Doodle Christmas

Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope you get to enjoy some lovely fall days. Have you already started your Christmas card production? Well, for today's card I have done just that. (I always feel like it is too early to make Christmas cards when it is still warm outside, but then I notice it is November already and panic sinks in...) Anyways, this is my card for the new theme "Doodle" over at the Challenge Up Your Life blog:

I started this card by stamping stars in two different sizes, making sure they would overlap in some areas. Next I watched this fabulous video (click here) to find out more about doodle-ing. I filled in most of the stars, leaving the overlapping bits blank though, because I felt my design was busy enough as it was.

Next I die cut the letters I needed and the word die "merry" twice - once in red and another tim from gold cardstock. All that was left now was to glue everything in place and to give the word "Christmas" a little shadow so that it would stand out more from the busy background. Have you ever tried doodle-ing? Maybe you would like to give it a go? I found it very relaxing and fun. If you do, please consider joining our challenge. You have until November 27th to link your project to our gallery. Good luck to you if you do! Happy crafting to all of you and have a wonderful day! Yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Lots of stars" by Simon Says Stamp (discontinued it seems)
Dies: "Tall Alpha Die Set" by Altenew
          "Merry Scripts" by Mama Elephant

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"

Happy Ho Ho Ho-lidays (Foxes)

Happy New Year everyone ;o)

I hope you had a wonderful start in a new year full of hugs, crafting, joy, all the things you love and health! Let's start with a new card! This is one I created for the new "Snowflakes" theme at Challenge Up Your Life. 

I used these cute foxes from Hello Bluebird and created a lovely wintery scene for them using Distress Inks. I just fell in love with the combination of Shaded Lilac,Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire. You should definately give it a try. Depending on how much you use of each hue you get a more blue or purple result. I think it is the perfect combination and you will be seeing loads of it... So I do hope you like it, too ;o) I added a few splashes of water and dried them off as and also added a few Opaque White splashes to add this "Snow is falling"-feeling. 

I knew I was going to use the snowflake background paper by Stampin Up which is kept in blue and also turquoise hues, so I added a sentiment stamped in Mint Julep and also used Copics grom the BG family for the scarf of the fox on the left and the present. To set the scene I used the trees on the left which I had blinged up a little and added snowflake die cuts around the foxes, so that one of them cut put its tongue out to catch a snowflake with it. ;o) I hope you like my first card of 2021 and that you are not too tired of holiday cards yet... There will be a few more I should think... ;o)
It would be awesome if you would start this crafty year with us and join us with a "Snowflake" project! Hope to see you again soon! Happy crafting my friends and again a very happy new year,
yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "First Snow" by Hello Bluebird
              "Puffy Holiday Greetings" by Mama Elephant

Dies: "Mini Snowflake dies" by Lawn Fawn
          "Manga Fluffiga Granar" by Gummiapan (Tree Dies)

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Sparkle and Shine" (Sparkle on trees and gift)
Christmas Craft Creations "Winter Blues"
Sweet Stampers "Anything Goes"
2 Crafty Critter Crazies "January Challenge"
Creative Crafting Uncles "Christmas"
Love To Craft "Anything Goes"
Crafty Galz Creations "Tis the Season"

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"

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"

Wish big - dragon

Hello everyone ;o)

Today I would like to share a card with you that I have created as an inspiration for the newest "Papercraft Challenge". Our theme is "Phantasy" and our kind sponsor "Dr. Digi" is offering two digi stamps to the winner ;o) I love dragons on cards so I thought I'd use the cute "In a flap" digi to create one for today:

I created the background with some blending brushes and Distress Inks in "Wilted Violet", "Pink Raspberry" and "Squeezed Lemonade". I wanted the dragon to have a lovely sky to fly in and be happy ;o)

Next I die cut a frame for the scene, but because I wanted the frame to be smaller than the background paper I die cut it with a simple stitched rectangle. To finish the card I stamped the sentiment a few times in the deepest black ink I own and added the wonderful glittery stars.

I hope you are going to have a wonderful day and that you will have the time and the inspiration now as well to dig through your stamps and create a phantastic card ;o) and join us at Papercraft Challenges! Happy crafting everyone, yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "In a Flap" by Dr. Digi

              "Birthday Tags" by Lawn Fawn

Dies: "Sky Bursters" by Mama Elephant

          "Stitched Rectangle Stackables" by Lawn Fawn

          "Mini Stars" by Simon Says Stamp

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)

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"

Oh Happy Day (Cats in Frame)

Hello again ;o)

Today I am back with another inspiration card but this time it was made for the newest PINspirational Challenge. This is the current inspiration picture:

Obsiously I used the cat as an inspiration but also I went with "Oh happy day" as my sentiment because of the famous song ;o) For my card I started by colouring in all those cute cats with Copic markers and fussy cut them out. Next I made a card base from dark pink paper which I also die cut the frame from. I backed the frame with a yellow paper and adhered the cats on top of it.

In order to pay credit to the oevrall grey feel of thge inspiration picture I used a grey paper as my backdrop and adhered the frame over top. And because I had gone with the polka hearts I chose yellow hearts as embellishments on my card. I hope you like it and that you are going to play along with our challenge (maybe again?) this time around ;o) Each picture provides so much inspiration depending on what one focuses on - that is one thing I really love about picture inspirations ;o) have a fabulous week everyone and happy crafting,

yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "The Cat's Meow" & "Picnick with Friends" by Mama Elephant

Dies: "Wonky Scalloped Frames" by Avery Elle

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Animal Fun"
Aud Sentiment Challenge "Anything Goes"
Cardz 4 Galz "Birthday"
Cute Card Thursdays "Birthdays"
Cutie Pie Challenge "Pretty in Pink"
Creatalicious Challenge "Anything Goes with optional pink and purple"

Tippe Tappe - a card for a vet

Heya everyone,

I hope you are all doing good and that crafting or other hobbies, people, phone-calls, ... help you through this strange time. Challenge Up Your Life's new theme for the month of May is "Animals", so I am hopeful our gallery will overflow with your lovely projects at the end of the month ;o) This is my inspiration card:

A friend of mine needed a card for a vet who had opened their own office (or is it clinic?) and I had so much fun making this one for her. This is the front of the card and I wanted it to look like you were looking through the windows into the office. 

Though the windows you can only see the dog and the cat, but when you open the card...

...you will find a few more animals as well. The card can be opened one more time to give room for a text and - as I understood it - loads of signatures from friends to wish the vet good luck. I hope you like the card and I hope even more that you will link an "Animal" themed project to our gallery at Challenge Up Your Life for us to see! ;o) Please take care everyone and happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies: tba

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"
Addicted To Stamps And More "Make Your Mark"
2 Crafty Critter Crazies "Anything Goes"
A Bit More Time To Craft "Anything Goes"
Lemon Shortbread "Anything Goes"
Krafty Chicks Challenge "Anything Goes"

Have an ice day! (Bunny and Bear)

Hello everyone!

Januar hasn't been half bad here in Germany... How was the weather where you live? I am asking because for this month we would like to challenge you to create a "Winter Scene" crafty project and share it with us at Challenge Up Your Life!

For my card I used the sweet images from the "Skating Party" stamp set by Hello Bluebird. I used the masking technique to create an almost one layer card because I knew I wanted to add the puffy snow later and didn't want the card to become too thick and have too much dimension if that makes sense. After I had stamped the images I masked them and used Oxide Inks for the ice and the sky and die cut the panel from it. The images then were coloured in using Copic markers and I stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxido Black ink.

Unfortunately I didn't wait long enough before I added the puffy snow and so it turned pink in some places. In the end I don't mind it very much, because it could be a reflection or something, but if you would like your snow to stay crisp white make sure to give the ink eneough time to dry completely.  After adding some white dots for a bit more added fun to their winter outfits my card was done. I really hope you are going to join us for our "Winter Scene" challenge at Challenge Up Your Life and that you all are going to have a wonderful weekend! Happy crafting, yours Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Skating Party" by Hello Bluebird

Die: "All Prettied Up" by Mama Elephant

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge
Crafty Gals Corner "Winter Fun"
Sweet Stampers Challenge "Winter"
Aud Sentiments Challenge "Anything Goes"
QKR Stampede "Anything Goes"
Creative Fingers Challenge "Anything Goes"

Black and White Christmas

Hello everyone,

today I am sharing a rather unusual card with you I'd say ;o) The Crafty Cardmakers dare you to create a card in black and white only and I thought I would try to create a Christmas card with this specification:

When I created this card I was thinking of how a teacher would maybe decorate the blackboard with chalk for their class right before Christmas and believe I nailed the look ;o) What do you think? To create the card I first stamped the cats and the huge sentiment, poured the embossing powder over it and heat set it. Next I added the snowflakes in the same way.

Next I used Picket Fence Distress Paint to paint in the snowy hill and also to add the flicks of paint to the background. To finish the card I covered the cats in Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen and also added a tiny bit of Nuvo Clear Drops to the right side of the cats. I really hope you are going to join us in our "Black and White" challenge at the Crafty Cardmakers. See you there and happy crafting, Maike

Supplies:

Stamps: "Snow Friends" by Mama Elephant

              "Warm Holiday Wishes" by My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Basteltraum "Monochrome / Glitter"
The Crafting Challenge Blog "A Touch of White"

Dare 2b Artzy "Winter"

Gem of a Challenge "Anything Goes"
Crafty Friends Challenge "Anything Goes"
Di's Digi Challenge "Winter / Snow"
Simply Create Too "Monochromatic"
Christmas 24 Challenge "Anything Goes"