19 April, 2024

Little bird told me

After a short break, I'm popping back into blogland to introduce the latest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. For the letter B, we'd like to see birds on your creations - a wonderful theme for spring, when we get to hear more and more birds from early morning to nightfall. 

I've started working recently in an attempt to get myself back on track and back into life, but as I'm being overwhelmed on so many different levels with no possibility to pull the emergency break, I feel like I'm heading towards a major burnout. I try to keep the balance by resting as much as I can, but the energy put into work lacks elsewhere, making even the simplest daily activities impossible - I can't remember the last time I've done some proper grocery shopping, not to mention household chores, or anything productive for that matter. I find it both intriguing and terrifying to think that I have to meet with disaster in order to *maybe* find somebody to believe me when I say I'm completely exhausted, and that a job which leaves me bedbound for days isn't worth it. I would love to do some crafting to decompress, but it feels like I have neither the time nor the energy to do so.

With that in mind, I took a picture from an old calendar to create a simple bird-themed card. Those little featherballs on a fir branch are such a cute motif, and I decided to subtle frame them with a green piece of background paper. To keep the earthy, wooden atmosphere, I opted for a kraft card base. On that base, I placed a cardboard with more fir branches, which I bought in Pardubice years ago. To round up my creation, I added a couple of paper flowers, as well as some punched leafs in different shades of green. 
In the end, I wanted to add a sentiment, and I thought that a simple birthday greeting would suit the image, so I took a matching sentiment from my sticker stash. However, as I prepared a piece of white cardboard for the sticker, that strip of white seemed so out of place that I just couldn't glue it onto the card. I tried to place it in different corners to achieve an acceptable result, but to no avail. In the end it occured to me to try something different: if the white was so disturbing, how about skipping it altogether? I decided to place the birthday sticker directlyonto the card, and somehow, the only available space seemed to be the left upper corner of the bird image. And suddenly, everything fell into place: The sentiment feels like part of the scenery rather than some foreign body, and the particular placing makes it look like the birthday wishes come straight from the beaks of the birds. 

For a little real-life inspiration, a friendly little blue tit in park Tivoli. Feels like the memory of a past life.

challenges:
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "add flowers"
- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT with optional twist "Happy birthday"
- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "spring"
- critter crazy: ATG animals
- fabnfunky: add a sentiment
- kreativtanten: green
- little red wagon: congrats
- make my monday: birds
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- scrapping4fun: ATG
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09 March, 2024

Yesterdays (vintage/retro)

With a bit of a delay, let me introduce you to the latest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. We'd like to see vintage & retro on your creations, so there is what I prepared for my DT inspiration.
I made this rather simple card a while ago, using a clean kraft base and a wide ribbon with butterflies. I think they look like those old botanical/zoology prints, which is why I hope they're fitting the challenge theme. Now here's my creative process in a few steps: First, I glued the see-through organza ribbon onto a light grey piece of cardboard. Then, I placed the motif onto the card base. I didn't plan to add any more embellishments, but as everything looked kind of blank, I opted for this golden border sticker to frame the butterflies on the sides.
Once that was done, I added a layer of white paper on the inside of my card, as I feel that any handwriting would be more visible on a white background rather than on a kraft one. 
The card ended up to be a sympathy card for the family of the most wonderful old lady my mum used to work for. It was hard for everyone to observe how dementia changed this cheerful and hardworking houswife into a frightened mess during the final years, so I'd like to believe that she found her peace at last.

challenges:
- C.R.A.F.T.: female
- crafty catz: ATG
- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "for a loved one"
- critter crazy: ATG animals
- do-all kreatives: ATG
- double D challenges: first signs of spring (butterflies)
- love to craft: ATG 
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- unicorn challengeblog: for boys/men
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23 February, 2024

Xtra love hearts

Welcome to another challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog, and without further ado, we'd like to see hearts on your creations. As always, feel free to show us whatever technique and project you like, just make sure to follow our very seasonal challenge theme.
With  the warm temperatures outside, I decided to create some ice cream for you. Specifically, a popsicle made of white chocolate with a little touch of raspberry. For my project, I used a piece of patterned paper with loads of tiny hearts, which couldn't be more perfect for our challenge theme. To make it a focal point of my card, I made sure to keep the rest of my creation pretty simple: a white embossed background with swirls, a piece of red paper to frame the image, and a couple of shiny pearls for a bit of bling. 
But even though I thought I was done, I just couldn't help thinking that the card was missing something. As the popsicle didn't pop from the white background as expected, I decided to draw a thin red line along the patterned paper. The border between motif and background is now defined more clearly, but I'm not sure whether I like the result. I obviously can't use 3D adhesive pads to raise the popsicle as everything is already glued together, but I'd appreciate your ideas on any solutions that come to your mind. 

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: all occasions
- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "love letters"
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "mononchrome"
- as you like it: feminine or masculine (I like to create both types of projects, but I certainly make way more feminine things. While masculine creations usually present a challenge for me, meaning I have to focus on making it masculine, I like how I can set my fantasy free when I'm working on girly projects: flowers, pearls, gemstones, patterned papers, and all that jazz. I consider the CAS hearty popsicle to be a feminine project, too, but it's fun to think that it could be also suitable for a boy/men, showing that certain things like love for ice cream are universal and can not be attributed to one single gender.)
- CAS on Friday: male/boy
- crafty calendar: add a heart
- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: add a heart
- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "for a loved one"
- double D challenges: patterned paper
- everybody art: birthday
- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade 
- pearlysparkles: hearts
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- male room: Valentines/use a heart
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09 February, 2024

Weddings

A bit later than expected, here comes my DT inspiration for our new challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. With valentine's Day around the corner, there are huge amounts of flowers availible at the local supermarket, and blogland is swarmed with tons and tons of hearts. Our theme for teh letter W is "weddings", which should fit nicely into the lovey-dovey season. Of course you don't have to feature hearts, and I'd be most excited to see any of your wedding creations, but I went for the classic approach here with a stitched heart pattern for my DT work. 
I've stitched this particular pattern many times before, and I like the swirls around the heart image, so I knew what was awaiting me. Once the pricking was done, i sewed the outline with a shimmering silver yarn. After that, I added a couple of white pearls to the swirls. For the background, I worked with a design paper that is covered in silver hearts of different shapes and sizes, many of them giving away a nice shimmer if you tilt the card a bit. It goes nicely with the main motif, which I elevated by using 3D adhesive pads. 
I thought I would be finished after that, but as the border between the two layers didn't really do it for me, I decided to add a tiny silver sticker to frame the heart image. I think it looks much better this way, and it doesn't really bother me that the sticker border is actually from a winter/Christmas collection as it's made from tiny stars. 

On the side note, the card comes not only late for the start of the challenge, but also late in general - it was meant to be a wedding card for my sister who got married in December. I didn't manage to finish it back then as I had some unexpected health issues and literally didn't know if I'd be able to attend at all until travel day. I'm glad I did though, as I finally got to meet all of the Kiwi the in-laws, not to mention that it was a very lovely celebration, and a very chill one, too - no dress code, no requirements, no drunken craziness, no bridezilla drama. Just be there and enjoy the moment with close friends and family. 
To be perfectly honest, we *might* have caused a little scare to the lady in the flower shop, asking her whether she'd make us a wedding bouquet form the flowers we picked on the spot ... on the morning of the wedding! 
"We don't do wedding bouquets. And even if we did, you'd have to pre-order as we make them separately in our workshop, and you have to go through a catalogue to pick one, and then we can make you a bouquet just like that, but anyway, you have to pre-order from our catalogue, and it will be done in our workshop, and it will take time."
"Ok, how about just a normal bouquet with those flowers here?"
"Will be done in a minute. But a wedding bouquet, you'd have to pre-order, and we make them in our workshop, and it takes time."
Oh well... Turns out it was the most beautiful "just normal" bouquet for the most beautiful "just normal" wedding. Yay to the chillest couple ever! Yay to normalness!

A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.

challenges:
- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "love letters"
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "mononchrome"
- C.R.A.F.T.: love/Valentine
- cardz4guyz: love
- CAS on Friday: Valentine
- crafty calendar: add a heart
- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "Valentines/with love"
- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "for a loved one"
- fabnfunky: new beginnings
- friendship challenge: ATG
- love to craft: ATG 
- make my monday: patterned paper
- nachteulen: ATG
- pearlysparkles: hearts
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- traumfabrik: My sassy girl (feminine, Valentine's day) 
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26 January, 2024

Vogue (fashion)

Hello to the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog, and without much further ado, we're heading right onto the runway. The simple reason: our challenge theme this fortnight is "Vogue", meaning we're eager to see your fashion-inspired projects. I'm your challenge host this time, and I'll be picking the to creations, too, so I'm really looking forward to seeing your designs.
For my DT inspiration, I decided to use this beautiful digi from All Dressed Up for winning one of their challenges years ago. From the moment I saw her I wanted to put the "Beret girl" into action, and here she is ready to face the spotlight. Since I couldn't figure out which outfit would suit the young lady, I began my card with picking the background paper. As I was indecisive about the colour scheme, I opted for a neutral grey designer paper. I picked a part that features a bit of stripes and a bit of abstract text, and placed it onto my card base. 
I then went through my stash of paper flowers, as I knew I'd want to use quite a lot of them to embellish the card. I liked the purple shades most, which is what lead to my project looking as it does: I coloured the girl in different shades of purple, with a couple of pink accents. After that, I added matching background papers - one in light purple, and a darker one with polka-dots. 
Once that was done, I began placing the flowers into the corners of my image. When I figured out their respective spots, I glued them onto the card, adding a bunch of punched paper leafs. 
Then, naturally, I added gemstones in different shapes and sizes to bling up my project - the majority of the was bought on my pre-Christmas shopping spree. I still felt like something was missing, so I went through my sticker stash to look for a matching piece or two. I picked a huge silver swirl which I cut in half: I placed one half in the lower part of my card to fill the empty corner, and with the other half, I decided to decorate the inside of the card. 

Just a little fashion-related footnote before I'm off for the weekend: the purple shawl in the background was made by my little sister. I consider myself beyond blessed that she is obsessed with knitting and crazy enough to create random pieces of clothing "just to try the pattern". I can not possibly imagine how she manages to turn wool into projects that are so evenly, and she'll always surprise me with her knowledge of different yarns and their manufacturers. The particular scarf is not only mega beautiful but also super soft, and one of my favourite pieces in my wardrobe. Glory to the knitting queen!

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: all occasions
- as you like it: pearls or gems (I like both actually, but I see that I'm using more gemstones in my projects recently. I guess it's that not only they enhance a creation with a bit of colour and depth, they also have this shiny "bling" factor that pearls miss, and I seem to like this kind of bling lately)
- crafty catz: ATG
- do-all kreatives: ATG
- double D challenges: sparkle and/or shine
- little red wagon: never been used stuff (gemstones)
- morgans artworld: ATG
- moving along with the times: new craft item (gemstones)
- nachteulen: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
- traumfabrik: My sassy girl
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12 January, 2024

Under something

Hello and welcome to another challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. I can imagine that many of you are exhausted after a creative winter/Christmas/New Year's time, so we're having an easy theme for the "U" challenge: our request is simply to create a project that is inspired by "Under something". What exactly the "something" will be, is entirely up to you. On our challenge site you'll be able to see that the DT has presented various projects for you, and I'm sure you'll discover some that inspire you in your own crafting journey. 
For my DT work, I'm showing you one of the remaining Christmas cards. The little desert village is a rather small motif I found on the internet ages ago. I finally put it into action by printing it and cutting it to the size of a kraft card base. I then coloured it with coloured pencils, adding a bit of blue in the background to represent the night sky. 
Once that was done, I picked my Christmas stickers from my stash. At first, I placed a huge golden star in the sky atop of the village, which should represent the Christmas star. After that, I just kept adding stars of different shapes and sizes, until the whole upper part of my card was full of stars. Some of them are "full" stars, others are merely star silhouettes, and for the tiniest stars I even used golden filler dots that usually remain after you use up other motifs such as the letter "o" or the number "0". For a bit of gold in the lower part, I then added a sticker sentiment saying "Merry Christmas". 
My idea was a card that would resemble the feeling of being "under the starry sky" or "under the star of Betlehem", and I hope you can take it as a bit of inspiration when joining us this fortnight. 

challenges:
- krafty chicks: Christmas
- crafty calendar: Christmas themed
- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "no design paper"
- creative crafty uncles: Christmas/New year
- love to craft: ATG 
- pearlysparkles: CAS
- pennys papertake: ATG paper
Posted by at 17 comments:

29 December, 2023

Texture

In what will probably be the last post of this year, I'd like to introduce you to another challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. Our theme for the letter "T" is "texture", which gives you plenty of artistic freedom with your creations. To see what my teammates have prepared for you, please have a look at our inspiration gallery. I for myself decided to make a little tag inspired by good wishes.
On one side, I placed a simple message saying "all the best". I framed it with a piece of red cardboard, and glued it onto a piece of white embossed paper. To emphasize good luck, I added a tiny wooden ladybug in the top corner of the tag.
On the other side, I started with a piece of red background paper, which I complemented with the image of an ambulance from my stash. I think I saved it from a folder once, but I'm not entirely sure as it was literally ages ago. I restrained from any sentiments here, but I did add two star-shaped gemstones that match the colour scheme of my project. This way, I managed to feature a bit of texture on each side of my creation.
I like how the kraft tag goes with both designs, bringing the colours together. Once the tag was done, I took a piece of raffia from my stash to create a ribbon. I'm not sure where my project will end up, but I could imagine it could go well with a chocolate bar as a "get well soon" gift. 
With that in mind, I hope you'll have a wonderful entry to 2024, and may the new year shower you with all the best.

challenges: 
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