Alpha Challenge 'K' and Happy Mail

Hi you all!

I spent a lot of time perusing the dictionary to find a 'K' word that I liked, and then decided to look in the German Dictionary, as in German there are a lot more 'K' words than in English. So I chose the word 'Köln' - better known in the English speaking parts of the world as Cologne.

Now this is a strange choice of word for someone who lives in Düsseldorf, as the two towns have not always been the best of friends over the past 1000 years or so, to put it mildly. There were even real wars between their armies, but these days it is more like a friendly rivalry. One of the causes for the discussion these days is the beer. (Although that was not why they went to war with each other!) In Düsseldorf people drink 'Alt-Bier', and in Köln they drink Kölsch.

Kölsch

Alt-Bier

 And each town says that the beer from the other town tastes like 'Pferde Pisse'. (No, I'm not going to translate it, it's rude! Use your imagination!) I don't really like beer at all, but if I had to choose one, I would probably opt for Kölsch - but don't let anyone in Düsseldorf  hear that! 

The next point is that both towns believe that their Karneval (carnival) is the biggest and best. Of course, the people of Köln are wrong! During the mad days of Carnival, the 'war-cry' here in Düsseldorf is 'Helau' and in Köln it's 'Alaaf'. And after consuming large quantities of alcohol, neither side knows the difference any more.

Another thing Köln is famous for is 'Kölnisch wasser' - Eau de Cologne. The oldest manufacture in the town is from Farina, but the other brand, 4711, is better known in the world, although these perfumes are not my taste either!

(Beer and cologne images courtesy of Wikipedia)

Yes, well, I seem to have digressed a little, but I wanted you to understand what I put in the 'word-clouds'.

The silhouette of Köln has been pasted over a dictionary page, coloured with prismalos. The definitions are taken from Webster's Thesaurus.

The beautiful Cathedral (Kathedrale in German, another K, but also called a 'Dom'!)

Linking to the Alpha Challenge at the Craft Barn.

And I got a lovely parcel from Jeanie in England, with loads of goodies for me to play with! Thanks a lot, and it will all be put to good use!

On the wild side

Hi you all! The lovely weather has left us, and we are once again back to dismal grey, cold and rainy days! 

Today is the begin of a new challenge over at Try It On Tuesday, with the theme of 'On the Wild Side'.  The challenges are all 'anything goes', so as long as you stick to the theme to use birds or animals, you can make whatever you want. There is plenty of time for your entry, as the challenges all run 2 weeks.

I made a card, with a very wild looking ocelot, who looks like she has a long party night behind her!  It is an easel card.

The stopper is made of a little envelope, which would hide a voucher or some money, and the small card on top can be opened to write a greeting.

Here's wishing you all a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Warhol-Eyezing, More Mini Books and Happy Mail

Hi you all, hope you are enjoying the weekend. I don't want to say it too loudly, but we had sunshine all day and it was warm today. It felt like Spring! But - from tomorrow on will be wet, windy and really cold again. We just have to take it as it is!

The challenge at OOAH this week is eyes. I made some photos of my eyes a few weeks back, which I then drew, coloured and digitally altered, as I did the photos. Here I have taken my drawings and changed the colours.  I printed out small thumbnails, and cut them with an inchie cutter. Sorry about the poor quality of the printing, my HP printer is not doing a good job. I glued them onto scrap card  and made them into bookmarks.

It was a fun experiment, which I will repeat when I have a decent printer.

And I made 2 more mini books with pockets for tags or little pictures. They are really mini - the larger one is 2x1/2" and the smaller one 1 1/2" square. They can each be made from a 6" piece of DS paper.

Each book has 2 tiny tags, stamped on one side with a heart and with 'for you' on the other (stamps from stamping up)

And now for the star of today's show - a wonderful mini-book from Yvonne that arrived in the mail and caused very loud screams of delight, which caused my neighbour to ring and ask if all was well.... Yes, it was more than well! Just sit back and enjoy the beautiful photos, and look at the gorgeous papers, lace, ribbons, pictures, stamping and embossing - and it's MINE!!!! Thanks a lot Yvonne, it will be treasured!

I think that's enough for today. Take care, have fun and thanks a lot for coming by!

Mr Umbrella Man on Safari

Hi you all! It's still cold and frosty here in Germany, but at least the sun was shining today, and that makes a big difference!

At Simon Says Stamp and Show the challenge this week is to use small sheets of paper. I have several pads in this size, which I like to use for cards and albums. The papers I have used today are all from LaBlanche, as are the rub-ons and the leopard stamp. I do not know who made the animal print stamps.

The albums are both 6x6", and have about 50 pages in them, and have been put together with D-rings.

I used cardboard from old paper pads sandwiched between the DPs to make the covers.

Here the paper has been stamped with animal prints in both corners, and with the leopard stamp. The alphas have been sponged through a stencil. Mr Umbrella man is wearing a safari suit.

The inside cover has been sponged with alphas and Mr U.M. using shabby shutters DI and the die-cut waste.  (The 'wastes' make the most wonderful FREE stencils!) The tiger and giraffes are rub-ons.

The inside of the back cover has been worked in the same way, Mr U:M. is still lurking around. The large alpha is from TH's Salvage Stickers.

The back cover

The second album has been made in the same way. I used more embellishments on the front cover here.

Here I have added some random stamping, and 'Dream'. Mr U.M. is everywhere, as are the wild animals....

The inside back cover has been reserved for the elephants. Mr U.M. is still lurking....

And the king of the jungle is guarding the back cover. I think the 'L' is for Lion.

This was a fun project, I am in a mini-book phase just now.

Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

Paper Saturdays and Make My Monday Challenge

Hi you all, it's weekend! And a freezin' cold one at that. It was dark and dismal all day, with lots of rain and mist - yuck! And I thought we had at last turned the corner to spring....

Today I am linking to Manon's Paper Saturdays with these 2 little folders / ATC / photo holders or whatever. They are each made from one sheet of double sided  12" paper, and are a variation of the maze book. The first one, which was primarily made for the Make My Monday 'Jane Eyre' Challenge, has been made with 7 Gypsies paper. The folded edge at the bottom has been trimmed with a Martha Stewart Punch. I made 4 ATCs,  using images from Jane Eyre (all courtesy of Wikipedia Commons). I did not try to colour them, as I think the black and white images fit better to the Victorian age and to the sad story.

The covers have been clear varnished to make them  more durable.

There are 8 pockets in all

I enjoyed making this, and remembering reading the book as a child and crying buckets of tears over it....

The second little book has been made of one sheet of Kaisercraft paper. For the back I used a scrap of coredinations paper which I distressed and inked with red DI.

Both sides of the sheet were printed with a scalloped pattern, so I fussy cut along the edges to make the scallops.

These little books are quick and easy to make, and make nice presents, perhaps filled with a few photos or cards or whatever.

Here's wishing you all a great weekend. Take care, have fun, and thanks a lot for visiting!

Paint Party Friday

Hi you all! Time flies by faster each week, and once again it's time for Paint Party Friday, hosted, as always, by Kristin and Eva.

I have made some more journal pages. This time I used brown and gold to do the background, and added some wild stamping which I white embossed. I have used three of my spirit dolls that I made this week, and added the quote as these all look like strong ladies to me! This is a completely different colour scheme for me, and I am not sure if I like it, but I wanted to try something different. I am also linking to Art Journal Journey. The theme is to challenge yourself, for which I used different colours.

This piece was the result of trying to remove an alcohol ink spill. It didn't go away, so I just kept blowing more across the paper, and watched it react with the colours that were already there. It was fun, and I can use it for die-cuts or backgrounds.

Here's wishing you all a good weekend. Take care, have fun and thanks for coming by!

More spirit dolls

Hi you all! These little dolls were made in my last 'play time'. They have been made from some 'my mind's eye' double-sided paper, using both sides to get some variations. The bodies have also been stamped. These are quick and fun to make, and at the moment I am trying to reduce my mountain of scraps and half used papers! I think I will mount these onto some dark paper - chocolate brown or black, perhaps, and make some cards out of them. Or put them all together on something? Or make a journal page with them? We shall see!
I got a mail from one reader asking me if these were meant to be voodoo dolls. Actually, no, that never occurred to me! ! But looking at the sentiments on these dolls - creativity, wisdom, and joy - if I could magically install these virtues into some of the miserable peeps I see every day when I go out, I would! But I need to practise first!

It is still cold, wet and windy here, and will stay changeable the next few days, but the sun did peep out here and there, so that was nice!

Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for visiting!