Monday 26 December 2011

Cherry Nest - Ho Ho Ho

Hello!

I hope you had a great time yesterday! We had a great family Christmas lunch, with amazing dishes prepared by two sisters (my mother and my aunt) and amazing deserts prepared by two other sisters (my two cousins). I ate so much that I skipped dinner - I was still full! You may have noticed I didn't mention me cooking anything... that's because my kitchen and I are not the best of friends ;o)

There is a habit of mine that I have to change. I give my presents the first of January rather than Christmas. There are two reasons for this: first, a practical one. I always get the week between Christmas and New Years Eve off work, so it is easier for me to do the final presents shopping then, when things are more relaxed. On the other hand, when I was a child the "Greek Santa Claus" called "Ai Vassilis" was visiting our house the first of January (which is the name day for Saint Vassilis). But the last few years I find myself in a position of receiving presents on Christmas and giving my presents the first of January, so I have to change my habit. Starting from next year ;o)

Which means that I still have time for some Christmas cards! I made the following one for Cherry Nest a few days ago:



The Cherry Nest papers I used are:


This time I didn't actually do any particular technique. The one thing that was a bit complicated was to glue the ribbon on the craft cardstock. At the end it seems that Glue Dots did the job, but I'm not sure how long they will last. Do you have any ideas what to use? What do you usually use to glue ribbon?

I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Friday 23 December 2011

Merry Christmas everyone!

So, my last post before Christmas... with what else? A Christmas card, this time based on acetate:



The base of the card is made of acetate... Very easy to make, difficult to photograph! I don't like very much the background I have used, but nothing else I tried would work.

I heat embossed both the tree and the ornaments with Silver Pearl Embossing and then I used Perfect Pearls on the tree. The star is made of wood and I coloured it with Pearl Dauber. Full of pearl!

I hope you like it!

I wish to all of us Merry Christmas and to have a great time with our families and friends...

Love and health to all of us!

Hugs,
Anastasia

Supplies:

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Wednesday 21 December 2011

Scrapbook*Life*Journal 2012 with Stephanie Ackerman


Hello - Hello!

Today I wanted to share with you something different. Yes, not a card for a change!

Lately I wanted to start a kind of journal... Mainly to record my thoughts, ideas and sayings that I hear/read and I like, souvenirs... you know what I mean. The issue was that I didn't want to do it alone. I thought it would be much better if I could do it with others, to encourage them and be encouraged, to share what we make...

In the meantime, about a month ago I ordered some stamps that I've been wanted for some time now, from Stephanie Ackerman. After I made the order, I looked for her blog to see what else she makes. This lady is making some amazing doodles that I just adore! I keep thinking "I wish I could do this!"

So reading her blog I found out that in January she starts an online class called Scrapbook*Life*Journal. It is a 12 month basic, easy, no stress "follow along" class... exactly what I was looking for! It includes a weekly journal prompt posted to a closed facebook page, a monthly pdf printable calendar, a monthly pdf printable doodle to color and embellish based on that month's theme, a pdf of journal prompts, quotes and verses based on the monthly subjects, techniques.

Well, didn't think much about it and I signed up.

My first NO-STRESS assignment was to prepare our folder for the year. For this we had to use about 56 papers, one for each month and week of the year. The only condition was to do it without stress, something she keeps reminding us. And we shouldn't think too much what kind of papers we would use, whatever we have will do, no matter how much we like them.

Let me tell you, it was therapeutic to finally use all those papers that in one way or another have been accumulating in a pile and I knew that I wasn't going to use! Satisfaction, even happiness and freedom each time I was cutting a paper to use for the folder, especially when it had colours and motifs that I new I would probably never use.

That's what I wanted to share with you today, and some photos of the folder that I made. If you want more details on the course, you can visit here.

Apologies for the quality of the photos but it was the best I could do. Weather is really crappy and there is no natural light...










Hugs,
Anastasia
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Cherry Nest - Christmas CAS cards

Hello!

Today I want to share with you a few Christmas cards I made for Cherry Nest:









I liked the Cherry Nest Christmas papers so much that I wanted to make them pop in a way. So I decided to prepare a few CAS cards.

The papers I used are the following:



For the card I did reverse die cutting:  I used the Spellbinders 2010 Christmas Tree dies on the white card and put the Christmas papers below. I stamped the sentiment, added the green-white twine and the cards were ready.

I hope you like them!

Supplies:

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Tuesday 20 December 2011

Very, very happy "Get Creative" news...

Hello!

2011 might have been a difficult year for my family and myself, but the end of the year is bringing me some very happy news...

Irini asked me to become a member of Get Creative Creative Team!!! :D :D :D I can't begin to explain how happy I am! I've been following the blog for more than a year now, and I participate in the card challenges because the inspiration provided by the creative team has always given me ideas to make cards! I am really very happy!

My first card as the creative team member is for the sketch challenge for December 20th - you can see the challenge here:


The card that I made is the following:


If you want to get super-duper inspiration, you can visit the Get Creative blog here to see the Creative Team's creations...

And remember, the sponsor for this month is Unity Stamps with their wonderful stamps! Seriously now, just a few days ago I found in a store in Madrid Unity Stamps and I just couldn't resist, I bought (another) one. I will make something soon.

For a chance to win, you can make a card until December 28th!



And a few words for the card...

There are only 5 days left till Christmas, but what I wanted to make was a thank you card dedicated to Irini and the Get Creative creative team for their very warm welcome!

I wanted to make something different than a rectangle, so I used the Nestabilities Wonky Rectangles to make the card base. To make the background for the front of the card and give it some dimension, I used the Dots Embossing Folder by Sizzix.

The background of the green part of the card is made with stamp and pearlised water. This is what I did: First I coloured the white cardstock with Distress Ink. Then I sprayed the Vine Background stamp by Hero Arts and Basic Grey with pearlised water that I prepared with water and Perfect Pearl. I stamped my green cardstock with the stamp and since distress inks reacts to water, I got the result you can see on the photo. What you cannot see is that there is a pearlised effect on the vines...

If you have any queries regarding the technique I tried to describe, just ask me and I will reply to you.

I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Sunday 18 December 2011

Cherry Nest - Happiness is being owned by a cat (or two... or three...)

Hello!

In case you didn't know... I'm crazy about cats! Have been since I remember myself and I can't quite know why, since we didn't have any pets when I was growing up. Well, not until I was 14 years old when my mother was tired of me asking for a cat all those years and allowed me to get one :D

Anyway... given my love for cats, I was sooo happy when I saw the "Niaou" bingo cards by Cherry Nest - "Niaou" being the Greek cats' "Meow", lol!

And of course I didn't miss the opportunity to make a card:



I enjoyed it so much! Finally I got to use my stamp with the phrase "happiness is being owned by a cat" (so I have three sources of happiness in my home now!), paws everywhere, this sweet cat I cut with Silhouette... And of course the sweetest paper for the cat, Hot Pink Polka Dots.

The Cherry Nest papers I used this time are the following:


The card has quite a lot of dimension as I used a number of foam adhesive layers, but unfortunately you cannot see it on the photo.

I hope you like it!

And remember to visit the Cherry Nest blog for lots and lots of inspiration by the super-talented design team!

Supplies: (apologies, but the stamps that I have used where the very first I ever bought and since I haven't kept the package, I don't know the stamp company to share it with you :S)

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Thursday 8 December 2011

Lawn Fawn Christmas tags

Hello!

I had some fun yesterday playing with my new Ornate Ornaments stamp set by Lawn Fawn and prepared (many of) the tags for my Christmas presents:


I prepared a different colour for each one, so it will be even easier for me to recognise the present... and more fun to create, lol!

I used a number of paper scraps and distress inks, so I won't be listing them in the supplies, as the list would become way too long. If you want any information, please let me know and I'll tell you!

Another idea that I had and I really loved was to use Silver Embossing Powder not only on the ornaments, but also around the tags. I experimented with the first one and I liked it so much that I did the same to all the tags. Here is a close-up:



I will submit the tags for the following challenges:

Lawnscaping challenge #23: Tags or Treat Bags


Wee Memories #78 - Free for all


I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Wednesday 7 December 2011

Cherry Nest - Hourglass

A kind of different card today for Cherry Nest. The main idea was to use the tags as an hourglass. So, I made a shaker card:



The Cherry Nest papers I used are the following:


This time I printed the tags in a scale bigger than the normal, so that the tag would become big enough to be used as an hourglass. On the other hand, I printed the flowery number tags in a smaller scale so that they could fit in the card.

I have the sentiment inside... but forgot to take it a photo!

I hope you like it!

Supplies:

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Monday 5 December 2011

Lawn Fawn Christmas tag

Hello!

Here is a tag for Christmas presents that I prepared yesterday:


Actually, I thought I could use it as a tag, but I have it on my wall right now, as part of the Christmas decorations ;o)

For some reason this weekend I couldn't get any inspiration... I was looking at sketch challenges, colour challenges, and although there were many interesting ones, I still couldn't make them work for me. "Inspiration blockage". I started a couple of projects and I didn't like them, so I didn't finish them. Then I decided to organise the "I might need them later on" box...

... and I found these cuties (ie the tree, the fox and the mushrooms) that I had prepared for another card which I didn't finish a few weeks ago (yes, another inspiration blockage). And that was it. I selected papers from the 12 days of Christmas paper pad, put everything together, added some finishing touches with Diamond Stickles, and Antique Linen Distress Stickles for the star, and there it was! The end of inspiration blockage ;o)

While looking for inspiration, I saw that two of my favourite challenge blogs have an open theme challenge this week. So the tag will be submitted to the following challenges:

Wee Memories #78: Free for all



Lawnscaping #23: Tags or Treat Bags (ooops, I had forgotten to add it to this challenge, thank you Vera for reminding me!!!)



Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes



I hope you like it! You can see the list of supplies below.



Supplies:

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Thursday 1 December 2011

Owl Miss You

Hello!

Today I have to share with you a cute owl:


Lately I'm falling in love (again!) with my Silhouette SD. Inspired by Wee Memories challenge that asks to have woodland animals on our cards and Lily Pad Cards that asks to have buttons, the idea of an owl with buttons as eyes came to me. I looked at the Silhouette online shop and found this cute owl.

I didn't have button in the size and the colour that I wanted. So I used the Buttons die cut from My Favorite Things to cut two buttons, I coloured them with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then heat embossed it with Versamark and clear embossing powder three times to give them dimension.

So, the card is for the following challenges:

Lily Pad Cards: Simon Says Stamp Button Challenge



Young Crafters Unite #4: Use dies (my second entry)


I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Tuesday 29 November 2011

Cherry Nest - The sky is the limit

Hello!

Today I would like to share with you a card I made for Cherry Nest:


As soon as I saw the paper Πρωινό Φτερούγισμα - Morning Flutter the first thing that came to my mind was the sun. Also I had received the Clouds stamp from Hero Arts and the Sunny Side Up by Paper Smooches that I wanted to use for a while and the idea came to me...

I printed the polka dots papers in a quite a small scale so that the design would be small enough to be seen with the relatively small stamp that I used for the paper piecing.

Since I didn't have enough space on the front for the sentiment, I decided to use the inside part for that. In the following picture you can also see how this round card looks like on the inside:



I hope you like it!

Complete list of supplies:


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Monday 28 November 2011

Give it a whirl!

Good morning and good week!

Today I wanted to share with you a card I made last night:



For the background I used the Hero Arts - Clouds stamp and Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass. Before stamping it on my card, I sprayed water with Mini Mister to make the image softer. The paper is from the My Mind's Eye - Everyday Flair paper pad which I really like!

The inspiration for the card...

A few weeks ago I bought the Perfect Pinwheel die cut from My Favorite Things and I was looking for a chance to use it. So yesterday I was looking at the card challenges and I found one that asks us to use dies! It is a relatively new blog by two very talented young ladies Britta Swiderski and Marie/Legojenta. You can find the challenge here.



Looking for a sketch, I saw the CAS-ual Fridays CFC29 challenge with the following sketch:



I hope you like it!

Supplies:

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Thursday 24 November 2011

Lily Pad Cards The Craft's Meow Sketch Challenge

Good morning!

Since I want to finish the My Mind's Eye - 12 days of Christmas paper pad I have bought this year, so I made another Christmas card ;o)


For the faux stitching I have used my favourite White Uni Ball Signo Gel Pen. It writes perfectly whatever the background colour is and really helps with keeping the lines straight!

The card is for the Lily Pad Cards' "The Craft's Meow Sketch Challenge" with the following sketch:




I hope you like it! Now I have to run and prepare my things because I'm supposed to leave for two days in half an hour and I still haven't prepared anything!

Supplies:



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Wednesday 23 November 2011

Cherry Nest - Hangman

I was "cleaning up" my blog today (I also changed the template, will see if I keep the new one) and I noticed a post that hadn't been published. I took a better look and realised that this post should have been published a while ago, but it was when the various problems started and it went amiss.

So a while ago I prepared another playful card for Cherry Nest. The school theme reminded me of one of my favoutite games when I was a child, the Hangman:




The papers that I used for this card are the following:




This time, I printed the papers in size smaller than the normal, from 70% to 50%. So you can make the Cherry Nest digital papers even more versatile by adjusting the size you want and make to polka dots for example smaller or even bigger.

I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Tuesday 22 November 2011

Get Creative sketch challenge with HCBC tree

Good morning!

I prepared the following card yesterday. I'm really into Christmas cards these days, I think for the first time I will use up all the paper pad I had bought!


The card is for the Get Creative November sketch challenge with the following sketch:


We learned how to make the trees at Holiday Card Boot Camp, I liked them so much when I saw them!



I made the background with Versamark ink and Personal Impressions stamps - Oh Christmas Tree.

I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Sunday 20 November 2011

Get Creative challenge with Holiday Cards Boot Camp inspiration




Good morning!



Another card for today... This time it is for Get Creative November challenge that asks us to use two image stamps (the tree and the star on my card). The card is inspired by a card that Jennifer McGuire showed us in Holiday Card Boot Camp 2011.

Once again, heat embossing and lots of distress ink... For the background I used Picket Fence Distress Stain with pearlised water (with Perfect Pearls). I mixed them all together and with I sprayed the card with a brush. Unfortunately, you cannot see the pearlised effect on the card.

For the snow and the snowed ground I have used Snow Marker, a market whose ink puffs when heated with a heat gut. A closer image so that you can have a better look:


I hope you like it!

Supplies: Pin It

Saturday 19 November 2011

Get Creative with Paper Smooches Sparks

Good morning!

Yet another card that I made last night...


My hands were itching to reach out to my Paper Smooches stamps  so I checked their Sparks challenge blog to find some inspiration. Ohh... I could use one of my flower stamps! So here is what I came up with:






The card is for the following challenges:

Paper Smooches Sparks Nov 17 - 30 with the following inspiration photo (I chose to use the theme of flowers)

 

Simon Says Stamp - Thanksgiving/Thank you

I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Friday 18 November 2011

Birthday wishes card



Today I felt like doing something completely different from what I usually do. So I went for brown colours, lots of distressing, handmade fabric flower, glimmer mists, doilies, lace... certainly not the supplies and techniques I usually use for my cards!

So here is what I have prepared:


The card is for the following challenges:

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #73 with the following sketch:


Wee Memories Challenge #76 - Birthdays and parties


I hope you like it!

Supplies:


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Thursday 17 November 2011

Christmas Cards! Holiday Card Boot Camp 2011



Yes, I'm back!!!

It's been so long I haven't posted anything. So many things have happened these last two months (unfortunately, nothing good) that I didn't have the time or the mood to make anything, much less to post. Sorry for going awol!

But... now things are getting into a routine again, so yes, I'm back! I've been craving to start preparing things, but the inspiration was limited. I wanted to start making some Christmas cards, and since I have subscribed to Holiday Card Boot Camp 2001 by the super-duper talented Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner, where a better place to find inspiration?

And indeed, as soon as I saw the three sketches by Kristina, the inspiration finally came to me! I decided to make all three sketches with similar supplies, colours and style, to see the result. And here it goes:





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I hope you like them!

The supplies I have used are the following:


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