Expand Your Mind

This week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, Einstein, inspired me so much that I couldn´t decide if I´d prefer to make a digital or a stamped postcard - so I made both.
For my digital card I used images from Itkupilli, Finecrafted Designs, Krysty Scrap, TumbleFish Studio and Jen Maddocks.
And for my stamped card I´ve used a gelli plate background combined with stamps from Stempelbar, VLVS, Visible Image and AALL & Create.

Gothica/Books

 When I saw the book elements in Beth´s new digital image kits "Gothica", I immediately knew that I´d use them - so here are two collages using the Gothica elements and papers.

You are a Piece of this World

As a German, when you read this week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge "Puzzle", your first thought is a jigsaw puzzle, because in German these are synonyms (in English, there are lots of other puzzles of course, but these have different names in the German language - I especially love the term "looking puzzled" in English!).
Though I do own some jigsaw tile rubber stamps and even some real tiles I could have used, I decided to make a digital card this week, using a photo I´ve taken in a science museum (yes, I am the person on the right), a jigsaw background and a scanned world map.

Newspaper

There are a few things that I need in the morning before I start the day - a cup of coffee, something with calories, and a newspaper. And it has to be real paper and not digital - and then when I enter the bus that takes me to work, I need a book made of paper and not an e-book. Maybe it´s because I´m not a digital native, but I believe that there are a lot of other reasons ... what about you?
For this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge, I´ve picked Newspaper as my theme, and my card combines actual torn newspaper, a newspaper rubber stamp in red on the background, and of course the newspaper boy, one of my favourite rubber stamps.
I hope you´ll feel inspired by this theme to recycle your daily newspaper and make a 4 x 6 postcard with it - but of course you can also use digital newspaper elements ;-)
(For my card, I´ve used stamps from Tin Can Mail, Impression Obsession, Hampton Arts, Catslife, Stampington and LaBlanche.)

Altered Deux

Have you noticed Songbirdy´s latest digital kits called "Altered Deux" papers, elements and her  Girls Girls Girls kit? I´m a bit late with my samples because of internet provider changes, but here they are - I hope you´ll be inspired to make some art with these kits yourself!

Be Yourself

I don´t like people who are always smiling because I can´t believe them. I prefer people who show their emotions and who are honest - don´t lie to me. But I´ve learned that not everyone likes to see your own self; some people want to be betrayed and prefer some kind of masquerade.
Masquerade is the theme that my sister Sabine has chosen for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge. For my card, I´ve used rubber stamps from Blockheads, Character Constructions and Visible Image and some tape from Jane Davenport.

Sunshine Please!

It´s been a dark, rainy and very windy day today, and I´ve really missed a few sun rays ... I need the sunlight for feeling energy and creativity and for feeling alive in general. What about you - do you like winter or are you looking forward to Spring like I am?
For my digital card for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge themed "The Sun" I´ve used elements from Syndee Rogers, Itkupilli, Tumble Fish Studio, Maya, Holliewood Studios, Mr. Whiskers, Createwings and Miles Beyond the Moon.

I Can´t Dance

No, I don´t like classical ballet and very seldom visit modern dance theatre events. And I must admit - I can´t dance, not even to music I really like. But one of the advantages of getting older is that you don´t care about things like that any more and just do it. So when I´m at a party and the DJ plays one of the songs I just can´t hold my feet still to, you can see me entering the dancefloor, hoping that no one will be watching me ... (Here are 9 songs that force me to do that: Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin´, Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits, Spin Doctors - Two Princes, George Michael - Killer [Papa was a Rolling Stone], INXS - Need you Tonight, U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday, Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love, Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit, MPeople - Moving On Up ... I know that it´s a strange combination of songs, but can you tell me the tenth for my list please? I´d like to read your personal dancefloor favourites!)
This digital card using images from Tumble Fish Studios with my own scanned backgrounds is my entry for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge themed "Ballet". Oh, and before I forget - there´s a video featuring ballet for one of my favourite but not so well-known songs by Dutch singer Anouk that I really recommend if you have a moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPDYbuaXlA8 - no "Black Swan" for me, I prefer "Birds"!

Dreaming of Colours

I´m not a big fan of winter - those muted colours, cold temperatures and darkness make me feel like I´m in dormancy, saving my energy for warmer days. I can´t wait to see all those colours again in nature, but I know that there´ll be many more of those gray weeks.
In my collage, I´m the black and white zebra of course that´s dreaming of colours that enter its gray world again ... what are your ideas for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art "Zebra" themed challenge?
(For my collage, I´ve used images from Holliewood Studios, Krysty Scrap, Miles Beyond the Moon, Itkupilli and Cryztal Rain.)

Steampunk

It´s been a while since we´ve had a Steampunk theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge. So I hope you´ll be inspired to make something technical, rusty or futuristic - welcome to the machine! I can´t wait to see your interpretations of Steampunk this week as I´m this week´s guest host.
(If you click on the image, you´ll see some more details and more shimmer on my card.)

Light

This digital collage may look a bit christmassy to you, but it´s not - the words are from Hafez, and the idea of my collage is just consolation. The person who needs it here doesn´t even look up to see if there´s someone talking to him, and seems to find that voice inside himself - and in fact solace can be given by any voice inside you, or even outside, wherever it comes from. You don´t need to be religious to feel support that lifts you up.
My collage was made with Songbirdy´s new "Heavenly Bodies" elements and papers that can be found at MischiefCircus.com.

What if you fly?

Usually, I´m not a fan of affirmations - I´m more on the dark side. But for my postcard for this week´s Sunday Postard Art challenge themed "Wings", I´ve combined both, and the result is ... ME! Yes, I tend to be a bit negative, but I like to take a challenge from time to time and to try something new. What about you? Do you feel settled and satisfied, or are you dreaming of something new and taking some challenges? Do you have special plans for 2019?
(credits: OAWA and GTD)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"Christmas" is this week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and I think we all have the upcoming holidays on your minds right now. 

What do you think about this time of the year - do you take your time to enjoy some cozy hours, or do you feel stress and a lack of time to fulfill all your commitments?

For me, it´s always a mixture ... I really don´t like the cold weather and always hope that we don´t get any snow, but I´m looking forward to some peaceful Christmas days with my family and to take a rest at the end of the year.

(For this week´s digital postcard, I´ve combined elements from Jen Maddocks, Jopke Designs, Miles Beyond the Moon and Erica Zwart.)

Angels & Music

While it´s rainy and stormy outside with thunder and lighning, we´re all trying to getting into the annual Christmas mood, but I must confess that this isn´t easy this year - I just can´t find those quiet and peaceful hours that are necessary to come to a rest, think about the year that´s almost over and prepare for all things to come. Maybe a little angelic music would help? For me, Bach´s tunes are nearest to that, so I´ll try them tomorrow. How about you? Which music do you like to hear at this time of the year?
However, "Angels and Music" is this week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and making my digital postcard felt like a first step to get into the appropriate mood. Please click on the image to see a larger version with all the details. (All elements used here are from Jen Maddocks.)

Blue

First I must apologize for my blog absence - I´ve been more or less sick for the last 3 1/2 weeks, and every time I thought it was over now, I´ve been sick again.
Though I didn´t have serious health problems, feeling bad for such a long time makes you feel blue - especially if you´re not able to concentrate on anything you´d like to do. So when I read the theme for the new Sunday Postcard Art challenge "Blue", I immediately decided to combine both meanings of blue. So here´s my digital postcard for this week featuring many tones of blue plus a mood that´s not really happy.
For the background, I´ve blended three of my own gelli papers, then added elements from Mamrotka, Miles Beyond the Moon, ViVa Artistry, Jen Reed, Lorie Davison and Blagovesta.

Scarecrow

We´ve had a warm November so far, but this weekend it´s definitely Autumn weather with rain and wind (though it´s still warm). What I like about Autumn are the warm colours of nature, and I´ve used them for my card for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge. When Mandy (who is running that challenge blog) asked me to host again, I thought that "Scarecrows" could be a nice theme that we haven´t seen too often. I just hope it´s interesting enough for you to show us your interpretation!
(By the way - do you really think that such a puppet is able to scare the very intelligent crows?)

I am Home

Once again, my sister Sabine is hosting the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and she has picked "Owls" as this week´s theme. I like the mystery owls are associated with, and as they symbolize wisdom, it´s hard not to like them, isn´t it? I´ve made a digital card this time using images from Mr Whiskers, Jen Maddocks, and Art by January. Come on and show us your own owl inspired art!

Nevermore

Autumn is here along with darkness, and Halloween is just around the corner - such a great opportunity to think of Edgar Allan Poe and make a card in honour of him. Poe is this week´s theme for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and I´ve made a card for it using rubber stamps from Red Lead, Crafty Individuals and Cherry Pie, inspired by Poe´s great poem "The Raven" of course.

Alcohol Lift-Ink - First Attempts

Have you already tried the new Alcohol Lift-Ink pad? Here I have a few photos of my first attempts for you. You start by dripping several alcohol inks on a non-porous surface like Yupo paper, and then stamp on that background with a well cleaned stamp inked with that new ink. The stamp lifts up the ink and leaves a white print, and you can then print the colours left on your stamp on a porous surface (I used watercolour paper here) to get two lovely backgrounds in the end.

My detail photo below shows a further step that I tried on the dragonfly piece by overstamping with black archival ink - I love the shadow effect in my result.

Memoria

"Cena" is the name of my latest digital collage using Songbirdy´s new "Memoria" kits out now at MischiefCircus.com. It´s not clear if that bird of prey´s dinner is the fish or if that bird is dangerous to the woman on her night walk - what do you think?