Stamping on Cork

It's fun and is a great embellishment to add on your Project Life or scrapbook pages. Works wonderful on cards too :)

Try it. You'll love it :)

Eve

Mini Love Blog Hop

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Today we are having a cute, informal blog hop showing our love for mini books.  It all started with Sam who made a mini book and decided to get a few girlies from Instagram to join her in making one also for this blog hop.  There was no set theme for the mini's.  Instead, we all worked with a few prompts to get us started.  The three prompts were:

1. Use white card stock as background

2. Use numbers for the inside pages

3. Use a ring to bind the mini album

We are so excited to see everyone's take on making an album in their own style. 

Here's my take on these prompts :)

I used Wink of Stella clear glitter on the wood veneers :)

My very minimalist mini album 

I used watercolor to add some color to the white woodgrain card stock throughout the album and a splash of gold mist is always a must :)

Oh, and BTW!  We will have a mini giveaway from each blog also!  Hop to each blog and leave a comment (and follow me on my blog & IG would be great too) for a chance to win by Sunday, Feb 16!  Winners will be chosen and announced on Monday, Feb 17!  Easy peasy! :)

I'm giving away a $10 voucher to use at my shop and also some random embellishments that I will add into the winner's package.

Here's the list for blog hop:

WaiSam Ho

April Joy Hill

Cathy Vee

Evelin Tee

Piradee Talvanna

Have fun!

Eve

Happy Lunar New Year :)

Oh boy, the first month of the year has come and gone and I cannot believe that I actually didn't post anything the whole month! I guess it's due to the fact that I upload most of my photos on IG these days and sharing about them here again seems redundant. I know... it is different. One is just mainly pictures and another is an actual blog.. 

Well, I will try to blog more consistently this year. Make more cards, scrapbook layouts, share my Project life and the occasional tutorials (and maybe some free digitals).

I will like to wish all my Chinese friends (and friends who celebrate Chinese New Year) a very Happy Lunar New Year. Here's to a great year!

Eve

Poached Eggs with Rolled Smoked Salmon & Arugula

Sometimes when we have the time and the mood, we will cook something a little 'fancy'. And this is one of them. It's a fun way to eat your proteins and vegetables.

We love it with cracked black pepper (and a tinge of salt on the eggs)

And here's the recipe for all to try out. Have fun :)

Ingredients:

1.    Fresh eggs (this is very important)

2.    White vinegar

3.    Smoked Salmon

4.    Arugula

5.    Black Pepper

6.    Salt (optional)

Instructions for Poached Eggs:

1.    Bring water to boil in a pot and lower the heat so that the water is no longer boiling. Add 1-2 teaspoon of white vinegar. The vinegar helps to congeal the egg white more easily.

2.    Crack an egg and place the egg in a small bowl. Using a spoon or ladle, stir the boiled water in a circular motion. Remove spoon or ladle and gently slide the egg into the center of the pot. Do this one egg at a time. Depending on the size of your pot, you may cook 2 eggs at a time.

3.    Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 5 minutes until the egg whites are cooked. For a slightly more solid yolk texture, keep the heat low instead of turning it off.

4.    Lift the eggs out of the pot with a clean ladle and place it on your serving plate. Sprinkle some cracked black pepper (and optionally, a tinge of salt) to taste.

Instructions for Rolled Smoked Salmon with Arugula:

1.    Separate the salmon into very thin slices (smoked salmon should separate naturally into slivers) on a serving plate.

2.    Place the arugula on the salmon slices and roll the salmon over the arugula. The amount of arugula to be rolled is subject to personal preference.

3.    It’s now ready to be served! Enjoy.

We love that it's a little done and not too runny but if you like you can always turn off the flame and take out the egg on the 5 minute dot.

Eve & Roy

Tutorial : Using a Blender Pen

Sometimes we remember an awesome product we once used .... and my blender pen is one of such thing!

I was stamping some cute images from Lawn Fawn the other night and was contemplating on what to use to color them. I wanted it to have a watercolor-ish effect but I don't have any distress markers.

But I do have a blender pen and color pencils :)

So, here's a step-by-step on how I use the blender pen to create an effect similar to what distress markers could.

1. Stamp your chosen images. Here I chose Lawn Fawn's Into the Woods cute little animals.

2. Color your images with color pencils.

It's not necessary to make sure they are very evenly applied. Add in darker shades wherever you need them.

3. Here's where the magic starts.

4. Using the blender pen, 'color' the lighter colored areas first.

5. Clean the tip of the blender pen and then blend the darker colored areas into the lighter ones. If the color is too dark, clean the tip of the pen again by lightly dabbing it on a piece of tissue.

6. Voila! The image is perfectly & evenly colored with shadings and depth :)

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Quick, easy and fun!

Next up, I will be sharing a tutorial using masking gum and watercolor. You will want to keep your eyes out for that!

Eve