Back from Portugal and India

Dear sweet bloggers,

We were away to Portugal for the wedding of a friend's daughter which was a lovely affair. Since we had two days off after the wedding we did manage to go to two small towns called Cashcais and Sintra which were both so beautiful. Lots of fresh fish and vegetables is what we ate most of the time. 

I am sharing some pictures of the Palace we visited and the beach as well. 

Now to card made with smoosh technique and inlaid die cut. Just a simple beauty but I love the way it turned out. The green polka dotted paper from which the leaf has been die cut is actually a pamphlet from a mall. I could not but resist!!! I placed the leaf in such a manner so that it produced a wee bit of a shadow underneath.

I will enter this card in:

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

https://crafting-with-friends.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

https://colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

http://simplycreatetoo.blogspot.com/ - no patterned paper

Now to some pretty pics from Portugal:

 Flowers in the rose garden of the Palace

A tiled frame in the garden - the tiles of Portugal are breathtaking specially the ones on the outer walls of stand alone houses.

Ceiling in one of the sections of the palace

The inside 

Flowers in the garden - they were actually flourescent

Another ceiling

Stained glass window

Happy crafting,

Monica 

First post after Christmas break

Hello dear bloggers,

A very happy New Year to all of you. May it bring peace and calm to us and the world around us along with good health and laughter.

Yes, I finally told myself that blog I have to. So here I am at last. Our holiday to New Delhi was very nice - meeting my mum, relatives and dear friends is always a pleasure. Not to over look the good food, shopping and awesome customer service that India offers. Indian hospitality still takes me off my feet and it sure shows on my waistline. Lol. I managed to take the girls to the late Indira Gandhi's (the first lady prime minister of India) memorial and show her home to them. Inspite of all that the media painted her out to be, I still think she was a great lady.

Down below are some photos of our trip. We attended an Indian wedding and the girls were really excited to dress up in ethnic finery. From Indian standards, I am totally under dressed for the occasion. Lol.

Here is a little bit of Christmas for you from India. Yes, India is big on Christmas and loves the commerce that goes along with it. Lol.

Another Christmas decoration at a mall. Sorry for the lady with a Zara bag in the photo but it sure makes it look organic, doesn't it?

Now to my card down below - the rose has been painted by yours truly and the leaves are from the stem of a silk flower. They were too pretty to throw away so here they are. The sentiment has been die cut using a pretty brochure.

I will come and visit you all as soon as I can,

Monica 

Just some random pictures

Hello sweet peeps,

It is summer hols and sometimes I wish I could run away to Starbucks with my computer and just be with me. Anyway, since I don't have a dog or a cat, I decided to marry, have a husband (who is a workaholic) and kids (who are lovely most of the time but I am not). I would have loved a cat or a dog but am not sure how I would handle their poop and pee schedules. I wish someone would give me a medal for being a stay at home mother. Lol.

Below is Aleeza with her drawing she copied from the Ipad. She thinks using an Ipad is the hippest thing on earth. Lol.

This  Mandala art work was done by Zeenya and it got special place in the Visual Arts Exhibit in school when she was in Grade 8. She is soon going to be entering Grade 10 and does not a wee bit of art. 

This was also done in Grade 8 by Zeenya.

Wish you a happy, healthy and above all an arty-crafty day,

Monica 

Japan was lovely

Hello sweet bloggers,

I sure have been away for the longest time I think. We were on a week's vacation to Tokyo and Kyoto and it was just beautiful. I was struck with the elegance and charm of Kyoto and it's beautiful Buddhist temples more than anything else. I found grace and charm every where I went and indeed it was a transformational trip for me. I even got to sit and meditate in one of the temples so next time I am missing you know where to find me. Just kidding there, lol.

Down below are some snapshots of  the cherry blossoms and the temples we visited in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Close up of a Sakura bloom.

A cherry blossom tree in full bloom.

This a real flower - I couldn't help but take a picture.

A family picture with an elegant Japanese sales lady in a store

A lady dressed up as a Geisha.

Down below is my hand made tissue paper Sakura made while we were waiting for the bus to take us home from a pretty park.

A real stunning golden temple

These two pictures are my doodles in a restaurant on the disposable paper mat - sorry for the picture quality.

The Goddess of Mercy temple below.

This is the entrance to another temple

I promise to come and visit you soon,

Monica 

I am back

Hello sweet bloggers,

I am sorry to be missing for such a long while and I have to say that I missed blogging. We were away to a pretty island called Batam in Indonesia for a night last week as you will see from the pictures. It was just an hour-long boat ride away. Sadly, it was polluted with oil and strong smell yet the scenic beauty was divine.

Here is a card I made a few days ago. I think it is a Penny Black stamp that I bought a few years ago but have used it the very first time on this card. All the embellies here are from my stash.

Below is a picture taken while we were on the boat to the island

This is the view of the ocean from the lobby of the resort we stayed in

The picture down below is that of sunrise from the beach

Pictures from Christmas and our trip to New Delhi

Hello sweet bloggers,

Believe me, it feels good to blog... Here are pictures to share with you. I have many more but these are what were handy on my camera.

The one below is from Aleeza's class party. I love those stockings!!!

This is Aleeza posing

Down below is Aleeza's mum and another mum posing

This is my great aunt visiting New Delhi from the US and on the left is my cousin 

 This is Aleeza doing a funny pose with my cousin's daughter and my mum in the lobby of the club

At a lunch in a pretty restaurant with my daughters, mum and my third cousin (on the left) who is visiting from the US. His mum is of Indian origin while his Dad is American.

Another comical pose with crazy friends in India

I know it was a picture heavy post! Enjoy anyway,

Monica 

Happy to be back

Hello lovely bloggers,

We had a lovely vacation in Melbourne - little Aleeza loved visiting the aquarium, zoo, botanical gardens and the beach. 

Zeenya loved buying shorts in neon colours and I was besotted with the pretty flowers in the botanic gardens.

Down below are some pictures...

These frogs below (spotted at the aquarium) are not plastic!!! I was fascinated with their colour.

Aleeza feeding the lambs - it was a thrilling experience for her and she fed them thrice. The lambs looked so cute and they were really hungry - so much so that they almost snatched the bottles from the kids. It was like a tug of war...

Aleeza looked so focussed and dedicated - she even forgot to smile!

Petting rabbits...

 At St Kilda's beach

I have a busy day today but will try and visit you all. 

Much love,

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