Give without expecting a return...

Winter break is so close and I have so many plans made! But before I head off to break, I wanted to make sure that I gave a little something to my three best friends. They are all receiving necklaces that I had bought in China; I couldn't resist buying them because I loved how each necklace was different from all the others.

Of course, my inner scrapbooker also wouldn't let me use store-bought tags, so naturally I made my own. :)

Glittery ribbons are the best...until they start to shed!

It's December!

For reasons I might not even be able to explain, I get really excited every time winter comes around. All of my other friends dislike winter because they complain it's always cold and drab (though the weather rarely drops below 50 degrees...), but I love the still crispness of the air and the sentiment of the upcoming holidays. I suppose it's my inner New Englander coming through; I actually prefer winter over summer...

The card I made for the start of the winter season was one of the most time-consuming because I cut out the snowflake by hand. It required a small knife, a very steady hand, and a lot of patience, but I'm glad that the end result turned out so well! 

It's very hard to see...but I wrote a little inscription in silver pen that reads "Love, Hope, Peace, Joy." Yes, I'm a pretty sentimental person; I can't help it!

Fall Back...

Yes, it's true that seasons don't really exist in SoCal, but that doesn't mean I can't get into the autumn spirit. That's what my cards are for; I get to project my imagination onto them.

On this card, I love the three-dimensional element that the autumn leaves offer. It's almost as if they had just fallen onto the card by chance and might be blown away by the breeze at any moment. Happy fall!

Acorn!

School Days

I'm back! I had so much fun over summer vacation, but I also kept busy preparing for the upcoming October SATs and for the four APs I'm taking this year. 

I thought a school-themed card would be a great way to usher in my junior year! The components of this card came primarily from my scraps drawer and from an old school-themed scrapbook kit that my mom had given me as a gift a few years back. 

It's no coincidence that there's an "A+" badge on my card! ;)

 

Just Around the Corner

Summer break is just a few days away...I can't wait to just relax for a while, sitting by the pool and reading a good book. This summer I'll be attending classes through July and the first half of August, and then I'm going with my family back to China to visit relatives. It's been nearly four years since we last visited China, so I'm excited to see what's changed!

To get into the summer mood, I made this water-themed card. The card turned out to be a lot taller than I had anticipated, but I made it work out in the end. :)

Getting to paint the duck and slide with watercolors was the best part!

Happy Birthday Mom~!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday! Birthday plans haven't been set in stone yet, but I'm sure it'll involve giving gifts and insisting that she doesn't look nearly as old as she thinks.

For her birthday, I made this little card. I love how the ribbons in the background match each other even though they did not originally come as a set. I made sure to keep up the blue and green color scheme because those are my mom's favorite colors.

Butterflies galore~

~Bonjour~

I came across this lovely card while browsing through an online scrapbooking catalog. The mellow color scheme and French phrases complement each other perfectly. J'aime!

Sugar and Spice...

As a scrapbooker, I've definitely learned ways to make something out of nothing. In fact, most of the cards are made almost entirely of scraps. I don't use store-bought cardstock or other materials unless I have to.

This was one such card that I made only out of bits and pieces from my paper scraps drawer. I find the kittens so endearing! (Can you tell that I love cats?) The red ribbon on the bottom did not originally have green stitching; I sewed it in. 

So much stitching! I love the effect that stitching creates but it does add at least an extra hour to every project.

101 Dalmatians

I love accessorizing cards! I recently made this little card just because I found an adorable sticker of a dalmatian in my drawer and I didn't want it to go to waste. The buttons that you see in the upper right corner were actually clear; I cut out embossed gold foil and glued them onto the backs of the buttons. Yes, it was as tedious as it sounds! But it was definitely worth it; the buttons turned out beautifully. I really love this card because the accessories complement each other beautifully. Also, puppies... ^^

Woof~!

Waiting...

Spring is almost here! Just waiting for the cold to drift away and be replaced by warm sun...and in anticipation of that marvelous season, I made a card fittingly titled "Happy Spring."

This is actually one of my favorite cards I've made so far; I love the color scheme. And of course, who doesn't love spring drizzle and baby chicks? Also, I like that the circular shape of the card sets it apart from the rest.

"Chirp!"

"Hope" is the thing with feathers...

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

I've loved poetry since I was a child and Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets of all time. Her poetry is written so simply, yet it's amazingly beautiful and insightful. The poem above actually inspired me to create a "Hope" card!

I'm trying out different card shapes...the "bracket" edge is so unconventional!