OLW#17 - Using borders

Its been a long two weeks...the first week went in biting my nails for the Paperworks Ultimate summer challenge!! And then, in traveling to meet my family in Mumbai, and then the voting process..checking the votes was the first and the last thing I did in my day!! Before I jump into my post, let me thank each and every friend that voted for my Team. All my friends on every networking site and all my friends in the blogging world..Thanks a ton..

It sounds like an award acceptance speech!! Last post I was canvassing and this post I'm thanking!! Though the results are not out yet..but hopefully we made it to the top 3!!

Ok, now coming to the post..this weeks One Layer Wednesday was to use border stamps...I had two stamps, but then I saw Donelda's post about using wheel stamps and I realized I had those too..9 of them! two unmounted but of no use..to cut a long story short, I use two of the wheel stamps that I'd bought ages ago from hobby ideas.
Aligning them to run straight, big problem..used my scale as a guide and still managed to ruin 2 cards! This is the 3rd attempt..

Added colors with my Sharpies, some glitter and gloss on the centers of the flowers. that's all to it.
Sentiment is from Stamping Bella which I got from Dawn! (Hi!!)

Since I love how this turned out, I made another..

I love the sheer Simplicity of this card..such a pretty wheel and such pretty colors.. added some glitter and gloss on the wings of the bee..colors with sharpies. Sentiment is from a Studio G dollar stamp.

See how pretty the gloss looks!

Blogger has been constantly ruining my photos..at least ruining the clarity of it for a past few weeks..anyone know how to fix it? The moment I put the photos into the large mode, it  blurs..I hate it especially when I take so much pains to get a sharp clear shot.  Here are the same pics on Flickr, pic 1 and pic 2. See the difference. Its the same pic, uploaded to two different places!

Well that's all the banter from me right now..been organizing my stamping stuff..since I got more stuff, don't have any place to put it..so re-organizing. Spent hours cataloging my clear stamps..so much fun..and then my wood mounted stamps..and now time to arrange the accessories (everything else other than stamps, paper and inks)..can never have too many of them..phew! need a room for all of this..

Just made a new page with a peek into my crafting supplies. In case you're interested you can find it below my header or click here..

Challenge #4 , final project...Voting begins

This will be a sticky post....

Voting begins...

I'm showcasing all the projects so far...so that you know which projects to vote for...

First project was by me (Tejal)...Sketch challenge..Here's the card..

Second project was by Smita, for the color challenge

Third was the inspiration challenge, done by Spardha 

 Final project and a very fabulous one at that..was by our team captain, Shalini 

So these are our projects....Here's the link to the voting page..and call every available friend to vote for us..Indie Stampers!!!

 VOTE HERE

Search for Team Indie Stampers and vote for each person in all the 4 categories!


28th MST midnight the voting closes~
Thanks in advance for all your love and votes!! Appreciate it more than I can say!!

My box of goodies

Please don't be jealous..I just love sharing my happiness and so am sharing my goodies that have been here..My dearest friend was kind enough to send all of these with her mom...yay!!

I love the way Frugalities packed my goodies..this was packed inside a bigger box...and yay! I finally got my heat gun..now to try and not to burn it..again!!!

I placed this order when they were having their 49% sale..so all of these is half price..can you see the little candy next to the huge jar of MS glitter. Pictures on the website are so deceptive!!

This was my first order(before the 49% sale, still these were 15% off) I'm a frugal shopper..won't buy unless its on discount..plus I love their flat rate shipping..3.99!!..can someone see their jar of perfect pearls..will be on its way to you shortly...and my oh so lovely inkpads!! there is more candy (literal candy) in this pack too..plus the beautiful penny black 12x12 sheet of blue that you can see...now for some more detailed pics...

These are my brads, embossing powders, my huge jar of Martha stewart glitter, and my 12 inkpads..

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I finally have my very own cupcake stamps, and hero arts stamps!! the top two are by inkadinkado.and the last pic..promise not to bug you more!

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Apron lace punch, corner rounder, clear embossing powder, candies!!

And quite a few of you are looking for binder rings..Manasa has found some at Venus traders in Pune..I'll try and get the phone number of the shop for you..these are what she sent me..two sizes..

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That's all. Will be back to showcase Shalini's entry to the PWCO challenge...You girl rock with all your support and love...Thanks a ton again.

PWCO challenges 2 & 3

Thank you for all the pats on the back..now for newer challenges at Paperworks and Co...by my fellow Indie Stampers...
The second challenge was done by Smita on the color challenge

And what a fabulous job she did..she was chewing her nails for this, but I am in love with her project..

Go check out her project on her blog and on the SCS gallery..and leave her lots of love...

And next up on Challenge no 3 is Spardha, her's was an inspiration challenge...she created a Layout, which she's been churning out on regular basis and which have so much flair..love them...here's a sneak peek of her LO, go to her blog to check it out...

And Thank you all for you support..wishing Shalini all the best for the last and the final challenge..it has been a phenomenal 4 days...

Flashback

Amy at Tsuruta Designs has a dare...do you dare to post the first card you ever made...if you see my first card..eeew!! I feel like hiding under my bed in shame...but then we learn, we evolve..And this card was made before I had seen what rubber stamps could do..before I had seen any blogs, before I knew blogs on stamping existed, before I knew of PTI or Stampin Up! . This is quite an ancient card for me...Made in April 2007.

Eeeks! I know...the DP was printed on my printer...and the shiny silver ribbon was a gift wrap...my water coloring skills were at their lowest! But when I see where I was and where I am, I'm glad I found lot of help and people who inspired me along the way!!

This is another one, made in the same month, April 2007. This was for a newly married couple and the vellum is recycled weddng card.. (not their card of course).
Love to see your first cards too!!

Paperworks Challenge

This is the first day of the Paperworks Co Ultimate Summer Challenge..and I had picked Day 1. It turned out to be a sketch Challenge..The restrictions proved to be tough...had to use only Paperworks stamps or Rachel Ann Miller Stamps (RAM) or the digi they provided. That and plus not to make a square or a rectangle card..
I decided to use the digi provided and my printer turned out to be my godsend..I was able to manipulate things well...
So here's the sketch, and my take on it..

And this is my card...

As always blogger is not being helpful..here's the link to a better image. The image is from Chi Chi memories! (reminds me of Govinda..eeew)

The challenge was announced at 9.30 pm, (Sunday)IST and this card was done by 11 am monday morning..Phew! This is my fastest card ever...I generally don't do well on time constraints, but this time I had to do it.. And was happy with the outcome too..and what's my card without some bling? Got some rhinestones over the heart, and the gorgeous lace, sent by Juhi (love you girl).
The banner was done with photoshop, and I used the sentiment provided by them. Just re-sized it to fit it into the banner!

Watercolor pencils, Sharpie ultrafine and Signo whilte gel pen complete the card.

This is my 2nd all digi card...my rubber stamps are grumbling..they're feeling so left out!!!
So what do you think??


Will let you all know where and when to vote!!

Say hello to the Indie Stampers! Smita, Shalini, Spardha and me!!

RAK's and a request!

I just received some fabulous mail yesterday..my first student i.e. my lil couz sister sent me a gorgeous card. Last time I had gone back home, I taught her the basics of parchment craft and she is such a natural. This time hopefully I'll get time to teach her coloring!

 

That is one gorgeous doily..just love it. Thanks girl.

 

I have to say I'm sorry for not posting this next card for so long..I received it so long back, but it got lost with the papers I'd kept aside. Yesterday when I opened the stack to take those papers out, I found this..Thanks so much Priya for this super card and for those rocking papers!!

 

 Love this quote! Thanks so much Priya. 

On another note, 4 of us..Shalini, Smita, me and Spardha are in a contest at Paperworks and Co. Blog. Our cards are going to be submitted from 15-18th. Each one will attempt one challenge. And then the voting will begin on 22nd -28th Aug. You will be able to vote for top 3 cards in each of the four challenges. And we will need your votes to win! 

I will be posting details on when and how to vote, but please stand by us as we attempt something like this with the least amount of supplies. 

Good luck all Indie Stampers!!

Thank you

This is my second post in 2 days, yeah! the mojo has kicked back in..This card had been running in my head for days, just mentally seeing which paper would be perfect. And then I picked up the stack of papers that Priya had sent me. Just perfect, that combined with my 7 Gypsies paper..super! Been inspired by Wendy Mckee a lot since the past few days..wanted to make butterflies like she does..her creations are drop dead gorgeous!! She loves butterflies more than I do!!

(I don't know what is wrong with blogger, I am unable to post a sharp image..its just blurry to me..for a better resolution, check at my flicker gallery -Thank you)

Using Jaya's 1st sketch as a base, I made this. Butterflies are handcut. The only stamping is the sentiment, its a Hero Arts stamp. The circles are from 7 gypsies paper pack, butterflies and PP is papermania, the ones givne by Priya. I loved the effect of brown distressing v/s the black distressing. I had seen Wendy distress everything in brown and wanted to try that, and I really like it. 

Ok that's all from me now. See you soon!

Cool Cat & Glue and Gloss Tip

Heya Peeps, Its been a long week. Try as hard as I may, inspiration had taken a vacation. But hopefully with this card, things would change. This cool cat is a free download from Hambo Stamps, I love their quirky sentiments, the fractured funnies and limericks..too awesome..
To celebrate the fact that we purchased a new printer (DH brought it for his legal work, but when he doesn't use it, it is MINE!!) I made this card. Love this cat..especially his grin! :D

The image was there, now I needed the sketch. Jaya came to the rescue with a bonus sketch for  her challenge blog, and I loved it. And it is summertime at Simon Says Challenge blog :D. What is better than a cool cat!!

This is her beautiful sketch, and here is my take on it.

There's not much to explain in this card..except for the white lines on the sentiment. Those are cat-scratches made by this cat while sighing in happiness (are you hearing that nasty sound of nails being scratched on the blackboard? I'm sure you are..and you are welcome) :D

Image colored with watercolor pencils, and As usual, my black sharpie and white gel pen. And those rounded corners on the image are made with Shilpi's cut -n-tuc rounded square template.

The sentiment in printed (of course) and says "Purr-fect".The fur-font was purr-fect for this card!

And what would I do without my glue and gloss..I had to gloss his shades!!

I'm so happy to see, everyone's cards are having this glue and gloss. So my tutorial wasn't entirely funny!! It did help some people. And speaking about Glue and gloss, Shalini and I discovered through trial and error, that this will smear your sketch pens, especially your Faber-Castell. So learn from our mistakes, don't make your own!!

And another experiment that I tried was using it as a tacky glue (temporary adhesive) on my unmounted rubber stamps (even the nylon ones). It works. Not so great, but enough that you can stamp the image. It will stick to CD cases, your acrylic blocks. Just apply glue and gloss to the back of your unmounted stamp, just like with the images, let it dry overnight and use it on your block. One tip, press a little hard on the stamp to stick it before you ink it up. Though I still want sheets of EZmount, till I get those, these will work better than double sided tapes! And if you want to remove this glue, scratch it off and it comes off very easily. No harm to your stamps! Try and let me know.

P.S. did you notice the little butterfly on the top, where my blog address is displayed? :D

Mini-tutorial

These tutorials are a product of extensive reading, researching and lots of time spent on making them. Please do not copy, or share on your page (for promoting your items in your shop) unless I give you permission to do so. Please ask nicely....I won't say no...but you need to ask.... You can link it on your blogs if you have used these tutorials...please share the link with me when you do use these tutorials...I would love to stop by and see what you have done! 

Ok, so mini-tutorial is a misnomer, its a micro tutorial!! Ok, not even a tutorial, its just a demo...yup! that's the right word...Its a demo of how the Hobby Ideas glue and gloss works. I've gotten quite a few emails, asking me how I use it or what is it.
Essentially its a Decoupage glue, and when dries it gives a clear glossy finish. It is in essence what the Glossy Accents, or the Judikins Diamond glaze does. This is how I start.
(click on any picture to see it full size)

 My weapons of choice, 3D glitter glue- ice shimmer (TIP - Pick up from the shimmer series in the 3D out-liners, they're gorgeous. superfine glitter, I still have to find the yellow shimmer, already got blue, pink and ice )The ones that say glitter are too chunky, will work only as out-liners)
ETA : another tip about these glitters, they will stick to any other paper that comes in contact with it. If its on the card, it will stick to the envelope, if its on an album it will stick to the previous page. Better to give it a coat of gloss so it does not stick.

Get your image colored, and if you want glitter on it, put the glitter on first.

I just apply tiny amounts and then spread it out with my fingers.

 Give it few minutes to dry and then get your glue and gloss.

 It looks like glue, but will dry clear. Apply in a thin layer but give it good coverage.

 

This is one wing covered. Make sure there are no bubbles. Take pleasure in popping the ones that do find their way in. 

 These are all covered, snow white beauties, waiting to dry. Don't do like I did for the green butterfly, its all podgy, if that's even a word. Give it a smooth coat, like the second and third butterfly.

At the end of one hour, the edges will start going from opaque to clear. ( yes, I did get a bit of bubbles on the green one) 

End of 3-4 hours. Do your best not to touch, no matter how much you itch..you'll leave your finger prints behind.

At the end of six hours All glossed up. I kept it out overnight since there was no light to take a good pic. Took this before I gave my DH his breakfast. And he was quick to compare, "butterflies over me?" and I said, always!! And then he too was a fan of the butterflies!

This doesn't show the gloss in its full glory, those who have my cards will tell  you how great it is. 

Another pic just to show the gloss.

Hope you can see the glaze. So that's it, my mini-micro-Demo. Go out there, buy yourself some glue and gloss and have fun.

P.S. Hobby Ideas is not compensating me enough for the stuff I buy off their shelves. They should. Are you listening? or Reading?

OLW#14

I almost missed doing this challenge. Not that I didn't have time, not that I didn't have ideas, not that I was busy. It was just that the rain Gods were so happy, that sun didn't show its face for 4 whole days..and it rained like crazy..plummeting the temperatures...who was I to complain!! I just snuggled under the blanket and dreamt of making cards...whereas my butt didn't go anywhere!!!

So thanks to Daisy's arrival in Susan's life(that might not entirely be the reason, but Daisy is a cute reason enough) that this weeks OLW got delayed and I finally moved my butt from under the blanket!

Before you get bored with my chit-chat (I'm in a very talkative mood today), tomorrow's post is a mini-tutorial on using the Glue and gloss. I've got many queries as to how to use it and etc, so figured might as well show you how. Stay tuned..!!

This week was to be a square outline card, this is where I fumbled. Not really grasping the meaning of outline image ( I could have just asked Susan, but for that I had to move my butt of out the blanket) so I just took a chance that what I made is what Susan asked us to make. Hopefully..

OLW 14

I uncovered a clear set of butterflies I owned, and didn't use cos they were too tiny. Too tiny to be used as main images, only as accents. So here I needed accents. And this card is trial no3. The other two are waiting for salvation...
This is a tiny 4x4 card. Notice how I left the butterfly in the PP behind! Yeah, I'm trying to show off!! :)

The next card was an afterthought, I'd won a set from Lizzy Anne designs, but this set did not motivate me. We just didn't belong together, until now. When I sat to make this card, I didn't want to color it. Its only highlighted!

Plus I made a muck out of the nest, I wanted a tree of sorts on which the nest would rest, but whatever I did I just looked like mud, so I made it into mud. There is only so much I could do to salvage this card. I just didn't want the nest to float in mid-air. Many don't care about such things, but for me it would be a weird world where the nest was floating in mid air, even on a card!!!

I have to say , I love  Lizzy Anne designs stamps, the rubber is beautiful. It stamps insanely gorgeous, and if money would grow on trees I would have all their stamps, maybe not all, but most of it. I love red rubber, any-day compared to clear acrylic, but that is a whole another post!

All I colored was the mucky ground, the bird's underbelly, and gray shadow under the bird. And highlighted its eyes..it looked blind before I did that!! So that's it from me.

And you thought I quit blabbering! Not yet, at least not before I show you one stunning RAK I received in the mail. Little miss Spardha (can't help but call her that, she's not even out of high school) sent me this gorgeous piece of work, it was hard to photograph since it was an acetate card, but I've been just staring at it since yesterday!! (Doing the happy dance!)

And if you want to see a ghost, peer closely at the acetate, you'll see my shadow!!

Welcome my friend to the blogging world!

This is just a small post to welcome Priya to the blogging world. I've known her since more than 2 yrs now,  . She loves creating and gives from the heart! That's what makes her so special. There are always  wonderful words from her on everything I make..and well her work inspires me so!  (I'm sure she's telling me to stop right now)

After bugging her for so long to start a blog, she finally has one! So please stop by her blog and welcome her to the blogging world. You will love what she creates! Here is the link to her blog, Rock, Paper, Scissors!

Here is one of her gorgeous cards! I love this one so much, its just soft subtle and beautiful.

Welcome to the blogging world Priya, hope to see tons and tons of great work from you!

Friendship Day!

I had kept this post in the draft for so many days, just dying to hit the Publish Post button! But had to be patient, lest people got a whiff of what I was up to!! Been on a card making spree just so that they reached in time for Friendship day on 1st Aug. I'm big on such things, I love giving. I've had a couple of peeps tell me, why waste money on something that will be thrown out a few days later! But its the libran (even though I'm a Libra-Scorpio cusp, I firmly believe that I am a libran :D )  in me, that refuses to give up!! And now finally found a bunch of peeps who know and appreciate the work you put into your gift, its a wonderful feeling when you know the surprise they'll have on their face!! So these goes out to you my favorite peeps! Thanks for being my friends!!

 

These are the fastest and the simplest cards I've made. Made 6 in 2 hours! They're that fast to whip up! And since everything was with measurement, things went like assembly line!! Took this sketch from CAS76 as inspiration. 

I've had this DCWV black and white paper pad sitting for a while, so thought this was the best time to     showcase colors on a black and white background and it worked perfectly!

I did get carried away with faux stitching but I guess its my in-thing for now. For a while it was inchies, then came CAS cards, then faux stitching. I don't think I'll tire out with these though, they're too much fun!! Sorry about the not so great photos, took them fast before sealing the enevelopes at night while watching Criminal minds! I don't like that show too much, wish White collar or Castle was back on, it was fun, this one is gruesome!!

A big Hug to all my other blogger friends. Thank you for stopping by my blog and letting me know that you think of me from time to time. It means a lot!! Thanks for being my friends peeps!!

A beautiful RAK

Got this beautiful card a couple of days back, and had to show it to you all...it is so gorgesous. Love the little bling on it, and the beautiful sentiment. I'd sent an indian version of Coluzzle to Shalini and she sent this back with loads of love!! I can see the template is well used!!

Love the little bling on the envelope as well! Thanks so much girl..

Will be back later to post the surprises that went out on Friday.... Happy Friendship Day to all of you!!