HOHOH....

Ich wünsche euch allen ein frohes Fest mit lieben Menschen, mit fröhlichem Lachen, mit guten Gesprächen, mit Zeit für die Dinge, die sonst schnell in den Hintergrund geraten, Zeit für euch und genug Zeit, um noch etwas an andere verschenken zu können. Vor allem aber wünsche ich euch Zufriedenheit und Gesundheit, meine lieben Mitbastler und Mitbastlerinnen! ;o)

I wish you a merry Christmas with your loved ones, with laughter and joy, with good conversations, with enough time for yourself, time for the things that often get pushed to the back and time to give to others. Mainly though I wish you contentment and health my crafty friends! ;o)

Now to today's card ;o) Over at the Papercraft Challenges we have an "Anything Goes" challenge for you, so that you can play with whatever you fancy and really get creative with new and old supplies! This is what I have come up with using our kind sponsor's (Dr. Digi) image:

I think this image is a lot of fun, even though I am not a big fan of random graffitis ;o))) I imagined a scene in the city by night which I hope you can tell... Other than the background I only added the German sentiment which means "Merry Christmas" to the card and called it a day. I felt like everything more would be too much. What you you think?

I hope you like the card. Also that you will have some time to play at your craft table and share it with us at Papercraft Challenges.

Merry Christmas everyone and happy crafting to all of you ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:

Digi stamp: "Banksy Claus" by Dr. Digi

Stamp: "Zum Feste das Beste" by Create a Smile 

Stencil: "Brick Wall" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:

Colouring in Scarpland "Christmas"
Christmas Cards All Year Around "Santa, Mrs Claus or Elves"
The Crafting Challenge "Christmas"
STAMPlorations Challenge "December Stencil Challenge" (I used a stencil to create the brick wall in the background)

Sending Holiday Cheer Mouse

Hello my lovely crafty friends!

My life has been really, really busy these last few weeks and I am just now starting to get back to my normal routines. Which is why you haven't really seen any new cards here on the blog. However for the latest PINspirational challenge I managed to create the card you can see above. This was my inspiration:

I didn't want to go with a black and white card, but I thought I'd take the snow, the hat and the scarf as inspiration.

I love the super cheery looking mouse jumping for joy! I also love the fact that the sky paired with the sentiment ended up looking a bit like a snow globe, don't you think? Well, I hope you are having a lot of (fun) time playing with your stamps and that maybe you are going to link your card or project to our gallery at PINspirational Challenges. Have a wonderful weekend and also - if you celebrate Christmas - the most wonderful time with your family and friends!

Happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Maggie - winter mouse" by Purple Onion Designs

Dies: "Snow Scene Elle-Ments" by Avery Elle

Challenges:
Sweet Stampers Challenge "Anything Goes"
CAS on Sundays "Christmas"
Paper Funday Challenge "Anything Goes, Twist: Christmas"
Aud Sentiments Challenge "Christmas / Winter and a sentiment"
Through the Purple Haze "Snow, Snow, Snow"
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge "Anything Christmas"

Sweet Wishes, Sweet Friends

Heya my lovely friends!

This card is for the newest PINspirational Challenge. The inspiration picture shows a cake and as I like cake I thought I would have loads of it on my card ;o) 

So I decided to do a bit of masking with these sweet celebratory images by My Favorite Things. After having stamped all the images I masked all of them and created the background using Distress Inks. After the ink was dry I started colouring. It took a while, but not as long as I had feared ;o)

I trimmed the piece I had coloured to be a bit bigger than the frame I had die cut and added both to a card base. I had stamped some pink dots on there to give it a bit more interest, too. I hope you like the card and that our inspiration pic can do what it is supposed to do and that you will share your project with us in our gallery ;o) Have a wonderful rest of your week and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Sweet Celebration Wishes" & "Myriad Dots BG" by My Favorite Things

Dies: "Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frame" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Sweet Stampin "Celebrations"

Seize the Birthday "Birthday + optional Candles"

Spooktacular Wishes

Heya everyone!

Life is kind of hectic at the moment, so I hope you will forgive me that this post is late... For the Crafty Cardmakers new challenge theme "Halloween" I made this fun and not at all scary card! Which is how I like my Halloween cards best ;o)

The images are from a little set by Avery Elle called "Scary Pals" and I really love how cute the kids in their costumes look! 

The background is from an awesome paper pack with loads of the star burst by tba and adhered the lovely "Sky Burster" frame by Mama Elephant on top to give the kids a frame to sit in. I really like it when you can still see the colour on the edges of the card so I amde the card base just a tiny bit bigger than the frame. I hope you like my card and that you are going to join us and share your projects with us in our gallery here ;o) Have a wonderful week and happy crafting! Yours Maike

Challenges:

CRAFT Challenge "Halloween"

Words 2 craft by "Always be Batman, ..."

Crafty Calendar Challenge "Halloween"

My Time To Craft "Halloween or Cats"

Thank you Owl

 Heya everyone!

Today I would like to share my card for our PINspirational challenge with you. I am always in need of some "Thank you" cards, so I really like our current inspiration and this is the card I made:

I love this cute image by Purple Onion Designs and it was a lot of fun creating this card! 

We would love to see your projects in our gallery. You can let yourself be inspired by any aspect of our inspiration picture and get inky ;o) Hope you'll have a wonderful week. Take care and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

tba

Challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge "Autumn / Fall"
Traumfabrik Challenge "Free Birds"
Crafty Animals "Anything Goes"
Incy Wincy Spider "Autum / Fall Colours"
Sweet Stampin "Animals"

Crazy 4 Challenges "Focus on Sentiment"

Monster Wishes with Scary Pals

And hello again!

I am back with an inspiration card for the new task at Challenge Up Your Life. This time we would like to see "Frames" on your projects and you have almost one month to enter your card, layout, box, ... to our gallery. We will feature the winner and they will have the chance to guest design for our next challenge. So here is what I came up with:

I love those cute monsters by Avery Elle and thought they would make great images for the frames and my birthday card ;o) I stamped them each on a square piece of paper - slightly bigger than the frame, masked them and coloured the background. First I added a layer of light pink and then I went back with a darker pink through a stencil to add the stars. 

I also added stars to the background, but bigger ones and in yellow which I like very much as a contrasting colour to pink. The frames were kept white, so that they would stand out against all that colour and give the eye a resting place. You can't see it very well in the pictures, but I added gloss to the eyeballs of the blue monster and to the horns of the one in the middle. I really hope you are going to join us and am looking forward to seeing what you "put" in your frame ;o)))

Have a wonderful week and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)))

Supplies:

Stamps: "Peek-A-Boo Scary Pals" Avery Elle

Dies: "Single Stitch Line Rounded Square Frames" by My Favorite Things (discontinued)

Stencils: "Wave of Stars" and "Big Stars Polka" by Create a Smile

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

A Place to Start "Anything Goes with twist: Masking"

Seize the Birthday #175 "Topping: Add a geometric shape" 

Sending Holiday Cheer Penguins

Heya all!

It's cold outside, rainy, dark when I come home and did I mention cold outside??? Winter isn't far off now, so I thought I could as well start with my Christmas card production. Each and every year I am short a few Christmas cards , because I like to send them to all my (crafty) friends. This year I am determined to have all my Christmas cards made by December 1st. How about you? Do you send out Christmas cards? And are you always short on them just like me? ;o))) I created this card as my inspiration for the "Monochrome" challenge at Papercraft Challenges:

I went with black, grey and white as neutral colours and added a bluish green to them, because that colour works well with a sky but also as cute hats and gift packages ;o) Alright I smuggled a teeny tiny bit of yellow in there, but the beaks and feet just didn`t look right with a different colour. The snowy hill is made from a piece of Lawn Fawn glitter paper which I really love. It is super sparkly but doesn't loose the glitter. Perfect for crafting!

I die cut the snow flakes heart from the background piece to fill the blank space over the penguins tops and also giving the card an extra wintery feel. I hope you are going to join us ;o) Have a lovely week and I hope you won't get cold! Happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Sweet Holiday Penguins" by My Favorite Things

Die: "Snowflake Heart" by Memory Box (discontinued?)

Challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Monday Challenge "Let`s get ready for Christmas"
Crafty Hazelnut`s Christmas Challenge "Anything Christmas Goes"

Winter Wonderland Challenge "Use Your Fav Embellishment" (Glossy Accents ;o))

Happy Fall Squirrels

Heya everyone and happy fall :o)

I hope you all had a great start this week and that you had a fabulous weekend! I don't know how it is where you live, but here we can clearly see and feel that fall is coming. Last weekend though was lovely weather and we spend most of the time outside. I did manage to squeeze in some card making time though to create the card for the current PINspirational challenge. This is the inspiration picture:

I created the background using loads of Distress Inks (if you are interested I will list the exact colours for you) and dry embossed it with a folder that is meant for Christmas, but I always felt it looked a bit like leaves or a festive lamp string... Let's just say I like the look ;O) Next I placed a frame on top of the colourful background to tone it down just a little, added the squirrels and used some left over leaves from my "Hedgehog Hugs" card to give the card even more of an autumnal look.

The squirrels are from a Gerda Steiner set and I just love their cute faces! I hope you are going to join us and share your project and talent with us in our gallery! Have fun crafting and have a fabulous week! Yours Maike

Stamps: "Happy Fall" by Gerda Steiner Designs

Dies: "Small Stitched Leaves" by Lawn Fawn

          "Essential Cover Up" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Animal Friends Challenge "Squirrels or Deer" (Rehe oder Eichhörnchen)
Simon Says Monday Challenge "Stitch It"
Send A Smile 4 Kids "Cute Fall or Halloween card"
Always Fun Challenges "Cute Critters"

Crafting Happiness "Autumn / Fall"
Allsorts Challenge "Trees and Leaves"

Cute Card Thursday "Dies and Punches"

Sweet Stampers "Use A Sentiment"

Hedgehog Hugs

Heya everyone!

Today I have an Autumn inspired card for you and though I am sad to see summer leaving, I am already looking forward to the forest changing colour, because I really love the look of it! This is the inspiration picture we have for you over at PINspirational challenges and you have two weeks to join us with any kind of project inspired by this photo:

For my card I created a whole bunch of Autumn leaves using the ink blending technique and Distress Inks in red, brown, yellow and green which I die cut the leaves from once the paper was dry. Then I coloured one of the cute MFT hedgehogs and placed a leaf in its paw, before gluing it to the card.

As a sentiment I used the negative part of the "HUGS" die which looks really cool and bold I think. I hope you are going to join us at PINspirational Challenges! Have a creative and fantastic week. Happy crafting, Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Happy Hedgehogs" by My Favorite Things

Dies: "Small Stitched Leaves" by Lawn Fawn

         "Big Hugs Die-namic" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Stamp it"

Simon Says Monday Challenge "Stamp It"
Penny Black and More Challege "Animals"
Dream Valley Challenges "Autumn Colours"
Crafty Friends Challenge "Autumn Colours"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Cute Fall 4 Kids"

You`re a pearl

Heya my dear crafty friends!

I have a new card for you today and it was made as an inspiration for the newest challenge over at the Crafty Cardmakers: we would like to see "Pearls and/ or Gems" on your projects. Here is the card I made:

I created an underwater background using Distress Oxide Inks in three different shades of blue and used the lightes shaded to create those light beams with a stencil. The effect gives it a little more dimension I find and interest.

The little mermaid is just too cute and as she is holding a pearl and wearing jewellery out of pearls she was the perfect image for the challenge. I coloured her with Copic markers and added glitter glue to all the pearls. I hope you are going to join us for our challenge and share your talent with the Crafty Cardmakers. ;o) Have a fabulous week and happy crafting ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Under the Sea" by C.C.Designs
               (was just retired, so if you find it anywhere and like it - grab it ;o)

Dies: "Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frames Die-namics" by My Favorite Things

Stencil: "Ray of Light" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Country View Challenges "Under the Sea"

Patties Creations "Beach or Under the Sea"

It's Your Birthday - be a little shellfish

Heya everyone ;o)

"Shells" is the theme of the new challenge at Challenge Up Your Life. My lovely friend Sonja of "The Art Of Stamping" gave me a lovely stamp set a while back with a shell and this lovely sentiment and I thought it was THE perfect set for our challenge. But I'd better let you be the judge of that:

I mixed and matched a lot with this card, but I really like the way it turned out. The pearl inside the shell was paper-pieced. I stamped it on some textured cardstock thatt I had covered with Nuvo Mousse in "Pearl", cut it out and placed it over the original pearl if that makes sense. 

The background is a stamp byStampingbella and I coloured it with Copic markers. It did take a while but I like the feeling of depth you get from the drawn scene. Once the alcohol from the marker had fully evaporated I heat embossed the sentiment over top. I hope you are going to create a "Shell" themed project as well and share it with us at Challenge Up Your Life! Have a wonderful month of September and happy crafting ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Year Six" by Lawn Fawn
              "Under the Sea Backdrop" by Stampingbella
              "Little Mermaids" by the Greeting Farm
              "Party Like A Pirate" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Patties Creations "Beach / Under the Sea"
Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"

Endlich

 

Hello everyone!

School has started here in Germany and that is a) the reason why we chose this picture as inspiration for you over at PINspirational Challenges

and also the reason why I am posting late! I had the card ready, but the day before the challenge was when school started for me and it seems I had my head in the job and nowhere else. I would like to apologize to you guys for posting late and also to the fabulous Deanne who is the soul behind PINspirational! 

But now on to my card: 

I chose to go witth the blackboard, used the letters as inspiration to decorate it and because I am me I had to have a cute animal on there too somewhere so I coloured the mouse and placed the apple to its side. 

Because I wanted a little bit more colour on my card I decided to stamp the word "Endlich" (which means finally in English) in rainbow letters and filled in the rest of the cardbase with school related images in a light grey, just to give it a bit more interest.

I hope you like the card and that you are going to play along with us ;o) Have a fantestic weekend and happy crafting,
yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Page Huggers" & "Sketchy Letters" by Mama Elephant

Dies: "Single Stitch Line Rounded Square Frames" by My Favourite Things (discontinued)

Mehr Meer oder I sea it's your birthday!

Heya guys!

I am so sorry, but I completely forgot to post this card! It is for Challenge Up Your Life and you can still play until the 27th of July ;o) Here is my inspiration card:

I used the super cute stamps from Purple Onion Designs and created a background for my scene with Distress Inks. The clouds in the sky are barely visible in this picture, but believe me there are some and they look really nice in real life! ;o)

I hope you are having a great day and that you'd like to join us in our "Vitamin Sea" challenge at Challenge Up Your Life! Happy crafting, Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Sammy" & "Sandy" & "Shelly" & "Beach Toy Set" & "Beach Umbrella"
               by Purple Onion Designs