I moved

Hi there, friends! I know I have not posted here for a long time and when I decided to blog again, I couldn't retrieve this blog and so I moved to a new blog not knowing that there was a way to salvage this one.....

And so, I will be blogging over at Evelin T Designs from now on. I do hope that you will follow me on my new adventures over there. I miss the interactions we used to have and I hope we can connect again.

Thank you! And hope to see you over at my new space :)

- Evelin

A Celebration! Creative Chick's 10th Blogiversary

Hi! It's celebration time. My crafty friend, Jenn is celebrating her 10th Blogiversary and I am so excited to be celebrating with her. I have always been inspired by her projects and love her style and when she asked me to pick a card to CASE, well... that was one of the hardest thing to do!

And so, I picked two. Haha... I was inspired by these two projects and they can be found here and here. And here are my cards.

I illustrated the images I used on both these cards and watercolored them. I filmed my process video and posted it here. I hope that you will enjoy watching it :) 

And now, it's your turn! Jenn is hosting a challenge with fun and prizes and she's also going to have special guests' creating cards on their blogs every Tuesday of this month. Click here to visit her blog and find out how you can win some really awesome prizes! 

Winners will be announced on her blog on August 7th and 8th. 

All the best and thank you for stopping by!

Friday Funday : Hand Lettering

I am thinking of starting a series of hand lettering/calligraphy quotes or phrases to be posted every Friday. If you have a quote or phrase that you would like to see me write, please comment below and I will select one to write every Friday :)

And if a lot of you love that particular quote and want me to make it into a digital stamp, just let me know and I will get it done.

Have a Friday fun day!

Hobonichi LOVE

I first saw pictures of the hobonichi in my Instagram feed sometime last year. I love the look of the little planner... wait, who am I kidding. I LOVE all kinds of planners, notebooks, pens... stationery! I love stationery more than clothes, bags or shoes and yes, I admit it :)

I tried to resist the temptation to add another planner to my humble collection of filofaxes, midori traveler's notebook + fauxdori and moleskines and for a while, I succeeded. I managed to stop myself from clicking 'checkout' even though I probably check the website daily just to look at the hobonichi.

I even enabled a fellow crafter into buying a couple when she was in Japan for a holiday last year and even then, I managed to resist buying (even when she offered to help me buy one... that's hard to resist!)

But in mid-January, I caved.. hahahaha.. and I got myself this little beauty! 

the cover I chose is called "Sometimes Lucky"

I normally prefer leather covers because of durability and well, I love the smell and touch of leather but this linen cover somehow spoke to me. During the many times I went to hobonichi's website, I wanted very much to checkout the Coral cover but each time, this cover will catch my eye so I decided to trust my heart and got this instead.

The journal is small and compact and the paper takes to watercolor very well. It does warp a little but I think that only adds to the character of the journal once it's completed, right? 

Red poppies with Schmincke watercolor

I plan to use this as a watercolor/illustration journal for the rest of the year since I already set up my Filofax as a planner and my midori as a journal. Next year, maybe I will use this as a journal instead and set up another for watercoloring.. but next year is still quite some time to go, so we'll see how things goes :)

Guest Designer : Thanh Vo

Hi! Thanh here of Make it Sweet and Neat and I'm so happy to be creating with Evelin's images. I live up in Vancouver, Canada and fortunately, I am enjoying the sun and cherry blossoms that are starting to bloom right now. On the west coast, the weather is really mild and so spring has definitely sprung around these parts. The weather may have been my inspiration in creating with these images. I had the idea of incorporating pinks and florals with Evelin's images.

I used Love You More and Coffee + Me for this card

And for this sweet card, I used Coffee + Me and Always a Good Idea

Hope you enjoyed Thanh's cards today. I know I did. And if you like the digital images too, you can get them here. 

Annette on Copic Coloring

Happy Day everyone. Annette Allen from My Clever Creations here with you again today to share a fun card. 

Today I am playing with Coffee Love and Tea Time. These images are perfect for mixing it up to create a fun project.

I colored this sweet image with Copic Sketch markers. When coloring I always start with the darker shade then blending with the medium to light colors. I love bright colors and how it makes the image come to life. I used a die to cut this fun shape around the image and added some fun designer paper to make the color pop just a little more.

With this smile it is for sure to make someone very happy.

Thanks for letting me share.

Annette

Guest Designer : Amy Tsuruta

I love Amy's style... it's clean, it's simple and it's eye-catching. I've known her since 2008 when we first connected on the blogosphere and I am glad to have met her in person last year during CHA. She is just the sweetest friend one can ask for :)

And seeing how she is a coffee lover like myself, I had to ask if she would create some cards or projects with my digital stamps and boy, do I love what she came up with :D

Hi, it's Amy! I live in Washington State. I'm the proud mother of two lovely kids and am engaged to ''thee most spectacular guy'' who supports my crafting obsession. I work part-time for a start up biotech company in Seattle, have been blogging since 2007. I absolutely love being part of this crafting community!!

Coffee + Me

Always a Good Idea

Don't you think they are fantastic? I love the soft, pastel colors on these projects so much. 

I have another post scheduled in the afternoon and it has tips on copic coloring from our Guest Designer, Annette. Be sure to check back in the afternoon :)

Guest Designer : Annette Allen

Happy Monday! This is my second post for the day and I would like to introduce my guest designer, Annette Allen who designed a really beautiful card for us today :)

Hi, my name is Annette Allen of My Clever Creations and I am so excited to be guest designing for Evelin T Designs. I live in Colorado and am a stay at home wife who loves the Lord. I have been crafting since 1997 and I do not just make cards but also enjoy sewing, scrapbooking and various other crafts. I think if it involves glue and getting messy, you could say that I love it. I have been married for almost 20 years. My passion is crafting and I love being inspired and also inspiring others. Thank you for having me and I look forward to many new friendships. 

Always a Good Idea and Coffee Heart

Happy Crafting!

Changes through the years

A lot has changed since I started this blog. It used to be a place where I just post whatever that comes to mind (before blogger, I was using Multipy.. anyone remember that?) and then it evolved to more of a craft blog when I discovered card-making in 2008. 

I was also single when this blog started and then I got married and now I have a toddler. I was living in Malaysia and then we moved across the oceans to California, USA. I started Angelicquirk selling handmade crafts and conducted bookbinding workshops and renamed the business to Evelin T Designs in 2013 still selling handmade crafts and conducting bookbinding workshops but I am also providing illustration/designing + calligraphy services and designing digital stamps.

The only thing constant in life is CHANGE and no matter what we do, change will happen. I guess it is how we will embrace the change. Some changes we love, some changes we don't. Especially those that push us out of our comfort zone but sometimes those are exactly the kind of changes that we need to be better and excel in life. 

Do you agree? What has changed in your life since you started your blog? I would love to know.. please share :)

Coffee Blog Hop Day 2

It's Day 2 of the Coffee Lover's Spring Blog Hop. Have you checked out the hop and the cool sponsors that are giving away prizes at the end of the hop?? psssttt : I'm giving away some coffee themed digitals from my shop

Today, I am sharing this card :) Bright and cheery for a Saturday morning, ya?

I used Always a Good Idea, Coffee Anytime and Coffee + Me for this card

I created some faux stitching and added some hearts with a puncher to create balance for the coffee mugs at the bottom left of the card :) The coffee mugs are popped up with foam tape to create dimension. If you noticed, I also added white dots on the mugs using Uniball Signo white gel pen. I love how the white dots has a little texture once they dry.

I am also giving away my calligraphed "Enjoy Life" digital image with every purchase of $9 or more from my store. This weekend only! This image will be emailed to those with qualifying orders within 24 hours of your checkout from my store.

Hope to see your cards linked up and do check out my store for the digital images :)

Coffee Lovers Cardmakers : Spring Blog Hop

Hi, I know I haven't been blogging much or consistently for quite a while now but I promise I have never left the crafty world :) I am still around and very active on Instagram (where I post almost daily) and my Facebook page. I am back today because I am participating in the Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop and.... I am one of the sponsors!

One of the reasons why I am so quiet lately is because I have been busy illustrating, watercoloring and doing all sorts of crafty things. Blogging was beginning to feel like a 'job' and so I decided to stop for a while. More on that in another post. For now, I want to share a couple of coffee-themed cards that I made using digitals that I designed (yeay! doing the happy dance!) and you can get them here in my store. 

I used Hug in a Mug and Coffee Love in this card

One of my favorites (if the designer can have a favorite) Coffee + Me

Besides coffee, I do love mocha too.. but that's probably because there's still coffee in it? haha.. Using  Coffee Anytime and Hug in a Mug for this card

I really do hope that you like the digital stamps that I created. Since they are digital images, they are just a click away for you to receive and create with. I really hope to see them linked up in some of your cards/projects during this hop :)

Have a fun hop!

Planner Love

I have always loved stationery of all kinds since I was a kid and when I discovered the world of planners, oh boy! It was like unleashing a kid in a candy store... There are just so many that I love and want.. haha... Although I did kinda justify each one that I bought, which may be many to some and few to some too :P It really depends on how you see it.

I take out the pages to stamp the images I want on them. It makes it easier to stamp the image clearer to place the page on a flat surface. 

At the moment, I am using ink pads from Papertrey Ink and Hero Art. And yes, my stamp pads are the mini ones because I figure it takes quite a while to finish using them anyway and I will invest in the standard size ones when we move to a bigger place.

Here's a close up of my December monthly view. I used different colors for different activities. And oh, I made the laminated divider myself, stuck washi tapes on them and wrote down the sections with  a washi pen. That way, if I need to change the sections, I just peel off the washi :) Easy peasy.

How do you stamp your images? Right on to the pages in the planner or do you take them out like me? Do you use different colors too? 

Hope to read your comments and do follow me on Instagram or Facebook and do go over to the Sweet Shop as well to get these awesome planner stamps (and all the other stamps) at a great discount. Go now! Have fun! 

Woo hoo! A Promotion!!

My sweet friend Alison of Mettaville and I (Evelin T Designs) have decided to have a joint promotion for our dear friends. We hope that you will enjoy browsing through our stores and pick up an item or two :)

We hope you will enjoy this little promotion that we came up with and buy some of your favorite items from our stores :)

Enjoy!

Sparkle sparkle Sweet Blog Post

Blogging over at the Sweet Blog today :)
Do check it out.. it's all about sparkles...

I don't blog as much as I do right now but I am on Instagram a lot and if you fancy some pretty nail wraps like the one on my thumb, check out my jamberry page :)

The Creative Blog Hop

Hi! I have been tagged by the very sweet Amy (of Tsuruta Designs) to participate in the Creative Blog Hop in her post here. I am so honored to receive Amy's email to ask if I would participate in this hop. I discovered Amy's blog sometime back in 2008 when I first started card-making. She is one the nicest, sweetest crafter I know and I love her crafting style. She is also a momma to two kiddos.

From what I understand, the idea around The Creative Blog Hop is to learn a bit more about other bloggers by answering four questions, so here we go...


1. What am I working on right now?

Currently I have been illustrating a lot (besides my usual DT duties for Sweet Stamp Shop and keeping up with my Project Life) and organizing my 'craft area', which seems like a forever thing to us crafters, doesn't it.. haha.

I have also uploaded all my illustrations on Society6 and they can now be available for purchase in the form of iPhone cases, tote bags, mugs, duvet covers, art prints, wall clocks and all. It's fun to see them on so many daily items and I do hope that people will take to them :)

If what you are interested in are my illustrations as art prints and greeting cards, then you can get them right here in my store! 

And I have loved Totoro for a looooong time now, since I first watched My Neighbour Totoro in college (eerr... did I just revealed my age? hehe) and I have recently started illustrating them during my free time too.

I am also a calligrapher and if you need a poem or verse written out in Calligraphy, I am your girl! I also do custom envelope addressing, wedding suites, etc... just send me an email.

2. How does my work differ from those in my genre?

hmmmm.... I love to fussy cut stamped images and I watercolor them. I love adding glossy accents and gold splatter on my cards. However, my cards would still end up looking simple and clean. I don't pile a lot on my cards or Project Life pages but I do love dimensions so you can most likely find me using pop dots or some sort of layering to create dimensions as well.

I have also been illustrating for the Sweet Stamp Shop since June and have a few stamp sets released by the Sweet Stamp.

And because I calligraph as well, at times I write my own sentiments on my cards.

3. Why do I create what I do?

When I first started creating, it was to start being creative and to get in touch with my 'artistic' side after many years of not illustrating (I have been illustrating since I was a little girl and for as long as I could remember.. up till college).

Crafting was a place of solitude and relaxation after a day of work in the office. And then I started crafting more, making hand bound journals, wire bound journals, postcards and selling them at craft markets. That was when I left the corporate world. It was trying and definitely a tough journey but I wanted to persevere on and build my crafty business up so that one day, my darling Ryan can have a piece of something to remember his mummy by. I was teaching bookbinding workshops too before I took a break, moved to Los Angeles, got pregnant and gave birth to my darling Ryan.

I hope to teach Ryan to pursue his dreams no matter what they are and be grounded in life.

4. How does my creative process work?

I don't really ever think if I have a creative process... haha... My days are really packed nowadays. Anyone with a toddler can attest to this :)

It used to be, 'I start my creative process with a hot cup of coffee, browsing the internet/look at my craft supplies and start creating...' but these days, I grab whatever opportunity and time I have when I have it which is usually during Ryan's nap time or when he's asleep. If I have any ideas during the day, I will jot them down in my planner and work on them when Ryan is napping/sleeping.

I find that the most effective creative process for me at the moment.

I super love my planner now. It keeps me organized and I love keeping things all in one place and as much as I love technology, I love old school things like paper, books, and writing (with a pencil/pen). I guess there must be a little 'old school' in every crafter since we all do love paper, don't we? hehe.

And that's it about me.. thanks for reading through it all. I hope you had a cup of coffee or a snack when you started :P

*********************************************************************************

The last part of this blog hop is to TAG 3 more people and these are the creative ladies who has inspired me with their crafts.

They will be posting next Monday, September 15th.

Jenn Shurkus

Jenn lives in Providence Rhode Island, with her kitty Mister Harley and her boyfriend Chris. 

She’s been papercrafting for over 10 years, and has played multiple rolls in the papercraft industry as an independent store manager, designer and teacher. With a degree in graphic design she is also Copic and Ranger certified. 

She is part of the Simon Says Stamp Design Team as well as the  Lawnscaping Challenge team. 

Past rolls include senior instructor for A Muse, Design team member for Creative Imaginations, Sweet Stamp Shop and Stampotique. Jenn loves to show people new and clever ideas to design their cards and projects. 

She has a flair for the “artsy-fartsy” without going over the top. She designs her projects in the way to inspire, but not intimidate. Jenn is eager to share her creative passions with others and encourage their artistic growth. 

Check her out at her blog.

Alison Koh

I've always loved creating things with my hands since I was a kid. When I was 9, I glued two pieces of small wood together to make a standing frame, pasted a hand written "Happy Mother's Day" paper on it and gave that to my mom. In school, I loved art classes the most. 

From painting to making jewelries, sewing and bookbinding, I love tinkering around whatever my hands can get hold of and what I feel keen on trying. 

Currently I make handbound journals. I have been writing journals since I was young and they are my best friends! I learned bookbinding in 2010 with the intention of having my own special handmade journals to write in. From there it blossomed and now I'm selling them in my Etsy Store and Felt Shop.

Did I mentioned I love taking photos too? Look me up on Instagram and Facebook and oh, come visit me sometime on my blog where I share my life and adventures in beautiful NZ, where I am currently living with my wonderful husband and adorable white cat Kiki. 

Suzanne Bier

Hi, everybody! My name is Suzanne Bier. I live in northern Virginia with my dear husband and our sweet (and spoiled) dachshund. 

I've been stamping and coloring with Copics for almost four years, but have been crafting for as long as I can remember! I’ve designed for The Greeting Farm, Your Next Stamp, Whimsy and Stars Studio, Unscripted Sketches and colourQ. I finished a term with Sweet Stamp Shop in August and designing for Some Odd Girl Stamps. 

Most of my posts are about cards, but I still like to use other crafts and techniques into my projects. Before I started scrapbooking and stamping, I drew, cross-stitched, painted, sewed felt ornaments and stockings, and knitted a little. 

I’m so glad that Evelin asked me to be a part of the blog hop, and I’m looking forward to sharing more about my creative process with all of you! I’d love it if you’d visit me at my blog to say hello!