Lovely card, box and treasure inside - thank you, Sandra

Hello blogging buddies,

Lady luck has been smiling on me.... look at this stunning card that  Sandra  sent me ... Isn't it lovely?

This prize winning box made by her accompanied the card.

This is a little note for Zeenya (my older one).

Here is the treasure that came popping out of the box !!!

Thank you, dear Sandra, for making my crafting days special and bright. I do so appreciate your kind generosity. I will soon be making cards with these goodies. I feel so truly blessed, you know...

Hugs,

Monica

Sold 49 cards so far...

Hello bloggers,

First of all, I apologise for the poor picture quality of this card...

It took me all of 20 minutes to make it and it sold in an instant...

The stickers (used 3D foam dots to mount them up) looked quite cute against the metallic cardstock and so did the Martha Stewart border.

So far I have sold 49 cards... and am going to be making some more to sell next week.

I am in  Singapore as my older one had Friday off...

Will try and visit you all when I get back on Sunday.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Monica

Another two for today

Hello bloggers, 

I am back to show you another two cards I made this afternoon. The first one is a pure case of cheating, yes, cheating!!! Want to know why? The image has not been stamped by me but is from a beautiful gift wrap that I bought some years ago. I just added some ribbon and rhinestones and here is my card... pretty, isn't it?
I am going to enter this for:
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.com/ - spring
http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/ - spring

No cheating here, I promise!!! 

Have used a Hero Arts cling stamp... stamped it twice with two different distressed inks - crushed olive, wild honey and also my apricot stamp pad. 

The sides have been distressed with crushed olive and wild honey. 

This card is for fall, right? I realized that much later... I don't know what is it with me? In summer I am drawn to fall colours and in winter hues of spring attract me... Never mind the fact that in Indonesia we don't have any seasons!!!

Happy crafting with loads of hugs for all your encouragment,

Monica

Sold 32 cards so far...

Hello bloggers,

I am so chuffed as I have had a sale of 32 cards so far... 

I made these quick cards (which were not that quick somehow) today  to build up on my stock. 

The crinkled paper on the first card was made by Zeenya and me many years ago. 

The crosses that you see are stickers that were gifted to Zeenya by one of her classmates. The hoarder in me wanted to put them away safely but I chose to conquer that feeling!!!

I just added some bling to them and here they are...

Hope you like them.

Hugs,

Monica

Some more coming...

Hi bloggers,


I am back with my second post for the day...


I have made this card on ordinary black cardstock.
Of course you can see my home made flowers... the big rose is handmade while the two small blue flowers were stamped with a cheap freebie foam flower stamp that came with a card making magazine. 
I stamped the flowers with my Brilliance archival stamp pad in metallic blue on light blue cardstock and cut them out. 
For the centres, I have used small pearlized flowers in white.
The embossing is done with Cuttlebug while the distressed paper at the bottom is pearlised handmade paper from India.
The shiny lilac paper is from a big role of gift wrap that I bought many years ago and I mostly use it on my kiddy cards. 
The sprigs have been made with a Jeff tree punch and the ribbon is from my stash.
The sentiment is hand written.




I am going to submit this for the following:

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com - blooming blossoms
http://thecraftypad.blogspot.com/ - flowers
http://www.gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com/ blues
http://clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com/ - make a flower


Hugs,


Monica

For Japan Redcross

Hello bloggers,

 I made this card a while back... in fact my ex - design conultant (the famous Zeenya, now infamous because she does not want to get anywhere close to art and craft since she has started chatting with her friends on Skype) coloured in this  Penny Black image some weeks ago.

I distressed the image as there were some tell tale stains on it.

The ribbons, embellies and sentiment are all from my stash.

And I have to share that this card sold yesterday... Yippeeeee! This lady in our complex bought five cards from me and she seemed to buy three which were red!!! So does that mean I must make more red cards?

I am going to submit this for the following challenges:

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

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

http://stampingscrappingchallengecentral.blogspot.com/ - sparkle 

Hugs,

Monica

Thank You card for Mum

Hi bloggers,


Hope you are having a nice weekend... it is 11.05 pm here in Jakarta and the weekend is almost over...


I sent this thank you card to my dear Mum... and it did manage to reach her in 10 days. Thank God - better late than never!


The flowers are home made (surprise, surprise) and the papers are from Terry's blog candy yet again. 
The rectangular stamp is from Prima and so are the faux gems.
The sentiment is handwritten.


Mum loved the card, she said it was perfect for spring... 


No, I did not send her a card for Mother's Day... 


Happy Mother's Day with lots of hugs,


Monica

Quick and simple

Hi bloggers,


I am back again... made this card two days ago - very quick and simple. Just pretty stickers and paper (from Terry's blog candy)


A real quick and simple card but I had fun making it.


The stickers are from my stash.
The pink ribbon is actually from my daughter Zeenya's t-shirt - yaay, I recycled!
The beads are also from hair braiding that Zeenya did while we were in Krabi some eight years ago. I almost wanted to throw them but they manage to stay with for so many years!!! Hoarder, me!


I am going to submit this for the following challenges:

http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/ - Spring

http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ - Spring

http://stampingwithdragon.blogspot.com/ - Use something from home


and to Monique's linky party at www.naturallymecreations.blogspot.com

Hope you are having a good weekend. It is almost 10.20 pm as I write this post. So Saturday is almost over... Any way, we still have Sunday to look forward too.


Hugs,


Monica

What do you think of this version?

Hello lovely bloggers out there... 

Remember I made this card a few days ago? Here is another version... Do tell me what you think?

I took slightly textured white card stock and stamped it with my doily stamp using Jim Holtz  Ranger distress ink  - fired brick. I have to say that I do like the result.

The shoe stamp is from Hero Arts and I distressed the red paper with black pigment ink.

The little black piece of paper has been embossed - you can't see much of it though. 

The ribbons and gems are from my stash.

I like this version more than the earlier one but would love to hear what you think?

I am going to submit this for:
Monique's weekend linky party at www.naturallymecreations.blogspot.com
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/ - no designer paper

http://creativecottagechallenge.blogspot.com - white space to show



Have a nice weekend... 

By the way, yesterday was April Fool's day so I played a prank on my hubby and daughter... it was fun! For my hubby I packed an empty perfume bottle really well with some stones inside. He is generally not turned on with gifts but he actually was excited and ripped it apart... only to find stones inside!!! Lol!

And I told my daughter, Zeenya that her favorite cousin was arriving in mid-April instead of May. Was she delighted!!! That was a bit mean but it is okay, it was April Fool's day!!! 

Hugs,

Monica

Me and my flowers!!!

Hello bloggers,


I am back again with another card... and I do like this one.


The roses were made by me (you did not have to guess that, lol!)
I just took plain mauve coloured construction paper and went over it with watery acrylic paint in silver to give it a shiny look before die cutting the flowers. 


The sentiment is a folder from Sizzix embossed with my Cuttlebug (love of my life, really!)
I did the scalloped border with my Martha Stewart border punch on metallic papers.
The sticker with leaves and pot is from my stash.
The sprigs are from a tree punch by Jeff.
The tea pot border punch is really cute - cannot recall it's name. I put a silver ribbon at the bottom of the punched out teapots to make it look glamorous.


Hope you like it. Would love to know what you think about it.


Am entering this in the following challenges:


http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/ - die cuts (my roses are made out of mini Sizzix flower dies)
http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com/ - spring ( I hope my roses remind you of spring and so does the pot with green leaves
cutedaisymay.blogspot.com - let's glitter and glitz it
http://www.gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com/ - die cut and punches (my roses and the teapot border punch at the bottom)


Hugs,


Monica

More cards for Japan Redcross

Hello bloggers,

I hope you all are well and happily crafting away...

I made this card two days ago. I wanted to stamp the sentiment which says "Kick off your heels and have fun" but there was no room left on the card... I have made cards in the past with this sentiment and they looked so full of fun.

The shoe stamp is from Hero Arts - I went over with Zeenya's nail pen over it and then I distressed the image with barn red.  The satin roses and ribbons are from my stash.
The black sprigs are from my Carla craft punch.
The swirly silver and black sticker is from Ek Success.
Embossing done with my Cuttle bug - the white paper has been distressed mildly with barn red as well.
The silver swirls on the left have been painted with fabric pop up glitter glue.
I am not very sure of this card - there is no focal point to it, really.

Off to make some more cards... just sent off 30 cards to sell to a sweet lady who lives in our building. Let us see how many she buys.

I am going to enter this card for the following:

http://squigglefly.blogspot.com/ - sparkle and shine


Have fun and stay healthy and cheerful!

Hugs,

Monica

Thank you card for a special friend

Hello bloggers,

I am back again with a card that I made two weeks ago... 

I used these multi stamps from Prima  - clear stamps that I placed randomly on a big block and stamped it with black pigment ink. 

I have been seeing a lot of black and white cards and it was finally Lynn of  http://creativecraftsbylynn.blogspot.com/ whose card inspired me to get down to making one. 

The sentiment is handwritten (thanks to the encouragement I have received from all of you, I seem to be getting more confident with writing my sentiments) and the ribbons are from my stash. The faux gem flowers are  from Paper Mania.

I have snail mailed this card for a very special blogging buddy (sorry, cannot disclose the name as it meant to be a surprise)... pity it has still not reached her. It is going to be two weeks tomorrow since I mailed it. Sob, sob! Hopefully one day, it will arrive at it's destination.

Hope you like it. 

Hugs and thanks for viewing,

Monica

More cards for Japan Redcross

Hello lovely bloggers out there,

Hope you are having a nice morning, afternoon or evening where ever you are...

I made these similar looking cards at the week end. 

Have used Peachy Keen clear stamp - mini turtle and coloured it in with my Darwent water colour pencils along with distressed ink on the sides of the paper.

The background paper is from Terry's blog candy.

The chocolate paper has been embossed with Cuttlebug. 

The mosaic at the bottom is from my stash and the teeny tiny bit of twine has been recycled from a gift. 

The sentiment is handwritten with a Calligraphy pen.

I have used the same stamp, coloured it in with Darwent water colour pencils but  gave it a touch of glitter with glitter glue and my Sakura metallic pens ... wish you could see it in real life. 

The watches you see in the background are from Hero Arts stamp. 

I used different distress colours to stamp it and distressed the borders as well. 

Embossing done with my beloved Cuttlebug and the lace border has been punched with my Martha Stewart border punch. 

Which one do you like more?

I will link this to Michelles's Monday Linky party at http://michelle-pinkpaperparadise.blogspot.com/

Happy crafting with loads of love,

Monica

Crochet cards with my new woolen yarn

Hello bloggers,

While I was in Singapore I bought lots of woolen yarn from Spotlight - like a typical hoarder ... and made plenty of flowers when ever I got the chance...

So here are my flowers... the paper roses too are home made from a Carla Craft punch.

The lovely papers on the first two cards are from Terry's blog candy. I have finally come to terms with using those wonderful papers now... Might as well enjoy them and not leave them for my grand-children throw away... lol!!!


The leaves and stems in the second card have been cut manually and the crochet flower centres are actually coffee beans... aren't you impressed???

The third card is partly recycled as the foil is from the kitchen shelf and all the other scraps of paper on it were lying around on my table...

I am going to enter the first card for:

the linky party at Monique's - www.naturallymecreations.blogspot.com
http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/ - ribbons and roses
http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/ - show your appreciation
http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ - punches
http://cinspirations.blogspot.com/ - no square allowed in the card (mine is a rectangle)
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/ - spring has come
http://stampingwithdragon.blogspot.com - bring on spring
http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.com - spring has sprung
http://suchins.blogspot.com - anything goes (my ever favourite challenge)


Hope you like them.

Hugs,

Monica

The versatile blogger award

Wow - Lucky me! I am delighted to receive this award from two great crafters:
 Bea at http://beadeesblog.blogspot.com/ and Fiona at http://beehivecards.blogspot.com/ 

Thanks so much for the joy - no wonder I love blog land! Full of loving, caring and sharing.

I am supposed to share 7 things about my self  in order to receive this award. I think most of you would be bored to death by now about my waffle with each and every post... But I will give it another go:

1. I have a dream to write a book ( I know I have mentioned this earlier on and not much has progressed since then... Somehow I feel that by putting it down in writing I just may move a step closer to my dream!) Lol!

2. I am one of those people who cannot be compelled to do something that I do not enjoy doing.

3. If I like something I cherish it for dear life... and if I don't I quietly walk away.

4. I have met the nicest people through blogging and it has become the most pleasant distraction of my life... so much so that I am busy blogging away when I should be getting cards ready for my charity batches.

5. When I go out to the cinema or for dinner with my family, I always carry some crafting tools in my bag - that can be off putting for others, you know but certainly not for me. Lol!

6. I have to order new craft cupboards as I am a bit fed up of the plastic drawers I use at present.

7. I cannot imagine that I started working at age 17 and gave it up at age 32 to have babies and tend to them.  Crafting helped me stay overboard and provided the most delightful stimulation for my mind. One day I hope to take my charity crafting to another level.

I'm going  pass it on to the following wonderful, wonderful bloggers who have changed my life for the better:

Sandra - http://rosepetalcreations.blogspot.com/

Shirley-Anne - http://shirley-anne-stampingforjoy.blogspot.com

Leigh - http://charitycrafter.blogspot.com/
Lynn - http://creativecraftsbylynn.blogspot.com/

Kym - http://kyms-crafty-cards.blogspot.com/
Sylvia - http://happycraftytimes5.blogspot.com/
Katrin - http://katrin-hobby.blogspot.com/
Monique - http://naturallymecreations.blogspot.com/

Aud - http://hippieaud.blogspot.com/ 

Terry -  http://terryeo.blogspot.com/

Sandy - http://angsandy.blogspot.com/
Helen - http://helenmade.blogspot.com/
Iram - http://artscraftsnhobbies.blogspot.com/

Catherine -http://catherineshandmadecards.blogspot.com/
Andrea - http://andreajbpiecesofmine.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth - http://nuttysnews.blogspot.com/
Beverley - http://isastampingoodtime.blogspot.com/
Cameo - http://blissmadedesigns.blogspot.com/
Susan - http://shogan03-timetoplay.blogspot.com/


I would be delighted if you could visit these awesome blogs and leave them some love. You will be the richer for that, I promise.


Just a small foot note - in case anyone does not wish to pick up this award for any reason, I understand ...



Hugs,

Monica

I am back

Hello everybody, 

I am back with my family to Indonesia at last. Thank you ever so much for all your kind wishes - DH is surely on the mend.

These are quick cards I made before I left for Singapore. 

The rose on the card above has been made by me from handmade paper from India in vintage gold. 

The scroll stamp is from Prima which was stamped with clay coloured stamp pad.

 I went over the squiggly designs with my metallic gold Sakura pen. 

I am getting a bit bored of the same layout I have been doing for weeks. I think I should consider taking part in challenges which will stimulate me to be more creative in my layouts.

The stamp on the card above is from an art and craft store called Hobby Ideas in India - this is a craft store which is fairly similar to Hobby Craft in the UK. I have to say that I do miss it because there is no such place like this in Jakarta. You would be amazed if I tell you that I paid a pittance for a set of such stamps in India while in Jakarta, I have to fork out crazy money for such stuff - something like five times the actual price of the stamp. Even Singapore is pretty expensive but still cheaper than Jakarta. Okay, that was enough rambling about the pricing bulletin of stamps.
I have used clay coloured stamp pad again with a Darwent water colour pencil in dark brown on top and went over it all with a metallic copper Sakura pen to make it more interesting.
The long patch of mocha you see behind the stamp is actually an earthy chalk from Plaid.
The sentiment is handwritten.

This is a variation of the second card except  card except that I have used  just the clay coloured stamping pad and I went over it with my metallic gold Sakura pen. 

The ribbon is an addition and so is the twine ribbon which I bought from Hobby Craft in the UK some ten years ago.

 By now you would have guessed that I am a compulsive hoarder.... Lol!!! I tried my best not to expose this bit of my personality to my husband but sadly I have been caught out. And that is disastrous for me, you know. Lol again!

I am trying to build up a sizeable collection to sell for Japan and send the money to Japan Redcross.


I am going to enter the first card for Monique's linky party at www.naturallymecreations.blogspot.com

Now that I am back to full swing blogging, I promise I will come and visit your wonderful blogs.

Hugs until then and do stay well,

Monica

Card for my aunt



Hiya bloggers,

We are in Singapore to see my husband who has been unwell again... Poor guy, I hope he recovers soon and is back to his feet soon.

This is a card I made for my grand aunt in Baltimore as she is recuperating from a knee replacement surgery.

It is a simple card as usual with my handmade roses - they are made with a scalloped round punch so they are a little different.

The stickers are from Ek Success - wish the picture quality was better because the stickers look really rich in real life. The silver tissue paper and ribbon are from my stash.

I hope my lovely aunt likes this card.

Hugs and smiles to all of you. Happy crafting as well,

Monica



Card for Haeli

Hiya everyone,


While I was doing my blog rounds, I read the following on  Charlene's latest post:


This week's Teapot Tuesday Destination is a sweet little 6th grade girl named Haeli who is undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.  If you have a minute, please read Haeli's story here.   



Here is my card for the very arty - crafty Haeli. I hope it brings her cheer and makes her spirits better.

Materials used:


Solid creme coloured cardstock


Stamp: Penny Black - 'Out and About' coloured by Zeenya (my design consultant) with Darwent water colour pencils. 


Distress ink : Faded jeans


Flowers : you don't need to guess - my home made ones


Sprigs : actually from a tree punch!!!


Fiskar's border weave punch 


Ribbons - turquoise and royal blue from my stash


Gems - Papermania




I am going to enter this for : 


Michelle's Monday Linky party


www.squigglefly.blogspot.com/ - spring theme


www.cutedaisymay.blogspot.com/ - pile on the flowers


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


http://www.gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com/ - use those flowers


http://sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes


http://www.southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.com/ - flowers


http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/ - spring




Hugs,


Monica

Out of scraps lying on my table

Hiya everyone,


Hope you all are having a decent weekend... 


It is 11.25 pm as I write this post... frankly I ought to be in bed like a good being but blogging beckons me. Lol!


This is a card I made with literally scraps lying around on my table. Even the three black spiral roses were made by me from paper sitting on my table.


A very simple and easy card but creating it brought me lots of joy. 


I have stuck hand torn silver tissue paper on to a rich red, metallic card stock.


The black polka dotted ribbon was on my table as well.


The spiral roses were created in minutes and their stems have been cut from kitchen foil as I could not thing of anything else to match for the stems. 


The three gems on the left came with a Prima stamp.


The sentiment is handwritten.




I am going to submit this for the following challenges:


http://sarahhurleychallenges.blogspot.com/ - flowers


http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/ - clean and simple


and am going to post this on http://www.ggcaa.com/ which is a green blog


Continue having a nice weekend... 


I think I will come and do my visits tomorrow as it is going to be midnight soon. So see you tomorrow...


Hugs,


Monica

Preparing for my next Charity card sale

Hello bloggers,

I made these cards yesterday with the same stamp... they are so different from each other, right? 

I am trying to build up a collection to have another sale but I am a bit laid back about it. 

This cards above was stamped with a Docraft square stamp using Jim Holtz  distress ranger ink in broken china.

Over the square blue layer I stamped the cherry blossom from Hero Arts which I just picked up from the book shop close by a few days ago.

I rubbed glitter all over the blue square after stamping the cherry blossom tree stamp to make it look more lively.

The shimmery flowers in blue and green are from my stash.

The strips you see on the side are scraps that were lying on my work table - collecting dust. They are pearlized handmade  papers in two colours. The cardstock is pearly white but it doesn't show in the picture. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Hero Arts, I think.

This is another variation of the same card... used Brilliance ink in pearlized beige on shimmery blue cardstock to stamp the cherry blossom tree from Hero Arts. 


The strips at the bottom are bits of ribbon and pearlized papers from scraps lying around on the table. The tiny white shimmery flowers are from my stash. Don't know whether this looks like a perfect "thank you card"... looks more like a "sympathy card" I think!


The sentiment is handwritten... I seem to be getting back my confidence to write with a pen...


Hope the daffodils are beginning to smile...




I am going to enter in the following challenges:


www.simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes


www.craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com - anything goes


www.aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com - vintage or shabby (I hope the first card is shabby!)






Hugs to a very special lot of crafters,

Monica