Friday, October 31, 2008

Sneak Peek Friday #4

The sneak peek for tomorrow's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is up! 
Go and check it out here!!

Its a fun one!!

Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #28 - Birthday wishes!

Good Thursday Afternoon everyone,

Today is the first day that my daughter has not had a fever (knock on laminated wood). I can't even tell you what a crazy few days it has been around here - she has been just super fussy crying if I hold her - crying if I put her down.... but today - she seemed much better and back to her mischievous self :) 

What do I mean by mischief you ask? Well, while I was talking to Brooke this afternoon, she managed to dump out a tube of glitter, take a bite of a candle, dump a container of blank CD-R on the floor, and rip her shirt.... she is quick and I am just not quick enough.... Who needs to go workout when there are a few munchkins to chase around.... No need to worry about getting bored around here!

While she was napping, I had a chance to do Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge. Check out the fun coin purse inspiration that Kristina picked for this weeks challenge. These colors were definitely challenging -but they totally grew on me. I loved the contrast of the bright orange and pink colors with the sage shadow green color. 

So I thought I would go with a flower theme for a birthday card for my friend whose big day is next week (good thing she doesn't read my blog :) I created the flowers on Photoshop and then cut each of them out - that felt like it took forever - and then adhered them onto the card stock ... and popped some out on dimensionals. I also added a few white brad buttons on a few of the flowers just for a little more white accents on the card. 

It's always so weird for me to work on Kristina's challenge during the day - kinda throws me off a bit :) Can't wait to go and see what everyone else has created!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for our Cinema Saturday SNEAK PEEK Friday!!! 
We promise you that our pick for this week's movie inspired challenge - is a fun one!!

Thanks so much for coming over for a visit!!

Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #39 - 2 Cards




Good Monday Morning Everyone,


Hope your weekend was good - ours flew by. Thanks for all the sweet wishes for our daughter's health - her fever is down a little (she has had a viral fever for the last 4 1/2 days...her doctor seemed to think it is roseola.... I am trying to keep the kids separated so she doesn't get our son sick.... which is near impossible to separate them...). I didn't have much of a chance to craft or comment on your blog - I am sorry about that - but hopefully will have a little more time now that I don't have to constantly hold a sick little baby. In the midst of all the craziness this weekend - I had a chance to try Taylor's Cupcake Challenge sketch for this week (have you seen the cute stamps that she just released - OMG - way tooo cute!) I love her sketches and this one was no different - loved the circles and bows on the side and couldn't wait to try it for a bday card I needed to make for my friend. 


 



The first card is for one of my dearest friends who is working in Berlin now. We went to college and got to hang out earlier this spring when she visited. She is sooo Ms. Vogue - so when trying to figure out what kind of card to make for her, I saw this silver paper from a Project Runway pack (sent by my awesome MIL!). The green paper is from K & Co. The buttons were actually earrings once upon a time which were going on sale for 50 cents! I just figured at that price, I could use it for something! The ribbon is from Offray and the rest is scrap piled. I added some liquid pearls and the stamped sentiment from SU and rounded a corner or two :) Its kinda hard to photograph reflective material so I am sorry about the pics.



I also loved Stacy's Jewelry Color Inspiration for this week (she gets her color inspiration from jewelry pieces - how cool is that! you have to go and check her out!)and thought it was perfect for making a Halloween card -  I feel like, I should be making more Halloween cards before the season passes me by, so I made another quick one too.The second card was made for our family friends who we are going trick or treating with tonight (yes, you heard me right, tonight.... for some reason, our town has decided that tonight is Halloween... so my son and I are getting all bundled up (it flurried last night!!) and are going with his preschool class (he is dragon - but he tells everyone that he is a sweet dragon :) LOL!) The cupcakes are from Taylored expressions, as are the ribbon and colored cardstock. I paper pieced and stickled and tied some ribbons and called it a day :) The inside sentiment also from Taylored expressions reads: When mummies roam and pumpkins gleam, may sweets be yours on Halloween. The border on the inside was made with a Martha Stewart border punch and then dotted and ribboned :) Aren't those cupcakes in costumes soo cute! I love using them!


Speaking of cupcakes,  I made 50 of these pumpkin spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (all organic, no eggs, from scratch), but only 39 made it to the party :) 


The movie choice this week at our challenge site: Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is: The Nightmare Before Christmas. Just make a card, layout, altered project - inspired by any aspect of the movie (from the dialogue, movie jacket, costumes, music, characters, themes... anything really!) and link to this post by this Thursday at 9pm PST. Come and check it out and join us in the fun!!! (click HERE)



Hope all of your mondays are going well and that you are staying warm!!


Thank you so much for visiting!! 

Ciao for now,

Sankari :)


PS: Here is a pic of our son at Walmart -- he didn't want to take off his costume the whole day and so he was dressed as a dragon   as I ran errands the whole day (I think its a bit like an alligator - but he insists that he is a dragon :)- I just thought this pic was sooo cute - he was mesmerized by all the TV's :)


 I asked him to take off his costume - but he refused - and so I went to the grocery store, walmart, the drugstore and to another store with a sweet little dragon holding my hand :) One of the highlights of my day :)


Saturday, October 25, 2008

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge # 3 - Nightmare Before Christmas


Good Saturday Morning Everyone,

Its time for the third challenge for this week's Cinema Saturday Challenge where we have picked Tim Burton's 1993 movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas! YAY!

You know when this movie came out, I was really resistant to watching it because I thought it would be scary and kinda like a horror flick - which I am totaaaaallllly not into and so I didn't watch it for almost 10 years! By that time, I was married and my DH is a fan of Tim Burton and was shocked that I hadn't seen it - and after reassuring me that it wasn't like a horror flick at all - we watched it and to my surprise I loved this movie! It was just soooo clever from the very beginning - it was like being transported into a different world and the most amazing thing was that at some point all these elements were clay!!
I love Tim Burton's imagination - he is just so creative and clever. In creating this card I wanted to create something that had a whimsy feel and something with a lot of textures since this movie is a claymation film.... and so this is what I came up with:
I love that scene where Jack is singing (I think it is called Jack's Lament) and he is a silhouette against the moon standing on the hill whose edge is a spiral.... so I drew a rough template and cut out some cardstock and painted them different shades of blue, gray and purple and then drew some swirls on them. The black background is embossed with polysparkle EP and then the top edges were corner rounded. I cut out some circles using my CM cutters, crumpled them up for texture and then painted them gold. On the front circle, I painted a swirl. Most of the elements of the card are mounted on dimensionals.


The stamped sentiment is from the Frightful night set by Taylor and the ribbon is a find that my MIL had sent me in a package (she is the best!) - I was psyched that it had a dotted theme too :)

We would love for you to play along!! Want to play along but tired of Halloween cards - no worries - you can create anything from the Christmas themes in the movie or the love theme between Jack & Sally ...... or anything in between! 

Click here to check out our Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog. 

Can't wait to see your creations!!!
Thanks so much for coming over for a visit!

See you at the movies,
Sankari :)

PS. Thanks to all of you for the sweet comments about my daughter's health - she still has a high temp - but at least is in good spirits - thanks to all of your sweet wishes :)

Friday, October 24, 2008

Sneak Peek Friday!!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well! Things here are definitely interesting.... with one little one who is running a high temp and the other little one who is trying to get all the attention that is going towards his sister - phew! I am sooooo ready for this weekend!

Here is a little something to get you excited for our 3rd Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge premiering tomorrow - its definitely a fun movie choice - you can see the sneak peek here ! 

Come back tomorrow for the unveiling of the third challenge and we hope that you have a chance to play along!!!!

Ciao for now,
Sankari ;)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #27- Thinking of You!!

Happy Thursday everyone,

A quick card for KW''s Color Inspiration challenge - my daughter has been sick and I have been exhausted from cleaning up the throwup and bringing her fever down... and my DH was sweet enough to come home  early this afternoon to help with the kids - so I escaped to my corner to do a quick card - I have to say that I LOVE this pic of all the nail colors and loved that we could either make red the focus or pink the focus  -  so I went with red with a little pink thrown in there.... (is this the longest sentence or what?) :) I thought that the little drops of red liquid pearls looked like some drops of nailpolish - without the fumes :)

Do you notice something kinda interesting in the card? Its red bubble 
wrap!! :) I was cracking myself using this - but it was right next to my table and it was red  so I thought why not? It definitely adds a texture to the card and my son has really enjoyed popping what little bubbles were left. 

Anyhoo.... so I am off to go an snuggle my little bunny - hope all of you are keeping healthy and warm (it is so cold here!) and are enjoying your thursdays!!

Don't forget - that Sneak Peek Friday is around the corner for Cinema Saturday's Creative Challenge coming up this saturday!!! Come back tomorrow and check out the fun pick for this weekend!

Thanks for stopping for a visit!
Ciao for now,
Sankari

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Color Throwdown of Happy Pumpkins

A Good Tuesday evening to all,

A quick card for today - a little Fall Fun in the form of some pumpkins using the colors from the weekly color picks of the lovely ladies at the Color Throwdown (can't believe its #15 already!) Last week, I made my card for the Color Throwdown and got it in  a bit late and this week, I wanted to get it in before Wednesday's new color pick - and 
here I am squeezing it in... this week has been crazy for me and its only tuesday!! I made this card last night - but didn't have time to post today... aie! Anyhoooooo.....  I 
loved the colors (So Saffron is also one of the colors) for this week - they are so deliciously fall and so lovely and yummy.

I loved these pumpkin stamps from Clear Stamps - I stamped them on orange DP - cut them out and put little googley eyes on them and painted their teeth in. The saffron background that the pumpkins are sitting on was created by the silhouette of a Marvy punch (LOL!) and the scalloped border was created by punching out little circles.It was then sponged with some copper ink on the edges. Everything else in there is lifted from my scrappile and ribbon pile and button pile... It was a fun card to make and my son (3 yrs) enjoyed shaking the card all around so that he could see the googley eyes do their magic :) 

These pumpkins remind me of something elese: my son's school picture. Today, was picture day at school - it was both hilarious and crazy! My son kept smiling all weird ... he usually does a great job smiling... but his lips have been a bit chapped and so he hasn't been smiling that much the last few days (we have been covering them with all sorts of lip balm). And since he wasn't smiling quite big - they asked him to smile showing his teeth... that is when the craziness started... he started smiling all weird - showing all kinds of teeth ... I kept telling him to smile his sweet smile - but by that point - all he wanted to do was show his teeth in a smile... so he would put his top teeth right on top of this bottom teeth and smile.... he looked like one of these pumpkins...LOL! I have no idea how they will turn out... hopefully there is one good shot .... sigh..

So guess what big plans my Tuesday night holds.... yup! you guessed it... cleaning!!! How depressing is that??? The last 3 nights - I have opted out of cleaning up the house and doing laundry in favor of making a card... but tonight - I can avoid it no longer... we are having some guests tomorrow and there is way too much stuff to shove into the closets before they come - so I am forced to clean...

Hope all of you are doing something more exciting than that tonight! :)
Thanks for coming over for a visit!!!
Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pease not Please :)

Good Morning Everyone,

Taylor had a really fun sketch for her Friday Cupcake Challenge - it was to make a project using this layout to find out what your stamps are really saying! I had so much fun with this challenge and came up with a  fun birthday card for my son's friend. 

My daughter who is one and a half is saying the cutest things and one of the sweetest things at this age is how they say please - there is no "L" sound and it becomes the cutest little word: pease.... So now everyone in the house has adopted this new way of saying please - we all just say pease.... 

I love this little baby girl sitting in her high chair with a messy mouth - reminds me of my daughter - although, my daughter's hair, the floor, the table and the walls would all have food on it - not just her face :) This image is from Inkadinkado and the cupcake image that I popped up with dimensionals is from Hero Arts. The thought bubble and dots are all popped up also and there is liquid pearl (of course :) to the cupcake and to 
her mouth :) The sentiment was created on the computer and then cut out and the bite marks on the cupcake were cut out as well. 
 
I loved going though my stamps and seeing what fun things they could be saying - and can't wait to make some more cards with this challenge's idea! 

Hope your Monday is going off to a great start! Don't forget to check out the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog (click here) and check out the creations for this week's movie pick: Breakfast at Tiffany's. You can still link your creation to our challenge by Thursday 9pm PST. 

Well, I am off to make some breakfast!
Thanks for visiting!

Ciao for now,
Sankari



Saturday, October 18, 2008

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #2 - Breakfast at Tiffany's


Welcome to the second Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge

Can I even tell you HOW excited I am about today's Cinema pick?!! SOOoooooOOoooo excited! I absolutely love and adore Audrey Hepburn - she is just the epitomy of  style and elegance. I  grew up watching her in My Fair Lady (one of my father's favorite movies and he presented me with this movie when I was 12 - and I have since watched this movie over 60 times.... I totally know it by heart... and I feel like I have memorized all of Audrey's looks and mannerisms and little gestures. When I finally got to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time - I was just struck by her effortless grace, beauty and elegance. One of my favorite scenes is the opening scene where the taxi drops her off in front of Tiffany & Co - it is just gorgeous - the way she walks out  and the dress! that she is wearing is just so gorgeous - sigh!! she is just beautiful!

Here is a quick collage of her dress that I made in honor of this opening scene from the movie - she is just so elegant!


And it was really this dress that inspired the cards that I made for this challenge:

 There are so many points of inspiration from this movie and I have to say that I feel like I could make at least a few more cards using some of the other themes in the movie. But for now, I created two cards and when I was taking pictures, I just had to create a little "scene" by posing my cards next to the box from Tiffany & Co. from which we received our candle holders from our wedding 7 years ago. My DH has asked me so many times, why I store a box with nothing in it...

Well,  I can't very well throw out a Tiffany's box, now can I? and I haven't found anything extraordinary to store in it - but right now it makes me happy to know that I have a Tiffany's box in my closet, LOL!

Anyhoo! I had to make the cards with that Tiffany blue color in it - so my colors were black, white and Tiffany blue :) This first card that I made is an ode to Audrey's dress in the opening scene. I wish I could say that I made that dress, but I did not.... it was actually from a group of stickers that my MIL sent me a few years back - and I never wanted to use it because it is just too beautiful... and so I was psyched to use it today for this challenge. For this card, I used the sketch from Julee's Mojo Monday #45 - from a few months ago  - it is a great sketch and fit perfectly for this challenge. The sentiment was created on my computer and then corner rounded. I made this card for a particularly fabulous friend of mine. The bottom embellishments are pearls and the scalloped edge was created by a corner rounder. 
And then after I was done with this first card - I had all these scraps and had to make another card. So I kept it kinda simple - no stamping just adhering all the scrap together. This card was hard to take a pic of because of the diamonds on the circle around the "flower" were shiny and I couldn't capture their glittery gleams in the sunlight . I don't say this often - but I really like how this second card turned out - it was actually the one of the quickest cards I have made because it was basically putting together my leftovers . I have a had this button sitting in my button stash for quite a awhile and was totally psyched to finally use it, as I was to finally use this ribbon from my ribbon stash. The bling and and brads have been in my stash forever ( I was going to use it for a scrapbook layout and bought it so long ago - but it seemed perfect for this card to honor Audrey's Tiffany pearls and diamonds :) and the cardstock were just the leftover scraps from the first card. 





Hop on over to Brooke's blog and see her beautiful take from this movie - she always blows me away with her beautiful creations! Well, I have to say that I had SO much fun creating these cards for today's challenge and hope that you will come on over and play with us (click
HERE). Link your entry to this post anytime from now until this Thursday at 9pm Pacific time.

We would also love to hear what movies you would like us to feature on Cinema Saturday and we can't wait to see you creations!


Thanks for visiting!
Sending you all lots of sunshine!

Sankari :)

Card Recipe: 
Paper: Black cardstock from the Paper Company, Blue from DCVW, 
Accessories: Ribbons from stash, button from stash, dress sticker from my MIL not sure where she got i from, bling, brads from Making Memories, corner rounder for scalloped edge, silver gel pen for dots on the border, computer for printing out Hello Fabulous sentiment. 
Movies watched while making this card: I would like to say Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I watched Pride & Prejudice (1995 BBC version with my lovie Colin Darcy LOL!!! - thanks Anthonette for the heads up that it can be found as mini episodes on Youtube - you have no idea how that totally made my week!!! 

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sneak Peek Friday!!

Hi All,

Just wanted to tell you that you can now get a sneak peek of tomorrow's challenge on Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge - (click HERE). Its from one of my all time favorite movies with one of my all time favorite actresses - and I am so excited for tomorrow!

Hope you can join us in the fun and play along!
See you at the movies tomorrow!!

Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #26 - Happy Birthday!!!



Good Morning Everyone,

How are you all this Thursday? Can you believe that we are halfway through October? Because I cannot quite grasp that - the weather here is starting to get colder and there is a forecast for the possibility of snow this weekend! Whaaat?!?!! Definitely not ready for that - I still haven't put the kids summer clothes away - what can I say - I am a little in denial that summer is over.... (sigh)

But what a better way to get out of the gloom of the approaching winter, than to make a card?? LOL!! Look at this fun set of colors that Kristina Werner came up with for her color inspiration.  I love these bright fun colors together - especially because it was raining all yesterday - and this was a bright and sunny palette. 

It reminded me of spring and so I went the flower route and came up with this Happy Birthday card. 
The punched out flowers are adhered to the punched out squares with a brad and then the leaves were cut out free hand and adhered to the flower base. The ribbons were stacked on top of each other - and the bow was made separately and attached with a glue dot. 
It is hard to see the "Happy Birthday" sentiment because of the sunlight hitting the card - sorry about that... Well, I am off to work on my lecture for today - hope all of you are enjoying your Thursday and hope you get moments to relax and enjoy the beauty of the day :)

Come back on Saturday and play with us at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge this Saturday! - you check the details HERE!!

Thanks for coming over for a visit,
Best wishes,
Sankari

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: sentiment from Taylored Expressions
Ink: Martha Baby Blue
Paper: Scrapile (yay!!! the more paper I can use from my scrap pile - the more paper I can buy!
Ribbon: offray
Accessories: Creative Memories Square punch, Martha mini Scallop punch, brads from Making Memories, paper piercer, corner rounder
Movies watched: Pride and Prejudice (1995 BBC version on Youtube - thanks Anthonette for the tip - I am totally in heaven now!!!


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Thinking of You card - TCP & Mojo inspirations


Good Afternoon Everyone,
I have been slacking on doing some challenges - so today's post is actually three separate posts using 6 different challenges (how crazy is that!) But for the simplicity of listing the card ingredients - I am posting it all separately.


This card incorporates the colors from TCP Tuesday and Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch. I wanted to make a simple card and loved the blue and yellow colors together - so I decided to use the red for accent. (my colors are a little off - because I am trying to use only paper from my scrap pile - but I hope its still okay :) I really enjoyed this sketch from Julee it was totally fun and I have been loving doing circles lately - so this was perfect.


I know that Brooke is totally shocked as I am that there aren't any liquid pearl dots all around this card ;) (LOL!!!) I almost did but instead I went the paper piercing route. My hand kept itching to do it - and that's when it hit me: ..... that I am a liquid pearl addict! So I then I had to add some to the flowers... just couldn't help it! LOL!
Anyhoo - it is raining cat's & dogs here (where did that expression ever come from ??)

Thank you for coming over for a visit!,
Ciao for now!
Sankari :)

PS - if you need more challenges - please come back on Saturday morning for the all new challenge that Brooke and I are throwing called Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge! We just started last week - go on and check it out HERE!!! We would love love love for you to join!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU!
Ink: Martha's Black
Paper - Scrapbasket cardstock (YAY! a little more from my scrap mountain is reduced! :)
Accessories: Martha's ribbon, cherry red brad from American crafts, paper piercing and paper piecing, Martha's mini scallop punch, CM cicle cutting system
Shows watched: Bones (season 1 on Hulu)

Halloween BOO card - 2S4U & Jewelry Inspiration color challenge


S

Good Morning Everyone,
I have been slacking on doing all my favorite challenges - so today's post is actually three separate posts using 6 different challenges (how crazy is that??) But for the simplicity of listing the card ingredients - they are divided into three posts.

This Halloween card drew its inspiration from Kazan's fun sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You and my new favorite color challenge from Stacy where she gets her color inspiration from awesome jewelry pieces. This particular beautiful ring is from the collection of Kristina Moses and you can check out her site HERE).
I loved the colors and loved how the square colors from the ring went so beautiful with the sketch from Kazan. I had to go with a Halloween theme - I tried not to... but still need some more Halloween cards - but I tried to make it boo-tiful (sorry couldn't resist).

Its still raining here - and the chai is simmering on the stove :) the whole house smells chai spicy and warm - yummy!

Hope you are having a cozy day whereever you are!
Thanks for visiting!
Ciao for now,
Sankari :)

PS - if you need more challenges - please come back on Saturday morning for the all new challenge that Brooke and I are throwing called Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge! We just started last week - go on and check it out HERE!!! We would love love love for you to join!

Card Recipe:
Paper: the Paper company (black, orange and yellow)
Accessories: Ribbon from ? stash, Stickles (crystal), color pencils for the doors and windows, corner rounder for scalloped edging, Fiskar's 2" and 1.5" circle punch, foam letters for boo, and black paint for the house, googley eyes for the Boo sentiment :)
Shows watched: The Office on Hulu

Color Throwdown with Jen's Sketch for You to Try


Good Morning Everyone,

I have been slacking
on doing some challenges - so today's post is actually three separate posts using 6 different challenges (how crazy is that!) But for the simplicity of listing the card ingredients - I am posting it all separately.
This card is inspired from the fun colors from the ladies at the Color Throwdown and the sketch from Jen's Sketch for You to Try. I love these great colors together and decided that I needed some blank sentiment cards - so I just enjoyed the sketch without worrying about the sentiment. This last weekend - I wanted to give a card to someone - and I couldn't find the right card with the right sentiment - so I think I need to make some more all purpose blank ones.
I really had fun with this sketch and all the circles. The bow is a tribute to Donna from Butternut Sage designs - who had a great tutorial for this bow - but mine didn't quite turn out the way her gorgeous bow did - so I made do with how it ended up.
Can't wait to try out the beautiful colors from today's color throwdown!!
Hope all of you are keeping well on this Wednesday!
Thanks for coming over for a visit!
Ciao for now,
Sankari

PS. If you need more challenges please come over to our new challenge site called Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. Every Saturday, Brooke and I pick out a movie from which you can draw inspiration to create a card, layout or project. Click HERE for me details - come on over and play - we wold LOVE it if you would join!

Card Recipe:
Paper: from my scrap mountain! yay! a few more pieces are getting out of the scrap pile :)
Accessories: Ribbon from Offray, Brads from Making Memories, Martha's Mini Scallop punch, CM circle cutting system, paper piercing. SU! Scallop Punch
Shows Watched: Lipstick Jungle on Hulu

Monday, October 13, 2008

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #37 - 2 Cards


Good Monday Morning Everyone,

It's been a crazy busy weekend full of birthday parties and celebrations  and laundry and cleaning up. And I am so happy that we launched our new challenge site called Cinema Saturday (click here) where we make cards inspired by movies :) it has been so much fun to see everyone's creations! 
And one of the nicest parts of my weekend was to have some time alone to play with Taylor's fun sketch for this week's Taylored Expressions Friday Cupcake Challenge! I actually made two cards for this challenge... I started out with one.. but had so much fun - that I couldn't stop at one! 
I had all these ideas when I saw Taylor's sketch - but the one that really popped into my head was of a scene inspired by the blog header of "Paperlicious . (so Joan, I dedicate this card to you - and thank you for inspiring this card - it is so much fun to read your blog!) It was so pretty and somehow with all the circles - this sketch kinda reminded me of rolling hills and a little tree. 
The bigger cicles were cut with my CM circle cutting system and the small circles were punched out. The paper is from my scrap basket - I think I have to made up a new rule: which is that I have to use a scrap piece of paper in every blog post - that is the only way to bring down this mountain of scraps.... 
The thank you sentiment was a sticker from Crft Essentials,  the ribbon and bow were from American Craft. I punched out the moon with my cicle cutters and then painted some flowers and dots and added some dimension by cutting the paper to look like grass. I totally enjoyed making this card - had so much fun!!

I realized that I had not made any cupcakes in my card for the challenge - and while that is not a requirement - why not use them, if you have them?! So I made a second card using Taylor's sketch using the Hero Arts stamps that my MIL just sent me - how sweet is she!!!! 
I used the same green paper - and added the other two papers from my scrap pile (it is still a mountain but at least it has three less pieces in it :). I paper pieced the cupcake bottoms onto the image. I first used some liquid applique to create a fuzzy cupcake and then painted over it for some texture with the white and pink paint. I added some bling and then popped everything up on dimensionals. 
It was so nice to craft last night while watching Lipstick Jungle on Hulu. It's amazing how happy you can feel after a little card making :)
Hope all of you are enjoying your Monday!
Thank you so much for coming over for a visit!
If you have a chance, check out our new challenge site Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge and join in the fun!

Ciao for now !!!
Sankari :)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #1 - Pride & Prejudice


Good Saturday Morning Everyone!!!

Our challenge site: Cinema Saturday premiers today!!!!  Click HERE to check it out!

This week challenge draws inspiration from 
Pride & Prejudice. 

This is a site where we (Brooke and I) pick out a movie and then create a card, altered project, scrapbook page etc. from any inspiration from the movie - it could be from anything, like the costumes, the furniture, the dialogue, the colors, the movie cover, the characters, etc. Brooke and I discovered our love for all things  Jane Austen and so we had to pick Pride & Prejudice for our first cinema inspiration. 

I think I have watched this movie over.... 30 or 40 times..... (both versions included!) and then have watched some scenes in particular over and over and over....such as both of Darcy's proposals and especially the Lake Scene with Colin Firth (...sigh..). If you have never seen this movie - you can get more information at Wikipedia, click here to read Austen's novel online, click here for more info about the TV mini series from the UK (starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehlie), click here for more info about the 2005 movie (starring Matthew McFadden and Keira Knightly).
For this card - I drew my inspiration from Austen's words... I love her use of language - it is just beautiful to read her books and beautiful to hear them on the silver screen. One of my most favorite lines from Austen is the phrase from Mr. Darcy: " You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you...." I love love love love that line (and love watching Colin Firth delivering them in his first disasterous proposal - click here to watch it on Youtube). 
The other phrase that I love is from the Mr. Darcy played by Matthew McFadden when he says in the second proposal: "You have bewitched me, body and soul..." (click here to watch it on Youtube). I love these two lines and can merged them together for my card. 
The outside of the card is kind of hard to read (sorry about that) and it says: "I love you ardently..." and then the inside says: "body & soul". This card was made for my DH who I adore and love and wanted to make him a special card to show how much I appreciate him for all the wonderful things he does for us. 

At first when I was making the card - I started out with more of a muted green and blue... but somehow it didn't feel... ardent enough (LOL!)  - so I switched it to the orange and kept the blue. The scalloped edging was made in photoshop and then cut in half and adhered with brads - the same motif was adhered on the inside of the card (where it was already printed out "body and soul" from my computer. 
The sentiment on the front that reads " I love you ardently.." was written out with paint (hard to take a pic of it in the sunlight...). The ribbons were a cream and white ribbon adhered together into a bow as a tribute to Mr.Darcy's collar ties. And then I of course had to paint some dots around the card - can't help it. (Brooke and I joke about my love for using paint on a card and her love for using Crystal Effects...  :)
In making this card - I watched a lot of Pride & Prejudice on Youtube.. and I feel even more in love with the book and the characters - and I love Austen's language in her book... I have been trying to talk like Elizabeth Bennett's character and have been cracking myself up in the process... Anyhoo - it has been a really fun challenge and I hope that all of you come and join us!!!
 
All you have to do is create a card, scrapbook page, or altered project and then link it to the post HERE on the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog by Thursday, October 16, 2008. There is a very special award for the this challenge - read more details on our blog here. Also we have loved getting movie suggestions - so if you have some favorite movies - let us know! Please spread the word!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Thanks for coming over for a visit! 
Hope you are enjoying your saturday!!

Wishing you lots of sunshine!
Sankari   :)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge #25 - Celebrate!

Happy Friday Everyone!

I can't even believe how quickly this week has flown by - and I haven't done any crafting or anything this week - whaaat is goin' on?? well, nothing like a Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge to fix that! I was going to do it this morning - but my friend called to remind me that today was Bike Fest at my son's school (where the ride their bikes and trikes to help raise money per mile)... so I put away any craft stuff and instead packed our bikes and trikes and helmets and water and snacks and treats in my magical diaper bag and headed off... I have to say that my son loved ever second of biking -he did a great job and even my little girl (who is one and half did a few laps on her push trike... sooo cute...)
Anyhoo... I quickly made this card so that I could take a pic in the last rays of the sun... I am so glad that the weekend has officially begun.
Here is my little card of a silhouette lady holding a cupcake (of course there has to be cupcake ... right?) I painted the sentiment "Celebrate" and then glazed it. This is an early birthday card  for our friend Julie whose b-day is coming up in a few days and owns the yummiest store in town and has the sweetest heart and smile! Happy Bday Julie!

Also in exciting news - our new challenge site: Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge premiers tomorrow - click HERE for all the fun details!! Hope you all come and play along with us!!!

Thanks for coming for a visit!
Sending you all sunshine,
Sankari :)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Tagged and some Exciting News!!!!


Hi All, 
Guess what???!!! This is my 100th post!!! Isn't that crazy!! That is totally crazy to me because - I never thought I would make it past the first card post - but here I am! So since it is my 100th post and all... I thought I would make it a little fun and special :)

So two things:

1. I have been tagged about sharing my favorite things by my dearest bloggin buddy Brooke and so I am finally doing one of these - I have been typing them in all day here and there in between teaching classes at the U and taking my son to his 1st tennis lesson (he will be 4 in December - and he totally loved it!! and he got so much exercise that he went to sleep in an instant! gotta love tennis lessons!!)  and cooking and cleaning up.... 

2. there is some exciting news that I want to share with you guys at the end of the post - so if you want - you can skip the tag part if you want and go right to that ... or here are a few favorite things of mine :)

Favorite Things

3 Favorite Last Purchases

1. My new green handbag - love it love it love it..... my first non-practical purchase in awhile.... :) 
2. My new amethyst ring - totally totally totally on sale - a total score!!! (.... totally!)
3. New Onyx black liquid eye-liner (so that I can make my eyes look awake when I am half sleepy :) LOL!)

3 Favorite Movies
- Pride and Prejudice (of course !!!) and all the Jane Austen movies and 
- Anything with Johnny Depp.... (he is my first sweetheart :) and my DH is totally cool with dat!
-Hum Aapake Hain Khoun (for Madhuri, my most favorite actress ever! - she is gorgeous!

3 Things I Haven't Done Yet
in life:
Skydiving
Road tripping across Brazil
gone to a Kumbha Mela

this week:
finished laundry
figured out my grocery list
finished my lesson plans (of course!)

3 Things(not people) I don't want to live without:
- my computer and my computer cord (which I learned recently is very expensive and can break in the hands of a one and a half year old)
- my little spice grinder - I love cooking with freshly ground spices! 
- my MAC lipstick - always keep one in my pocket - my fave colors are Diva, XS, Viva Glam and Underworld - I seriously LOVE all their products and their lipsticks are just di-V-ine!

3 Favorite Dishes 
-Dosha or Idili with Sambar (specifically made by my mom)
- Coconut curried vegetables with lemon rice
Any dessert with mango - also Bakalava - my most fave dessert ever!

3 Favorite TV Shows
House
Lipstick Jungle
Office

3 Last Places I've Traveled
Beijing, China - I was amazed to walk part of the Great Wall - it is seriously huge - absolutely amazing - walking up the steps I would pause to see an amazing view - and then keep walking up more steps to see another absolutely amazing view -- I was stunned speechless - if those walls could talk....... here's a pic of me with some of my classmates at the Great Wall a few years ago.
Seelisberg, Switzerland - also known as Heaven on Earth - it is just the most beautiful place I have ever been - the clouds, the lake, the forest, the cows, the chocolate, the air, the love, the sweetness.... the air is so magical there! I can't wait to go back - I have a stack of pics from when I lived there - but they are not digital - will have to scan some ... someday ... the picture that you see is the mountain that I looked at from my class room - it is beautiful in all the seasons - covered with red and yellow in the fall - in snow in the winter and blooms in the spring.... somedays, I would wake up and the lake would be covered by clouds - we were above the cloud-line so all you would see was part of the mountain - it felt like we were floating in the sky - a total magical place!
Lamu, Kenya - home of the best smoothies in the world - it is a little island of the coast of Kenya - filled with beauty, dhow races, the place to get handmade silver toe rings made (still have my 2 toe rings on - they are 14 years old), the best view of the Indian Ocean (other than India of course :), amazing people, amazing food, amazing culture, amazing everything.... Lamu is one of the oldest living towns in Kenya - there are no cars in the town - except one that belongs to the mayor.... I think it is an enchanted island.... 

3 Favorite Treats
- baklava - or anything with puff pastry ;)
- chocolate pumpkin cupcakes!
-ginger green tea ice-cream (by Reeds) so good!

3 Things I'd Buy if Money Weren't an Issue
A huge house for my parents:) here with us in Iowa and a few houses for them to retire to in Rishikesh and Kerala, India and whatever else that they wanted/needed.
- Jewels and Jewelry :) 
- I know I should say something for the kids and my DH - but I think I might go with a huge craft room furnished with all the little wonderful things that makes a crafter's heart go thump thump!

And one last one that I would like to add:

3 Favorite Moments of today:
1. When the kids and I were driving home from tennis lessons, as we were passing the street that the park is on, a little burst of wind caused some leaves to gently fall in our path - and it was so beautiful to drive through these beautiful fall leaves.... took my breath away!
2. Watching my son's enthusiasm for wacking tennis balls - he cracks me up (and he cracks himself up too!) and watching my daughter (one and half years old) running around the tennis court stuffing all the tennis balls she could find down her shirt :) LOL!
3. Coming home from work and sitting on the sofa with my feet up, laptop in my lap and surfing through the internet.... ahhhhh ... sigh!

As for tagging people! I tag all of YOU who are reading this right now! Just let me know that you posted this tag and I can't wait to come over to your blog and read all your favorite things!!!!

Well.... onto the exciting news!!!

I am so happy to announce that ...............
................(drum roll please!!!) .................

Brooke and I have started our own challenge site !!!

Starting on October 11th we hope that you will join us.... at the movies!! 

Our new blog's name is: Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge! We thought it would be fun to create cards based on a movie inspiration - so each week - each Saturday to be specific, we are going to pick a movie as our inspiration to create something... a card, a scrapbook layout, a project.... anything! We want YOU! to play along and link your creations to our blog by posting a comment. The creations that cause the most oooo's and aaahhh's will be given a special little award (yet to be revealed!). 

We really hope that you all come over and play this Saturday!!! Go on and check out our blog (click HERE) - it is still a wee bit under construction - but hopefully things will be up and running by this Sat!!!

So please tell all your friends and come on over!!!

I am so grateful to have met all of you amazing artists out there doing this blog! My life is so much richer because of it! Thank you so much for all of you who leave amazing comments - you totally make my day! And thank you for all the sweet get better wishes! I think it worked! because today is the first full day that I have felt good the whole day! You guys are the best!!!!

Sending all of you a ton of sunshine and happiness!!!
Thanks for coming over to visit!
Love and Joy and Hugs and SMiles,
Sankari :)