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

My entry for Indian Scrapper's Challenge #3

Hi! I am here with a digital layout this time. This is my entry for the Indian Scrappers Challenge #3.

The Indian Craft Room hosts a challenge every month for Indian scrappers. There is a different theme every month and the goal is to complete 12 layouts by the end of 2013. This is also the only Indian site that I know of which accepts digital layouts.

Unfortunately I missed the deadline last month. But I decided to make it this month.

This month's theme is a fantastic sketch with multiple photos.

I love working with sketches, since they give a clear direction to take. Multiple photo layouts are even more fun because its almost like telling a story! When I saw this sketch, I immediately knew which pics I wanted to use. The layout came together very quickly and I am very, very pleased with it.

I used the kit Tyke by Rachel Dickson which I had downloaded as a freebie from the site {computer}scrapbook. I have also used assorted brushes, fonts and embellishments to make the layout.



I deliberately kept the journaling simple because, honestly, the pics say it all. 



The title probably took up the maximum time as I ended up using a mix of fonts and styles.




It was great making this layout as I got back to digital after a long time. Looking forward to making more in the near future. And still trying to gather my courage to attempt a physical layout soon!

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

Strawberry bag

Hi! I decided to take a breather from paper crafting which has kept me busy for last few weeks and indulged my first love, sewing. 

My daughter's exams started recently and she needed a small backpack to carry her stuff to school. I had seen a cute strawberry bag on Pinterest a while ago.

Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly has been kind enough to give a detailed tutorial for the bag. I took inspiration from her and made my own version of Strawberry Backpack.

Body of the bag is red casement which I lined with paper canvas for stiffness.

I used a cotton dishcloth with a pretty print as lining inside. Originally I was planning to use a red and white polka dot fabric for the body. But I didn't have enough material. So I used plain red and compensated by quilting it with simple diagonal stitching lines.

For the leaves, I used two fabrics in green. I liked  Bronwyn's idea of leaving the edges raw so that they fray over time and give the bag a nice look. I also used the green print to make the drawstring and the top thru' which it will go.

My daughter was thrilled with the bag which holds all her stuff beautifully.

The best part is, this bag is completely washable in a washing machine (which is a prerequisite when you make anything for a child!).

The whole thing came together in about 3 hours. Maximum time was taken up by the quilting.

Now my brain has started thinking about other fruits that can be converted into bags!

I am now entering this bag in the Lets Create Crafts' April Craft Contest.

Love,
Nan

Easel cards

Hi! This is the second set of cards that I made for the Multi-fold Note Card Swap at Swap Central India. 

I made 4 easel cards. There is an excellent tutorial at Splitcoaststampers for easel cards. Just to add some more interest, I made two square and two circular cards.

For the first card I wanted to use a kimono folding technique that I had seen on the Crafts Beautiful website. Here is the link to the video tutorial.

Supplies used were handmade paper in pale and dark pink, pink pattern paper, half pearls and pale pink satin ribbon, all locally procured. I ran the dark pink paper thru' my Itsy Bitsy embossing folder for added texture.

Folding the kimono took couple of tries, mainly to get the size right. But I really liked the look of it. I added the pearls for a more finished look and also to keep the card propped up.

I used teabag folding for the second card.

Supplies used were green card stock and white pattern paper. I also used small squares of blue and yellow batik paper to create the fan. I ran the green paper thru' my Itsy Bitsy embossing folder and used the debossed side.

For the fan, I used the basic arrow fold and distressed the sides with red ink. A pearl and tassels from an old rakhi finished the card.

I used circles for my third card.

I just cut scalloped circles from cream and orange paper. Actually I had plans of doing some quilling at the center. But the layered circles were looking so pretty, I decided against adding any thing elaborate.



I finished the cards by adding some butterflies punched from blue batik paper and pearls.

The fourth card is probably my favorite in this lot. And judging by the comments, most people loved it.

I had the concept of a watermelon-on-a-dish card. However, it wasn't quite clear in my mind. I actually cut and layered the circles and then almost threw them away as I wasn't very happy. Finally I decided to just make it as I was running behind schedule.

I am so glad I made the card as it turned out very well. The supplies were just various papers in suitable colors.

So these are the square easel cards

and the circular easel cards

A learning experience overall and had a lot of fun too.

I will be back soon with the next set of cards.

Love,
Nan

Multi-fold note cards swap - Spring fold cards

Hi! Finally getting down to posting the cards that I made for the Multi-fold Note Card Swap at Swap Central India. Must say those gals come up with interesting challenges. Looking forward to their next now.

I had so much fun making these cards and I learned lots too! When I started working on this swap, I was determined to make each card different. I also had a strong resolve to use up stuff I already had and not buy new supplies. Though I did cheat a bit on that as I ended up buying some handmade paper for the card bases. But most of it I made from existing supplies. So I am proud of myself on that count.

Now for the challenge - make total 20 note cards each measuring 4 x 4 inches and using 5 different folds. So 4 note cards per fold.

The first fold I used was the Spring Fold. I used the tutorial at Splitcoaststampers for Spring Card.

I used teabag folding for the first card

Supplies used are handmade paper in pale and dark pink, pattern paper in pale pink and half pearls, all sourced locally.

The dark pink paper was embossed using an embossing folder from Itsy Bitsy.

I used quilling for the next card...

Supplies used, handmade paper in green, beige and cream, quilling strips in green and yellow and green gems.

I embossed the beige paper using the embossing folder from Itsy Bitsy. I used the Bigshot to cut the circles and mounted it on double sided tape for some dimension. Used the quilling strips to make a four leaf clover. Some small green gems completed the card.

For the third card, I went with a baby theme. The inspiration came from Hazeldesign, a pic I found thru' Pinterest

My take on this, using paper piecing

Supplies used, handmade paper in light and dark blue, white and pale pink, scraps of green and orange paper which I punched using an oval punch and a bit of blue ribbon.

The circles and the swirls were cut using the Bigshot. I made the eyes and hair using a black Fabrica Coneliner.

The fourth and final Spring card is my favorite. I love drinking coffee. So I decided to make a card with that theme.

The brown card stock and the cream speckled paper are from Chimanlals. I really love the speckled paper, it has such a nice look. I ran that thru' the embossing folder from Itsy Bitsy. The brown swirls on the side were my daughter's idea. And I must say they do give a nice finish to the card!

I cut a scalloped circle and made a circular window in it. To get the lacy edge, used a single hole punch on each scallop. The coffee mug is rolled piece of paper shaped by hand and distressed with red ink on both ends. 

I had to put in a bit of thought to get the smoke curls right. Finally, I die cut swirls from a piece of OHP sheet. Then I covered it with Hobby Ideas No-stitch Fabric Glue to get a translucent effect. When it was dry, I simply ran my black any surface marker over the edges and glued it in place.

So these were the four Spring Cards I made

And a close up of all four cards.

That's all for now. I'll be back later with more cards from the swap.

Love,
Nan

Double yeah!

Hey! My card made it to the top 3 at Beyond Grey's BGC#27- Fetch that Sketch!

It is also in the top 3 at Catchy Challenges, March Season IV.

First time I had the same card feature in the top 3 of two different challenges. So I guess I am double thrilled!

For more details of the card please do visit the blog post.

Love,

Nan