DCWV Mat Stack - Street Lace

I love designer paper, also known as pattern paper. I love DCWV, which stands for Die Cut With a View. I really think all the DCWV paper stacks are super cool, and they have the prettiest designs. I love that their designer paper stacks have matte, embossed and glittered designs in every stack or pad.

DCWV Street Lace Mat Stack

Check out the one that I recently bought. It's called Street Lace. I love the fuchsia paper with embossed, glittered butterfly motive. I've used it on a birthday card for a friend. I'll blog about it once I've given it to her.

The rest of the paper designs really look like sexy lace. There are 72 pieces altogether, with 24 designs, which means there are 3 pieces of the same design in a stack. It will surely last me a while, plus the fact that I would be using them sparingly, for custom orders or for friends.

DCWV Street Lace - Fuchsia paper with embossed, glittered butterfly motive

DCWV Street Lace - Love this design <3

Paper pads are versatile, and can be used for scrapbooking, cardmaking and other paper crafts. They tend to be quite pricey, so when you cut them to fit your handmade card, save the small bits for other uses. You can punch them with flower shape punch to make paper roses, or make a collage of pattern paper.

What's your favourite designer paper brand? Happy crafting!

Postcard for Kak Emila Yusof

Vintage Women Themed Postcard for Kak Emila Yusof

  
I made this postcard for Kak Emila Yusof recently. She received it yesterday, so it's okay for me to share it here today. It's supposed to be a postcard, but I thought I won't be able to make a scrapbook-themed postcard if it's in a smaller size.

Vintage Women Themed Postcard - Some moments are worth holding in
 your heart forever

This postcard is approximately half A4 in size. I made it with mother and Mother's Day themes in mind, and I wanted to make something a little vintage. I wish I had some lace ribbons or something when I made it, but I didn't. I made use of anything that I have in my stash, and made it work.

Vintage Women Themed Postcard - And this is my good side

I also sent her a popsicle bookmark of the same theme colour, and a thank you card.

My creations are nothing much compared to Kak Emila's wonderful sketches and paintings, but I like it. The thing with crafters is I think we give more than we receive in terms of crafty creations, but that's okay.

Vintage Women Themed Postcard - Layered mulberry flowers and pearls

If you'd like to win handmade cards made by me, join my Free Handmade Card Project over at my Crafty Heart Crafts Facebook page. Happy Wednesday! :)

Crafting Goodies from Diyadeary

I went out with my friend, Diyadeary yesterday. She's at my hometown for a short vacation with her family, so since we haven't met for so long, we decided to hang out.

It was so nice finally catching up with her. Although it was a brief meet, I'm so glad I could catch up with a fellow card crafter. She's a great card crafter, and you can see her wonderful creations over at her blog, Diyadeary.

Crafting goodies from Diyadeary

She went through all the trouble and brought me crafting goodies, as always. I was pleasantly surprise, and I didn't even prepare anything for her. :( I'll surely get her some nice crafty things soon!

Thanks so much, Diya for the gifts! I love them, especially your handmade satin flowers, so gorgeous! Thank you!

Gifts from Kak Emila

I love snail mail. I received a parcel yesterday, and it was such a nice surprise.

Kak Emila has recently mailed her gorgeous printed postcards and calendars to me. I love them to bits! I'm thinking of putting the postcards into little frames and hang them in my room soon. Thanks so much, Kak Emi!

Gifts from Kak Emila - Her 2012 calendar, and printed postcards

If you don't already know, Emila Yusof is a very talented Malaysian artist. She's into children's illustrations and she had published a number of children's books too. Do come and visit her blog at emilayusof.com.

She also sells her printed artwork at Emila's Little Shop. International shipping is available. Happy Sunday!

My New Craft Machines

I've been spending my time watching Korean dramas online, and now I'm watching The Vampire Diaries season 2. I haven't been crafting at all because I left all my supplies back in Kuching. Since I'm going back home again soon, I guess it's best that I didn't bring my heavy craft supplies back and forth. If I could travel light, I would.

I miss making cards! I bought more supplies and tools when I was in Kuching for more than 6 months. I have border punches and new paper pads to work with, but I will have to wait until I go back to Kuching to visit my brother.

My black and pink Big Shot

My Big Shot die cut machine is with my bff, Yenny, and I haven't decided when or where she should send it to. We've also started our own Zutter Bind-it-All "kutu". A "kutu" is a way to collect money every month, and we will be receiving our Zutter according to turns. I will be getting my Zutter next month, which is about a week from now. Yay!

Recent project: Wedding Guest Book

My newest tool! :)

Can't wait to start creating keepsakes with the Zutter binding machine! Now all I need are those O-Wires. :) When I receive the machine, I can make notebooks and even more wedding guest books like the one in the pic. It was a custom order.

Happy weekend and happy crafting! :)

Books - To Buy or Not to Buy?

I love reading, but I don't really buy books. Isn't that weird? I don't know anyone who loves reading but avoid buying books like I do. I don't buy books because I don't like spending ridiculous amount of money on them. Besides, I don't really read the same book more than once.

When I was growing up, my aunt started to bring me along to the local library, where she borrowed books and when she went to another town for nurse's training, she let me use her library cards. A person could borrow 3 books at a time, and using my aunt's, my dad's, my sister's and my cards, I borrowed 12 books at a time. I always managed to finish reading all of them within one week. All I did was read, read, read and read! I didn't get into the habit of buying books because I could borrow them.

However, when I was in college, I had to buy books because I dislike using photocopied books. I bought new and used books because I had to have the books. College textbooks aren't cheap, and therefore, if you're looking to save money like I did, you will need to plan and manage your spendings. One of the best ways is to lookout for ads that say "college text books for sale" by your seniors. You might get your books at super low prices!

I still don't buy books nowadays. I do wish I have more time to read, though. Too many things to do, too little time!

Yummy Crafting Goodies

I always love goodies, especially when they are crafting goodies. I received these yummy goodies recently when I met Ida for the second time to pass the items she ordered.

I love the mini card with the lion head, and the buttons are just so yummy! Thanks so much, Ida!

I really need to get back to crafting. I have been accompanying my brother to the hospital last week, and I had little time to craft. It's all good, though. I'm not the kind of person who can be creative 24/7. Therefore, a break was all I need, and I can't wait to make more cards soon.

Happy crafting and have a great week! Happy Easter!

Crafting Goodies from Ida

I met one of my customers recently. Her name is Ida and she's also a card maker. Do visit her card blogshop, The Pixie Peddler and give her some love yeah? Although it was a really brief meet up because I only had to pass her stuff to her, she made me a card and gave me some crafting goodies.

Isn't the card cute? I love how clean and simple it looks, and yet it looks pretty. She's the one who gave me the cell phone jewels, which I have used on some of my recent cards. I also love the mini wooden pegs! Thanks so much, Ida!

It's awesome when friends send us crafting gifts, right? I feel so blessed. I have bought something on Ebay that I plan to give to some of my lucky customers next month. It's been a while since I last had a giveaway on my store and blog. We'll see! Have fun crafting and happy spring!

Presents from My BFF

I was taking a nap when a Kangaroo courier van arrived and brought me a large parcel. From the super neat handwriting, I immediately knew the parcel is from my bff, Yenny. It put a smile on my face because I sort of knew what's inside the box.

Anyway, I was almost in tears when I saw the gifts. Yenny got me a Dymo Caption Maker with 3 sets of alphabets. I absolutely love it! Then, I saw the gorgeous handmade doll, in blue! He is so going to be my favourite doll, ever! Yenny also made me a birthday card. :)

Dymo Caption Maker Set ♥

Yenny's handmade felt doll ♥

I made a caption using the Dymo Caption Maker and it goes on my memo board. My BFF is so cool, indeed! ♥

The caption I made

I really don't mind that my birthday was last December and that the stuff are so-called belated presents. It's the thought that counts, right? Furthermore, Yenny is often occupied with work and she doesn't have much time to spare to drive to town and mail the parcel anyway. Apart from that, she's also happily married! 

Handmade birthday card by Yenny

Yenny has a blogshop where she sells her felt crafts, handmade cards, and other trinkets. You can visit her at Dragonfly Craft Online Store. I'm not only saying this because she's my bff, but she really does sew very neatly and I love her cute handiwork. Go and give her some love, yeah!

Ribbon Buckles

I bought these ribbon buckles recently. They fit 1 cm wide ribbons perfectly and they are very pretty. I'm thinking of using them as embellishments on my handmade card soon and also selling them on my store. I'm not sure if they'll sell, though.

What do you think? Would you purchase them if I sell them and how much do you think would be a reasonable price? Let me know!

Christmas Presents for the Kids

My Christmas presents are ready. I've wrapped them last week, and this time, instead of using inexpensive brown paper, I used wrapping paper that I bought a local store. The store sells cheap products from China. I think it's like the dollar store in the US, where you can find cool things for just a few Ringgits.

The pretty wrapping paper is sold for RM1.20 per pack of 2 sheets of standard size wrapping paper. I think it's a steal! I was surprised with its great quality.

I'm all for inexpensive way of wrapping gifts. This is because wrapping gifts is just a way to conceal the actual gift from being seen by the recipient. Most of the time, wrapping papers end up in our garbage bin anyway, so why spend so much on it? 

In this case, the presents I bought are for my little cousins, nephews and nieces. I doubt that they know how to save trees, yet!

I just hope they'll like the gifts. Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? 

Beware of My Lazy Craft

My best friend, Yenny, owner of Dragonfly Craft has recently alerted me about an issue. This is regarding a person who calls herself My Lazy Craft. This person had a blog, which has been removed and also a Facebook page.

Apparently, she sells ebooks that she has downloaded for FREE from a person who has painfully scanned or captured the ebooks and shared them for free. My Lazy Craft has also copied pics from popular crafters' blogs. You can read a post by one of the bloggers, SekociNorlie.

This is totally wrong, peeps! As a fellow crafter and blogger, I'm totally against copying pics or contents without permission from the owners. It has happened to me before, when a crafter bought some brads from me and used the pics I took to sell the brads on her blogshop. I did told the person to remove my pics, but since she sold the brads very expensively, I couldn't care less to revisit her blogshop to check if the pics have been removed. I know somehow God will repay her for stealing my pics.

Tell all your crafter friends to be aware of My Lazy Craft. Let's not become victims of such person, who has absolutely no class and no integrity. 

A Card for Baby Qeeb

I made this blue, baby boy themed card for baby Qeeb. Baby Qeeb is my blogger friends, Soulie and Bem's firstborn.

I really enjoyed making the card. Congratulations again, Soulie and Bem! :)

Doctors & Nurses Clear Stamp Set

I'm currently adding more clear stamps to my collection. Clear stamps are very easy to use, and they're pretty cute too. They're best used with pigment inks, so I'm trying to get as many pigment ink colours as I can as well.

I've been looking all over for doctor and nurse clear stamps, and I've found this cute clear stamp set by Woodware Craft Collection. I love how we can colour the images using colour pencils or Copic markers and make them our own.

I have a few aunts who are nurses and I have quite a number of friends who are doctors.  C's mom was a nurse too, and so was his eldest sister. 

I stumbled upon my aunt's photo on Facebook recently and she was wearing her full operation theatre (OT) attire, with scrubs and everything. It was quite a sight, since I've never seen her at work before, but my aunt is an excellent, dedicated nurse. I swear she should actually be a doctor!

Comfortable scrub sets are important in a doctor's or nurse's daily routine. Cotton fabrics are best as they are easy to wash and they are super comfortable. One should always respect medical staff. It's definitely not easy trying to save lives and dealing with pressure at the same time.

Save Money Using Coupon Codes

If you're a customer of Crafty Heart, you'll probably know that I always give discounts whenever I can using coupon codes. If you purchase from me for the first time, I will usually give you a 10 percent coupon code that you can use for your second purchase.

Coupon codes are easy to use and they allow us to save time too. We don't need to buy newspapers to collect coupons to save on groceries and so on. There are websites and blogs that help us collect virtual discount coupons too.

I'm currently saving to buy a laptop computer. When I have one, it'll be convenient for me to bring a laptop computer everywhere I go, especially when meeting friends and potential clients. New customers can also sign-up on the spot via wireless broadband, on my laptop computer.

I've always loved Hewlett Packard computers, so I can definitely make full use of the Hewlett Packard coupons that I have. If you're into Dell, there are Dell coupon codes available too. I know a few people who are using Dell computers, and so far I haven't heard any complaints from them about Dell products.

Right now, I'm looking forward to seeing Paramore perform live in KL. Anyone willing to pay for my ticket?

Shopping for Bathroom Furniture

I don't have my own house yet, but I sure do love decorating. I used to love decorating my own bedroom in Kuching, although it's now a storage room, since I don't really live there anymore.

I recently went to my aunt's house at Desa Ilmu, near Unimas, Kota Samarahan. I had to go there to pick up some things, and boy was I surprised to see her newly renovated home! I love how she decorates it. It's a very spacious abode and she has an L-shaped sofa in her living room, along with matching furniture and lighting fixtures.

She also has a bar kitchen counter and stools, which I absolutely adore. Her whole kitchen is decorated in black and silver funiture, and I think her sense of style is very chic. She certainly made the most of all the space, and being a perfectionist, she surely did make sure that everything fits in together.

What I love most is her main bathroom. It has a bathtub, which is a must for me if I were to renovate my own house in the future. I love the idea of having a bathtub so that I can relax and rejuvenate in a warm, soothing bath on a busy day. Such bliss!

If only my aunt lives in KL! I think we'd be having so much fun shopping for bathroom furniture together. Any reason for shopping is a good enough reason, I'd say.

Drive Safely This Raya

I always feel lucky because my parents come from different hometowns, or the more accurate term is "kampung" or village. Yup, my parents are regular "kampung" folks and each year, we'd go back to each "kampung" for festivals such as Hari Gawai Dayak and Christmas.

Nowadays, visits to both "kampung" are more frequent, since my parents have a small orchard at each "kampung" where they plant fruit trees and so on. I believe many of my readers and friends will be going back to their hometowns this Hari Raya Aidilfitri to celebrate the festive season with their family and friends.

If you're travelling this festive season, be extra careful, especially if you're driving. If you're sleepy, get some sleep, have some coffee, or you can even have your friends stay awake to keep you company during the journey.

You also might want to get extended warranty coverage for your car. While you're at it, get a Vehicle Service Contract for your car. You can pay for the BBB ACCredited extended warranty coverage via monthly installments, which means it's affordable. Don't worry, there will be no credit checks and absolutely no inspections.

Drive safely this festive season, and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

In Need of Inspiration

I haven't been making any cards for the past week. I have some new clear stamps and inks to play around with, but I guess it's easier to make cards if I have anyone in particular to make for.

I think I'll try to make some cards tonight, since I've bought some paper yesterday at Popular. It's tough to get ideas to make cards when supplies are limited here in Kuching. I didn't bring my ribbons and flowers from KL when I came back a few weeks ago, so I'll have to make do with the buttons and pattern papers that I have.

Here's to hoping for some inspirations tonight! Happy crafting!

I'm Going Home

In a few hours, I will be going home to be with my brother who is unwell, and I'm bringing my craft supplies with me so that I can make some cards while I'm there.

I'm loving my Prima flowers and Basic Grey paper pads! I know I sound happy but my brother, Jojo is diagnosed with a rather serious illness, but crying and being sad won't help either, you know? We're just trying to keep a positive outlook on everything right now, and hoping for the best.

I was thinking about starting another blog to display and sell my handmade cards to help raise some money for Jojo's treatment. What do you think? Anyone want to buy my handmade cards?

Please pray for him so that he'll get well soon, yeah? You guys be good, stay creative and take care! Have a great week!

Gorgeous Blogger Award

A. Accept the award and thank the person who gave it to you.

Thank you so much Dhiya for the gorgeous award. Dhiya is a creative crafter and she makes pretty handmade cards for sale! Her cards are always sweet, pretty and neat, just the kind of style that I fancy.

B. List 10 things about yourself
1. I'm a Sarawakian.
2. I can cook, although I don't cook often.
3. I love crafting!
4. I recycle, reuse and reduce.
5. I currently have 4 blogs.
6. I love cats more than dogs because cats purr. :)
7. I can't drive.
8. I can cry at the littlest things, like watching a Glee episode. Lol!
9. I believe in God.
10. I can't stand crowded places.

C. List 5 additional things you DON'T like
1. Lizards
2. Inefficiency
3. Hot weather
4. Carelessness
5. Being unprepared

Then pick ten lovely people to give this lovely award to!
1. Zwei
2. Emila
3. Miyyah
4. Marzie
5. LadyJava
6. Monica
7. Haaziq
8. Shemah
9. Ane
10. Bill