Snowflake Kisses

Wednesday Stamper has a charming theme this week: Snowflake kisses. This is how I decided to interpret it:


clicks for bigger. Thanks for looking!

WS / First letter

Haven't seen this challenge before: make a card using the first letter of your name as an inspiration. Go over to Wednesday Stampers to participate!
My first letter is A, and the word that came to mind was Award.

A is for Award.

But no-one is saying what kind of an award! For all we know it may be an award for the worst dresser.

WS / In My Garden

In my Garden is Wednesday Stamper's challenge this week. Here's my entry:

Stamping, gel paints, German scraps, musical notes... My garden is a happy place!

WS / Stars

How nice! Cheers from Wednesday Stamper for returning week after week. This week we should put some sparkle on our creations. I love sequins for their almost decadent sparkle, and added some. In pink, of course. (Of course!)

A little bird said... (you can never have enough hats, pink or sparkle)
Stamped background, collage of vintage photo, German scraps and a magazine cutting, aged with cream acrylic paint, then highlighted with sparkle gel pens, sequins.

Wednesday Valentine

Just tried to be clever there... It's Thursday, of course, but the challenge was by Wednesday Stampers, calling for Valentines.
My card doesn't have the usual sugary coloring.

"Because you're hot" came from a magazine, and seemed to go well with the picture of this lady. She's the sweetheart of a gustav, adolf, angus or some such. The pink heart brad screams love, as do the row of hugs and kisses top of the card.

pic clicks for bigger! Traded.

Asia

Wednesday Stampers calls for Asia-themed entries. Well then, here is mine.
I glued on the brown skeleton leaf as an afterthought - the upper right looked a tad empty. Too bad it hid some of the flourishes.

Wednesday Stampers: Growing old

Off the cuff: My piece is not about how old you are, it's about getting there. Getting to be really old, wise, respected, y'know, stuff. It's a long road. My sentiments go out to the very young, to the adolescent. I'd like to shout: don't give up, don't despair. The world is harsh, the world is unjust, parents should know better but some never do. Just do not give up. Be a better person, a good person, be all you can!

For this challenge I decided to "illustrate" the poetry I've been slowly working on. Hannu Mäkelä of Finland wrote these lines (among others) in 1974. I'm positive he wasn't writing about children, or adolescent, but I think they fit beautifully to describe growing pains.

"My road shrouded in darkness. There is no other road."

"We have very little future, and we have to take care of it ourselves."
click both for big. Sorry for the glare!

WS / Children

Wednesday Stampers has a topic this week: Children. Here is my take on it.

Charley Boy (traded)

And in case you are wondering about the four-letter word that now is cut to half - not my doing. It kind of censored itself. I have a glueing board, and part of this strip got accidentally glue on the letters, so it stuck to the board when I was lifting it up. D-a- came off, m-n stayed. Some vocabulary, Charley boy!

Wednesday Stampers / fall colors

The glorious colors of fall! The challenge this week over at Wednesday Stampers is to use these colors in our artwork. I was drwan towards the muted shades of those colors, and this is the result:


I am

background: reworked Basic Gray paper (Urban Couture Mila), mulberry paper, textile leaf with brad, postage stamp, old portrait, stamp from ebay. 4x4 format (starting to like it!), a wire for hanging.
Clicks for big! Sorry I didn't get the picture face-on, so it shows some unfortunate perspective!

Three Moo

Wednesday Stampers are great! I have seriously never heard of moo cards before, but these girls made me try the format. I've probably said it often, but I'll say it again: I love challenges! Especially if I manage to do something with them, of course.

This is what I did - three moo cards, in a relatively cheerful orange.


tech stuff: crumbled up the paper, stamped with a nameless cherry blossom stamp, colored in with watercolor, arranged some (watercolor dyed) text on top, added images and flowers and some random word clippings.

I decided I like the format. I could imagine dividing an atc into a similar triptych and doing it quasi in three parts.

Thanks for the well-wishes! I am feeling better than in the morning, now that I've not only had time to make some art, but that I have managed to finish a challenge right away, in one sitting, and actually even like the result. Makes me feel better about myself.

There are days when I sit at my desk all night after work and not complete a thing.
I was really glad to read Paula's words this morning: you've got to try to work with your art every day. I do try to. I would love to finish every challenge every time.
Lately I have not been happy with what I make. I have kept trying, but I grow more and more frustrated. And when I'm frustrated I tend not to like myself too well - and then, for sure, I'm not able to do any art all.
Not sure how to get out of this pickle...

Oh, and please, if you'd like to be linked with me, would you kindly drop a note! I'd love to be starting to work on my links next. Thanks!

Fish and Paris

Down with the Fish
Traded

Wednesday Stamper's theme this week, Fish, elicited a more or less surrealistic piece out of me. I can't think of anything friendly when thinking of fish - wonder why is that?
The Fish will be entered for DCM's Charity theme as well. The base of this collage is a magazine ad for Polycolor hair dyed from a 60's magazine, acquired recently at my local thrift store.

Friday 4x4 threw "France" in the air. A fun thought, but I had to go with an atc. A 4x4 just seemed too unmanageable. (Means I'll have to train it!)

Paris, eh?
Traded
A short word to technique: I spread a big glob of (blue) Pebeo Gloss on the (treated) background paper, then stamped on this thick smear of color. This resulted in a negative stamp - background color stayed put, the stamped image was sucked empty of color. I'm thrilled, this opens up a lot of possibilities!

Clickety click- click both for big!

fall - autumn - herbst - syksy

It's definitely here! I started picking up leaves a couple of weeks ago and by now they are dry. I like to send seasonal cards, so these will be mailing out in the weeks to come. And I just love real mail, so I usually send out cards "for nothing".

I also started a triptych for Wednesday Stamper challenge. I am not quite happy with this, still seems a tad empty. I feel like the flaps could use something more.
The edges sport my newest acquisition - foil tape. I'm really excited about it, there are certainly a lot of possible uses.

Arch of Secret Desires.
free for trade

purple holes and mulberry papers

DCM has a fun challenge: tearing purple holes for Christmas. Very cryptic, it means your card should have a hole, the color purple, torn paper and a Christmas motive. Add to this Wednesday Stamper's prompt us to use mulberry or hand made papers - you know, those pretty ones that we keep in the stash pile! Well, I knew I just had to make a holiday tag card.
Mulberry papers, all of it torn, some silver and red stamping, dried fir, silver paper, yarns - a merry hodgepodge for a Merry card! This was fun!