I am back but my mojo is gone!!!

Hello lovely bloggers,

We got back late Tuesday night from Singapore - it is always nice to be there. Unfortunately my favourite craft shop has closed down for revamping so it was a bit disappointing for me but certainly good for my pocket. I met up with my close friends and that was very refreshing indeed. 

Here is quick card I made this afternoon with almost no mojo on cream card stock and kraft paper (which was once upon a time a table mat in an Italian restaurant). I do find it a trifle dull and it could have done with a metal charm but buttons and jute is all I had in my stash to fit the bill for a masculine card. I have used my Sizzix embossing folder and coloured in the embossed images with chalk and distress inks. The sides have been sponged to make it more rugged looking. I have coloured around the punched hole with a felt pen to add interest.

Down below is something one of my friends shared with me... It was a photocopy but I could not resist sharing it.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.com/ - birthdays
http://craft-roomchallenge.blogspot.com/ - for a man
http://partytimetuesdays.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

I promise to come and visit your lovely blogs soon.

Happy to be back,

Monica

Will be away until next week

Hello bloggers,

Here is a quick card I made for a friend who wants to buy a few of my cards to support my work... I may have made such a kind earlier but I liked the design so I repeated it. Doesn't need much explanation - simple enough.

I will enter this card in:

http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/ - flower power

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

We are going to Singapore until next week - happy change indeed.

See you when I get back.

Love,

Monica 

For Mojo Monday

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card I have made with the nesties and stars sent by dear Shirley-Anne (and so much other stuff). Thank you so much for the wonderful early Christmas present. These stars are perfect for a masculine card, aren't they?
I am going to enter this in Mojo Monday challenge this week and Make it Monday which is one of my fave challenges. 

Happy Wednesday,

Monica

For Cas-ual Friday - black, white plus one

Hello lovely bloggers,

Welcome  and a very warm one to my newest followers - Evie and Sara!

Here is a quick card I made with my latest stamp from Prima. It is a background stamp (done with distress ink in black soot) and I have cut out three stamped flowers and stuck them on the image after colouring them with water colour pencils. Blue crystals in the coloured flower centres and my card was ready. No sentiment on it to let it be flexible enough to be sold with ease.

I will submit this card for the following challenges:
http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/ -anything goes
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - dynamic duos

Off to bed now...

Love,
Monica 

For One Stop Craft Challenge

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a quick post to show you the card I made for the challenge at http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/ which is a sketch. To me it seems a hash of card... Too much, too busy but never mind. I have used a Penny Black image and have coloured it with my water colour pencils.  The papers are from my stash - fancy gift wrap. The purple flower you see is homemade and the flourish is from Sizzix. The sentiment is handwritten. There is hand tearing and distressing as well as sponging here hence the rough edges specially at the bottom.

I will also enter this card into:

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes
http://www.gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com/ - the colour red

Catch you later...

Love,

Monica 

Trying to get better at colouring

Hello bloggers,

This is a teddy bear card I just made for the heck of it because I wanted to improve my colouring. The stamp is from Paper Craft (a set of them)  which I bought for Aleeza. I had this scrap of blue paper which was actually packaging for lace flowers that I bought a couple of days ago and I stuck it under the stamped white paper. The sentiment is a tape and I used colourful buttons as embellishments. The blue card stock has been embossed and there is a layer of washi tape at the bottom. 

I could have added some colour at the bottom but forgot all about it in the end. 

I will enter this card in:

http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - for men
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.com/ - teddy bear picnic
http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Am off to bed now. Catch you in the morning.

Love,

Monica 

Second entry for Cas-ual Friday

Hello bloggers,

Gosh, this is my second post of the day!!!
The movie, "Love and Honour" was quite sweet and the fact that there was no violence was good enough for me. It was a story about two American soldiers fighting the war in Vietnam and their love lives.

Now to my second card for Cas-ual Friday - I have stencilled this spatter image with pickled raspberry distress ink. The sentiment is handwritten and I have added a couple of buttons to make it look interesting. I promise the pink button matches the distress ink in real life but I don't know what has happened in the picture.

Hope you are having a pleasant weekend,

Monica 

For Casual Friday - black and white plus another colour

Hello lovely bloggers,

Hope you are having a decent weekend...

I am going to catch a movie called Love and Honour (we are practically starved for Hollywood films here) after I post this card so this is going to be quick post.

Over at CAS-ual Friday, the challenge is to use black and white with another colour - so here is my woody card. The punched flowers have been layered and popped on foam dimensional and the centres have liquid pearls in gold on them. Not sure how it turned out but Zeenya liked it so that means a lot.

Down below is how I placed the card first.

However, I did not seem impressed with the above placement so carefully dismantled it while the glue was still fresh and what you see below is how the final appearance. Anyway would love to hear which version you like. The  sentiment is handwritten on the one below.

I will also enter this in:

http://www.thecraftgarden.blogspot.com/ - colour take

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

Happy weekend,

Monica 

Cupcakes

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a quick post and another simple card. The cupcake has been cut out from a larger image. I have glittered it and used pop fabric glue on the icing and the flower centres to give added texture. The embossed card stock has been coloured with water colour pencils and I have used glitter on the icing too. Done some faux stitching and the sentiment is actually a ribbon cut and mounted on card stock. I have rounded the corners of the card with my Carla craft punch - not sure they look rounded enough though!

Down below is something that a friend sent me - she is a brave lady and is going through a trying time and yet this came from her.

I will enter this card in:

http://www.charismacardz.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Thanks for the get well soon wishes for Aleeza. She seems on the mend for sure. Hopefully she will be back to school on Monday morning.

I cannot believe another week has gone by so quickly.

Wish you a pleasant weekend.

Love,

Monica

Life is about learning to dance in the rain...

Hello sweet bloggers,

I have not been crafting since the past few days as Aleeza has been ill - she has been down with this wretched fever since the past week. Finally today I took her for a blood test and it is not dengue fever (which is not uncommon here) but she has been put on antibiotics to get rid of her throat infection.

This is a card I made a while ago and it sold off as well. I am not sure whether I have posted it earlier - I just wanted to do a post to distract me from Aleeza and the sentiment on this card touched my heart. This was a card that was made for an order but someone else bought it and loved it even though the hand written sentiment is not perfect. The lines are not straight but that is the best I could do. The printed papers I thought matched perfectly with the sentiment.

I will enter this card into:

http://www.craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://www.flonzcraft.com/ - blues, brown and beige
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/ - anything goes


I wish you good health, joy abundance ...

Sorry, forgot to wish you all a very happy Valentine's day - thank you for all your love.

Much love,

Monica 

Sold another 16 cards!

Hello lovely bloggers,

I thought my card selling was slow but I have managed to sell another 16 cards to people in my hubby's office as well as friends. So the total count so far is 28 cards. I may have gathered enough honey oops money to support another kid's primary education for one year.

And I would like to extend a hearty welcome to my newest followers - Cathryn, Shari and Darnell. Feels good to see my list of followers grow ;-)

Here are some Valentine's cards I made a few days ago. All the hearts were sent to me by dear Shirley-Anne and I happened to own matching ribbon in polkas and checks to go along which I bought when we were visiting pretty Prague. Both sentiment stamps were sent by Lynn.  Simple cards which I love and they sold so what more could I want?

I will enter these cards in the following challenges:

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

http://celebratetheoccasion.blogspot.com/ - Valentine's

http://www.craftysentiments.blogspot.com/ - Valentine's

http://cachallenge.blogspot.com/  - Valentine's
http://craftybootschallenges.blogspot.com/ - blue and white

Hope you are having a pleasant week... Unfortunately Aleeza's fever did not go away so she is at home. I am hoping she will be better tomorrow.

Love,

Monica 

My first Acetate Card by fluke!!!

Hello sweet bloggers,

Hope you are having a decent Monday :-)

Here is a card that I was trying to make for the Less is More challenge which is all about music this week. Frankly speaking, I just did not feel motivated to make a one layer card with music as all I owned was an embossing folder and a Hero Arts Background stamp with music notes. I made a couple of failed attempts and finally decided to give up. Anyway, down below is my card or a hash of a card. The stamp is from Kaiser craft and the roses have been cut from a longer piece of lace. I saw some bloggers do that so got inspired as well. The leaves have been sponged with the same stamp pad and so has the embossed card stock. Finished it off with bling and lace at the bottom which seems mismatched in the picture but looks fine in real life.  And oh yes, that acetate was stuck on the card as an after thought.

I will enter this card in:

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

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - challenges for everybody

http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything girly

Wish you a sunny week ahead,

Monica 

Hero Arts background stamp

Hello bloggers,

Thanks for your good wishes - Aleeza is better! However I could not really craft today because I felt should be a good mum/mom and spend time with the girls. Aleeza and I made a butterfly wall art. And I took Zeenya shopping and she picked up pretty clothes. So I hope they are happy - anyway I am :-)

Here is a card I made a while ago with my dragon fly punch. The printed paper is handmade - with a Hero Arts background cling stamp. I have so many background stamps that are just sitting in the drawer and they were bought with much passion - sadly now in need of compassion. The dragon flies have been punched out and I have done tacky doodling on them with my metallic pen. Used Martha Stewart and Ek Success border punches on the edges and stuck crystals on the dragon flies. This card sold pretty quickly even though it is so simple.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

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

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

Hope you are having a pleasant weekend

Love,

Monica 

Coloured with chalks - love this stamp

Hello sweet bloggers,

After that lovely birthday Aleeza had in school, she has been down with a high fever - I guess that is the price to pay for such a wonderful day. Hopefully she will spring back soon. 

Here is a card I made a few days ago with my new Penny Black stamp.

I stamped the image with Versa mark clear embossing ink and coloured it in with Do Craft pearl pastel chalks. Stuck pearls in the centre and some pretty pink ribbon to complete it. 

I will enter this card in:

http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.com/ - no designer paper (right up my street)

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

http://chalknstock.blogspot.com/ - just use chalks

http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.com/ - just use ribbon

Off to check on Aleeza now - fingers crossed hoping she has a better night :-)

Much love,

Monica 

The butterflies are recycled

Hello sweet bloggers,

Thank you all for the sweet wishes on Aleeza's birthday - it was indeed a wonderful day. 

Here is a very quick card I made a few days ago - no stamping just slapping on lace and ribbon. And you know what those tiny butterflies have been punched out of - from the cover of a card making magazine!!! Stuck pearls on the butterflies and here it is smiling at you. 

I will enter this card in:

http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.com/ - ribbon (I have ribbon and lace here)

Off to do look at your wonderful creations now.

Happy that it is Friday again.

Love,

Monica 

Aleeza's fifth birthday today!

Hello sweet peeps,

Today was Aleeza's fifth birthday and trust me I can literally see the years flying. We had a small celebration in school. She wanted a Minnie Mouse cake which of course I outsourced since all my time is spent in my craft room. It was a lovely chocolate cake and the kids just loved it and so did the teachers. Her class teacher asked me for birthday decorations which I had and she did a swell job with them. And she did face painting for the kids and they were over the top with joy. The kids are preparing a song by Bruno Mars called 'You can count on me' for Valentine's Day. So the teacher asked the kids to sing it for her along with dance movements. It was so touching to see them wiggle and shake to the touching lyrics and music.

Below is a picture with her class mate and best friends - she was so excited that she could not stand still! Lol. Aleeza is the girl with green roses in her hair and the little girl next to her is her best friend and so is the boy with a rainbow on his forehead. Their faces are covered in face paint and sweat specially Aleeza's. I am the one who is holding her tight (I still have some years to do that).

It turned out to be such a fun day for me and the all the kids in class.

Down below is my card for her - a Penny Black stamp with printed paper (gift wrap) and a home made flower mounted on foam flower with punched leaves which have been recycled from an old super market brochure.  Aleeza loves baking cookies with me so I thought this image was just right for her. Of course this little girl is baking cup cakes and not cookies but baking all the same. There is a pink crystal on the cup cake which you can't spot as the picture is too small. And you know why the picture is small??? Because I don't want you to spot the flaws in my colouring. Lol.

Her gift was a  small stuffed Donald Duck which she asked for - how happy they are with so little when they are little.

I will enter this card in:
http://www.ladyanneschallenges.com/ - anything goes
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/ - anything goes

See you later.

Love,

Monica 

Third entry for LIM - Kraft and Kreme

Hello lovely bloggers,

Thanks for all the nice comments on my previous post - means a lot to me, you know. I also welcome my newest follower Anita with much delight.

Here is a quick card I have made for Less is More and it has a little history to it. The kraft paper you see on the cream card stock is actually a table mat from a wonderful Italian restaurant in town (with a handsome chef as well). I don't really think that kraft card stock is available in the scrap booking store that I visit so this was a great find for me. I lovingly rolled it and brought it home most carefully. 

The stamp which is from Kaiser craft ( Flora delight) is my latest buy. I have used Versa Color Bark and have coloured it in for some depth with my water colour pencils. Some liquid pearls in Brisque on the little punched hearts and three pearls from Kaiser on the medallion complete the picture. Oops forgot to mention that the lace is also new.  

I will also enter this card in:

http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.com/ - monochrome

http://www.craftysentiments.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - love and lace

Note to myself - I must learn to crop pictures from next time onwards. 

Wish you lots of crafting joy,

Monica

Still going with hearts and sold another 7 cards!

Hello lovely peeps,

I have sold another lot of 7 cards - thanks to the people in my hubby's office and some friends. I will continue to support financially challenged Indonesian primary schoolers this year as well. It is a cause after my heart so I am happy to continue with it. 

Here is a card I started last night, punching those tiny pink and green flowers, shaping them with my embossing tool and then sticking them together with the green unders. I forget what the green thingies are called... lol!

I have embossed on light green card stock - it is a pretty embossing folder but is a tad big for my card size. I had to leave out the tail of the heart - hope that is okay? 

I will enter my card in the following challenges:

http://artisticinspirationscrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ - embossing

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

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

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.com/ - Valentine's day

http://www.creativecreationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - love

Phew, that was almost a record breaking challenge participation for me... lol.

Love,

Monica

Second entry for LIM - Kraft and Kreme

Hello sweet bloggers,

This is a short and sweet post with a simple card made with scraps lying on my table from the previous card. The natural mat fibre is local Indonesian and the shell button is local as well. The big heart is handmade paper from India while the other two were extras from yesterday. Just did some scoring and my card was ready. And yes, I threaded a yarn from the mat into the button. I will enter this in Kraft and Kreme in Less is More besides the following challenges below.

Will also enter this card in:

http://avenue613.blogspot.com/ - anything goes (twist - love)

http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.com/ - be my Valentine

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - love

Wish you a week full of joy and abundance,

Monica 

Less is More - Kraft and Creme

Hello sweet bloggers,

Less is More is celebrating it's second birthday - a very happy birthday to you and thank you for making us feel comfortable with white space on our cards. 

Here is my card for their challenge which is all about kraft and creme.

The kraft paper is hand made from wood, yes from wood and it is of Indonesian origin. I hand tore it to give it more character. Added layered Sizzix heart diecuts after sponging them with distress ink in brushed corduroy. The love stamp, I am sure you are bored of, but I am still loving it. It is from dear Lynn. I tried using another stamp but it just did not stand out as much. The printed paper is fancy gift wrap and the pearls are from my stash.

I will enter this in the following challenges as well:

http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ - neutrals

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/ - sketch

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

Wish you a happy Sunday,

Monica 

Dream big

Hello lovely bloggers,

Here is a card I have made following the sketch at http://cleanandsimplestamping.blogspot.com/.

The printed paper was sent to me by Shirley-Anne and I have distressed it's edges and sponged them with antique linen. The plain inner layer has been distressed and sponged as well. The butterflies and sentiment are from Unity and I have used forest moss to stamp them. Have attempted to colour in the butterflies with water colour pencils.

 I have used my Sakura gold gel pen over the butterflies and around the sentiment. Believe me, it looks less depressed in real life. 

This kind of makes a tired card for the bright and motivating sentiment, doesn't it?

I will also submit this card in:
http://thecraftingcafe.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Wish you a happy, arty crafty weekend,

Monica 

A true love story never ends...

Hey bloggers,

Hope you are well and safe which ever corner of the globe you are...
A very warm welcome to my latest follower - Jean.

I picked some rolls of Washi tape from the scrap booking store I visit and could not wait to use them. So here is one of  them on my card and it just seemed to fit in perfectly. The felt hearts were sent to me by dear Terry. How lucky I am to receive such super stuff - thank you dear bloggers for all that you do for me. By the way, this card took me less than four minutes to make.

I am going to enter this card in:

http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/ - letters

http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.com/ - red and white

http://milkcoffeechallenge.blogspot.com/ - Valentine

And TGIF once again. Love,

Monica