Oriental delight...

It was kind of hard to get up this morning to get Maja to school.... too many lazy mornings during summer holidays... This afternoon I'll take her to her riding lesson. THAT is something she's looking forward to! It's good to be back to "normal"...

I managed to make another card yesterday evening. I think that must be a record... two cards in one day. I'm so slow when it comes to picking the right papers and embellies and stuff, so most days I don't have time for more than one card. Well MOST days I don't even have time for cardmaking at all... lol... Anyway, here's my card:
The oriental girl image is from the "Four dolls" set by Hero Arts and the sentiment is by Kort og Godt (it says Good Luck! in Norwegian). The girl is coloured with water colour pencils and I've also added a bit of shimmering water colour paint on top (it doesn't show wery well in the photos though). Punch by Martha Stewart. I used the same punch for the "ribbon" as for the bottom of the DP. I just cut a 1" strip of paper, coloured it green with the same colours that I'd used on the girl and then punched the border from both sides of the paper strip. Easy peasy!

I'm entering this card in two challenges:

2 Sketches 4 You - sketch #59

One Stop Craft Challenge - Challenge 93 -Oriental delight
.

Thanks for looking!

Friday Sketchers #115

Well... that's it then... tomorrow school starts again, and I guess everything goes back to normal... It doesn't seem like I'm getting my job back after summer after all.... the school has hired another teacher that is more suitable... I guess beeing an arts and crafts teacher isn't really the best option for a primary school. Never mind, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Today I have been home all alone for the first time in.... forever! Hubby is at work, Maja is visiting a friend and wee Susie is in nursery. I kind of didn't really know what to do with my time.... too many choices... tidy the wardrobes, unpack the suitcase after being away for the weekend, hoover, empty the dishwasher.... and the list goes on... so I settled on making a card!
Maja and I had been playing around with my Spot's botz stamps (Stampendous) yesterday, so the image was ready to put on the card... it was just a case of finding the right papers.... The sketch I have used is from this weeks challenge at Friday Sketchers.

The 'bot is coloured with watercolour pencils. It's a while since I used them last and I had almost forgot how much fun it is colouring in with them. The green backing paper is made by stamping a few of the bits from the robotz stamp set with green ink repeatedly on a piece of green paper. I feel like there is something missing on the card.... don't really know what I can put on it to make it look a bit more finished... I tried with some buttons, but I didn't have the right colour and size...

Well.... thanks for looking anyway. Hope your day is goooood!

Friday Sketchers #94

We just had some more snow this morning... can't really say I like it... but the word is, that it will dissappear before this week comes to an end. Can't wait to put on some lighter shoes and not put on so much clothes...

Made this card for challenge #94 at Friday Sketchers. I used a few new things on this one... The scalloped edge was made with my NEW Martha Stewart Scallop Two Dot punch and the pink flower border was made using my NEW Martha Stewart Daisy border punch on each side of a 1' strip of paper. I also coloured the flower borders with one of my NEW ProMarkers (can you tell I had my birthday not too long ago...??). The stamp isn't really new, but I've never inked it up before, so I count that as new as well...

The image is mounted on 3d foam for some dimension and I've added some extra flowers for added interest.... oh, and I've used my trusted watercolour pencils for the colouring in (I didn't have any paper or ink that worked well with my new Promarkers....)

Thanks for looking!

Sketch Saturday week #93

I think spring must be right around the corner... the weather has been brilliant for days now. Today I took my coffee and a book with me outside, so I could sit and enjoy the sunshine while Susie was playing in the big heaps of snow still in the car park outside our house. And it was actually sunny all through Maja's riding lesson this afternoon. Weeheee! Maja's class has just started galloping now (2nd time today), and I don't think I have ever seen anyone with a smile as BIG as Maja's when the horse picks up some speed... lol...

Well, over to my card... The sketch I have used is from this weeks challenge over at Sketch Saturday.
The image is a digi I found on the net a while ago, I didn't note down from where... It's coloured with watercolour pencils.

Thanks for looking and taking the time to leave me a wee comment!

Papertake Weekly Sketch #34

Just a quick post from me today. I made this card last week for my neighbour who was 5 on Saturday. I used this weeks sketch from Papertake Weekly Challenge blog, and have until tonight to enter it into this weeks challenge....

Thanks for looking!

Friday Sketchers #87

A morning post for a change. Maja is at school, Per is at work and poor Susie wasn't feeling well yesterday and is still asleep. Better use my time well though 'cause she'll probably wake up soon...

Work is still fine even though some days are really challenging.... Teaching isn't always a walk on the bright side... Well, enough of that... here's my card for the Friday Sketchers challenge this week.
I finally managed to ink up my "Me Time" Anya by The Greeting Farm. I won the "Me Time" set on a blog hop at Amy's blog (you better go and have a look, she's awesome!) ages ago and have just waited for an opportunity to ink her up....

I used some shimmering water colour for the foam and her head band and slippers. I guess you see it a bit better on the bottom picture.

Stampin for the Weekend Challenge

Oh gosh! I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.... Sorry! With my new job I don't feel like I have the time and energy to blog anymore, or to make cards or other things for that matter.... I'm sure it's just for a short period of time until I get used to spending so much time away from home... lol.... With that said, I must admit that I enjoy my new job as a teacher even though it's very challenging. It's soooo many new things to think about...

Maja was invited to a friends birthday party this week, and I thought that would be a good opportunity to join a card challenge again.... For this card I used Fionas sketch over at Stampin' for the Weekend.
The stripy paper is the backing of the packaging of some stamps I bought ages ago... Recycling is goooood! I think the ribbon is recycled from something as well, but I've had it for so long that I can't remember from what it came from anymore.... The Skipping girl image is a rubber stamp I bought off ebay a while ago but haven't inked up before. I don't know who it's by... The cat and the sentiment is mounted on 3d foam for dimension.

Thanks for looking. And I'll try to post a bit sooner next time.... ;)

Mojo monday challenge no 111 and some exciting news...

Boy, do I have some exciting news today.... I've got myself a JOB!! Woohooo!! Nothing's on paper yet, but the headmaster at Maja's school promised me a job, starting January. I'll contact him a bit closer to Christmas and work out all the details, but he has promised me work 3 days a week. I'm sooo excited! On the other hand, that means I can no longer spend my whole days with Susie... I can't remember if I already mentioned that she has got a place in a new built nursery (it's not quite finished yet...), anyway... she is starting nursery at the end of this month (if the nursery is finished by then...lol...) or beginning of December. So this is going to be a big change for both her and me... and for the rest of the family too, of course, not having me at home all the time....

Well, over to my card. This card was made using sketch 111 from the Mojo Monday sketch blog. You're probably bored by the stamp I've used by now.... I know... It just happens to be my favourite at the moment...Image is coloured with water colour pencils, and I've matted the image on some soft pink pearlescent paper... the off white strip to the right is also same type of paper. I think you can see the shimmer in those pearlescent papers a bit better on this pic...

It's really hard to photograph my cards at this time of year... not much daylight, and lamp light gives the photos the wrong colours... ach well, you get the idea....

A couple of birthday cards

Here's another couple of cards I made recently. The little boy next door turned 4 a few weeks back, and my girls were invited to the party, so I wanted to make him a card. Boy, is it hard to make cards for boys!! I don't really have any boyish stamps.... only fairys, butterflies, cute girls, hearts etc etc... Then I found this star in my stamp box... It works, doesn't it??
The star is mounted on pop dots for a bit of dimension.

Then, less than a week later, his little sister turned 2. Of course I had to make her a card too. I just thought this little rabbit from The Greeting Farm was perfect for a wee girl.

Here I have mounted the name on pop dots. And I've distressed the circle behind the rabbit with some shadow ink from Hero Arts and stamped a swirl on top with the same ink.

Well... that'll have to do. I think I'll have an early night tonight... I'm having a bad cough and runny nose, so I guess lying down in bed with my book will make me feel better... I hope....

A giraffe and a couple of challenges

Maja needed a card for her best friend's birthday party today, so I made one (of course....) And the best thing about this card is that I managed to enter it into two challenges as well... I'm so chuffed!
I used the sketch from the Stamp Something Challenge Blog, and the challenge over at Stampin' for the weekend is to use a digi stamp. The giraffe is a free digi stamp that I found HERE. This was my first time using a digi stamp. I think I prefer "normal" stamps, but that may just be because the printer didn't very much like the paper I wanted to print on... The letter stamps are from the "Flower Power Alphabet" from See D's. The letters and the tip of the giraffe's tail is mounted on pop dots for a 3d effect. And as usual... everything is coloured with water colour pencils.

If you pull that little ribbon at the top of the card, the giraffe and letters pop up and reveal a space to write your message on underneath.... It's been a while since I made a pop up card, so I felt it was about time....

Well, this'll have to do. Have a few things to do before my brother and his girlfriend arrives. They've just started their holiday and will stop and visit us on their way south....

Two in one...

Well, this time I've managed to enter two challenges with one card! Yay!

The very first challenge over at the new challenge blog Stampin' for the Weekend is "From Dusk to Dawn" using the colours purple and yellow. And I have also used sketch #54 from Sketch Saturday for this card.

All the four triangles in the corners and the mats behind the girl and sentiment are the same paper. It doesn't really look the same on the photo, but it's a pearlescence paper and it was really hard to capture in the picture.

The image is from Whiff of joy. I don't own this stamp myself (wish I did though) but I was so lucky to be able to stamp some images when I was over at my friends house making cards the other day. Thanks a bunch Randi Anita. Image is coloured with water colour pencils...

This is the sketch I used:

2sketches4you - 1st Annual Ultimat Card Showdown - week 1

The challenge blog 2 sketches 4 you is having their first annual ultimate card showdown... and they've got great prizes so I thought I'd give it a go! Here is the card I made using their sketch...
Thought I'd make a summer card. The stawberry is a free stamp I got with a magazine ages ago, and I've used the flower border from HeroArts "Four dolls" set for the green background.

A close up of the strawberries. They're coloured with water colour pencils (surprise surprise...) and one of them is mounted on pop dots.

You might get a better look at the pop dotting on this picture... and also a little peek of the inside.

Sunny days and Sketch Saturday challenge #53

Would you look at that.... my counter has passed 10 000... wow! A big thanks to everyone that pops by to say hello.

We've had a few REALLY nice days here over the week end. Hubby was off, for a change, and we spent the days together outside. One of the days we went to a park not too far from where we live, where we could look at farm animals and "play" with the goats. The girls loved stroking the goats and feeding them grass.As you can see, the weather was perfect for a day out...

We brought a barbecue and some sausages.... that way we didn't even have to go home for dinner....

The girls have had their first swim in a small lake not far from here too... and, to my surprise the water wasn't too bad/cold either... I hope summer is here to stay...

Although the weather has been really nice I've managed to squeeze in some card making (late in the evenings, after the sun has set and the girls have gone to bed...). I found it so fun to do the Sketch Saturday challenge last week that I decided to have another go this week. Here is my contribution to this weeks sketch.

I couldn't resist using this bright yellow after all the sunshine... Again, I've used my new "spring girls" stamps from Panduro. Coloured with water colour pencils.

The sentiment is mounted on pop dots, and I added some gems for a bit of "bling"...

And look... I managed to add my signature... (got it from here)

Sketch Saturday Challenge no 52

This card is for this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge. It's the first time I participate in this challenge.
I've used one of my new "spring girl" stamps from Panduro. The bucket of flowers is from the same set. The image is coloured with water colour pencils, and one of the flower buckets are mounted on pop dots.

This was a fun sketch to work with. Hope I've done it right... I appreciate your comments. Thanks.

God sommer

Ok... so I have bought some more stamps... I just had to have these stamps... they were on sale, and you can't just leave reduced stamps back in the shop now, can you? (Does it sound like I'm furiously trying to justify buying more stamps here...??) It was a set of five "spring girls" and I have used one of them on this card I made last night. She looks more like a summer girl to me, but hey, who cares...

The turqouise flowery background was a piece of card I had lying around from trying out a resist technique with Versa Mark ink, glossy paper, a flower stamp and some felt tip pens... It turned out all right and it was a real fun technique.

This card wasn't made for anything special... just playing with my new new stamps... The sentiment is in Norwegian and means good summer/happy summer. Image coloured with water colour pencils. Girl mounted on pop dots.

And before I forget.... some more blog candys... (I need to get my blog updated so I can put things in the sidebar easily....)

Imagine, create, inspire has this candy to give away. Ends 29th May.
Smells like homemade is giving away these goodies. Ends 15th June.

Paper hugs has a giveaway. End 25th May.
Paper crafting in cocoa has this to offer. End 25th May.
Inky wings has a giveaway too. Ends 31st May.