my FAITH page for the Q&L challenge

Well, well, time pass... the very last challenge in 2014 is the word "faith". It has been a great time following the Quote & Lyric challenge at the craft barn the whole year. It is nice to get to "know" new ( and old) participants, and it sure is a lot of inspiration to find "out there".

I made my page with distress inks on water color paper to get the nice texture. I then used the holiday knit stencil from Tim Holtz and my mostly loved heart stamp from Dina Wakley. I love this color combination!
The quote is from Pinterest - very true and very important to remember!

( ... I found this quote over here and I thought I had to share it with you - it really touched my heart...
                                           
Sometimes all you can do is
             not wonder
             not think
             not imagine
             not obsess
             just breathe and have faith
             because miracles do happen

Take care out there!!!

Lena

My 2nd (!!!) blogpost this month!!!

The tags for christmas 2015

Stampotique meets Panduro

Having fun with my distress inks and Tim Holtz`Holiday knit stencil.

 

 

 

 

December was tough this year. but finally I was able to finish my cards...

I wish you all the very best for 2015 and hope to meet you here again!

Hugs

Lena

Q&L challenge - heart

Another journal page for the Quote & Lyric challenge at the craft barn: I chose the word heart and the quote " Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind".

My latest rubber stamp seams to have lost its mind so I thought it was perfect for this quote...

Wish you all a beautiful December month!

Lena

Q&L - journey

Hello again!

Sometimes life feels tough and it is difficult to look forward in a positive way.  I found this quote on Pinterest and thought that -"yeah, why does it have to stop me"...

Life continues and we all have to keep going - we have nice days and we have bad days - just like everybody else.

This journal page is for the latest quote & lyric challenge at the craft barn were the theme this fortnight is journey / friendship.

I made the background with stencils, gesso, modeling paste, Indigo blue stamp and distress ink.The trees are very special to me - a stamp from Reprint.

The quote says " never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey".

Wish you all a sunny november!

Lena

Art Journal Journey - Gustav Klimt

The November theme at Art Journal Journey is " inspired by masters".

Many years ago, as I was still living in Vienna, our house was not far away from where Gustav Klimt once lived. I love the power in his paintings, the power of colours and shapes... I feel his paintings.

So , this journal page , is inspired by him. He made a painting like this once - normally a forest is mysterious and sometimes even a bit scary. But the way Mr Klimt painted this birch forest -  it became an invitation instead . White tree trunks combined with the colourful leaves - and almost always with some added gold.

I added a stamp from cherrypieartstamps ( Gustav Klimt collection). Otherwise the page is created with NeocolorsII and Faber Castell PITT artist pens.

Autumn `s here.

Lena

spotlightning - SDC no 172

Do we have to love or hate the distressed look ? Maybe at some times we think that the distressed look is a little bit to much, but hey,  ho,  like the french would say " - affaire des goût" ( a matter of taste ).

I just know that when I saw that stencil it was a MUST HAVE. And I DO think that it goes well with the bees - I have to say - today I LOVE distressed!!!

This is my latest card - thinking about one of my lovely daughters. " Just 4 U".

The only stamp involved here is the no 3000 by Jo Capper Sandon.  The rest is stencil work, modelling paste, distress inks, sodalicious letters and my good old sewing machine...(!).

Sooo, with this card I hereby enter the latest challenge at Stampotique Designers Challenge ( no 172).

Love to you all.

Lena

My moon page for the Q&L challenge

"... and you were just like the moon, so lovely, so full of imperfections, but just like the moon, you shined in times of darkness"...
..." the sun sees your body - the moon sees your soul"...

2 quotes for this fortnights challenge at the craft barn.

A week ago , a busload of women , left Luxemburg for the craft fair in Frankfurt. We had a great time and bought a lot of gorgeous stuff. I found this beautiful stamp at the stand from Jetske (= de Stempelwinkel) and I thought I had to use it immediately .

I tried to keep it simple with less layers.

The chosen word is moon - hope you like it!

Lena

My favorite colors for SDC no 171

This week is about using our favorite colours on a page or a card - quit obvious my favorites are blue and beige combined and high lighted with red.

This page is for the no 171 challenge over at Stampotique Designers Challenge. Love my little Midge with the tree top hanger - very different characters.

Wish you all a lovely start of November!

Lena

Quote & Lyric "HUG"

"Coffee is a HUG in a mug". = my entry to the Q&L challenge at the craft barn.

I had fun creating this page - following the instructions from Trish Latimer , where she uses distress inks and water.

Hope you all like it!

Lena

A pumpkin/halloween entry SDC 170

Here in lovely Lux, the halloween tradition never got into fashion BUT we all decorate and enjoy this lovely time of the year...:-)

This card might seem simple, but that is the way I like it and I have to stay true to myself.
With this card I enter the latest challenge at  SDC where the theme this week (SDC 170) is ghouls and goblins.

Who can guess who the person in the pumpkin is?

"BOO"!

Lena

Bye, bye Aby!

At work, our lovely Aby decided to focus on her grand children, and that meant leaving us. To celebrate her early retirement , we made her this cushion on which she can put up her feet and relax. The text are old luxemburgish songs... never to forget!

One of my 2 pages for her book - very pleased to meet you!

Lovely Aby - mon capitain at high see!

The sailors hat and a good bye  - wih you the very best!

This farewell is the reason why I have not been able to spend time in my craft room lately - I`m looking forward to new challenges coming up very soon!

Hugs

Lena

Q&L challenge - GIFT

Hello again!

This is my latest entry to the Q&L challenge at the craft barn.co.uk. Sorry for the bad picture - suddenly the sun came out and now the rain is back...
I chose the word "gift" and the quote is :" Yesterday is the past.
                                                                    tomorrow`s the future
                                                                    but TODAY is a gift
                                                                    that`s why it`s called the present..."

I used autumn grunge stamps from Susan K. Weckesser (Unitystampco.com), my Winsor&Newton drawing inks , a sizzix twigs die and stickers from Glitz.

Wish you all a gorgeous october!

Lena

Better for Q&L

"sometimes it ends up different and it is better that way..."

True words for the Q&L challenge at the craft barn.

See you soon again!

Lena

SDC no 164 - animal

A tag to join the SDC this week , theme is birds or animals.

I used my new stencil "mini sketch grid" from TCW - can`t help myself from loving it!!!
The cat is a stampotique stamp and the fence is a groovy sizzix die cut called spooky fence.


Hope you like it!

Lena

Lebewesen für AJJ

Another journal page : This time for the September theme at Art Journal Journey .

Lebewesen = living beings

I used a lot of stamps ( reprint, tuscan rose, hero art, prima), some washi tape and acrylics with gesso.

My husband is a true birdlover - he will like this one :-)

Take care out there!

xxx

Lena

EASIER for the Q&L challenge

My page for the latest theme at the craft barn. I chose the word "easier".

The quote is from a Henry Ward Beecher (?). Never heard of him. Very true words though!

( it is easier to go down a hill
 than up it
 but the view is much better
 at the top)

I hope you like it!

Lena

SDC no 163 = refresh it

This weeks challenge over at Stampotique was to refresh and use "old" stamps.

This chap here must have been one of my first Stampotique stamps. His name is Uncle Buck and I still love his sad teeth.

I made this card with embossing powder, stamps from Aladin and of course Uncle Buck , dylusion ink sprays, doodling and Faber Castell Pitt artist Pens. The letters are written through a stencil/mask.

Hope you like my sad looking Uncle Buck offering a flower and wanting to still be friends...

Happy thursday!

xxx

Lena

Grace for the Q&L challenge

This was tricky! I thought I would find loads and loads of inspiration for the words grace or peaceful ,  but it was really difficult!!!

Finally yesterday evening listening to the radio, I heard Mumford & sons "with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair" ( after the storm)  and thought PERFECT!

I had the perfect stamps of course - Dina Wakley and Traci Bautista, acrylics, stencils and doodling and - voila!

So, here we go again - another journal page for the Q&L challenge at the craft barn.

Loving it!

Hugs Lena

SDC no 162 "under the sea"

Another card for the latest challenge at SDC .

I `m not so happy with my stamping here - the faces got pretty blurry as I stamped on acetate :-(
Because I don`t have any stampotique mermaids or fish, I used the row faces stamp thinking sea -> water-> bubbles-> circles -> round faces...  hope you can follow my way of thinking...:-)

Background is acrylics and stencil work.

Hope you like it!

Lena

Rolling in the deep for MMP

I started following France Papillon as her work really inspires me. On her blog the other day was a music challenge, song chosen was "Rolling in the deep" by Adele. This is my entry to the challenge and you can find more info here and you can join in here.

Lena

SDC no 161

Another card. This time to celebrate baby boy Finns arrival:-)!!! With this card I enter the challenge no 161 at the sdc, where the theme this week is all about flowers.

The background and flowers are acrylic on canvas and the stamp is (of course) from Stampotique.

Have fun out there!

Lena

music inspiration for SDC

Another card for Stampotique - this week the challenge is about music as inspiration.

An easy one , my husband thought, when he saw the stamps I had chosen - your collection looks like "les Miserables", he said. And that was it! The story is sad and romantic, the music is wonderful and the miserables really look like the Stampotique stamps from Torrente & Penney!

So, voila, my music inspired card using Mr Hunk is ready.

Lena

SODAlicious JUMP

My entry to the art journal challenge no 55 at SODAlicious theme JUMP...

Oh, happy day :-)))

Lena

Family for the Q&L challenge

The latest theme in the Quote&Lyric challenge ( the craft barn) is family or thing.

I chose family as I thought I had the perfect stamps for the theme - an itty bitty unity stamp saying "family is forever" and another itty bitty unity stamp called "celebrate life everyday, everywhere!"

Each family member has a jolly hat to symbolize the joy one should feel for having a family ( even though sometimes we all feel born into the wrong one...). Is family  forever ? Well, blood is thicker than water. and I do think it is easier to forgive family members than friends. Family just stick together.

Beyond the unity stamps I painted the skyscraper, the tree and the branch. Paper scraps = Kesi`art.

Wish you all a great week!

Lena

Frida Kahlo for AJJ

Mixed media on canvas - my Frida Kahlo for the august theme at Art Journal Journey.

Background - modelling paste, dylusion stencil, acrylics, layered papers, sizzix die cuts.

Great fun in my nice and cool basement!

xxx

Lena

SDC no 159 - bows

Another card - I start to enjoy making cards for stampotiques weekly challenges! This week the theme is bows and this is my entry.

I used Magda Polakows stamp "night" ( thank you for giving this gorgeous stamp to me, dear Jaine!), pan pastels, a beautiful ribbon, bakers twine, a sizzix heart and some black drawing ink (Winsor&Newton).

I hope you like it!

Lena

SDC 158

One evening I had some time off - so I took out the box of "stuff" I brought with me. I started cutting, stamping and sticking and this is how the page ended up to be.

Funny enough this weeks SDC 158 is all about black and white and a pop of color. So here I am - able to join another challenge and happy to show you my "work". It is very relaxing just to sit like that , letting time pass and just enjoy...

(... just like I enjoyed every single calorie and still do..)

For this page, I used papers and stamps from SODAlicious and of course stamps from Stampotique!

Take care out there!

Lena

MIND for the Q&L challenge

"The soul always knows how to heal itself. The challenge is to heal the mind."

I made this journal page for craft barns latest challenge mind (or ignorance).

Coming back from holidays and I have my mind full of thoughts and worries. Normally one should feel relaxed after 2 weeks away , but this year everything is different... We will see what the future brings.

Creating this page , I used stamps from cherrypieartstamps and autumn leaves ( Tia Bennett) and a stencil from TCW ( mini sketch grid ).
I kept it simple - just the way I need to clear my mind.

Wish you all a nice week!

Lena

SDC no 156 and the craft stamper july -14

I wanted to join the July challenge at the craft stamper and made this page using the embossing resist technique. The " a little note" stamp from besotted stamps and one of the banners are embossed like that.

As I wanted to post this , I heard of the latest challenge at SDC, where the theme this week should be book inspiration. Immediately , I came to think of the book "the help" by Kathryn Stockett - "You is kind, You is smart, You is important"...

Loved the book AND the movie later!

xxx

Lena

Q&L challenge - imagination

A quickie before the holidays - a journal page for the latest Quote&Lyric challenge  - I chose the word imagination.
 Apparently it was Mohammed Ali who said the words - " The man who has no imagination, has no wings."
Stamps from Artemio, Scrapperin and Infinimentscrap. Wings  - Tim Holtz (alterations).

Take care out there!!

Lena

a summer page in my art journal

Last week I was asked to join a fb group for art journaling. This is my first entry to the theme "summer". I made a collage and added some flower stamps from Artemio and Toga (les tampons crystal) together with die cuts from Sizzix (alphabetical sizzlits decorative strip)and Kesi art ( set dandelions).
Colours - dylusion ink sprays and distress inks.

Hope you like it!

Wish you all a wonderful and colourful summer!!!!

Lena

SDC 154 - travel

The latest SDC challenge is about travel/vacation.

I made this card using stamps from Stampotique ( I THINK the stamps is called Topknot, but I`m not sure...), Infinimentscrap and Bildmalarna.

Hope you like it and I wish you all great vacation this summer!

Lena

Q&L challenge "PATH"

Another Quote&Lyric theme by the Craft Barn - this time I chose "path".

"some people cross your path and change your whole direction..."

... very true, I believe!

I used the psychedelic grunge CMS 056 by Tim Holtz ( Stampers anonymous) to mark the possible paths and I embossed with different  powders. Background = neocolorsII.

Hope you like it!

Lena

SDC no 153 - love

Another picture in the sun of our lovely Grand Duchy.

I don`t know if bees feel ( and fall) in love...But maybe they have the same feeling when they hurry from one flower to the other and later return to their beehive. I  wanted to use some of my beloved Stamptique stamps and  these are the ones I found in my stash - Big Bee , Hexagon and Heart Tie. All these stamps designed by Jo Capper-Sandon.

This is my entry to the latest challenge at SDC no 153, where the theme is week is anniversary, wedding or love.

Wish you all a lovely weekend!

Lena

ASOI colour challenge

Being me=loving colours, I couldn`t resist the latest challenge at ASOI, using colours like irish cream, rich ruby, seafoam green, deep cobalt and steel blue.

I amused myself using scraps from Maja Design, stamps from Unity stamp company ( Christy Tomlinson) , Sodalicious and de Stempelwinkel ( cherrypieartstamp). A very nice challenge!

The sun still licks our faces here in the Grand Duchy - let `s see what the weekend brings...!

Hope you like this journal page!

Lena

Diamond wedding anniversary!

 A couple of months ago our luxemburgish scrap group called Mosaikscrappers had a workshop, held by my dear friend Jaine.

 We used a lot of different medias to create the backgrounds for this mini book.

 Watercolours with papers and stamps from Theresa Collins.

 So, after having had a great weekend in the hotel Historischer Krug in the northern part of Germany (not far away from Flensburg), I just had to order the photos, glue them in and within a week after the celebration, I was able to send the book to my parents in law.

AMAZING! Diamond = 60 years marriage... and they still keep going!

Bravo, bravo, bravo...!

Lena

SDC 152 and Q&L challenge in one go

The DT at Stampotique Design Team challenge asks for something sentimental this week. So I combined it with the Q&L challenge, where the word this fortnight is either proud or vintage,

I used 2 gorgeous stampotique stamps (by Magda Polakow and Jill Penney) together with another "de stempelwinkel" stamp. The background is gesso, paper, texture paste and distress inks.

The words "be with someone who is proud to have you"  - found on Pinterest...

Hope you like the page!

xxx

Lena

CAS for the Artful Times

Being scared of the future - feeling insecure by not knowing what comes next...?

Our son now has to decide what to do with his life, our eldest daughter is in the same situation and our youngest daughter is about to change school to change her education...! All these worries.

See the changes as opportunities instead  - it is easy to say, I know, but I do wish all those youngsters out there the very, very best !

This is the card I made for Artful times where the theme is CAS (clean and simple).

The little bird is NOT the latest Dina Wakley one - I found it in a little shop in Flensburg 2 weeks ago and of course I fell in love. No brand - just beautiful...

( I painted a glossy card with panpastels, then cut it to fit the size of the card. The bird was stamped on watercolor paper and painted with neocolors. The splatter is drawing ink - just to keep it all together..)

Happy Saturday !

XXX   Lena

my mountain page for Craft barn

Woopsi - suddenly the 2 weeks disappeared !
This is my entry to craft barns Q&L challenge - this time with the word mountain.

I used a lot of stamps on this one and I`m trying to get out of my comfort zone by using different colours...

" Life will test you, but remember this, when you walk up a mountain your legs get stronger..."

See you again - maybe tomorrow!

Lena

funky boxes for SDC 150

Some years ago , a friend of mine ordered Sizzix dies with me and apparently I had said I wanted to have the funky boxes thick cut. Today , I  found a way to use that die - joining the SDC challenge no 151 where the theme is "boxes".

I stamped with stampotique stamps after cutting out the boxes. The eyes are colored with different Faber Castell before adding glossy accents to get the "groovy" look...

... and the chosen word "passion"?   ... because I cant help myself from loving these weird faces!

Wish you all a pleasant week!

x x x    Lena

celebrate SDC 150 !

After a very busy week, I finally found time to join the latest SDC challenge about celebration.Their 150th challenge!

I used the resist technique with wow embossing powder, a gorgeous Aladine background stamp and , of course -  2 wonderful Stampotique stamps (helping hands and Clover ).

Sorry for the weird shade, but the sun returned to Luxemburg and I really enjoy being outside again!!

Wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Lena