Dots and a fairy ;o)

Hello everyone ;o)

Welcome to my blog and today's post! I am so happy about this card because I love how fun it turned out (even though there were some hurdles to overcome when I made it) and the colours remind me of spring and flowers. We have had the first two sunny days over here and I really loved bathing in the sun and having the dinner on the balcony ;o) Yeah!!! But back to today's card. It was made as an inspiration for the newest challenge over at Challenge Up Your Life and here it is:

The theme is this wonderful moodboard:

The colours are gorgeous and it will probably not be the last card I made with it ;o) Dot backgrounds are always fun I find and so I started the card by stamping such a background using inks that came at least near to the colours from the inspiration pic. When I coloured the cute little fairy I used the colours as well, but left out the reddish pink tone, because I felt, that it overpowered the other two colours on the background a little. That way it helped balance it out.

I put some gold glitter glue on the fun banner piece  to tie it in with the whole "fairies and wishes" theme, hung it from a piece of baker's twine, stamped the sentiment and my card was done! I hope you like it and that you are going to join us for this month' challenge! Happy crafting, everyone ;o) Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Flynt" & "Everyday Marquee Sentiments" by Purple Onion Designs

Die: "All Prettied Up" by Mama Elephant

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Aloha friends

Heya my dear crafty friends!

Great to see you today ;o) Can you believe it is August already??? July somehow just flew by in a blink of an eye... Well, the beginning of a new month always means that there is a new challenge at Challenge Up Your Life. This time it is "Faraway Contries" and at first I was really stuck, but then I looked through my stash and found the Hoola-girl by MFT and thought that she would be just perfect. So here she is:

Making this card was bitter-sweet, because travelling is not an option for me right now with Covid19 going on and I really miss it. However, I really like the Hawaiian feel of the card, the sand and the palm-trees and it made me miss the beach a tiny bit less. ;o) I started this card by stamping the palm trees using the masking technique and next I added the "sand" using Distress Ink. After drawing in the sandy hill I cut away everything that wasn't needed and was left with a beautiful beach scene. 

I added the cloud patterned paper behind it and also matted it with a rainbow coloured paper to match the skirt of my hoola-girl. I had coloured her with Copic markers (for her skin tone I used E17, E13 and E11) and when it came to making the decision about the colour of her skirt I didn't want to use green, yellow or brown (which for me would have been the obvious choices) I could deice on just one colour and went with all of them ;o) For her hair I used markers from the E40ies and also a Y21 to give the hair a yellowish undertone. I hope you are going to join us and create a layout or card or whatever that reminds you of a "Faraway Contry" that you have visited or would like to visit ;o) Stay safe and happy crafting everyone ;o)) Hugs, Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Polynesian Paradise" by My Favorite Things 

Die: "Stitched Rectangle Stackables" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Alphabet Challenge "I is for Island Fun" (ends 13.08.)

Colour Crazies Challenge "Anything Goes" (ends 15.08.)

Double D Challenges "Let's Go To The Beach" (end 03.08.)

Sisterhood of Crafters "Anything Ocean or Beachy" (ends 10.08.)

Try It On Tuesdays "Summertime" (ends 04.08.)

If you like these images on a card, here are two more cards I made with them:

Girl and turtle (July 2018)

and   

Warm Wishes & Sunny Smiles (July 2017)

Happy crafting everyone ;o)))

Happy Holidays Snowman (circular card)

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! 

I hope you had a lovely weekend! A crafty one maybe? Well I did and this was the result ;o) It is my inspiration card for the "Fun Fold Card" challenge at Challenge Up Your Life. I decided on a round card base paired with the circular sentiment die.

I love that this challenge has made me think outside the box and I am so glad I did. I filled the inside of the sentiment with glitter paper by Lawn fawn and added a stamped piece of paper behind that. All this makes the snowman in the middle really be the star of the show.

I hope you are going to join us for this "Fun Fold" challenge! Have a look at the other DT's cards - they are a fabulous inspiration and I hope they will make your fingers itch to craft ;o) Have a lovely and wonderful week everyone! Take care and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Santa's Wonderland" by Neat and Tangled (available at Simon Says Stamp)
              "Background Stamp" by My Favourite Things
Dies: "Stitched Circle Stax" & "Happy Holidays Circle Frame Die" by My Favourite Things

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes"
Addicted to Stamps and more "Holiday"
Sweet Stampin Christmas "Feature a sentiment"

Polka Doodle "Anything Goes"

Brown Sugar Challenge "Anything Goes"
Winter Wonderland "Anything Christmas Goes"
QKR Stampede "Anything Goes"

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 Birthday Sunshine and Rainbows (Inksmooching)

Heya my dear friends,

today it is time for a new task over at Challenge Up Your Life. This time we would like you to use the "Inksmooching" technique on your project - whether it is a piece of decoration, a layout, a card or whatever you can thing of. This is my inspiration card:

I used four colours of Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Peacock Feather & Twisted Citron) and placed them all together on a piece of acetate, but leaving a rather big gap between the colours so that I would still have some "wiggle-room". I spritzed the acetate lightly with water and put it down on a piece of watercolour paper. Afterwards I went in with only one colour at a time and added a little bit more texture until I liked the result. Then I adhered the coloured piece of paper behind a die cut frame and added the cute images as well.

When I read the theme of this fortnight's challenge I felt a little uneasy at first, because I usually don't like not having the control over what I do - splatters on a card are the most I do in that category I'd say ;o) However, after creating some ink smooching background I think it is a great starting point for a project at least for me and I will use it more often now! Have a lovely weekend my dear crafty friends, try this technique and link your project to our gallery! I would love to see your ink smoochings ;o) All the best, yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Rain or Shine" von Simon Says Stamp / Mama Elephant (discontinued)

Stanze / die: "Cover Up horizontal" von My Favorite Things (discontinued?)

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Through the Purple Haze "Rainbows"
Sweet Stampers Challenge "Easter or Spring"
Alphabet Challenge Blog "A is for Animals"
Seize the Birthday "Option Spring"

Komm Einhorn, wir gehen!

Heya everyone!

"Crazy" ist the new task at Challenge up your Life and this is the card I made for inspiration:

My German sentiment says something like "They are all crazy around here- come on, unicorn, let's go!" and I love it! It makes me smile everytime I read it! ;o) For the background I have used a new stamp of mine by Gummiapan and stamped it in rainbow colour, because rainbows and unicorn simply are awesome together - at least in my world.... 

Also glitter is a super addition for both unicorns and rainbows ;o) So I glittered the mane and the horn to give it a lot of sparkle! I would love to see any "Crazy" projects from you in the Challenge Up Your Life gallery! Until then: have a fantastic weekend and happy crafting, yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Unicorn Wishes" von Reverse Confetti 

                              "Big Brush Stroke" von Gummiapan

                              "Einhorn Texte" von Kulricke

Stanzen / dies: "Wonky Stitches Elle-Ments" von Avery Elle

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Use Your Stuff "Do you believe in magic?"
Double Trouble Challenge: Thing 1 - middle row, Thing 2 - unicorn, Thing 3 - unicorn ;o)
Aurora Wings "Over the rainbow"
Dream Valley Challenges "Sparkle and Shine"

Warm wishes to a cool friend

Heya everyone!
This post comes to you a little bit too late, because I am ill at the moment with a fever, sore throat, a nasty cough and all the fun that comes with it... However, I wanted to share my card for this "Moodboard" challenge at Challenge Up Your Life with you: 

I created the dots on the card panel using my Mini Ink Blending Tool. The colours are Mermaid Lagoon, Saty Ocean and Peacock Feathers. Once I had stamped the sentiment and found a spot for the two critters I added a few snowflakes to give the card that extra bit of frosty feel and called it done ;o)

I would love to see your cards in our gallery as well and wish you all a fantastic week and happy crafting, yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Polar Pals" von My Favorite Things

Stanzen / dies: "Stitched Snowflakes" & "Mini Snowflakes" von Lawn Fawn

Challenges:
Sweet Stampers "Winter / Snow"
Di's Digi Challenge "Snow Much Fun"
Allsorts Challenge Blog "Make it Masculine"
Craft Rocket Challenge "Winter"

Willkommen Matteo :o)

Hallo ihr Lieben!

Die aktuelle Herausforderung bei Challenge Up Your Life ist diese Farbherausforderung:

Heya my friends!

The current task for Challenge Up Your Life is this colour inspiration board:

Da es bei uns im Freundeskreis kürzlich Zuwachs gab und ich die Farbkombination wirklich schön finde, habe ich sie als Inspiration genutzt, um den neuen Erdenbürger willkommen zu heißen. Den Hintergrund habe ich in verschiedenen Tönen der Inspirationsvorlage gestempelt und einen der süßen Pinguine von Gerda Steiner Designs coloriert.

Friend's of ours recently got blessed with their third child and so I used the colour inspiration and staring point for my card to welcome the new earthling ;o) I started by stamping the dots in the background in different colours from the inspiration board and also coloured one of the cute penguins by Gerda Steiner Designs. 

Der ist auf ein ausgestanztes Stück Vellum gehopst und hat es sich damit auf der Karte gemütlich gemacht ;o) Die Buchstaben für den Namen stammen von Create a Smile und sind meine absoluten "Go-To" Alphabetsticker geworden, weil sie eine prima Größe haben, wie ich finde ;o) 

The penguin then jumped on a piece of vellum and with it got comfortable on the front of the card. For the name I used letter stickers from Create a Smile, which became my "go-to" alphabet stickers in the last months, because they simply have a perfect size and you get them in almost every colour ;o)

Ich hoffe, ihr spielt bei unserer Farbinspiration mit und wünsche euch ein wunderschönes, kreatives Wochenende, eure Maike ;o)

I hope you are going to join us in this colour-challenge and I wish you all a wonderful and creative weekend! Yours Maike ;o)

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Lots of Dots" von Simon Says Stamp

                             "Valentine Penguins" von Gerda Steiner Designs

Sticker: Alphabet Stickers by Create a Smile

Up in the Air

Hallo ihr Lieben!

"Fahrzeuge" lautet das neue Thema bei Challenge Up Your Life und ich habe mich für einen Heißluftballon entschieden... ;o) Vor Kurzem habe ich gelernt, dass man in so einem Ding fährt, nicht fliegt und das scheint irgendwie hängen geblieben zu sein...

Heya my dear crafty friends!
"Vehicles" is the new task at the Challenge Up Your Life blog and this is my inspration card:

Den Hintergrund habe ich mit dem Cloud Stencil und Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink gemacht und anschließend dieses schöne Rechteck daraus ausgestanzt. Mit derselben Stanze habe ich anschließend auch noch einmal eine Form aus weißem Papier ausgestanzt, so dass ich aus den beiden Teilen eine Kartenbasis herstellen konnte. Als nächstes habe ich den Ballon gestempelt, coloriert und ausgeschnitten... Das war der Moment, an dem ich meinen Fehler bemerkt habe: Durch die Seile gab es zu viel weiße Fläche, was auf dem Hintergrund echt komisch aussah. Also habe ich eine Maske gestempelt und geschnitten und den Hintergrund dann auch über diesen Teil gewischt, um ein durchgehendes Muster hinzubekommen. Würde ich diese Karte noch einmal machen, würde ich sie einfach direkt als 1-Layer-Karte anlegen. Aber weil ich es jetzt nun einmal konnte, habe ich den Ballon mit Abstandshaltern aufgeklebt ;o)

I created a background using the Cloud Stencil and Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink and die cute the piece to a scalloped edge rectangle. Then I die cut the same shape from white paper, so that I could glue both pieces together and use them as my card base. Next I stamped and coloured the balloon and fussy cut it out. That was when I noticed my mistake... There was too much white space to look good, so I had to stamp and cut a mask and use the same ink and stencil again to get a continuous pattern. If I would create this card again I would make it a one layer card - much less complicated but same look ;o) However, because I could now that I had gone through all the steps I decided to use foam tape to adhere the balloon to my card base with some dimension.

Zum Schluss habe ich das Wort "hi" aus schwarzem Cardstock ausgestanzt und neben den Ballon geklebt. Dann habe ich die türkisen Sternchen noch überall verteilt und meine Karte war fertig. Habt ihr Stempel oder Sticker mit Fahrzeugen drauf bei euch im Schrank oder sonst wo liegen? Dann schnappt die euch doch und kreiert ein Werk damit... Vergesst aber nicht, es dann auch in unserer Gallerie zu verlinken :o) Habt ein schönes Osterwochenende und happy crafting, wünscht euch eure Maike ;o)

To finish the card I die cut the word "hi" from black cardstock and glued it next to the balloon. Now all that was left to do was to scatter a few turquoise stars around on the card and my card was done. Do you have stamps or stickers of any type of vehicle in your craft room? How about creating something with it? But don't forget to link your creation to our gallery then ;o) Have a fantastic Easter weekend and happy crafting, yours Maike

Material/ supplies:
Stempel / stamps: "Up and Away" von Purple Onion Designs
Stanzen / dies: "Hello there" von My Favorite Things
Schablone / stencil: "Mini Cloud Stencil" von My Favorite Things

HIP, HIPPO, HOORAY! ;o)

Halli Hallo ihr Lieben ;o)

Die neue Aufgabe bei Challenge Up Your Life lautet "Stencils" und das ist meine Inspirationskarte für euch:

Heya my dear crafty friends ;o)
The new task over at Challenge Up Your Life is to use "Stencils" on your projects and this is my inspiration card:

Den Hintergrund habe ich mit Peacock Feathers Distress Ink gewischt und mit orange-gelben Sprenkeln etwas aufgelockert. Einerseits haben mich die Sprenkel an in die Luft geworfenes Konfetti erinnert, andererseits konnte ich so die Farbe der Vögelchen ganz unkompliziert auch im Hintergrund auftauchen lassen. 

I created the background with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and added some yellow-orange sprinkles to the whole surface, to break it up a little and make it look more interesting. I thought, the tiny sprinkles would look a bit like confetti that was thrown in the air and it was also an uncomplicated way to add the colour of the birds to the background.

Die Tierchen sind alle mit Copics coloriert, wobei ich bei zwar bei allen Hippos die Farben C0, C2 und C4 benutzt habe, aber ich habe den großen Hippo mit dem Geschenk zum Schluss noch einmal komplett mit BV00 und den kleinen Hippo mit BG10 übermalt. Am besten gefällt mir die Kombination mit dem BV00-Marker und euch? Den Spruch habe ich mit weißem Pulver auf schwarzes Papier embosst und mit der Schneidemaschine zurecht geschnitten. Zum Schluss habe ich alles, bis auf den Vogel links auf dem Spruch, mit Abstandsklebern auf die Karte geklebt. 

The critters were all coloured with Copic markers. For all the hippos I have used C0, C2 und C4, but to make them each look different I have covered the one on the bottom left completely with a BV00 marker once I was done colouring it, and did the same with a BG10 marker for the little one. I like the one on with the violet undertone the most. Which one do you prefer? I heat embossed the sentiment in white on black cardstock and cut it to size using my guillotine trimmer. Then I glued everything to the card front using foam tape. Only the little bird on the left was glued directly to the frame.

Ich hoffe, euch gefällt meine Karte und wenn ihr Lust habt, stöbert doch auch einmal durch eure Stencils und teilt euer Werk mit uns bei Challenge Up Your Life. Habt ein schönes und kreatives Wochenende und happy crafting, wünscht euch eure Maike :o)

I hope you like my card and if you haven't played with your stencils in a while or do it all the time, why not share your project with us at Challenge Up Your Life?!  Have a wonderful and creative weekend. Happy crafting, yours Maike

* * * * *

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Happy Hippos" von My Favorite Things

Stanzen / dies: "Stitched Rectangle Frame" von My Favorite Things

Schablone / stencil: "Birthday Balloon" von Echo Park

Challenges:

Seize the Birthday "Teal and White"
Through the Purple Haze "Anything Goes"

Aud Sentiment Challenge "Bingo" (Middle Column)

Dies R Us Challenge "Frame It"
Always Happy Birthday "Anything Goes"

Wishing you happiness, lots of smiles and the best day ever (GSD bunnies)

Halli Hallo ihr lieben Kreativen!

Für Challenge Up Your Life habe ich die heutige Inspirationskarte gemacht. Es geht um "Frühlingsboten" und für mich zählen dazu auf jeden Fall Tulpen - auf meinem Esstisch steht gerade ein ganzer Strauß und im Garten hoffe ich auch auf mehrere Dutzend *grins. Diesen Digi von Gerda Steiner fand ich einfach zu putzig und da es mich daran erinnert hat, dass der Frühling nun endlich vor der Tür steht, habe ich es zum Mittelpunkt meiner Karte gemacht:

Heya my dear crafty friends!
Today's card was made as an inspiration for the newest task at Challenge Up Your Life. This time we would like to see "" on your projects and for me the number one sign for spring is a tulip - I have a bunch of them in a vase on my table right now and am also waiting *im*patiently for them to grow in the garden as well. When I saw this cute image by Gerda Steiner Designs I instantly knew that I wanted to make it the focus of my card for today:

Nachdem ich die beiden Häschen coloriert hatte, habe ich mich an ihr "Surrounding" begeben ;o) Zuerst habe ich den Hintergrund in Mint Julep gestempelt und mit der Stanze von Mama Elephant noch in Form gebracht. Als nächstes kam das Misti für den großen Sentiment-Stempel zum Einsatz - ohne wäre der Abdruck mit Sicherheit nicht halb so schön geworden...

After I had coloured the cute bunnies, I started on their background ;o) First I stamped the stripes in Mint Julep and die cut the piece with the die by Mama Elephant to give it a nice finish. Next I stamped the huge sentiment using my Misti - without it I bet the result wouldn't be nearly as crisp as it is now...

Um die restlichen Wörter an geeignete Stellen stempeln zu können, habe ich zuerst die Hasen zusammen mit einem Drop-Shadow aus Vellum auf die Karte geklebt. Danach habe ich noch die rosa Tropfen hinzugefügt, damit die Farbe der Blume noch einmal auf der Karte auftaucht. Ich würde mich freuen, wenn auch ihr eure Lieblings-Frühlingsboten mit uns teilen würdet. Habt ein wunderbares Wochenende, ihr Lieben - der Frühling kommt immer näher ;o) Happy crafting, wünscht euch eure Maike

In order to stamp the rest of the sentiments where they would fit and look good I had to adhere the drop shadow and the bunnies first. After the stamping I added a few pink Nuvo Drops to bring out the colour of the flower even more. I would love to see your spring creations in our gallery. Have a wonderful weekend my crafty friends  - spring is almost here ;o) Happy crafting, yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Spring Bunny Friends" von Gerda Steiner Designs
                             "Wishing You" von Mama Elephant

                             "Watercolor Stripes" von My Favorite Things

Stanzen / dies: "All Prettied Up" von Mama Elephant

                         "Oval Shadows" von My Favorite Things

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Add A Die Cut" (drop shadow)
Animal Friends Challenge "Streifen  und / oder Punkte"

Aud Sentiments Challenge "For a friend"
Seize The Birthday Challenge "Anything Birthday Goes / topping: tea or coffee"
As You Like It Challenge "Favourite Way To Add A Sentiment and Why"
-> I love to stamp my sentiments, because I like the variety of the saying and I love that I can easily add a sentiment at the end, when I forgot to plan ahead as I usually do...

Warmest Wishes from Flurry and Chilly (POD)

Halli Hallo ihr Lieben!

Ich bin ein bisschen spät dran mit meiner Inspirationskarte für die "Schneemann" Challenge bei Challenge Up Your Life, aber hier ist sie nun:

Heya my dear crafty friends!
I am a bit late to the party for the new challenge at Challenge Up Your Life, but at least I made it now. The theme is "Snowman" and this is my inspiration card:

 Zuerst habe ich das Quadrat ausgestanzt und den unteren Rand mit einem Post-It maskiert. Anschließend habe ich den Schneemann mit dem Geschenk in den Händen gestempelt, ebenfalls maskiert und noch den zweiten kleineren Kerl hinzugestempelt. Coloriert habe ich sowohl die beiden, als auch den Hintergund mit Copics.

First I die cut the square, masked the bottom part below the stitched line and then stamped the bigger one of the snowmen. After I masked him as well I stamped the second, smaller snowman as well. The whole scene was coloured with Copic markers.

Die Kartenbasis habe ich mit Schneeflocken im Hintergrund embossed. Als nächstes habe ich das Quadrat mit den eisigen Gesellen mit Abstandsklebern aufgeklebt und in eine Lücke zwischen all den  Schneeflocken habe ich einen passenden Spruch gestempelt. (Wie üblich habe ich an den Spruch mal wieder als Letztes gedacht... *typisch_ich *grins) So, wie sie zu dem Zeitpunkt war, fand ich die Karte aber zu langweilig, also habe ich mit meinen Nuvo Drops noch passende Akzente um das Panel und den Spruch herum verteilt. Ganz zum Schluss habe ich noch Wink of Stella auf sämtliche Schneeflächen verteilt, damit die Schneemänner das typisch eisige Glänzen bekommen. Falls ihr eure Schneemänner noch nicht wieder ganz nach hinten ins Regal geräumt habt (und falls doch, holt sie einfach wieder hervor...), würde ich mich freuen, wenn ihr bei unserer Challenge mitmachen würdet. Habt noch ein schönes, kreatives Wochenende! Happy crafting wünscht euch, Maike :o)

My next step was to emboss some snowflakes on the card base and to glue the square on using foam tape. As usual I had forgotten to plan ahead as dar as the placing of the sentiment goes ;o) Typical for me... Ah well, luckily I found a spot between some embossed snowflakes that was big enough for my chosen sentiment. Because I felt that the card was too plain I got out some colours of Nuvo Drops and added some drops around the panel and the sentiment to give it more interest. Lastly I added Wink of Stella to all of the snow areas to give the snowmen that frosty shimmer. I case you haven't put all of your snowmen stamps away (and even if you did...) we would love to see your creations in our gallery at Challenge Up Your Life. Have a wonderful and creative weekend! Happy crafting from your Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Flurry" & "Chilly" von Purple Onion Designs

                            "Warm Wishes Too" von Clearly Besotted (Sentiment)

Embossing Folder: "Snowfall" von Taylored Expressions

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Add a Sentiment"
Sweet Stampers "Winter / Snow"
Winter Wonderland "Embossing Heat or Dry"
Simply Create, Too "Use Embossing"
Craft Rocket Challenges "Winter"

Keep Swimming (Embossing Wet AND Dry)

Hallo meine Lieben!

Ich hoffe, ihr alle hattet eine schöne, gemütliche und kreative Zeit zwischen Weihnachten und heute ;o) Ich weiß nicht, wie es euch geht, aber mein Basteltisch hat mich in den vergangenen zwei Wochen kaum gesehen: Seit Beginn des Jahres gab es bei uns nämlich bereits drei Geburtstage zu feiern. Für das neue Thema "Embossingfolder" bei Challenge Up Your Life, habe ich dann aber gestern doch ein bisschen mit meinen neuen und alten Goodies gespielt:

Heya my dear crafty friends!

I hope you all had a great, cozy and creative time between Christmas and now ;o) My craft desk hadn't seen me in quite a long time, because we already got to celebrate three birthdays this year. Have you had time to get creative in 2018 yet? For the new task "Embossingfolder" at Challenge Up Your Life which starts today I got some old and new goodies out yesterday to create an inspiration card for you:

Zuerst habe ich mit Distress Oxide Inks den Hintergrund gestaltet. Für den Himmel habe ich die Farben Fossilized Amber und Picked Raspberry benutzt, für das Wasser erst einmal nur Peacock Feathers. Nach dem Trocknen habe ich im oberen Teil die Wolken mit einem Embossing Folder geprägt und die Luftblasen mit einer Schablone und Salty Ocean Distress Oxide Ink aufgetragen.

I started by creating the background with Distress Oxide Inks. For the sky I have used the colours Fossilized Amber and Picked Raspberry, for the water Peacock Feathers. After the ink had dried I added some cloud texture to the sky with an embossing folder and also the bubbles for the water area using a stencil and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide Ink.

Als nächstes habe ich die Meeresbewohner mit Embossingpulver auf die Karte gebracht - nur die ganz kleinen Fische oben rechts sind gestempelt. I finde, die Quallen und der silberne Fisch sind klasse geworden, aber ich bin immer wieder enttäuscht, wie heftig der Unterschied zwischen dem gelben Pulver und seinem Endergebnis ist. Habt ihr Empfehlungen für ein richtig schön deckendes, gelbes Embossingpulver? Ich würde mich echt freuen, wenn ihr mit mir teilen würdet, was ihr so benutzt ;o)

Next I added the critters using embossing powder for all but the tiny ones in the upper right corner. I love how the jelly fish and the silver one turned out, but I am always disappointed when I compare the yellow powder to its end result. Have you any suggestions for a really opaque yellow embossing powder? I would love to hear what you use ;o)

Zum Schluss habe ich dann noch den Spruch gestempelt, mit den Enamel Pfeilen von Create a Smile aufgehübscht und auf die Kartenbasis geklebt. Und weil ein bisschen Glitter immer geht, habe ich die Wolken noch mit meinem Wink of Stella zum Glitzern gebracht. Das wars für heute, ihr Lieben! Ich liebe den Look von Embossing Foldern - auch, wenn sie wie ich gehört habe gerade out sind *grins - und würde mich freuen zu sehen, was ihr aus dem Thema macht. Habt ein wunderschönes Wochenende und happy crafting wünscht euch eure Maike ;o)

My last steps were to stamps the sentiment and accentuate it with the fun enamel arrows by Create a Smile. After I glued the piece to the card base I also added some glitter to the clouds to set them off a bit more. So, that was my card for today, my friends! I do love the look of dry embossing - even though I have heard rumors it isn't the most fashionable technique right now *grin - and I would love to see what you create using your folders. Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Ocean Fun" von My Favorite Things

Embossingfolder: "Clouds" von TBA

Schablone / Stencil: "Bubbles" von TBA

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Something new" (Ocean Fun is new to my stash)

Simply Create Too "Embossing Wet or Dry"

Crafty Creations Challenge "Anything Goes"

As You Like It Challenge "Anything Goes"

QKR Stampede Challenge "Anything Goes"

Christmas card #12 / Weihnachtsserie Karte #12 (Simon's reindeer)

Halli Hallo ihr lieben Kreativen 

und herzlich willkommen auf meinem Blog. Heute möchte ich meine Inspirationskarte für die neue Challenge Up Your Life Herausforderung teilen. Es geht um "Bäume", also bleibt es ganz euch überlassen, ob ihr eure Weihnachtskartenproduktion vorantreiben möchtet, oder ihr in eine ganz andere Richtung geht ;o) Hier ist aber erst einmal meine - natürlich Weihnachts- Karte:

Heya my dear creative friends

and welcome to my blog. Today I would like to share with you my inspiration card for the newest Challenge Up Your Life task which is to create any kind of crafty project with "Trees". This gives you the opportunity to get more Christmas cards ready, but you don't have to if you are not feeling the vibe yet ;o) Here is my take on the inspiration:

Begonnen habe ich damit das Hintergrundpapier zu gestalten. Dazu habe ich ein paar Stempel aus dem Set in rot auf das rote Papier gestempelt und so mein eigenes Designpapier hergestellt sozusagen ;o) Daraus habe ich das Fenster ausgestanzt, welches ich auch noch einmal aus weißem Papier gestanzt, kreisrund ausgeschnitten und auf das rote Papier als Rahmen aufgeklebt habe.

I started by making my own designer paper for the background. I stamped a few of stamps from the set in red on red cardstock to get a tone on tone look. Next I die cut the window from it and also from a white piece of paper, which I die cut once more with a circle die and then glued it to the red paper as a kind of frame.

Und nun kam mein Lieblingsteil: das Colorieren ;o) Als erstes habe ich den Hintergrund mit dem großen Weihnachtsbaum gestaltet. Um dem Ganzen einen etwas heimeligen Touch zu geben, habe ich eine hölzerne Fußleiste und einen weichen Teppich dazugezeichnet. Die Tapete wurde schlussendlich ganz hellgrau, damit man sie optisch gut von dem Rahmen unterscheiden kann. Zum Schluss habe ich dann Rudolph coloriert und ihn ausgeschnitten, damit er vorne auf der Karte Platz nehmen konnte. Den Spruch habe ich neben den Baum gestempelt, da dort so viel "freie Fläche" war. Ich hoffe, ihr mögt meine Weihnachtsbaumkarte und habt vielleicht auch Lust bekommen ein Baumprojekt in Angriff zu nehmen und mit uns bei CUYL innerhalb der nächsten 2 Wochen zu teilen ;o) Habt ein wundervolles, entspannendes und tolles Wochenende! Happy crafting wünscht euch eure Maike ;o)

Now the colouring began ;o) First I coloured the background piece with the big Christmas tree. I wanted it to look like it was standing in a living room somewhere so I added a wooden skirting and a carpet so to speak. The wallpaper ended up being a very light grey, just to seperate it visually a little more from the frame. Lastly I coloured Rudolph and cut him out, so that he could sit on the front of the card and added the sentiment next to the tree. I hope you like the tree with the rather prominent role on my card and that you are going to share your tree-projecte with us this fortnight ;o) Have a wonderful, relaxing and fun weekend and happy crafting, everyone ;o)

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Merry and Bright" von Simon Says Stamp

Stanzen / dies: "Columbus Circle - Framed Tags" von Mama Elephant

Challenges:

The Merry Christmas Challenge "Anything Goes"

Modsquad Challenge "Build a Scene"

The Paper Shelter "A Christmas Card"
Daring Cardmakers "Trim the Tree"
Winter Wonderland "Traditional Christmas Colours"