An Unforgettable Birthday!!!!

Statutory warning--LOADS OF PICS!! SCROLL AT YOUR OWN RISK!! 

Thank you thank you and some more thank you girlies!! I could never imagine such a smashing birthday in my life..ever!!! This is by far the bestest birthday bash that I ever got!! 
As a rule I hate surprises...But this one was one of the best I've ever got!!! So thank you all my blog buddies!! I never knew how much this virtual world and internet world has become a part of my real life!!! If I could, I would hug you guys forever...but then it would be weird and awkward..so a virtual hug it is!!!

Here are all the cards that I got for my birthday...my most treasured possessions...and the funniest part of this birthday was that my husband gifted me a diamond pendant..and yet I was more excited to get stamps than receive that pendant!! How shameless could I be??? Does anyone share my love for stamps so much??

In no particular order....here are the beauties that grace my shelf !!! I hope I haven't missed out on any cards..if I have...please forgive me...I'm way too much dazed these days!! Have been climbing forts for 4 days in a row...that's a post for another day!!

 This gorgeous creation from Hussena...Thank you for the sweetest surprise!!

 This gorgeous bouquet card literally took my breath away!! Thank you Priya!!!

 

This awesome Emboss resist card came from Asha along with a super cute card for my mother in law (we share the same birthday!!!) and a beautiful Domino book for me!!! its a tiny book!

 

This gorgeous vellum embossed flowers are from Priyadarshini...Awesome..now you made me want to have those flowers!!! one more set I need to have!!! Its a good thing my anniversary is next month!!

This super super crepe paper flower is from Shruti...Love that bling butterfly!! Thanks for the awesome card!!

 

Spardha captured all the butterflies in Delhi and put them on my card...superb misting....each butterfly has pearl mist on it..and that blinged butterfly at the corner..superb!! you made my day girl!!

 This gorgeous pixie dusted butterfly came fluttering from Ujjwal...Thanks so so much for this beautiful biggg card!!

 These trio of butterflies made their way from Karuna...Thanks a ton for these gorgeous beauties!!!

 

This little box of goodies is from Shalini...(You gotta share how you did those butterflies..are they stamped or is that a PP) and this little box opens up to house 8 mini mini cards...

 

 Each of these mini cards is a piece of art in itself...all gorgeously stamped and distressed and well, if you thought I'd use it to gift it to other people..you're wrong..I'm gonna hoard these forever!!! :)

 

Aren't they simply gorgeous? Thank you babes for making this possible...You're the master plotter in this along with Khush!! My biggest bear hug is for you both!! :) Love ya girls!

This darling card..with cake and bling and loads of senti mush is from Khush!! (so sorry for the muddle up) love the glossy accents on the butterflies and the coloring..super!!

This one comes from my friend Forum...she has just learnt quilling on her own..and she made this for me...Thank you girlie....(Khush, Hussena, Suganthi...you might remember me asking you for a flower tutorial for a friend of mine...this is her)

This gorgeous card made its way from J&;K....Thank you Snehal for the gorgeous card and the most gorgeous sling bag I've ever had...Thank you Thank you again!! :)

This butterfly beauty is from Manasa...despite her hectic schedule..she made a card for me...Thank you so much girlie...am honored...

  This gorgeous card from Sudha totally made my day!! Thank you for the beautiful papers, stickers and the card too!! Thank you so much!! 

This card from Swathi was the first to arrive...I took this pic from your blog girlie..I seem to have misplaced the card while cleaning my place!! Thank you so so much for thinking of me and starting my festivities early!!

This super super awesome card arrived just an hour ago..and was too lazy to photograph it...so took the pic from Priya Sivraj's blog...this card is even more beautiful in real life....Thank you so so much Priya!! and Thanks for the Pie lane butterfly..being a butterfly addict, I still didn't have it in my collection!

 Phew!!!! that is one lengthy post....but I did warn you....And if you've made it till here...here's the last pic of my birthday gift...for which I jumped more than I did when I got the pendant...you girls know me well... thanks again!!

 

And this book from Khush....thanks so much baby girl...will love to give it a try...now I need more tools....maybe I should give you a list...my anniversary is next month...(I'm sure you'll kill me if I make you broke)

Thank you my dear dear friends...Thank you a million times over....I'm over-whelmed and stunned at the love that you've poured out for me....I'm happily basking in the glow of those friends and the friendships that I hold near and dear to my heart....

ETA: this card is on the way..in transit..but had to show it off...it is like saving the best for the last!!!

Thank you thank you ET.....more than my card...I'm praying for you to get well soon...Sending you loads of hugs across baby!! Feel better soon!

Blingy Poinsettia

Just sharing another Card made with Pie Lane products...my favorite..glitter strips and the Pixie dust glitter and glitter balls...

Its essentially the same card I made for Crafty JC's challenge..but this one is on a larger scale..A5 size card..
I've just added a strip of Red CS along with some scalloped borders and a sentiment printed off. (I should have printed it on the same CS..the white and cream are glaringly odd)

There isn't much to explain...drop in a comment if you have any more questions...

Happy Diwali everyone!

Thank you Card

               I love learning new techniques and for that one reason alone, I took the Inspiration showcase class...Loved it so much that I've got all the techniques printed out and bound in a book...and that book is my bedside companion...love it...

There was a fun technique shown there in- Faux letterpress..(here's a beautiful video by Kristina Werner demonstrating this technique) It was such a beautiful one..And then Erin's Faux letterpress challenge on Yvonne's blog was the perfect kick in the back to make that card....so without further gabbing...here's the card...Definitely not my style...but what's the fun in life if you don't try something new???

  

Supplies - Brustro 200 gsm for card base, same for the card front, gingham ribbon from stash, 

MFT Heart Die-namics, Daisy punch, PTI - sentiment, Vintage photo distress ink, Versamagic Chalk inks, Tumbled glass distress ink, hobby ideas-ice shimmer glitter

I love the softness that versamagic chalk inks give to this card... I've used Sea breeze and Aloe Vera chalk inks to create the faux letterpress effect. And rubbed the raised (embossed area) with some ice shimmer glitter..

I die cut a heart out of some glossy paper and added Tumbled glass distress ink- first straight to paper (so that the raised areas-embossed parts are darker) and then with blending tool...
Punched flowers and added peeled paint distress ink, added a generous dose of ice shimmer glitter..topped with self adhesive pearls from Itsy Bitsy..

 I stamped the sentiment with Memento black (proof that this ink will react with water- the ink bleeds with water) and then distressed with with vintage photo and lastly gave a small spritz of water for the blotchy effect..Next time I should remember to use staz-on or Graphite black if I'm going for the wet splotchy look!!
Just added a touch of vintage photo to the card edges for finishing the look...

Since I loved this card so much, thought of sharing the step by step with you...See you soon...
I'd be happy to answer any queries if you have....

And on a gleeful note, Birthday cards have started arriving...yipeee!!!! Swathi, Sudha...thank you so much...will be posting your cards and showing them off when I come back from my vacation...Thank you so much for the thrill of anticipating lovely cards in the mail....

Pink, White Black and Butterflies!

Before I jump into explaining my long title...let me first share that my first ever easel card with the cutsie Owl was one of the Top 4 at Lily pad Cards....YAY!! Its a fabulous feeling! Thanks Miss Boo for letting me know!!!
And now to today's post...
As the title says, Its gotta be a pink, white and black card...and this is the first challenge on Gopi Patel's Create Me Pink Blog..

Since I was in the previous card mode...I whipped up a similar card using the colors of this challenge...BUT, I used the Heart wings butterfly!!! Thank you Manasa for sending this to me on loan...I love it....Thanks girlie...

The Magical Background is embossed in black and then applied Worn lipstick to the front and just a touch of Fired brick Distress inks to the edges. The Butterflies are stamped and embossed on Vellum with white embossing powder and sentiment is from Papertrey ink..heat embossed in black.
And if you can see a not-so-subtle shimmer on the butterfly hearts, its from the Sakura Diamond Dust glaze pen...

Also for CMP's First challenge, there was Pink Pick..to use one other embellishment...I've used rhinestones on the butterfly body.

 Couldn't decide between the white and black background, so showing you both!!

Also picked up a small trick from Jennifer Mcguire's inspiration Showcase class of propping the wings up...they won't ever fold down...just pop a small bit of foam adhesive under the wing...

The wings will be popped up even after mailing!! Isn't that gorgeous??
So that's it from me now..in case you want me to post details about the same blue card...let me know..I'll make a post for that too...

Blinging up Diwali

One week before Diwali...most of you must be in a cleaning, cooking frenzy...so will I...hopefully!! I'm not too keen on the cleaning or cooking part..especially if I have to do it without any help...domestic or otherwise!!

But if I had to bling up...that I can do...I've got a ton of lights up...and am blinging everything I can!!

Just a teaser of what else I've blinged up....drop by the Pie Lane Blog to see what I have in store for you this Sunday!!

Don't forget to leave your comment/any questions that you might have....
Have a great Sunday!!!

Crafty JC Challenge- Simplicity!

When I saw the theme for this month's challenge at Crafty JC, I was so happy! It was something pretty close to my heart...Simplicity.
Jaya and I both are ardent fans of Susan Rahila ... and both of us have had our styles influence a lot from her...With Susan providing an inspiration on day one I was keen to take part....and out of the blue Jaya called me and asked if I would provide an inspiration for the Challenge...I knew I couldn't say no.
I set aside all my other commitments and jumped to create not one, but two cards....Well, when the brain works, its works!!!

This image is by Jane Beljo. I'd won it a long time back and till today..I've never used it... But as I said, when the brain works....I wanted to make it snazzy as well as CAS...so picked all the glitter elements that I own...Glitter strips, Glitter balls and pixie dust glitter in gold...All Pie Lane products. The flower is popped up on dimensionals.
The sentiment is a Rub-on..a Rak saved up for 3 yrs!!The image was colored with Bic markers in pale lavender and red.
To keep the pixie dust glitter from smearing everywhere...I spray it with a fixative. and then no more glitter dust in odd places!! (The fixative is the Arfina Artist's Fixative for setting Charcoal, pencil sketches)

I wanted to show that CAS doesn't have to be one layered....It can be multi-layered and yet retain that CAS element.
I've matted the main panel on Black CS and popped it on the card with foam tape. For this, I wanted the glitter to be subtle, so use a red line of pixie dust glitter...random sprinkling of glitter balls, and a frame around the main image..with a Sakura 0.25 mm pen.. Sentiment is from Flower Fusion#1 from PTI.

 

So there you have it...my two inspirations for you for Crafty JC's Simplicity challenge. I hope you will give it a try....Thank you Jaya for asking, I'm truly honored!! Big big hugs!! (Babes, Aim for the 20th Nov please)

And for a sweet sweet beginning on this auspicious day, I would love to direct you to the newly created
Pie Lane Blog...and the new Design Team that will be working for them. And yours truly...i.e. me...is one of the DT members...The blog is in its initial stages...We'll get it running in a few days...but today was the best day to announce it....Wishing all of you a very Happy Dusshera and happy beginnings to all...

Easel Card

Hello everyone, Thanks for a wonderful response to our blog hop...I loved that so many of you stopped by to wish Shalini for her birthday...made it extra special...Thank you to everyone who stopped by!
This time around I'm trying Easel card...phew!! I have never made an easel card ever...never ever..not once in my 6 yrs of crafting!!

For my easel card...I decided to skip all the cutting and let my die-cut machine do all the work...here's the card..

I used Lily pad challenge sketch as a guide to make this card...There are 3 shades of brown on this card. The brown base, light and dark brown for the mats..and of course the glittery brown.
The glitter strips were cut free hand...the middle strip popped up on foam for dimension and for the owl to hide in. The OWL is a sticker from Itsy bitsy.
The lightest brown has been inked on the edges with Vintage photo...white gel pen for the faux stitching...Hero Arts small alphabets to create the sentiment..and pearl outliner to create the faux pearls.

The easel stands up on the sentiment strip and the two butterflies...cut using Martha Stewart punches and tied with Maraschino twine....

 Linking this to Colours Dekor - Spookes & sparkles!
So that's all about this card...do tell me what you think of it...or if you have any questions...shoot me an email!!