SPRING...

 

… has finally reached the middle of Europe, too!

So, may I introduce you to our big apricot tree: 

 It was the only tree we could rescue while building our house… it is very old and taller than the house now…

This tree makes me happy in spring, when it is in full bloom and in summer, when the fruits ripen.

So, how did I get inspired by this beauty?!

apricot tree inspiration + ring base + fabric flower + big rhinestone = fashion jewelry

... and ...

 

apricot tree inspiration + designer paper in vernal colors + embellishments = another one of my “beloved” sticky-notes-booklets :-)

 ... and the inside ...

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by saying hello!

Challenges:

http://trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/craft-challenge-96-inspiration-picture.html

http://colourcreatechallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-67-pastels.html

http://creativeinspirationspaint.blogspot.com/2011/04/ci-paints-inspired-by-spring.html

http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-4-things-with-wings.html

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/2011/04/simon-says-stamp-and-show-anything-but.html

A quick vernal greeting

Hi everybody!

I´ve been very busy lately - so no posts for you...

Today I´ve just a quick vernal greeting for you:

If you want to know how my blooming apricot tree inspired me..... stay tuned!!!

Have a great Sunday everybody!

Venezia/Venice/Venedig

My familiy and I usually go to Italy once a year (at least) - we love that country!

One day is always reserved for Venice (established in 5th century) - I´m impressed by the beauty of this city every year anew!

Please come with me on a short trip to Venice! You won´t regret it!

Isn´t the architecture just great?! Have you ever seen such gorgeous chimneys?!

We had lunch in this picturesque Trattoria...

The gondolas are so pompous!

This is the famous "Rialto" bridge over the "Canal Grande"...

We love to sit at the edge of the Canal Grande at the bottom of the bridge and enjoy the sun... people who know me will spot me on the picture...

 

Now, inspired by the opulence and pompous beauty of this city, I want to share with you a wedding card - a very "blingy" one... to do this city justice!

If the famous Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) would have ever decided to marry, I would have sent him this one ;-)

Thanks for travelling with me!!

http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-123-diamonds-are.html
http://simplycreatechallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/39-just-little-monochromatic.html

http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/something-sweet-challenge.html
http://cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/cupcake-134-monochromatic-and-dt-call.html
http://houseofgilli.blogspot.com/
http://michelle-pinkpaperparadise.blogspot.com/
http://pollycraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-85-swirls-and-pearls-lynsey.html

Back home again

I´ve a terrible head-ache today, so I just want to let you know that I´m back home again from my beautiful weekend in…. can you guess it?


Here´s a hint for you:

 

 
… yes, you´re right… I´ve been to Italy the last few days to enjoy sweet life (“La dolce vita”).


I love to see pictures from other countries, so I assume that some of you might be interested in pictures from the cities I visited: Venice, Padua, Caorle. These are very picturesque cities!

I´ll show you some in the next few days….

Until then!

THANK YOU!!!

Isn´t it such a heart warming thing to say “Thank You” and to get a “Thank you” back sometimes!?

These are my 2 “Thank Yous” for this week so far:

1)

My sweet hubby surprised me and brightened my day with these colourful pretties – THANK YOU!!! *mwah*

 
 

 
 

2)

My mother in law made us happy with a very good dish: salty pancakes filled with ham and cheese – rolled up – breaded and fried in hot oil --> DELICIOUS!! THANK YOU!!!

I had only a few minutes till she delivered this fantastic dish to pretty up her favourite chocolate bar … much better than giving it “naked” to her, isn´t it?

For this reason I love my new Big Shot – embossing and cutting is so easy and quick now!

Sorry for the uninspired picture … just made a quick shot and then the door bell rang…

Have a great day and THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting my blog today! :-)

http://anythingchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/die-cuts-challenge.html   22.3.

http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/2011/03/going-grey-with-scrap-creations_15.html   21.3.

http://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2011/03/chocolate-therapy.html   22.3.

Deepest Sympathy

Sadly we need this kind of cards sometimes…


I made this one on request – a very friendly old man died at the age of 82. He was the former chief of my aunt in the late 1960´s.

I chose decent colors, but also wanted to use a small stripe of the flower-patterned-paper, because she´ll write some words inside the card about the Bible´s message of hope for the deceased.

 
 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope, your day will be fine!

BUTTERFLY Blog Linky Party!!!!

There´s a BUTTERFLY Blog Linky Party!!!! over at http://evafromca.blogspot.com/ 


This is my contribution...

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Baby Boy

Isn´t it good to keep a few cards in reserve?

Some of you may not believe me, but I´m always lacking cards... a few weeks ago friends got a baby boy and I had no card and also no time to make one... what a shame for a cardmaker!

So I really NEED a card now and in addition to that I wanted to use some SU! stamps of the blog candy from Dorcas (I was lucky enough to win her candy in Nov.´10)

So - here´s my result:

Thanks for visiting! Have a nice day! (Your comments always make my day!)

Challenges:
http://phindysplacechallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-45-oh-baby.html
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/109-baby-blue.html    15.3.
http://bellichallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/belli-challenge-112-animals.html 
http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge132-baby.html
http://oldiebutagoodiechallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-14.html   2w

Rejected cards - but nevertheless happy (again)

Oh, yes, I submitted to Papercrafts Magazine, too - a few of the amazing number of 2760 entries were mine - but sadly this time all of my cards were not accepted... I felt very sad, because that´s the only opportunity to get a copy of this special issue (I´m already a subscriber of the regular magazine and enjoy every issue - we don´t have anything comparable here in Austria!).
I can´t buy the special issues here in Austria and I don´t buy it in the U.S., because it´s far too expensive because of the shipping costs they charge.
http://www.papercraftsconnection.com/blog/2011/03/03/an-insider-peek-the-submissions-process/

First I wanted to just forget about it, but then I saw, that some of my most appreciated bloggers show their rejected cards - and they´re stunning!!!

Just take a look at Lucy´s cards - amazing!!!   http://hedgehogsandladybirds.blogspot.com/

And - she´s such a sweet lady and picked one of her commenters - ME - for a little gift - THANK YOU!!!!
That´s why I´m happy! :-)

Her example encouraged me to show at least one of my rejected entries, too:
it´s a wedding card - enjoy! ... hopefully ... ;-)

I´d like to join in these challenges:
http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-2-new-beginnings.html
http://gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/gl13-use-those-flowers.html
http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-5-colour-pastel-colours.html

Thank you for visiting - I appreciate your visit very much!!!

Thinking of you

Weather is still cold and we have frosty mornings here… so we keep enjoying our visits to the old Viennese Cafés… this time we visited Café Central again – because of the piano music – and look what we had: delicious hot chocolate with Amaretto liqueur and chocolate cake (me) and coffee with wipped cream and a very delicious “round chocolaty thing” (hubby) – it tasted wonderful and it was embellished with small pieces of gold! Our afternoon there was like a full day of vacation!

(Don´t ask for the amount of calories…)

Today I´d like to share with you a card with a digi by Mo Manning – I love this drawing!

I colored it with watercolors:

 
 
While I was doing mine, my aunt did the same card with colors I like a lot more!
 
I only chose the deep red of my card because of the person I wanted to give the card to. But I like the light blue a lot more!

Here´s her card:

 
 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a nice week!

Challenges:
http://www.alyssundaychallenge.blogspot.com/
http://www.cardcupids.org/blog/
http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/