A Love-themed Project

Hello and good afternoon dear friends!

I'm Halak and I welcome you to my little papercrafting blog.

It is after quite a bit of hiatus that I write this... it's not that I quit papercrafting but just that amidst this rush of a life the pace of crafting got awfully slow.

Nevertheless, I'd love to share with you a project I created recently. A card with a matching envelope.

Here's a photo of just the card:

Products used to make this are:

1. Purple, White and Black cardstock from my stash
2. Distress Oxide Inks - Wilted Violet & Salty Ocean
3. Word Tile in Black, Clear Sequins, Tiny Rhinestones and Dew Drops i.e. Acrylic dots in 5mm size  (I bought these from a local store close to my home but these are easily available online)
4. Spellbinders - Labels 8 Die (I used the second largest die)
5. Memory Box - Enchanted Heart Die
6. Memory Box - Climbing Vine Die
7. White Glitter - Dress My Craft
8. Black Glitter - Jags

Steps:

1. First I cut out the card base and die-cut the white layering base, heart and vine.
2. Next, I inked up the white heart using distress oxide inks and set it to dry.
3. After that, adhered the white card front to my card base.
4. Added white glitter to the heart and adhered to card front. Added black glitter to the vines and adhered that as well.
Here's a closeup:

5. Once the glitter dried, I adhered the word tile to the centre of the heart.
6. Finished the card with some sequins, rhinestones and dew drops.

Also added a white vine to the envelope to create a co-ordinating look.

One of my inspirations to create this project other than this being February a.k.a the month-of-love is the fun challenge over at The Twisted Challenges. Link: Challenge Link wherein you had to make a project devoid of pink and red.

Hmmm.. this is interesting.. I thought to myself and here I am... writing this post!

Here's one more picture of the card with the co-ordinating envelope:

That brings me to an end of this post.

Hope you liked what I created and thank you so much for stopping by!

*Hugs*

-Halak

Fun projects with washis over @PABD

Hello hello! 😊

I have a fun post over at PABD featuring a colorful array of cards made using washi tapes.

To check out the complete post, just click >> HERE

Here are some quick closeups:

Do stop by, I'd love to know what you think!

*Big Panda Hugs*

Till next time!

Creativity takes Courage

Hello and good morning dear friends!

I can't believe I forgot to share this fantastic piece of news with you all....

Well... better late than never... what say? :)

My work has once again featured in Our Idea Book!!! (India's first ever craft magazine.)

It's in the September 2017 Issue on Page No. 7.

This project is very special to me, because it is symbolic. It is dedicated to all those people who put their work out there, take criticism with a smile on their faces + hope in their hearts and strive to improve with each passing day. :)

P.S. I love making ATCs so to be able to use a combination of them and make a project was a lot of fun!

To buy the magazine, click > HERE

In case you have any specific query related to this project, don't forget to shoot me an email at halak.shah@gmail.com or leave a comment below this post and I will reply as soon as I see the msg!

I'd love to know what you think! Have a lovely weekend!

Swimming by, saying hi!

Here's a hello card I made for a new friend. :)

Kept it simple and let the beautiful sea horse stamp shine through.

The seahorse stamp is... of course! By my favorite rubber stamp company, So Suzy Stamps.

He also has a name! He goes by the name Polo - The Seahorse! How cool is that!

Okay okay... enough about me going gaga over the cuteness, here are the steps :

1. Stamped Polo and masked him.

2. Stenciled around him using Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers distress inks with Tim Holtz Flourish stencil.

3. Stamped sentiment using archival ink with a Wplus9 sentiment stamp set. (From the strictly sentiments series)

4. Colored Polo with Staedtler Luna color pencils and Sakura gelly roll pens.
Added glossy accents to his belly + fin and sprinkled some glitter over it to give him a little bit of sparkle!

5. Tied a bow and matted it onto green with a final mat onto white card base.

6. Finally, used the sequins I recently bought from the Pastel assortment at Craftin Desert Divas (yay!) and scattered them around!

And that's it! I hope you guys have a lovely Sunday!

Thank you for stopping by! Till next time!

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Peacock Plumes!

Good afternoon! ^__^

I re-created a few of my past projects featuring the super gorgeous Phineas stamp and Reindeer stamp by So Suzy Stamps.

(Sentiment stamps : Strictly Sentiments by Wplus9 & Don't Give Up by So Suzy Stamps.)

Personally, I love the black Phineas but this is the first time I did a green version of Phineas and everybody I showed it to at home loved it so I am one happy camper!

To read the deets on how I made it, click - Here

  

Here's the ATC that I re-created.

Steps - Here 

I made co-ordinating envelopes too!

I had a lot of fun re-creating these projects as they feature some of my all time favorite stamps!

Thank you so much for stopping by!
*Hugs*

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Challenge #7 @Craftyscrappers

Hello hello! ^__^

It's my last post as a guest designer for Craftyscrappers and so I decided to do a reminder post for their ongoing Challenge #7 that consists of Stamping Techniques.

The technique I picked was masking and I have a mini-tutorial for just you guys so here goes :

These are the die-cuts by Craftyscrappers used in this project.

The oval shape was used as a mask for the masking technique. [Die-cut code : DC - BCS - (2)]

The butterfly die-cut is out of Craftyscrappers butterfly die-cut catalogue.

The first thing that I did was lay down my cardstock and masked a portion of it with the oval die-cut.
I used masking tape to tape the cardstock to my cutting mat.

I used stamps by :

Hero Arts (Large Solid Flower), Peony (So Suzy Stamps), Script (Tim Holtz) along with a stencil (Hypnotic) by Penny Black and created this background.

The sentiment that was stamped later onto the oval masked portion is by WPlus9.

Inks I used were :

For background and sentiment : Altenew Red Cosmos Set, Walnut Stain and Picked Raspberry.

For the butterfly I used Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves and Picked Raspberry.

Then I added glitter to the red peony flowers, adhered a few sequins and stamped my sentiment.

Tinted the butterfly using distress inks, adhered it to card and added crackle accents for that cool crackle effect.

Matted the white cardstock onto maroon and then finally matted it onto white textured card base.

And that's how I did it! The challenge ends on 19th March (Saturday) so you still have time to play! Join the fun!

Incase you missed the link, here it is once again, to participate, click -- Here 

Have a lovely evening and thank you for stopping by!

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Tic-Tac-Toe

Hello and good morning!

It's a brand new month and time for a new challenge at Peek-a-boo Designs!

This month we have a tic-tac-toe challenge, that is you can combine the items from the chart in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line!
So much fun! ^__^

Have a look at what I made :

I used the central row with the sequins which are gold in color with a striped element. Also covered the last column by using red / pink, striped element alongwith embossing of the bold sentiment.

Now, I used a row and a column, but you can use any one row / column / diagonal line that you fancy!

I made this project using  super awesome February 2016 stamp release by Peek-a-boo Designs.

Here are the pictures of the stamp sets used for your convenience.

The bold sentiments are great for building cool sentiments and so many fun designs + backgrounds can be possible with the plaid! LOVE!!!

Here's a close up of my project.

So, don't forget to participate in this fun challenge, the winner gets a stamp set of their choice!

Check out the deets - Here

Happy crafting! *Hugs*

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Two stamps, two cards

Good afternoon! ^__^

A few days back I received the January edition of my exclusive stamp a month club (SAMC) stamps by So Suzy Stamps and I gotta say, I LOVE THEM!

This month was the first month of SAMC and so Suzy sent us members  not 1 but 2 stamps! How cool is that!

The stamps for Jan featured a pair of super cute flip flops with a motivating, positive and happy sentiment! (I love such fun sentiments, they help make great encouragement cards without sounding too boring / preachy.)

Here are a couple of cards I made using them.

Card #1

I stamped the flip flops onto patterned paper bits, fussy cut them and colored the flip flop bands. (The design was simple and thus, it was a breeze to fussy cut.)

Added a rhinestones to the band centers and also coated them with a little bit of glitter.

Stamped sentiment and arranged flip flops like how I wanted.

Added colorful heart stickers, some rhinestones and finished the card with a twine by doodlebug.

Card #2

For this card, I stamped the flip flops and sentiment onto white cardstock and jazzed up the flip flop with a rhinestone center and some glitter.

Then I went in with patterned paper, ribbon, washi tape and coordinating elements to finish the project in my signature style, whimsical. ^__^ 

And there you have it, two cards that are fun and easy to make using two stamps.

This idea would work with any two co-ordinating set of stamps, and are great for mass production so have a go, experiment and get crafty! :D

Have an awesome day! *Hugs*

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A simple swap

Apart from the overseas swaps, I swap at this little ATC Club for folks residing in India where we only need to exchange one ATC a month with the swap partner for that month. :)

The theme this month was winter and this is what I came up with.

A simple ATC, featuring one of my favorite stamps by So Suzy Stamps, with my current favorite stencil, Flourish by Tim Holtz.

1. Created background with Shaded Lilac and Salty Ocean. (Used my Papericious Ink Blending Tool for it.)

2. Stamped the sentiment which is Winter's Butterflies by So Suzy Stamps in salty ocean distress ink. (Yes, I stamp with distress inks!) ^__^

3. Punched out butterflies + snowflakes, added glitter to them for sparkle and adhered.

4. Finished it off with some clear and white sequins + a thin glittery blue border.

So, that was how it was done! Have a lovely evening!

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January projects @Peekaboo Designs

Hello hello! I was given the fabulous opportunity to design for Peekaboo Designs, an Indian company manufacturing photopolymer stamps and this was my first month of designing using their fantastic range of stamps! 

So, here I am, sharing the projects I did for Peekaboo Designs in January.

My opening post consisted of a set of two cards that had a patriotic color scheme. You can read about these two projects - Here 

Peekaboo also sponsored a fun challenge over at CSCC and this was the project I did for that using the inspiration picture.

Click here to read about the challenge - Challenge Deets 

Lastly, I did a set of projects with  tutorial using my favorite background stamp by Peekaboo Designs, the Quilted Love.

Read about it - Right Here

The second project I kept plain and simple with a smooshed ink background but ultimately gave in and added a bit of sparkle to it!

I know, incorrigible glitter addict! ^__^

Here are the pics!  

Hope you enjoyed looking at them, that was all for Jan, looking forward to a whole lot more of stamping fun!

Till next time! *Hugs*

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Let's go Coastal! ^__^

I don't know if you know, but I LOVE ATCs!

Those little miniature pieces of art, it is really fun and addictive to collect them!

So, to collect them, I often participate in swaps where I get the opportunity to exchange my work with someone else.

These I made for an overseas swap and the theme for January was, yup, you got that right, coastal! ^__^

Here's a close up picture of one of the ATCs :

Yeah I know, should have taken a photograph and then sealed it! Silly me!

Okay, so, how'd I make this?

1. Background is white cardstock, covered up a portion of it and using my Papericious ink blending tool, inked the upper side in Mustard Seed Distress Ink.

2. After that, I put a strip of blue paper (below the yellow inked area) for sea and a hand-torn piece of  handmade paper (below the blue paper) for the beach.

3. Shaded the sea with chalk and added glitter to it.

4. Added craft sand by JAGS to lower half for that sandy beach look.

5. I didn't have anything that would be appropriate for a tree, but I did want it in the background, so, I brainstormed and took my TCW - Fanciful Feathers stencil and used a feather design from it for tree branches with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.

6. I picked a sentiment that fit into the space (from a really old acrylic Micia stamp set) that went with the mood of the theme and stamped it using versafine.

7. Lastly, I added a couple of sea-shells and glued a half-pearl inside one of the shells.

And that's how I achieved this beachy look! (Pun not intended but if you spotted it, lol! Funny, right?!) ^__^

I never thought I'd pick up a jar of craft sand and make a beach themed ATC, but there you have it!

Moral of the story : Experiment, never stop learning and have fun! Crafting is all about fun!

Till next time dear friends, have a lovely evening!

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Cupid Love @Craftyscrappers!

Guys! Challenge #5 is live at Craftyscrappers!

Also, the results of Challenge #4 have been announced! ^__^

Check out the details - Here 

This is what I created for Challenge #5.

I have used the die-cut (Code : DC - AST - 17) by Craftyscrappers in this project.

Here's a look at the die-cut :

As you can see, I only wanted the words "Love You" for this project and so I trimmed the die-cut accordingly.

So, here's a cool close up with the steps to make it :

1. Created faux wings with washi tape bits.

2. Stamped, colored and cut out the heart from a Penny Black stamp.

3. Colored the die-cut, gave it a coat of glitter and adhered it to the cardstock.

4. Attached the faux wings to the heart and adhered the heart using foam to the cardstock. (I also added glitter dust to the tiny red heart and washi tape edges of the wings.)

5. Lastly, added a U pin, some washi tape bits, sequins and a tiny heart shaped sticker!

I hope you liked it! Do participate in our current Challenge #5 @Craftyscrappers for a chance to win some awesome prizes!

If you missed the link, here it is once again. To participate click - Here

Have a lovely evening!

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Let's get 'Pinspired' #2

Time does fly by!

I am so happy to announce that this Challenge over at CSCC is sponsored by Peek-a-boo Designs!

So, what you gotta do?

Head over to Create Something Catchy Challenge today and create a card using the picture that you see above.

Here's the link to challenge post - Challenge Link

Such a fun, party image... this challenge is really nostalgic because I was the person that won the first Let's get 'Pinspired' challenge over at CSCC! (Yep! How cool is that huh?!)

Okay... okay... let's get back to crafting.... it's inspiration time now!

I used the colors Hot Pink, White and Gold from the above given inspiration image to create this project, check it out :

I have used Peek-a-boo Designs January 2016 Release stamp set called Lotus Delight with a Tim Hotz 'Flourish' stencil and some inks, paints, golden sequins and glitter! (Notice the tiny glittery border at the bottom of the card?) ^__^

I truly hope you participate, I'd love to see you there and you get an opportunity to win a cool stamp set!

Have an awesome day! *Big Panda Hugs*

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Season's Tweetings!

Holy cow! With all the projects, crafty assignments and drooling over the new products being showcased at CHA, so many blog posts on my blog are due!!

So much to do, so many pics to share!!

Anyway, let's get started!

Check this out!

A colorful ATC that I made using paper and die-cuts from Papericious December 2015, OFTEN collection.

The stamps are by Lawn Fawn which I have directly stamped onto the pattern paper (apart from the birds) and are oh-so-CUTE!

Fussy cutting up these chripy birdies was a pain but I am happy with the way that this turned out.

Ribbon and buttons from my stash!

Till next time dear friends! *Big Panda Hugs*

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ATC Swap!

A while back I did an overseas ATC swap.

The standard ATC size is 2.5" x 3.5" and for this swap we (all participating members) had to make 10 ATCs.

Our hostess was the super awesome Suzanne Moore of So Suzy Stamps and the theme was bling for November.

How could I say no to bling! ^__^ It was a wonderful experience and I am surely gonna participate in future swaps!

These are the gorgeous ATCs that I received from the talented participants.

I love all these miniature pieces of art! ^__^

I made an identical set of 10 ATCs. Here's a close up picture of what they look like.

A fairly simple ATC, I used Tim Holtz Flourish stencil along with my favorite flower stamp, the Tulip Stem from So Suzy Stamps!

The sequins are from my stash and sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

Butterfly is from Martha Stewart 3 in 1 butterfly punch.

Happy New Year and have an awesome 2016! ^__^ Till next time!

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New Challenge @ Craftyscrappers

Hello hello! ^__^

It's time for a brand new challenge at Craftyscrappers!

Theme - Challenge #4 - Black and white with a hint of color.

I made a CAS card for this challenge, using the pretty flower die-cut, Code - DC - FLW - 16.

I wanted a geometric, abstract look and what better to combine it with than a pretty flower?  

Steps :

1. The colors moving from black to grey are actually stenciled (Kaisercraft Quarters Stencil) using 3 different inks by Hero Arts. (Black, Charcoal and Soft Granite.)

2. The Flower Die-cut is by Craftyscrappers, Code - DC -FLW - 16 which I have tinted red and given a holo glitter finish.

3. Did a bit of masking using grey, black and red inks and added a couple of sequins after adhering the flower.

4. Stamped sentiment. (It's actually a larger sentiment, I inked only part of it because I only wanted Congratulations on my card.)
This stamp is called - "Congratulations on becoming a new" by So Suzy Stamps.

5. Lastly, added a white brad for the flower center and black glitter to sentiment!

So, I hope to see you participate, click here for the deets!

Till next time! *Hugs*

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What day is it today?

Seriously ladies, it's a friday, let's not slack!

Remember the Rainbow Challenge over at Craftyscrappers?

Wha... no? Click >>> Here 

It ends soon, so hurry and upload your entries, I am looking forward to seeing you there! ^__^

This is a little inspiration to get you started.

Call it whatever, a tag / bookmark / scrapbook insert, I deliberately made it flat so that it can be multi-functional.

Ah, but yes, there was no rule about sparing the glitter, right?! :D

Steps :

1. Matted white cardstock on red, trimmed and added lace at the bottom. (I think that lace gives the project an added something something, what say?)

2. Punched a hole on top and added sheer red and satin red ribbons. (I did seal the hole with an eyelet.)

3. The lovely sentiment is a die-cut from Craftyscrappers (Code : DC - PS - 42)

Check this picture out!

Yeah this is the die-cut that I used. I only wanted the love bit so I trimmed it! ^__^

4. Then I tinted it in two shades of red gave it a nice coat of glitter and adhered it to cardstock.

5. Punched out some pretty butterflies using my Martha Stewart 3 in 1 butterfly paper punch in bright rainbow shades and adhered to cardstock.

6. After that stamped some pretty swirls in red using an old Inkadinkado stamp. (Sorry, I discarded the packing and have forgotten the name but it's a cling stamp.)

Of course I gave the butterflies and the swirls a generous dose of shimmer too!

And that's it! Don't forget to participate, incase you missed, here's the link once again >>>> Here.

Till next time, have an awesome day! *Hugs*

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December ATCs

Here are some more ATCs that I made!  

A birthday themed one because it was my swap partner's birthday and an inspirational one for my other swap partner!

Kinda in a bit of a rush today so.. quickly, here are the steps :

Birthday ATC

1. Pattern paper top half and the lower half is stenciled background.

2. The stamp is a solid wood block stamp by Momenta cupcake rubber stamp bought from Itsy Bitsy, stamped and matted onto pink pattern paper.

3. Added white sequins to border and around cupcake and mounted that on the ATC base.

4. Added black ribbon and stamped the sentiment. (The sentiment is a So Suzy Stamp)

5. Added clear, black and red glitter to cupcake!

Boom! Done.

Inspirational ATC

1. Stenciled background in gorgeous copper ink by Tsukineko. (Sorry, I tried, but my camera just couldn't capture the subtle coppery shine.)

2. Micro-glazed it and added red rhinestones. (Getting into the Christmassy sprit!) ^__^

3. Added a red glitter border on top and a corner on lower LHS.

4. Stamped sentiment in red. (It's a So Suzy Stamp... yup I use them A LOT!)

5. Glitter coated the sentiment + added some sparkly red butterflies.

And that's it! Till next time dear friends!

P.S. Stencil used in both the ATCs is Tim Holtz - Flourish. (My current favorite stencil, so you probably will be seeing A LOT of that too!) :D

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