Merry Christmas!

Hello crafty friends,

Christmas is almost here and I wanted to wish you all merry festivities!
If this is a hard time for you, my heart goes out to you and I hope you will look for and find comfort and help!

Stamps: My Favorite Things (woodplank background, knit pattern), WPlus9 (sentiment)
Dies: Memory Box (deer trio), WPlus9 (merry)
Other: the star is a good old punch


I was trying out my new Altenew star die and decided to make some star ornaments for my bosses. Afterwards I had patterned paper left over and punched out some circles to not waste it. Suddenly it came to me that I could make matching cards for them...
The "merry" and the star are cut out from silver mirror paper to "mirror" the foiled patterns in the paper.

Stamp: WPlus9 (sentiment)
Dies: WPlus9 (merry), SSS (star)
Other: different punches for the circles

I didn't blog that much this year - life has just gotten so busy, I can barely keep up! Thank you for still visiting and leaving sweet comments!

May the peace of Christmas Eve live in your heart all year long!

Be well and keep in touch!

Danke x 3

After our return from Germany I needed 3 Thank You cards which I would like to share with you today.

Stamps: Rubbernecker (background), Inkadinkado (dragonfly, butterfly)
Dies: My Favorite Things (letters)

Stamps: My Favorite Things (flower background)

Dies: My Favorite Things (letters)

Stamps: Inkadinkado (dragonfly)
Dies: Alexandra Renke (flowers), My Favorite Things (letters)


As you can see I took advantage of the perfectly lined up letters on the tape and used them on all three cards! I really love Alexandra Renke's style and got more from her while I was in Germany. Did you know that you can buy her stamps, dies, paper, and embossing folders now also at Ellen Hutson, Simon Says Stamp or Starlitstudio? And no, unfortunately I don't get paid for mentioning this...

This last card works for the current
CAS Mix Up Challenge

Be well and keep in touch!

Wedding Explosion Box Card

Warning: Picture-heavy post!

You might have noticed that I rarely do anything other than regular folded cards but for my niece's wedding (pictures below) I decided to try my hand at an Explosion Box card. It was quite time consuming and one of the reasons I didn't blog much before our departure. I didn't go overboard with embellishments as I didn't think that was their style. Also I went for sort of a rustic look as I got the feeling that the table decorations, etc. would be in that style. Forgive the quality of the pictures, it was hard to get good ones...

One of the hearts on top is gold, btw...

Stamps: My Favorite Things (wood background), Stampin' Up (swirls on cake), Inkadinkado (letters and numbers), Hero Arts (branch with hearts)
Dies: SSS (distressed heart), Impression Obsession (hearts on stems), My Favorite Things (letters), WPlus9 (big wooden heart), Nestabilities ("plate" for the cake)
Other: Punches (all the flowers, heart in the "O")


For those of you who have never seen one of those boxes, the sides are not attached and fall open when you take off the lid hence the name.
I started out with the cake which was quite fiddly I have to say (that's why it doesn't have a third layer, hehe). But I like how it came out.
The plan was to die cut the letters for LOVE on the outside but I discovered that all my dies were too small so I hand cut them intentionally in a loose, sort of organic way to add to the rustic feeling of the card. The top part is where we put the monetary gift and the lower part is where we wrote our wishes for the couple.

And here is a picture of them. They live and got married south of Munich in the mountains and were dressed in the tradition of the area.

And look at the fun car (vintage Ford) they had. A friend of the groom owns it and drove them from the church to where the party took place.

Well, if you made it this far, thank you very much! Your visits and comments are always very much appreciated!

I am sending this card to Time Out Challenge #113 focusing on the word "heart" and because there are lots of reasons to smile at a wedding!

Be well and keep in touch!

Graduation Cards

As you might have noticed I have not been posting a lot lately. The end of the school year is always very busy but when both of your boys graduate there is even more to do, organize, and decide than usual!

My younger son graduated from 8th Grade which is kind of a big deal in his school and I made him this card (I used paint chips for the numbers):

The eight I covered with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accent. Here is a close up so you can see the shimmer better:

And here is the card I made for my older son who graduated from High School. The school colors are the same (purple) since it's a small, private school.

One day while I was walking it came to me that I could make a card for all the High School Seniors since I have known most of them since First Grade, some of them since Pre-School. Once that thought popped into my mind I couldn't let it go even though I had enough other stuff going on. Since it's a small class it was possible (wouldn't have done this with a class of 500 or so, hehe). I made the purple background with Brushos and splattered with gold. (One sheet was lighter than the other.) The two cards in green and blue/green are for some friends who graduated from different schools.

Dies: Memory Box (large numbers), My Favorite Things (words), PTI (larger stars), SSS (small star)


Sending this to Inkspirational where the word prompt is "Power". I think it fits!






And if you have made it this far (thank you), you get to see a picture of my two tall guys (the High Schooler is on the left). I am very proud of them:

Also wanted to let you know that I will be going to Germany to visit my family so this blog will be even more quiet and I probably won't get to commenting. But I shall be back (and hope you will be, too)!

Be well and keep in touch!

Twofer Card Challenge #5

Yay! It's time for a new Twofer Challenge! I loved seeing all your adorable pet cards in the gallery. This month we are wondering what you can do with your butterfly stamps or dies.

Stamps: PTI (sentiment), flowers unknown
Dies: PTI (butterfly)

Dies: PTI (butterfly), Gina Marie (stitched oval), My Favorite Things (scalloped rectangle)

The vellum was actually part of the packaging of fancy chocolates or something. Loved the textured pattern on it. Here i a close up so you can see it better:

Remember to use the same butterfly stamp or die to make two different cards for two different occasions. Then upload a picture featuring both cards in the same photo. Find more details and all the rules over at the Twofer Card Challenge blog. Can't wait to be blown away by all your creations!

I am going to enter the first card in the

Time Out Challenge #109
ETA: It won Honors, yay!

Be well and keep in touch!

Orange Flower in Green Foliage

When I saw Beverly's card (here) using the current sketch at CAS Sketches and Colours I fell in love with it! I couldn't help but CASE her card and the only reason I that kept me from using some thread is that I didn't want to downright copy her...

As you can see I was in a tropical kind of mood...

Stamps: leaf for background is an unknown, unmounted stamp
Dies: My Favorite Things (flowers, scalloped rectangle)

I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for a way to add a sentiment and picking out one that would fit. In the end I decided to leave it like that. Not every card needs a sentiment IMHO...


Challenges:

CAS Colors and Sketches #269 - Sketch






Just Us Girls Challenge #438 - Photo Inspiration






Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week will be a fabulous one...

Be well and keep in touch!

Sunshine-y Card

Two of my favorite challenges are celebrating their birthdays and since they both close soon I had an idea on how to combine them to make this card:

Stamps: Essentials by Ellen (sentiment)
Dies: My Favorite Things (sun), Sweet 'n' Sassy (cloud)


Don't you just love that sentiment? And it's so true! Don't wait for other people or things to brighten you day! To make the sun I used acetate which is the theme at CAS Mix Up this month. I used yellow and orange alcohol inks directly on the acetate (so happy to have found a whole packet of it in a dark corner of one my cabinets) and glued white tissue paper on the other side to bring out the color. On second thought maybe that wasn't necessary since the white card would have done the same... A little grey cloud, the sentiment (colored with Prismacolors), some sequins, and two strips of washi tape and I was happy with my card!



Challenges:

CAS Mix Up March Challenge (Happy 2nd Birthday)

Time Out Challenge #105 (Happy 4th Birthday)







Hope I could bring some sunshine to your day!

Be well and keep in touch!

Orange Lily for Uniko's 6th Birthday

Yes, yes, I know, I am posting the second card in a row on a kraft card base but it is not my fault if that seems to works best with my elements...

If you wander regularly about in blog land you probably know that Uniko is celebrating it's 6th birthday! Bev, the owner is so sweet and she does it all alone while also taking care of little, active twin boys! One of the celebrations is a birthday linky party where we can upload birthday cards. Even though we are not required to use Uniko products, I wanted to play with the gorgeous lily again, a stamp set that I won last year.

Stamps: Uniko (lily), My Favorite Things (background), PTI (sentiment)

I stamped the lily on Bristol paper, colored it using my Akashiya Sai watercolor brush pens and fussy cut it. On the kraft card base I stamped the wood plank background using kraft ink from My Favorite Things and added some embossed splatters. The sentiment was stamped on a scrap of vellum and embossed with SSS Antique Gold embossing powder which goes well with the kraft, I think. The funny thing is that I thought I had ordered the Rose Gold embossing powder and was really surprised when my order came and I held Antique Gold in my hands! I checked my order and, sure enough, what had been on my wish list all along was Antique Gold and not the Rose Gold and I hadn't looked closely when I put it in my cart. Anyway I do like the Antique Gold, too and will just order the Rose Gold next time. This all just to say that it was not Simon's fault!   

Challenges:

Uniko 6th Birthday linky party





Time Out Challenge #104 "Bold"
I think that flower and the coloring is quite bold...




Thanks for your visit!

Be well and keep in touch!

Felt and Canvas

A big thank you to Joanna who is the host of this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge and the rest of the design team for making me dig out my felt and even a sheet of canvas that I got from a friend a long time ago to make this super simple card.

Stamps: Uniko (sentiment)
Dies: My Favorite Things (flower and leaves), SSS (stitched rectangle)

Wasn't sure if I could die cut the canvas because it was thick but it worked with a little help from some scissors. Lolls advice of backing the felt with some light card stock was a good one! The canvas was printed with different butterflies, moths, etc. in different sizes. Some of them were partially colored. The trick was to find a piece that would work for this relatively small rectangle.


Challenges:

CAS Mix Up February Challenge "Felt, Cork, or Canvas"

There is a new challenge in blogland for all of us who love to read as much as they like to stamp...

The Library Challenge #1 "Pride and Prejudice"
I used the layout of the cover




Thank you for your visit!

Be well and keep in touch!

Valentine's Day Hugs

Sending you all lots of Valentine's hugs!

Stamps: Winnie & Walter (sentiment, multifaceted)
Dies: Winnie & Walter (hugs), My Favorite Things (scalloped panel)

The colors look a little different on screen. The card is a soft pink. The layer is dark brown, splattered with gold, the sentiment gold embossed. The word die is cut from watercolor paper, gold embossed with the background, and watercolored in different shades of pink. Really wanted to use the glass beads that I've had for ages. Wasn't easy to shape a heart from glue...

Challenge:

Winnie & Walter January Color Combo with Heather

Winnie & Walter Birthday Bash Die Challenge with Lydia






Thank you for all your visits and comments!

Be well and keep in touch!