Saturday 5 October 2019

Hugs


Hello beautiful bloggers,

Here is another card to show you today which fits with The Flower Challenge which is to make a card with flowers as the focal point. 
My card was water coloured with Faber Castells and the sentiment was die cut. 






Happy card making,

Monica 

Thank you card

Dear sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you which was started some months ago and completed this morning. The mauve leaf was die cut from card stock after being treated with watercolours through a plastic bag. The yellowish pinkish-orange background has been done on watercolour paper with smoosh technique. For the sentiment, I have used a sentiment die cut that I picked up while we were in Australia over spring. The paper for the sentiment smooshed with Camlin brush markers from India.



I will participate in the following challenges:

https://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes
http://qkrstampede.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes

Happy card making,

Monica 

Thursday 3 October 2019

Thanks - partly recycled

Hello beautiful bloggers,

Here is my simple card to show you today. The butterflies have been die cut from water colour paper which was smooshed with Camlin brush markers from India. The sentiment has been die cut from packaging material of a cotton hand towel from Daiso ( a Japanese store).





I will participate in the following challenges:


Happy card making,

Monica 

Tuesday 1 October 2019

Fall card

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a fall card I have put together and the inspiration for it came from dear Google. I took water colour paper as well as card stock and used my Camlin brush markers from India and vegetable dyes respectively to do smoosh technique. After die cutting the leaves, I stuck on the card stock and twine was held together with two holes and knots on either side. 

The backdrop is yet another canvas I painted. Gosh, little did I know that painting a canvas is far quicker than assembling a card.


I will enter this card in the following challenges:



Happy card making to you,

Monica


Monday 30 September 2019

It is two tiny canvases this time

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is something different to show you today. Aleeza and I have been dabbling with acrylics on canvas since summer, to be honest. This is what I made with a toothbrush and multiple shades of red, orange and yellow Sakura tubes. Guess which tool I have used to paint with??? Guess, guess!!!

Well, it is a toothbrush I have used to achieve this effect and the inspiration came from Pinterest. 



The one down below has been painted by Aleeza, and she has used a stencil brush.


http://welove2create.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes/mix media 


Happy card (canvas for me) making,

Monica 

Thursday 26 September 2019

How bright could bright be!!!

Hello beautiful bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today which was actually created a few months ago. The rose has been made by me with Pentel water colours and I fussy cut it. 
The leaves have been die cut and I have used different mediums of colour. 
Some have been coloured with a brush and water colours while the others have been coloured with a plastic bag with my hand inside it using Mala paints. 
The bright pink cardstock came about as a result of acrylics and a stencil brush. It was fun! 
The DREAM sentiment in gold is actually a small strip from a Washi tape.




I will participate in the following challenges with my card:
arty divas - anything goes


Happy card making to you,

Monica 

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Leaves and leaves

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today. I took some packaging material and painted the kraft side of it with Mala paints from Ikea. Green, blue and yellow paints were used and I put my hand in a thin plastic bag and just played with it on the packaging material. This is what I achieved. I die cut a rectangular zig zag nestie and popped it up with little bits of corrugated cardboard. This clever idea came from Maxine. Thank you, dear Maxine.

The leaves were stuck over the popped up nestie. Since the packaging material was pretty high in grammage, the leaves were stable enough to stand without bending.



I will participate in the following challenges:




Happy card making,

Monica 

Friday 20 September 2019

Green is the new black

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is my very simple creation to show you today. I have used food colour to dye the card stock and then a Sizzix die was used to cut the leaves. The first picture is slightly fuzzy, so I took one more which you see down below. I have used foam dots to pop up the leaves and the sentiment is handwritten. I know I could have done a better job with the writing. Next time, I promise.



I will submit the card down below in CASE(E) this Sketch this week.



Happy card making and happy everything,

Monica 

Thursday 19 September 2019

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:



Wish you happy card making,

Monica

Monday 16 September 2019

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:

Happy cardmaking and happy everything,

Monica 

Friday 13 September 2019

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:


Happy card making,

Monica 

Thursday 12 September 2019

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

Happy card making,

Monica 

Wednesday 11 September 2019

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


Wish you peace, calm and card making,

Monica 

Friday 6 September 2019

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



Wish you much happiness making cards,

Monica

Saturday 24 August 2019

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:



Happy card making,

Monica

Thursday 1 August 2019

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:

http://welove2create.blogspot.com/ - anything mixed media goes
Enjoy your card making,

Monica 

Wednesday 31 July 2019

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



Wish you happy card making,

Monica 

Thursday 18 July 2019

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


Wish you card making full of joy and fun,

Monica 

Thursday 11 July 2019

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:



See you soon,


Monica

Friday 21 June 2019

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

See you soon,

Monica 

Thursday 20 June 2019

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:

Monica 

Wednesday 19 June 2019

A very green hello

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a very green card to show you today. The leaves were die cut using packaging material some of it so thick that I had to go over it a million times in my cuttle bug. To add to that there was lamination on the sheets so it took me even longer. I wish I was as persistent in areas where I need to be. Lol. 
I coloured the paper with water colours and an acetate sheet before die cutting it. I tried to be creative with the photo but I know there is too much empty space on the top. Too late now.



I will participate in the following challenges:

http://happylittlestampers.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with dies

Happy card making,

Monica 

Tuesday 18 June 2019

Partly recycled for a man

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is my card to show you that was made a few months ago. I have used a yoghurt lid to die cut the tools and the jagged edged paper is handmade from India and quite shiny in real life. It looks like coal, as my older one remarked. The birthday sentiment is a sticker. I quite like this simple piece of mine. 



I will enter this card in:
Happy card making,

Monica 

Friday 14 June 2019

For a 96 year old


Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a commissioned card for a 96 year old. I have used pearly cream paper as the background and the heart has been die cut using hand made crinkled matte gold paper from India. I stuck very pretty crystals on the heart and the numbers have been die cut using the same matte gold paper. Very simple but much appreciated but by the person who bought it. It could have been a better picture if I had used another backdrop.



I will participate in the following challenges:




Happy card making,

Monica

Thursday 13 June 2019

Peacock feather card

Hello dear bloggers,

I just completed an order of 21 cards in 10 days or so. First the lady ordered 15 cards and topped it up with more and more cards. This was the first time I had to make multiple cards with the same kind of design which was easy but not so creative. Anyway the good news is that I have begun to raise money for the abused women's shelter. So am feeling grateful.

This card was stamped with a peacock stamp with a pearlescent beige brilliance stamp pad. Over that I went over with my Sakura metallic green. For the centre of the feather, I used pop up fabric glitter glue and Sakura metallic pens in gold and blue. I also used glossy accents to give more interest to the feather. Finally the stamped white card was stuck on the crushed matte gold paper handmade in India. And yes, the customer was suitably impressed. She ordered two such cards and topped them with another three. 



I will enter this card in the following challenges:

http://craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com/ - masculine (I hope it qualifies)


Happy card making,

Monica 

Wednesday 12 June 2019

Sizzix wild flowers

Hello bloggers,

Here is my very bright and cheerful card done with water colours to show you today. 
It wishes you happiness, good health and plenty of laughter. 


I will enter this card in the following challenges:


Happy card making,

Monica


Monday 10 June 2019

Yellow rose of Texas

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is a simple embossed card where the roses have been coloured with distressed ink while the leaves I have used a Derwent water colour pencil. The background is a water colour paper which I coloured with water colour pencils.



Happy card making,

Monica 

Friday 7 June 2019

Leaves and more leaves

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a card made with an embossing folder and coloured with milled lavender. The die is a Kaiser craft one and I did smoosh and many other techniques to colour the paper before die cutting it. The bright blue background is a canvas that Aleeza and I painted with acrylics. It is bright as you can see.



I will enter this card in:


Happy card making,

Monica 


Thursday 6 June 2019

This is bright!

Hello bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today which has been die cut from one of my new Sizzix dies (which comes in a set) using a paper on which Aleeza made a design with her magic markers. The sentiment has been die cut with the same paper using Kaiser craft dies. The rectangular paper has been given a smoosh ombre wash. 



I will participate in the following challenges:


Happy crafting,

Monica 

Wednesday 5 June 2019

For CAS watercolours - blue

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you for CAS watercolours which is all about using blue and water colours. My background has been done with watercolours in various shades of blue and some amount of purple may have secretly crept in as well. The die is from Sizzix and I have been sitting on it for a while now. Simple card but quite effective I feel.




https://caswatercolour.blogspot.com - blue water colour background
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/ - anything goes
http://colouringinscrapland.blogspot.com/ - anything goes or water colours


Happy card making,

Monica

Monday 3 June 2019

Colourful card with magic markers and acrylic paint

Hello sweet bloggers,

Here is my card to show you today for which the credit goes to both my lovely girls. Zeenya who is 19 and in University made the purplish blue design with Hamley's magic markers. Aleeza made the design on the leaf with the same pens and I die cut the leaf with a Sizzix die. 
The green background for which you need really dark sunglasses has been painted by me with acrylic paints in yellow and green on water colour paper. On the sides of the green card, I have used magic markers to cover up for the green card. I am quite pleased with the way this card turned out.






Singapore is an amazing place, where all festivals are celebrated with much fanfare. On Wednesday, is the Muslim festival of Hari Raya and down below is a decoration of the chocolates bought for the staff in our complex. 16 families got together to contribute and I put it all together. I loved it!



I will enter my card in the following challenges:


Happy card making,

Monica 

Saturday 1 June 2019

Strawberry nice

Hello dear bloggers,

This is a card that for which I have to give credit to Aleeza. She hand drew the strawberries as a background on white paper and coloured them with pencils. When I asked her if I could use them on a card, she generously let me and even fussy cut them for me. This is what I made with them. The oval nestie has been die cut using a paper that was sent to me nine years ago by Terry. Terry doesn't blog anymore but she is one of the kindest people I know in blogland. I miss her and her lovely comments.

This card is for Less is More and CAS on Sunday but I maybe late for the former.




I will also participate in the following challenges:
https://colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com/ - always colouring and anything goes
http://qkrstampede.blogspot.com/ - always anything goes


Happy card making,

Monica


Sunday 26 May 2019

For less is More

Hello sweet bloggers,

As some of you may know, I run an initiative on meditation, wellness and all things positive. This month we celebrated three happy years and now the focus is to share this further. 
Coming back to my card, I have used used florist paper to die cut the flower. The inner flower was made many years ago and a tiny gem was put in the centre to complete it. I embossed two nesties together and stuck the flower on it.

I will enter this card in Less is More where the theme is embossing.


Beside Less is More, I will also enter this card in:

https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/ - anything goes with optional twist - monochrome


Happy card making,

Monica 

Friday 24 May 2019

Fluorescent feather

Hello dear bloggers,

Here is a card that I made for an order of 12 cards. The funds will go to support a shelter for abused women.
Yaay! I am so happy. I created the background with  fluorescent pink from Maala and the red was a Sakura acrylic tube. I did a smoosh with them and it was great fun. The sentiment was die cut from the same paper and I used a brick embossing folder. The embossed paper has been propped up on foam dots for added dimension.





Down below are rest of the cards in almost similar design.



I will enter the cards in the following challenges:

https://creationsinpink.blogspot.com/ - anything goes in pink



Happy card making,

Monica