Holidays!!

Just a quick note to say husby 'n' I are off on our holiday! Will be back soon :)

Happy Holidays Everyone! Hope your days ahead are filled with joy, cheer, love and laughter.

Take care.

Let it Snow!

Here in Aussie land it won't! Christmas is all about summer fun :)
Anywho, ISS's challenge of the month is to make a snow themed project using one of their images. They had a generous give-away on their blog - the first 150 people to follow their blog and leave a comment got a free digi image of their choice. Isn't that awesome! I chose the 'girl singer' from their Band set. I have bought a few digi images from them, but none with a snow theme. I was all excited about using the new free image I got, so my right brain did all the work to fit it into the theme :) I had a lot of fun making it. And no, in case you're wondering, I don't think there is a song like that...but hey, it's my own composition! I hummed it all along as I made this card :)
The picture is not that good, well what's new, heh! So please click on it to see more clearly.

But I have to confess, I totally botched up the glitter on this card. I couldn't find my glue pen and thought my glue stick would work. Turns out it doesn't! Hope it doesn't look too messy...hmmm, you think?

Yummy Cards!

I made these cards for 'Hey Hey Good Looking - What Ya Got Cooking' challenge hosted by Order of the Opus Gluei. The title was so cute that I had to make some cards! I rummaged through my stuff for the two DVDs I'd purchased long ago. They have loads 'n' loads of clip art and I knew there were heaps of cute ones in the 'food' category. So I decided to make these cards. They're easy-peasy but aren't they oh-so-yummy? All I had to do was arrange the images and sentiments on Word Document and figure out how to feed the card stock into the printer to get it all in the right place. By the way, I love the card stock I ordered from Blue Edge Crafts. They're textured and give my cards a really crisp 'n' professional finish. These are very bad pictures and I'm awfully sorry! Click on the images to see more clearly.
(Pssst! Husby darling has a beautiful SLR camera which I have to learn how to use one of these days!)

These cards were fun to make + I loved the part where I had to make up the right sentiments for the images :)

Trash from Treasure - II

I'm back with another 'found-in-the-house' project! I was just about to throw away an empty sultanas carton, but didn't quite. As you might have guessed...opened it up carefully, traced around it and then cut + fold + decorate + glue together = a darling box! I thought I'd use it to hold a set of cards, perfect little gift for someone who loves pretty stationery 'n' stuff :)

I kind of struggled with the picture...couldn't find the right angle. The flap on top is open. Have to figure out a few techniques to get better pictures. One day...I will :)


Until next time...cheers!

Two Cards - Two Challenges

I had a lot of fun making these cards :)

The first one is for Caardvarks' Circle of Friendship challenge. The challenge is to make a round card. It's my first round card ever! I'd seen a really cool tip on Jennifer McGuire's blog - make a tiny flap on one of the circles and glue the decorated circle on top (the front of the card). That way, you can accomplish the 'full circle' card front, clever, isnit?


The next card I made is for Instyle Stamps' Wednesday Challenge - Felt. No points for guessing, I had to use felt in the project. And I had to use at least one ISS stamp, perfect! I was waiting to use some of the digi stamps I'd bought from them and it was perfect timing :) Featuring in my card here is Sasha. I think she's gorgeous! I used pinking shears and cut out a strip of red felt for the sentiment and attached a little pink felt flower on her hair band with a brad.


So, that's it from me for now. Off to make some party invites and thank you notes for my lil niece's birthday party :)

Until next time...cheers!

Tom the Turkey

Made this card this morning for Challenge #31 hosted by Order of the Opus Gluei. The star of the challenge is Tom the Turkey, who Kristen has generously offered. Me thinks he's really cute :)


A closer look at Tom...

Treasure from Trash!

Strange thing, you know, when I open a fresh bar of soap I don't throw away the box immediately. I kind of like the lingering smell it has...and that's one of my weird things, I just leave it on the counter, only to pick it up later during my routine cleaning and toss it into the bin. Yesterday was one of those days and I just held on to the soap box 'cos I had an idea; especially after the blog hop at Caardvarks, I was inspired by all the pretty decorative packaging ideas I'd seen.
So, I opened up the box carefully and traced around it on a piece of patterned paper, scored and folded along the lines and made myself this pretty little decorative box! It can hold candies, buttons, tiny stamps, trinkets...anything! I think it's a great idea for gift-giving over the holidays. I know I'm going to make several of these, so I went ahead and made myself a template using some heavy card stock ('cos the original soap box was almost in tatters by the time I finished opening it up!). I think I'm going to put all such templates into a folder for easy access.


I thought I'd make more using other empty cartons lying around in my kitchen. Will be back with something :)

Until next time...cheers!

Fun with Stamps!

I'm back with three more cards I made, all using some new and some old stamps. And although they did not take very long, I really enjoyed making them. Me thinks these are great if you want to make a bunch of cards for a fete or sale.


Have fun creating!

My First!

Thanks for this very encouraging award Juhi! I'm glad I started craft blogging again - I'm thoroughly enjoying myself, I've found great blogger buddies and I've been so inspired by the hundreds of wonderful blogs I've come across and am still discovering!

I have to answer the following questions with one word answers (Hmmm, let's see now)

1. Where is your cell phone? coffee table
2. Your hair? frequently heat styled!!!
3. Your mother? endearing
4. Your father? loving
5. Your favorite food? everything that goes straight to the hips, lol!
6. Your dream last night? can't remember (what?? must be the first time!)
7. Your favorite drink? flavoured water
8. Your dream/goal? to find constant happiness
9. What room are you in? living room
10. Your hobby? crafting
11. Your fear? being alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? in a happy place
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something you aren't? emotionally strong
15. Muffins? oh yeah!
16. Wish list item? a long *list* :D
17. Where did you grow up? India
18. Last thing you did? ate breakfast
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? the last resort
21. Your pets? would love to have one :)
22. Friends? lots
23. Your life? lucky
24. Your mood? upbeat
25. Missing someone? a friend
26. Vehicle? wishlist
27. Something you're not wearing? shoes
28. Favourite store? I love craft stores
29. Favourite colour? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? last night
31. Last time you cried? can't remember!
32. Your best friend? is a sweetheart
33. One place I go to over and over? my kitchen
34. Facebook? keeps me connected
35. Favourite place to eat? anywhere with good food

I'd love to pass this on to all those lovely blogs out there. To you, you and you!

Ho Ho Ho!

CS: Stampin Up!, Snowflakes: Stampin Up!, Background: 99c stamp from Riot, red CS: Stampin Up!, Ribbon: Riot

I got this (background, Ho Ho Ho!) stamp from an art & craft store called Riot. At just 99c, I think it's great! I was waiting to use it and made this really easy card. I'm totally hooked on to making Christmas cards these days :) I bought a couple of other new stamps as well that I want to try out. Will be back soon with something!

Until next time...cheers!

Standing Tall

I made this card for my lovely SIL for her birthday and then I thought, 'hmmm, that's a pretty tall card...' and decided to send it to Caardvarks' latest challenge - A Tall Order.
The card itself was very simple to make. I used double sided patterned paper and glued two wide strips with the pattern on each side. Then I glued some coordinating buttons on the flower patterns on one strip and coloured the centres of the ones on the other. I stamped the word 'love' on the bottom corner and used my corner rounder on two opposite corners. That's it! Ain't it pretty? :)

The Festival of Lights!

Deepavali came and went, but for the day at least, it made us look deep within ourselves and seek the pure light within. Maybe our ancestors set aside these special days to remind us to slow down and reflect on our ways and think beyond the material lives we lead...

And doing something we enjoy and love is, they say, like meditation - what a great reason to craft! I made these boxes to hold some home made sweets for friends. It is one of Dawn's many projects. I used to make something similar with old greeting cards, but I did not have any particular measurements as such. Of course I changed the look of my boxes to suit the Deepavali theme. I stamped the lids (with Indian-ey looking patterns) and chose festive colours for the boxes themselves - deep green and fuchsia (known as 'mithai pink' in Indian slang - mithai meaning candy floss and the candy floss we get in India is a much deeper shade of pink!)

I had fun making these boxes and I also had fun making the sweets - you can see them in my cozy little kitchen :)

These boxes are so versatile! You could easily make them for any occassion to hold anything and they're so simple to make. The fact that you can make them smaller, bigger, deeper, flatter - a huge thumbs up! And the options to decorate?? A short trip to crafters' paradise :)

Monkey See Monkey Do :)

Just a quick post. I saw this project on YouTube and wanted to try it. It's a cute little Tea Bag Holder from Dawn. Her projects are simply awesome, take a look yourself.
Here's my take on it...

All set to spread the light!

I'm so pleased with myself right now, ask me why...I finished making my Deepavali cards, rummaged through my stuff for everyone's addresses, wrote out the cards and am all set to mail them, yay! Last year I was kind of annoyed with myself. First, I started making the cards very late, when there were only a few days left for the actual festival and there was no way my cards would've made it in time. Then, to make a bad situation worse, I delayed mailing them. So then I thought I'd send them anyways and still didn't! By then, the whole point of it was lost, so...and that's why I'm so happy this year - mission accomplished, well almost!

I had to make lots of cards, so I wanted to settle for a design that was simple. I went for an elegant pattern as the highlight of my cards and added some shimmer to it with rhinestones, after all festivals are all about colour and shimmer. I printed out the sentiment and the message inside. The other patterns are stamped and I hand wrote the 'Om' in the middle. I had to make the envelopes myself, which turned out quite well I thought. And they did not take very long, I just had to figure out the measurements, make a template and work off it. I stamped the envelopes to match the cards. I stuck to three base colours for my cards and made five of each :)

I have a couple of tips for all those who want to make several cards in one go -

• Stick to a simple design. Anything complicated will be quite a task to reproduce several times.
• Try out your design on a 'draft' card first. I simply used plain A4 sheets cut to my card size. That way you can play with the elements of your card until you're happy with the design. This is especially helpful when you're figuring out which way to feed the paper into the printer so you get the words in the right place! This may sound obvious, but it will save your pretty CS from being the guinea pig (hehe).
• Work through your cards in stages. For example - first cut your CS to desired size, then feed them into the printer for the sentiments, next round the corners of all cards, then stamp the main images, etc. (rather than completing one card and then moving to the next.) That way your workspace will be more organised and finishing your cards will be a breeze.

For now, my job is done. I hope I'm able to spread smiles and joy on the occasion of this beautiful festival of lights!

Speaking of spreading smiles, see Jennifer's blog to read more about the wonderful card drives she's been organising. I'm planning to send one soon.

A Fairy Happy Birthday!

The fairies went from the world, dear,
Because men's hearts grew cold:
And only the eyes of children see
What is hidden from the old...
~Kathleen Foyle

I made this card for my little niece who turned 7 this month. I found the dainty little fairy in a magazine and had to, had to, had to use it :)

The Love for Rocher Continues...

Who doesn't like Ferrero Rocher?! Husby darling has his second best love affair with it! We popped one each into our drooling mouths this afternoon after lunch and I kept staring at the wrapper absentmindedly until a thought struck. I had seen Order of the Opus Gluei's latest challenge - 'Bling it On!' and I had an idea for a card. So I snatched the wrapper from HD as he looked at me in confusion and brought out my craft stuff. And that's how the shiny flower bloomed onto my card :) I used the gold foil-like wrapper for the centre and the tiny muffin liner base for, well, the base! Also the middle layer of flower is from glitter cardstock and is the same technique as my previous card. I wanted more bling in it, so added the teardrop rhinestones and some gold twine. I just left it blank without any sentiment...maybe I'll use it as a Diwali card 'cos the rhinestones look like tiny flames of the diya.

I had to use the flash for my picture as I wanted to exaggerate the bling factor. I'm, however, yet to perfect the art of taking good photos of my cards, sigh! I so need to practise...

A Makeover for CreaDiv!

There! The much needed makeover.

Heartfelt thanks to husby darling for dolling up CreaDiv and special thanks to Simply Chic Blog Backgrounds for the chic background :)

Laugh, Love, Cherish! Life is beautiful!

Yesterday was a good day - first I was pleasantly surprised when husby darling called me to say 'get ready and come to Chatswood, it's Thursday today, let's go to the market!'. I say pleasantly surprised 'cos I'd been thinking all day that it was Wednesday and you know why? I had just been working on Sketchfest Wednesday, not realising that we're a day ahead here in Aussie!
So, that was one good thing. Next, I bought Dan Brown's latest, yay! Can't wait to start reading it. And then, I also got these gorgeous papers from Riot Art & Craft Store, they were on specials. Aren't they the cutest? And then...we bought some absolutely sinful but delicious chocolate from Darrel Lea and (yup there's more) there was this store wide sale at House, a home wares store...well I actually didn't buy anything,
but everything was just so pretty, sigh! Life is good :)

Anyways, I was looking through some craft videos on You Tube last night and I came across this awesome one. I was itching to make the pretty flowers and Caardvarks' sketch for Sketchfest Thursday gave me the perfect opportunity :)
Don't the flowers look nice? I'm definitely going to make more of these in the future, they're that cute!

Here's my card and the sketch -

Little Bundle of Joy

The best thing I love about making baby cards are the beautiful soft pinks 'n' blues I get to use. Oh and the patterns are so adorable as well - gingham, stripes, polka dots...so pretty :)
Today I've used gingham patterned paper for the first layer. Then I stamped 'girl' all over a piece of white cardstock in Cameo Coral (love that shade!) and printed out the image and the sentiment on my loyal printer :) I've inked the edges with Cameo Coral (I told you I love it!).
So simple and quick, I'm thinking of making similar ones but with different patterned paper.

This card goes to Caardvarks' Sketchfest Wednesday. It's a great, practical and versatile sketch, I love it!

Sketchfest Tuesday

'A stitch in time saves nine'...well I'm not actually referring to the proverb, I just needed a line to brag about my new sewing machine :) Thanks dear husby, it's a great gift.
I'd seen so many beautiful, smart cards with stitching on them and I was all excited to try it. I was very nervous though, and it shows in my card, oopsie! But I'll get there :) The stitch speed was in the least setting as I nervously slid the cardstock through. I figured it's not all that hard, but I definitely need more practice.

Anyways, I made this card for Caardvark's Sketchfest Tuesday. The card isn't great and the picture isn't helping it at all! But I'm still beaming about my sewing machine, so...:)


Here's their sketch -

Until next time...cheers!

Sketchfest Monday

I've been waiting to use my new digital stamps from ISS. They're so adorable! Featured in my card here is Mellie, isn't she cute?


I'm sending this to Caardvark's Sketchfest Monday. Here's their sketch -

Until next time...cheers!

'Shoed' for thought!

I was thinking, 'Hmmm...they're not practical really, but they're so dainty and lady-like' and then pure greed took over and images of me strutting in the silver shoes came flying by, drifting me off into a temporary trance and I bought them!

I took them out today, nervously, (because I've worn them once before and they were mean to me!!) and put them on. I wanted something dressy as it's our anniversary today, yay! But, sadly enough, I was waiting to get back home and take off those horrid horrid shoes!

My shiny Cinderella shoes. Oh! they're so pretty, but Oh! they sting!!

I had a few errands to run and I wasn't doing that with these shoes killing me! So, I had to eat humble pie and wriggle out of the 'prim-n-propah-lady-like' stance and put on a pair that didn't seem to hate me so much!

My much 'down to earth' (literally, hehe) red ones. Aaaaah, sweet relief!!


Well, moral of the story? Sometimes, I need to think from my head and live the princess dream another time...like when I don't have to take the train and walk up an inclined road!