Aquarium Birthday

I made this men's birthday wallet for a young colleague. As per request, it had to feature an attractive male on the outside... and have a flap for an IKEA voucher on the inside. I think I might have found the perfect picture - a magazine cutting which had been in my stash for ages.

Challenges: 2 Red Bananas, 

Policewoman's birthday card

I have been asked to make a card for a british policewoman's birthday. Their uniform has these funny black and white checkered stripes that you can see on her hat. It was an interesting challenge in itself and definitely worth my while as this is a theme hard to find in the shops.

For an Indian Summer feeling, I placed her in front of a starry sky and complemented her visibility vest with some of my favourite buttons - a non-shiny sort that varies in colour and seems to emit a wonderful soft glow. The curling ribbon on top of the dotted one adds a lighthearted swirl.

Challenges: Truly scrumptious #16, 2 Red Bananas , One Stop Craft #45, Charisma Cardz #35, Dutch Dare #58, Stamps and Smiles #31, Christmas and birthday cards #44, Everybody Art #56, Caardvarks, Sketch Saturday #67, Abc, Moving along with the times #12

Dragonfly retirement card

It's the first time I have made a retirement card but didn't find it difficult to get into the spirit of the theme - it was quite relaxing actually! I used light purple lace and made a little flower charm from metallic pearls. The ribbon on the right is knitting yarn.

Challenges: Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Combo #10, ABC, Charisma Cardz # 32, stamps and smiles #28, Rainbow lady's # 72, Jacksonbelle, Lily of the valley #34, Stamping for the weekend #11

Pink, brown and green flower card

On this card are quite a few items I got in the sales: the shiny buttons for example, and a tapestry border in musty pink and green with dangling pompoms. I have taken one of the pompoms apart and used the threads to make the flower. The card base is brown and cream.

Challenges: Dutch dare, Sweet Stop Sketches, My time to craft, Simon says stamp, Jehkotar Card, Double Dutch #24, Jacksonbelle

Computer keyboard card

This is a contemporary birthday card for a male twen who spends a lot of time in front of computers.

Challenges: SSS16, Challenge up your life

Under the sea: Fish stamp birthday card

Summer is the season for going to the seaside! Inspired by the sunny colours in the art work of Lauren Alexander, I used bright colours for the fish and also added some Shimmerz, to let it stand out from the blue background. The shimmery effect doesn't show up very well in the photo unfortunately.

I also stuck on one of those moving eyes with eyelashes - voila, a female fish!

The ribbon is from a reel of rather expensive knitting yarn from a specialist shop. Of course it goes a long way in card making.

Challenges: Sunflowers and Dragonflies, Crafty Creations, Friday Sketchers, Creative Inspirations, Creative card crew, Papertake Weekly , The Sweet Stop , Sunday sketch and stamp, Daring Cardmakers

Overgrown garden card

I like visiting large old gardens, overgrown ruins or disused grave yards (in bright sunshine only!) - they can be very scenic.
If only my own little garden was half as pretty to look at when nature takes over...

For this card, I enhanced the picture with 3D embellishments and some shimmering details.

Challenges: Midnight Madness, Flourishes Newsletter #23 and #25, A Spoonfull of Sugar #62, IC Sketches, High Hopes #41, Creative Inspirations

Impressionist sisters

I have found these slightly odd sisters in my Russian impressionists postcard book... They could be twins if it wasn't for the size difference. I'm not sure if they are pictured on horseback - the crop is there, but where is the horse? - or making their way through an equally invisible crowd.

All things considered, it seemed best to take the focus away from the sisters and concentrate on the harmonic surroundings.

I made two flowers using knitting yarn and tiny gold glass beads.

This punch is one of my favourite crafting tools. Its pattern, centered around a small heart, and the Organza ribbon and bow with blue diamond cut teardrop add a "dusting of sugar" to the card.

Challenges: A Spoon full of Sugar, CPS #124, The Secret Crafter Saturday, ICSketches, My Papertake Weekly

Purple baby card with pendants

I came across this delicate purple lace totally by accident. I had just been cycling past a small shop offering sewing supplies when the heavens opened, so I decided to take refuge. After spending a pleasant 30 minutes in the shop keeping dry, I felt I had to buy something - and chose this lace.

I salvaged two of the pendants from an ear ring. Jewellery on cards in one of my favourite things... although I have to admit it still feels strange to buy a piece of jewellery with the intention to dismantle it...

Challenges: The Next Level #6, Creative Card Crew, Stamps and Smiles #23, Carol's Sketch Fun, ICSketches, My Papertake Weekly

1,000 Dollar contest prize

The Cuttlebug Spot are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July. In this contest they are offering a 1,000 Dollar gift certificate to Custom Crops. That's the biggest prize I've ever seen offered... To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and leave a comment.

Good luck!

Bird in window birthday card

"A bird that doesn't know its place"... another card in my Russian impressionists series, embellished with a detachable brooch.

Challenge: Smells Like Homemade

Wedding cake stamp card

I like this idea for a contemporary wedding card. It would also work for a wedding invitation because it is quick to make and does not need many embellishments which can be costly and might make the card heavy or bulky, which then needs more postage to send it.

Challenge: Creative Card Crew

Christmas card with chipbord sock

I'm not sure what you call this fibrous paper... I like it because the rough structure adds a rustic feel, it tears nicely and lets the layer underneath partly shine through.

Stork flying over summer meadow

... carrying a baby. The meadow is a reproduction of a Russian impressionist painting. Its pink summer flowers are connecting backgound and foreground. The brush strokes in various shades of green give it a romantic fairytale flair.The sticky back paper lace adds to that.

I also did some doodling with metallic gel pens around an acrylic domed "baby girl" sticker which I backed with aluminium foil for a soft metallic look.

Challenges: CPS #122, Mothers and Daughters Creations, Stamp, One Stop Craft, Carol's Sketch Fun, Cupcake Craft, Everybody Art, A Spoon full of Sugar.

Graduation card

It's so warm outside, the graduates must be hot in their black robes... so I just had to choose a cool colour scheme for my congratulations card. Light blue and lime green is one of my favourite colour combinations.

I raised the mortar board with foam and punched a small hole in the center for the tassle which I made from a few strips of gold tinsel.

Challenges: Everybody Art, Trimmie's Craft, CPS #122, The Pink Elephant, Carol's Sketch Fun, Charisma Cardz, Papertake Weekly.

Roses and hearts

Roses and hearts, these traditional symbols of love are so versatile... I like to think of this card as a wedding card because the image reminds me of a close-up on a wedding bouquet. It could also be used as a Wedding anniversary or even a Valentines card.

The image was part of my scraps stash, I have cut it out of the packaging of Valentine-themed chocolates (yummy truffles if I remember rightly) .

The fruity colours and the roses give this card a summery feel, subdued by the overall colour scheme of pink and cream which adds some elegance.

Challenges: The Secret Crafter Saturday, Spoon full of Sugar, Scrap Online, Charisma Cardz, My Grafico, One Stop Craft, The Pink Elephant, Cupcake Craft, Everybody Art.

Family in the garden - a century ago

Sitting outside chatting to friends or family, that's just the summer thing to do... be it back in the old times or today!

Again I used an image from my Russian Impressionists postcard book. This birthday card is one of my favourites, I think the embellishments actually increase the harmony of the scene.

The fake snakeskin button is great for vintage projects. I actually have it in two sizes, this is the smaller variety.The flowers are made from a variety of knitting yarn.

I completed the card with a pearlescent envelope - mental note to myself: must get more of those!

Challenges: 2Redbananas, Stamps and Smiles, Cafe Mojo, Mothers and Daughters, Everybody Art, Flourishes Newsletter.

Cat in a street cafè

A summery card just right for the 2RedBananas, the OneStopCrafts challenge and .... the list goes on!

The image is a reproduction of a Russian impressionist painting, taken from a post card book. I embellished it with a yellow woven ribbon that is sparkling with 4 gold threads, and made two bows into a loose ribbon flower. The cat pin can be removed from the card and worn on a lapel or bag.

After taking this picture, I added a small golden sentiment sticker to the yellow ribbon on the right, to transform it into a birthday card for Louisa, a lovely lady running a street cafè. 

Wire heart with gems

This card features an embellishment I have made myself, using wire with gems already attached to it, and organza ribbon. I aimed for an airy design with a lot of white space which is why I used shiny cardstock and a decorative hole punch rather than adding any more elements on top. This is also very quick to make.

I am entering this card into CPS 119 and also for the allsorts challenge, the Easy Breezy challenge on the flourishes blog and the Stamp Something challenge.

Baby thank you card

This baby thanks card features another Scrapmagasinet stamp: the baby on the pillow is one of my favourites. The background consists entirely of scraps: it's a weave made from coloured paper ribbons. I am entering it into the 2RedBananas challenge.

Another wedding thank you card

May is over but the wedding season isn't, so I'm staying with the theme for a little bit longer. Again, the image is from Scrapmagasinet, a Norwegian stamp company. The frame is made from a ribbon which qualifies my card for the 2RedBananas challenge and for the Timeless Tuesday Challenge over at Flourishes Newsletter.

Blog candy alerts

Every few weeks I post a list of blog candies, which might save you some time. And here we are again:

• Denise is celebrating the new release of 3 new Whimsy Animals stamps and 2 new Whimsy Kids stamps with blog candy chances (but you will need to hurry as it ends in a few hours!)
• Marlene's blog candy ends on the 5th June
• Katrina is offering blog candy - 7.6.
• Melissa has a gorgeous giveaway until the 12th June
• Sarah's blog candy ends on the 14th June
  
• Quixotic Paperie is celebrating their new web shop with candy until 14th June
• Mina is celebrating her hits and blogoversary until 15th June
• Emily's generous blog candy -15th June
  
• the Scrapmagasinet blog has candy until 16th June
• Miamikel is giving away some travelcandy until 19th June
  
• Jennie has blog candy until the 20th June
• Clare is celebrating her hits and blogoversary with a giveaway until the 22nd June (10 am)
• Michelle is celebrating her hits with a big blog candy until 24th June
  
• Mary is offering yummy blog candy until the 25th June
• Angella is celebrating her blogoversary with blog candy until 26th June
• Jane Matsumoto is celebrating her birthday with a giveaway until 28th June
• Kim is celebrating her blogoversary with candy ending 1st July
  
• Leslie is celebrating her 42nd birthday with a candy drawing on the 6th July
• Nicole is having a big blog candy until 12th July
• Clare is celebrating her birthday with a lovely giveaway until 12th July
• Chelsea has sweet blog candy until 5th July
  

Golf birthday card

There is always a need for male birthday cards - here is one for a golf enthusiast.

The ribbon qualifies it for the 2RedBananas challenge.

Lace matted on gold

The heart used to be a pendant. I sawed it in two halves to reduce the weight and thickness and attached dangly hearts on gold wire together with a gauze bow. To complement the "gold on white" embellishment with a "white on gold" ribbon, I matted vintage lace on gold metallic card.

The ribbon qualifies my card for the 2RedBananas challenge.

Wedding cake card

This wedding thank you card is relatively quick to make. The cake is from Scrapmagasinet. The idea for the background came from looking at my tray of scraps. I usually sort them by color but being short of one tray, I placed orange crosswise over the pinks - and then quite liked the combination, so I recreated this on my card. The flowers qualify it for the 2RedBananas challenge.

Gold background card

The leaf detail is cut out from flocked papers, I'm using them for the first time. I embellished the card with a detachable brooch. The flowers qualify it for the 2RedBananas challenge.

Pink cats

If you are seriously into pink, you like EVERYTHING to be pink, right? So why stop at cats, I said to myself...! It's another stamp from Scrapmagasinet, by the way.

Feeding you some sweets

Sorry, I haven't taken much time recently to post about blog candies. I'll better make up to you for that by feeding you some sweets now:

• Jacqui is celebrating her hits until the 16th May
• Dragonflytime has a lovely blog candy open until 18th May
• The Shimmerz blog is offering blog candy until 19th May
• My Paper Adventures is celebrating blogoversary with candy until the 19th May
• Kristine is also offering interesting candy until 20th May
• Aurora is celebrating her birthday with blog candy until 21st May
• Debbie is celebrating her birthday with candy until 23th May
• Denise's birthday blog candy until 24th May
• Clare is celebrating several things at once with two candies until 23th May
• Anne is offering candy in celebration of her 250 posts until the 25h May
• El Sapone is offering some lovely soap (in German) until 26th May
• Carly is celebrating her 30.000 hits until 6th June
• The Next Level is a new challenge blog launching with blog candy (open until end of May)
• Gayle is offering birthday candy until the end of May
• Lorraine is offering lovely blog candy until 8th June
  
• Emily's blog candy ends on the 16th June

Cat birthday card

This is my first birthday card for a cat lover. Expect to see more to come as I have bought quite a few of these ear rings with dangling cats. They are so easy to dismantle and recycle on cards, and of course I couldn't resist their sparkling eyes! In keeping with that, I placed the cat in front of a nighttime street (recycled from a post card).

Bow tie card

For a card with a twist, why not recycle an everyday item to decorate your card. This male birthday card features a silk bow tie that can be removed from the card and worn.

A few favourites from the past

... compiled to apply for design teams - wish me luck! It's been a difficult task to decide which projects to select, I just don't seem to have the necessary distance to choose among my own work. I always like my newest cards best... however, looking back in time, there are a few cards which I like almost as much as when I made them.

Presenting a necklace

I wanted to present this sea bird necklace in a unique context. It seems to integrate quite well into the lively photograph, which in turn becomes surreal through the embellishments.

The string of plastic pearls stays flexible since it is attached with a dot of glue at the ends and in the middle only. I should have taken a video to show the effect when you open the card: the pearl string deforms into a wave shape as the cardstock bends, then flattens out again.

Key fob with initial

The initial is a badge pierced through a piece of silver coloured leather which was part of an ear ring. It is now adorning a key ring on a chain.

These chains can be quite useful when you clip them to a loop on your jacket, your jeans or a bag handle. It saves you searching for your key in the depths of your hand bag, as you can just pull on the chain and voila, there it is!

Ornamental key fob

The dangling part of an ear ring seemed to be just solid enough to adorn a key chain instead!

Key fob Dolphins

I was lucky to find dolphins small enough - I had to dismantle a piece of belly button jewellery to decorate the ear ring meant to embellish the key fob!

A sweet tooth in blog land

It's time for some new blog candy alerts. There are gorgeous things to win, check out the following links:

• Debbie -30.4.
• Steph until 3.5.

Leaf shaker card

I have a tip to share with you today: Don't throw away used envelopes without checking out the inside first! I have been collecting a few of their inside patterns and used them on this card. They form the background of the shaker windows, all of which are closed with a sheet of acetate attached to the back of the die cut shape.

If you fancy giving acetate a try yourself, you might want to check out challenge FTTC12 over at Flourishes.

The wool ribbon was a find at a flee market, the button is from a sewing shop, the wooden beads were in a children's crafting set, as were the butterflies.

Extravagant flower card

For quite a while I have been thinking about how to use this rather extravagant picture. Due to the different colours, it wasn't easy - and then, how are you supposed to embellish this explosion of petals? I'm quite happy with what I have finally come up with. Hey, I even managed to smuggle half a vintage flower on this modern style card! That was made using a Clare Curd Signature Range flower, some fluffy ribbon and acrylic paints (bronze for the first layer and purple for the second). Then I went into my other half's workshop and sewed a couple of metallic plastic beads into halves - they would have been too big otherwise.

Bling Handbags

A flowery bling ladies' card -  an ear clip had to sacrifice its existence (as an ear clip) for this one... I hope it was worth it!?

Leafy Tree

In this teacher's Thank You card, I tried to follow the oval / almond shape idea through all the elements: card base, image, embellishments and sentiment.

I distressed the leaf shaped frames, then used piercing on the single leaf on the top left (by the way, Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays has a piercing challenge, too!) and faux stitching on the sentiment. I used a silver gel pen which is why it doesn't show up very well even on the detail photo, sorry! I also included a fabric leaf and a Clare Curd Signature Range flower - I couldn't resist its almond-shaped leaves.

My first blogging award

... has been given to me by Anne: the Kreativ Blogger. Thanks Anne, I feel honoured!

Here are the "rules" for this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award.


2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.


3. Link to the person who nominated you for the award.


4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.


5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.


6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.


7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they've been nominated.

I'll start with listing 7 things about myself that others might find interesting:

1. I like gardening and try to rescue plants that have been removed from other gardens. Apart from weeds, of course! Today for example, I picked up a Hibiscus shrub. Not sure if it will make it - it might have been out of the soil for too long already - but I think it's worth trying.

2. I try to use my bicyle instead of motorised transport on all trips under 40 minutes (cycling time).

3. My favourite food is Sushi.

4. I'm one of the (few?) people who actually like chocolate which contains 99% cocoa (although it's not sweet). That doesn't mean I would say no to a nice chocloate truffle whatever the content of cocoa is in those...

5. I once spent a weekend cooking for a whole film set (actors as well as the crew). That was in an old farm kitchen - I think they did have a dishwasher, though.

6. I have been around a race track on the back of a motorbike.

7. When I was about 15 years old, a friend intoduced me to Danish cross stitching. We proudly exhibited our efforts in a glass cabinet outside our class room.


Next, I am to nominate 7 other blogs for the award. Here is my choice, in no particular order:

World of Sarpreet
First of all, rather than nominating a well-known blog that has already received awards, I would like to encourage a new blogger. I found Sarpreet's blog when she had won a sketch challenge - it's always interesting to see the people behind their cards. Sarpreet has a nice personal style of writing and her blog already has many more followers than mine ;) so maybe this award is the next step of motivation? Keep posting, Sarpreet!

Nellie's Nest
Diane not only does stamping and card making but also makes quilts and lovely gifts in attraktive packaging. Her ideas are very inspirational.

The Paper Yard
Lori makes interesting and original cards, often romantic in style, sometimes with a modern flair. I greatly admire her sense for details.

Forever Momories for You
I enjoy looking at Tina's 3D cards, it seems she really has mastered her craft robo, and I'm so looking forward to see her hot-foiled cards!

The Pink Elephant Challenge Blog
I can recommend their varying weekly challenge and also the clear tutorials - you can find all sorts of crafty advice and ideas here.

Skissedilla
This is the first norwegian scrapbooking challenge blog! Luckily, you don't need to understand Norwegian to enjoy their creative layouts and take part in the challenges - there is a translating function on the blog's sidebar and you can comment in English.

Stamping Mathilda
Godelieve's blog is inspiring, I like her amazing projects and tutorials - and she's an apt photographer, too!

I hope you'll take a moment or two to stop by these blogs (including Anne's!) and maybe leave a nice comment. Thanks!

A window in Edinburgh castle

I admit the motif is probably a bit unusual for a birthday card. This stained glass window displaying Saint Columon can be found in St. Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh castle.

I like the effect of the coloured light on the wall so I wanted to incorporate my ribbons in an unobtrusive way.

Hopeful birdsday

This one is probably my first attempt to use a pun on a card. I have seen others doing this sort of thing all the time and not only do I quite like the results, I also believe that funny cards have a big audience. Now we just need to work a bit more on our jokes and puns, I suppose...?

The rising goose is another one of my brooches, it can be removed and worn again. The vintage image booklet from Carla came in handy again, and I just happened to have a green glittery plastic bead in my stash to complement the eggs. I tried (not very successfully) to split it into halves - I wonder if any of you has any advice on how this can be done? Maybe with a heated wire? If you do, could you please let me know - thanks.

By the way, I have recycled the white button from a shirt that had reached the end of its life. This, if nothing else, should qualify my card for the "Go Green" challenge over at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday (FTTC9) (see the Flourishes newsletter).

Black woman brooch card

Today I finally got round to making a card with this lovely brooch - I had been looking forward to that! It can be removed from the card to be used for its original purpose. As usual, I have bought not just one but quite a few of these brooches. I am intending to make sample cards for my whole stash, so keep watching this space if you like jewellery cards.

The background is textured with a piece of flocked fabric with a gold shimmer. For the picture frame, I have embossed brown card, filed away the brown layer on the embossing and applied a light layer of bronze acrylic paint on the whole card. The background for the lady is a piece of matt gold paper.

Sparkly rainbow baby card

I have drawn my background using water colour pencils without water. Afterwards I glitzed up the colours of the rainbow with some glitzy ribbon - the sort that resembles knitting wool with the colours running into each other.

Craft space

A while ago, I saw a play in which one of the characters made the point that women were always interested in other women's kitchens. I think it's the same with crafting spaces. Some are absolutely gorgeous and probably professional working spaces, while others let you sigh with relief when you notice that you are not the only untidy crafter in the world... It can be good to know that there are others out there creating wonderful things in a tiny corner of their bedroom or at the unused half of the kitchen table.

In any case, you might pick up some good ideas from the way other crafters organise their crafting space. This can be quite an important subject matter if you consider that for some strange reason, our stacks of crafting supplies don't actually go down with every year of crafting - instead they grow... even if we are not normally shopaholics!

Nest with bird brooch

I would like to dedicate this layout to Carla who kindly sent me the vintage image pad I have used here, along with some other marvellous crafting goodies.

I have left the brooch intact so the recipient can detach it from the card and use it.

The flowers are Clare Curd Signature Range, coloured with bronze and brass acrylic paint.