Peridot ...

... the Birthstone of August and the challenge theme at the Daring Cardmakers. The colour of the peridot can range from lime, yellowish green, olive green to medium dark green.
I must admit this is just a quick make ... nothing sophisticated, no stamping just some pretty papers, stickers and die cuts from K&Company and an image from the Graphics Fairy. The blings are from Kanban and the flowers from my stash.
Now there are only 4 months to go before the birthstone challenge will finish. I am really looking forward to bind all the birthstone cards into a little book, a wall hanging, .....
Happy crafting, Petra.

Red Ruby

I love red especially when it is as deep red as the red of the ruby. The ruby is this month's birthstone challenge at the Daring Cardmakers. I used lots of reds but tried to compensate by keeping the design and design elements relatively simple
The papers are gcd studios, the stamps Stampers Anonymous. Petra.

Pearls

... the June's birthstone .... it is incredible but almost half of this year is already gone, time really flies! This month the pearl is the traditional birthstone
The pearl is also considered to be the birthstone for Gemini, the sign of the Twins in astrological terms

The background paper is from Art Freebies printed on canvas textured white card. I found the image of the pearl lady at Magic Moonlight Free Images. Petra.

Birthstone May

.. is the Emerald. I adore the deep green colour of the stone
and as it is still the beginning of May the current challenge from the Darin Cardmakers is inspired by this month's birthstone
The Emerald is not only the May birthstone but apparently also the traditional gift for any wedding anniversary .... The beautiful image of the couple is from Magic Moonlight Free Images, I printed it on soft slightly textured paper and tore it. The wonderful rose bouquet and the background writing is courtesy from the amazing collection of the Graphics Fairy .... I did some fuzzy cutting to the roses to make it fit. 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

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.

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.

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.

February Birthstone

The Daring Cardmakers challenge is about this month's birthstone - the Amethyst, a stone whose coloura are pale lilac through to a rich deep purple
As for the January challenge I created two individual cards, one with the birthstone poem and a second one which reflect some of the properties associated with the stone: sincerety and peace of mind

The wonderful peaceful image comes from Shabby chic papirskatter which I tinted in a very subtle purple/lilac colour. The paper is by DCWV 'Once upon a time'. Petra.

School Days

Soon school starts again in New Zealand. To celebrate the start of a new school term the challenge at the Daring Cardmakers is: Schooldays. And, oh dear, I really struggled. It is the first card after quite a break from cardmaking (exactly 8 days! (lol)), it is not a theme I would naturally choose and it all did not fit together :-( but I gave it a try

Supplies:
papers - plain red, blue and white card, BasicGrey
image - Graphics Fairy
ribbon/embellishment - from my stash
nestabilities - label8

The card shape was cut with Nestabilities 'Label 8'. The image is from the wonderful collection of the Graphics Fairy, I slightly altered the colour and the transparency of the image before printing it onto patterend paper.

I wish all children and teachers a good start to the new school term, Petra.

Digital Frogs and Pointy Stars

Each week 'Digital Two For Tuesday' posts two digi stamp images. The from the last challenge images (flowers and frogs) are from an old children's book. The one which 'tickled' me most was the one with the little dancing frogs. Although I am not a frog person (lol), I think they are rather sweet

Supplies:
plain white A6 card
paper - BaiscGrey, plain white card
stamps - digi stamps 'Digital Two For Tuesday', Elzybells
ink - Heine
colouring - Koh-i-noors with OMS, Copics, Sakura
ribbons - from my stash

I started with the initial digital frog image thinking it would be nice to emphasize a bit more the frogs by cutting out a second 'frog' layer. But once I had started to cut, I couldn't stop myself (lol). The moon circle turned into a sentiment circle and I also added some shiny and pointy stamped stars to the scene which fitted nicely with the Daring Crdmakers challenge of 'What's the Point'. Petra.

Brown and Turquoise ...

... and a Hole in One - the combination of Sketchy Colors and Daring Cardmakers,
(Sorry for the not so good quality of the photos. Unfortunately the turquoise turned more into blue on the photos :-( ), Petra.

Supplies:
papers - chocolate brown card from Elzybells, plain cream paper
nestabilities square and square scallops, Quickutz circle
stamps - Studio g
ink - Elzybells
ribbon - from my stash
bling/flowers - Artemio

January Birthstone

The Daring Cardmakers started a monthly birthstone challenge whereby the first Dare of each month throughout 2010 will be to make cards featuring the birthstone of this month. The birthstone for January is the Garnet

I love the idea of running a challenge throughout the year. And the more I thought about it the more intrigued I felt by the idea of collecting all the birthstone cards and collate them at the end of the year, make them into a little booklet or something. Here is my first card(s)

I created two individual cards, one with the birthstone poem and a second with the embellishments. The patterend paper is by DCWV 'Once upon a time'. I found the images on The Graphics Fairy website. I did some fuzzy cutting to be able to use them together. The edges of the shapes and the images are distressed with VersaColor. Petra.

A Pair of Dotty Spotty Birthdays

... in 5"x5" format. For the Daring Cardmakers challenge it was 'going dotty' (polka-dots) and the Cupcake Craft challenge team asked for a 5"x5" birthday card. No Christmas theme! I quite enjoy the break from making Christmas cards and I had a request for some easy and simple birthday cards. This just fitted in nicely. And as I prepared the first card somehow a second one sneaked in, so the cards come in a pair

Supplies: papers - BasicGrey, Marieke Vermeulen; stamps - Sugar and Spice; ink - Heine; printed sentiment; foam pads; Stickles 'Xmas Red' and 'Frosted Lace'; nestabilities - squares


Supplies: papers - BasicGrey, Marieke Vermeulen; stamps - digi stamp from Stretch N'Bubbles; printed sentiment; nestabilities - squares; quickutz - circle, scallop circle; flower punch; bling - Kanban; little bow/hat needle - from my stash

Have a nice dotty spotty evening, Petra.

Sepia Thank You

Although I really love Sepia especially when looking at old photographs which have this lovely colour shade and look used and worn it was tricky to go along with the Daring Cardmaker's challenge: Say it in "Sepia". It already started with the papers ......

Supplies:
papers - from my stash, plain burgundy card, K&Company
stamp - Hero Arts
ink - VersaColor
ribbon - from my stash
Stckles 'Cinnamon'
foam pads

Somehow it didn't turn into a card but it sort of fell in place as a little hanging. I also contrasted the Sepia with the Burgundy - a colour combination I like a lot.
Petra.