Hello there!

Hello sweet bloggers,

Thanks for the kind words of support you all expressed in my last post. I am hoping and praying that wisdom will prevail and the wrong doers will naturally own up to help save the innocent teachers who have been illegally arrested.

This card has been made from an image that I found on a brochure and felt it was just too beautiful to be trashed. So here is the simple beauty I created which gave me much joy.

As you know, we have moved to Singapore, so am contemplating which charity to donate my cards too. In Jakarta, I was supporting five primary schoolers with the sale proceeds of my cards. 

As of now I just may send these cards to the wives of the two teachers who are in prison with the hope that they will need cards very soon to send as thank yous when their dear husbands are released from prison.

I will enter this card in the following challenge:

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

http://chocolatecoffeecards.blogspot.sg/ - polka dots

Wish you a happy day,

Monica

Yellow tulips

Hello sweet peeps,

Hope all of you are well and if you are not, I send you healing wishes.

I am sad to state that two innocent teachers from my childrens' previous school in Indonesia have been arrested since the last eleven days as a group of mums have decided to accuse them falsely on charges of fabricated child abuse.

Mothers who support the school and these innocent teachers have started a petition to help them get released. An old student of one of these teachers has started a facebook page which has gathered great support for them. The Canadian press has also done stories on these two innocent men and we hope truth, wisdom and justice will prevail. 

I am doing my best in which ever way I cant to support the school and that takes a lot of my time apart from house hunting and tying together bits and pieces to get the new school admissions in place.

Now to my sweet and simple card... All store bought items and quick assembly here. 

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

http://crafterscafeblogchallenge.blogspot.sg/ - anything goes

http://thepapershelter.blogspot.sg/- anything goes

Wish you a day full of smiles,

Monica 

Cute teddy bear

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card to show which has been made with a clear stamp sent by dear Sandra a while ago. I love it and think it is rather cute. And I must give a pat to myself as I have done a good job colouring it using my Prisma pencils. The printed paper was sent to me by Terry and the felt ribbon is what I picked up from Jakarta before leaving. The little blue ribbon is what Lynn sent me some years ago. Thank you, lovely ladies.

I am going to enter my card in the following challenge:

http://www.addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com.au/ - anything goes

http://digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.sg/ - for the boys

Happy Thursday,

Monica 

I love making thank you cards!

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a thank you card to show you today made with what Sandra sent me in the post some time ago. The sentiment and the butterflies came from her. I have die cut the banners from my new banner dies. Thank you, Sandra.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

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

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

Wish you a pleasant Sunday,

Monica 

Thank you, dear Sue

Hello bloggers,

Thank you, dear Sue, for sending me this cute heart embellishment which I have put on this card. It is so full of sweet details that I think it sufficed rather well and the ribbon and sentiment (also ribbon) were just right for it.

I will enter this pinky pink card in the following challenges:

http://crafting-with-dragonflies.blogspot.sg/ - anything goes

http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - anything goes

And thank God it is Friday,

Monica 

Turquoise

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you for today made with my new Spellbinder dies. I have coloured them with my Prismas. I simply adore peacock feathers and could not resist buying this die set.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

http://www.kis-challenge.blogspot.ca/ - turquoise

http://www.craftforthecraic.blogspot.ie/ - your fave colours

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

Still trying to figure out a way to enter blogs and comment.

Catch you later,

Monica 

Hello Sunday

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card to show you today with embossing and a die cut sentiment and a pretty butterfly from my stash.

Down below are pictures of the birdpark that we visited a couple of days ago.

I will enter my card in the following challenges:

http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.sg/ - anything goes

http://qkrstampede.blogspot.co.uk/ - bugs

http://artbymiranchallenge.blogspot.ca/ - anything goes

Wish you a happy day,

Monica

From sunny Singapore and cloudy too

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a quick card I put together from our temporary home in Singapore. We are soon going to move into our own apartment and cannot wait to get settled.

The sentiment has been neatly cut from gift wrap that I bought at Arthur Dailey's in Melbourne while we were there last year. The 3D stickers are from the scrap booking store in Jakarta and the transparent dots, well, let me see if you can guess what they are? Okay, you give up? Let me tell you what they are: blobs of glossy accent and believe me when I say they feel so nice to touch. Nice texture!!!

Butterflies are my lucky symbol and I saw the same butterfly on three different occasions so had to share the pictures. Wonder what the angels are trying to say to me :-)

I will enter this card in:

http://www.southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.sg/ - round and round

http://scrapbookerphd.blogspot.sg/ - add texture

http://asyoulikeitchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - do your prefer images of animals or people?

(We had two dogs when we were kids and I learned much from them - how loving and kind they are)

Love from your frugal but stylish crafter (lol),

Monica 

We have just moved

Hello sweet peeps,

Lots has happened since I posted last... we have moved countries and we are now in Singapore which is actually just an hour's flight from Indonesia. We are yet to settle into our new home however I thought I must do post inorder to keep my sanity about me, lol. 

This card down below was made during the time we were packing away. The leaf has been die cut from the lid of a cheese balls container. I thought running it through my CB would give it a nice texture. Scoring and the crystal complete the picture.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

http://miriamscraftingblog.com/ - metal

http://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.sg/ - monochromatic

Will come and visit soon,

Monica 

All shades of green and a wee bit of blue

Hello dear bloggers,

Thank you for the comments on my previous post. I still am not able to post comments on your blog posts hence the silence. Ofcourse life is still too hectic and that is another reason for the lack of visits.

Here is a card I put together with feathers (which have been recycled from a head dress that Aleeza wore for her UN Day school celebration). The die cut leaf is a piece of tissue that Aleeza coloured with inks in school. It was the exact size of the leaf - not less or more. The ribbon was not considered to be of much charm by my older one but that is all I had and frankly, I do like how it matches with the polkas in one of the feathers.

Down below is a card that my mum made for me. She is a paisley specialist and draws free hand on all her cards. She has used Sakura gel pens to colour it and it looks really pretty in real life. Mum left last Sunday and we are sure missing her but our coming move is keeping us busy.

I will enter my card in the following challenges:

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

http://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/ - anything with a bow

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

Wish you a pleasant Tuesday,

Monica

Enjoy the little things...

Hello sweet bloggers,

For some reason, blogger is not letting me comment on other blogs. I wonder if anyone else is facing that issue as well. This has been happening since a month and over now. 

Life is rather hectic to say the least, however here is a card to show you. The round frame stamp is from Hot off the Press and the sentiment, phew, cannot recall it. It is a wooden stamp though. The butterflies are from my stash and the tiny circular blingy thingies were picked up at the The Range last summer.

I will enter my card in:
http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/ - sketch
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Wish you a pleasant weekend,

Monica 

Birthday Card

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a card to show you which has been made primarily with washi tape and fancy gift wrap. The butterflies have been glittered to make it look glam and the sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts.

Wish you a happy Monday,

Monica 

Hello there!

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is another card to show you today. It is from one of those peel offs that Lynn sent me. Thank you, Lynn. I had to add those pearls to camoflauge some stains and do realize that the pink pearls could have been avoided. Anyway, Aleeza approves of my card so I am happy. Lol.

Down below is a picture of paprikas that we grew in a pot. If you look hard enough you will spot them. All we did was sprinkle paprika seeds and they grew so very easily and so did our spirits. I understand that the picture could be better.

I wish you a happy Thursday,

Monica 

Flourescent card

Hello sweet bloggers,

A bright, happy and fun card to show you today with diecuts! 

A short post today as I have to take Aleeza to the doctor to get her pink eye treated.

Wish you a lovely week ahead,

Monica 

Black and White

Hello bloggers,

Here is a quick card to show you made with a background stamp by Penny Black which was bought . This is frugal crafting for sure but the card looks lovely in real life. Ribbon and a few pearls and it was all done.

There is a lot going on here which I will share in a few days.

Till then, enjoy my card and accept my apologies for not being regular with blogging.

Wish you a very happy weekend,

Monica 

Blue is the colour

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card to show you made from a stencilled image which has been sponged in with TH distressed ink and has been glittered following which I added a little centre on each flower with stickles. I finished it off with glossy accents and it looks really pretty in real life. The bow had to be added to cover a faux pas.

Below is a picture of our Mother's Day lunch celebration at an Indian restuarant. My mum is visiting for a few days...

Wish you a happy day,

Monica 

What, wine again?

Hello kind people,

Here is a card from me made in a jiffy but looks nice, doesn't it? The first picture has been taken without a flash and the second one is with a flash. Since colouring is something I am still getting better at, I thought of using my Sakura silver gel pen. The image is from Hero Arts and  the sentiment stamp was bought at The Range in the UK this summer ( apologies that I am unable to recall the name). 

Wish you a happy and healthy week ahead,

Monica 

Hello, I am back

Hello sweet peeps,

Life got in the way again but here I am again with a simple beauty made with the stuff lying around on my table. The image is a rub on sent by Lynn and the ribbon and sequins are from my stash. I have used sparkly stickles for added interest and you can see them on this lovely creature too. The white nestie was sent to me by Shirley-Anne. Thank you for your kindness in every which way.

Will try and catch up later,

Monica 

Coffee anyone?

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is a card to show you today with a clear stamp from Kaiser Craft which I did touch up with my Prisma pencils. It could have been given livlier treatment considering all those ribbons and the coffee beans. But Zeenya liked it so I am pleased.

Wish you a happy Tuesday,

Monica 

For CAS(E) this Sketch - partly recycled

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show for the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch. I have used an Oil of Olay packaging box to die cut the circles and buttons alongwith a hand written sentiment. 

Wish you a calm, healthy and relaxed weekend,

Monica

A sweet and simple card

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card that I helped Aleeza to put together for her lovely teacher. She chose the checkered paper saying her teacher would like them and we chose matching heart stickers to go along and thought jute string would add character to our sweet creation. Apologies for the shadows on the picture. This paper was what I won in Terry's blog candy just when I started blogging.

Here is the message, Aleeza wrote inside the card which touched her teenage sister so much that I had to share it with you. The last line reads,"Actually you are as sweet as chocolate."

Wish you a happy Sunday,

Monica 

Gratitude towards Blogland

Hello sweet peeps,

I just feel so much gratitude towards blogland, it is like a pick-me-up pill. It makes me feel that is all is well in the world inspite of all that is happening around.

Here is another card I made a few days ago with ribbon that I purchased at Michael's last summer. The card candy and stars are from my stash while the sentiment is a Hero Arts Stamp. I have to say that I like this card much. 

Thank you to all of you for your kind words and encouragement,

Monica 

Hello after a long absence

Hello sweet .bloggers,

It seems such a long while since I blogged and trust me when I say that I have been missing it so.

Life has been rather busy of late with some great challenges which have kept me from blogging. On the good side, Aleeza's arm is healing well and my Mum is here to visit. 

Here is my card to show you - a rather humble card since the rose has been by yours truly with an ordinary paper napkin. The sentiment is hand written and and the flourishes as well as the tag has been die cut from a carton. Recycling and me often strike a happy medium.

I am yearning to come and visit your blogs and I hope I can find time to do that soon,

Monica 

Keep Calm and Drink Wine

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card I made to beat the stress - just right, isn't it? Except that wine is terribly expensive here. The clear sentiment stamp was bought at The Range in the UK (cannot recall the name) while the oval frame with the vine and grapes is from Hero. I thought I must use these Keep Calm series before they become passe.

I have coloured in with my Prisma pencils and the flourishes have been sponged with Milled Lavender while the green sponge has been done with Old Paper - it kind of looks too green in the picture. The flower is handmade and the paper came from Terry a few years ago. I had to add the pearls to cover up some faux pas. I quite like this card but the pink paper??? 

I will enter this card in:
http://www.addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com.au/ - anything goes

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

http://vintageudfordring.blogspot.no/ - vintage

Happy Easter to those celebrate it,

Monica 

After a long gap

Hello sweet bloggers,

I have good news to share and that is Aleeza's heavy cast is off and now she has to wear a special sleeve for another month to help her heal totally. She is back to school and my life is resuming slowly.

Here is a quick card I made two nights ago for a special person on her birthday who is going through a challenging time at work. The embossing folder came from dear Helen all the way from the States. Thank you, Helen!  By the way, Helen is a multi-talented crafter and her talent will amaze you for certain.  

As I did not possess an appropriate sentiment I wrote love, peace and happiness inside the card with a gold pen. 

Aleeza did not seem very pleased with it and suggested I put in gold on some of the leaves to break the monotony of white. I did do that but could not take a photo of the revised card. 

I have to say it did look pretty with the shimmery gold leaves. I bought the gold charms from the haberdashery store close to home. Hoarding them yet again ;-)

See you soon hopefully,

Monica 

For Less is More - a touch of turquoise

Hello kind peeps,

When I went to the super market this evening, I decided to spoil myself with some craft goodies and here is the card I made in seconds from my new Penny Black stamp. I have been eying this stamp at the bookshop for a while now and today was the day when I gave in to my temptation. The first attempt at stamping straight on to the card stock was a messy affair. But I was determined and did manage to get it right. I have outlined the bird with my Prisma turquoise pencil and have stuck turquoise rhinestones as well to add more interest. In my earlier times, I would be uncomfortable with such a simple, no frill card but now I am rather confident. That means I have come a long way with CAS and the credit goes to LIM for that. Thank you, LIM!

Here is lil' Aleeza at her second art class with her left hand.

This is her finished art work - I think she could teach me how to shade and stuff. Lol.

Since she has been home for a month now, a friend came over to play. They are doodling on her cast which is coming off tomorrow. Yaay!!!

Oh happy childhood - no inhibitions, only fun, fun and more fun.

Wish you a happy Sunday and I will come and do some visiting when I have more 'me' time,

Monica 

For Less is More again

Hello sweet bloggers,

Thank you for not giving up on me even though I have been rather slow with my visits. Aleeza sure keeps me busy and I wish I could do with adult company sometimes. Never mind, this too shall pass. And time has passed rather well, I have to say. Her hard cast comes off on April 7th and then she has a bandage to wear for another two weeks. 

Here is another card with the lovely rub-ons that Lynn sent me. Aleeza and I did them together had lots of fun. I had to add those dainty pearls to cover up some unwanted marks that appeared from almost no where. Funny how cards some times attract stains at the most prominent places. The ribbon sentiment is from Hero Arts and I have had it for two years or more. The more I see it, the more I love it. Rekindled romance for sure here. Lol.

I know it is a bit late to submit this card for the challenge at LIM this week yet I am going ahead.

It doesn't seem like a Friday for some reason - anyway TGIF!

See you later,

Monica 

For Less is More - round and round

Hello sweet bloggers,

Happy April Fool's Day! Oh what fun it was as a child to make a fool of friends and family and laugh on and on about it. 

We were away to Lombok (an island close to Bali) for a two day break and it was a welcome change indeed. It was our second time there and we loved it.

Here is my card to show you today for the challenge at LIM where the theme is round and round.

I have used a ribbon stamp for the sentiment and have die cut circles out of card stock - stuck felt hearts on them along with sequins to add a little sparkle.

Will come and do my visiting soon,

Monica 

For Less is More again

Hello sweet peeps,

Here is my second entry for Less is More this week where the challenge is to use three of something. These super soft clay flowers are made by yours truly (I have pinched the clay from Aleeza and she was rather unhappy about the fact that I did not give it back to her). I really like them because the clay is light and flexible so it does not damage the envelope.  I have embossed and the top and bottom of the card to add more interest.

I hope your weekend is going well.

Love,

Monica 

For Less is More

Hello dear bloggers,

The challenge at Less is More this week is to use three of a kind and I love these kind of cards, you know. So here is my recycled version made from a party hat that tore and nothing could be done with it except to throw it in the bin. As some of you may know, I happen to be the queen of recycling so I put on my thinking hat and this is what I came up with. All the stuff on the card is recycled except the rhinestones. The starry paper was on the base of the hat and all I did was to cut it along it's boundary and stick it on the card stock.

Wish you a super weekend,

Monica 

The earth laughs in flowers

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a card with a laser cut image and a rub on sentiment from the same pack that Lynn sent me. Doesn't it fit nicely with the image and isn't it simply lovely? I thought I would hoard it but my thinking brain pushed me into using it as I do know that rub-ons get damaged if they lie around for a long time.

We have another fortnight to go before Aleeza's plaster comes off and she will get a softer bandage with a splint. She has been at home but it has been quite easy which is a blessing in itself.

I will submit this card for the following challenges:

http://www.4craftychicks.blogspot.com/ - no patterned paper

http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ -  anything goes

http://audsentimentschallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with a sentiment

http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/ - use uplifting sentiment

Thank God it is Friday again :-)

Monica 

A card with a rub on image

Hello sweet peeps,

I had these rub ons that Lynn sent me two years ago and it was Aleeza who pushed me into using them and we did it together, laughing all through and having lots of fun. I put the image through my CB, little realizing it was the reverse side. The half scalloped nestie came from Shirley-Anne and I thought it gelled really nicely. All I did was add some ribbon and bling and my card was ready. Atlast I seem to be getting comfortable with CAS cards without feeling they are empty.

I will enter my card in the following challenges:
http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/ - make it pastels
http://www.ttcrd.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Wish you a happy Wednesday,

Monica

Cute, cute chicks

Hello bloggers,

I bought this clear stamp in Hobby Craft, London last summer and loved it yet it took me all this while to get it going on a card. Isn't it a sweet, sweet stamp? I have added a large 3D heart sticker in the centre and random gold hearts to make it more interesting. The golden grass at the bottom is a reverse from another sticker. I try and recycle as much as possible, you see :-)

The same picture with the flash on - looks slightly different, doesn't it?

I will enter this card in:

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

http://craftybootschallenges.blogspot.com/ - feathers

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

Wish you a happy Tuesday,

Monica