Sending Birthday Sunshine & Rainbows.... (Bunny and chick)

Heya everyone ;o)))
Has spring arrived where you live already? It has over here and I am so grateful for it. I hear the birds sing in the morning and it is already light when I leave the house for work. So, when we were told our new Papercraft Challenge theme "Rainbows" and kindly given a bunny image from our sponsor Gerda Steiner Designs I immediatly knew what kind of carrd I wanted to create:

I'll admit it is a rather unusual birthday card, but I always felt that this bunny was giving the carrot to someone to make them happe, so I chose the sentiment "Sending birthday sunshine & rainbows" and added "... and Möhrchen" (which is carrot in German) on the inside. Plus I added a tiny little carrot there as well. I so hope it will make someone smile in the near future. 

For the background I chose a patterned paper featuring some cute clouds and added two grassy hills die cut from some green paper. I added the cute chick tucked behind  the first layer and I just love this surprised look. I bet the chick is very happy to have cracked the egg early enough to attend the birthday party ;o) Both images, as well as the rainbow were coloured with Copic markers. The sentiment was stamped on in black ink and then I heat embossed over it with clear embossing powder to give it a more shiny and raised finish. I hope you like this card and if you love the images and just find them half as cute as I do I recommend you play along this time and maybe you could be the lucky winner of a $15 gift certificate to Gerade Steiner Designs. Have a wonderful time and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Easter Bunnies" by Gerda Steiner Designs
Dies: "Rainbow Whimsy Die" by My Favourite Things
          "Meadow Borders" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "A Bit O' Green"
Animal Friend's Challenge "Hasen / Bunnies"
Send a Smile 4 Kids "Anything Goes 4 Kids"
Sweet Stampers Challenge "Easter or Spring"

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"

Thanks - You're an A+ kind of friend

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and that you find some time to play and be creative ;o) I am glad I did for the newest PINspirational challenge. Even though this card doesn't feel like "my style" I really, really like it. Without this challenge I don't think I would have ever created it... This is the inspiration picture for you to pick a colour (combo), theme, saying, or whatever you like really ;o)

I decided to go with the theme of pens and also used the pink as inspiration for the wrapping paper around the crayons. First I was tempted to go for the donut, but then I would have only wanted some pastry - that way I only wanted new pens ;o) 

For my cardbase I picked a kraft coloured cardstock and stamped a repeated pattern on it with the ruler- image and only left a gap for the (heat embossed) sentiment. Next I added the crayons which I had stamped and fussy cut. 

Lastly I added the die cut word which I had cut twice: once from black paper and another time from a rainbow patterned paper. I layered them together and glued it directly to the card base. I hope you are getting inspired by the fun inspiration picture and that you are going to join us at PINspirational challenges! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting everyone ;o)

Challenges:
Bitten by the Bug Challenge "Speaking of School"
Snarky Stampers "F is for Friend"
Sweet Stampers "Anything BUT a birthday card"

Allsorts "Use a handcoloured image"
Crafter's Cafe "Anything Goes"
Crafts Galore Encore Challenge "Anything Goes"
Chocolate Baroque Challenge "Anything Goes"

Urlaubsfeeling

Hello everyone!

Wow, this time it worked out so that I got to post three days in a row to inspire you for different challenges ;o) Today I would like to inspire you to play along with our newest theme "Vacation Mood" at Challenge Up Your Life. It made me so happy to create this vacation inspired card, because we won't be going on holiday anytime soon it seems. Anyhow, this is the card I made:

This really takes me to the beach and I hope you'll join me there, if only for a brief moment ;o) For this card I used a background stamp from Purple Onion Designs and also the cute, cute penguins by My Favorite Things ;o) First Istamped a palm tree, masked it and stamped it again. Next I stamped over it with the background stamp and coloured everything with Copics. Once I was happy with how it looked I die cut the scene using a stitched rectangle (nothing too crazy, because there was a lot going on already) and added the fussy cut and also Copic coloured penguins. 

Lastly I added the sentiment and also stamped another penhuin on the inside of the card just to make that look extra special as well ;o) I hope you are going to join us at Challenge Up Your Life with a vacation themed project. Have a great day and happy crafting! Thank you for stopping by, yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Penguins in Paradise" by My Favorite Things
              "Sand Dunes" by Purple Onion Designs

Die: "Wonky Stitches Elle-Ments" von Avery Elle

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Stamps + Fun = Creativity "Ferien / Vacation"
Tuesday Throwdown "Anything Goes"
Paperminutes "Meer / Sea"
Basteltraum Challenge "Sommer /Summer"
The Crafting Challenge Blog "Bright Colours"

Relish the day - Let's BBQ

Hello everyone ;o)

Today I am back with another card! This time it is a pop up card as an inspiration for the newest PINspirational challenge:

I went with the BBQ theme and thought with Corona still keeping us from meeting with friends I would like to have some cards ready for when we can have bbq-parties again ;o) I kept the outside quite simple and clean, because there is a lot going on inside the card. 

For the pop up - mechanism I used a die by Lawn Fawn which really makes creating a card like this very easy ;o) When you open the card the inside twists and opens up, so that you can see the whole scene but the card still fits in an envelope.

This is what it looks like from the side, so that you can get a good look at the machanism itself:

The one thing one has to keep in mind is not to add too much bulk to the inside and that if you would like to have an image "sit" on two panels it is wise to score the image before adhering it down. That helps a lot to have the card lay relatively flat. I would love to see your creation in our PINspirational gallery as well ;o) Remember you can use anything as an inspiration from the picture: theme, colours, images,... whatever you can think of! I hope you are having an amazing week and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Let's BBQ" by Lawn Fawn

Dies: "Pivot Pop Up" by Lawn Fawn

          "All Prettied Up" by Mama Elephant

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenges "Anything Goes"

Stamping Sensations "Make it colourful"

Sweet Stampers "Something beginning with B" (BBQ)

The Crafting Challenge "Summer" (BBQ is summer to me)

Make A Splash - Shark

Hello everyone ;o)

I am back with yet another card today. This time it is the inspiration card for PINspirational Challenges. This is the picture that inspired me to my card and will hopefully get your creative juices flowing as well ;o):

The first thing I noticed about this picture were the beautiful colours. I loved the white, blue and red together and I also took the fact that it was made at the beach or sea into consideration. The first thing I did was to create some waves to go behind the image of the shark which I had coloured with Copics. 

Next I die cut the super cool letters and the frame. For the letters I made sure to have "Stick It" behind the paper before die cutting it. Thin letters always make it hard for me to glue them down without making a mess, so "Stick It" saves me everytime. Everytime I think to use it beforehand that is ;o) Before stamping the first part of my sentiment I put all the individual elements on the card to make sure I had good placement. Then I adhered everything down, added the transparent water drops and also added the speech bubble. Now my card was done and I do hope you like it and that our "theme picture" inspires you to make something wonderful. If so, please share it over at PINspirational Challenges! Happy crafting and please stay safe everyone ;o))) Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Peek-A-Boo Summer Pals" by Avery Elle

Dies: "Wonky Scalloped Square Frames" by Avery Elle

          "Tall Alpha Die Set" by Altenew

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Summer Fun"
Dragonfly Challenges "Make it Masculine"

Aud Sentiments Challenge "Anything Goes + Sentiment"

Cute Card Thursday Challenge "Masculine"

Catcher of Beasts - Male card

Hello everyone

and welcome on my blog ;o) Today I would like to share my inspiration card for the newest challenge at the Crafty Cardmakers with you. Our theme this time is "Male Cards" and so I thought I'd go with a blue and grey colour scheme as well as with a geometric background design. But have a look yourself:

I got to play with my first set of Kindred Stamps this time around, because I thought the image resembling the main character from "Phantastic Beasts" would be perfect for a male recipient. I hope it will make them feel like a nifty wizard ;o))) I gave them both a piece of metallic looking vellum to stand on, so that the background is still visible but it adds just a hint of magic to the card too ;o)

For the background I have used a new stencil which I thought would look good with the theme as well as give me a chance to introduce a bit of colour to the card. I decided to go with an ombre look in blue-green colours and have used Distress Inks to create it. I hope you are going to join us for this fun theme and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:
Stamps: "Catcher of Beasts" by Kindred Stamps (linked to Stempelbar)
Stencil: "Falling" by That Special Touch Mask (linked to Stempelbar)

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Something Metallic"
Aud Sentiments "Anything Goes + Sentiment"
Cute Card Thursday "Masculine"
Dragon Fly Dreams "Make it Masculine"
Catch The Bug Challenge "The Man, The Myth, The Legend"

Super Duper Hero

Heya everyone!

"Hero" is the theme of our newest challenge at PINspirational Challenges or better this picture is:

I created a friendship card with the hero-theme, because I consider many of my friends heroes. Some are awesome mums or great, inspiring teachers others are brilliant with people or animals or plants... So I will have to choose carefully whom I will send this card to in the end ;o)

Wishing you all a wonderful week, hope you get to meet up with some of your own heroes and happy crafting everyone ;o) Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Tiny Heroes" by Mama Elephant

Dies: "Wonky Stitches Elle-Ments" by Avery Elle
Stencil: by MFTstamps, but discontinued. (Here is a similar one however.)

Challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge "Make Your Own Background"

2 Crafty Critter Crazies "Animals"

Sweet Stampers Challenge "Animals / Birds"

Crafty Animals "Include an animal"
Sweet Stampin Challenge "Cute"

Celebrate - Gnome

Hello everyone,

"Celebrations" is the theme for the newest Crafty Cardmakers challenge. I love the theme, because it is so versatile and so I created a card with the theme as my sentiment:

I  let the Scan N Cut do the cutting work for me and then coloured the image with Copics. The little bug at the top left makes me smile everytime I look at this image which I think is totally cute, don't you?

The sentiment was created using the letter stickers by Create a Smile, which I love as well. (I make sure never to be without them actually, because they have helped me out of tight spots cardmaking-wise very often in the past...) I hope you are going to create a "Celebrations" themed project as well and share it with us in our gallery! Until then, please stay safe and happy crafting ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamp: "Gnome on a Swing" by Stamping Bella

Dies: "Wonky Stitches Elle-Ments" by Avery Elle

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Sweet Stampin "Bright and Beautiful"
Fairy and Unicorn Challenge "Anything Fantasy Goes"
Send A Smile 4 Kids "Anything Goes 4 Kids"
A Gem of A Challenge "Anything Goes"
A Perfect Time To Craft "May Challenge - Anything Goes"
A Bit More Time To Craft "Anything Goes"

Easter card using the Magic Iris

Hello everyone!

I am soooo, so late with this post, but life pushed itself between me and my blog the last week, but here it comes. This is my card for this months Papercraft Challenge with an "Easter" theme:

I created my very first card with the Magic Iris die by Lawn Fawn and have to say I am in love! Once I got the hang of it I created this card very quickly.

The only thing I am a little unhappy about is that I would have needed to use a double layer of foam tape around the mechanism which I didn't and so the paper bends down towards the edges a little. However, next time I won`t make that mistake again and I do like the card very much. It was so much fun playing with it and having the cute chick revealed ;o)

I hope you are going to show us your crafty "Easter" themed projects in our gallery! Until then please take care and happy, happy crafting ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Easter Bunnies" by Gerda Steiner Designs
Dies: "Magic Iris Die" & "Magic Iris Add On" & "Happy Easter Line Border"
          by Lawn Fawn

Kroküsse in pink

Heya everyone,

over at Challenge Up Your Life we would like to bring spring into your craft rooms by making the next challenge a "Focus on Flowers" one. If you know my blog you might know that I tend to use animals as my focal image 98% of the time - if not more so this was a real challenge for me. I love the flower images by Create A Smile, so I looked through them and found these crocus-images which I love so I decided to go with them and then I let myself be inspired by a wonderful Christmas card I got from Karolin. (You should definately hop on over to her instagram account, she makes such amazing cards!)

For the background I used the Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish in Lush Pink which really gives a wonderful rich colour and a lot of shine! (You can see it clearly in the first picture.) I placed the stamped and Copic coloured flowers on top taking my time to arrange the blooms and before glueing them down for good I also stamped the sentiment. The last thing to add was some Nuvo drops and my card was done. I hope you like it and that you are going to share your flowery projects with us in our gallery! Remember, you do have time until the 27th of April to do so and we would love to see what you come up with.

Have a wonderful month of April, take care of yourself and your loved ones and happy crafting ;o))) Yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Kroküsse (Deutsch)" or "Crokisses (English)" by Create a Smile Stamps

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp "Spring Mood Board"
Basteltraum "Frühling / Spring"
Try It On Tuesday "Beauty of Nature"
Pink Creations "Anything Goes in Mainly Pink"
Scribbles Design Challenge "In Bloom"
Creative Craft Cottage "For The Girls"

Rainbow beans

Heya everyone!

I hope you are all well and also feeling creative, because our newest challenge at PINspirational Challenges brings with is a rainbow full of inspiration! This below is our current inspiration picture and I think that you can find loads of ideas for cards in it. I used the (almost) rainbow colours as my starting point and used the glass idea as well as you can see above ;o)

When I looked through my paper stash I came across the striped rainbow coloured one by LAwn Fawn and thought it would be perfect as a backdrop for my card. Next step was to find a good stamp and I feel like the "How You Bean" set as well by Lawn Fawn was indeed perfect for what I had invisioned. I stamped the glass, added the beans inside and stamped out some extra beans for extra interest. I coloured them with Copics  in the four colours from the inspiration picture and cut them out. 

Next I die cut a banner piece from a white piece of cardstock, stamped the first part of the greeting between the holes and glued the jelly beans on there as well. Lastly I added some string and glued everything to the front of the card. After a load of glitter added to the glass I called the front done ;o) Inside I added the label saying "Happy Birthday" and finished it off with some more beans. I hope you are as excited as I was about the wonderful inspiration of this PINspirational Challenge! See you soon and happy crafting my friends! Take care! Maike ;o)

Stamps: "How You Bean" by Lawn Fawn

Dies: "Stitched Party Banners" by Lawn Fawn

          "Wonky Stitches Elle-Ments" by Avery Elle

Challenges:

Just Add Ink "Add a Rainbow"

The Paper Girls "Glitter"

2 Sisters On The Blog "Dots or Stripes"

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper *March* Challenge