Tea Party Invitation

What would be a tea party without cakes? Celeste Amberglow from Pollycraft is the cake baker for this event .... such a yummy chocolate cupcake (lol)

 

Supplies:

image:  Pollycraft coloured with Copics - 

paper: free magazine paper (Crafts Beautiful), kraft card, Bazill Basics - 

stamp: Elzybells - Nestabilities shapes, Mulberry flowers, pearls

For more inspiration just pop over to the Cheerful Stamp Pad. Hope you can join the challenge! Petra.

Lady Snow White

Here she is in her ballgown with frillies and pearls waiting for her Prince

 

 Vanilla Sponge, strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream

And now as all the cakes are done, I can go back to crafting (lol), have a lovely weekend Petra.

Photos

I don't have a lot of time for crafting at the moment ... I am in cake mode again (another Snow White cake) but I tought I share some more photos with you which I took in London last weekend. If you have any use of such images in your art, please feel free to use them Wishing you a lovely Thursday, Petra.

Time for Tea with the Queen

in the garden with this lovely Lady from Pollycraft: Cherry Kisses Tea in the 20's ... and just in case you wonder about the strange shadows in the photo ... they were taken in the garden during some wonderful sunny moments!

Supplies:

image: Pollycraft (Cherry Kisses from the 1920s) - stamps: Artistic Outpost

paper: ivory card, Papermania - colouring: Copics

Mulberry flowers, handbag charm, pearl, Nestabilities, ribbon

some stitching

The inspiration for this card came from Jane who makes the most fabulous cards with Pollycraft images and others, thank you Jane! I covered some square ivory cardstock with Papermania paper and added some nestabilities stamp and square shapes, the sentiment is stamped on Papermania paper and machine stitching around the edge. The Lady is coloured with Copics, has a wonderful stylish handbag and is put on foam pads so that she has a bit of a raised position to have a better view of the Queen during the Afternoon tea (lol). Mulberry flowers and a little pearl complement the the tea time in the garden!

Hope you can join us for the Cheerful Stamp Pad challenge: Time for the Queen's Tea, Petra.

Linked to: Crafty Frineds Challenge  - use two die cuts

Back from London

Hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was interesting to say the least. London and Marathon always make for exciting times. I created two little collages to share with you some moments. Important news first: Mr P finished the London Marathon in a time he is happy with (4 hrs 45 min), he can still walk and now goes for a swim!!!! And I am very proud of him but told not to do it again (lol)

 

There was lot of time to have a look around London on Saturday and Sunday, I took a few photos of London being always amazed by the many different faces of the city - this time sunny happy smiley ones, Petra.

Just A Hint of Pink

... for the current City Crafter Challenge. This was a brilliant starting point for a little card I made for my friend

 

The card is A7 format. I layered it with a digital texture background from Vintage Findings and stamped it with images from Waltzing Mouse and Elzybells. The wonderfully pinky heart is stamped twice - once directly on the card and a second time on white card. I coloured the heart with Copics, cut it out and added it with foam pads to give it a bit more depth. 

I will be offline for the weekend as we go to London for the London Marathon (no no no it will not be me running (lol) ), my DH will be running the London Marathon - I am not sure if I should call this brave or mad. Only hope the weather will be ok, see you after the run, have a lovely weekend, Petra.

Linked to: City Crafter Challenge - Just a hint of pink

Postcard Butterflies

This is my postcard for our KindredSpririt postcard swap organised by Jules

Oh, it is so difficult to make a one-layer-card because it is so tempting to add a little bit of bling here, a little button there (lol) ... this time I managed to restrain myself and do without add-ons and it was good fun, I basically inked it all up: the background is brushed distress ink 'Stormy Sky' stencilled with distress ink 'Faded Jeans' using a Tattered Angel stencil. The stamped images are all from various stamp sets from Tim Holtz/Stamper Anonymous. And at last I dabbed a little bit of various acrylic inks around the corners. 

The postcard will be posted tomorrow and I hope the recipient likes it, Petra.

Linked to: Craft-Room challenge - Ink it
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

Spring Flowers

I haven't made a tag for Tag Tuesday for AGES ... but with the theme being Spring Flowers this week I just had to

 

The base of the tag is some gorgeous flowery wrapping paper which I found in one of my drawers when tidying up (sometimes tidying up is useful (lol)). I stamped it with a Prima Marketing stamp and distress ink 'Peeled' Paint' and machine-stitched around the edges.  The base is layered with some lace, the little Spring label also from the wrapping paper stitched on some fabric and a gorgeous little image from the Graphics Fairy.

The final touches are a little Stickles glitter and a cloth ribbon which I stamped with the same Prima Marketing stamp - Petra.

Queen of Hearts

This piece, a little tag, is for the second week of Vicki's challenge: From The Past. I used another great image from the challenge's sponsor Altered pages: Pretty Petticoats. The Lady seems to be enjoying herself (lol)

 

The background is created using four vintage playing cards from a digital sheet from Two Peas in a Bucket and then overstamped with a Stampers Anonymous playing card stamp. Some of the hearts and the number '13' are coloured with a gel glitter pen. The Lady is cut out and wears a little handcut crown with a wonderful blingy jewel (lol), the crown is alo coloured with a red glitter pen. The sentiment is printed and layered on the tag. 

For more inspiration visit the Cheerful Stamp Pad blog and I hope you can join us! Petra.

Altered Torso

... with an inky, stencilled and stamped background and lots and lots of circles and Stickles as dress-up! I created the altered torso for the Art 'n' Soul Torso swap over at Flickr: You could dress it in clothes and accessories. Or use it as a base for collage, stamping, mixed media, whatever you fancy - in any medium you want from fabric to metal to paint. 100% digital excluded. The challenge was set by Deb who has the most wonderful ideas when it comes to challenges, thank you so much.
What to do, what theme to choose for the torso ... I wanted the colours a little bit like Spring or even a bit summary and decided to have a pinky-summer roses colour scheme. I cut the torso base from white card (about 18cm tall) and brushed it with distress ink 'Tattered Rose'. For the first time I used a rough brush, and I quite like that it gives a bit of a pattern/texture to the background. Once the base was covered with ink I stencilled a rhomb pattern (stencil: TCW) with distress ink 'Fired Brick'. To finish the base I stamped various images using a hybrid ink 'Strawberry Fool' (stamps: Stamper Anonymous, Kaisercraft)

 

Now the base was ready to be decorated - Summer dress in 'girlie' colours and rose pattern - this is the front and the back of the torso

I cut lots and lots of circles using Quickutz Circle dies from Crate Paper, positioned them, glued them to the torso and filled the gaps with Stickles. The finishing touches are a little paper flower and a little pearl necklace (lol). 

The sad part of this swap is that this is the last one, the group will be closed. This is absolutely sad, it was the first ever swap I did and it felt so much like home. I will miss the swaps with all the talented and inspiring Ladies in the group. A big thank you to Viv who has been the soul and inspiration behind the group all along! Petra.

Linked to: Unruly PaperArts - inky backgrounds
stamps & fun=Creativity - butterflies
Totally Papercrafts - things with wings 
One Stop Craft Challenge - colour inspiration and die cut
 

Let's Play

... a badminton match ... and the winner is: the birthday girl (lol), Petra.

 

a gluten free birthday with vanilla sponge, strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream

The Past ....

 A beautiful Flower Maiden dreaming of ... well, who knows ....

I started this little project with a plain wooden disk which I treated with gesso, several layers of distress stains and Perfect Pearls being inspired by Paula from One Lucky Day ... front and back

The image of the Flower Maiden is from a digital sheet from the Altered Pages: Flower Maidens. I cut it with Nestabilitiesand glued it to the disk with Glossy Accents, a sprinkle of dark red acrylic paint complemented the design. As last embellishment I added microbeads (lots of them) around the edge and everywhere else on the dining room table (lol) using Glossy Accents. To seal the image I covered it all with Glossy Accents - and this is where it all went wrong ...

It was the first time Glossy Accents let me down because as soon I had covered the surface, little and not so little air bubbles began to emergewhich I was not able to remove - panic! Somehow I was able to remove almost all of the glue and replace it with Diamond Glaze which worked absolutely fine. I would be grateful if any of you would maybe know why this happened???????

To finish my little piece I covered the back with felt and added a brooch needle.

If you would like to see more wonderful projects from the past, just hop over to the Cheerful Stamp Pad and join us! The current challenge is sponsored by Altered Pages and you might be the Lucky one! Petra.

Sponging Spectacular & Sponged Background

... for UPA: I don't seem to be able to get away from using the Union Jack (lol) but have to admit I really like the design of the flag and I have a fabulous stencil for it - so I have to use it! The background of the card is sponged with distress inks on a lightly textured ivory card - if you like it, please feel free to use the background in your art

I used the background to create a A6 card. The stamps are from Artistic Outpost and Betty's Creations. The crown was cut out, colouring with golden gel pen and embellished with some blings. Petra.

Linked to: Unruly PaperArts

Friendly Plastic and Cake

You might think that friendly plastic and cake do not go together ... well, I went to a friendly plastic yesterday at the CraftBarn. Our wonderful teacher was Liz Welch - such a talented and so inspiring lady ... it was definitely a revelation! I wanted to play with friendly plastic for a long time but never got around doing it. I had no idea how versatile and non-wasty friendly plastic is. We had lots of time to learn and to play during the workshop

 

My favourite technique was ouzing that is incorporating different materials (blings, pearls, ribbon, lace, ..., the possibilities are endless)  into the friendly plastic. I love the effects

 

Now, what has this got to do with cakes. well, a very friendly lady brought some cupcakes to the workshop, you know for topping up our energy levels (lol). The last cupcakes I made were for work last Thursday: Strawberry cheesecake with a little hint of Easter ... and I realised

 that chicks can also be green (lol) - Happy Easter, Petra.

Sketchy Birthday

This is a little birthday card I made for my daughter using the current s'Sketches sketch

Supplies:

paper: A6 white card, The Girls' Paperie 

stamps: Lily of the Valley, Wild Rose Studio, Penny Black

Nestabilities, Stickles, felt, button, thread, ribbon, blings

Have a lovely Easter weekend, Petra.

Easter Baskets

I am still in Easter mode making the last cards and boxes for Easter treats. For the 'Anything Goes' challenge at the Cheerful Stampd Pad I created some egg-shaped Easter baskets

 

Supplies: white card, Waltzing Mouse stamps and Nestabilities

If you would like to know how I made these baskets, here is how it goes:

First stamp the egg patterns on white card choosing any ink and colour you like (I used distress inks). Cut the egg image with the egg-shaped Nestabilities. I also used a smalled Nestabilities shape to cut out the handles - this will give some more little eggs you can use for further decorations (lol)

This is now a good time to decorate the egg shapes to your heart's content. I just added a sentiment (Waltzing Mouse stamp).
Naturally you need two egg shapes and one paper strip for the basket. I cut 5.5cm x 15cm paper strips in matching colours. I folded each long side of the paper strip (width: 0.75cm) and made little cuts into the sides so that the paper strips would take smoothly the shape of the eggs. The more cuts you make, the smoother will be the shaping of the strip.

 Take two egg shapes and a paper strip and glue them together with tacky glue

All what is now left is filling the basket (lol), Petra.

Linked to:   
Addicted-To-Stamps Challenge
Card Crafter's Circle 
Totally Paper Crafts Friday Challenges

Cake Weekend and some News

 This weekend was a baking weekend with lots of little cakes

 

Orange-Almond

   

Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

  

Chocolate Sponge filled with Chocolate Ganache and topped with the first Strawberries  - yummy!

And the news are: a little while ago a lady from a Finnish University approached me asking whether they could use the image of one of my little projects for a children's project. In Minh's words: a project to develop a service for a National Park. Our service is about guiding children to make craftwork with all the materials they can find in the forest. 

Such a project is very close to my heart, it is really lovely and I feel truly honoured having been asked for this contribution. Have a lovely week, Petra.