Granola box goes bloom

Just a quick post to show one of my latest projects, as well as trying to catch the deadline over at craft-alnica. 
The vague beginnings of what I had in mind might have started during my stay in Munich ages ago, upon discovering my favourite brand of granola. I carried several of their super cute tubular boxes home only to discover that they have a branch nearby, which - needless to say - made my future granola shopping so much easier (except for the part of deciding which flavour to pick). And about the same time, it crossed my mind that I might as well use the empty containers in my crafting projects. However, once a box was done, I'd usually get rid of it due to lack of time and/or ideas.
Finally, I decided to see how one would look wrapped in simple wrapping paper. The paper itself is from my stash and fits the season with its vintage sunflower print. Also, I thought it might fit the culinary theme as well since I planned to use the transformed box for storing spaghetti in my kitchen. 

As you can imagine, it took me some time to find the perfect part of paper to cut out and to arrange it in a way that would properly cover the edges of the tube. Before that, however, I decided to place a layer of plain white paper onto the original box. What seems inconvenient at first had a very practical purpose: matching the different granola flavours, the fruity grain mixes come in different colourful containers and as this particular one had a rather dark pattern, I thought it might shine through the thin wrapping paper and disturb the sunflower images. 

With the additional layer of white, the anticipated problem was no longer an issue and I could finally get to the part of gluing the huge paper piece on tubular surface. I gave the container a quick rinse and made sure it's completely dry, and carefully removed its bottom to make sure I'd get a good grip when working on the wrapping. 
Still, that was the part that scared me most as I usually manage to create a wrinkle here and a tear there, but everything went surprisingly smooth this time. 

Once everything was in place, I decided to add the remainder of a floral ribbon to hide the edges of the wrapping paper. It might have been an unnecessary addition in the hindsight, but I felt like the container needs something more than just wrapping paper to look pretty :)

On a close look, there's still a small wrinkled area in a part which I used to try liquid glue. I thought it would be a good alternative to adhesive tape, but as it turned out to crimp the white paper underneath, I thought I'd better let it be, figuring the effect on much thinner wrapping paper would be even worse. Back to adhesive tape, I managed to go without any gluing issues and would only pick the adhesive glue to secure the bottom lid back onto the granola spaghetti box. 

After that, I'd let the box est for a couple of days to get rid of the glue smell, only to meet an unexpected problem: since I was focused on spaghetti storage from the beginning, I thought it was quite funny to find out that once the entire box of spaghetti is stored, the pasta stands upright in a way that makes it impossible to close the lid. Turns out the box is a couple of millimeters too short to store them properly! After a lunch or two, however, and less pasta in the container, the remaining spaghetti will create a spiral and resolve the issue. 
Not a real problem after all, but certainly something that never occured to me beforehand, especially since the quick comparison of boxes didn't indicate anything could go wrong. But then again, I think I just didn't consider that the lid and bottom are faced inwards, meaning they both use up space of the actual container and I somehow completely forgot to take that into account.

One done, one almost empty, and another set of boxes that must arrive at my place any day soon.

A little contribution to the September 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
- C.R.A.F.T.: autumn
- craft-alnica: recycling
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: fall colours
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative moments: ATG
- love to craft: ATG 
- pennys papertake: ATG
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- tuesday throwdown: ATG
- unicorn challengeblog: autumn
- use your stuff: upcyce/recycle
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG

A sense of fall

With September in town and a major drop in temperature on the way, the quick post today will announce the start of our newest challenge over at the Fadengrafik Challenge before fall finally kicks in. We're having a "mushroom" theme this month, and it turned out to be quite a challenge for me to be honest. 
For a moment, I thought about using a mushroom pattern from my stash that I've turned into a card ages ago already, but then again, I didn't want to just reproduce something I've already done. Instead, I decided to use a simple geometric pattern that I have used probably a dozen times, in different colours and combinations. Oh well...
To make it worse, I decided to create a bookmark rather than making a card - which, too, is a something I have already done a dozen times using this particular pattern.

But then again, I've never used this particular combination of brown yarns (only a really, really similar one, lol!). Anyway, after the stitching was done I enhanced the white paper using dark brown cardboard, while I began to go through my stash looking for a matching piece to cover the other side.

Overall, the brown-ish colours of my project are visibly inspired by the beautiful paper collection by Nina Štajner which I recently purchased after going back and forth about it for quite a while. The lovely autumn critters are simply adorable, and so are the patterns she in her paper collection, but how could I possibly use them in my crafting projects when they're just too beautiful to be cut, folded, glued, and/or covered? In the end, I simply *had* to have them. 

As there was no mushroom in my stitched motif, I now began to search the paper set looking for a fitting mushroom piece: preferable a rather tiny pattern that would cover the back of my bookmark and resemble the real-life situation of a mushroom picker in the forest: they might not be there in plain sight, but if you keep looking, you might eventually find them along the way. 

Make sure to follow the official regulations though, which will very likely be no more than 2 kg per person per day, which should be more than enough for any normal individual. By no means do it the "Slovenian way" which will include forest raids with a daily prey of 50+ kg, proud photo evidence of piled up mushrooms and bragging about one's "success" to just about everybody without even thinking that no person in their right mind can process this amount of fungi, especially as this is most likely not a once-a-year lucky find. Take approximately as much as you can/will eat til the next season and leave the rest to grow and/or rot, for heaven's sake!

A little contribution to the September collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.
A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.

challenges: 
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- brown sugar: ATG
- C.R.A.F.T.: back to school
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative inspirations: something seasonal (fall)
- creative moments: ATG
- cute card thursday: ATG but a card
- love to craft: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG
- sketchy challenges: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- use your stuff: back to school
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- pinspirational
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG

An unexpected rescue

Another quick post, another card. We're still at the "Sympathy/Get well" challenge of Scrapping4Fun, because after I finished my unexpected "Get well" card, I somehow still wanted to carry out my originally planned "Sympathy" project. 
As the motif is rather simple, the colouring was done rather quickly using differet shades of brown except for the sun that is setting behind the tree scenery. Since I decided to stay away from any fussy embellishments for the card itself, I'd mainly play with the colours I've chosen for the image itself. I glued a handwriting-inspirded wrapping paper on the brown card base, and took a dark brown piece of cardboard from my stash to place the printed image on a stable background.
Upon doing so, I managed to create a unevenness in one part of the ceterpiece and since I couldn't seem to remove the double-sided adhesive tape in order to rearrange the image, I thought I'd have to let it be. 

However, no matter how I tried to look at it, the bump was clearly visible and there was no way to tell myself it wouldn't be *that* bad because it absolutely was. 

I considered removing the image entirely to save the card base at least, but as it meant I'd have to re-print and re-colour the whole thing, I decided to put everything aside for a day or two.

Until I remembered this tiny brown ribbon I've purchased a while ago just because I thought it looked cute and might be useful in some of my upcoming fall projects. 

Turns out it was more than useful to mask the adhesive tape mishap by placing the ribbon all the way from one side of the card to the other. Partially, it covers up the bump itself, but most importantly, it seems to me like it diverts attention away from what lies underneath the brown zig zag.

Also, it turned out to match nicely into the colour scheme even though it wasn't planned to be there at all, and even though it might be just a coincidence, it certainly is a pretty good reason to keep getting those "just in case" things that *might* be useful some day.

A little contribution to the August 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
- alphabet challengeblog: K for kind thoughts
- gem of a challenge: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- dream valley: hand coloured image
- love to craft: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG
- wortartwednesday: ATG

No ache like a toothache

When I was invited to be part of the GDT for the upcoming challenge over at Scrapping4Fun, I immediately had a quick brainstorming for ideas as well as a peek in my stash to see what I could use for the "Sympathy/Get well" theme. In my collection of printed but still uncoloured images I found one that wuld go with the sympathy part of the challenge, however, I didn't manage to get to work soon, so I just put everything aside for the moment. 
And while the moment passed, it happened that a friend of mine developed a nasty toothache which soon progressed to a massive swelling, which needed medical attendance asap. Unfortunately, his doctor's idea to try to resolve the situation without antibiotics backfired, leading to more toothache, swelling and the formation of granulomas (even though it absolutely does make sense in many, many cases due to the massive problem of antibiotic resistance, just not in this case). Eventually, antibiotics did bring some kind of relief (which I hope will be permanent as he decided to discontinue treatment based on his subjective idea of feeling better, which doesn't make sense in any case).
While we'll see what comes next, I decided to make a little "Get well" note using a rather simple card layout with four squares. My original idea was to use a vintage dentist-themed print which I found at the Graphics Fairy ages ago. I thought it would look cute alongside with a "get well" tag in one corner and some other embellishments in the other. 

Once I printed my images, however, I noticed the doctor's clothing isn't as black as I imagined it to be, meaning I had to create a darker look by painting that part over with a black coloured pencil. After that, I took a sheet of dark red cardboard from my stash to use it as a background layer. 
On the first image (aka "A strong pull") that is slightly taller than the other, I added extra width by using zig zag scissors to create a vivid border which I later decorated with tiny white pearls.

For the second image (aka "The Result"), I decided to keep the width and height equal, however, as it had plenty of white space above the print, I filled it with a pair of starry silver stickers. 

When it came to finishing the rest of the card, I decided to place a tooth-theme in the upper corner. While the flash/lightning is my own creation, I got the tooth silhouette from a clipart image I found online. I printed out the layout and transferred it on a white cardboard, which I then cut out and lined wth a black marker. And while I placed the flash directly on the background, I put the tooth on a couple of 3D pads to make it stand out a little more. To match the dark red background of the vintage images, I thought I'd go with a red checkered paper for the rest of my project. And even though I thought I'd be finishhed with this part of the card already, I just couldn't resist adding a couple of gemstones from my stash, emphasising the pain that makes you "see stars", as we say. 

In the last corner of the card, I skipped the white paper, meaning I'd place the "get well" tag directly  onto the checkered background. Also, I made the message look like it's a whole bunch of tags, which are glued onto each other, supported by 3D pads, and decorated with a tiny bow from my stash. 

Upon closer inspection, one can see that neither of the "white" papers I mentioned (except for the one that gave me the tooth) isn't really white - I used these slightly beige pieces on purpose as I think they match the vintage theme better than a totally white-ish white surface. 
Anyway, as the card is delivered, and I certainly hope the toothache episode will come to a happy end soon.

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

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: ATG with optional twist "masculine"
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- alphabet challengeblog: K for kind thoughts
- basteltraum: ATG
- brown sugar: ATG
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty calendar: ATG
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative moments: ATG
- love to craft: ATG 
- morgans artworld: ATG
- pennys papertake: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG

One last dark red match of the day, because there's nothing like flowers covered with raindrops after a summer storm.

Lucky at last

After a rather strange experience with accompanying patients to a set of diagnostic procedures in Germany and an even stranger one which didn't even happen, I subconsciously avoided further involvement in the project. I did think of volunteering often and almost signed up for the job a couple of times, only to find myself worrying about what kind of people I'd meet this time - until I'd let it all be and stay home. By November, however, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and give it another chance. With a planned surgery, I knew what to expect in terms of timetable and workload. In terms of the patient, I'd just hope for the best.
Turns out, "best" was a gross understatement since the guy turned out to be close to amazing. You'd rarely find such a positive attitude in perfectly healthy individuals, not to mention his motivation, dedication and psychophysical fitness. Needless to say, I was fire and flame before we even took off, and the feeling would prove right throughout another Erlangen experience. 
Since we really clicked well, I'd spend much more time than necessary in the hospital, often just walking up and down the halls in an attempt to kill time and achieve his daily fitness goals. 
See my dedication has no limits whatsoever if I just get a sense of appreciation paired with being surrounded by the right people. 
And whenever I was off duty, I would find myself wandering the green places of Erlangen while letting my mind let go of everything. Only that the places this time weren't exactly green at all. For most of the time, the city would be covered in shades of grey, while nature covered itself in autumn wardrobe. 

The Botanical garden was pretty as ever, despite (or just because of) the fact that it was emptier than usual. 

This, on the other hand, would invite wild animals to come closer than they normally would... 

... which would go hand in hand with wandering around through the display of colours and not meeting a soul. Because it's little things like this that will make an introvert's heart beam of joy, regardless of the rather unfriendly weather.

Of course, the signs of autumn would reach past the Botanical garden itself.

The nearby city park was all covered in gold, too...

... as well as various places throughout the city center. 

And since accompanying a surgery would mean early morning wake-ups...

... I'd even find myself pondering up my favourite hill before breakfast, with the morning frost suggesting I should have brought my cap and gloves with me. 

However, the icy crystals would disappear as soon as the sun came out, meaning the days were still pretty much nice, comfortable, and full of colours. 

And once inside the greenhouses, one could walk through never-ending summer anyway.

By the time my Erlangen experience came to an end, though, outdoor flowers became rare...

... birds would remember their habit of visiting the feeding station...

... and slowly but surely, first signs of Christmas time began to appear in the city itself. 

And from the looks, Christmas in Erlangen sounds like something I should try sometime.