dana scraps | pixels and glue

Kicking things off in style

2012-01-22T16:22:00.001+01:00

Hey there, how's your weekend going? I had been working on a communication concept all week long with a fellow student and I'm so glad the presentation went well yesterday. Doing a presentation is all okay for me but knowing you have not professors but professional agency staff and marketing heads in front of you to rate your performance... ahem.

On another note, did you see that little button to the right? Wahooo, I'm part of the new Scrap-Art-Zine design team!!! :) To celebrate the new magazine design team, our new website design, Facebook page and blog, we have teamed up with some wonderful sponsors for twenty-one (the next issue in March will be the 21st) amazing giveaways.

There are several ways to enter your name until next Sunday, January 29 for a chance to win. Everyone can play, so hop over to the blog!

Lost, not found

2012-01-09T08:30:00.000+01:00

Hello dear readers, has anyone of you seen this card?

As you may recall from the last post, I joined a mini kit swap last year. For 2012, I'm going to swap birthday cards with another group of scrap gals because, honestly, who of you would turn down a bunch of beautiful handmade cards in your inbox? The first birthday card is due in about ten days. I had it all ready to mail and now it's hiding from me... argh. I'm quite sure it will magically appear after my visit to the post office. Ah well, one more card for the stash :) Have a fabulous start of the week!

Supplies
Stamps: text stamp (by myself)
Ink: PTI True Black and Tea Dye Chai
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico Countryside (Wildflower)
Cardstock: PTI kraft, Dani Peuss creme and steingrau, lavender (from stash)
Other: PTI dies (Butterfly, Signature Series: Butterfly, Limitless Layers 2 1/2), PTI rustic twine, PTI Vintage Button Lemon Tart, PTI Impression Plate Text Style, sewing machine/thread, washi tape

Homemade stamps

2012-01-06T17:10:00.001+01:00

I realize it's a bit late for a Christmas post but I just have to share this (new to me) discovery. Did you know you can turn virtually any die into a stamp? It was late November and at that time I was in desperate need of Christmas stamps for a mini card kit swap on a German scrapper's forum. Then, when I saw one of Studio Calico's add-ons (Printer's Drawer) to their December kit I kind of had a spark of genius: Take some ordinary fun foam, sent it through your preferred die-cutting machine with any die you have on hand and temporarily attach it to your stamping block. Tadaa, new stamp!! :D

As you can see in my photo, I used fairly thin fun foam (approx. 1/8 in) and then glued a second layer on top of it b/c the foam became heavily squished in the Cuttlebug. What do you think? Will you give it a try or have you already made something alike? Again, I'm probably not the first to who have made this discovery but thought I'd share with you anyway. Btw, here you can see the stuff I sent to my fellow kit swappers...

...along with these little hybrid thank-you notes I made with Illustrator, some baker's twine and PTI dies:

One fun fact from making the kit: I was required to send two 6x3" pieces of patterned paper. With the left over pieces, two half sheets of pp, I intended to make my Christmas cards for the year. Guess what? I cut 6x4 inch pieces instead. Guess what? I had a super lazy moment (didn't wanted to go out to an LSS for just one sheet of paper) and decided to cut one inch strips from these pieces and rock the cards with that. Guess what? I sent photos of two of the cards to Crate Paper and they posted them on their blog. Ha!

Needless to say I'm humbled to see my cards among these talents!! Okay, enough of my terrible ramblings. Have a great weekend, all!

Simple is the New Black

2012-01-02T11:22:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year to all of you! May it be filled with lots of love,

adventures and dreams come true :)

Usually I don't do new year's resolutions. I know, I am tempted to give in to the high hopes a new year brings just to feel guilty I cannot keep up with the whole thing. So, my route to new year's resolutions for 2012 is a fairly simple one: Drink two bottles of water every day (I'm through a bottle already, yay!), trying to keep things simple, have fun and take a photo every day along the route. What about you? Did you settle on your resolutions yet or rather not make any resolutions at all?

In true new-year-clean-slate-and-all style I kept my card for today fairly simple and also sentimentless though it actually was a birthday card for one of my cousins, a New Year's Eve child:

That's it from me, now. I have the week off and want to take the time on this rainy day for some much needed cleaning and purging.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Round and Round
Ink: Papertrey Ink Ripe Avocado
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Vintage Cream and Raspberry Fizz
Other: Studio Calico Mister Huey Shine and Dark Calico, Papertrey Ink dies Limitless Layers 1 3/4" and medium scalloped border, Papertrey Ink Impression Plate (diamonds), Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Ranger Ink Glossy Accents and Tiny Attacher, foam dimensionals, sewing machine/thread

Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T12:39:00.001+01:00

Hello everyone, another Christmas card today, though, I have to admit it is one of last year's. I couldn't show it to you last December since I submitted it for Scrap-Art-Zine, a German scrapbooking mag, and it was picked for their Winter issue :)

Just in the - very probable - event that I don't come to post again this year, I'd like to wish all of you a very merry holiday season and a happy new year!

Dana xx

Supplies
Stamps: Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain, PTI Text Style I, PTI Peace Be Still, PTI Faux Ribbon
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Vintage Cream, Colorbox Dune
Patterned Paper: Scenic Route, Collage Press
Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, PTI Vintage Cream
Other: PTI dies (Christmas tree, medium scalloped border, XL rickrack border), PTI Vintage Cream button, PTI bakers twine (Pure Poppy), sewing machine / thread, Stardust Stickles, foam dimensionals

Deck the Halls

2011-12-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

We interrupt our regularly schedule program to bring you a first Christmas card. About time, isn't it? ;-) The basic idea is from a Papierwerkstatt card; it's a "reverse" version of the second to last card in this post. Colorwise, this weeks Moxiefab Tuesday Trigger looked very inspiring to me:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps: Hein Design
Ink: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate and Chamomille
Patterned Paper: Collage Press Joyride
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Dani Peuss kraft
Other: Papertrey Ink Bakers Twine, sewing machine, snowflake punch, green rhinestone from stash

A déguster immédiatement

2011-12-05T16:50:00.001+01:00

If you'd ask me today if being nice pays off, my answer is most certainly: YES!

At first you think these are just too cute to eat, than you take bite... just the thought of that gold covered mini macaroon with champagne filling makes me smile right now :D

CAS Thank You

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there, it took me some time longer than expected to be back. Time to accept that regular blogging just does not fit into my schedule right now, eh? Anyhow, while clearing out my stamping closet this fall, I challenged myself to revisit some older sets that had not seen much love this year. One of them: Beyond Basic Borders. I noticed the similarity of this set with the newer set Background Basics: Vines and chose the third card on this post by Dawn McVey for my inspiration.

Oh, and I surprised myself by keeping it all clean and simple! :) Do you mix or even changed your card-making style lately? I've tried very many different things in last few weeks. Just don't feel ready to settle on something. Anyway, hope to see you soon!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Beyond Basic Borders
Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores, PTI Spring Moss, PTI Smokey Shadow
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon Farm Fresh
Cardstock: card base recycled from store bought card, turquoise from scrap stash
Other: Tiny Attacher, corner rounder, PTI button twine, PTI butterfly dies, foam dimensionals

11-11-11 at 11:11:11

2011-11-11T17:11:00.000+01:00

Kinda wordless Friday today.

Go here to also link your 11-11-11 photo over at Dear Lizzy's blog.

PS: Ha, just found out that I'm number 11 on Mr Linky :o)

Thank You Very Much

2011-10-15T19:28:00.000+02:00

Truth be told, I had somehow lost my "mojo" in the summer months. I was at the point in September to sell several of my stamp sets, dies and stuff. I have not sold everything but a good deal and I challenged myself to make a thank-you card for every "order" I received. Just a little something, small canvas, without any pressure at all. Than, sometime this week I got a private message in a scrap forum where the sender notified my that her new goodies arrived and she's going to check out my blog.
Blog. Blog? What blog? The blog. Oh my. Ahem, ... well, without further ado, here's the card I made her:

A little on the spring-y side and a great opportunity to use up some of my ever piling scraps. Watch out for more thank you's in the next few weeks and THANK YOU for stopping by today :)

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Tag-its #2
Ink: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Ocean Tides, Summer Sunrise, Fresh Snow and True Black
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Nook and Pantry), Collage Press ()
Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, scraps from stash
Other: EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, PTI Edger die, PTI Limitless Layers die, Martha Stewart crown punch, PTI Impression Plate (Diamonds), foam dimensionals, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Depot satin ribbon (chocolate), sewing machine

{The not so} Daily News Harald

2011-09-13T23:24:00.000+02:00

Just a quick post to participate in the Design Team Inspiration Challenge over at A Passion for Papertrey. For my card, I chose Maile Belles as my inspiration. I adore her CAS style though I'd never be able to keep things that simple myself. Well, ... and that is exactly the story of this card:

"man" card for a 50th birthday (obviously)

It all started with Maile's card here. Instead of using an impression plate for the background, I stamped the card base with BB: Newsprint and smokey shadow ink. Also, since I needed a masculine card, I changed the color scheme. Next, I wanted to glue everything down and call it a card... but then, I decided to use some green spray mist on the background... THEN, I found the green too heavy and sprayed a light yellow mist on top. Better. Umh, how about a little sewing...? What about impressing the numbers...? You see, I just keep adding - and still think, there is a little something missing. Oh well, it's a guy card. Less is more here, right? :)

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: News Print
Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow
Cardstock: PTI Stamper's Select White, Simply Chartreuse, Enchanted Evening
Other: PTI By the numbers die, PTI Impression Plate (woodgrain), PTI Mat Stack die, sewing machine, foam dimensionals, Studio Calico Mister Huey (lemonade, clover)

Finally

2011-09-04T18:05:00.000+02:00

Judging from the date I drafted this post, I intended to post it just four little weeks ago. Talk about piling to do lists ;-) Anyway, while many of you write about going back to school, it's finally semester break for me and we can have some crafty fun together on the old blog-o. Y-A-Y!!

Hope to visit you all soon! Dana xx

Hen Party mini album supplies
Stamps: PTI Button Boutique
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket, The Girls Paperie
Cardstock: Dani Peuss (kraft), Papertrey Ink (cream, hawaiian shores)
Other: PTI vintage buttons (aqua), PTI dies (butterflies, doily), Jenni Bowlin alpha stickers, PTI bakers twine (dark chocolate), EK success border punch (apron lace)

Someone new, something blue

2011-07-13T02:17:00.000+02:00

Seems like I'm growing a new (supposedly bad) habit of late night posting... Good for you ;o) Only this time, I know exactly what keeps me awake. First, there is this cutie pie new baby, appropriately named "Neo", I had the pleasure to see for the first time yesterday. Meeeee, he's already able to grin from ear to ear while sucking on his pacifier Maggie Simpson style. Oh, and imagine a couple of friends sitting around a crib, grinning even more so and watching a new born like this is a movie premiere :)

Also, I am full of adrenaline from the office today. We were moving four offices at the exact same time, me directing most of the circus, plus our GM put me on a (time-consuming) "special operation" for the month ...when I really should worry about a presentation for a term seminar at uni ...and not start jogging after work (for the first time this year - shame on me, but better late than never, right?). Uhm,... yeah!

Anyway, enough rambling for today. Here's a card... heck, make that two cards :)

That color combo of navy, light blue and poppy red with cream appears to be a new favorite of mine... On another note, did hear the news? Google is said to retire their Blogger brand? I wonder what they have in the making. Just a new name? G+ integration? Not sure if I'd like that.

Supplies

Birthday card

Stamps: PTI Round and Round, Label Basics

Ink: PTI Lavender Moon, True Black, Enchanted Evening and Plum Pudding

Patterned paper: Collage Press Camden

Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream, Enchanted Evening, Bazzill Dotted Swiss, Atoz light blue

Other: PTI dies (doily, numbers, pinked circle), Tattered Angels Chalkboard Peacock, sewing machine / thread, EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, PTI Impression Plate (In Bloom)

Thank You card

Stamps: PTI Round and Round, Label Basics

Ink: Jenni Bowlin Cough Syrup, PTI Lavender Moon, True Black, Ench. Evening

Patterned paper: Collage Press Joyride

Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream

Other: red and blue cupcake liners, pink brad, Tattered Angels Chalkboard Peacock, EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, PTI dies (doily, scallop flowers), PTI Impression Plate (In Bloom), Martha Stewart 1" starburst punch, cream flower (stash)

Fluttering by

2011-06-26T02:33:00.002+02:00

...to give evidence that I'm still alive and kicking! Actually, it's in the middle of the night for me and I can't sleep for reasons unknown. Soooo, why not start the blogging again? Where to start... Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've been revamping the blog a little bit over the last few days (and a wee bit proud of what I learned to create with Illustrator during that time). Not sure if this is the final state yet but we're getting closer :)

Also, I could finish some crafty projects - drumroll please - amongst it a mini album! Yes, you heard me right. Finally, some "real" scrapping but more about that in a later post. Today, it's this little butterfly number I have to show you:

One other thing I wanted to share with you is the link to digital/hybrid scrap goddess Jessica Sprague's blog. Right now, she celebrates the 4th anniversary of her business in style with a massive birthday blog hop. Freebies, anyone? *wink*

The 25th also marks PTI's June blog hop and I didn't even notice in my chaos right now but boy, is that inspiration picture beautiful. Don't you just love the rainbow of colors? I bet there's a lot inspiration out there to be ~~saved for my inspiration folder~~ pinned.

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Button Boutique and Background Basics: Diamonds, butterfly (unkown)

Ink: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Vintage Cream and True Black

Patterned Paper: unkown (MME Stella Rose?)

Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, Atoz chocolate

Other: PTI Button Boutique dies, PTI Butterfly die, PTI button twine, buttons from stash

PTI Blog Hop May | Flowers

2011-05-25T23:22:00.008+02:00

"May is the month when many flowers finally go into full bloom after a long winter's sleep. For the blog hop this month we want to see your favorite take on flowers."

Flowers... they actually make me think of my mum. She loves flowers, grows them all around the house. Of course when her birthday came up recently, I just HAD to integrate a flower into her birthday gift ... or rather say the packaging of it b/c we can't bring her flowers over and over again, right? So, this is how I wrapped her theater cards:

Here's a detail shot of the flower where you can also see a bit of the flap, shaped with my beloved edger dies :)

Uhum... and no she didn't find the big numbers on there all to funny, ha! Anyhow, thanks for stopping by and happy hopping :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Just the Ticket, PTI Background Basics: Newsprint

Ink: PTI Raspberry Fizz, PTI Smokey Shadow, PTI Vintage Tea-Dye duo, Versamark

Patterned Paper: October Afternoon (Fly a Kite), Basic Grey (Basics)

Cardstock: PTI Melon Berry, New Leaf, Harvest Gold and PTI Aqua Mist, SU cream

Other: PTI Just the Ticket die, PTI Beautiful Blooms dies, PTI Button Boutique die, PTI numbers die, PTI Edger #1 die, PTI Parisian Doily die, sewing machine / thread, PTI Vintage Button Melon Berry, EK Success 3/4" circle punch, eyelets, PTI Button Twine, clear embossing powder, kraft cardboard (from a random box), PTI Impression Plate (Diamonds)

Pinspiration

2011-05-22T21:34:00.000+02:00

Hi there and happy Sunday to you! Today, I have a little something to share with you that is not a card. Actually, I don't know what it really is but - in honor of the latest Pinterest craze - I like to call it my "pinspiration". First, because it was inspired by some of Christine Middlecamp's creations that I found on Pinterest (of course). The other reason is that I pinned it onto my new office's boring grey wall so I have a little something to look at every time I am in desperate need of a little happiness (or is it -mess?).

What do you think? Pink and red - crazy colors, I know :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Button Boutique

Ink: PTI True Black and Vintage Tea-dye Duo

Patterned Paper: The Girl's Paperie

Cardstock: Bazzill Swiss Dot sand, PTI Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy and New Leaf

Other: PTI Vintage Buttons Raspberry Fizz and Aqua Mist, PTI Bakers Twine Chocolate, PTI Impression Plate Diamonds, PTI Beautiful Blooms dies, PTI Button Boutique die, PTI Doily Details Collection dies

Birthday Banners

2011-05-09T23:23:00.004+02:00

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day weekend! I really enjoy the sunshiny weather around here. It almost feels like summer :) Also, I'm really happy to report that my friend was released from hospital and everything looks fine for her and the baby. {Put in a big relieved sigh here!}

As for my card today, this is what Nina's birthday card looked this year. Yep, jumping on the banner bandwagon, if only "a bit" late.

The really cool thing is: the card was featured on Northridge Publishing's CREATE blog for their hand-stitching challenge. YAY!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Up, Up and Away, PTI Giga Guidelines

Ink: PTI Vintage Tea-Dye Duo, PTI Vintage Cream, Versamark

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket

Cardstock: Dani Peuss cream, PTI kraft

Other: PTI Bakers Twine red / needle, clear embossing powder, PTI Impression Plate (Linen & Canvas)

Damask Bliss

2011-05-02T09:37:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone! I will keep it short today b/c I want to squeeze in a visit at the hospital this morning. A very good friend called me this week that the little person inside her preggo belly causes her to stay there for a week as some results from the latest checkup were (not super critical but also) not ideal. I've already been there to cheer her up a bit and, fortunately, up to know everything looks okay. Let's cross fingers it stays that way!

Now, on to the card for today. Apparently I'm a bit late to join the "Royal Wedding Celebration" Challenge over at A Passion for Papertrey but I will show you the card anyway.

detail shot of my focal point

As CAS as it is, it took me a whole week to come up with this. Silly, I know... but this is what happens when Mojo strikes - not! Have a fabulous day :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Round and Round

Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow

Patterned Paper: My Minds Eye

Cardstock: PTI Kraft & Vintage Cream

Other: PTI Edgers #1 die, PTI Mat Stack #1 die, Depot pearl pin, Prima e-lines flowers, seam binding (chalk white), foam dimensionals

PTI Blog Hop April | Boys To Men

2011-04-25T13:11:00.013+02:00

"This month's blog hop is dedicated to all the boys and men in our lives! Now's your chance to create Father's Day projects, boy birthday cards and more to build up your stash! Focus on masculine color schemes, fresh pattern combinations, understated embellishments and unique uses of images you may already have in your stash!"

Hello fellow blog hoppers :) Happy Easter Monday to you! I have two cards to share with you today. First up is a simple little postcard in a more spring-y color scheme (creme, light grey, turquoise) using last weeks Make it Monday technique (embossing with dies).

Supplies - Stamps: PTI Fillable Frames #1, Klartext Du Glueckspilz | Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow, PTI, Vintage Tea Dye Duo, Versamark | Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream | Other: PTI Impression Plate (Woodgrain), American Crafts Zing embossing powder (Aqua)

The second card is in a darker color scheme, also using the woodgrain impression plate but this time around I inked and run the plate through my Cuttlebug TWO times (first with Hawai'ian Shores, then with Dark Chocolate ink) to achieve a cool two-tone effect.

Supplies - Stamps: PTI Vintage Labels | Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Hawai'ian Shores, PTI Vintage Tea Dye Duo, Versamark | Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Hawai'ian Shores and Dark Chocolate | Other: PTI Fillable Frames #4 die, PTI Impression Plate (Woodgrain), Tim Holtz Vintage Market Alpha, sewing machine / thread

That's it from me today, if you want to see more of my masculine projects, I have them all labeled (see below or in the right hand navigation). Thanks so much for stopping by and happy blog hopping! Can't wait to see what you all came up with :)

A Passion for PTI | Springing into Spring

2011-04-15T10:13:00.012+02:00

Hi there, I'm back with a little spring card for the current challenge at A Passion for Papertrey. For me, nothing screams more spring than butterflies, so here you go: I kept it fairly clean and simple with some vintage touches thrown in the mix. It feels so good to get crafty again... Glad I could put some of my new PTI supplies to good use here, e.g. the edger dies (I could use these on every project right now) and new Button Boutique stamp set (love!). A little discovery with this project: the dotted cross stamp in the Button Boutique set makes for a cute grid pattern!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Button Boutique

Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Berry Sorbet and Chamomille

Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes (die-cut), vellum, sheet music (stash)

Cardstock: Dani Peuss Kraft, PTI Vintage Cream

Other: PTI Butterfly dies, PTI Edgers #1 die, Depot satin ribbon (cream), PTI Bakers Twine Dark Chocolate, Martha Stewart Starburst punch, PTI Vintage Button Hibuscus Burst, foam dimensionals

Cherry on Top

2011-04-07T17:40:00.010+02:00

Hi there, I hope everything is well in your neck of the woods! As for me, I'm outside sunbathing... giving my brand new Mac laptop a bit of a workout :) We have wonderful weather - plus 20 °C / 70 F and I have some new PTI goodies spread out on my scrap table waiting for me. Can it get any better? Hardly!

Oh wait, I already had a little play time this week and whipped up two little birthday cards with some of my new stuff as well as some cute cupcake stamps that were gathering dust.

Speaking of birthdays, yesterday was Miss Nina's "big day" and from what I got on the phone it was a great one :) Feel free to hop over to her blog to say "Happy Birthday" and while you are there - and understand German - please participate in her online survey "Scrapbooking in Deutschland"!! To learn more about it please click here. Oh, did I mention there's a chance to win a fantastic price for completing the survey? =) It really only takes a few minutes and helps her to get her diploma thesis done! Good luck everyone :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Cupcake Collection

Ink: PTI Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz and Chamomille

Patterned Paper: Sassafrass Cherry Delicious, October Afternoon Cherry Hill

Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, PTI Scarlett Jewel

Other: PTI Edgers #1 die, PTI Mat Stack #1 die

Cute & cuddly

2011-03-20T11:55:00.009+01:00

Hello everyone, let's just have a short introduction: My name is Dana and I'm trying my very best to earn the "World's Worst Blogger" award!

Joking aside, I really missed being here. I missed being crafty... and honestly I also missed my "mojo" for quite some time. So this very Friday, I thought it was high time to take a break from my learning sessions and indulge in paper and glue - and boy, did it feel good! The little project I want to show you today is a little set for a friend that recently gave birth to the cutest, chubby cheeked little girl :)

Okay, that's it for today! While I'm away again for some days, I encourage you to visit some lovely and talented ladies, Anni and Nina, who kindly nominated me for two actual blog awards :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Baby Button Bits

Ink: PTI Lavender Moon and Plum Pudding, Colorbox Dune

Patterned Paper: Sassafras Cherry Delicious (Penelope)

Cardstock: Bazzile Swiss Dot (Sand), PTI Stamper's Select White

Other: EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities (pinked circle), red bakers twine, PTI sattle stitch ribbon (Plum Pudding), pinked scissors, Crop-a-dile and eyelet

A Passion for PTI | Tags

2011-02-17T15:56:00.007+01:00

Hey there, how's it going in your neck of the woods? I'm up to my eyes in paper. Mind you, it's for a term test! Oh, how much fun it would be if only all this stuff magically transformed into cardstock... A girl can dream, right?

Since it's been ages that I participated in one of the "A Passion for Papertrey" challenges and the theme (tags) is right up my alley, I have a little something to share with you. It's a gift packaging with a coordinating tag for a dear friend of mine.
If you are anything like me, you're probably curious to know what was inside of the container, so here you go:

Yes, it's a memory card game! Only, there are no images, just colors. And we all know how challenged the guys sometimes are in regard to colors, hehe. Anyways, he wanted something for his grey cells and who am I to deny such a request? *g*

Five different hues of blue. Can you imagine his eyes growing bigger by the sheer look at it?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day, everyone :)

Supplies

Stamps: Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain, PTI Library Card and Just the Ticket

Ink: Versamark, PTI Dark Chocolate and True Black

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Basics

Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream, Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest

Other: PTI Vintage Button (New Leaf), PTI Just the Ticket die, Carla Craft corner rounder, EK Success star punch (2"), PTI Backer's Twine Dark Chocolate, Crop-a-dile / eyelet

PTI Blog Hop January

2011-01-25T18:00:00.009+01:00

Hi there, it's time for the monthly PTI Blog Hop and this month theme is "New Year's Resolutions". In Nichole's words, this means using a "stamp set that has yet to see ink or even one that might be collecting a little dust". I can't think of a stamp set that has never been used at all but what came to my mind first is my "Friends 'Til the End" stamp set. In fact, it is one of my first Papertrey Ink sets I ever bought. I love seeing cards with this set but actually it's one I have a hard time using myself and so it sits in my stamp shelf unused.

What inspired me to this card is a technique that Nichole Heady shared during the last release countdown. As I shy away from intricate coloring this "reverse stamping" technique was just the ticket and with the dreary January weather outside those bright colors spoke right to me :)

Now, I'm curious to see what sets were neglected by everyone else. Thanks for stopping by and happy blog hopping!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Friends 'Til the End and Up, Up and Away
Ink: PTI True Black, Ranger Distress Antique Linen
Cardstock: Dani Peuss Kraft, PTI Stamper's Select White
Other: Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, acrylic paint (yellow, turquoise)

Silver Streets

2011-01-12T22:08:00.021+01:00

Happy New Year everyone! How's it going so far? I just had a spare minute and felt like I haven't blogged for ages... and now that I'm back I have evidence it's true. Yikes! The good thing is, while I didn't get to mail all Christmas cards as planned (and I didn't blog all of them either) I had the chance of crafting some baby cards during the last weekend ...and what's a better theme to start off a new year than the celebration of new little someone?

My intention was it, to enter the card into the last A Passion for Papertrey challenge (background stamping) but I obviously didn't make that in time, too. Haha, there's definitively room for improvement this year :)

Oh and just in case you wonder about the title of my blog post, it's a song title by a new (to me) Swiss / German band called Boy.

Their song is about a new city, new beginnings and all the possibilities that lie therein. Most of these feelings hold true for transitioning into a new year, don't you think? Oh, and apart from that it's a beautiful song :) Enjoy!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Baby Button Bits and Polka Dot Basics II

Ink: PTI Spring Rain, Dark Chocolate and Spring Moss; Ranger Antique Linen

Patterned Paper: PTI Pretty Pastels

Cardstock: PTI Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream; Atoz aqua

Other: sewing machine / thread, PTI Spring Moss button, PTI satin ribbon, PTI Picnic Plaid Impression Plate

PTI December Blog Hop

2010-12-26T21:48:00.017+01:00

Hello everyone, hope you all had a fantastic time with your family and friends during the Holidays :-)

This month challenge for the PTI blog hop is it to "use scraps of wrapping paper, parts of holiday cards, recycle gift tags or bits of ribbon on a paper crafting project". I had plenty ideas for that and kept every little piece of wrapping paper, ribbon etc. when, by accident, my eye fell on a holiday mini album from a workshop last year that I actually never used or gave away b/c there was something wrong with the embossing powder. Either I applied to much heat or the powder was too old or faulty, however, the embossed star image was clear in the center and grey / whitish towards the edges. Ack! You can see my original post with the mini album here.

Instead of keeping it in my box just to throw it away someday, I decided to cut the front cover off of it and make it a simple little book for my thoughts and wishes for 2011. No, we're not talking new year's resolutions! ...for I already know, I won't keep them anyway ;) I rather think of something to keep focus on throughout the year, like in Ali Edwards "One Little Word" project.

So, that's my little holiday recycle project. I hope you like it and maybe feel inspired to do some recycling yourself. Have a fabulous blog hop!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Fillable Frames #4, PTI Fresh Alpha

Ink: PTI Vintage Cream, Versamark

Paper: brown cardstock (from recycled mini album), cream writing paper for the inside

Other: PTI Fillable Frames #4 die (for masking), Studio Calico Mr Huey (cream), American Crafts Zing EP (aqua), Ranger Glossy Accents

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-20T16:56:00.006+01:00

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas around here with snow shoveling being my daily business... ugh! On the other hand, it's a good thing not to exercise my plastic only these days, right? Anyway, I feel really lucky to have only one more day of office work left for this year, so beginning tomorrow evening I can snuggle up inside with a cozy blanket, a cup of steaming hot tea, some cookies (of course) and a long neglected book, just to wait for the mail woman to bring the rest of my Christmas presents. How's winter going in your part of the world? I would love to hear :)

My cards today, though I like the outcome, were a real challenge for me. Keeping things flat for mailing somehow didn't feel natural and I was constantly reaching out for some foam dimensionals just to put them away again. Any tips in that area?

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Peace, Be Still; sentiment stamps (made to order)

Ink: PTI dark chocolate and tea-dye duo, Versamark

Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, PTI kraft, PTI vintage cream, PTI rustic cream

Patterned Paper: MME So Sophie (Savvy - Helpful Houndstooth)

Other: PTI vintage cream twill ribbon, PTI christmas tree die, PTI impression plate (woodgrain), Atoz rhinestones, Carla Craft corner rounder, Gütermann clear embossing powder

The curious incident of a gingerbread guy in my morning cuppa

2010-12-16T09:37:00.007+01:00

Haha, this must be the longest title in at least my blog's history but look at this cutie, bathing in my favorite coffee cup:

On a sidenote: London, how I miss thee already! I'm so longing for a freshly brewed Flat White... I was told Down Under that this kind of coffee drink is something unique to the OZ / NZ area, so I was surprised (read: almost jumping with joy) Starbucks offers it in the UK. Yes, sometimes I am that easy to be pleased.

As for my card today, it is another one that I CASE'd - this time from a scrapbook layout. You can tell it from my blog's name that at some very early point in time, I intended to rather do scrapbooking than making cards. While there clearly went something utterly wrong with this goal, I would have gladly accepted Rhonda Palazzari to be my daily inspiration ;-)

Here's where you can see her layout (and fabby tutorial) on the Crate Paper blog. Now, that's it from me today. Thanks for visiting!

Secret Santa

2010-12-15T08:30:00.001+01:00

Good morning, time for some more Christmas projects. First up, a colorful little card featuring Cosmo Cricket patterned paper from last year's Jolly by Golly line as well as some PTI stamps.

Now this little number was one of my Secret Santa gifts for one of my office gals. It's a simple brown bag decorated and filled with delicious Christmas chocolate truffles.

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Card Patterns Sketch #93 & #94

2010-12-14T23:56:00.005+01:00

Okidoke, here you go - the first two samples of a little Christmas card session. I tell you, I'm easily bored with mass production so they will all look at least a bit different.

The stamped image and ribbon on the card above are from a little surprise card kit and I kept it really simple by just adding some glitter to ground and the nose of the reindeer. The card below has also some elements from a mini card kit (patterned paper and chipboard star) and was heavily inspired by a Christmas card created by the fabulous Ingrid Danvers.

Now, I better schedule the next post before something else makes me procrastinate until forever and ever. Oh and today is PTI release night! Do you order yourself something for Christmas? My fingers are itching but I'll try to be a good girl until January... or so I think :o)

ETA: The first card was done with Card Patterns Sketch #93 in mind (yes, definitively too late to enter), while the second one coincidentally goes pretty well with #94 turned at a 90° angle.

Island Greetings

2010-12-14T05:49:00.003+01:00

Hello dearies, how are you today? Sorry, I've been so quiet during the last couple of days but I just came back from a spontaneous trip to London... and it's been soooo fun and fabulous, I need to go back really soon :o))

Clock Tower as seen from Trafalgar Square

Anyways, I have a teensy tinsy card for you today, too. It's one I slipped into a friend's mailbox when driving by. Isn't the "real" thing so much cooler than just texting away on your mobile phone?

... and it perfectly fits the Moxiefab World Card Creations: All Occasions Challenge, don't you think? Now, it's only ten more days until Christmas and believe it or not I have some cards to show in that category, too. If everything goes well, I'll be posting some of these later today :) Thanks for visiting!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Just the Ticket

Ink: Versamark, PTI dark chocolate and tea-dye duo

Paper: PTI kraft and cream, October Afternoon Farm Fresh

Other: PTI ticket die, PTI Impression Plate, typewriter, sewing machine/ thread, Martha Steward crown border punch

Butterflies and Snowflakes

2010-12-05T21:27:00.012+01:00

Happy Sunday, everyone! I got to get a card done this week (yay!) for a good friend's colleague who turns 40 tomorrow and thought I'd enter it into the Card Creations: Favorite Occasions Week Birthday Challenge over at the Moxie Fab World blog.

Boy, does it feel strange to work with butterfly die cuts when outside, the snowflakes do their happy dance. Making my own summer or so, I guess. Anyways, thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous new week :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI In Bloom and Giga Guidelines

Ink: PTI vintage cream and dark chocolate, Ranger Distress antique linen

Cardstock: PTI kraft, vintage cream and terracotta tile

Other: PTI grossgrain ribbon dark chocolate, sewing machine / thread, PTI butterfly die and mat stack 4 die, Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch, PTI jute and baker's twine, PTI vintage buttons, PTI Impression Plate In Bloom

30 days till Christmas

2010-11-24T20:06:00.012+01:00

Whwwwhat? You know the date years in advance and yet, it comes as a surprise... every single time! Come on, don't tell me, I'm the only one, eh?

Here's a first Christmas card, I wanted to share. The card design follows Laura's sketch #66 over at 2 Sketches 4 You.

Actually, I'm a wee bit proud of it, if I dare say so. All the stamps used on this card were custom made for me and I even drew the holly leaf all by myself. Okay, that wasn't too tough, but still :)

Now, how about you? Did you start your batch of Christmas cards or are you already into Valentine card designs? Let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Supplies

Stamps: holly and sentiment (custom made)

Ink: PTI scarlet jewel, Versamagic tea leaves

Patterned Paper: My Minds Eye (So Sophie)

Cardstock: PTI vintage cream, kraft and scarlet jewel

Other: sewing machine/ thread, PTI large rick rac die, Aleene's acrylic paint (pudding), PTI buttons (scarlet jewel), PTI rustic twine, craft knife, Pentel white gel pen, Ranger Stickles

Falling Leaves

2010-10-31T19:33:00.010+01:00

Hi there, I'm back to share yet another card with you that I think fits right in with the current CASE Study challenge. I loved Barbara's CAS inspiration piece and tried to keep the card fairly simple as well. During the creation process however, I swapped the ribbon out for a piece of paper and the button for a little chipboard flower... but see for yourself!

Oh, and just in case you wondered about the title of this very post, I had the pleasure of taking an morning walk with a friend this week just before going to work and snapped some pretty fall photos in the sunshine...

I might just be in love with that last one... Anyhow, Happy Halloween to those of you celebrating this holiday! It's by far not as big here as it is in the US but the first trick-or-treaters showed up a couple of minutes ago. They looked too cute in their little costumes :o)

Supplies

Stamps: Klartext, DFD

Ink: PTI aqua mist, Versamark dazzle

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love

Cardstock: Dani Peuss kraft, PTI vintage cream

Other: Sizzix BIGZ scallop card die, sewing machine / thread, PTI satin ribbon, Rayher rhinestones, UTEE, EK Success corner , PTI impression plate (linen)

Happy Mail

2010-10-24T22:09:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone, how did your weekend go? Last time, I promised, I would show you the cards Nina gave me some weeks ago and so, here they are:

I really love the happy pastel colors on that one, not to mention the fabric covered buttons - handmade by herself. That girl got talent!! The only thing is, how will I ever be able cut them of from the tag and actually use them? *sigh*

The second card was handed to me in person. Yep, that's right! We (that's Nina, her boyfriend Nico and me) met spontaneously at a Stampin' Up event in Frankfurt. It was sooo much fun, though I'm not entirely sure Nico enjoyed being the only guy doing the make and takes ;o)
Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a photo of that yummy banana bread she made. Mhm, toasted banana bread with peanut butter... my breakfast the day after was heavenly :)

Now, just for good measure - we card makers live by the rule of threes most of the time, right? - I'll show you one of the make & take cards we made:

That's it from me now! Hope your week is off to a great start :)

2S4Y Kazan's Sketch #63

2010-10-16T16:25:00.010+02:00

Hi peeps, how's your Saturday going? I'm all about putting schedules together for the start of the new semester term, throwing some old stuff out and trying to ignore the dreary weather outside.

Today, I wanted to show you my take on the current 2 sketches 4 You challenge. Here is the first one, pretty CAS style and going back to my roots of "stamps and cardstock only, please" ;-)

The second card has a more vintage approach and is actually one I sent to Ms Nina some weeks ago along with some other goodies.

Isn't that apple pincushion in the upper right corner adorable? She sew it all by herself! Oh, and next time, I just have to show you the pretty cards I got from her =)

Supplies

{Hi card}

Stamps: PTI Round & Round

Ink: Versamark, PTI Terracotta Tile

Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream and Melon Berry

Other: PTI Impression Plate (In Bloom), PTI Fillable Frames die #4, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Caramel Apple)

{Just a Note card}

Stamps: PTI Vintage Labels, PTI Just the Ticket

Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate and Pure Poppy

Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream, Kraft and Pure Poppy

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Basics Kraft), October Afternoon (Farm Fresh)

Other: My Little Yellow Bicycle (paper doily), PTI Just the Ticket die, PTI Beautiful Blooms die #3, Spellbinder scalloped circle die, Rico Designs pearl brad, tulle (cream), foam dimensionals, PTI Impression Plate (linen), sewing machine / thread

Grattis

2010-10-11T17:16:00.015+02:00

Hey there, how are you today? I've just flipped through my picture folder and noticed how many of my previous projects I didn't share with you... They list goes back to April!! So, let's not waste another minute and get right to one of them.

This little number above is the gift packaging I did for my "little" brother's birthday present - which was, believe it or not, one of Tim Holtz' Tiny Attachers! I simply cut 10 cm (4 inches) off of an B4 size envelope and later covered the top end with a valley folded piece of patterned paper. Simple yet effective, I think!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Library Card, swedish sentiment (by myself)

Ink: PTI dark chocolate, Versamagic tea leaves

Cardstock: Dani Peuss cream, Core'dinations chestnut, PTI hawaiian shores

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket (Early Bird)

Others: sewing machine / thread, Tim Holtz Vintage Market Alpha, corner rounder, Crop-a-dile / eyelet, Depot satin ribbon (chocolate), Martha Stewart crown border punch, PTI fillable frames die #4

Happy belated WCMD

2010-10-06T08:51:00.009+02:00

Oh boy, ... it's been way to long! I've just taken the last test for the semester and now I see myself picking seminars for the next one, which just happens to start in less than a fortnight. Eeek!! However, lets have some crafty fun until then, shall we? :-)

This is one card, I made in honor of World Card Making Day this past Saturday.

Do you see what I see? Almost zero stamps but using the patterned paper again! I know... I'm shocked, too - but also a little proud of myself ;o) Sooo, did you celebrate WCMD? I guess a big tour around blog land is in order to find out! See ya :)

ETA: I've just found out that Kate and Aimes have an "Awesomely Autumnal" Challenge going over on the A Passion for Papertrey blog and thought I'd enter this card here. Hop on over there - even if you don't plan to enter, their beautiful sample cards are worth the click alone :)

Supplies

Stamps: Klartext Kartengruss

Ink: Papertrey Ink (dark chocolate)

Cardstock: PTI (vintage cream, kraft)

Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket (Earth Love 6x6 pad)

Other: PTI baker's twine (chocolate), sewing machine / thread, PTI rick rack die, Cosmo Cricket chipboard (Earth Love)

A Passion for... Polka Dots

2010-09-05T21:15:00.013+02:00

Hello everyone, I'm still inspired by the one or the other challenge and A Passion for Papertrey's long cards theme... So how about combining their current challenge - polka dots - with the long format of the last challenge?

Here's the back of my project - you can see it's actually not a card but an envelope. I used it to wrap a gift card for a friend's wedding anniversary as the gift card itself came in a plain white envie - not so pretty, right?

Oh, if you are quick, I encourage you to hop over to the A Passion for Papertrey blog and participate in the current polka dot challenge right now. You can win this year's beautiful PTI Anniversary Set 'Round and Round' (I used one of its image on my little project above)!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Round & Round

Ink: Versacolor chestnut, Colorbox silver

Cardstock: PTI kraft, cream and scarlet jewel

Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes Collection

Other: sewing machine / thread, Martha Stewart Daisy Lace, Ranger Perfect Pearls, Acrylic Paint white, Spellbinders Nestabilities, PTI Impression Plate (In Bloom), EK Success 3/4 and 1 3/4 circle punch, Rayher rhinestones clear (5 mm), PTI rustic jute twine, orange brads from stash

Best Wedding Wishes

2010-08-26T19:14:00.010+02:00

Umh,yeah... it's me again! Two cards within a week's time span, wohoo... that hasn't happend for a long, long time, I guess =)

Anyhow, the card below is one that I made for a scrappy friend's wedding and I tried to stick close with their actual wedding colors - green and cream.

As for the card sketch, look at the 2 sketches 4 you blog and be inspired by their fabulous design team. Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Retro, PTI Bird Watching Additions, PTI Fancy Flourishes
Ink: Versamagic Tea Leaves, PTI Smokey Shadow, Versacolor black
Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream
Patterned Paper: Scenic Route North Shore (green), vellum from stash
Other: sewing machine / thread, laser printer, Guetermann clear embossing powder, Atoz clear rhinestones, PTI Impression Plate (linen)

A Passion for PTI | Long & Tall

2010-08-21T19:25:00.011+02:00

Seems like I have rediscovered my love for card challenges :) So, this is just a quick post to participate in A Passion for Papertrey's Long & Tall challenge.

Finished card size: 9,5 x 19 cm / 3,75 x 7,5 in

I know it's not super long but definitively the longest card I've ever made! For me, it killed two birds with one stone so to speak - getting a bit out of my comfort zone with this unusual card size and also using up some patterned paper scraps. Speaking of comfort zones, I can't ever tell you how long it took me to bring it all together... only so much: It was a very fitting time frame for a "long" challenge, though ;-) Anyhow, thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend everyone :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Fresh Alpha, PTI Vintage Labels

Ink: Versamark, PTI vintage cream

Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love (6x6)

Cardstock: PTI dark chocolate, vintage cream and melon berry

Other: PTI Impression Plate (linen), PTI butterfly die, sewing machine / thread, corner rounder, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Caramel Apple), Fiskars Apron Lace punch, foam dimensionals

Vienna... and a challenge

2010-08-13T19:44:00.005+02:00

Soooo, I'm back! It was a real fun weekend and we squeezed in as many sights as possible... First, there was Vienna from above to get a general idea of what to expect...

view from the Danube Tower, observation deck

...then we were headed for the Wurstelprater, a leisure park, to take a ride on the famous +100 year old ferris wheel...

Viennese Prater

... by the way, this is what shopping streets look like there! I was stunned by all the beautiful, old houses (okay, the Kohlmarkt below is indeed the pricey place to be but even H&M resides in one of those pretty city mansions!)...

Kohlmarkt

a carriage near the opera

... okay, I could probably go on and share tons of photos but I'll spare you more of the details and end my praise to this beautiful city with a picture of this giant castle. It was too big to capture with my standard prime lens even from afar - don't the people in the park look like little game pieces?

Schoenbrunn Palace

Can you imagine this to be only a summer residence?? Anyway, congrats in case you made it thus far ;-) I am happy to tell you that I also have a card to share today!! I didn't participated in challenges for ages and the first of the CASE Study challenges spoke right to me.

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Text Style I, Turning a New Leaf and Faux Ribbon

Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores and Spring Moss

Paper & diecuts: unknown (from a card kit)

Other: sewing machine / thread, PTI rustic cream twine, exacto knife, foam dimensionals

Flying high

2010-08-04T18:01:00.004+02:00

Hello Dearies, I'm in the midst of prepping a fun weekend trip to Vienna, Austria and just wanted to pop in to share a little card with y'all :)

See you next time - hopefully with some photos from the trip!

PS: Before I leave you, I just have to share a link to a new (to me) manufacturer - 4 heures 37. The web pages are in French only so far but their oh so cute collections are worth a click or two... or three... :o)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Fillable Frames #1, Up, up and away and Fly away

Ink: PTI Vintage Cream and Orange Zest, Versamark

Cardstock: PTI kraft

Other: American Crafts Zing embossing powder (Aqua), white gel pen, PTI impression plate (woodgrain)

99.9 F degrees, stable now, with rising possibilities

2010-07-11T13:07:00.011+02:00

Seriously, it's that hot right now and I couldn't help thinking of that old Suzanne Vega song text line! No wonder my crafting took me up in airy heights again ;-)

That thingy above was our gift coupon for two friends who celebrated their 30st birthday yesterday and their wish was for a hot-air balloon ride. How cool's that? Of course I just HAD to make a card with my new PTI stamps, too :)

Just in case you wonder where you've seen that card before, it's a blatant copy of Maile's last card here with only a few minor changes.

Okay, you guys... time to work a bit on my tan and later today we'll watch the World Cup finals. It's Spain vs The Netherlands! After our unfortunate semi-final defeat vs Spain and yesterday's match against Uruguay, we came in third. Oh well, an Australian ad once read: If you can't go for gold, go for bronze - it's goldier than silver ;-)

Now, how's your weekend / summer going?

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Up, up and away

Ink: PTI Terracotta Tile, Vintage Cream, Hawaiian Shores and Dark Chocolate, Versamagic Tea Leaves

Cardstock: PTI Kraft and Rustic Cream

Other: PTI Up, up and away dies, PTI rustic cream twine, PTI linen impression plate, sewing machine / thread, Sakura glaze pen (for "silver lining" on clouds)

PTI June Blog Hop

2010-06-26T01:18:00.015+02:00

Hello everyone, time for another Blog Hop :-) The theme this month is COLOR and really, I had a hard time picking just one favorite color combo so I have two teensy tinsy cards and color schemes for you.

One leaning more to the "feminine" side...

... the other towards the "masculine" color range.

Well, what's more to say now then happy hopping :) Thanks for stopping by! I'm looking forward to see what you all came up with... *off she hops*

Supplies

{Feminine mini-card}

Stamps: PTI Up, up and away, PTI Fillable Frames #1

Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Plum Pudding, Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream

Cardstock: PTI Orange Zest

Other: PTI Up, up and away dies, PTI Impression Plate (linen & canvas), BIGZ scallop card die

{Masculine mini-card}

Stamps: PTI Fillable Frames #1, PTI Star Prints

Ink: PTI Enchanted Evening and Vintage Tea Dye Duo, Versamagic Tea Leaves, Versamark

Cardstock: PTI Kraft and Vintage Cream

Other: PTI Impression Plate (woodgrain), Fillable Frames #1 die, American Crafts Zing embossing powder Aqua, EK Success Star punch and Upper Crest border punch, PTI rustic twine, PTI Vintage Buttons Spring Moss, sewing machine / thread

Kick off

2010-06-14T12:31:00.008+02:00

Pheww, where's the last week gone?? Anyway, it seems like it's time for many, many "kick offs" these days... end-of-semester test season starts soon, the world's biggest sports tournament has finally begun (umh, and despite all the vuvuzela trumpets, our youngsters won their match yesterday, yeah!), and last but not least we're in the middle of wedding season, right? Which brings me right to today's card theme (wasn't that a clever transition, huh? LOL) The card below, is one that a colleague requested for her friends' wedding.

Somewhat elegant but with a fun twist. What do you think? It also qualifies for the current Caardvarks challenge which requires you to use either heat or dry embossing. Hop over to the Caardvarks blog to take a look at the other entries!

Now, I need to go back to "work" - I've promised my brother to check his master thesis ... someone up to read a paper about Navier-Stokes-Equations? Anyone??? Hmpf... luckily, I only need to look for spelling mistakes and such :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style, Klartext Irgendwas ist immer, DFD sentiment

Ink: PTI aqua mist, dark chocolat, vintage cream and pure poppy

Cardstock: Dani Peuss dark brown, PTI vintage cream

Other: Provocraft embossing folder, white satin ribbon (from stash), Copic Marker (BG11), pinking shears, foam dimensionals

Flowery Monday

2010-06-07T16:00:00.016+02:00

Happy summer everyone :) It's the fifth super warm day in a row and I'm hoping for more to come. After all, the Soccer World Cup starts this coming weekend and (just my humble opinion) anything below 80 °F is just not acceptable for that occasion, ha!

Anyhow, your stopping by here to hear my thoughts on soccer and the weather, right? Let's go right to some cards, shall we? So, the first one, you may have already seen during my Featured Stamper month at A Passion for Papertrey.

I'm super pleased with that card (and that doesn't happen too often) in particular because I didn't combine the Early Bird patterned paper with the "usual color combo suspects" for that paper line, primary colors that is.

This next card is a second card that I had created for their "Pretty Petals" challenge. Too bad that the available light didn't make for a good photograph when I finished the little project.

That's all for now peeps! Hope you enjoyed hopping over... have a fabulous week :)

Supplies

{Yellow Happy Birthday}

Stamps: PTI Fillable Frames #2, PTI Giga Guidelines, PTI Heart Prints
Ink: PTI Summer Sunrise, PTI Spring Moss & Aqua Mist (mixed), PTI Vintage Tea Dye Duo
Cardstock: PTI Vintage Cream, PTI Rustic Cream, Core'Dinations Aquamarine,
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird
Dies: PTI Beautiful Blooms die #1, PTI Fillable Frames #2 die
Other: PTI Vintage Button Aqua Mist, Prima E-line flowers (white Hydrangea), sisal twine, sewing machine / thread

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon, Giga Guidelines, Cupcake Collection, Everyday Button Bits

Ink: PTI Vintage Cream

Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Aqua Mist, Melon Berry and Hibiscus Burst, Dani Peuss darkbrown

Dies: Beautiful Blooms die #1

Other: Ikea Bomull (material), PTI Vintage Buttons (Aqua Mist, Hibiscus Burst, Melon Berry), May Arts twine, decorative scissors, Prisma glitter, Sakura glue pen, sewing machine / thread

99 Red Balloons

2010-05-20T11:58:00.004+02:00

... okay, it's only three and they are orange... anyways, sorry for disapearing on you all... I didn't fell off the earth or so, it's just that life has been a bit more demanding than usual during the last few weeks so I decided to take an immediate break from blogging. Reality comes first, right? Nevertheless, I want to thank all of you who kept stopping by my blog!! Now, I feel, it's high time to jump back into the loop again and - little by little - start sharing some cards I made.
Today, I have another card featuring Glossy Accents. Gotta love that stuff :)

By now, it happily resides down under in New Zealand with my blog friend Nina.
So that's it from me for today. I'll visit you all very soon, I bet there's a lot catching up to do but I wouldn't want to miss a single one of your creations and stories :)
Happy almost weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Everyday Button Bits, PTI Mod Squad
Ink: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, Orange Zest and Vintage Tea-Dye Duo
Cardstock: PTI Stamper's Select White
Patterned paper: Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes (die-cut)
Other: Ranger Glossy Accents, PTI Impression Plate (Picnic Plaid), chocolate grossgrain ribbon (unknown), sewing machine / thread

Flutter by

2010-04-18T23:15:00.009+02:00

... to say hi! How was your weekend? We actually had + 20°C (~ 70°F), wonderful sunshine and I could spend most of the day outside :-) Anyways, on to some crafty stuff! ... where I have to admit: Yes, I'm guilty for hoarding patterned paper! So, I not only enjoyed the sun today but also sat down on my crafting table and randomly picked some designer paper to use lavishly on some cards. The card I want to show you today consists mainly of a beautiful sheet of Collage Press' Camden Line:

Oh, and see that cute butterfly? It's all all covered with a thick coat of Glossy Accents. Aimes work with Glossy Accents blew my away (see some samples here and here) so I had to put a bottle into my cart as well to give it a try. Haha, blog hopping is terrible enabling, I tell you!! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by today! Btw, tomorrow brings a new challenge over at A Passion for Papertrey. I hope you hop on over and take part! Again, the girls picked a great theme and it's so perfect for this time of the year :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Baby Button Bits, Klartext September Kit

Ink: PTI dark chocolate, smokey shadow, pure poppy & vintage tea dye duo

Cardstock: PTI Stamper's Select white

Patterned Paper: Collage Press Camden (Logbook)

Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels 1), Ranger Glossy Accents, Copic Markers (B000, T1), Dove Craft foam dimensionals

All the best

2010-04-12T11:47:00.006+02:00

Hi there, how's you going? I felt a wee bit inspired by all of the woodgrain cards of Ms Dawn and literally dreamed up a card last night. While putting it together IRL I changed it a lot but I still like it :)

~~Sorry for the strange picture and background. It's a~~ ~~blurry, rainy day today and it was a bit hard to get the subtle woodgrain embossing to show up in the photo.~~ ETD: I was able to take a decent photo for you :)

Catch you later!

Supplies

Stamps: October Afternoon Detours, Klartext September (sentiment), Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain

Ink: PTI dark chocolate, Versamagic Tea Leaves, PTI Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo

Cardstock: Dani Peuss (cream, chocolate), PTI (kraft)

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Offbeat (6"x6")

Other: sewing machine / thread, Carl Craft corner rounder, Yellow Canary pinking scissors, Guetermann clear embossing powder

Sew Versatile

2010-04-06T08:58:00.012+02:00

Dear Copic Markers,

I {heart} you! :)

Yours

Dana

Okay, that sentence above may not be true for the preceding year but somehow... with some practice over the weekend... and by finding out that they virtually color everything - like thread that would otherwise not match the ink - I changed my mind!

Anyway, below is my debut card as a Featured Stamper over at A Passion for Papertrey. The new challenge is up and the theme is "Material Girl".

The fabric may be subtle in my card because it's tone-on-tone with the rustic cream cardbase but it creates a lot of texture when you look at it in person. Also it is comparably light weight and flat - perfect for mailing! Now, head over to A Passion for Papertrey - you would want to see the fantastic challenge samples of Kate and Aimes... and why not participate when you're already there? :)

Have a fabulous week! It's only four days until the weekend LOL

ETA: How fun, the new Caardvarks challenge is to make a baby card! So I'm entering this card into the challenge :)

Stamps: PTI Baby Button Bits

Ink: PTI True Black, PTI Hawaiian Shores

Cardstock: PTI Rustic Cream, PTI Kraft

Other: IKEA Bomull fabric, EK Success Epoxy Dome Stickers, Yellow Canary pinking shears, sewing machine / thread, Copic Markers (E44, E55, BG13), Tombow glue roller, Dove Craft foam squares

Blog Candy Winner

2010-04-05T22:41:00.003+02:00

ETA: Just in case y'all are as curious as I would be, I added a photo of the some of the goodies that are comming your way, Emma :-)

Hi there, how was your Easter weekend? We're lucky enough to have this Monday off, too, so I could meet with some friends and have a fun afternoon. Actually, we had noticed some time ago that we know parts of the world some thousands miles away better than our neck of the woods. Silly, I know, but still true. Thus, we got together for an old-fashioned trip to this water castle - just to find out none of us took a camera along... {Note to self: time for a new cell phone!}

Alas, you came here to find out who won my blog candy, right? Okay, I sorted every comment "in order of appearance", now Random.org says this:

Emma said...

Hiya Dana,

Congratulations on your 100th blog post and on the guest designer spot over at a passion for papertrey.

I look forward to seeing more of your wonderful creations and thank you for the chance of winning the 'thank you' candy.

Emmax

APRIL 1, 2010 9:14:00 PM GMT+02:00

No April Fool, Emma! Send your mailing info to [e-mail removed for spam prevention] and I will send the blog candy...

... right out to you :) Congratulations!!

Thank you! (Blog Candy)

2010-04-04T23:59:00.022+02:00

** Sticky post - please scroll down for more recent posts! **

It's spring, it's sunny, it's my 100th blog post and I'm in the mood for a teensy tinsy blog candy! As this was a spontaneous decision, I'm not 100 % sure what the full package will contain, hence no photo so far, but I think at least

two of my favorite pigment journaling pens (black & sepia)
a sample mix of my PTI vintage buttons
an assortment of PTI patterned papers
two rolls of my favorite satin ribbon (approx. 1/2" wide)

Let's see what else comes to my mind (I'm going to visit a new craft store sometime this week, so who knows)! Here are the deeds:

To participate, just leave me a comment on any of my posts until Easter Sunday (4/4th) including this one. Of course, you can leave multiple comments on the individual posts but only the first of your comments per entry will count towards the candy drawing.
I'll use random.org to select the winner the days following. The winner will have three days to contact me via fleckda (at) gmail (dot) com
Of course, I would love you to follow my blog if you like my creations but it is not a mandatory requirement to win the candy.
The giveaway is open for all of my blog readers worldwide.

I'm looking forward to another 100 creative posts with continued visits from all of you! It's definitively one of the reasons why I keep going with this blogging thing, what makes it so rewarding and fun :-) So, THANK YOU ever so much for stopping by and leaving me some love!!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Star Prints, Fancy Flourishes and Giga Guidelines

Ink: PTI Berry Sorbet (mixed with Melon Berry), Aqua Mist, Scarlet Jewel and Vintage Cream, Versamark

Paper: Dani Peuss cardstock cream, Scenic Route North Shore

Other: Stewart Superior Prisma Glitter, PTI Vintage Button Melon Berry, sewing machine / thread, foam dimensionals, sisal twine, Sakura Quickie Glue

Exciting news :)

2010-03-31T10:43:00.011+02:00

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share a quick card with you and also some exciting news!! :) First, about the card: Last week, it was the birthday of a friend and sad enough, I thought about her all day long but in the end, I forget to call her, tough! A little card was in order - it's this one:

handmade envelope

card

"Hoo" could refuse the absolution to a cute little owl like this? ;-) On another note, I am BEYOND thrilled that Kate and Aimes of A Passion for Papertrey asked me to be their Featured Stamper for April and, of course, I gladly accepted!! You can read the introduction / interview, here on their blog. I'm so looking forward to sharing my cards for their bi-weekly challenges, the themes for this month are great! I hope you are able to join us :)

Have a fabulous day and in case we don't read each other before then: Happy Easter holidays!

Supplies

Stamps: Klartext Juni Kit stamps, PTI Everyday Button Bits

Ink: PTI true black

Paper: PTI stamper's select white

Other: Copic markers (E33, E55), Ranger Mini Mister with turquoise acrylic paint, Depot dot ribbon (yellow), Faber-Castell pigment pen (black), EK Success 3/4" circle punch, Advantus Tiny Attacher, printer

Poppy Seed Challenge #2

2010-03-23T21:06:00.013+01:00

Hello everyone, I have a card to share for Lisa Johnson's second Poppy Seed Challenge! This time the three "poppy seeds" consist of using buttons, polka dots and the color light green.

As we don't celebrate St. Patty's, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make an early baby / toddler card. Two of my colleagues are expecting and it's my cousin's little one's birthday soon. You can see I left out the sentiment for now - so what ever "event" comes first it will be a baby or 2nd birthday card.

The idea for putting those half circles around the circle panel came from a card I saw a week ago at a local shop. You can see their beautiful original card(s) here. Oh, and did you see the birdies eye? I found some tiny black beads that were perfect for just that, also they fit into some of the button holes so you don't even have to fiddle around to glue it down.

So, that's it from me today. Thanks for stopping by!

EDT: Leave a comment for a chance to win a (half-way surprise) blog candy!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Everday Button Bits and Polka Dot Basics, Klartext (workshop stamps)
Ink: Versamark, PTI true black
Paper: PTI kraft and vintage cream, Scenic Route North Shore (green), yellow cardstock (stash)
Other: PTI vintage button spring moss, PTI vintage cream saddle stitch ribbon, sewing machine / thread, Make Me 1" scalloped circle punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities (large circles), sisal twine, foam dimensionals

2S4Y Laura's Sketch #47

2010-03-13T16:26:00.007+01:00

Happy Saturday to you! I'm back with a really quick post to show you my card for the current 2S4Y challenge. I haven't played with their challenges for a while and really liked Laura's sketch for this week so I just HAD to play :-) Here's my card with the sketch rotated by 90°:

So, that's all for now. Hope you liked stopping by today! Have a fabulous weekend :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon, Background Basics Text-Style, Giga Guidelines, Fresh Alpha, Star Prints and Polka Dots
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist and Spring Moss
Paper: Papertrey Ink Kraft, Hibiscus Burst and Rustic Cream, Dani Peuss chocolate, Atoz aqua, sheet music patterend paper from stash
Other: Depot dark brown satin ribbon, Marvy Uchida scallop circle 2", EK Success circle 1,5", Fiskars Upper Crest punch, sewing machine/ thread, Prisma Glitter, clear embossing powder

A Passion for Papertrey | Spring Clean Challenge

2010-03-11T14:22:00.003+01:00

Hi there, here's a not so quick but fun card for Aimes and Kate's spring clean challenge. It's all about actually USE some of the stuff you would otherwise hoard forever! ...and we all have those things, right?

So, I've been guilty for holding on to many sheets of stripy patterned paper. I love the bright colors of one particular paper but honestly if there's one thing I can hardly cope with on any of my projects, it's stripes! Polka dots, flowers, other patterns whatsoever... no problem! But stripes? Eeek!

Now, I combined that with other stuff I did not hoard but simply haven't used yet or at least not in a long time, such as a corner rounder, my PTI Text Style stamps, a butterfly die, acrylic paint... which in sum resulted in this little number:

My discovery of the day is this: Add a few drops of your most favorite acrylic paint color and some water to a Mini Mister spray bottle, shake it well and ta-daa! You have homemade spray mist for literally pennies! :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Background Basics Diamonds, PTI Text Style I, DFD birthday sentiments

Ink: PTI smokey shadow, Heyda turquoise

Paper: PTI stamper's select white, Atoz orange cardstock, Fancy Pants Summer Soiree pp

Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities ovals, Provocraft butterfly die, corner rounder, acrylic paint, snail adhesiv, rhinestones, Depot orange satin ribbon, Fiskars apron lace border punch

A Passion for Papertrey's Black & White Challenge

2010-03-07T18:34:00.003+01:00

Hi there! No card today - I worked on something a little different this time. A friend asked me for advice on cheap but elegant party decoration for her birthday. Huh, cheap but elegant? Nothing easier than that, haha! ;-) The one thing I came up with, was stamped party lights. Here are some pictures of my "prototypes":

I used some simple tea lights with IKEA candle holders (it's from their Galej line and they sell for 25 (Euro) cents per piece.

The candle holders were put inside a stamped (and border punched) sandwich bag. Easy peasy! Here's one with one PTI's gorgeous damask images on:

Wouldn't these look great for Halloween parties, too? Anyhow, since I kept my color combo to basic black & white, I'll enter this for the current A Passion for Papertrey Challenge. There are some a-maz-ing entries, take a look here!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Damask Designs, Heidi Swapp Chandelier

Ink: PTI true black

Paper: sandwich paper bags

Other: IKEA Galej tea candle holders, tea candles, Fiskars apron lace punch

Poppy Seed Challenge #1

2010-03-04T15:03:00.015+01:00

Hi there, I'm back to share my card for Lisa Johnson's new Poppy Seed Challenge - virtually in the very last minute! Here are the deets:

Basically, you have to incorporate one of each of the "seeds" Lisa "plants". What I like best about these is, that each of the seeds belongs to a different category, in this case a certain color, a stamp image and an embellishment. So there's a good starting point for a card including plenty possibillities to bring in your own style and creativity.

The light yellow part was toughest for me! I wanted to use it on the frame but it was actually too light to be seen. So, I ended up stamping the vintage labels frame with summer sunrise ink and than colored the space in between the two lines with a soft yellow Copic marker. I like that effect and think, I will try that again some time :)

Oh, and I based my overall color combo on Nichole Heady's selection of spring colors (summer sun, lemon tart, spring moss and melon berry).

Hope the sun is shining bright were you are! Happy almost weekend ;-)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Vintage Labels, Mod Squad and Everyday Button Bits

Ink: PTI summer sunrise, melon berry and true black, Versamagic tea leaves, Versamark dazzle

Paper: PTI summer sunrise and stamper's select white

Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 1, Copics (YG01, Y21), Artoz rhinestones

Pippi Långstrump

2010-03-01T17:38:00.009+01:00

Happy 1st March to you! How's the spring weather going were you are? Today is/was such a typical spring day - we had everything from a severe storm (aka hurricane Xynthia), hail and rain to sunshine. Crazy!

My card for you is part of my PTI DT appreciation series and today it's a card CASEd from a recent Betsy Veldman post. If you haven't seen it until now, go here! It's simply gorgeous, I think. If Astrid Lindgren had been a scrapbooker, her works would look like Betsy's. Colorful, awe-inspiring and oh, so beautiful!

There aren't too many changes compared to the original design. I replaced her stamped flower with a "Dawn-y" poofy flower and used my big scallop die for the card base. The cool thing about that die is, you can use also use it for smaller cards if you pre-fold the card in half and run it through your die-cutter. Also, big scallop borders much like the new PTI dies are possible. More bang for your bucks... I love that :)

Have you seen Nichole's spring challenge? I hope I can play along, the colors look so yummy :)

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Giga Guidelines, PTI Wishing You, PTI Turning a New Leaf
Ink: PTI spring moss, orange zest, raspberry fizz, aqua mist, tea-dye duo
Paper: orange and off-white cardstock (both recycled), Office System (pink)
Other: Sizzix Bigz scallop card die, sewing machine/thread, PTI vintage hibiscus burst button, paper piercer, sisal twine, Make Me flower punch 2", Copic markers (BG 11, BG 13, YG 01)

PTI DT Appreciation Day - continued

2010-02-26T12:30:00.005+01:00

... not sure if this has ever happened before but I'm actually posting the second time for today (since the actual PTI blog hop post went up 1.30am my time). Haha! I really had a hard time choosing one designer and one card only so I actually made several cards during the course of the week and I will go on posting them over the next days.

My card here was also inspired by Dawn but I hesitated to use it for the blog hop because I messed up the border punching (see the half loop on left? ack!) when really everything else was already glued down. Ooops! Anyways, Dawns beautiful sample is from this post (2nd card) last November. Aqua mist, greens and cream, oh my!! Her take on color combos is simply devine!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Vintage Labels, PTI Giga Guidelines, PTI Beyond Basic Borders
Ink: PTI dark chocolate, spring moss and smokey shadow
Paper: Creamotion (turqoise), recycled cardstock (off-white), Basic Grey Offbeat (6x6 pad)
Other: Spellbinders label 1 die, PTI aqua mist button, sisal twine, Rayher rhinestones (clear)

PTI February Blog Hop

2010-02-26T01:30:00.010+01:00

Hi there, it's time for another PTI blog hop night :-)

So here's what it's all about this time - quoted from the PTI website:

"Since we just finished up our 3rd Anniversary Festivities, we thought we would do something extra special for this month's Blog Hop! Design Team Appreciation Day! Your challenge is to go through the Design Team gallery or any of the Design Team Members' blogs and find a project that is especially inspirational to you! Then recreate the project with your own spin, making it unique! Be sure to share a link and photo of the original project that inspired you! And you can also use this opportunity to thank team for all their contributions this past year! I know they inspire ME daily and I never seem to thank them enough! We look forward to seeing your projects!"

I think that was a though challenge to do, right? Picking only one of all DT members, considering that Nichole wouldn't even count ('cause she's not officially part of her own DT... LOL), then choose only one of all those fabulous cards... if it is not currently out for publication... wheww! That being said, my thanks go out to ALL of the PTI DT members AND Nichole for being such an inspiration during this past year!!

After some time, I settled with the following card as my inspiration - straight from Dawn McVey's blog- because it could have been one of the first cards that I've ever seen from her... and I've been hooked ever since :)

{Pssst... don't tell Nichole, but really, I think Dawn and Betsy could sell any stamp set to me!}

{click here for Dawn's original blog entry}

Now, my "own spin" version is this one:

It's a birthday card for my uncle so I thought I'd better leave off the rhinestones and pretty ribbons - men do not seem to be that appreciative of all that, ha! Well, what do you think? It's definitively not a look-alike but next to each other you can see where the inspiration was coming from, don't you?

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the blog hop :-)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon, PTI Fresh Alpha, Hero Arts woodgrain background

Ink: PTI dark chocolate, PTI vintage tea-dye duo, Heyda turquoise

Paper: PTI dark chocolate, PTI kraft, off-white cardstock (recycled)

Other: sewing machine / thread, Marvy Uchida scalloped circle punch 2", EK Success circle punch 1 3/4"

Make a Wish

2010-02-17T08:34:00.009+01:00

Hi there, me again playing with my new stamps :) I tried to persuade me ever since the release that I really, really don't need those cupcakes ...but they're oh so cute I just couldn't resist!

This card is for Betsy Veldman's fun paper piecing challenge. Haven't done that for quite some time (I'm just too impatient for hand cutting most of the time) so I thought I'd play along. You should defintively visit the challenge post above! There are so many cute cards linked showcasing paper piecing plus Betsy's one-of-a-kind samples are always worth a visit :)

Thanks for stopping by and happy humpday!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Cupcake Collection
Ink: Versacolor chestnut, PTI sweet blush & raspberry fizz
Paper: Dani Peuss cardstock (dark brown), PTI vintage cream cardstock, Basic Grey Offbeat (6x6 pad)
Other: sewing machine / thread

A little yummy for your tummy

2010-02-14T11:49:00.008+01:00

Hi there, happy Valentine's Day! I'm back with my card and handmade embellishments for PTI's Anniversary Day 13 contest. First, let me show you my embellies...

...and here's my coordinating card:

Couldn't resist to sneak in some candy, after all it's carnival season! Do you celebrate carnival? My friends talked me into a carnival party tonight. After all there are some special guests around- a friend who's rarely at home because he works on a cruise ship joins us and also the SIL of another friend who flew in from NYC. So, tough I'm not sooo fond of costumes, I bet it will be a lot of fun :-)

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you enjoyed it!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Mod Squad, PTI BB: Diamonds

Ink: PTI orange zest, PTI hibiscus burst, PTI snow white

Paper: light weight cardstock (orange & pink) from stash, Bazzill kraft, off-white cardbase (recycled)

Other: sewing machine / thread, glue dots, PTI vintage buttons (cream & hibiscus burst) Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, MM Slice

TGIF

2010-02-12T22:57:00.012+01:00

...really, I mean it (!!) but before I even start complaining I'd rather go right the good stuff and therefore to my card :-)

The "good" part about it? Well, I got a little PTI package today :) Comparably a small order consisting only of a few stamp sets and ink cubes (with the new ink formulation *swoon*) and the best is this: it took slightly less than a week to arrive. I'm wowed!! Usually my orders sit at various customs offices for a whole week... Hehe, I totally understand that they all want to have a look at all the yummyness but how can you do that to a crafter waiting for PTI? ;)

Speaking about PTI goodness, my sweet blogging friend Karen celebrates her first blog-o-versary this month (Congrats again!) you *may* want to visit her not only because of the giveaway she has to offer *wink* but also to have a look around at all the cute stuff she (and other family members) makes!

Well, I have to hurry now! My lil' bro needs someone to pick him at the airport and I guess that's me. I told him I'll drive home alone if he doesn't bring some of the wonderful Spanish almond chocolate (either that or spring weather) along so we'll see how that goes. Haha! ;-)

PS: This card was made following CPS sketch #153.

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Turning a New Leaf, PTI Faux Ribbon, PTI Fresh Alpha, PTI Background Basics: Text Style I
Ink: PTI aqua mist, PTI spring moss, VersaMagic tea leaves, PTI vintage tea-dye duo
Paper: PTI kraft, Atoz aqua, off-white cardstock (recycled)
Other: PTI aqua mist twill ribbon, sewing machine / thread, EK Success circle punch, Marvy Uchida scalloped circle punch 2"

Be mine

2010-02-06T12:47:00.009+01:00

Happy Saturday to you! I just wanted to pop in quickly to present you my card for the emboss resist technique challenge in honor of PTI's 3yrs Anniversary.

Truth be told: This is my second try with this challenge and pretty much everything went wrong in the first run. I overexposed the embossing powder to the heat gun, the brayering was like... uggh etc. So I trashed this first version and here's my cute and simple second try:

Mhm, I'm still not super pleased with it. Is it possible to emboss on top of already embossed areas? I wonder how the "Be mine" sentiment would look in cream... Anyways, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Stamps: PTI Heart Prints, PTI Background Basics text Style I
Ink: PTI dark chocolate, Heyda dark orange, Versamark
Paper: PTI kraft
Other: PTI vintage cream twill ribbon, Guetermann clear embossing powder

16 inches

2010-01-31T14:28:00.010+01:00

... that's how much snow came down yesterday! It was having breakfast - snow shoveling - do some cleaning - snow shoveling - bake a cake - snow shoveling - make a card...

...snow shoveling - go sledding *g* - more snow shoveling... you get the idea! I think I don't need anymore workout for the weekend ;o) Is it also (still) snowing where you are?

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Faux Ribbon and Everyday Button Bits, Technique Tuesday circle

Ink: PTI smokey shadow and ripe avocado

Paper: Dani Peuss grey cardstock, PTI stamper's select white cardstock, Basic Grey Offbeat patterned paper

Other: sewing machine / thread, Marvy Uchida 2" scallop circle punch, EK success 1 3/4" circle punch, distresser, white gel pen

Happy Hump Day

2010-01-20T11:08:00.007+01:00

Hi there, I'm back with another card. I decided to work on my patterned paper stash - decreasing it to be precise. My first inspiration came from the current 2 Sketches 4 You blog in form of sketch no. 44, the second was A Passion for Papertrey's challenge "Emboss it". So here's what I made of it:

Well, it's pretty obvious where the sketch came in... as for the embossing part, I heat embossed the flower stems and sentiment from PTI's Mod Squad set and additionally used my new Crop-a-dile to emboss the dots below the sentiment.

So, that's all from me now, hope you liked stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Mod Squad
Ink: Versacolor chestnut, Heyda moss green, PTI vintage tea-dye duo
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, PTI stamper's select white, Dani Peuss cream cardstock
Other: Crop-a-dile, Making Memories Paperie buttons, Depot swiss dot ribbon, Fiskars scallop sentiment punch, stapler, glue dots, glue runner

A first layout

2010-01-17T09:12:00.003+01:00

... I finally got to photograph my first scrapbook layout! You may remember from this post that I forgot to take a picture before giving it away as a present. So here it is:

Sorry for the bad photo but I had to photograph it by night without flashlight (by cranking up the ISO setting way to much... ack!) because of the glass protection. I tried to keep it fairly simple as to leave the stage to their wedding picture. I'm quite happy that they liked it and hung it up in their living room :-)

Supplies
Paper: My Mind's Eye Life Stories Pink Damask, PTI vintage cream
Other: Ikea Ribba frame, Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels one, clear rhinestones, sewing machine and thread, Faber-Castell pigment pen sepia, printer

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #21

2010-01-10T08:35:00.003+01:00

Hello friends, how's the new year going? I thought it's finally time to get back into the swing of things and post something new over hear. Dawn's new color challenge was the perfect occasion to give some love to some almost zero used stamps. First, let's have a look at the colors...

Aren't these yummy? Makes me think of blue skies and lemon sorbet :) Now, here's my attempt, a little 3,5"x3,5" card to use up some scraps:

See that perfectly flat, knotted ribbon? I {heart} Dawn's great new video tutorials! They're so helpful and of course fun, too :-) Anyway, I used my new Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain as well as this cute, never used bird stamp. The sentiment says "A birdie told me...", so that's a perfect "all occasion" card for my stash. I have quite a thing with "flying objects" lately, huh? Okay, that's all for now! Have a fabulous Sunday, all :-)

PS: Whaddaya think of the new PTI sneaks? I haven't ordered for quite some time now but I'm not sure if (or better say: how long) I can withstand to order... LOL

Supplies
Stamps: Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain, Klartext Juni-Kit stamps
Ink: Heyda turquoise, Versacolor chestnut
Paper: Dani Peuss cardstock chocolate, cream cardstock (recycled)
Other: PTI Vintage Cream twill ribbon, Copic marker #BG11 and #BG 13, Stabilo Woody pencil yellow, Dove Craft foam dimensionals

Happy Christmas

2009-12-25T23:41:00.017+01:00

Just dropping in to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!! Hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends :-)

Both of my cards today are for the EBTKS Sketch Challenge #2, if only a free

interpretation of the original sketch. The Christmas card above is inspired by

this über-cute card done by Lisa Arana / Dahlhouse Designs. The second

card is for a colleague who recently became father of a cute little boy named

Ole (it's a Danish name - not to confuse with Spanish "olé" as his IT

colleagues suggested...).

Hope you like my cards today. Enjoy the Christmas season! I hope I'll be back tomorrow for the PTI blog hop.

Supplies

{Happy Holidays}

Stamps: PTI Beyond Basic Borders, Fancy Pants Happy Holidays #1, Hero Arts

Tiny Owl

Ink: PTI ripe avocado, Colorbox chestnut

Paper: PTI kraft, white cardstock (recycled), designer paper with Christmas

ornaments (unknown),

Other: Fancy Pants pom pom ribbon, paper piercer

{Baby Ole}

Paper: PTI rustic cream, Cosmo Cricket Earth Love

Other: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love chipboard, Heidi Swapp Lemonade Stand

Ledger alpha, Cosmo Cricket Earth Love ribbon, Fiskars scallop sentiment

He's makin' a list and checking it twice

2009-12-13T21:31:00.012+01:00

Hi there, I hope you have / had a great Sunday! I could finally take the time to (give some finishing touches to and) take photographs of things I crafted at a workshop two weeks ago at a local store, the Papierwerkstatt. I was super excited when they first handed us (I went there with four colleagues) out the workshop material - Collage Press' Joyride collection. Snowflakes, little propeller-driven airplaines, skier, vintage bookprints... I truly {heart} it!!

a paper box for a small gift with a gift tag

a simple mini album and a 3-D folded ornament

a simple card with stitching lines as ornament hanger

I think the last one is my favorite card of the bunch. I just love the big and small snowflake together. If you like the cards above, you will definitively want to go to the Papierwerkstatt blog to see more of their Christmas card designs here. Enjoy!

PS: Yesterday was kind of a historic moment: I did my first scrapbook layout - a present for my BFF's birthday! When I gave her the framed layout, I suddently had a "duh-moment". I was so content with the result that I forgot to take pictures...

Toothpick Tree

2009-12-10T02:18:00.007+01:00

Yay! I finally got to play with the Everything but the Kitchen Sink Challenge :-) Their current challenge is using toothpicks a layout or card. Once I started thinking about it there were so many ideas but as Christmas is coming closer I took the chance to make another card for the holidays.

I got a little Black Friday package with a new border punch and the Hero Arts woodgrain stamp and of course had to use it for the challenge... somehow also the Mod Squad stamps made it onto the card for a funky, somewhat tropical Christmas tree! Hope you like the result :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Now, please go check out what the EBTKS Design Team members did for the challenge - so cute and creative!!

Supplies
Stamps: PTI Mod Squad, PTI Vintage Labels, PTI Background Basics Retro, Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain, DFD Christmas sentiment
Ink: Heyda soft blue, Versacolor white, PTI new leaf, PTI dark chocolate
Paper: PTI stamper's select, blue circle from stash
Other: toothpicks, Fiskars apron lace punch, Ranger Star Dust Stickles

It's cold outside...

2009-12-05T16:09:00.018+01:00

Slowly but steady I'm getting into the Christmas groove! Some of my lectures are later on the evening and on Wednesday I could take the time to stroll through around before. It was so wonderful to see the whole city center illuminated, smell (and eat, of course) the roasted almonds from the near Christmas market at the old castle...

Also, it inspired me to give the Christmas card-making another try, with the second card being a lot influenced by the Scandinavian samples of Cath's Christmas in the Old Country Challenge :-)

Both of these cards above along with all the others I've done in the weeks before and some gift tags went straight to a card drive for a children's hospital in the area.

On another note, this post by Dawn made me smiling all day long yesterday! I've been spotlighted for the little birdie card I made for Raspberry Suite Challenge #19 :) Haha, I found it out at university and my professor looked a wee bit irritated how corpus linguistics all of a sudden could make me that happy LOL

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Vintage Lables, PTI Star Prints, PTI Mod Squad, Technique Tuesday circle, DFD Christmas sentiment

Ink: PTI dark chocolate, PTI true black, PTI chamomille dye, Versamark

Paper: Bazzill white cardstock, PTI hibiscus burst, PTI scarlet jewel, PTI kraft, Basic Grey Offbeat 6x6 pad

Other: Fiskars star punch 2", Marvy scallop circle punch 2", Fiskars scallop sentiment punch, sewing machine/ thread, Depot cream satin ribbon, Ranger star dust stickles, Hero Arts white embossing powder, Carl corner rounder

PTI November Blog Hop

2009-11-25T23:30:00.011+01:00

Hi there, it's time for another PTI Blog Hop! Can't believe this is already the third I participate in :-) Ok, let's see what the deeds for the November Blog Hop are...

"The holidays are going to be here before you know it! No matter how much planning you do, there always seems to be last minute gifts and wrapping to do! This month's Blog Hop Challenge is to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts!"

Well, how about a "3-in-1" option? Wrapped tags, put together as small gifts! My project for today is just that because (me thinks) about everyone needs some gift tags during the holidays, right? Here are my two prototypes, one a bit more masculine, the other one girly - both with just a bit of stickles glitter for a more festive touch:

I made a bunch of each of the two versions for our "Secret Santa" advent calender at the office and this is how I wrapped them up:

I just took a PTI kraft envie, put the tags inside, wrapped it all around with a big satin bow and a small Christmas bauble. Once you decide for your tag designs, everything else is easy peasy and comes together super fast!

Hope enjoyed my entry for this month.... Happy Thanksgiving to my American visitors! :-)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Fancy Flourishes, Star Prints and Background Basics Retro, Technique Tuesday circle (sorry, I have no actual name; set was borrowed), pine tree from B.Silvia

Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream and Scarlett Jewel, Versamark

Paper: PTI Kraft and Hibiscus Burst, white (recycled from store bought cards); Basic Grey Offbeat 6x6 pad

Other: PTI Kraft Envelope A2, Fiskars 2" star punch, Marvy Uchida 2" circle punch, Ranger Star Dust Stickles, hole punch, hemp twine, clear embossing powder, Depot satin ribbon, Depot Christmas bauble, foam dimensionals

Sending Birthday Wishes

2009-11-22T15:42:00.017+01:00

Hi there, happy sweet Sunday to you :-) Hope everythings fine at your your part of the world! As for me, I'm quite happy that it's NOT the usual November tune - it's not too cold, it's not snowing yet (yeah!) and no holiday-music excess on the radio! Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with me and the holidays, it's just that I'm not yet ready.... mhm, maybe next week ('cause I can smell the cookies already) ;-)

That being said, I gave up on doing Christmas cards today and share a simple little birthday card / gift tag. Dawn's new Raspberry Suite Color Challenge was perfect for that!

The birdie, beak and wing were handcut from cardstock. I didn't like the color of lavender moon cardstock on the wing as it looked too pale against aqua so I decided to ink it up with the coordinating ink. What do you all think? I'm constantly tempted to add a big raspberry fizz ribbon bow on top... lol

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Everday Button Bits, B.Silvia twig

Ink: PTI dark chocolate and lavender moon, Heyda moss

Paper: Atoz aqua and white, PTI lavender moon and raspberry fizz

Other: Rayher rhinestones, Spellbinders nestabilities circle, scissors, foam dimensionals, quicky glue, Pentel gel pen, silver eyelet, sisal twine

{More} Mod Squad Christmas

2009-11-12T14:34:00.008+01:00

Hi there, it's been a while... and I'm still in a hurry while typing up this post! So let's go to my card right away :-) I used my idea for the last PTI Blog Hop to use the Mod Squad stamp images for Christmas ornaments - just to see if it also works for cards.

I'll enter it to the "Ho ho ho" challenge over at the A Passion for Papertrey blog, btw. Love their challenges as you never know if it's going to be a theme challenge, a specific item to be used etc. Not to mention the wonderful inspiration by Kate and Aimes :)

Hope you like it as much as I do. I'm supposed to leave for university in about ten minutes {I'm taking a Spanish class this semester. So fun! :)} ~~but I hope to post a close-up afterwards~~. Have a fabulous day everyone!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Mod Squad and Faux Ribbon

Ink: PTI Enchanted Evening, True Black and Tea-dye duo

Paper: PTI Enchanted Evening, sheet music pp from stash

Other: Fiskars upper crest punch, Prisma glitter, Sakura quickie glue, sisal twine, foam dimensionals, Rayher rhinestones

Going Dotty

2009-11-01T21:01:00.008+01:00

... that's the theme of the current A Passion for Papertrey challenge! I love polka dots so it shouldn't be too hard to make a card with it but for some reason it took my forever LOL. Anyways, it's my dad's birthday this week and of course I just had to make a handmade card for him :-)

As for the subtle dots in the background, those are inspired by Dawn McVey's use of clear heat embossed polka dots during the July release. My card here is very small which is why I took the single line of dots from Beyond Basic Borders and heat embossed the dots row by row.

Talking of Ms Dawn, I'm super exited to be in the spotlight of her Raspberry Suite Color Challenge among so many talented girls:

I'm the "D" in the picture and if you want to, you can see my original blog entry here.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a fabulous week!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Beyond Basic Borders and Everyday Button Bits, DFD sentiment stamps

Ink: Colorbox chestnut, PTI ripe avocado, Versamark

Paper: PTI kraft and rustic cream

Other: PTI new leaf buttons, clear embossing powder, needle/sisal twine, Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels eight), Sakura koi water brush

PTI October Blog Hop & Raspberry Suit Color Challenge #18

2009-10-25T22:48:00.006+01:00

Wow, I can't believe it's already time for the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! Actually, it was only today that I realized it... Anyway, here's Nichole's challenge in in her own words: "Show us your best upcoming holiday plans for cards, gifts, wraps or whatever else you have up your sleeve! With everyone's cumulative efforts the participant list will be an amazing resource!"

I instantly started browsing through my stash because I barely have any Christmas stamps (this is my first card making Christmas season) and in addition, there's hardly a need for holiday stamps because my colleagues persuaded my to join them for a Christmas card workshop at one of our LSS. Not meaning that I won't buy some Christmas stamps though in the near future... ;o)

So I browsed through my beloved Papertrey Ink stamps and had an epiphany... to use Dawn McVey's "other", unofficial Christmas ornament stamps! What other, unofficial set you might ask?!?? I'm talking about her sweet Mod Squad stamps but see for yourself:

I used some scraps of dark kraft paper and the bigger ornaments of the Mod Squad set to make little enclosure cards for Christmas gifts. I really like enclosure cards to add just a few personal words when giving a gift. Especially for family members you meet in person to exchange gifts, I sometimes feel, a card is often too much while just a "to/from-tag" is a bit impersonal for your loved ones.

As for the colors, I used the beautiful color combo of Dawn's current Raspberry Suite challenge - kraft, cream, dark chocolate, raspberry fizz and new leaf. Love her challenges! Here's another picture:

On another note, by the time the blog hop starts, it'll be pretty late around here (1am) and I will hopefully be in slumberland soon right after entering my link ;o) However, as soon as I'll get home from university tomorrow I'm going to see what you came up with for the blog hop challenge. Have fun hopping around!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Mod Squad, PTI Polka Dot Basics I (for the center dots on some of the ornaments), DFD christmas sentiment

Ink: PTI raspberry fizz, new leaf and vintage cream, Colorbox chestnut

Paper: Creamotion kraft

Other: Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen sepia, Palette stamp & stick glitter, Sakura quickie glue, hemp twine, Rayher rhinestones clear, MM eyelett setter

Card Patterns Sketch #37

2009-10-19T13:33:00.008+02:00

Happy Monday to you! It's been a while since my last post, seems my mojo is in a slump... As it can't go on like this forever, I cut some of the Early Bird pp that I won back in July and made a thank-you card with the help of the current Card Patterns sketch challenge:

I really like sketch #37 - so clean and simple, yet out of my comfy zone with the big circle! You can't really see it in the picture but the white background is heat embossed with clear polka dots and the flower centers were covered with a glaze pen by Sakura.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: polka dots

Ink: Versamark, PTI Vintage Tea-Dye Duo

Paper: Bazzill white cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird

Other: sewing machine/ thread, Sakura glaze pen (transparent), clear embossing powder, glue dots & foam dimensionals, Faber-Castell Artist-Pitt sepia

Papertrey Ink's WCMD Challenge #3: India

2009-10-05T22:03:00.006+02:00

Yay, I finally made something up for the India challenge over at Nichole Heady's blog! I looked through all of my stamp sets and the one that caught my eye was Simply Stationary, in particular the small decorative elements. This together with what I imagine are "Colors of India" (pink, orange, turquoise, etc) and some "bling" resulted in the following birthday card:

One can't really see it above but the black dots are sparkly rhinestones. I'm quite happy I made it through all of the four challenges, though it's also a bit sad that our little world tour is over. I loved to see so many cards from all over and how much inspiration it brings! However, I'm not finished with the blog hopping, so off I go...!

PS: I just recently read a book by Hari Kunzru, "The Impressionist". Very captivating and fascinating to me - just in case you want to dive a bit further into the world of India :-)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Simply Stationary and Damask Designs

Ink: PTI Melon Berry, Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz and True Black, Heyda turquoise

Paper: Atoz off-white

Other: Rico Design black rhinestone brad, Heidi Swapp borders (small black rhinestones), Sakura glaze pen

Papertrey Ink's WCMD Challenge #2: Mexico & Caardvark's Challenge "Take a Bow"

2009-10-05T17:16:00.013+02:00

ETA: Hi there, Cath Edvalson issued a new challenge over at her Moxie Fab blog to incorporate trendy ruffles on a project, so I thought I'd enter my ruffled Christmas tree card :-) If you would like to join the challenge hop over to the Moxie Fab World blog for details and inspiration - you have until October 26th to participate!

Hola a todos! I made my way to Mexico :) My card today is kind of a loose interpretation of the given PTI theme (contrary to yesterdays blogpost, I didn't dream of cards but of Tim Tam biscuits...). Overall, the card is very much inspired by...

the colors on the Mexican flag (green, white, red)
ruffeled Mexican skirts
the latest PTI release sneak peek and
Caardvarks "Take a Bow" challenge

If you can't guess it by now, it's a Christmas card, but see for yourself:

I sewed the ribbon onto a Christmas tree, which I handcut from corrugated cardboard. Hope you like my first Christmas card attempt. Thanks for hopping by and have a great day!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Start Prints, Fancy Pants Happy Holidays

Ink: PTI ripe avocado, summer sunrise and chai (from tea-dye duo)

Paper: PTI rustic white, corrugated cardboard

Other: PTI sattle stich twill ripe avocado, sewing machine/ thread, Making Memories Paperie Rouge buttons

Papertrey Ink's WCMD Challenge #4: Australia

2009-10-05T00:32:00.020+02:00

ETA: As promised, I took new pictures of this project in daylight (see below). Thanks for stopping by!

G'day, mates! Yep, I skipped Mexico and India for now because they made me struggle a bit more than usual and gave the Australia challenge a go! Here is my inspiration piece, a boomerang (the artists signature/ name is Beck, btw) I picked up in an Aboriginal art gallery in Sydney:

Technically, my project today is not a card but a card size travel journal. I traveled to Australia two years ago together with my best friend to visit her sister. We wrote a journal together, which I kept and wanted to rewrite for her. Actually, I did the rewriting around Christmas (!)... Since that time, it sits on my desk because I couldn't find the time to attach the printed journal to its cover and make something up for the cover itself. So a BIG thank you to Nichole for hosting the challenges and this one in particular because today was the day :-) Here's the cover for the challenge:

Far, far away from the beauty and perfection of the original ...and just in case anybody might ask me what my most used stamp set is, the answer is definitively Polka Dot Basics I for now and all times ;-)

Okay, I'm off to bed 'cause it's way too late again. Maybe I can dream something up for the remaining challenges!?

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Polka Dot Basics I, PTI Background Basics Retro

Ink: PTI Summer Sunrise, Melon Berry, Pure Poppy, Scarlet Jewel, True Black and Vintage Tea Dye Chamomile

Paper: PTI Scarlet Jewel, True Black and Stamper's select, cardbase from Atoz

Other: typewriter, Pentel white gel pen, Faber-Castel Ecco pigment black, bookbinder's string, Spellbinder's nesting circles, Copic marker (RV29)