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

Yellow roses on acrylic background

Dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you with an embossing folder that I have used umpteen times and still love it so. 

The roses have been coloured with distress ink which I stamped on the top flap of the folder. 

For the leaves, I have used water colours as well as distress inks which I dabbed on an acetate sheet and used a brush to colour the leaves. 

After the embossed card stock was dry, I cut it along the roses and leaves for added interest. 

The bluish green background is actually Sakura acrylic paints which I dabbed on to a water colour sheet. I hope you like my messy and shabby chic creation.

I will participate in the following challenges:

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

https://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/ - anything goes

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

http://welove2create.blogspot.com/ - anything mixed media goes

Enjoy your card making,

Monica 

Water coloured roses at a workshop

Hello dear bloggers,

The roses on the is card were coloured in a water colour class I attended with both my daughters in July. It was meant to be a treat for my birthday. The black paper for the die cut sentiment has been die cut from a thick envelope. A square nestie was die cut on card stock and I stuck the roses and the leaves which have been die cut from cardboard. They have been coloured with water colours as well. The hand tied satin ribbon is from my stash. 

I will enter this card in the following challenges:

Arty Divas - anything goes

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

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

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

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

Wish you happy card making,

Monica 

Distress oxides and partly recycled

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today. The leaf has been die cut from the lid of a Nestle yoghurt jar and so has the thank you sentiment. The background has been done with three or four distress oxides. This card looks much prettier in real life.

The backdrop for this card is handmade paper from Thailand which has been made from elephant poop. Lol. A close friend's daughter got it when she went on a school trip. My younger one (who was all of seven then) kept smelling it from time to time to check for poop smell only to be surprised that there was none. 

I will enter this card in:

simonsaysstampblog - make your own background

https://watercoolerchallenges.blogspot.com/ - masculine

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

http://getcreativechallenges.blogspot.com/ - monochromatic

http://mmmchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - thank you

Wish you card making full of joy and fun,

Monica 

Summer smiles

Hello dear bloggers,

We were off to New Delhi for two weeks as it is summer vacation here. It was a nice hot holiday with lots of yummy food. I saw some pretty sunflowers in the complex we were at as well as beautiful bougainvilleas at every nook and corner. It took me many years to realise that bougainvilleas grow in intense and very dry heat. I will try and post pictures of the flowers next time.

Now to my card which is yet another leafy die cut one. I have used the plastic bag technique similar to the one in my previous card. I seem to have lost the tiny dot on the i but my younger one said it looks fine so fine it is.

I will participate in the following challenges:

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

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

https://livelaughstamp.blogspot.com/ - tropical

http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com/ - diecut tropical

See you soon,

Monica

Smile

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is another leafy card made today. The leaves were cut from super thick packaging material and as I shared in my last post, I marvel at how I kept running my Cuttlebug over and over again. Lol.

I coloured the kraft side of the packaging with water colours and a plastic bag which I wore on one hand like a glove and put colour on the palm. Water was sprayed on the paint and I went over the packaging sheet with this.  

Green, blue and a fluorescent yellow were used to obtain this result. I learned of this plastic bag technique on Pinterest. A zip lock bag is what was used in the tutorial but I chose to use a humble plastic bag as I did not deem fit to spoil a zip lock bag. I actually wash my zip lock bags and dry them before reusing them. That is how far my love affair with the environment goes. My children laugh at me but it is okay. Lol. Coming back to the card, the die cut black sentiment was also cut from packaging material. I used a square die to cut a window on the top layer. I quite like this simple beauty.

Ellibelle's corner  - summer scenes, treats or colours

https://watercoolerchallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes masculine

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

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

See you soon,

Monica 

Thank you to a special teacher

Hello sweet bloggers,

Soon my younger one will go to Middle School and here is a card I put together for her class teacher. I also repurposed a box to house little tokens of gratitude. On this card is gold matte paper from India. I really like it's crushed texture and the white oval die cut was also packaging material in it's previous avataar. The sentiment is a die cut as well and I popped up the white nestie on foam dots and added a gold cord for interest. The cord goes all the way inside and ties into a pretty bow. This teacher was such a lovely and kind soul and I quite like how this simple thing came about.

I will enter this card in:

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

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

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

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

Monica