Sizzling Blue ...!

Here I am back again with the Mojo sketch card; and this time I did remember to make it square unlike the earlier one!!! ;-) As I mentioned earlier, my cards reflect my mood and what techniques I am waiting to try. Today it is a fun card with some elegance... I tried the awesome 'Shaker' card from the Whiff of Joy Tutorial blog. Love their tutorials though I don't own any of the gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamps.

I am submitting this card for:
> The Cuttlebug Spot - Favorite flowers (these layered beauties sure are my favorites!)
> Papertake Weekly - Do something different (never tried a shaker card like this before)
> Cute card Thursday - Make your own
> Our Creative Corner - Blooming blossoms
> Tanja's challenge of making the shaker 

Isn't it a beauty? :-) I loved it!!! But if I reveal what makes the shaker, I'm not sure if you will believe me.... ;-)  Well, the original tutorial asked for a cardboard ring 6mm high. I, of course, didn't have any such ring. I asked Tanja what to replace it with... she suggested 3D tapes. Now Smita was too lazy to neatly cut foam tape so she came up with another idea... 

I have loads of unused bangles with me... I layered 3 light metal bangles to create the height and dimension. Then I carried on with the tutorial ;-)...  I loved the card!! AND I loved my shimmering blue flower too... Nothing much to write about that - just layered scalloped circles secured with a brad and decorated in the center with a circle sticker and loads of 3D outliner! :-) 

The lace is from mom's stash!! And she has the most amazing collection ever!!

Hope you enjoyed my post...

Ciao,

Smita

Shimmering beauty ;-)

Well, 'shimmering beauty' is what I was trying to make my card... beauty or not, it is your say, but it sure is shimmering (more in reality than in the pic). It is always a big challenge for me to follow the Mojo Monday sketch. I find it too full of little bits and pieces for me to follow... 

My cards are usually neither CAS nor embellishment-heavy; hmm... somewhere in between. They always depend on my mood and supplies PLUS on what technique I want to try (yes, I am a very technique-loving girl, if there is such a word). I had started this self challenge of trying new techniques in the beginning of last year (I had not yet discovered my fellow Indian card makers till then and lack of crafting supplies was a big heartbreak back then!) ... I love trying anything new I see, though they might not always be successful attempts. So, here I am with a few new things...

This card follows the Mojo Monday challenge. I chose the Square (well, just realized it isn't square... :-( ). But I put in so much effort into this card that I am submitting it anyway. 

> The image is again from Birds' cards. I colored it using my Derwent pencils and blended with Camlin distilled turpentine; 

> The pretty lace on top and in the very bottom are from mom's stash; 

>I bought the glittering purple ribbon a few days back from the local market;

> The printed glossy vellum (circle behind the image) was gifted to me by Chirag, my brother-in-law

> The patterned scallop circle is Heidi Grace (thanks Donna!!)

> The pink shaded paper (layer 1) is from Hobby Ideas

I made the flower myself using 2 sizes of heart punches and a clover (yes!) punch [ Kathy has a beautiful tutorial for the heart punch flowers - I am nowhere close of course! Too lazy to punch or cut smaller/bigger hearts] and loads of 3D outliner in the center; so I do qualify for Cute Card Thursday's challenge (make your own)!!! :-) The leaves are punched using a Carl craft punch. The swirls are hand drawn (sorry, I can't do better than that! ;-) ); the scalloped edge was done using a decorative scissor.

The inside of the card:

Don't remember where the sentiment is from. I'll update it as soon as I can recollect.

PS: Ahhh yes! i can't believe this is my second post today ;-)

This and that....

Hello there,

Here are a few simple cards I created yesterday to get myself back in the crafty groove...

This one follows the gorgeous Kazan's 2S4Y sketch (#51).... I think she'll faint seeing such an interpretation of her beautiful sketch..LOL!! Anyway... the image is a digi image from Birds cards. Love her very usable images. The ribbon treatment has another story. I learnt it from mom and though I haven't perfected it yet, I hope to work on it and get it right. Not visible clearly in the picture but the ruffles look gorgeous if done right. I'd done this flower earlier too and I love how I can add some texture and elegance to a plain foam flower.

This one is a simple notecard made from scraps of CS left after making the previous card:

I bought loads of these flowers on a recent shopping spree. Kind of find them useful.

The next two cards are just trial cards... I wanted to try the gorgeous bows from the Just Add Ink tutorials. I had to tweak it a bit based on my button type... liked it though.

All the embossing is Cuttlebug; the ribbons are from my stash; ink from Hobby Ideas; stamps are Stampin' Up; buttons from stash.

Cheers,

Smita

Blog candy

Claire at CraftyC's Crafting Library is offering some fab birthday candy:

Drop by her blog for a chance to win!

Cheers,
Smita

Green and mauve

Yes, i did tell you I won't be around for a week. Still at mom's but I had to make a card. I've not been feeling well since yesterday and this simple card helped in making me feel a little better. :)

Another view:

PS: I have no craft supplies here ;-) I bought the punch here a couple of days ago... ribbon and lace from mom's raided cupboard... and the green paper is reused from a money envelope ;-)

Cheers,
Smita

Tough one...

Ok, this post has been a bit overdue now. I've been trying to post it for the past 3 days...! I had been working on some (30+) birth announcement cards for a friend. Since this was the first time I made cards in such quantity (not counting my actual first time for my little boy's first birthday), this was quite a challenging job for me. To make things more difficult for myself, I had come up with quite an intricate design that involved a lot of hand cutting (other than the card base and the first layer, everything was cut by my little fingers and my trusted pair of scissors... LOL). Anyway, cribbing apart, this was an enjoyable project that also taught me a lot! :-) And I loved the final product... and so did everybody at home. 

My friend wanted the card to be traditional with the use of fabric, warm colors, and gold... the message on most cards was in Hindi (written by her) and a imilar one in English on the other cards.

A little bit of distressing... (the whole card had a vintage feel)... a little bit of dimension... hand made knots and random patterns with the golden lace at the bottom of the card... the baby's bundle is cut out of fabric and beads were stuck to that.. basically, a lot of work ;-)

The background paper is printed handmade paper; the orange bits of paper are another variety of handmade paper that almost look and feel like fabric.. the sentiment is printed.

And here's a pic of all of them together:

Hope you like it :-)

Ciao,
Smita

psst psst: I'm off for a week to my parent's place... won't be crafting this whole week I guess. I'll try and check out your blogs as often as I can though! Happy crafting to all of you

:-)

This is my cutest card for now ;-) Been dying to use this color combination for a while but I never seemed to have the right supplies.

I am submitting it for:
> 2S4Y : love their sketch (when do I not!?)

> The Cuttlebug Spot challenge ("Bling"... though I am capable of much more bling ;-) )
> Cute Card Thursday: Touchy feely

The patterned paper is from Hobby Ideas; the pink oval behind the stamped image is a glitter paper my dad got for me from Australia (not visible perhaps but it has a nice shimmer); all other papers are from stash. Ahhh, yes, I have finally managed to emboss and ink Vellum... can you seeing it peeping behind the light pink rectangle?? :-) That's thanks to Beth Norman (love her tutorials!).

The image is again Meljen's digital stamp; the sentiment is Stampin' Up; the flowers and lace are from stash. I've also used some gel pens and 3D outliners for added bling and dimension.

Hope you enjoyed my little post...

Cheers,
Smita

A simple fancy fold card

My card fo the Incy Wincy challenge this week (fancy folds). I have tried the spring fold here... and I am so  in love with this easy and cute fold that I made 2 of the same card ;-).  I am a tad late for this one because I have been really caught up with something else!! Would have loved to do more detailing... and some bling too :-(

Before adding the sentiment:

After adding the sentiment (sorry about the dim light in this one):

Hope you like it too...

Cheers,
Smita

Vintage love

Tried something different today. I have been in a horrid mood since mid-morning so I don't know what I've been doing with this card... I mis-positioned many things on this card. Anyhow, here it is:

Tried a better view in the next.

The sentiment is printed. The image is a free digital stamp from Sliekje. Something that is not visible in the previous images is this clock that has been masked in the background:

The folded Label 3 is an inspiration from something similar in Laura's card (nothing close though!) and the ruffled ribbon is inspired by Heather (not close either) [both 2S4Y].

And aaah... the only bit I truly loved is the distressed red background... Loosely based on the Acrylic distressing technique in SCS.

I am entering this card for:
> 2S4Y : Laura's sketch #49
> The ABC Challenge: R is for Red.

Cheers,
Smita

Difficult but manageable....

I thought this week's Get Sketchy sketch was a tough one for me... But I wanted to play along. And I managed to...Hurray! Nothing much t say though... Not a great card. Tried a new color combination today. And some more experiments with satin ribbon (I must confess it took me ages to complete that medallion kind of thing with purple ribbon). Then I tried to do some stitching on the organza ribbon to hold it in place. The swirls on the green paper are made using my 3D outliner (too lazy to emboss). Lots of faux stitching using white gel pen and green glitter pen.

How I regret not ordering a corner rounder punch along with my Cuttlebug!!! :-( How could I?!?!

Till later,

Smita

Glittering silver...

Here is another card for me... unfortunately it isn't following any sketch so it is kind of weirdly consolidated. I had to try this flower, which I saw on the Just Add Ink blog. My flower doesn't look even a percent as cool; but anyway... guess practice will make it perfect ;-). The gorgeous papers are from a recent shopping spree with mom (both her choice!! Mamma, you rock!!). I have them in the form of rolls (quite bugging) but I finally managed to cut them out neat enough... :-)

Kept this clean and simple to let the papers and flower speak.

A look at the flower (sorry about the glare...)... Wish I had some grosgrain! But I guess I will need to make do with satin till then....

I'm submitting this card for:

> Just Add Ink challenge # 11 - Anything goes

> The Pink Elephant challenge # 61 - nature

And just signing off with a pic of my little boy dressed as a farmer for rhyme day at school:

Isn't he a darling!! :-) He made me draw and cut out those farm animals... and was very proud of his Mom :D

Till later,

Smita

Love is sweet

I had been wanting to try a chocolate-teal-white and a dash of red color combination for a long long time now. Unfortunately I never found the right teal paper... and when I did get one, I thought of using it soon. :-)

Well, the card appears a bit wobbly I guess because it was propped on a plant :D. Anyway, the image is another of Meljen's freebies... how I love her images! They are a treat to color for a coloring newbie like me :-)

I am submitting this card for:

> Card Patterns -  sketch # 58

> Just Add Ink - anything goes

> Everything But the Kitchen Sink challenge - strings
> Meljen's challenge - anything goes
> Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge - Sense and Sensibility (clean enough, Sankari and Brooke?)

Till later..

Smita

In2Stamps candy

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