Transportation & Bling Challenges

Hello dear crafters,

Welcome back to some more card peojects of mine: this time I'm participating in more SSS challenges!! 

For my Aussie friends who enjoy lots of sun at the moment Down Under I've created 2 fun summer surf cards by piecing lots of paper together:

And here is a creation for the European winter season:

Lot's of sparkle makes this card really festive! For the background I used a stencil with clear embossing paste on black cardstock & when that was dry I filled in the rest with liquified gold perfect pearls! The dots on the bottom are from fabric tape (I love the material mix), the mose is paper pieced & the sentiment is heat embossed in gold on white vellum. I love how Santa's 'means of transportation' has turned out here!! Perfect for the 'Transport It Challenge' by Simon Says Stamp. 

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/

I think this card actually also meets the requirements of another SSS Wednesday Challenge: 'Bling It On' :-)

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

Thanks so much for stopping by & I hope to see you here again soon!

Yours,

Steph

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist Challenge

Hello dear readers,

I'm back with another creation: This time it's a very posh, golden card created from a tag.

Believe it or not, I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's tag (you can see it on the Ellen Hudson's 12 Tags of Christmas page here). I know my tag/card looks completely different, but I swear, I watched Jennifer's video and went straight away to my crafting table and this came out:

As you can see, tons of golden embossing powder (I guess I need a new jar soon after this project), second generation stamping with this lovely scripty background stamp (to make my black ink look a little more grayish - I don't have gray ink...). I have colored my tag completely black (it was originally of a cream color) and heat embossed the ring around the hole, as well as the sentiment, in gold. To finish the card, I added some natural twine (folded it a few times to get more strings) and looped it through the hole in my tag.

And of course the tag is raised up a little with dimensional adhesive to be the center point of the card!

Btw: I totally cheated with the card stock here! I don't have a die cut machine, so I bought this intricate butterfly cream color cardstock, and just dipped it all in gold embossing powder. To 'pop' it up from the cream colored back of the card, I just lined the whole card base with black card stock. I think it looks great!

I hope you like this posh new creation of mine - see you soon!
Steph

'Cards' & 'White' & 'Christmas' Challenge

Hello dear crafters,

Welcome back to 3 more wintery creations of mine for another SSS Monday Challenge:

My first project is for true cat lovers:

this sweet kitten is peeking through a round hole in the card on to a gold heat-embossed mouse sitting on a parcel!

I am in love with this card!!

I've colored the cat just like my own with black patches on the cute face & back and with a black striped tail. For a little extra 'bling' I've added some tiny silver gemstones on the parcel. And the background is heat embossed in white on blue card stock (this card stock has a subtle pattern, that's why it doesn't look 100% uniform here). I thought it needed a bit more contrast, so I embossed the mouse on black card stock for the inside.

 

 

Another attempt to create a shaker card:

I found this amazing patterned paper (this feels as if it is heat embossed itself) and covered the whole front of my card with it.

For the shaking part I simply added some black cardstock at the back (for extra contrast) and filled in the shaker with white & see-through sparkly sequins. The 'Happy' is heat embossed in white and the 'Christmas' is stamped in black and clear heat embossed. I think this card is a little more non-traditional for the holidays but I like it nevertheless.

 

 

One of my favorites:

I wanted to use this really summary stamp set with the 70's van & create a very plain yet interesting wintery card with it - here we go! =o)

I've paper-pieced the van from all sorts of different card stocks, colored the windows in light blue and added tons of glossy accents to them to make them look like proper windows.

The tree is stamped in green on patterned paper too and I've added some white dots with a gel pen. To give this rather simple card some extra interest, I have actually sewn this tree on :-D

Some shading with water colors finish off this card.

The intention was to keep this card mostly white & I have placed the image & the sentiment purposefully not in the center of the card, just to give it some more interest.

Because it is so white & with 2 white card stock panel stuck on top of each other with foam adhesive, I think it also fits very well to the new Lawnscaping "white on white" challenge (although it has a splash of colors for the van, but I think it still counts).

 

 

 

I hope you like my creations!

Until next time - saludos, Steph

 



 

 

P.S.: All 3 cards above are picked & combined here specifically to match yet another challenge: The new Curtain Call 'Clearly Christmas' Challenge (which I admittedly just stumbled over when looking at Winnie & Walter's blog) =D



Anything Goes - Holidays & Clearly Christmas Challenge

Hi again,

As mentioned in my earlier posts I have been quite busy with crafting lately (trying to avoid the last minute card-making stress before the holidays).

Please have a look at a few of my new creations here:

Gold, gold, gold..!!

This background is so shiny, I just love it!

 

I used peacock feathers Distress ink for the background and sprayed some water (with Perfect Pearls in it) over it to make it super shiny & to give it some interest & texture. The lacy stamp and the sentiment are both heat embossed in gold. And finally, I've colored this adorable little puppy with watercolor and added "seafoam" embossing powder to its scarf and hat. Some sparkly gemstones make this card look truly posh I find!

I love this cute stamp set from Lawnfawn with the bunnies, I think it's just incredibly sweet!
For this card I have created a background with Distress inks. But before that, I heat embossed the sentiment, the trees and the snowflakes in white, so that they resist the inks. The little bunny is colored with pencils and added with dimensional adhesives to give this card some depth. Of course the glossy accents on its ears is a must! :-D
BTW: I dedicate this card also to the new Curtain Call 'Clearly Christmas' Challenge! Have a look at the theme:



This card was an experiment for me. I wanted to use lots of patterned paper, but because I don't have proper colored card stock, but only this really thin origami paper, this turned out to be a little tricky. Nevertheless, I think it looks very sweet with the ice fully covered in glossy accents for some extra shine (as well as the cheeks and teeth of the walrus) and the banner is stuck with dimensional adhesives to give it some extra dimension.
Although I probably should have made the ice from white card stock I think the playing with papers was worth a try.

I hope you all like my crafty Christmas output & thank you very much for spending time with me.

Until next time.

Ciao,

Steph

P.S.: I am participating at the SSS Wednesday Challenge with my 3 creations above.

Caring Hearts Card Drive

Here I am once again,

I just wanted to let you know that the ´Caring Hearts Card Drive´ is in its final days!
I´ve made sure I submitted my contribution a while ago to ensure it will reach the US on time (and presume they are all there by now).

There are 8 cards in total I´ve created for this good cause. Unfortunately I can´t share them with you in detail because I completely forgot to take photos of them individually before mailing them, but at least I´ve taken a photo of the whole pile =o)

Send yours quickly - deadline is November 28!
Saludos,

Steph

SSS ´Thank You´ Wednesday Challenge

Hello again,

 

As promised, I will share another project with you straight away:

I rented a 70s campervan for my summer holidays, and in order to express my special thanks to the lovely owners, I wanted to create an extra-special thank-you-card.

Have a look:

 

 

I must say I´m actually quite proud of the background I´ve created here, because this was the first time I used embossing paste! Actually, ´translucent´ embossing paste (on white watercolor cardstock). I´ve used distress inks for the background and made sure not to blend them too much because I didn´t want the background to be too distracting (compared to the quite flashy 70´s van). I heat embossed the van on colored cardstock (I think this orange looks almost like an original from the 70s haha).

 

To finish the card and to round it all up I´ve heat embossed the sentiment in white on blue vellum.

 

I really like my creation, and especially for one particular reason: The van owner was so happy when she received this card fully unexpectedly & in the end that´s what makes me extra happy!

 

I hope you like this project as much as I do & if you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

 

And: This project is specifically dedicated to the latest SSS Wednesday ´Thank you´ challenge: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

 

See you soon all!

Saludos,

Steph

 

 

 

 

A very special birthday: 102!!

Hello dear readers,

Apologies for keeping you wait, but I have been crafting a lot recently and only now found the time to get to note it all down & to share it with you.

But here we go, no more wait:
The first project I want to share with you is a very special card for my dear neighbor, who just recently celebrated his 102nd (!) birthday! I am really not kidding here!

Thankfully I can make cards on my own, because, hey, have you ever tried to find a card for a 102nd birthday in a shop?? IMPOSSIBLE!! =o)

Have a look at my creation:

 

I used this lovely handwritten stamp for the background & toned down the black ink a little with a piece of vellum. The lacy image is stamped with Versamark ink & colored with perfect pearls on red cardstock. The number 102 is heat embossed in white and raised with tons of glossy accents (also the sentiment by the way)!

Although it looks a little pink on the picture here, the cardstock is really more of a warm light red & together with the vellum a really fitting combination for a masculine card in my view.
My neighbor was very happy about the card and that´s all that matters to me =D

I thought this project is perfectly fitting to the latest ´count me in´ Lawnscaping challenge, and you can find their blog here: http://lawnscaping.blogspot.com


I hope you like my creation and will stop by again soon.
Until then!
Steph

Ornament

Hello dear crafters,

Today I have another creation of mine to introduce you to:
A gorgeous ornament! It's all created by clear embossing this nice big background stamp on black card stock. Then I've filled the gaps with liquefied perfect pearls in 3 colors (pearls, blue and purple). The shine it gives is unbelievable! =D

Extremely simple this time, and some nice patterned paper, blue vellum and some Washi tape complete my project!

Of course this is yet again for a SSS Monday Challenge "Ornaments".
Thanks for stopping by and for your interest in my crafts!
And as always, if you have any questions on my projects please don't hesitate to contact me.

Until next time,
Yours Steph


Link: SSS Monday Challenge

SSS 'Thinking of You' Challenge

Hello dear crafters!

Today I have a special card to share with you:

I've cut out this 3D folding up heart from white card stock for the inside & covered up the heart with patterned paper. To match the inside with the outside I've cut another heart from the same patterned paper & stuck it to the front with dimensional adhesive (and added a small ribbon & bow). The black card stock gives great contrast.
To add a little detail I've heat embossed the 2 cute birds in gold on the front as well as the very back of the card.

It's pretty rare that I have some sort of detail on each and every side of a card & I must say I'm quite proud of myself.

Hope you like it & thanks for stopping by!
See you next time,
Steph

Of course this card is linked to a challenge: SSS Wednesday Challenge

SSS Wednesday Challenge Link

"Get Crafty and use Craft" SSS Wednesday Challenge

Hello dear crafters,

I must admit, I hardly ever work with craft (paper). I'm not actually sure why, but I think it's because I've only bought a tiny stash of craft once ,and while I love the look of it, it's rather thin.... And I guess I'm reluctant to use it because I only have some 5 sheets or so.

Nevertheless, when I saw the "get crafty and use craft" challenge from SSS I thought it's time to dig out those tiny sheets of craft I have and  get crafty - and I love the result! =o)

I find this bunny from Lawnfawn is so cute as well as the trees (they are 2 different stamp sets), and I think it's so quick and easy to create a nice forest scene with these sets.

So this is how I made the card:

• I used a background stamp & clear embossed the black card stock (to give some interest on the back as my front panel is a little odd in size (on purpose).
• I stamped all images (bunny, scarf, trees) on craft paper
• I used a stencil and applied white pigment ink with a sponge dauber (don't touch this and let it dry for a looooong time, this white ink needs plenty of time!)
• I found some great white and soft blue patterned paper and stamped some snow flakes with Versamark ink & then white heat embossed them.
• I stamped the sentiment with Peacock Feathers Distress ink & applied some clear embossing powder (this ink stays wet for a while)
• To finish it all I've stuck it all together with dimensional adhesive, added a wink of stellar on the scarf, trees & snowflakes, applied some glossy accents on the scarf and there you go.

EASY! =o)

I hope you like my project and as always please let me know if you have any questions.
A la proxima!
Steph


Link: SSS

Hello again,

Welcome to another challenge creation of mine: This time it's once again an "Anything goes" challenge by SSS where I am participating with a - in my opinion - hilarious card!

Super simple to make, just cut a circle window in the card base, do the same on some fancy patterned paper (I even added some glossy accents to my paper but I think it's not visible on the photo, apologies) & then add those 2 adorable critters (aren't they so cute =o)??) & a bit of twine to "round it all up" (btw, note that the twine is not visible in the inside of the card, I stuck it between the 2 papers).

Hope you like my project & as always please reach out to me in case you have any questions.

See you soon & until then happy crafting!
Saludos,
Steph

Link: SSS

SSS "Color Coordinate" Challenge

Dear Crafters,

Apologies for not posting about any of my new projects in such a long time, but admittedly I was enjoying some time off myself & traveling through Europe.

Now that I'm back, full of energy & literally millions of ideas swirling in my head, I though the best start to a crafty month would be participating in another challenge (and the "Color Coordinte" Challenge sounded like a lot of fun!).

So please have a look at my new project:
A "Thank You" card for my landlord who was so kind and watered all my plants while I was away. And for the occasion I thought an owl sitting on flower pots with a very interesting background would be perfect!

 

To get the background effect I've used Distress Inks, blended them really well and then flicked some drops of water over the entire background to give it even more interest.

The flower pots are cut from patterned paper & the sentiment is white embossed on black card stock - all very simple, the only thing that is a little time consuming is the paper cutting of the pots, the owl & the speech bubble. But if you have a die cutting machine these things are probably done in a jiffy too. I particularly love how the belly of the owl matches the sky (but you will only notice when you look carefully)! =o)

To finish off my new project, I thought a shiny belly on the owl (wink of stellar pen) would look really cool - love it!

Hope you stop by more often in the future when I post new projects more regularly again.

Until then happy crafting.

Yours, Steph

SSS Wednesday Challenge

P.S.: We don't really celebrate Halloween here in Europe, but I love LawnFawn's stamps & products, so I found that my creation above would also fit very well to LawnFawn's latest Halloween/Color Combo Challenge! Check out their website here: http://lawnscaping.blogspot.se/

SSS "Transport It" Challenge

Dear crafters,

Apologies for not posting about any of my new projects in such a long time, but admittedly I was enjoying some time off myself & traveling through Europe.
Now that I'm back, full of energy & literally millions of ideas swirling in my head, I though the best start to a crafty month would be participating in another challenge (and the Transport It" sounded like a lot of fun!).
So please have a look at my sweet 70's van:
The outlines are stamped in black & are clear embossed to make the coloring easier (this way the color wouldn't bleed). And to give it the amazing metallic shine I used Perfect Pearls (mixed with a tiny bit of water) to color in the whole van.
The background is all clear embossed on white card stock & then colored with pumice stone Distress ink which I also sprayed a tiny bit with water to give it even more interest.

And to finish it off I thought the beige vellum would look really cool.

SSS Kid's Challenge

Hello dear crafty friends!

Today I would like to share another creation with you: this adorable monkey card which I've created together with my niece Leonie (8) for the Simon Says Kids Challenge.

I think it turned out just fantastic & soo cute!!!!

Thanks for stopping by & see you next time.
Saludos,
Stephanie



SSS Wednesday Challenge Blog - Kid's challenge

Neat & Tangled Challenge

My dear crafting friends,

I guess you know precisely what I'm talking about when I tell you I again HAD TO PARTICIPATE IN YET ANOTHER CHALLENGE!!! 2 challenges actually... they're just so cool and addictive!

I found this new challenge blog from Neat & Tangled (littletangles.blogspot.com) & found their "gift" challenge very cute.

So I made this little heart shaped origami pop-up card/box in order to participate in their challenge. Undortunately I don't have any of their stamps and didn't quite know what to do with the download so I decided to post something different.

 

I used design paper for this little gift and learned the origami craft from other youtubers! Inside is a tiny little tag & it all looks so cute with this bold bow I find!

And because Simon Says Stamp published another "Anything Goes" Wednesday Challenge, I thought this project would perfectly fit to both themes.

SSS Wednesday Challenge
Little Tangles Challenge
 

Hope you like my creations & until next time!!

Yours,

Steph

SSS Challenge - Anything goes

Good day everyone!

Welcome to another blog entry here at my crafty corner.
This time I would like to show you my first attempt in making a QUILT!
Yes, I'm not only into paper crafting, but also sewing, working with beads, etc.

Here a few comments to the actual work: I've cut all parts together by myself, an undertaking I probably would not do again (especially because there are wonderful so called "charm packs", so pre-cut fabric pieces which make the work a significantly smaller project). However, this way I could use the fabrics I had at hand and I wanted to use for this project respectively.

I love the color combination, it's a very subtle looking quilt which fits perfectly in every room and clearly makes my couch look like a million dollars now! =D

I simply sewed round pieces of fabric on the squared ones using a a more elaborate looking stitch on my sewing machine and then sewed all squares together. For the backing I used a lovely looking fabric all in 1 piece (because I loved the fabric so much)  and only surrounded it with 1 row of added squares. For the finishing seam I found very helpful videos on youtube!!!

And for the actual quilting? Simply change to your quilting foot in your machine and start with random patterns. I didn't want to bother making nice lines, flowers etc. (in the end this is my first attempt in making a quilt), so I simply sewed random loops.

The overall project is about 2.2m x 1.6m, so pretty large.

How long did it take me? WEEKS. admittedly. But I only had a few hours after work to spare for this project and definitely not every day. Apart from cutting the many fabric pieces I really enjoyed every minute of making this quilt and can only highly recommend you to try to make one too (maybe start with a small sized quilt for a baby?).

Hope you like it and see you soon!
Cheerio,
Steph

P.S.: This post is once again also for a challenge: The "Anything Goes SSS Monday Challenge"

SSS Monday Challenge

"J" for "Jolly" - SSS Challenge

J for "JOLLY"!

What am I talking about?
Of course another Monday challenge by SimonSaysStamp (yes, it looks like I'm truly hooked now, it's a phase I guess...)

So my jolly card this time features this adorable cat (and lot's of work on the background).

I hope you like it & see you next time!!

Yours,
Steph

SimonSaysStamp

SSS "Emboss it" Challenge

Hola amigos,

Welcome to another card creation, themed for yet another Simon Says Challenge: This time it's the Wednesday "Emboss It" challenge!

SimonSaysStamp - Wednesday Challenge

Check out the lanterns: don't they look like I paper-pieced them with nice looking patterened paper??? Don't be fooled!

You can feel the nice 3D effect and see the shine from all the embossing used here! I promise, this is made from ordinary white cardstock (but with 3 different ink pads and tons of clear embossing powder & a little bit of liquid platinum too)! And to give it some extra shine I also added some glossy accents on the tree and the branch, but not sure if you can see that here.

I hope you like it & hasta la proxima!
Yours,
Steph

SSS "Midsummer" Monday Challenge

Welcome back to my little blog!

I must say those online crafting challenges are addictive and it's so much fun to play with new themes, techniques & ideas!

So here we go, another very summery card from my end with lot's of embossed stamping, washi tape and my favorite Aussie critters stampset for the new SimonSaysStamp mid-summer's Monday challenge.

Lot's going on here on this card, but I love that surfing Platypus =o)

Have fun & happy crafting!
Yours, Stephanie

SimonSaysStamp - Monday Challenge

SSS "Spots & Dots" Challenge

Hi there,

I got inspired by yet another SimonSaysStamp Wednesday challenge "Spots and Dots" and would like to dedicate my new creation to my very best friend, who unfortunately is soo far away from me and I miss her dearly!

I don't have dotted card stock or anything similar, so I "stamped" the background of this card with a piece of round cut foam & clear embossed it. The text is stamped with white ink and clear embossed too, which gives a great dimension to this card because of the heavy ink (feels good too).
Finally I used watercolors/distress ink for the font tag.

Hope you like it and I think I will mail this to my best friend right now!! =o)

Saludos,
Steph

SimonSaysStamp - Wednesday Challenge

Felt Cats!!!

Hello!

Here we go with yet another crafty and easy-to-do idea: Felt Cats!

These are very quick to make; just cut out 2 halved "doughnuts" & round the edges, sew them together by hand and fill them with cotton. Depending on what you find easier and/or what kind of "look" you're going for (i.e. a very fine, well crafted look or a little rougher, simpler look) you can add the ears, eyes, nose, patches, tail, etc... before or after sewing the 2 main parts together.

Have fun trying and let me know how you go or whether you have questions!

Ciao,
Steph

SSS "Glossy" Wednesday Challenge

Hi again,

I thought I'd be be bold and test my new (in this case very "glossy" - check out the windows of the bus!!) crafting idea straight away with one of the Masters of Stamping and Paper Crafting: SimonSaysStamp! And I've linked my first blog entry here to their Wednesday Challenge (see link below).
 













Check out more ideas on their blog for further inspiration!
Yours,
Steph

SimonSaysStamp