We are off for Christmas holidays...

Hello lovely bloggers,

We are off for our Christmas vacation so I will be missing for some two weeks and over. 

So here is wishing you all a very warm and happy Christmas and a great new year. 

Here are two cards I made last night - now these were real quick!!! Stuck fancy gift wrap on them and some embellies like flowers, glitter, liquid pearls and ribbon... that's it.

There is glitter on the doves on the card above so it looks quite nice in real life. And I love the colours on it.

Happy holidays and much love,

Monica

Another lilac card

Hello sweet bloggers,

Today was a beautiful Chrtistmas concert in Zeenya's school and every minute of it was enjoyable even though I had to leave Aleeza behind with the helper.

I made this card last night with the same Penny Black stamp that I used on a card a couple of days ago (from ruin to restoration). This time I stamped the image on black card stock and coloured the flowers and leaves with metallic Derwent pencils. And then I went over with glitter glue on the flowers. 

This card was a quickie and I had plenty of fun making it while Aleeza coloured in her images. Finished it off with ribbon and buttons from stash. You may think the pink button looks out of place but trust me that there is some pink in the flowers.

  

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

http://highhopesstamps.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

http://ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - sparkilicious

http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/ - anything goes

Wish you a happy Wednesday.

Love,

Monica 

Monochromatic card

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card I made a while ago - I have used a stencil and coloured it in with distress ink and water colour pencils. Zeenya said it had too much of the same colour yet it it sold pretty quickly. I have also distressed and sponged the edges. The printed paper is from stash and so is the ribbon. I thought a double ribbon would give it more interest. 

I am going to submit this card in
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://artisticinspirationscrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes
http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://houseofgilli.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://smudgyantics.blogspot.com/ - distress it
http://stampsfun-creativity.blogspot.com/ - no Christmas cards

Below are two ice cream cones that Aleeza (four plus) drew and coloured in her drawing book - this is to share some sunshine with you all. :-)

Thanks for visiting.
Love,

Monica

From ruin to restoration

Hello sweet bloggers,

This card was such a disaster from start to finish - this was my fifth, yes fifth attempt for Case this Sketch (having tried four cards earlier). I have used my new Penny Black stamp and thought I would use my aqua brush. All was going well until I decided to give it a black outline and what a hash that made of it all. I showed it to Zeenya who remarked, "What happened to you?" I thought using my Sakura gold gel pen would help me salvage the card (for me the answer to all ills is my Sakura gold or silver). Then came the ribbon and the sentiment also from Penny Black along with the punched butterflies sponged with old paper distress ink and then coloured them with the same gold pen.

I am going to enter this card into http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes.

Down below is a quote that I love... in fact I hand wrote it as a sentiment on a card and it sold quite quick.

Wish you a happy week ahead...

Love,

Monica 

For Less is More - 2nd entry

Hello lovely people,

It is a hot and lazy Sunday afternoon here and I thought of clearing up the perennial mess on my table. It kind of breathes now. But give me a chance and it will be back to it's shabby self. ;-)

Down below is my second entry for Less is More - the challenge being rows this week. Now how simple is that???

I had these pressed leaves that I had picked up while we were in France last year. Just sponged white card stock with three different distress inks, stuck the leaves and tied two kinds of woolen yarn to give it more interest.

I will also submit this into Casual Friday - knots. How easy can it get??? Lol.

Happy weekend to one and all.

Love,

Monica 

For Less is More - rows

Hello lovely bloggers,

The challenge over at LIM is rows...

Sorry that I am sharing a card similar to what I made a couple of days ago. Well, Shelley suggested that I should use metallic pens so here is my card coloured in with water colour pencils and then with my Sakura blue and green gel pen.

Sorry if I am boring you with the same card - but it seems to meet the challenge (I hope).

I would also like to enter this in Pinspirational - the theme being blue for this week.

Wish you a happy weekend,

Monica

Pink tulips from a perfume carton

Hello sweet people,

A warm welcome (tad late) to my newest follower - thanks so much for following my little blog.

Many thanks for all the kind words about me meeting my target - we crafters thrive on encouragement, don't we?

Now to my card -  the pink tulips have been die cut (Sizzix) using a perfume carton. I have mounted most of them on foam tape. The lace is my new acquisition from a teeny tiny haberdashery close by.

The card above is pretty much like the one above but I have sponged the tulips with milled lavender and see how it makes take on a prettier hue. The ribbon on this card is also recycled - it was used to pack the perfume. 

Which one do you like?

I am going to submit these cards for:

http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

http://craftingforallseasons.blogspot.com/ - flowers

http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

Off to do some commenting now...

Love,

Monica 

Sold another six cards to two ladies and have met my target

Hello sweet bloggers,

I have sold enough cards to provide for educating five children for one year... Yaaaay!!! :-) Much credit goes to my blog buddies for all love and encouragement that kept me motivated. And of course I cannot forget the support of kind friends, neighbours, acquaintances who bought the cards.

This morning, I went to a Christmas bazaar and guess what I got from there - Fiskars clear stamps and pretty ribbons. So are two quick cards supposedly (supposedly masculine) that I made with one of the stamps. Stuck buttons, ribbon and did some scoring and that's it.

Next time I will try and colour in the stamps to make the card look more alive.

Love,

Monica

Sold another 10 cards...

Hello sweet bloggers,

I have sold another 10 cards to two ladies who live in our complex. How lucky am I that they support my passion. So I have almost met my target for the fifth child's yearly education. 

Down below is a card I made with my new Sizzix folder. I just love this snowflake, don't you? 

But something went wrong and I accidentally used my Sakura gold gel pen instead of silver. I did go over all that gold with my silver pen but it did not do much. Doesn't look odd, I hope. Anyway it sold!!! Also sorry for the poor editing of the picture on the top right.

Stuck a rhinestone in the centre and the silver dots are with glitter glue and the ribbon is from my stash.

Hope you like it inspite of that mix up of silver and gold.

Love,

Monica 

Tried making a card for a male...

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a stencilled image that Aleeza coloured in with distress ink, of course with my help and I thought I would make a masculine card with it. Well, here is what it turned out like after I stuck buttons on it. 

I used my Sakura blue pen to outline and colour some of the blobby circles - not sure how manly it is with the ribbon though.

I must get better at making men's cards - that is going to my resolution for next year. Lol.

I am going to enter this card in

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Thanks for the lovely comments,

Monica

Managed to sell another 8 cards in Aleeza's school

Hello sweet people,

Can you believe it that it is December 1st today???

Hope you are having a good weekend.

I have good news to share - I have sold another 8 cards in Aleeza's school apart from four earlier. So I just may meet my target of sponsoring five children for their yearly education. As of now, I have sold enough to provide for four children. But I just may meet my target! Fingers crossed...

Down below is a quick card I made for a friend who wanted general cards and she quite liked this one.

The sponging looks a bit lopsided in the picture but in real life it was quite pretty. I have used peach coloured card stock and an embossing folder that I really like. The ribbon is from my stash and so is the flower. I layered the big butterfly with a smaller one - not sure whether that was a good idea. Propped the butterflies with foam tape.

Have a happy and arty crafty weekend.

Love,

Monica