31 July, 2022

Children of war

I visited my sister mid March and the train journey offered a glimpse of the ongoing refuge stream from Ukraine. People on the way to safety, each carrying the weight of the world while their actual world is falling apart. 
A woman with kids and an elderly grandma in tow, navigating Europe with a piece of paper with a single word written on it: the name of foreign city. Is it a stopover or a permanent home with friends/relatives who already live here? Who knows.
Babies crying from hunger and exhaustion on a train station as their mothers are trying to find an info point after being on the road for who knows how long. 
A family with several kids, all well behaved and quiet for hours as the train takes them further and further away from everything they've ever known. 
A woman with kids, each carrying their life in a small backpack, looking for a way to continue their journey despite the language barrier. Where are they going to and what have they left behind? Who knows.

Months have passed and the headlines have changed, but I can't help feeling more and more appalled by the evil that is being unleashed on Ukrainian soil. We might go on with our lives, but innocent people are still being terrorized on a daily basis. While we know of hundreds of children who have been killed and injured, we seem to forget that every Ukrainian child has been affected by this war in one way or another: by losing friends and/or family members, having teir schools and playgrounds bombed, spending nights in bomb shelters, feeling the insecurity of the adults without understanding what is going on, leaving their homes behind, ending up in a strange place surrounded by strange people. It doesn't take a physical injury to be injured, and I'm afraid the wounds of Ukrainian children will take decades to heal.

To make at least one child feel welcome and safe, I wrapped up a care package. Next to everyday items I included a "Welcome" card and a few girly things since the box would be sent to a girl. Not knowing any details of the child (age, interests), I tried to make a card as fitting as possible for anyone. First, I picked this wonderful polka dot background paper. It might be very blue for a girl, but I think it's a fun one nevertheless, and besides that there's no reason why blue should be attributed exclusively to boys. 
Once I finished the background, I started wotking on the main motif. I thought about using a digi, a picture, or a "Welcome" sentiment, but I went with butterfly stickers in the end. I like how they're made in 3D which gives the card a bit of a depth. They do add more blue to the card, but there's also a bit of shimmer, and I figured a bunch of butterflies would be a nice gift to a child who ends up in a strange country far away from home. I placed the stickers onto a plain white cardboard and that was about it.
As I tried to reflect Ukrainian colours on my creation, I decided to add more yellow in form of a light yellow card board which enhances the butterflies. Once I placed the motif on 3D pads, the card was done. There's no sentiment because I thought I'd let the butterflies shine without any additional embellishments.

challenges:
- krafty chicks: all occasions
- 613 avenue create: ATG  
- allsorts challengeblog: butterflies/bugs
- craft-alnica: for a young lady
- creative moments: ATG with optional twist "cute"
- cutie pie challengeblog: little cuties
- fabnfunky: ATG
- intaas: happiness
- love to craft: ATG 
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29 July, 2022

Interests

May I interest you in another task over at the Alphabet challenge blog? 
I'm sorry I couldn't help, but this pun was absolutely intended. Jokes aside, we'd like to see "Interests" in your creations this fortnight, and by that we mean everything related to interests and hobbies. It could be your personal hobbies or hobbies in general, everything is fine as long as you make that the main topic of your project.
For my DT inspiration, I prepated a card which features two of my interests actually. The first one is paper embroidery which is displayed in form of a stitched border. I created it using one of my favourite stitching patterns and silver yarn. I've worked on it two days in a row, and once it was done, I decorated the swirls with a couple of rhinestones. I placed the embroidered piece of paper onto a light blue background paper, and that was that. 
My second interest is cycling, which is represented by the image of two bicycles on a beach. The original photo was featured in one of those desk calendars with serene images and wisdoms, and I saved the photo of two bicycles on a beach to use it in one of my future projects. I cut out a detail of the whole piece and adjusted the size in order to make it fit inside the embroidery once the border was done. 
Now, I'm no cyclist by all means. I used to ride my bike as a child, but it would mostly be short trips with family. However, me and my sister used to be a huge cycling nut years ago, following every move of Lance Armstrong and the team USPS/Discovery/Astana/RadioShack up to the point that I could recognize the riders based on their socks and sunglasses. Going to races became as obligatory as painting the streets with encouraging messages and getting to know the team-members we'd meet regularly. I'm not sure what they must have been thinking about those crazy girls who'd patiently wait next to the team vehicles for hours only to get a glimpse at the athletes, but friendly chit-chats, merch giveaways and even rides in the team car suggest that we must have done a really good job as fans. I'm not a hardcore fan like that anymore - mostly due to the fact that the riders I originally supported are more or less retired and I haven't found myself proper replacements in form of other riders/teams. However, even though my interest for cycling has faded over the years it never really went away. I'm still following cycling news and race results (even though not as frequently), and I'm still over the moon when my favourite riders do well (and since favourite now equals Slovenian, it means I've been over the moon many times in the past couple of years). 
Since the card as such sends off holiday vibes, I originally wanted to present it for my "Holidays" challenge theme, but I had run out of time to create the stitched border. I'm happy to be able to show you the card in this challenge instead, and hope you'll be able to get inspired by the works of the DT.
A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: all occasions
- basteltraum: ATG
- cardz4guyz: recycle something (picture from an old calendar)
- fabnfunky: ATG
- friendship challenge: summer, sun, beach
- intaas: masculine
- little red wagon: stitching
- love to craft: ATG 
- make my monday: outdoor sports
- my time to craft: ocean/sea (beside/on/under water)
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15 July, 2022

Holidays

Hello and welcome to the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog!
I'm your challenge host this fortnight, and I'd like to see your "Holidays" themed creations. What kind of holidays, you may ask? That's entirely up to you. If you have a look at the DT creations, you'll see plenty of inspirations to get you started: it could be the classical Christmas holidays (or any festive holidays), or holidays in terms of vacations (again, any season is welcome). I can't wait to see what you'll come up with. Before we start, however, let's have a look at my creation.
I've postponed making my DT inspiration for ages thinking I'd still have plenty of time - which I had before I ran out if it. A crafter's classic, I know. Right before heading home for a couple of days, I realized that I better get my DT task done as long as I have access to my crafting corner. And so I went to work - only that I couldn't decide what to do. I figured I'd make a summer-inspired card and even prepared two layouts, but since they both would feature paper embroidery they'd be very time consuming. Given that I had literally no time left, I had to come up with something else.
I put the embroidery patterns aside and started looking for alternatives. In the end, I thought a summer tag could do the trick. I took this wavy patterned paper from my stash and cut it to the right size for a kraft tag base. I then searched for things to complement the waves. I found it in form of a napkin with small seaside motifs. Among umbrellas, lighthouses and seagulls it also featured a couple of boats and starfish. I cut them out and placed them onto a white piece of cardboard using decoupage glue. Once the pieces were dry, I carefully cut them out again to place them onto the tag. The boat was an easy one, but I managed to tear one of the starfish while doing decoupage, which is why I had to arrange them in a way that would hide the issue. I decided to go with 3D pads and cover my mistake by placing one starfish above the other. Once that was done, I glued a white piece of paper on the back side of my tag. I wrote a dedication by using silver stickers, and after adding a rather thick twine, the tag was done. 
I've been thinking about placing it onto a card base and adding a couple of blue rhinestones around it in order to create a CAS maritime card, but I'm not entirely sure about it. I think it wouldn't look bad, and it would not hurt to sacrifice the back as it's almost empty anyway, but maybe it's good to have some non-card projects at hand just in case. What would you suggest?

challenges:
- craft-alnica: summer
- crafty catz: ATG
- creative crafty uncles: ATG but a card
- creative inspirations: summer sun
- creative moments: ATG
- critter crazy: ATG animals (starfish)
- double D challenges: creatures in/under the sea (starfish)
- everybody art: sunny greetings
- fabnfunky: whatever the weather
- friendship challenge: summer, sun, beach
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12 July, 2022

All the best

Another piece of calendar craft for the craft-alnica challenge. I like the combination of green and pink that comes from my 2021 calendar, and decided to use a prominent floral pattern in my card. From a calendar page, I've picked a detail that was particularly colourful and placed it onto a kraft card base. After that, I put the card aside as I simply didn't know what to do. I found it hard to cover this beautiful vibrant jungle background with another motif, and couldn't pick a centerpiece to go with it even if I wanted to.
After a while, I figured I could use it as a frame by placing some paper embroidery in the middle, but I soon realized it would be too much of everything if I followed through with my plan. Instead, I opted for a simple sentiment that could be translated with "All the best". I decided to use a huge font to make it stand out, but at the same time I made sure to leave enough white space all around. Once I cut it to the right size, I took a piece of soft pink card board from my stash. It's a bit different from the pinks in the background, but I think it still creates a nice connection between text and pattern. 
I placed the sentiment onto 3D pads to make it stand out, and I think I really like the end result. 

challenges: 
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Sympathy II

Another post, another sympathy card, another entry for the craft-alnica challenge. I worked with paper from an old calendar this time, and unlike magazine pictures which catch my eyes randomly, I'll usually put more forethought into calendar motifs. Every year, I'll pick the calendar that features the most re-usable pictures, meaning they'll not only look nice on my wall, but also later whan I'll dismantle the pages of past year to turn them into something new. 

This particular piece of paper comes from 2021. I've picked a calendar with abstract plant motifs for that year, and I've already prepared a few to be featurred on my cards. For this quick card, I decided to take a piece of a jungle scene. There aren't many leafs on the picture, but I like the way they're arranged. I placed the motif on a kraft card base, added a sentiment on green background paper and placed it onto the card using 3D adhesive pads. In the end, I added two green rhinestones. 
Other than that, there's nothing to say about the card except that I like the green shades it features. I truly believe that sympathy cards don't have to be all black, and I will in fact always look for ways to add a little colour - not too much, but still something that brings a bit of life into a dark time.

challenges: 
- craft-alnica: magazine/calendar paper
- crafty catz: ATG
- inkspirational: favourite colour in monochrome
- love to craft: ATG 
- male room: monochrome
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Sympathy

Just a quick card to meet the deadline over at craft-alnica. I'm using plenty of recycling in my projects usually, among others I'll often reuse papers from calendars and magazines. However, I didn't have anything on hand for their current challenge, meaning I had a little crafting session yesterday afternoon. 

After a search through my stash I decided to use a magazine page that I had put aside quite a while ago. It's from a magazine featuring traditional dirndl dresses with a modern touch - neither is my style exactly, but I kept a couple of pictures that I thought might come handy some day. I've decided to go with this rather dark image which is a close-up photograph of embroidery. I thought the earthy tones would be perfect for a masculine card, or maybe a sympathy card, and that's what I intended to do. After long consideration, I went with the latter.
I took the full-page photography and picked a piece of pattern that caught my eyes. After cutting it from the magazine, I placed it onto a kraft card base. I kept the design rather simple as I really wanted to show the pattern in the photograph, which is why I decided to add only a simple sentiment. I printed it on white paper which I glued onto a piece of brown card board. Once that was done, I placed the sentiment on the card, and that's basically it. 

challenges:
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01 July, 2022

Fried chicken

How are y'all dealing with the summer heat? I'm having my blinds down all day and only open my windows after midnight, and still start my days with 27 °C in my apartment. I wouldn't activate the AC even if I had one so I don't miss it at all, but there isn't much I can do about the heat than run around in underwear, or rather, try to not move at all if not necessary. Phew!
I'm not sure how this cute Bugaboo chick is dealing with the heat given that it has a feather dress, but it seems to me that it's enjoying life to the fullest. The digi I've worked with is from Bugaboo, unmistakable. As it's such a badass image, I decided to add as little embellishments as possible. In fact, I've just coloured the digi with coloured pencils, and mounted it atop a kraft card base. I'm thinking about adding a few sequins, or maybe a sentiment, but as the card has no recipient yet, I'll leave it like that for the moment. Just being a fried chicken sipping cocktails on the beach - what more could one wish for? 
The chick is a perfect summer motif, and a fun one, too, which is why the card is my DT inspiration for the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. We're at the letter G currently, and looking for "Giggles", meaning we'd like to see your humorous creations this fortnight. Share some fun with us and I'll be happy to have a look at your projects!

challenges:
- krafty chicks: ATG
- basteltraum: things with wings
- crafty calendar: ATG 
- crafty catz: ATG
- double D challenges: beach time
- fabnfunky: summer colours
- friendship challenge: summer, sun, beach
- love to craft: ATG 
- make my monday: colouring (coloured pencils)
- traumfabrik: Spring breakdown (beach, party, drinks, fun, zesty colours)
Posted by at 21 comments:
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