Sunday 22 December 2013

Thank you, Sue

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is another card to show you which is non-Chrismasy. The image is a stamp from a set I bought for Zeenya many years ago from India. I have coloured in the tulip with my Prisma pencils. The happy birthday sentiment came from Sue - what a coincidence that it fitted in so well with the image. The washi tape is my newest buy and I love it.


This is Aleeza with her play dough art work.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Wish you a happy Sunday,
Monica

Friday 20 December 2013

Happy Birthday card

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is another card done in seconds with my cling stamp from Stampendous. I have used Brilliant pearlescent ink pads and the crystals are from Prima while the double ribbon is from mys stash.


Down below is Zeenya with her art work at the Visual and Performing Arts Concert on Tuesday. She was one of the two kids from her grade to be chosen to demonstrate her art piece in front of the theatre. So as many of you said, she is coming back to Art which makes me want to burst with happiness. If there is anything I wish for my girls it is that they do art, art and more art. And of course I want them to make the world into a better place.

This is a close up of Zeenya's free hand art piece. Her art teacher is lovely and I have much gratitude for her for motivating my daughter to enjoy and excel at art. 

This 3D art work by Zeenya was also chosen to be displayed at the concert. VPA stands for Visual and Performing Arts. 



I will enter my card in:


Thank God it's Friday,

Monica 

Thursday 19 December 2013

Anything but Christmas

Hello sweet bloggers,
Hope this finds you in good health and cheer with Christmas fast approaching. The schools break tomorrow for Christmas and then we are off to travel.
Here is my card to show you, it all started hap hazardly and still looks that way to me. The lovely sticker on this card came from Merry and I love it. There is something about roses that makes me like them so. I have used the green ribbon to hide the tell tale line that is left behind after embossing. The sentiment is from Spellbinders and I have used my pink metallic Sakura pen over it.  Thought I must put something on the top so good old pearls came to the rescue.

 
I will enter this card in:

Wish you a happy Thursday,

Monica 

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Recycled card

Hello kind peeps,

Here is a card made with a recycled image from a super market brochure. The snowflakes border is from the same brochure as well. All I did was to layer the image on to a gold paper and add a ribbon along with lots of scoring on the top and bottom of the card. 


Aleeza had her Christmas concert yesterday but I could not take pictures as she was too far. Here is a shot of her friend and her with lights in their hands. The money from the sale of these lights will go to the Philippines.

The evening was called The Festival of Lights and down below is a display created by older children made out of milk cartons.

I will enter this card in:
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes
http://unstampabelleschallenges.blogspot.com.au/ - Christmas, no stamping
http://archiscraps.blogspot.com/ - Gingerbread


Wish you a wonderful Tuesday,

Monica 

Sunday 15 December 2013

Cute lil' giraffe

Hello lovely peeps,
Here is a card I made yesterday with my new clear stamp from Hobby Craft in London. I have coloured it with my Prismas. I have used pop up fabric glue on the giraffe' dots and the leaves have been die cut from scraps using tiny Wonder House dies. The orange layer has been recycled from a brochure and the paper is from Kaiser (I think) and it was left over from a previous card I made. I think the leaves may be overshadowing the image and I did consider using buttons initially but ended up with this leafy affair.


I will enter this card in:
http://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://stempelsonne.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with a stamped image as the central theme

Wish you a happy Sunday,
Monica 

Saturday 14 December 2013

Natural wreath

Hello kind bloggers,

Here is my card to show you for today made with dried up grass that I found in the play ground downstairs. It was actually curled into a circle and all I did was to shape it a bit more with my fingers. I drew a circle lightly with a pencil on the green layer to make the wreath sit nicely. Then I stuck holly leaves under the wreath and added liquid pearls around the wreath. My famous Joy sentiment completed the card even though it's font is a trifle casual for this card. I have to add that I had lots of fun making this card.




I will enter this card in:

Wish you a happy and healthy Saturday,

Monica 

Friday 13 December 2013

A few more Christmas cards

Hello sweet bloggers,
Another simple card for Christmas made with the bare minimum of material. The Christmas tree came from Sandra and the crystals are from Prima. I have used my Sakura silver gel pen to outline the window and the top layer has been stuck with foam tape. The ribbon and scoring finish it off nicely. A very common layout and I think I should have rounded the corners of the layer on top as well.


I will enter this card in:
http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with ribbon

Thank God it's Friday again,

Monica 

Thursday 12 December 2013

Thank you Lynn

Hello sweet peeps,
It is such a busy time, there is so much happening around, Christmas concerts at school, birthday parties and the coming holidays. So much to be grateful for, really.

This card I have today has been made with a clears stamp that was sent by my dear blog buddy, Lynn. Thank you for sending me that parcel a few years ago, bursting at it's seams with stamps and other goodies. I do love this stamp, Lynn and used it a lot last year. My friend who ordered four cards, bought six and this was one of them.
I have stamped the image with Brilliance pearlescent rust and have gone over it with my fave gold Sakura pen. Added tiny, shiny starry stckers along with organza ribbon and it was done.


The same card taken with the flash 

I will enter this card in:
http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/ - simple Christmas
http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.co.uk/ - metallic element plus one colour of your choice

Sorry that I have not been regular with my visits,

Monica

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Frugal crafter here

Hello dear bloggers,
I have got an order for another four cards from a close friend - yaay.
My card to show you today is a frugal crafter's job really. The stars have been punched out of adhesive holographic paper and the ribbon is from my stash. This sentiment is from Penny Black and I seem to use it with delight every time. I have scored the paper on the right hand side to add interest.


I will enter this card in:
http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/ - anything with a bow

Wish you a nice Tuesday,

Monica 


Saturday 7 December 2013

Ho Ho Ho and thank you, dear Helen!

Hello sweet bloggers,
My dear kind friend Helen who is an amazingly talented crafter sent me cards to sell and I managed to sell them with such ease. Thank you, Helen, for your kindness. I was lucky to have sold another ten cards (from Helen's lot and mine) and the amount I am donating to the Philippines Typhoon fund has gone up to USD 230 (from USD 165 initially) and I think I will stop at this.

Remember I said I went to Aleeza's class and baked cookies with the kids on Wednesday? Since they were not enough, I baked some more the next day and took them to class. The kids were so delighted and they LOVED them. Oh the joy I got was immeasurable, honestly. Sometimes giving gives the giver more pleasure than the receiver I feel. 
I was lucky to have sold another ten cards and the amount I am donating to the Philippines Typhoon fund has gone up to USD 230 (from USD 165 initially) and I think I will stop at this.

Now to my card... another CAS card with a very shiny sticker that came from Sandra. The ribbon is from Arthur Dailey in Melbourne and the holographic paper is from Hobby Craft in London. The holographic tape is Zeenya's and the silver cord has been recycled from a gift. 


These are the lovely cards Helen sent me to sell for charity

I will enter this card in:
http://qkrstampede.blogspot.co.uk/ - white with a touch of red and green



Hope you are having a peaceful and crafty weekend,
Monica

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Snowflakes

Hello bloggers,

What a busy day I had today!!! I had to go to Aleeza's class to bake shortbread cookies with the kids. They turned out rather good except that plenty of them got burned as I was not familiar with the oven. As a result the kids were left wanting for more. Aleeza's teacher is so kind and he explained to them that it was okay if they did not get enough of something. And they seemed to understand. For my part, I think I will bake the same cookies and send them to class to make up for the faux pas. I hope I do it sooner rather than later.
Then I had to take Aleeza for a birthday party in the evening which was a swim party but it began to pour along with thunder and lightening so the kids had to come out of the pool. Yet they seemed so happy to be together and had a great time. So did I though I could not wait to get home after a long and hectic day.

Here is my card to show you today. That crumpled gold paper is handmade from India and looks really beautiful in real life. I have stuck textured dull gold paper under the reverse snowflakes. The centre snowflake is my latest buy from the button store close by. I have decorated the snowflakes with gold glitter and added a thin gold border at the bottom which has been sent to me by Merry - many thanks. For the life of me, I don't know why I punched the bottom of the card stock. 


I will enter this card in:

Wish you a happy Wednesday,

Monica 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Thank You Sue

Hello kind people,
You know something, when I started my blog in 2010 at the behest of a very close friend, Aparna, little did I imagine that it would create such magic in my life. I have come across such talented as well as kind people who have added a sparkle to my life. A sparkle that makes me smile and glow and feel happy every time I look at the comment section. Words alone cannot express my joy... But you understand what I am trying to say, right?

The card that you see below is kind courtesy of Sue who sent me this beeeeeeeeeeautiful white  die cut which I have used as a bauble with a silver string and a handmade bow. The sequined border is my latest buy from the ribbon and lace store in the local market close by. A few sequins came off the thread so I stuck them in the centre of the bauble. Thank you so much, dear Sue for this delightful die cut.



 Aleeza took part in the Gymnatstics Festival at the weekend. She was so thrilled with the medal and goodie bag she received that she has decided to be more enthusiastic about Gymnastics. Lol.


I will enter this card in:
http://www.vostamps.blogspot.com/ - Christmas with non-traditional colours

That was a huge number of challenges for me. Lol.

Have a nice Tuesday,

Monica 

Monday 2 December 2013

Meow



Hello sweet peeps,

I went to make cards with the kids in Aleeza's class and they sure had fun. They just seemed so absorbed in making cards and sticking as much material as possible on the card as they could. I spent most of the time trying to take care of my stamp pads from being left open and drying out but it was all well worth it.

Here is my card to show you today made with my clear stamp from Hobby Craft bought this summer from London. And you know what happened to the sentiment with it? As I was trying to peel it off the acetate, it split into two. However I did not give up, I thought I would still be able to use it - somehow. But it was not meant to be and as I was trying to be as gentle as I could, it came apart into another piece so I had three parts lying on my table and all I could do was to dump it in the dust bin. And the cat stamp refused to come off the acetate layer but this time I did not resist that. Instead I stuck it along with the acetate layer on an acrylic block with double sided tape and managed to stamp it. I was rather impressed with what I did and gave myself a mental pat. The image has been coloured with my Prismas - how I love them so. I have mounted the white nestie on foam tape and layered it on to a scalloped nestie which has been recycled from a brochure cover. The paper on this card is from Kaiser I think and the ribbon is from my stash. I tried to copy the sentiment in my own hand writing.



I will enter this card in:

Happy Monday,

Monica 

Sunday 1 December 2013

Another Christmas card

Hello sweet bloggers,

A lady in our complex has asked me for cards so am making a few more. That is great news but my fingers are rather painful due to the stress so I need to go slow and make it as effortless as possible. This year has been excellent for me as I met my target of supporting five Indonesian children with such ease. And I have an extra USD 200 which I am going to donate to the Philippines Typhoon Fund. I could have raised more if my hands were in better condition.
This card is simple and did not take much effort at all. I have stuck a 3D wreath, stamped a sentiment and used self adhesive holographic paper at the bottom.


I will enter this card in:

Wish you a happy Sunday,

Monica 

Friday 29 November 2013

My new embossing folder from Helen

Hello bloggers,

Here is a card I have made with an embossing folder sent by Helen to me. I really like it, thank you so much. I have used old paper to sponge the edges and have stuck bee stickers made out of felt along with green ribbon at the bottom. I did think of a sentiment like Just Bee-cause but let it be this way for reasons of flexibility.


I will enter this card in:
http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with ribbon


Wishing you a happy weekend,

Monica 

Thursday 28 November 2013

A super quickie

Hello dear bloggers,
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate it. I am grateful to my followers and all the kindness that has come my way ever since I started this blog. 

Here is another super quickie... just ribbon and a gigantic 3D sticker with lots of bling on it and some scoring to finish it off.

I will enter this card in:
http://lexiscreations.blogspot.com/ - Christmas

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Peace


Hello dear bloggers,
Every Wednesday is Manyano Day for me and a group of friends. Manyano means a circle of sisters in Afrikaans and it was started by a South African lady who used to live in Jakarta. I am lucky to be a part of this very special group that meets every Wednesday for yoga, fabulous home cooked potluck, meditation, Angel card reading followed by an interesting Ted Talk or a movie. Not to mention the tea and cake that we eat to help our girths expand, lol. It is indeed one of the nicest days of the week for me and I look forward to it rather excitedly.
Now to my card -  I have used fancy gift wrap to cover the card stock and a Sizzix die cut for the sentiment. The paper is actually a subtle gold but in the picture it decided to look dull and muddy. The gold stars are stickers and the organza ribbon is from my stash.



I will enter this card in:

Wish you a happy Wednesday,

Monica 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

A quick birthday card

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is another quick card to show you today. I have made it for a friend of Aleeza's who has her birthday today. Aleeza could not go to her party as it is a weekday and with the traffic here, it was a bit impractical. Beside she had a trial for a swim lesson as well. I did feel bad that she could not socialize but had to be practical.
The happy birthday sentiment is a ribbon and the die cut hearts are from Wonder House Japan. They cut so smoothly and with such ease - honestly one of the best brands I have seen. I have used very bright and sparkly pink and white checquered paper for the hearts and that makes the card quite girly, I think which is just what I wanted.


I will enter this card in:

Off to bed now. Catch you tomorrow,

Monica 

Monday 25 November 2013

The perfect pear

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is a quick post from me to show you my latest card. I am trying to get better at colouring so here is my take. I made the card without flowers and then as an afterthought decided to overload it with flowers which are handmade by yours truly. I could have done better with the leaves around the flowers, I think. I cannot remember the name of the rubber stamp but do recollect that I got rather cheap. The woollen yarn and embroidery thread is from my stash and the embossing folder is one of my fave. The scalloped nestie hiding behind the round one has been die cut out of a brochure.

Without the overload

With the overload 

I will enter this card in:
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

Happy Monday,
Monica 

Sunday 24 November 2013

Partially Recycled

Hello sweet peeps,

This card I have to show you today is not a Christmas card... a relief, isn't that. Lol.
The printed paper with hearts is actually a postcard and I have used ribbon to cover up the empty space on the right. The pink nestie is also from the packaging of an embossing folder while the blue nestie was sent by Shirley-Anne. The cute chipboard teddy and hearts were sent by Sandra. There is a tiny tag on the image which says, 'With Love' which is ideal with the image.


I will enter this card in:

Happy Sunday,

Monica

Saturday 23 November 2013

Shiny, shiny card

Hello kind peeps,
Here is another quick card for the last order of six cards from my friend who landed up buying seven cards instead. She liked my simple creations and am so glad that she did.
This card is made with the same holographic tape that belonged to Zeenya. The silvery stars were lying in my sticker folder for the longest time. The image is from a beautiful set of stickers sent by my dear blog buddy Sandra. The red and silver layers behind the image is adhesive holographic paper from my stash. The sentiment is a clear stamp which was also sent by Sandra. I loved making these red and white cards - they were quick and not at all tiring for my over strained fingers.


I will enter this card in:

Happy weekend,

Monica 

Friday 22 November 2013

Card Making in Aleeza's Class this Morning

Hello bloggers,
Today was a busy morning for me in Aleeza's school. They had a book character day and the kids had to be like in a fancy dress. Aleeza agreed to being  a princess and I found Zeenya's princess gown from seven years ago. Boy, did she cry non-stop when I dressed her up this morning. She found the clothes far too uncomfortable and the tap of tears just would not close. I could even manage a decent picture of hers.
I did a card making session for the kids today which was full of smiles and joy. Most of the girls wanted to make cards except one boy who seemed rather keen. Down below are pictures of the kids. Oh what a beautiful age this is - the hugs come so easily and freely.



TGIF,
Monica 

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Zeenya turned 14 yesterday

Hello lovely bloggers,

Yesterday was Zeenya's 14th birthday - her friends spoiled her rotten and one of the boys in her group actually baked brownies for her and got them to school. She did not want a gift from us which really impressed me. I gave her a card with money inside and got a lovely cake and flowers for her. 

Down below is the card - made in five minutes really. 



This is the cake - I asked the chef not to use colour in the flowers so she made cream coloured roses.


The two sisters - apologies for poor picture quality and I did not even care to lay the cake on to a proper plate :-)



Happy Wednesday,
Monica

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Poinsettias

Hello sweet bloggers,
When ever I want cards real quick I resort to a layout of three symmetrical images... So here it is. I had to stick gold ribbon on all four sides since the paper was slightly bigger than embossing folder.  I had stuck a layer of red card stock under the punched flower and a rhinestone in the centre of each of them.


I will enter this card in:


Wish you a happy Tuesday,

Monica 

Monday 18 November 2013

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way

Hello lovely peeps,

We had a reunion for Aleeza with some of her friends and their mums on Sunday. We took the kids to Pizza Express for lunch and it was just so nice to see how happy the kids were to see Aleeza and vice versa. They met after a gap of almost six months and there was lots of fun and laughter. 

Here is another card which was part of the large order. I have used red card stock as the base and stuck shiny paper on it which I crumpled and crushed to give it more texture. The green paper is fancy gift wrap while the bells are toppers from Arthur Dailey - a budget store which I found in Melbourne. The red and gold organza ribbon is from my stash. I actually added two gold rhinestones in the bells but forgot to click a picture with them. 


This is a picture of the three girls in her previous class. There were 16 boys and just three girls in the class!!! 

Here are more of them, enjoying their pizzas. In the mirror, you can see the reflection of us mums. Oh how sweet is this age.


This is Aleeza at home last night modelling her rather colourful doll which she got as a present from her buddies. The doll is called Dee. What a co-incidence that is because one of her fave teachers in her previous school is called Dee and her present teacher's last name is Dee.



I will enter my card in:

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

Happy week ahead,

Monica



Saturday 16 November 2013

With love at Christmas

Hello lovely peeps,

A Christmas card to show you yet again - the gift boxes and sentiment are from the same set of clear stamps sent to me by Sandra. I have coloured in the image with Prisma pencils which has been cut out and popped on dimensional foam tape. I have also stuck tiny star in the centre of the bows on the pressies. I had to use this pretty ribbon to camouflage the strips of paper which were pasted at a crooked angle. It is pearlized paper and looks nicer in real life. The star stickers on the top and bottom finish it off. This is another flat card and I am not too fond of it to be honest.


I will enter this card in:

Happy Saturday,

Monica 

Friday 15 November 2013

Yay, another order for six cards

Hello dear bloggers,

Thanks for the kind words on my last post - means the world to me, you know :-)

Here is card to show you for another order of six cards from a dear friend. She wants flat cards as she would like to send them by snail mail. A few years ago I would have struggled with making such cards but now I seem to be getting fairly confident at them.
I have used part of the embossing folder and stuck silver stickers and a layered snowflake using three different kinds of punches and paper as well. The holographic tape is actually Zeenya's and I have conveniently smuggled it. Lol.


I will enter this card in:
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

TGIF,

Monica 

Thursday 14 November 2013

Red and Gold

Hello sweet bloggers,

Yesterday evening was lovely - some close friends and I went to a fusion restaurant for dinner to bid farewell to a dear friend who is relocating back to Melbourne with her hubby after living in Indonesia for 17 years. We had a great time with good food, drink and lots of laughter. 

As you know, I have sold enough cards to continue supporting the five kids which I did last year. And I have been lucky enough to have another USD 170 left over which may increase to USD 200. I am thinking of donating this amount to Red Cross in Philippines for the victims of the recent storm tragedy. It is a small amount but am sure it will help in some way. And thank you, dear bloggers for all that you do for me. It makes me stay motivated to do what I am doing.

Here is my card to show you today - the base is a browny gold paper and the red layer is handmade paper from India and the dull gold is fancy gift wrap embossed with my pretty snowflake folder. The ribbon looks even prettier in real life and the crystal you see in the centre is from Kaiser.



Down below is a shot of the 30 cards all packed and ready to be delivered.



Happy Thursday,

Monica 

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Snowflake

Hello sweet bloggers,

The order for 30 cards is almost done and I will hand it over tomorrow to my friend who asked for them. It is time to give my fingers some rest now that I have turned out over 50 cards in the last three weeks.
This card has a window and vellum behind it and I have popped the top layer on foam dots after scoring them. You may wonder how many times I am going to use this JOY sentiment, well, I just love it so. The snowflake (MS I think) has been punched from a gloss silver cardstock and so has the sentiment. The rhinestones finish it off nicely.


I will enter this card in:


Wish you a happy Tuesday,

Monica 

Monday 11 November 2013

Peace

Hello sweet peeps,

Honestly blogging is one of the nicest things that happened to me and that makes my life so good.

Down below is another CAS card made with my newly acquired Peace die cut from Sizzix. The paper is super fancy gift wrap and over the MS snowflakes I have used Glossy Accents which cannot really be seen in the picture. The silver crystals finish off the card which I do seem to like very much.


I will enter this card in:
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes

Catch you later,

Monica 

Sunday 10 November 2013

Joy

Hello bloggers,

Here is a card made with one of my new dies from Sizzix which have probably retired but are still considered new here. Lol. I have used pearly white paper for the die cut and the poinsettias have been fussy cut from a larger sheet. I have used a negative for the window and have popped it up with foam tape. The ribbon and crystals are from my stash.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Happy Sunday,
Monica

Saturday 9 November 2013

Sherry on Christmas

Hello sweet bloggers,
Here is another card for the same order which has beautiful crinkled grey and gold paper from India. The topper is from my stash and so is the ribbon. I love how this card turned out so beautiful in minutes.


I will enter this card in:
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://scrapping4funchallenges.blogspot.ca/ - anything goes

Wishing you a happy weekend,

Monica