General card

Hello my dear bloggers,

Here is a card I have made with paper from Terry's blog candy that I won last year.

The flowers have been made by me... and the sentiment as well.
I have added tiny shimmery flowers from my stash to give it a jazzy look.

Aleeza's first day was good, I think... did not get a chance to speak to the teacher because there were too many mums there wanting to know how their kids fared on the first day of school.

Hope you like my card... It looks much nicer in person, you know.

My life is a little better after Aleeza going back to school but Zeenya is still home because she goes to a different school. She is a big help, though and I do think I will miss her when she goes to middle school. But that means I will have more ME time. Yaaaay! My husband's 19 year old niece has been here since May, so we don't have many dull moments!!! I cannot wait for normal routine, though... Lol!

Hugs and have a nice tuesday,

Monica

Congratulatory card

Hi bloggers,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend... 

Aleeza has started school this morning - a new class with a new teacher. I was missing the old teacher (a wonderful lady) sooo much!!! She is going to have a baby soon so has decided to be a stay at home mum.

Now to this card - Zeenya was kind enough to heat emboss this Hero Arts design block with silver embossing powder on to a shimmery mauve cardstock. It looks really effective in real life and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

The  scalloped circles have been die cut with Ek Success. The subtle hearts that you see are actually fancy gift wrap.

The flowers and leaves (my new punch) have  been punched out of the same gift wrap. I have used three different flower  punches to give more character...and I have used shiny centres on some flowers to highlight them.

The sentiment has been embossed with Cuttlebug on shimmery cream paper.

I have made this card for a very special friend's son and daughter in law who are already married. My friend loved it!

Wish you a happy week ahead.

I will try and do my rounds soon. Zeenya wants to move her bed and change the layout of her room so I am off to help her with that.

Hugs,

Monica

Thank You Card



Hello bloggers,

Hope you are enjoying your weekend wherever you are...It is 9:45 pm here as I write this post.

 I made this card for Zeenya's teacher to thank her for the kindness she had shown in our time of need.

It was rather simple but the embossing (Cuttlebug) looked great on shimmery white paper and I finished it off with ribbon and the three pahua shells from New Zealand (which I have been hoarding for almost 8 years and over!!)

I better leave as I am writing this post from Zeenya's laptop and she wants to chat with her friends...

So bye for now and have a pleasant weekend.

Hugs,
Monica

Two wedding cards...





Hello bloggers,

I am trying to enjoy the summer holidays with my girls though from time to time, my patience is tried majorly by little Aleeza (my second one).

I am back pretty soon this time with two wedding cards... for my hubby's secretary who is getting married this Saturday. I gave Aleeza some paints to keep her busy while I made these simple cards.

For the first card I used light grey card stock and have stuck metallic silver handpaper on it.

The Docraft cake stamp has been stamped and heat embossed in silver by Zeenya on metallic creamy white paper and I have decorated the border with my Martha Stewart punch.

The silver ribbon and gems are from my stash while the baby blue ribbon is from Lynn - thank you so much, Lynn! I am impatiently waiting to find more time to start my next batch of charity cards with all that lovely stuff you have sent me...

The sentiment has been embossed with my dear Cuttlebug while the flowers have been punched with Carla craft flower punch.

For the second card, I have used grey card stock as well while the dress, shoes and flowers are from Shirley-Anne. Thank you, dear friend! I have parted with these lovely embellies with great reluctance (you know about my hoarding instincts, right?) Yet, I do think that the bride-to-be deserves it all - she is such a kind lady!

The grey punched hearts have been covered with glitter to match the general theme.

I have used my new Allegro embossing folder on metallic paper for the background.

The sentiment is handwritten but I'm afraid I did not do a good job.

Which card do you like? The first one is rather simple but looks much better in real life.

I will come and visit you all soon... forgive me for not being regular.

Hugs,

Monica

Pictures of our vacation in France

Town centre of an old village called St. Paul de Vence (Provence)



Exterior of a pretty house in St Paul de Vence

 

 Grasse -  heart of  Perfumery



An old winery run by WOMEN!!! Yay! Women rule!



An overview of another pretty village

A church in Monaco

Hello my lovely blog buddies,

I have been missing as we have been having house guests and it sure has been keeping me busy...

Above are some pictures of our holiday in France...

Sorry, this is a quick post as it is my birthday and I am trying to convince my over worked hubby to take me out for a drink!!! He has just returned from a game of golf and wants to just chill out at home.

Hope you enjoy the pictures...

The food, wine and perfumes were amazing in France...
Paris Disney was a bit too busy but it still was enjoyble for the children.

Our holiday was fun, hectic and  a mixed bag because we lost our baggage as we arrived in Cannes! It took four days to be located. Somehow I did not lose my sense of humour - thank God for that.

All in all France was a beautiful experience and I have to say I loved it.

Hugs,

Monica




Featured Blogger - Charity Crafter

Hello my sweet, sweet bloggers,

I am finally back after this so very long vacation. It was fun, hectic, busy and a bit of a mixed bag. It took me a while to find out my bearings in the kitchen.


I am glad to be back home - home, sweet home! East or West, home is best!!!  The children are still on vacation so I may not be able to get back to blogging full swing - I will try for sure once my jet lag settles down.

And believe me, I have missed blogging so much. I will try and post some pics incase there are some decent ones I have clicked.

Okay, before I continue with my waffling let me get to the point - the featured blogger for this month is the Lovely Leigh (http://www.charitycrafter.blogspot.com/) 


Leigh was one of the very first bloggers who touched my life - she is such a do-gooder in the true sense of the word. I consider myself lucky to be her follower... to say the least.


She makes beautiful cards and supports charities related to breast cancer and others as well. May I suggest that you do a tour of Leigh's blog and see what she does.She holds classes for scrapbooking and card making in her area too. She is quite an institution, really.


Every once in a while, Leigh does a post which is from her heart describing an incident which is just so heart warming to read. When I read those touching stories, I just feel so rich!


Thank you Leigh for the encouragement and love you have given me. Know that you are very dear to me even though I have been a bit out of touch with you.

Have a nice week ahead and I promise to come and visit you as soon as I can.

Happy Fourth of July!
Hugs,

Monica

Zeenya's Moving On Ceremony...



Hello lovely bloggers,

 My older daughter, Zeenya had her Moving On Ceremony today... She enters Middle School in August...

This is the card I made for Zeenya in a real jiffy. I have hand drawn the graduation hat and coloured it in with my Darwent water colours. The roses are made my me so is the red tassle. I have used a Hero Arts Life of the Party stamp for the background. I rolled up a small piece of paper for the certificate...At the bottom is a Martha Steward border punch.







Zeenya receiving her certificate from her Principal...

 


With her class teacher...



Some of her buddies...




Some more buddies...



My buddy and me... she is relocating back to Australia.

I am the one in black and white incase you are wondering!

Enjoy!!!

We are leaving for three week break tomorrow evening...

So pardon me if I am missing... But I will try and visit you if I can.

Hugs,

Monica