Design Team Call by Artful Crafting

Hello hello!

Extremely excited to announce that Pakistan's largest craft supply store, Artful Crafting, is forming their design team, AND I am helping them with it, YAY!  

Artful Crafting, by Shereen Aftab, stocks the largest range of craft supplies from International suppliers like Tim Holtz, Prima, and, Maja Designs, to name a few. You can access the online store here:

Ok, so coming back to the call, this will be the first Design Team of its kind, in our country, which will not only host challenges but will inspire and help out crafters, by sharing tools and techniques. 

I am delighted at the prospect of working with talented crafters!

(Just noticed all the exclamation marks, haha, shows by enthusiasm)

The ACDT call is open to all, and you can apply before 15 Feb 2015. 
You can find all the required details at Artful Craftings blog:

Have a wonderful weekend all!
Happy Crafting!

Scrapbook: Red and Black

This is a red and black, 6" x 6" mini album, with a heavy cardstock base. As you can tell I opted not to ring bind it, but used heavy embossed and inked cardstock for the spine.

The layouts used have been inspired by the G45 and Blue Fern Studio mini done by Michelle. The sequence and page titles were specified by the client. Since this mini uses a cardstock base, I was able to add a few hidden pages and explore other fun techniques which I found difficult when working with chipboard.

The first page is divided into two, so basically the first page has about four sections. When you rotate the chipboard "arrow", the section opens up to reveal hidden sections.

Similarly page two, has a hidden pocket along with ample space to journal or place a photo.

Above the pocket opens to reveal journal-ling space, and below the same pocket flips open to reveal some more space.

So basically this mini is filled with fun, hidden sections.
This is one of my favorite pages; very colorful and very desi. I drew out the mehndi design on green cardstock, cut it, outlined it with glitter and then stuck it down as pockets.

The Barat page is all fussy cut, and outlined with glitter. The photo mat is removable.

Happily married is a fold-able mat, with both sides layered with patterned cardstock.

The pages, in sequence, below:

Happy crafting!
xoxo.

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!

Once Upon a Time...

In my opinion, the "Once Upon a Time" stack from DCWV is one of the most beautiful stacks I have seen. Though it is pretty old, I have always loved it and admired the projects done by fellow crafters using it. I finally had a chance to work with it late October, and loved the finished project.

The theme, as narrated by the client, was a bride's-to-be life journey. Since at some stage in life, every girl believes that she is a princess, and one day her knight in shining armor will sweep her off her feet, I decided to give this scrapbook a royal, yet aged look and feel. You will notice that I have not used rings to bind this album, that is because I felt rings would not go with the theme. So basically, I inked the cardstock to make it seem like wood, and used it as the spine cover. I further embellished the spine with intricately cut "hinges" (designed by me), and, a stained metal and acrylic charm.

I designed a font for the cover, and heat embossed the background. Each alphabet is coated to give a glossy finish.

Now for some of the very special details;

Above is a close-up of one of the photo mats. Its a gorgeous castle; I simply highlighted the details to make them prominent. A floral arrangement done for the pocket.

A side pocket embellished with handmade pennants, beige lace, and dull gold zigzag ribbon. The pocket holds a beautiful foliage tag, with highlighted details and a castle in the background.

The frame above was an off-white paper die cut which I received as a gift (about a year or two back). I decided to use it here because the details were in-line with the theme.  For starters, I had to trim some of it to fit the page, then I heat embossed it in gold. I used UTEE in center, and rhinestones for details. The frame was then layered on to heavy cardstock. It holds three tags which too have been heat embossed in gold.

Some fairy themed tags above.

And last but not the least, the pages:

Happy crafting!

Being Part of WomenX Pakistan

This post is not about a new project that I've completed or am working on, but to share a little something with which I have been involved lately.

A little background for perspective: Favors & More is my business venture which launched in 2010, with its key feature being, "exclusive hand crafted" products. With a little bit of creativity, lots of love and attention to detail we create memorable products for our clients. Since the business is young and growing rapidly, we can use some guidance/help, and so when my sister heard of this program she insisted that I apply, and I applied just a day before the deadline = D. After a few days it was humbling to receive an email which read (extract below):

"I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to join the inaugural Women^X Cohort in Karachi. With a pool of hundreds of talented women entrepreneurs, you were recognized by our panel as one of the 50 enterprising women to be invited to join the first Women^X Cohort..."

And soon I found myself standing with 50 amazingly talented entrepreneurs, each a source of inspiration in their own right.



Our session began with introductions and it was amazing to discover that the nature of businesses ranged from furniture, ladies accessories, to education, right through to IT and engineering.  Everyone extremely focused and determined.

Amongst us were ladies who "stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow their way, adjusted their sails." Ladies who started with nothing, no formal business education (and in some cases no education at all), finances or references, but were now running full fledged successful businesses. Each and everyone brings a wealth of knowledge to each session and there is tons that we learn from each other.

Our knowledge is further enriched with discussions on relevant case studies, formal business models and interactions with successful Pakistani entrepreneurs who are invited to share their experiences with us.

A special thanks to 'IBA CED' and 'Enclude', who have done a brilliant job in organising this World Bank funded program.

Already a few sessions into the program, and looking forward to more.
(Photo Credits: WomenX organisers)

  

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