Some good news and a challenge card

Hello to you all! The rain is pooring down here today and I am in pain again. Surprize! Way to many weather changes this summer period. Beyond the fact that I am in so much pain today that I can hardly use my fingers, I decided to use the weather for something good. As we have a basement that is below ground and made of concrete we have some trellises in the washing room so it won't be that cold during winter when we (read "I") are down there to take care of the laundry. I decided to carry them all out to get them washed by the rain, so I am now hoping for some heavy rain to get all the dirt off. Turning something bad into something good. Clever me!

It's Wednesday again and my turn to host the wonderful challenge over at the Paper Shelter once again. This week we are doing the theme Brads and/or buttons. Either one needs to be show on your creation. You know you all have them laying around so why not use them.

For this card have I used the lovely image called Extreme. I love this fun charming boys images that Veronica and Pedro has put up in the store lately. There is also an super cute fireman, a video gamer etc. They are so much fun to colour and as (almost) always it's coloured with my Letraset family, which will be used even more in the future. More about that later. I've used some bright and lovely dps from Echo Park and a simple border die from Magnolia, Sweden together with three brads to the the upper right corner to make this card. It was for Isac, a friend of my youngest son when he went to his birthday party a little while ago.

As always we have the lovely price of a gift certificate up for grabs. It's worth $30 if you play with our brand, the Paper Shelter. Playing with another brand gives you the chance of winning three digis of your choice. It's a very easy challenge so do come and join us for this one!

And now to some good news on top of all this! About a week ago did I get a question by mail from Denise, boss of the Passion for Promarker challenge if I wanted to join their team. And of course I wanted to. That challenge blog is the reson to why I started my own blog years ago. My first ever win/top five was there, and I still have that card as a reminder that I can do it. So I am very humble and grateful and happy and moved and... to be on this fantasic team. I won't be able to join my favourite challenge anymore, but I do get to be a part of the whole adventure. I am so happy about this! Thanks for having me join you and I will do my very best!

Love and hugs
Marie

Challenges for this card

Inky Chicks  - Anything goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything goes
Cards for men - Let's get sporty
Eureka Stamps - Summetime fun
Make it Monday - Always anything goes

Guest designing

Happy Midsummer's Eve everyone! Today is the big summer celebration here in Sweden. Always with bad weather, and every year you expect it to be nice and sunny. That's a rare thing. LoL They are threatening with thunderstorms today and I so hope they are wrong about that or that it some magical way passes by without getting near me. I get such shortness of breath when the thunder comes that it feels like I'm going to die. Horrible!

But now to something more fun. This week I am guest designing over at ABC challenges which has the theme of Summer / warm weather. I chose to use an image from the Paper Shelter called Summer Holydays. She is coloured with my Letraset family in bright summer colours from the special editions set from this and last year. The work so well together.

The lovely gal is paired up with some yummy papers from Echo Park called Paradise Beach. Every singel paper in that pad is wonderful with stunning summer colours that I love. Almost hard to cut into them. To embrace the summer feeling I have also used some lovely yellow flowers from Prima together with a few roses from WOC. Cheery blossoms from I am Roses. A ribbon from a Molloy kit together with a few charms from Bildmålarna and Pagoni if I remember right. A bunch of dew drops represents the water. Also some chees cloth is used under the flowers. Hopefully bringing your thoughts to fishing. I used to do that all the time when I was a kid. Those were the days. LoL

So please pop by the challenge blog for the ABC challenges. You still have time to play with this weeks summer theme. There is some lovely inspiration for you over at the challenge blog too. Also a big thank you to Patty and the gals for picking me as a winner for the Male card with the mc bird. And thanks for having me as a guest over at your lovely blog.

Happy Summer everyone!

Love n hugs
Marie

Challenges for this card
Brown Sugar Challenges - Summer
Pattie's creations Design challenge - Summertime fun
Totally Paper Craft Challenges - Flowers and bows
Aud sentiments challenge blog - Summer
Crafty Ribbons Challenges - Flower galore
Paper Take Weekly - Hot Hot Hot

Steampunk?

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you're feeling fine and have a good week ahead of you. We are celebrating Midsummer Eve here in Sweden on Friday and hopefully it will be a nice day. But to be honest it almost always rain. LoL I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope for the best. I do look forward to seeing some of my family during this day. It's the best part.

The weekend was really wet and I kind of struggled with my Bronto phobia. And for you who don't know what that is; it's unnatural fear of thunder. And no it doesn't even have to be going on at the moment. For me it's actually worse before it starts. I was a bit more successful this time with breaking given pattern in my mind but it's so much energy that goes to waste. Still I managed fairly well this time, kind of proud of myself. :)

(The browns are the same all over the card but it wouldn't show...)

Now, facing another fear of mine, steam punk cards! That is really not my style at all. But I showed you a card made very simple a few weeks back with a really cool dog from Kenny K and that's why I decided to take part in this weeks challenge over at Crafty Card Makers. At least I got to colour the dog up again. I don't have much stuff that can relate to steam punk in my stash so I kind of made my own version of it. Brass is something that I only had just a little of and reading about the steam punk and what's connected to it. Brass is a big thing, well I settle for gold, some cogwheel, metal charms, embossing and lots of brown and grey to that. I am not sure what to think about the result, but I am proud to have taken part. I hope you will go ahead and join us in this challenge as it really is a challenge, well at least for me. The doggy is coloured with my Letraset family by the way.

And this is what our challenge post of this periods challenge says in a shorter version.

"Welcome to our latest challenge, hosted by Julie who has chosen the theme 'Steampunk'

If you need an idea of what Steampunk is we have a definition here 

We are sponsored by
DI'S DIGISTAMPS

 with a

$10 GIFT VOUCHER

and
 THE STAMPMAN

 We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are ofering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, or if you're lucky enough to see them at a show!  They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste bud."

Have fun and come and join us for this challenge. Quite a challenge but that's what life is all about, getting challenged from time to time. And it actually is a good thing, what else could make you learn something new about yourself or life itself?

Love n hugs
Marie

Challenges for this card
Make it Monday - Always anything goes
Cards for Men - Boys will be boys
Creative Creations Challenges - For dad / masculine
Eureka Challenges - Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges - Fathers day / Male theme
Joanna Sheen Challenges - Fathers day / male theme

A new card finally

Hello there every one! Hope you are doing fine? I'm keeping my head up and feet down but that's about it at this moment. I am normally stabilized by this time going from winter and spring to summer but not this year for some reason. Every little thing that I do goes into my fingers at the moment and making cards with stiff fingers is something I have yet have to learn. So while this goes on, it's a bit more quite here. After all the crafting should be fun and enjoyable, not causing trouble. I am ever so grateful that all you wonderful followers bare with me and keeping leaving such wonderful comments on my creations when they show up every now and then. Also a big big BIG thank you for picking my two latest cards as either top 5 or winner in different challenges. If feels so warm and I feel so blessed. So from the bottom of my heart thank you!

Ok, now time for a card as well. This one has been laying on my desk for a while and as usual I never managed to get the photo taken in time. So even when I am done in time for my DT commitments I am late. LoL I have to do something about that. Two picture added, not sure which one is the best to use...

The image I have used for my card is from the Paper Shelter and is called A mucha influence - Spring. It's an oldie but a really goodie that is a joy to colour. She is paired up with some lovely pink papers from Panduro hobby, but I'm affraid I covered most of it up. LoL How did that happen? The card really didn't turn out like I had expected or planed from the beginning, but hey that happens every now and then. Flowers are from WOC, the berries from Magnolia and so is the angel attached to the bow on the heart tag (drowning in all lace and ribbons) in the right corner of the card. Some feathers, pearls,  a heart charm and some punches and dies are also used for this creation.

We have a new challenge up for you all over at the Paper Shelter this week and it's called Pink/white or Blue/white. That means we want you to use either of this colour combo on your card or creations. You can use some other colours but they need to be seen very little off. The dominant colours needs to be pink/white or blue/white. Playing with our brand, the Paper Shelter products will give you a chance of winning a gift voucher worth $30. Playing with another brand gives you the chance of winning three digis of your choice. I do hope you will come and join us in the fun.

Love n hugs
Marie

Challenges for this card
Rhedd and Rosie Challenges - Ribbon and Lace
Deep Ocean Challenges - For a girl
Wild Orchid Challenges - Lots of layers

Time for a challenge

Afternoon everyone, hope you are doing fine and have a good start of the new week. I'm feeling a bit tired but ok. It was a busy weekend with a birthday party for Philip, only two months late, but there has been no time for it before. To be honest if felt strange to have a party so close to the death of little Saga in early March and then did my granny pass away, but it was now or never. 9 little monster getting together to have fun at a indoor playground. It was fine, but I am really glad it's over until November when the next one is having his party.

So after only one week this time we are back with a new challenge for you over at the Crafty Card Makers challenge. This time we have the theme of "Father's day". Here in Sweden we don't celebrate it until November so for a change I way ahead. LoL

I have used one of my favourite images from the Paper Shelter for this card. I fell in love with this birdie the first time I saw him and I still love it. I have to stop myself from using him for all the male cards I need to do. There is plenty of motorbike riders in my family so he is very useable. I who seem to have a totally different kind of genes than the rest of them prefere an ordinary bicycle. LoL If we talk about going out on the sea with a boat my family says racer boat and I say rowing boat. It must have been some kind of mix up at the hospital when I was born. LoL

The card, I lost track of it again... Oh dear... coloured with my Letraset family in sunny colours. Papers from My Mind's Eye, the Fine and Dany Boy pad. A lovely collection of summer papers. As decorations I have used a few buttons with some twine added and a ribbon. Sentiment is made with my granddad's old dynamo writer still working perfect after more than 40 years. Quality stuff! I just love it and I think that grand dad is happy about it getting used.

Our sponsors this week is the Paper Shelter offering a gift voucher worth $20 and Woodware also offering a lovely price for one happy winner. See more details over at the challenge blog.

I hope you come and join us over at the CCM challenges this week. It's always such joy to see what you create. Before you ad your card, make sure that you follow the rules and criterias of this challenge, otherwise your card will not be added to challenge.

Love n hugs
Marie

Challenges for this card
Passion for Promarkers - Ribbon, lace or twine
Paper take weekly - Sketch
Make it Monday - Anything goes
Created with love - Anything goes
Cards for men - Dad
ABC Challenges - Masculine
Challenges 4 everybody - Anything goes