In The Bleak Midwinter

The first tip-in book I have to make spreads for in our new Paper Traders´ project was themed "Cool Colours". I just had to make samples with the brand-new Hidden Vintage Studios´ kit "Her Royal Ice-Ness", so I decided to lean my spread on these beautiful images ... Then I stumbled upon Christina Rossetti´s wonderful poem "In the bleak midwinter", and my book spread came to life quickly. As I wrote the words of the poem around the ladies, I decided to add a tag to the book spread with the printed poem and another icy lady. These pages have been sent to Australia last week, so the recipient will receive them in summer - good for her as I´d freeze when I received them in our cold German winter ...

Here´s Christina Rossetti´s whole poem for you:

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long Ago.

And as "Her Royal Ice-Ness" of course can used digitally, too, here´s another sample for you (additional elements from Eena´s Creation and Finecrafted Designs).

"Her Royal Ice-Ness" is part of the fantastic new collaboration at Deviant Scrap dedicated to Myths and Fairytales. You really should look at all the new kits here. Samples with the new Tumble Fish Studio kit will follow here tomorrow!

I Live My Life In Widening Circles

It´s not the first time that I´ve illustrated Rilke´s poem "I live my life in widening circles", but I couldn´t resist using it again for this week´s SPA challenge themed "Circles" ...
I know that it´s hard to read the handwritten words, so here they are again:

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

(please forgive me that I´m an inch picker who has studied German literature, so please notice that the German original is quite different in verse 2:
Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen,
die sich über die Dinge ziehn. (- that overlay things instead of reach out across the world!)
Ich werde den letzten vielleicht nicht vollbringen,
aber versuchen will ich ihn.)

However, the English translation led me to use the map in my collage ... but originally Rilke doesn´t talk of the whole world but only of "things", and this time it isn´t a rhyme that needs the different translation, hmmmm.

Kiss Me

I´m so happy with the new Journal Cards Marsha from Tumble Fish Studio has come out with today! There´s one set in red - called Love Journal Cards - and one in blue - called Winter Journal Cards -, and I can´t decide which set I like better! My sample shows a digital blend of two of the Love Journal Cards combined with images from last week´s Valentine Junque kit. But these cards are also great for all you cut and paste artists because the kits include jpg collage sheets with ATC sized cards.
And if this card has too much colour for your taste, here´s the view from my kitchen window ...

Pierrot Amour and Funky Me

New year, new kits - Hidden Vintage Studios also have some great new kits out now!
The cut and paste postcard above was made with the new Pierrot Amour kit, and the digital journal page below shows an unusual way to use the new Funky Silhouettes - I´ve used one of the silhouettes as a clipping mask for my own photo here. (Additional images for this page: Beth Rimmer, Finecrafted Designs, and Holliewood Studios.)

Two Hearts

You don´t often see pink stuff on my blog, but with the upcoming Valentines Day, I´ve made two sample tags with Tumble Fish Studio´s new Valentine Junque kit. These are really large tags, 4 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches (10,5 x 21,5 cm), and I´ve used only Marsha´s collage sheets here plus gesso and Derwent Inktense pencils.

Winter Amusements

Yes, we´ve had a lot of snow since yesterday, and it´s still snowing ... I´m not too fond of slippery streets and tardy busses, but I must admit that this white world looks beautiful in its quietness.
Just today Marsha from Tumble Fish Studio came out with her new Winter Junque kit which I´ve used for both digital collages shown here. Check it out here, it´s full of cool stuff (including all images as jpg collage sheets as always).

Vive La France

What an inspiring theme for this week´s SPA challenge this is! I must say that I´m not quite back to normal after being ill for a while, but I hope that my creative muse and more energy will be back soon.
I have used stamps from Limited Edition and Stempelmine for my card today, the image is from ARTchix Studio.

Something Personal

I´ve been ill for the last four days, so couldn´t do anything creative. But if you´re interested in a bit more information about me - you know that I don´t share much about me on my blog - and if you´re a member of Creative Souls, you can go to that site and read a long interview with me in the "Featured Artist" series here. Just scroll down a bit ...

Cherry Blossom Lady

This week´s Sunday Postcard Art Challenge theme is "Anything Goes", so I show you my Asian themed postcard that will go postal to Kyoko in Tokyo next week.

She Sews

I´ve had fun yesterday, making my ATCs for the current Red Lead ATC swap themed "She Makes - She Sews". All three ATCs use the wooden framettes from Red Lead and collage images and rubber stamps from that company which is a favourite of mine ...

Happy Holidays!

Hope to see you all again here next year!

(credits: Holliewood Studio, Hidden Vintage Studios, Tumble Fish Studio, Mediterranka)

One Last Tissue Tape Christmas Card ...

... for this year ;-), and what an easy one: just a watercolour background, a square of gesso, a snippet of  Tim Holtz die cut trees, a frame made from Tim Holtz tissue tape and two star stamps from Dina Wakley.

Tissue Tape Christmas Cards

Maybe you´ve noticed that my Christmas card for Sunday Postcard Art used several tissue and washi tapes as a Christmas tree. For all of you tape hoarders here are two more ideas how to use tape on your Christmas cards: The card above has a frame made from tissue tape on a light green paper, then I painted gesso over it, added a Christmas tree from Rucola Designs and two rubber stamps from Stampington and Heindesign, and mounted the piece to a dark green card.
The card below was inspired by Anna Scarpino´s lovely cards in the latest issue of Take Ten, p. 109: I just painted a rectangle with gesso on a red card, added a frame with tissue tape and stamped over a star from Dina Wakley. I added a stamped sentiment, and had a finished card in less than ten minutes.

 

Mechanical Christmas!

It´s the same routine every year, you say? The same hectic shopping, the same running behind everything? So maybe a mechanical tree is what you need! Here´s my Steampunk Christmas card for this week´s SPA challenge. I have used several masking tapes as my tree and a few brads as lights and gear ornaments - have a great Mechanical Christmas everyone!

Weird Birds

What an interesting theme for an ATC swap, I thought when signed up for the "Weird Birds" swap, but I found out that it´s a difficult theme, too. The due date has postponed, so I´ll have to wait before I can see the ideas the others came up with ...

Greetings from the Elves

... is a design I´ve made as a Christmas greeting card using the new kit "The Toymakers" from Hidden Vintage Studios (combined with elements from Tumble Fish Studios, Rucola Designs, and Altered Emporium). I just love these Santa´s helpers with their stylish hairdos and Spock-like ears!

Altered Cabinet Card

Here´s a card I´ve made using an altered cabinet card for the recent Red Lead challenge - so all stamps and images are from Red Lead.

O Rose

all images from G and T Designs

O rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm

That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy,

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

William Blake

Owls

I´ve been happy when I saw that this month´s theme for our ATC exchange at The Artists´ Nest is Owls - I think I could have made six ATCs instead of the two I needed ... I´ve used rubber stamps from Red Lead and Indigo Blue and a collage image from ARTchix Studio for my ATCs.

Feel the Rain!

When I noticed this week´s SPA theme "Rainy Days", I said to myself: "Hey, that´s a theme I really know a lot about!" Is there any town in the world that has more rainy days than Münster?
I have borrowed this lovely girl from a beautiful painting of Marie Bashkirtseff that I´ve loved from the first moment I saw it. I cut the girl out, sanded the image, adhered it to my own background, and painted over it, then added Roger Miller´s words. The weather forecast says we´ll have a storm front tomorrow, so I´ll have to hold on to my umbrella tomorrow!

She´s Having a Ball!

In my town, the Christmas market will start on Monday, and the booths can already be seen everywhere - yes, it´s going to look like Christmas soon! And it´s time to make some Christmas artwork, maybe by using the lovely new "Christmas Junque" kit from Tumble Fish Studio at Deviant Scrap! And if you´ve missed her three previous Christmas kits, you can now buy them bundled together for a special price.
My first sample on top is a tribute to Josephine Baker - just with Christmas balls instead of bananas ... she´s definitely having a ball!

This second collage is quite traditional, and you´ll find a wide range of Santas like this one in the kit.
My third piece gives the opposite of my own Christmas wish - as I have to travel to see my family for Christmas, I always hope that there won´t be any snow before New Year´s Eve!

Joyful Jewelry

You wouldn´t believe that I´ve had a little job in a shop for beads, buttons, and wool about 20 years ago if you have a close look at these charms ... Even in those far gone days I´ve been happy to knit and explain techniques but wasn´t very talented when it came to bending wire ... So usually I´m not very fond of creating jewelry and charms, but I´ve made an exception for a swap at Red Lead!

Her Name is Dot

This week´s SPA challenge theme is "Pattern(s)", so my card this week features circles, dots and a spiral.

Naughty or Nice?

Did you realize that there are only six weeks left before Christmas??? Well, I was shocked when I noticed that fact - it´s time to get my train ticket for Christmas now if I don´t want to pay more than necessary ...
And it´s time to get in a Christmas mood, so I´ve been very fond of Hidden Vintage Studios´ new kit called "Better Not Pout", and I was so inspired that I even made four pieces with it!
The first two are digital and combine the kit with images from Tumble Fish Studio.

And the following pieces are samples for cut and paste artwork with the coloured and sepia collage sheets included in the kit; the first one is the first one in a long row of Christmas cards I´ll have to make, and the second piece is a tag envelope. Both combine the images with stamps from Oxford Impressions and Scrollswork in a very minimalistic colour range.

Moleskine Pages

I´ve made two pages in my Moleskine journal using Tumble Fish Studio´s new kit "Journaling Pieces 2" - so much fun stuff to play with! This kit has 7 collage sheets (that I´ve used for my cut and paste pages of course), but you can also make digital collages with the images as pngs. Have fun journaling!
(You´ll see more details if you click on the images to enlarge them, but it will be difficult to read the words written round the shape of the lady above, so here they are: "Well, I´m sure it would be if I had one ...")

Tangled Up

Have you ever tried zentangling? Now you can even doodle digitally by using Hidden Vintage Studios´ new kit "Tangled Up" - these black and white images really pop if you combine them with colours, but you can also make a completely b/w layout. And of course you can print out the included collage sheets and combine the images with your own doodling - hope you´ll give it a try!

Journaling Again

Journal pages are pure fun, no matter if they´re done in a cut and paste collage technique or digital. The spread above is an altered book spread while the sample below is completely digital. And both were done with the new Tumble Fish Studio kit "Journaling Pieces 1" exclusively. The kit comes with png images as well as seven printable collage sheets, so it´s your choice how you want to use it. Have fun!

We Find Our Way

Thanksgiving is getting near, and to celebrate it, Hidden Vintage Studios at Deviant Scrap have come out with a lovely new kit called "Howdy Pilgrim" - you should have a look at it here. I´ve made a cut and paste postcard this time, as the kit provides png as well as jpg images.
And in case you´ve missed their "13 weeks of Halloween kits", you can now get them all bundled together with a 60 % discount - there´ll be another Halloween next year, and most of the images can be used for other occasions and themes troughout the year.

Hot Air Balloon

... is this week´s SPA challenge theme, and here´s my postcard for it - the stamps I´ve used are by Paper Artsy, Oxford Impressions, Artistic Outpost, and Red Lead.

It´s Digital Scrapbooking Day

... and sales are waiting for you in your favourite image shops - for example my friends Marsha from Tumble Fish Studio and Tracey and Melissa from Hidden Vintage Studios have their sale at Deviant Scrap from November 2nd - 4th - you shouldn´t miss it! And remember that even if you don´t work digitally, you can use all these images (even the pngs) for printing and then using them in your cut and paste collages.

Flitter Everywhere!

Have you ever used Mica flakes on your art pieces? Well, you see them on my first two tags above ... as well as on my kitchen table, kitchen floor, my desk, carpet and scanner ;-) But wow, they really make these tags festive, and I´m sure I´ll also use them on some of my Christmas cards this year. 

These tags were made for the annual ARTchix Sisters Christmas tag swap. I´m sorry that the last one was unscannable and the photo is a bit blurry, but the gift and giving hand are just too bulky. Hope you´ll like that tag nevertheless.

Lovely Paris

... is the name of my November ATC for our monthly ARTchix Sisters group lottery. I´ve just read that I´ve won our last lottery, so I´m looking forward to a few beauties in my mailbox. What a great way to start the new month!