Dare 2....

So this week sees the launch of dare 2 from the daring cardmakers . This weeks dare was ALL Janes fault....now when she said dare she really meant it! The challenge was to make a card on any theme (so far so good)....using stuff from the kitchen (thud....yes it took a while to pick our jaws up from the floor) But after some recovery time the team came up trumps and produced some cracking cards using the most inventive stuff from plastic milk bottles to tooth picks!!!!!


Here are my efforts for this week..

On this card I used a sizzix die to cut out the sunflower, I used mung beans for the centre and covered them in Glossy Accents, I inked and mounted the flower using foam pads on the corrogated card and then inked yellow gingham paper. I trimmed it will ribbons, brads and a greeting made on my Dymo label maker.

This was a very quick card....using pearlesent (sp?) card and paper. I stuck the papers down, then used a hot melt glue gun to stick the candles...IT DOES MELT THE WAX so easy on the glue then I used a bit of ribbon and a printed greeting stuck on top with glossy accents..I must say it is not all that sturdy as wax doesnt stick very easily!!!

For card 3 I started with pink hammered card and inked the edges, then used a piece of MOD papers which was also inked. I used a circle punch to cut out the flower centre which I decorated with brown rice and a split pea!! Cut a strip of green bazill card as the stem and hand cut a little tag to which I stuck..Oh my God must I admit it...well...peel offs (now I must go wash my mouth out with soap). Everything was inked by the way lol, I stuck it all down, adding dimension by using foam pads for the flower head. I then used a few green lentils which were stuck with glossy accents for earth at the bottom of the flower stem and then hand drew stitiching around everything!!!

Next weeks is a cracker...can't wait...whopeeeeeee

xxSaffa

P.S

The music I have had on is and Iranian guy called Ebbi...very popular (even if older) bloke!!

This song is about 'Hannah' lol and is sung strangely enough in Persian/Farsi!!

Cards....

Here are the eid cards I made this year...hmm have not sent them yet! These lot I made for an order. Was going to have stamps made but never got around to do it so I printed out these islamic patters and caligraphy, mouonted them on mirri card and used foam pads to stick them down. hey went down a treat!! (Comercial eid cards are the height of TACK) 50 cards 10 of each design, mt friends OH sent them out on behalf of his business to his clients and he said clients rang back to say how nice they were..needless to say that made my day!!



These three are among the ones I have made to send from me and the family to friends etc. They are more traditional!! I absolutely ADORE these stamps from Banana Frog!!! They are gorgeous. I stamped on the card using only versemark....I love this watermarking technique!! It is so fun and effective. Then I stamped and embossed in gold and mounted on gold and trimmed with ribbon..very simple, but I had fun and really enjoyed myself! Now to send them off lol.....

Happy Eid !!!!




....Well the month of Ramadhan has flown past, I am a little sad to see it over again, it is such a blessed time and as usual I really did not take advantage of it as I should have!!! Today we celebrated Eid -ul-Fitr. Whopee.. I wore my princess style dress again (traditional Moroccan gown) Well its kind of the only time to really get dressed up! Hubby and his friend went this morning to the congragational eid prayers at the mosque, and then we had a nice breakky of croissants (about 6 different kinds, eggs, etc) at.......12:30pm!!!!

I spent a good three hours cooking lunch which we ate at 6pm!!! Due to the mix of cultures I dressed as a Moroccan, but cooked as an Iranian!


I got Ibrahim a few more pressies than planned...well I could'nt resist..even though a globe is a very useful gift I am not sure it has the WOW factor that the Power Rangers doo daa that I got him has...(and I promised I would never buy any chid of mine those kind of toys..lol) I couldn't wait to see his little face in the morning, and actually woke him up myself when he was sound asleep (evil mother that I am). Had my camera a the ready too.
He was thrilled o bits with his gifts, bless him!! (I managed to get i on camera too!!) He kept saying thank you and hugging us, and saying his presents were 'cool' it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!!!!

Anyways here a few pics taken really late at night we were all so tired but I had to have some to post for all of my blogging friends!!!!

Look at Ibrahims teeth!!!!! His adult teeth are begining to come through!!

Anyway I will post some pics of the Eid cards I made a bit Later as Blogger wont post any more pics!!!!

xxSaffa

Showing Thanks!!

Well the day just gets better and better..thank you God!!! Apart from the fab Daring card makers blog , I have also just got my self a JOB...... it is at Waterstones bookshop, and ok it isnt what I spent 7 years at Uni for, but until I fugure that out it will be so great, meet new people, discover new books and make some money to pay back a few bills..yippeee..and buy crafty bits..craft robo here I come!!

Oh and Ibrahim was in the Harvest Festival play to day and remebered his one line and was just fantastic!!

TODAYS THE DAY!!!!!



Yes its here at last, the launch of DARING CARD MAKERS !!! It is new and exciting venture. Each week one of the design team will set a new card challenge! I must say the callibre of the designers is fantastic, so many different styles. We are an international team (oh the joys of the internet) , with designers from the UK and New Zealand. This promises to be a very exciting and inspiring blog so watch this space and get creating!!!!!

This weeks starts of with the great challenege of 'Friends'. Here is my contribution:

Ok so the papers are Murray Hill by City Center Designs. The flowers are Queen and Co. Bazzil card stock. The circle was created in Word using word art, printed on to bazzil, then I cut it out using my wizard die cutting machine with two circle dies!

So if you are reading this and want a challenge then go on...WE DARE YOU!!!!!!!!

Just the Remedy...


Nothing like a couple of hours of girly chat with a good friend, especially if that friend is a completely gifted and talented crafter!!!! Thankfully the cold that I felt coming on has not stayed and has moved on! So Paula came over and we had a FABULOUS TIME...she got me the most amazing HUGE slabs of chocolate. CAN YOU BELEIVE THIS CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No way I'm eating it especially the pink one Im gonna keep it as a momento!!!

We talked soo much OH felt so left out and had no idea what we were talking about, 'big shots, wizards, basic grey...I think he needed an interpreter! He said we were 'soo chatty'. Paula was teaching at a quilting shop near Hampton Court Palace (not far from me) I never new he shop existed, They really are totally limited when it comes to card making stuff, but still managed to get a few bits…..hehehe

Well I can’t wait to do it again it has been so long since I had so much fun and such a good natter! ...If you are reading this Paula..thanks soooooooooo much and have a safe and great trip on Monday!!!


Oooh and I am excited again...hehehehe!!

On Friendship

The last couple of days a lot of friendships have been put to the test! Whenever I hear of problems and misunderstandings between friends I always remember when I was younger. I have always been a very loyal and sometimes even jealous friend (well I never had loads but treasured the ones I have). So many times I have trusted freinds and been heart broken by them.....BUT.......like any worth while relationship good friendships are bound to go through tough times as well as good. There will be times when friends are misunderstood, when our hearts rule our minds,and we feel wronged....in the heat of the moment we all say things perhaps we didn't mean!! But a good friendship should not be discarded so easily. It takes give and take, and compromise. Friends are precious and few, we may go through life knowing many people but true friends you can count on the fingers of your hands!!

In Islam we are always reminded that it really is your intentions that count, sometimes looking from the outside it is tough for us to see that...how may times I have put my foot in it..too many to count...but good intentions should count for alot!

Anyways I don't know if any of that made any sense but I put a lot of importance on friends and keeping them so just though I would share my thoughts. And ALL of you out there in web world that are having tough times at the mo, take it easy, step back, have some hugs from me and heres hoping for strong and re-kindled friendships......

New look!!


Well after sitting in front of the flipping computer ALL day I have revamped my old blog..quite pleased with myself actually hehehe..even designed the banners and backgroung papers myself from my work..hehehe....not just a pretty face huh?

It is a bit IN YOUR FACE but hey never mind..probably change it soon...

heheheh..


(still fed up though about my criptic issue)

I just wanted to put this in to web space..

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

A bit disappoined at the moment...

I was all excited and now well never mind!

All a bit criptic I know but I jus felt like shouting and there are no empty deserts or beaches so the web seemed a good place!!

I've been tagged...

..by Rhi

1. Do you have any middle names?
Well actually I have two, one I chose myself ....lonnnnnnnnng story and another one. Saffa the one I chose myself and ..wait for it...Punteha ....which is the name of an ancient Persian princess my mum chose...I really dislike it!!!!!!

2. What's under your bed right now?
Do I have to confess? Quite a lot..the campbed, some boxes of photos, soem jumpers erm probably a fair bit of dust, a glass, a bit of Ibrahims toy....need I go on?

3. Last time you laughed so much you cried?
Ohh its been I while I think since I laughed that much...I guess it was probably playing monopoly over the summer with the family and OH's cousin who was over from morocco! When you play long enough it just gets really silly...lol!!

4. What age were you when you first drank Alcohol?
Well, as a Muslim I have never drunk, however I do use Dr Bachs flower remedies which are preserved in brandy so does that count?

5. Porn Star Name (First pets name and your Motheres Maiden name)?
.....well I wouldn't have one..plus I can't rememebr he name of our first pet! ( I know I am a spoil sport)

6. Whats your desk top photo on the pc?
OOh its this piccy I took of my babe Ibrahim during the summer at the park ..Ohh what I would give to have a Canon EOS 400D and a couple of fab lenses, but will just have to make do with my good old point and shoot!

7. What did you have for breakfast?
Well at about 4.30 am I had a slice of date and walnut cake with custard...I bought the cake the other day from the super market as it looked yummy and I really fancied it...what a disappointment..too sweet and dry, so bought custard the next day to see if that helped...well guess what....it didnt!!!!!

8. Music or TV?
Hmm well we don't have a TV at home although we have a fair few DVDS mostly mine and Ibrahims, so I do like my films but in the long run I would say music!

9. Worst outfit you have ever worn?
Oh boy there have been many, when I was a girl I was nick named 'gol nar' which is the name of a persian kind of village girl in persian folk stories, it mean flowery....well I would wear about every colour there was...flowery trousers yellow t-shirt, hot pink coat and a sky blue head scarf...I have often asked my mum HOW SHE LET ME OUT LIKE THAT!!!!!!

10 .Where do you feel most at peace?
Hmm I love just sitting watching the sea, especially when it is rough and windy! Also in our prayer room at home which is so calming. And nothing beats being in my mums arms..I know how soppy is that, but hey I owe her everything !!

Now who am I going to tag.....Carolyn, Rachel.

Yawnnnnn

Oohh really sleepy as it is 1 am!! Anyways just been doing a spot of crafting..making my gran a little something as she is in hospital having chemo and thinks we all forgotten about her!!

After posting piccies of my nice neat room I thought I would show you what it ACTUALLY looks like and voila: This is actually quite tidy it can get a whole lot worse.


OOh and I hear there is a little secret going around..well wink wink..nudge nudge...mums the word!!!!.....hehehehehehehehehehehehhe

xxSaffa

Dinner Party!

On Sunday we invited the neighbours over to share our 'break-fast' meal. Well spent most of Saturday shopping for the affore said meal. Went to central London to our favourite Halal butcher and North-African foodstore. Now you know how he shops are at Christmas well his store was just like that it was PACKED!!! People take a lot of care preparing their evening meal when they fast (which kind of defeats the purpose) but it is lovely time of year for muslims, a time for family etc etc etc. Anyways I wanted to try to make a moroccan sweet which needed Mastic! Which is not readily available at Sainsburys. I love the middle eastern food shops I can get lots of stuff that I just cant at the super market. Special pastry called 'feuille brik' which is used to make kind or samosa type things. Well the list is endless, as was the traffic coming and going. I mean it is only a distance of about 10 miles but took around an hour and a half to get there and an hour back!!!!!!

Sunday got on with the cooking and spent 7 hours in the kitchen. I felt rather deflated as the food didnt look like seven hours of work but they were all fiddly things involving pastry and stuff like that! OOh and I also managed to nicely burn my fingers with hot oil..I am known for my clumsiness and sadly dont get much simpathy from OH now, I think he is waiting for me to do some serious damage one day!!!!!

I thought I would post some piccies of the table before I served my infamous moroccan soup!!!


Okay well this is the 'spread'

Okay Left to right: meaty samosa type things called 'briouat' in morocco. Then sweet 'briouats' which are stuffed with ground almonds, orange blossom water, cinammon and mastic, then fried and dipped in syrup!!! And little mini pizzas for the kids!!

Moroccan eggs..ie boiled and sprinkled with cumin and salt...a must at the break fast meal, the long pastries are made of the pastry I bought at the shop and are stuffed with minced chicken spices and egg. To break our fast it is traditional to start with dates and some kind of milky drink. I make bananas or avocados blended with milk a bit of sugar and rose water..yummy! Ooh there were also figs

I should say that moroccans eat a lot of sweet and savoury things at the same time! It took my a while to adjust but its actually lovely if you can get your head round it!!!

We also had grilled goats cheese on ciabata with caramalised onions..NOT moroccan but I love them anyway..and.................................soup.

P.S the music is by Sameera Said a moroccan working in Egypt. Its a kind of be good to each other anti racism kinda song and is great until she starts in English!

Enjoy