Happy New Year Everybody!

This is a very simple card, but I love the background stamp (by Stampers Anonymous) with its soft floral texture. I inked it up with several Adirondack inks and stamped it onto rough watercolor paper. The sentiment is stamped on a piece of cardstock I colored with the same Adirondack shades. If you take a very close look, you can see a lighter-colored swirl pattern on it which is stamped with Castaway (some bleach ink). The sentiment (by Kaleidoskop) says "Congratulations".

And now... countdown for 2010!!!!
What a great topic for today's Splitcoast Stampers' Ways To Use Challenge - time! Here in Germany, it's about one hour left in 2009, we just had a delicious fondue dinner, and sparkling wine is waiting for me to stop with my blogging activities for tonight and to clink glasses with my husband and the neighbours at midnight...
But before, I wanted to upload this card I created for the WT challenge. I recently snatched that wonderful SU! set of clocks, cogwheels and this great sentiment at a second hand stamp market, and this was the perfect moment to use it for the first time. Hope you like it!
Happy New Year everybody!!! See you all back in 2010!

Let It Snow...

When we woke up this morning, we had a wonderful snowy winter landscape outside... We haven't had so much snow for such a long time. Mostly it's only foggy and raining, so we really enjoyed a wonderful snow walk this morning. It was the first time our younger dog Vivaldi saw snow - it was so exciting for him, and Baxter, our elder dog, and Vivaldi had so much fun playing in the snow together.
Look at that Video clip!

Vivaldi Wishes Merry Christmas

When I visited Louise's blog yesterday, I detected such a fun little movie she had created and posted. So I just had to try it myself featuring my little dog Vivaldi... Have fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pink Polka Dotted Gingerbread Man - Or: What To Do If You Eat Too Much Delicious Food During The Holidays...

This week's Res-Q-Challenge
was kind of complicated... In honor of all Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol and all these other things helping us to get along with all this wonderful food through the holidays, the challenge was to create a card with some food element, polka dots representing the bubbles of Alka-Seltzer, pink to represent Pepto-Bismol and some round element to represent Rolaids...
I found it extremely difficult to combine a brown gingerbread man brad (which was the only holiday food piece in my stack) with pink and polka dots, until I found a piece of this dp by Rayher...
The gingerbread man brad is by Hot Of The Press, the rickrack ribbon by Lil Davis Designs. The sentiment stamp is by Autumns Leaves, I punched away the center part which was a Christmas Tree to replace it with my gingerbread man.

White Snowflake

White Snowflake, what a silly title for this post, are there any other snowflakes than white ones??? Well, look a the card and read about the challenge, then you'll understand why my mind is some white-confused today...


No time to stamp during this week - so I took my chance to spend a rainy and foggy Sunday in my craft room.

This week's Splitcoaststampers Limited Supplies Challenge was a real challenge - only white cardstock, white or clear embellishments, white ink - white ink??? Just kidding, ONE single color of ink was allowed, thank you for your generosity, Holly!!!
The background cardstock was embossed with my new cuttlebug Holly Borders embossing folder. The snowflake was cut and embossed with my cuttlebug snowflake die, then I added a clear rhinestone. The sentiment stamp by Kaleidoskop is originally square and
says "Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year". I used Versamark ink and silver embossing powder, cut it with a circle punch because I thought a circle would fit better to the card than a square, and edged it with a silver Krylon pen. The ribbon is by Panduro.

Anyway, I had fun with this challenge, and I like the result.

Sponged Snowflakes

We haven't had any snow yet here in Germany, but in my craft room it is snowing all the time, LOL!
For this card I used a Spellbinders Impressabilities template and sponged it with several blue and violet shades of Adirondack inks. I love the soft, somewhat blurred result.
Sentiment by Der Bessere Eindruck, using Versamark ink and white embossing powder.

Oh Christmas Tree

I had to try my new EK Success border punch today... So I came around with this quick and easy card using a Christmas tree sticker (thanks again Julia for your recent Splitcoaststampers stickers challenge - it made me get all my old stickers out of the drawer and USE them!!!!).
Sentiment by Butterer, golden snowflakes stippled with Liquid Pearls, doodling with a gold gelly pen.

Soft and Silent Snow

I really love this sentiment by George W. Bungay. I detected it on some Around The Block dp, and as it seems I was stamping snowflakes today all day round (well, at least those sixty minutes I managed to stay in my craft room, LOL), I thought this would be the perfect day to use this scrap on a card.
This week's Res-Q-Challenge was to use felt on a card. So I die-cut this felt snowflake with a cuttlebug die and added a rhinestone. I sponged the dp with Colorbox Fluid Chalks Blue Iris a bit darker in the top right corner to make the snowflake contrast a bit better. Snowflake dp by Frances Meyer.

Admire The Snowflakes!

Snowflakes are so beautiful!
This week's Splitcoaststampers Limited Supplies Challenge "Instant Replay - create two cards with the same main image and color scheme but different layouts" was a real stretch to me - I love to play around with different stamps and rarely use the same stamp twice a day - another day, yes, of course, but not twice the same day... But I really love this American Art Stamps image, so I tried to create two cards in the same color scheme but with different layouts.
Thw snowflake background is by Hero Arts, sentiment on the tall card is by Butterer, sentiment on the square card is handwritten. Both cards are colored with Twinkling H2Os. The snowflake background on the tall card is stamped with blue Memento ink, the snowflake border on the square card with Brilliance.
Which card do you like better?

Two Snowmen

This evening my friend Dagmar visited me to stamp Xmas cards. Well... finally we talked more than we stamped, LOL, but nevertheless, I finished this one and started a few more which I hopefully will be able to finish during the weekend.
I love these funny snowmen by Whipper Snapper Design - seems as if the little one is just asking: "Daddy, is there a Santa Claus?".
Sentiment (saying "Merry Christmas") by Stempelmeer, background snowflakes by HeroArts (stamped with Adirondack white pigment ink). Everything is colored with watercolors.

Sticky Christmas Tree

This is for today's Ways To Use It Challenge. I didn't expect to have the time to take part in the challenge today as I have to prepare for a lecture I have to hold in Munich on Saturday, but Julia challenged us to use stickers on our cards - what could be quicker and easier??? Julia, you're the greatest!!!
So I took my "Xmas Emergency Card Pack" out of the drawer (which contains some stickers, ready cut white cards and some Xmas paper) and created this quick card. I'm not a natural sticker lover, but I have to admit, it is really a fun and easy way to create last minute cards - and isn't it already last minute for this year's Xmas cards???!
The sentiment (saying Merry Christmas) is by Stempelmeer, stamped with Versamark ink and heat-embossed with violet embossing powder by JudiKins. Design paper by Around The Block. Sticker by PickUp. I added some rhinestones.

A Really Red Reindeer...

Yeah! My first Xmas card this year!!! Yes, I admire all you well-organised ladies having completed your Xmas cards already in May...
I'm not sure if this card really counts for this week's Splitcoast color challenge - neutrals with a pop of color - it's more red with a pop of neutral, LOL! But it should count for the Splitcoast Clean and Simple sketch challenge, and as well for the ResQ Challenge (monochromatic holiday cards).
The card is very sparkly IRL as I used stickles on all the red circles, and the reindeer's nose is a red rhinestone.
Stamp by Outlines Rubber Stamp Co., dp by Tim Coffey.

Autumn - Season Of Change

This is for this week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge and Limited Supplies Challenge: What's the Weather? Well, we've got typical German autumn weather: some fog, a little sun, some rain - changing all the time. And as for the Limited Supplies Challenge we were not only to create a card about weather at home but also to use two things of a kind, I used:
2 different dp designs
2 color staples
2 rhinestones
2 pieces of ribbon
2 colors of cardstock
Thanks to Jean AKA naturecoastcrafter from the Res-Q-Challenge team (look at her wonderful gallery) who sent this wonderful cuttlebug pumpkin and the autumn clear stamps (and much more) to me - I love all these goodies!!!
Dp by Basic Grey, ribbon by Just Write, Stamps by Studio G.

Dream...Imagine...Inspire...

I'm a little late with this card because it's for last week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge, but I had so little stamping time that I wasn't able to finish it earlier.
I love this wonderful film strip stamp by Stamp-It Australia (though I have to admit that it is not so easy to achieve a really perfect impression with it). The border was stamped with a Penny Black stamp. I used SU Chocolate Chip and Taken With Teal inks, and the background papers were created with my favourite cuttlebug folder.

Surprise From The Res-Q Team!!!

Recently I discovered a wonderful "medical" blog, the Res-Q-Challenge. It's a fantastic stamping blog, and their challenges often are about "medical" topics... not to be taken too seriously. I was totally excited when I discovered that blog and immediately sent a comment there. And what do you think? Today I received this wonderful blog candy from the Res-Q Team!!!!



Thank you so much, Jean, for sending these goodies to me - I love those bright pumpkins, leaves, owls and of course the clear stamps!!!!

Look What I Got!

Today I got a wonderful Halloween Card from Dani. I admired that card already on her blog (you REALLY should visit her blog, it is worth while!!!!), and now I found it in my mail - what a wonderful surprise! Thank you so much, Dani!

What Do You See When You Close Your Eyes?

As an ophthalmologist, I've got a natural affinity to all eye images and sayings. So I once got this photo card but never used it. Today's SCS Limited Supplies Challenge was to use a pre-made card as a base for a stamping creation, so this was the perfect chance to combine this old eye postcard with this "What do you see when you close your eyes?" saying (by B-Line design) I do love so much.


I added the flower eyelet (by Whoo-Whoo-Wowies) and some rhinestones on the upper lid (hard to see in the photo) and one rhinestone on the pupil light reflex, stamped and silver-embossed the saying and mounted the photo card onto a white double-fold card.

Falling Leaves Thank You

Last week's Splitcoast Limited Supplies challenge asked for "just stamped" cards without any ribbons, buttons or other embellishments. So I went back to my beloved Teykol and made a Teykol resist card...once again.
The image (by Inkadinkado) and sentiment (by Heindesign) are stamped with Black StazOn onto glossy white cardstock. Then I brushed beside the lines with some Teykol, let it dry, then sponged over the whole image with several shades of Adirondack inks. For the borders, I used an EK Success border punch.

Germany Meets Asia - Happy World Cardmaking Day!

This is for the Verve Stamps World Cardmaking Day challenge - pick a flag and use the color scheme of the flag. For some personal reasons, LOL, I chose the German flag though I have to admit that I personally do not that much like the black, red and gold combo of the flag. I first thought of a Christmas card with these colors, but couldn't get along with the black, so I chose an Asian image (by Inkadinkado) which worked much better for these colors. Hey girls, THIS is WORLD Cardmaking Day - Germany meets Asia!!!!



I used red and black cardstock, a Sizzix embossing folder inked up with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink, Versamark ink and black embossing powder for the main image and mitsuhiki cords for the knot (which is the only complicated thing on this card...) and a gold gelly pen and Krylon pen for the highlights on the image and the edging.

World Cardmaking Day

Today it is World Cardmaking Day, and Splitcoast celebrates that with a whole lot of challenges. The first challenge was to use a quote as the focal image of a card. I love this quote - isn't it that often that we forget about our own strength? And that exactly this forgetfulness makes us really weak? So I made this card to always remind myself of it - guess I'll put it onto my office desk...



And... yeah, right at the moment, I'm bigger than the pain in my right middle finger which I bruised in the ring of the dog leash this afternoon when my dog started for a new world record without waiting for my permission to do so ;-)

Stamps by Stampers Anonymous. Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa and Desert Sand. Design paper by Basic Grey. And I used: Cuttlebug embossing folder, ribbon by The Paper Studio, heart brad by You Do Creative (Sweden), Martha Stewart border punch, Prima flower.

First Christmas Tree

My first Christmas card for this year... well, I know, I'm late!!! Today's Limited Supplies Challenge at Splitcoast gave me the chance to try my brand-new Christmas Tree stamp (by Outlines Rubber Stamp). The ornaments on the tree are perfect to use with rhinestones or stickles. And as I couldn't decide what I like better - stickles or rhinestones, I used stickles AND rhinestones - is this too much supplies for the LIMITED Supplies Challenge??? Giggle...
Sentiment by Der bessere Eindruck,

Beauty of the Butterfly

Finally I have the chance to take part in a challenge again!!! I missed that soooo much during the last months!
This is for todays sketch challenge, a wonderful, versatile and easy sketch. I brayered the background with Kaleidacolor inks and overstamped the image (Stamp-It Australia) with Palette Noir. Design paper by Basic Grey. Hope you like it! And don't you love the sentiment?

Back again...

It's been a while since my last post - too much work and too many other things keeping me busy here. But I'll try to keep up my blog more regularly again, so let's start with my first autumn card this year:



Leaves by Inkadinkadoo stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa, small leaves by HeroArts stamped with Fluid Chalks Burnt Sienna, sentiment by Kaleidoskop stampid with Memento Rich Cocoa. Design paper by Crea Motion. Highlighted with a white gelly pen and pink stickles.



I attended a stamping demo by Judi Watanabe from JudiKins recently. She used MicaMagic refill ink to create very rich and shimmery backgrounds. Here I tried to do something similar. I used metallic Palette refill inks to sponge the wavy line on the black cardstock (masking the rest of the cardstock). After this had completely dried, I overstamped the star images (JudiKins) and embossed them with green sparkling powder. The sentiment is stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with gold detail powder. I edged the black cardstock with a gold Krylon pen.
The card is much more sparkling IRL than on the photo!


I experimented with some new two-tone acrylic colors recently. They can be used as a quick and wonderfully shimmering background. I just brushed them onto white cardstock and overstamped with Palette Noir ink, added some white highlights with a gelly pen - voilà!

Flower stamp by Inkadinkadoo, sentiment by Magenta. Twin Color apricot-gold by Eberhard Faber.


And another card using the Twin colors, this time the applegreen-gold one. The main image was stamped onto a wooden paint chip. Swirls by Tim Holtz, branches by Penny Black, sentiment by Stempelmeer.



I'm so happy to be back in stamping and blogging world again! Please leave me a comment if you like the cards! Show you some more soon!

Sailboat Sympathy

One week ago, there was a horrible gas explosion in my home town. Yesterday one of the injured men, a 43-year-old father of little twins, finally died by his burnings. He was a passionate sailor and a sailing buddy to one of my neighbours. So my neighbour asked me to create a sympathy card with a sailing theme.
I used this wonderful old Stamps Happen stamp, but cut away the sentiment. I watercolored it with shades of grey and black, added the sentiment ("With heartfelt sympathy", by Stempelkeller) and a ribbon.

Sad day, sad card...

A sad day today... The father of one of the nurses in my office just passed away. Exactly one year ago, she already lost her husband. It's impossible to find the right words for that.
I used Saturday's inspiration challenge for my sympathy card. My inspiration piece was this beautiful poster:




Here's my card:



The leaf (Stampendous) was stamped with StazOn Stone Gray, Memories Soft Celery and Versamagic Hint of Pesto, the flower was stamped with Versamark and embossed with black detail powder. Sentiment (with deepest sympathy) by Stempelkeller.

On Your First Day At School...

A little girl in the neighbourhood is going to have her first day at school soon. In Germany, children are given a cardboard cone filled with sweets or small presents on their first day at school. I didn't have a stamp with a girl with such a cardboard cone, so I used this little boy stamp by Stempelbar with a pink-violet color scheme and hope the little girl will like it nevertheless...

The image is colored with Karisma pencils and Sansodor (Gamsol Magic technique). Design paper by CreaMotion. Background stamp unknown.

Good Old Times

This is for this week's Splitcoast Inspiration Challenge. I used these little shoes as my inspiration piece:



The sentiment on my card says:

Now are the good old times to which we will long to return in ten years.

Oh, so true!!! LOL!

Swirl stamp by Rhonna Farrer, sentiment unknown (maybe by Der Bessere Eindruck), brad by Panduro.

Swedish Poetry - Javisst gör det ont...

At Splitcoast, they had two wonderful challenges this week. The Ways To Use It Challenge was about to use text in the design, and the Limited Supplies Challenge wanted us to use text in a foreign language. I was long time thinking about which language to use - I decided to use neither English (though it is of course a foreign language to me) nor German (though this would be a foreign language to most of you).
So I decided to us a Swedish poem by Karin Boye for my text element. For those who are interested in the poem, here's the text and its translation:

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.
Varför skulle annars våren tveka?
Varför skulle all vår heta längtan
bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?
Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.
Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?
Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,
ont för det som växer
och det som stänger.

Of course it hurts when buds burst.
Otherwise why would spring hesitate?
Why would all our fervent longing
be bound in the frozen bitter haze?
The bud was the casing all winter.
What is this new thing, which consumes and bursts?
Of course it hurts when buds burst,
pain for that which grows
and for that which envelops.

I like this poem - what do you think about it?

I stamped the text (HeinDesign) with Versamark onto violet cardstock and embossed it with white powder. Then I stamped the rose (Stampin'Up) with versamark onto white cardstock, embossed it with violet powder and colored the rose with Stargazers Palette metallic watercolors.

Wind In My Hair

I bought a fascinating stamp last week at a second-hand stamp market. Unfortunately, I don't know the manufacturer as I bought it unmounted. Now I used it for the first time - I thought it would be perfect for the SCS Inspiration Challenge. As my inspiration piece I used this wonderful chocolate package:

And the card I created referring to this inspiration piece is this one:

I sponged and brayered several shades of Ranger Adirondack ink onto Chromolux cardstock, then overstamped the image with StazOn Jet Black. The sentiment is by Penny Black and stamped onto black cardstock with Ranger Adirondack Snowcap White Pigment ink. I added some rhinestones and a small jewellery piece.

Cards To Say Goodbye

I was asked to create several farewell cards for a colleague who is going to leave our town. I wanted to mirror the different personalities of the people who ordered the cards, so I created very different cards - from cute to monochromatic.


This would have been the card I would have chosen for myself. I sponged the background with several shades of Adirondack inks, then stamped the plane (is it by B Line Designs? I'm not sure.) with Espresso Adirondack ink. The swirls (by Rhonna Farrer) are stamped with two shades of Adirondack inks. I added highlights with a white gelly pen.



For this one I used a very classical Penny Black stamp, colored the rubber with Tombow Markers, sprinkled it with water and stamped onto watercolor paper. Simple, yet I like the technique. I added some glitz into the center of the flowers, but you can hardly see this on the photo.

For this image I used a VERY old HeroArts stamp and watercolored the image. The background is stamped with Adirondack Sandal ink and a Rhonna Farrer swirl stamp.



Who doesn't love good old Riley by Hanna Stamps? I stamped and watercolored him, the sentiment on the banner ("farewell") is handwritten. I added some Diamond Glaze onto the plane to give it dimension, but this is unfortunately invisible on the photo.


Now tell me - which one is your favorite?

Cards for Baptism

I think it is always difficult to create cards for people you don't know at all. I was asked to create a card for baptism, and I don't know the one who will send the card neither the parents of the baby. I don't even know if it's a girl or a boy! And should it be more a baby card, or a more religious card???
So I decided to create two cards to choose from.



This one should also qualify for today's Splitcoaststampers' Ways To Use It challenge: creative images. The challenge was to create the main image not with a stamp but with punches, torn paper, brads or something else. So I made this stroller with the help of my circle punches. I added a lot of rhinestones and stickels. The dotted background is by Kaleidoskop, the sentiment by Stempelbar.


This is my second card (I think my favorite one). I used psalm 91 for my sentiment:

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.

I think the angel image (American Art Stamps) is perfect for that psalm. I colored the image with Stargazers Palette watercolors. And I used my new flourish punch.

Just Moved ... and I'd love to have more German sentiment stamps!

Nothing spectacular today... just a little card for someone who is going to move. I couldn't find a suitable stamp for the sentiment, so I had to computer generate it, it says "Good Luck in Your New Home".
Hmmm... does any stamp company read this? I'd like to have a beautiful German "just moved" stamp, or something like "Good Luck In Your New Home" - why don't you produce something like that in German????
The truck stamp is by Stampin' Up, I colored it with Tombow markers and an Aqua Brush Pen. Design paper by Daisy Bucket Designs.

Countdown for the 60th Birthday

I needed a quick card for a 60th Birthday - a masculine card, which is always a difficult task for me. I chose this numbers image and pointed onto the 6 and the 0 with two arrows which I had stamped, embossed and cut out.
Stamps by: Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Collection (numbers, scratch background), see d's (arrow), Stempelmeer (sentiment).

Tired of Wedding Cards?

Are you already tired of wedding cards? Well, I guess you'll have to stand some more, LOL!



I tried to keep the design of this card quite simple. I always love the red and white together for weddings. The red paper I used is very special - it feels like some mulberry paper, but it has a glossy pattern. The heart stamp is by Inkido, the sentiment stamp by LaBlanche.



Yeah, and still I don't have enough wedding cards to cover all needs... So, one more... Nevertheless, I wanted to take part in todays Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper Challenge. Today Mercy is the featured stamper, and Mercy has a wonderful gallery INDEED!!!
I chose this card:
Thinking Of You
I kept the white card base, but didn't create a grid pattern with the ScorPal (I was too lazy for that, I admit...) but embossed it with a cuttlebug folder. I kept blue as the main color as Mercy did in her card, but added red instead of green as additional color. I used the same way to tie the ribbon as Mercy did, but I didn't do the paper piercing and placed my sentiment differently. I think I should create one more card keeping closer to Mercy's card, using a different image, but anyhow - I needed one more wedding card, so I was a bit limited with the selection of my image...

One more wedding card... seems I need hundreds this year, LOL!
I used my cuttlebug heart die and embossing folder to create the hearts using the cuttlebug negative effect: I sponged the embossing folder with Colorbox Fluid Chalks Maroon ink. To be honest, I sponged the wrong side of the folder, but as it is so often with those crafting accidents, I like the effect with more color on the hearts than initially intended.
The sentiment stamp is by La Blanche, the background stamp by Hero Arts (stamped with Adirondack Sandal ink)

Wedding Cards A Galore

Sooo many weddings in may and june, and I'm REALLY late for creating my cards, just returned from my trip to the U.S. and my new puppy keeping me busy! So I had fun creating a card using this fun image - here it seems the wedding couple is a bit late...
The image is stamped with Versamark ink, then black embossed and colored with Stargazers Palette water colors.
Stamps: Artemio (wedding couple), LaBlanche (sentiment)


One more wedding card... I love these beaded hearts elements, they make a wedding card without needing any sentiment. I saw them once ready to buy, but I decided to make my own beaded hearts - it's really easy!


And this was for the Splitcoaststampers' Ways To Use It Challenge: Stamp It Again! The challenge was to use the same stamp at least twice, and what could be more perfect for a wedding card than to stamp a heart twice?!

The hearts (October Stamps) are stamped with Versamark ink, then embossed with dark red powder and colored with Stargazers Palette water colors, and I added some gold beads. Sentiment stamp by La Blanche, small scallop oval punch by Atelier Terziev.