A wonderful surprise

Just a quick post to tick off another item on my to-do list: this time, a rather simple necklace that took me quite some time to get it done, and even longer to get it out there. 

I knew I just had to have those mother-of-pearl pieces when I saw them in the bead shop during one of my stays in Erlangen, and I didn't even need to put the colour combo together - in fact, the ones I took were the only ones left in what (I guess) was once a colourful mix sold on the base of weight. I knew right away they'd look pretty in a necklace, but realized I'd need to combine them with other pearls for the proper effect.

Needless to say, they waited for ages until I took the time to search my jewelry stash, looking for the perfect match. I tried a couple of materials and colours, but nothing seemed to fit the way I imagined. In the end, I came up with a rather simple solution: beige glass wax beads that would go with all the colours of the mother-of-pearl, and take away nothing from the funny shapes that I thought would deserve to be the highlight of it all. 

And even though I thought I'd keep it for myself, I realized the colours aren't mine at all. I do like everything about the necklace, including how it turned out in the end, but I figured out it would be a nicer addition to my sister's wardrobe than to mine.

 challenges: 
- krafty chicks: ATG
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty cardmakers: special someone
- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- creative moments: ATG
- love to craft: ATG
- modsquad: pastel fun
- my time to craft: female
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG

Resembling colourful beads and tiny pearls in between, my current bouquet is made of beautiful orange-cream roses and a touch of baby's breath (what a beautiful, beautiful name for this fragile bloom!). 

In a fun twist, they match nicely with a really old bookmark I found during my spring cleaning, and the bookmark itself matches perfectly with everything that is going on right now: a new season, a successful decluttering, and finally, slowly getting back to my old self. 
After ages of going from one day to another without getting anything done really, I'm getting to say that things are going in the right direction again. And one day, all the pieces of myself will fall into place again. 

And while I enjoy the bunch of flowers on my desk, I have to set the record straight by admitting that not only did I come from the flower market with something I didn't look for - I even got a whole load of it, bigger than I never imagined! 

Thinking I'd buy a bunch of spring greenery or maybe some hyacinths, my flower lady as usually asked who'll get the flowers this time. As I planned to just place them somewhere in my apartment for myself to enjoy, she offered me lilies or roses. I thought a branch of white lilies would be nice, when she grabbed the whole bucket, and a moment later, the bucket of roses, too. 
Because she felt like she's had enough for the week and wanted to get rid of her stash before she'd get a couple of days off. 
And to make sure "they'd all be jealous" of my baggage, as she put it with a wink (and if jealousy can be counted in the looks I got carrying the huge bouquet through the city, her plan absolutely worked). 

Back home, I somehow managed to place that roses in all the vases I could find, but I ended up having no idea what to do with the lilies. One branch could go in a vase on its own, but for a bouquet like this, I'd only have a bucket which wouldn't do them justice. 

It was enough to get them through the night, but once they started to open up, I felt like there must be a better place for them. And since I planned for ages to catch up with my ex-roommate, I thought she, being a nun now, will certainly find the vase and the place for what was about to become a beautiful white cloud of flowers. Because what can possibly be better than sharing a wonderful surprise?

 A little contribution to the Friday Flowerday at Holunderbluetchen.

Swirly

As a result of my spring clean-up, I gained some kind of overview over my papers and craft supplies again. Also, I found a couple of half-finished projects such as printed digis and magazine cut-outs, such as this picture of white roses that were already glued on a piece of white cardboard. 

I must have planned to use them on a sympathy card, but never finished the idea. Now, I decided to glue the image on a piece of black cardboard before placing it on a simple but elegant white background with shimmering floral swirls. 

Unlike in my usual card creations, I thought I'd let the white swirls blend into the cardbase without an additional piece of black background paper that would create a line between the cardbase and the added layers. 

However, I'm thonking about adding a couple of pearls as the card itself is quite simple without any additional ornaments. On the other hand, I might as well leave it as it is or add a tiny sentiment once I'll need it for a sad occasion.

A little contribution to the March collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: ATG
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- a place to start: ATG
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty catz: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative moments: ATG
- love to craft: ATG 
- morgans artworld: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- use your stuff: black & white
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG

Spring flowers

Now that spring has clearly sprung and everything seems to be sproouting and blooming, I can hardly wait for longer days, warm weather, long walks, fresh veggetables, and more productivity. Some of the above is already here, others will hopefully follow soon.
I even got my lazy low-energy self to get some spring cleaning done (not bragging at all!), and when doing so, I discovered this one in my stash: a simple (birthday) card with a soft green background paper with foliage and a lovely flowerpot digi by Meljen's Designs.

As the card was one of those flat cards I needed for my exhibition (yup, so deeply sunk in my stash), I decided to avoid all embellishments except for a space for a number or message.

The motif itself is coloured with coloured pencils, in shades that would fit both the background and the punched flower-shaped label.

A little contribution to the March collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.

challenges: 
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- gem of a challenge: ATG
- crafty cardmakers: flowers
- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative inspirations: spring greens
- cute card thursday: greens
- fabnfunky: spring colours
- friendship challenge: ATG with optional twist "spring flowers"
- morgans artworld: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- unicorn challengeblog: spring
- wortartwednesday: ATG

Talking about spring colours, I decided to brighten my room with a combination that happened to be quite similar to my card: a yellow and cream coloured bouquet with lots of green hydrangea. I liked the arrangement when I saw it on the flower market and put it in my crystal vase after cutting the stems to size. 

The vase itself seems perfect for this kind of bouquets, but I might as well get rid of it after my spring cleaning is done. I'm not sure whether I'm tired of rich flower arrangements, crstal vases in general, or that even though I like both I just need some kind of change?

A contribution to the Friday Flowerday at Holunderbluetchen.

February afternoon

Yet another memory to conceal the blank space in my crafting corner. 
(Honestly, I wish it was just the blank space, but after being away for weeks my whole apartment needs some proper dusting, as well as some serious decluttering. Not that I'm hoarding lots of stuff, I just feel the need to get rid of things that I rarely use.)
For a more instant feeling of freedom, I should probably head to Radensko polje again. Its landscape does have a special atmosphere before the spring greenery changes its appearance, and who knows where it's hiding its water supplies when it looks completely dry. 

One wouldn't need much more than that to switch off the world, except for maybe a small afternoon hike to the top of Ostri vrh above Čušperk. Or, to be precise, a drive to the edge of the forest followed by a little walk to the viewpoint atop the hill.

And on a perfectly spring-ish day, there was plenty of time to recharge the batteries and enjoy the views. Even though Ostri vrh itself may not be a notable elevation its panorama consists of Gorjanci, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Karavanks, and - given you're visiting in excellent weather conditions - even the silhouette of Snežnik. 

I fail to comprehend the idea of placing huge flagpoles in the middle of nowhere and will pick other kinds of views for myself: a slowly setting sun...

... piles of bare rocks that seem to hide enough soil for the growth of trees...

... and tiny signs of spring that are slowly but surely spreading across the land.

And until the warm weather finally prevails...

... what can be better than a cuddle-bundle by the fireplace?