Zeenya's been baking!

Hi bloggers,


I thought I had to share what Zeenya has been up to of  late - BAKING!!! 


Well then, she will never be a real part of our crafting community really because I feel people who love cooking don't really care for  serious art and craft. 


I would be happy to be proved wrong in this case... 


Anyway, I am not going to let that make me unhappy for the simple reason that this Strawberry Cheese Cake that she baked was yummilicious!  Even sweet Teddy agrees to that.


She got the recipe from youtube and the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7dBN45P2N8 and Caroline Aritiss is the name of the lady who shared how to make it. According to Zeenya she loves watching her cooking/baking videos. She has a real English twang which Zeenya is a real fan of!!! 


The real strawberries in the cheese cake did lend a great taste to it. 


Wish I could have shared it with you all!!!


Hugs again,


Monica

I am not so regular...

Hello bloggers,


Somehow I have not been able to devote much time to card making - instead have been tucking into some Japanese sweetmeats brought by one of the ladies in our complex. She came to tea and brought this lovely box that she advised was pretty rich in calories and that it would be best if I share it with others. And can you imagine what exactly yours truly did??? I gobbled it all down myself - it was one of the tastiest sweetmeats that I have ever laid my hands on. But was it rich in sugar! And since I finished the last of the lot I have been trying to go exercise regularly to keep guilt pangs away... I hope that helps.


Okay, enough rambling there... 


Now to this card - it is a Hero Arts stamp that I purchased from Kinokunia - which is the name of the book store in the mall close by. It sounds like a tongue twister (doesn't it?) and it took me a long time to get it right! 


I have stamped these flowers with Brilliance pearlized lavender on red card stock. Wish my picture quality was better... It looks quite nice in real life. 


I do so like this swirly Happy Birthday sentiment by Penny Black.


The red strips at the bottom were extra trimming from red card stock and I thought I would fill up the space at the bottom. Looks okay, doesn't it?


 I am slowly getting bolder and trying black as the base in my cards. I would not have gone anywhere close to black some time ago. See, blogging is bringing about so much change in me. Thank you, bloggers!


Hope you like my simple and clean creation...


Hugs,


Monica

More Valentine's cards

Hi bloggers,

I have been missing for a while now... just trying to resettle back and there is so much laundry to do even now. I still hadn't opened the last of my bags - can you believe that? I did that today and feel kind of relieved.

I  have made both these cards with the same swirly ribbon but see how different it looks on both the cards. 


I have used light pink metallic paper and die cut the hearts on this card. 


The pink hearts are recycled from handmade pink paper from Indonesia which was an old gift wrap. 


 I added the gold dots with glitter glue from my stash to match the gold lining in the ribbon.

On the second card, I have die cut the hearts from handmade paper in dull gold and pink (recycled from old gift wrap as mentioned above). 
 I wish the picture quality was better to capture the texture of the paper. The card stock is pearlized and lends a nice touch to the card.


I hope you like my cards.
Hugs,


Monica

My lovely gifts from an angel!

Hi bloggers,


Gosh! Can you believe it that we have finished more than half of January already... for me time has just been running away since the 2000s - just yesterday we were waiting for 2011 and the first month is half over!!!


Here is what my dear, dear friend - Leigh (www.charitycrafter.blogspot.com/) sent me all the way from the UK to me for Christmas. I think it was my BEST Christmas gift ever because it came with so much love... and the wrapping paper was out of this world. I have saved it to make cards with it next Christmas. 


It is a wonder that it reached me because the post in Indonesia can be a bit unreliable... but the parcel came with such good feelings that I received it.


Aleeza, my little one has taken over the Teddy and the charms - conveniently!!!


Leigh, your card is exquisite and I will treasure it with all my heart.


Hugs,


Monica

First Valentine card and partly recycled

Add caption

Hello bloggers,

This is my second card for today - see how happy I am to be back!!!

I embossed my Hero Arts block stamp on to creamy white paper. The big hearts have been cut from Sizzix while the small hearts are from my Carla craft punch. On the top right is a metal heart which sadly cannot be seen in the picture. I seriously have to do something with my photography skills.

The foil hearts have been recycled from the kitchen shelf.

The sentiment at the bottom is handwritten.

I am going to link this to Naturally Me Creations - a beautiful blog run by Monique of South Africa. Do visit her and see the delightful stuff she makes. She is a big fan of recycled stuff as well and does it with real pizzaz!

Have a nice day where ever you are...

Hugs,

Monica

Back to crafting - feels great!

Hello bloggers,


I hope you are healthy and crafting where ever you are... You all have become such an interesting part of my world that my real life friends seem to have taken a back seat.

I feel so grateful for all you lovely people out there who have enriched my life and craft in so many ways. I have learned sooooooooooooo much from you all. Thanks for all your encouraging words and motivation, too. No matter what, you all always manage to say the kindest things about my cards.And the techniques that you all have shared have had a great impact on my crafting.


 Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!


Now to this card - Zeenya embossed this butterfly (from an Inkadinkado stamp) before we went to New Delhi and I came back and thought that I must use it. She took out the ribbons and insisted that they should be stuck at an angle. 
My contribution was following my girl's instructions besides colouring in the embossed image with blue and mauve metallic gel crayons. As usual the real life picture looks far better. And yes, I rubber stamped and heat embossed the doily from a stamp (sorry, am to lazy to go and check out the name). 

The butterflies are from lovely Teri's blog candy. It came as a rescue because I used them to hide some flaws!


Hope you like my card...


Hugs,


Monica

Happy New Year!

Hello dear blogger buddies,

Here's wishing you all a very happy, healthy and OFCOURSE a creative 2011. 

I am sorry that I have been missing in action as I was attending an Indian wedding in New Delhi. I will try and find some decent pictures of the bride and post them next time. We had lots of fun with good food, wine and music. It was biting cold in Delhi but we managed to keep our spirits warm with Vodka and natural good spirits!! 

The card above was made for the bride to be but we FORGOT to carry it along as we made it minutes before we left for the airport. I promise that it looks much better in real life as the colours are too dull in the picture. Zeenya heat embossed the cake and I just added some quick embellishments and voila it was ready. Pity it is still lying with us!!! 

Yours truly at the wedding with my two girls - Zeenya wore contact lenses for the wedding.

These are some of my school friends I met up over for lunch in New Delhi - the wine added to our happy smiles apart from the fact that it was a lovely feeling to meet up with old buddies from school. I am the first from the left - in  pink.

I will try and catch up with all of you at the soonest. You cannot imagine how much you were all missed.

Hugs,

Monica