I did it....Yay....

I was in a race against time to finish all the four sketches on "My time made easy" blog. Well, no one really pressured me to but I wanted to see if I can do it....and be satisfied with what I come up with. And this is the last of the four cards...Yay...
The sketch at the challenge was

While the sketch is not too complicated, I didn't want to do the usual stuff. I did spend a few hours thinking about it and a lot of wasted paper later, this is what I came up with....

Nice, isn't it?
Did have a little problem with the picture. Its a cloudy day here today, so had to move the card / camera around the house quite a bit and this is the best, I came up with

The paper is from the DCWV Luxury matstock. The die cuts are all from Spellbinders and the butterfly, yet again, Martha stewart punch.
I distressed the edges a bit except for the butterfly, which I left completely clean. I first tried the butterfly with sparkles and then with a bit of color around the edges but it made the card look too busy ( even to my eyes ! ). So decided to leave it clean
And now, with everything done....I can rest....Ya, right !
Submitting for the following challenge
My time made easy

A first....

Yup....this is a first for me...posting two cards in a day. But what can I say? When inspiration strikes, well, it does strike kinda hard :)
And also the fact that I want to finish all the four sketches in My time made easy blog challenge. I found about it just a couple of days ago and I really, really want to do all the sketches. It is fun, in away, when I have to compete against the time. Well, more on that some other time but here is the sketch

MTMEPPS52

And here is what I came up with

 

All the papers are from the DCWV Sweet things stack. It is a simple as that - nothing else, just putting the right colors together :)

 I wasn't sure how I would work with the sketch, it doesn't provide much room for adding embellishments but I think it worked out nice. Its clean and simple. However, I couldn't just let it go now, could I ? Since I couldn't add much on the outside, I put a simple little birdie on the inside

Cute, isn't she? And yes, she is a "SHE" :)
The other side is clean....except a small " Its' your day" note

Submitting it for the following challenge blogs

My time made easy 

And

The Colour create challenge 

 

 

Marching on......

I found this really cute sketch at "My time made easy" challenge blog and I knew that I had to try it. And of course, I had the perfect stamped image, just waiting to be tried out...
Here is the sketch

 http://mytimemadeeasy.com/blog/?attachment_id=3106

And here is my interpretation

 Aren't the little creatures just adorable?
The papers are from K& Company. I used dies from Lifestyle crafts for the flower a well as the rectangular frame to showcase the stamp.
Submitting for the following challenges
My time made easy
and
Paper crafting journey

I have another card ready to be photographed and if I can do it in time, I may just post two cards today !

Little cutie pie

I think I have fallen in love......with garden fairies and winter fairies and, well, all kinds of fairies. They are so adorable and what is so interesting is that there are a number of free images on the web available for coloring, so long you don't use them for commercial purposes. Here's my latest love

I used the sketch at My time made easy challenge blog ( http://mytimemadeeasy.com/blog/) for my card. I wanted to keep the background as close to neutral as possible, so used this lovely paper from K& Company. The vertical paper ribbon was made with the cuttlebug embossing folder where as the horizontal one was double punched using my new border punch. Love the stars on it - not too visible on this card but I plan to use it over and over and over...again :)

Isn't this little cutie pie adorable ? I found some new markers to color it with. While I have been resisting the temptation to buy copic markers ( they are sooooo expensive), I found some alcohol ink markers ( Spectrum noir) which are not so bad. It will give me a chance to better my coloring and shading skills before I move to the more expensive ones.
The butterfly is punched with my trusted Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly Punch.
Added a bit of glitter to some of the images, after all, it is a magical card :)

Submitting it to the following challenges
My time made easy Pretty Pattern Sketch (MTMEPPS51)
Flutter by Wednesday challenge 195

Celebrate

The arrival of spring......
I love spring more than any other season. The days are getting warmer ( perhaps a little too quickly, this year), the sun is up longer and everything looks greener and prettier and just, more vibrant. Time to celebrate :)
So here is my card,  welcome to the new season....

The papers are from, well, like most of my other papers, DCWV stacks. The background is from the Citrus collection matstock and the polka dotted paper is from the Fresh floral stack. The image is free and is actually a mardi gras coloring page that I found on this site

http://freebies.about.com/od/mardi-gras-freebies/tp/free-mardi-gras-coloring-pages.htm

Sometimes, the most beautiful things in life are, actually, free :)

I embossed the paper using the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder. Well, I know it is not the right season for that but doesn't it also look like exploding fireworks in the sky ? For the tag I used the nesting eyelet circle dies from Lifestyle crafts. Left the inside of the card simple....

Since the paper is very light, it should be no problem penning the sentiments right on to it. Submitting the card for the following challengesCard Positioning system

And

CR84FN Color challenge where the inspiration picture was

Fairies

[W]hen the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.  And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy.  So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.  ~James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan

There is nothing more magical, more ethereal than garden fairies. Summer evenings, lying in the backyard, watching the sun go down and the stars beginning to shine....I remember my childhood like it was yesterday, especially the lazy summer days. And I have always loved the above mentioned quote. Isn't it sooooo....cute. Reminds us to fill the lives of our children with love and laughter. Childhood comes, but only once..

And now to the card, I wanted to make it look just a bit rosy, just a bit ethereal ( there's that word again :D ) and something everyone would like, so this is what I came up with

 

The beige paper is from the DCWV Heirloom stack and I distressed the edges slightly with the walnut stain. The rosy pink paper is from the Luxury collection. The image is from a free fairy coloring page at http://fairycoloringpages.blogspot.com/. 

 I drew and cut the tree branch by hand. I wanted to leave a little something unusual in the card. So I drew a  small bird on a blue card stock and put it on the bottom. Not using the blue color anywhere else on the card, makes the little bird pop out, just a bit....

Submitting this for the following challenge blog

flutter by wednesday

The places you would go...

I made this card keeping my daughter in mind. She is going back to college soon, now that the spring break is ending. And while all children love their school, their dorm and friends, they also miss their home, their room and their families. So, we are all a little sad right now...we know she has to go, she knows she has to go, but it is hard......
Anyway, I used the sketch at Mojo Monday challenge. Here is the card

The papers are from the DCWV Tradewind stack. The stamps are from the Magnolia tilda summer collection ( two different stamps - though they go beautifully together ).

A diamond fold card

Things have been a little busy at our house but I did manage to find time to make one card, a diamond fold birthday card...However, the Sun God refused to cooperate :(
We had an overcast sky all of yesterday and today doesn't look much better. It has been drizzling since morning. As a result the photos haven't come out as good as I may have wanted but here they are

The Spellbinders Decorative Elements Nestabilities - Fleur De Lis Squares dies are definitely my favorite ones. They impart  elegance to any card I use them one.

I wish the pictures could better reflect the beauty of these colors together. Despite being so far apart on the coloring wheel, the effect of putting these colors together is, surprisingly, soothing.
Lets hope that tomorrow is a better day...err...I mean, a sunnier day. Till I learn to take pictures without adequate sunlight ( or buy myself a fancy white box for the purpose), I will have to live with the whims of the weather :)

Monochromatic obsession

I am the first to admit...I love making cards which are monochromatic or nearly so. I just find them a lot more soothing. Of course, it doesn't work too well when I am making cards for the children but, most of the time everyone loves them. They are easier 'cos you really can't go wrong in the color department but one has to vary the texture or the shapes to keep the card interesting. So here's a quickie that I made

 

I tried to keep everything in the barely green - beige color range. 

The paper is from the DCWV Luxury Collection. I punched the flowers from a cardstock and then shaped the edges by rolling and twisting them. A little glitter on the edges gives a nice touch, I think.

 

Kept the inside of the card relatively simple.

Submitting the card for the following challenge blogs

Papercrafting journey

 

The Delay

I know I haven't posted for a while. Normally, I try to post a new card at least every alternate day. However, on friday, my daughter came home for spring break and it's been a long two months since we had her home. So, I have been doing what mothers do in these situations. I have been hovering :)
And cooking her favorite food and chatting up about anything and everything...I guess if you haven't had a child go away to college, it is difficult to understand the emotions. But enough of that. I did take sometime out today ( like most college students, she is a real late riser ) and photographed the card that I made

 

The colors on the card are more vibrant than they appear in the picture. I guess something to do with proper lighting?

 

The Papers used are from the " Luxury Collection" matstock and " Once upon a time" collection. I used the following dies:

Spellbinders nestabilities Label Four

Spellbinders Parisian motif'

The banner on the bottom is hand drawn and cut

I am submitting the card for the following challenge

Birthday Sundaes

Secret Crafter challenge

My sister's B'day

My sister is a wonderful person and her birthday is coming....and soon. Well, not so soon actually, but when you have to mail your card halfway around the world, you don't want to take any chances.  So I have been thinking of making a perfect b'day card for her and the current challenge at the shabby tea room made my job sooooo much easier :)
The inspiration for this week is this beautiful picture

http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/2012/03/week-104-colorful-confections.html



I decided to make a step ladder card - haven't made one of those in a really long time. So, her is my interpretation

 

The papers are from the "Garden Party" matstock by DCWV, except for the pink flower paper which is from an old origami packet. I used a number of die cuts from the Parisian motif and the Parisian accent by Spellbinders.

For the butterfly, I used the Martha Stewart Punch.

And all that is left now is to mail it tomorrow morning :)

Ain't it tough ?

Today, I attempted to make a clean ans simple card - not my forte, really. I love making cards with lots of layers and flowers and glitter and pearls and......well, you get the point. But keeping it minimalist, that's a challenge. However, I wanted to try the CASE study challenge and there simply was no other option :)
This was the inspiration picture

Lovely, isn't it?

And here is my interpretation

It definitely looked better in my head :)
This attempt made me realize how amazingly hard it is to make a card 1) that is clean and simple and 2) that is white in color. I did waste a few papers because, somehow, a little piece of dust or mark or something, managed to show up....
Now, everything on the this card is cut by hand - surprisingly, cutting the balloons was harder than cutting and paper piecing the post ! Who would have guessed ?

Gift Box

I hate it when this happens. I just finished writing the post and uploading the pictures and then the computer started acting weird and I got irritated and well...I pushed a few buttons here and then some there and of course, deleted everything :(
So here it goes again...
Today, instead of making a card I decided to make a gift box. Reason ? Well, I sometimes make jewelry too and find it really hard to get a nice gift box. There is nothing as depressing as packing your beautiful gift in bland white box. So I went ahead and made a small gift box

The paper is from DCWV Christmas collection pack which I bought on discount after the winter holidays last year. It has some really great all-occasion papers.  For my base, I recycled ( ahem, ahem...)
my favorite cereal box. Colored the flowers and the butterfly with my son's crayons and a Q-tip. Well, they use my supplies all the time, I guess I am entitled :)

Made the inside box from a regular card stock, folded accordion style.
Its going to be really hard to part with the box unless I make a few more :)
Entering this for the Cute Card thursday contest. I believe, projects are eligible too ?

Colorblind

There is an extremely interesting challenge over at "Our Creative Corner". It's the Making Melody challenge. Taking inspiration from a song, the DTs ask us to create a card. I chose the song "Colorblind" by the group Counting Crows. It's a lovely song. If you haven't heard it, here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0s7ycdUcHk
 Last year, Leona Lewis also sang this song - equally haunting and beautiful. Anyhow, here's my card, inspired by this song

Ok, now for all the spellbinders dies I used, and oh man! did I use them all :)
 The two ribbon strips on the side are from Fleur de Lis Accents
The central pendant is from Fleur de Lis Squares
The motif on the top of the square is from the Parisian accents collection.

I embossed the background paper with the Cuttlebug A2 snowflakes folder.

Inspiration

I saw this card on a blog by Moni and immediately fell in love with it. I tried to create something similar but a bit different. However, the credit for this beautiful card goes totally and completely to Moni. You can see the original at
http://nixe-moni.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-birthday-everybody-art-challenge.html
My card is of course, a little simpler

The papers used are from DCWV "Far East Mat stack" and the "Coral CoutureMat stack"
I used Quick Kutz dies for some of the basic shapes

Hope you like the card as much as I do.

A Birthday card for a pretty girl

Sometimes, when I start a card, I have no idea how it will turn out. This card is the prime example.

I needed a card for my niece who is turning 14 later this month. I knew what it couldn't be. I couldn't have cute, babyish stamps, it couldn't have too much pink etc. etc.... No cutsey stuff...after all she is turning 14!

So I chose this beautiful paper from DCWV "Once upon a time" collection for the background and a green polka dot paper from the "Christmas Collection". And then, somehow, the card built itself from there :)
The paper on the bookmark is an old paper from an origami packet that I bought when we lived in Japan, some 13 years ago. I do tend to hold on and save things for a looooong time....

 And my proudest achievement - I built the fence myself..Didn't have the die cut :(

 

I am submitting this card for two challenges:

Flutter by Wednesday's

Stampin' for the weekend- Flowers -polka dots- die cuts ( the round green butterfly die from Spellbinders )