LightingUpLives: Token of Thanks from Pepsi Pakistan

This is a quick post to share a gift I received from Pepsi Pakistan, as a token of thanks, for supporting the LightingUpLives initiative.
LightingUpLives, as the name implies, is an effort to bring light to electricity deprived (underprivileged) areas. Pepsi bottles have been transformed into light bulbs, which run on solar power. You can learn more about the initiative by visiting PepsiPk or viewing the campaign video.

It was a wonderful surprise! Thank you Pepsi Pakistan.

Precious Documented

Hello hello!

With Eid right around the corner, our theme for this months challenge is "Celebration." So, I've created a book, with tons of pockets, so you can document your celebrated moments in it; Precious Documented! The idea behind it was to create a book in which you can keep the eidi, and store some memories too. 

I've made the most of the supplies included in my gorgeous kit, a detailed review of which can be found under Happy Mail! ACDT Kit- Sweet Paris. The cover is decorated with resin flowers, some diecuts, and thickers, which were inked and coated with glossy accents.

 The rounded spine is decorated with some ribbon, charm, and beads.  On the inside, each page of the book consists of pockets, and magnetized flaps.

The above is a picture of the first page, with all the tags and pockets in place, and below is the same page once the pockets have been opened out and tags removed.

The entire length of the second page is a pocket for keeping a large tag, or money  (eidi).

The rest of the pages follow the same pattern with slight variations

So hope you enjoyed it! 

List of supplies follow: 

ACDT Sweet Paris Kit

Reversed Quarterfoil Stencil 

Distress ink - Gathered Twigs

Chipboard Bird diecuts

Prima chipboard buttons

Black cardstock

Ribbon

Beads (white and gold drop)

Happy Mail! ACDT Kit - Sweet Paris

It was a happy happy day for me, alhumdolillah -- the first day of Ramadan, followed by the arrival of my DT Kit -- I was overjoyed!
[incase you are wondering, Yes! I schedule. = D]

Unlike my previous DT posts, I'm sharing my kit separately this time because I fell in love with the kit, the minute I set my eyes on it. (and the last part actually rhymed!)

So first up, is the awesome paper collection:

Yes, this is one of those stacks which the "picture" fails to describe in "a thousand words". These papers are gorgeous! If you like light colors, shabby chic style, then you will definitely love this collection. It's the Trimcraft Dovecraft Sweet Paris Paper Pack; 36 sheets in a pack - 3 sheets of each design.

Next, are the complimenting embellishments from the same collection.

Beautiful set of 30 paper blooms and leaves, a pack of resin flowers, and a set of 8 metal Eiffel tower charms.

I loved the texture of the blooms and leaves; this isn't just die cut paper, it feels a lot heavier. The edges seemed inked, and the embossed "veins" make them look so real! If you are the type of person who doesn't like spending too much time adding details to flowers, then these are your thing, for sure. The blooms are about 3.5" in diameter, while the leaves are 2.75" long, and about 1 5/8" wide, at the broadest.

The resin flowers are equally beautiful, with fine details. Usually, centers of resin flowers appear to be a bit smudgy, but these ones are neat, with each petal clearly visible. The pack contains five color sets, with three flowers in each set. The largest flower is about .75" in diameter, while the smallest is a little under 0.5". Each flower has a thick foam backing, with a very strong bond, making them super easy to stick on.

Last, but certainly not the least, the charming charms! Each Eiffel tower is about an inch tall, and has an embossed criss-cross pattern on it.

There are more elements from this collection (doilies, frames, and wooden elements) which you can find at the Artful Crafting webstore.

(To take part in our No Flowers challenge hop over to the Artful Crafting blog)

To guess the theme of our upcoming challenge, comment below :-P
Happy Crafting!

Dr. Beckmann to the Rescue

Hello!
Dr. Beckmann Rescue was my "muse" this Sunday. (If I may call it so.)

I picked it up without any expectations, from one of our local stores, and was truly impressed by the performance. I live close to the sea, and have had to throw away a lot of my belongings, simply because I couldn't rescue them from tarnish -- tried scrubbing and what not, but nothing really worked. It was time to give Mr. Beckmann a try, so the first items I put to test were, silver anklets, which "blackened" over the years even though they were wrapped and kept with great care. 

With just one swipe, these were shining like new.
Excited!! I tried it on one of my chains..

Oh it sparkled!
Next up was a copper decoration piece..

worked like magic on that too.

Each wipe goes a long way, so, Very Happy!!

 

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 

Making Lace with Stamps

Hello!

At Artful Crafting, our second challenge (which closes in a week) is focused on "Unusual Stamping"; basically using your stamps in an unusual way, not just for sentiments, or a center focus. As part of the design team, it is my turn to share one technique, which is in synch with the theme.

For my projects, I seek inspiration from any and everything -- thats how creative people function.. me thinks. Well, these days, I am in complete awe of the gorgeous cookies made by SweetAmbs, and it was while watching her video on lace cookies that I had my "Aha" moment, and decided to make Lace by combining two stamps! (not all of us can bake, you know :-P ). 

The awesome cookie from which I took inspiration

My Lace Card inspired by the cookie

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: