Pink feather

Hello sweet peeps,

Today I went to my younger one's school to host the third session of meditation and what we did was a guided gratitude meditation conducted by me and we watched two talks on gratitude and a Ted talk by Sam Berns who passed on in 2014 to Progeria. His talk was so full of good energy and motivation and in spite of watching it multiple times, I still seem to love it from a new angle. I also distributed small gratitude journals to the participants and we ended with eating oranges. By the way, the money from these sessions will be donated to an abused women's shelter in Singapore and I feel so blessed to be able to do that. 

Now to my very simple card which needs barely any explanation. The feather was bought in Indonesia from a lovely book cum stationery shop many years ago. I cut out a nestie and propped it on foam dots. The bright, oh-so-bright feather nested nicely inside the nestie and voila, my card was ready to fly. The backdrop for the photo is paper that was made from elephant poop. I have used it earlier and shared its deep-rooted background with you. Lol. My friend's daughter got it for me all the way from Thailand and the papers are actually so pretty that I dare not cut it. So I have decided to use it as a backdrop. A random thought just came to me which is that maybe I am not keen enough to make cards out of paper that was made out of poop. Lol.

I will enter in the following challenges with my card:

http://addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com/ - CAS

https://artydivaschallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

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

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

Wish you happy card making,

Monica

Dance like no one is watching

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a card I put together a few days ago. The guitar has been die cut from a fruit packaging carton. I popped it on foam dots for added dimension. The orangish coloured paper has been coloured with an egg yellow vegetable dye. I think the sentiment is a Penny Black one which I love, I have to say. The washi tape is from Typo, a very popular stationery store in town.

I will participate in the following challenges:

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

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

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

Happy cardmaking and happy everything,

Monica 

Ombre shombre

Hello beautiful bloggers,

Here is my 'oh so bright' card to show you today. The background has been made with watercolors that belong to my daughter. I used the reverse of a square nestie along with foam dots to achieve this arrangement. The butterfly has been recycled out of a pearly wedding card. 

I layered it with pink paper that is actually used for printing letterheads and it being thick really helped my butterfly. The smile sentiment completes it. I am sorry that I don't have the names of the brands of the butterfly and sentiment die handy.  I do like this simple beauty and hope you do too.

I will participate in the following challenges:

http://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/ - monochromes

https://imaginethatdigistamp.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

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

http://craftysentiments.blogspot.com/ - die/and or punch
https://casethissketch.blogspot.com/ 

Happy card making,

Monica 

Sizzix -blue flowers

Dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you which is part of the same order I mentioned in the previous post. The Sizzix wild flowers you see here have been die cut with water colour paper. The same paper was smooshed around using Camlin brush markers from India. The base paper has been embossed and I tied a ribbon around it which says it all. I sprayed water on the cardstock I was going to emboss as per a tutorial on You Tube thinking this rather flat embossing folder would become more prominent. 

Now to some good news - I have begun hosting meditation sessions for parents in my younger one's school. Today was the second session and I feel it went well. Ah, the joys of spreading the word of meditation are indescribable in words. I also run a small initiative called United World Sanctuary which is a platform for peace and goodwill. We meditate, listen to a talk on a positive topic and eat nourishing food. It is basically a mini retreat for the mind, body and soul.

I will participate in the following challenges:

https://paperminutes.blogspot.com/ - flowery and delicate

Arty Divas - anything goes

https://papercraft-challenges.blogspot.com/ - handmade/stamped flowers

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

Happy card making,

Monica 

Stamped roses

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you which is for a very special lady who ordered four cards from me. As I may have mentioned I am raising funds for an abused women's shelter in Singapore.

This is an acrylic stamp from Kaiser craft and I have coloured it with Faber Castell water colour pencils. I did it while we were in Japan and found it very relaxing. The ribbon is from my stash and I chose a bright green envelope to add the brightness of the card.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

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

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

http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with flowers

https://craft-deebowz.blogspot.com/p/challenge.html - anything goes

Wish you peace, calm and card making,

Monica 

Poppies

Hello sweet peeps,

I am so chuffed because I have got an order from a very kind lady to make four birthday cards. This is one of them. The poppies have been stamped using a Penny Black cling set. I have coloured them with Faber colour water colour pencils. It was all done while we were holidaying in Japan. The red paper below has been coloured with Prisma pencils. I coloured a little more than the edges so that the paper with the image would sit nicely. The happy birthday ribbon is from my stash. Wow, I mentioned all the details - name of stamp etc for once.

I will submit this card for the following challenges:

http://carabbiemomentsofcraft.blogspot.com/ - anything goes for ladies

http://lilredwagon.blogspot.com/ - CAS

http://stampotiquedesignerschallenge.blogspot.com/ - flower power
https://theflowerchallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

Wish you much happiness making cards,

Monica

Thank you card

Hello peeps,

I have been away from blogland as it was summer holidays and we were away to India and Japan. We did not do much site seeing in India (which I wanted to) however Japan was a delight. We went to Hokkiedo and we saw the most beautiful flower fields, sunflower fields, apple orchards, grape vines and peaches and plum trees. The lavender fields had dried up yet and we could literally feel the oil in our hands when we rubbed the flowers. It was such a pretty experience for me since I am a big fan of lavender. 

We also saw Lake Toya, which is 110,000 years old and it was formed from the eruptions of a volcano. Visiting the earthquake museum was amazing. We also walked all the way to see an active volcano yet it but it was cloudy so we could not see it through the clouds.

I learned so much from Japanese culture - how kind and courteous they are, how they help visitors, how the ladies smile and bow at every thing, how they live from one earthquake to another, how they are so resilient and how they look at the blessings of volcanos to be the rich land they possess. I noticed Hokkiedo has the simplest of buildings and the humblest of restaurants with the tastiest food. 

Now to my card which I made some months ago. The green leaf has been die cut from packaging material and I water coloured it with Maya paints from Ikea. The sentiment has been die cut using recycled paper as well. The rectangular nestie paper is actually white and I really wonder why my camera decided to make it look this colour.

Sorry for such a text heavy post.

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

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

https://colourificchallengecorner.blogspot.com/?zx=db50d3e6d844c6fa - anything goes 

https://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/ - anything goes

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

Happy card making,

Monica