The Craft's Meow's Non-Release Festivities Catch-Up

Hello, friends! Thank you for your sweet comments on yesterday's post HERE and HERE. I have been blessed by your love and prayers. Thank you!

I have missed the last two days of The Craft's Meow's festivities, so here is my catch-up post. First of all, TCM is having a HUGE sale! From now through Sunday, April 21st, take 21% off of your entire order, including already low sale prices on retiring stamp sets, by entering the code April21 at checkout! If your order net of the discount exceeds $50, then place in your cart this month's free gift with purchase, Sweet Silhouettes! As always, orders of $65 or more receive free shipping within the US (discounted shipping for our International customers)

Today's theme is Masculine. I used my Sweet Silhouettes to make this birthday card. I distressed this quite a bit. I've been playing around with my Distress Inks as well. I'm still not good at it and prefer the "cleaner" distressing, if that makes sense :). I die cut the frame using Spellbinders Labels 10. I know lace and Want2Scrap pearls are girly, but I thought I roughen them up enough here to fit in a masculine card. I stapled the messy lace and colored the pearls black with Copic markers. What do you think?

My next card is for Tuesday's hop with the Card for a Child theme. I used TCM's Sweet Birthday on this. The papers are October Afternoon. I also used Spellbinders' Lacey Circle die, Copics and Twinery twine. The cake is adorned with Want2Scrap pearls.

This next one is for yesterday's Feminine/Mother's day theme. I used Beautiful Spring and Mother & Father stamp sets. The papers are Penny Black's Madison. I colored the butterfly with Copics. I also used some Want2Scrap bling on this card.

Finally, the NinaB Designs team is hopping right now. Check out HERE for more info and giveaway!
This is it for me today. Thank you for your visit and I hope you're all enjoying a beautiful spring day!

My Grandpa's Amazing Story

In case you've been wondering where I've been...my grandfather passed away on Saturday, peacefully in his sleep. He was 96 years old. He was a WW2 veteran and one of the very last Bataan Death March survivors. Though he was Filipino, he served in the US Army, but somehow was never recognized for his service during the war. Perhaps this little tribute would bring to light his amazing story, which is definitely worth telling.

Below is his short autobiography, written many years ago. He had a sharp mind till the end. He was the one who introduced me to the Bible. He was always curious about spirituality and I remember him taking us from one church to another. He finally found his "home church" in a small church plant where I attended Sunday School for the first time. I will forever be thankful to him for not accepting the religion of the masses, but looked for the truth on his own. I'm glad he found it in the Bible, which has changed so many lives in our family. 

Please read the full story on my Taste and See the Lord's Goodness blog.

NinaB Designs April 2013 Blog Hop, Giveaway and Winner!

Welcome to the NinaB Designs Blog Hop! The theme of this month's hop is Stamping Techniques. I challenged the team to do a technique, which could be as simple as coloring, die-cutting or more involved like emboss resist, making your own embellishments, etc.

I have two cards for you today. The first one uses a few techniques: fussy cutting, Copic coloring on the flower (Penny Black's Dahlias set), die cutting, embossing and stenciling the jar (Spellbinders' Homespun dies). I also made a background and tag for my sentiments using stamps from Penny Black's Embellishments set.

The sentiment is from PB's Treemendous set. The paper strip is from PB's Madison. A little bit of twine and button on the jar finish the card.

My second card uses my new The Craft's Meow's Take the Cake set. The techniques I used here are die cutting, fussy cutting, and 2-step stamping.

The papers are October Afternoon. The pearls are Want2Scrap. The die cut doily is Spellbinders' Persian Motifs dies.

Here are the products I used:

The NinaB Designs team is giving away these TWO PRIZE PACKAGES:

Prize #1

 Prize #2: TCM's Crafty Shelf and Retired LOC Elegant Labels set

Winners will be picked randomly from 2 of the designers' blogs:

Nina Brackett * Clare Buswell * Heather Jensen * Jennie Harper * Jessica Fick * Lea Lawson * Linda Lucas * Rae Barthel

Everybody is welcome to comment and be eligible to win. The winners will be announced on April 22 on My Blog. International commenters are welcome.

***Before I leave, here is the winner from my previous post...Leanne! Please email me via tab above with your info. Finally, please consider liking the following Facebook pages that are represented on today's hop, so you don't miss the latest news and happenings:

NinaB Designs

Spellbinders Paper Arts

The Craft's Meow

Penny Black Inc.
 Want2Scrap 

Thank you for joining us today!

Changes to the NinaB Designs Team!

Hello, dear friends. As you know, I have been so fortunate to have a group of talented ladies who help promote my designs on our (somewhat) monthly blog hop. I still pinch myself for having such a fantastic group that supports me in my design endeavors and makes my designs shine! I don't believe you can find a better team out there than these dear friends who have joined me in my creative journey.

I'm sad to say that we will be saying goodbye to two of these ladies, Julie Overby and Beatriz Jennings. They have been an invaluable part of our team this past year. Their unique style and jaw-dropping creations have been a source of inspiration to me and I'm sure for you all. So, Julie and Beatriz, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for gracing our group with your lovely work, for supporting me in my design work and for being patient with me as I fumbled my way through organizing a team! You will be missed, but I support your decision wholeheartedly to leave in order to spend more time pursuing "life" and all those wonderful blessings that are more important than our beloved hobby.

I want to introduce you now to two lovely ladies who will be joining our little NBD family. Not only are these ladies among the industries' best, but they have also become dear friends of mine in my short paper crafting career. They both design for many manufacturers, so I'm humbled to have them join me as well. I have had the privilege of meeting them both at CHA 2010. I'll share more about them in future posts, but first let me introduce you to the new team members.

When Rae Barthel and I first met, we immediately hit it off! She had her sweet mom with her and we talked non stop about another mutual love, Croatia. As you know, Croatia is my current home and Rae is Croatian by heritage...instant connection! I was just excited to meet THE Paper Crafts Magazine Gallery Idol winner of 2009! That is no small feat, my friends. And she is one of those truly sweet people who are down to earth, warm and makes you feel loved.

Here is one gorgeous card she made using some of my designs:

This next lady is another dear friend, Jessica Fick. We go a long way back. In fact, she was there when I first arrived in the amazing world of paper crafting! We have worked together for a few companies, including currently The Craft's Meow. I have learned from her as a designer and have shared life experiences with her as a friend. You know the kind that either makes you miserable or a better person. She has been a source of encouragement and support and for that I will always be thankful to her.

 Here's a beautiful card she made using one of my TCM stamps.

So, am I blessed or what? Please join me in welcoming them to the team. In honor of their joining the team, let's have a giveaway, shall we? Just leave me a comment below and I'll pick a random winner on Monday, when we have the NinaB Designs April blog hop. I hope you can join us! Until then, have a great weekend!

Happy Colors, Happy Cards

I have two cards for you today. I love the bright colors and the twine just shouts happy, don't you think? :) The first one was posted on the TCM's blog previously uses my new Take the Cake stamp set. The papers are October Afternoon. You can see details HERE.

I am not sure if I have shared the card below, but here it is anyway. It uses TCM's Geometric Foundations. I colored the Chevron stripes with Copics. The heart bling is from Want2Scrap.

I have exciting news to share with you tomorrow! And maybe we'll even have a giveaway...stay tuned!