Addicted To Stamps & More #225...

Hi! Addicted To Stamps & More challenges are back after a lovely break for the holidays. We have some fabulous challenges lined up for 2017. I hope I will see all of you often in our gallery. The first challenge of 2017 is this beautiful photo.

Two things struck me the first time I say this lovely bloom - the bright colors and the radial arrangement of petals. I decided to go with one of my favorite techniques - teabag folding. This is a great technique for creating quick cards and using up your stash. Here is my card.

I used 16 squares cut from four different handmade papers. I used the arrow fold to create the units and glued them together to create a medallion. I embossed the circle on my black card base with a die from the Lifestyle Crafts nested circles die set. The sentiment is from the Painted Greetings set by Altenew. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger's Gold EP.

I finished the card by adhering a wooden button from my stash to the center of the medallion.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. Please link your cards here and be sure to visit the ATSM blog for additional inspiration by my super talented teamies.

Entering this card in the following challenge:

CAS(E) This Sketch #204

Love,
Nandini

The Indian Craft Room is back!

Hi! The Indian Craft Room is back! ICR was the one of the first challenge blogs that I started following and holds a very special place in my heart! The ICR challenges are back and I HAD to participate!

The first challenge is interesting with a great story board for inspiration.

I decided to take my love for quilting & sewing and adapt it to paper. I started with a bunch of rectangles sized 1" x 2". I folded them and started layering them to form the Somerset Star, a traditional folded star quilting pattern from the UK. I used this great tutorial by Janet Kan who blogs at Stitch n Sing. 

The challenge says use more than three triangles. I ended up using a lot more. Well, 40 triangles to be precise!

Rest of the card was easy. I used some dark brown cardstock. The sentiment is from the Deck The Halls Tobie set by Some Odd Girl Stamps which I won as part of blog candy by Simon Says Stamp. I heat embossed it and add two scored lines for some definition.

Here is a close up of the beautiful Somerset Star.

I am entering this in the Indian Craft Room's ICRCAUT01 challenge.

Also entering it in Beyond Grey Challenges BGC #72 - Anything Goes.

Love,
Nandini

Second card of the day...

Hi! Yesterday was one of the really rare days when I actually managed to make 2 cards. Of course I am very sleepy now! But it was fun.

My starting point was the current challenge at The Card Concept: Challenge #4 - Use a Floral theme

I used the sketch from CAS - Colours and Sketches Challenge #63.

I went for a Clean and Simple (CAS) look, which is my favourite style. I love the neon bright flower and the bold sentiment.

The sentiment was created digitally and printed out.

The flower is done using tea bag folding technique and finished with a wood button.



Also entering this card in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More: ATSM Challenge #84 - Clean and Simple

The Friday Mashup! FM149 - Spring Flowers

I hope you liked this card. I certainly did!

Love,

Nan

A birthday card...

Hi! I am back with a card which I made for a very dear friend. After a very long time, I actually made a card at one go. Normally my projects take couple of days, since I have to craft around a very active toddler.

I used the sketch from Retro Sketches #100.

The theme and colour palette is from Beyond Grey Challenges' BGC #45 - Colour Palette + Sweet tooth.

 

I decided to make a Center Step Card, the tutorial is available at Splitcoaststampers.



Supplies used are white handmade paper, yellow card stock and various scraps of pattern papers from my stash.

The cake is a digital stamp from Paperprintables and the sentiment is from Create with TLC. Both are free downloads.



I coloured the image using Faber Castell sketch pens. The stars were done with a gold glitter pen. I also used glitter pens in pink, gold, blue and orange to accentuate the sentiment.



The sentiment inside is again a freebie from Create with TLC and I continued with the banner theme inside.

I also decorated the envelope quickly, with some left over triangles.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Retro Sketches - #100
I used their lovely sketch

Beyond Grey Challenges - BGC #45 - Colour Palette + Sweet Tooth
I used the image of a cake and the all the colours in the palette.

Paper Players - PP#181 - Anne Marie's Theme Challenge
I used the image of a cake.

Love,
Nan

CAS cards swap...

Hi! This is one post I have been waiting a while to upload! In July, I participated in Swap #12 - Clean & Simple cards (CAS cards) by Swap Central India. Each participant had to make 10 CAS note cards. I was very excited as CAS has always been my style. I decided to use this as an opportunity to experiment with as many different techniques as possible.

For my first card I used stamping and crayon masking techniques.

Supplies used are handmade paper in white and purple. Here is a close up.

I used white crayon as a mask and watercolour pencils by Faber Castell to create the background. The basic tutorial for crayon masking is available at Splitcoaststampers. There is another excellent tutorial available at Stamp TV by Gina K. The stamping was done using a Micia stamp set and purple ink by Faber Castell. I used the same ink to stamp a sentiment.

For the second card, I again used stamping.

Supplies used are handmade paper in white and green. Stamping is with Micia stamp set and black Faber Castell ink pad.

Once again I used the crayon resist technique and combined it with die cutting.

My third card was the last one I used stamping on.

Supplies used are red handmade paper and cream cardstock. The red DP is from Chimanlals. 

The stamp set is Micia and I used red Faber Castell ink pad. A length of off white satin ribbon from my stash completed the card.

Since I had already done three cards with stamping, I decided to take a break and use a different technique. So I tried my hand at paper cutting. This is something I have been wanting to try for a long time.

Supplies used are cream cardstock, handmade paper in orange and golden yellow.

I traced the rose from an old Hobby Ideas stencil and cut it with my craft knife. Then I die cut the circle and layered it with a scalloped circle cut from orange paper. A length of golden yellow satin ribbon completed the card.

For the fifth card I used my old Cut 'n Tuc stencil.

Supplies used are handmade paper in pale pink and brown.

For added interest, I die cut a circle after mounting the cut medallion and stamped the sentiment inside the card.

Since I didn't have a coordinating ribbon in my stash, I cut a thin strip of the brown paper and added it at the bottom. Some pretty rhinestones in pink completed the card.

For the sixth card, I decided to go for a radical change. Normally CAS cards are associated with a white or light base. I used black and gold instead. And I used a technique with sequins that I have used extensively when I used to make gift envelopes and tags for sale.

Supplies used are cardstock in black and gold and a scrap of the red DP. I drew vertical lines on a piece of gold paper with an orange glitter pen. Then I stuck red and green sequins for a festive touch.

The red DP was punched with a border punch and placed below the gold panel. I used the Faber Castell red ink pad to stamp the sentiment. The final touch was rounding the corners.

Since I was happy with the look of sequins, I decided to use it on my seventh card as well. But this time I wanted a more subtle look.

Supplies used are handmade paper in red and antique gold. This time I alternated scored lines with red glitter pen. The sequins are almost the same shade as the paper and give a lovely look.

Some quilled flowers and punched leaves placed atop a green satin ribbon completed the card.

For my eighth card I decided to go back to my old favourite, teabag folding. I had used a similar design previously in this card.


You can find that post here.

This time round I used a more subdued palette.

Supplies used are handmade paper in cream and red. The red DP is, of course, from Chimanlals.

I used the arrow fold and six squares of paper to construct the fan. Half pearls in gold and a bit of cord completed the fan.

The sentiment was stamped with Faber Castell's red ink pad.

The idea for my ninth card came from this beautiful card by Angela Maine that I saw on Pinterest.

My take on it is this.

Supplies used are handmade paper in white and blue.

Luckily I had the same Cuttlebug die. To make the card pop a bit more, I used blue rhinestones from my stash. I drew the stems with a green gel pen. The sentiment was stamped with a green sketch pen.

The tenth and final card is my favourite. I cased another fabulous card. The original is by Brigit, who does really amazing work!

Isn't it gorgeous? You can find her blog here.

My take on it is this

Supplies used are orange handmade paper and cardstock in green and cream.

I used my Itsy Bitsy embossing folder on the orange paper. I cut away the cream paper to reveal the green paper underneath. The flowers were punched out of cream cardstock  I outlined them with an orange sketch pen for more definition. The white half pearls were the final touch.

I used a green sketch pen to ink and stamp the sentiment.

With that I come to the end of this loooong post! Here is a pic of all my cards


I had a lot of fun making these cards. It was great trying out new techniques as well as revisiting some old ones.

Hope all of you liked the cards as much as I did. Looking forward to listening from you.

Love,
Nan

Back after a break...

Hi! Back after almost two months! Can't believe how time has flown. The summer holidays are almost over and rains are just around the corner.

I conducted two Summer Camps in April & May for kids. These were probably the toughest I have done so far. Firstly because I had to manage with my son, aged one, who refused to leave me even for a minute. And secondly because we had really little kids this time round. The oldest was 6 years old; most of them were two and three year olds. But it was fun. I'll post the pics of the camp and our projects later.

In February I had participated in the Multi-fold Note Card Swap at Swap Central India. The challenge - make total 20 note cards each measuring 4 x 4 inches and using 5 different folds. So 4 note cards per fold.

I have already posted pics of Spring Fold Cards

And the Easel Cards. I made these in two shapes; circle

and square

Please do check out the relevant blog posts for more details and pics.

The third fold I used was the Double Diagonal Fold. There is an excellent tutorial at Splitcoaststampers for the Diagonal Double Pocket Card by Claudia Rosa.

The first card was probably one of the fastest I made.

Supplies used were handmade paper in red and gold and a ready made paisley motif. The gold paper and motif were in my stash. I found the red paper with the pretty gold print at my local stationary shop. I thought the papers looked so good together, there was little need of fancy embellishments. I simply die-cut a circle in gold paper and mounted it with double sided tape. The paisley motif was just glued on top.

For the second card, I decided to use teabag folding for embellishment.

I used a pale lilac handmade paper for the base and added a strip of dark purple mulberry paper for a contrast.

The tiles for teabag folding were downloaded from the Internet and printed out. I used the simple arrow fold to construct the flower out of eight tiles. A green gem in the center completed the card.

For the third card, I was again inspired by the paper I had. I had bought this paper some time back as I fell in love with the lovely, soft colours as well as the subtle silvery sheen. I thought the paper was perfect for a baby card.

Supplies used were handmade paper in white and pale lilac, printed paper with a cabbage rose design, a bit of green satin ribbon and some pearls.

I die-cut the lilac paper with a scalloped circle and punched hole with my single hole punch on each scallop. I fixed another circle in white over the lilac paper and mounted both with double sided tape.

The inspiration for the baby dress came from the blog Stamping Sweet Spot by Barbara Dykhouse. I just loved the way it turned out! The funny thing is everybody who saw the card seemed to like the hanger as much! Well, the hanger is just a u pin twisted into shape.

For the fourth and final card of this series, I again went back to teabag folding.

Supplies used were white handmade paper and eight circle tiles.

I used the zigzag fold for the flower and a green gem in the center. After I finished, I thought the card looked a bit too stark. So I added stitching lines with a green glitter pen.

So here are the four Diagonal Double Pocket Cards.

And the close-ups



Hope you liked them.

I'll be back soon with the rest of the cards.

Love,

Nan