Happy Halloween (cat and dog)

Hello everyone ;o)
this is a sad post to write, even though I really like this card and am quite happy how it turned out. The sad part is that this will be the very last challenge at the Crafty Cardmakers. Our wonderful Lin from the "Twisted Witch" blog has good reasons to step down from coordinating the team and the challenge. However I am really heartbroken that the challenge won't continue. I have met so many lovely and fabulous people and talented crafters through the challenge. I am grateful for having been a part of this team for as long as it lasted and I wish each and everyone just the best of luck, good health and happiness! 
But now onto today's card. This is my inspiration for you for our "Things That Go Bump In The Night" challenge:

I started with the background and used different Distress Inks to create a lighter middle and a darker outside and also stamped a cemetary scene on top of the grassy hill. When in the end that still didn't feel dark enough I went around the panel with "Black Soot" and that really made even the darker, duller colours pop. 

Next I stamped and coloured the two fun images by Simon Says stamp. They are from an older set which is new to me though. They are quite big and I also love the sentiment which is from the same set. That one was stamped and embossed before I added the cat and the dog, but after the background had dried for quite some time. I thought, that the top was a little too bare so I added the spider and her net to the upper left corner and that finished off my card. I hope you like it and I also hope that you will help us leaving blogland with a bang by participating in our last challenge! 

Supplies:

Stamps: "Trick Or Treat" by Simon Says Stamp
Dies: "Cute Cobweb" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Layer it Up" (3 layers plus inked layers)
Animal Friends Challenge "Spiders"
Dragonfly Dreams "Spooky and / or Cute"
Sweet Stampin Challenge "Halloween"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Anything Goes"
My Time to Craft "Halloween or Cats"

Boo to You ;o)

Heya everyone ;o)
Good to see you today for another challenge over at the PINspirational Challenge blog. This is our inspiration picture for you:

I love this picture as inspiration because there is so much to choose from. The theme for once and also all the different elements. I chose the ghosts and also the theme as my inspiration. The ghosts are from a set by Hello Bluebird. Tey were stamped on a piece of vellum and then heat embossed, because I  wanted to have the outline show in white. Next I backed the entire piece of vellum with Stick It! adhesive before I fussy cut them all out. 

Only the things they were holding or wearing were stamped on Copic friendly paper and I coloured them in. I placed the die cut stars from a cover up die by Your Next Stamp on an orange card base, coloured in the stitched lines with a white gel pen and then placed the little ghosts, making sure you could see their eyes. Next I freehanded two little spiders into my design and added the sentiment. I hope you like my card and that you will join us for this challenge. It will be the last on the PINspirational Chalenge blog for a few month, so it would be really nice to have a gallery brimming with fabulous ideas this time. Have a wonderful week and happy crafting my dear friends! Sending you all a virtual hug, yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Frightful Little Bits" by Hello Bluebird
Dies: "Star Panel Die" by Your Next Stamp

Challenges:
Try It On Tuesdays "Halloween"
Animal Friends Challenge "Spiders"
Make My Monday "Orange as Main Colour"
Dragonfly Dreams "Spooky and or Cute"
Cutie Pie Challenge "Too Cute Too Spook"
Unicorn Challenge "Spooky or Cute"
Crafty Calendar Challenge "Halloween"
My Time To Craft "Halloween or Cats"

Squirrel having a pile of fun

Heya everyone,

so glad to see you here in my little part of Blogland ;o) Today we are starting a new challenge over at Papercraft Challenges. This time the theme is "Autumn Colours" and the winner will get a little surprise in addition to all the fun ;o) This is my take on the theme:

For this card I used the cute images by MFT stamps and started with stamping the pile of leaves on the already prepared background and quickly coloured in all the leaves in different colours and the "inside" of the pile in a dark green. It could either be that the inside of the pile is quite dark or that you can still see some grass underneath all the leaves. 

Next I stamped the squirrel and some extra leaves and coloured them in using my Copic markers again. This time I made sure I had a lot of contrast and depth to what I coloured. After that was done I die cut the frame and stamped the sentiment right next to the edge of the inside of the frame, placed the squirrel where I thought it looked best and then scattered some of the leaves around to make it look like the suirrel had just jumped into the pile of fun ;o) I hope you like the card and that you are going to join us in our "Autumn Colours" gallery. I would love to see what you create! Have a wonderful and cozy Autumn time, stay safe and happy crafting everyone, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Piles of Fun" by My Favourite Things

              "Wonky Scalloped Frames" by Avery Elle

Challenges:

Sweet Stampers Challenge "Autum or Halloween"
Stamping Sensations "Autumn Glory"

Moving Along with the Times "Animals or Birds"

Shopping Our Stash "Happy Fall YÀll"
A Place to Start "Harvest Time - Use Red, Yellow and Green"
Aud Sentiments Challenge "Halloween / Fall Sentiment"

Christmas Tags

Hello my crafty friends,

when October arrives I am usually already in a slight panic about my Christmas cards. So when I saw that the new theme at the Crafty Cardmakers was "Tags" I knew immediately that I wanted to create some Christmas tags:

Usually tags get thrown away after the presents are opened, so I didn't want to put too much time into the tags, but still wanted a nice design. So I went through my dies and found the trees and also these cute birds and the idea for the design was born. 

Using Distress Inks (in Salty Ocean. Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Saphire) I created a background for the tags on a large piece of paper, so that I could get a few tags die cut from that piece.After die cutting the tags I placed the on red cardstock and only leaving a very thin boarder cut around them. Next I punched the hole for the ribbon to go through, though if I'd recreate the tags I would place the hole a bit more towards the top. 

I hope you are going to join us, because I would love to see you "Tag" creation in our gallery! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting, everyone! Stay safe,
yours Maike

Hello (Reading Bunny)

Hello everyone ;o)

PINspirational Challenges has a new challenge starting today. Here you can see the new inspirational picture: 

For my card I punched out a circle from yellow cardstock and darkened the edges a little to give it more interest and placed that on a die cut scalloped circle. I wanted the white edge around my focal point, because I felt the patterned paper would have been a little too distracting otherwise. I stamped and coloured that sweet bunny reading its book and fussy cut it out. 

Next I cut down a pice of vellum and tore the edges a bit to make them more noticable and darker. I used letter dies to die cut the word hello twice and adhered it directly to the vellum. After adding a few enamel dots my card was done ;o) If you would like to join the fun, just click on the link here or click the inspirational picture to be directed to the challenge. I can't wait to see what you'll create! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Zoey - bunny reading" by Purple Onion Designs

Dies: "Tall Alpha Die Set" by Altenew
         "Scalloped Circle Die" by My Favourite Things (discontinued) 

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Crafty Gals Corner "Fall Colours"
Stinkin Inkers "Shades of Fall"
Moving along the Times "Animals or Birds"
DL.Art "Fall Colours"
Crafty Animals "Include an animal"
Daring Cardmakers "Inspiration Picture"

Liebe Grüße aus der Ferne

Hello everyone!

Today I am back with a new card for the "Dragon or Kite" theme for the Challenge Up Your Life blog and the month of October ;o) "Dragon" and "Kit" are the same word in German ("Drache") just in case you were wondering why we would pair such different things in a challenge.

I wanted nice big clouds as my background and because I didn't have a die or stamp that fit my idea I went with a patterned paper that I really love and have had stashed away for years now. The piece of paper fit my card base perfectly and all that was needed was a frame of some sort I though which is why I added the faux stitching line.

For the dragon I chose to go with some bright and fun shades of blue. After stamping the sentiment several times (at least the huge one) to get a really nice and dark impression I adhered the dragon right onto the paper - except for its left wing which I lifted up with some foam tape. It enhances the 3D feel of the dragon a little bit more. Now my card was done! I hope you like it and that you are going to join us at Challenge Up Your Life with a dragon or kite themed project of your own ;o))) Have a lovely month of October, stay safe and happy crafting! Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Me and My Dragon" by Mama Elephant

              "Aus der Ferne" by Create a Smile Stamps

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Cardz 4 Guyz "Dragons or Dinosaurs"

Shopping Our Stash "On Trend - Slimline"

Sweet Stampers "Things With Wings"

A shabby and chic birthday card

 Hello my dear crafty friends,

today I am sharing a very unusual card for me. I needed to create a "Shabby Chic" card as an inspiration for the Crafty Cardmakers blog and it took me several attempts and a few hours to come up with this design:

And to be completely hinest with you, I am still not 100% sure it matches the theme, but I wouldn't have known what to do differently :o) Is there a style of card that doesn't seem to find its way onto your craft table try as you might? In the end I really like what I came up with. It is very different from the cards I ordinarily create, but there are also some stages I went through that might find a way onto my craft table in the future. Like the matted elements for example. 

The two cute critters made the difference for me in the end. They gave the card a more up-beat feeling I thought and the eye something to focus on. As sentiment I used the bingo-card I had adhered and both the chick and the goat stand around it to make sure it gets noticed ;o) I would truly love to see all your glorious takes on the theme "Shabby Chic" and am going to check out our gallery at the Crafty Cardmakers frequently ;o) Until next time, please stay safe and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Party On The Farm" by Hello Bluebird 

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Animal Antics" (Vintage Look)
Dragonfly Dreams "Happy Birthday"
Crafty Gals Corner "Autumn Colours"
Crafty Catz "Anything Goes"
Crafty Friends "Autumn Colours"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Fall Card 4 Kids"