Last creation for 2013...

I said I would be back before the new year, didn't I?

So, yesterday I finished the afgan I was making these last few weeks. And it is one of my favourite creations, because the hours I spent making it helped me think a lot and start the process of changing the challenges I have faced this year (and there were many in many areas of my life), into opportunities of realisation, understanding and (hopefully) improvement. There's still a long way to go, but I feel I'm in good position!

A huge granny square afgan in colours of pink... well, I have indeed fallen in love with this colour at the end...

So, I wish you all a happy 2014 full of fun, happiness and experiences...

Hugs,
Anastasia

Finally...

... I managed to get to my craft room after two months!!!

But first of all I would like to say to all of you Merry Christmas and that I hope you have enjoyed the holidays with your loved ones

It's been more than two months since the last time that I did anything creative related to papers. It's the busiest period at work, and life has been quite busy in general, so the lack of time and mojo have been "catastrophic" for the hobby.

I did do some crocheting this period - you don't really need to think creatively all the time, on the contrary, you enter a state of mindfulness that helps you think through other matters in life. You will soon see the results of my crocheting attempts!

But finally yesterday I managed to get into my room and get out with a finished card! It's been so long and I really missed it.



I made the card for a friend of mine I was going to meet and who just loves Snoopy. Of course, I forgot the card back home (nothing strange here I'm afraid...), but since it is a New Year card, I will still be able to give her the card on time ;)

Hope you like it!

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - 27 October - Pinterest inspiration

Hello!

Another challenge over at The Studio Challenges today and this time it's a Pinterest challenge - take inspiration from this pin Anne found on Pinterest, whether it's the feathers you like, the colours or masks, up to you!

Well, you will allow me to write a few more words today...

Given that the colours are not my favourite ones, as soon as I saw the photo I thought that my inspiration would be the feathers.

When I have a word or a theme to be inspired from but I'm not sure what I want to do, I look for quotes with this word. This time I found out the quote Birds of same feather flock together. I had never heard that before but I thought at once my craft-friends and the hobby that brought us together.

However, the quote looks like it would just apply to the hobby when we share so much more than that. Through our daily contact via internet (and not only), many, many meaningful friendships have been established. And our group interests are not limited to scrapbooking or card making or crafts in general, but anything we might want to discuss with a friend.

That's the reason why I often say that the biggest gift I've got out from this hobby so far are the people I have met and the friendships I have developed these last few years all around Greece!

So today's layout is dedicated to what I call "craftoparea" or crafty friends:

The photo is from Katerina's birthday, the owner of Scrapbookers in Greece and the lady that have brought many of us together and who loves organising crops! Many of my best friends are not in the picture - indeed, they don't even live in the same city as I do, but we are so many in this photo which I have always wanted to scrap, so I thought it was a great opportunity.

I made the feather banner: cut the feathers out of vellum paper with the help of my brand new Cameo (yoohoooooo!!!!!) and then I started writing the names of the friends with white gel pen:

I glued the feathers on a lace-y ribbon (hhhmmmmmm!!!), glued the ribon on the paper and then added some stitching with my sewing machine to make sure none of the feathers would fly away!

The feathers are so many so that you cannot read some of the names... what can I say, we are many!

And a closer look of the great ladies in the photo:

And here you can see how I combined a wood veneer feather with a "real" feather (I do hope it's not real!!!)

And that's all...

Well, not quite actually. The winner of October's challenges will get a great gift from our sponsor this month, Teresa Collins Stampmaker

Manufactured by Photocentrics who also produces clear stamps

One lucky winner will get one set of stamps (size A6) of their own design. You could make one single sizeA6 stamp or several smaller that fits in that size.

So what are you waiting for? Get out your pretty papers and your scissors and come play along with us!

Hugs,
Anastasia

PS: For those who know me... pearls, dot paper... I even used a bit of lacy! If that's not transcendence, I don't know what is! lol!!!

The Studio Challenges - Monochromatic

Hello!!!

I just came back from a wonderful weekend I spent in beautiful Corfu with amazing company and unique friends that I have met thanks to our hobby... isn't that just great?

Alas, all good things come to an end soon, and here I am back home already. BUT at least I have to share with you a layout I made for the latest The Studio Challenges challenge.

The theme is an easy one - monochromatic! Which means that you can use different shades and hues of a single colour!

Now, bizarrely enough (or not!) I have chosen... pink! (I am even crocheting an afgan in pink colours right now...). So I guess I can officially say that finally I have also fallen for this colour which I was avoiding until recently. And this is actually the theme of my layout as well:

...By the way, I think I have just used all the supplies of the embellies I had in pink colour, so I need to refill them asap!

And a couple of close-up photos:

Yes, this little girl is myself at about four years old...

And this time I managed not to use black colour at all - I have even printed the journaling on vellum using pink font:

Each of the design team members have chosen a different colour... and we also have the creations of the new members as well! So come over at The Studio Challenges to get inspiration over all the rainbow colours (and even more!). There's also a great gift for the lucky October winner sponsored by Teresa Collins Stampmaker

Manufactured by Photocentrics whom also manufactures clear stamps.

One lucky winner will get one set of stamps (size A6) of their own design. You could make one single size A6 stamp or several smaller that fits in that size.

...So we are waiting to see your monochromatic layouts!

Hugs,
Anastasia

Cards... finally!!!

It's been sooo long since the last time I made a card!!! So I just had to go and make four for my card challenge over at Get Creative, lol! (Although I have to admit that I did find it quite difficult... I do need to practice more!)

So it's my turn for a card challenge and I think it is quite simple: use watercolours!

You can use any kind of watercolours you want - from gouache and watercolour pads to distress inks or even the watercolour pencils of your children... Whatever is in hand and is water soluble!

As I said, I made four cards with different watercolour materials:

Distress Markers:

I just insisted in using my Distress Markers that I so rarely use. I watched videos, practiced a lot and finally I have to admit that they are very easy to use (on watercolour paper that is!) and I really, really enjoyed it.


Inktense Watercolour Pencils

Of course I had to use some watercolour pencils, right? So I heat embossed the flowers, added my favourite happy colours and used my water pen to work with them (So you see, I do use flowers every now and then... ;) )



Distress Ink Watercolour Background

Tested, known and favourite technique: just add distress inks on a background stamps, carefully mist it with water and stamp your paper


Neocolor II

Finally I had to use my very favourite watercolour pastels Neocolor II... Amazing quality and colours... Here I used them to colour the mistable arrows and the wood veneers - cloud and rain

So that's it from me... I hope you like them, that you are a bit inspired, at least enough to come and play with us!

The winner of my challenge will get some of my favourite products - a 6x6 paper pad from Crate Paper, a wood veneer package... and of course watercolour - an Ecoline bottle.

And don't forget that one lucky winner of this month will get a great gift from Scraps n Pieces, our sponsor this month!

So come over at Get Creative to celebrate with us this awesome month full of card challenges!

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - Grid layout

Hello!

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Sunday!

Today we have a new challenge over at The Studio Challenges. This time it is about making a grid layout.

It's been a while I wanted to make such a layout, so it was the great opportunity. As for the photos, this time was a really easy choice, as I wanted to make a layout about the time when Andreas discovered for the first time the (luckily washable) markers!

My layout:

I used my sewing machine to highlight a bit the grid.

And it is true that the best way to learn your sewing machine is practice. I finally managed to do the zig zag just the way I wanted!!!

Come over at The Studio Challenges to see the grid layouts that the design team prepared. You'll find some great inspiration!

Hope you like it,

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio challenges - September 15th sketch challenge

Good morning!

We have a new challenge over at The Studio Challenges today... This time is a sketch challenge based on a sketch that Valerie prepared inspired by my previous glitter layout. Yoohoo!!!

I was so happy that a layout of mine could inspire a sketch... Then I was a bit concerned how to make a totally different layout based on the same sketch. Because the previous layout had limited colours (pink, gold and a bit of grey), I decided to go multicolour this time. And here's the result:

And a closer photo to show you the white doodling around the embellishments that I made on a sleepless night ;)

The sketch is the following:

So, will you play along with us? Come over at The Studio Challenges to see how the design team has interpreted the sketch... there are so different approaches!

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges Design Team call

Good morning!

I hope you are enjoying a fabulous Sunday!

Today I don't have anything to show you, although I am preparing something ;)

I just wanted to remind you of the The Studio Challenges design team call.

I am so happy to be part of this super talented team - and it is great hanging around with them... even if it's only virtually!

We are looking for 2-4 new members. You can find more information here.

The design team call is open until September 15th... So come join us!

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - Wings

Hello!

Another layout today. This time is for the latest challenge of The Studio Challenges with a word to inspire you: wings!

Of course I chose my favourite wings - airplane's:

I took the photo on my way to Stockholm earlier this summer.

Typewriters' font is one of my favourite ones and I've been tempted to get a typewriter for myself, but it's not cheap, it's going to need ink, service... So instead I looked for typewriter fonts online and used them for my journaling. I printed the journaling on vellum paper and sew it on a tag.

And I made my own banner with die cuts same way I did with the little boats in my previous layout as per Jen Kinkade's instructions:

So come over at The Studio Challenges to see how the design team was inspired by the word wings and to play with us!

Hope you like it,

Hugs,
Anastasia

Get Creative - September challenge

Hello and good month!!!

I just came back from my short summer holidays... ouf!

So we have a new challenge over at Get Creative, a challenge that I'm sure you're going to find easy enough: anything goes!

Our sponsor this month is our own Anastasia Sergaki with the following kit which the design team has used this month for their creations:

And my layout:

To use as many of the beautiful papers as I could I made a burst and used the photo in the middle. The photo is in black and white due to the bad quality, but I so wanted to scrap it! In the white space between the rays I used plenty of sequins. I made the edges on the top and bottom of the layout using leftovers from the papers.

I printed and cut a number of little boats (aren't they the cutest?) and with the help of my sewing machine and Jen Kinkade's instructions I made my own banner. I loved this technique and used it again in another layout that I'm going to share with you tomorrow:

 

So, come over at Get Creative to play with us with any layout you want! Don't forget, the winner will get the entire kit created by Anastasia printed!

Hugs,

Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - August 18th: Glitter

Oh yes, that's right... the new challenge over at The Studio Challenges has to do with everything that glitters - glitter, gems, sequins etc...

You can imagine how happy I am... hahaha OK, I like glitter, I'm just not used to the whole mess it can create.

But this time I decided not to avoid it and instead of using "safer" products I thought I should go for some really glitter. The result:

Oh yes, I did the golden background with glitter! Not only that, but I did experiment quite a lot before I decided on my approach.

At the end I got the best result using mask, mod podge glue and palette knife. I put my mask on the paper and used the palette knife to add the glue as we would do with modeling paste. I lifted the mask, added tons of glitter (well, it looked like tons to me!). As soon as I cleaned my mask I went back and slightly pressed the glitter with my fingers. The result? Can't be described... A very bad quality photo might given you an idea:

And a closer photo of the background:

Well, it worths the while, right? And yes, I will admit it: I did enjoy it very much!

I added a few more glittery details such as stickles on the cat-clip, glittery font for the title and a few rinestones...

The best of the whole experience is that I had left the page with the experiments on the desk and Lola thought it was a good idea to lie on top of the page. I had a glittery live cat in the house for some time, lol!

So, that's all from me for today... I hope you like it and I hope you will come over at The Studio Challenges to see the glittery creations of the design team and to play along with us. You have two weeks!

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - August 3rd

Good morning!

A new challenge over at The Studio Challenges for today... it is about making a layout with more than three photos!

It's been some time I wanted to make a layout with a series of photos I took the day that my nephew Andreas and my cat Lola actually started being friends, with Lola asking him for caresses and Andreas caressing her. Luckily I had my camera on my hands!

The layout that I made with 12 photos:

And a few close-ups:

Such a happy face! Love it!

Since then Andreas is so happy when he comes at my place, running around as soon as he enters looking for the cats... Lola sometimes asks him for caresses, others she hides below the bed, hahaha Sakis and Baloo still run away as soon as they see him!

So come over at The Studio Challenges to see the DT layouts and to play along with us. The winner will come back as guest designer!

Hugs,
Anastasia

Get Creative - August layout challenge

Good morning and good month!

I hadn't even realised that it was August already... oh my, where does the time go???

So... new month means new challenge over at Get Creative. This time it is a good old sketch challenge. The layout that I made:

...With Nikola playing oh-so-happy in his little plastic pool in the balcony!

And the sketch that Irini has prepared for us:

The winning layout will get a gift from Tanya Leigh Designz!

So? Will you join us?

Hope you like it,

Hugs,
Anastasia

Mini album "on the go" - Netherlands

Hello again!

Today I have something different to show you.

Just three days ago I came back from a short holiday in the Netherlands. My cousin studies there and since he's coming back in August, it was our last chance to visit him.

I keep wanting to make mini albums about my trips but I never get to to them mainly because I cannot face the task of selecting, correcting and printing photos. So this time I got with me my Instax camera, a Studio Calico mini album and 1-2 Project Life kits. Each day I would prepare the day before with minimum materials and really relaxed. I just added a few details when I came back home.

From now on that's what I'm going to do on my holidays, I'm really excited!

And the pages that I made:

... I highly recommend it as an easy and quick way to keep a kind of short holiday diary!

Hugs,
Anastasia

Scrapbookers in Greece - A difficult "see you later"

Hello!

Another difficult post for me today... as I have decided with great difficulty to retire from the Scrapbookers in Greece DT due to very limited time.

So this is my last post as a member of the Design Team :( It is as hard as I had imagined.

It is the middle of the summer here in Greece and you know what that means... beaches, swimming, relaxing. Of course, this is the theme that Katerina has chosen for this challenge. I have chosen a picture from maybe my favourite time of my vacations, when I am tired from the morning swimming, heavy with lunch (hihihi) and I relax on the balcony with my book...

I made this layout during the A' crop of Crete based on the amazing sketch prepared for us by Melenia!

So those of you that have not left on vacation, come over at Scrapbookers in Greece to see the summer memories of the design team and to play along with us!

Finally I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Katerina for giving me the chance to be part of the amazing team - TEAM in capital letters - as well as all the girls for the amazing PAREA this last year... I will miss you!!!!

And since this is getting a bit corny I will end the post here.

Hope you like it,

Hugs,
Anastasia

The Studio Challenges - July 21st sketch

Hello!!!

Here I am, with a slight delay for this post as I am on mini vacations!

So today we have a new challenge over at The Studio Challenges. This time it's a sketch challenge based on the following challenge prepared by Valerie:

And the layout I made with Andreas wearing his mother's sunglasses and his pacifier and reminding me of a baby rock star:

To emphasize the theme of the layout I went for the "hard" colours of black and red, used much, much black glitter (oh yes!!!) and embellishments such as stars, glasses etc

And a couple of close-ups to see better the black glitter (and believe me, lol!):

So come over at The Studio Challenges to see how the design team has used the sketch and to play along with us. The lucky July winner will get some yummy twine!

Hope you like it,

Hugs,
Anastasia