I started this card yesterday and for the first time I would say that this is the card I made that took me time to finish.  I was thinking of doing a digital card greeting but I decided to do it the traditional way, since I can take a photo of it after I'm done and post it as a greeting for my friends who are celebrating this feast.  Just a quick overview, St. Patrick's Day is much celebrated in Ireland on March 17 and is now being celebrated across the world.  You can learn more of it's history here.

I want to make a pop-up card.  As you all know, I always make A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") size cards with the decorations on the cover and sometimes a little phrase inside.  This time it's a bit different since the size is bigger and the focus of the card is what's on the inside.  The pop-up pattern is simple, it's only cut and fold.  The fun part is making and assembling the decorations.

Materials and Procedure:
A.  Inside the card:
Base
- 8 1/2" x 11" White cardstock Tuscany (Elite) scored and folded into half (card base).
- AAS Keepsakes Reminiscence patterned paper in green (matting).
- 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" Moods Light green cardstock scored and folded into half, punch edges with Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge puncher, measured, cut and folded the base of the pop-up portion (pop-up base).
Assemble this three materials starting from the card base below, then the matting and finally, the pop-up base on top.
Decorations and Embellishments
- two dressed up dolls in green (Sizzix Dressed Up dolls)
- hand-stamped butterflies, given to me by my friend, Ails. Cut and highlighted with metallic and glittered pens.
- Moods dark yellow cardstock picket fence shaped using Cuttlebug die cutting machine and Sizzix picket fence cutting die.
- Kraft board dog shaped using Cuttlebug and Sizzix dog cutting die.  Dubbed with Colorbox pigment and highlighted the collar with green glittered pen.
- Moods dark green cardstock grass shaped and cut manually and punched cut tulips with Carla Craft puncher. darkened the stems with Maped forest green marker.
- Pot of Clovers:  I used deep brown board for the pot, shaped and cut manually.  Then, I added strips of Kraft board for the stems.  Finally, I punched heart shapes on a dark green paper and assemble it to look like shamrocks or little clover leaves on the stems.
- Sentiment strip:  Moods light orange cardstock cut with Carla Craft Deckle scissors, embellished with glittered pens and eyelets.  Hand-written the sentiment.  Then I added squared green cardstock to look like a pavement just below the sentiment strip.
Assemble this pieces inside the card as desired.  Carefully, adhere the pieces together and make sure there are no excess fresh glue inside when folding the card to prevent damaging the parts.

B.  Card front:

-  Moods dark green cardstock embossed using Cuttlebug, swiped with Kaiser pigment in white for the matting.  Brown board for the enlarged pot, Embellished with clover foam stickers, punched heart shape cuts formed into clover leaves, ceramic butterflies, rhinestones, ribbons and doodles with Leeho glittered glue.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My space is just a portion of the family's computer room, it is a mixture of old and new.  My storage solutions are economical because as much as possible I look for items I found at home especially at the kitchen like cans that I decorate with patterned papers and embellishments, fruit crates that I painted and more.  Then, if I need to buy, I head first at the hardware section of stores because they are a lot inexpensive.  You can see more of my play and creative space here.

I really had a fun and busy weekends from October and November.  Things can really happen unexpectedly at bazaars but learning from it is what really matters.  

Taking little steps to reach your dream brings big results and I really pray that everything will continue to fall in its place for our family.

I really had a blast and I'm happy to see that there are a lot of people, both kids and adults, who are interested in crafting.  It was also a nice time to meet new friends aside from showcasing and testing your dream business. 

Thank you so much for joining me in this event...  I hope to see you all again on the next bazaar .

Then, a package with my name on it just came last November 10...  For several years I haven't got any and when I saw it that day I couldn't help but to feel like a child again.  It was from the card swap I joined in another community site.  I excitedly opened my package and to my delight I saw all the beautiful cards made by the other members of the swap.  They are all so beautiful and really impressive with different styles and medium.  All did a great work! :)

Not only that, I also received loads of goodies and handmade cards from the hostess...  Thank you so much, Joan.  I really had so much fun and I'm really thankful for all the goodies!  These are perfect for tons of crafting. 

I will cherish and keep all these cards crafted by my friends.  Even though we're apart, I'm happy that we share the same passion for crafting.

Here are my cards for the said swap.  The themes are about Friendship and Wedding.

As I always say, Happy Crafting! :)

It's been a while since I was able to update my site.  I've been really busy making my son's birthday invitations and party give aways...

Invitation.  I maximized the use of my Cuttlebug.  My son's birthday theme is a Barnyard Bash!  That's why I picked diecut templates from Sissix that have designs found in a barn such as a dog and a fence.  For the embossed background, I chose the Birthday A2 dry embossing template from Cuttlebug.  I used specialty boards and papers for the card and incorporated my son's photo as the focal of the layout. Then I stamped the word "FUN" with a clear acrylic stamp.

Souvenir Scrapbook Mini-Kit.  I used brown craft paper as the based and I embellished it with coordinating diecuts with the invitations.  I punched circles with my Carla craft punch and created a collage to make the tree. After making the layout, I added a little journalling around my son's photo.  Now, I was able to give a sample layout that our guest may follow and inspire them to try scrapbooking.  Then, to make it as a kit, I included diecuts, buttons, stickers and other embellishments.

I packed it in a zip lock bag and made the customized bag topper . 

In addition to what I've created we also bought and packed small toys from Divisoria as loot bags for the kids.  In the Philippines, Divisoria is a place in Manila where you can find lots of items in a very affordable price.

I had so much fun making this for our son.  It was also a bonding moment for me and my husband since he helped me with the packings :)

It's my first blog entry for this site and I thought of sharing a little of something about myself.  I'm a mom, wife and an architect by profession. I love the arts eversince I was a kid and crafting is my favorite activity that I share with my family especially with my sisters. Cardmaking, scrapbooking, bead jewellery making and cross-stitching are just a few of my favorite crafts. But I'm so much into paper crafts especially cardmaking and scrapbooking.

My favorite subjects for my layouts are about family, friends, love and encouragement.

I mixed media on my paper crafts - stamps, patterned papers, embossing, die cuts, ribbons, embellishments and different coloring materials.

Sometimes a simple object can move me to craft and turn it into something nice and useful.