A simple birthday card...

 Hello lovely bloggers,

Can you believe that January is at it's end... my God, isn't it amazing how these years are passing by. Really, it is the age of digital technology in no unsurest form.

Now to my card... Very simple and childish as my mojo is not very active these days.

The papers are from the book store close by. The gift and cake border punch is from Ek Success and so is the bubble border punch. The butterflies are what were left behind from a MS border punch - waste really but they looked so dainty that I thought I must recycle them. The ribbon is from my stash.

Will come and visit you all now...

Hugs,

Monica

Pictures of Bali

Hello lovely people,

I thought I must share some pictures of our short and sweet trip to Bali...

Paddy fields below - that was the view from our room. I felt I could watch it forever - coming from busy, busy Jakarta it felt like paradise!

Flora and Fauna in the hotel 

Aren't the flowers below unusual? See how the red flowers come out of white ones. Interesting, isn't that? On the left, one can spot two buds (waiting to blossom) still inside the bigger white flowers.

More flora in the hotel garden...

The day bed in our room ...

Close up of the wood carving above... all carved by hand. Balinese people are amazingly talented!

 Check out the carving on the study table - so intricate, isn't it? Model insisted on being photographed and I did not have the heart to ask her to stay out of the picture.

This is the foyer of a room close to ours... I get fascinated by Buddha images - they kind of relax me!

Aleeza outside one of the smaller side gates of the Bali palace. They still have a king and queen living there!

 This is a butterfly that fluttered into our room... dear hubby tried to help it to find it's freedom from the bondage of our room but sadly he damaged it's wings as you can see on the top left.

This butterfly stayed in the room all those two days that we were there and passed away minutes before we left...  I kind of felt I had to give it an honourable tribute hence the picture. We don't get to see many butterflies in Jakarta so it was very special for me...

Wish I had a better zoom lens to make my tribute more worthy.

Hope you enjoyed viewing Bali through my phone camera...

TGIF again!

Hugs,

Monica

Mizuhuki from a Japanese friend

Hello there,

Just a quick post to share what a dear Japanese friend brought for me from Japan... it is a paper crane, yes, it is made of paper!!!  The craft is called MIZUHUKI which is the tradition of making handicrafts out of paper.

The picture does not do enough justice to it  - it is just so delicate and pretty. This friend knows that I make cards so she thought this would be an ideal thing to give me and sure it is. I am fascinated! Japanese art and crafts have held great interest for me ever since I was a little girl and my dad brought home a traditional Japanese doll dressed in a pretty silk kimono. We had it for many, many years and now I wonder where it is. Funny how some childhood memories get sharper with time...

The sad part is that my dear friend is relocating back to Japan! That is the flip side of these expat assignments - you make friends and then when you get close, it is time to say good-bye! The good part is that there is always somebody nice waiting out there. So I am always on the look out. Lol.

Below is the middle of the crane - sorry that the bird is pointing in a different direction. I have rested it on the beautiful box that it was packed in. By the time I loaded the picture on to the blog, the bird mysteriously changed direction. Trust me, it did! Lol.

Thanks for visiting and I would love to hear what you think of this amazing paper craft called Mizuhuki.

Hugs,

Monica

A quick card for my next charity batch...

Hello lovely bloggers,

Here is a quick card I made last night - just stuck some printed paper and ribbon, crystal and three butterflies which were punched out of crumpled and distressed paper. I was quite happy with the way it turned out.

Am going to enter this card in MIM - anything goes.

Will come and do my rounds tonight...

See you soon,

Monica

We were away to blissful Bali!

Hello lovely bloggers,

We just got back from Bali yesterday... it is just an hour's flight from Jakarta so I decided that we needed this short break (less than 48 hours). And was it wonderful... we stayed amongst paddy fields and it just felt so good to look at those green fields! And we stayed in the Art district which is my favourite. Got to see some real creative little boutiques as well. What else could a little crafter hope for?

 I kind of needed this change because life was been a bit bumpy but am all rejuvenated now. Ate yummy, freshly prepared food as well (with no canned additions). 

Sorry that I could not comment but soon I will! Still gotta do the laundry - but blogging is far more attractive!!! 

It is 10.22 pm and past my bed time, however some commenting must be done before I can retire to a good night's sleep. Lol.

Hugs,

Monica

Half way post for UnstampaBelles DT

Hello lovely bloggers,

Hope you have had a good week...

This is a card I churned out this morning for UnstampaBelles DT.

The challenge involves no stamps or digis and the theme this month is anything goes.

The inspiration of this card came from my special blog buddy Sandra who sent me a card similar to this one a while ago. Thank you, Sandra!

 I wove a mauve silk cord through a Spell binder  nestie and attached my home-made flower on to it. 

The "create a border punch" is from MS (not very clear in the picture but quite pretty in real life). The DP is unknown and the feathers and ribbon are from my stash. The crystal is from Prima.

I seem to be getting deprived of my mojo of late... hopefully it will come back soon.

Thank God it is Friday!

For those of you celebrating Chinese New Year, here is wishing you a wonderful year. May the dragon shine in on you...

Hugs,

Monica

Aleeza's Mickey Mouse and my card

Hello lovely bloggers,

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods... It is rainy season here so it can get quite icky and sticky when it rains...

A friend of mine gave Aleeza this doodle board and here is the Mickey Mouse she drew... She seemed quite happy with her effort and I managed to capture her expressions on camera!

Now to my card - 

I have used a Penny Black stamp called Up and About and coloured it with my water colour pencils. I do think that my colouring is getting better... I really want to learn how to do shading though.

The edges of the images have been sponged with milled lavender.

I have added a bit of glitter to the bouquet that the girl is carrying and also to my handmade flowers. The paper lace has been punched out of an MS border punch. 

I have used this stamp earlier but just seem to never tire of it. And every card that I make with it just sells so quickly. 

Am entering this card in

MIM - Anything goes
and
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything goes

Will try and do my rounds soon - gotta read to Aleeza now since it is close to her bed time.

See you soon.

Hugs, 

Monica

My first card with a digital image!

Hello bloggers,

Hope you are all well and healthy... 

Thank God it's Friday!

 Here is a card I made from the digi-images I won in May, 2011 from  http://deliciousdoodlesblog.blogspot.com/ 

 when my card was featured

 in MIM.
And am using the image after so many months - better late than never. They are such neat images - all four of them that I have been saving them.

This image was such a saviour for me because a close friend asked me to make a card for her Godson with a cricket theme and for the life of me, I would not have known what to do if it wasn't for this image.

Rather simple card but I hope my friend likes it.

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my previous post.

Have a good weekend and I will come and visit you all soon.

Hugs,

Monica

Featured Blogger

Hello bloggers,

I hope you have had a good start to your week. We have settled back in pretty well though I have not started crafting yet... My craft room still needs a bit of cleaning up before I can put up pictures of the new set up.

I am a bit behind with my monthly post on Featured Blogger - travelling and all that excitement of the holiday season to say the least kept me nicely occupied.

Rae of http://aoneofakinddesignbyrachel.blogspot.com/ is my pick of the month.

 I love her beautiful creations with clean and simple designs and all those lovely quotes she lovingly shares on her blog.

My spirits feel so much richer after visiting her space. And you will feel the same if not more...

Thanks, Rae, and may your love for craft and blogging continue! I love your style and am happy to be your follower.


Hugs,

Monica

Each New Day is a Blessing and so is BLOGGING!

Hello lovely bloggers,

Thanks so much for all the sweet comments on my last posts. Feels good to be back even though I am missing all that good food and love of friends and family.

This is a card I made to sell - however I gave it away to one of my mum's friends and she loved it.

Supplies:

Base card stock - metallic silver grey 

Stamp - Spellbinders

Woven ribbon - from the ribbon store close by to where we live

Organza ribbon - from stash

Crystals - Prima

Am going to enter this card into MIM (Make It Monday) - Anything Goes which is one of my fave challenge blogs. It was one of the first challenge blogs I discovered and the lady who runs it (Michelle) is one of the sweetest people in blogland. She helped me so much when I was a newbie... with how to link up a card to a challenge. Thank you, Michelle!

Have a great week ahead.

Hugs,

Monica

DT post for UnstampaBelles

Hello bloggers,

Here is my second post for the day and I am posting my first card as a DT member for UnstampaBelles, the theme of which is Anything Goes.

I just realized that I had to post my creation by January 2nd, but for some reason I had Janaury 7th in my head - not a very nice thing to happen when it is your first time as a DT! 

I have to say I am a bit embarrassed with myself - to say the least. Merry and the rest, do forgive me!

Anyway on to the details of the challenge:

.

NO STAMPS at all! No rubber, digis, sentiments, etc.!

You have until February 3rd to get your entries in and the new challenge will start on February 6th.

Our sponsor for this month is The MerryMade Store!


The picture below shows the prize on offer for this month!

Here is my DT card - better late than never!!!

Supplies:

Base card stock - black

Embossing - Cuttle bug

Flower - hand made

Ribbon - American Craft

Crystal - Prima

Catch you later...

Lots of love,

Monica

I am back!

Hello lovely bloggers,

Let me start by wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2012! May it bring all that you wish for...

We got back this afternoon after a hectic holiday in New Delhi where we spent Christmas and New Year's. We ate lots of good food, met up with family and friends and of course shopped till we dropped!

Sorry, could not take any pictures as I forgot to carry my camera and I had some issues with my phone so it's camera did not function either.

I have to say that I missed all my blog buddies terribly and am happy to be back.

Will come and visit you all soon.

Lots of love,

Monica