It's been a while

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. 
I can not believe that it has been a while again since my last blog.  Well I have been playing hard the last three month in my little corner.  I have joined two online sites, Mini Album Scraps and Your Paper Pantry.  And I have been participating in some swaps.  For those who are not familiar with the above mentioned sites and swaps, here is a brief description.  You sign up for a swap, in my case I have done the following:  Stick pin, Charm, Embellishment, Rolodex, and ATC (Artist Trading Card) swaps.  You send in the number of requested swap, and follow guidelines of the swap, like theme for the month etc.  Once the hostess has received the swaps (yes there is a deadline) she will mail you back the same number of items that you had send in.  For example, for the stick pin swap I send in 3 sets of 3 pins.  If 5 people participate you will receive 3 different once back, so you will not have one from everyone.   But those swaps have been so much fun.  And it is nice to get something that you may not have come up with. 

I got to upload my pictures the next couple of days, and hopefully I will be back to blogging at least once a week.  I have now a big list of things to do before Christmas.  So no swapping till after the New Year. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner.
Marlies

Missing in action

Wow, it has been over a month that I have posted.   All is well in my little corner.  I have been busy and participated in my first swaps on two different sites, Your Paper Pantry and Mini Album Scraps.  What fun I had.  All swaps where mailed in on time, and now I am eagerly awaiting the return of swaps.  I have watched recently some more swap videos on Youtube, and all in the sudden I feel so inadequate.  I just hope that my creations are up to par. 
But I had a good time and I am trying again.  I have already signed up for a few small swaps.  
I will show  my creations in the next week or so.  Right now I am rearranging  my craft corner, and I will have to clean my desk from my creative mess.  As I was working on my swaps, I just left everything I pulled out on my desk.  So now I got this hot little mess on my hands. 

I have gone to some yard sales this last month and was lucky enough to find a few things, that I now need to find a home for.  So for the next day or two I am organizing and cleaning my little corner (my vacuum cleaner was out of commission for about 3 weeks, and sweeping just did not pick it all up).

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner.
Marlies

LOVE IT

I am so excited.  I got my first copic markers.  I have been eyeing them for a long time.  I have a few Prismacolor markers.  But the first few strokes with my sketch markers and I am in love.  They feel so nice going over the paper and they seem to blend so much nicer.  I still have to get the right paper. 
The reason I got the skin color once first, is so that I can practice coloring nice faces.  If I like the results I can start working on getting more. 
They are an investment, and of course I would just love to get them all, who would not.  But, like so many of us, I have to budget my purchases.  And in general I am waiting for things to go on sale, or I have to have a good coupon (40% or more) before I buy a bigger (more expensive) item.  I waited over a year to get a good deal on my Big Shot, so I have a bit of self control.  So getting my collection of copics growing will probably take me a while.  But it is all good.  It's worth waiting for something like that.

Hope you all have a fantastic scrappy week.

Oh and I also joined Your Paper Pantry recently.  I have signed up for 2 swaps and am so excited about that.  I am done with sketching out my ideas, and I pretty much have all I need already.  I may have to get a few small things.  Will probably show glimpses during the month of my creations, but will not reveal the completed projects till after it has been delivered to the recipient, so that the surprise will not be spoiled. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

Mini Album

I have been paper crafting for a while, but hardly ever do any layouts.  I think I only do them when I am at a workshop etc.   I am still organizing my pictures (it's been years in progress, I am the worlds biggest procrastinator).  A few years back however I tried my luck on a mini album.  I love the format and the way it is more decoration, even without pictures.  So far I have only made them as gifts.  But I am hoping to do some for myself this year.  But I still have ideas on a few that I am trying to do as gifts as well.

Here are a few pictures of an early mini I made for a friend of mine.

Well, can you guess what her name is.  The cover had her name on, I covered chipboard letters with paper.  I paper was from my stash.  It is an older paper pack.  But I love the natural earth tones.

She is such a sweet lady, and just adores her hubby.  When I saw that paper I just had to include it in the mini, and added the "my husband" stamp (from CTMH).

The cake stamp is also from CTMH, and I used prisma pencils to color it it.  I made my own tags and tried to distress them.  I think I used the distress inks.  But it is to long ago to remember it for sure.  I even added a few ribbons, something I still have a hard time remembering to add to my cards, minis etc.  I am not very frilly so adding ribbons and flowers I have to try to make sure I add them.

Here I added a few more tags for family pictures and journals about her family.

I did make my own pages by cutting up some recycled packaging I think.  Now I have this nice stash of purchased chipboard album, I however still like to add extra pages in between by making my own.  One can never have to many pages in a mini.  They really should be called "chunky mini's"

There where more pages in this mini, but these where the nicest once.  Well more soon.

Thank you for visiting me in my little corner.
Marlies

Card

I have been having some technical problems these last few days.  But I am able to get on today.  Yeah.

So I looked at my photo archive to see what I can find to post today, and I came across some cards I made 2 and 3 years ago.
I never would have dreamed of ever having a blog at that time, so I did not keep good records of technique  and what I used etc.  Not that I am so much better at keeping track at this time.  Still learning in the progress, but I am having fun with it at least.

Above is made with a CTMH stamp set, so much I remember.  It do like the little bird, and I think I will do that one again, just will try to layer more paper etc.   But I always like the image.  It is made using the egg as the body.

Also a CTMH set,I fussy cut the images and colored with pencil.  I do not think that I even knew about the odorless mineral spirit at that time.  Paper is from my stash, and I do not remember what it was.  I just loved the leaves.  It was a birthday card for a kids birthday.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

Card

Here is a card I made for someone special to me. 
The paper is from CTMH, paper pack You Rock, and the stamp set is also from CTMH, A Little Buzz.  I colored the dragonfly in with Prismacolor pencil and blended with Odorless Mineral Spirit. 
I cut the circle and the scalloped circle using my spellbinder dies.  I inked the white circle with distress ink.

I still got to work on taking better pictures so.  The quality is not the best here, I know. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,

Marlies

My Little Corner

I love having a little corner where I can create.  Yes, sometimes I dream of having a big room on my own, just for crafting.  But I am just happy and grateful to have a space I can call my own.  And actually having a space in the middle of the house keeps us all connected.   

There are some struggles in keeping a small space that is exposed tidy, and usually it looks like a battle zone, in which I have so lost that battle.  I do have a pretty nice size desk (6' wide), but somehow I just manage to get it cluttered up in no time.  I do like to have things handy, and I have to store things on, around and under my desk, so I am constantly prioritising what I really need to have close by. 

One thing I love is functioning containers, if they are pretty as well - that's a bonus.
I will share with you today, and in the next few weeks some pictures of things I have in my corner.

This is how I store my small acrylic paint bottles.  I got so lucky and found the rack in a local thrift store. 

It does have room for bottle on both sides, and it spins.  Since space is limited I can not spin it around freely.  On the back side I have also bottles stored, but they are for painting on tiles.  And since I do not need them as often they are on the side against my large shelf.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

10 Best Tools

So, what are your favorite tools? 

Here is a list of tools I like.  Not necessary in that order, and I do not always use all of them each time I craft.

  1. ATG Advanced Tape Glider by Scotch.  I love it.  It looks big, but it is super comfortable, and easy to operate.  
  2. Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keeper.  It cuts chipboard or multiple layers of card stock without any problems. 
  3. Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet.  I keep mine on my desk at all times.  It cleans up easy.  Just remember it is not for cutting on.
  4. Tweezers. My fingers are just as nimble in holding small items, or when heat embossing.  I like the reverse action kind.
  5. Big Shot.  I have a small Cricut as well, but I have really fallen in love with my Big Shot as I can cut out shapes with thicker materials.  And of course, embossing folders.
  6. Craft Knife.  I have a couple of different ones, and do not necessarily have a favorite.  But they come in handy.  I use a craft knife to lift small sticky items like bling and place it on my projects. 
  7. Distressing tools.  I love them all, the plain nail files, detail files from CTMH, to foam blocks from the hardware store.  . 
  8. Scissors.  A few good pairs are a good choice, small once for fussy cutting and bigger once for big jobs.  I also like to keep a utilitarian type scissors at hand, for cutting packaging and hard stuff.  
  9. Ruler/t-square.  We all have to measure something. 
  10. Heat gun.  Mine is from Marvy and I had it for a very long time. 

Just to let you all know, I am not paid for advertising, nor do I sell any products.  The above list is just what I like to work with.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

Card

So a couple of month a dear friend of mine had a Birthday, and I made her this card.  I had just gotten my first Spellbinder dies and was so excited to try them out.  The reason I had finally gotten some is that some of my favorite ladies on YouTube use them quiet frequently when making cards.  I think they are perfect for card making.  Again, like so many times I try something new I was a bit intimidated.  But now I just love using them.   Another nice thing about Spellbinder dies, they do not take up a lot of space.



I used card stock, stamps and ribbon from CTMH.  I embossed the green card stock with a Cuttlebug folder, it is one of the damask once.  It came in a 4 pack, and did not give a specific name to either of the folders.  I liked it, as this one is a bit larger than the usual Cuttlebug folders.  I used a size A7 card from Paper Studio for the base.  The butterfly was heat embossed with embossing powder by Ink Expressions -black. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,

Marlies 

Scraps

If you craft with  paper, you probably have a bin (or two or more) with nothing but scraps.   The way I keep my scraps is that if I have a paper pack, or a theme etc, I keep the scraps together with the paper pack.  I keep a pocket protector filled with my scraps in front of the pack etc.  But once in a while I have some scraps that I no longer can find its proper home.  That's when I just put them in a plastic drawer. 

At the end of the school year I needed to make a bunch of Thank You cards for teachers.  So I pulled out my scrap drawer and used a punch from Stampin Up.  Not sure of its proper name, but it punches out two pieces to form a banner sign.  While watching a movie I just pulled out papers that looked like they could match and punched away.  I put two pieces of different papers together to make those little flags.   Also from my stash are the alpha letter stickers I used to put the Thank You on the flags.  I used an embossed card from DCWV and laid the flag pieces out, and adhered them alternating either flush to the paper or on pop dots.  On the bottom row I added two blank pieces at the end.
It is a very simple card as you can see, and it is done with nothing but scraps.  I always keep blank cards and envelopes at hand, so I did not have to go to the store at all for this card project.



The picture did not come out to well.  I am still trying to learn how to navigate blogging and how to take good pictures.

By the way if you are wondering what the background is.  When I spray a project with glimmer type mists I line my box with packing paper  When that is all prettied up I use it in projects.  Free pretty paper, what can I say.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,

Marlies

Card

Time for another card from my photo archive.  It is kind of interesting to go back and to see the progress I have made, just alone the last 3 month have been a big learning curve for me. 

To me, one of the hardest cards to make are sympathy cards.   I am at a loss for words at time.  A friend told me that I probably should put a disclaimer out here and explain that English is my second language.  But to tell the truth I have been here longer than in the country of my birth, and I was not an eloquent writer back when.  So, there is really no excuse for me.  I think we just all have different talents, and writing just has never been mine.

I made this one very simple again.  I used an embossing folder (book cover 1).  It is of the Tim Holtz Alterations line.  I inked the raised portion with CTMH ink, and the stamp is  by Hampton Art: RS4765 Watercolor Daisy, colored with distress ink and a water brush. The other stamp used is by Hero Arts: CL342 Everyday Sayings.   The card base is from American Crafts.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July to all.

This is a card I made last year.  We had a graduation from Nursing School in the family.  That was the first time I had used my Cricut, and it was so much fun.  I just used paper and card stock from my stash, so I can not tell what paper I used.  


Like so many times, when I work on a new technique or just about anything that I had not done before, I am very intimidated.  I had my Cricut for many month and it just sat there.  And it is the small one, so it is not as impressive looking as lets say the Cricut Imagine.
So, if you have something that you have not used in your craft area, just dig it out and make a small project to start, who knows you may fall in love with it. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner,
Marlies

Card

Well here is another picture.
I had 3 graduation cards to make this year, and since they where all for young men, I decided to make them all the same.  I used CTMH paper again, and the stamp and coordination Cricut cartridge.  Not a very fancy card, but I am still learning.  I have had the longest love/hate relationship with making cards.  They just never turned out so well.   I have been watching a lot of stamptv (Gina K.) on youtube as well as videos from Amy at prairiepaperandink.  I think these ladies are so talented.  I hope that one day I will make cards that are in the same league.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner.
Marlies

Canvas

A while back I made a couple of altered canvases.  I used Close to my Heart paper and stamps.  I colored the lace and the flowers with Lindy's Stamp Gang.  The paper was distressed with distress ink.  For the word "Create" I used different chip board letters from my stash.  I just covered them all with the same paper.  I used some rub'n buff to highlight some areas.

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner.

Marlies

Welcome to my blog

Well here it goes. I have been trying to get this blog set up for a while. But I rather put my hands to paper and glue than trying to write about crafts. I have been following a number of blogs and watched countless hours of videos on youtube, and now I feel the time is right to try to get this going. I am not a writer, and if you look for pretty stories being written, than this blog is not for you. You will also very likely come across errors in my spelling etc. So if that will make you cringe, this is not the blog for you.
But if you enjoy seeing what others create you are welcome to join me on my journey.
In the next couple of weeks I am going to post my past creations, just glad I have been taking pictures of them. 

Thanks for visiting me in my little corner.
Marlies