A little bit of this and that...

Hi all...

I am not sure how many of you still drop by and how many remember me :) I have been super busy of late and haven't found the time to craft! Till recently, that is.... Just completed a small set on order and realised I am losing touch with speed and accuracy :( and finding it difficult to remember what I have been doing :(

Anyway, here are snapshots from the latest:

A house card cum gift box, a couple of adaptations of Laura's "All Aboard" mini and some cards (not in the pictures).

Hoping to come by more often now...

Smita

Tipsy well card

Who hasn't seen the awesome projects done by Dr.Sonia at her blog. My son, Aaryan, and I are in awe of her creations and even yesterday we were ogling at her work! :)) He had a birthday party to attend in the evening and though initially we hadn't intended to give a card, we thought we'd tweak the wishing well in Dr. Sonia's post and make something 3D. Pardonnez-moi the extremely terrible photos...

We didn't put in much effort... just made it using paper from the DCWV Nana's Kids/Nursery pack and added some buttons and stickers. It was a very quick card and didn't really look as hopeless as it does in the pictures :D

Ciao,

Smita

Shadow box card

A few days back a close friend asked me to make her a card (that will go from her son to her husband). She asked me to use a 4"*6" photograph and its bright background for the card. I haven't ever worked on a photo card I guess, except the layout that I made for DH last year. I wanted to make something special and different for her... and I had a window card in mind... 

But then I saw this card by Kavitha and did some tutorial searches... I finally came across what I really wanted on the Rubber Cafe Design Team blog. It was just what I needed.

The card's front view:

The inside:

Their favorite toys handcut and glittered with Pie Lane glitter and glitter balls :) :

PS: What's glitter doing on a masculine card, did you just ask?! Well, in India a little bit of glitter 'zaroori hota hai' (is essential...) ;-)

(oh and there are Pie Lane glitter strips peeping through too :) )
A view from the side:

It does look much neater IRL!! 

Thanks for the inspiration - Kavitha, Ujjwal (no recycling though :( ) and the Rubber Cafe.

Hugs,
Smita

Easy-peasy!

Hey there people!


I did some simple projects over the last few days... Here's a glimpse:

1) For my cards and crossword loving grandpa, I created a mini book with some French words that he keeps  calling me for :) {No, I am no expert but I can manage a good bit of French ;) , c'est tout!}

This project was inspired by the Moxie Fab World Card Play challenge and I used the tutorial from here. Mine is nowhere close but grandpa liked it :)

2) For my forgetful Mother-in-law, who keeps losing her mini telephone diary all the time, I created this:

This is quite a scrappy project and wholly inspired by Ujjwal. I used her tutorial of a recycled notebook and used an empty Cross pen box... It was very sturdy and matched my papers beautifully. The flower is a local buy (it is too cute IRL). And the alpha stickers are from Hobby Ideas. I added some ribbon on the binder rings and also a little note on the side for my MIL ;-) .

Submitting this for Lynn's recycle challenge at Yvonne's blog.

3) And for my crafty and adorable little boy, I made this:

A paper bag puppet, Pinnochio. He was to carry a story book character to school... I am not too keen on buying or giving him soft toys; and we decided we'd make our own character. He gave me some ideas for the nose and tips on the colors to use and then ran away! Poor Mamma was left behind crafting away and using all techniques she knew to make a decent puppet... he loved it :) and so did his teacher and friends ;-) 

I am loving crafting for my dear ones... have some more to stuff to make and give away to friends ;-)

A mini album-card

Hi there,

Yeah, it has been a while since I posted something... just plain busy... my brother in law's wedding is just about a month away and we are a little busy with things now :) I have been crafting too... just that I didn't post some little projects. Anyway, for the last 2 days (it took me the longest time ever!!), I've been busy with this little project for Vineet's cousin sister's daughter...

Inspired by colors from Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger:

This project is inspired by Laura's Garden Bugs Train mini album. I wanted to make something fun and cute for the little girl... I'm not overly happy with my choice of papers though :( but I'm glad with the final outcome! {Note to self: Use papers from the same pack next time I am in a hurry.... saves lot of time that I otherwise spend on matching!)

I loved the cute bugs in Laura's album.... couldn't do them justice here but I hope she likes it!

The cupcake is from a PTI stamp set... I filled in the icing with poster colors for brighter shine ;-)

The brad (center of the flower) was part of something I won at Yvonne's blog.

The 'Hello Kitty' chipboard piece is something I've been hoarding for a while not knowing what to do with it....

Ok, I messed up both these pages by writing in my stupid handwriting :( ... well, shows its handmade-ness!

Just wanted to show you this pretty paper lace tape I'd got from Hobby Ideas (before it closed down in my area :( ).

I know I could add more ribbon and flowers to the rings and pages... but I'm too lazy... I might add some before I give it away today :D

and finally... though the wrapping looks a bit shabby, I want to share a pic of this amazing ribbon :)... no, i didn't buy it! My mom had a roll of it lying with her (for God knows how long!) and she thought only I could use it :-p

Ciao soon,

Smita

PS: Aaryan is watching me type and wants me to add his name (the only word he can spell and read) in this post... big hugs from him to my blog friends :p

Nothing extraordinary...

A simple card and drawer box:

I wasn't happy with this project from the word go... anyway...

The colors are inspired by The Play Date Cafe PDCC 50:

I am submitting this box project for the 3D project challenge by Julie Elak at Yvonne's  blog.

I've not added sentiments to either yet... I'll add it based on the occasion.

Ciao,
Smita

Move it move it...

A 'card' that sure is close to my heart. My parents are having a housewarming puja for their new house tomorrow and I wanted to make a very very special card for them... I knew right from the beginning what that special something was. But since I had already had a few failed attempts with it in the past year, I was keeping my fingers crossed this time.

Isn't it cute? :-) I loved how it turned out (though I know I could do better with the embellishments). This is the main door and it can actually open and close, so I am submitting this project for the challenge at Quixotic Challenges - Move it, Move it. :-)

I did each window slightly different from the other. There are awnings on 2 windows because I know my parents used to love awnings :-)

Though she doesn't have too many, my mom used to have hundreds of pots in her garden when we lived in Kerala. (Please click to enlarge this image and then you'll know the buttons are flowers ;-) )

This is the back window of my little house. :-)

Hope you like it!!

Smita

Are you with us?!!

Hello everyone,

Have you seen Tejal's gorgeous creation for the PaperWorks Ultimate Summer challenge yet? If not, hop on to her blog and ogle at the awesome-st shaped card! Here is a sneak-peak:

Tejal's take on the sketch was mind blowing! I loved her choice of colors and her coloring is, as always, very very neat!!

Well, anyone else would have been inspired to create something very pretty after seeing her card.... After Sunday's sketch, it was my turn to create... and I was paranoid ;-). Those who know me also know that this isn't anything new. I get nervous, jittery, and all that when I am under a pressure to perform. Ask Shalini, Tejal and Spardha and you will know what a  nervous wreck I became :D LOL. Anyway, my challenge was a color inspiration:

Yes, pretty basic... but using all these colors together was kind of tricky for me. But one point in the rules list was pretty well highlighted in my mind - the project could be anything from a card, a scrapbook page, 3D project - hmm... interesting. And I knew I had only one image set in hand (kindly donated to us by Chi Chi Memories for this challenge); so within around half an hour of seeing the challenge, being inspired by my little boy's colorful shorts of the same colors, I decided to go cutesy (as I would with any animal themed card)... and I started hunting my documents for a tutorial I had copied down (literally handwritten) from a blog a couple of years back.. Of course, I couldn't find it... So I searched online again and this time wrote it in my 'technique book' ;-). This is what I came up with:

A backpack... it was quite a rage in 2008 I think and even I had made a few back then. I had a nice time thinking of the layers... since the challenge is basically an Animal Edition, I embossed the yellow and red cardstocks with the Birds and Swirls folder (it is supposed to be an open land with lot of trees... only I understood till now; I hope you can see my thoughts too LOL ;-) ). Of course, I covered the image with Glue and Gloss (Tejal, thank you for introducing me to this!!)... and I used a little 3D outliner (glitter) for bling... The backpack is complete with little straps at the back (and the sentiment - always by your side):

Do keep reading our blogs for the next 2 challenge updates too :-)... and yeah, vote for us when the "voting lines are open"... chuckle chuckle... :-) We'll keep you posted.

And, if you wish to make the backpack too... here is the link. The best part is that you can customize it as you wish and there are no scary tools involved.

Ciao,
Smita