A Happy Card...

Hi! I am here today with a card that I made inspired by some happy news. Kylie Purtell, the owner of Happy Little Stampers and Addicted To Stamps And More challenge recently shared the happy news that she is soon going to be a grandmother. She is hosting a fun little challenge in honour of this wonderful news. Of course I had to participate! So here is my card

I had a piece of watercolor paper that I had colored with pink and orange paints. I stamped the Garden Flourish background stamp by My Favorite Things with Versamark and heat embossed with clear EP for a tone on tone effect. I cut some flowers and leaves out of the gorgeous Stitched Flowers dies again by My Favorite Things and arranged them on the panel. The sentiment is die cut with the Alpha Bubbles set by Sizzix which I won as a freebie from Itsy Bitsy. Here is a closer look at the panel.

My initial plan was to add some sequins as a finishing touch. But the card was looking so bold and beautiful I changed my mind. 

I hope you like my card as much as I do. And I wish Kylie and her family loads of happiness.

I am entering this card in the following challenges.

I Am Going To Be  Nana Competion:

STAMPlorations May CAS Challenge:

HLS May Anything Goes With Dies Challenge:

Dies R Us Challenges #72 - Flowers

Little Red Wagon #392 - Time to Celebrate

Stampavie & More Challenge #286 - Pink

Love,
Nandini

Make My Monday Challenge #31...

Hi! There is a new challenge up on the Make My Monday Challenge blog and the theme is No Pattern Paper. This is a rather easy theme for me as I rarely use pattern paper in my cards. I do like to hoard it though!

I decided to make a baby card for a friend who has recently been blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. I wanted to stay away from the cutsie cards and include the colors blue and pink. This is what I came up with.

I started with two pieces of plain white card stock. I smooshed three shades of pink on one and three shades of blue on the other. I splattered some water and dabbed it away with a paper towel for more texture. I also added some splatters with diluted metallic silver acrylic paint. After drying the pieces, I used the Stitched Star dies by Gina Marie designs to die cut both pieces. I ended up with two stars. 

Here is a close up of the star.

I took the Texture Mesh stencil by Memory Box and placed it on top of a panel of white card stock. I applied Hickory Smoke distress ink to get some pattern in the background. I mounted the star on two more die cuts to get a little dimension and glued it to the stenciled panel. 

The sentiment was cut with the Scripty Congrats die by Lawn Fawn from some silver glitter paper. I again glued three die cuts for some dimension and then added it over the star. I trimmed my panel a bit and added a strip of the same glitter paper to the left of the card base.

At this point I felt that the card needed a little more. So I used the tiny stars from the Let's Part stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I stamped them with some silver pigment ink.

I finished the card by mounted the panel on the card base with double sided tape.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Be sure to visit the Make My Monday Challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration that my awesome teamies have created for you. Looking forward to seeing your creations in our challenge gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Mudra Craft Stamps Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

Memory Box Challenge #16 - Stencils

Lawnscapping Challenge #138: Geometric

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #192

Love,
Nandini

Background Techniques...

Hi! This was my final post as DT for the Create Something Catchy blog. I never got around to posting it. The challenge was to create our own backgrounds.

I made two cards demonstrating two different techniques.

I love the white on white look. I die cut several pieces of white cardstock with the Spellbinder Medallion 4 and then arranged them on a card base cut from the same white cardstock. Once I had glued the die cuts, the card front looked deeply embossed. The sentiment is my own design which I got my local stationery guy to make up into a stamp. I heat embossed it in gold EP on a scrap of red paper. I also used the gold EP on a couple of white half pearls and adhered them to the sentiment strip to look like studs.

For the second card, I went back to my trusty acrylic paints.

I first took a piece of handmade paper and smooshed it with different shades of pink, orange and yellow. Once it was fairly dry, I used white acrylic paint and different sponge daubers to make circles. 

I trimmed it to size, rounded the corners and mounted on a bright pink handmade paper card base. The sentiment is die cut from gold foil board and mounted over a piece of vellum. Some gold sequins in different sizes finished this card.

I hope you liked these two different techniques for creating your own backgrounds.

Love,
Nandini

A Special Card...

Hi! I am back today with a card for my cousin who recently completed her PhD. I am so proud of her and happy that she achieved her dream despite many, many challenges. Here is the card I created for her.

I started with pale green handmade paper which I embossed with the WRMK Next Level Embossing Folder - Woven. I am totally in love these folders as they add such fabulous texture to any card. The cream circle die cut is from my stash and I mounted it with some foam tape. For the roses, I simply rubbed the tips of Memento Dew Drops ink pads in pink and orange on some white card stock. I then used the LJD Scribbled Roses Overlay by My Favorite Things to die cut the card stock and some gold foil paper. After popping back all the die cuts into the card stock, I laid the gold outline over and glued it down. Here is a closer look at the flowers.

The sentiment is die cut using the Sizzix Phrase: Congrats #2 from some glittery gold paper and slightly offset over some black card stock. The leaves are cut using another Sizzix die - Flower & Leaf #5, from scarps of green handmade paper.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #80 - Flowers

Southern Girls Challenge - Anything Goes

Creative Card Crew #109 - CAS (Clean And Simple)

Simon Says: Anything Goes

Creative Friday #150 - Celebrate

Love,
Nandini

New Technique...

Hi! I am back with a card which I made as part of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. Though I have been painting almost everyday, I have managed to do very few complete cards. This is one of them.

I used some red handmade paper as the card base and stamped some butterflies with Versamark ink. Then I heat embossed with black EP. I used some household bleach to 'paint' the flowers with a regular paint brush. The sentiment is from Bo Bunny and stamped on a piece of cream paper.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

30 Day Coloring Challenge:

Addicted to CAS Challenge #65 - Butterfly

Creatalicious Challenges #75 - Butterflies

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,
Nan

PS: Also entering my card into The Card Concept #37 - Butterfly Effect

I would describe my style as Clean & Graphic. I was very inspired by the collage of butterflies and the embossed outlines.

A quick card...

Hi! I have been experimenting with different background techniques lately. I find it very convenient to make several and keep. I needed a card for my daughter's coach who graduated recently. With the background ready, assembling the card was a snap.

I used water colour paper and Camlin photo inks to create the background. The super talented Tejal Mehta of Creative Expressions was the one who introduced me to these inks and they are just fantastic!

I added some splatters of gold acrylic paint. The sentiment was die cut twice. Once in glittery gold and then in plain cream.

Hope you like this card as much as I do.

Entering this card in the Freshly Made Sketches #170.

Love,
Nan

A quick card...

Hi! I am back after a very long break, with a quick card.

Entering this in the Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge SOS #175: Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'. The challenge is to use something round. I have used the Lea'bilities Round Lace Frame die and Sizzlits Phrase die. I covered both with red glitter embossing powder from Wow & also added a little gold powder to the round frame. The technique is from Jennifer Mcguire's video tutorial on making faux metal embellishments. 

Here is a closer look at the card.

Also entering this in the Virginia's View Challenge #9.

I have used gold embossing powder. Also the cream handmade paper has gold misting which is not very visible in the photo.

Hope you liked this little card.

Love,
Nan

Congrats card...

Hi! I am back today with a card that I made for a friend's daughter who is going away for higher studies.

This card gave me a chance to play around with some new techniques and also stretch my creative energies in finding alternatives to expensive craft products.

The base is white handmade paper. I created the coloured panel by using a stencil from Itsy Bitsy and some texture paste. Only I made the texture paste from scratch by mixing together some talcum powder, Fevicol, white acrylic paint and water. Very easy and much cheaper than anything available in the market! I coloured it using pigment inks.

The sentiment is a Sizzix die, which I cut four times and layered. I used the Faux Metal technique demonstrated by the very, very talented Jennifer Mcguire. You can check it out here. I loved the way she combined gold and silver embossing powders in the video. Since I have only gold powder in my stash, I decided to experiment with the stuff I already have. Some time back Jennifer had done a video in which she created her own glitter embossing powder by mixing some fine glitter and clear embossing powder. So I tried it with some copper and silver powders that I had on hand. And it worked beautifully!

I also decorated the inside of the card.

Entering this in the following challenges:

CAS(E) this Sketch #86

I used the sketch. Only I turned it around a bit.

The Card Concept Challenge #15 - Colour Challenge

I used the colour palette and was also inspired by the lacy votives. I guess my style would be Clean and Layered.

So that is all for now. I made two more cards using my 'texture paste' which I will post later.

Looking forward to hearing what you think of my DIY efforts!

Love,

Nan

P.S. Also posting in the following challenges:
Less is More Week 182 - Anything Goes
The card is definitely CAS - my usual style!

Addicted to CAS Challenge #43 - Celebrate

My entry for Freshly Made Sketches #94

Hi! Super quick post today.

My entry for Freshly Made Sketches #94.

I liked the idea of the sentiment on a slant. And the slant led me think of a steep hill. So this is my take on it

Supplies used are handmade paper in white and green, scraps of black and yellow card stock.



I created the sky and the sun with Faber Castell watercolour pencils. After the paper was dry, I sponged white acrylic paint with a circular sponge dauber to make the clouds.



I mounted the green handmade paper and the car on foam pads. Two black buttons became the wheels of the car. The sentiment was handwritten with a white gel pen.

The funny thing is, while I was making the card, my nephew called up to say that he had got admitted to the college of his choice. So now this card is going to him!

Love,
Nan

Fab Friday 19

Hi! I am back with a quick card I made for the Fab Friday 19 challenge. This was the  sketch given for this week

I really loved this sketch. It is so clean and simple. Yet the possibilities are endless! However, the card just wouldn't come together in my mind. I kept thinking and thinking and thinking. But no luck. Then yesterday I needed a quick 'Congrats' card for a friend and this sketch came to my mind. After that everything just fell into place (don't you love it when that happens!)

So here is my take on the sketch

I used a light cream card stock and a small piece of bright pink handmade paper. The handmade paper was embossed with an embossing folder from Itsy Bitsy. The focal point of the card is the flower made with tea bag folding. I used the Dahlia fold with eight scalloped circles cut with my Bigshot from a pretty pink pattern paper sourced locally. Since the paper was one sided, I painted the other side with Chrome Yellow acrylic paint from Hobby Ideas. Leaves were hand cut from scrap pieces of green card stock. A large gem in dark pink finished the flower.




The sentiment is from a stamp set by Micia. I coloured the stamp with a dark pink sketch-pen. Then I layered the PP, yellow handmade paper and the cream card stock to form a long strip.




Then it was only a matter of laying out and pasting the elements to match the sketch.

A quick and simple card, which my friend loved!

Hope you liked it too.

Love,
Nan

Baby Card

Hi! Back again with another challenge entry. The challenges at Beyond Grey and Catchy Challenges really got my creative juices flowing!

So here is another entry for Beyond Grey's BGC #27 - Fetch That Sketch

and Catchy Challenges, March Season IV

This time round I decided to make a quilted card, out of all the scraps of paper that I cannot bear to throw away.

The card size is 6 x 6 inches. I have used dark coffee brown card stock as the base. Other papers are a mix of handmade and pattern papers.

After I finished the card top with zigzag stitching, it reminded me of a small baby blanket. So I decided to make it into a baby card. Hence the baby feet on the tag.

Originally, I had planned to stamp a sentiment welcoming the new baby. But I feel the cute little feet say it all.

Now I am thinking of making similar cards in other color combinations.

Love,
Nan

Teabag Folding

Hi! I have become quite obsessed with teabag folding recently. Initially I was reluctant to try my hand at it. All those little pieces of paper seemed too intimidating! But now I find it very interesting.

When I saw the sketch challenge by Beyond Grey, I was very excited.

 I decided to combine it with the colour challenge by Catchy Challenges.

So here is my entry for BGC #27 - Fetch That Sketch by Beyond Grey Challenges and Catchy Challenges, March Season IV - Make a Congratulations Card in Blue and Brown.

The card size is 5 x 6 inches. I have used handmade paper in dark blue and white, both sourced locally. The pattern paper is from Itsy Bitsy.

I embossed the dark blue paper with the embossing folder Leaves, from Itsy Bitsy. I sketched the stem on the white paper and cut it with a craft knife and also rounded the corners with a corner rounder.

After layering the papers, I added the flower which was made using 8 circles cut from double sided paper. The fold I used is the classic Dahlia fold. Some small pearls made up the flower center (my daughter's recommendation). 

One of the things I like about teabag folding is how 3 dimensional the end result is.

Finally, the sentiment was hand written by my husband with a brown sketch pen. I refused to use my own handwriting; it is quite terrible.

I think this was one of the quickest cards I made in a long time. And I am quite happy with the end result.

Love,
Nan

P.S.   Also entering the following challenges:

Inspired By...#67
Crafty Boots Challenge

A stroke of inspiration & a quick card...

Hi! Have you ever been really stuck for inspiration? Or worse still, got a concept in your mind but it is just not gelling completely.

That was exactly what happened to me when I read the September challenge at the Indian Craft Room. The challenge was interesting...



I like making cards using card sketches. But somehow the card wouldn't come together in my mind. Every time I decided to sit down to work I blanked out. I was sure that I wanted to make a card with robot theme. But that was all.

Then yesterday, late at night, I got this brainwave and every thing just clicked! I started making the card after the kids & hubby were asleep and finished in record time. Went off to sleep tired, but feeling oddly light and happy.

The card is meant for my niece, who recently participated in the International Robocon 2012 held in Hong Kong this year. Their team won this year beating strong competition from several other countries. The achievement is all the more remarkable, as she had a very, very bad accident last year. So bad that for a while we were not sure whether she would ever be able to walk. She ended up spending a large part of the year in the hospital and undergoing physiotherapy. Despite all these obstacles, she has triumphed and I am very, very, very proud of her!

So this card is going out to her and also her team, who have really made India proud!

I have used the first sketch. The card base is a lovely white hand made paper. The bands of orange, white and blue represent the Indian tri-colour and are cut out of scraps of handmade paper. The dancing robot, of course, alludes to the Robocon competition and is hand cut and paper pieced out of silver corrugated paper. The arms and legs are paper clips that I cut and bent to shape and are the metal component of the card. Google eyes and a smile out of a red scrap of paper finish the robot.

The sentiment is from the Happy Days stamp set by Micia  that I bought recently from Lulupu. I used a dark blue Faber-Castell sketchpen to ink and stamp the sentiment.

I am entering this card in the ICRC21 card challenge of the Indian Craft Room.

Love,
Nan