Tropical Paradise and a turtle that serves drinks ;o)

Hello everyone!

I am back with my new card for the Papercraft Challenges blog. This time the theme is "Tropical Paradise" and this always makes me think of palm trees, the sea and a beach. So this is what I came up with:

I used some slimline stackable dies by Lawn Fawn to create the background scene and the white border around it. For the sand and the water I used distress inks on a white piece of paper, because I wanted the gap between the two to be reminiscent of sea spray.
The stamps are from the beautiful set "Polynesian Paradise" by My Favourite Things. (I hadn't realized that they have gone out of business though. That is such a shame and derailed me a few hours from publishing this post, because I tried to find out what happened.)

All the images were coloured with Copic markers and I used another, slightly larger, slimline die to create the white strips at the sides. 

I hope you will join us this month with a "tropical" card or project and publish your creation to our gallery. Have a wonderful day everyone and happy crafting ;o)

Summer Vibes Card and a huge sorry

Gosh, I have just noticed, that none of my posts have been published since December! I am so sorry! Having said this I would love to share my June card with you, because I really like it. So here it is:

For the background I used a kraft cardstock and added white ink and Distress Oxide Inks in different shades of blue. I also used a white gel pen and a brown marker for the splatter and I think that makes a big difference.

For my images I used stamps from Purple Onion Designs which I really love. They sometimes are a little more time consuming to colour but I think it is always worth the extra effort.

I hope you had joined our challenge over at Papercraft Challenges, but if not I hope you have still enjoyed my summer card ;o) have a fabulous day everyone and happy crafting!!!

Holiday time and a gull saying hi

Hello everyone ;o)

I hope you are all doing great and enjoying the summer so far!  This time we have a wonderful theme for you over at Papercraft Challenges. Or at least I think it is a wonderful theme: "Holiday Time". For me a holiday is perfect, when I cann look at the sea and hear the gulls cry, so this is what I created for my inspiration card:

For my background I used a piece of design paper that I really love. I added a tag made of kraftpaper on which I had put some white ink and blue Distress Ink. I also added some white and brown dots to make it look even more like a beach. Next I coloured and adhered this super cute image by Create a Smile and stamped the sentiment "Moin!" next to it. Moin is a way of saying hello in the northern parts of Germany. There were only some finishing touches needed like the red tag and the tiny sea gulls and the card was done. I hope you like it.

I hope you are going to share your "Holiday Time" card with us in our gallery and thus have the chance to win a surpise prize ;o) Have a fabulous day and happy crafting everyone ;o)))

Supplies:
Stamps: "Möwen-Gang" by Create a Smile 

Dies: "Tag You are it" by Lawn Fawn

Make a splash - summer slim line card

Happy Sunday, dear crafty friends, 

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer time. Over at  Papercraft Challenges we have decided to let "Summer" be the theme of our newest challenge. This is the card I've created:

I used some of my favourite summer / beach type stamps by Purple Onion Designs for this card. First I created the background with the rocks and the little dock and added some "hills" to the top. Those hills are actually icebergs that I simply coloured in different shades of green to make them look like hills. The next step was to create the sea and for that I masked off the dock, the rocks and the hills and used three different shades of blue to be able to blend them together nicely and have some illusion of depth. 

Next I coloured the different images with Copic markers and cut them out with a tiny white boarder around them so that they would stand out against the background a little better. I added some shimmer to the water and also to the fish as well as covering the glasses of the bear and the bunny with Nuvo crystal clear to give them a more realistic look. The placement of the different elements kept me busy for quite some time - not only because I put them in a hundret different places on the card but also because I had four more images coloured in - but this is what looked the best I feel. Lastly I added the sentiment and glued everything in place. In hindsight I would have preferred it if I had given the rainbow letters a white edge or something as well. I hope you like the card and also that you will join us over at Papercraft Challenges. All the best to you, have a fabulous time and happy crafting,
yours Maike

Supplies:
Stamps: "Iceberg", "Shelly - bathing mouse" and all the other images are from the "Sunshine Lake Collection" by Purple Onion Designs. 

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge "Shimmer and Shine"
Unicorn Challenge Blog "No Design Paper"
My Time To Craft "Summertime Waterplay"

Gem Of A Challenge "Anything Goes"

Sunny Smiles - CAS card

Hello everyone,

I love clean and simple cards - when others create them. Whenever I want to make one I keep thinking to myself "Maybe I'll just add some dots / splatters / embellishments / other images / a piece of coloured or designer cardstock /...". The list goes on and on and on. But this time the theme over at Challenge Up Your Life is "Clean and Simple" so I had to withstand my thoughts and this is what came out of it: 

So what do you think? And is it the same for you when you create a CAS-project? For this card I started with a white card base and added some light blue colour to the background using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. Once I was happy with how it looked I grabbed a piece of paper and Salvaged Patina Distress Ink to get a straight horizon  line while darkening up the colour towards the bottom to create the illusion of water. 

When that was dry I stamped the sentiment and added the image which I had coloured with Copic markers. For some reason the darkest marker I had used (E47) was kind of - I don't know - sticky (?!!) after I had cleaned the marker and it created the bubbly look in the dark places of the bear. So the poor thing now has a bit of a sunburn... because I wasn't able to smooth out the colour anymore. A real shame and I am not sure what is wrong with my beloved E47. I made sure the cleaning liquid (isopropanol I think it was) never even got near the tip, but nevermind.

I would love to see our CAS-project in our gallery over at Challenge Up Your Life and I hope you'll have a wonderful time creating it! Have a fabulous day and happy crafting everyone ;o)))

Stamps: "Come On In" by Hello Bluebird

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)))

Have a great day - picknick bears

Heya everyone ;o)

I hope you had a great summer so far! Here in Germany it was a constant up and down in temperatures and rain was a constant companion on most days. Not our usual summer at all... So I decided to send my two beary friends to have a lovely picknick for this inspiration:

I started by creating the background with blue and green Distress Ink colours. I made sure to leave a bit of a gap between the two colours, so that it wouldn't get all muddy. I didn't want a harsh edge or I would have used a mask, rather I wanted it to be a bit hazy (hope that is the correct word) to look very bright and softer somehow. 

All the images on this card are from Purple Onion Designs and I just love that they always work together in size and style. I coloured them with Copic markers. The sentiment strip and the "blanket" were cut from some ppaper scrap I had lying around and I die cut it with a die by Lawn Fawn to give it the fancy edge ;o) The bubbles from the bear on the right were stamped in a very light blue ink and I filled them with Nuvo dops in a clear blue shade. I didn't think that the ink would sink in completely, but it did. Makes it look a bit more realistic, but also the edges look a bit wonky... However, I still like how the card turned out in the end and I hope you do too ;o)

It would be great to see your creation in our gallery at PINspirational Challenges. Until then have a great week and happy crafting! Stay safe everyone, yours Maike ;o)

Supplies:

Stamps: "Garden Bugs", "Bear Johnny", "Jackson & Bubbles"& "Watermelon & Goodies"
              by Purple Onion Designs

Die: "Fancy Scalloped Rectangle Stackables" by Lawn Fawn

Challenges:

Coloring in Scrapland "Anything goes wit option Summer" ends 30.08.

Basteltraum "Anything Goes" end 14.07.

Paper Funday Challenges "The Great Outdoors" ends 31.07.

Try It On Tuesdays "Summertime" ends 06.08.

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge July ends 31.07.

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)

"Aloha" - Girl and Turtle

Hallo zusammen!

Bei der Pinspirational Challenge startet heute eine neue Herausforderung für euch. Dieses Mal gibt es ein tolles Inspirationsbild für den Sommer und die anstehenden Ferien. Aber schaut selbst:

Heya everyone!

Over at the PINspirational blog we have a new challenge for you. This time the inspiration pic is perfect for the summer time and the upcoming time of vacations. But look for yourself:

Ich habe mich für das Strandthema ganz allgemein entschieden und für meine Karte sowohl einen Himmel als auch den Strand gewerkelt. Für den Himmel habe ich die wunderbar schimmernden Nuvo Pasten und eine Schablone benutzt, für den Strand habe ich allerdings Distress Inks in den Farben Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo benutzt. The Stempelbilder habe ich mit Copics coloriert.

I chose to go with the beach theme in general and for my card I created a cloud background with the lovely and shimmery Nuvo paste and also ink up some paper in sand colours. I have used Distress Inks for this in Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo. The images are from My Favorite Things and are all coloured with Copic markers.

Wenn ihr dieses Mal (wieder?) mitmacht, habt ihr die Chance auf einen tollen Preis von unserem freundlichen Sponsor "Elisabeth Bell". Ich würde mich freuen euer Projekt in unserer Gallerie zu sehen! Habt eine sonnige Woche und happy craftingm wünscht euch eure Maike

In case you feel like taking part in our challenge you'll have the chance to win a fabulous prize by our very kind sponsor "Elisabeth Bell". I would love to see your project in our gallery and hope you'll have a great and sunny week! Happy crafting, yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "BB Polynesian Paradise" von My Favorite Things

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

                         "Stitched Hillside Border" von Lawn Fawn

                         "Stitched Circle Die" von My Favorite Things

You arrrrr amazing (Pirat & Mermaid)

Halli Hallo ihr Lieben!

Wie versprochen gibt es nun die zweite Karte von mir am heutigen Tag. Dieses Mal als Inspiration für das Thema "Kinder" bei der Papercraft-Challenge:

Heya my dear crafty friends!

As promised here is the second card I am sharing today. This time as an inspiration for the new challenge theme "Children" at Papercraft-Challenges:

Als erstes habe ich den Hintergrund gestaltet. Dazu habe ich Nuvo Mousse in zwei verschiedenen Blautönen flächig auf weißen Cardstock aufgetragen und kurz trocknen lassen. Anschließend bin ich noch einmal mit den selben Farben drüber gegangen, habe aber dieses Mal eine Schablone benutzt. Das Papier konnte ich dann erst einmal an die Seite legen und trocknen lassen. Normalerweise gestalte ich direkt mindestens zwei Hintergründe, wenn ich das ganze Zeug schon einmal rausgesucht habe und so habe ich es auch dieses Mal wieder gemacht. Also wundert euch nicht, wenn ihr einen sehr ähnlichen Hintergrund noch einmal auf einer meiner Karten erspäht. ;o)

First I started with creating the background. I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in two different shades of blue more or less evenly on a whole piece of white paper and let it dry for a few minutes. Next I used those same colours again but also used a stencil to get the awesome pattern plus the shimmer and shine from the mousse ;o) This piece was left to dry as well. Usually when I create backgrounds of the messier kind I try to create a piece so big that I will get at least two background pieces from it. That way - to me - it is worth the fuss and all the cleaning plus I have another great piece ready when I need something like this again the next time. ;o)

Als nächstes habe ich alle Elemente, die ich noch für meine Szene brauchte gestempelt, coloriert und ausgestanzt / ausgeschnitten. Außerdem habe ich noch die Holzplanken als Hintergrund für das Piratenmädchen mit Copics gemalt, von dem sie sich richtzig gut absetzen würde. Es passiert ja nicht oft, dass Stempel (besonders "Menschen"stempel) von verschiedenen Firmen gut zusammenpassen, aber ich finde bei diesen beiden ist das der Fall. Das kann natürlich gut an der Perspektive liegen, die die Karte hier zeigt, aber wie auch immer, ich freu mich, dass es so gut geklappt hat. Ich hoffe, ihr mögt die Karte auch und habt nun Lust bekommen vielleicht auch ein "Kinder"-projekt zu gestalten und mit uns zu teilen ;o) Habt eine fantastische Woche und happy crafting, eure Maike

Next I stamped, coloured and die cut all the other elements I needed to create the scene I had in mind. I also coloured a piece of paper with Copics to create a woodplank background for the little pirate girl.  It isn't often that images from different companies (especially "people" images") go together so well as these and maybe it is just the perspective of the scene that they do, but I just love the look of them together. I hope you are going to join us with a "Children" card of your own ;o) Have an awesome week and happy crafting, yours Maike ;o)

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Little Mermaids" von The Greeting Farm

                              "Party Like A Pirate" von MY Favorite Things

Stanze / die: "All Prettied Up" von Mama Elephant (ich mag die halt echt gern ;o))

                      "Ocean View Porthole" von My Favorite Things

Schablone / Stencil: "Cascading Scallop" von My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Kraftin Kimmie "Mermaids"

Always Fun Challenge "Summer Fun"

Card Mania "Nautical"

Cardz 4 Galz "Fantasy "Mysthical"

Warm Wishes and Sunny Smiles - Polaroids - Stamp Connection mit Tanja und Cornelia

Halli Hallo ihr Lieben!

Vor einer Weile hat die liebe Tanja von "Little Art Cottage" mich eingeladen Gastdesignerin bei ihrer Stamp Connection mit Cornelia von "Stempel Spass"  zu sein. Das Thema lautet "Tropisch" und da ich gerade eh die Nase voll hatte, von dem verregneten Wetter, das uns in beide Kurzurlaube gefolgt ist, hab ich mich doppelt gefreut. Also hab ich meine Sommersets rausgekramt, warme Farben zusammengesucht und das ist dabei herausgekommen:

Heya my dear crafty friends!
A while back dear Tanja of "Little Art Cottage" asked me if I would like to join her Stamp Connection with Cornelia from "Fun Stamping" as a guest designer. I was thrilled that she'd asked me, because not only do I love collaborations like this, but the theme was "Tropical" and after we have had rainy, miserable weather on both our short trips this summer, I loved the idea of creating something that reminded me of a warm and sunny place. So I took out all my summer themed stamps sets, gathered some warm colours of Distress Inks and this is the result:

Begonnen habe ich damit den Hintergrund zu gestalten, wobei ich einen tropischen Sonnenuntergang im Hinterkopf hatte. Benutzt habe ich dazu Picked Raspberry,  Spiced Marmelade and YELLOW Distress Inks. Auf die frische Farbe habe ich Wasser getröpfelt, um die Textur noch ein wenig aufzubrechen und später - nach dem "Zusammenbau" habe ich außerdem noch Nuvo Jewel Drops zur Verzierung benutzt. Im nächsten Schritt habe ich die Bilder gestempelt, mit Copics coloriert und dann entweder hinter den jeweiligen Polaroidrahmen gesetzt oder die Blüten ausgeschnitten und ebenfalls als Embellishment benutzt. Zum Schluss habe ich den Spruch in weiß embossed, damit man ihn gut sehen kann und danach alle Elemente auf der Karte festgeklebt. Wenn ich das Endergebnis so anschaue, könnte ich mich glatt in den nächsten Flieger nach Hawaii setzen ;o)) 

I started by creating the background with a tropical sunset in mind, using Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmelade and YELLOW Distress Inks. I sprinkled some drops of water on it and later added some Nuvo Jewel drops to give it more interest. The next step was to stamp all the images and glue them behind the polaroid frames or cut them out to use them as embellishments. Lastly I heat embossed the sentiment in white, so that it would show nicely and assembled all the elements on my card. When I look at the result I feel like getting into the next plane to Hawaii ;o))

Vielen Dank noch einmal an Tanja und Cornelia, dass ich als Gastdesignerin bei ihrer "Stamp Connection" dabei sein durfte!!!  Und falls ihr nicht von einer der beiden hier auf meinem Post gelandet seid, solltet ihr die tropischen Werke von

Tanja

und

Cornelia

unbedingt an- und euch mal auf ihrem Blog umschauen. Das lohnt sich immer ;o)

Ich hoffe, euch hat die Karte gefallen. Vielen Dank fürs Vorbeischauen, habt noch ein paar wunderbare Sommertage und happy crafting, allerseits! Eure Maike

A big thank you again to Tanja and Cornelia for having me as a guest designer for their "Stamp Connection"!!! And just in case you didn't come here from one of their blogs I highly recommend that you check out the tropical projects of

Tanja

and

Cornelia

I hope you liked the card! Thank you for stopping by, have some wonderful summery days and happy crafting, everyone. Yours Maike

Material / supplies:

Stempel / stamps: "Polynesian Paradise" von My Favorite Things

Stanzen / dies: "Precious Polaroids" & "Stitched Rectangle" von My Favorite Things

Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Add a Sentiment"
Stempelgarten Challenge "Sommerzeit"
Happy Littles Stampers "Anything Goes With Dies"
Dies R US Challenge "Anything Goes"

Die Cut Divas "Anything Goes"
Crafty Friends Challenge "Anything Goes"

Best Fishes (Polaroid)

Halli Hallo ihr Lieben!

Bei Sommer fällt mir als erstes immer der Strand und damit das Schnorcheln und die Fischlies ein, die man dann sieht. Sommer ist auch das neue Thema bei Challenge Up Your Life und als Inspiration habe ich diese Karte gewerkelt:

Heya my dear crafty friends!
When I think of summer I instantly think of the sea and snorkeling and also those fishies you can see when you are enjoying your time under water. Summer is the new challenge at Challenge Up Your Life and I made this card as an inspiration:

Die Polaroidbilder habe ich dank der tollen Stanzen und eines Papierrests, auf dem ich bereits einen blauen Hintergrund mit Distress Inks gewischt hatte recht schnell gewerkelt bekommen. ;o) Die Fische sind aus einem Avery Elle Set und obwohl es ein kleines mit nur 3 Bildern ist, habe ich es schon oft benutzt. (Ein Beispiel hab ich auch noch hier auf meinem Blog: klick ;o)

The polaroids were really quick to make, thank to those great dies I used and a piece of blended blue background I had still somewhere on my desk :o) The fish are from a set by Avery Elle and though it is a small one I think it is very versatile and I have used it many times. (If you like them check another card with these images click here ;o)

Den Hintergrund für die Karte wollte ich dieses Mal ein wenig anders gestalten und habe daher zu den megasüßen Cats on Appletrees - Stempeln gegriffen, die ich toll finde, aber irgendwie schlecht auf Karten verwenden kann. Jetzt weiß ich wie ich es hinkriege ;o))) Zum Schluss habe ich meiner neuen Sucht gefrönt (ich meine natürlich die Nuvo drops) und ein paar Blubberbläschen hinzugefügt. Ich hoffe, die Karte gefällt euch und ihr habt Spaß bekommen an unserer Sommer-Challenge teilzunehmen. Kleine Zusatz-Inspiration falls ihr grad auch unter herbstlichem Augustwetter leidet: Man kann sich mit dem Thema die Sonne und Urlaubsfeeling auf den Schreibtisch holen ;o) Bei mir hats zumindest geklappt und bei euch tut es das sicherlich auch ;o))) Habt ein wunderbares Wochenende und happy crafting, eure Maike

The background of the card looks a bit different than my backgrounds usually look, because I wanted to use some of my uber-cute Cats-on-Appletrees stamps, which I absolutely adore but I do have a hard time using them on cards for some reason. However I found that they make a fabulous backdrop, don't you think? ;o) When my card was finished I needed to add some more Nuvo drops as air bubbles to get that tiny bit of dimension that makes me so happy on a handmade card ;o) I hope you like my card and that you feel inspired to play along. As a little extra inspiration in case you are suffering because of autumnal weather in August as we do where I live, let me tell you that creating a summer card really helped me to find a little sunshine and holiday feeling right there at my desk ;o) Have a wonderful weekend, everyone and happy crafting, yours Maike

Material / supplies:
Stempel / stamps: "That bites" von Avery Elle
                             "Seepferdchen Ida" & "Pflanze 6" von Cats On Appletrees

Stanzen / dies: "Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frames" & "Precious Polaroids"
                        von My Favorite Things

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Add a Sentiment"
Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes"
Craft Rocket Challenges "Animal Kingdom"
Sparkles Monthly Challenges "Birthday"