Pairing up with Deborah Day IV

Happy Thursday! Wow, this week is zooming by! It's the fourth day of the Pairing Up Challenge with the amazing Deborah Nolan already! Once again I made a card for Jennifer McGuire's Cards for Kids Drive.

I wanted to create a card for one of the boys and here is the result:

And I need your opinion about it - do you think it is ok to send a Halloween themed card? I am not sure about the physical condition of the boys. Maybe the little boy will be sad because he is not able to do Trick or Treat? I would appreciate your thoughts about this!

The door was created using the Designer Woodgrain stamp. I was inspired to make this door by a fun card I saw in the Paper Crafts Stamp It! Cards 2009. That purple panel is inked with some orange acrylic paint. The cute monsters are from the Monster Fun clear set. My all-time favorite for little boys! And I used the Everyday Sayings set one more time. This sentiment seems the best for me!

Now go and check Deborah's card - I am sure it'll be amazing again!! And can't wait to see the fun little smilies she includes to her posts :)

Have a fab day and thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Pairing up with Deborah Day III

Happy Wednesday! It's the third day of our Pairing Up Challenge making Cards for Kids!

This time I played with the fun butterfly from the Butterflies Cling set:

I made this cute paper-pieced butterfly and needed a background for it. Then I remembered the Moxie Fab World Challenge: Offset Scallop Gallop an the fact that I own the cute Scallop Borders set. I just stamped the border repeatedly and colored the dots with a white pencil. Here is a little close-up:

The adorable papers I used are October Afternoon again. Just love love love these! The sentiment is from the Everyday Sayings set. Ok, be sure to check out my dear partner's card for today - here is Deborah! She rocks our little challenge and is writing fun posts!

Have a beautiful day everybody and thanks for visiting!!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Pairing up with Deborah Day II

Happy Tuesday! I hope it's a sunnier one for you! I am back with the next card of the Pairing Up Challenge with Deborah Nolan! Another card I made for Jennifer's Cards for Kids Drive. Sorry my link didn't work yesterday, just klick here to get all the info.

I decided to create another CAS card that I'll also enter to the Caardvarks Challenge:

I stamped the Crossword Background tone on tone onto Kraft to create a subtle background. The Girl holding Flowers is stamped onto white cardstock, colored with pencils and cut out. That sentiment is from the Everyday Sayings set again.

I hope you like today's card! I think it might be ok for one of the little kids or a teenage girl. Be sure to check out Deborah's amazing card here!

Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Pairing up with Deborah Day I

Happy Monday! This week I paired up with the super talented Deborah from the Hero Arts flickr group! Jennifer McGuire started this fun "challenge" with sweet Joy and everybody liked that idea so much that many wanted to do something similar, too. Including me. The pairs were chosen randomly and I was thrilled to see that I was paired with Deborah Nolan! We thought about what to do and exchanged lists of our stamps we have in common first, but then we decided to do something different. That's the best, we can do whatever we want for this "challenge"! So every day this week we will both present a card we made for Jennifer's Cards for Kids Drive, using our Hero Arts stamps! Just click onto the image to get to the info about it. And consider making some cards, too :)

Now to my card. I needed a starting point and this week's Get Sketchy sketch just fits perfectly for a happy card I wanted to create. Oh, and winning some new Hero Arts stamps wouldn't hurt either. LOL. Here is my take on the fun sketch:

I used the little hedgehog from the "Precious Baby Boy" set and the sentiment from the "Everyday Sayings" set. Those yummy papers are from October Afternoon's "Fly a Kite" Collection. Here is a close-up of the little hedgehogs:

I hope it'll bring a smile to a child's face! Now, check out Deborah's fab card for today!

Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Caardvarks CAS Challenge - Part III

Happy Sunday! Aaaand another CAS card for the Caardvarks challenge! Can you tell I am having fun? This time I played with some new clings:

That beautiful thistle is from the cling set "Elegant Weeds". I stamped it with Dusty Concord distress ink. This thistle reminds me of our trip to Scotland some years ago. Oh, how much I loved it there!!! I hope I'll be able to visit Great Britain again one day! The frame is drawn with a fineliner and a ruler. Simple!

Ok, I hope you are not getting bored and that Jenyfur is not changing the "enter as often as you like"- rule because of me :)

Have a beautiful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Papertrey Blog Hop - Pretty Bows

Happy Saturday! I am delighted to be able to participate in my very first:

I am really really glad the blog hop format was changed and that Internationals have the chance to enter (or do not have to get up at 4 am to enter)! Here is this month's theme:

One of the most fun things about this hobby is the people you meet, whether in person or online, and
the things you can learn from them. Now is your chance to show off any skills you might have learned
from a fellow stamper, and perhaps even give them a little shout out to thank them for the inspiration
they have provided. Create a project using one of your favorite learned skills and perhaps after a little
blog hopping, we will ALL learn some new tips and tricks and continue to pass on the love of this hobby!

Well, I immediately thought of my sweet and talented friend Aimes from the UK! Not long ago she made a video about tying pretty bows and I can't stop making them now! Usually I tied them like I would tie shoelaces and they didn't turn out that neat :) . I sent a little box for Aimes' birthday in June, but it never arrived. Maybe the chances are better now that the Soccer Worldcup is over for a while... Here is a card I made just for you, Aimes!

I used my favorite new set "Tea for Two Additions" and the color green because I know you love tea and green! And to send you a little something with your card, I created this box to go with it:

I like to make these double-bows! Oh, and did you know the sentiments coming with this gorgeous set fit the cute spoon? I had an AHAAA - moment when I discovered that! And Aimes, I won't send you any tea, I think it would be ridiculous to send tea to the motherland of tea - but something you might enjoy with your favorite tea!

Btw, sorry for the bad pictures, it is dark here already and I used my crafting light.

Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for visiting! Happy hopping!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Caardvarks CAS Challenge - Part II

Happy Friday! Here is another very clean and simple card for Caardvarks' CAS challenge sponsored by Hero Arts:

This time I stamped the poppies of the "Delicate Blossoms" set with white pigment ink onto pink cardstock. Just added some Hero Arts pearls and voilà. Very clean, very simple!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Caardvarks CAS Challenge - Part I

Happy Thursday! Caardvarks started a new challenge and is sponsored by no other than Hero Arts! Every stamp of the prize package is on my wishlist! Sigh. Ok, here is my first (and not the last!) entry to the Clean & Simple Challenge:

I stamped the beautiful flowers from the "Delicate Blossoms" (my current favorite stamp set) onto rustic cream cardstock and colored them with Distress Inks spritzed with water. Here is a close-up of the flowers:

There were traces of some perfect pearls in my mister, so the flowers have a very subtle shine. The pearls are Kaisercraft, the sentiment PTI.

Off to make more CAS cards! Thanks for visiting and have a sunny day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

More Vinnie Pearce - and a tutorial!

Happy Wednesday! Here is another card using Vinnie's new Collection "The Apple of my Eye" available at 2Peas. And I have a little tutorial for you. But first the card:

That lovely background paper is from the collection. The lady is from the Hero Arts Clear set "Sew Stylish". What a fun set! I was inspired by a digital element Vinnie provides in the Collection to create a real jo-jo from felt to add to my card. I used some of these on this card that was published in Paper Crafts Magazine and thought you might like to know how to make these. Nothing new, but some of you might be interested. Here we go:

Start with a circle cut from felt. You can use fabric, too, but it is easier with felt, because it won't frill. Take some thread and a needle and start sewing with simple stitches like this:

It's not important to make them VERY evenly, just stitch around the edge of the circle

When you are at the end, pull your needle through to the back, to have the beginning and the end on the same side. Then just pull both ends of the thread...

...and tie a knot:

Easy. Now your felt circle looks like this:

You can leave it as it is or embellish it with whatever you like, make it a center of a flower etc. I like to sew a button on:

Voilà! I hope you liked my little tutorial. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask!

Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

New Vinnie Pearce - Apple of my Eye Collection

Happy Tuesday to you all! Vinnie Pearce is releasing a wonderful new collection at 2Peas today, it is called "The Apple of my Eye" and I love it! Again. The colors are gorgeous and it contains so many inspiring elements to work with! Let's start with - surprise, surprise - a butterfly:

When I saw this cute little puppy on the butterfly I immediately thought of a Baby Card. I just placed the butterfly onto that digi paper and printed it out two more times seperately. Then I layered it. Here is a close-up:

Isn't that puppy the cutest? And here is an autumn themed card:

The vintage elements like this label are beautiful. I thought it would fit the paper with the apples and the sirup label to make an autumn themed card. The leaves are die-cut from felt, using the PTI Leaf Prints dies. Can't stop using these dies!

I'll be back tomorrow with another card using this fab collection and a little tutorial! Thanks so much for visiting and have a lovely day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Another Autumn Card and End of Summer Garden Photos

Sorry for the strange layout of this post - I just can't figure it out :o)

Happy Weekend! This is a picture-heavy post. I wanted to save some photos of my garden for me and added them to this post. But here is another autumn themed card for the September Hero Arts challenge first:

Somehow the colors don't look as vibrant as in real life. I created that background with various distress inks spritzed with water. Onto that background I stamped the Old Letter Writing and the maple leaf from the Leaf Prints set. The sentiment is from the Birthday Sayings set. I die-cut the large leaf from acetate and inked it with various alcohol inks.

Now some photos of our garden this summer:

Waterdroplets on sweet peas

Pompoms from the party decoration of my girl's birthday

Some pottery I made a few years ago and a fun little grashopper on the marigold

Lavender in front of the marigold and larkspur:

The harvest of one morning and a beautiful butterfly

Ok, that's it for today! I'll be back on Tuesday at the latest, then it is time for another new, fabulous Vinnie Pearce Collection! Don't miss it!

Thanks for visiting today and have a sunny weekend!!

Hugs,

Vanessa

More Papertrey cards - no flowers

Happy Friday! Here are some more Papertrey Ink cards, this time no flowers!

On the first card I combined some gorgeous October Afternoon paper from "The Thrift Shop" Collection with stamps from "On my Couch" "On my Couch Additions" and "Homemade". That "Thank You" is Ali Edward's handwriting for Technique Tuesday.

On the second card I had some fun layering paper and shapes. The cute bear is from the "Baby Button Bits" and the sentiment from "Signature Greetings" set.

The last card uses one of my very favorite stamp sets - "Tea for Two". I love it and can't wait to ink up the additions set! That coordinating leaf is from the "Beautiful Blooms" set. The background is sprayed with some Tattered Angels glimmer mist called "Candy Apple". This misting thing is quite addictive!

I hope you are all having a wonderful start into your weekend! Thanks for visiting, sweet friends!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Hero Arts September Challenge

Happy Thursday! You didn't think I'd leave out a Hero Arts Challenge, did you?? And because this month has 5 Thursdays, I am in time to submit my little creation for the first half of the challenge. September's theme is Everything Autumn + Simple Giftbags. Well, I combined both themes:

I love creating little bags or boxes and this one is super simple! I just covered a plain white paper bag with stamped cardstock! The background is colored with various distress inks spritzed with water and is stamped with the Friends Definition cling and the Ledger Cling. That sentiment is from the Leaf Prints clear set. And there is no autumnal feeling without a bit of felt for me, so I added some felt leaves.

Here you can see the side of the bag and here is what I started with:

Easy. And so many possibilities!

Have a beautiful day and thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Vanessa

More Papertrey cards

Happy Wednesday! I am back with more cards using Papertrey Ink. More flower cards:

This one uses the Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas stamp. Love sweet peas, unfortunately they didn't grow well this year. I paperpieced the flowers and colored the leaves with copics. Next are two cards using the Delightful Dahlia set:

Here I stamped the dahlia and leaves onto sheet music and colored them with copics. I love the matching dies coming with the sets!!

On the last card, the dahlia is colored with copics again. This time I stamped onto patterned paper.

I got a lot of requests for a tutorial on the double bow like the one I did on that second card. Stay tuned, I am planning several tutorials on different things in the near future! No videos, that would be too ridiculous, but step-by-step stuff.

Oh, and thanks to all the sympathetic moms out there! It helps a lot to know I am not the only one :) Big hugs to you all!

Thanks for visiting today and have a happy day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Sharing some Papertrey Ink cards

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are all well and that you haven't written me off yet! I am still here. My little girl started a kind of Kindergarten for two-year-olds and we are still in the settling in period. Well, I guess more me than her :) The moms stay with the little ones as long as they need them to feel comfortable. I fear she feels very comfortable already! Never thought it would be that difficult to leave her there - even if it's only for some hours in the morning. I mean difficult for me. But enough blabla from a sentimental mom! I am here to share some cards I made having fun with Papertrey Ink stamps:

For the first card I stamped the beautiful flower from the In Bloom set with White Snow Ink onto the Basic Grey paper. Then I masked the flower and stamped the leaves. Everything is colored with Copics.

For the second card I stamped the flowers from the LIFE set using various distress inks spritzed with water. I love the layered watercolor effect! The sentiment is from the Giga Guidelines set and the background text from Backgroundbasics: Textstyle set.

I'll be back with some more cards to share! And when I feel comfortable with my new me-time in the mornings I will be able to visit your blogs again! Ha! See ya!!

Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Tiffany Doodles September Challenge - Color

Happy Tuesday and welcome to the next Tiffany Doodles Challenge! This month we decided to do a color challenge and this is the great palette Tiffany gave us:

Here is my sample:

I used Tiffany's Lenten Rose w/Blossom digi, printed it onto the cardstock, the pink and the green paper and paper-pieced it. The background text and the paper is Papertrey Ink, the pearls are Kaisercraft.

I hope you'll play with us this month! Check out all the details of the challenge and the Design Team's samples here!

Have a happy day and thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Vanessa