Friday, June 17, 2016

Updates from My Garden


Half of June month is over. No rains yet. It is once again hot like in summer. We are again facing water problems. 

A few days back we have had some showers. It was a great relief. Here is a small peek into my garden.

Bougainvillea blooms through out the year if proper care is taken. But its blooms are the best in summer. It is a very hardy plant and requires very little care. I have some in pots for Bonsai. A little pruning and some fertiliser is all it requires. It can with stand hot temperatures. But those in pots require proper watering and semi shade during peak hours of the day. 

They look so beautiful when they are in full bloom. They are also known as paper flowers.

This is one variety of hibiscus. The size of flowers is small. But it blooms profusely and almost daily. It is still a small plant in my garden.
Just a few showers can do wonders to the plant life. No amount of water or fertilisers  we add can bring this green colour to the leaves. God's creation is great and has no competition.

Well I am waiting for the monsoon to begin my work in my garden. I have just weeded it out and just keeping it alive somehow. 

Wish rains would be here soon.......

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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Birthday Cards for Kids

Hi Friends.

Back after nearly a fortnight. I have been busy with my new batch of students. It will take me till the end of the month to settle everything into a rhythm. After a long period of holidays, children will take time to settle down. I also need to work out a schedule and stick to it.

In between I had to attend to my dad's annual ceremony. A few days before and few days after it we have had a lot to do. It is really back breaking with all the work. But then rituals are strictly to be adhered to. 

Here it is hot once again. No rains. Humidity is really unbearable. So I could not spend much time on my crafts. But one of my friends wanted a birthday card for a little one. I had just 4-5 days and with my dad's ceremony in between it was really difficult to create something which would catch  the eye of the child, its parents and the sender(my friend). 

I did manage somehow to make this card. Then I had to mail it to reach on time.

This was what I came up with. 

I used a textured blue card stock, attached some stickers of animals. 

For the tree, I cut brown coloured thin hand made paper for the trunk and glued it. Then I punched out some oval shaped green textured hand made paper for the foliage. I attached some self adhesive red crystals as fruit on the ovals. 

The first layer I glued it directly on the card. The upper layers, I used foam tape for dimension. 

I punched out some green coloured thin card stock for grass and glued it near the base of the tree. 

The sentiment was stamped on thin yellow card stock. I then shaped the edges with a bracket punch. Then I used a brown coloured sharpie to colour the edges of the sentiment as well as the tab, before attaching it to the card. 

This is the inside of the card. I added the sentiment, message and balloons and the cake. I got it printed on a cream coloured papaer and glued a heart shaped puffy sticker.
This is the envelope. I had to use a ready made white one. 

I had some anxious moments when I was pushing the card inside it. I wanted to make a box type envelope to fit the dimensional stickers and punch art I used without squashing them. I didn't have time at all. Moreover, I am not experienced enough in making such envelopes. I didn't even have proper tools or materials to make one. 

Thank God! The Card fit the envelope :) With not much space around it. I attached mini and mickey stickers on the outside. I wanted to stamp it but no time at all.

I couldn't do much as there was no time to even think or shop for material. I had to do with what I had at hand.

I mailed the card and it reached on time. I got a feed back that they all loved it. So everything ended well. Hope you like it too....

Materials used:

Blue textured card stock
Yellow card stock
Green card stock
Green textured hand made paper
Dark brown hand made paper
Animal and cartoon stickers
Red coloured acrylic self adhesive crystals
Clear stamp for sentiment
Black ink for stamping
Brown coloured sharpie
Glue
Envelope
Cream coloured thick paper for inside the card



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Sunday, June 5, 2016

Card Making Kits

Hello there. We are having some showers here. Day temperatures are down. But it is still sultry. With frequent thunder storms, power cuts have become regular feature. So I have to do all my work as fast as possible-whether it is my daily chores or any other work related with electricity very quickly. We are always apprehensive as to when there will be a power cut. If we are stuck in the middle of doing something, then we have to wait until we get back electricity. 

One of my friends gifted me some card making kits. It was some time back and I din't even have time to open and inspect it. Recently, I opened it. Look what I found.

Three different colour card stock, folded and ready to use, three envelopes(white), some embellishments and double sided tape cut into neat little squares.

I felt that the size of cards was way too small. Any way while trying to make the cards, I ended up adding my own embellishments, as some of the one provided were too small.

Here is the first card I made.


I added the purple plaid self adhesive tape, some crystals and the butterfly from my own stash. The butterfly seems to be a little big for the size of the card or the embellishments. But that was the smallest I had and in matching colours.


I jazzed up the white envelope by adding the plaid tape to match the card.  I have not added the sentiment. I made it as all occasion card. I will add required sentiment when I have to give it away.

I think for a beginner or a novice, this kit may be of help. They don't have to buy all the required materials from different places, which is not only time consuming but also costly. But for a crafters like me, who has so much of stash lying around, I think, I prefer to do it in my way, choosing what I like and goes well with the theme or the card. 

What do you think about this card? Watch out, I will be posting, other cards I made.


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