Joy - 1 layout, 4 different looks

Heya my dear crafty friends!
Only two days left until Christmas :o) I am not in a christmassy mood yet, but I hope that will come once I have sorted out what to cook and what else needs decorating and that kind of thing. Are you always prepared in advance or more like me? Well if you are a little bit like me in that matter maybe you still need some quick Christmas cards? Then this might just be the post for you then.
Creating these three cards...

...went very quickly, because I had made this card first:



and really liked the whole layout with the big sentiment saying "Joy" and also the two stripes at the sides of the patterned paper. As you can see (in the picture above and the following ones) depending on which patterned paper was used the card gets a very different feel.

The patterned paper in combination with the sentiment and the snowy hills are elements of all of these 4 cards. I also added two critters to each card, making sure they at least kind of faced each other and coloured their accessories in a matching or complimenting colour for "their" background colour. When you choose animals like penguins, rabbits or polar foxes they can be coloured quite quickly I think. 

Also I found that by using different elements such as trees or mountains it changes the feel of a  scene a tiny bit, too ;o) Which one is your favourite? I hope that, if you are still in need of some Christmas cards, you will try this layout, because I really liked it. If you do so, I would be thrilled if you could comment here on my blog or tag me on instagram (@maikreations)

Until next time I wish you and your loved ones a happy time, please stay safe and happy crafting,
yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "First Snow" & "Skating Party" by Hello Bluebird

             "Me and my Yeti" by Mama Elephant (perfect for the little elements)

Dies: "Mini Snowflakes Dies" & "Finley's ABCs" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Christmas Critters"
Animal Friends Challenge "Fox and / or Rabbit"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Winter Cards 4 Kids"
Sweet Stampin "Last Minute Christmas"
Inkspirational Challenge "Snow"
Stamping Sensations "Anything With Wings" (Penguins)
Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Non-traditional Christmas Colours"
Fezziwigs Festive Frolics "Santa Says Last Minute Makes"
Alphabet Challenge Blog "S is for Snow Scene"
Always Fun Challenges "Christmas"

Merry & Bright (Huge Snowflake)

Hello everyone ;o)

So glad you stopped by! I hope this post finds you well and in good spirits :o) Many lovely people deserve a handmade Christmas hello and so I always need and create loads and loads of Christmas cards!

For this card I used the super cute image of Henry the skating bear and the huge and wonderful snowflake stencil by Create a Smile Stamps. Even though the image is rather small compared with the card size I fell that the big snowflake helps to tie it all together ;o) What do you think? Also it is made rather quickly, because there is only one time-consuming element in form of the Copic coloured bear. However, the card can be created withing 30 minutes I would dare say.

For the snowflake I used Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet and created a kind of ombre effect going darker towards the edges. To finish the card off I also added a bunch of sparkling sequins, the sentiment and also - of course - sweet Henry ;o) I hope you like the card! There will be one or two more to be found here until Christmas and I will choose cards that can still be made last minute ;o) Hope you'll stop by and until then I wish you a lovely time, all the best and stay safe! Happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Henry - skating bear" by Purple Onion Designs
              "Jingle Greetings" by Mama Elephant
Stencil: "Snowflake" by Create a smile Stamps

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Christmas Critters"

Allsorts Challenge "Sparkle and Shine"

Crafty Calendar "Christmas Theme"

Sweet Stampin "Last Minute Christmas"

Cute Card Thursday "Anything Goes"

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics "Santas Says Last Minute Makes"

Modsquat Challenge "Bears"

2 Crafty Critter Crazies "Anything goes Challenge #45"

Snowflakes at Papercraft Challenge

Heya my dear crafty friends,
today I am back with an inspiration card for Papercraft Challenges. Our theme this time is "Snowflakes" and our kind sponsor is Gerda Steiner Designs. That cute snowman image is one of their digis and if you'd also like to work with it or do like their stamps you should definately play along with us this month. Gerda Steiner Designs offers a $15 gift certificate for the winner of this month' challenge. 

This year I really fell for the combination of blue and purple shades for my Christmas and winter themed cards. It transports a frosty feel that I really like, so I coloured the snowman accordingly. For the shading of the snowman I used Copics in BG11 and BG10 to give it a bit of a rounded appearance and more dimension. The patterned papers I used are from Echo Park "Winter Magic"paper pad and I just adore the colours! To tie it all in I used "Shaded Lilac" Distress Ink on the edge of my card base and also coloured a strip of paper which became the sentiment strip. Lastly I added the snowflakes all over the card to help guide the eye a little and added some glitter glue accents using Nuvo Glitter Drops in the clear version "White Blizzard".

I hope you are going to play along with us and share your lovely "Snowflake" makes in our gallery! Have a fantastic day and happy crafting everyone! Yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Snowman and Birds Digital Stamp" by Gerda Steiner Designs
              "Merry Messages" by Lawn Fawn

Dies: "Rounded Stitched Window" by Reverse Confetti
          "Mini Snowflakes" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Let it Snow"
Simon Says Monday Challenge "Ice Cold"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Winter Cards 4 Kids"
Little Red Wagon "Snow Day"
Crafty Calender Challenge "Christmas Theme"
The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog "White Christmas"
Christmas With The Cuties "Have yourself a merry little christmas"
Sweet Stampers Challenge "Anything Goes"

Be merry (pine trees and Santa)

Heya my dear crafty friends.

I hope you have started well into December. Christmas is just around the corner, so I would love to share a Christmas card with you which I have made as an inspiration for the newest theme "Pine Trees" over at Challenge Up Your Life:

For this card I started with stamping the trees in the back and colouring the sky as well as the trees themselves with Copic markers. I also added a bit of light blue in a hill shape to give the large white space a bit of interest. I think it makes the snow scene look more interesting that way.

Next I stamped and coloured an older but beloved Santa image stamp. It has just the right size to almost fill a card but still leave enough room to fill in whatever you like. I used this image and the two similar ones that also come in the set loads of times. 

Next I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment "be merry" by Lawn Fawn and also cut it out with the matching die. I thought it would be the perfect sentiment for this scene. I hope you are going to join us this month and share your lovely designs with us and the world. Happy crafting everyone and please stay safe! Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Here comes Santa Claus" by Sugar Pea Designs

              "Festive Tree Trio" by Purple Onion Designs

              "Winter Big Scripty Words" by Lawn Fawn plus matching die

Die: "Small Stitched Rectangle Stackable Dies" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:

Simon Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Bastel-Traum Challenge "Winter"

Creative Craft Cottage "Christmas / Winter"

Sweet Stampers "Christmas"

Warme Grüße (Warm greetings - Walrus)

Heya everyone!
I hope you are enjoying a lovely, lazy, sunny, funny Sunday! Today I am back with an inspiration card for the newest Papercraft Challenges theme. This time we would like to see "Selfmade Backgrounds" in your projects. The DT have so many differents examples to share, you really should risk a peek ;o) This is my piece:

I created a wintery background using the Tambai watercolours and after it had dried completely I embossed the snow flakes over top. For that I used a stencil by Create A Smile and dabbed the Versamark ink pad right over it. Worked like a charm!

I die cut the paper with a scalloped die and also die cut a piece of white felt to represent the snowy ground. The cute walrus is a digi by our kind sponsor Dr. Digis and you could win 2 digis from them if you participate in our challenge. This one is a really great image to colour, because it consists of many large areas and also a walrus had smooth looking skin, so there is no need to create fluffiness which for me makes it a lot easier to colour ;o) I hope you are going to join in the fun and that I will get to see your creation in our gallery! Have a wonderful Sunday and happy crafting,
yours Maike

Supplies:
Stempel: "Cuddly Critters Walrus" by Dr. Digis
Stencil: "Schablone" by Create A Smile (discontinued?)

Hey Gnomie!

Hello everyone ;o)

We have started a new challenge at Challenge Up Your Life on Sunday, but I am a little late posting my card. This time we have a "Colour Challenge" for you and this is our inspiration picture:

I really like the colours, don't you? I think you could easily create a Christmas card with the colour palette but as you can see the image had me inspired as well ;o) Recently I got the gnome themed stamp set by Hello Bluebird and I thought it would be perfect for this challenge. 

I masked the gnome before stamping the first mushroom and also had to mask two of those before getting the result I wanted. The tiny ladybug was far enough away, so I didn't have to mask it. In hindsight I widhed I would have remembered to take the ink off the stamp towards the bottom, so that it would look like they were standing in the grass and not on it if you know what I mean. However, it seems I can never remember this early enough... Is there something you tend to always forget when you are crafting? And time doesn't count ;o)

I hope you are going to join us for this November challenge at Challenge Up Your Life! I would love to see your creation in our gallery! Until then, have a wonderful time and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies: 

Stamps: "Next Door Gnomes" by Hello Bluebird 
Dies "Single Stitch Line Rounded Square Frames" by My Favorite Things (discontinued)

Challenges:
Unicorn Challenge "Anything Goes"

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"

Happy Birthday Monster

Hello everyone,

above you can see my take on the newest inspiration for the PINspirational Challenge. This is the inspiration:

The inspiration is fairly obvious I'd daresay ;o) I liked the fluffy monster in this picture and decided to go with that look for my monster as well. 

The monster needed some colourful horns so I added colours that would create a rainbow monster as a whole. I also added some colourful hearts to the background and die cut the word happy from a rainbow coloured paper I had created with Distress Inks. After stamping the rest of the sentiment and adhering it all together my card was done! I hope you are going to join us at PINspirational Challenges! I am looking forward to your wonderful entries! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies: tba