Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wish all my friends, fellow crafters, readers, everybody a very happy new year!

I hope all your dreams may come true.

I want also to say a special thanks to our military troops in Afghanistan and everywhere in the world. One of my loveliest Ebay Customers is a young woman working amongst our troops in Afghanistan, belonging to the regiment where today a young man has been killed by those he was there to help.

I hope you can all be back safe and join your families again.

But what I really hope is that PEACE will finally reign everywhere.

Sweet Sketch Wednesday # 80

Here I am again, with a new card to post for a challenge.

Actually the original idea was to make a Christmas card for my husband, who is still waiting for his birthday card!

I had this lovely digi from Bee Crafty already printed and thought it was perfect for his Christmas card. Once it was colored, I started making the card following the Sweet Sketch Wednesday sketch (http://www.sweetsketchwednesday.blogspot.com/), just to have a trace and possibly post it for the challenge.

It has turned out more a Valentine card with unusual colors than a Christmas card so I'll probably keep it for Valentine's Day or sell it on my Etsy shop. I really love it: I love the sweet digi, the colors, the sketch, everything! 

Well, here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

I really love Sweet Sketch challenges: even if I managed to take part in only one of them, I was thrilled with all the sweet comments I received and looked forward to having time to make another card to post there!

Only three days to Christmas but, considering that in my family we love to celebrate on Christmas Eve, the celebration is starting in two days and I've still some gifts to wrap!

Better go, I still have a Christmas card to make...

Coffee Anyone?

I know, I know... It's been a week since my last post. I actually thought it was just a few days but this morning I realize that it's Thursday again.

It's been a busy week: I've got some orders for painted plaques so I've had to set aside my papers and digis and take out my acrylics and wood pieces. I'm happy to be back to painting and to have those nice chats with Customers who want customized pieces and ask for advice for gifts and color matches.

Unfortunately, I don't have cards to show, I haven't had time to take part in some of the wonderful challenges that I are there waiting for cards and my Etsy shop appears a bit neglected.

Christmas is fast approaching and family chores require more attention and dedication than in other moments of the year.

I have no new cards topost but I want to show a picture of a little hanger I've just painted for a lovely Customer. I had the coffeepot already painted on sale on ebay and she asked for a matching teapot and here's what I did:

I love them! I'm thinking to have them painted for my kitchen too!

I hope to be back sooner and with new cards and new challenge posts!

Bugaboo Anything Goes Challenge

Although today it's not so cold as in these last days, I was still in the mood of snowmen and winter days.

Despite the sun, I decided to take part in the Bugaboo challenge this week with one of their adorable snowman images turned into a very big tag.

The challenge says "Anything goes" and this is my submission:

I LOVE their digis - as you probably should have already understood - and this one was free a couple of weeks ago! The whole set is adorable and I wanted to buy one but I'm still deciding which one!

Well, better link the post to the Catch the Bug Challenge:

here's the link if you want to take a look!

http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/bugaboo-anything-goes-challenge.html

Baby, it's cold outside...

Yes... it's defintely cold.

Foggy, wet and cold. At least Christmas lights cheer me up, there are many things to be done before Christmas and gifts to be packed, so I'm quite busy and I don't have time to stop and freeze!

This title is inspired by one of the two challenges I'm submitting a card to today:

Digital Tuesday Challenge # 88 - Baby, It's cold outside

http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-88-baby-its-cold-outside-plus.html

and

Mojo Monday Contest # 168 with sketch

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2010/12/mojo-monday-168-contest.html

Fist of all, here's my card:

This lovely digi is from Whimsie Doodles: I adore these snowmen, it's been love at first sight. They are so sweet under the snow with their lunch, despite the fact that... Baby, it's cold outside!

I simply used a light green card and the digi was matted with a darker shade of green. A dotted pink ribbon and green pearls add the final touches.

If the theme was given by the Digital Tuesday Challenge, the sketch was fron the Mojo Monday challenge:

Well, better come back to the worktable and finish some other projects!

Have a nice day!

I Love Dots!

I really love dots!

I always add dots to dresses or backgrounds when I paint and create something. A real girly girl dress is pink with white dots, an elegant bride's dress is washed white with white dots, a boy's tie is blue with white dots...

Last weekend we spent a day at the Aquarium in Genoa and I managed to take some pictures of fish, penguins, turtles and seals. They are not great pictures but this one is very beautiful and... dotty!

This jellyfish is incredible! There were so many in that basin, with their wonderful dots, they seemed like flying in the water, gentle and soft.

My daughter loved them too but the fact that they hurt if you touch them did not convince her of their absolute beauty.

So, something different for today's post.

Back to cards, yesterday I painted a new stamp with two adorable snowmen and I hope to be able to mount it on a card and post its picture tomorrow. I'm so happy with the result, I love it!

Have a nice day!

Let the Shopping Begin!

I LOVE shopping!

It's absolutely one of my favourite activities!!

And in this period there are so many reasons to go shopping: gifts, family reunions, decorations, parties...

This week I did not manage to work too much on challenge projects as I was quite busy with family chores. Yesterday, we decorated the Christmas tree and spent some time in the Christmas market my daughter's school organises to raise some extra money to pay for activities and books.

Now, with the tree on we are really in the Christmas mood!

The only card I've managed to prepare for a challenge this week is for the Bugaboo Catch the Bug Challenge which has a shopping theme + something black.

This is my card:

Unfortunately, the day is dark, even if it's only 9:00 am there's little light. I went outside to take the picture but light was still not enough.

I imagine this little boy so proud of his Christmas shopping. Maybe a gift for his mom or dad? Maybe a gift for himself!

I bought this digi from Bugaboo because his face reminds me the face of my 20-month nephew and I simply couldn't resist. I already colored the same image in light greens and yellows but I made a more elegant (and black one) to follow this challenge rules.

I mounted it on a black card with patterned paper from DCWV embellished with matching punched stars. The digi is colored with watercolor pencils and the gift is covered with crystal glitter.

Happy Christmas shopping!

Let It Snow!

It's snowing!!!

I LOVE snow, I actually do but not in town. The traffic goes mad, the streets are slippery and it's cold.

It's been snowing for less than 5 hours and I'm already tired.

I had lunch at my mother's who got a cold and ask my husband to drop me there so we did not have to take two cars to go to the theater this morning. I said to myself that a bus ride back wouldn't have been too bad, I could have seen our wonderful town center with Christmas lights and a few shops already open.

But...

At noon it started snowing. The buses where both on time, I didn't have to wait under the snow but the soccer match couldn't be played under such a snow storm and it was canceled when everybody was already in the stadium.

I'm one of those unlucky Italian girls who have the misfortune to live near a soccer stadium, and this means that on Sundays I have to remember if our team plays at home if I want to invite somebody or if I have to go out.

Today it meant that the bus had to change its route because the road was full of people going out of the stadium. The traffic was terrible and it took me ages to come back home. I had to get out of the bus quite far from home under the snow and I arrived home frozen and wet.

I think I hate more soccer than snow (and this is no good for an Italian girl...) but today I was really fed up with both of them. (I apologise if "fed up" is not too polite but it's the most efficient English word I'm thinking to describe my mood...).

Anyway, in celebration of snow and snowflakes I've made a card for two challenges which have snow as theme:

Crafts and Me (http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.com/) which wants to see snowflakes

and

Digital Tuesday (http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com/) which has a Let It Snow theme.

Here's my card:

I already used this stamp by the Digistamp Boutique for my first challenge ever and I love it so much that I decided to make another card changing colors and sketch.

The stamp is colored with watercolor pencils as usual, the patterned paper is from Echo Park and snowflakes are punched and embellished with rhinestones.

It's incredible how quickly everything gets white and covered with snow, silent and peaceful.

Well, maybe for tonight I'll try to see how beautiful snow is.

Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge # 77

Hello!!

How was your shopping yesterday?

I did some shopping this morning... Hopefully, the gifts for the kids in our family are all at home, ready to be packed. This is a real relief, every year it's more and more difficult to find new ideas for them all but for 2010 we are done!

I told you yesterday that this week I have made some cards and one of these is for the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge # 77 (http://www.sweetsketchwednesday.blogspot.com/) and this is the skecth to follow:

Considering how difficult is for me to purchase patterned paper, when I first saw the sketch I thought I could never do it but last week there was a craft show here in my town and I decided to invest in some scrapbook papers in order to have a better selection when I make my cards.

And here's my card:

 The sponsor was Bugaboo Stamps and I've used one of their lovely wedding stamps.

I wanted to do something a bit out of the Christmas mood and I thought that this cream and light green papers look sweet, a bit vintage and perfect for the wedding theme.

Papers are from DCWV, while the stamp has been colored with watercolor pencils as usual.

 I really love this card!

Well, better go and do some laundry!

Have a nice weekend!

A Little Contest

One of the reasons why I've never started a blog is that I know I cannot write something everyday but it seems I'm not good at writing something every two days or even three...

This week I have prepared some cards. Although I still make some Christmas cards to enter challenges and for the shop, I'm already looking ahead and starting with pastel tones and spring colors.

Strange enough, Christmas is coming and I'm a bit tired of Christmas colors and themes...

Today is Black Friday. It seems that every shop on the web celebrates this Friday so I finally decided to have a look around and discover what it is. Christmas shopping starts today!

We don't have anything similar here. There are those who plan ahead and start buying gift early in October so that they can save time and money and those who - like me - never manage to plan ahead and on Christmas Eve are still looking for the last present. I plan ahead but it seems it's not a good planning...

Probably due to the fact that we don't have holidays in this period of the year - except November 1 but it's more a religious holiday that a celebration like Thanksgiving or Halloween - shops start to prepare for Christmas little by little. As I wrote the other day, what was once something typical of December is now happening in October and early November.

Anyway, this week I decided to submit a card for a contest at byLORI Designs.

They asked to look around the shop, see which images have no sample cards beside them and make a card with the images that need a sample card.

Here's my entry:

I chose Kaylee and bright, spring colors.

That's all for now, have a great shopping day!

 

Christmas Traditions

When I was a little girl, our preparation for Christmas started around December 8.

It was a tradition to prepare the tree on December 8: it is a national holiday, schools and offices are closed and most of us spent the day decorating the tree, making our Nativity scenes and preparing the home for Christmas.

Years have passed, Ikea has come and now shops start selling Christmas decoration in October, lights are switched on in November, malls are ready for Christmas shopping just after Halloween (which, by the way, we started celebrating just a few years ago).

Is it good? Is it bad?

Having an Internet shop I now have to prepare Christmas cards and items a long before December and I'm in the Christmas mood and colors since last July, but I'm a bit annoyed to be out for shopping in October when it's still warm and sunny and see Christmas decorations.

On December 8 school and offices are still closed but shops are not. They start their Christmas marathon in November and are always open, Monday through Sunday without any stop.

I must admit that, if I have time, I take everything out on December 1: I love the Christmas tree, the decorations and the house looks so pretty in this period.

In this Christmas spirit, I want to share with you a card that I'm entering to SirStampalot November Challenge:

Christmas Traditions

 

Here's the link if you want to have a look at the challenge: http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-challenge.html

For this card I used a lovely Little Claire Stamp which I coloured with watercolor pencils, chalks and, of course, some glitter.

I love these hedgehogs and this card represents a Christmas tradition in our family: on Christmas Eve we go to my Mom's, have dinner there and then open presents. When I was a little girl, we went to my grandparents' house where the whole family met and I was so excited to see everybody coming in with beautiful dresses and presents that we were in charge to distribute shortly after dinner.

Well, that's all for today, I have to prepare some more Christmas cards!

A New Challenge...

The Pink Elephant - TPE #88

Here I am with a new card for a new challenge!

It'sa Pink Elephant Challenge and we were given this sketch to follow while creating the card:

The sponsor is The Pink Cat Studio and I used one of their digis, this lovely owl on the moon. I love its simple lines and its big eyes. Of course, I had to glitter something and I glittered the wings with a wonderful purple glue.

The owl ribbon was bought through Etsy and I decided to follow a lilac theme, a little bit girly girl, which mateches the ribbon perfectly.

Well, that's all for this foggy Satyrday afternoon, let me have your comments!

A Toast to Friendship

Last night I was finishing a card for a challenge when I decided to color a digi I had recently bought from Bugaboo Stamps.

Once finished, I mounted it on a card and thought about a sentiment.

A Toast to Friendship seemed the most appropriate.

Yesterday I spent a couple of wonderful hours with an old friend of mine. We met for a coffee and some talk exactly 17 years after our graduation from university and 10 years after our last pizza together.

We first met 20+ years ago while attending university here in my town and we became very close friends. For years we shared our happy and sad moments, our doubts and hopes, our books and notes. When we graduated from university with a degree in English Literature we also shared many dreams about the future.

We started two different jobs, we lived in different towns and our friendship did not manage to keep the pace of our new challenges and commitments.

We lost each other for 10 years and we met last April by chance in a shop while we both were trying to relax before attending tiring meetings.

6 months later we sat down, had a couple of coffees and spent two hours remembering, sharing thoughts, sadness and happiness, two hours that really flew away.

She has fulfilled our common dream to become a teacher of English, we both have kids, we are grown-ups now but it was as if no time had passed at all.

She has always been my best friend deep in my heart, THE FRIEND, the one you can talk to for hours, you can confess your worst sin and your most stupid dream, without the fear of being judged or mocked.

We still live in different towns and have a completely different life but we promised to keep in touch and have other coffees and hours together.

That's why A Toast to Friendship seemed the most appropriate sentiment for my card.

Have a happy Friday!

It’s World Kindness Day and Bugaboo Stamps is Celebrating!

And here's my card for the Challenge!

I don't love cooking so I truly appreciate everyone who cooks for me.

That's the reason why I chose this stamp: Thank You Mom (or husband - as in my case - or Dad or Granmother or friend or...) for every single meal you have prepared for me in my life.

Of course, I have to prepare meals for my family but I'm always thankful to be an Italian and have so many types of pasta and vegetables (and pizza) available to prepare something healthy with a little time and effort.

I've chosen oranges for this card.

Well, orange shades are not among my favourite at all but I really love the orange I chose for the BBQ so I decided to go for it and work with matching papers and cards.

Card and paper are from DCWV and the Bugaboo stamp is colored with watercolor pencils.

A part from being one of my first challenges, this is the first challenge with sketch and I hope I've followed it correctly.



Time to go and think about... lunch...

Penny Black Saturday Challenge...Week 127

ALL MY FAVOURITE THINGS

Good Morning!

Yesterday I finished a card for this week Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

I chose this lovely piggy stamp with flowers colored with watercolor pencils and mounted on a yellow card.

It's not the first time I've made a card with this stamp but I usually worked with pinks while this time I wanted to change and go for a more fresh and "spring" look. I stubbornly wanted that big dark red flower so for a while I thought about my decision but I finally decided I wanted it (actually I wanted two but they were far too big for the card and I didn't have a smaller one of the same deep red).

I also dotted the card with white paint... I love dots as much as glitter!

There are really ALL MY FAVOURITE THINGS: glitter, dots, a tender stamp and pastel colors.

Again, sorry for the dark photo but it's raining cats and dogs this morning and it's really dark...

Well, the card will be avavilable in my shop sooner or later, in the meantime let me have your comments!

A new week!

Hello everyone!

A new week has just started and I'm soooo happy!

Is there anything better than start the week with a big sale in my Etsy shop???

A very nice lady from Singapore bought a card, some tags and even two new notebooks I had just put for sale. She is a returning Customer so I'm even happier because it means she loved her first purchase.

BUT...

She bought the card with the two mice which I posted on the blog a few days ago and which was my first card ever submitted to a challenge. I really loved it and it was a bit sad to let it go but I can always make another one, right?

My week usually starts with house cleaning chores and I don't like it at all but this morning I was so happy I didn't even notice that I was cleaning.

Even better, I have a couple of hours to finish some cards I started last week, both for my shop and to submit to some challenges.

Stay tuned!

Dreaming of Summer...

Last night while I was having my last look at my favorite blogs and shops I noticed another Challenge at Bugaboo Stamps: ANYTHING GOES.

When it was time to go to bed I decided to prepare a card for the Challenge and so I worked late at night to finish it.

The stamp was already colored so I just had to add the final touches and mount it on a card which, as you know, it's the most difficult part of the job! Here's the result:

If photographs are not too good if taken when there's not sunlight, those taken at midnight are even worst (or maybe I do need some training).

Anyway, I used a DCWV paper mounted on a simple white card while the stamp was colored with watercolor pencils as well as the fish. Air bubbles are made from punched cardstock and I glued the fish with 3D dots for a dimensional effect.

I find it fresh and simple, a breath of fresh air after so many days passed into the Christmas atmosphere.

Well, better link the photo to the Challenge which is closing in a few hours. I'm sipping my coffee and having a look at my favorite shops and blog around the world... the magic of the internet!

Have nice Saturday!



It's F R I D A Y !

It's finally Friday... the week is "over".
I LOVE Friday night! Not that I go out with friends or do something special every Friday but I love the fact that tomorrow morning we can wake up and not hurry!

I spent the very few free hours of these last two days coloring stamps.
Yesterday I was not in the mood for Christmas so I colored wedding and birthday stamps and today I returned to the Christmas theme and colored my new stamps from Little Claire.

Ohhh! I love them and I look forward to mount them on cards and show them here in my new blog! I was so happy wih the result that I painted three so I can use them for cards in the shop and for my family as well!!!

The only regret I have is that scrapbooking papers are hard to find here in my town so I never have the right paper on hand - or at least the papers I have in mind - and I'm not too happy of the finished cards.

Well... it's Friday night but pizza needs me to go in the oven and my daughter is soooo hungry!!!

Have a nice Friday night!

Bugaboo DT Call

A couple of weeks ago I discovered Bugaboo Stamps and I fell in love with their images, especially the A Kid's View Stamps.

They are looking for Design Team Members and I've decided to go for it and send my application.

The problem is now: which are my favorite cards? And... why do people call Italy the place where sun always shines?... I took photos yesterday, this morning, this afternoon but nothing... the sky is grey, very grey and photos are not very good.

Well, let's post the pictures of my three cards:

# 1

This card uses three stamps from the Ballerina collection.

My daughter is a little dancer and I always think about her when I see a ballerina image. She has approved this card saying she wants it for her room!

I used an light pink handmade scented paper with some flower petals inclusions. The stamps are colored with watercolor pencils and are attached with pink metal brads.

# 2

For this card I used a Clown Numbers stamp painted with watercolor pencils as usual and embellished with glitter. Oh! I love glitter!!!

# 3

Finally, the card made with the Digistamp Boutique stamp which I already showed you yesterday, as I sent it to them for the November competition.

I had two cards among my favorites left to send for this call but my daughter has chosen this one and I trust her!

Better go now... let me have your comments!

Hello again!

Hello again!

I've decided to post a new card I've made a few days ago with one of my favourite stamps from Digistamp Boutique.

Although I'm not new to buying digistamps, I must admit that I had to work on them for a while before beeing satisfied with the final result.

Coloring images was a major issue but I'm finally happy with my watercolor pencils and glitters!

I've decided to take part in my first competition ever! and this card will be entered in Digistamp Boutique November competition!

Wish me Good Luck!

Welcome to my new Blog!

Oh yes!

After many years I've decided to open a blog. Wow! I really can't believe what I'm doing! If someone had told me that one day I would have had a blog I would have laughed!

Well, let's start and see what happens!

P.S.: English is not my mother tongue, so please apologise my mistakes! (Suggestions and corrections welcome!).