Happy Birthday Tommy!

This was my first layout created as a gift. It took many hours to complete this page. I had to cut everything out by hand. Every year, when I present the wrapped gift to Tommy, before he even unwrap his present, he knew exactly what I got for him. Well, he couldn't figure out what I had gotten for him that year. I caught him by surprise.

The title was very generic, "Happy Birthday Tommy!" I just didn't know exactly what to put as a title. The layout would look kind of empty if I didn't add a title to it. I took most of the time cutting out all the letters by hand. I had to do them twice. I had to print the letters in black and I also printed the letters on a blue cardstock paper. I probably took more than 6 hours cutting out the letters. I also added glitters to the blue letters as well to add a bit of sparkle.

Oops, how did I turn my page sideway to take this picture?

The second hardest part of this layout was the cutting of the swirl. I printed different swirl sizes to see which one would look the best before cutting it out. I printed the swirl on a white cardstock and used scribble paint to trace over the swirl. I added white glitters to the wet paint. When the paint dried up, the design would add a little bit of dimension, as well as some sparkle to the page. After the paint was fully dry, I used a knife to cut the swirl out. I had to be extra careful when I was cutting the swirl out. The most difficult part was cutting out the inside of the leaves.

I decided to do something different and created a double frame to the layout. Since it was my first time doing it, I had to create the frames several times to perfect what I wanted to look like. Because the frame was the focus of the page, I spent some time to do the measurement.

I added a small personal note to the page. It was like a birthday card/ scrapbook page/ birthday gift mixed into one.

Finished product, along with the frame

If I could fix the layout, I would move the letters lower because the letters were too close to the top of the frame. I didn't take the frame into account when I was putting this page together. The letters seemed to be positioned well without the frame. Once the frame was added, the top had been cut off.

With such hardwork, it surely paid off for my Christmas gift that year. Tommy had gotten me one of the most thoughtful gift I could ever imagine, the Silhouette Digital Cutter! :) Yay to no more cutting letters and delicate things with a pair of scissor! Yay to time saving! Yay to create more pages!

Turning 67

This was my first double layout. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I was putting this layout together.

I decided to do a double layout for my dad's birthday as he turned 67 couple years ago. This year, he will be turning 70! Oh my, how time flies! It is not until I looked back at this page until I realized that he is going to be 70 this year. I am blessed to have him supporting me all the time. I am truly blessed that he has good health, and really, he just doesn't look that old to me.

This layout was rather simple as I was still trying to figure how to put different pattern papers together to look great. I ended up cutting strips pattern paper to create a border instead since I was pretty confused at that time.


The letters were hand cut by a pair of scissor. It wasn't as difficult to cut because the letters were much bigger, and much easier to cut. However, I had to cut double as I used 2 different cardstocks for the letters. The yellow letters were slightly raised. I used 3d foams to make them raised.

I used ink stamp to stamp the date of the event. It was a pack of wooden stamps with individual alphabet on each end. It was my first rubber stamp I owned. The most difficult part of stamping was aligning all the letters. I had a tendency to shift things upward or downward. In order to keep it straight, I had to use pencil and ruler. Once the stamp part was done, I had to go back and erase the line.

This layout is probably the most simplest double layout I had ever created. It's not my most favorite page, but when I look at it again, I grew to like this page in a strange way.