Icy refreshment

Hello again after quite some time - I've been spending the past weeks getting better... and worse... and better... dealing with insurances and other services. I'm exhausted and I find it hard to spend my energy on dealing with bureaucracy, when I'd need it literally everywhere else, but I guess there's no way around it. I certainly hope that I have calmer weeks ahead of me, and with the summer temperatures outside who knows, maybe I'll have tthe chance to peek out of my apartment for something other than doctor's appointments.

Matching the first major heatwave of the year, I prepared an icy refreshment for you: a lavender-flavoured popsicle. I'm not exactly sure why lavender, but it just seems fitting due to the purple blooms in the patterned paper. Matching our "Embossing" theme over at the Alphabet challenge blog, I used a white paper with swirls in the background. To add a bit more colour, I then added a layer of purple paper onto the kraft card base. For a bit of bling, I added a couple of shiny rhinestones. 

And since there's not much more to say about the card itself, I'll just finish with my observation of how well it matches my wild blueberry ice cream with vanilla cream. Which is of course to be eaten with the big spoon :) 

challenges: 

- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "for the guys"

- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG with optional twist "what makes you happy" (ice cream in summer)

- as you like it: add a sentiment or not (I'll usually go without a sentiment mainly because the majority of my projects is crafted for the purpose of crafting - meaning they will have no known recipient at the  time they're done. When it fits the layout of my card, I'll sometimes add a generic greeting that can be used for different people, but in general I believe that a real, personal sentiment will be the one inside the card. It doesn't need to jump at you the first moment you see the card - that's the task for the main motif, which without a sentiment gets more space to shine.)

- C.R.A.F.T.: cute/ATG

- CAS on Friday: summer

- crafty catz: ATG

- kreativtanten: favourite colour (purple)

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- lovethoseprettypapers: ATG patterned papers

- love to craft: ATG

- morgans artworld: ATG
- moving along with the times: birthday

- nachteulen: die cuts & punches (popsicle die cut)

- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- wortartwednesday: ATG

Butterflies

Hello and welcome to the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. I'm your challenge host this fortnight, which means that I have chosen the task, and I'll be picking the winners, too. 

With the warm temperatures outside, nature has been generous with blooms everywhere, and this means a feast for all the insects that are crawling / flying around. Without a doubt, butterflies are amongst the most recognisable - and most beloved - ones. So, withiut further ado, I'd like to see them featured on your creations! As always, you can create whatever project you like, just make sure to follow the challenge theme. That being said, keep in mind that my task for you says "Butterflies", which means I'd like to see the plural of them = more than two of those creatures. Apart from that, there's no limit to your creative freedom.

The give wings to your inspiration (no pun intended), I present you this little arrangement of butterflies: a wooden butterfly-embellished button.

I think "little" is the right expression here, because given that the button measures 6 cm in diameter, those butterflies are really small (and they were quite difficult to deal with for this very reason). 

Anyway, I got myself a couple of wooden buttons ages ago. I thought I'd decorate them with some napkin decoupage, but I never got to work until I forgot about the whole thing. Recently, I re-discovered them in my stash, and I also found a bunch of tiny pre-cut napkin motifs I prepared once when I had nothing to do, so I would just randomly cut napkins in advance. 

With the deadline of my "B" challenge approaching, I decided to combine the two discoveries. My idea was to create a butterfly button that could be used as a good luck charm, or a decoration on a gift. I covered the button in white acryllic paint, and once that was dry, I added one tiny butterfly after another. When everything was sealed with varnish, I tried to finish my project with a little bow in the middle because I thought it would fit nicely to the button itself. However, it turned out that my idea didn't really work in practise: Since the middle part of the button is a bit lower that the outside circle, it was almost impossible to create a tight knot for the bow. Also, unless I made a really tiny bow (which looked weird), the ribbon would almost entirely cover the butterflies. 

I tried to come up with another solution, and took a rather robust piece of twine from my stash. I placed the knot on the back side of the ribbon where I could tie it properly, and I left one side of the twine longer on purpose: I thought a button like this could be placed onto a gift box, or onto a spring bouquet, and the longer part of the twine would come around the item to meet the smaller part, which would make sure that that knot would be hidden behind the button, too. I hope this part of my imagination will work as planned once I put the button into use. 

challenges: 

- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "splash of colour"
- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG

- card free zone: ATG but a card

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- critter crazy: ATG animals

- do-all kreatives: ATG

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- little red wagon: use that stash (button, napkins)

- love to craft: ATG 

- morgans artworld: ATG

- path of positivity: embracing the unexpected through decluttering (unexpected non-card project I created by using long forgotten things from my stash)

- wortartwednesday: ATG

ATG - Easter bunny

Hello again, and I truly hope you'll get to spend the holidays doing whatever you enjoy most. 

We have an ATG challenge this fortnight over at the Alphabet challenge blog, but beware: Don't just post whatever you want, make sure to tell us which letter of the alphabet inspired your creation.

Matching the spring/Easter season, I'd like to show you a cute little Easter bunny. As you see, it's a girl bunny, and I fell in love with her when I first saw her. 

I found this wonderful napkin motif sometime between Christmas and New year as I was on rehabilitation. Of course, the creative therapy there is a bit different than my crafting at home because the supplies are limited (and so is the time), but I tried to make use of it as much as I could, even if that meant sneaking into the crafting room at random hours of my free time to ask if there are any seats left. 

During one of those bonus hours, I took a piece of wood and covered the front surface in white acrylic paint. It took a couple of layers to make it thoroughly wite, but it was worth in. Once that was done, I glued the napkin motif in it's place. 

While everything was drying, I strated to roam different boxes for embellishments that could go with my lilttle bunny. This was easier said than done since most of the stuff that was laying aound was obviously connected to the winter season and Christmas holidays. Nevertheless, I managed to find a wooden Easter egg, a faux feather and a wooden ladybug. I placed the egg atop of a piece of the feather, and if I remember correctly I had to use mosaic glue to adhere the items as there was no regular glue available. Then, I added the little ladybug, which was indeed orange, so no worries - your eyes aren't playing tricks on you with this one.

Once everything was done, I noticed that the big dent in the lower part of the wooden surface is bothering me. I had another look in those boxes full of random bling, and I found a random egg-shaped bead that I thought would blend into the scenery by resembling a 3D Easter egg. 

I'm not sure if my mission succeeded, but I like to believe that I created the first Easter bunny of the year - right after New year. I then signed date and place on the back side of the ornament, and left it on the shelf of random goodies where you could exchange yourr creations with others or just leave yours if you couldn't take them home for whatever reason... I got myself a little candle, and I really wonder where my Easter bunny is hopping around at the moment. 

challenges:  

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG

- as you like it: CAS or fussy & fancy (I prefer to create items with a bit of fuss to create a fancy scenery. I have nothing against a CAS project, especially as they're way more handy when it comes to shipping, but I feel like they oftentimes seem a bit blank and missing something. I need those patterned papers to frame my images, enhance my motifs with gemstones and  pearls, add a sentiment, paper flowers, a wooden embellishment or something else. When I'm creating the fussy & fancy way, I feel like I can really get lost in my stash and use my things however I please, without thinking if something will fit inside a regular envelope.)

- card free zone: ATG but a card

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty calendar: feminine

- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: adorable ... (bunny)

- creative inspirations: Happy Easter

- critter crazy: ATG animals

- fabnfunky: think spring
- inkspirational: mood board

- kreativtanten: spring

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade 

- morgans artworld: ATG

- nachteulen: Frühling lässt sein blaues Band...

- wortartwednesday: ATG
- pinspirational Happy Easter

Yummy

After a long and quite unexpected break from everything, I'm back here in blogland to post my long overdue project for the "Yummi" challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. No need to feel inspired as said challenge is closed already - feel free to add your "Zoom" (fast) projects though!

I certainly thought that I'll be able to have an uneventful spring, but at some point in March everything just went downhill. I'm still not able to function on my own, at least not properly and on the long run. And the more things come my way, the worse it gets. My pain issues intensified in the past weeks, and there are days on which I can't make it out of bed due to exhaustion. 

Anyway, I've been thinking about something to activate your taste buds for the "Yummy" challenge, but I simply couldn't decide whether I should bo for a tasty food or a beverage. In the end, I decided to combine both. The reason being that I had this piece of cross stitch in my stash forever. I stitched it years ago to make one of those explosion boxes for a man, but I never used it for the occasion. I now decided to give it another chance with another project: a masculine card that features the motif of grapes. 

I created a rather simple card, using a purple card base with an oval window. Fortunately, the opening was big enough to feature the stitched motif, and small enough to allow me to adhere the fabric on the inner side of the card (it was a tight match, but it worked). As the stitched image is quite delicate, I opted to leave the card just like that - no additional embellishments whatsoever.

To cover up the inside of the card, I used a piece of patterned paper with purple blooms - if you look closely, you may see how some of them shine through if you look at the front side of the card.

A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.

challenges:

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG

- C.R.A.F.T.: ATG

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- love to craft: ATG

- morgans artworld: ATG
- my time to craft: rectangle shaped card

- path of positivity: Embracing the unexpected through decluttering (decluttered my stash to use this cross-stitched motif of grapes)

- pearlysparkles: monochrome
- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- male room: geometric (oval = geometric figure)

- wortartwednesday: ATG

XOXOXO

Welcome to another Friday, meaning we're kicking off towards the weekend with a fresh challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. And since I'm unusually early to the party, I won't hide the challenge theme from you any longer: X comes with "XOXOXO", so we'd like to see your lovey-dovey creations with loads of hugs & kisses.   

For my DT inspiration, I delovered the following card for you. I had a bit of a challenge with the "Xoxoxo", because it doesn't really come up in the German and/or Slovenian language, and I didn't feel like creating an English card if you understand what I mean. I solved the issue by using one of my scrapbook papers. It comes with a bunch of card-shaped love messages and coupons, and I picked one that prominently displays the desired phrase. Conveniently, it also features a bit of a "form" that can be filled out once the card will have a sender and a recipient.

Additionally, I cut out some rather "neutral" Valentine's greetings: the X on the hearts card mirrors an O on the lower part which is not visible, and the one in the background features a simple "love" message with loads of hearts. I then took one of my window cards from my stash, namely one with an oval opening. I figured that I could incorporate the opening of the card base into the motif of playing cards. And I decided to connect those two elements with this wonderful red background paper with swirls - I think it couldn't be more perfect for the motif of playing cards that are coming out of a window card.

Once I glued the red background paper to the card base, I cut out an oval opening that would matcxh the original card window. I then placed the corner of one Valentine's card inside the card window, hiding the other cards behind it. I had to play around for a bit to ensure all their motifs are seen the way I imagined them, and once that was done, I glued everything together. 

In the end, I placed a strip of tiny white pearls around the original card window, and since the cards are overlapping with this "border", it gives a bit of a 3D effect to my motif. As the whole project still looked rather "meh", I embellished the background with a couple of punched cards in two shades of pink, which go nicely with the colours of my main motiv. I like to think that they give a little "extra" to my card, making it complete by breaking up all this red in the background. What do you think? Is that an acceptable "XOXOXO" card? 

challenges: 

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG

- as you like it: monochrome or colourful (I will go with "monochrome", and what may sound boring at first, gives me a wide range of possibilities: I'll usually pick one colour and go with it. As I have a good overview of the things I have in my stash, I will go through my things picking different shades of said colour to create layers and depth. I will also play with textures and different materials to embellish my project. I think sticking to one colour is a great way to challenge myself in terms of sticking to my options, exploring ways to bring my card to life, and combine the materials I have into an acceptable creation - all within the frame of the one-colour-rule.)

- C.R.A.F.T.: spring/weather/ATG

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: "pink something" (hearts)

- creative inspirations: ATG

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- lovethoseprettypapers: ATG patterned papers

- love to craft: ATG

- morgans artworld: ATG

- nachteulen: ATG

- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- try it on tuesday: for a lady

- wortartwednesday: ATG

Wings

With the days getting longer and warmer, and the first blooms of spring showing, it won't take long until butterflies will be fluttering around again. 

Matching the "Wings" theme over at the Alphabet challenge blog, I decided to present you with a whole bunch of those lovely creatures. If you are a regular visitor of my blog, the stitched pattern might be familiar to you as I've used it before. However, it was the first time I used shimmering yarn to stitch the butterfly circle. I also used silver yarn for the bodies of the butterflies, as I thought it would match the vibe. The floral background paper has a light shimmer, too. Unfortunately, neither of those shimmering structures is pictured the way they look in real life due to the bad light conditions during the photo shoot.

And I must say, I'm quite happy with the result: I like how those purple shades are almost identical. Also, by not using my usual piece of cardboard underneath the stitched motif, I managed to connect the motif of flowers and butterflies rather than frame the butterflies to create a separate motif on the floral background. The center of the circle remains empty for the time being. The card could be finished like this, or the space will be used for a short sentiment once the card has a recipient.

A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.

challenges:

- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "any occasion"

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG with optional twist "CAS"

- as you like it: favourite feminine or masculine (I will go with "feminine" on this one, as I find it easier to create projects for ladies in general: it feels like there's much more varienty when it comes to motifs and colours, which means I can really set my fantasy free and create without thinking too much. It might also have to do with the fact that I know way more women than men, which means that whenever I'm making something, there's a chance that my creation will end up going to a woman rather than a man.)

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "for the girls"

- critter crazy: ATG animals

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- lovethoseprettypapers: ATG patterned papers

- love to craft: ATG 

- make my monday: stitching

- morgans artworld: ATG

- nachteulen: ATG

- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- wortartwednesday: ATG

Vintage

Trying not to be too late again, I'll be short today with introducing the current challenge at the Alphabet challenge blog: "Vintage". Show us your creations full of old charm, and play along for the top titles.

For my DT project, I wanted to create a card at first, but I opted for its counterpart instead - an envelope. I took an envelope from my stash, and embellished it with a sheet of patterned paper. I like the combination of pink and beige shades, and the random patterns that can be partially seen on the paper itself. In a fun twist, the sheet of paper even had an inscription from which I cut the words "Vintage Love" - simply perfect for the vintage theme of our challenge. I placed it on the front side of the envelope, and moved towards the back.

Here, the embellishing with paper was a bit more tricky due to the flap, but I still managed to create a continuous pattern. For that, I focused on the base, which means the lid was short of paper on its lid - to cover up the white envelope base here, I cut out a lovely motif of a rose and a bee from an old stationery set. Mom found it in one of those book exchange boxes one day, and by the looks of it, it might as well qualify for the "vintage" theme. 

Before I glued that circle onto the envelope, I made sure to embellish the border of the lid. I wanted to hide the white envelope here, and I think the strip of beige paper matches nicely with the overal colour scheme. I didn't even need to cut it out, as this awkwardly narrow piece of beige paper was lying in my stash forever. I just ran it through the border punch, and it turned out to be the perfect width - who would have believed it? 

Once that was done, I turned my focus back towards the front of the envelope. I figured it wouldn't be sent by mail, so I decided to place silver butterfly stickers over the part that would usually feature the adress. I thren added a few more butterflies, and it ended up looking like this. I'm not sure whether I went too far or not, but it seems somewhat acceptable - after all, butterflies are a recurrent motif on various vintage creations.

What do you think? Did I manage to inspire you for some vintage-themed crafting?

challenges:

- krafty chicks: birthday 

- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "lots of love"
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "things in the sky" (bee)

- allsorts challengeblog: ATG with optional twist "romance and/or music"

- C.R.A.F.T.: love/ATG

- card free zone: ATG but a card

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG

- creative inspirations: love is in the air

- critter crazy: ATG animals (bee)

- do-all kreatives: ATG with optional twist "things with wings" (bee)

- everybody art: punches (punched border on the flap)

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- lovethoseprettypapers: ATG patterned papers

- love to craft: ATG

- morgans artworld: ATG
- moving along with the times: things with wings (bee)

- path of positivity: ATG positive

- pearlysparkles: love is in the air
- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- try it on tuesday: romance

- wortartwednesday: ATG