Anniversary Love!

This is a picture heavy post, so be prepared! :) I celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, which feels like a long time though! I made this special card for my hubby -

Saw a tutorial on youtube a long long time ago, and here's what Tejal created using the similar approach..

FRONT/BACK  of the main card -

Tag 1- Front/Back -

Tag 2 - Front/Back -

 Tag 3/4 - Front/Back -

Everything together - :)

And to make my anniversary even more special, I received a HUGE parcel from Yvonne for winning a giveaway on her blog last month.. I couldn't believe my eyes at seeing all the wonderful stuff she has sent my way!!!  This is what all she sent to me --

Paper piecing

and some coloring..

Here's what i made yesterday, when i was suffering from cramps, apparently common in 9th month and signs that body is preparing for the big day! :D So to take my mind off those cramps I made this -

The stamps that i used are really really old ones and of very poor quality, they are from a children's set and to get a crisp outline, I used a foam padding underneath cardstock.. And later on i realised, the inks just wont get off the stamp.. Which usually get off easily from all other rubber & clear stamps!

For the flower petals I have stamped the image onto different parts of the same paper so as not to get a continuity of paper's design in them.. :D

I made this for Yvonne's guest challenge - Paper piecing & coloring.
And ICR Challenge 15 - Love+photo inspiration.

Beaded Heart Tutorial

Few days back I posted a card with beaded vase and a butterfly. So I thought i should share the technique to make beaded objects. I am going to show you how to make a heart with the same technique.

This is the vase that i posted earlier -

You'll need - Wire & beads. you should use appropriate wire thickness depending upon the size of your beads. Length of the wire depends on your object, for the heart i initially used about 30 cms of  wire, with 2x10 cms added later on to complete the heart.

Step 1: Pass bead to centre, bend wire to hold bead in place.

Step 2: Pass 2 beads on one side of wire end, form a circle by passing the second wire through them.

Step 3: Pull both wires evenly until the beads sit on the first bead. Then repeat the same process with 3 beads.

Step 4: Continue beading in similar way. For this heart, i went uptil 6 beads.

Step 5: Once all the beads are done, secure the ends by clasping them together in the back. If i had thinner wire i could also have threaded the wire into the second last row and cut the edges, that ways none of the side will show wires.

Step 6: Take two more wire pieces and pass through 3 beads from either side of the row.

Step 7: In the same way as above, thread 3 beads and then 2 beads on top of it. Secure the ends by clasping them at the back and cutting extra wire.

So here's the final heart - :)

More ideas beside the vase -
For this butterfly, I have threaded  1 bead on each level and instead of clasping the ends at the back, i threaded small pink beads to form tentacles -
you can add fabrics of feathers to give it a butterfly look :)

Another idea is to make a purse, something like the pic below. To thread the smaller beads i have not looped the wire through (two wires wont even fit in the smaller beads ). After threading those two large beads on top, i passed only one wire through the small beads and then back into those two large beads, secured the ends at the back.

Many more things can be made through this technique, think about cakes (with different color beads for each layer), baskets, christmas tree, bells, crown etc.

Hope you enjoyed through the tutorial! :)

Different take on love

 I have always loved Iris folding and the last card i made using this technique was ages ago. Recently i got a book from library, which features lovely and absolutely amazing Iris folding cards, which inspired me to make 5 Iris folds in a single day! Yup! And three of those were made for this card!
Rest are in Pink & blue for my little one's scrapbook.. I have got so crazy over preparing scrapbook for him or her and since i chose to not know the sex of my baby, I am making elements in both the colors! How crazy i am!! I know! :) :)

Ok, so here's my take on a non traditional love card. Made in the shades of browns & oranges! Also, this one's my first tall-card! Incidentally I realised it is so difficult to take a snap for a tall one, I had troubles in just keeping it upright for a click!

Some pretty close-ups of the eyelets, ILU and the Iris folds -

On another note, weather in London has been, well, unpredictable.. I never knew It could snow for the first time in Feb in a particular season.. Feb is supposed to be a time when winters start going away!! :)
Here's a pic i took from my window on sunday -

 For the record I have still not seen snow-in-action yet. It snowed in the night! :( I have seen a lot of snow before, Indian hill stations are full of them in winters.. I was looking forward to experience snow-fall here in London.. Well, either i'll have to see if it snow again this week or if i need to wait till next winters! :)

And would you believe, I took this pic from the same place exactly 9 days before it snowed? ignore the tilt in the pic, I think i was focusing on the tree n not on the houses in background! Weather here is really unpredictable!

Entering this Challenge for Crafty-Jc's Feb challenge - Love card with non traditional colours! and The Stamp Man - Embellish it Challenge!



Supplies -
Cardstock from a locally bought scrapbook.
Glitter hearts from itsybitsy
Eyelets from
Boeken Voordeel, Belgium
small crystal heart from A1 craft supplies
Papers in Iris fold are from saved gift wraps! :)