Blooms and Wishes for Mother's Day Card

Last Wednesday, I made a Mother's Day card for my mother-in-law in the last minute and mailed it out on Thursday (hope she's already got it by now!)

And then it poped in my head - why don't I ask if anyone in the office would like a Mother's Day card for their mums?  So I did, and two of my co-workers actually ordered from me. Yay!

So I made additional two cards using the same idea and layout.  They took me more than one hour to finish, which is not cost-efficient by any stretch.  But it's just nice to be able to utilise these stamps and dies, and my colleagues get to bring specially made cards for their mums.  Plus, I got some coffee money out of them. :-)

Watercolor Wings and Butterfly Basics - Ally's and My First Stamp Set Challenge!

Last week after the Stampin' Up Onstage2016 in Brisbane, I came back to Melbourne with a realisation.

The realisation is simple - find a balance in life.

Every day, I spend 7.5 hours on sleeping, 8.5 hours on work (too much) and the rest 8 hours on family and myself.  And that 8 hours of family and me time, although not enough, should be used to the fullest.

Then my thoughts went to some of the stamps I spent good money on but never got to use (much).  Next, I messaged my good friend Ally halfway across the globe.  Ally and I met in Dubai and she is a natural crafter.  She bought some Stampin' Up products through me, but she has similar problems - she can't find time to really sit down and craft.

We started talking about Stampin' Up products, my trip to Brisbane etc.  Then we decided to set up a challenge: to make 2 cards out of the same stamp & die set we bought.

And we did.  Here are the cards she made:

Ally's Card #1

Ally's Card #2

(I added Made by Ally Lee because these are her creations)

Those butterflies are just incredible, aren't they?  I love how she combines the different stamp sets to create her own styles.  And the cards really jump out of the existing Stampin' Up box.  Ally is so modest in saying that I taught her the techniques.  But I don't think I can stamp the butterflies the way she does them.

My cards are different from hers in that I use mostly Stampin' Up products (because I have a mission - to sell the products! ) for the make.  I spent good 2 hours trying to come up with the best looks for the cards.

My Card #1

Sorry for the extra large logo. It's 10:30 PM about bed time so I don't really bother shrinking it now.

And this one I forgot to make it brighter/sellable. But you get the idea. 

The ink pad and card stock are both Sweet Sugarplum.

My Card #2

 My first time using those ruched ribbons.  They are nice on bags and packaging but not really the most complimentary ribbons on a card if you know what I mean.  But then again I'm just a newbie. An experienced demonstrator would simply call that rubbish (as in what I just said, not the ribbon) 

And I should have white embossed the sentiments too. (That's called bad planning, Kim)

So here they are, all nice and pretty.  And you'll also noticed one thing - ah yes, that I've almost given up on photography.

The butterfly stamp set is so classic and yet versatile, and the Blooms and Bliss DSP (designer series paper) is definitely one of my favourite.



Next I'm listing the products used for our projects. Anyone?  ( Bet the ruched ribbons are gonna be popular! )