I'm back

Wow! Hard to believe it's been almost a year since I last updated my blog. But, I've got a good excuse! Had a baby! I guess getting ready to celebrate his 1st birthday reminded me how quickly time flies.

Of course, I haven't had much time to do any scrapbooking, or should I say, as much scrapbooking as I used to, but I manage to steal a little bit of time hear and there.

Here are some of my latest creations. I switched to making 6"x6" cards instead of 5.5"x8". Less left over scraps that were starting to pile up. And I've just started making envelobox for those, which is awesome because now I don't have to worry about the cards being crunched in a regular envelop (and it is nicer).
So here is a little scrapbooking immersion I managed to steal away. Until the next time!

Elvis is on the blog

Elvis is on the blog! This card is a special request from a client for, you guessed it, someone who is a huge Elvis fan. I hope she likes it. I never considered making an Elvis themed card but it was fun to make.

VALENTINES is around the corner

Valentine's day 2010 is right around the corner and I have been enjoying making a few cards in the past couple weeks for this special occasion. And they are almost all gone already. A lot of love around!!

Here are a few of those cards. Too bad my husband can't get one of those for me, I think I would enjoy it.

A new card for a new baby girl

It as been a while since I've posted anything. Actually, it's been a while since I've created new Tear Bears or cards. With a new baby of my own on the way, I haven't had much thoughts for anything else. But, I could not refuse someone's request for a New Born card that will hopefully make another mommy-to-be happy.

It felt good scrapbooking again. I hope I haven't lost my touch too much. You be the judge of that... I love the brown and pink color combination. Too bad the pictures don't show the true brightness of the actual colors.

Combining Tear Bears and Greeting Cards

I noticed that I have been making a lot of Tear Bears lately. I just find them so much fun and cute to do. But, in doing so, I have neglected making handmade cards.

So, this time I decided to combine the 2. I've had those colorful balloons embellishments for a little while but was waiting for the right idea to use them. I think it turned out okay.
This time, I also went a little further with the inside of the card. I made 2 removable tags and a pocket for an added picture or gift card or... something!

The artist in my Tear Bear Puppy

A couple days ago my sister and I were discussing her moving to a new and bigger place and during our conversation she asked me "would you be able to help me repaint my old place to the original white?".
I must have gotten in the painting spirit because this is the little Tear Bear I created after our conversation. Maybe I did get carried away a little from the idea of painting walls white to a Van Gogh wannabe Tear Bear Puppy.

Summer Blast

Today, I am posting some Summer themed Tear Bears. The warm weather inspired those.

First, we'll start with picking cherries. I love cherries and could eat them all day long. "Could"? let me rephrase that, "I eat them all day long".

This little Tear Bear is so pretty with her cute little dress and basket full of cherries. And yes, each cherry and leaf is place by hand in the basket. Add a little white dot on them and they look as yummy as the real thing.

It reminds me of fun summer days as a kid, when I couldn't wait to go to our neighbors, climb up their huge cherry tree and bring back big baskets full so Mom could make yummy cherry jam (With whatever was left over).

Next, we have our Summer chef. This one is for Papa, Mr. Barbecue! Apparently, barbecuing is an art and requires a knowledgeable touch.

And since it was so hot while I was making those Summer themed Tear Bears, I thought it was appropriate to finish the day with a little mermaid. All I could think of then was "cool water! cool water!"

Tear Bear Karate Kid

I had this off-white mulberry paper that looks like fabric so my thought was to make a Karate Kid Tear Bear.
No particular reason! Just for the fun of it... HA-YA!

Tear Bears July 4th are back

I had a few 4th of July scraps left over so I though I'd make another series of Tear Bears with them. Back is miss Independence. It's funny, one of my acquaintances went to Disney World with her family this weekend and I must have that in mind.

Seriously! Look at her, doesn't she makes you want to sing "...It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all...".

Anyway, she seems to hold on tight to her balloons and lollipop.

And her little Tear Bear brother, July, looks so ready to dive into his hot dog. I think he is wondering how he is going to handle it with just one hand.

But I also think little puppy Sam got the best deal of them all. He proudly claims the big apple pie.

Asian Sunset

Every now and then the Asian side in me will come out. And today, it came out on this card.

I don't know if I was thinking "relaxing" and worked the card around that thought, or I just went with the flow and it turned out to have a relaxing touch to it. But either way, the combination of burgundy, green and gold works quite nicely.

The stamp used for this card is called "bamboo reflection" and I heat embossed it in gold. Heat embossing is one of my favorite things to do. The powder can get a little messy but it so much fun to watch it melt. Ask my sister, I couldn't get the heat gun out of her hands when I first got it.
She even went as far as heat embossing each powder I had onto a cardboard to make me a color palette. And it has been quite helpful since, I must say!

So thanks to my little sister, I easily found my gold.

Clowning around

I love having long weekends. Ok! who doesn't? But it was great to be able to do so many things including a couple extra scrapbook items without interfering with other everyday activities.

So there they are.

I love the colors and papers on this card. And with pink & green, you can't go wrong. Actually, the overall inspiration for this card came from the 2 little crystal flowers embellishing the sentiment.

I also used my sewing machine to make the paper look like fabric. Did it work?
Yes! I do have a sewing machine but don't ask me to sew clothes. It is strictly for scrapbooking! My husband found out the hard way it seems. I wanted one and he got it for me a few birthdays ago. And the 1st thing he brought me was a pair of jeans to fix. I think I fixed the jeans but for some reason he hasn't brought me anything else since.


As for the Tear Bear I have been thinking about making a clown Tear Bear for a while and finally got around to it. I thought this weekend was appropriate to do it. I know several people who had their birthdays this 4th of July weekend and although they are not children anymore, they definitely are clowns.

My Tear Bears celebrate the 4th of July!

4th of July weekend and this is how my Tear Bears celebrated. What a beautiful long weekend. I created those a few weeks ago and they already made it on someone's scrapbook pages.

I present to you Miss Independence with a yummy slice of watermelon, her little brother (boys will be boys, have to have the firecrackers and a flag to waive) and Puppy Sam.

Sunny Yummy!

When I sat at my desk this weekend, I really didn't know what direction to take. It was a beautiful day. Warm, birds singing, squirrels chasing each other from one tree to another. I though, hmmm, what a great day to find inspiration.

But after breaking my brain for a while, I thought... maybe not!

So I left it for a minute and started reading my friend's blog and saw the cutest picture of her new week old baby girl that she had named "Delicious" (the picture, not the baby).
Then, I heard the recognizable music of an ice cream truck in the park across the street.

Don't ask me how those different elements started blending into my mind, but this little Tear Bear below is what came out of it.

And since I was on a roll, I thought I might as well make the boy version and... why not, the puppy version too.

My own garden

Today's birthday card was inspired by those cute glittery blue and purple flowers. Neither colors are my favorite separately but for some reason, together they are one of my favorite color combination.

I wanted them to look like wild flowers, the way you might see them in a garden. Both my mom and grandmother have green thumbs. Their gardens are always gorgeous with so many colorful flowers. But because I don't seem to have much of a green thumb myself (lucky if I remember to water flowers), instead, I make my own little garden on my cards. And I don't have to remember to water them.

A little Winter warmth

This weekend was a little challenging. I was sick but that didn't stop me from making a couple items. It just took me a little longer to put my thoughts together and figure out what I wanted to do.

But finding myself cozy at home and seeing out the window a somewhat cold day, my thoughts gravitated towards a winter feel. All I was missing was a hot cup of coco.

I decided to make a Tear Bear. And that's what I came up with! A little ice-skater. I had to have a winner so I gave her a gold medal.

Yesterday's creations

I'm happy. Yesterday after work, I managed to do a little home stuff and create 2 new items . A nice full, fruitful day. I started my fisherman Tear Bear this weekend so it did take me a few days to finish it. Why did I think of doing a fisherman? I don't know... Summer coming up, Father's Day just passed.

BTW, Papa, I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day. I miss you!

As for the birthday card, some of the supplies I got from the convention inspired me. The papers especially.

1st Tear Bears on my blog

My 1st Tear Bear posted on my blog. Now! If anyone tells me those are not cute, I don't know what is.
Those are so much fun to do. Granted, they use a lot of my imaginative juices, because I don't use any templates. Like a painter, I guess. You look at your blank canvas and think "ok! where do I go from here?".

I kind of like the results. Alright, I'm lying, I really like the results. But there is always room for improvement - you should see the very 1st Tear Bears I've ever made. I wouldn't even dare show them.
Those 3 are the latest of their kind that I made.

I can't resist the puppies. They are so adorable. My husband must think I am crazy every time I hold one up and say "Oh! you are so cute!!". Either that or he thinks I'm talking to him and then realizes I'm not.

1st handmade card on my blog

Here is the latest handmade card I made this weekend. I'll be posting it on eBay in the next few days, which is a lot of fun, I must say. There are no better feedback than letting people decide how much my cards are worth. Of course, I do need to put a basic rate just to make up for the supplies bought. But beyond that, it's up to them to decide.

My cards are usually 8.5"x5.5", so pretty big. And just to go the extra mile, inside is as pretty as the outside (well almost).

Lately, I've been adding a pocket on the inside, big enough to fit a picture or gift card. Who hasn't received or sent a greeting card with either a gift card or money bills floating in the card?

So, several layers of colorful papers, cardstock, embellishments, brads and ribbons and, voila!

For this one, the papers I used where my initial inspiration. I call it my "Doodle card". I hope it makes someone happy. It made my happy doing it.

1st day blogging

And there you have it! I fought long and hard but the blogging bug finally caught me (and not the other way around, I didn't catch it). Give me a couple more years and maybe I'll start twittering. But one step at a time...
Where do I start? Well how about sharing some of my scrapbooking stuff. And what better time to do it than right after attending the CKC Pasadena scrapbooking convention.

The 1st scrapbooking convention near me. What a treat that was. I went with my friend Alex, who is fully responsible for introducing me to scrapbooking a few years back and getting me hooked on it. We had such fun that day, like 2 little girls in the biggest candy store you can imagine.

And since my work place was literally 5min away, we couldn't resist popping in and showing off what we bought (yeeeesss, I did take a day off for that).

My favorite part of scrapbooking (aside from shopping for supplies) is to make greeting cards and little Tear Bears. For those who don't know what Tear Bears are, they are little fluffy characters made out of mulberry paper. They are quite popular, it seems.

Ok, let's just be honest here, scrapbooking is no longer a hobby, it's become a full blown addiction. To the point where I'm about to throw something away, stop and think to myself "hmmm?! Maybe I can use this for something?". Even my husband, sometimes, will give me something and say "look, I found this, thought you could use it somewhere".

But really, I got that from Mom. She is amazing when it comes to making good use of little things others would throw away. I love it when I go home and see so many things nicely organized. Things you initially think "when are we ever going to use this?" but without fail, one day it does come in handy.

One typical conversation would be "Mom, you wouldn't happen to have a ..., by chance?" "Yes, Choupette (that's what she calls me - my little sister is "Choupinette", no matter how old my sister and I get), you can find one on the 2nd shelf of the 3rd cabinet, next to the 1st drawer" "Okay... thanks!... can you translate that for me?" "Oh, yes, it's in a box with a red sticker on it".

So I guess Mom had a lot to do with my attraction to scrapbooking. Having tones of nice little things, to create something beautiful (hopefully!), all nicely tucked away in a neatly organized corner. And only you know where to find something!