A Quartet of Masculine Grandeur Cards

Bonjour! Everyone! It's the very last day of 2018 and tomorrow will be a brand new year. 2019 is just round the corner! And today will be my very last post for this year over at my blog. It's a card project I made in November. I'm sorry that it had took me this long to present here on the very last day of 2018. Due to my busy schedule, finding time in between has proven quite a challenge for me. Nonetheless, I still manage to make it before 2019!

These masculine cards are especially made for 4 brethren who came all the way from the United States to Singapore, who travel afar in order to preach God's Word. It's a show of earnest appreciation and gratitude in the kind of work they do for the benefit of mankind. For this year, I choose a theme of masculine grandeur using various collection from Graphic 45 to create this quartet. 

Red and Black are the chosen colours as my base, with gold as the main focus. Placing Victorian clock as the main central element of the cards is exactly what was planned for. Though the design seems relatively simple at it's first look, the search in finding the perfect match with synchronization was indeed a challenging task. It took me close to a week to get all the necessary papers with the right colours and patterns together. Matching them up was another challenge to me, simply because I want them to look like a quartet, yet unique and different from one another. Though each of them is gifted to 4 individuals, but all share the same kind of look. When they're gathered together, they're consider  as ONE body; like a quartet of individuals that have different personalities.

A quartet of 2 blacks and 2 reds, which can be paired up as duos. However, all of them possess the same clock face. The clock die from Graphic 45 was honestly the best chosen choice for this project; timeless and classy. What I really love about this die is the intricate delicate design that make the clock a very Victorian one when diecut onto metallic gold cardstock. What's really interesting is that the clock hands are designed as such that they can be made movable, giving some dimensions to your project. 

Heartfelt personalized messages

Close up details on the card

I'd suppose such intricate cards need some sort of instructional manual in place to retain their glory. Therefore, I decided to come up with my very own version of card care manual (with some biblical essence injected within) to go with this quartet; enclosed within the policy envelopes. The introduction might seems like I'm the one narrating about my creation when read initially. However, when one takes a little more effort to read further within, the expression does reflects biblically on the main essence of God and His creations, and how mankind are a reflection of His creation (Genesis 1:27). Something worth pondering about our existence... 

Some tiny messages around the policy envelopes

The quartet with their respective policy envelopes

Last but not the least, not forgetting the packaging! These cards are carefully packed into polyacetate bags and sealed. As usual, I'm not ashamed to tell people to share and flaunt my work with some disclaimer's clauses and a butterfly on top as a messenger of the message. 😄 

That's about it for this year 2018! Till next year we shall meet again! I hereby wish everyone the most merriest 2019 New Year ahead. Not much New Year Resolution for me as it doesn't really works on me. I prefer to refresh my day and have resolutions on a frequently basis rather than keep it till the end of the year. This makes much more sense to me as life is full of uncertainties. There's so little you can control. Below is the list of supplies I used for this project with links to where to get them if you're interested:

• Graphic 45 Deluxe Collections
• Communique
• Raining Cats and Dogs
• Botanicabella
• Graphic 45 Past Collections
• Typography
• Good Ol' Sports
• Graphic 45 Square Tag, Clock Metal Dies 
• Graphic 45 Policy Envelopes
• Regular Red
• Regular Black
• Scrapbook Adhesives 3L Thin Square Foam
• Tim Holtz Kraft Stock Metallic 8" x 8" Gold & Silver Cardstock (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Own stash (brads, golden trim organza ribbon)

My Farewell Entry for Graphic 45

Alas! Finally... Today on 31st May 2016 is my very last DT entry for Graphic 45. As of today, it's also my very last officially day to leave Graphic 45 as their DT member. My 2 years with them is finally (and sadly) come to an end. Though I may be able to reapply into their team again in the future, I don't actually see that happening any time soon. I wish I could if I ever had the opportunity and chance to do so. If this ever permits, I hope to see myself being on the team again.

I was pretty inactive this year and hardly have time to create new projects, including updating my blog (my blog is still snowing despite summer is here! Alright giving you guys some coolness here! LOL!). Part of it due to the various unsettling draggy situations in my life (for those who frequent my blog probably know what's happening). Another part of it is due to my health; my back started to give me serious problems early this year due to long hours of sitting for extended period of time. I craft, blog and work on my desk seated and I can stay seated for hours without walking around. As a scoliosis sufferer, sitting for too long for extended period of time is seriously a bad thing as the spine takes more than 180% of your weight while you are sitting. Though my curve was pretty mild, just by sitting for hours for the past 2 years had indeed progressed my curve further and I started to develop secondary curvature. It reached to a point that I need to get myself to work physically in an environment that I need to move myself around to release some of my back tension, which somewhere this early February I started to work as a part-time service crew in a F&B cafe serving coffee and sandwiches. Eventually I was on SpineCor bracing to correct and prevent any further progression. However, it will only work best when I'm moving around with the brace on, not sitting and lying down. Be'cos of this, I've to allocate at least 7hr daily to work in the cafe with the brace on for a period of 12-18 months. It's tiring and physically draining but as I noticed a slight improvement on my curvature, I know it's worth the effort. 

My marriage, my dad, my health etc are various issues which have been impeding me from creating consistently. As much as I would love to have all the time devoted in creating, I'm unable to given the fact (especially) my health is at risk which I seriously need to make a choice. I can't possibly create effectively with so many things going on even I've tons of ideas at the back of mind, awaiting to be produced. I wish for another me who can manage all these aspects of my life so that I can continue to create and inspire wholeheartedly. Very unfortunately, I'm a mere human with very limited ability. This is the real facade of life and I just have to juggle it well and learn how to manage them. 

So away from all these, here I'm sharing some of my favourite projects I've done for Graphic 45 while I was with them for the past 2 years on today's entry. Can't bear to leave and I wish I could stay longer...

Coffee Express at Platform no. 9

Come Away with Me Stacked Suitcases

PDF tutorials of these suitcases can be purchased in my Etsy store.

Dr. Drake Lab Oratory

This piece can be purchased in my Etsy store here.

And here are some of my past projects that I'd love to showcase today however there're just simply too many to share so I decided to share a couple of them here on my blog instead.  

Time to Celebrate Patina Box

Come Away with Me Altered Postbox

Typographic Grunge Altered Bookend

Steampunk Altered Cologne Bottle

A Flourish Layout

A Fairy Door

A Fairy Loo Shed

This piece can be purchased at my store here.

An Eerie (Fairy) Tale Shop

 A Christmas Carol Advent Tags in Library Box

And here are all my obsessions with crates begins. Simply can't get enough of them that I had indeed created 3 projects out of it using the Home Sweet Home paper collection; another favourite collection of mine. One of them is a special tutorial I did for Graphic 45 which was recently being shared in their blog that I didn't manage to share it on my blog. But nevertheless, I still would love to share it here!

Vegetable Crate Holder

Home Sweet Home Kitchen Rack Hanger 

Farm Fresh Vegetable Crate

A PDF tutorial can be downloaded here.

Lastly, one of the previous Enchanted Forest garden project that I didn't manage to share on my blog as well as one new bathroom art project using Voyage Beneath the Sea paper collection that didn't get a chance to be shared on Graphic 45 blog. I should have included it as part of today's farewell's entry but it was too late to get it included. 

I wish I could have more time to elaborate more the above last 2 projects; how I get inspired and get them done out but it's getting a little too late right now and I need to rest my back. I still have outstanding projects to be completed and yet to be shared. Stay tuned and I hope after my crafting journey with Graphic 45, with more flexibility in terms of time I hope I should be able to produce more creative and quality works in the future.

I do read the comments over at the blog as well and I can't help to feel grateful for all the compliments and kind works g45ers have left for me. It's all these little encouragements that made my day and I wish I could have a daily dose of it to keep me going. As for now, I think it's inevitable to feel a little sad...

My Official Return as Graphic 45 DT and A Crafter's Card Holder

Today is the day I come back to the Graphic 45 DT for the 2nd year. My first year with them was indeed a heavenly one and it's an experience that I'll never forget. Though there's a lot of changes in my life this year, it also means I'll have more work to do and there's a lot of adjustments to be made. While I'm "transcending" and adapting, I'm working hard to crack my brain cells more bringing more exciting artwork and projects in the near future.

As a start for my 2nd year with Graphic 45, I'm sharing here a tutorial for Father's Day or any other day which may deem fit for any other special occasion - a Crafter's card holder for the exquisite, rare and unknown. Beware of its size, it only holds a minute amount of cards exclusively where cards are only given to a few which make them uniquely rare.

Alright, I'm not exactly sure how many cards are usually given daily unless you are a salesperson. But in my previous work as a Innovator/Researcher where I held different level of position, sometimes I don't even issue one card within a day. I'd have to warn you that these card holders can only hold a maximum of 5 typical name cards and they are indeed for the rare and exquisite people. If you've gold plated or diamond cards, these are probably ideal.