Breezy baby blanket

If you're looking for a quick knit baby blanket, I highly recommend this one. It knits up really fast - although you'll have a fair amount of ends to weave in after all those colour changes. Choose a yarn that looks good on its own and doesn't split, or all those dropped yarnovers will look cheap and weak. I went for the always wonderful DROPS Merino Extra Fine, while the original recipe uses a brilliant one that's spun from one thick and one thin strand. This isn't your thick and super warm winter blanket. As the name suggests, it's not only a quick knit, but also a light and airy blanket more suited for slightly warmer days, or for inside use.

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It's been ages since I finished this blanket and it's still lying in my closet waiting for a recipient... So I decided it was high time to blog it anyway. I've been wanting to take better photos of it, but I've had seven months to do it and it seems clear that's not going to happen, so here it is! It's not really blocked, but I did soak it and let it dry flat and it did even out the shape a bit. I started and ended with a white section, and did a row (or two?) of single crochets around the edge for better definintion and finished look. More details on my Ravelry page.

The world of imagination is boundless

For the longest time, I was adamant on sticking to Norwegian sentiment stamps... But lately, I've given in to temptation and bought a whole heap of English ones. I just couldn't resist! They are sooo wonderful. There's so much more to choose from too, especially in the cool/grungy/quirky genres. On my last shopping spree at Scrapmagasinet and Bikuben along with my partner in crime Kristin, I came home with way too many of them. The only problem is, I have trouble selling them, so I'll have to keep them for my own friends, I guess.

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That pattern paper, can you see it's supposed to be books in a bookshelf? It comes from Basic Grey's Oxford pad and goes perfectly with that sentiment stamp. As a dedicated bookworm, I can certainly appreciate that. :)

-I usually keep the insides of my cards fairly simple, but I just wanted you to see this. One of the stamps in this set is this really really long one, much too long to fit on a 15 cm long card. I inked the first part of it and stamped it in one of the inside corners, and the rest on the back (photo below). Some Oxford paper scraps decorate the opposite side.

-"Our heart captures photos of your life, notes that create a timeless story of everyday, a journal of memories we cherish, hopes and dreams, the thoughts or secret wishes we treasure, the moments you live to embrace love. XOXO" It just so happened that there was a natural place to divide this stamp, and the longest part fits perfectly inside the 15x15 cm cards. Brilliant. :)

(That distressed typewriter font is just gorgeous, by the way.)

Live the life you've imagined

This wonderful Stempelglede stamp reads something like this: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." The Alla-Prima papers are in action again, this with less emphasis on teal, more on mossy green. I love it when the same paper pad offers many possibilities. The card is for a colleague who is (reluctantly) retiring soon, and I think the quote suits such a busy and energetic woman.

New supplies

New supplies always does wonders for the creativity, don't you think? These papers are wonderfully bright and interesting. The yellow/teal combo is new to me, but deserves repeating. The papers, in case you wondered, are Alla-Prima.

100% boy

The request for this card was a baby card that wasn't too cute, maybe something water related, and sort of cool. Well, I think this qualifies. I had at least a month to make it, but don't you think I started it near midnight before the last day?? Ah, so typical. For that reason, I was very sceptical about the possible result, but even the day after, I still like it. The paper is, as you might see, very shiny and with some sort of holographic effect - do you see the colourful shine near the charms? Let's just say that finding matching cardstock was tricky. ;)

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When stamping on such glossy paper, there are few types of ink pads that do the job properly. I could have used my StazOns, but I really wanted to use white ink to keep the card on the light side. Now, white ink pads are tricky little things... Most of them are just rubbish. My good friend Kristin suggested I tried the ElzyBells ink pads and I'm so pleased to say they are excellent! I have a pigment ink pad called Sugar Candy and it has superb coverage, even on dark cardstock. I love it. In this case, however, it would have smudged badly because of the glossy paper, so the hybrid ink pad called Whipped Cream stepped in. The hybrid ink pad has ever so slightly poorer opacity and coverage, but can be used on nearly all surfaces, and as you can see from my card, does the job pretty well. Just give it a little time to dry.

Photographer's mittens

The temperatures are falling and we've just had a few nights with real frost. Last year we had already been buried in snow for weeks by the time December came around... That's what it felt like anyway. ;) It's undoubtedly more practical this year, but I'm still hoping for some snow for christmas. And on that note, I'm now well prepared for my wintertime photo safaries! I've knitted these mittens, specially designed for photographers, you'll soon see why. This flash photo shows the dramatic effect of the reflective thread I used on the back of the mittens. It's a good thing to be visible - the cold weather is, after all, usually accompanied by terribly dark afternoons...

-On the other hand, this photo shows how subtle the reflective yarn is in full sunlight. I made a little grid in Excel and just improvised the snowflake design there. Actually, I first tried holding the reflective thread along with the merino yarn when knitting the body of the mitten, but as the thread has absolutely no stretch, the tension got all wrong and the thread was hardly visible most of the time. In the end I frogged it and reproduced my design using duplicate stitches. It was easier to control the tension, but still a bit tricky. I like the results very much though!

-And here's the photographer's secret for comfortable shooting in freezing winter weather! Each mitten has holes for the thumb and index fingers so the focus ring and all the buttons can be easily worked and most of the hand still remains protected from the elements. When the camera rests for a while, just pop the fingers back in with the rest and warm them up again. I was afraid the holes would let in a lot of cold air, but with a row of single crochet stitches around the opening, they actually close up fairly well.

-Photographer's mittens in use! They are a snug fit so I have a fairly good grip despite the smooth wool. As usual, you can find the details on my Ravelry page.

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Thanks for reading - and finally, a tip for anyone who intends to go photographing in cold weather: Remember to bring a plasic bag and seal your camera in it before going inside, and leave it inside the sealed bag until it has reached room temperature, to avvoid damaging condensation inside your precious camera. You might want to upload your pictures right away, but be patient! Your camera will thank you. :)

Surf's up!

Now this is something I've never done before: A surfing themed wedding card! Hmm. How to approach this challenge... I must admit I spent quite a while thinking about this one. In the end, I went with graphic papers representing waves and sand rather than photographic ones in order to make the card slightly more stylish. The two surfing boards are there on the suggestion by the person who has ordered the card. Well, the surfing thing can definitely be checked off the list, but what about the wedding thing? I'v included a few hearts here and there, but is it enough? I don't know... I don't quite know what to make of this card. Am I pleased or not? That depends on when you ask me - it changes all the time.

The little details here were essential in making these appear as surf boards and not tomb stones. Some tweaking was required... Several times. Another thing that helped in that regard was using my Prisma pencils to give the surf boards a sort of shaded midline, an illusion suggesting a 3D shape.

Trude 30 years

It can be great to recieve requests for cards, but they always come with a certain amount of apprehension. What if they don't like it? It's one thing to give away a card for a birthday or something, but to sell it? Well. I've decided to just go with it and try to fulfil their requests as best as I can! This card draws inspiration from several cards she liked and I hope she's pleased with the result.

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A few flowers and leaves are complimented by scattered flat-backed pearls in two tones. There's also some embossed and sanded Core'dinations cardstock, cheese cloth and green Glimmermist.

Simple and shiny

Told you there would be a glittered card next. ;) Nothing spectacular about the layout, so this is a card all about texture and shine. I've worked in some sharp contrasts, between the rough fibre paper and the shiny Bazzill Bling cardstock, the soft cheese cloth and the sparkling letter. These cards rarely do well when photographed, but make such strong statements in real life. Must be seen to be properly appreciated.

See? Shiny! I must have been a magpie in another life. :P The chipboard letter is painted with lilac Shimmer Paint and coated generously with lilac PearlEx. The whole card has been Glimmermisted as well, for good measure. Yummy.

Christening card for Kristine

Oh look at that DP... It's from Pion Design and I had dreamed about it for a while when the nicest, sweetest person just gave it to me, for no reason whatsoever, other than just being nice. She probably noticed me drooling over her folder full of paper and took action to prevent me from going berserk. Thank you, thank you. I would have made something with it immediately if only I had brought some purple cardstock. At least I had a wonderful occation where this cuteness would be perfect! My little niece was christned a couple of weeks ago and she has a LOT of purple stuff. To display as much as possible of that lovely design I kept the text frame and embellishments to the opposite corner. No name on the front, I put it on the inside instead.
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The greeting is stamped on a die-cut and sanded piece of Core'dinations Whitewash, and framed by a simple arrangment of my trusted Prima flowers. I was tempted to glitter them up, but as I was making two cards for this occation I decided to have one with glitter, one without. You'll soon see the other (heavily glittered) one that I made... ;) Remember to bring your sunglasses.

A prettier whiteboard

Did you know that any glass frame can be made into a whiteboard? As soon as I realised that I knew I needed one for my hallway. I usually keep a quote or word of wisdom on it, as well as jotting down things I need to remember before walking out the door in the morning. Remember to bring that card you made last night, for example. The post-it note reminder I've stuck to the door handle wasn't quite as elegant as this - and this thing isn't likely to fall off and hide under the shoe rack and cause me to forget that card anyway.

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I suppose it would look even nicer if this was a lovely frame, but I wanted to make it using only materials I had on hand, so the clip frame will have to do for now. It has two layers of scrapbooking paper inside. The larger one is fairly light in colour, so my writing will show up easily. The brown and pink colours match well to other stuff in my hallway, but it's very easy to change them if I want to. Just take the frame apart and add other papers!

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Made a mistake? Wipe it out! A paper towel works well if you don't want black finger tips. I've got a make-up sponge near this frame and that's also practical.

(By the way, I found the quote on Pinterest. Of course.)

Invaders! From space!

Ah, the memories... Little green spaceships in vaguely bug-like shapes on a black screen. No? Just me then? Yes, I really am that old. I remember playing Space Invaders. With a joystick, even! Feel free to LOL now, I'm wearing a silly little grin myself. I'm a bit of a nerd and not afraid to admit it - although I prefer the term "intellectual badass". ;)

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The idea for this card was found on Pinterest, to which I am now thoroughly addicted. I might, in fact, be in need of a "Pintervention"... It started out as an excellent tool for keeping track of tutorials, recipes and such - but has ballooned into a massive time-waster. I can go surfing other people's pins for hours if I'm not careful... It's even worse than blog surfing! :P But, as this card demonstrates, sometimes I stumble upon a great idea that actually makes it into reality. Thanks to Pinterest for the card idea!

Know this

Oops, I used the same stamp again. I can't help it, it's just so lovely! And since this card was made spesifically for a certain person, I went with the one that spoke to me the most, and this was it. Oh how I love the Penny Black sentiment stamps... *swoon*

That vertical strip of blue paper was something neat I got as a gift from this person - it's a thin blue crumpled paper with a really shiny gold coating. I ran it through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder and sanded it. The brown papers was a nice contrast to that strong blue colour, and to lighten the card I tried to work in something white here and there.

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And again, there's that gorgeous brown baker's twine! The tag was originally a dark steel/pewter colour, so I covered it with a thin layer of Gesso before distressing it with some ink, just to keep the card looking a little brighter. The cheese cloth also sneaks in again. Love that stuff!

Simple baby card

Ok, I'll admit it. I've hardly invented the wheel with this one. But you know how it is, sometimes you just go with a well-tested design and try to make the materials do the work for you! This green fiber paper was a spur of the moment purchase and now I wish I had more... It's such a lovely, bright colour and the white fibres are shiny and add so much texture.

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Jute twine and the cute bear charm are the only embellishments. Keeping it simple!

Vintage-y card

I almost messed this one up completely by stamping way too much, but I think I managed to save it by covering some of the stamping... It's still a bit messy, but not too bad. The lovely text stamp is by Penny Black of course. This is the first of some cards I made on a paper crafting day with a few other ladies - we had a whole day and I still only managed three (and a half) cards! Somebody obviously spent too much time talking instead of crafting. :P

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Several layers of torn and inked pattern paper, some cheese cloth, and Sticky-Back Canvas are the main ingredients here. The only accents are the two metal flowers with a half-bead each, and some brown baker's twine. I love this stuff so much that if I ever come across other colours of baker's twine I'll buy them all!