Love is in the Air

Valentines Day is around the corner and it is a perfect day to show consciously to your loved one that they are always thought about and cared for with love. And when the gifts you shower them with is Handmade , it makes the occasion all the more special.

This occasion is special for one of my friends in more than one way : its Valentines day of course and she is getting engaged. What better day to take vows which will last for a lifetime.

I made a “Heart Shaped Easel Card” for her which she wanted to give to her fiancé. Her requirements were minimal – Something heart shaped and simple, since this was her first gift for him. And this is what struck me.

I made this easel card with handmade paper and satin ribbon.

I decorated the base of the card with cream colored pearls and a sentiment which reads – You and Me.

 

  

The face of the card is decorated with satin ribbon plait and an embellishment with the silhouette of a guy proposing a girl. My husband added the golden outline to make it stand out! The embellishment is pasted using double sided stickers to give it some dimension. It is stuck upon handmade paper which is made more delicate using doilies. To make the gift more personal, I made space to keep a message mat which is again heart shaped.

My husband who is my partner in everything I make and do made this assignment even more charismatic by making a box of its own! We then decorated it with ribbon bows to make it look prettier.

 Wishing you a thousand smile :)

Birthday Bonanza

And I got the chance to enthrall one more person on his birthday :)

I prepared this folding card which has pockets to hold message mats and 6 place holders for photos.
The front is adorned with doilies , hand made butterflies and a bright red heart made using quilled paper. To add to the small details , I adorned it with white pearls.
  

 
The next side of the folding card has a sentiment written on it.

 All the message mats are bordered and made delicate with the pearly hangings.
    








  

 The card is given folded with a black satin ribbon.

For the wall hanging I decided to do 3 frames : 2 rectangular and 1 elliptical.

The 2 rectangular frames are similar with butterflies cut off golden embossed papers and made delicate with golden glitter. To add dimension to the frame I adorned them with wooden embellishments.The flowers are quilled and made prettier with pearls.
 

The elliptical frame has shaded quilled flowers and is made more delicate looking with doilies and pearls on the sides.
 







~Wishing you a thousand smiles

Scrap Book - Anniversary Special

Pretty as Paper got its first order from a friend who was celebrating her First Marriage Anniversary.
And what a coincidence! First Marriage anniversaries are also called "Paper Anniversary" and this project so well suited the customer, the vendor , the product and the occasion :)

Every bit of this scrap book is hand made : the book, the covers and the pages ! Kudos to my better half for doing all the punching, filing and binding with such a neat and stylish outcome.

 Have a look at all the pages which are adorned with sequins, pearls, sentiments, quilled flowers  and colorful picture borders. The first page has a delicate quilled design and a sentiment which is hand written by my better half !

     
Wishing you a thousand smile!
                                                                 

Other than Paper - Diwali Delight

Diwali is the festival of lights and on this day we decorate our houses to welcome Goddess Laxmi who is considered to be the deity of prosperity. On this occasion we make Rangolis made of colors, flowers and other embellishments and which are generally round . The round figure specifies entirety.

So during last and this Diwali and I thought of making some pretty ones at my door step too. I added a touch of craft to it by making the center piece separately (which I got framed later on).

In one of the creations, I made the the image of Ganesh Ji on a square back ground with pearls on paper adorned with glitter!

I then planted it in the middle of the blueprint and made the rangoli around it with flowers and color.

 

For the second creation, I made again the impression of Ganesh Ji but this time on a round back ground and paisley (mango shape) pattern. The outline too was designed with bright red and orange paisley patterns which were then adorned with glass buttons. The silver and gold glitter made the final product really beautiful.

And then again , the rangoli was drawn around it with only flowers and leaves this time.

 On both times I was guided primly by my dear husband regarding the ratio of sizes and precise outlining of the rangolis with chalk on the ground. The rangoli got washed and cleared 3 days later but my better half preserved it forever by capturing it beautifully in his camera.

~Wishing you a thousand smiles :)

Other than Paper - Piggy Bank

And so this Diwali , as my husband excitedly broke open our earthen Piggy Bank to count the coins and cash-up for buying the Diwali Crackers we decided that this tradition of collecting penny by penny year long and then splurging on our favorite festival every year is fun and will be maintained!

But as fate would have it , we were not able to find another earthen piggy bank (thanks to all the potters around town who made everything except a piggy bank!). I didn't want to lose days without saving up so I decided to make one on my own.

And so with an empty Rasgulla container came about our "Gullak"!

It was relatively easy to put the lid and cover it up tightly so that we would not be tempted to open it until the next year. I then rolled it up with a bright yellow paper and laced it up! I decorated it with flowers on top a made a small slit to slide in the coins and moolah. Finally I stuck the words "OUR BANK" to signify the importance of the Rasgulla container :)

And you know what are the glorious moments of our Piggy Bank - When my husband drops in some money and then picks it up, shakes it well just to check if it has become heavier than the last time :)

                                                              

~Wishing you a thousand smiles :)

Picture Frame - Kiddo Corner

During our lunch time one of my good friends always talked about her beloved nephew. It was soon to be his 6th birthday and needless to say she was very excited! I thought why not surprise her so that she could surprise her nephew in turn with a beautiful picture frame adorned with his snap.

Since I would be making this for a kid I decided to keep it fun - flowers , colors and shapes.
I cut out a scalloped picture frame and covered it up with dark red paper. To add brightness to it I outlined it with white pearls. Finally I cut out some flowers with various colored papers , added an outline for the contrast and stuck it around where the snap would go. And Lo!

                                                         
To add to the fun I cut out a butterfly shaped greeting card , packed the duo and gave it to my friend to be gifted.Not only was she surprised with the frame, she loved the thought behind it. Even the little one enjoyed every bit of it :)

~Wishing you a thousand smiles:)

Photo Frame - Flower Power

Birthdays are so much fun! But when it comes to gifting the person something unique , it sure gives us goosebumps :)
I made this photo frame for one such occasion using chart paper, handmade paper , wooden button and some shiny sequin.

The embellishments were made using hand made paper and then designed to look as flowers.
The outline of the picture was done using wooden buttons.

And finally the frame looks like this.

~ Wishing you a thousand smiles :)