Saturday, 1 August 2020

Third Mindful Art and Card workshop + 'Rakhi' Card

Hello sweet peeps,

Today I hosted my third series of Mindful Art and Card classes. We made a "Rakhi" card with distress inks and die cuts. My student, who is a lovely girl of 11 had lots of fun during the process. "Rakhi" is an Indian custom where the sister ties a bracelet made of cords on the brother's wrist. It is a symbol of love and affection from the sister towards the brother. While the sister ties the bracelet, brother in his heart loving pledges to protect his sister. Rakhi comes from the word "Raksha" in Sanskrit which mean protection. It looks like a friendship bracelet and is made with bright and vibrant colours such as red, green, gold etc. At the end of the ceremony, the sister puts a little piece of Indian sweet into her brother's mouth and he hands over a cash gift to her as a blessing.

Coming back to the card, the sentiment has been die cut using card stock as well as the gold foil wrapping of Ferraro Rocher chocolates. My husband quietly buys the chocolates and eats them even more quietly. Sometimes, I try and save the wrappers and carefully stick them on to another piece of recycled paper. Once it is dry, I let it go through my Cuttlebug to even out the texture. We have used Distress Oxide inks here and to be honest, I am fairly pleased with how it all turned out so blue and beautiful.



I will enter this card in the following challenges:



Monica 


Friday, 31 July 2020

Male card with recycled material


Hello bloggers,

Here is a male card to show you today which has been made with partly recycled material. The matt gold cogs have been die cut using an old wallpaper sample. The bright gold cogs were die cut from wrappings of Ferraro Rocher chocolates. The little round shapes are the waste bits which I had to stick at strategic positions to hide some flaws. The black paper was very fancy gift packaging in its previous life. The sentiment is a die cut as well. 


I will participate in the following challenges with this card:




Monica 



Thursday, 30 July 2020

Live Love Laugh

Hello lovely peeps,

Here is a card made with watercolours painted by Aleeza. She put masking tape to keep the white space in the middle. The colour ran out a little and entered below the masking tape but I quite liked the effect. 
The watercoloured background was layered on to black cardstock. 
The sentiment die was bought from a wee little store while we were in Perth last October. 




 I will enter this card in the following challenges:

http://lilredwagon.blogspot.com/ - make your own background


Monica 

Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Om, Amen, Amin - Peace to one and all


Dear lovely bloggers,

You may not believe this - this card has been made with a free sample of wallpaper that I had lying around for the past 20 years. I finally looked into my stash of wallpapers and felt that the glue was getting less sticky so I decided to use them and not lose them. Lol. 
I stuck a beautiful Om peel off in the centre and went over with Fevicryl fabric glue on the left. At the bottom, I have used washi tape to cover up the white space.
Om is apparently a very powerful Sanskrit mantra and it has been scientifically proven to have healing vibrations. So here is my offering of love and peace to each one of us on this planet. 
May there be love, may there be forgiveness, may we be kind.



I will enter the following challenges with this card:


Monica 

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Black white and red

Hello lovely bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today. The image was stamped with a Kaiser craft clear stamp on a scrap piece of paper however for some reason it did not look clear and crisp. So I picked up a very ordinary black Pilot gel pen and tried to follow the flowers, stems and leaves. 
The border has doodled with the same black pen. A piece of cardstock was embossed and I layered the image on a red paper which was from a Starbucks cup (after cutting it out) on it. The black paper is also from fancy packaging material. 
The ribbon and button are from my stash and it sure took me a long time to position them right below the image. All is well that turns out well.



I will enter in the following challenges:

https://aaacards.blogspot.com/ - maximum white space + option flowers


Monica

Monday, 27 July 2020

Water colour background

Hello dear bloggers,

I watercoloured the background on this card using the smoosh technique. The sentiment is handwritten.


I will participate in the following challenges:

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/ - sentiment as the focus
https://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/ - make a collage background


Monica 

Saturday, 25 July 2020

My second Mindful Art and Card workshop

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card I put together a couple of days ago. The background has been painted with Mala tubes from Ikea. I diecut the nestie and slapped on the sentiment stamp on it. A felt peace sign sticker on the left to complete the picture and the card is all set to make peace. I hope...





I hosted the second Mindful Art and Card workshop today and my student and I had lots of fun painting abstract canvasses with acrylic paints. She said that had a purple cover for her bed so she matched the colours on the canvas. Guess, what she painted with? A piece of foam that came along with a Baby G watch that Aleeza bought.  I thought they came out quite neat. What do you think?



Below are the same canvasses painted by my student along with an abstract acrylic painting on water colour paper done by Aleeza. She used a piece of cardboard to paint it.



This is my student - a very charming and confident young girl of 11 with her abstract acrylic on 300 gsm water colour paper. She used a comb to paint this.  It looks much nicer in real life.  



Aleeza took the spare paint from the sponge and very quickly dabbed it on a card, hand wrote the sentiment and put it all together in minutes. I thought that was cool.



I will submit this card for the following challenges:

 https://colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything colouring
https://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
https://laviniaworldchallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes using rubber/acrylic stamp
http://timeoutchallenges.blogspot.com/ - peaceful
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/ - use a real stamp
https://www.thehousethatstampsbuilt.com/ - anything goes
https://watercoolerchallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything occasion goes
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Monica 

Friday, 24 July 2020

Christmas is coming

Dear bloggers,

Here is a Christmas card to show you today. The entire cardstock (front and back) has been painted with acrylic paints in blue. On the inside, I stuck another piece of cardstock to give more body.
The reindeer is a die cut from a Kaiser die while the pretty ribbon is from my stash. 


I will participate in the following challenges with this card:
http://crimbo-crackers.blogspot.com/ - anything Christmas related
https://www.fezziwigsfestivefrolics.com/ - Christmas with summer colours



Monica

Thursday, 23 July 2020

Embossed daisies

Dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today. I had this piece of embossed cardstock which I coloured with distress ink. I stuck it on to a card and put a recycled strip of black paper with a ribbon on it and a button that was sent to me by Skye with many other yummy craft goodies. This simple beauty was left sentiment free for many reasons.



I will submit this in:



Monica 

Wednesday, 22 July 2020

Colourful hearts

Hello sweet peeps,

The card below was made by Aleeza (my 12 year old daughter) who drew the hearts directly on to a piece of cardstock and coloured them with the magic markers that her sister got for her when she went to South Africa. The sentiment is handwritten by Aleeza as well. 


I will participate in the following challenges:

ArtyDivas - anything goes
https://aaacards.blogspot.com/ - max white space

Monica 


Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Black Beauty


Hello dear bloggers,

Here is my black beauty to show you today. The red frame is a reverse of a nestie and the horse has been die cut using an old calendar. Simple, easy peasy card. 


I will participate in the following challenge with this card:


Monica 

Monday, 20 July 2020

Candles

Hello bloggers,

I typed out this post only to find that with one click of a button, it had vanished into thin air. So here I am typing it all over again. Ah, the joys of technology. 
I have used a rubber stamp for this image which had a sentiment which said, ' Celebrate' at the bottom. The sentiment got a bit messy so I cut it out and let the candles stand alone. Below that 'Happy Birthday' was stamped. The cardstock under the image and the sentiment was coloured with a Sakura gold pen. The candles were coloured with Sakura gold and silver pens.


I will enter the following challenges with this card:


Monica 

Sunday, 19 July 2020

Black, white and red


Dear bloggers,

I had this stamped image lying around for many years and it finally saw itself on a card a few days ago. It was actually a scrap piece of copy paper that stamped.  I have used a black gel pen to go over the image and shade it lightly. The border was also created by the same pen. The background on the cardstock was painted with black acrylic paint. The ribbon is from American Crafts.


I will submit this card for the following challenges:

http://cutitupchallenges.blogspot.com/ - create your own background paper


Monica



Saturday, 18 July 2020

My first Mindful Art and Card class at home this morning

Hello dear bloggers,

I am happy to share that I hosted my first Mindful Art and Card class this morning. I had my friend's daughter and she was a delight. Such a charming 11 year old, honestly. Children are such fun and so much easier to be with. They carry no baggage and are the least judgemental. I simply love spending time with my daughters' friends.


We made the cards in collaboration and it was pure fun.




I will enter the card with hearts in the following challenges:

https://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with three of a kind

Monica 

Friday, 17 July 2020

Beerthday wishes

Dearest bloggers,

Here is a card that I put together two days ago. The beehive print was part of fancy packaging for a pack of sentiments that I paid a big price for. In Singapore, art supplies are expensive and that is how it is. Since the sentiments were pricy, I decided to use the packaging and make a card so that I don't feel the pinch. Washi tape, black recycled paper, Carla craft bee punch, colouring with Prismas and going over the black colours with a gold Sakura gel pen and my card was almost complete. The sentiment is handwritten and the Sakura gel pen came in handy to outline the edges of the sentiment.



I will participate in the following challenges with my card:


Monica 

Thursday, 16 July 2020

Blue and white porcelein

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card made with fancy gift wrap which I sponged with faded jeans distress ink. The sentiment is a rubber stamp and I layered it on white cardstock which was sponged with the same distress ink. 



I will participate in the following challenges:
http://getcreativechallenges.blogspot.com/ - get creative challenges
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/ - anything goes


Monica 

Monday, 13 July 2020

Red rose

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a card that I put together with a single layer of a pretty paper napkin. The frame is the reverse of a nestie. I embossed the napkin for more texture. Leaving it sentiment free is always a good option since my cards sell better that way.


I will participate in the following challenges:

http://welove2create.blogspot.com/ - anything creative/mixed media goes


Monica 

Saturday, 11 July 2020

An apple a day... keeps the doc away

Hello dear bloggers,

The other day I just randomly picked up an apple from the kitchen and did real life drawing and painting using my Pentel watercolour tubes. This is what the final result was. I was a bit sceptical but Aleeza, my younger one who is 12 seemed quite pleased. 



I will enter this card in the following challenges:


Monica

Friday, 10 July 2020

Best of luck...

Hello sweet bloggers,

I was a happy chappy today since I went out for my birthday lunch and my friends bought a whole lot of cards from me. I asked them to donate towards the charity I support instead of giving me gifts and that was wonderful too. Some of them donated, bought my cards and gave me gifts as well. How blessed do I feel. 

This card was an order from a close friend. I don't like to make farewell cards and I am sure you know why. The background paper is fancy gift wrap that I bought in Malaysia some 10 years ago. The stamps are from Inkadinkado. The ribbon was bought in Jakarta, Indonesia.



I will participate in the following challenges with this card:
https://laviniaworldchallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with stamps

Monica 

Thursday, 9 July 2020

Dream a little magic

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a Christmas card to show you today where I have used the reverse of a die cut from Kaiser craft and I have used foil from a yoghurt container under the die cut. 
I realized that one of the legs of the reindeer was not clearly visible so I decided to cover it with the sentiment which is a clear stamp that was sent to me by a very lovely blog friend called Sandra Baldwin. She doesn't blog anymore and I do miss her. She has a heart of gold, honestly and she was one of my first friends in blogland.
Coming back to my card, I have used a dotty silver washi tape to cover up the unembossed part of the cardstock. A silver cord was tied to hide the bumpiness of the dots under the washi tape. 



I will enter the following challenges with this card:
http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/ - N is for no fuss / O is for over the top
https://ikesworldchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - S is for show us Christmas


Monica 


Wednesday, 8 July 2020

Life is full of beauty...

Hello lovely bloggers,

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post. Blogging is indeed a blessing and to open the comments section awaiting moderation is even more so. I look forward to it each time with much happy anticipation. 

This card is from the inside of the front page of the magazine from a super market in Jakarta, Indonesia. This quote was too nice to be thrown away. So it was cut most lovingly and carefully and layered on to white cardstock to give it more prominence. The shiny pink paper you see under the quote is from Paddy's market in Sydney and it has been with me since the last 16 years. Wow, I sure am a keeper. No, not a hoarder. The ribbon on the left is actually sticky fabric tape which has lost it's glue and I used more glue to stick it. Embossing on the bottom most layer with one of my fave folders and it is all dressed and ready to party.



I will enter the following challenges with this simple beauty:

artydivas - anything goes
http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.com/ - do what makes you happy (recycling does)


Monica 


Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Green and gold


Hello dear bloggers,

Hope you are all well and healthy. I think we are a blessed community because creativity keeps us happy and when we are happy, we are healthy. 

Now to my card - the background has been hand painted with acrylic paints and I have also added a touch of gold to the greens. The gold leaf is part of a set that I bought from London many years ago. It is meant to decorate cups and such but I thought of putting it on a card. This creation was left sentiment free so as to make it a generic card.


I will participate in the following challenges with my card:


Monica


Sunday, 5 July 2020

Partly recycled

Dear bloggers,

Here is a card I made yesterday from the cover of a magazine that I had safely kept since 2013. Tied a pretty ribbon and it was all dressed up.


I will participate in the following challenges:


Monica 


Thursday, 2 July 2020

Thanks!



Dear bloggers,

I made this card some days ago and I have tried to make a rainbow here. All the nesties and the sentimetnt are from Sizzix. It took me a long time to get the sentiment right. Anyway here is my happy chappy card. I hope it brightens up the vibe and brings happiness to us all.


I will enter in the following challenges with my card:

artydivas - anything goes

Monica 

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Hello

Hello dear bloggers,

The image on this card was painted by Aleeza with Pentel watercolour tubes. The strip of blue and white paper is from a Nippon paint brochure. Next to it is a strip washi tape. The sentiment is handwritten after a second attempt.


I will submit this card in the following challenges:

http://intaas.blogspot.com/ - blue as the main colour

Monica

Monday, 29 June 2020

Partly recycled Christmas

Hello bloggers,

I was trying something else and this is what turned out. I have used washi tape of three types and the little gold dots were negatives from the cogs I had die cut from Ferraro Rocher foil. That is it really. 


Monica

Friday, 26 June 2020

Thanks

Dear bloggers,

Here is a card that Aleeza designed many months ago with washi and masking tapes. The sentiment is from a pack of alphabet dies and we water coloured the paper before die cutting. It did take a long time to manage to place them on the paper. I would love to know if there is an easier way to place die cut sentiments on the card. 
I thought the background below the card is a nice prop but on second thoughts I could have chosen something else. Yet the card seems quite happy.




I will participate in the following challenges with this card:
arty divas - anything goes


Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Masculine thank you

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a masculine thank you card that was made with a Hero Arts rubber stamp. It is a set of three stamps and I have used one of them. Prisma pencils were used to colour in the image. 
I know I have used this stamp more than once and seem to really like it. 
I have popped the card on thin cardboard. 
The embroidery skeins were wrapped around carefully to keep the geometry in place. 


I will submit this card in the following challenge:

Arty Divas - anything goes



Monica 

Tuesday, 23 June 2020

Ganesha for good luck!

Hello dear bloggers,

I generally share very universal cards on my blog but here is a card with the Ganesha, the Hindu God of good luck and good beginnings. I pray and hope that things improve for everyone. 

 The yellow base you see was achieved with acrylic paint which I have used on the front and back of the card stock.
I have used watercolours to colour in a stencil which I picked up at a craft village in New Delhi many years ago. This craft village is one of the nicest places in New Delhi as artisans bring in their handmade crafts, jewellery, clothes, textiles, Persian rugs, you name it and it can be found there. I believe the craftsmen bring in their stuff directly without middlemen which is even better. It is like an Alladin's cave. Not to forget the yummy food that is available there from many states of India.

Coming back to my card embroidery skeins were used at the bottom for added interest and the image was finally popped on thick cardboard.


I will submit this card for the following challenges:


Monica


Sunday, 21 June 2020

Thanks

Hello dear bloggers,

Hope you all are healthy and well. This card was made with acrylic paints and it was basically my Mom's idea to go over the entire card stock with strokes of paint with absolutely no water. It was a dry coat of paint and I had to exert force on the paper since acrylic paint right from the tube can be quite dry. This is what I achieved. The back of the card is pretty much the same. I
  die cut the buttons, sentiment as well as the nesties. 




I will participate in the following challenges with this card:

https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes or black, white and one more colour


Monica 


Saturday, 20 June 2020

My Mom's hand drawn paisley card

Dear bloggers,

This card was made by my Mom over 10 years ago. She hand drew the paisley with the markers straight on to the paper. Yes, she is quite an artist - she used to do oils many years ago and I still have her paintings. 



https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/  - anything goes /option black white & one more colour 


Monica