Vigdis 60 years

Just a quickie from me today - I didn't even have time to wait for the glue to dry before I photographed it!
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Oh yes, that's my lovely BG Wisteria papers again... I just can't help myself these days. The cool lilacs and olive greens is very suitable for these kind of cards. The clean and simple sketch over at the Stamp Something challenge blog fitted them perfectly. And I finally found the perfect card for my gold and green flat-backed glass beads!

Anniversary card and back to basics

I feel like I've stepped back in time with this card... It looks so much like what I used to do!
Gold embossing, flowers with Glimmermist Pearl, QK Phoebe SkinniMini.

Candy alerts!

Motivet is giving away all these stamps to celebrate their new release! Closes June 1st.

Tracy aka Trak has just launched her new website and is celebrating with this great candy! Closes May 31st.

Gayle at Little Bird Design is giving away an awesome candy to celebrate her birthday! Closes May 31st.

At Dottie's World they're having a truly amazing candy and a week-long celebration of the re-launching of their one-year-old website. Closes May 31st.

Ann-Katrin is giving away some candy to celebrate her new blog! Closes June 7th.
Late addition: Daisychain is celebrating her birthday with this great candy! Closes June 8th.

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Also, you have a chance to win some real bling - just check out the Shimmerz blinkie on my sidebar!

Tone 50 years

The Sukkersött Challenge this week is no coloured images - an easy challenge for me, despite having got the taste of the MCP technique lately. ;) I decided to show off the design of the lovely BG Wisteria pattern papers in this card. I used a QK tag die and some Bazzill thread to give an impression of a banner hanging from the branches. It all has a very summerly feel...
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Penny Black sentiment stamp (on an angle, of course...), QK Phoebe SkinniMini. Flowers, charm and ribbon from stash.

Hege 29 years

Another last-minute sketch challenge entry, this time from Truly Scrumptious. I might have been a little too late to enter the draw, but I'm note sure about the time difference and all that stuff... This is my kind of sketch - simple, clear, unfussy. As you can see, I've taken the "spots, circles and dots" theme very seriously. ;) The wonderful papers are Jillybean Soup - 100% recycled!
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I decided that the card needed something to contrast all the straight-edged, right-angeled symmetry, so the jumbled QK Katie Classic letters gave it a bit of personality. I was almost done before I realised that it lacked that little extra kick, so I used a red sewing thread to make a kind of frame around it all, and that made a huge difference!

A plain and simple inside, this time too. You can see the red sewing thread again, from making the "frame" on the front.

I used elements from the sketch to give a Toffifee-box a simpler design in a more neutral colours. The inside tray is nice and sturdy, so I covered it in a thin pattern paper so Hege can put other kinds of chocolate inside it later on.

Ruth 75 years

Another sketch challenge card! I'm getting addicted... This is a last minute entry to the Mojo Monday Challenge blog. The inside isn't done yet - the card has to rest while the Liquid Pearl is drying. I've already smeared it out once... ;)
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These papers are from a 6"x6" paper pad from Basic Grey called Wisteria. Beautiful pale greens and lilac, with elements of a dark purple. Perfect for the grown-up ladies, and I love them too!

One more card for Peninah

For Peninah, because girls can also get blue cards! Here's the proof. There's nothing much masculine about this card, right?
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Again, I found a useful sketch to follow, this time from Papertake Weekly. And although I first thought that the previous sketch would be easier, I was wrong. So wrong. I loved working this sketch, for some reason everything just flowed great! Maybe other things made a difference too, who knows. My mojo is back apparently. I have to enter the card into the Colour Create Challenge as well, this colour combo is one of my absolute favourites.
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The poem inside is a great one for a teenager, it starts like this: "Dare to be honest, dare to be free. Dare to feel what you feel, say what you want to say. Maybe those who stay quiet are more afraid than you?" It's all about finding yourself and your own way, and daring to show it - strenghts and weaknesses alike. Isn't that what the teens - and certainly the confirmation - are all about?
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And in case you're wondering about those loose threads on the inside of the card - I'm going to tie them around the rolled-up money gift... ;)

Peninah's confirmation card

Finally done! I've ripped this card apart twice now, and this time it's just going to have to stay glued down. So there it is. Found a sketch on Sketch and Stash, and I really liked it! But for some reason my mojo was long gone when I made this card, and I struggled with it even though I instantly liked the sketch... Go figure. I'm posting it anyway - it wouldn't be fair to use the sketch and not credit the designer!

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Stamp borrowed from Krissie - thanks sweetie - coloured with my Prismas. The dotted ribbon is new, so is the butterfly which has been heat embossed in white. Somehow the silver just didn't fit in. The inside has a pocket, and the tag that sits in it has pink thread on the reverse side for attaching money. The Bazzill cardstock comes from a set of blue/lilac colours that I've never used until we made the name cards for the table - will post them later this weekend if time permits. So for this card, that my mother has ordered, I thought it would be nice to use the same colours. Couldn't for the life of me find a pattern paper in my stash to match the colours (wow, I'm amazed that's actually possible!) , so I made my own (sort of) with an embossing folder.

Tone 40 years

It's been a while since I've made a yellow card... I guess the grey view from my windows made me long for a little sunshine! I kept it simple -as usual - yellow and white with elements of orange. I followed a nice sketch from the Simon Says Challenge. I've only just discovered the convenience of having a sketch to follow, but I'll definitely keep on searching for more now.

The Prisma colouring is getting easier now, and I'm pleased with the depth I got with the yellow and two orange pencils used on the dress. Flowers from stash - the middle one was white, but was showered with Glimmermist Sunflower and Tiger Lily for a shimmering colour with several shades - the picture doesn't really convey the variety of the colours. QK Eliza Mini and Phoebe SkinniMini, Swiss Dot cardstock and embossing folder, vellum paper with white swirls, brads from stash.

Baby Oskar

This is my favourite baby stamp these days, I use it on everything baby related... ;) So cute, and so easy to colour. I used an excellent sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You this time! The sketch was originally made for a rectangular card and is perhaps better suited for that than my square card...? But I think it looks ok. I'm also adding it to the celebration themed challenge on A Spoonful of Sugar this week. Both challenges have really wonderful prizes up for grabs - take a look!

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Some of the materials used: Magnolia stamp stamped with StazOn Timber Brown and coloured with my Prismas, Bazzill cardstock embossed with the Swiss Dot folder, Prima Hydrangea flowers detailed with Stickles glitter glue, Bazzill thread, assorted charms and spacers (the reverse side of the sun charm says "made with a smile"), QK Frankie SkinniMini, and a design paper from Heidi Grace (Vineyard shimmer Trim with Glitter).

And as always, I'll be sending him a pair of my baby socks! This time in the cream colour, as I'm not entirely sure what colours his mom and dad prefer...

Bente and Geirmund

My mother ordered this card - and time was short so it's built over the same recipe as something I did a while back. Amazing how long I can spend cutting and designing anyway. ;)
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The lace was a bit on the bright side, so it got a heavy shower of Glimmermist Old Lace. The Magnolia stamp was coloured with my Prismas, the gold pencil doesn't really shine in the picture... The text is QK Phoebe, and the hearts are all QK. All edges were distressed with a craft knife and inked with Fluid Chalk Creamy brown.

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Forgot to take a picture of the inside, but it follows the same colours and distressing style (sooo much distressing on this card...). Off to surf the blog wave now, haven't done any blog surfing lately so I'll probably be here until midnight. ;)

Welcome to the world, Theodor

To the lovely and cute baby Theodor, who I was lucky enough to get to admire when he was just a day old. This stamp actually fits just as well in the circle nesties as in the oval ones! I'm going to enter this card to the ABC Challenge: M is for Metallic, if Mr. Linky would just behave...

He also got a pair of my knitted baby socks in the blue/brown/cream variety. Waaay to big now, but perhaps they'll fit when autumn comes.

A little experiment

A few weeks ago I discovered how I could make time-lapse videos with my DSLR and calculator. I've been dying to try it out but never got around to it. But last night I set up my camera and calculator on my veranda and had go! Today I've played around in MonkeyJam to see if I could make it work. After a bit of trial and error I had a video that played well and was small enough to please Blogger's demands. Ta-daaa!

This video covers a time span of about an hour and a half. The photographs were taken with an interval of about 30 seconds, although I suspect that the interval became longer as the very old batteries in the calculator slowly died. The shutter and aperture were controlled manually and set to a slightly brighter exposure than needed when I started, as I knew it would soon be very dark. The wiew isn't very exciting, but I just needed something readily available. Now that I know it works, I can go hunting for more action! ;)

I wish I had discovered this technique a couple of weeks earlier - I had an idea that would have worked great in my brother's wedding. Oh well, I might have a chance do something similar in a friend's wedding this summer.

So, here's the setup: TI-83 Calculator with connection cable plugged into my Canon EOS 350D's remote shutter release socket, mounted on the wonderful GorillaPod.

Happy retirement Marion!

Bold red and crisp white, have I used that colour combo before?? Not a very new and inventive layout either, but sometimes time just doesn't allow for those all-evening-cards... This is for a collegue who is retiring.

"May you have a life that is mild and good, and find happiness in great and small." The big flower has been showered in Glimmermist Pearl (my favourite). My new nesties got their first taste of paper, and the stamp has been heat embossed in red to give it that sharp look.

Blog candy

Kortgleder har en blog candy i forbindelse med lanseringen av nye stempler fra The Greeting Farm. En heldig vinner får en overraskelsespakke med de nye stemplene! (15. mai)

Donna is celebrating 10 000 hits and her two new designer CDs with a really cute candy! Closes May 15th.

Ila has two great candies on her blog, celebrating her birthday and Mother's day. (Closed)

Maria is celebrating her first blogoversary this May and is offering a really wonderful candy. Closes May 29th.

Jaqui is having another blog candy, this time to celebrate her unbelievable 90 000 hits! Closes May 15th.

Marcea is celebrating her birthday, and I'm just in time to enter her candy! (Closed)

Iris has a whopping good candy celebrating 7500 hits, congratulations! Closes May 25th.

Dulcie is giving away all these stamps... for no apparent reason other than to be kind, as far as I can see. Got to love that! ;) Closes May 15th.

Kjell 60 years

Strong colours and a stamp that suits him, perhaps a little to well...? ;) But this guy can take it with a smile, I know. :)

Dag Tore 40 years

This is as close to flowers as I dare to go on a card for a man... ;) The retro punches are just great. He loves to fish and hunt, so this stamp fits perfectly! All the stitching was done in some Bazzill thread that I got on sale a while ago - love the colours.