DCM - use your own

DCM have a challenge this week where you are supposed to use your die cuts or punches. I quote:

If you don't have access to die cuts in any shape or from, you can still play along. You can then use punches. And if you don't have punches then you can do hand cutting. See how nice I am?
BUT no cheating now! No reaching for the scissors if you have a machine to hand - or even some old die cuts you bought ages ago (that would be me then!) You CAN use punches and scissors etc as well as die cuts though.

And here are mine.!I confess I read the instructions badly, I understood just to use your punches. Not that I have many more die cuts than the tiny butterfly I used yesterday in one of the puzzle pieces, and a small white daisy shape I used in the large circles beginning the week. See, already have used them!

Now then, I own two punches, a tulip and a heart. (How conventional.) OTOH, I have never used them so far - so why not give it a try!

card #1

A heartbeat agoas in: A heartbeat ago I discovered I love you? A heartbeat ago we had a quarrel and now I'd like to apologize? A heartbeat ago you had a baby? A heartbeat ago... you fill in your sentiment!
I like this one!
Watercolor wash and gesso on a book page, baby blue napkin, b/w photocopy of an old manuscript, dabbed and wiped with gel paint, pearlescent paint around the edges of the die cut hearts (punched out of the non-gessoed but yes-watercolored book page), sentiment from a magazine.

card #2

Tenderas in: Tender wishes? Tender embrace? I love you tender? A tender care for your home is finally here! I will do the dishes every day from now on?
This one uses both my punches.
Commercial background papers, heart die cut negatives from above, tulips punched out from a color copy of the mail art (below), sentiment (found word).
Don't like this as much, although making it was fun and frankly, quite challenging.
Never thought simple punched shaped would get me sweating and dreading, but they do!

And what do we have here?
I was getting off the bus when I noticed strewn pieces of a cardboard puzzle getting wet by the roadside. They are beautiful shades of blue and brown, I imagine some serene water views... I stopped minding the rain and started picking them up. Now they are spread out for drying on my stairs.
Ah, serendipidity!

challenges of my own

I haven't been taking part in many challenges this week, because instead I have had my own. First the huge circles, now tiny puzzles. Not overly tiny, though, maybe an inch and a half counting the extremities.

I worked on these three pieces several hours last night, and again in the morning. I was not happy. I don't own small sentiment stamps or rub-ons, and hate to run a full sheet of paper through the printer when I just need two words.

So I combed my Vogue with a fine-tooth comb, trying to come up with with love. With was fairly easy, love was cut from well-loved - a great word I would have wanted to keep for the future.
(I prefer Vogue to Marie Claire - their words are so much better! )
Btw, isn't that sentence just hilarious! Can't actually believe I wrote it.


I finished off all pieces with decoupage glue (like it said on the bottle). Is that stuff always matte? I hate how all the beautiful sheen and brayered looks lost their visual depth, and now seem flat under the glue. Should I rather varnish them, what do you think? Could I still put varnish over the decoupage stuff?



from top to bottom:
good(bye)
flat red paint, transparency, pearly gel paint, black stamping, German scrap, 30's girl face, laser cut butterfly, found words

with love, Paulette.
yellowed newsprint, old magazine, soft olive gel paint, partially rubbed away, found words, found images, golden gel pen drawn curliques

breakfast cocoa first (hmm?)
tissue, gold stamping, black stamping, bronze raised paint - this was a wonderful surface! Tissue curled a bit, this gave terrific depth to the piece, as stamps and paint wouldn't take everywhere. Unfortunately the looks got lost when I put decoupage stuff over it to finish it off waterproof! Note to self: must find another solution.
Cut leaves from a transparency, pasted & colorwashed them, restamped a few corners with black ink, put on found words and a found image.

thank you - I'm sorry

I'm Sorry

Thank You

Just a few greeting cards I made. Open design goes well with the spare looks of 1930's art. No need to fill up the space with more. I was lucky enough to find a French fashion magazine from that era in my local thrift store!

(pics click for big as always!)

TMTA / metal

Think Monday - think metal!
I am a fan of heavy metal, of rusty nails, of odd metal pieces, plates and findings... but for this card I chose soft metals: golden paint, golden gel pen, Chinese silver money with a blue ink wash and a copper brad.
(I have to tell you all this, because you can't really see all of it. A lot of the gold got lost in the photo, and the inked Chinese silver just looks blue - located right underneath the stripey bar... Well, at least the brad is visible! )

Welcome autumn with its golden days
traded

Background was done with watercolor - liked the prompt in last week's Inspire me Thursday and experimented with them on several different surfaces over the weekend. This card is done on plummy 200gm aquarelle paper.

Technique Thursday had a prompt to use circles. I thought, why limit myself to circles in design, why not make something circle shaped. So I experimented with 3¨ rounds. I had something in mind, but filling circle-shaped forms was harder than I thought it would be. Here they are - any ideas what I could make with them?
(And do they maybe feel a tad sparse?)

Mail Art

I came across these retro vintage letters. The envelopes are folded from magazines, the to and from information are placed at random, as are the stamps. Apparently it was done a lot back then. I'm sure they didn't call it mail art, but that's exactly what I'm going to call it!


Letters are stamped 1971. I'm in awe.

J.I.T.

Just in time for tomorrow's new Saturday Surprise challenge... here is my take on Thankfulness.

Kotona / Home
Home is everything - people, surroundings, familiarity, the base for life. The sparrow and the birch bark stand for the shared roots and the songs and stories. Laughter, sharing, togetherness - that's what I am thankful for.

goodies, frills and techniques

A few weeks ago I won some blog candy at Michelle's blog. OMG, I had no idea I would receive a package full of goodies. I was totally blown away, I just sat there on the floor and peeled the gift like an onion, layer by layer - take a look, too!

Papers - in elegant grey and white - Chinese paper money, slide folders, and Somerset Studios issue Artful Blogging. Now I know what the buzz is all about! This is such an eye-candy, plus really great reading. What you probably can't see, is a a rubber stamp alphabet from Green Pepper Press (Prague, nonetheless). And do you see the gorgeous card Michelle has made, all swirly and delicious! I never knew spray painting can look so beautiful. This is a lovely, generous gift. Thank you Michelle!

I met Michelle at ArtsyMama's tea party. After the party I have been hopping over and reading ArtsyMama's blog going backwards. I stumbled upon a hidden treasure that I am going to link here. (It is too bad she doesn't arrange her posts by month, you have to jump to the end of the list, where you get a new list, again to the end. This might make no sense until you do it.)

She has this great prompt how to challenge yourself out of your comfort zone and make a collage in the process. For those who don't wish to jump back and forth, I'll explain in brief.

You list all the different mediums and ways of working, then cut up the sheet of paper and put the pieces into a bowl. (A full list including some unusual techniques is on her blog.) Draw one piece. Do the technique prompted and draw the next. All in all she recommends ten.
Of course her collage looks just wonderful, and even better on the pages of the Somerset Studio magazine! Mine - not so much...
I had great time, though. This definitely pushed me out of my usual comfort zone. I would never ever have scraped, sanded, used charcoal or 3D if it hadn't been for those prompts.

This one is for DCM's Frilly bits challenge. I am not very frilly, and this is definitely the most frill there's going to be...

She looked on moodily. Not feeling like herself.
(traded)

Second card got a lot of chalking, charcoal, ink and scrape commands. I am not sure I like it, it is somewhat dark and moody.


This one pushed me even more than the first. Left on my own I would never have done 10plus layers. (I kept hoping for stamp to come up, now that I own beautiful stamps, but it didn't.)

Not until the very last did I read this piece of instruction: have your color palette ready. Yes, that would have helped!


A delicious recollection
(traded)

(everything clicks for big)

TMTA / music

Music of our lives. Oh, it is good to have an Italian music dictionary. There is a term for everything!

Irresoluto
Need I say more? (clicks for big as always!)

desire and contentment

Those are the themes for my new atc's.
A bird's whisper - Desire I


The back wing is made of... - Desire II

all pics click for big!
The pale yellow, well-known Lemon Butterfly - Contentment I
(traded)

Evoke your spirit - Contentment II

I am constantly juggling between desire and contentment - aren't we all! Right now I desire the blog candy that Chris is so generously offering... She has posted two photos for download and if you make cards with them you can enter a second and third time - plus any time someone mentions your name. So please mention how you came to her blog (via alice k. ) and I will be entered again - - - greedy, who, me? No, just desirous...

Oh Mary!

This lovely lady with the flower hat was shared by the talented Belinda Schneider at bel's nook.

Tech stuff: background was done with a blend of glitter glue and drawing ink, both blue. I mix them up in a small jar. Glue doesn't fully dissolve, and forms kind of jelloed flabs (in lack of other words), anyway, it is gooey nasty stuff to paint with. However, it dries very beautifully into dark patches. Glitter almost vanishes in the process, what's left gives the piece an iridescent sheen.

magic de paris

- oops! Wednesday Stamper challenge asked for stitching, and I was delighted. Stitching is right up my alley. But in the end didn't remember that stamping is mandatory. (Or so I presume.) Oh well. So these ATC's are just about stitching.

Magic de Paris
You have clear step-by-step instructions to make a button-hole. So why, then, won't mine ever look like this? Ever! It's magic, sheer magic, and best left to the connoisseurs.

Diminutive Motifs
We call them ditsies in pattern design. And this lady is, well kind of, ditsy. Sorry, Rein if she's your relative - in that case she is merely goofy... The photo is from plezier met papier's Monday morning pictures. Yes, I'm doing a second one - just to celebrate her blog birthday!

Ps: Sorry for the terribly pale shots - it's dark and overcast today.

photo finish

Little Car in The Big Woods
traded

My contribution to Daring Card Makers' challenge on photo finish.
Car - a vintage Opel Kapitän - via Rein, so this one is taking part in her Monday Morning Share challenge as well!

clicks for big!

technicalities:
Background was first gessoed in with a spatula on a shiny 4-color postcard. After it had dried, it was painted over with blue water color, which let the gesso lines show through as texture. Left corner was further rubbed in with dark brown gel paint, then painted twice over with water colors, one time with purple, then with Prussian blue. All elements are glued on - a vintage Austro-Hungarian map, a fir branch from an oldish abc book, a bird, Rein's car. The letters are rub-ons (my first! yay).

TMTA

This week in TMTA: numbers. (They have the bestest prompts, don't you think!)

(traded)
The #2 girl

Liz Taylor's stock on the way up / Elizabeth Taylors Aktien im Aufschwung


This second atc is also taking part in Sandy's Saturday Surprise challenge, this week with movies theme. (Sorry you guys - so far Sandy is posting in Finnish only, even though the name of challenge is English.)

yes, dear

ArtsyMama's blog party last week has created some nice ripple effects. I have been surfing the sites, and got stuck at artjunkgirl's inchies and her inchie tutorial. Bait, hook, sinker. Her inchies are lovely, and she has over 600 of them already. Go take a look if you are not familiar with her gorgeous work!

Here is my first attempt following the instructions. I had a 50's magazine to play with, and somehow it all came together. You can almost make a couple of short stories with these tiles.

we thought of - have a glass of - fun - perfect
a bit stubborn - way to lose weight - healthy and nourishing - thin in spite of goodies
I'm sure - just right - they went for a walk - quite so
yes, dear - enjoy a good meal without guilt. Hold a few Corrigan-days a week and... - healthy and simple - yes...?

Weekend scavenging (read: local flea market) yielded a treasure. Real Life Stories from the year 1932. Yesss!
For my readers in Finland: you can now subscribe me through blogilista.fi.

family secrets

where are you from, mother dear, so merry and gay? Lace and sequins, a sleeveless gown and a flower bouquet - must be from somewhere fine! (traded)

Did a series of atc's today with a heavy theme. Every family has some secrets, matters that are not ever being discussed, or else are being talked about in hushed voices, discussion abruptly stopped when someone enters the room.from a foreign country but yet - the birch tree with an evening star are there!

matters pertaining the law - dearest child!
a real 1880's newspaper snippet. "Lakiasioita" in funky typeface.

she told everything she knew
Kind of had to.

living in glass house
and with a real silk flower in her hair (traded)

son dearest, where have you been?
The civil war is a touchy subject. Well, he does have a golden heart, that blessed boy! (traded)

everything clicks for big!

3 cards and 5 facts

Here are the three cards I received in Sandy's atc-swap. The theme was time. (Scroll down for my entries. At the last moment I felt like I couldn't part with tic-toc says the clock, so I sent in just three.)And they are from - ? Oops, sorry... I know I brought the cards upstairs after taking their picture, but now I can't find them anywhere (in my glorious mess) - but I promise to tell and link as soon as I find the cards!

Sheri from Blended Colors asked me to reveal five facts about myself that you didn't know. Well, there are bound to be several thousand facts but I will only bore you with five.

1. stuff
I love stuff! I am forever scouring the flea-markets and carrying home odd road-side junk. But I also love my clean and uncluttered space and hate owning too much, because it makes me feel weighted. It's a dilemma, to put it mildly.
I have resolved it by using the waning and waxing method. I let my possessions accumulate to a certain point, at which they start taking overhand. Then it is time to let them go. I do this happily, knowing if I make space in my closet/drawer/life, something better will turn up. Life is not a take, it's a give and take.

2. clean
I need it clean. I am forever picking up sweaters, newspapers, scissors, books, magazines and bringing them to their place. I like when everything has their place. It makes me happy to know that any given hour of any given day I can walk into my kitchen and grab the scissors - no frantic looking and no swearing. (And what a time-saver!)

3. journals, notebooks
That said, I seem to be very cluttered when it comes to my journals and notebooks. Noticed the plural? Yes, I have several. There's the day-to-day planner, two big spiral-bound notebooks, a journal, and several (four?) small notebooks.
All my life is divided between these...(gasp)...eight books. It makes me very confused as I can never find the information/idea/phone # I am looking for and end up loosing so much time searching for the missing information and phoning other people to get the needed phone numbers.
(I will pay attention to all your suggestions, I promise! Tell me how you manage your notes?)

4. Victorian
I grew up reading books like Gold-Else (German bloggers will be familiar with these), Anne of Green Gables and other literature infused by Victorian values. Add to that an elderly papa doting his young wife -type family situation - keeping with the theme, at least - and you may realize I am not very 21st century. I grew up thinking leaving your calling card between 10 and 11 am was proper behavior.
We had tons of books at home, and I would read everything. My favorites were Victorian housewife-books (Frauenratgeber), and I was especially prone to imagining my future having a cook with whom I would discuss the daily menus... needless to say I had to wake up and smell the coffee (and make my own, tee-hee)

5. peanut butter
So simple and yet so complex! My favorite is the classic peanut butter with strawberry jam. No, it doesn't have to be Smuckers (rather prefer Bonne Maman...), and no, I do not like grape jelly. It is too thin, no consistency at all.
Have you ever tried this: peanut butter, lettuce and crisp bacon? Seriously yummy, a perfect lunch on a hot day. Enjoy!

(Have to shove in a sixth: I grew up in four different languages in as many countries - I float between the worlds. Where ever I live, that's my home, but I can imagine other homes as well. Don't envy me. It is hard keeping up with my family. The person you need is likely not being around in your part of the world.)

no mojo here either

It has been too hot to sit in my little studio under the eaves of this yellow house.

Instead, I placed my chair into the deepest shadows of the garden, and made some jewelry. I like this simple pendant necklace.
new jade (green quartz), peridot, carnelian, apatite and sterling silver
This is the third day a thunderstorm has been predicted but has not arrived. It is unbearably hot and humid, just like on the East Coast. We have never owned an AC, so you can imagine what we put up with every summer. And we thought the High North would be different... Oh pu-h-lease!

Maybe I should do a rain dance? (And shock the neighbors to no end! )

A story of Elsie and some strawberry juice gone very, very bad

I just had to give the fantasy with wings (challenge by Heather) another try!
And one card didn't seem enough, the words and pictures just kept popping up. Now it is a short story - or a silent movie if you will.

1. Someone pretends it is Elsie's birthday, and she receives a gift. (reserved)


2. Elsie is brought out to the park.


3. Elsie gets thirsty for strawberry juice, and doesn't pay attention to a stupid Faerie.


4. Elsie is only half sorry - now she has a nicer dress than Annie. (reserved)


5. The obligatory teaching in verse-form.

6. Big sister Annie is being very mature about it all.


These cards also take part in Hermine's challenge. She has a downloadable background that needs to be used. I don't know how it happened, but mine printed out practically letter-size! I was able to cut eight cards from it. The fantasy story uses six of them - I guess it counts as having done the challenge... I hope so.

with wings

Heather is calling for fantasies with wings. Drooling over her gorgeous blog candy, I decided to do an entry. Well, this is what I came up with. I doubt, though, that they'll qualify as fantasies, they look pretty sturdy and down to earth to me!

What you staring at! Never seen a Faerie before? (traded)

If I wish real hard, will I be a Faerie, too?




Sheri over at Blended Colors has awarded me the Nice Matters Award. It made me feel so special, I mean I haven't even been blogging that long! I guess it's my turn now... This is hard, I read so many nice matters-worthy blogs! Some of them have been nominated already. I shall pass the niceness over to:

Vasilisa - reading your blog is like coming to a warm and loving home

krafty kitty - for your refreshing quirky felted creatures

magenta - for fantastic, beautiful experimenting

tikkelperi - art done with soul

pia k. - everything is beautiful here!

Please visit them and admire their awsome work!

Friendship Swap is into its' second week. Nesse spoiled me with lovely papers, stickers, a shape puncher, a funny key fib and some licorice. Thanks, Nesse, you made my day!

Merry Antoinette

A dress she might have been most delighted in. Great for strolls in the garden and mid-morning tea!
Or maybe it is for the garden faerie? Her best dress, used for dancing at sunrise, or in the deep shadows of the midday.

all pics click for bigTech stuff:
Bodice and dress are paper. Bodice was embossed to a flower shape, dusted a bit with pixie powder. It looked somewhat spare, so I went ahead and sewed four silk flowers and some sequins on. The narrow velvet straps are sewn on with gold thread.

Dress "fabric" was made by gessoing a pink tissue paper, then doubling it over. After hardening it could be cut and sewn. The bottom was cut frilly with "heirloom blade" scissors. The center has a canary stained copy of an old hand-written document.

The flower garlands are cut from "Mini Craft Pack" cover envelopes. (I am such a thrifter - but again, if it can be used, why trash it?) I felt like the bottom needed some decoration, so I quickly snipped a tiny lace bow from my panties (knickers to you all English-speaking folks).

I wish I had those little frou-frou hangers that Sheri has managed to find at her local flea market. Lacking those, I made my own. (Hmm, a bit crooked.) I "padded" the hanger with a paper napkin and attached some gold wire for hook.
The dress is about 20cm /8" high, the hanger measures 9cm/3.5" sideways.

And I totally credit Sheri for this dress. I was so inspired by her lovely frou-frou dresses! Thanks for the inspiration!