Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

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.

Monday, June 15, 2009

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.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

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?

Thursday, June 4, 2009

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.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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.