Wednesday 17 July 2013

I love this printed paper

Hello lovely peeps,

Here is my card to show you - it is for the challenge at http://www.comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com/ sketch
I loved this clean and simple sketch and here is my take on it. The papers came free with a magazine and the sentiment is from Hot Off The Press. The MS border punch fits in nicely, don't you think? The ribbon roses are from my stash.



I will also enter this card in the following challenges:


I hope you like my card... Would love to hear your comments.

Love,

Monica 

Monday 15 July 2013

I love this image

Hello dear blog buddies,

Here is my card to show you for today made with the clear stamp that Sandra sent me. I love it and I took it along on holiday and coloured it in. The corner die is one of my new buys from London. The image has been layered on white card stock and I have used double side foam tape under it. The yellow rose at the bottom has been lying with me for 12 years and has lost it's gluing capacity. I have layered it on a punched green flower to make it look bigger.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Wish you a pleasant week ahead.

Love,
Monica


Sunday 14 July 2013

Recycled from a wall paint brochure

Hello sweet peeps,

Thanks for the warm welcome back to blogland. I love the comraderie we share even though we have never met. Only a blogger would understand what I am saying. Sometimes it feels like a pen pal club except that we send do everything electronically.

Here is a card made with a Nippon paint brochure which my hubby had binned. Yes, I took it out of the dustbin and luckily it was in a plastic sleeve so was intact. It took for forever to place the feather and the leaf (my new buy from Michael's). The flowers have been punched and the paper for the leaf came from Merry from Australia. Thank you, Merry! The feather is from my stash - better use them up instead of stocking them.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Catch you later...

Love,

Monica 

Saturday 13 July 2013

Am back!!!

Hello sweet bloggers,

Ah my own pillow at last - East or West, Home is Best.
We are back from our trip over seven seas and back. We went to the US, yes all the way to the US from Indonesia, trust me it was not a small feat. We went to pretty San Francisco for a week and then to London where my inlaws are and do believe me when I say I survived it well.
San Francisco was lovely - the weather was good on most days. We walked a lot even though the city is small. And I thought walking would help my girth get smaller but obviously it did not as I ate too much there. Lol.
We visited two little towns by ferry called Sausalito and Tiburom (not sure whether I have the right spelling). We also walked to the crookedest street - Lombard Street which was lovely and hot, tiring and sweaty as well. The exploratarium was fun for all of us and so was the Golden Gate Park. The Alcatraz prison we saw from the bay as I had already done it the last time we were here. 
I managed to go to Michael's and have to say I expected much more. I do vaguely remember visiting Michael's with a dear friend many years ago. I bought my Prisma colour pencils from there and I was on cloud nine until I discovered that I had paid much more than what the price was at Blick. Never mind, done is done and I must start enjoying my new colours. In London, we did the Windsor Castle and saw a musical called Mama Mia. Good old ABBA music! And I managed to visit Hobby Craft and The Range - what a sweet way to round off my trip.
Down below are a few photos. I did not take too many pictures this time - just wanted to enjoy it all instead of being with my camera.

 Aleeza and her Dad at the bottom of the crookedest street

The butterflies above are so beautiful and they are blue inside when they open their wings - at the Rain Forest in the Golden Gate Park

Above is a hazy view of the skyline of San Francisco from Tiburom (spelling)


Above is a card I made with a butterfly die that my dear friend Sandra sent me. And the papers were sent by Merry of Unstampabelles. Thank you, dear kind ladies for all your generosity. The sentiment is my new buy... I love embossed sentiments.

I hope all of you have been well. I will come and do my visiting soon.

If you last through this text heavy post and manage to reach the bottom, I send you lots of love,

Monica 

Saturday 15 June 2013

The perfect pear

Hello sweet peeps,

We are leaving for a vacation tomorrow and get back in the first week of July.
So before I go here is my card to show you for the sketch at CAS - colours and sketches.
The image is a rubber stamp from Hampton Art (coloured in with my Faber Castell water colours) and the lace is from my stash while the butterflies were added as a last minute resort to add more life. I have used liquid pearls in the centre of the butterflies to add life. 


I will enter enter this card in CAS on Sunday - black white and one more colour


I will see you all after our break and wish you a lovely summer full of peace and health.

Love,
Monica

Friday 14 June 2013

Happy Birthday card

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is another quickie from me - the chipboard image and sentiment were sent to me by dear Sandra. All I did was embossing and layering to offset the image. The Ek Success border has been backed with vellum and it looks quite nice in real life. I have stuck three silver stars on the right to add charm.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

And it is Friday again - thank God for that :-)

Lots of love,

Monica 

Thursday 13 June 2013

For Clean&Simple

Hello lovely bloggers,

I am so glad to have new followers joining me onboard - thank you.
Here is a card I made this evening with the same paper as the previous card. I did some fussy cutting and stuck the feathers on the card stock. It took me a long time to do the cutting. It is a simple card but I do like it. The organza ribbon is actually creamy but for some reason decided to acquire magical powers and change itself to this pale, pale green. When the card was ready, I realized it would fit the sketch at Clean&Simple.





I am off to do some commenting now.

Love,

Monica 

Always and forever

Hello sweet bloggers,

It is summer holidays and that is sure keeping me busy...
Here is a quick card I made yesterday with a chipboard sentiment that my dear friend Sandra sent me. I love the sentiment and thanks so much Sandra for your kindness. The paper is fancy gift wrap and the ribbon and pearls are from my stash. The red paper is recycled from an old invitation and I have added liquid pearls on the punched hearts and on the top of the red diamonds. I feel I could have done a better job with this card.


I will submit this card in the following challenges:
http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/ - creative card crew
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/ - anything goes


Catch you later.

Much love,

Monica

Saturday 8 June 2013

To have and to hold...

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is my card for CASE(e) this Sketch this week. I seem to have a love and not love relationship with this card...
I have used a vellum strip under the Ek Success border punch which looks quite pretty in real life. The feather, ribbon, hand made bow and pearls are from my stash and so are the liquid pearls. The sentiment came from my dear friend Sandra from the UK. Thank you!!!



Hope you are having a nice weekend...

Love,

Monica 

Friday 7 June 2013

Sing like no one's listening

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card I made for a Monday challenge (Techno Stampers Challenge) and finally had time to post it on to my blog this evening. By the way the silvery embossed paper you see on the left was part of a lid of a takeaway box. I have used an Inkadinkadoh stamp and have stamped it with Brilliance pearlescent orchid on black card stock. To add more shimmer I have glittered the bird and the flower. The glittery music note stickers are from Jolee's and the white feather is from my stash. I am not too pleased with the way I placed these two elements though.



Down below is a picture of Aleeza and her class mates at the Annual Concert doing an eightees dance to Foot Loose. Apologies for the poor picture quality but the dance was just too cute for words. 



I will enter my card in the following challenges as well:

Catch you later.

Love,
Monica 

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Happy Birthday card...

Hello sweet bloggers,
Thank you for your kind comments on my last card... Glad you liked that card as I did too.
Here is my card for today - simple and sweet. The happy birthday sentiment is a ribbon and I have used a two toned paper to punch the border which is from Ek Success. The brown blobs have been added for texture.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Off to do some commenting now.

Love,
Monica 

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Going around in circles here...

Hello sweet peeps,
Here is a card I have made for Addicted to CAS - circles. I could not have had more circles than this, could I? Lol... The lady bird (coloured with water colour pencils) is a foam stamp which has no name but I think it is from Japan while the sentiment is a ribbon stamp from Hero Arts.
I have layered some of the round nesties and hearts and propped them on foam dots. The ribbon is from my stash. I do hope this card is not a wee bit busy, though.


I will also enter this card in Cas-ual Friday and Make it Monday (anything goes) this week beside Make my Monday (lace or ribbon) and Pause Dream Enjoy (use foam tape).

Catch you later.
Love,
Monica 

Monday 3 June 2013

For a baby girl

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today... it is a baby girl card and I have used Penny Black slapstick stamps with a matching sentiment. I have had this set of cling stamps for over a year and am glad to air them. I think this card could have been made more interesting but I was thinking of entering this into Addicted to CAS so I did not want to add too much. I have stamped the buttons in Brilliance pearlescent orchid and the ribbon is from American Crafts while the buttons are from my stash. By the way the ribbon came about to help me cover a flaw - I had stamped the sentiment on the image of the buttons but it seemed to look tacky hence the ribbon.


I will also enter this card in Make it Monday - use ribbon

Wish you a healthy, happy and crafty weekend ahead.

Love,
Monica 

Sunday 2 June 2013

Second entry for CAS(E) this Sketch and Cas-ual Fridays

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is my second card for CAS(E) this sketch and Cas-ual Fridays this week. The background stamp is from Hero Arts and I have used pearlescent rust to stamp it. The embossed strip says Enjoy and PS I love you. I positioned it in my CB in such a way to get this sentiment on it. The textured strip below is from a wall paper roll and the buttons are from my stash. I feel the picture quality is not the best and apologies for that.


Hope you are having a decent weekend.

Love,
Monica 

Saturday 1 June 2013

Celebrate...

Hello bloggers,

Here I am with a card after a long gap as I just did not feel like crafting. Yes, my mojo has deserted me and I had to kind of force myself to create a card.
Over at CAS(E) this Sketch is a lovely sketch this week and here is my take on it (I should have been a bit more careful with the layout).
 I will also enter this card in Less is More - the challenge there is create a card after the colour of your house door. And at CAS-ual Friday this week it is all about a clean and simple congratulatory card. I thought this card was a bit bland but my critique Zeenya approved it and off I went with it. The stamp is from a set of Hero Arts ribbon stamps which have hardly ever seen any light. I have cut the stamped section with  
decorative scissors and mounted it on another piece of card stock which has been stuck on that  textured ribbon. I have used pearlescent beige to stamp the sentiment and the beige ribbon at the bottom from my stash. 




Down below is Aleeza with her teacher and some of her friends. They all gathered to sing a song called, "Count on me" by Bruno Mars. I could not take pictures of the show as they were dancing and singing against a white background.


Wish you a pleasant weekend.

Love,

Monica 

Tuesday 28 May 2013

I painted this rose

Hello sweet bloggers,
I haven't blogged for almost a week now - life seemed to have got in the way.
I will certainly come and visit you all in a bit.

Meanwhile here is my card to show you which I have made after a break. The background stamp is from Hero Arts and I have used TH Victorian velvet while the card stock has been sponged with TH peeled paint. The rose was painted directly on to water colour paper with Aleeza's Early Learning Centre water colours during our painting hour together. I went over it with a metallic gel crayon from Paper Chase - which makes it sparkle in real life. I cut out the rose and mounted it on foam tape to give it a raised appearance. The leaves have a story to tell - I found them abandoned by the poolside in our complex and the minute I saw them my heart wanted to bring them home. I seem to like this card and other moments not so am not quite sure but Aleeza certainly does like it and that makes me happy.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:
http://www.cardsinenvy.blogspot.com/ - make your own background

Off to do my regular visits now.
Love,
Monica 

Wednesday 22 May 2013

For a six year old

Hello sweet peeps,
This card was made literally in jiffy as I came to know that a sweet little girl who lives in the same block as ours had a birthday today... So I thought I would surprise her with a card and a small gift (a pack of glitter glue). I have had these foam flowers for something like 10 years and over so thought I must use them for a child's card. The leaves have been punched from a clothes tag and the border at the bottom was left over from the last card I made. The butterfly was lying around on my table and has been used to cover up a gluey error. I could have layered the butterfly but time was at a premium...


Love,

Monica 

Monday 20 May 2013

Crazy for Challenges

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a card I have made for the challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges which is a sketch. I had so much fun making this card as it all fell into place without much effort. The beautiful printed paper was sent to me by my dear blog buddy Sandra as was the chipboard teacup. I simply LOVE it. The green paper you see beneath the pink paper is actually a visiting card which I have recycled. The paper and chipboard image are really pretty and sparkly in real life so I thought the pale green flower would go well.


This is the sketch below...

I will also enter this card in the following challenges:
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

Wish you a pleasant week ahead.

Love,
Monica

Sunday 19 May 2013

Happy Birthday card

Hello sweet bloggers,
Thanks so much for your kind comments on my last post... Glad that you like that card :-) What would card makers do without the world of blogging. I just love sharing my little cards and getting all those delightful comments considering at home, all I have is little Aleeza to show my cards to since Zeenya is not into card making anymore and her father never was. But ofcourse I do have friends who really appreciate my cards but they are not necessarily my followers.

This was another card I made in minutes for Zeenya's friend - and thank God that I have stuck the ribbon the right way (unlike one of my previous cards which had it the other way round, lol) The cake is from my stash - cannot remember where it is from as I have thrown away the packaging. The crystals are from Prima and I have sponged the Spellbinder's nestie. The birthday sentiment is from Penny Black.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

See you later.
Love,
Monica 

Saturday 18 May 2013

Another simple card

Hello sweet bloggers,
This was a card I made a while ago with a Kaiser Craft clear background stamp (using American Craft clay) and when I showed it to Zeenya (my older one) her comment was, "It is too dull, it won't sell". And sold it did the instant I made it to a friend who often buys my cards. Sorry for the poor picture quality... the Sakura copper pen was really shiny and even though I tried different angles, this is the best I could manage. The flower centres have been touched with liquid pearls in mushroom. You may not believe this but plain cards like this sell so quickly that it leaves me wondering what was it about the card that made it sell???


I will enter this card in:
http://blog.oozak.com/ - anything with earth tones

Wish you a pleasant weekend.

Love,
Monica 

Friday 17 May 2013

Recycled card

Hello sweet peeps,
Here I am again with a recycled card made from a very pretty invitation card for a Mother's Day event. As soon as I saw the invite, all that I could think of was how to make a card out of this. So I let it lie on the dining table for a few days and this is what I made. Stuck a few pearls and an organza ribbon - that's all and my card was ready. Even the dotted paper is part of the invitation card by the way as is the embossing on the rose.


I will enter this card in:

Thank God it's Friday once again! 
Love,
Monica 

Thursday 16 May 2013

Could not resist blogging...

Hello lovely peeps,

I know some of you have asked me to slow down with blogging in order to rest myself but it is sooo addictive you know. Lol. 
Here is a card I made a while ago but it did not post it. The flowers have been stamped directly on this textured card stock using a clear stamp (cannot remember the name) and have been coloured with a red water colour pencil. I have used two kinds of striped paper and the ribbon and hand tied bow were used to add more red as was the EK Success border punch. I tried to position the stamp in an unsymmetrical way on the card stock to make it look natural.


I will enter this card in:


Off to do some commenting now...
Love,
Monica 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

A quickie

Hello sweet bloggers,
Thanks so much for all the congratulatory comments about my cards - I was on cloud nine yesterday.
Here is a quick and simple card I made for Aleeza's friend's birthday today... These mini card blanks were sent to me by Shirley-Anne and they seemed to be just the right size for a card needed in minutes.

Below is the gift that Aleeza and I wrapped and decorated together. She wanted a cake on it and I had this best wishes sentiment lying around with the flower and leaves so I stuck it on.


Wish you a pleasant morning, afternoon or evening.

Love,
Monica 

Tuesday 14 May 2013

I sold 33 cards at the bazaar!!!

Hello lovely kind peeps,

Thank you ever so much for all the good wishes you have been sending me for the bazaar.
which was a huge success. I managed to sell 33 cards out of 54 cards today which is the best sale I have had in all these years and I will continue to support financially deprived Indonesian children with their primary education.
So my count so far is a total of 85 cards for this year and with that comes the price to pay - tired neck muscles and some other health issues. I think I may need to slow down which is heart breaking really because card making is my passion and my life. And selling cards for charity gives me a certain mission and purpose in life which is extremely fulfilling. I have been making cards on a large scale since the past 15 years and it's effects are telling on me. Or maybe I need to simplify my style even more so that it does not increase the repetitive stress. 
Sorry for that moaning and groaning and now to this aperture card which is a repeat of the earlier one I made like this a few weeks ago. I think I went a bit wild with the flowers and have almost covered the aperture instead of showing it. Some of you asked me to make more of these and you were absolutely right - both the ones I made sold.



 Down below is a picture of my table - I took the picture so it is without me.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:
http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/ - must use handmade bow


Love,
Monica 

Monday 13 May 2013

Another one for the bazaar

Hello sweet bloggers,
Yes, tomorrow is the bazaar and I am hoping I do well there. Here is another card for sale tomorrow. Very simple - made with with papers and the tiger prink is a ribbon and so is the sentiment. Buttons from my stash and it was done - no stamping, no embossing, no sponging just sticking and sticking.


Thanks for all good wishes for the bazaar and I really appreciate them.

Much love,

Monica 

Sunday 12 May 2013

Another one for the bazaar

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is another card I have to show you to add to my collection of 54 cards for the bazaar on Tuesday, the 14th. Thank you for all the encouragement you have been giving me. 

This is a simple card with a Petaloo flower which I love and the leaves have been punched from textured paper that I created in the days that Zeenya used to craft with me. We stuck tissue paper over printer paper and sponged it with natural food colour (we mixed two food colours - cannot remember which ones as it was some years ago). I do like the way the it turned out and it just happened to match well with the flowers. I have used liquid pearls in gold for the flowers and the lace is from my stash.


I hope you are having a good weekend where ever you are. It is 730 pm here as I write this post so that means our weekend is almost over. 

Love,

Monica 

Saturday 11 May 2013

Card for a man

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you for today... a card for a man made with two kinds of fancy gift wrap papers and washi tape.  The paper with concentrics is actually silvery but it does not show in the picture. The yarn and natural buttons are from my stash and the sentiement is from a larger sheet. I am not sure whether I should have stuck the washi tape at all as it seems to transparent.



Hope you all are having a pleasant weekend. I am getting all set for the bazaar on the 14th. I have  made something like 50 plus cards.

Love,

Monica 

Friday 10 May 2013

Happy Mother's Day

Hello sweet peeps,
Happy Mother's Day to all those celebrating it today. What a lovely Mother's Day I had at Aleeza's school this morning. The teacher organized a picnic with lots of fun surprises for us mums and kids. It started with a story I read about a lion who wanted to love followed by vase painting, playing snakes and ladders and twister. All of us got snacks and had lots of tasty treats at the end of it. To make it a real rosy finale, the teacher took a silk rose bud for each mum put it in the vases we painted and made the kids present them to their respective mums with a handmade card (which the kids made earlier in class). It was such a touching and affectionate affair - my best Mother's Day to date.
Now to my card... simple, embossed, sponged with TH walnut stain, butterfly stickers and punched ones as well. I coloured the punched butterflies with water colour pencils, markers, and glitter pens. Wished the glitter would show in the picture as it does in real life. I have used liquid pearls to add more dimension.


Down below is Aleeza's teacher giving a demonstration of painting on the ceramic vase with glass paints.


Wish you a happy day, afternoon, evening or a plain night night.

Love,

Monica 

Thursday 9 May 2013

For a baby girl

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is another card that I have made for the bazaar on the 14th. I had made a similar looking one earlier and it sold so I thought I must make a repeat and here it is. The stamp is from Penny Black and the ribbons, pearls and flower is from my stash. The leaves have been embossed but I don't think that is doing much to them.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Will come and visit your blogs now.

Love,

Monica 

Wednesday 8 May 2013

More gingham coming your way

Hello sweet peeps,

I had this red and white gingham lying on my table and my blog buddy Sandra sent  these cute sheep chipboard images, so I thought why not make a card combining the two. Incidentally sheep images sell very quickly for some reason. I have a confession to make though - these chipboard images were sent for little Aleeza but I just could not keep my hands off them. And Aleeza was kind enough to share so I went for it.  The sentiment is handwritten with an American Craft permanent marker. I could have come up with a witty sentiment like "Happy Baaday" but my hands had a mind of their own... 


I will enter this card in the following challenges:
http://flourishes.org/ - use black accents

See you later.

Love,

Monica 

Tuesday 7 May 2013

My new stamps

Hello lovely bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today stamped with my new Penny Black clear stamps and coloured with Faber Castell water colour pencils. I had this doily sitting around doing nothing on my table for months now so I thought I should use it before it wears out. And this gingham paper seemed to match perfectly as did the buttons (I just find buttons hard to resist specially when they match perfectly) and the embroidery yarn. I do think my colouring is improving... lol.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:
http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.com/ - flowers
http://getinkychallenge.blogspot.com/ - floral fun
http://lovetoscrapchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

Love,

Monica

Monday 6 May 2013

I do like this colour combo

Hello sweet bloggers,
Thanks for the kind comments on my last card. I would like to welcome my newest followers - thank you so much for joining my little blog.
Here is a card I have made with an image sent by dear Shirley-Anne along with other lovely stuff. This image was already layered on to a frame so all I had to do was to stick it with foam dots on the card. the floral tape is the same one as on the previous card. The flowers have been punched on paper that was crinkled first and then painted with water colour paints. I have used liquid pearl in gold as flower centres. As usual it took me forever to arrange the flowers and the swirls and am still a bit unsure how they look. However I do like the colour combination on this card.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:
chttp://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/- buds, blooms and blossoms

See you later.

Love,
Monica 

Sunday 5 May 2013

An anniversary card

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a card I made a few days ago with washi tape and some kind of floral fabric tape and cotton lace. The roses are from a longer length of lace and the flourish is from Sizzix. It is a single corner flourish and what I did was to snip it into three pieces to balance it with the roses. Even though this is a quick card, it took me a long while to get the positioning of the flourishes right. In the end, I do like the way it turned out and hope you do too.


I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:
http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - sentiment as the focal point

See you later.
Love,
Monica 

Saturday 4 May 2013

For a darling baby boy

Hello sweet bloggers,
I hope you are having a good Saturday...
Here is a quick and simple baby boy card to show you today. I have used two kinds of papers, blue ribbon and buttons from my stash. This is a card to add to my collection to sell.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Love,
Monica 

Friday 3 May 2013

WIne lovers always do the ripe thing

Hello sweet bloggers,

I made this card last weekend and quite like it. The printed paper is what I had won in Terry's blog candy. I have coloured the stamped image ( from Tara Reed ) with water colour pencils and have stuck pop up fabric glitter on the grapes. The butterfly, ribbon, lace and flower are from my stash. The Spellbinder nestie has been sponged with TH distress ink. I have used this stamp many a time but every time I do it creates a new magic. I just love the sentiment on it, don't you?


I will enter this card in the following:


Thank God it's Friday once again.

Love,
Monica 

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Birthday card

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is my card to show you for today. I have used two different kinds of fancy gift wrap and washi tape. I was really happy with this card and then something happened when I was sticking the embroidery yarn. I tried being extra creative with it and tried to cover it up with the red and black card stock with a sentiment (from Penny Black) on it.  I feel this card is quite non-descript considering I started out fairly well with the papers. I am also realizing that buying lots of fancy gift wrap is not so economical an option - it is like penny wise and pound foolish... lol. However I cannot deny my love affair with gift wrap - there is something so delightful about it that it becomes hard to resist. Lol.



I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Will come and visit your blogs now.
Love,
Monica