Birthday candy winners!!

Hello...thanks for such fabulous wishes on my birthday and for entering my birthday candy!!!

The random.org has spoken....and the winners are...............

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7 23

Smita Satish

And

Nandini Karmarkar

Congratulations girls.....please email me within 48 hours to claim your prizes...(tejal2210 AT gmail DOT com)

Thank you everyone for participating....will have some more candy during new years time...

will be back soon!!  

Red and white Engagment card

 **Please do not link/share my photos or posts without prior permission from me** 

Here is a red and white only monochromatic card for a couple who got engaged on Sunday...My friend wanted to gift something it to them with some Monograms on the hearts...it had to be red and white...and it had to be ornate. The sentiments and poem are on the inside...one of my favorite poems by Kahlil Gibran..

And after I made this card...Saumya pointed out that there was no stamping on the card...eeekss!! who thought I would make a non stamping card....but its something new..and I had fun making this...made me realize that I need more punches.....do I ever not need something?

 Loved putting all the elements together....the hearts, the flourishes...the punched flowers, borders...
Embossing folders...

I do think the ribbon looks out of place...it still bugs me that this isn't perfect...but then I beat myself up over every tiny detail...and by everyone's post on my birthday hop...I seem to have put a fear of perfection into the hearts of everyone., that I will not like what you made...( I never look for flaws when things are made with love...) Girls...I'm only hard on myself...never you...please don't be sooo scared of my perfectionism...In my daily life I'm a slob....I am messy...I love clutter...and hate cleaning up....but my crafting is one place I am not a slob...

So here is the card in all its glory....I do think it looks grand on the whole...

Supplies
CS- 300 gsm watercolor paper Fabriano (now called Brustro)
Red CS - local.
Embossing folder- Daisy and Swirl (itsy bitsy) and Dots (provocraft)
Punches - MS Blossom eyelet (crafter's corner), MS Deco Shells, small flowers and swirl (jef punches)
Blings and pearls - adhesive stickers.
Dies - MFT flourish and spellbinders flourish
Alphabets - Baby face die from provocraft..itsy bitsy glitter paper

Entering it into the Crafter's Corner Challenge - Celebration with flowers
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Just add pearls

Here is the poem that I added on the inside. (I did a bit of editing..took off some lines from the original)

You were born to be together &
together you shall be for evermore.

Stand together yet not too near together
for the pillars of temple stand apart

Love one another
& let it rather be a moving sea
between the shores of your souls.

Sing & Dance & be joyous.
But let each one of you be alone.
Just as the strings of harp are alone 

Though they quiver with the same music.

Birthday Blog Candy!

What's my birthday without some blog candy!! Wait for me to update this post!!

And thank you to everyone who stops by!!

Love you all tons and tons...

ETA - So WOW!!! That was some party I had at 12 midnight!! You guys know how to blow my mind and make me faint....You guys had me sobbing by the last hop...and was so energized by hopping so much, that I couldn't sleep after that!!! You guys are the best!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you so much!! 

Thank you Khush, Somu, for this mad Party!!
Smita, Shalu, Spardha and Rachna, thanks for coming out of your semi-retirement and posting on your blog...so loved going back to your blogs after ages!!!
My mad gurls, Erum, Piyu and Shruti, miss having you around on WA!! Lets catch up soon!!
Jovi, Megha, Sonia, Meghana, Seema, Apeksha, Ujjwal ...I am humbled and honored for all the love you showered on me!! Thanks again!!

And to everyone who stopped by on my blog today...Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

(Sniff sniff) That sounds like an acceptance speech for an Award...hehe!! So who's got my trophy!!!

Now to the better part!!

I have received amazing candies in the past few days...and am not even counting my birthday goodies...
And loads of RAK's from friends all over  blogland....so I feel its my turn to return back the favor and make someone else a little  happy!!

So instead of picking up what I want to give away, I'm letting you chose what you want to win!!
I am giving out two gift vouchers of Rs. 500  to any Indian Crafting store of your choice...

So how's that sound for some crazy shopping!!

All you have to do is link up your name to the inlinkz below and I'll have my Random.husband pick out a name on 30th October!!

And do stop by and check out all the amazing cards that my blog buddies have put up for me...Do stop by and leave a word of love and appreciation for them (this is not necessary for my candy...but I would love if you would do it any ways)

For my candy, just add your name below...

Another Side Step

Hello,
I'd meant to post this card on Saturday..for World Card Making Day...but hubby is fighting a bought of viral infection and laryngitis...so never got around to it...Sat and Sun were spent in playing dumb charades with each other as he was not allowed to talk at all....it was fun...so I sacrificed a post in favor of my own Barfi!! He's much better now...
So ... when I made this side step card...one of my friends loved it and wanted me to make for her best friend's birthday...so last week I took this up...took me a while to finish it since i can't sit for long stretches...fall on your bum and it hurts you for the next 6 months...(I should really control my rambling)

She wanted a black red white combo, but cupcakes had to be there!! rest all was up to me! So I went to town with the A5 side step card...

So here's what I made for her....the bright piece of paper is the envelope I made on my MS scoreboard!

Here are my cupcakes and presents! The presents are just scraps of paper that had been hoarded...a simple ribbon and a bow transformed them into presents.. The cupcakes are from Inkadinkado...colored with watercolors, fussy cut and glittered.... the yellow cupcake has been popped up on dimensional... 

The happy birthday sentiment is from hero arts...

 

Here you can probably see the shine on the cupcakes...its Martha Stewart Fine glitter...Both the ribbons are a RAK, the pink from Priya Venkat (please get used to my hoarding..you'll still find me using stuff you gave me, 5 yrs down the line! ) blue from Jan..

 Here is the main panel...the background embossed sheet is again a RAK from Priya Venkat...the image..Penny Black..colored with watercolor pencils and fussy cut...

The swirls are MFT dies cut with itsy bitsy glitter paper...and the flowers are cut using a die from Cuttlebug (purchased from Itsy bitsy)and layered..and a little bling stones and pearls. 

The square scallop is a Couture Creations die,  after die cutting, kept the die in place and sponged the paper with Barn door distress ink. 

So that's how this card was done...any questions..feel free to ask...

I made this keeping a few challenges in mind...

Itsy Bitsy - Dimensional Challenge

Crafter's Corner - Celebrate with flowers

Stamping crazy!!

I wanted to stamp...Stamping is my first love and I wanted to do a one layer card with some crazy stamping...where to begin is the million dollar question...so I went to my favorite CAS sketch card site...Clean and Simple Stamping and picked out one sketch randomly...The FTL 208 and went to town with it..out came my stamps, my inks and one sheet of paper...no layering..nothing!! And Woah!! 35 mins of stamping later....this is what I had!! 

 That riot of colors just had my heart...and I used just one set of stamps to do the whole background...sentiment was another stamp....

 These stamps were my first ever international purchase after the hobby ideas stamps...never really got around to using them....but they were so perfect for this sketch...These are what were called flip-a-roos...you could flip the stamp over and use them too...so that's what I did!

Used the solid side of the stamp to first stamp the color...and then used the design side to ink it up with black and stamp it over the color blocks....I hope that makes sense...

Here's how the stamp is...you can essentially do this with any stamp that is trimmed around the design..(I love how the light falls through the stamp and on the paper!)

This is my final essentially one layer card...I've faked all the layers...the black lines are drawn with sharpie to mimic a mat..but all is essentially one layer, matted on a red card stock base. This is an A5 card..
I could jazzy it up later on..with some bling..but will depend whom it will go to! See ya soon with some inky posts (wink wink)

Sending this card to the Simon Says StampTember challenge.

All inks are mementos...sentiment -Papertrey ink..

A Birthday Wish

Today I bring another senti and maybe mental post…today I celebrate the birthday of my zodiac twin…well almost twin…I’m a cusp on the other end of the spectrum…yet both of us are more Libran in trait than the other dark zodiac side as I like to call it…

So this is one of my other BB Gurl…Saumya...and as I say I think God for BBM’s.  Friendships are not only for gossiping…they are the highlight of a bad day… but for me friendship is when they enrich my life… take me one step beyond where I was…and this friend and her friendship has given to me. 

As a friend, she’s always there to listen at the oddest hours…(though why she is up at odd hours is still a mystery..I guess star plus has to take the blame for that) she always has the best advice for me..which sometimes I may not like to hear..but a friend doesn’t tell you what you want to hear…its what needs to be done. 

And as a zodiac twin, I love figuring out things we have in common…and the list keeps growing everyday…every other day, I get to learn something new about her..and she about me…I admire her dedication to her goals..for an exhibit in July, I’ve witnessed her slogging from February and if the exhibition was a roaring success, I know that all her hard work has paid off… and other than constant motivation and a steady stream of “you can do it” we didn’t help with anything…and that’s why I feel more proud to know her as a person. Coz that steadfast dedication is missing in me, and I hope sooner or later it will rub off on me!
 I also love to get shocked at certain habits, traits that are so eeringly similar to mine, its downright scary..

I love the late night chats..the planning for the swap…and the tele-conference calls…those are hilarious…and more so coz all of our thoughts and ideals are so on the same page..the love for MOD donuts (Khush if you weren’t a weirdo, we could share this love too), discussing books, movies, and mostly discussing the next craft supply to buy..…(I am sure quite often my husband regretted buying me a BB) and the research we do..its awesome!!! 

So my BB girl, my Gossip gurl…love you to bits and pieces…and may our friendship survive all the ups and downs and all the gossips in between…Here’s wishing you a fabulous year ahead especially with your new venture..
and this post is to compensate for the lack of a gift or a card which I didn’t send..it takes time to plan for someone who has everything…Welcome to the new Twenties!! 

So this would be your most probable reply....

And for those who aren’t Saumya, please don’t think that this sugary post is a means to show off our friendship..it is actually, but its also to show that there are good people in the world, contrary to what facebook has been Witnessing in the past few days...you can find meaningful and friendships that expect nothing in return…I hope you find a true friend too …if you do, never let them go….

A little bit of watercoloring fun

Its a new fixation for me right now... I have this short attention span that is akin like a butterfly hopping from flower to flower....I didn't know how long my stamping phase would survive, but it did for 6 long years...its no where close to fading, but the itch has begun...to do something new..to try something different, to explore, to learn a new form of craft.....it began with parchment..the only thing that I actually took classes in...rest all are self taught...then came the phase with rubber stamping, then CAS cards, then Scrapbooks, then watercolors....and am totally loving the exploring I'm doing...

I did read about someone saying that you can't learn everything from searching on Google or YouTube...I beg to differ...if you are persistent, if you really want to learn, you will find it....and what I'm sharing today...is something I found on Pinterest...then the tutorial...then some failed experiments and then the final one!!

 

So this is my failed experiment....i call it failed...simply coz it was an experiment...There are at least 10 layers of paints on this...watercolor crayons, then watercolor paints, then pearl paints, again some poster colors and what not....I was working for the feel of paper, the paint..how it flows and works on layers...and got some pretty good conclusions!! If you are interested, will share in the next post.....

 This is my success....still got a few steps to go....but that is a secret!!! I did it with Elise's tutorial
and its super easy to follow......I can't draw a straight line...so used a butterfly die cut as a template and kept adding layers...this painting has about 1o layers of pink wash on it.....and its soo pretty!!! What do you think?

I will be doing on tutorial on my own too....a very very simple one...its still in my head....
So what have you tried today? 

My First Side Step Card

When people mean most to you, it makes things harder to make a card for them. Coz you want each element, every thing perfect and when you are perfectionist like I am, you take even longer. This is my attempt number 3 for this card....one I created and couldn't finish...so ditched that, then tried again...left it as a trial, and then finally this one!!

It doesn't help that the birthday girl kept asking me every day for her birthday card...that's how she is!! So I had to make, and it had to be perfect...Following stuff is way too mushy...(please don't think I'm perverted)


So for the sweetest friend that I ever met online...doesn't really feel that I've never met you...Thank God for Blackberry...and thank God for that one phone call at 1 am on your birthday... my life is truly blessed and changed for the better.

Being around you is so much fun....When I'm down, you cheer me up, and you've taught me to stand up and speak up for myself....something that I was too scared to do....
You've made me a tad rebellious and I'm loving it... You boisterous and hearty laugh make me smile no matter how deep in S&*t I am!
I love the crazy planning we do on the BB for our swaps...the ideas, the solutions to the problems that crop up...there is no big a problem that we 3 can't solve!



Having a friend like you has made me realize what friends should be like... You're my yardstick for measuring what my future friends are going to be like!!
So having said all that mush, I do realize that a friend who can teach you to be a better person, enrich your life and make you a little bit rebellious..is worth keeping...unless you piss me off...that will be an entire different story lady!!
So to quote a very cute Quote, "The world couldn't handle two of us as sisters, So We became Friends" A very happy One month Belated birthday Khushboo!!

 There's more mush on the card... a side step card from an A4 paper...
Products listed at the end of the post....

 A bit of sparkle never hurt anyone...especially not on cupcakes!

If there are questions about this card, do write in, I'll get back to you...( please enable the email on your blogger profile so I can reply back..)

Products used

Black CS- Creativita Store, Red CS - Fabriano,

Green PP - Kaisercraft - Lulupu.com

Stamps - Cupcakes - Papertrey ink, sentiment - Hero arts, Gifts - STampin up

Inks - Memento, Pearlescent Brillance inks, distress inks

Magnolia image -RAK 

Dies - Label 8, Cuttlebug Asteriks and flower die, MFT flourish die

 Bling- local rhinestones, Glossy accents, Sakura stardust and Rock Candy distress stickles.

BookMark Swap

Two posts in two days!! *faint*

But since I've been dying to share the pics of these bookmarks...all's fair...wake up those who fainted like I did!

I had a fabulous time planning and making these bookmarks!

Without further blah blah, here the book marks.

I just loved how I tried new things....will get to each in the next pics!!

 

With so much discussion on the Melhuan books on the Facebook Reading Group, it was but apt that I use this as the backdrop for this hook bookmark...

 The hook and the butterfly are from Artystree's store on Facebook, butterfly bead from Pie lane..and other beads are from my own stash.

 This is a paper bookmark...The are at least 6 layers of papers on this...which is quite quite unlike me.
The background pp is from Priya (from a swap) the light blue PP is from Priya Venkat, vintage paper my stash, the blue journaling tag from Imaginisce, the smile is a sticker from hobby idea. Washi tape (black polka dot) from Rachan's store. phew!!

I did not opt to put pearls on the butterfly, coz as a bookmark it is supposed to be flat.  you add pearls or beads and you end up spoiling your book..

This is one thing I saw that many crafter's did not keep in mind while making the book marks. While trying to make it pretty, they made the bookmarks impractical to use. Just keep that little pointer in mind...

 My most cute one of the lot!! Wanted something whimsical along with the cuteness factor!! The tutorial for which can be found here .

This cute little bug is a magnetic bookmark...I completely forgot to open it up and take a pic....there is magnet on both the halves inside..so the bookmark doesn't shift even if you shake the book like crazy ( I tried to..!!)
 the words are a sentiment that I saw on Papertrey ink's set. And it has been made with a Dymo label maker..The bug is a internet freebie..(hopefully) and I kinda went crazy with rock candy stickles and glossy accents. 
A little pie lane glitter strip at the end..

This is what I loved making...having discovered a vintage notebook at my mumbai house, this was awesome to make. (could you belive it, I tried to sell the book to a raddiwala, and he refused to take it..) and I  had paid 20 bucks for it!!

So in short, this was a bargain find. Petals are hand cut..(yes..no dies) distress, water colored, gold spritzed with Lindy Stamp Gang spray, and edges with a  hint of Pie lane glitter... Ribbon is from Jovita's store.

Click the pic to big it..and see the gold shimmer..and why I love LSG sprays!

 The butterfly I die cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug set..the dangling charm..all my stash...
The brad in the flower is from Basic Grey Curio collection, which is flooding the indian market.

Phew!! Thanks for staying with me through this pic heavy post...but the beauty of these is in the pics...

Will share my received bookmarks when it goes live on Swap Central .

Hey there

First of all, a BIG BIG BIG BEAR HUG to all of you....those who read, those who stalk....I am overwhelmed with the support and love regarding my previous post....and hopefully I don't wish to keep that a regular feature...am a cry baby, but lets leave that off the blog!

Thank you to every one who left comments, those who emailed me...thank you for your support and reading the comments, it was clear...everyone needed a place to vent. Every one is frustrated with the way things are...Hopefully there is a way out of this messy situation.

I am beginning work on another scrapbook...so will again disappear from the blog world...I convince myself I will not take another custom work, but every time someone asks me, I can't say no.

The thrill of making something new...designing each page, searching for the perfect embellishments, making sure I do not repeat anything from my previous work (unless asked for) the thrill is amazing. And trying to add those interactive elements, its just a new high!!

On another note, have you joined the Swap at Swap Central...the theme is amazing...creating your own Pattern paper....
Here is something from my experiments...

To know how I did this...hop on over to Swap Central Blog

See you soon with a card that I am absolutely dying to share....hope it reaches fast...my patience is waning!! :)