Friday, January 30, 2009

JCBC Week #16 and a NEW ADVENTURE! :)

I officially hate this winter! I just had to say it out loud. :)

As you all know it all started in November when I lost my dog and then continued with losing my Mum on Christmas eve and over the last two weeks I've been (first) without Internet connection (problems with our ISP) and then my computer broke. :( Until it gets sorted out I have very limited access to my brother's computer. I have to avoid using Internet at work because the times are bad and last week 16 people has been made redundant and the bosses are still looking for more. All our Internet access is monitorized/recorded and it's not "PC" [politically correct] to be caught spending a lot of time browsing the net during working hours.

So I hope you agree that I have pretty good reasons to hate the season, yes? :)

Because of this Internet-troubled period, I am so behind with posting (or making) my DT cards for JCBC. I completely missed last week and I am now trying to catch up just a little bit, even if extremely late.

For this week's challenge on Just Christmas and Birthday Cards the sketch was - ironically - made by me.

Here's the sketch [which looked so interesting when I put it together the first time but now I already see it as too difficult and 'fussy' to work with]

And my Christmas card...


Such a bad photo! :(
The wavy sentiment tag says "Merry Christmas" in gold letters.
The stamp is from Anita's Christmas Collection and the DP is from Dovecraft.


Now about my newest crafting adventure. :)

Some time ago, I was asked by Dianette (also known as Jany) if I would like to be part of a design team for promoting The Angel Company (TAC) products and also her card kits which she's started selling.

I was so pleasantly shocked and very honoured to receive this invitation and I said "yes" without blinking. I have to thank my friend Karin for recommending me to Dianette, who is her friend from the Dutch Dare Card Challenge DT.

My colleagues in the design team for "Stamping with Jany" are three awesome ladies - Jill, Karin and Linda. Check out their blogs, they are all SO talented and creative.

So Dianette sent us her Cateleynne card kit to work with. It's a wonderful kit with lively coloured design papers and absolutely adorable stamped images from TAC's "Everything is Blooming" new stamp set.
The kit also contains a few card sketches for inspiration and I think it will have a few embellishments too - everything in there is enough for making 4-5 cards.

** If you are interested in buying one of these kits ($5 without shipping) have a look at Dianettes blog for more details. And for seeing all the DT members creations, of course. :)

Here are two of the cards I did with the kit I received.


I've used Jany's sketch #1 for this card. I so love the little birdie and had a great time colouring the image. I used brush markers for the first time and added some glitter glue to the flower's centre and 3 tiny red hearts to make it look more 'Valentine'. :)

For the second card I used one of Jany's older sketches because I liked the layout very much.
Here we have our guy paying a visit to his sweetheart's home [isn't she sexy? :D] and bringing her a big bunch of flowers... and his love.

I am hoping you're now curious enough ;) to pay a visit to Dianette/Jany's blog and have a look at the DT cards and at her card kit. There are some fabulous creations in there, all much nicer than mine.

Thank you for stoping by and I am hoping to be soon back to some kind of normal with my Internet presence and activity.

Hugs!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Week #14 - Just Christmas and Birthday Cards

Another week, another challenge on Karin's blog - Just Christmas and Birthday Cards.

Sketch #14 comes from our talented Tanja and I tell you, it was a real pleasure to work with it.

The prize for this week's lucky winner is
one cute bug on flower from Alota Rubber Stamps


Here's Tanja's versatile sketch:



My Birthday card

Stamps: TAC, Papermania [sentiment]
DP: Papermania (Raspberry Champagne pack)

The rest is from stash

I decided to try the "Stamp Kissing" technique for the butterflies, after seeing an extraordinary video tutorial on YouTube. I was so impressed with it that I need to share it. :)



For my card I used the plain "naked kissing" and the two color "dirty kissing" (for the palest pink butterfly). I then heat embossed the results with holographic embossing powder. Seeing how this was my very first attempt, I am quite pleased with the result. :)
And I realized I will need some more solid stamps, the most I have are the outline/contour type which can be coloured inside.

A close-up of my butterfly....




My Christmas card


At the beginning of January, I told my JCBC boss, Karin, that maybe it's better if we switch to making other type of cards for a few months, instead of Christmas ones. I am so glad she didn't listen to me. :D

It was such a joy to make this Christmas card as I couldn't wait to use "Emma the Hugger"! And I dare you to say she's not adorable ;)

Emma (Tracey's daughter) comes as a digital stamp pack created by the talented Tracey Lynn Miller - more "famous" to bloggers as Fred, She Said or, the shorter version, FSS. :)

Thank you for looking and I am hoping you'll stop by our JCBC Blog to see the wonderful creations of the other DT members. I'm so honoured to be part of this team of very talented ladies.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Tagged and Awarded :)

I should definitely start this one by asking Dawn to forgive me for being so shamefully late with posting this.
Dawn has tagged me 6 weeks ago, and I didn't post it that night and then got caught up in various events, and then forgot about it, and so on.

Now it's time to finally catch up...

The rules of the "game" is that you
- have to link to the person who tagged you - in my case it was sweet Dawn - Thank You so much!
- then you have to post 7 random facts about you
- and then you have to pass it on to 7 other blog pals and leave them a comment on their blog so they know about it.

Very simple, yes? :-D


Here are the 7 random (and probably weird) thingies about me:

1. I've lived in the same house, the one where I was born, for all my life.

2. I can't live without listening to music.

3. I am allergic to antibiotics, there's only two of them I can take.

4. I never wore pants/jeans/trousers.

5. I have a fear of heights and of deep water.

6. I am a Moderator on an American Trivia website - I moderate 3 forums.
Being appointed after only 1 year on that site meant a lot to me, especially as English is not my first language.

7. My very very favourite book is "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery which, contrary to the popular opinion, I never considered to be a children's book :)

Now let's hear what the following bloggers have to disclose about themselves :-D

Amanda

Simone

Laura

Malieta

Rheannon

MacPurp (Tina)

Sez

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tanja has kindly awarded me with this...

Thank you, Tanja!

Here are the rules:


- Put the award on your blog

- Link to the person you received your award from

- You can give the award to how many as you want

- Put links of those blogs on yours

- Leave a message on the blogs you have nominated

I am giving this award to all the followers of my blog - you know who you are :)
I am forever grateful for your kindness and support.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And here's two more awards from my dear Karin - Thank you lots for being my friend and thinking about me.

First one is...


The rules are like this:
1. Put a link on your blog from whom you got it.
2. Give it to 5 new blogs (which in their turn have to give it to 5 new blogs).
3. Put a link on your blog to those blogs you give it to.
4. Give the blogs you give the award to a note that you have given them this award.
5. Write 5 things you are addicted to.

Tough one, really... let's see.... I am addicted to:

- music
- coffee
- cigarettes
- my computer
- pumpkin seeds
... and oh, so many other things :)

The 5 (five) people I pass this on to, are:

Inger

Becca

Curt

Valita

Adele

And the other award from Karin is this

The rules are the same as for the other award (and I am sure everybody knows the 'routine' by now) only difference is that you have to nominate 7 (seven) other blogs for this LOVELY Award.

I wish to pass this on to

Katharina

and all the DT members from Whiff of Joy Challenge

Bev

Rach

Heather

Donalda

Jacqui

PHEW! :-D

I thought this post will never be finished.

Again, a big THANK YOU to all of you who thought about me, tagged me and awarded me these heart lifting awards.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Dutch Dare - Challenge #29

I am so grateful to the ladies from Dutch Dare Card Challenge for leaving this challenge open for two weeks. :)

In the last moment, I managed to be ready with my card.

We had to follow this sketch



and here's my quick card

Stamps: See D's
DP: Papermania (Olivine Essence - the green paper)
The lovely pink papers are a gift from Karin

Thank you for looking. :)

Monday, January 5, 2009

JCBC - Week #13

It was great to return to my DT job on Just Christmas and Birthday Cards (I missed the last challenge due to sad family events) and it made the begining of the year look promising and fun. :)

For this week the sketch we had to work with comes from our dear Linda - a lovely sketch, great to play with. Thank you Linda! :)

The Sketch



My Christmas Card

Stamp print: Magnolia
DPs: Papermania

Cardstock, ribbon, sentiment cutout, cuttlebugged cardstock and gems - from stash.


My Birthday Card

Stamp: Inkadinkado (Birds Galore - LOVE it!)
DP: Basic Grey
Cardstock, ribbon, flowers, brads and (spiral) punch from stash.

Thank you for passing by. :)