Blog Giveaway No 1

It's 2010 already! Yay! I have a lot of things stored up for my card blog this new year. New ideas to try out and there will be a few blog giveaways to be held here every now and then throughout this year. I want to do this hopefully every month so that more people stand a chance to win some handmade cards from my blog. For all the support you guys have given me all these years, the least I can do is to give back what I've received. :))))

BLOG GIVEAWAY NO 1

OK! So, for the first blog giveaway.....jeng jeng jeng!!!! :D

I am going to give away to 1 lucky winner ----- > 5 Handmade cards and some embellishments.

So it could be a birthday card, gift cards, thank you cards or any type of card that I choose plus some embellishments for card making. I've been going through some ideas of which card designs I'll be giving away and I assure you, you won't be disappointed! :)

Here are the rules of this giveaway:

You can earn 1 or 2 entries by following the simple steps below....

To earn 1 entry:
1. You must "FOLLOW" this blog / "BE A FOLLOWER" and leave a comment on this post about which card design from my blog that you love the most and write down the card code. Be sure to also write your name and your valid email address at your comment.

To earn 2 entries:
1.You must "FOLLOW" this blog / "BE A FOLLOWER" and leave a comment on this post about which card design from my blog that you love the most and write down the card code. Be sure to also write your name and your valid email address at your comment. Then you must blog about this giveaway in your own blog and link my blog to yours.

*Only those who follow the rules of this giveaway will be eligible to enter this giveaway. Those who fail to do so will be automatically DISQUALIFIED!

Best of luck to all participants! This giveaway ends on the 9th of January 2010 at midnight 12.00am. A winner will be chosen by a lucky draw. The name of the winner will be announced on the 10th of January 2010. Thank you!!! :)))))

XOXO
Lin

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End of 2009

Gosh.....2009 is coming to an end today. This year has been a good year for my handmade card business. Alhamdulillah a lot has improved when it comes to my card design. I have been working really hard this year to improve my card making skills and also when it comes to services for my customers. I know I have made mistakes before. I certainly have learn to not repeat the same mistakes again and do my very best to entertain my customer's requests.

I really appreciate all the support and encouragement from all of you who have been there for me in my good times and bad times. Please do continue supporting my work here. I welcome all comments, suggestions and critics from everyone. These will help me continue to improve in future.

Thank you again to all my loyal customers, to all my readers and to all who have visited Lin Handmade Greetings Card this year. May God bless you all with all the good things in life!

XOXO,
Lin

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Pop up gift box and balloons!

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This is the first time ever I made two different pop ups combined in one card! hehe! The actual plan was to do a pop up school boy, but in the end I decided to put the school boy on the outside where the wordings are. Gosh, it was so hard to do that! The school boy I mean.....I'm so not good at doing figurines. I tried my best and that's how it turned out in the end. :) I just didn't quite know how else to decorate the card with the boy on it....so I did what I usually do, which is doing that stripe pattern again! LOL! The stripe pattern is now kinda like a trademark for my cards. I just love doing it. My Mom on the other hand, is not loving it as much because I do it too many times it seems on my card designs. Oh well.....she's one of my critics now hahaha.....I don't always listen to her though LOL!!

The pop ups are a gift box and a few balloons coming out of the gift box.....errrmmm, well, it was meant to look like it came out of the box hehehe.....hope I achieved that somehow. LOL! I guess the pop ups are the part of the card that I love the most....especially the balloons. I don't know why I get so happy looking at them. Funny huh? I didn't do much decoration on the balloons except for just lining them with glitter glue. I really hope the boy loves it too! ;)

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Christmas Eve 2009.

Ever since creating this blog, nearly 4 years ago, I have loved chronicling all our adventures here ... especially our holidays. But this year, I have really slacked on the Christmas sharing. And perhaps you are not feeling as though you are missing out on anything (admit it!) - but because I basically use this blog as a substitute for any kind of tangible family scrapbook - I am now going to write a few posts in reflection of our 2009 Christmas joys.

Let's begin with Christmas Eve ... one of my favorite days of the year. The day is filled with such wonderful anticipation for the morning to follow ... and includes some of our most cherished holiday activities/traditions. Each year, I write a list of all the activities that we want to accomplish before bedtime. Usually Daddy doesn't come home from work until mid-afternoon, so we wait till he joins us before we begin accomplishing our Christmas Eve "to-do" list. (Everything is better when we are all a part of it :)

This years list looked much as the same as previous years. And it went exactly like this:

* Make brownies for Santa

* Make Reindeer food

* Make mixed drinks for Mama & Daddy / chocolate milk for Isaac

* Go out to the barn to see if the goats can talk

* Take showers & put on fresh jammies

* Take pic by the tree

* Start pot roast in crock pot

* Wrap Daddy's gifts from Isaac

* Get Bobo & Poppy's gifts ready for morning

* Change bed linens

* Hop into bed and read all our favorite Christmas books together

* Sleep so Santa will come.

Isaac and I made the above list together. And we checked it often to make sure we were on track. The brownies Isaac made for Santa were organic ... because we are just that cool. And the Reindeer food was a recipe that Isaac created from scratch ... a mixture of oats, cut carrots, magic flying dust (sparkles) and loads of maple syrup. We placed the food carefully under an outdoor light so the Reindeer would be sure to see it glisten. Then we paid a visit to the barn to see if Emily & Me were going to talk to us --- as animals have been reported to do on Christmas Eve. Aside from the "Maa-ing" - they were mute. Once inside, the mixed drinks put Daddy right to sleep. Isaac and I took showers and then put on some snuggly, new jammies. Daddy fell asleep in whatever clothes he wore that day. Isaac took his customary pictures by the tree (yes, that is the "Charlie Brown tree" that we cut from our front yard - by far my fave Christmas tree ever). After 12+ hours in the crock pot, I was told that the pot roast was good ... but I didn't eat it, so I have no idea. All gifts were wrapped this year (kudos to Mommy - I think this is a first) - with the exception of a gift Daddy forgot in the car. Isaac and I read all our fave books with wonder and delight at what was to come for us in the morning --- from good 'ole Saint Nick. Oh yes ... and the sheets were changed prior to Daddy's belly flop onto the bed ... So ALL Got Done!

Oh, and Daddy even started a new tradition that will now be listed on our Christmas Eve "to-do" lists for years to come. He created a fireworks display outside in the snow ... just for us ... even though the area cop parks right across the street every night in an attempt to catch speeders. As soon as the fireworks were over - we ran inside as fast as we could to avoid detection. Good Christmas fun, I say!

We even got a picture of Isaac's missing front teeth!

Christmas Eve rocked. It was just the three of us ... oh so cozy and in love with one another ... and it felt so darn good. I love this family of mine ... and every year I am reminded that before Isaac came along ... there were years and years that all I wanted for Christmas was a child ... my child ... and he is here. Every year now, I receive the same gift over and over again ... the gift of being Isaac's Mommy ... and of sharing all these wonderful joys with him and his Daddy.

I hope you all felt the warmth and beauty of your own families & traditions this year ... and for the new year to come.

xoxo,

Jodi

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Merry Christmas!

Thanks to Daddy for taking this pic with his Blackberry .... after Isaac said, "Daddy, Can you please take a pic of me loving Mama?". That's my boy :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

xoxo,

Jodi & Family

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Christmas Gift #3 : (For My Blog Readers)

When George begins to figure it all out ... gets me every time ...

You can watch the whole movie on YouTube: here. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night.

xoxo,

Jodi & Family

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Christmas Gift #2: (For My Blog Readers)

Love,
Jodi

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Christmas Gift #1 : (For My Blog Readers)

Love,
Jodi

P.S. You should see Isaac break dance to this. He rocks this one out :)

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Goody Bags for the Ronald McDonald House of Bangor.

Every year at Christmas, our little family of 3 looks for ways in which to specifically help our community. We certainly do what we can all year through --- but in an effort to show Isaac that Christmas is truly about giving to others --- we look for ways to give in a meaningful and personal way.

This year, we decided to create craft "goody" bags for the children who stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Bangor. This was partly Isaac's idea --- as he suggested we do something to help children. I told him what the Ronald McDonald House was all about --- and he was all for it. (He also wanted to continue our tradition of visiting the Maine Veterans Home on Christmas Day --- which we plan to do as well).

So --- after speaking with the Director of Volunteers at the House --- we decided to create goody bags full of fun crafting kits and craft supplies to be distributed to the children staying at the home. For the most part, these bags will be distributed to siblings of children who are receiving medical attention at the nearby Eastern Maine Medical Center. Last year, 300+ families were served by the Home. Though we are not currently able to create as many bags as could be distributed within a given year, we pledged to the home that we would not only make as many as we could at this time, but that we would do our best to replenish them as needed (a wonderful way to give Isaac a charitable focus throughout the year).

My Mom and I shopped for goodies to include in the bags --- mostly at JoAnn's and Mardens --- and as we did, we tried to imagine how these siblings must feel --- perhaps scared for their brother/sister, a bit lonely because Mom & Dad are so focused on the child in need, etc. It made the shopping meaningful --- and we would get giddy when we found goodies that we imagined would delight the children involved --- and help to keep their minds occupied with positive thoughts.

After all the shopping was done, I asked a few friends to help put the bags together --- and sweet, sweet Katrina and her Mom, BJ, came by the studio to help organize the bags. They did a perfect job. Katrina put herself in the mind frame of a child going through a difficult time, and put the bags together with much love.

My lovely friend Katie also joined us (with her baby Max in utero!) --- wrapping presents for the Maine Veterans Home (I will post about this later). She was a huge help --- wrapping all manner of 2010 calendars for the men and women of the Veterans Home (a special request by the staff).

Isaac and his fave girl, Sydney, were also involved --- entertaining each other with crafts and silliness while the rest of us worked on wrapping and organizing. They had a great time --- which allowed Mom to get much done :)

Now, we look forward to bringing the finished bags to the Ronald McDonald House. Though we won't witness any children using the goodies in these bags --- I imagine that the gifts will be received with smiles by both the children and their parents. And hopefully --- in some small way --- these bags will help these families in their healing.

Thank you to the Ronald McDonald house for everything they do! And thanks to my Mom and friends for all their assistance and good Karma :)

Love,

Jodi

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Cute thank you card...

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I made this thank you gift card for my aunt......she ordered a few of them to give away to her friends. I made a quick and simple card using white embossed paper. I love this paper because of the embossed design on it. :) No need to decorate too much on the card because the emboss is already considered as decoration.....hehehe!

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Pop up hearts + flowers

HB046

I recently got me some new stock of paper, Lilac in color....so I decided to try out a new color combo. I think I've tried purple with moss green before but never mixed it with lilac. So I thought I would give it a shot and see how it turned out. I'm kinda unhappy with the photos here......the color does not really turn out as I want it to be because of the lack of natural light. I shot this in the evening, so obviously there wasn't enough light to see the true colors of the paper. Nonetheless, I gave it my best to capture the colors as close as I can get it.

I'm not really fully satisfied with this design and will probably redo it??? Urrrmmm, I donno, but for the time being, this is how it looks like hehehe.....and I love the new pop up I did. It's a V-Fold but I made a pattern out of it as you can see. Then I glued on it some colorful heart shapes, leaves and flowers. I just did it without thinking that much. Just kept on adding it bit by bit till its all filled up. :)

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You Rock!!!

HB045

This card was made for an old friend of mine. His birthday was in November......I wished him on his birthday and then he requested a handmade birthday card from me.....YUP!!!...that was what happened and that's how this design came about hahaha :D LOL!!. This is the second request I got to make birthday cards from close friends. I made one already earlier and this is the second one I made. But I don't mind making them for people who knows how to appreciate art. :)

At first I didn't know what kind of theme I was gonna do or what kind of design I would come up with that would be suitable for him. Then I thought since he was so much into rock music, it would be cool to do a rock theme card for him. I've seen a lot of handmade cards around using the wordings such as "You Rock" on them and electric guitars.....I've been thinking of doing an electric guitar for quite awhile now but never really put my mind to actually doing it till now. So, I tried to find an electric guitar pattern online and traced it on the red and white foam. It was really fun playing with these foams.....and I kinda like using them for my handmade cards these days.

I think the best part about the guitar would be the strings! I sew four strings of silver thread on the foam to make it look like real wire strings hehehe!! That was fun! :) I also did a V-fold pop up on the inside of the card but with a different twist this time because I drew on it a few music notes and stars of different shapes and then cut them out using a craft knife. This type of design can only be done using a craft knife....you can't really achieve something like that using craft punches alone. I enjoyed doing it especially when it's all cut out and you can see through it. :) I decorated it with birthday wordings at the top.

I really hope he likes it as much as I do! He's a great artist and I really admire his artwork. It's nerve wrecking to give someone with such great talent, your own piece of artwork. I wonder what he will say about this birthday card hahaha.....I hope he won't criticize too much! LOL! :)

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Pop up Kaabah

H001

I receive a request to do a Haji theme card from a customer who wishes to give this card to her parents when they arrive home from performing their haj next week. I have never done this type of card before so it's a new thing for me to learn.

The first thing that came to my mind was to make a pop up Kaabah for this design. I was thinking of how to go about it and then I searched for pop ups that was in the shape of a box. I went to Extreme Cards and Papercrafting blog to see if there were any samples of such pop ups and luckily there was one! Yay! A closed box pop up! But the box was a bit short and not the kind that I needed to make the Kaabah. So I had to change the size so that it will look a bit similar to it. It was really tough!! I had to do it a few times till I really got it right. Do check out the blog to see the tutorial for a pop up closed up box :).

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The Studio - so far.

There was a time, seemingly long ago, when I posted to this blog daily. Since deciding to open my own photography studio --- well --- not so much. And I miss it. Heck, I miss alot of things now that my life has taken this new direction --- but it is all good. Truly.

Last night we celebrated the holidays with a Holiday Open House & Craft Fair at Studio 36. It was simply wonderful! We had 9 vendors selling and trading their wares --- many, many lovely friends and family members dropped by to purchase goodies, eat cookies and share conversation --- new friendships were formed --- and the children enjoyed one another almost as much as the endless bowls of cookies. It was a great night. (Thank you to all who came!).

It was such a fun night that I had no time to photograph it. I am bummed about that. But you will just have to trust me --- it was a really great time.

I do however, have some pics to share of Halis and Isaac modeling for me at the studio so that I could play with my new lighting equipment:

Believe me, I see the "issues" with some of the above pics ... and am still working on mastering my new lighting equipment. And thanks to my men ... I will always have willing models to help me get it right.

Next week, several of my young friends are coming together at the studio to organize some gifts for our local Ronald McDonald House and our Maine Veterans Home. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures :)

Have a great weekend! And thanks for reading.

Love,

Jodi

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Pop up computer!

HB044

A pop up computer! Yay! I did it! I couldn't find a sample anywhere on how to make a pop up computer....if anybody out there knows where I can find one, do tell! I had to make this one from scratch....and boy was it hard to do! Arrrggghhh! LOL :)

My customer requested for the card to be in a red or orange color but I decided to combine the two colors instead. The combination of the two colors looks bright and outstanding. Mixed with white and silver too....to add some contrast.

As you can see....I love playing with stripe patterns. Lining strips of papers of different colors with ribbons and gluing them piece by piece, creating a design on the card. It does take time to do it but I love how it turns out in the end.

I didn't decorate much on the pop up computer inside the card....basically I didn't want it to look too overly decorated and it might spoil the whole look of the pop up computer itself.....at the moment that's the idea that I had in mind. Perhaps maybe in future I will come up with something new.....not sure what it will be like though, but hopefully a much better design. :)

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Please Help Make My Christmas Wish Come True.

It is the cheapest gift you could give ... truly. Just follow the link below and type in "04401" for the zipcode. Isaac, Halis and I would be so thrilled if this movie came to our town (as would many others I am sure).

View all Bangor events on Eventful

THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH!

Love,
Jodi

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Bigger version of V011

V011 (Half A4 size)

This particular design is originally only 10.4cm x 14.7cm in size, but I had to make it on a bigger card as requested by my customer. Basically because of the wordings involved.....I was afraid that the wordings might not be able to fit in clearly and nicely if done on a smaller card.

I did make some changes here and there particularly at the pop up heart inside the card. I added purple hearts which was not available on the original design. The pop up heart itself is done differently as you can compare.....this particular one I did separately from the card and pasted on it. The original design I cut out the heart shape from the soft pink insert paper inside the card thus leaving a big hole behind the pop up heart that can make you clearly see the purple card behind it. So for this new card, I decided it's better to do it separately to make it look more neat. :)

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New colour for HB031

HB031a

OK! Been getting a lot of orders for this design....so much so that I ran out of the soft yellowish paper for this card!! hehehe!! So I had to find a similar color of paper that would match the original color of the old design. Finally I found a color that looks a little creamy and it does match with the gold, peach and pink paper. So I guess from now onwards if anybody wants to purchase this HB031 design, this is what it will look like from now on.....I also made the stripe design at the bottom of the card with small ribbons combined with the color paper strips......and I also added soft pink 7 pop up flowers inside it. But if you don't like the pop up flowers, it can be done without them.....just let me know and I will not add them in it. :)

I made this card for my Mom's friend who celebrated her 77th birthday......she was super excited about it.....and even more so when she received a bouquet of flowers that matches the color of the flowers on the card. hehehe! What a coincidence it was that the two match each other.....it was not planned at all......I'm just happy that she loved it.....it's all that matters :)

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The Blind Side.

Every time I watch the following trailers, I cry. Truly. Ask my husband. And I haven't even seen the movie yet ...

I cry because:

* I am an adoptive mother who is fiercely protective of my son. I relate to Leigh Anne Tuohy in this way ... for sure :)

* I think of every child who is sleeping in an orphanage tonight --- waiting for parents. I cry because I have seen these children with my own eyes --- and have witnessed their pain.

* I remember all the wonderful people who I KNOW make a difference in the lives of young men just like Michael Oher. Particularly Father Michael ... who I am honored to call a friend (you can see his work here as well as in the link above).

* I know what it is to change the life of a person --- through love, guidance and education. I have seen lives changed when a young person finds someone who believes in them --- and will fight for them. I had the pleasure of meeting a young boy in Haiti who had lived as a slave in a wealthy Haitian home for many years. He was rescued by a French woman and brought to St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince. I watched as his rescuer visited him there at Christmas - over a year after she had brought him to the home. It was an amazing reunion to witness. The woman was overjoyed at how well the then 8-year-old boy was doing now that he had love, guidance and an education. It was amazing.

* I cry because it is THAT EASY to change lives ... with Love. Love. Love. And I am eternally grateful for women like Leigh Anne Tuohy ... who show the rest of the world what love can do.

* And perhaps what brings me to tears most is Sandra Bullocks response to the woman who says "I think what you are doing is so great. You are changing that boy's life." And Sandra's heartfelt response just sends me to tears ... "No, he's changing mine." I can't tell you how many times people tell Halis and I what a wonderful thing we did to take Isaac in. First of all --- our love for Isaac is REAL, not charity. And he does more for us than we could ever do for him. Seeing Isaac as anything other than TRUE family is an insult.

I had no idea who Michael Oher was until I researched him AFTER watching these trailers. I am no football fan. So, I shed tears over this story thinking that it was a work of fiction. To know that it is REAL just makes me even more emotional about it. And to see just how real it is, check out this featurette:

Now --- if you have seen this movie --- please tell me what you think of it. And if you haven't seen it --- maybe you should! I know I will be at the theatre this weekend. With Kleenex!

Love,
Jodi

P.S. You can also read the book before or after seeing the movie. I know I will.

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Pop up house! ;)

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This is one of pop up projects that I have wanted to do since I moved back to Alor Setar. I saw a video of how to make a pop up house on Youtube a few months back. Ever since then I've been thinking of doing it, and when my regular customer ordered a birthday card for her mother with a theme that's related to home sweet home....I took the opportunity to make this pop up house for her. Have a look at the video of how to make the cottage house below:

The ideas for the design just came during the process of making the card itself.....I just added them bit by bit as I go along. My customer already had in mind what she wanted for the design of the card....for example, her mother loves to garden and loves her chickens too. So I thought why not make a simple garden and add some chickens, butterflies, birds and some blue clouds to make it look cheerful. :) As for the design on the inside, I just made the pop up cottage house and added a pathway with bushes and flowers along it :). Most of the shapes I pasted on the card are done by hand using plain scissors except for the flowers, butterflies and one of the leaf that I used craft punches. The rest like the clouds, birds, the long leaves, bushes are done by cutting them up using plain scissors. The most interesting part of the pop up house for me would be the roof! Why? Because I pasted layers and layers of scallop patterned paper on it to make it look like a roof for the house. I really love that part. :)

It's funny how many months ago I thought that this pop up house was so hard to do. Now that I have tried making it I realized that it's not that hard after all. You just need to follow the pattern correctly and things will fall into place. :)

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