Happy New Year! (And Favorites)

Dear crafty friends,

Hope 2019 has started well and will bring you many wonderful moments!

At the end of a year I enjoy looking through my posts and pick my favorites (some months it is not easy...). Click on the months to see the original post.

January

February

and another one

March

and another one

April

and another one

May

June

July

Click on the month above to get to the original post
and see more pictures of my very first Explosion Box...

and another one

August

and another one

September

October

November

and another one

December

If you are interested to see my favorites from other years here are the links:

2017

2016

2015

2014

I will be taking a blogging and commenting break which will hopefully free up some time to create more...

Be well and keep in touch!

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!

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!

Eraser Technique

A few weeks ago my friend Gundi from papierelle showed us this interesting eraser technique and has since produced many inspiring and fabulous examples. On her blog she explains really well how it works, both in German and in English. Basically you rub a pencil on a piece of fine sandpaper, dip a sponge in the resulting powder and rub it over a stencil. Then you stamp an outline image over it and when it's dry you erase the inside of the stamp. You can either leave it white or color the image. At the end you should spray hairspray or another fixative over it so that it doesn't rub off.

I was intrigued and thought the technique would lend itself well for my older son's birthday card. The stencil I used was probably not the best choice as it was very delicate and the thin strips moved a bit. But the effect is still cool! 

Stamps: Winnie & Walter (banner, sentiment)
Dies: Memory Box (city scapes)
Other: Memory Box (stencil)


Make sure to visit Gundi because she has come up with many variations of this technique. She has even created a challenge where you can win a cute snowman stamp, should you feel inspired to try the technique out!

Be well and keep in touch!

Twofer Card Challenge #11

Welcome to the November Twofer Card Challenge! This month we want to see what you can do with your wreath stamps, dies, or stencils. Yes, you read that right, Darnell added stencils to make it easier.

I don't have many wreaths stamps or dies, and no wreath stencils. I picked this older stamp from Hero Arts that I think I have never used before and made a Christmas card and a birthday card with it. 

Stamps: Hero Arts (wreath), Stamplorations (sentiment)

Dies: Simon Says Stamp (butterfly), Nestabilities (circles)

Other: Cuttlebug (embossing folder strip)

The butterfly and the dark circle are actually purple even though the look almost black on the screen...

Just realized that this card fits the current CAS Mix Up Challenge
My choice is die cutting.

Stamps: Hero Arts (wreath), WPlus9 (sentiment)
Dies: WPlus9 (sentiment), Simon Says Stamp (little star), big star unknown

The pink is sparkle paper. Hard to see on the photo.

Every month it's such a pleasure to see what you do with the prompt word! Have fun playing with your wreaths, be it a stamp, die, or stencil! Can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

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!