A Snowman's Baggage & Christmas Suitcase

Recalled those cute little matchbox suitcases I've made as part of my Graphic 45 stacked suitcases project? Hmm... So I decided to whoop up something interesting, something cute... 

Over the last weekend, my niece deliberately locked up the door from my parents' room with my dad inside... I was wondering why was she doing that?!? Then moments later, she knocked on the door and started singing, "Do you wanna build a snowman??" Hahahahahaha... She was imitating Anna!!! OMG!!! This was super cute of her given the fact that she was taking her grandpa as Elsa... All thanks to her, she really made my day... And I decided to do up a snowman kit for my niece as her birthday gift which is today!!! Again, inspired from Frozen and contributed by my niece... She was super excited when I showed her what I've made for her over FaceTime... Her expression was timeless...

Building up this little snowman kit is seriously not an easy job and it took me quite some time to figure out how to make this kit in a matchbox... Everything was built from scratch using polymer clay, wires and lots of glitter to build this Mr. Frosty... This little snowman stands at ~2" tall when assembled and can be readily kept inside the matchbox baggage when dismantled... Along with this snowman kit, I've done up another matchbox suitcase with a Christmas tree inside, ready to be gifted away...

I hope besides doing up cards, this can be a fun way to gift for this Christmas... Especially for kids, they will be delighted...

Cheers!!!

Time to Celebrate; A Birthday Pop-Up Card

Just a few weeks ago, someone posted a request in one of the local scrapping FB group I'm in, asking for volunteers to make some handmade cards for a Christmas and Birthday celebration for the old folks... The event was scheduled on the 13th December, which is this Saturday and it coincides with one of the grannies' birthday whose age is 98!!! Wow!!! She's having a long blissful life to live till that age... So I decided to volunteer to make a card for this birthday girl...

What really took me by surprise is the requirement of this card; it has to be A4 in size (8.27" x 11.69") when folded... It never occurred to me a card need to be that big to be given... Seriously, I was indeed taken aback... However, I got to know that the reason why the card needs to be that big - it has to be signed and penned down by the staffs and volunteers who organize this party... It must be a huge group I suppose...

Given the fact that I wasn't a true card-maker, making such a big card definitely puts me into challenging mode... For weeks, I couldn't possess the mojo in cardmaking, not to say in doing up such a big card... I sieved through my Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate collection for umpteen times till I finally have an idea what I want to do... I decided to do a pop-up... Completely a "steal" technique from YouTube and notably Martha Stewart's Mother's Day pop-up card, I re-created this card with added dimensions, together with the birthday girl's name on it... With all the excitement still hovering over my newly bought Big Shot plus I've received my dies (Yeah!!!), I attempted to die-cut on acrylic... And it works on the acrylic craft sheet that comes in my Clear Scraps DT package!!! It was a thrill to see patterns popping out when I passed the acrylic sheet through my Big Shot!!! Heehee... Can't help it but I just wanna find things to try on... 

Alright, I digress... So here I'm presenting this card for this 98 year old birthday girl... Hope she will like it... I hope this will give you an idea when it comes to making such a big card... Trust me, pop-up works amazingly well on big cards and I'm glad I made this choice for this card... 

Front of the card... As it's a pop-up, I'd have to add a ribbon to tie it down..

A close-up view on the embellishments...

The card that pops up with a bouquet of flowers...

The name of the birthday girl was added here...

The back of the card...

Here is a list of supplies that I used to make this card:

• Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate (Time to Celebrate, Party Perfect, Congratulations, Make A Wish & Best Wishes)
• Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate Stickers
• Clear Scraps 12" x 12" Acrylic Craft Sheet
• Tim Holtz Alterations Garden Green Sizzix Bigz Die
• StazOn Midi (catcus green & emerald city)
• Petaloo flowers
• May Arts Ribbon
• Kraft Cardstock
• Pink Cardstocks
• Pearl Strings
• Stamens
• Tulle
• Twine

Some Little Snowy Fairies Waltzing this Holiday

Alright scrapping peeps, for today on Graphic 45 blog post, I've this cute little ensemble of faires for you, really to waltz away for this Holiday!!!

Totally inspired from the Disney's movie Frozen, I made these snowy fairies out from clothespin pegs... Frozen is probably every child's favourite movie till date, so is my niece... She is a BIG fan of Frozen and she loves these fairies deeply. I've seen a lot of dolly peg projects and they are so adorable, part of it also came from my fellow Graphic 45 teammie, Nichola Battilana. Can't help it and wanted to make something cute!!!

The process in making them is somewhat challenging as I've to use papers for this assignment and it has to be handmade ornaments. I'd have to factor in whether this project can be translated into a tutorial... After giving some deep thoughts about it, I find creating rosettes skirts as one of the easier method... And it SOooo happen that Nutcracker Sweet has this lovely Snowflake Waltz paper that fits into the theme I want!!! As the scene of Elsa stomping her foot on the icy ground and a huge snowflake appeared as she sang "Let It Go" in Frozen came to my mind and that's where I get the inspiration in creating these snowflakes stands for these fairies. The stands are entirely made from those plastic saucers I've for my mixed media projects and classes.

SO here am I, presenting these little cuties to all of you!!! I hope you will enjoy this little performance by them. Follow HERE for the tutorial.

And Happy Holidays!!!

Amending Typo Error in Epiphany Layout

When you get too engrossed in finishing up a layout, sometimes mistakes do happen. As I happily finishing up my Epiphany layout and started sharing, I realized there's a typo in my lettering!!! I missed out a "h" from "Ephiphany"!!! Goodness how could I not check the spelling before adhering the letterings down.

Well, fret not. I decided to amend it. Luckily I glued them down using glossy accent, and managed to pick the last 3 letters up. Surprising glossy accent don't really ahere well on foam which made amending a hassle free one. It's also partly because I did the layout on canvas. If it was done on paper, I won't be able to pick them up as glossy accents stick to paper like no other business; I'd probably tear it. Phew!!! Thank God!!!

So here is the amended layout with the correct lettering.

A Prima Epiphany Mixed Media Layout

Alright scrapping peeps, I know some of you've been waiting for this and it's my pleasure to present my first ever start-to-finish mixed media video. Now screening on my YouTube channel. Yeah!!!

In this pilot video, I'm sharing a time-lapsed progress in how I created this pearlescent Epiphany mixed media layout using Prima's Epiphany paper collection, Ingvild Bolme's Shabby Chic Treasures, Prima flowers, Colour Bloom Sprays and Finabair's ArtBasics, ArtExtravagance and ArtIngredients. Yes it's a layout that I used almost 90% of Prima goodies!!! Though the general look of this layout look simple, but the work behind is not what you think it is as you will get to see in my video. The Epiphany collection contains a good blend of pastel blue, pink and gray which will be the colour palette I worked towards in building this layout. Filming is not really easy for start-to-finish mixed media videos as I'll have to plan properly to ensure the flow is smooth. Certain tasks such as fussy cutting, planning and positioning of embellishments to waiting for medium to dry are not shown in order to make the video within 30 minutes for maximum pleasure and view ability. I was quite excited yet nervous for this as I was pretty concern that it may not turn out that well. Finally I survived!!!

I had developed this photo of mine and had kept it for quite a long time till I decided to create a layout using Prima's Epiphany collection. The white pureness with a touch of soft pastels of this collection just make my heart flutter. I really love this collection. Moreover I'm a Christian and Epiphany has a biblical meaning to it. Epiphany itself is a traditionally observed church festival held on 6th January to celebrate the manifestation of the divine nature of Christ as represented by Magi (Matthew 2:1-12). Hence, I decided to create a layout to kick start this holiday season (though it's not 6th January yet), to commemorate my status as a child of God and the essence of the Gospel and Christ. Also, as a form of remembrance and realisations I've gotten from God.

Alright, before I bored you guys any further, here I'm presenting this for your crafting inspirations. Feel free to let me know what you think and remember to comment and subscribe to my channel. More photos below and a list of supplies as follows.

Happy crafting!!! Cheers!!!

Here is a list of supplies I used for this layout:

• 12" X 12" Canvas Panel
• Clear Scraps Acrylic Borders & Mixers (ornate border & corner ornate)
• Prima Epiphany (Words to Live By & Striking Appearance)
• Prima Epiphany Clear Stamp 2
• Prima Colour Bloom Spray (cotton candy, pearl white, soft teal & storm cloud)
• Prima 6" X 6" Stencil (decor 1)
• Prima Jute Trim (wheat)
• Prima Charlotte Scalloped Roses (white)
• Finnabair Vanity Big Dolly Clear Stamp
• Finnabair ArtBasic (clear gesso, heavy white gesso, soft matte gel, 3D matte gel & modeling paste)
• Finnabair ArtExtravagance (texture paste clear crackle)
• Finnabair ArtIngredients (art sugar in white, light pink & charcoal, glass glitter in sterling and glass beads in crystal)
• Ingvild Bolme Chalk Edger (attic dust)
• Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Treasures (butterflies & door locks)
• Stickles (frosted lace)
• Paper Dolly
• Die-cut Letterings on Foam