Christmas card using Art Wax

 Hello!

I am show casing a fabulousnew product from Craftangles today!

It's Art Wax! 

You will see in the video below, how just a tiny bit of this gorgeous metallic coloured wax can transform any project into a thing of beauty!

It works best on a black background so here is what I came up with.

I started out by applying the Craftangles black charcoal texture paste on black cardstock using Craftangles stencils.

Once dry, I rubbed a little bit of the Craftangles 'Iridiscent pink', 'Iridiscent violet'  and 'Bronze' art wax to create a metallic background.

I even tried it on Craftangles 'Black diamond' glimmer paste and the results were fantastic.

Enjoy the video.

Once the backgrounds were done, I cut out the panels using Simon Says Stamp stitched dies.

I then heat embossed the sentiment (Penny Black) on Craftangles vellum , die cut the tag (mftdienamics) and the Christmas trees (Impression Obsession), added a satin bow and adhered the panel to a white A2 card base. 

Its hard to capture the gorgeous beauty of this waxed background in a photo, but, you get the idea.

Craftangles stencil used with Craftangles Black diamond glimmer paste is 'Flourish'.

For the second card, I have used a sentiment from Hero Arts and 

the bench and lamp from Lawn Fawn. I gold embossed the sentiment and images and added them to the die cut panel to create an unusual Christmas card.

The Craftangles stencil used here is  'Doodle around'.

For the third card, I have used the Craftangles stencil 'Geometric bliss' 

and a fabulous Santa die cut from Impression obsession, 

which I die cut from copper coloured cardstock. 

The sentiment is from Impression Obsession too.

For the last card, I used Craftangles 'black diamond' glimmer paste which is absolutely fantastic, along with the Craftangles 'Indian motif' stencil.

The gold embossed sentiment is from Penny black and the die cut trees from Impression Obsession.

Hope you liked these cards and will give these products a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

ICR discussion on Branding and Marketing

Hello everyone!

I am Paru Mahtani of Paru's Perceptions Handmade Greeting Cards.

I started making handmade cards as a hobby about 18 years ago and have only recently attempted to make it a business.

Asha of Indian Craft Room asked me if I would share some tips and trick that I have learned along the way, to help other crafters with the issues they might face.

It would be my honour to do so!

Today, in my last post,I would like to talk about BRANDING AND MARKETING.

This, I think, has been my biggest challenge!!

Making the card is the really fun part of this journey! Creating a brand and then marketing it is something I've had to teach myself.

My first task was to believe in my product 100%! There were times when others doubted me...there are still those who do...and, there are many many more times I doubt myself.

But, I've taught myself not to give up and to continue to believe in my product...with the help of my ever supportive husband and family!

I then started participating in small exhibitions..and slowly bigger ones. Along the way I grew...in knowledge and confidence.

Today there  is social media...it a lot easier to be seen.But, since everyone has the same idea, I have to make sure I put out quality content on a regular basis. This is how I have created an interest in my BRAND.

I have a style and mostly, I stick to it. Slowly customers have started to recognise the brand.

As for MARKETING, Social Media and digital marketing is the way forward. What's App works very well too!

Here, exceptional photography is the key, since the customer cannot touch and feel the product, the photograph has to convey everything.

Blogging makes me more visible and I often give a set of my cards as gifts to friends. Word of mouth is the good old fashioned way of marketing!

Here are some excellent links with lots of ideas about how to brand and market handmade cards.

http://www.handmadeology.com/creative-business-branding-101-how-to-set-yourself-apart/

http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/opportunities/a/SellingCards.htm

http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/10/29-places-sell-handmade-creations.html

https://www.shopify.in/blog/16692816-5-brand-strategies-to-uniquely-position-your-ecommerce-business-above-the-competition

I has been my honour to share my experiences with you here and I hope that these discussions have been helpful.

Please leave me a comment...I would love to hear from you.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have  good night.

Paru Mahtani

Autumn harvest papers from Craftangles

Hey all! I am on the CraftAdda blog today with a couple of cards made with the awesome new 6"x6" Autumn Harvest paper pack from Craftangles! 

You can see a flipthrough of this paper pack here!

The papers are gorgeous...thick and luxurious to work with. 

The patterns work well with each other, as you can see.

The card techniques  are pretty much self explanatory.

I used the "Landscape trio" die from Mama elephant to add some interest as well as the feather dies from Simon Says Stamp and the gold heat embossed sentiment from 'Paperwishes'. 

The jute twine is from MayArts ribbon.

Come on over to the CraftAdda store and check out all the awesome patterned papers!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great evening!

June Coasteride -Postcards with a personal message!

Hello!

We at Indian Craft Room are back with a new challenge for the month of June!!

Our hostess the month of June is

Asha

 Her challenge to you is to create a post card using the storyboard below.

The design on your postcard should be inspired by the poem above.

The challenge will run from the 1st to the 28th of May

 As always, we have a few rules. Please read them carefully before you play.

1. Follow Indian Craft room

2. Blog about the challenge on your personal blog and link your post back to Indian Craft room.

3. If you do not have a blog, please post about the challenge on social media and link it back to Indian Craft room

4. If you have a blog, download and display this ICR challenge badge prominently on your blog.

5. Display the story board prominently in your blogpost and link it back to Indian Craft Room.

6. Upload your photos to the ICR gallery using the tag name 

                      ICRCSPR01

6. Like ICR on Facebook and Instagram

If you have any questions, or just love what we do,
please feel free to leave  me a  comment below.

Our sponsors for this challenge are the awesome people

Here is my inspiration for you this month.

To make this post card, I started out with a piece of 6"x4" ivory card stock. I downloaded a post card template from the internet and printed it on the card. 

You can download one here

I then went about making this post card as though it were a one layer card.

I took inspiration from the poem for the sentiment and also picked the colours that I loved from the story board.

I handlettered the sentiment using Sakura Koi watercolours and an aquabrush. I added the flourishes using the Faber Castell artist pens. The roses are from Altnew's 'Vintage Roses' stamp set.

I like the way it has turned out...I have made postcards in the past and these are wonderful little ways to send loving wishes to your special family and friends. Cardstock which is thick (250-300 gsm) can easily be sent in the mail  as long as it does not have any embellishments.

I hope you are inspired to make your own!!

CoasteRide ends at midnight on June 28th 2016
Don't forget to tag your submissions in the ICR gallery with the tag name 

ICRCSUM02

I hope that I have inspired you to make a postcard too!

Now that you have all the details come on over and play along!

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great day!

April winners of Paru's Card Making Challenges

Hello!!!

Here are the winners for the April 'anything goes' challenge!!

Swapna Patil

Winner of $25 store credit from Newton's Nook

Swapna's card stood out from day one!! 

I love the shaker element...such a fun shaped card!!

Do drop by her blog and leave her some love!

Jasleen

Winner of Rs.1000 gift card from Mudra Stamps

I just love Jasleen's colourful hearts against the black background...stunning!

Do drop by her blog too and leave her some love!

Thank you ALL so very much for stopping by to play Paru's Card Making Challenges! 

We have an awesome guest designer and a fun challenge coming up on 1st  May.

Do come by and play!

Let's eat cake

Hello! 

For my official Craft Adda post today, I have a fun card using sequin beads...something I have attempted for the first time!

I came a across a picture on Pinterest which jogged my creative juices! I wanted to create an aerial view of layered cake and stand. 

I had fun trying it...I think it looks pink and pretty!

To make the cake I used my Spell binders Nestabilities dies to cut three concentric circles and a scalloped circle. 

I then used some multi medium matte on the edges to adhere the beads. 

I finished of the cake with a pretty pink punched sakura flower .

The flower was punched out of a piece of paper which I coloured with Hero Arts neon pink ink.

I also punched out and adhered some cutlery and finished up the card with a sentiment from Stampendous (stamped with memento ink).

I hope I have shaken up your creative juices...have a creative crafty weekend!

Thanks for stopping by..

Have a great day!

Indian Craft room Blog Hop...Patriotic colours with texture.

Hey Everyone! 

Welcome to Indian Craft Room's Blog Hop! We are so happy that you have come along to play!

You would have arrived here from Sathya's blog.

The Blog Hop theme is "Indian Flag Colors with a Twist... use  Textures".

By Textures we mean Texture paste, Embossing paste, Embossing powders, Dry/Wet embossing, Material textures by burlap, Cheesecloth, Drywall tape. 

Any visible/ prominent textures.

This blog hop is open for cards / Altered items/ 3D projects/ Tags (Standard size, not less than 6"x3")

Here is my take on the challenge this month.

I started by heat embossing the sentiment from 'fiskars' on a 5.45"x3.45" piece  of  textured white cardstock, using Hero Arts White embossing powder. 

I then sprayed the paper with water and dropped Sakra koi watercolours onto the wet paper and allowed them to spread. 

I then sprayed some water on the card base and added some colour there too. 

Once both the card base and cardstock panel dried, I assembled the card and added some sequins to finish.

The textures I used...textured card stock and heat embossing.

This blog Hop is open to members of ICR only. Not a member... You can become a member here.

To play...

1. Start at the ICR Forum Blog Post.

2. Hop  to along through all the DT blogger posts, leaving your comments along the way.

3. Finish up by returning to the ICR forum Blog Post and leaving a comment saying that you have finished the Blog Hop.

4. If you would like to make a project based on the inspiration provided by out DT, link up your entry here. ( Only 1 submission per person).

5. Spread the word about the Blog Hop on Social Media. 

6. FOLLOW us on Facebook and Instagram.

7. Tag your entry with ICRBH01

The LINK PARTY will be open from 15th Jan  and will end at midnight on 28th January IST.

ICR is giving away some awesome prizes... to qualify, please follow all the rules mentioned above.

Here is the list of our DT Bloggers for you to hop along... You will be hopping along to the talented Pratyusha's blog! Don't forget to leave some love as you hop along!

ICR FORUM BLOG POST {START HERE}

Sharada 

Sathya

Paru...you are here!  

Shraddha 

Bhavana 

Gopi 

Priya

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a great evening!

Welcome to my new Blog...Paru's Card Making challenges

WELCOME!

I am so happy to announce the very first challenge at Paru's Card Making Challenges!

Our first challenge for the year is the word NEW.

Feel free to interpret it in your own way and do tell us all about it!

January 2016

HOW TO PLAY

You will find all the details and rules here.

PRIZES

No challenge can be fun without prizes right?!! 

 We have some awesome prizes up for grabs!

A Rs.1000/- voucher from A1 Craft Supply

and 

A $25 gift voucher from Winnie and Walter

Here is some inspiration to get you started....

To make this card I decided to use NEW stuff from my stash. Something I have never used before!

The gold glitter patterned paper is a free down load from Winnie and Walter, as are the Cheers die and the confetti cutaways.

I added some pretty pink posh sequins to add some more cheer and sparkle.

To make the shaker tag, I used NEW shaker pouches from Impression Obsession. They are just fantastic to use...so easy and simple!
I had two squares cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched squares left over after making my Christmas cards. So I decided to use them to make a tag.
The stamps are from the Avery Elle birthday animal stamp set and the sequins are from my stash.

I can't wait to see what you all come up with! It's an exciting start to the new year isn't it?
Head on over to Paru's Card Making Challenges to play

You have till January 25th 2016 to play.
I will announce the winners on the 28th of January 2016.
Please read all the challenge rules and guidelines carefully. 
You will find them in here.

You can link up your creations here.

Are you on Instagram?

FOLLOW US

and use our 

#PCMChallenges

If you have any questions or simply love our work, do leave a comment below!

Thanks so much for stopping by...
Have a great day and an awesome 2016!
Happy New Year!

Indian Craft Room monthly Coasterride recipie challenge!

 Hey there everyone!
I am here with the monthly coasterride challenge on the Indian Craft Room!
This month we have a recepie challenge! To play along, you need to use the recepie given to create a Christmas or New Year card or project.
Upload your pictures of your project at the Indian Craft room and tag your photos with ICRCPREWIN02

The challenge ends at midnight on December 28th. 

We have our awesome sponsors "The Craft Shop" giving away a voucher for Rs.500 as the PRIZE!!!
So join in and have some fun!!

Now, about my project...

I used the recepie to make a Christmas tag. I stamped the background using a Penny Black stamp with memento 'London fog' ink.

I then coloured in some of the flowers and leaves using faber-castell colour pencils. I then used a blending pen to blend the colours. 

I added some sequins, tied a gold ribbon and added gold embossed sentiment on a black strip as my topping!

Quick, easy and fun!

I hope to have inspired you..

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Have a great day!

My attempt at Grunge!

Hey all!
Today, for my official Craftadda post,  I have a card for which I have attempted a grunge look...I'm not sure if I have pulled it off, but I like the end result.

To create this look, I used a stencil and distress inks(Tim Holtz) to create a partial impression. 

I then went over the entire panel with a texture cube from Stampendous and more distress ink. 

To finish I stamped a sentiment on a torn strip of paper and and adhered it with metallic brads (recollections)

The two vellum punched dragonflies completed my scene.

I love its soft muted look...what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a nice day!