Twinkling H2Os

The complete card

This is what I created for Artful Crafting Challenge 8: Water Coloring.

My November kit included Springtime Twinkling H2Os, by Luminarte. I have to confess here, that I had never worked with this product before, and wasn't too sure about what to expect.

Twinkling H2Os - Springtime

The colors were absolutely gorgeous, but when they weren't as vibrant on my water color paper as shown, I knew that I was doing something wrong. In the world of creative arts, there is only one rule -- "Know your tools"; so it was time for some research.

Twinkling H2Os, unlike other water colors are extremely concentrated (75% more than the regular watercolors, as per the company), and therefore, they must be activated with water, atleast 10-15 minutes before you apply them. This is where I was going wrong, I was using them like regular water colors, and that is why the results weren't as expected. Once I misted the pots, and began painting after 10 minutes, I had some beautifully vibrant pearlised colors on the same water color paper. 


Happy with the results, I began working on my DT project. In keeping with all the glimmer, I decided to make a Wedding-ie sort of congratulations card.
Step one: stamp and heat emboss the image
Step two: color it
Step three: stamp the sentiment
Step four: assemble the card.

A close up of all the "Twinkling"

I my opinion, Twinkling H2Os give the project such a grand finish, that the watercolor paper seemed way too dull against it. So, to bring it to life, I coated all the white spaces with Perfect Pearls. This gave it a beautiful off whitish pearlised background.

The angled card

Supplies used:
Twinkling H2Os - Springtime
Altenew - Grapevine Crisp Ink
Altenew - Persian Motifs
Ranger - Gold Embossing Powder
Ranger - Perfect Pearls
Watercolor paper

To see all the inspirational projects put together by the awesome DT, and/or take part in the challenge, hop over to Artful Crafting.

Happy Crafting!

 

Mixed Media Coasters

I made a couple of mixed media coasters, for Challenge #3: No Flowers. The challenge requirements, this month, are pretty simple; anything goes as long as there are no flowers on it.

I've been wanting to make some coasters since a very long time, and so I seized this opportunity to create these colorful and artsy pieces, which would also make perfect gifts for Ramadan.

For the above, I started with a clean piece of MDF, applied the "Bokeh" technique, using acrylic paints to create the background, stamped the mosque / masjid on top (I designed this stamp myself ), and finished it off with a silver braid.

I worked with multiple layers on this one, to create a textured and aged look. After the final inked layer, I lightly stamped a doily using paint. Once dried I stamped the image using archival ink. Then, with a very light hand, I smeared crackle paint all over the artwork. Once dry, I colored in the image using Ice Stickles, and painted over them with white paint. Finally, the sides were sanded and finished off with a silver braid.

 Tried to capture the glitter and texture in this image.

Products used:
Mosque / Masjid Stamp
MDF blanks
Acrylic Paint
Distress Crackle Paint
Distress Ink
Ice Stickles
Bloom Color Spray 

ACDT Post: Creative Stamping

Here is my inspirational project for Artful Crafting Challenge # 2: “Its all about UNUSUAL stamping”
Stamp, we all -- but in a different way; that,was the real challenge.


I combined few of the supplies from the kit, with some from my stash, and came up with this:

ACDT Post: Up in the clouds

Hello!

Today I am sharing my DT project for Artful Crafting's Challenge #1: Stenciling.
 

Here is the awesome kit used for the challenge, provided by Artful Crafting.

For the top, I used the Distress Speciality Stamping paper as the base and sprayed it with the Teal Bloom Spray which gave it a beautiful shimmer, and smoky kind of effect.

I then used the Delphinium stencil to create textured "clouds", and highlighted them with black.

The shaded heart was covered with a heavy coat of Distress Crackle paint, and layered onto stamped specialty paper. The crackle paint gave the heart an absolutely gorgeous effect, I just love it!

DARICE-Paper Ma

DARICE-Paper Mach

 I decorated the sides and tada! my project was complete

DARIC

 You can find the supplies here:

Memory Box Stencil Delphinium

DARICE - Paper Mache Oval Box

Ranger Distress Specialty Stamping Paper

Prima Marketing Bloom Spray-Soft Tea

Ranger Crackle Paint Rock Candy

Archival Jet Black

Martha Stewart - Scalloped edge punch

Ranger Distress Ink Evergreen Bough

Color Box- Fluid Chalk- Rose Petals

Year in Review - 2014

Looking out the window, admiring nature with a nice hot cup of ginger tea in hand, thoughts about how speedily the year flew by stormed me, and so I decided to blog. (The "Flame of the Forest" actually triggered it all, no idea why)

2014 began with some "Crafty" wins Alhumdolillah; Country View Challenges announced me as the winner for the January challenge (there were 181 entries), and so I was their guest designer for March. As a gift I received the wonderful spellbinder border dies, some ink and faux stitching tools. So in love with everything! and thank you Country View Crafts once again.
February was no less, my work was selected amongst the Top 5 at Crafty Card Makers and More, and the blog was decorated with their wonderful badge.

Things got relatively busy by this time and I was traveling for work (eLearning, the other thing that I do), giving me little to no time to craft, however Favors & More continued to roll out personalized gifts, baby announcements and party favors etc. ordered.

By the time I got a breather, it was September already, Haha! what a joy ride it was. There was good news once again Alhumdolillah, I was selected at WomenX as one of the most enterprising women, and my project was Favorited at Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

That wasn't all, it was this sweet September that we at Favors & More introduced "Little Miss Tea Pot" which came with customized tea bags. Much loved and admired,  Little Miss Tea Pot soon met Mama Tea Pot designed for a bridal shower.

As orders continued to roll, and things got busy, I managed to take a break today only to realize that the year had gone by. Staying busy is a blessing alhumdolillah, and I enjoy every bit of what I do.

Most Admired Project- 2014
"Little Miss Tea Pot", though introduced nearing the end of the year has been one of the most intriguing and admired projects for this year. These beauties were nearly sold-out at The Crafters Expo 2014 too. The best and cutest part was that not only did the ladies want to hold them, but the gentlemen too were attracted to them. They held it, asked what its made of, opened the lid to see how it was done, and showered some compliments.
At exhibitions I usually witness instances where men literally drag away the ladies from the stall, in an effort to prevent them from over shopping, however this time, the men actually called the ladies over to the stall to show them the tea pot! =D

Most Memorable Request 2014
Through 2014 I have received some very emotional and gratifying emails/messages, the most striking and memorable of which was the one where a returning client, fearing loss of their life, asked me to design something that not only translates their love for their soon to arrive baby, but reminds the child of them in their absence too...  It left me speechless.

Most Challenging Project - 2014
When your clients are creative, you are blessed with opportunities to test your creative capabilities, explore and execute. This concept was provided by the client, I simply executed it. And packing it for shipping was equally challenging. Enjoyed working on it, nonetheless!

 


I have met wonderful people all through this year, in person and via the web, and look forward to a busy 2015 inshallah. We already have some wonderful projects lined up :)
Take care,
Happy Crafting!

The Floral Exploding Box!

One of my recently completed projects; A floral themed exploding box in red and white, which has been entered into Challenge #15 - All The Pretty Flowers hosted by Craft Hoarders Anonymous

(Working on this project sent me down memory lane! oh how I had struggled with my first exploding box project back then... It had to be elaborate, had to have 3 layers, butterflies and what not.  :D )

So as you can tell by the top, I used tons of flowers on the project along with floral cardstock, and punches too.

Once the lid is removed the box "explodes" to reveal 27 which too has been set in flowers. Lots of roses, rose buds along with leaves and vines.

Inside are hershey kisses, which too have been embellished with punched out white flowers and leaves. Not to forget all the embossed floral layers and tags =)

Hope you find this inspiring!
Happy Crafting

Floral Profusion

As the name suggests, this post is all about flowers ;)


Second post of the day, dedicated to Floral Profusion challenge #114 (A Floral Profusion HANDMADE FLOWERS) being hosted by, Crafty Cardmakers And More.
This is a quick post, short and sweet! (I'm running short on time, the challenge is about to close, need to enter this)

Without further delay, I present my piece of art...

All these gorgeous red flowers are hand made using cardstock; not paper but cardstock. It was difficult to mold cardstock, and yes it made my fingers ache, but the results are amazing. The petals are a lot stronger, they don't tear or bend easily. 

These are keepsake boxes, ideal for gifting trinkets.
Hope these inspire you too!

Happy crafting!

Tag: Soul Mate

"New Beginnings", is the April challenge at Country View Challenges, and that is the inspiration for this tag. To me, new beginnings is a whole lot of things, and though there are several occasions in our lives that qualify as new beginnings, love, is what all these events revolve around.

So, my entry too, revolves around love!

The colors are inspired by Vintage Romance (which was the theme for a Tag Swap which I had intended to participate in). The roses on the corners are drawn and colored with pencil, while the background is stamped.
A vellum heart is layered over cardstock and glittered vellum.

A distressed layer is stamped with 'soul mate' and some bling added for detail.
and that is about it!

Happy Crafting!

Come Fly With Me: Bird

I love working with birds and bird cages, and so I delightfully share with you my entry for Challenge #110 Come Fly With Me being hosted at Crafty Cardmakers and More.

Its a simple card in shades of white and lilac. The flowers are hand made; stamped and inked in dark and light tones of lilac. The bird and vine are chipboard, lightly inked, while the based is dry embossed. Sprinkled some white beads for finishing touches.

Happy Crafting!

Ripped Jeans: Male Themed Creation

Presenting to you my entry for challenge number 109: This is a Man's World, being hosted by Crafty Card Makers and More.
I wanted to make this card a little different from all the masculine cards I've seen so far. Since this was meant to be a male themed creation, I wanted it to have a rugged, rough, yet youthful look and feel. And so took my inspiration from the below "Ripped Jeans" image found online:

This is what I put together:

Worked with kraft card and blue cardstock. The blue base was first inked to appear as denim and then ripped to create the ripped jeans effect and inked further. Below is a close up, showing all the details =D [very happy with the effect]

 

The sentiment is embossed; black and copper.
The inside is simple.
And as you can see capturing the colors was a task in itself. =)

Happy crafting!