Happy Thanksgiving!

May the good things in life be yours in abundance!

Just quickly popping in to wish all who celebrate a very Happy Thanksgiving! But even if you don't feast on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.  it's always a good idea to pause and be thankful for everything in our lives, right? I have many reasons to be grateful and one of them is for all of you who visit my blog and leave kind comments!

Because I had so much fun coloring this basket of apples for my Twofer cards last month I made another version. This one is colored with watercolor pencils and combined with some plaid patterned paper in fall colors.

Stamps: Stampin' Up (apple basket and birds), Hero Arts (sentiment)

Dies: Gina Marie Designs (oval)

Other: Faber Castell Watercolor Pencils

Be well and keep in touch!

Spooky Halloween

The current Inspired by... Halloween challenge looks quite spooky as does my Halloween card...

First the inspiration

then my card

Stamps: Recollection (sentiments), Stampin' Up (distressed background), Inkadinkado (little spider)
Dies: Sizzix (skull)

Stamped the sentiment set as it was as a background, added the distressed background, and sponged around the edges. Cut out the skull from watercolor paper for the texture. Mounted it on black, sponged a little around the edges, and added green sequins in the eye sockets.


Also sending this to

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Halloween/Spooky"




Hope I didn't scare you too much, hehe...

Be well and keep in touch!

Twofer Card Challenge #10

Happy October! Hope it started out well for you and that you are ready for this month's  Twofer Card Challenge #10 ! The word prompt is

Remember it's about making two cards for two different occasions using the same stamp or die and taking a picture of both cards together!

I gathered a basket full of crisp apples for you! The stamp is from a very old Stampin' Up set that I have never used but I felt it was perfect for the theme. I had lots of fun coloring it in using colored pencils on kraft and brush markers on white.

Here I added a little bird from the same set to the scene. The oval die cuts are from Gina Marie Designs.

The sentiment on this card is a gift from a dear bloggie friend. It's German and means something like "Best Wishes". It went to her for her recent birthday. I had admired the stamp one day on her blog but unfortunately it was no longer available. Months later she discovered it on eBay, ordered it, and sent it to me! Crafty friends are the best!
By the way the green strip is more Washi tape! If I continue like that I will soon run out, hehehe!

If you haven't checked out my teamies fabulous creations hop on over to the Twofer Card Challenge. This months guest designers are Crafty Linby and Liz ! Please be so kind to leave them all some love!

I can't wait to see what you will be harvesting and sharing in our gallery! Happy crafting!

Be well and keep in touch!

A Mermaid and a Chef...

I know my title sounds like the beginning of a joke but it's not... Sorry. 

Instead I have two cards to share with you, one featuring a mermaid the other a chef hence the title.

The mermaid card I started with my Thursday night stamping friends, also called the Cardologists, and finished at home. The stamps belong to one of my friends but I believe they are from Stampin' Up. I think this mermaid is very graceful and pretty. I glittered her tail with a shimmery gel pen and Stickles, used the latter to create a frame and added sequins. Very sparkly in real life! The background was created by sponging glossy card stock.

Sending it to

The Library Challenge #12 - Mermaid





Seize the Birthday - Water






The second card I made for my German brother-in-law who is a fantastic baker and cook. When a friend gave me this stamp I though it would be perfect for him. It comes with a variety of accessories. I used the silverware to create a subtle background on the white card. The black panel is patterned paper from my stash.

Stamps: Loralie Art Stamps (chef), Create a Smile (sentiment)


Sending this to

The Male Room Challenge #91 - Birthday
which is celebrating it's 5th Birthday - Congratulations

Addicted to CAS #142 - Masculine
Hope it is CAS enough...





Time Out Challenges #115 - Food and Drink
Birthday cake is food, right? It might be a whole food group...







Hope to see you back here on Friday for the new Twofer Card Challenge!

Be well and keep in touch!

Striped Autumn Greetings

My blogging friend Greta from GG Creations inspired the card I am showing you today with the second card in this post. I really loved the shimmery stripes and the leaf die cut.

Stamps: Hero Arts (sentiment), Stampin' Up (linen background)
Die: Gina Marie Designs (leaf)
Other: Yasutomo (shimmer paints)

Autumn Greetings everyone! I hope that everyone enjoys everything Fall has to offer and wish all of you who celebrate a very happy Thanksgiving !

Be well,

Sympathy and Halloween

Hi there,

Thanks so much for stopping by! Today I have two cards for you for very different occasions.

First a sympathy card because my stash has dwindled down. I like to keep them simple.

Stamps: Stampin' Up (leaf), Uniko (sentiment)

I smooshed a background with Distress Inks. Stamped the leaf and the sentiment, tied a piece of raffia around it, mounted the panel on a piece of dark brown card stock, and attached it to a card that has pieces of dried flowers in it (from Marco's paper).

The second card is for a more fun occasion that's coming up: Halloween.

Stamps: Hero Arts (tree trunks background), Inkadinkado (sentiment, spider)
Die: Impression Obsession (ghost)

I stamped the moon surface (unmounted, unknown stamp) in white on yellow copy paper, punched it out and glued it on the blue card stock. Then I stamped the tree background on top of it. I cut a slit in the blue card stock and slid the ghost in there. The glittery bats with the fun googly eyes are stickers I found at Michaels. The rest is pretty self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions.


Entering the first card in the

Time Out Challenge #95 "Sympathy with and optional twist of distressing"





Fusion Challenge 
I was inspired by the leaves





The Card Concept #80 "Autumn Love"

Be well,

Happy Summer!

With this little card I wish you (in the northern hemisphere) a very happy summer and hope you enjoy every minute of it! Stamp sets from several different companies played very nicely together on this card. Don't you wish that people (especially politicians) would do the same...?

Stamps: Stampin' Up (sun, watermelon from an old, retired set), Technique Tuesday (sentiment), Lawn Fawn (ants), My Favorite Things (gingham, wooden backgrounds)


Challenges (click on the links for more information and lots of inspiration from the DTs and the galleries):

Gundi's Summer Challenge "Fruit"
Why don't you check out her blog and play along! She is so talented and generous; there are prices to win (she mails internationally)!

Time Out Challenge #88 Word Challenge

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely' 

Virginia's Summer Blog Party






And since some of you really enjoyed the pictures in my last post I am going to show you some more of the beautiful city of Nuremberg:

Did you know that there are over 1,000 different kinds of bread in Germany? This display looked so gorgeous...
Next time I'll show you some photos of my hometown which is much smaller and not as famous but still pretty.

Be well,

Happy St. Patrick's Day

As far as I know I do not have any Irish blood but that doesn't stop me from exchanging cards on St. Patrick's Day with my Thursday night stamping buddies. Some years I don't manage to get any done because it's usually so close to Easter. This year this excuse didn't work, plus when I saw a recent sketch at Mojo Monday this idea popped into my head and wouldn't leave, so here it is...

Stamps:  Ivy frame (Stampin' Up), Celtic background (unmounted and unknown), sentiment (from the dollar bin at Michael's - old) 
Other: shamrock punch, sequins

The shamrocks are punched out from gold card stock.


Challenges (click on the links for more information and lots of inspiration from the DTs and the galleries):

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Bit O' Green"

Addicted to Stamps #233 "Holiday"







Retro Rubber Challenge #58 "Anything Goes"
The frame is way older than a year, more like 10 years... Same for the background stamp and the sentiment...







Shopping Our Stash #294 "Luck O' The Irish"








Wishing you a big pot of Irish luck!


Be well,

Sending You Hugs, Flowers, and some Foliage...

Another card with the ghosting technique?? Hope your are not getting tired of it... This is the last one for now but some day I do want to try this technique using a stamp. I made this background at Stamp Camp (see last post) but finished the card at home.  

Stamps: Hero Arts (sentiment)
Die: Winnie & Walter
Other: Stencil (Memory Box), Distress Inks, Glitterpaper (Recollection)


Challenges (click on the links for more information and lots of inspiration):

CAS Mix Up October Challenge "Ghosting"
This card might not be CAS enough since it has very little white space and even some sequins. Dear DT feel free to delete it...






Also at Stamp Camp we made this kind of fancy fold card (don't know the exact name) that was pretty easy to do. If you want instructions or a link, let me know, I'll try to find out.
We all used the same flower die cuts in white but look how different our cards came out. And not just because we all used different colored cardstock.

This is my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up (foliage)
Dies: Stampin' Up (flowers and leaves)


Sending this to a new challenge in town - check it out:

The Flower Challenge #1 "Anything Goes"






and to

Happy Little Stampers "Anything Goes with Dies"






As a thank you for scrolling down this far I'll show you some of the foliage in our neighborhood:

It's rare to see bright green with blood red together!


You made it to the end of this post! Congratulations and thank you! Have a wonderful day!

Be well,