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!

Geometric Stencil x Three

I recently got this new stencil from Altenew and played around with it one evening trying out different color combos. The amazing thing is that I already made cards out of three of the backgrounds (usually they sit around here for much longer...). April is one of my biggest birthday month and these backgrounds are great for masculine cards (and geometric design loving girls, hehe). I know that they all look similar but I really loved the font of the STAMPlorations birthday die with the geometric pattern. On the last two cards the birthday die is three deep and covered in Glossy Accents.

Stamps: Altenew (Happy), WPlus9 (wishes)
Dies: STAMPlorations (Birthday)


Challenges:

CUTplorations April Challenge "Focus on the Sentiment"

Inkspirational #159 "Play"
I played with my new stencil...







Seize the Birthday "Vibrant Colors







The Male Room Challenge #83 "Symmetry"
The grey and red card won HM, yay!

Be well and keep in touch!

Masculine 60th Birthday

This is the card I made for my brother-in-law who loves maps and geography. When my guys signed it they all admired it! That was a first! Usually they don't show too much enthusiasm for my creations. I am also happy to report that my brother-in-law liked his card!

Stamps: Toybox (map), PTI (sentiment), My Favorite Things (wood plank background)
Dies: Memory Box (large numbers)


The blue/turquoise sponged piece of card stock I found in my stash. As it was some kind of coated paper I had to heat emboss the image because it wouldn't dry. Die cut the numbers from it and from black foam. Stamped the background on a kraft card (not entirely happy with the ink I used). The rest is self explanatory, I think, but if you have any questions let me know in the comments.


Seize the Birthday "Kraft Card Base"

Have a fabulous weekend!

Be well,

Pink, Navy & White

A few weeks before her birthday my niece Anja, an avid reader of my blog, sent me a picture of a combination of fabrics in case I wanted a "challenge" for her birthday card. I loved the idea and tried to use all the colors and patterns. Here is the photo she sent me.

And here is the card she got:

Stamps: Dotted background (Hero Arts), roses background (Impression Obsession), sentiment (SSS)
Dies: Heart (Wplus9), banner (SSS), butterfly (Poppystamps)


The pink I used was an envelope in a former life that I recycled and it shimmers although not quite as much as the fabric.


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

CAS-ual Fridays #172 Color Challenge






Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"






Time Out Challenge #82 "Flowers with the optional twist of kissing"
No twist






Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"






Have a fantastic week and

Be well,

Pink Balloons with Gold Glitter

My blogging friend Gundi from papierelle has a challenge at the moment with a balloon theme. That motivated me to dig out my balloon dies that I don't use often enough (but then again what DO I use often enough...?).

Stamps: Sentiment (CAS-ual Fridays), Background (unmounted, unknown)
Dies: Balloons (SSS)


I sponged a glossy scrap of paper with different shades of pink and a light lavender, cut out the balloons, dipped the upper half in Versamark, and heat embossed that part with gold glitter embossing powder. Embossed the sentiment with the same EP on a strip of grey. You can see the glitter a little better in the second picture. The sparkle was hard to capture. The background was stamped with one of my old, unmounted background stamps (this one is marble), that I used to buy when I went to Rubber Stamp Conventions many years ago. It could be from Stamp Camp or Stamp Out Cute, but unfortunately these companies don't exist anymore.

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


Papierelle







Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "For a Special Lady/Girl"
I gave this to one of my Thursday Night Stamping Friends who is a very special lady and loves grey and pink! We celebrated her birthday this past week.

Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"







Happy Little Stampers March Anything Goes With Dies







Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Be well,

Heart of Roses

After all these graphic, modern triangles I have a more delicate and feminine card for you today!

I was inspired by Therese's card over at the Flower Challenge. If you are not new to the stamping world you have probably heard of Therese and visited her blog "lost in paper". She is a master of lots of different styles and regularly posts videos. So if you need some inspiration you will find plenty of it on her blog!

This is her card that we were to CASE it:

And here is what I made:

Stamp: Happy Stampers (happy)
Dies: SSS (heart of roses), unknown (birthday - it was a gift)


I die cut the heart and put it back into the panel. Behind it is a background that I made a long time ago using the direct to paper technique. I didn't use any acetate like Therese did but my background is on glossy paper so it has a similar shine. I cut out the birthday from the same panel. The heart is treated with Wink of Stella but you know how difficult it is to capture on camera.


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

The Flower Challenge #5 "CASE Our Guest Designer"
***This card was the winner!!!***






Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"





Seize the Birthday "Inlaid Die Cutting"







Thank you so much for your visit! If you want to make my day leave me a comment!

Be well,

100 Years

The first card I am showing you in 2017 I made for the the 100th birthday of the father of my sister-in-law! That is quite the milestone! I wonder if any of us will live that long...

Stamps: Stampin' Up (splatters)
Dies: Memory box (sentiment and numbers)
Other: Tim Holtz textured hammer, punch


Since he knows German I used this die from Memory Box that says something like "Best Wishes". The numbers are cut from a scrap of gold and then distressed with this textured hammer from Tim Holtz (not sure if it is still available). The green background I had in my stash. I layered everything on a gold panel and attached it to a 5x7 card that I stamped lightly with golden splatters.


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

The Male Room Challenge #51 "Anything Goes"






Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"

Happy Little Stampers "Anything Goes With Dies" Challenge 







Your visits and comments always make my day! Thank you!

Be well,

Bright and Flowery Birthday Card

Hello everyone,

Popping in to let you know that I am still around. Just in the middle of the end-of-year/holiday madness. Although I don't have a holiday card for you but a birthday card with bright flowers to cheer you up if the weather is grey wherever you are. We had our first snow yesterday after a super mild and sunny Saturday.

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp (flowers), Happy Little Stamper (sentiment)
Die: Memory Box (birdie)
Other: Faber Castell Polychromos pencils


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

CAS Mix Up November "Masking"
The flowers are masked, stamped, plus there is fussy cutting, and die cutting

Seize the Birthday - no topping







Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating!

Be well,

Happy 13th Birthday

Today my youngest turned 13! Now I have two teenagers in the house! Since both my boys also speak German I chose a German sentiment for his card. The balloons that look almost white are actually a light green. 

We are currently away on an island on beautiful Lake Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. This is out last night here. This summer turns out to be crazy busy. But soon I hope to find more time to craft and post! 

Stamps: Create a Smile (numbers, sentiment)
Dies: SSS (balloons)


Challenges:

Create a Smile July Challenge "Birthday"





Seize the Birthday - No Topping







Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"








Be well,