My First Award!!

I received my first blog award from GHAZALA.

Thank you Ghazala for the award!!

♥ ~ GG

A Unique Happy Birthday card

SW0045GC
Size: A5

Interested?
E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

A very simple CAS card - Generic / Love Card

SW0044GC
Size: 20 cm x 10.5 cm

Interested?
E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Small Photo-Frame greeting cards

I know... I know... I have posted sneak peak of my small cards a long time ago and haven't posted the actual pictures ever since. I am not in good mood and have become very very lazy to do anything in the world. Just want to relax... relax... and relax.

Today I thought enough of this laziness. It's high time that I must post the actual pictures. So, I am uploading all the different cards that I made. Actually I made 2 varieties. Both the varieties have an option to put your own stamping content or print message or photograph in the card. For sample I have just provided my own stamped sheet.

SW0043AGC

Size: 9.0 cm x 10.5 cm

SW0043BGC
Size: 9.0 cm x 10.5 cm

Interested?
E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

(Click on the picture or open in new window to see the full size of the card)

Jolly’s Signature Flower - "The Fairy Wings"

It’s a very special day for me - "12th May 2012" as it was my 3rd marriage anniversary. And it was a great surprise for me when in the morning I woke up I saw my sister, Jolly (Suchitra) in front of me holding presents. I never ever expected that she would come from Hyderabad to Bangalore just for my anniversary. I could not stop crying when I realized that it’s truly her in front of me and it’s not just my imagination. All night I was dreaming of what I would present her on her upcoming b’day and here she is standing in front of me with her special handmade gift. 

She brought me sweets, chocolate and her special handmade greeting card. She chose this day to introduce her signature flower to me and to the world. We have given it a name "The Fairy Wings" flower. We have given the name since the flower looks too delicate, just like the wings of a fairy. 

Here’s the card she presented me with her signature flower:

(This picture shows the original color of the card elements)

She packed it in a gorgeous pouch with my favorite Temptation chocolate. She even made this gorgeous envelop herself. 

My Signature Bookmarks - for the Swap

So, I am participating in a bookmark swapping event where in we would be swapping our bookmarks with each other. I registered for it but had no idea what to make and how. All I could remember is Lin’s quilled teddy bear bookmarks. I love those bookmarks. I have seen many other bookmarks. And personally I have a huge collection of bookmarks that range from printed paper book marks to metal bookmarks. I love them. Whenever I purchase books I make sure the shopkeeper gives me a good amount of bookmarks and that too whatever designs he has. 

Now, when it comes to quilled bookmark I always wonder how the quilled designs sustain under the pressure of the papers and the books – don’t they look odd with some pages bulging. Well, that made me to look out for ideas. Initially I thought I would go for a twist with the origami version of the bookmarks. However, I wanted a version where I can implement Lin’s punched bookmark ideas. And thus I came up with my version of bookmark – GG's Signature Bookmark.

Before I prepared these 23 bookmarks, I had experimented with a different design. Here's how the bookmark looks in a book:

Here's how the bookmark looks that I made for the swap:

Sneak Peek - My Signature Bookmark

It's been quite a bit of time that I have sincerely blogged. Failing to have sufficient energy and patience to write or craft. Yeah, I am maintaining my diary of course. I love to use pen than the keyboard :) I broke my camera too so that has restricted me to take pics of my work in progress too. Finally I decided to take pic with my mobile phone. They do not come so well, but it's OK to click pics with it than not clicking pics at all.

Anyway, I have been preparing bookmarks for the National Quilling Swap that I am participating in. Well, this is the first time I am preparing a bookmark so have been struggling for ideas. I finally came up with my version and I call it my signature style. 

Here's a sneak peek of my bookmark work in progress:

First I quilled 24 flowers with 4mm quilling strips of 3 colors that I had bought from Itsy Bitsy.

Tip for Bloggers who post Pictures

I have been facing a common problem while browsing; especially when hopping through blogs. And that is very heavy sites. People now a days very much share their personal pics, pictures of their works and their creations. They click the pictures with mostly digital cameras which obviously captures every details. And obviously thus the picture size increases. Now, it irritates me when a page takes a lot of time to load because of the pictures in it. And honestly I don't have patience to wait to see some picture downloading at snails rate. And I don't want to waste my bandwidth for watching those heavy pics. Thus, most of the time I just close the site without reading anything or watching the pics in it.

My blogs do have a lot of pics, be it my personal blog or my creations blog. And I make sure my website always open faster. To make it happen I always make copies of my pics that I want to upload in a separate folder. And then I open those pics one by one in Microsoft Paint and simply save it. Now, this reduces your picture size to a great extent. And since the pics are digital pics, if there is a certain bit loss in picture quality it is unnoticeable. Now, I do the same thing with the collage pictures too. When we create a collage picture the picture size usually becomes much more; and when you save it with MS Paint it reduces it to almost half of its size. Since I make copies of the pics, I delete the copies after I upload those to the web.

Thus, my tip to the bloggers is make copy of your pics and save it with MS Paint before uploading those to your blogs. If you are watermarking your pics after you save the pics with MS Paint, save it with MS Paint again. You would notice that the size is reduced even more.

Now, this also applies to other websites which you use for business purposes. If its really necessary to show high quality pics then uploading the high quality digital pictures is fine.

Hope it helps you get your website stream faster and thus helps you get more visitors.

Thanks for visiting my blog!!

P.S. People who have a good broadband speed do not face much streaming problem, however, people who use the stick the pic size obviously impacts your bandwidth.

♥ ~ GG

Sneak Peek - Some small greeting cards

I have been planning to make some small cards for a long time now. For I have some friend who are looking for small but gorgeous cards. I am in process of making those cards.

Here’s a sneak peek of the card that’s in progress at the moment.

Would post the pics once the cards are fully done.

Thanks for visiting my post!!

♥ ~ GG

Beehived Heart - a Love Card

SW0042GC
Size: A5

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Sneak Peek - My next quilled heart greeting card

I have been idle and resting for past few days now. And thus passing time by quilling some flowers and cutting my card stocks. Not much hard work is done. Yeah I have been thinking some technique for the bookmark swap I am participating in. However, got bored of thinking and thus thought I would do some quilling. Wanted to beehive something for a long time. And a heart is something I wanted to quill. Actually wanted to see how the heart turns out with beehiving technique.

And here's a sneak peek of what I have done so far:

Here are some other angles of the heart:

Got some new products from Itsy Bitsy...

Got some good stuff from Itsy Bitsy recently. I had been to the newly opened shop of Itsy Bitsy in HSR Layout, Bangalore. It has good collection of punch craft, colors, painting tools, stamps, rub-on, quilling and embossing supply. I absolutely love the Kaiser Craft clear stamps. I was planning to buy some clear stamps from some other websites. However, I found some stamps at the shop for very less price than the one that shows in other websites. So, I am very happy. The other thing that I was looking for was a bone folder and yes, I got one pink one there. :) I also bought some glue, quilling strips 4mm, a double sided embossing tool. 

I felt the price of the stuff were quite reasonable. The only thing that I am looking forward to is a wide range of color strips for quilling, which I felt is very limited at the moment.

Hope you liked my review of the shop and would enjoy your crafting.

Thanks for visiting my post!!

♥ ~ GG

Fringed Flowers...

I am not feeling so good for while now. So, was thinking of passing my time by doing something small and less tedious. I have not done fringing for a while now and thus thought I will make some fringed flowers. And here's what I have done with fringing:

Without Camera Flash 

With Camera Flash

I have cut these with scissors and not a fringer, as fringer allows max up to 10 mm strips and these flowers are made with wider strips. I love these flowers very much. It's been a long time I have made any card with fringed flower. Would make some later.

Thanks for visiting my post!!

♥ ~ GG

I love my new tools...

Things become very easy with professional tools. They save a lot of your time. Also, you feel satisfied with your work when it of best quality. That’s how I feel these days, as I now own a Cricut Paper Trimmer/Scoring tool, a Martha Stewart border punch, a self-healing cutting mat. I have other tools help me too like various other punches, embossing pad and embossing pen, some stamps, the quilling tools like the tweezers, quilling board, quilling pens, quilling comb, a small Fringer, fine tip Cutters, a crimper, a quilling coach etc. However, the trimmer, mat and the border punch have taken my work to a greater quality level. Somehow these have increased my confidence level. My wish list still has some more items to be bought. However, budget issues are restricting me to move further at this moment. Anyway, I am loving my tools as they increase my confidence that I will be able to fulfill my dreams.

Thanks for visiting my blog!!

♥ ~ GG

Happy Holi Card with Misting Technique

Finally, my card is ready. I even added some punched hearts to increase the beauty of the border. The words Happy and Holi look great after arranging. The letters that form the word 'holi' are newspaper cutouts. Well, no more talking. There's been enough of it in the sneak peaks 1 and 2.

So... Here you go:

SW0041GC

Size: A5

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Sneak Peek 2 - of My New Card with Misting Technique

Yesterday had been very tiring. So many things were to be done and I did them optimally too. Y'day I set up the design and layout of my little sister's blog - "Switch Arts". She is not techie when it comes to HTML or web designing. But ask her anything about gadgets, machines and she would have the answer in seconds. So, here's her blog - Switch Arts. You must be wondering, "why the name Switch Arts?". Well, she said she is popular as Switch by her friends. They turned her name Suchitra to Switch. 

Anyway, I posted a sneak peak of whatever I could do of my Holi card in my busy schedule. Now, here's another sneak peak of what I have done with the items I created y'day. I am planning to use the Itsy Bitsy glittered punched letters. 

I also, prepared the layout of the card. Honestly, the card without the quilling and the embellishments looks cool itself. However, I am in love with quilling and how can I leave a piece without it! So... here, have a look at the sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting my post. I would update the full card picture by evening. I hope with the power cut going on Bangalore, I would be able to post it on time.

♥ ~ GG

Sneak Peek - of My New Card with Misting Technique

The day have been very tiring and busy. A lot of time I spent just reading blogs today. And then in my mind I have been wishing to participate in some blog challenges and CraftJC and ICR challenges are at the top list. I have been scanning my mind for some creative idea. Alas!! No luck from past few days. 

Today morning while watching the sunrise, I got it. The idea clicked; thought not so clear. However, I had a vague picture of what to do. Now, I had the idea but the ICR challenge seemed a bit tough, since they have asked for misting technique. Now, I don't have the water color with me at the moment. And honestly I don't have that patience to search for the stuff in the packing, since we have just shifted to our new house. So, that's the one that took a lot of time to sort out. 

I was preparing all the other items needed for my card, and suddenly I remembered my stamping inks. Eureka!! I got it. I got the idea and thus, used my stamping color pads, distressed stamping inks to make some patterned paper. It worked very well. So, I have got my misting done. 

My Misting Pattern Paper

And now comes to my favorite part - quilling. I decided I would use crimped strips to do some design. I have never used to crimped paper to form some shape earlier. So, it was first time. And I got my new quilling design done.

Now, came the card design part. I am working on it still. Also, have to decide how to place and where to place the 'Happy Holi' punch line. I am also planning to make a 'Happy B'day' card with similar design.

Here's a sneak peek to what I have done so far:

My Crimped Paper Quilling Design and other Items for the Card

I would post the finished card picture probably by tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting my blog and reading this post!!

♥ ~ GG

My First Quilled Frame Design

Ye-pee!! I finally completed my quilled frame design project. After gluing the elements, the design looks so beautiful. It looks even gorgeous with the dark pink card-stock. I first selected a light green card-stock. And then I thought I'll use a white shiny handmade card-stock. However I feel the dark pink card stock brings out the color of the flowers and leaves very well.

I even thought I will quill a bee or a butterfly. However, my mom loved the way it looks without them. I am happy with that. After all its her for whom I designed this project.

I would frame it soon. For framing, before starting the project, I scored the card half-inch from every side of the card-stock. I scored the card so that it would be easy to frame the design properly.

The work is done on an A4 size card stock.

Here's are some snaps of the frame design:

Vertical View

(Click on the image to view a larger version of it)
Code: SW0001FD

Sneak Peek - of My First Quilled Frame design

As informed earlier I am quilling a framed design for the first time and I have prepared all the items needed for it. However, finding a suitable design to inculcate the items is a big headache. This enables me to search in internet for a great design, however, couldn't find anything distinguishable. Finally I decided now it's time that I should take my pen and pencil to draw a design myself. and I have come up with several of designs. Now the difficult part which of the design to go with? And yes I am experimenting with some of the designs by simply placing the items in the card stock and playing probability statistics with these... :)

Here's a non-glued version of my design:

I am still working on the finalizing the design. Would post the picture of the final design, probably, tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

Hope you love the sneak peak!!

Thanks for spending some of your valuable time to read this post!

♥ ~ GG

Two Tone Flowers

For a long time I have been planning to make a two tone flower. I was searching the internet for a tutorial of it, to learn some technique to make to perfect one. And I found this tutorial in My Quilling Soul: 023: Two Tones Flower. Beautifully shown. I love this tutorial and the pics. I have made some two flowers by following the instructions.

Here's a collage of the different angles of the flowers:

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

I am sure you like the flowers and would want to try some. Follow the tutorial and you sure would be able to make some beautiful ones.

♥ ~ GG

My Favorite - Anastasia's Signature Leaves

Anastasia's signature leaves are something that has fascinated me for a long time now. Every time I see Anastasia's creations the leaves are the one that attracts my attention first. And now I see a lot of quillers are inheriting that style of leaves in their creations too. I have been experimenting with the comb to create such leaves and failed to create a good one many times. However, with the failures comes success too and I am finally able to create some good quality leaves. Here's a collage of some snap of the leaves I have quilled.

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

I love the 4 tone leaves very much for it simply looks unique and gorgeous. In the 2 tone leaves there is a combo leaf too, in which the vein is light green but the center spine is dark green color. It looks great, though the collage could not capture it.

If you want to learn how to make them, then visit Anastasia's blog post here. Or you may also visit Pritesh's blog post here. She has done a very good video tutorial too. That would give a clear idea how to make the leaves.

Thanks for visiting the post!!

♥ ~ GG

A Gorgeous Heart and Birdies - a Special Love Card

SOLD

SW0040GC

Size: A5 

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Sneak Peek - a Customized Love Card for a Dear Friend

I am working on a customized order for a friend. She needed a love card and wanted no flowers but a big heart. 

I was planning to use beehiving technique however, it felt like its gonna take a bit more time than using swirls. Thus, I switched the idea to swirls. 

I have decided to make it colorful and am using a full red card stock to make a big card this time. I will use the concept of spirals for sure as I and my friends like that concept very much (LHGC). I would use some metallic or pearl strips this time. 

Rest of the idea I am still working on… 

Here’s a sneak peek of the card that I have made so far. Would post the complete picture once its ready and handed over to my friend. 

Keep watching… would post the picture as soon as it’s ready.

♥ ~ GG

2012 New Year Cards

These and many other similar cards I had made for the New Year 2012. I still have a couple of these left with me. These are very small cards that I made to present to my neighbors and friends. The flower is Malaysian flower prepared with a mix of graduated strips and plain strips. The background is printed paper with the new year messages. I love the use of spirals on these cards. I am sure you would love the design too.

Red Malaysian Flower with Butterfly - a Friendship Card

SW0038GC

Size: 20.5 cm x 12.5 cm

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Violet-Orange Malaysian Flower with Punched Butterfly - a Friendship Card - SW0037

SW0037

Size: A6

Price: INR 149/-

Code: GC0037

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com

I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Pink-Sky Blue Malaysian with Fringed flower combined - a Friendship Card - SW0036

SW0036GC

Size: A6

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Malaysian with Fringed flower combined and Punched Butterfly - 'For You'

SW0035GC

Size: A6

Interested?

E-mail me at gayatrigouda@gmail.com

Blue Spiral Rose Bouquet - SW0034

SW0034

Size: A6

Price: INR 149/-

Code: GC0034

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com

I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Pink Flower with Red Bubbles - a Friendship card - SW0033

SW0033

Size: 15.5cm x 13.5cm

Price: INR 139/-

Code: GC0033

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Pink Roses - a Friendship card - SW0032

SW0032

Size: 14.0cm x 13.0cm

Price: INR 149/-

Code: GC0032

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Royal Flower with Punched Butterfly - SW0031

SW0031

Size: 17.0cm x 9.5cm

Price: INR 249/-

Code: GC0042

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Creeper Plant with Butterfly - a Just For You card - SW0030

SW0030

Size: A6

Price: INR 159/-

Code: GC0030

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

White Double Fringed Flower with Royal Butterfly - SW0029

SW0029

Size: A6

Price: INR 129/-

Code: GC0029

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Blue and Pink Flowers with Embellishments - SW0028

SW0028

Size: A6

Price: INR 149/-

Code: GC0028

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Punched and Quilled Flowers with Bubbles - Friendship Card - SW0027

SW0027

Size: A6

Price: INR 139/-

Code: GC0027

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Pink Quilled Flower and Green Embossed Flowers - SW0026

SW0026

Size: A6

Price: INR 120/-

Code: GC0026

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Sky Blue Fringed Flower and Hearts - SW0025

SW0025

Size: 14.0cm x 13.0cm

Price: INR 120/-

Code: GC0025

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Butterfly using Husking and Yellow Flower - a Friendship card - SW0024

SW0024

Size: 15.5cm x 11.0cm

Price: INR 149/-

Code: GC0024

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

3 Hearts, Swirls and punched Maple leaves - a gorgeous Valentine Card - SW0023

SW0023

Size: 21.5cm x 10cm

Price: INR 159/-

Code: GC0023

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Heart Flowers' Bouquet - SW0022

SW0022

Size: A6

Price: INR 150/-

Code: GC0022

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)

Bird on a Branch - a Thank You card - SW0021

SW0021

Size: 10.0cm x 11.0cm

Price: INR 129/-

Code: GC0021

Interested?

Please email me at gg.serenewaves@gmail.com or gayatrigouda@gmail.com
I will let you know the details. Thank you! :)