Minuscule

Hello everyone!
...once again I was caught by the Katzelkraft fever! - This time for an ATC series.
The critters from Katzelkraft "les nounounes" were just perfect for our current challenge at the Dream Factory - "Minuscule". It features bugs, insects, nature, humor and these funny creatures just screamed to be used!

I sponged the backgrounds with Distress Oxide inks - then spritzed water on it and immediately soaked it up with a paper towel.

I started with this one. As you can see, the colors of the spider and the spitz trunk thing are not so bright compared to the other ATC's. This is because I colored directly on the background and therefore the colors of the distress oxide mixed with the alcohol markers. But I left them as they were and only re-stamped and colored the head of the spider. This time on white paper and then fussy cut!

Since the colors are much better on white paper, I kept this method. So I stamped every insect a second time on white paper, colored it and cut it fussy!

I had to do it twice, because the legs and the antennas of the insects are so tiny that I could never have cut them fussy!

After all the little critters were finished, I stuck them on the respective ATC's and added a word and a little bit of grass, spider web, bees etc. to each one and backed them with black cardstock!

I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Linked up with:

Stampotique Designers Challenge - Artist Trading Card & Artist Trading Coins

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes with optional "at leasr" 2 layers

      

Stamps: "Les nounounes" (Katzelkraft); tiny bees (Penny Black); big bee (Craft Sensations); Spider web and the word Beware (Scrap Plaisir); The words "Look Right" and the grass on the "Love Life" ATC (Toga); The word "Incognito" (Florilèges Design); Grass, Bee and Ant on the "Incognito" ATC (Artemio); The words "Love Life" (Stampin'Up)

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); Wild Honey, Iced Spruce, Mowed Lawn, Rusty Hinge, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves (Ranger Distress Oxide); Alcohol inks

La dance des flocons - Dancing snowflakes

Hello everyone!
It's Saturday, and it's time for a new 52CCT challenge. This week we want to see hot and/or dry embossing.
That means with ink, embossing powder and heat gun, or with  an embossing folder, and of course you can combine both, just like I did.

I used powder "and" folders to emboss. To get the effect for the snow I sprinkled water on the cardstock, added white embossing powder and then heated it from behind with a heat gun. - This does not work very well from the front, because the water evaporates and the powder flies away! The sentiment is also heat embossed.

I "dry" embossed the lower part of the panel and sponged it with some white ink.

After embossing, I stamped the polar bear, colored its sweater with alcohol markers, cut it fussy and stuck it to the panel. Finally I glued the panel to a white base card.

In reality the panel has a beautiful, dark peacock blue colour, but neither camera nor smartphone could reproduce it - too bad! ....just imagin it a little darker!

Hope you like it! - Have FUN with the challenge!!

Linked up with:

Alphbeth Challenge Blog - D is for Dry Embossing
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' - Anything But a Square

      

Stamps: Sentiment (Scrap Plaisir); Polar bear (it was a gift - I don't know the manufacturer)

Inks: Versamark for the sentiment; Onyx Black (Versafine); Alcohol markers

Embossing: Dry embossing (Deco Time); Heat embossing (white embossing powder from ZING) 

A juicy thing!

Hello everyone!
I never dreamed that one day I would be elected Queen of the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers! - But it happened and I am so proud of it because English is not my native language and I think it is very difficult to be snarky in another language! I have been living in France for almost forty years now and I am still not able to speak in this way! - Or maybe because it is not my style!

Whatever, this week I am guest designer at the Sisterhood and I tried not to be too snarky! Ha-ha-ha

The theme of the challenge is:  Yellow

I squeezed out a lot of lemons and guess what I got! --- Orange juice! ...isn't that great!!

To create the background, I scribbled with yellow and green Distress Oxide ink pads on an acrylic plate and then sprayed water on it. To make the colours flow well, I also sprayed water on the paper before I pressed the colored plate on it. After the paper was dry, I stamped lemon slices with two different stamps and the same colors - I really love how it came out! 

To do justice to the sentiment cut into single words, I filled a glass with fizzy orange juice (colored with felt-tip pens), cut it out and then stuck it, along with a small black stripe on the card. Hope you like it!

Linked up with:

A Place To Start - Create A Custom Background - Do Not Use Designer Papers

Papercraft Business - May Anything Goes

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + A Sentiment

      

Stamps: Lemon slices (Stampo Aladine); Glass (Craft Sensations); Text (Stampin'Up)

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); Wild Honey and Mowed Lawn (Ranger Distress Oxide)

Felt-tip pens

Silent Night

Hello everyone!
It's saturday and it's time for a new 52CCT challenge. This week we want to see Silhouettes on your cards.

I chose the Three Wise Men from Katzelkraft for my card.

For the background I used blue, white and a touch of black acrylic paint. 

I applied the colors more or less blurred using an old credit card. 

After drying I stamped the wise three kings and stars (both Katzelkraft) on the panel. 

The kings are stamped with black Stazon ink and the stars and sentiment with white acrylic paint. For this I spread the white paint thinly on a piece of acetate, pressed with the stamp like on an ink pad and then stamped on the panel - that works very well!

After stamping I traced the stars with yellow alcohol marker, cut the panel to size and glued it on a white card, keeping a white border at the top and bottom.

Have fun with our new challenge!

Linked up with:

FezziwigsFestive Frolics - Anything Festive Goes
ABC Christmas - J is for JOY & K is for KING
Krafty Chicks - Christmas

        

Stamps: Wise kings and stars (Katzelkraft); Sentiment (Stampin'Up);

Inks: Jet Black (Stazon); 

Acrylic paint

Travitude...

Hello everyone!
Today starts a new challenge at the Dream Factory and I could finally use my brand new Katzelkraft stamps "Les nounounes"!
This month's movie is about Bugs, Insects, Natur and Humor:

Minuscule - Mandibles From Far Away

Die Winzlinge, Abenteuer in der Karibik

Minuscule - Les mandibules du bout du monde

A dialogueless tale about a French ladybird that accidentally makes its way to the Caribbean and its father who sets out to find it. A beautiful film, exciting and easy to follow - a real pleasure to watch.

It is the first time that I use my brand new stamps and I have to admit that it took some getting used to! But after the befriending phase it went quite fast and I had the little beasties under control!
As the movie talks about an accidentally trip, I built this into my scene by giving the caterpillar, or whatever it is, a suitcase and some other accessories ...his friends wonder what he's up to...

The background is smooshed with Distress Oxide ink - the sky is watercolored. The insects and accessories are colored with alcohol markers and then fussy cut. Because of their tiny feet and arms, I stamped the insects once more on the finished background and then glued the fussy cut ones on top.
Finally I added some shadows and stalks of grass. The text is hand written - only "Travitude" is stamped.


Have fun with the Challenge!

Linked up with:

Animal Friends - Insekten

Dare2BArtzy - In the Garden

Shopping Our Stash - "Oh The Places You'll Go."

AAA Birthday - Things with wings

The Paper Girls - Happy May Day image inspiration
Friendship Challenge - Alles was fliegen kann

    

    



Stamps: Insects and accessories (Katzelkraft); Tufts of grass (Scrap Plaisir and Stampin'Up); Text is hand written, exept the Travitude (Stampin'Up)
Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); 
Alcohol markers and Distress Oxide inks

DotMCC - Challenge #15 - Reminder

Hello everyone!

Maybe you have already seen the new challenge at Day of the Month Card Club.

Today I want to remind you of our 

Frog Jumping Day

...a very fun topic!

This is my new creation to motivate you to use your frog stamps! 😉

Sandpaper, alcohol inks and of course frogs and flies are the ingredients of my card. 

I did a bit masking to put the guitar playing frog on the edge of the jar and to stamp the ladder. 

At the bottom of the card I put sandpaper as a dune in front of the glass - the part behind it I colored. 

Frogs, flies and water are colored with alcohol markers - the sky is colored with watercolour. 

Stamped some grass, and the sentiment and added a narrow strip of black washi tape on one side. 

Hope I made you want to join in...

...stay safe and don't stop crafting!!

Linked up with:

Mix it Up - Anything Goes + Masking

The Paper Girls - Happy May Day

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals - Anything Goes with animals

Crafting Happiness - Anything Goes (optional nature)

    

   

Stamps: Sentiment (Katzelkraft); Frogs and flies (Penny Black); Ladder and grass (Scrap Plaisir); Jar (Craft Sensations); 

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine), Pear Pizzazz (Stampin'Up); 

Alkohol marquers, Watercolor, Sand paper, washi tape, 

Je voudrais un bonhomme de neige

Translation: I would like a snowman

Hello everyone!
It's saturday and I want to introduce you to the our new challenge at 52CCT.
This week we want to see Non-Traditional Colors on your cards.

First I made a background with a stencil and Distress Oxide inks. Then I stamped the snowman with its little one, colored them with alcohol markers and cut them out. 

I put the snowman on the background but I didn't like it at all. - Too much color!!

Then I thought if I cut it into strips, it might be better...

...but I didn't cut it up, I tore it up! It looked better right away, and now I like it a lot. 

I glued the strips on white cardstock, shifting them a little bit. - The herringbone pattern reminds me of firs.

I stamped the snowman on the spot and then glued the pieces of the first one on it. Originally the sentiment was just black lines, but it seemed too empty to me. So I filled the inside of the letters with black, and I like that much better now! I cut the sentence into individual words and stuck them on the card. Done!

Now it's your turn! Have fun!

Linked up with:
Stamplorations - May Stencil challenge
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
A Place to Start - Create A Custom Background - Do Not Use Designer Papers

    

Stamps: Snowmen and sentiment (Scrap Plaisir)

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves (Ranger Distress Oxide);

Stencil: Craft Sensations

Alcohol markers

Frog Jumping Day - DotMCC Challenge #15

Hello everyone!
It is time for a new challenge at Day of the Month Card Club!
After the rats and mice, now it's the frogs' turn! - The theme for this month is...

Frog Jumping Day

Celebrated on May 13th

Frogs have great jumping capabilities and are the best jumpers among all vertebrates given their size.

According to several sources, the unofficial holiday celebrates a short story named Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog by Mark Twain. In the story, a compulsive better named Jim Smiley trains a frog to jump and bets with a man that his frog can jump higher than any other frog in the town. The man dupes Jim Smiley and wins the bet. It is, however, unclear why the inventor of this day chose May 13 as the date for this “hoppy” holiday.

How to Celebrate?
- Jump around like a frog. - Frog jumping is a fun and competitive pastime for kids as well as for adults!
- Go see frogs jump at your local aquarium or pond and learn more about frogs and their habitats.
- Read Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog and other works by Mark Twain.

But the best of all is to create a card and link it to our challenge blog!! 😉

Great! I finally can use some more of these Katzelkraft frogs I got a few weeks ago! So far I've only made a single card with one them - I really had a lot of fun making this one!

The bridge and the trees in the background were drawn by hand. I masked the bridge all around with Washi tape and paper and stamped then a wooden pattern on it. I stamped two more frogs in the pond and then colored everything with alcohol markers.  

The frog, which looks a bit frightened, is actually a mix of two frogs. I combined the upper part and the left foot of one frog with the foot of the jumping frog (see the picture below) - as you can see it worked perfectly! Because he looks really pitiful, I drew the frog a swimming hoop as a little extra, colored it, cut it fussy and adapted it! ...if you look closely, you'll see that I've also changed the frog's eyes so that it looks where it should look!

I stamped the flies on white paper, colored them, cut them fussy and then glued them on.

As a final touch I added some black and white accents around the frogs and the pillar.

The sentiment is also from Katzelkraft. 

Have fun jumping!

Linked up with:
2 Crafty Critters - Anything Goes with a Critter
Fab 'n' Funky - Cute Critters
Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act (must have a stamp/digi image on card/project)
Challenge Up Your Life - Tiere
Animal Friends - Insekten
Crafty Animals - Anything Goes with Animals

    

      

Stamps: Frogs and sentiment (Katzelkraft); Flies (Penny Black); Bridge and trees are hand-drawn; Wooden pattern stamp (BoBunny);

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); Alcohol markers

Happy Holidays

Hello everyone!
Saturday is 52CCT day and I'm here today with our new challenge.
This week we play with a sketch. (see below)

I wanted to keep it CAS and made a super simple card! 

First I embossed the card to create some texture. Then I cut out a strip of Christmas design paper, cut it off at a third and rounded the inner corners. I repeated the whole thing a little bit bigger with black glitter foil and backed the design paper strips with it. I attached a mini brad to the upper strip and hung a lamp on it. 

The sentiment is stamped on small, black framed labels. It says: We wish you happy holidays

I traced the Stars with yellow micro pen, added a bit Wink of Stella and stamped a few tiny black stars here and there.

May sketch - 52CCT

Linked up with:

Christmas 24 - Snowflakes
Happy Little Stampers - Anything Christmas Goes + optional: Ornaments
Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
Just Add Ink - Just chose two: stencils, pencils and/or patterned paper

 

  

Stamps: Sentiment and tiny stars (Stampin'Up); Lamp (Scrap Plaisir);

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); 

Embossing: Stampin'Up

Design paper, mini brad, yellow micro pen,