Open Theme

.. at Sunday Postcard Art. Well, there is the obvious one ... New Year et all ... and the not so obvious ....
This collage is based on a German song: Wir sind Kinder dieser Erde (we are children of the World) ... we all belong to one world.

This is the last day of 2010. It was tremendously difficult in parts but also full of miracles and adventures. I made so many new friends giving me the opportunity to explore endless possibilities, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate each single one of you
... wishing you a very happy New Year full of happiness and wonderful moments, take care wherever you are and whatever you do, Petra. xx

images used:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/3231320936/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/3109331183/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2674094997/sizes/l/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uw_digital_images/4951162833/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fylkesarkiv/3612844311/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nypl/4055707843/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179058148/sizes/o/in/photostream/
Art-e-ology
http://www.custombackgroundsfortwitter.com/free-backgrounds/xmaslights.jpg
http://www.custombackgroundsfortwitter.com/gallery/category/free/
http://www.dieruebe.at/service/a9757/56
Graphics Fairy

A Little Giveaway

Having been trough all my paper scraps for my Gingersnap paperscrap recycling project it doesn't look as if I have used any paper at all so I thought I bundle it and make it a little paper scraps/ribbon/twine giveaway. If you are interested, just leave me a comment (you don't need to become a follower). I will draw the recipient for the giveaway next week 05 January. Happy crafting and good luck :-), Petra.

Paperscrap Recycling ...

The Once in the Blue Moon challenge at Gingersnap Creations is something special this month: The DT will give you options from which you can choose your favourite project as inspiration for your own creative work. How cool is this?
My project is: how to use your paper scraps. Being a bit of a hoarder when it comes to paper, I cannot really throw anything away keeping even the very slim cut-offs you get when trimming paper for square or rectangular shapes. I am sure you can imagine that my box with paper scraps is rather big (lol). This was now the opportunity to dig into it and do something useful with them.
My plan was to create a card with scraps only ...First I ordered the scraps into colours ... it only took a couple of hours (lol). Once this was done I made a plan of which colour to use for what and started creating
... well, ok, my scraps were not big enough for the card base, I cut it from Elzybells's Kraft card. The next step was to design the background with bigger scraps which preferably would have some printed words. I found some cut-outs from an old book and various bits from some patterned papers and arranged and glued them onto a bigger piece of watercolour paper
Some stitching and distressing of the edges completed the background. Having lots of thin strips of paper I chose the green ones and wove them into a sort of meadow structure whereby some strips are used as flower stems which are also stitched
I cut some leaves and did some stitching and then created some flowers, there is a brilliant tutorial for the flowers here ... I had to adjust it slightly like not cutting the strips into equal width ... I like it better like this (lol)
A little girl (image from Carol Anne) visits the garden to pick some flowers. I had printed both images the girl and butterfly wings (image from the Graphics Fairy) some time ago for another project but never used it. The word sentiment was stamped with a Little-Z stamp and Brilliance ink.
Do you have paper scraps as well? Get them out and start creating .... it is fun, it is cheap and the result will be amazing. Show us what you do with your paper scraps! Petra.

Bleach Stamping and a Little Ornament

Gingersnap Creations focus in December was bleach and how it can be used in crafting. The tutorials from Sharon, Debby and Jo were fabulous and showed just how much fun and how easy it is to use bleach for painting, stamping, .... I finished the bleach series experimenting with different stamps and different cardstock. You find the tutorial here!
Bleach stamping is sooo much fun and it creates effective and sometimes surprise images. I used one of my experimental ones to create a little hanging ornament
The base cardstock is covered with calico which I stamped with French images and Brilliance ink from Clear Choice Stamps ... some sewing aound the edges ... lots of ribbons and fibres at the bottom .... The focal point is the bleached and over-stamped image of a fleur de lis embellished with some gems and layered on some Bazill cardstock. The finishing touch is a little rose I found in my stash.
Happy Crafting! Petra.

Santa is Coming Soon

Just a few more hours .... Petra.x

images: Graphics Fairy, Vintage Catnip, Free Christmas Clipart
linked to: Sunday Postcard Art

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year 2011

Just a few more hours and Christmas Eve will be here.
This is a special time of the year ... family time and time to share with those we love. It brings precious memories, feelings of warmth and happiness, and an air of expectation and joy.

Thank you to all of you for your amazing support and lovely and encouraging comments this year! I've learned so much through all of you and cannot help but feeling tremendously grateful to each one of you. I wish you and your families a warm and peaceful Christmas and a very happy New Year.

*****
Frohe Weihnachten und ein gesundes and glueckliches Neues Jahr.
Petra.

Gingerbread Christmas

What would Christmas be without Gingerbread? Gingerbread (or Lebkuchen in German) as we know it today came originally from Belgium in the 13th Century. It was introduced into Germany through the city of Aachen. Lebkuchen is a traditional little Christmas cake, the ones best known are from the area of Nuernberg. If you would like to read a little bit more about the history, the German Food Guide lists some interesting details.
Lebkuchen come in all sorts of different shapes and disguises including gingerbread men, women and children
These are made of felt from Lupin Handmade, handcut, hand-stitched and embellished with embroidery thread, ribbon and gingham fabric ... unfortunately non-edible ... sigh what a shame ... but the chocolates are (lol). Have a wonderful Christmas, Petra.x

Linked to: City Crafter Challenge
Paper Play Challenges
The Shabby Tea Room

Snow, Pine & Mahogany

The new colour challenge at Gingersnap Creations is Snow, Pine & Mahogany using the colours white, dark green and a deep reddish-brown. My card was inspired by the old Christmas carol: O Tannebaum (O Christmas Tree) ...
The base is a white slightly textured white card.
I layered reddish-brown My Mind's Eye paper, dark green corrugated card from Inspire Me papers and white card.
The white card has been embossed with the Cuttlebug snow flake folder.
For the scenery I used a tree stamp (sorry don't know the company), did some fuzzy cutting and coloured it with chalks and some Icicle Stickles.
The deer image and the musical notes are free clip art from the web, the words printed.
I finished off the card with some dark green organza ribbon from my stash.

For checking out all the other fabulous creations of the Gingersnap DT hop over to the Gingersnap Creations blog and come and join us for the fun, happy crafting, Petra.

Winter Solstice

Today, 21 December at 23:38 Coordinated Universal Time the winter solstice will occur (summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere). It is the day with the longest night of the year and the least daylight. The sun is at its lowest point today. The winter solstice marks the 'rebirth' of the sun and is being celebrated throughout the world.
This little image is based on a graphic from Magic Moonlight Studio Free Images. I altered it digitally and it is my celebration and homage to the change of light. Happy winter solstice, Petra.

Tailor's Dummy as Home Decor

The Home Decor challenge for OLW was quite fun apart from me not having any home decor stamps like lamps, chairs, etc (lol) ... but we have a tailor's dummy in one room of our house for decoration and I have a stamp for it!

Supplies: plain white card, stamps - Creative Expressions and Penny Black, ink - Heyda

Happy crafting, Petra.

Snow Arrival

Finally the snow also arrived here in the South of England. It looks so magical outside but traffic conditions are horrific. Have a wonderful weekend and keep warm and safe, Petra.

Altered Matchbox - inside

Sarah has received her little altered matchbox so I can now reveal what was inside:
some chocolate, a little card and, of course, a little Gingerbreadman (lol)
I took the pattern from a cookie cutter ... he is proudly 3.5 cm tall! He is made of lovely wool felt which I got from Lupin Handmade and handstitched through and throug. Have a lovely afternoon, Petra.

Robins

This is my first ever entry for Sunday Postcard Art. There was never really time to do something but when I saw this weeks theme: Robins, I could not resist. It is a wonderful theme ... I love these little birds, they are so curious and so cute to observe
The cute little robin image is from Vintage Catnip which I underlayed it with a music sheet from Karen, the Graphics Fairy ... the frame is also from Karen's vast collection. Snowflakes, hats and scarfs are from the web. Warm Winter Wishes, Petra.

12 Tags of Christmas - No 5

In German we have a saying: Muehsam ernaehrt sich das Eichhoernchen ... not quite sure about the translation but it means sort of slow progress with something .... and this is how I feel with Tim's tags .. No 5
As usual not a lot I have but I actually quite like how it turned out:
no dabbers - brushed 'normal white acrylic paint along the edges and did not wipe it off completely, I quite like the slightly pinky look
only Tattered Rose as distress ink - used red and burgundy ink from VersaColor
I struggled with the image and then decided to use a free stamp from Craft Stampers.
no holly stamp - substituted it with a stamp from Lavinia
The label is a Nestabilities label and the tissue tape turned into a music ribbon.
For the numbers I found some wooden ones in my stash which I painted acrylic red, then with crackle medium and at last with white. I like the very subtle crackle effects a lot. To make the numbers look a bit more polished I covered them with glossy accents.
The finishing touches are lots of Stickles, a German Scrap flower, the stamped sentiment from Vintage Christmas No 4, ribbons and some little bells. And I linked it to Artyjen's blog ... have a look, these creations are all absolutely fantastic!
Happy crafting, Petra.

A Ginger Gentleman

No, no tag this time but a Ginger Gentleman for the Art 'n' Soul swap. Viv has always the most awesome ideas .... this time she asked us to alter a matchbox:
ALTER A MATCHBOX and PUT A TINY SURPRISE FOR YOUR SWAP PARTNER INSIDE
... did I already mention that I love boxes? (lol)
It is Christmas time and to get in a christmasey mood it is absolutely essential to have some gingerbread at this time of the year ... at least it is for me! Here he comes all dressed up and ready to go out
with papers from October Afternoon, self-adhesive lace, gingerbread stamps from Betty's Creations and Elzybells, ribbon and little bell from my stash and, of course, some glittery accessories.
Oh, and in case you wonder what is in the matchbox ... well, this is a surprise and another post (lol). Have a great weekend, Petra.

12 Tags of Christmas - No 4

I am not quite sure what happened to this tag but it looks a bit like a Christmas Disco (lol)
And I had major problems with the fragment. I have a fragment but I realized that I haven't got any alcohol inks! And I didn't quite like the look when having just some image underneath. I experimented a bit and while searching for a suitable solution, I found three flat transparent buttons ... together with some star stickers and white paper underneath they might have done the trick.
The bling ornaments were also missing from my stash, so I made them up myself but might have slightly overdone it.
When I looked a last time at the tag, I thought the Santa (paper from Crafty Individuals) looked a bit pale, so the Santa was glossed over (LOL). The ticket is a freebie from Miss Cutiepie ... a very blingy and glossy tag this time, happy crafting, Petra.

----
Linked to Artyjen's blog where you can find the most amazing tag creations!

12 Tags of Christmas - No 3

The next one ... which was not too bad considering that I only had to substitute a couple of items (lol)
My tags are slighly smaller than Tim's so it all looks a bit busier but I quite like it this way. This is my process for creating the tag:
stamping the branch ... don't have one so I just used a swirl from Artemio
distressing the outside of the tag ... I only have the bundled sage distress ink, the second green ink layer is from VersaColor
the bird ... I have neither grungeboard nor tissue tape. I chose quite thick cardboard, painted it white with acrylic paint and left it to dry. I cut two different napkins into stripes and attached them to the cardboard with Decopatch glue. No distress ink and no rock candy stickles ... I substituted them with red VersaColor ink and Frsoted Lace stickles. The bird is distressed with tea dye distress ink around the edges.
For the nest I found some leftover woollen fibres.
The lace and glitter trim is from Webster's.
For the flower I folded five old book page circles where the edges had been cut with pinking scissors and distress with tea dye. The brad in the centre of the flower is from K&Company.
And last the Christmas Post image is from Artchix Studio, I attached to some leftover from the embellished bird cardboard.
Will link this to Artyjen's blog, pop over ... there are some stunning tags on display. Have a great evening, stay warm, Petra.

Christmas Shopping ATCs

The November swap over at Addicted to ATCs fitted very nicely to the season: Shop 'til you drop. I must admit I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet ... it's probably getting time (lol) ... but I got a little bit into the mood by creating three Christmas Shopping ATCs
The background paper for all three of them is from Papermania, the little holly dots red glitter (sorry, not very visible). The three figures come from the Graphics Fairy, Marie's Freebies and Magic Moonlight free images. I added some ribbon and a little bling from my stash and a printed sentiment to each of the ATCs.
Next month's theme is: Calendar. Why not join us over at Addicted to ATCs? Petra.

Snow and Ice and White Glitter

The new Spicy Supply Challenge at Gingersnap Creations is all about celebrating the winter elements: White Glitter
As soon as I saw the digital snowman stamp from Sassy Cheryl I fell in love with it. It is so cute. And I also knew that it would take centre stage for a little ornament or tag. I printed the image, cut it out, coloured all non-snow bits in bright red and glittered the rest with white glitter.
The scalloped frame is cut from corrugated white card and glittered with white glitter flakes around the inside edge. The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket. A bit of red glitter on the inside of the corrugated frame gives it a bit more definition. The last bit to add was the baker's
twine .... and to try and remove all the glitter from my craft table and myself (lol).
Make sure you stop over at the Gingersnap blog to see all the fantastic glittery creations and to join in for some glittery fun, happy crafting, Petra.

12 Days of Christmas - No 2

I know I know I am hopelessly behind ... but there is so much to improvise (lol)!
The basic inking didn't go quite as planned, the ink left big blops on the tag which I smoothed out using chalks. No cut 'n dry felt meant no custom-made ink pad ... instead I stamped the trees (Crafty Individuals) with different colours slightly overlapping. Having used distress inks for the stamping at first the embossing didn't work ... the ink tried too quickly so I stamped the images a second time with watermark ink
I quite like the effect the embossing had ... it looks a bit like real conifer foliage. The swirls and the sentiment are stamped with Artemio stamps and distress ink. The sentiment was the biggest I could find but was still a bit on the small side so I decided just to add some more embellishments by doing some fuzzy cutting with little birds and a squirrel. The finishing touch are some ribbons from my stash and some conifer foliage from conifers in the garden.
Link this to Artyjen's Blog. Now off to the next tag (lol), Petra.

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

Today on 6th of December lots of children will celebrate St Nikolaus day. In many families the preparations for this day start the night before on St Nikolaus eve ... the children polish their shoes or have some ready made red shoes and put them outside the front door ... because St Nikolaus comes over night and leaves something in their shoes ... for children who have been good during the year, he leaves something nice and sweet. If the children haven't been good, St Nikolaus will just leave them a few twigs.
Sometimes a disguised Sankt Nikolaus will also come home to the children carrying a big sack full of goodies and very often accompanied by his helper Knecht Ruprecht (his servant). Knecht Ruprecht carries a long stick and an empty bag ... as encouragement for naughty children to be good!
If you want to read more about St Nikolaus, pop over to the Gingersnap Creations blog. You will find a wonderfull story narrated in pieces of artwork and words. You might now ask where my part is in this ... Well, because I am absolutely sure that we all have been very good, I made a little St Nikolaus sack filled with oranges, biscuits, chocolate and nuts to celebrate this special day
The sack is made of burlap lined with red/white gingham cotton fabric. The lining is handsewn onto the burlap with embroidery thread. For the embellishment I cut two felt stars which are stitched onto the burlap. The image in the centre of the stars is from Karen, the Graphics Fairy. Karen has an incredible collection of graphics especially for Christmas. I cut the image, sealed it with Decopatch Glue and embellished it with a little bell and some red glitter. The sack is closed with braided string

To make sure that the sack is picked up by the right person I added a little tag. The St Nikolaus comes from Karen and the frame from Vintage Catnip. I did some colouring inside the frame

As I felt a bit reluctant to punch a whole in this lovely frame I backed the tag with a second image from the Graphics Fairy which created a bit of a bauble like shape at the top

And, of course, there is also a back to this 'bauble' tag which you can find here ... I altered it slightly so that it works for today on St Nikolaus

Please feel free to use any of the images for the tag. Have a great day and I would love to hear from you if St Nikolaus has also come to your house ... Petra.

12 Tags of Christmas - No 1

This is the first year that I will attempt to make at least some of the 12 tags of Christmas as shown on the Tim Holtz' blog. Not having a lot of his products it is all about improvising and finding a different way of achieving 'the look'. I find it difficult, though, to use his designs but I've definitely learned already a lot! So, here is the first tag
For the background I used a mix of Distress ink and ink from VersaColour to get a good colour mix. Some little stars are stamped and embossed on the background. The edges are distressed with Distress ink.
For the house I embossed plain white card with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, coloured it with Distress ink and cut it into a house shape. The template for the house is from Stempeleinmaleins. Windows are dressed with clear vellum and little curtains, the door with patterned paper. The fence is part of the bird cage die cut from white corrugated card.
For the tree floristry wire became very handy .... it was pink so I coloured it with brown ink. The flower embellishments are haberdashery ones.
As finishing touch I added lots of snow (white acrylic paint) and LOTS of white glitter and a little star charm. Oh, and if you wonder about the '24' ... I thought I make it continental (lol) ....

This post is linked to Artyjen's blog. She has organised a: T!m's Splinter Group Linkie for everybody who would like their T!m's tags. It is not a competition, it is just for fun ... even if you don't have anything to link up, you might want to have a look. The tags are absolutely fantastic!
Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon, Petra.

Bundle Up for the Great White North

How could Ali and Shar know about the very early winter with snow and cold temperatures here in England when they chose this month's Gingersnap challenge theme: Bundle Up for the Great White North? It fits so perfect to the current weather conditions, just amazing .... I must admit I love winter and I love snow ... everything just looks magical when dusted with snow. My children love it too and the first thing when they were small was to go out and make a snowman. And this is what the first challenge of this month is all about over at Gingersnap Creations: Snowpeople.
The background is made of My Mind's Eye paper and plain white card which are both embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folders. The little winter friend is a free digital snowman image. He looked a bit cold ... well, I was not too surprised ... so I made him a hat, a scarf and some gloves from felt which are embellished with some Stickles. The nose is paper pieced and the little 'coal' pieces down his front are little fasteners. The sentiment is an Elzybells stamp.
There are many more amazing snowpeople to see over at the Gingersnap Creations blog. Come and join us, Petra.

Cold Nose ... Warm Heart

The last days it has been bitterly cold here in the South of England .... nothing compared to all the snow and low temperatures further up North but still quite unusual for this time of the year. It is definitely the time of cold noses and fingers ... which does not mean that you cannot have fun doing some skiing and ice-skating, having some snowball fights or just snuggle up in front of a nice fire
This little image of some children doing ice-skating comes from the Graphics Fairy. Karen has the most wonderful collection of graphics. It is so sweet and I couldn't resist turning it into a little winter card using a sketch from the Stempeleinmaleins Team. Petra.