Cookie Question: How to Remove the Paper Wrapper on a New Acrylic Block for Stamps

My order from Peachy Keen Stamps arrived today! Woohoo!!! :))

My order includes face stamps, and acrylic blocks.  I bought acrylic blocks with sizes A1, A &  B1 to be used with the new face stamps.

My dilemma now is, what's the best way I remove the paper wrapper on the acrylic block surfaces.

I'd be damned if I damage these brand new ones even before I started playing with them.  And I just hate that when it happens.  So, SOS please.




It's me,

Singapore Adventure: Online Shopping Spree

I have been under the weather since Thursday last week.  I blame it on the crazy weather here in Singapore as well as the thick haze that's been looming over the city state for quite a while now.

When I fall sick, my EQ dips.  So I being sick and having a laptop within reach spells expensive.  Ah, the beauty of online shopping! :)  Retail therapy without borders. Hahaha...

So, here are the latest additions to my stack...

New stamps! :)

New punches! :)

I've been drooling over that Monarch Butterfly punch for quite a while now.  So I took advantage of the 25% off deal on punches last weekend.

And this...  a scoring board.  Well, I didn't have one all along, I just make use of my Fiskar cutter/scorer.  But I really feel that a scoring board is a must for crafters.  So now I do have it! :)

Okay, now we shall let the credit card nurse  its wounds.  While I do some carding. :)

P.S. I have such an "enabler" of a Hubby! Am I a lucky Wifey or not? :))

Singapore Adventure: Friday Movie Date - Contagion.

Yesterday, Hubby Cookie and I went to see the new movie Contagion at the Jurong Point Shopping Centre a bus ride away from our Lakeside home.

The movie was star-studded, which is the main reason why we went to see it.  You don't often see so many big star names in one movie, so it must be good. 

Well, it was not a total disappointment.  But somehow it had a feel of a documentary.  Think in the lines of H1N1 and SARS. There is a story, and whoever wrote it did a fine job.  It was not dragging or boring, it was actually gripping and very much incited interest among the audience.  There was some humor injected in the dialogues every now and then.  I think that also helped keep the audience interested.

Overall, it is a so-so movie.  Something you can just wait to watch on DVD.

Ah, before going the theatre, we manged a quick trip to the stationery shop and I found this cute little thing. You should see it in my next LO project. :)

Cookies @ Lakeside: The Improved Crafting Area

Anticipating the arrival of my latest toy (thanks to my very generous Hubby Cookie), I reorganised the crafting area. 

A quick purchase at Ikea for a sturdy shelf last Sunday and clearing my table and using an old computer table as an extension, and my area is set for long hours of creative practice. :)

What's inside the shelf?  Everything that used to be on the table. That's how much stuff I already have in my stash that needs to be put aside to make room for the Cricut Expression machine. :))

Okay, so let's get the party started. :)

Singapore Adventure: New Supplies!!!

Yesterday, I went on a crazy crafting supplies shopping spree.  And the best thing about it was Hubby Cookie being there to carry my shopping basket! Hahaha... Shopping assistant mode on for Hubby Cookie. :)

I bought new paper packs and cardstock.  Mostly Christmas themed and more masculine prints.

I also got a new clear stamp set from Bo Bunny. A first in my collection. And some bling! :)

My favorite purchase yesterday would be these fantastic ribbons from American Crafts. :)

I can't wait to start using all of them on cards and (crossing fingers) scrapbook pages.

LO Project: My New Hero Arts Stamps

My Hero Arts order arrived yesterday.  Well, it was at my doorstep on Monday afternoon but I was out renewing my passport and so was not home to receive the delivery.  After scheduling for a redelivery with Singapore Post, it has finally reached home! Woohoo!!!

And today, being a rainy and lazy Friday, I decided to sharpen my coloured pencils.  They have been with me since March but I just sharpen the pencils I need.  Today, I decided to do them all.  Hihi...

Here's what I came up with using my new toys, and my fresh coloured pencils. :)  It's not much, but it's a start to get me going again.  I am in a bit of a "creative juice" drought. Is there such a thing?? Hahaha..

The stamps are Hero Arts wooden blocks - 3 Girls set.

LO Project: New Cards with Paper Piecings

Remember my paper pieced hot-air balloon project? 

I have finally used it on a Bon Voyage themed card.  Here it goes. :)

And for the paper-pieced sofa, here is what I came up with.  A New Home themed card.

LO Project: Paper Pieced Sofa

Here's another paper piecing project I worked on recently - a sofa.  It can be used for a "New Home" card, or as an embellishment on a scrapbook page.

1 - It starts off as a sketch which I grabbed from a crafting magazine.  I printed out 2 copies of the image on a white cardstock which will become my templates.  I prefer printing them out on cardstock so I can store and reuse them in other projects later on.

2 - Cut out the essential components from the printed out image.  For this project, I just need the body of the sofa, one circle, and one rectangle with the rounded corners. 

  

3 - Trace the template cutouts on the back of a patterned paper. For this project, I used a page from Prima's Reflections Paper Stack set. Trace out two circles and three of the rectangles. Cut out the pieces.  Ink the edges of each piece.

4 - Put the cut out parts together as in the original sketch.  I used foam tape to adhere the pieces to the sofa body to achieve a 3-D effect.

Presenting, the finished product! :)

 

Acknowledgment:
     Sofa sketch from the Paper Crafts Inspiration magazine February 2011 issue

LO Project: Tying the Perfect Bow

I am working on a practice project using the Stampendous Hey There, Cupcake set.  As I was finishing up the layout, I thought that a bow would be a really nice accent.  So, I decided to make a small bow with a bit of leftover ribbon I had in my stack.  And it was quite hard to tie it into a perfect bow.

I moved from my craft station to the computer and brought up YouTube on the browser.  Then I found this amazing video on how to tie a perfect small bow.



Now, this is what my bow looks like using this technique.  And the finished product.

The denim is not part of the project, it's our sofa's cover. :P

It's just a practice piece.  I will try to come up with a better one in the next few days.  I am still trying to get the hang of stamping. 

LO Project: A Birthday Keepsake

My friend April's little girl is turning one this weekend.  And I made her a present - a birthday keepsake. :)

Photo Frame Side

Name Banner Side

I used a sturdy cardstock for it and printed a royal purple colored paper from a digital scrapbooking minikit I had saved. 

It can hold the birthday greeting cards, "hong bao" envelopes, as well as gift tags for keeping after the celebration.  And it also doubles as a photo frame for a 2" x 3" photo of cute Keyla I grabbed from April's Facebook album.

Happy First Birthday, Dearest Keyla! :)

LO Project: Paper Pieced Hot Air Balloon

I learned a new paper crafting technique, and I've been addicted to it the past few weeks.  It's paper piecing!

Basically, this technique involves cutting pieces out from a design and layering them onto paper.  Paper pieced designs can be used on cards and scrapbooking projects to add more dimensions into them.

Well, I have done a few pieces from patterns I have downloaded for free on the internet and used them to embellish cards and envelopes.  Here they are. :)

Baby Boy Booties

Baby Girl Onesie

But this latest one I did I am really proud of. I think I outdid myself.  Really. :)

I looked up printable coloring pages on Google, then picked out a simple image of a hot air balloon.  And made a paper piecing pattern out of it. Cool, right?

Here's the original coloring page (Sorry I forgot to note of the web link I downloaded the page from).  And beside it is my paper pieced version.

Yes, those are actually strings! :)

I have yet to decide where to use it on.  But most likely, I'll put in on a card.  Maybe a "Bon Voyage" themed one.  What do you think?

LO Project: A Birthday Greeting for Hazel

I am an advocate of giving gifts that are personally made instead of getting them off the shelf.  After all, as the old saying goes, it's the thought that counts.  And adding a tinge of the gifter's personal touch and taste surely gives it that extra oomph! :)

Here's one I prepared for Hazel on the occasion of her Nth Natal Day last 13 February. :)

The trickiest part of this project is picking out the photo.  I had to decide wether to go for a colored photo (which how this photo comes originally) or a greyscale one.  I went for the greyscale photo.  It adds drama, for one. Hehehe... And it gives the photo more "pop" since everything else is in color.

I had fun working on this project, as it is the first one I did after Lord finally got me a work table! :)

Singapore Adventure: Cubee Crazy (Update)

Two new Cubee creations by Princess Cookie.

Computer geeks should definitely recognize this fellow. Say "Hi!" to Tux. ^_^

And who doesn't recognize this Italian Plumber from the colorful world of Nintendo? :D Made it at lunch break today. Now, it sits on my PM's office desk. My Christmas present to him before he goes on leave for the festive season.

I've a couple more lined up to do while my Cookie is vacationing back home.

Miss you already, my Cookie.

Singapore Adventure: Cubee Crazy

This is what's been keeping me preoccupied. ^_^

This is Hell Boy. Cute, huh? I gave it to my teammate as a birthday present.

I also made Santa Claus but I don't have the photo here. It's sitting comfortably at my Cookie's office desk.

I have a couple more Cubees to make lined up for the weekend without my Cookie. Will post them up when I finish them.

If you want to start your own Cubee collection, check out this site. All the templates are free!

(Update 1)

Just finished another one... Meet Mr. Stay Puft. You should be able to recognize him if you are a Ghost Busters fan. Hehehe...

Now Cubee Santa Claus will have a friend at my Cookie's office desk. ^_^

Singapore Adventure: Paper Hats

Now that my holiday days are over, it's crunch time again back at work. And as part of the company's initiative to make the technology staff understand the industry they are supporting, the company is sponsoring a "game".

(Un)Fortunately, yours truly has bee assigned as a team captain for a group of 3 person. Part of the team captain's responsibility is to come up with hats that will identify our team during the game process. I have attempted to make paper hats out of instructions over the net - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/origami/Samuraihat/, and I was successful.

One down, two more to go! ^_^