Love Journal

Today I'm sharing a 'Love' journal i created. It is made with a mix of plain and patterned card stock and lots of embellishments, tags, little envelope pockets and stamping. It is held together with binder rings I bought from A1 Craft Supply and all my stamps were bought through them as well. All my patterned paper, scrapbooking elements and stamping inks of various companies were bought through Lulupu - The Craft Lounge. And my Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch and various other crafting goodies were bought from Mansi of Die Cuts and More. 

Ok, with that out of the way, let's get started on what i've created. I guess you could call this an upcycle, altered project as the base for the entire journal is cereal boxes. I cut the boxes into rectangles of 6'X8" first. I then hand selected patterned papers from my various paper stacks and cut them into 6"X8" or in some cases 5"X8" so that I could add a 1" strip of a different patterned paper for the margin. I punched the edge of the cover page with the Doily Edge Punch from Martha Stewart.

I then distressed some edges like on the red page above and below, but I don't own distress inks, so I deviced a method where I cut a bit of cotton, dab it in my ink pads and rub onto the edges. The result was none too shabby, if I may say so myself.

All the scrapbooking elements added to this project are from the You and Me page kit.

I added a spaces for journalling and photos. I layered flowers from Itsy Bitsy and stuck a matching rhinestone in the middle. These appear in quite a few different places. Now I'll let the photos speak for themselves shall I?

Showing details and special elements, I've added special touches on almost every page, there's a lot of hand doodled elements as well.

Pretty flower

Space for journalling

A little confetti rain

Squares to tick

Two tags in their cosy little pouch

Envelope to hold message/journalling

Stamped sentiment

Tag

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards for Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

Today I decided it's time I participate in blog competitions. Even though I'm new to the blogging world I am not new to crafts. I decided to enter for the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge which for this week is called Round or Square. So I went ahead and made one of each. I didn't deviate much from the sketch images but had fun playing around with different elements.

First up is the round card. I chose a cheery yellow cardstock from the Brights Collection of Grant Studio. I must admit I thought they would be a lot thicker. Turns out they're quite flimsy. So I used a thick cardstock I've bought in bulk as backing. I cut the circles using the Martha Stewart large circle cutter and went around the yellow circle with scalloped scissors (great tip for those who don't have scallop edge dies, you're welcome!). I went around the edge with black ink and a sponge to create shading.

I embossed both the circles using the Cuttlebug Polka dots embossing folder.

'Celebrate'

I layered a white paper doily on top and chose polka dot patterned paper to layer on top for the sentiment and banner.

I stamped the 'celebrate' sentiment using Micia Old Hand black ink pad and a stamp from Unity Stamp Co.

Close up of rosette

I made a black paper rosette. I punched the edge using Martha Stewart Doily Edge punch before I scored the lines and made the rosette. I added some yellow pearls around the sentiment and finished off the rosette with a white pearl in its center.

Close up showing sentiment and pearls

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For the square card, I chose a baby girl theme. I just love baby themed anything though I cannot say i particularly like babies. All in good time I suppose.

I chose a pale pink cardstock to get started. I cut it so that the folded card forms a 15cm square. I went around the edges in a pink Micia Old Hand ink and sponge to create a smudged effect. I chose a patterned paper from the Baby Girl 2 stack I got from Lulupu and cut that into a 12cm square to paste in the center. I punched a hole in the top left corner and threaded a ribbon through it.

'She's perfect'

The other colours i chose to go with this card are a pale yellow and brown. I stamped a background using swirls from a clear stamp set and wrote the sentiment, 'she's perfect' by hand in brown. I didnt want to make a rosette or add a plain circle so I punched out circles using a Jef punch and added faux stitching on them to make them look like buttons. I arranged these 'buttons' in a circle and added a thick button (made by sticking 6 little circles together) stamped with a swirl right in the center.

Sentiment and button detail

Ribbon detail

Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed the two cards! :)

Happy Diwali

This might seem an awkward time to post a Diwali Card, either way too late for last year or way too early for this year. Any which way, this is a card I made while being approached for a corporate card deal. The design brief was that it had to be elegant, not over the top girly and around 50 cards to be made. Alas, I didn't get the project, but there's always next time. I personally like this card the best out of the five designs I created (I shall post those at the end and you can judge! :p)

Showing the card in all it's glory. The design is a stylized version of  fairy lights and fire crackers.

I started off by rounding the edges of the card. I made rosettes out of red cardstock in two different sizes and stuck them on. I then drew a 'wire' for the fairy lights with a white gel pen and hand glued each individual fairy light. The fairy lights are smooth topped rhinestones.

Detail showing close up of rosettes and fairy lights 

Close up shot showing rosettes and fairy lights

Now here are the other designs that I had done.

Embossed card with cut out Diyas all aflame!

Ornate window card with a flower pot with glitter sparkles

A stylized Mithai (traditional Indian sweets) box

A simple card with a Diya again and sparkles of glitter in the corners

A True Friend is what I have in you

I wanted to make a card with subtle tones and a muted elegance. This card is made with the pale pink cardstock from yesterday. This time i used two different types of patterned papers,  stitching, paper rosettes and a cutout butterfly. I also embossed the patterened paper.

 I started off by embossing the sea shell patterned paper using the Cuttlebug Spirals Embossing Folder and then sticking it on to the base cardstock and adding stitching at the bottom through holes I pre-punched in the paper with a needle. I added a sentiment from a clear stamp set (I forget the company, mostly Prickley Pear)

Close up showing embossing on the card

Showing detail of stitching with black thread

 I then cut the black patterned paper into wide strips for the top and the inside of the card and stuck those in place too.

Showing inside of the card with patterned paper detail

I made paper rosettes in two different sizes out of black cardstock and added a white and beige rhinestone in the middle.

Rosettes and cutout butterfly

Sentiment and butterfly

I hope you enjoyed the card and thanks for stopping by! :)

Just Because

For my maiden post i've chosen a card i made recently. It is a simple card in muted colours. I chose a pale pink plain cardstock for the base. Cut some freehand circles out of black cardstock and cream handmade paper.

'Just Because' card next to a box (3"X3"X2")

I then layered the freehand cut circles one over the other and stuck them together. I placed them at varying heights on the cardstock base, then drew stalks and leaves with a black gel pen beneath them. i added a 'Just Because' sentiment stamp from Unity Stamp Co. Also added a butterfly stamped with Micia Crafts Old Hand black stamp pad.

A close up showing circle flowers and butterfly stamp

Thanks for stopping by and do leave your comments below. :)