple idea if you have unused ribbons, zigzag it like a Christmas tree and put cute ornaments on it. Have Fun!

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!”

~ Charles N. Barnard, American author, travel writer.

| Tutorial | Christmas Tree with Buttons

Hi Lovelies,

I've made a simple and short tutorial on one of my Christmas card preparation. This is my first and also specially made for theartsycraftsy.  I have to admit that I'm not good at giving tutorials as all my cards are 'impromptu'. So, I've picked one of my simple 1-2-3 easy-to-do card and hope this inspire you! I just love buttons and more buttons pls... They are too cute for almost anything. For all button lovers out there, agree with me? I took the photos below with a phone camera (or camera phone?),  hence the quality / resolution. 

x'-button-mas tree

[1]  For this christmas card, I've chose to make a christmas tree with a mix of floral/flower buttons and also mini buttons. The colours are a mix of pastel green, yellow, yellowish-green, red and pink. (You can choose any of your favourite buttons and colour)

[2]  Take a green cardstock and draw a simple christmas tree (or you can print from a free christmas tree template)

[3] Cut the shape of your christmas tree and start sticking the cute buttons on the 'tree'.  I stick a yellow button on top of the tree representing the star ornament.

Now that you've completed the 'Christmas Tree', you can stick it on your card and give it to your loved ones.  Nothing is more meaningful than sending a handmade card, right? Below is my completed card.

I embellished the card with washi tape of red/white diamond patterns, red ribbon and red/white twine on the center. This gives a simple and neat look type of Christmas card. If you need more details on the card below, feel free to write to me. :) I hope to improve my cardmaking tutorials over time. Till then, Happy Crafting! 

Christmas Card Preparation

It's November already! How time flies! Pheww... I am so tied up with new job and hope everything goes well. So, the month of celebration is coming. Have you start preparing some Christmas cards? I found my Christmas patterned papers which I bought some time ago... I can hardly remember what I've bought (bad impulsive buying habit)...but patterned papers are soo pretty and irresistible, right?

Below are some of the papers, range from RM3.80 to RM5.00 per piece. For those who are new to scrapbooking/cardmaking, well, that's the price range for a patterned paper or scrapbooking paper. I was abit sad as well when I was still new to this whole scrapbooking thingy few months back as I can't buy as many as I want (limited budget). If you can get a good deal/sale at price range from RM1.50 - RM3.00, that will be a good grab and must-take imho. One thing on why the scrapbooking papers are expensive I think is due to its acid-free and lignin-free factors. These papers won't fade, won't turn to yellow and will last for generations.

The brand for the patterned papers below are: Dear Lizzy + American Crafts, jovial - basicgrey (buttong nose & christmas tree), Mistletoe - Making Memories and C-Thru Ruler (All Wrapped Up + Winter Whimsy). Both front and back designs and colours are pretty!!

Front 

Back

Hope I can prepare something today. ;P Till then, Happy Crafting & CardMaking to you!