Merry Christmas!

 I want to wish all of my friends in Blogland a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year! Nothing expresses the joy of the season better than the look on little 3 year old Charlie's face in this picture.  And 6 year old Carter is SO into the Santa concept!  They bring me so much joy every day!


A great big thank you to all of you who follow me, leave me such nice comments, and allow me the pleasure of sharing my work.  It's been a crazy fall, especially with the surprise of needing surgery on my second knee, but I hope to get back on track in the creative realm soon after the New Year.  And a big thank you also to those of you who inspire me so!

 While I haven't made any cards in a month, I have been busy making gift wrappings.  The little gift card boxes were inspired by a free make and take at Archivers and the pretty little bags are a pattern from Creations by AR.  They are perfect for a necklace, or some soaps or fragrances!  And they make the gift even more special!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ALL!
Gerlinde

65th Anniversary

 Today is my parents' anniversary!  They are 85 and 88 and still very independent.  I thought a very simple and elegant card would be appropriate for such a special anniversary. 
The bells are cut with my Silhouette out of glitter paper and mounted on my new Spellbinders Floral Ovals.  The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and the ribbon buckle from Amazon.  I simply used white cardstock and a silver cardstock from my stash for the layers, along with a textured embossing folder.  This would make a great wedding card too!
Thanks for looking and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Gerlinde

21st Birthday

 It's hard to believe that it's been exactly a month since I've done any crafting!  My sister was here from Florida to help with Mom and Dad's garage sale as we get them ready to move to Florida permanently.  With this cold blast we got Friday, I wish I were moving too!  But I don't want to be that far from the grandkids.
Anyway, this is a consigment card requested by a friend of a friend for her daughter's 21st birthday.  All she asked for was "girly" so of course I had to go with pink!  Not sure where the DP comes from, but it had a slight trace of glitter so I covered the Spellbinders Lattice Pendant pieces with Sparkle N Sprinkle's White Spark embossing powder.  The hat pin is made from Stampin Up's Pretties box, now retired.  And the inside was done with my Silhouette cutting machine.  Now that I look at it again, the spacing is a little off, but it WAS 4:00 in the morning! Am I following my mother's night crafting footsteps?  I think so!

I will be entering this in the following challenges:
Card Makin Mamas - Anything, You Say?
Brown Sugar Challenges - Anything Goes
Clearly iStamp - Ribbon or Twine
Stampin for the Weekend - Anything Goes
Raise the Bar - Think Pink
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Ribbon and/or Buttons

Thanks for looking!
Gerlinde

Origami box

 I needed a creative wrapping for a very un-creative gift and was inspired by the boxes that Christina from Flowers, Ribbons, and Pearls had recently made.  Although I'm anxiously awaiting her video for her boxes, I did find a You Tube video for a simple origami box.  There is no tape for the box part - just a lot of folding.  Now the lid is an entirely different story - it does need some glue and good strong tape.  I used all Stampin Up products for this, including the Blossom Petal Builder punch for the flower.   The green box below was my first attempt and I decided to cut each layer of petals shorter for the Razzleberry flower, which made it lay a little flatter.  It really only took me an afternoon to whip up both of these boxes and now I'm looking forward to making some for Christmas gifts using the Spellbinder's Poinsettia. The boxes use two sheets of 12 x 12 paper and are plenty big (4 x 4 x 2) to hold a gift card and some small items.

 

I will be entering this in the following challenges:

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Not a Card

Come and Get It Challenge - Anything other than a card

Fab N Funky Challenge - Starts with an F (Flower)

Thanks for looking!

Gerlinde

Bismarck's Gift

Here is the second in my doggy series - this one is another Mo Manning called Bismarck.  He is colored with Copics and cut out using Spellbinders Labels Two. The DP is not marked and I'm sure something I picked up for 25 cents.  The trees are Hero Arts Merry Christmas Trees embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle's White Spark embossing powder and the poinsettia rhinestone is from JoAnn's with a little strip of ribbon behind it.  Bismarck reminds me a lot of my little Schnauzer "Schatzi" that I lost two years ago.  (Although she wasn't so little since she ate everything in sight!)
I will be entering this in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - #9 Gifts of the Season
Cute Card Thursday - Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Christmas Presents
Craft Punked - Pets
LEJ Designs - Winter Wishes
Papelitos Challenges - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes

Thanks for Looking!
Gerlinde

Merry Christmas, Doggone it!

Warning!  This is the first in a series of cards for my friends dog grooming shop and who else would I go to for images, but Mo Manning! This Christmas Sheepdog (with hat) is colored with Copics and cut with Spellbinder's Labels Twelve.  The DP is K & Company Shimmer Paper and the Santa hat  has Sparkle N Sprinkle's Twinkling Clouds on the white fur.  The embellishments are just from my stash.  I won't tell you how many I colored and threw away, but that's the fun in tackling a new challenge, isn't it!
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Christmas Crafting - Traditional Christmas Colors
Sparkles Forum Christmas Challenge - Sparkle & Bling
Lia Stampz - 3 R's - Red, Ribbon, Rhinestones
Anything Goes - Early Christmas
Mema's Crafts - Holiday Bliss
Stampin for the Weekend - Starting Christmas Early
Nutcrafters - Countdown to Christmas
Ladybug Crafts Ink - Christmas

Thanks for visiting!
Gerlinde

Welcome Baby!

 My grandchildren have a new cousin!  I'm so excited because I never had cousins who lived nearby (they're all in Germany) and neither did my children (their only cousin is in Florida).  So my Charlie and his cousin Heidi are only 1 month apart in age (they're 3) and now new cousin Brady is 6 years younger than my Carter but only 2 days apart in birthday celebrations!  How cool is that!

SO, I got to use my new Stampin Up stamp, Bringing Baby!  I colored it with colored pencils and added some stickles to the magical stork.  It's cut out with Spellbinders' Big Scalloped Ovals LG.  The scrollwork is done using my Silhouette and the papers and flowers are just misc from my stash.  Oh! and I also used Martha Stewart's punch around the page punch.
I made a pink one for future use out of Stampin Up's Pink Pirouette:

In addition to putting this right in the mail, I am also entering it in the following challenges:
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Baby
Fashionista - Baby
Tammy's Scrapin Corner - Show us your Bling
Victorine Original - Bling 
Hooked on Craft - Let's Celebrate
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Stempelsonne #68 - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!
Gerlinde

Vintage Christmas

 

All of a sudden I'm intrigued with the vintage look cards and thought I'd try one.  AND I'm moving right along with my Christmas card stash!  I'm not sure where I got this image in all my Google surfing adventures, but she has such a precious look.  I've paired her with SU Close to Cocoa and Blush Blossom and brought out the color of her dress with some misc DP I had in my stash.  The tag is Spellbinder's Fancy Tags Three and the sentiment  is a digi by Fred She Said.  I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Paper Play Challenges: Layer it up

2 Sisters challenge: Anything Goes

Challenge up your life: Everything Goes

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: Pink

The Ribbon Girl : Ribbon, pearls, image

Craft Your Passion:  Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

Gerlinde 

Pet Sympathy

Just a simple little pet sympathy card today done as a consignment for a dear friend who owns a dog grooming shop to give to one of her clients.  The stamp is an old PSX stamp I found at a garage sale and the paw print is from SU - "D is for Dog".  Coloring dogs is a whole new ballgame - will have to keep practicing, but I'm sure the hand made card will be much appreciated by the client. 
Gerlinde

Christmas Kisses

Hi!  I'm back again with another of Michelle Perkett's fabulous digi images now available at Sparkle n Sprinkle!  Isn't she the cutest?  She is colored with Copics and has a little Sparkling Snow glitter on her wings.  The Mistletoe is a Silhouette die cut that has been glittered and embossed.  The branch is embossed with Christmas Green and the berries are rounded out with Dimensional Glue and sprinkled with Sparkling Snow.  The bow has been glittered with Collegiate Garnet.   It's never too early to get your Christmas cards done, so check out all the great Christmas images at the Sparkle N Sprinkle online store!
TFL!
Gerlinde

Woofie Under the Tree

Sparkle N Sprinkle now has a new line of Digi images by Michelle Perkett! This one is called "Woofie under Tree in Box" and is perfect for all those dog lovers out there! The sentiments come with it and are just so unique!  I punched "Season's Slobbers" out with an ornament punch and used an internet clip art bone to trace over the "Wags and Wiggles" sentiment and cut out. You can find complete directions for this card here, but please check out all the other Michelle Perkett stamps and digis on the SNS online store.






Here's a little better view of the sentiment:

Hope you enjoyed!  Stay tuned for another digi by Michelle Perkett soon!
Gerlinde

Sparkle N Sprinkle Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Christmas in July blog hop!  If you've arrived here by way of Angie's fabulous creations, you're in the right spot! If not, you may want to start at the beginning (the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog) so that you can become eligible to win one of five - yes, FIVE - great prizes from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

My first card is a Double Z fold card using Stampette set #443 Snow Family.  It is stamped on Vanilla cardstock and colored with Copics, then cut out with Spellbinders Beaded Ovals.  The glitter oval behind it is cut out with my Silhouette and Sticker paper, then glittered with Green Nugget.  The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon. The Snow at the bottom of the oval is from Mudd Puddles and can also be purchased at Sparkle N Sprinkle.








The sentiment inside the card is embossed in Red Apple.  Complete directions for this card can be found here.

My second card is a Spring Card (like in jumpy, not the season!) using another Stampette set, #442 Christmas Basket.  It is also colored with Copics and the basket is touched up with Fall Leaves glitter.  The card folds flat for mailing and then "springs" up when taken out of the envelope.  I also like that it stands up like an easel card. Very unique!

Here is a view of the back:

Complete directions for this card can be found here.


Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment so that you will be eligible to win one of the five fab prizes!  Then hop on over to Brenda's blog to see what our Divine Design Team Coordinator has in store for you!

Don't forget, all of the Christmas and Winter, Jewish and Christian stamps, as well as a selection of complimentary embossing powders, glitters, glitter tinsels, and flocking,  are on sale this month at Sparkle N Sprinkle!  Happy Hopping!
Gerlinde

Special Anniversary

I'm so glad Sparkle N Sprinkle is having us give Scrapbook pages a try!  Don't worry, I'm going back to cards next post, but this occasion is just perfect for a scrapbook page.  I may even frame it and give it to my parents as a present.  I can't believe they have been married 65 years and still both doing so well!

Most of the elements on the page have been cut with my Silhouette and embossed with embossing powders, Cappuccino Star, Silver Bells, and Hit the Beach.  It gives the page much more dimension than a pre-glittered scrapbook page.




Here are some closeups.  The tiny hearts and butterflies were punched out of sticker paper glittered with Golden Silver glitter (as was the lettering that was cut with the Silhouette).















The larger butterflies (Stamp set 437 - Fancy Butterflies) were embossed with Gold Detail and glittered with Silver Dreams. Yes, I have glitter EVERYWHERE  in my craft area, but it was well worth it.

Of course, it sparkles much better in real life.  Glitters are hard to capture in photos, especially the golds and silvers!


You can find complete directions on the Sparkle and Sprinkle website here!

The Midnight Hour of Spring

Since summer officially begins in two days, I wanted to squeeze in one more Spring themed project. I came home one day to find this Mama Duck and her little troupe of ducklings swimming in my pond.  My pond is not very large, mind you, so maybe this was training ground for the troupe.  It's only about 5 feet long and 2 feet deep and between the fountain and the lilies, there was barely room for them all.  It was the only day I saw them, but I later found the nest and eggshells at the back end of my yard.  I just had to create a scrapbook page in their honor (my very first, by the way!).  The wisteria that covers my deck seemed to be the perfect companion, as was the Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp set "Spring Swirl".  I touched up the photos with Raspberry Soda, Lacy Lilac, Lemonade, and Starfire glitters from SNS - these pics might show them better:

  The sentiment strip, umbrella, and snail were embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle's Mulberry Star and Moss Star.  



And THEN, I just had to make a matching card!

It's a 6 x 6 card - Oh! the wonders of digital photography!  I was able to shrink the image down to 2 x 3".  I added a few punched flowers to the card that were punched out of sticky paper and covered with Starfire glitter.  The background paper was touched up with the same glitter using a glue pen.  

You can find the complete instructions for the Scrapbook page here and the card here on the Sparkle N Sprinkle website!  Thanks for looking!

Gerlinde

Gift Bags

We celebrated three birthdays today - my sister, my son, and my son-in-law - and since I didn't want to just stick their gift cards in the card envelopes, I got a brilliant last minute idea to make gift bags for them.  I found this easy tutorial at Jan's Stamping Creations here.  For the price of two 12 x 12 sheets of designer paper and some ribbon I had on hand, I ended up spending much less on them than store bought gift bags.  Plus, they were much more personalized!  Next time I will make some much earlier so I can embellish them more!  The only problem I had was working the Crop-O-dile again after a few years of non-use - otherwise they were a cinch to make!
TFL!
Gerlinde

Sparkle N Sprinkle's Celebrating Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Celebrating Summer blog hop!  If you got here from Jill's fabulous blog, then you are in the right place!  Otherwise, you may want to go back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog and start from the beginning.  In order to be eligible for one of FIVE great prizes, you'll need to leave a comment at each stop on the blog hop!


My first card uses the 123 Martini Floor stamp from the Cocktails II (417) stamp set.  It is embossed in Moss Star and colored with Copics.  The background is done with the Hibiscus flower from the Hummingbirds and Flowers  (451) stamp set and is Batik embossed (See Tips and Techniques) with more of the new Tuscany Star colors.  You may remember I used these in the last blog hop on the punched flowers - obviously they're my favorites! The cardstock is also from Sparkle N Sprinkle - Grape Slushie and Guacamole.   You can find complete directions here on the SNS website!

The second card also uses the Cocktails II stamp set - Hurricane Glass and Cocktail Garnish.  They are colored using glitters and Copics (See instructions here for complete list of colors).  The scene is done with Memento Inks and sponge daubers (also a long list of colors).  I used Waterfall glitter to make the ocean shimmer and Florida Beach glitter on the sand.  Doesn't it just make you wish you were there already?

Hope you enjoyed!  And now hop on over to Creative, Crafty Charlene and see what she has in store for you!





Don't forget to leave a comment on everyone's blog to be eligible for the prizes and check out all the Water, Food & Beverage, and Rosiland Solomon's stamps because they're on sale this month!


Should you get lost, here is the complete list of participating designers:

Sparkle N Sprinkle home

April

Marie

Shona

Julie

Shanna

Barbara

Angie

Karalee

Jill

Gerlinde (me)

Charlene

Karin

Brenda

Thanks for stopping by!

Gerlinde

Stay tuned.......

Hi!  I can't believe it's been a month already since I've last posted!  Life gets away from you sometimes.  I don't have a card to show yet, but I finally had some time to craft again and wanted to tell you to stay tuned this week..........There's a Sparkle N Sprinkle blog hop coming on Thursday that you've GOT to check out!  You'll be starting the blog hop at the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog  here, so don't forget - Thursday May 17 and Friday, May 18!
Gerlinde




(Sneak peak)

Bunny Town

These are the table favors for my Easter dinner.  They are from Jackie Topa's Cute Critters class and are attached to a Silhouette basket.
Here's a side view:

And here's the whole "Bunny Town":

Aren't they the cutest?
TFL!
Gerlinde

Twin Joy

As you're all feasting away on Easter dinner, I'm doing my taxes and making cards!  It feels very strange not to be cooking today, but we've decided to wait till my parents return from their winter in Florida to have the big Easter dinner.  That's only two weeks away. I can wait.  My card today is for a friend's daughter who's expecting this month.  I'm surprised she hasn't had them yet - aren't twins usually early?  The punch art babies are from Jackie Topa's Cute Critters class and they make me smile every time I look at them.  The sentiment is a freebie from Netty's Cards - she has great digi sentiments.  The yellow cardstock is actually Light Yellow from the Paper Company, but it doesn't look that pale in the photo.  I've embossed it with Stampin Up's Watercolor Trio in Pineapple and Ice embossing powders from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  The rest is just "stuff" I had.  Thanks for stopping by!  I'm now on to my Easter table favors for the dinner that's not going to be on Easter!

Charlie's Birthday

Hi and Happy Easter!  Just a quick post to show you little Charlie's birthday card.  He turned 3 on Wednesday but his party is today and I still have to go wrap his present.  This card is not an original - I got the pattern from Lynn Pratt and it was a must have because his party is fire engine themed.











 The best part is the little guy inside the card - He's from KTS Designs (Thank you Terry!).




 And here's MY little guy:

Happy Easter everyone!
Gerlinde

Glitter Heaven

It's hard to believe it's been a week since I was in "Glitter Heaven" with the lovely Margaret from Sparkle N Sprinkle!  That's Margaret on the right.  This is at the Memories Scrapbooking Expo in Columbus and since Margaret was going to be in my neck of the woods, I volunteered to help.  I was a little nervous, since I'd never done a demo before, but it was a lot easier and more fun than I thought it would be!  It was the set-up on Thursday that was the WORK!  But well worth it because the booth looked fabulous when we were done.  The people visiting the booth were all so pleasant, so interested, and SO excited when we gave them a sample!  We did a little of everything - glittered some photos, lace glittered some sticky paper and did some batik embossing on the new Hummingbird stamp set.  It was great fun and I learned a lot about the behind the scenes workings of a show.  But most of all, I got to play in buckets of glitter!  Thank you Margaret! 

Sparkle N Sprinkle's Flower Child Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Flower Child Blog Hop!  If you hopped here by way of April then you are in the right place!  If not, you may want to go back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle blog and start from the beginning.  You could be eligible to win one of FIVE great prizes!  There are 2 grand prizes for those who leave a comment on each designer's blog and THEN there are 3 random prizes that are attached to 3 "mystery" designer blogs.  The stamps on sale this month are Flowers, Children, Spanish, and artist Tom Jones.  I'm sure you will find something along the hop that you just won't be able to do without! 

My first card uses Sailor Boy from set # 287 Children and LOTS of glitter!  The array of glitters at Sparkle N Sprinkle is just amazing!  Here I have used Orange Crush, Rapture Blue, Raspberry Soda and Spirited Green.  The digital designer papers by Maree Truelove are mounted on Sparkle N Sprinkle's Sour Apple cardstock and the sentiment is embossed with Nautical embossing powder.  The flowers are punched  from glittered sticker paper.  You can find complete directions here.

My second card uses the stamp Under the Dirt from set #406 Me and Mommy.  This would be a perfect Mother's Day card from a little one.  The inside sentiment says "Under all that dirt is a whole lot of love".  Now you're probably thinking that the flower embellishments are glittered like the first card - but NO!  They are glittered embossing powders in Tuscan Star, Sangria Star, Cerulean Star, Mulberry Star, Tequila Sunrise, and Americana.  The glittered embossing powders are what originally drew me to this fabulous company because they stick, they stay, and they are so easy to use!  The sentiment is embossed with Blue Ribbon, which matches the Sparkle N Sprinkle cardstock, Cyan.  The base cardstock is Sunshine Yellow from SNS and the DP is actually a napkin that has been ironed on freezer paper!

Thank you so much for stopping by and don't forget to leave a little love via a comment so that you are eligible for one of the fabulous prizes.  Your next stop is the wonderful Marie and her fabulous creations.  Have fun!
Gerlinde