As Proud as a Peacock

Deepti's Catchy Challenges is having a wonderful theme this time... it's all about making a patriotic card to coincide with Republic Day. As I thought about what to make for this challenge, I thought I would go with one of the emblems of India like the lotus, or tiger and finally decided on the peacock.  

I cut out the peacock design using my cameo on a piece of white card and then laid it over the midnight blue paper as shown. So if you look closely its not the blue stuck on the white, its the white stuck on the blue. Then I added the green swirls and orange flowers to complete the tricolor. The sentiment was once again etched on my cameo using a pen holder. I added a few midnight blue rhinestones on the feathers of the bird and completed the card with a pearl border. 

All in all I'm pretty happy with the result. And I'm glad I managed to enter this challenge. I wasn't part of any flag hoisting, patriotic parade or other celebration associated with this day but while making the card, I found myself recalling aspects of the freedom struggle and realizing that no matter what goes on in our country, I'm still so very proud to be Indian - as proud as a peacock in fact!

UPDATE: Hurray made it to top 3 for Catchy Challenges for this card!!!

A Box for Khushi

Now here's another project with a cute story. This past Saturday, my building played host to a Republic Day Carnival. Residents were invited to put up stalls to sell food/ products or anything they chose. I had such a stash of cards and crafts that I decided to put up a handmade cards stall. 

I was interested to find that my market consisted largely of young girls, ranging from age 5 to 14. The younger ones brought their mama's to buy them something while the older ones dug into their pockets for money for their purchases. One little 5 year old called Saanvi came by and got her mom to buy her a card which came with a decorated box. She was delighted with her purchase and ran off to show her friends. 

One of Saanvi's friends was little Khushi. Khushi brought her mom by and carefully scanned all the items on offer. Sadly she turned to her mother and said, 'All the boxes are over, Mama. I  want a box like Saanvi" . Her mom replied, "It's alright Khushi, why don't you take this pretty card, it has a box envelope. That's just like a box." Khushi reluctantly accepted the compromise and took the alternative. 

A few moments later, Khushi and mom returned. Khushi had tears in her eyes and was clinging to her mother's hands. Her mother told me, "Sunehra, Khushi really really wants a box, she's so sad she's crying. Would it be possible for you to make a box especially for her?"

I looked at sad little Khushi, all teary-eyed and said, 'Of course Khushi, don't be sad. I'll get you your box on Monday'. Khushi immediately ran off to tell her friends.

So this is the box for Khushi. All pinky, frilly and girly - not exactly my taste but clearly what the little ones want. As I created this box, crafting till the crack of dawn, I was struck by how early the stress of 'Keeping up with the Joneses' begins.

Have a great week folks!

Linking to: Whoopsidaisy Challenges - For a Child

Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the Sand is this lovely poem/ lyric/ story that I saw somewhere, sometime on someone's wall - don't remember the where, the when or the who but I deeply remember the what. Thanks to the power of the Internet and Google, I could find it again and my card is based on this wonderful story.I have used the picture inspiration from Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger and created this CAS card for CASual Fridays.

To add some perspective, here is the story...

One night I had a dream...

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and

Across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;

One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of my life flashed before us,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that many times along the path of my life,

There was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest 

and saddest times in my life

This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,

You would walk with me all the way;

But I have noticed that during the 

most troublesome times in my life,

There is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why in times when I

needed you the most, you should leave me.

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious

child. I love you, and I would never,

never leave you during your times of

trial and suffering.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you.

The words are so beautiful that I added them inside the card. The message is about keeping the faith and although I am not a particularly religious person, this particular saying has stayed with me. 

Here is the picture inspiration from Moxie Fab which I first saw on Sindhu's blog. Such a divine picture, wouldn't we all want a bedroom like this!

Also entering into Crafty Creations Challenge - Just Take 2 - I've got 2 sets of footprints.

A Chandelier Card

Once again, the folks over at Play Date Cafe have come up with a really unusual color combination - its Plum, Mustard and Rose this week and I have literally been conceptualizing this card for the last 4 days. It's hard to make mustard work with anything really and so after much racking of the already over-racked brains, I came up with this, a chandelier card. 

The background pattern paper (from ItsyBitsy) has the rose tinges. The mustard is in the ornate border I made on my cameo out of Golden Sand Card Stock from ItsyBitsy. And the delicate chandelier in the center is made out of some discarded wrapping paper I found in my paper bucket. It has some lovely gold/ mustard swirls on it, making it particularly fitting for this color scheme. Finally, no card of mine would be complete without a bow and was I lucky or what to find plum grosgrain ribbon (again from ItsyBitsy) in my stash. I wanted this card to have a vintage feel which is why I distressed the edges of the white card stock and the ornate border and added the rose pearls on the chandelier.

Here is the picture inspiration from PDC 165. Do you think I captured colors?

Also entering into:
Top Tip Tuesday - Lavishly Luscious Layers - there are 7 layers on this card, not counting the ribbon.
Creative Craft Challenges 2 - Bling it Up - The pearls on the chandelier are my bling
Inky Chicks - Becky's Bingo Grid - Bottom row: Die Cuts, Bow and Pearls
Kaboodle Doodles 155 - Ribbon 

A Chess Card

All my cards have a story and this one begins with an absolutely divine inspiration picture from IBSIC #42 which I saw on Sindhu's blog. I got so charged up that I just sat at my craft table from that moment on (about 11pm) until 1am making my card. The next day I checked out the challenge over at CASual Fridays 'Make a card with one long side and one short side' which was just about perfect as the card I made complied with the guidelines of both challenges. So here we go!

The IBSIC inspiration pic is just so pretty and I thought I would put a really unusual spin on it by bringing out the same prettiness in a very masculine card.  Here is the inspiration picture.

Chess is a game that brings back fond memories with my husband. When my husband and I first started dating about 14 years ago we spent a lot of time playing chess online. I was seriously lousy and he was really good so he used finish me off in 10 moves. One day, I started an online game with him and at the same time started a game with the computer. Whatever move he played against me, I played against the computer and whatever responding move the computer made, I played against my husband. Poor Ajay was so flabbergasted at how I had evolved into a Grand Master overnight! 

So this card is for him. I may have checkmated him that day, but I was the one checkmated for life!

Also entering into:
Card Making Mama's Challenge - Clean and Simple
Crafty Ribbon Challenges #37 - Love/Romance/Anniversary

Update 25/1/13 - I made the top 3 for the IBSIC challenge!!! Woo Hoo!!

Glittering Butterflies with a Ginormous Bow

I've always loved lace butterflies and gold glittering butterflies just take the cake! I'm also a big fan of vellum. I love that translucent layer over a piece of solid card stock. I find when vellum is embossed, the effect is even prettier because the paper gets a bit discolored to a brighter white wherever the embossing occurs.  Which is why one of my favorite combinations is embossed vellum over white card stock. The end result is so very pretty.

That's how my card got started and with this backdrop, I decided to go for Gold! I cut out the butterflies with my Cameo, which is so fabulous because I can resize them to whatever I need. Then I covered the entire surface with Versamark before  adding gold embossing powder. Once I finished the heat embossing, the butterflies were glittering and almost brittle. Perfect for adhering to my card. Here's a close up of the large butterfly.

As a final touch I added some pearls in the center. They went marvelously with the white backdrop. And of course no card of mine is complete without a bow. And in this case a super massive bow it had to be! After many requests, I tried to do a video demonstrating how I tie a bow but unfortunately the camera angle was not right. You can still watch the video but look forward to another one very soon.

Linking to:

Brown Sugar #24 - Butterflies

The Squirrel & The Fox 35 - Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy - Monochromatic

A Card full of Danger, Seduction and Romance!

As my blog title suggests, I'm usually crafting deep into the night and last night I got into the whole sinister, dangerous and haunting feel of the hour. I had just picked up the Immortal Love Matstack from Imaginations and found myself totally immersed in the forbidden love/ Twilight feeling of the pack. This particular design really appealed to me - the lush open white rose against a black background with touches of glitter. I decided to replicate the printed rose with a 3D version in the most seductive color of all - deep red. 

The card base is silver and the ribbon is a steel grey which I think went wonderfully with the glitter already present on the pattern paper. The rose was made using some ItsyBitsy Red Card Stock and I distressed the edges of each petal with a dull brown ink. I also added some glitter to both the flourish and the petals so the glittery feel of the pattern paper carried forward to the 3d elements. Here's a close up of the  rose.

When I was done with that I got to working on the sentiment. With my cameo I can basically etch out anything I want using the pen holder and a glitter/ gel pen. I wanted something romantic, brief but still a little scary. 'You're Mine' was my choice, sketched against a black background. Here's an upright picture of the card with all it's elements.

10 years ago, Valentines Day for me was all about bright reds, pinks and cuddly teddies. Today, after 9 years of marriage and 2 children, I realize that it has become more sinister, haunting, passionate... hmmm... have I become more cynical in my 30's... or maybe Im watching too many vampire movies! Either way, I think I scared my husband a little when I showed him this card. He said, 'This is like Phantom of the Opera'... and then he looked me straight in the eyes and said with raised eyebrows, 'You're Mine'!

Later folks :)

Linking to:

Lulupu #8 Love is in the Air

Simon Says Stamp - Black/White + Splash of Color

Kaboodle Doodles #145 - Vintage
Moving Along With the Times - Floral Delights

Craft Room Challenge - Valentines' at Craft Room

A Bloomin' Card

I haven't been able to make something for my blog in a week. My son's school reopened, my husband was on leave, so many family get togethers, arghh... it was never ending. I was finally able to get a pocket of time yesterday and I made this card for PlayDate Cafe's latest challenge. I gotta say Play Date Cafe's challenges really interest me. I first heard of them over on Juhi's blog and now I find myself waiting for the weekly theme. They choose these really offbeat color combinations and I find myself pondering long and hard on how to make them work. The color pallette for this week is Champagne...Sky Blue...Tangerine and  this is my take on it.

Sky blue is easy enough. Tangerine is a kind of reddish orange and champagne - well that's a  color that's impossible to describe. I made the flowers out of orange card stock and I used my sponge dauber with some red ink to give the petals more dimension and to create the tangerine color. Incorporating the champagne was a really uphill task. I even went as far as to cut a strip from a scarf for it. Then I decided to go with the trim using one of ItsyBitsy's glitter strips. 

I wanted the flowers to look like they were bursting or blooming out of the frame and I think I achieved that effect. Then I thought long and hard about a complementary sentiment and I figured with Valentines Day around the corner, I could go with something amorous - what do you think of what I came up with? - 'Your're Bloomin' Awesome'

My trusted Cameo came in handy for most of this card. The interlocking circle background, the flowers, the label and the sentiment were all created on the cameo. I found this awesome site called BirdsCards.com that offers free cut files and I got the label and background from there. They also have some awesome digital stamps. The interlocking circle background was a square frame that I modified to a rectangle. Let me know if you want it.

Here is the PlayDate Cafe inspiration picture.

I also want to give a shout-out for Sindhu of Trapped in Craft who is hosting this awesome giveaway of die-cuts to celebrate 6  months of blogging. Congrats to Sindhu and don't forget to drop by and participate!

Linking to:
Play Date Cafe #163
The Pink Elephant # 181
Craft Room Challenge - Valentines
C.R.A.F.T 188 - Make your Own Backing Paper
My Mum's Craft Shop #1 - Anything Goes
The Paper Players Challenge 127 - Love is in the Air
Inspire Me Fridays 90 - Anything Goes

Update 12.1.13 - Won The Play Date Cafe - Challenge 163 - Hurray!!!

A Lavish and Luscious Wedding Card

It's my first post of the new year and so far 2013 is looking pretty good. I found out today that I made it to the top 3 for 2 challenges. One was for my carousel card for Crafters Corner's Make a Set and the other was for Sunshine Creations Seasons' Greetings Challenge. I just had to blog about it because I think it is only you, my fellow crafter friends, who can appreciate the elation that accompanies success in a challenge. I shared the news with my family and I got the obligatory - WOW but somehow it's not quite as satisfying. 

My card today is what I created as inspiration for ItsyBitsy's latest challenge - Weddings and Celebrations - so a number of you may have already seen it. But since I was up till 5am on the 1st of January 2013 making it, I figured my blood, sweat and hard work should find a place here, on my blog too.

I want to use this post to showcase the gorgeous penmanship I added to this creation via my cameo. One of the 'toys' I got for Christmas was the Chomas pen holder with a set of gel pens. I replaced the cameo blade with this pen holder and used a silver gel pen to create the beautiful filigree design surrounding the kissing couple.

 

Another feature I had fun with were the silver flourishes. I coated each of them with versamark and immersed them in silver embossing powder before heat embossing them until they were dry and bonded. And who can go wrong with the divine flowers and pearls from ItsyBitsy? I should have thrown in some butterflies too I think. 

Thanks for dropping by, would love to read your comments if you haven't already on the ItsyBitsy Blog. Have a great year ahead folks!

Entering into:
RRR Challenge 63 - My New Toys & Ribbon - My new Toy is the Chomas Penholder
Crafty Creations Challenge 202 - Anything Goes 
Creative Moments Blogger Network 7 - Emboss it/ Anything Goes
Kaboodlesdoodlesblog 152 - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu 10 - Anything Goes