Talvisia tarinoita / Winter stories

One fine day the snow came. It was a light snow, the snow crystals floated gracefully down. Soon the ground was covered, but the snowfall went on.
- Oh, snow for Christmas! cried the children.
- I rather feel like taking a ride. Let's go and have a fun trip in the snow, said Papa. Everybody rushed to the car, barely remembering their warm clothes. They rode along the road, snow covering their tracks.

Nobody noticed that Lily had stayed behind. If everybody else was leaving, great. Finally she could try out the pink scooter. She pushed it out to the driveway, but couldn't get it to start. She pushed it a bit further, stopped under a tree and thought: It's just me and my scooter. How lovely.
The snowflakes were floating down, the snow crystals landed on her face and melted, they landed on her hat and stayed there. It was quiet, it was snowing. It was Christmas.

Taking part:
Take a Word: Yesterdays
Silpputehdas: Joulusuunnitelmia

Float away

KK-vintagehaaste kutsuu jälleen mukaan. Kortista tulee löytyä "Myssy tai hattu" tai vaikka useampikin.
Näihin kortteihin pääsin käyttämään herrasmiesleimoja - ne ovat ihania mutta käyttöä en paljon keksi. Kortissa on myös kierrätetty perheenjäsenen saamaa lahjakassia, jossa oli kuumailmapallo-aiheisia kuvia. *Tietenkin* omin sen itselleni.

Simon Says challenge on Monday asks to recycle something. For this set I recycled a gift bag that a member of my household received some time ago. *Of course* I had to keep it - it had gorgeous images of vintage hot air balloons. And as a matter of course I only work on recycled cardboard, the backs are cut from a frozen pizza box. I sandpaper them, then treat with color. These were sprayed with olive mist through a geometric stencil.

As TioT challenge asks for something old and something new... well, the new thing are the 'postage' stamp stickers. They are rather glossy, but work nicely in vintage style nevertheless. I bought several sheets, I just love postage.

And finally, I'll be entering in Take-a-Word challenge which has a lovely theme of Green and Blue. My very favorite colors.

 entering in:
SimonSays Monday challenge: Recycle something
TioT: Something old, something new
Take-a-Word: Green and Blue

Sweet fluff

ArtGrupaATC had a very broad theme this time: Badges. The theme could be anything really, as long as there is a badge included. Luckily my order from A Flair for Buttons had just come in. I ordered several designs, but Marie Antoinette'esque ladies just jumped at me and begged to be used.

I started building the cards with some rather romantic tissue papers I had been saving for too long. I
added some baby blue texture paste (Marabou) through a stencil.

Next I built up layers with scrap papers at one spot, added some thread and the badge.

Some decorative crystals rounded up the design. I had most fun finding the words for each of them.

linking to:
ArtGrupaATC: Badges
Take a Word: Old-fashioned

Men, guys & dads and brothers

One week over, two more to go. This week was spent in lectures and catching up on some essay work. But I did manage to sneak in some crafty time. For the most part I made some cards for a swap party (2x9 cards). You will get to see them in July when all the participants have received theirs. Apart from the swap I made a guy-themed card set.

" Nobody had time to warn them - the group of men heard everything."

Some found words to make it mysterious - those men stand funnily in a row and I can't think why. Who would have taken such a photo and for what purpose?

Sorry for the crappy quality, here they are again:

June being the month for Father's day in many countries (not all) there are several challenges at the moment calling for masculine cards or cards for dads. Which isn't the same in my book. So the above I will enter into:
Paperminutes: #438 green-grey-black
Moo-mania: Masculine
TioT: It's all about him


For the daddies out there I placed my favorite father and son into a sunny setting:

"Let's sit here, Son, the sun is shining."
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Father's Day
Lunagirl: Fathers and Brothers

The backgrounds on all cards were done with my recently discovered 'scrappy method' which I have blogged here and here. It suits me fine: I can hold on to little pieces of paper, but get to use them (instead of just hoarding for ever). When using, I do try to select colors that go together, but I always paint and/ or stencil on top to make them look uniform but still interesting.

Mirrored Butterflies / ja yllättävä haiku

For these cards I started with a grey base. First I worked with pearlescent white 3D paste through a stencil. Next I added a layer of color with Gelatos, I find those neon shades add so much whimsy to vintage pictures. I stamped the lady on a tissue, then reversed the tissue and stamped again. This way I was able to get a mirror image of her.

Two opposing each other / facing east / escorted by the morning sun's rays.

I am working with the concept of mirroring right now - double identity, a self with a shadow self, a twin - there are many interpretations possible.
Next came another layer of stamped butterflies, I repeated the small ones and added them on the bottom. The big butterfly is placed so that it matches.

entering these into:
Fashionable Stamping: #109 Butterflies
Vintage Stamping: #42 Three layers
Take-a-Word: Butterflies

Näissä korteissa kokeilin miltä vintagekuvat näyttäisivät neonvärisellä taustalla. Yllättävän hyviltä, sanoisin. Osoittaa ainakin sen, että vintagen ei suinkaan tarvitse olla jatkuvasti hengettömän ruskeaa tai masentavan sameaa.
Eniten ilahduin korttien sanoista. Kerrankin niistä tuli jotain kaunista. Tämä on kuin runo:

Vastakkain kaksi,
suoraan itään
aamuauringon säteiden saattamana.

Take risks

Bold, purple, grungy, stripes, checks, circles... That was the inspiration. If there is one stamp I love it must be the black&white leggings. Of course one can only use it about once a year becaue it is so memorable. But what the heck, time for it was now.

Take risks, she says. Move on. Start something new.

Background was treated with inks flicked with water for effect.  Then came the bubble wrap texture, a purple checkered sticker for under her feet, the magnificent legs, colored in with more white and more black, and finally the sentiment and the shift key. (Butterfly was part of the background.) I (mis)treated the edges with my scissors, but honestly, the grunge effect is not worth noting.
All in all, this was a leap from my comfort zone with surprisingly nice results. See, taking risks pays off!

linking to:
VivaLasVegas: February challenge
Simon Says Monday challenge: Leap into the unknown 
Take a Word: Predominantly purple

Ajan vartijat / Time Keepers

Kaikki lähti KK:n vintagehaasteesta, jossa pyydetään ruskean sävyjä. Tein sarjan lapsia, Ajan Vartijoita.

Is it a bad thing not to have a recognizable style, a signature style? I wonder. 

I like to try out different moods, different mediums and different approaches to art. 

 This time I was inspired by sepia tones and a slightly steampunk feel.

I am calling these children the Time Keepers.
There is Steven, who will grow up to be a sea captain and settle in Australia.

Steven kasvaa ja ryhtyy merikapteeniksi, seilaa maailman meriä ja asettuu asumaan Australiaan. Hänellä on poika, josta tulee lentäjä, mutta joka ei koskaan lennä Suoomeen eikä enää puhu suomen kieltä.

There is Wilhelmina, who will become a widow at a young age and take over the grocery store from her husband.

Wilhelmiina eli Mimmi ei aavista vielä, että hän joutuu nuorena leskeksi ja ottaa hoitaakseen miehensä sekatavarapuodin eräässä maalaispitäjässä.

- and there is baby Bertha, who will go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember the value of silence.

Ja lopulta pieni Bertta-vauva, joka pitää ajan hampaasta kiinni pienellä pullealla kätösellään. Hänestä tulee hiljainen saari maailman melun keskellä.

linking up with:
KK:n Vintagehaaste: ruskean sävyjä
Take a Word: Children
Steampunk Challenge: Anything goes

Lady at the Seaside

I recently ordered some new stamps. They were a mixture of steampunk and romantic (what can I say, I am torn!). This is a romantic piece, but I managed to use part of the steampunk stamp on the background.
Then I added a lot of frill and pink and fluff. To frame the lady I used the 'flow-over' frames of the self adhesive postage stamps. Those of you who have swapped with me recently will recognize the postage stamp.

participating in:
Crafty Individuals, January challenge
P*skis: 307. luonnos
Take a Word: Frames

The Natural World / Luonto

Parissa haasteessa on aiheena luonto. Tämä peura on katsonut minua pitkään kauniilla silmillään, ja nyt se löysi jonkunlaisen paikkansa. Yllättävää kyllä osoittautuikin, ettei se ei ollutkaan tyytyväinen elämäänsä. Eikö peuran elämä sitten olekaan antoisaa ja ihanaa?

Life seemed very constricted

The leaves are falling. I go walking in the woods on Sunday afternoons. The wood has an earthy smell and the oak trees have narrow leaves, quite  different from home. I made a collage of a deer, a pressed leaf from an Austrian oak tree and paper with some pretty flowers. But the deer seems not quite as happy as one might expect...

Entering this into:
Take a Word: World of Nature
Moo-Mania: Autumn Mood

School Days / Koulussa

Tämä poika ei välitä koulusta ja uhkaa opettaa luokalle muutamia helppoja lauseita. Ihan ei käy ilmi, tarkoittaako hän vieraita kieliä - vai jotakin muuta...

Well, someone is clearly not happy to be at school:

Mind your language, son!

I tried something new again this week, texture paste. You can see it on the background. I worked it through two stencils, then painted and rubbed the higher parts with some darker color. This was my first time using it. There is some texture, for sure, but not as much as I imagined there would be. Perhaps using gesso would do the same thing? Opinions, anyone?

entering this into:
Take a Word: School days
Try it on Tuesday: try something new

Granpa traveling

What a lovely granpa - pocket watch and tickets on the ready.

He's traveling with nana, who points out there is still time enough and she would like to take her photos.

Mamma ja pappa matkalla Joensuuhun. Pappalla on jo piletit ja hän kiiruhtaa mammaa, mutta tämäpä tuumaa, että juna ei lähdekään ihan heti ja hänpä aikoo ottaa kuvia. (Kameraa ei ehkä heti tunnista, se on vanhanaikainen haitarikamera.) Kiitokset sukulaiskuvasta Piikulle! Kaksi korttiani TJK-haasteeseen / sukulaiset.

entering granpa into:
Unruly Paperarts: Men

both into:
Take a Word: Vintage Photo
Rubber Dance Arts, September challenge

Traveling

For Rubber Dance Art challenge, here's the breakdown: I used  July colors (with some darker shades for the photos). I collect stamps, and after dissolving them I am left with these lovely wavy postal imprints and circles with names of towns. I have been collecting the prettiest ones. I now collaged them onto the card, then painted over with transparent gel paints and some diluted acrylics so the postage lines would stay visible. I stamped with Rubber Dance stamps Round in circles. It's a useful set to own, I have used it for sea life and flowers before this.
Thanks for looking!

Black and White / Linnuton puu

Illustrated sayings:

All that we are
is the result of what we have thought.

Thoughts become things -
choose the nice ones.

made for:
Take a Word: Black and white. (I felt like it needed some gold, too.)
Paperminutes: Sayings / Sprüche

Background is gesso on cardstock. The structure in gesso gives the stamped image some movement. I reinforced some lines with a marker and some areas with pastel chalk. Stars are cut from a golden kraft paper.

Enkulin musiikkihaasteen tämänkertainen laulu on vaivannut minua koko kuukauden.  Kauan kesti ennen kuin sain inspiksen päästä kiinni.  Naisten hiukset ovat kuin puun oksat, ilman lintuja mutta tähtiä täynnä. Tämän postauksen ensimmäisellä kortilla (Kaikki mitä olemme...) osallistun haasteeseen.

Follow that girl

I started thinking about all the different kind of shoes there are and the occasions you wear them. When I travel the shoes are always the most difficult to pack. You need sneakers, sandals, dress shoes... and comfortable shoes of course.

Travel destination: New York.
Shoes packed: several

First outing: Our girl visits Broad Channel Bird Refuge. It is only one stop away from JFK on the subway. You'll need nice hiking shoes, although the paths are well kept.

Second outing: Coney Island. There is the amusement park of course, the Boardwalk, the sandy beaches, but we'll head to the Aquarium.

Entering this into Take a Word: Sealife


Third outing: Park Slope, Brooklyn. Our girl wears fun and comfortable shoes. Park  Slope has brownstones, fashion stores, coffee houses and the fantastic Botanical Garden with it's annual Cherry Blossom festival - worth a visit.

Fourth outing: Upper West Side. Our girl goes artsy, yet refined. She visits the Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History, steps over to Central Park and enjoys a sunny day at the park.

entering all cards into
Stampotique SDC 203: attachers
Eclectic Ellapu: travel
Country View Challenge: on your travels.

Cards have stamping and stenciling over MTA subway map (of New York). Legs move, they have been attached with brads and snap fasteners.
Thank you for looking!

Muistoja / Romance is in the air

Meet Doctor Owliewood... he can be quite romantic at times, he fancies himself a real ladies' man.

 Wings are stamped, the guy is from an image sheet, background is an "unintentional background paper", the kind that covers my desk when I work. They have paint residue, stray spray paint drops, stamping, scribble, smudging, in short: they have seen it all. And for that reason I usually keep them, as they can be quite inspirational.

Entering this into some fun challenges:
Take a Word: wings
TJK 29: muistoja - Tässä käytetty kätkee muistoja entisistä töistä. Uudelleenkäytän pöydänsuojuspaperit korttipohjina. Tässä on jälkiä sabluunasta, glitteriliiman jämiä, leimasinkokeilua ja hieman poispyyhittyä sinistä akryyliväriäkin. Se on vapaana vaihtoon, lisään sen vaihtosivulleni, jonka löydät heti blogin nimen alta.

Beauty / Kauneus

Beauty lies in the moments, and their memory is more fragile than a wing of a butterfly.

Kauneus on hetkissä, ja niiden muisto on hauraampaa kuin perhosen siivet.

entering this into Take a Word.
Mukana myös TJK25, jossa aiheena on perhoset. Tämäkin on tehty pöydällä pyörineistä silpuista.

Time is no more

How curiously empty a clock looks when there is nothing there. Nothing is moving, there is no time to tell, the clock has lost it's meaning, it's raison d'etre. How void of meaning, useless such a clock looks, menacing even.

There is no more time / Time is no more

The card is grey cardboard, smeared with white gesso and wet stamped without any color, so the stamp actually removed the gesso and left a grey (cardboard colored) imprint. All other elements are collaged on. Words were found in a book.
Thanks for looking!

Entering this into:
TioT: Watches and clocks
Take a Word: Timepieces
Moo-mania: Anything goes

Some steam, little punk

... but lots of machinery, numbers, some gleaming copper, and Victorian gentlemen. I had to look up a definition for Steampunk as I have never done such a piece before. (And here's another, shorter.)

James, making money is quite easy, you just turn that knob. The steam
 machine is going to take care if everything.

Right here sir?

I will hold my hand here, soon you'll see how it works.

I used a wild array of found metal thingies and fashioned two wheels out of sandpaper. I am traveling and have almost nothing with me, just some basics like atc blanks, glue, scissors and a few snippets of paper. Basically everything you see has been found on my trip. (The dapper gentlemen are from an illustrated novel from late 1800's.)
In a week I'll be back home again, which will be a relief from collage point of view - but otherwise of course not, I enjoy myself immensely!

Entering this into:
That's Crafty: "Number is Up"
Take a Word: Steampunk
Eclectic Ellapu: Steampunk
Unstampabelles: Hero/ Heroine

Home

It doesn't matter where my home is
it matters who lives there with me.

Home Sweet Home challenge at Take a Word.

Turq Turq Turq - and how a word changes everything

Take a Word asks for the color turquoise,  PaperArtsy challenges us to add a word ( or more) and Moo-mania wants to see a bottle... Oh I had a field day, you may well believe that! I don't usually want to cram in too many challenges, but it seemed like match made in heaven.

"Exhibit 6"

Background is partly painted and sprayed with glimmer mist, then stamped with white, and partly a torn store tissue paper that happened to have a beautiful turquoise shade.
 Butterfly comes from a ephemera book by Crafty Individuals, a lovely turq and blue. I knew I wanted to use the giant bottle and create a terrarium in there. But the card still looked empty.
Most times you don't need words at all, they are just surplus ballast. But this time some words were needed. However, depending on the wording you will view the picture quite differently. What if it said "I like my new home" ? Wouldn't feel quite as sinister, would it? But I seem to have a sinister streak, so of course I went with "exhibit 6". (And also because a longer word would not have fitted...) I was quite happy to finally have a use for these alphabet discs.

Thanks for looking!