Kinder dieser Erde - Children of this Earth

It was one of these relatively rare occasions for me that I remembered that the Gingersnap Creations challenge 'The Good Earth' will come to a close very soon and I had a bit of time to not only plan what I wanted to create but was also able to do it straight away.

Supplies:
paper - Bazill Basics, Calico Crafts, paper from my stash
stamp - Heyda
ink - Elzybells
bling - Kanban
ribbon/buttons - from my stash

I have had this stamp for quite a while and I love it bit till now have not had a real occasion to use it. It reads: We are all children of this Earth ... for me the essence of us being on this beautiful planet. Have a very nice weekend, Petra.

Just for You

This is another little Easel card .... nothing is square (Cupcake Craft Challenges: don't be square) and all shapes are cut by using nestabilities dies (Daring Cardmakers: Die Cut Crazy), Petra.

Supplies:
paper - BasicGrey, textured white card
ribbon/buttons: from my stash
stamp: Hein Design, Elzybells
ink: Brilliance
colouring: Koh-i-noors with OMS
nestabilities

ATCs: Cinema

This is my ATC first swap with a very crafty and talented lady, Dawn ... I am really excited about this. I love ATCs ... it is such a nice way to use bits and pieces and to try new things before using them on bigger projects.
The theme chosen by Dawn: Cinema was a real challengeespecially as a strict requirement was that each ATC needs to have at least one bit of stamping ... Luckily it fitted in with the stamps I had acquired just beforehand ... the At the Movies stamp set from Stampers Anonymous. It is my very first set from this company ... at first I was a bit sceptical but I must say the stamps are really superb.

What would a visit to the cinema be without popcorn? I love popcorn ... I even make it myself at home from time to time! The background is a camera image from the Graphics Fairy. The popcorn pattern is stamped on top using Brilliance ink. The finishing touch are the little squares with stamped Studio g letters.

The background is a collection of movie images from Art Freebies ... the ticket is stamped on kraft paper and attached with an eylet and Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon (sorry, this is not very visible)

What would be a movie without a filmstar ... layered on a stamped cinema program and cut nestabilities shapes, embellished with Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon and, of course, some blings.

It was great fun to make the ATCs and I hope that Dawn likes them. Next months theme is: flowers and I am really looking forward to it ... it fits so nicely with spring and all the flowers around us. Thank you, Dawn, for organizing this swap! Petra.

Removal

Recently a friend moved from the Netherlands here to the England. Last Friday afternoon she mentioned that she would need some cards she could send to relatives and friends to inform them about her new address. I offered my help (lol) and asked her when she would need the cards. Her answer: in 10 minutes ... and she was not joking!!!!!!!!!
Ok, no stamping, no cutting, no fancy paper .... to the rescue came the wonderful pool of images from Karen, the Graphics Fairy ... unfailing every time I am desperate for some specific images ...
Looking for some removal type graphics I found an old photo showing a wonderful old-fashioned truck

As time was in short supply we settled for creating a postcard with the truck and some sort of modification in the front and a postcard image from Antiques Images I used beforehand for the back .... I just made it in time with the design (lol) ..... The printing was another step. We found some slightly rough, really nicely textured paper for printing the postcards.

Once I had started to play with the truck I thought it would be nice to try a few things and also to get some more practise with GIMP... this is what I did, please feel free to use any of the images

My favourite colour for the frame is a darkish red with a hint of green ...

... next time I receive such a request I am definitely prepared (LOL).... Petra.

Mother's Day

In Germany Mother's Day is only in May ... to be precise 09 May ... and it is approaching fast! I had a stamped Haenglar image (I looove it), some nice papers but not really an idea what to do .... till I saw the challenge from the Daring Cardmakers: Getting in a Flap ....

I used a textured white square card, layered it with Bazill Basics and My Mind's Eye papers. The stamped image is coloured with Copics and Koh-i-noors. I cut the envelope to create the flap, printed 'Muttertag' (Mother's Day) and a little heart onto patterend paper and fitted it into the envelope. The finishing touches are buttons, ribbon and blings, a punched 'pansy' edging and Sizzix shapes. ... and, of course, lots of Glossy Accents for the heart (which unfortunately is not very visible).
Happy Friday, Petra.

Placemat Project

Our placemats at home need replacing. I was already about to buy new ones when I thought it should be possible to make my own ones ... starting a nice little project. I started to look around which design and how to .... fabric, plastic, paper ..... in the end I settled for some digital graphic designs printed on A3 paper and then being laminated ... nothing sophisticated, very easy to do
The first placemat is finished and I like it. It is probably quite nice for kids because they can look at all the little details or play some sort of memory or .... if they get bored with their food (LOL). All images are from Tack-O-Rama Free Clipart ... apart from one little detail which I couldn't resist to sneak in .... some vegetables from the Graphics Fairy ...can you spot them?
Designing placemats is great fun . There are more to come and hopefully by next Monday I can show you the complete collection. Bon Appetit! Petra.

Moving House in Black-White-Orange

Having only little time at the moment but being in need of a quick card for a friend who had just moved into a new place, I went for nestabilities in combination with the current Play Date Cafe Challenge colour combination (PDCC25): mainly black and white with a splash of orange ....
.... an unusual and very vivid colour combination. I created a little shadow box in white with decorations in mainly black and a bit of orange .....

Supplies:
papers - white textured card, Crate Paper, Bazill Basics
stamps - Elzybells, Snag'em Stamps
ink - Brilliance ink
punch - Martha Stewart
bling - Kanban
ribbon - from my stash

The shadow box body is cut with the largest rectangular nestabilities shape. The edges on both sides of the box are punched with Martha Stewart 'Pansy'. The inside of the shadow box is decorated with orange-white paper. The box window is reflected in the inside with the fabulous new home of my friend. Some bling and fluffy ribbon complete the picture. Petra.

ATCs

For Ally Pally I created a couple of ATCs .... unfortunately forgot to take photos of the whole lot ... those are just the ones I brought back :-(

The background paper is from Calico Crafts. I stamped on it with Brilliance ink using the Heine Harlequin stamp. The dress form image is from the Graphics Fairy printed on light blue My Minds Eye paper and mounted on some ribbons. The finishing touch are the bright red blings.
Watch these eyes from behind the dress form (LOL)

Those beautiful birds are an image from Vintage Catnip and their colour matches so perfectly with Calico Crafts and My Minds Eye papers. The musical notes are stamped onto the background paper. The ATCs are embellished with some blings and ribbons and netting. Petra.

Ally Pally

My friend and colleague Jane went to Ally Pally today. I was so much looking forward to going. We started quite early and were at the show when it had just opened. It was amazing - all those stalls with all those goodies .... although I missed a little bit the stand for the nestabilities they had last year with some nice offers. Despite this I actually managed to buy quite a lot that is my bag got heavier and my wallet much lighter .... but I only really realized how much when unpacking everything at home (LOL)
A bit disappointing was the ATC swap. Jane and I prepared some ATCs but in the end only two other ladies came to swap ... what a shame!
But it was a great day out and now it is ...... crafting and preparing for the next show .... Newbury in July :-) have a nice evening, Petra.

Party Time Postcard Exchange

Yippeeh! I received the postcards from the Gingersnap Creations Postcard swap today
The postcards are absolutely awesome. The talented ladies who created the postcards are:
Laura, Lucy, Lynne and Ayelet. Thank you so much, and a lovely weekend to everybody! Petra.

Wedding Anniversary

Next week my parents have their 53th (!) Wedding Anniversary. They never really celebrate this anniversary unless it is really big one like the 50th ... but I still wanted to send them a card to give them all my love, to tell them how much I care for them and to wish them all the best for the next years. I used a sketch from Stempeleinmaleins which is quite rich in its layout and design and felt just right for this occasionThe card is built around an image from Antiques Images which I adore ... it is so lovely with its subtle colours and cheeky theme

The colours matched perfectly with My Minds Eye papers which I used for the layout, as base for the flower and the sentiment (from Elzybells). The sentiment is so telling about love and the growth of love over time. The theme of growth is a theme over at Gingersnap Creations which fits so perfect for this occasion.
I finished the design with some buttons, charm and some blings from Paperchase.
I wish my parents a wonderful Anniversary and many more years together! Petra.

April Birthstone

... Diamonds at the Daring Cardmakers .... I must admit I am not really a diamond person ... and, no, the little gems on the two little cards are NOT real diamonds (LOL)
I haven't done a lot of crafting lately because I had to tidy up my craftroom first ... it was a bit of a mess (lol) ... It took me a while to see what I wanted to do with the April Birthstone ... but then I found the image from Magic Moonlight Free Images and it all sort of fell into place.
I cut the basic shapes (nestabilities label 8 - one of my favourites) from Crate paper, distressed the edges with VersaColor ink and layered the shapes.
The saying is printed on embossed paper (words) and embellished with some blings from Kanban. The image is slightly discoloured with Sepia tones and framed with embossed paper. As final touch I stamped the words 'always & forever' from Elzybells around the card onto the background shape.
Just 8 more birthstones to go ... Petra.

Easterly Collage Obsession

This week's theme at Collage Obsession is: Easter with Lynne Merrick being the 'Easterbunny'.

I combined the image with an egg background from the Graphics Fairy and some little cute chicks from Antiques Images
Enjoy your Easter weekend, Petra.

Chocolate Easter Eggs ....

for the Daring Cardmakers ... not a card ... not a Easter basket ..... but Vanilla Easternest Cupcakes with Easter chicks and little Chocolate Easter eggs

Cakes: Vanilla Cupcakes topped with Vanilla Buttercream, Chocolate Easter Eggs
Paper items: plain light brown card cupcakeholder (Sizzix), Mind's Eye patterned paper, linen textured card, chicken images from the Graphics Fairy, little felt flowers

Enjoy, Petra.