Wedding Card

Water color wedding card

A wedding card , made with quick water color, pearls and roses.

This is my first ever wedding card. And I was struggling to decide what and how should I make it. A christian wedding, so the images were of Churches and Stain glass windows, Pearl studded flowing White Gown, Black Tuxedo with a Rose in the lapels, Bouquet of beautiful Roses, Dancing and Merry all around.
I could have made cards with each of these elements separately, but that would not necessarily depict wedding, so I ended up incorporating most of them.
I was quite influence by one of the "Archie's card", an another influence was photo-shoot of newly weds.

I have created this card using Water-color paper and transparent water colors and India Ink. Once the color was dry the base paper was little wappy.(Kinda distressed and curved). As i didn't had any wedding sentiments stamps, I decided to print the sentiment. For that I needed my painted paper absolutely flat, because then only it can run through the printer smoothly.
Guess what !!!! 
I ended up ironing my painted paper, at very low setting and in-between layers of news-paper.
Printed my sentiments, and sprayed Fixative meant for "pastels,charcoal & pencil", so the printed sentiments shouldn't smudge. Tried embossing for the first time too. Used "EMBOSS'S clear embossing stamp pad, clear embossing powder and a floral rubber stamp.
Though not perfect, but not bad.... guess need more practice and may be different stamp.
That done, decked the pretty lady with different size stick-on-pearls, water color painted leaves and paper roses, even a little rose bud at gentleman's lapel. 

And hey! my card was ready....

Hope you like my foray in wedding card making.....Please do leave me your suggestions, which can help me do better.....I really do appreciate them. 

Personalized photo frames for gifting

Personalized photo frames for gifting this festive seasons

I wanted to give something personal for the little ones in the family and the friend circle.

Hence these cute frames,if I may say so myself......

And they are really very simple to do,bit of colors and imagination and you are all set.

Here is List of MATERIALS REQUIRED

1. Ready photo frames (1 dollar store kind)

2. Laser cut MDF or wooden Alphabets 

3. Laser cut MDF ,wooden or chipboard butterfly 

and flowers or any other embellishment of your choice

4.Gesso (or even white acrylic will do)

5.Thin (no.0)and thick (no.5) brushes 

and tooth picks (to make small dots)

6. All purpose glue (fevicol) or Glue gun

7. Mod-Podge , Glow-in-the-dark one

LET'S START

STEP-1. Please select a photo-frame with flat surface not the rounded one.

Otherwise alphabets will slip when you are sticking them with all purpose glue.

Though with glue-gun , there is no problem.

But as i was doing this project with kids and for kids,I knew little rough handling is going to be there, so i went for easy and safe ones.....

Anyway, clean the frame with little damp cloth.

STEP-2. Take your alphabets of a NAME,clean and file them.

I had taken these MDF alphabets to show you the procedure.

These alphabets are not the laser cut ones but the hand cut,and some corners were not so clear, 

so i filed those tit-bits with my nail filer,and now they are good.

(And you know what, one can cut them with thick cardboard also,

it just will need more patience than normal.....)

STEP-3. Apply 2 coats of GESSO , keeping the interval of 15-20 minutes in-between.

For this project, one can even use 2 coats of White Acrylic Paint if you don't have Gesso.

Now the question is WHY apply white as base ??

Simple, because if you apply acrylic color directly on wooden or MDF products, 

they absorb colors, as they are porous materials. 

So the vibrancy of you color is little brownish and muted.

Where as white Gesso or white acrylic as base helps reflect colors.

And they look bright and fresh.

STEP-4. Once the coats of Gesso is dry, apply 2 coats of Acrylic Colors of your choice. 

Keeping the interval of 15-20 minutes of drying time in-between the coats.

You can paint same color to all the alphabets of a name, or color them in multi color. 

I wanted to make it look colorful,on a plain base photo-frame,hence different-different colors.....

STEP-5. Now it's time to decorate.

Add color-on-color (Dotted "R") or contrasting color (Stripped "C") 

add dots, stripes or what ever takes your fancy.

STEP-6. Lastly apply 2-3 coats of MOD-PODGE ,

Glow-in-the-DARK one on your alphabets.

Mod-podge seals and protect your handy work.

And the added bonus is because it's "Glow-in-the-dark Mod-Podge",

it absorbs light throughout the day and glows softly in the dark,

in your kids room,

when you kiss them "Good-night", and switch-off the light.

STEP-7. Repeat steps 2,3,4,5,and 6 for these beautiful butterflies and flowers,

or whatever other embellishments you are using......

STEP-8. Now your embellishments and name alphabets are ready....

It's time to GLUE them all on your frame,

either with all purpose glue (that takes time)

or glue gun (quick and fast)

And you are DONE.....

Your little ones can go off to sleep seeing their names glowing in the dark.

WHAT FUN!!!!!!

And the possibilities are endless.....

For the younger ones i had done the whole thing, except letting them paint here n there.

But for the older ones I had assembled a 

DIY kit, 

which includes Printed instructions 

+ A Frame 

+ Alphabets of their NAME

+ White acrylic for base

+ 6 small tubes of acrylic color

+ Thick n thin brushes

+ A small tube of all purpose glue(Fevicol)

+ Mod-Podge (Glow-in-the-dark)

My 9 year son's school Art work

This beautiful 3D

collage is my son's school's art exams work.

He had good fun cutting Sun,Clouds and lots of waves,and punching loads of sea weeds,

even my little daughter helped in punching.....then it was mamma's job to cut all the fishes.....

Then my son assembled all the paper pieces, layered them and stuck it together with

glue and foam tape......

Feeling so proud seeing my little ones work, though he is not so arty-crafty,

but his ideas are brilliant....

Scare

I didn't scream, 
I didn't shout   
I know my son was zapped,   
    with my un-usual clout,   
how do I explain him,   
      A mother’s LOVE  
which soars with their small-small happiness, 
      and gets scared with their single fright .

How do I tell him,
that, even when I was not their.....
the moment he came crashing down the roof, I flinched....
  I can still hear the crash
        and his little startled scream.
When he thought,
     there was no one to save him.
No mamma, no papa in sight.

How do I scold him,
even when he's at wrong,
  he already is guilt ridden, 
and had such dreadful fright. 

Mother rents-n-rave
  for ever in a child's life....
She is their worst nightmare
    come to life.
But if something ever happens to them,
she's the one who dies thousand deaths.
Each scratch on their body or heart...
                   tears her apart, in a slight.
every smile of theirs and every laughter
       makes her mundane life, full of sprite.

 My little one was sound-n-safe,
       even after such an escapade. 
Little cuts n bruises, turning blue n black,
        but no lasting injuries, no fear, no flack.

So the only thought in my head 
         was to thank god, and hold my son tight....
The only feeling in my heart
                   was not to let him out of my sight.

Thanked my lucky stars, over-n-over again
                     for my child,
and just held him, held him tight,
and cried, late at night.
When no one can hear my fear,
            cannot see my plight.
Kept staring at my healthy sleeping boy
    reliving all the mays-n-mights.
Even after such an incident
          his twinkling eyes were full of mischief,
                and his naughty smile so bright.

My children completes me
    fill colors to all my days n nights
so after such a scare I held on to my son, held him tight
                and cried, late at night.
I love you so much my little ones,
             you both are my shining light.

                                           Love ma 

" My son fell from the roof "

“My son fell from the roof.”

And can you believe, he is absolutely all right, except few scratches and blue-black bruises here and there.  Physically as well as mentally, he is fine. And thank god for that.                               

But I had lost sleep for last 2 days, thinking what all could have happened…..

Last Friday was the day, when I went to pick up some new art-n-craft supplies. As I just learnt distressing (an art technique) I wanted to do some exploration on my own. And for that I needed the supplies, hence I stepped out of home. While coming back from my endeavor, half way through I received a call from HOME. My son was calling to let me know that he is all right, after falling from the roof. 

I was stunned, I was shocked, I didn't know how to react. 

My breadth stopped and so did my mind. 

In those few seconds I died thousand deaths. 

I heard the fear in my son’s voice, understood he needed consolation, though expecting my anger. But I was too dumb-stuck to give him any. Somehow I managed to control all the horrors of my imagination. Prompted the auto-guy to hurry-up, and asked my son to put Geeta (the maid, responsible for the kids in my absence) on phone, needed an adult to put things in perspective. 

Holding my breath, I heard what has happened. Anyhow sustain myself from raving and renting, reached our colony. Paid the auto-guy, and ran up the stairs, oblivious to the weight of my back-pack, my knee injury totally forgotten. The urgency in my blood was to see my son, hold him, touch him, and feel him. After seeing him, I was still afraid, afraid to hug him tight, not knowing the extent of his injuries. 

And my little one was trying hard to play down his hurt, so not to scare me. 

                            Wondered who was the adult then?                                                                                                He seemed more anxious of my reaction, rather than of the actual incident. Sounded shaken yet quite brave. Told me the abbreviated version along with his friend. 

And this is how the story unfolded, with a pinch of lies.....                                                                                                                                   Naughty as my son is, went up the roof, along with two of his friends to play. Though he’s not allowed to go up there on his own if me or hubby dear is not there to keep a check. But only maid being at home is taken for granted. Picked up the roof keys from the keys drawer and went up. And according to his and his friend’s account they were chit-chatting, bird-watching and playing up there, and along came a spider. In their case- the 4^th kid, whom they all refuse to play with as he’s quite rowdy. They again refuse to include him in their fun, and in his vengeance, while going back he locked them up on the roof. So all three friends were stuck on roof for an hour, with no means of coming down (as per them). And off-course they thought, they were too smart for their own good. (three 8-9 year old kids) 

So instead of calling for the maid to assist, or holler for passer-by to come to their aid, they decided to get to get down on balcony roof, which is made up of alabaster sheet. I don’t know, neither do I understand what were they trying to do, by coming down on balcony roof. Did they thought, they can jump down in our balcony and go up again taking the stairs to open the roof door from the outside OR what???...Because even balcony roof, though slanted is still 10-12 feet higher up from the balcony floor.

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” Murphy's Law                                                          And as luck would have it, my son got down on balcony roof and the alabaster sheet cracked. One of his friends had enough presence of mind to through him a rope, while my son was slipping on the breaking roof. And hold on to the rope real tight, so they can pull him up. They tried, really did. I do believe that, as one of the kids has scratches under his arms. But I guess it’s not a feat for two small children’s to perform. Mean while the 4^th child, who had locked these three came and hearing all the commotion, un-locked the door and ran off scared. 

Even the other kids who were trying to pull my son up got panicky, once they realized that they can’t pull my son up, and one of them ran off as well. That left only one of my son’s friends at one end of the rope trying to pull him up and my son on the other end, and off-course gravity pulling my son down. 

My son’s friend, though a year older than my son is little light weight in comparison, so the poor child alone couldn't hold my son for long, and started to get pulled down himself.  

Seeing his friend half-hanging on the roof, in an attempt to prevent him from falling. My son determined its better that one of them falls down rather than both getting pulled down. 

So he let go of the rope. Rolled himself in a ball, in a attempt to cover his head and fell down in the balcony, amidst all the alabaster sheets debris. 

Wooden chair underneath has broken his fall a bit. But still, it was a drop of good 9-10 feet from where he fell.                                                           

I swear – it was GOD looking out for him, that he is still standing in front of me in one peace, narrating it all, as if nothing much has happened. Imagining what all could have gone wrong are still giving me nightmares. He could have fallen on glass table in the balcony, he could have hit his head on one of the candle post or garden stake, or with the force of inertia he could have rolled off the whole roof and fallen four stories down….endless dread….                                             

But thank god thousand times, nothing such happened, and my son is in my arms, safe-n-sound, no cracked ribs, no fractured leg or such horrors…..

I’m amazed at my son…….all this must have happened in split seconds, yet such clear thoughts…..was he not scared that he’ll get badly hurt, or was he so very concerned for his friend’s safety, that his own hurt was acceptable in comparison. In the dark of the night that’s how he explained/justify letting go of the rope and falling down…..And I can’t get over it, isn’t it a child’s first instinct is to hold on to their own safety, without thinking about others.  Or my little one has grown up so much, when I was not watching..???....

Love you my little one, love u tones…..so please don’t give me scares like this….

Fusion Card Challenge #4 - Butterflies !!!..

Fusion Card Challenge #4 - Butterflies !!!..

Thanks to some of my Creative friends,through whom I had come across The Fusion Card page on face book.... I saw the challenge and that too with butterflies was going on,I just couldn't stop my self from not being part of it.......

This has been mine first ever card making  challenge....and I'm kinda nervous....but the best part about this challenge is, that there are no restrictions about the materials or

 techniques to use....

So instead of one I ended up making 3-4 of them...which will be posted separately so that I can link them to challenge as well....

Being greedy!!!...I know..

Another thing ...what I love about this challenge is that I get to play around with one of my all time favorite .....

 " BUTTERFLIES" r Flutterby's as I call them...........beautiful,colorful,dainty-darlings.

As it is shown in the picture of Fusion here....I could have either used just the sketch or the butterfly photo inspiration....Else I can complicate my life a little bit more and combine/FUSE both the ideas  together....And guess what,I took the tougher part.....

It really took me long to conceive an idea that was fun to be executed ....And the  visualization was an effort,....even my daughter enjoyed water coloring along with me....

I really wanted to do something different, so instead of using scrap-booking paper I made my own background paper...

...I drew the butterflies with masking fluid/masking gum on water color paper...

...once the masking gum was dry ,I splashed water on top....

....and then added my water colors in RAINBOW shades.....

.....dividing my paper into 2 parts by WARM and COOL colors.....

Love the way water color merges into each other.....

Once every thing is dry on paper ,then the Fun begins....

...peeling the masking gum from your paper....you just need to rub a little on a corner , and it will start coming off like threads ,when the dried masking fluid is out ,it leaves crisp and clear white out lines.

But the hanging butterfly in the circle is different....

here I did the 'wet on wet water coloring' first...then out line the butterfly by a permanent marker....

 

Combine two such butterflies together ,so I can add antennas and a fishing thread to hang the butterfly in the middle of the circle.....

I drew and colored the butterflies on one side and left the other side white, but out lined it with marker on both the sides....cut it with paper cutter and glued  the black and white side of the butterflies just in the center .....so that I can bend the wings a bit giving it 3D look.....

Last but not the least ,all handy work literally.................................................Not BAD!!!