Revamped Card and Itty Bitty Earthquake

Revamping old cards. . .do you do that from time to time?  I have a bunch of cards that I made in the past and when I look at them today, my reaction sometimes is "meh".  It's either the layout, the embellishment, the image, or the sentiment that I don't like about the card.  But I think . . .what a shame to throw the cards in the junk pile to never be looked at again and what a waste of time and materials to do such a thing.

Sooo. .. .my solution is to grab parts of what I like of certain cards that I've made in the past and create a completely new card.  For this card in particular, I didn't like my original layout and the sentiment.  Actually, there was no sentiment to begin with.  I also didn't like the designer paper that I used for the card so I took part of the background image and pulled it off from one card, took the image from another card, added the embellishment and sentiment. . .whala! a completely new card that I actually like.

I have a bunch of cards that needs a re-do and if I have the mojo to do it this week, I may re-vamp a few more cards.  

By the way, we had a little earthquake this morning here in Southern California.. . .a 5.1 magnitude located in Anza, not to far from where I live.  My cat got a bit excited and started freaking out a little. . .me, I sort of sat in my chair and decided that the house wasn't going to cave in on me so I didn't do anything.  People in California have a tendency to be nonchalant about earthquakes because it happens so often.  Anyhoo, I read that it's not a good idea to run out of the house and it's best to stay put inside and go under a table. . .not sure.  Maybe I should do my homework in the case the big one happens one day.  I actually don't know what to do if a major earthquake occurs.  I am so unprepared.

 

Anyway, that's all for now.  

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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My Weird Habit

Okay don't laugh.  This is a weird subject but I don't know. . .about a few months ago, I got into the habit of trying to squeeze whiteheads off my face.  I don't know how it started but I would touch my face and I would feel something rough on my face. . .like a small bump.  I then would try to scratch or squeeze it off my face.  I would typically do this while I'm doing idyl things like watching television.  

It started to become a habit. . .I almost did it sub-consciously.  The problem with this habit is because I'm not doing it in front of a mirror, I sometimes don't realize what I'm actually doing to my skin.  Later when I look in the mirror, I realize I've scratched off my skin.

I don't know. . maybe I have psychological issues. . LOL!  I started to have little scars on my face. . .nothing really bad but well, I never had scars on my face in the past so it began to disturb me.  One day while browsing through Little Tokyo in LA, I came across a store that sold various Asian beauty products and there was this tool (shown above).  It's a whitehead/blackhead pore squeezing tool.

OMG!  The answer to my face picking!  Problem is I've become somewhat obsessed with squeezing the whiteheads out.  I don't have blackheads so all that is squeezed out are these white things.  I think most of you know what I'm talking about.  I know. . .gross.  It's not that I had a lot of whiteheads but I just became fascinated with it.  I can't believe I'm telling ya' all about this but I just find it so hilarious.

Anyway, luckily I've come to realize that I am destroying my skin and have stopped being so obsessed with it!   But, the good news, this tool really really works and is very handy if you want to squeeze out a blackhead or whitehead.  It's cleaner than using your nails to squeeze them out.  

I'm fortunate that I don't have many pimples. . .and my skin is in fairly good condition considering what I've been doing to it.  I do highly  recommend this tool  . . .just don't get weird about it like I did.
 

Here is a tutorial on how to use the tool:

That's it for today.  I created a few cards today. . .I'll post them tomorrow.  I still need to take photos of them.

Hope ya' all had a wonderful weekend!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Drivng and Conquering Fears

I don't remember if I've ever shared this photo.  It's a photo of my daughter at the Santa Monica Pier in LA.  It's one of my favorite picture, not of just my daughter but as a whole.  When I took the picture I primarily was focusing on my daughter then later realized that I had taken a photo of the whole pier in the background much to my delight!

The photo was taken during the summer.  I haven't been back to Santa Monica Pier since summer because it's been too cold to ride our bikes there.  The purpose of going to the pier was to ride our bikes from the pier to Venice Beach.  There is a very nice bike path that leads to Venice Beach which is about 2 miles or so away.

If you ever visit LA, it's something you might want to consider doing.  Although we bring our own bikes, they do rent bicycles there.  I love Venice Beach. . .just to people watch.  It's one of the most interesting places to just hang out and watch the strangest of all people.  LOL!  It's a very interesting place.  They have lots of restaurants, street entertainment, quirky shops, and of course, the people that hang out there. 

I've been living in California for approximately 8 years and for the past 7 years, I was a little fearful of driving outside of my town by myself.  I would do it on occasion but more out of necessity.  I think it's because I was really never the driver whenever we drove to LA or San Diego.  After my husband passed away last year, if I want to drive anywhere outside of my town, I now have to do it my self.  

You see, I'm originally from Hawaii where the speed limit is 55 mph on the freeway.  The traffic is rather mild compared to California, especially the Orange County and LA area.  The driving experience in California is very unique in that drivers are rather impatient and they drive really fast.  They're also not very nice.  Although the speed limit on the freeway is 65 to 70 mph, no one really drives at that speed.  More commonly, people drive at around 75 to 85 mph which quite honestly, freaked me out.  I was not accustomed to driving at that speed.

But knowing I had to drive my self if I wanted to do anything outside of my little town (well, not so little . . I live in a fairly large town) I began driving to LA and San Diego which are both about an hour or so away from where I live.  After several trips, it became a lot easier and less nerve-wracking to the point that I no longer have any anxiety driving anywhere.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  

Luckily my desire for adventure was stronger that my fear of driving or I would have been stuck in this little town I live in.  I now want to drive to Orange County, LA and San Diego all the time because there are so many fun things to do there.   I learned a lot from this experience.  Sometimes our fear are conjured up by our own imagination, that in reality it's not at all what we imagine it to be.  If we don't take the risk, even if only once, we'll never know what wonderful experiences we could be having.  

Anyway, I think I'm going to create a few cards today.  I want to drive out somewhere today but unfortunately, with the price of gas the way it is, I have to stay put.  It's very frustrating.  Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday.  Until next time!!

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Hello! I'm Back

Hi Everyone!  Gosh, it's been a while. . .I last posted about 3 months ago.  Life is still the same but different as well.  I still do craft from time to time.  Not as often as I used to.  I even considered not blogging anymore and thought of closing down this blog.  But. . .I decided not to.  I've invested years on this blog and my other blog "Card Inspired"; therefore, I'll just keep both of them open.  I'm actually quite surprised that people still visit Card Inspired because I haven't blogged on that site for over 4 years.  I guess as long as there is Google, someone will land on that blog from time to time.

What have I been up to, you ask?  Honestly. . .a lot!  I recently saw Pink and Lady Gaga in concert!  Had a blast seeing them.  I love concerts. . .but concerts are costly so I think I may need to cut down on attending them.  I'll attend the ones that I really, really badly want to see.  I thought of attending Beyonce's concert.  I love her but not that much so I decided to skip her. I may attend Green Day and Maroon 5. . .not sure yet. 

Oh dear. . .am I just rambling on.  Yeah, I am huh? Sorry. . . I just don't want to think too hard on what to write. . . just whatever is on my mind.  Sometimes thinking takes too much effort.. . .LOL!    I do want to say that I'm going to be transitioning my blog to more of a personal blog and not just a "crafting" blog.  First of all, I don't craft as often as I used to.  Secondly, my life no longer revolves around crafting and I have a lot of other interest that I prefer to blog about.  I always had a lot of other things I was interested in but I felt my blog was focused on crafting so I kept my blog focused on that.  I tend to be the type of person that like to keep things confined into little boxes. . .not because I'm an organized person, I'm actually quite the opposite, very unorganized as a matter of fact.  By segregating things, it helps to keep my self in check or life would be crazy and chaotic.  

I did do some crafting the past few months and I posted a few that I did make.  Nothing special. . .just same ole', same ole.  My card making has slowly been going down hill. . . I basically use the same layout with pretty much the same design but in my opinion, with a different image, designer paper, and sentiment, a card can look totally different even with a similar layout. 

What else is there to talk about. . .I guess I'll go back to discussing what my plans are for this blog.  I'll be posting photos. . .I do like taking photos of life in general.  People on my Facebook know that of me.  I tend to post a lot of food on my Facebook, hehe!   I also like to do a lot of outside activities, visiting different places, trying out new hobbies or interest (which I normally don't stick to), just lots of other things.  I also am very interested in anything Asian because well, I'm Asian. . .things like Asian dramas (primarily Korean dramas), KPOP music, Asian food, stuff like that.  I'd like to share some of them with you. Who knows, you may start to find interest in them as well.  I also like to explore the different things to do in California and take photos of them.  I don't know. .. there are just so many things that life has to offer. . ..might as well try them all if possible, right?  You only have one chance in life, might as well live it!

Anyway. . .that's it for today!  I hope you are all doing well!  Hope to blog again soon!

By the way, I still have my Etsy Shop that I am trying to re-stock with new cards.  Hopefully, I'll be focused enough to make a few more cards and other things in the near future.

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Christmas Cards and the American Music Awards

 Hi Friends!  Happy Holidays!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Gosh, I haven't posted in . . . .forever.  Well, close to 2 months to be exact.  There's so many life changes the past year and I'm still reassessing my life.  It hasn't been all bad. . .actually, there have been many happy moments especially during the summer.  With life happy moments came with a lot of stressful and depressing moments as well but I've moved passed them and can actually say I'm okay.

I've actually made a bunch of cards since the last time I blogged in early October.  Here are a few that I made.  If I have the time, I'll share more of them soon.

On an another note. . ..I've been "living" life as full as possible.  I've come to learn that things in life can't wait.  Personally, I want to enjoy life as much as possible and that means as simple as watching a favorite show or do things that I've dreamed of doing.  One of the things that I had a chance of experiencing that I have always wanted to do was to attend a music award ceremony and my daughter and I were able to do that the previous week.  We attended the American Music Awards!  Yay us!  I had the best time ever!!!  If possible, I'd like to go again next year!

Unfortunately, my camera did a terrible job at taking photos.  We weren't supposed to take any photos but I snuck in my camera and took a few photos and videos.  I have a few that are better but they're on my cell phone and I still haven't downloaded them yet.  This photo is of Nicki Minaj acceptance speach. 

I also took a video of Justin Bieber's acceptance speech and PSY/MC Hammer's performance.  Unfortunately my camera sucked. ..ugggh but I'll share the video anyway.  Next time I'll buy a better camera.



This is a short version of the video I took of the PSY's performance of Gangnam Style.  I actually took video of the whole performance but it was pretty long so I condensed it for viewing purposes.

We also had a fun adventure after the awards show.  We were looking for our parking structure and accidently landed in front of the AMA VIP party.  We didn't realize we were there until we started to see celebrities walking past us.  It was really strange because the celebrities were crossing the street unguarded like normal people.  I took several videos of a few celebrities that passed by us but I like this one because we said "hello" to Colbie Caillat and she said "hey" to us.   We were surprised that she acknowledged us.  My daughter was giggling afterwards.  Colbie was so sweet. 

If I have the time I'll upload a few of the other videos on another day.

Anyway, I hope you all are having a wonderful time this Holiday Season

Until next time. . . .
Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Christmas Cards and Slouchy Crochet Hats

 Hi Friends!  Happy Friday!  I've been pretty busy this week . . .primarily crocheting hats but I did make a few cards.  The two cards I'm sharing are actually "revamped" cards. . . well not actually revamped but the images were originally on Christmas tags that I had created and decided to transfer on to a card.

 I've been revamping a few of my cards I made in the past by adding additional embellishments or changing the lay out.  It sort of revitalize the cards that I've made.

 This is a tag that I palced on to a card.  I figured the card was more useful .

 Nothing much else to say about it. . .the image is by Sarah Kay, as well as the image on the first card above.

I've been making a bunch of slouchy hats.  I really love slouchy crochet hats because they're very fashionable especially during the winter. When I traveled to Europe, crochet and knit hats were very popular winter accessories and I fell in love with them so it motivated me to learn to crochet.

I bought a new mannequin head to model my hats. . .I named her "Bella".  I think she models my hats so much better than my ghostly looking mannequin that I originally used.   I also bought a pretty blond wig for her.  She now looks rather chic, don't you think?

Anyway. . .that's it for today!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Crochet Hats and Christmas Cards

 

 Hi Friends!!  Gosh I think I'm back to my old crafty self!  I've been on the roll creating stuff!  It's nice to have the old me back. . .not quite the same old me but I've been having fun creating again.  I've been working on crochet hats a lot lately.  I just made the one above last night.  It's a super slouchy hat made with soft acrylic yarn.  It's very light weight and just an overall fun hat to use during the winter.

With this hat I used a chunky wool yarn.  It's more of a beret style than a slouchy hat.  Wool keeps your head really warm and with the yarn being chunky, it's a good hat on a windy day.

Yup, I worked on cards too!  Yipee!  I went through my containers and found this old Stampin Up rubber stamp.  I heat embossed the image using white embossing powder.  You can't really tell in the photo that it's heat embossed but heat embossing is a great way to have a white image on a darker card stock.

Maybe you can see the embossing better in this picture.

This image is by Close to My Heart.  My first time to use it and I think I bought it 2 or 3 years ago.  All I did was color it with my Copic Markers and added Tullip's Puffy Paint to create the snow.  To make the paint puff, you heat it up with a heating tool and it puffs up.  It's a great way to create snow on your cards.

I added my handmade crochet flower on to the ribbon for embellishment.  Just letting you know. . .I sell crochet flowers in my Etsy shop. . just like the one on my card.  I crochet them myself. . .:)

Anyway, sorry I haven't been posting regularly but I've been busy creating!  I'm going to be looking for a real job soon so I'm making the most of the time I have in creating and selling them.  The extra money I make on Etsy helps a lot while I'm still out of a job.  If you have the time, please pray for my success in finding an RN job soon.  I would really appreciate your prayers.  Thank you for stopping by my blog!!

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More Slouchy Crochet Hats and Fall Beanie

 Hi Friends!  I decided to work on a few more crochet hats.  The beanie above is like the beanie that I posted previously but in fall colors.  I went to Michaels today and bought a few fall colored yarns.  With this hat, I used acrylic yarn.  I'll work on a few more fall colored crochet hats this week and maybe start on a few Christmas colored ones soon.

The stitching are double stitch and single stitch primarily.

 The next two crochet hats are slouchy hats using Pure Merino Wool.  I love the feel of this yarn.  The yarn is pretty pricey but so worth it.  It's light weight but it'll still keep your head warm.  The hat above was created using puff stitches to part of the hat.

This one looks like the hat above but the stitches are different.  

 As you can see it's not puff stitches like the blue one above or the one that my daughter is modeling below.

 Sometimes it's hard to see how a hat looks on a real person. . .so that's where my daughter comes in handy.  Thank goodness I have her head to model my hats.  LOL!

Anyway, just to let you know, I listed the 3 hats above on Etsy in the case you'd be insterested in purchasing them.  I'll be making more hats and listing them soon.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!!  Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!


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