Blossom

The cherry blossom season came too early this year. Still, it is my favorite part of the year - watching the little buds sprout on the tree and then bloom in to these beautiful, wondrous flowers, it puts me in a great mood every day. So I have been spending a lot more time outdoors, so a little less time for creativity :(
For my card today, I chose this beautiful image " Lacie with ice-cream" from Mo-manning. Isn't she adorable.

It is the most fun part of childhood, isn't it ? having ice-creams and as much as one wants to.  And now I have ti watch my calories and the fat-free version and the saturated fat vs. the unsaturated and....blah blah blah. Oh to be young again .....
Back to the card....
I used the color scheme in the CR84FN color challenge, which was

And the card that I came up with is

 

The cherry blossoms are cut from a Japanese rice paper and then a bit of shading with chalk pastels does the trick. Since I do not have a die cut for the branch I drew it on a heavy watercolor paper and cut by hand. Not too bad....

Submitting for the following challenges

CR84FN Color Challenge

and

Cute card Thursday where the challenge was to use spring flowers

Spring break

The public schools in our state are having a spring break....which is wonderful because the weather is perfect - sunny with a bit of chill in the air and the kids are having a blast. It is, of course, not so great for my creative side. A bit difficult to sit inside, conjuring up images of a perfect card when I can hear the kids running around the house :)
But, the brave soul I am, I did manage to come up with this card which I rather like.

This is an easel card, which I love making - very little extra effort and the receiver is usually impressed with it :) The papers are from K&Company. For the ribbon - type embellishment ( I don't know how else to describe it ), I used the pendant in Spellbinders Fluer de lis Accents and cut each in to half, covered it with a strip of paper and viola......

The image is Penny Black - Baby Hammock. I colored it using my vast collection pencils - some prismacolor, some water color and some plain overflow from my children's desk drawers !! Also used chalk pastels for shading and distressing.
Submitting for the following challenges
Tuesday morning sketches
where the sketch is

and

Anything Goes Challenge

For my daughter

We visited our daughter at her college this past weekend and along with all the goodies and home made food, I also took this little card.  I think she liked it the most....

 

Doesn't she look amazing ? I converted one of her pictures to black & white and cropped it a bit before putting it on this lovely paper from K & Company. All the flowers are hand made, the biggest one is my first try and I love it. Its made using instructions at the Fiskar's website at

http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Other-Projects/DIY-Dimensional-Paper-Flowers 

Of course, I did not have the corner punch as required, so I had to improvise :) Still, love the effect....

The inside of the card has a beautiful quote about daughters which I read somewhere on the internet. I know the author is anonymous but I have completely forgotten where I saw it. So if anyone knows, please e-mail me, so I can give credit.

I finished making this card on the morning that we were leaving and so forgot to take pictures with my trusted camera. So, had to depend on the cell phone camera. While the pictures are good, it's impossible to focus on one particular feature. Still, Thank God ( or Steve Jobs ) for cell phone cameras.....

And now this card is proudly on display on my daughter's desk :)

Submitting it for the following challenges

The pink elephant - flowers 

and

Truly madly crafty challenges - handmade flowers 

and

Flutter by Wednesdays' - open 

There is nothing better than a cup of tea....

I truly believe that no matter what, a cup of tea with family or friend, can make anything and any situation better. For the coffee drinkers, a cup of coffee does the same trick but since I am more of a tea drinker.....
I made this card for my sis-in-law who is a bit under the weather these days. Hope she feels better soon.

Isn't this little teapot just the best ever ? And it wasn't too difficult to make either. I kept it simple 'cos i know that is how she will like it. The paper is from the heirloom stack by DCWV. This paper is quite thin, just like an ordinary printing paper, which is great for making cards that need to posted - saves on the mailing cost. The flowers are cut using spellbinder dies and then I twirled and twisted each layer and then misted it with water. Gives a more natural appearance

I also highlighted the pink flower using my markers just before spritzing it with water and thus the different shades in the flower.
Some of my friends have asked me why I do not use stamped sentiments. Well, I have nothing against them - they make the cards look so beautiful. I just like to add a personal touch by writing the sentiments out. Little idiosyncrasies, I guess :)

Submitting the card for the following challenges
CR84FN color challenge
where the inspiration picture was

And
fussy and fancy Friday challenge
where the challenge was
Anything but Square / Rectangle


And there is definitely, no square or rectangle in this card :)

In a mojo deficient land.....

 For the past few days, I have been wandering mojo-less....really.
Started a couple of cards, didn't like how they turned out and have left them mid-way. It is really frustrating...it doesn't happen too often but when it does, oh man....it just is so maddening.
Anyway, this is the best of the lot. I wanted to try the negative space left when I use my dies. The shapes left on the paper are too beautiful to be wasted.

 The middle negative space is from the Spellbinders. The papers are from DCWV luxury matstack. I distresed all the elements with chalk pastels and I have a sneaky suspicion that this is whee things started going off the plan. Hmmmm......may be.

 
One of these days I am going to do this card again. Different colors and may be a little less embellishments. In my mind, I know the card will be beautiful. Now, I just have to make it :)