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

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!

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!

My Photography 'Corner'

Some of you may know that I currently live in a tiny one bedroom apartment and space is always a constraint. It takes a lot of organizing and 'clever' storage to keep everything in place. 

My craft table doubles (or triple) as well, my crafting area, my photography corner and our dining table. And so far, that's how it's working for us... well, until we move to a bigger apartment (soon! *fingers crossed*)

This is how I stage my photo-taking. Behind me is Ryan's play area.. haha.. and I have to squat in that small area to take my pictures, which is fine and having to clear the table constantly is a good thing for me too. I do try to clear my table after I use it each time anyway :)

See how I just prop up the patterned paper as the background. I change my 'background' to suit the cards I make. I try to use colors that will make the cards stand out and so far this has worked out well for me.

I usually use Photoshop to tweak the exposure, brightness, vibrance and color balance after I take my pictures because we don't have much natural light flowing into my space. The next place we move to, big windows is one of our requirements.. haha.

Hope you enjoyed this little sharing and little peek into my apartment :)

Sweet Card Post

Hey, hey... I have a sweet post over at the Sweet Blog today!

Do drop by and check it out... talking about combining sets :)

Letterpress delight

I have been fascinated by the letterpress since 2010. Back then, I really contemplated in getting the Epic 6 but it was SOOOO expensive in Malaysia which prompted me to do quite a lot of research on it. I didn't want to invest in a machine (plus accessories) that was going to set me back thousands of Ringgit if I am unable to justify it and so I scoured the internet for reviews.

Most of the reviews mentioned that the plates cracked. And being in Malaysia, I wasn't really sure if I could get plates made or how to go about it too. So, I decided to wait until the industry came out with better machines and better quality plates.

Come 2012, we packed and moved to Los Angeles. I had to sell a lot of my scrapbooking supplies and it was a good thing that I have not invested in the letterpress machine just yet.

Then letterpress came into the limelight again sometime last year, with Studio Calico promoting it. I was tempted again but waited. Was I glad I waited! We R Memory Keepers came out with Evolution Advanced and when I saw the great deal being offered on HSN (well, I saw the info posted by my IG friend.. haha), I decided to take the plunge.....

I made these and they make great accents for Project Life and even for card making :)

Hello Letterpress Set

Love You Letterpress Set

I am so glad I made this purchase. From now on, I will finally be able to die-cut, emboss and letterpress (happy dance!). It does take some learning & the cleaning up can be a mess but I love it and find it therapeutic.

If you like letterpress stationery but don't feel like investing in a machine or letterpress set just yet, you can purchase the above sets (or request customized stationeries) from my shop. 

Drop by and get your hands on these yummy sets! 

Sweet Journalling Cards

Warning : This is a picture heavy post :) Not going to have a lot of words but would still be nice to go through the pictures with a cup of coffee or tea in your hands *winks*

When I design my stamp sets, I try to think of as many ways as I can to use them (I really do love versatility and that adds more bang for our buck too, right?). And so I think of using them for Project Life cards as well as for mini albums, scrapbooking and of course, card making. 

In this post, I am sharing project life cards that I made with my designs (you can get them over at Sweet Stamp Shop or for my Malaysian peeps, I do offer pre-order so we can all save on some shipping. Email me at evelin@evelintdesigns.com)

A monkey, an elephant and a bear :)

Life is a balancing act 

Lets fly away

Remembering today

And now, for some close-ups :)

I added Wink of Stella on the balloons. It really does glitter but can't seem to capture that on camera.

I know I have Copic markers but watercolor is so fun too!

And yes,  I fussy-cut all of them :)

Below are the stamp sets I illustrated and you can get them over at Sweet Stamp Shop or pre-order them with me at evelin@evelintdesigns.com (pre-order only open for Malaysian/Singaporean peeps for them to save on shipping. US folks get a great shipping deal from the Sweet Shop)

Juggling Bear

Monkey Business

Elephant Hearts

Thanks for reading all the way through. Hope you love my illustrations as much as I do and find them versatile as well. Remember to post a comment to link me to your projects using them, ya? :)

Another Custom Illustration

Always a pleasure to receive a request to work on a custom illustrated family portrait. This one is of my aunt and her family.

An original custom family portrait

Watercolor and ink are my favorite medium thus far. I love watercolor for its translucent properties. Kinda dreamy and ethereal :) 

A close-up :)

If you want to own an original custom illustration of your own, contact me here or check this page in my shop to order yours now! 

(The custom portraits there are only samples. You will get your own custom illustration)