Stepper card

When I was searching for a motif for one of my cards lately, I found this cute little girl with a heart-shaped balloon. I didn't use it back then, but decided to get back to her as soon as possible.
Then, I found the cardz4guyz challenge.
However I was a little late to use the motif in the "Song title" challenge, even though the cutie seems to be made for this lovely tune, wonderfully interpreted by Dionne Warwick: This girl's in love with you.
But, whatever motif one can use for a card, one can also use for a stepper card, right? Once the colouring was done, all I needed was to figure out the exactly shape of the steps (not that easy), and how to decorate them (not that easy either). To make sure the card wouldn't end up all too boring, I added roses, and as something seemed still to be missing, I gave the girl a pair of earrings in the end.

So, I'm just in time for the "Stepper card" challenge.
Apart from that, my card also meets the criteria at the ABC challenge: R is for Ribbon, Roses & Red.

And btw Mr. Talking-about-me-behind-my-back, you really shouldn't let me be the last to know. I think it's about time for a coffe/lunch.

Natural

"Natural" is the newest theme at the alphabetchallengeblog.
Among the natural materials I use when doing cards are mostly raffia and wooden buttons, but to make a card that would contain some of this stuff on command is more difficult that I thought it would be.
After I got some digis from bogaboostamps for the July cheerfulsketcheschallenge, I could hardly wait to use them. I decided to try those super cute ladybugs first.
Neither raffia, nor wooden buttons seemed to fit however. In the end, I remembered some wooden sunflowers I bought years ago, which fit both the motif and colours of the card.

As the ladybugs are most definitely animals of summer and sunshine (and one of my favourite sights in summer),  I also enter the challenge at craft-alnica "Goodbye to summer".

Lucky

Just a little stop-by to share what I found in front of my apartment building today :)

I have the feeling that I quite often find four leaf clovers, and quite unexpected, too: on my way to the supermarket or library, on a walk, and sometimes - like today - when I step out of the house. Literally. And when people ask me how I found one, I don't really have an answer, because it was just there in front of me.

I don't think you need to find a four leaf clover to be lucky, but it gives me a placebo-kick if I do. And it's nice to get a placebo-kick every now and then ;)

So, what gives you the lucky-kick?

White Christmas

A long time ago, I found this picture of birds on a branch at the graphicsfairy. I loved it instantly and I knew I would like to use it in one of my cards, only I didn't know how.
When I saw the sketch of the newest cheerfulsketcheschallenge however, these birds were the first image that came to my mind. Even though I had originally planned to use them with earthy vintage tones and probably some flowers, I think they also fit with the white shades and snowflakes.

I see the card also fits in the latest creativecardcrew challenge "Christmas". I guess many are already busy with angels, stars and glitter :)

Kiss me

My second card for the cheerfulsketcheschallenge cheerfulsketcheschallenge: a stitched a frog, painted with coloured pencils.

But... When when the card was finished, it was awful. I didn't know why, but the card didn't look the way I thought it would. Too many frogs? Too much green? After I added a border on the green paper with a fineliner, it looked more acceptable, but I still feel like I'm not completely happy with the result.
Nevertheless, the card goes for two other challenges, too: fadengrafik-challenge (animal-card) and craft-alnica (Something for boys) - I actually did catch and kiss frogs in a pond in our backyard when I was a child, and waited for them to turn into Prince Charming! It was only later that I learned you have to kis many frogs until you find your prince ;)

My third card for the cheerfulsketcheschallenge will be ready soon.
With all the crafting going on, I have realized that I use only the supplies that have accumulated with time. And I don't even need to go shopping even if I wanted, because I always seem to find everything I need :) Except this weekend, I ran out of tape!

Zoo

I actually neede to sleep it over and double-check. What a wonderful surprise I found at the cheerfulsketcheschallenge: cheerfulsketcheschallenge.blogspot.com/2014/07/winnaars-challenge-14.html
I guess I really can feel a little bit proud to be chosen among all the beautiful entries that came in for the 14th challenge :)
What's next? They say, First come the duties, then the fun. So, after some learning and housework, I had a little time to be creative during the weekend. And the new sketch-challenge was a perfect pattern for my cards.

For the first card I've chosen this super-cute lion by Slovene illustrator Jelka Reichman. I remember how I adored her bright, playful scenes in my childrens' books and magazines when I was little, and I still love them today. Her motifs seem so full of joy and playful innocence :) Looking at this lion, it seems like he's laughing, and even blushing!

In the background, I added a punched brown paper that reminds me of a tree (I see on the photo it looks like black, but it's brown actually), a few leafs, and clouds. Since the plain white clouds looked a little boring, I painted their border with coloured pencils. The setting of the card fits the cheerfulsketcheschallenge, and as it's meant for a wonderful colleague of mine who happens to be lion by zodiac, I add the card for a last-minute entry at craft-alnica's "Something for boys" challenge. The card also matches the alphabetchallenge "M for men only".