Friday 16 March 2012

Black and White in Paris

I am entering my 2nd a passion for PTI challenge after a great start from the 1st one(I got into the top 3 passionate last time, woo hoo!!) I think this is a good way to keep me updating my blog and make some cards that are out of my comfort zone! And it is fun:)

This weeks challenge is ‘black and white with a pop colour’, I came up with a black and white idea quite quick, but the pop colour part..I needed to think hard how this was going to match with the simple layout  that I was going to make..

I am not sure why when I think of black and white, I think of Paris, so I used an Eiffel tower image from stamping up and teamed it up with a sentiments set I adore so much from PTI. It is Dawn Mcvey’s signature greetings. This set of sentiments is so versatile. It fitted so well with different themes.


I embossed the tower and the sentiment to give it a bit of 3D effect (which i know you can't really see on a 2D photo :D) and I used melon pink as my pop colour (to create a romantic effect? ) then I finished it with  a ‘frame’ and some washi tape.Nice and easy in half an hour. ( and another hour to try and clean up all the embossing powder on my desk..!!)

That’s me for just now, I am hoping I am going to be lucky this time and get that coffee mug image stamp coz they are just toooooooooo cute! (My to buy list for PTI is far too long now.. and seems it is not in proportion with my saving!)

Sunday 11 March 2012

Supporting local businesses

I found out on Saturday that Burns and Harris in Dundee was closing down( after 126 years!!!!)..and they were selling all the remaining stock with 70% off. I got myself some great bargains although the shops stock was almost all gone, at the same time I am sad they are closing. I can always go to Hobbycraft and other shops I guess..but I liked the homely feeling of B&H, they always cut the cardboard for me for free and they’ve got some great art stuff. I think it is a shame that so many small businesses in this difficult economic climate  are not able to survive..

So I am going to use this post to support some local business and do a bit of free marketing for them..(ok, I know..i don’t really have 10 million followers and not everyone is living in Dundee..but they are all lovely shops and products that deserve some recognitions..and whenever I like a shop/restaurant in Dundee, I always tell Gary: 'I hope they won’t close down soon' because businesses in Dundee don’t seem to last long..?)

So first up, is Henry’s coffee house. It is just a lovely place in the city centre. I love my starbucks(and all the freebies I get from the starbucks card), but it is good to sometimes go to somewhere else that is less ‘commercial’. I know what to expect in starbucks but going to Henry is more exciting, you always wonder what cakes they’ve got today and what is the soup of the day. All their food is very tasty I would say( They used to serve the soup with a roll and with Lockerbie butter which is one of the best butters I have ever tasted. I think they are available in most supermarkets, the one with salt is more tasty than the one without salt.) And I believe they do live music sessions at night time in the cafĂ© now. Check their website /facebook page if you would like to know more.

They did a tasting session in the place I work the other day and the owner(Henry?haha) told me they got their coffee beans from that wee little coffee/tea shop in the city centre( you will know what i mean if you live in Dundee,that old old fashion coffee/tea shop!). Local businesses supporting each other, thumbs up :)




Then they next one is Mrs.Bridge. I guess they are quite famous already and you can see them in quite a lot of food shops. I found out actually they are based in Arbroath and they do lovely gift sets when you purchase online. I ordered a few sets for Christmas and they came with a very presentable gift bag and their products are very yummy. I used to buy the garlic mayo all the time and Gary told me the chutney i got for his family as part of the Christmas hamper went down like a storm in his household. You usually got a discount code from their facebook page for 10% off and you will sometimes get free delivery on special promotions period.

Give them a try if you are living in Dundee or in the UK. I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Actually I am bit frustrated from the weekend just past with my blog, I tried to fix my ‘reply’ button on the comment bit, but it is just not working! I think I spent around 3 hours looking for solutions in Google and even try to fixed my HTML (god knows what they are…?!) still no progress (!!). I wish I am a computer geek guru and I should of paid more attention at school when they were teaching all this weird coding thing..

The reason behind fixing the stupid button is that I just want to say thanks for everyone for their comments and encouragement since I started this blog. It is always nice get some feedback.
(and Jeff, I lied to you, I said everyone can leave a comment, actually that’s not the case until I changed my setting 2 days ago..so you can leave a comment now without having a Google account! I learn something new about my blog everyday.lol)

I will try to finish up a few cards and hopfully get another post up later this week and enter a few card chanallege if I can, I totally need to kick the lazy bug out of my body.

Saturday 3 March 2012

Needle and threads

This is my 1st entry for ‘a passion for papertery’ challenge.

The theme is 'needle and threads'. Um. Tricky. Very Tricky. I don’t have a sewing machine. (!!) I have always wanted one but I just don’t have the space in my room, so thinking cap on!

Then I suddenly remembered I have a set of patterned paper from stamping up! And it is called 'sweet stitching' from last year's cataloge..Bingo!i guess I am going to cheat a bit here and pair it up with a hand sewed flower as the focal point. So i combined some real ‘needle and threads’ and some printed 'needle and threads’in this card. You just can’t see the real needle and threads cause they are hidden in the flower ;D

I made a mother's day themed card since it is almost mother’s day.  Btw, I never really celebrate mother's day in March since my mum is still living in HK and they follow the American tradition and their mother's day is in May..But Hong Kong used to be a British colony?? Not making sense here and I am always confused when I should say happy mothers day to my mum.

Ok, enough blethering. Let's see the card.

I used the colour scheme here:

And I used the a PTI mat stack 4 die and fillable frames 4's sentiment and mix and match different paper and embellishments, and a hand sewed felt flower.See my pinterest if you would like to know how to make them.


















I am having a lazy week this week, started making loads of cards but they are all half finish and they are just lying around (told you I am messy!!)  I guess I need to get my motivation back. I am glad there is more day light now! Can't wait for summer ( i guess i started saying that back in September?)