What I have been up to...

Hi all,
Pics of what I have been creating in this past week or so.


Card for my brother... well, too much of white, but I had to try this waterfall card for him and I had less than half an hour to do it! :-) I hope he likes it.... His exams start on Monday and I hope he does well.

Mamma's 50th birthday card. As you all can see, I have generously used eyelets in both these cards! Couldn't resist showing off with my new tool. :-) I love the pink and green of Mamma's card (and of course the touches of gold).

And this is the notebook I altered for my grandpa (Baba). I hope he likes it too.

Cheers,

Smita

Back at last...

I am back after a sort of blog break... What have I been up to? Well, nothing much actually... Clearing up a lot of pending housework...baking for my darling son...watching TV...reading my favorite magazines...yeah, that should be about it.
Slumdog..has made waves at the Oscars, I hear! :-) and I am proud to be an Indian!! Proud of AR Rehman more than of anyone else on the SD team. May God bless him and may he continue creating class music... by the way, I love the 'Masakalli' number from Delhi 6. It is quite chirpy I think (and my caller tune for the moment).
I got back to crafting yesterday. Made a card for Mamma's 50th birthday (which was yesterday) and altered a spiral notebook for my grandpa. Both have come out very nice and to my expectation but I will post the pictures later.

And did I tell you that I finally found eyelets and a super eyelet tool. I am so happy!!! :-)

Love,
Smita

Bai - we will miss you

Lead kindly light,
Amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou, me on
Keep thou my feet, I,
Do not ask to see
The distant scene...
One step enough, for me...

I lost my grandma today. And I am going to miss her forever. A lot. I think we will all miss her.
May her soul rest in peace. She had undergone a lot of suffering over the past one year. Hope she finds peace in the other world.

The one on the right (brownish saree) is her. Pic taken on November 15 during Richa's sangeet function.

Bai, you will be in our hearts for all that you taught us, for all that you did. I think you are by far the most creative person in the family. I will treasure the sarees, dresses, shawls, dressing table sets, and all other things you embroidered for me!!

No posts from me for the next 10 days or so. I will be leaving for Kolkata tomorrow.

Love,

Smita.

If you can't find them..make them!!!

Hi all, I am a happy woman today!! :-) Why? Because I made 2 cards and I am quite happy with the results. And secondly, because I have decided not to brood over the fact that all the crafty materials people the world over use for their cards are not available here! I think I will stick to my resolution of trying out at least 2 new techniques a month and make whatever is possible with the material available to me. :-) And I am moving in the right direction... I have tried quite a few techniques this month - the explosion box, a brand new water coloring technique, the dahlia fold flowers, the votive holder and ribbon blossom (both in this post)! Yay!!! I have every reason to be happy, don't I? :-)

About today's cards...
The first card is for Laura's sketch # 18. I don't know if it matches the sketch exactly but I have based it on that. I have used a ribbon blossom (tutorial on SCS by Pam Basset). Of course, mine doesn't look half as nice because 1) I have used less ribbon 2) I should have used organza ribbons.
I don't know whom this card is for. I want to send it to an ex-colleague and very good friend (her birthday is long past) but I don't think it can go by courier :-(.

The second card is votive holder. I got the tutorial through Sheetloads Shortcuts. Again, here I think I should have used thicker cardstock. What do you think? This one is again for Vineet. I don't know how many Valentine's Day cards I am going to give him this year ;-))) I think I will need to give one every 3 days in Feb. :D

I used the Mojo Monday sketch. Not really a good attempt, but I have been wanting to take part in the challenge for a while, so I will submit it anyway. They have a right to kick me off ;-))

By the way, I have used a playing card (not a fancy embellishment) here. My husband's very fond of playing cards and his current favorite pastime is playing 'Poker' on Facebook :D...

The king of my heart...

Cheers,
Smita.

Dahlia fold flowers

For everyone who liked these flowers but wondering how to make them, here's the tutoril link:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dahlia_fold/

Love,
Smita

How can I love thee? and others

Hi,
I know I haven't posted in really long... and I am ashamed of myself for that. Hope this post compensates for everything.
Aaryan's school has their annual Sports Day tomorrow and the poor kids were 'practising' in the hot sun today. (For the uninitiated, Mumbai has only two seasons - the summer and the monsoons!!!! How boring is that? ;-) Well, so we are enjoying horribly high temperatures these days.)
I have 2 cards to share with you today.

The first card is my little tweaky version of the 2S4u sketch. I am going for a distant relative's 25th wedding anniversary party today and this card is for them. Guess it is my way of marketing my cards now... ;-)))

The second card is for two challenges - 2S4U (Kazan's sketch # 18) and for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration # 20. I had no option but to combine the two ;-). I was thinking of what to do for both challenges, and then decided to use the 2S4U sketch and Stacey's colors together. I though that would atleast ensure that I don't go wrong with the choice of colors and layout... ;-) And halfway through the card, I thought I didn't want to give it to anyone, so I saved it to give it to my husband on Valentine's Day ;-). I haven't shown him the card yet, and I am hoping he doesn't read this post.

And yes, this is my third technique trial this month!! Yipppeeee!!!! I tried the Dahlia fold flowers from an SCS tutorial. i think my flower looks cute, what do you say? :-)

The papers are normal cardstock and a glossy cardstock from a local stationery store. The rhinestones and other bling are from the local craft market. Glitter used is UHU glitter pens. Laces are from my stash.

Cheers,

Smita

Fasts...phew!!

Hope you have had a fab day. Mine has been so-so. I am fasting today and it also happens to be a harvest festival of North India. Both together, I have had a rather hectic day full of religious rituals of sorts. Plus, I have been surviving the entire day on 2 bananas and a few cups of coffee; though I had to cook 3 different kinds of meals for 3 different people... God! my stomach is growling now and I can't eat till I spot the moon. Why does Mr. Moon always decide to come in late on days like these, I always wonder.

As usual I have not got the camera just now, so I will come back with my post later. Maybe tomorrow afternoon after Aaryan is through with school.

Till then, ciao.

PS: I have been going through all my favorite blogs and seeing their wonderful creations. I did a little bit of craft shopping yesterday and I am dying to use them all.

Love,

Smita.