A new award, Chris' Baubles and playing with backgrounds

The weekend is finally here and this one is even longer than usual. On Monday (December 1st) we are celebrating our National Day so everybody has the day off - Hooraay!! :)

I am now trying to catch up with the last week....

My great friend Karin has honoured me way beyond my imagination by passing on to me a fantastic award. THANK YOU so much my friend for thinking about me. You've made my day and month too :)

This is the award I received:

The rules for this award:

• Pick 5 bloggers that you consider as your best blogging buddies and deserve this award for their contribution toward the blogging community no matter what language.

• State the name of the author of each blog as well as a link to each one's blogs.

• Each blogger (upon acceptance) of this award should do a post and show the award on their blog and put the name and link of the blog that has given her/him the award.

• Show these rules.

I've read somewhere that this award originated at Doing Life blog
so...Here's one more rule:

• Please link to DOING LIFE’s blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

As much as I hate to nominate only a few friends, when there are so many of you out there who always visit and leave heartwarming comments, I will pick 5 just so the lovely award spreads - I love that picture :) [which is in fact a card made by Desire]

Thus, the award goes to:

Laura

Alina

Donalda

Hev

Chris

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!



Now to Chris' Baubles... :)

This talented lady has offered one of her designs as a freebie download on her blog. I snatched it the moment I saw it and this morning I've spent some great time playing with it.

Here are the two cards I did (too bad my photos aren't the same good quality as the time I spent making the cards)

Used a bit of heat embossing on those baubles and 3D-ed the bow and the holy.


Nothing embossed on this one, just some extra holy stamping and red glitter for the berries.
Oh, and the green base for the sentiment was done with the "ink over peel-offs" technique. :)

And now about backgrounds...

I've been playing with Paint Shop Pro (my beloved graphic software) and made a winter background for my blog. I know it's quite busy but I like it 'cos it's joyful. At least for me it is - LOL.

Something else I did is a 12 x 12 digital paper - came out mostly by accident while I was playing around in PSP. Here it is, and if you happen to like it please feel free to save, print and use it.

Click on image to see the real (bigger) size

Phew! This must be the longest post I've ever made :D

Thank you for your patience!

More Christmas and Birthday cards :)

As some of you know, tomorrow (already today for me, as I'm posting this) a new sketch and challenge will be launched on Just Christmas and Birthday Cards Blog.

For this coming week - # 8 - we are having a wonderful sketch by Janina. You'll see the "original" in a few hours time. :)

Until then, here are my takes on it...

Christmas card

The lovely girl is one of Inger Harding's giveaways - I just love Inger's designs, hope the stamps will be released this year - I plan on spoiling myself a bit this Christmas ;)
The rest is not much, mostly peel-offs. The background paper is (very)dark green with glittery swirls - they look like they're embossed. I don't know why it shows as gray in the photo.

Birthday card

Melinda is blowing some more kisses for somebody's special day - one of my most favourite Whiff of Joy stamps.
The scrambled sentiment is a SU stamp heat embossed with gold powder - I think it looks quite festive :)
The flowery paper in the background is Retro Floral from Dovecraft.

Off to bed now... it's close to 3 AM over here and I'm going to work in a few hours :)

Thanks for stopping by.

2 in 1 - for the first time

First of all I would like to say a huge "THANK YOU!" to all of you who left warm and thoughtful words soothing me for the loss of my doggie. It was very very very much appreciated.
To be very honest, I did that post mostly because I had to get it out of my system and also like a little memorial for him - with photos and all. I am still very sad and sort of 'numb'. The evenings are the hardest part of the day because it was our special time together playing and cuddling.

Anyway....

Let's get back to business :)

This is the first time I am doing a card to serve two challenges at once: Dutch Dare #24 - use 3 flowers on your card AND Whiff of Joy #9 - follow Heather's sketch.

This is the sketch:

and this is my card - with the 3 necessary flowers on it for the Dutch Dare challenge :)

Stamps: Whiff of Joy - Willow with hot chocolate; StudioG (sentiment)
DPs: free downloads from ScrapGirls and Faith Sisters
Big orange flower- made with Wings and Flowers crafting software
The rest is from what was lying around my cluttered crafting table

Thanks for looking and we'll meet again tomorrow when I'll post two more cards I'm working on right now.

Many hugs to you all. :)

The loss of a beloved friend

My four-legged friend died on Wednesday. I am still hurting so bad that I can barely speak about it.
We've been together for almost 14 years, the very first time we've seen each other he reached out and kissed me... and before he drew his last 3 breaths he turned his head to kiss me good-bye.
The only good thing is that he didn't suffer too much. The night before he brought me his toys, as usual, and we were playing before falling asleep. The next morning I woke up to his wailing and in about 4 hours he was gone forever.

I don't have many photos of him and his fur was so black that you couldn't tell his features in a photo - not enough contrast. But here are a few I have...

You'll never be forgotten my faithful friend.

My sketch for Week #7 at JCBC Challenge

When Karin and Linda held the DT members contest for "Just Christmas and Birthday Cards", they asked that those interested must come up with their own sketch and card to exemplify it. I don't know why it looked so easy-peasy back then. My sketch, I mean :D
Working with it now was like I've never seen it in my life and had no idea where to start. It must be the feeble mind I've been having lately. :)

I am curious to hear what the girls (my DT bosses and mates) have to say about it - I apologize in advance if my sketch gave you too much trouble.

This is my sketch

[the small red text says: Embellishments where you want them]

Here is my Birthday card ...

DPs are free downloads, the main image is a stamp print I have from my friend Karin, the embossed strip is from my friend Sue (aren't I the luckiest person in the world to be blessed with such awesome friends?), the flowers I punched myself and the sentiment is a sticker - loved the colour! :)

And now the Christmas one...

Everything on the card is from around the house - from my big box that my great friends keep filling. Thank you so very very much for never letting me 'starve' :)

I finally got to using the adorable Joel - the stamp I've won in a blog contest over at Toodles and Binks. They are releasing more and more new stamps which are all so awesomely cute.
Ever since I've seen Joel for the first time I had a card in my mind. I can't wait to find the time to make that one... maybe this week...

Joel is coloured with watercolour pencils, his white belly and the little spots on his rear end are glittery; his collar and the holy leaves are layered and glittered with markers. I admit that the colours I've used on my card are not very Christmas-like but I tried to match Joel more than the occasion. :)

I am hoping to have some time this week (it's a more breathable one) to delight in all your new posts and leave a comment too.

Thank you for looking and if you happen to like my sketch feel free to use it anytime you want. :)

I'm forever in your debt for all the warm and thoughtful comments you've left on my blog.

Week #6 @ Just Christmas and Birthday Cards :)

This post will be a short and very quick one, as I am typing in front of a trembling and quivering monitor. :(
Looks like it will be dying on me soon - hopefully not so soon [can't find the necessary funds to buy a new one right away]

Without further ado, here are the cards I've made for Just Christmas and Birthday Cards' challenge - Week #6. Amazing how time flies, isn't it? It seems like last week Karin opened the new blog and now it's already the 6th week. :)

This week's challenge was to follow Simone's sketch - loved it as much as I love her cards which are always so bright and cheerful.

For my Christmas card I used one of Inger Harding's designs - the adorable snowman which is her generous giveaway for November. Love it! Thank you so much Inger!

I printed the snowman twice, one image was heat embossed with holographic powder and from the second print I cut out the birdie, the nose and the hat and covered those with Anita's 3-D Clear Gloss Finish then layered them with foam squares - it doesn't show very well in the scan but it looks very nice in real life. :)

The Birthday card is already posted on the challenge blog - Just Christmas and Birthday Cards, but here it is once more for those who did not visit yet our new site.

It's a very simple and unadorned card, because it was meant to go to one of my co-workers, a guy, whose birthday was on Monday. He seemed to really like it - he giggled when he saw it :D
There's a bit of glitter on the champagne glass and I used a gold marker to outline the jacket and the hood.
The sentiment tab is one of Mel's - Thank you so much!

I sincerely apologize to all of you for missing so many of your blog posts. Time seems to be flying faster than light over here, I had to go to work on Sunday and I am more tired with every day. Simple chores around the house take more time than usual to be accomplished, probably because I'm so burnt out. :(

And on Sunday afternoon I fell on the stairs and now I have a hurting knee and ankle, together with two adorable bruises. :)
And then my monitor's image started to shake like jelly - it's killing my eyes every time I have to read or write something. Well, just my lucky day!

Thank you all for kind words and sweet comments. I am hoping for things to improve soon and for me to get back to being a civilized human being. :)

Have a great week all!

Just Christmas and Birthday Cards - Week #5

Having such a hectic week I was behind on everything other than my job and house/family assignments, so I made my DT cards for Challenge #5 at Just Christmas and Birthday Cards in a big hurry this afternoon/evening.
They are simple and quick cards :( - not enough time (or energy left) to make them more 'complicated'.

I used a lot of DP, peel-offs, punched snowflakes and scalloped edge and a decoupage (from one of my Dovecraft DPs) for the Christmas cards - instead of using a stamped and coloured image. (lazy me!)

I did use a stamp tho' - Melinda's Heart (from Whiff of Joy) for the B-Day card.

As usual, we had to follow a specific sketch and you'll see the model when the new challenge is posted tomorrow/later today :)

Here are my cards...

Christmas Card


AND

Birthday Card

[there are punched hearts on the purple corners but being so shiny
the shape is not "readable"]

Simple as they are, I still think they're quite nice :-D

Thank you for looking!

Have a mighty fine week ahead!

Tagged Twice

I should definitely start with my sincere apologies to all of you, for not visiting and/or commenting for a whole week. :(
I was so busy (and totally drained) with work and home that I could not find any spare time for crafting or for any sort of "me" time. Someday soon (I hope) things will get better and less hectic and I'll be back to normal.

Over this last week I've been tagged twice - first by Karin then by Laura.

Let's start with Karin's one :)

Things I love:
[I won't mention family, my doggie or other loved persons, they go without saying :) - I will try to stick with "things" only]

1. Nature - provides me with a small wonder everywhere I look and everytime I need one
(I always hated living in a big, crowded, noisy, dusty big city and always wished to be living in the country. To hear the birds in the morning, smell the flowers, grow my own fruits and vegetables, live life at a slower pace and in fresher air.)
2. Books - love to have them, buy them, smell them, touch them, read them, re-read them and share them so other people can enjoy a great story/novel/poem too.
3. Music - I listen to it every day for as long as possible - radio, walkman, cassette player, computer - there's music playing almost every minute I'm awake.
4. Scotland :) - visited once, four years ago, and fell in love for life. Everything in there is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l : the people, the landscape, the history, the food ;) and, for me, even the weather.
5. Writing utensils - pens, pencils, markers, anything you can use for writing. I really don't know where this love comes from but I always felt the urge to have all the pens/pencils/markers available everywhere. Crazy, isn't it? :D

Things I don't love

1. Cruelty and violence of any kind (from verbal to torture and killing), especially the one directed at small children or animals.
2. People who don't take responsibility for their own words, actions and personal choices.
3. Hot weather
4. Drunk people [grew up with an alcoholic father and my first boyfriend was one too - one never learns, eh? :D].
5. Seafood

Favorite Food/Drinks

1. Ice Cream
2. Pumpkin seeds
3. Coffee (decaf)
4. Sausages (any possible sort of)
5. Cucumber

Songs on your Ipod/playlist
[right now or in general? ;) - OK, here are five on my Winamp playlist as we speak]

1. James Taylor - Shower the People
2. Capercaillie - Miracle of Being
3. Big Mountain - Baby I Love Your Way
4. Chris de Burgh - The Same Sun
5. Van Morrison - Into the Mystic

***************************************************************

Now to Laura's :)

4 Jobs I've had:

1. Transferring old documents onto microfilm - for the National Archives ( for 2 years)

2. Drafter and then technician - doing structural and architectural drawings for the construction of the Metro/Underground in Bucharest (fro the last 26 years and going on...)


4 Movies I've seen more than once:
[probably 15 times each]

1. My Fair Lady

2. Sound of Music

3. A Beautiful Mind

4. As Good As It Gets

4 Places I have lived:

1. Bucharest, Romania

4 TV shows I watch:
[I haven't watched TV in years, but when I did...]

1. Forsyte Saga

2. Bewitched

3. Dear John

4. Seinfeld

4 Favorite places I've been:

1. Busteni, Romania - a small town on the Prahova Valley - love it!

2. Glasgow, Scotland

3. Oban, Scotland (I dream of moving there when I retire - dream on, Mada!)

4. Fort Augustus, Scotland - adorable tiny village at one end of Loch Ness

4 People who text me regularly:
(this is about the cell phone, yes? :D)

1. My brother

2. My friend Jeanina

4 favorite foods:

1. Sausages

2. Pastry

3. Polenta with cottage cheese and sour cream

4. Potato salad

4 places I would want to visit:

1. England

2. Australia

3. Peru

4. Nepal

4 things I look forward to next year:

Hmmm...very difficult to decide...let's say... ANY bit of "good" that might come my way.


Now who to tag and how, seeing that there are two types of "tagging"?

I'll tag 5 people and they will be free to choose which 'test' to do and pass forward :)

I am tagging:

Alina


Janine


Heather


Jana


Marie