Christmas card #1! Willow with lantern

While many of you out there are currently working on your christmas card #50 or so, I've just managed to make my first one for this year. I made this the same day as my previous card and as "Willow with lantern" is my absolute favourite stamp designed for colouring, the choice was easy. The sentiment is a line from a beautiful Norwegian christmas song and is hard to translate in any beautiful way, but basically it says "we light our lanterns when darkness falls". Suggestions for a more poetic translation are very welcome.
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I've used my Prisma pencils of course, and added some shine with shimmering chalks. The chalk is not very visible in the picture, but adds a subtle glow around the lantern and Willow's upper body. The single layer look is tempting, but I still feel like I haven't quite got it right yet... Although I have no idea of what to do different. Oh well, maybe it just takes some getting used to? It certainly is a change from my usual stuff! I think this just might be the theme for this year's christmas cards.

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser

When I saw these cards over at Helen's Craft Haven, I immediately knew I had to try something like that. They were so clean and simple, but so beautiful! And then my good friend Krissie beat me to it, but she was inspired by Judy's card, made with kraft paper instead of white cardstock. And I was sold. Expect to see more of this soon! Now, have I remembered to credit everyone involved in this? Funny how an idea can appear to several people at once and spread so far so quickly. It has to be said that these cards look much better in person.

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I couldn't help but stamping this one on a small piece and matting it with some blue cardstock, mostly because I wanted to try out the technique without ruining half a sheet of kraft paper... But I like the way the frame brings out the blue colour in "ART" anyway, so it all worked out nicely. I've used Prisma pencils and some shimmering chalk to colour the Tim Holtz stamp.

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Clean and simple inside - well, I might have gone a bit overboard with the stamping here. It's a brand new stamp and I got a bit carried away. ;) I've used Versamark watermark inkpad and the brilliant Elzybell's white pigment pad.

Felted robins tutorial

Tweet tweet! I'm not tweeting electronically just yet, but here are some of the felted variety. Robins are gorgeous birds! Their round red bellies are so easily recognisable and a lovely touch of colour during the relatively monochromatic winter months.
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These felted robins have become something of a winter tradition of mine. I love them! Since they feel more like a winter decoration than a christmas themed one, I bring them out of hiding some time in October/November, and keep them up until all the snow has come and gone, long into the new year.

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Several robins have flown away to my family members as little gifts the last two years. Even my brother spontaneously declared that he loved them and would like a little flock of robins for his appartment. Well, I couldn't deny him his wish, could I? ;) Away they went, all of them, and I started gathering a new flock for myself.
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This time I thought I'd make a little tutorial for you. I originally made mine from a material set from Panduro Hobby, but all the nescessary materials are available in hobby stores. Needle felting is incredibly easy, just hold the wool and stab repeatedly with the felting needle. The needle has notches that pull the wool fibers in and when you pull it back out they leave the wool fibres behind. Just one thing though. Be very very careful with your fingers, that needle is incredibly sharp!! Go on, ask me how I know. ;)

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ETA: I've been asked for more details on how the technique works. To start the robin you hold the red wool on top of the styrofoam ball. Stab the felting needle through the wool into the ball - this will bring wool fibres into the ball and make the wool stick to it. Keep poking the needle through the wool and into the ball until all the wool is well entangled around the whole styrofoam ball, and starts to resemble regular felt. You'll see the transformation from fluffy wool fibres to the dense red layer happen right before your eyes. No glue is needed! The wool sticks to both the styrofoam and itself. In fact, the styrofoam ball isn't actually necessary because the wool felts to itself, but it gives you a shape to start with, and therefor saves a LOT of time and wool. It probably takes a couple of hundred stabs on this first step, so have a little patience. When I got the routine in, it didn't take me more than fifteen minutes or so to complete the entire bird.

When you get to step 3, you simply gather some gray wool and hold it over the now red ball and repeat the process. Stab through the gray wool into the red wool and styrofoam ball and watch the gray wool entangle itself. Use the needle to guide it into the desired shape. After a while you'll actually see an effect from each stab. To make the tail you use the felting needle on just the grey wool for a while, poking through it into thin air, and it will entangle into itself forming a firm clump of wool protruding out from the body.

I hope this clarifies the process!

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So here it goes!

1: Grab your styrofoam ball, mine are ca 3 cm in diameter.

2: Cover styrofoam ball with red carded wool and felt with felting needle.

3: Cover half of the red ball with grey carded wool and felt. Be sure to let some of the felt protrude from the body to make a tail.

4: Make a ball of black carded wool and felt to body in the opposite end from tail.

5: Felt a tiny amount of grey carded wool to both sides of head, to make eyes.

6: Cut a small square of orange felt and attatch to head along the diagonal with felting needle. Attatch black sewing thread to back of head. Done!

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I'm linking up to the Strut Your Stuff link party.

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ETA: I've been featured on Five on Friday at Singing with Birds! Thank you for my 15minutes of fame. :) And thanks to all of you lovely ladies - and gents - leaving comments! I read and enjoy every single one! :D

Also, if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll answer as soon as possible right there in the comment section.

16/52: Checklist

A very detailed to-do-list may seem daunting at first,

but I get to make so many satisfying checkmarks that way.

Making a blueberry crumble was, quite possibly,

the most important item on today's list.

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Click here for more info on my Project 52.

The biggest thing in the world

The request for two warm friendship cards came in just days after I recieved a huge amount of yellow flowers from Papirloftet, and I dug right into my new supplies with joy and delight! Usually the yellow is paired with orange, red and green, but I wanted to create something different for once. The browns are fairly dark, but the lighter shades turned out to be really boring and pale next to the yellows. The sentiment stamp is by Penny Black again, no surprise there... They are just perfect.
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These are Appelsin Gardenias (and Appelsin rose buds) from Papirloftet and I love them to bits. They won't last long, I fear... The roses are from Kort og Godt, the lovely glass pebbles came from some craft fair long ago. They were a great deal, but that's the only thing I can remember about them! ;)

Warm friendship card

I've let the DP do most of the talking in this card. How could I possibly hide that gorgeous flower behind other embellishments? Now, there's only one quarter left... Use it, Eva, use it now! No point in hiding it away in the stash, even if that's the end of it. Ah, who knew card making would cause such heart ache. ;) If you're curious of what I did with the first half of this lovely MME paper, you can find those cards here and here.
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The wonderful, tall text stamp by Penny Black (my favourite line!) was originally intended for a different card, but made its way over here when I realised it fit perfectly next to the large flower on the DP. I wanted to include something with wings to complement the sentiment, and found this felt-like butterfly from HobbyHimmelen. A couple of leaves, a flower and some bling was all that was needed to complete the card.

15/52: Changing wardrobes diptych

The first snowfall ended as suddenly as it began.

A change in wardrobe was urgently needed, both for myself and the car.

At least my wardrobe is pretty!

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Click here for more info on my Project 52.

Are 28 years

For a while now, card making has been more obligation than enjoyment. Long (and personal) story. But when making this card I rediscovered some of the pleasure it brings! Aah, it's been a while since making a card was this much fun. :) My brother Are has turned 28 and needed a card from me as well. Masculine cards are always challenging, but I got an idea, ran with it and feel quite pleased with the result.
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I have a thing about using flowers on men's cards... Ok, there are some times you can get away with it, but I avoid it whenever possible. But that leaves the question of what on earth can be used for embellishments?? This time I deconstructed the zipper in a pair of my worn-out denim trousers. A few stitches secure the folded zipper halves in the shape of a rosette and ordinary craft glue holds them to the card. I would have tidied up the center a bit - but hey, these are rough, masculine rosettes - I take this seriously, mind you. ;) The cool silver stuff underneath is Panduro Punchinella.
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Even the zipper pull made it onto the card! I simply tied some Scrapper's Floss around it , pulled the floss through a hole in the DP and secured it there with some glue. The stamp has been embossed in white and the inverted scallop mat matches the shape of the Punchinella perfectly.

Pondus

(click on image for larger view)

For the non-Norwegian speaking readers around here, here is my crude amateur translation of what's going on in this cartoon:
Påsan: Do you think he'll come?
Pondus: Yes Påsan, he'll come back to us. And then we'll recieve the judgement.
Påsan: It's been so long... Maybe he'll never come?
Pondus: We mustn't lose faith, Påsan! He will come back and save us. And when he does, we'll fall on our knees, kiss his feet and wish him welcome!
Påsan: And then he'll bring the computer back to life?
Pondus: Let's hope so. Those computer guys can do miracles.
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My brother Are loves Pondus! And for good reason, it's really funny. This one fits him perfectly - his work involves setting up and fixing computers and networks and although I don't think anyone has ever fallen on their knees in front of him, I'm sure he is very welcome... ;) The card is very simple, as requested. My parents gave him this one, and later this week I'll share my own card, which has a few more embellishments - made by a zipper amongst other things... So stay tuned!

14/52: Transition

I left late, but just in time.

The battery ran out, but I had another.

I stepped in an icy puddle, but was nearly home.

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The frost covered every surface, but was melting by the minute.

-Autumn still hangs on, but winter is coming fast.

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Click here for more info on my Project 52.

New on my needles - Alpaca slippers

DROPS Alpaca yarn in black and greys, ready to be made into slippers. I learned a few things from the test pair I've just finished, and have adjusted my recipe accordingly. In fact, the only thing I've kept from the original recipe is the yarn and needle spesifications! One pair is almost done already and I think they're looking good so far.

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Hilde 30 years

The year of all the 30th birthdays continues... It's my good friend Hilde's turn this time, congratulations!
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The card I made for Hilde is small, only 10x10 cm, designed to fit inside the decorated box. I quite like working in this format! It keeps everything concentrated and I think asymmetrical designs work well.

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I dug into my MME Wild Asparagus pad and found this cute polkadot paper. The dots are actually slightly embossed, giving it some extra dimension. I added some ribbon and Scrapper's Floss, and clustered together some roses, bling and a metal tag by Tim Holtz, and the gorgeous butterfly of course. Glimmermist Old Lace made it sparkle!
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The box started its life containing fudge, which seems to have mysteriously disappeared... It must have fallen into my mouth somehow? Anyway, it now holds a gift card to out local craft shop along with some decorational elements. I covered the inside of the box and lid with more of the MME paper, and added a few elements to the outside.

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Misc flowers from stash, metal decor from Kort&Godt (I think), lace and Scrapper's Floss. A light spray of Glimmermist Old Lace on top gave it some shine.

13/52: Turnaround

What started out as a dreaded chore spurred a whole day's worth of inspiration.

Let it last!

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Click here for more info on my Project 52.

Radiation warning

So what do you think - boy card or girl card? The card was designed to work for both, as the parents didn't want to know the gender before the little one's arrival and the card had to be made long before that. It turned out to be a baby boy, congratulations!
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I originally had a different DP in mind, but when it didn't work after all and I went looking for a replacement, this one turned up. It fits nicely into the colour scheme (with its one-hundred-and-ninety-four-and-a-half different colours), and best of all: the pattern looks like a radiation hazard warning sign! You might wonder why that's a good thing for a baby card? I understand your concern. Well, both the giver, the reciever, and myself included, works with ionizing radiation... It's a bit of an inside joke I guess. ;) I just couldn't resist.
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So the radiating (haha) DP is from the Kioshi stack by BG. Love that stack, you'll definitely see more of it. The embellishments have been plucked from here, there and everywhere... Prisma and chalk colouring. The paper doily behind the stamped image is actually a doily that came under the espresso cup at a restaurant I went to in Oslo this spring! Keep your eyes peeled and crafting supplies will pop up out of nowhere! *lol*

Tor-Magne 15 years

Isn't this the perfect DP for a 15 year old band-playing guitarist? :) It was a last-minute card, so I had originally imagined doing a near copy of something I did earlier, but then thought of this paper and decided to revise the plan. I teamed it with grey cardstock and some pieces of cool green Core'dinations Black Magic. All edges are scraped with my craft knife and lightly touched with a silver brush pen. The cool perforated metallic stuff is from Panduro if I remember correctly, as is the chain. Prima chipboard numbers, Creative Imaginations rub-ons, inverted scallops Spellbinders and QK Frankie skinnimini letters. The guitar charm is from Kort&Godt, and it's actually in copper! I painted it with the silver brush pen and it's sticking just well enough to be usable. I had a violin in silver, but couldn't pass it off as a guitar...