30.7.14

Pop Up card Disney Princesses

Pop Up cards 1
Pop Up Card- Princess
         Dear friends Thank you so much for the heartwarming comments on my Lever popup card tutorial . I am not a pinterest fanatic but I was thrilled that the tutorial pinned by Marmosa has gone viral on pinterest clocking 190 + repins in a short time!
Pop Up cards 4
Handmade Pop up card
This is yet another handmade pop up card with the lever mechanism in a kiddy style featuring Snow white amidst lots of handmade flowers.The red roses are made from foam.
Pop Up cards 3
Pop up princess card
I kept the inside fairly simple this time as I wanted the card to close perfectly flat. My little girl has a lot of Disney Princess stickers and any card or project featuring a princess is a "wow" for her and this card will probably be given to one of her friends!

Pop Up card- clouds
I added a small pop up tab on the inside fold of the pop up card  to make my clouds pop out! The silver heart has been punched from glitter foam.

Pop Up cards 2
Pop up card
I hope you like little Snow white swinging around in this pop up card.

Supplies- Dies : Itsy Bitsy rolled daisy, Spellbinder Classic Leaf ,Memory Box fringe, Memory Box spring border, Memory Box cloud, Lifestyle crafts circle, Cheery Lynn  Butterfly, Sizzix butterfly,Wild rose studio floral frame die, Punches- Itsy Bitsy scallop heart foam Punch,Stamps- Sizzix butterfly, Heartfelt creations leaf.

25.7.14

Lever Pop up Card tutorial

Lever Pop up card
         I love making pop up cards as its a combination of science and art at work! If you get the science bit wrong [ ie the precision and measuring part] your pop up won't work and if your artistic sense has deserted you even an utterly clever pop up mechanism will fail to impress!!
       Sharing a lever style pop up card which on opening stands on its own and displays several panels you can literally go to town embellishing! Here is the front of the pop up card with a rectangular window embellished with punchcraft flowers.
Circle Flowers
           Here is the link to the super easy to make Circle flower tutorial .The large red flowers are also made from circles but I used the textured center of a Cheery Lynn Sunflower die to make it.[ Here is a tutorial link to another flower made using Cheery Lynn  Sunflower die: Paper flower tutorial ]
Circle flowers
On opening the card, the central rectangular part swings open like a lever to reveal several pop up panels in an accordion style[ of late I am obsessed with making pop up cards with the accordion mechanism!]
Floral Pop up card
Do allow me to show off the embossed golden Cheery Lynn  butterfly [heat embossing is quite new to me!]
Pop up card
Lots of quilled flowers, stamped leaves and tiny golden butterflies in my pop up butterfly garden!
Garden Pop up Card
This photo shows the pop up mechanism and a glimpse of the inner panel to which I added a floral lattice[ Wild orchid die ]
Lever Pop Up Card

How to make a Lever Pop Up Card

I followed a fantastic tutorial by Laura to make my first lever pop up card and loved the mechanism so much I had to try and make "non rectangular" levers , double levers and use a die cutting machine to cut the levers! [ Dont worry you actually dont need the big shot or cuttle bug to make this pop up card ]
Materials Required

  • Card stock- 2 Identical pieces of cardstock- size doesnt matter you can experiment away! Since I was making a circle lever card I wanted a squarish shape and used 2 cards measuring 11 x 6 inches
  • Adhesive- I use PVA glue fevicol MR
  • Something to mark out a Circle - If you are going to hand cut use a lid/ saucer etc which fits well within your card leaving approximately a 1 inch border .If you are die cutting use a shaped die
  • To Cut - if you are going to cut by hand you need a craft knife and a cutting mat / kitchen board. If you want to be lazy or feel good you are exercising your fancy machine [like me!!]- do bring out your big shot/cuttlebug/grand calibur and your shaped dies [avoid ones with fancy edges-plain  circles, squares ,ovals and rectangles are the best]!
  • Optional - Scoring board- I use the scor pal

Lever Pop up card tutorial 

To decrease page load time I have displayed the tutorial photos small. Just click on the photo to see a particular pictorial photo in a larger view. 

Fold the two 11 x 6 inch cards in half and cut out a circular aperture [ you can try other shapes too!] on the front of one folded card.
Pop up Card tutorial  1
Pop up card tutorial 
Insert the open end of one folded card inside the card with the aperture and mark a semicircle onto the inside card along the edges of your aperture. You need not obsess about measuring- just eyeball it and mark lightly.
Pop up Card tutorial  2
Pop up card tutorial 
On the inner card with the semicircle [ the red marks demonstrate my photo editing and not my drawing skills!!] drop down scorelines from the center of the marked half of the card  to meet the semicircle.
Pop up Card tutorial  3
Pop up card tutorial 
The next step is only if you want to use your die cutting machine! 
For hand cutting folks- its easy- just cut the marked semicircle till the center!
Pop up Card tutorial  4
Pop up card tutorial 
        Align  your die bang on the semicircle and apply tape to temporarily secure your die to the cardstock. Place your die + paper sandwich on your platform-cutting plate and place your top cutting plate over the marked semicircle half of your card to just reach the halfway mark [ see pic above].Roll your handle and you will get a cleanly cut  semicircle  still attached to your card.
Pop up Card tutorial  5
Pop up card tutorial 
Fold over the edge of the card to meet the center as shown in the pictorial photo above
Pop up Card tutorial  6
Pop up card tutorial 
Fold over the other edge to meet the center and your pop up lever mechanism is nearly ready. I experimented and made thing more complicated by cutting apertures and making a lever on the other side too [will share that later!!]
Pop up Card tutorial  7
Pop up card tutorial 
The picture above shows how the 2 cards are going to fit together to make a lever pop up card.
Pop up Card tutorial  8
Pop up card tutorial 
This step needs a bit of care to get your pop up to work. Insert your semicircle into the aperture of your front card and apply glue on the folded inner panel as shown above. While sticking down dont align the outer edges but focus on aligning the edges of the semicircle as shown below!
Pop up Card tutorial  9
Pop up card tutorial 
Apply glue on the other folded panel as shown .
Pop up Card tutorial  10
Pop up card tutorial 
To make sure your pop up will work wonderfully, fold over as shown in the picture  above and stick to the outer card.
Pop up Card tutorial  11
Pop up card tutorial 
Your lever pop up card is done. A little complicated ? Yeah I agree but so rewarding when you can conquer it !!I do urge you to try this lever pop up card!
Lever Pop up card
Supplies : Pattern Paper -DCWV, Dies - Cheery Lynn Butterflies, Cheery Lynn Sunflower,Provo Craft butterfly,Spellbinder Classic Leaf  .Stamps- Heartfelt creations leaf

21.7.14

Clay Ocean Diorama

Ocean Diorama 2
Clay ocean diorama
       This ocean diorama with a clay mermaid accompanied by a cute clay pet whale , clay crab and numerous clay sea weeds is my little girl's creation.
Ocean Diorama 12
Clay Crafts
          I was in fact somewhat amused when I got an email from Kores Kool Clay asking if my kiddo would be interested in working with Kores clay!! And here I thought people came to the blog to see my work !! 
        I accepted the offer on behalf of my daughter as we had already worked with Kores clay before and I knew she could easily work with it unlike some super sticky brands of clay which she disliked!
         Well little crafter took her designer job very very seriously and even made me take a video of her making the clay mermaid [but somehow me not too comfy about putting her on you tube...what say friends?]!
Ocean Diorama 13
Clay Mermaid
Well here is her mini tutorial in her own words:
1. Make a ball with white clay for the face
2. To make hair-flatten red clay ball with a vessel - quicker than rolling it out as per the expert! Cut it into strip and stick on head
Ocean Diorama 3
Clay mermaid
3.Make eyes with bits of white, green and black bits of clay
Ocean Diorama 4
Clay Mermaid
Steps 4, 5, 6 are missing as I got a patient's call and by the time I got back the little crafter had already made the mermaid's body !For some reason the mermaid's head disliked the body and resisted pushing,squashing, scolding and even the ultimate crafters' fail-safe of gluing so we decided to skewer her together with a broomstick !! [yeah we crafters have to be a bit brutal at times ,don't we?!]
Ocean Diorama 5
Clay Mermaid
As a final touch mermaid got a sequin flower and can you see the tiny "umbilicus" on the cutie tummy ?!
Clay crafts
My little girl recycled an old cardboard box lid  [by painting it blue] to create a setting for her ocean diorama.
Ocean Diorama 6
Clay Mermaid
We placed little mermaid on a real sea shell sofa and according to my daughter little mermaid had just got back from collecting pearls [you can spy the treasure in her  pink clay basket!].
Ocean Diorama 7
Clay flower
My daughter's big red clay flower perhaps bears no resemblance to any aquatic botanical species ...but then we do have artistic license!! We made the seaweeds from green clay and stuck them atop real sea shells.
Ocean Diorama 9
Clay roses
Most clay brands we get here in India dont have the color pink [ a bit weird!] but Kores clay does have unusual popular colors such as black and pink and I couldn't resist contributing the little pink clay rose buds to the diorama.These easy to make clay roses are just rolled up clay strips.Here is a link to a proper Clay rose tutorial 
Ocean Diorama 10
Clay roses
How do you like my daughter's smiley crab and standing seaweed ? She was so pleased she could make the seaweed stand by curving its shape...ha ha imbibed physics lesson ! The corals in the diorama are treasures we  brought  back from a Malaysian holiday[ Oh I do love that country--- its a holiday haven for nature lovers!]
Ocean Diorama 11
Clay crab
We duplicated the orange and velvet sea sponges from the graphics behind the crab into matching clay sea sponges !
Ocean Diorama 8
Clay crafts
Since I have a crafty little girl I  buy a lot of clay and have tried many different clay brands. What we especially liked about the Kores Kool clay is its not sticky , its easy to mould and shape and wont stick to moulds or cutters. And true to their claim of "never drying"...the clay figures remained the same even after a week in our humid hot Indian climate!
Ocean Diorama 2
Clay ocean diorama
I hope you enjoyed seeing my daughter's ocean diorama ...do spare a moment to comment [ She does read the comments and smile from ear to ear when you praise her !!]
Edited : This Clay ocean diorama came top 3 at Brown and Sugar Sand and sea theme challenge
Add caption
and was featured artist at Anything but a card

15.7.14

Getting to Know Me Blog Hop

At Malaysia Aviary
Dear friends Thank you so much for the wonderful comments on my Fairy land pop up card and all the congratulatory messages about my blog crossing 3 million views!
Jaya of My Craft World invited me on a "Getting to know me blog Hop". Jaya makes the most stunning creations...she plays with texture and inks and sprays and literally weaves magic in her creations. I love her layouts , her cards , her altered projects...ooh I could go on and on!! Do pay her a visit...I promise you wont be disappointed!
I am supposed to tell a few things about myself....

Why do I craft and blog ?

I had never realised I was a creative person till I started making school projects for my little girl[she was 2 then] and I actually started this blog [in 2010]to chronicle the kiddy cards and school projects we made.
With my daughter in 2010
Our school projects became a hit in her school as well as on this blog and I started getting emails from all over the world asking for guidance on making particular school projects!
Taj Mahal cardboard model
Taj Mahal School Project
And why do I blog.....I guess the euphoria generated by the comments to a blog post[akin to what I felt when this cutie elephant patted me!] and the friendships formed in blogland keeps me blogging!
In Karnataka Elephant Camp
We all have stresses and problems in life and for me crafting seems to be a wonderful distraction.I firmly believe that whether you are a housewife , a computer engineer or a doctor like myself ...everyone needs a hobby , a little bit of special " me time" to unwind!! Dont you agree?

How does my work differ from others?

I like to experiment in all kinds of crafts  using different media like foam, styrofoam, ceramic,corrugated paper, mseal , felt...[give me some new material and I will try to at least make a flower out of it!!] And I like to dabble in lots of stuff like recycling crafts, jewelry making, 3 D paper crafts, etc
Foam Rose Jewelry set
And I guess I love to share how I made something even though I am not an expert! And what makes my projects really special is when they have input from the little one in the picture!
With my daughter in Coorg

How long does it take to create a project ?

Well the question I get the most from my readers is "how do you get time to craft ?"
Yes time is an issue especially since I am a practising doctor + surgeon and a mom to a demanding little 8 year old! I don't have full time maids or cooks or drivers and yes I have to do the shopping too!! Ha Ha yes I am your average busy bee[ handling myriad fluttering birds !].
With my mom, daughter and hubby- Malaysia
On an average I take at least a week to make a single card and that too using flowers and embellies I must have made earlier and with die cuts I must have cut long back! But I do craft a little bit each day  [sometimes just ten minutes!] as it relaxes me ...it may be just punching or die cutting a few leaves or making a single flower!  And I hardly watch TV---- big time saver!
I often can't craft to a deadline due to time constraints [hence I don't accept regular DT posts] and ha ha this post was supposed to go live yesterday so you know I  often do get into serious time crunches !

Lemme pass the baton on to 2 super talented blogger friends

I am sure most of my readers are familiar with Lisa as her presence in our crafty blogland is hard to miss. She makes such beautiful projects using dies , inks and media.
Lisa's tag
Crafty Blogging is all about sharing and supporting each other and Lisa to me is one of the most wonderful friends a crafty blogger could wish for!
Her work is unique and inspiring and her presence in blog land is such a morale boost to her crafty friends and especially to me as never a blog post goes uncommented by her.
Do vist Lisa  and follow her...you  will have made a friend for life!

Radhika of Hobby Crafts

Radhika started her blog only in 2013 but from her very first blog post she had me intrigued. She combines traditional Indian crafts and modern crafting with such enviable ease and shares step by step tutorials to many many projects.
Radhika's antique lock
She can turn an ordinary lock and key into a work of art , convert a coconut shell into a jewelry box , make an aquarium in a phone case, make earrings out of pista shells....oooh this lady's mind is a crafty wonderland !! And she has become such a supportive blogger friend too...Thank you Radhika for inspiring and being a wonderful blogger pal. Do drop by Radhika's blog....this lady has a big cauldron of creativity you wouldn't want to miss!

14.7.14

Fairyland Pop up Card

Pop up Card  1
Pop up Card
Dear friends I am so thrilled with the amazing support on my Swinging card tutorial .
       Also my blog page views just crossed 3 million views [ you can see the counter at the bottom of the blog] with more than 1 lakh [100,000] views per month + I  have reached 1673 followers[each one of you is so precious to me].Also my google plus profile has a crazy 42 million views.
Thank you so much ....I never imagined this little blog would become so popular!
Sharing yet another  interactive 3 D card- a pop up card set in fairy land.
Fairy land pop up card
Pop up card fairy land
I made a multilevel pop up card with a fairy's house complete with a fence ,flowers and  a little pop up fairy flying to her home in this pop up fairy land card
Pop up Card  8
Pop up Card
Little fairy's house is a multilayered 3 D decoupage sticker and fairy land has lots of stamped leaves and punchcraft flowers
Pop up Card  10
Pop up Card
I luckily had a " with love from neverland" sticker which was the perfect sentiment for this pop up card.
Pop up Card  11
Pop up Card
I usually keep the front of my pop up cards fairly simple but did dress up this one with handmade flowers like the one I used in this mothers day card
Pop up Card  5
Paper flowers
The flowers were made by layering several sunflowers,embossing them ,spraying with Lindy's mist and adding chunky glitter to the centers of the paper flowers.
Pop up Card  4
Paper flowers
Here is the card being opened to reveal the pop up card fairy land
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Pop up Card
          The card has a total of 5 pop ups- the fairy springs up  by an easy to do accordion fold pop up mechanism [see Pop up tutorial], the glittery corn plants on either side of the house are simple pop up blocks and the pop up house is built on a pedestal pop up [which I lined with cream thai paper to give the appearance of straw]to which I attached the fence, grass and punchcraft flowers!
Pop up Card  7
Pop up Card
Here is the link to a pop up card making tutorial  which uses no special tools.
Pop up Card  2
Pop up Card
Pop up cards are the most fun cards to give to a person by hand as its priceless to see their expression change on opening the card! This card made its way to my aunt and niece in Kerala!
Please tell how you liked my fairy land pop up scene.
Supplies : Dies:Cheery Lynn  grass, Cheery Lynn  butterfly,Cheery Lynn  sunflower,Cheery Lynn  fanciful flourish,Spellbinder Classic Leaf ,Spellbinder Rose creations,Spellbinder Lace Hearts ,Memory box corn,Memory box fence,Marianne fence.Punches: Jef small and mini daisy
This card was winner at the Pop up card challenge at Create Something Catchy
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