Sweet feline

The second kitten I made is stitched with shimmering yarn, and kept in white shades except of the big amber eyes and the snout around which I placed a couple of tiny pearls.

Unlike in the brown cat, I used coloured pencils only to highlight the eyes, snout and ears.

To add a little bling, I used a tiny golden sticker around the stitched image. As the image here is a little larger, I punched the corners and used a few pearls there, too.

In one of the corners, I put a couple of roses. The background paper is new in my stash, and even though it features geometric shapes, the're not too prominent, which makes a nice match to the flowers and the cats' eyes.

The quote from scribblesdesigns is hidden on the inside.

Did you ever wonder about how to really confuse a cat? A glass roof works about perfectly :)

challenges:

- craft-alnica: cats
- use your stuff: sentiment
- abc challenge: K for kritters
- allways something creative: ATG
- brownsugarchallenge: ATG
- crafty cardmakers: stitching, real or faux
- fadengrafik challenge: stitched image
- crafty catz: stitching
- modsquad: happy birthday
- craftyhazelutspatternedpaper

Hello kitty

"Cats" is the current challenge at craft-alnica, in honour of the 40th anniversary of the famous Slovene children's book "Maček Muri" by Kajetan Kovič. One can say that gemerations of children - including me - grew up with it, but it was only years later that I discovered by chance it was my dad who translated it into German.

I've done quite a few cards in my post-exam crafting explosion, two of them featuring furry kittens. It's the same stitching pattern in both, but as they're stitched with different materials and arranged in a different way, the outcome is quite un-comparable.
First, a kitty stitched with regular cross-stitch yarn and kept brown-in-brown overall:

The fur is made in transitioning brown shades and therefore looks more alive, matching the swirly background. To fill the empty space between the fur hair and add some colour to the eyes and snout, I used colour pencils.

To complete the card, I added a couple of rhinestones, a dark brown background paper and a banner saying "All you need is love and a cat..."

The quote is from scribblesdesigns and I bet any cat lover out there knows how true this is ;)

p.s.: Let this card also remind you of the current fadengrafik-challenge: stitched image. There's still enough time to play along, so do join the fun!

challenges:

- craft-alnica: cats
- use your stuff: sentiment
- crafty cardmakers: stitching, real or faux
- clear it out: ATG
- fadengrafik challenge: stitched image
- crafty catz: stitching
- inspiration destination: ATG
- sisteractchallenge: ATG
- that craft place: ATG
- brownsugarchallenge: ATG
- glitternsparkle: ATG
- love to scrap: masculine
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper

Big GD Challenge

You might have already noticed that a special challenge was posted at scrapping4fun today. One that includes everyone who has been on the GDT from April to June. And who could turn down such an offer? Well, I couldn't :)

So, a while ago this sketch landed in my inbox:

And this is what I've done with it:

When I saw the sketch, I pretty much knew the main part of my card would include a stitched central motif, a punched edge and a ribbon.

For the pricking pattern, I had to dig deep in my stash. I finally found this pattern of an angel, which I used quite a lot for Christmas cards a couple of years ag. Now I decided to make something different.
What I came up with is a christening card with an angel stitched in soft pink shades, combined with a punched border and a ribbon. According to the sketch, I rounded the upper corner and decorated everything with white and pink pearls.

The lower sentiment is part of a well known Slovene prayer to the guardian angel.

For the second sentiment that says "Holy baptism", I decided to make a small tag and hide it in a bouquet of flowers. I think it worked out pretty well, except for the the tiny bow that seems to be a bit out of control :)

Now it's up to you. Visit Big GD Challenge til Friday, June 5 at14:00 European Time, and state which of the April-June guest designers convinced you most. You may vote twice, with the voting procedure explained in the post.
Important: for your vote to count, you *must be a follower*

I'd be happy if you vote for me, "03VeronikaGD" ;) Thanks a lot to everyone who did and everyone who will!

Buttercups

Today, just a quick card to introduce the Fadengrafik Challenge for June. This month's topic is: stitched image.

I took this bunch of flowers to work with, and as usual, what you can see is quite different from what I planned. Which makes me wonder, is there any way to post some "what I wanted" and "what I really did" images, just to compare? :).
Actually, I thought I'd make an elegant card with red and silver stitched flowers, probably something suitable for a wedding occasion. However, the red shimmering yarn didn't quite fill the blossoms as it's very thin, so I decided to switch to regular cross-stitch yarn. To make it a bit more lively, I took a transitioning yellow.

As the main motif is still quite soft and (almost) monochromatic, it was quite a challenge to pick the matching background papers. No pattern or texture seemed to fit. In the end, I decided to focus on the white patterned paper instead and add just a little yellow cardboard. I must say, I never knew yellow can be such a challenging colour :)

Evenwith the embellishments I struggled for quite a while - I couldn't pick any of the ribbons or pearls I harvest, until the tiny yellow buttons caught my eyes.

 

challenges:

- crafty cardmakers: stitching, real or faux
- papertake weekly: ATG w optional twist "summer"
- live & love crafts: in the garden
- basteltanten: ATG
- clear it out: ATG
- 4 crafty chicks: summer
- a gem of a challenge: flowers
- inspiration destination: ATG

- allways something creative: ATG

Pink fantasy

How come I find the most wonderful stitching patterns when I should be learning? I'll never know :)
What I do know is that as un-disciplined as I am, I had to try some at once. Next to the swirls that ended up on the christening/communion/confirmation card, I used a wonderful fantasy pattern. And the outcome shows that I'm obviously in a pink phase:

I used soft pink yarn, and combined it with a silver one. In the middle of the pattern, I placed a pink shimmering piece that has a long history of waiting in my storage. I once got it from my sister to "use somehow" and it's rather a piece of junk than a gemstone you use in crafting, but it looks like I finally found the perfect spot for it.

Once the pattern was stitched and the pink piece fixed, it all still seemed a little boring to me, so I added a couple of pink gemstones, and white pearls in various sizes.
As the centerpiece is rather rich, I decided not to use any special ornaments in the background, just a simple pink floral background paper.

challenges:

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a gem of a challenge: flowers
- allsorts challenge: happy birthday
- alphabetchallengeblog: G for glitz and glamour
- crafting from the heart: ATG
- craftysentiments: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- in the pink: stitching, real or faux
- creative fingers: ATG
- abc-challenge: J for jewels

Holy sacrament

A quick card for the newest challenge at craft-alnica, "holy sacrament".
For the central motif I used a well known Slovene prayer to the guardian angel, which I combined with stitched swirls in the corners. 

To match the little swirls, I added a couple of pearls and punched the lower part of the prayer with a flower punch.

The card has no recipient yet, but as it's all pink it will probably be for a girl. However, I decided not to go for a certain sacrament - it may be either christening, holy communion or even confirmation.

challenges:

- craft-alnica: holy sacrament
- in the pink: stitching, real or faux
- wordart wednesday: ATG
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- crafting from the heart: ATG

A glimpse of sunshine

Another card featuring stitching and flowers, this time a reminder for the current Fadengrafik Challenge that says "Ann's Paper Art". If you have any of Ann's beautiful patterns, join the fun and enter your stitched card til the end of May! If not - visit her site and get some of the freebies ;)
I decided to stitch my pattern with yellow and green yarn that match the main motif - a set of 3D sunflowers. Then, I combined it with yellow embossed paper and added a couple of pearls to the swirls.

For a little shimmer, I used a golden glue-glitter on the sunflowers and golden stickers on the edges.

Even though I made the card without a recipient in my mind, it already found a new home at a dear friend. After all, friends are the very best approximation to sunshine you can get :)

challenges:

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- city crafter: focus on flowers
- crafting from the heart: ATG
- crafts and me: circles
- creative card crew: embossing
- deep ocean: flowers
- fan-tastic tuesday: ATG with a twist: add some flowers
- papertake weekly: in the garden
- ladybug crafts: favourite colour (yellow)
- use your stuff: sunshine