Worth trying

Hey there

How’ve you been?
I’ve been — here all the time, to be honest. I read aaaaaall your posts (really. all of them.), but somehow it’s hard to write one myself. And it’s not like I’d have to write an awful lot – pretty picture here, little link or video there… who knows. Also my crafty time has gotten scarcer in the last months. Basically ever since I came back from NZ.

It might have something to do with living differently. After all I’ve only ever had one room. When I was small I had a room with my brother. Then I got a room for myself. Later on as an Au-Pair or with flatmates: one room (even though it did get bigger over time, I admit).

Now: three rooms. Bedroom, Living room, Room with desk & crafty space (which should be an enabler, right?!). BUT. I am not a person to be alone. Though I do like being alone, too. But in general (and in the evenings) I find it so much nicer to maybe do whatever I do, while still being in the same room with the BF and the goggie. Hmm.

So… that was a speech… and a half…
On to my usual blogging cards and shout-outs:

Number One here is a total copy of a card I saw at Nichole Heady’s blog some time ago that I just loved so much. I used what I had on hand and created a card that would be equally suitable for a friend as well as for your valentine (IF he doesn’t mind purple and pink ^^). I just thought adding that little pencil behind a handwritten sentiment was pure genius
The background stamp is from Studio Calico – looove!

Here are two more shots of the card, created with mostly Papertrey goodies.

The next one is a card I made with the latest Passion for Papertrey Challenge in mind, which was based upon a photo with lovey dovey heart-shaped, colourfully frosted cookies. So I decided to incorporate some pink as well as some fun dots aka sprinkles (and of course, a heart!). That now makes for an overall sweet and valentine-sy card

Papertrey products used are: Rustic Cream Cardstock, Raspberry Fizz Swiss Dot Ribbon and Palette Noir Ink. The patterned paper is from the Cosmo Cricket DeLovely Collection (btw did you see the Social Club reveal??? I almost died of joy).

The layout is from the uber-talented Kristina Werner (no surprises here) and I really like how it turned out.

Last but not least a little square card that I made for my grandma’s 75th birthday:She loves flowers (also fake ones ^^) and I thought a little more oomph and elegance suit a round birthday like this just fine. I didn’t want the flowers to get squished or damaged, so I wrapped the card with some bubble wrap and tucked that into an “XS PackSet” (a very small ready-made parcel) to send it to her. I’m happy to report that it arrived safely and that she really liked it

The satin bow was made from recycled ribbon that once was bound around a lovely bunch of flowers I got from Nico
Oh, and of course I’d like to mention that this card is a total CASE of Windy Robinsons lovely creation that I saw on the Moxie Fab blog not long ago.

I know this is a heck of a long post – but just for the record: I AM GOING to the Crop am Rhein (one of the very few the only big Scrapbooking event in Germany [disclaimer: as far as I know]). Luckily I got exactly the right amount of Christmas money for this. It’s the first time for me ever to participate and I am SO excited!! I even dreamt about it already twice (I dream a lot).

I also got a blog award, but this will have to wait until next time
See ya soon!

P.S. The title is from my latest addiction – Sara Bareilles live at the Fillmore. The music is amazing, love her voice and the witty lyrics – surely this won’t be “her last contribution” to my post titles

It’s My Turn To Decide.

Hey there!!!

A very happy New Year to all of you!
Did you have a great time over the holidays? With lots of snow? We sure did
Yesterday and today were almost spring-like though, with day temperatures around 11-16 °C. So all the snow has gone away and the rivers are pretty much overflowing everywhere. (Not as bad as over in Australia, but still.)

I wanted to show you two cards I made for the current Passion for Papertrey “Background Basics” Challenge.

The first card is a total CASE of Aga’s fabulous card that was later (and rightly so!) also featured on Cath’s Moxie Fab blog. The white card base and the Kraft cardstock are from Papertrey. (I wish it was more – I really need to place an order soon!)

I also made an effort to get creative and think about a card design myself (with a stamped background and using more Papertrey items than just cardstock), so I created this little number here:

I masked off the top portion of the Rustic Cream cardstock and stamped the dotted line from “Journaling Lines” in Dark Chocolate to create a grid. I stamped the tiny stars from the same set to add some interest. My friend Angy made the darling flower using the PTI Bloom Builders #1 – gorgeous, don’t you think? The sentiment was stamped in Palette Noir and the heart in L’Amour Red onto PTI Kraft cardstock.

It was really hard taking a decent photo – it’s been so cloudy and when there’s sun in the evening, the colours don’t show up quite as well. I sometimes struggle with editing them much – I like my photos fuss-free!

If you have any questions about the material I used or about anything else, just let me know!

Btw, I have now started research for my diploma thesis about Scrapbooking and the Handmade Movement.
I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions before, but this year I have. Though writing a thesis is not really a resolution, mind you. It’s one of the last efforts in order to get my degree and it’s a rather interesting topic as I’m sure you’ll agree ;D
My “other” resolutions for this year are: making doctor’s appointments that I’ve been avoiding, sorting out a certain annoying thing  (that I’ve long time tried to avoid, too) and maybe also blogging more than I did last year
Did you make any resolutions?

Okie dokie, I’m off to bed and wishing you a nice, relaxing Sunday!
So long!
Nina

P.S. The title of this post is from a song I currently looove: Sara Bareilles “King of Anything”