Happy New Year!!!

It's a little over one hour left until our new year here in Sweden. I have been celebrating with my fiancée by making a three course dinner. Since I was in charge of the dessert (I love baking, but dislike cooking) I made a little extra treat for the hours after midnight. I made chocolate crackle cookies with real chocolate in them, yum! The whole apartment smells delicious, probably drives the neighbours crazy, lol. As the "real" dessert we're having diffrent fruits with whipped cream and marengue - one of my favs.

I want to thank all of you that have been visiting my blog for the past few months. I have only been blogging for about three months, but have already made "friends" out there. I hope you will continue visiting me in the next year aswell since I plan on making just as many cards as I have so far. I don't make new year resolutions, but this year I'm making an exception:
This year I will strive to get published in a stampmagazine and get on a designteam. If you want to see if I manage, make sure to come back :)

Now there is not much left to say at the end of 2008, but

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

and for all my american friends: I will be waiting for you in 2009, bubbly water in hand, while you still linger on in 2008.
I wish you all the best for the new year and hopefully I'll see you around!

Last Christmas gift

Here's a little set I sent to my good friend in the US. The bag is filled with a couple of catstamps, a pair of fancy earrings, a Christmas CD and some other small stuff.
I found a great crown stamp in a grabbag I bought a while ago. It works perfectly with the Magnolia stamps, or what do you think?

I also managed to do a funny thing with the sign as you can see on the last picture. The oval I made worked great with the qk frame. It's great how those things turn out sometimes.

Whimsy stamps DT call

I really really wanted to join this DT call at Whimsy stamps but since I'm not home I don't have access to my stuff :(
I wrote and hoped that she would like some of my other cards I've made, but initially I wanted to use the turtle I won in her candy.
I'm going home soon and will make a card with the turtle. Hopefully she will be so blown away with my talent that she will forget I missed the deadline, lol.

Keep your fingers crossed since my new year's resolution is to get on a DT and get published in a magazine this year...

Last Christmas card

I made this card for a sketch challenge a while ago but forgot to show you. I put up the photos on a post, saved it and wanted to write a little bit about it later, before I posted it. I forgot I have made the blog post it automatically today on the 26:th, lol. I'm glad you liked it and I thank you for all the kind words.

I've had a calm, slightly boring Christmas. I'm hoping New year's will be better. I will be spending New Year at home so that will be an improvement. I just like my home so much and I miss my crafttable. After these months of making so many cards I'm feeling abstinent :)

I've brought a couple of things to try out for the whimsy stamps DT call, but I don't think I will make it on time :( I miss my workspace and don't have much inspiration or energy. Maybe later today...the deadline is tomorrow, so we'll see.

One thing I'm very excited about are all the sales! My two closest stores are having sales and since I didn't get anything crafty for Christmas I'm going to splurge.

By the way, all of you who have shown interest in the hÄnglar I have for sale: I thought I'd photograph the ones I have and will put it up in an album and link from here. I'll try to do this the week after new year's. I think I have about 5 stamps for sale. I thought I'd also ask if there is any interest in Magolias (fairly priced for about 70sek)?

Merry Christmas to all

Today, on the 24:th we're celebrating Christmas here in Sweden. At 3 o'clock most of us watch a Disney Christmas celebration program that is 1 hour long. It's parts of Disney movies put into a show that is presented by the cricket from Pinochio.

I have also opened my first gift. Me and my fiancée exchange one gift in the mornings. I got a USB cup warmer! It's so great because my tea always gets cold while I sit in front of the computer. Now it will stay at 50-60 degrees all the time :)

I'm hoping you are having a lovely Christmas or doing the really last last preparations for tomorrow. Here's a tag I made for a friend that I sent together with a small pile of gifts. I'm so fond of the Basic Grey paper. I put some gold glitter on the text and dimension thingy on her boots and the bell. I'm really glad I got this stamp as my first Magnolia.

Last candy of the year

There is still a few candies to join in 2008 and I will gather all of them here.

Unni is having stamps, grungeboards and other embellishments in her candy. The blog is in norwegian, but the rules are the same as always: spread the word and leave a comment with a link to your blog. The winner will be picked on saturday the 20:th.

Buffy is having a ginormous papercandy as a celebration of her 12:th wedding anniversary and since it's Christmas :) The winner will be drawn on Christmas day.

Kath has some Fiskars products in her candy. It closes on saturday so hurry and join!

Dawny is trying not to celebrate her "half a century" birthday by giving away some great candy. Let's cheer her up by joining ;)

Rica is celebrating for being chosen as a DT member for the Basic Grey challenge blog. Congratulations Rica! She obviously has some BG papers in her candy and some other yummy stuff.

Robyn had quilted this amazing bag and some decorations, together with some craftgoodies. I love this bag and would love to win it! The candy is open until the end of the year.

Karen has a huge craftcandy that I would like to get my hands on. So much colorful stuff it makes me drool :)

Leah has this huge candy from cosmocricket you don't want to miss. With this you wouldn't need papers for a very long time.

Linanna will add more candy depeding on the interest in her blogcandy. There has already been over 170 comments and the candy is quite huge already :)

Mandy has an amazing handmade giftset as her candy as a celabration of 10,000 hits.

Jude has some blogcandy to celebrate her birthday in a couple of days. Happy birthday Jude!

Short cuts has a give away that ends 27:th dec. (just found it) Hurry if you have time.

Cheri is having her first blogcandy, just like me! Since her blog is called the paper freak, guess what she is giving away? ;) Ends dec 31:st.

Andrea is having a blog candy for a cause. A little baby girl named Francesca has been having a lot of problems since her birth and Andrea is asking for prayers and if you want to be entered in the candy, send her a card. You can read all about this sweet little baby on her blog. She needs your cards before dec. 30:th so if you have time, please send her one.

Emma is celebrating 3000 hits in 9 months with some fab papers ad embellishments. I'm a total paper addict ad would love to get my mittens on these.

Zhanna is a Russian blog that has some papers, stamps and embellishments for grabs. My Russian is quite rusty, but I'm guessing the rules are the same as always.

meholder has two prizes to give away, so what are you waiting for? Go to her blog and join. Ends dec. 29:th.

Heide will have three winners in her candy - a lot of images from Magnolia, Whiff of joy etc. Ends dec. 31:st.

Pittapitta is celebratig 1000 hits with some stamps, papers and other goodies. Ends jan 1:st.

Pink lady aka Shelly is celebrating 5000 hits with a bang! So many yummy stuff in her candy. Ends dec. 31:st.

Kath has another giveaway - a pack of all her fav things. I like them too :) Ends dec. 30:th.

Ultramum has a candy that will close whenever she hits 5000. Let's help her by visiting her blog.

Claudia has some new year's candy and there will be 3 winners! I love her blog, so make sure to check it out.

And finally, if you haven't joined my blogcandy, you should! The more that join the bigger the candy will be. The theme is Valentine's, so spread the word and the love. You can find all the info HERE

I've done something right...

...because I've gotten so much love back lately. I started blogging seriously in late september I think it was. I entered a lot of challenges and blogcandy and you know what? I've won, 6 times now. I'm so happy that I decided on having my own candy. It feels right to give some of that love back. I have looked and searched through all my stash and found so much valentine goodies for you. I will photograph it soon and put it up. If you haven't joined my candy yet, you should! Click on the image to the right to read all about it.

I also got a card from a woman named Ramona. She is on one of my yahoogroups. I was on a RAK list on that group, but took my name off due to a personal tragedy over 2 years ago. I just didn't have the strength to send cards to people. I didn't even feel like stamping for almost a year (wanted to start selling everything, but didn't have the energy to do that. Good thing I didn't) Anyway, she kept my address and sent me a card from time to time when noone else did. She brightened my days with her cards when I needed them the most. A couple of days ago I got a new card from her - congratulating me and my fiancée on our anniversary. That was so sweet of her! Here's the card she sent. I think the green circles are cut out and glued on the card. A very beautiful card, you might get an idea despite the bad scan.



Just the other day I found out that I won another candy from Suzanne. YEY! If you haven't visited her blog you should. She makes wonderful cards in so many different styles. And you want to know what the best part is? The stamp is signed by the illustrator Robin Ireland so it's a collector's item. I feel like such a groupie, lol. You can find more of these kind of stamps at Susana's custom art & carddesign They are very stylish. Can't wait to do some stamping with my new candy.
Here's what is on its way to me :D



I also got my candy I won from whimsy stamps. I had three stamps to choose from: the duck, frog or turtle. The turtle was my last choice, but when I saw him up close I noticed he was wagging his tail and I fell for him straight away. I think he can cheer up anyone's lousy day.



Before that I won a chocolate stamps treat from Michele. I haven't done anything with the stamps yet, but I want to use them for Valentine cards and birthday ones.



I also won a candy for sending Christmascards to american soldiers that were stuck in Iraq for the holidays. I got to choose one stampset from Gina K designs and chose this Halloween one



And my first candy was when I entered with a lot of cards and my name got picked out of 1500 cards! I got 2 sets of stamps from unity stamps.




I also won a stampin' up set from Heather. I get to choose one, but I don't know from which ones. She will get back to me with pics. Isn't that wonderful?!

I've had so much fun with both entering candy and having my own. I will definately have more of my own candy in the future. Too bad they just increased the postage here in Sweden again :( because I need to be careful not to get my package too heavy.
Hope you've been having a good day today. See you soon.

Last minute cards and my earrings

I'm in the middle of filling out my Christmascards. Tomorrow is the last day to send them and I want to have it overwith so I can focus on some other things.

Thought I'd show you the earrings I made for our 10:th anniversary. I'm very fond of them. Love how they sparkle. They have this shine to them like gasoline, you know the multi-colored shine. And of course they have a lot of bling :)

CD box tutorial

My mom is just impossible when it comes to gifts. She never wants anything and if I buy her something she gets disappointed that I wasted money. That's why I've learned to give her gifts that don't cost much, but look gorgeous. You would think that is easy, just give her something I've made. The problem is that she is not a fan of "home-made" stuff and if I give her a piece of jewelry for instance she never wears it. She might think it's pretty, but not for her to wear. (Don't ask - I don't know.) Soooo, it's a bit complicated, but she likes movies, so this year I'm sending her a box full of DVD's. I already had the perfect card for her and I wanted to make a matching holder for the DVDs.

Hope it makes sense and you'll find it useful. I've measured in centimeters (cm), but the tutorial is mostly to show how you can make your own box, not necessarily this one. And in worst case you can translate the centimeters into inches here. Sorry about the messy pics. Wasn't planning on making a tutorial at first or I would have cleaned the table up a bit ;) If you click the pic you will get a very big one and can see all the details.

I almost always make my own patterns. That way I can make them fit the gift perfectly. For this box I could measure so the exact amount of DVDs fit in and nothing "shakes around". I think it fits about 15 DVDs and some wrappingpaper.

I measured how much I needed for a DVD by laying it out on my 12x12" cardstock. I needed some extra space on the sides of the DVD and decided on 13cm width:

I cut the cardstock to be 13cm wide. I wanted the box to be square, so each side will be 13cm (back and front) For the bottom I took some of the DVDs I wanted to fit and added some extra cm. I made the bottom 2cm. I also added 1 cm to the edges so they can be folded in and will leave a nicer edge (no papercuts when you take out the DVDs)

Here's how it looks when I have folded the piece. So the folds are (on a 13cm wide piece of cardstock): 1cm, 13cm, 2cm, 13cm, 1cm. Glue down the outer flaps. Now the piece is 13-2-13cm



Decorate the front and back now (trust me, it's easier to do this now especially if you want to add eyelets. Guess how I know?) If you add eyelets and will use this box for CDs or DVDs, make sure to protect the inside of the box so the DVDs don't get scratches.

Now the fold for the sides - you are going to need two: They are going to be folded a couple of times and need some extra cm for glue. I added extra 2cm on each side, so the piece is 6cmx13cm. Are you with me?


Next I folded the piece lengthwise. I folded it first in the middle (on 3cm) then every cm, so I get 5 folds. The two outer ones will have glue on them. I don't think it matters which way you have the folds, but I made it so there are two folds on the inside of the box and one on the outside.


Put glue on one of the outer flaps and glue down on the inside front of the box.



It should look like this:

I then glued the second piece to the other side.

I made a flap to close the box with (to cover the opening) I decided I wanted it to fold 5cm over the front. And then 2cm to match the bottom width and some extra centimeters to glue to the back (I took 4cm) So a piece (5+2+4cm) 11x12cm (so it's a little on the inside of the box). Glue the 4cm wide part to the back of the box.

I also made an extra fold on the 2cm wide part so it wouldn't break if there were fewer DVDs in the box at a later time


I then glued the folded sidepieces to the back of the box.

This is how the box should look now:


I had some fabricflowers that had a couple of spots on them, so I added glitterglue to cover them up. I then found some primaflowers and a brad to match the colors of the box.

I also found a great metal charm I've had for years. I decided the flap of the box would be held together with a ribbon.

Finally I added the flower to the flap and voilá! One gift ready. The ribbon will be a little tighter to hold the flap down.


Hope you liked this tutorial and that it wasn't too hard or easy. If you find it useful, please let me know. I would be so happy knowing that I have helped in some way.

You don't want to miss this

One of my absolute favourite bloggers Suzy, aka "papermonkey" is having a huuuuge candy for one lucky winner (hopefully me ;)
Suzy is such an amazing talent and she is/has been on a number of designteams. The most recent company she will be making cards and other projects for is sweet'n sassy. Congrats Suzy! I'm amazed - but not at all surprised - at the amount of DT spots she has. You just have to visit her blog and take a look at her gorgeous creations.

Suzy wants to celebrate the gift that is Christmas by spoiling one lucky person totally silly. She has so many goodies from companies like Whiff of joy, house-mouse, magnolia and others. No wonder that she has over 200 entries by now. Make sure to visit her blog and join in. It all ends on dec. 15:th when the lucky winner (me, me, me, lol) will be announced.

Good luck everyone!

Last minute gift tips

I have stopped doing the challenges - I just don't have the time now. I've been struggling with some packages to send out, but I always seem to find something more I have to add. In the end I send them out too late, sigh.

Today I made a tag for a friend that I'm putting together with a bunch of gifts. I can't show it to you yet, but I will as soon as she has gotten the package. I got inspired by Tim Holtz' tags, but not in the way you might think. I just can't make the stupid alcoholinks to work! I made my own variation on a tag - patterned papers and colored images. You'll see what I mean later.

Ok, so some last minute (small) gifts, perfect for the host/hostess:

In Sweden it has been very popular to dress-up matchstickboxes. A good way to give something personal without spending hours on the project. It's also a good when you don't know if you're supposed to bring a gift or not. It's small enough, but you don't have to show up emptyhanded. And the best part is that you can personalize it. Appreciation guaranteed (and if they don't appreciate it you should take it back, lol)




Bookmarks are also one of those small gifts that are always needed. And if you know what kind of books the person reads then you can make it in that style. I'm actually planning on making some. They are perfect to give to guys or people that "don't want anything". These aren't actually done, I was just playing around with my new stamps :D





Other things that don't take forever:
memoryboxes (like the one I have out on etsy)
necklaces/bracelets with beautiful pearls and some organza ribbons
a nicely stamped and decorated tea/coffebag
a decorated box (they can be used for anything)

Now I'm off I have a project to finish tonight. Keep your fingers crossed, because it is something important...

Any interest in hÄnglar?

I know a lot of you are fond of the hÄnglar stamps. Is there anyone who would be interested in buying some from me? I have some totally new that I'm not using. Just putting it out there, maybe someone will be interested...

Thank you card and diving photo

I almost missed this challenge, so I've been up half the night to make a card (well, not only for the card, I've been doing other pre-Christmas things). I really wanted to join this challenge because there is this adorable Sarah Kay stamp to be won.

I have - now - a little box of already colored in images. I found this little angel I colored a couple of days ago. I also found some "Thank you" stickers in my stash. I don't think I've ever done a thank-you card, but thought this image of the angel holding heart-flowers was great for this. Normally I would've used silver with purple, but I had to go with the textcolor. I also applied some goldglitter on her wings. I like the way I took some red color to focus on the flowers. I also put some goldglitter on the flower.

As usual, I'll take a better pic and put it up in the gallery (my slideshow to the right) Speaking of pics: have you seen my profilephoto yet? It's taken during my fiancées birthday trip in august to celebrate his 30:th birthday. We went to Malta to dive with our new certificates we had fought to get during spring/summer. We just made it in time for the trip. On location we fell inlove with the water (at least 6 meters visibility) so we decided to continue on our certificates and take the advanced level. We ended up spending his birthday on 30 meters depth! It was such an experience. This photo of me is taken at about 15 meter's depth. I'm "flying" above a ravine that went down to about 40 meters. It looked like an abyss, dark and deep. I thought maybe the photo would show it, but naturally you can't take that kind of photos with a simple camera. Besides - it was the first time we had a camera under water with us, so I still think it's a great pic.

Candy for this week

There is still much candy to get before Christmas and here's what ends this week:

Jo from UK is having a great candy with papers, stamps and other great stuff. Make sure to sign up for her candy before it closes on dec. 9:th.

Paula has made an amazing fairytalebook and filled it with some presents...the book is so amazing! The winner will be picked on dec. 10:th.

Jude wants you to win a little something for yourself. The mini book-kit she has is great!

Pink gem designs has their cute Mimi&pig stamp as candy. All you have to do is spread the word on your blog and leave a comment on her blog. Candy closes on dec. 13:th.

Izis has a polish blog and she's offering some fabrics, beads and other craftitems. I'm so happy to see that crafting has spread all over the world.

Claire has a big candy consisting of stamps, papers and some other great stuff. She has almost 300 comments, but don't get put off by that. Maybe you'll be the lucky one (although I'm hoping I will be the lucky one ;)

bootifulstampz still has some candy, but this time it's weekly instead of daily. I missed to enter last week, but this week I'm in!

scattycat has a little Chrismas quiz and some awesome things in her candy. Open until the end of the week.

Jennifer has some adorable rubons on her blog that are looking for a new home :) Ends dec. 10:th.

A quick note

I seem to have some fans out there, so I thought I'd let you know what I'm up to. Don't want you to ditch me now, do I? lol.

I've been having a very productive sunday. I noticed that I needed to stop with the challenges (especially those that didn't involve Christmascards) and start on the things that need to be done ASAP.

My mom and I live far from eachother and won't be able to meet for Christmas this year either :( so I'm sending her a little care package. I know, it's usually parents that send carepackages, but in our relationship it's the other way around. She never wants anything, especially if it's expensive, so I'm giving her some DVDs and a couple of chilli truffles that she has never tasted. I always want to give away my present nicely presented, so I made a little box/purse to hold the DVDs. I made it in papers and colors that matches a card I made earlier. (If you're curious I can say it's the blue/purple Penny Black snowtrot card.)

I made photos while I was doing this and hopefully I will be able to make a little tutorial out of it, if you're interested? I like making my own patterns, that way they can look however I want them to and fit exactly.

I also have some packages to send out to my friends. It takes so long to some destinations and I would like for the Christmasgifts to actually arrive for Christmas. I'm always late with those things, but I really have to step up. The biggest problem is usually what to get my friends, but this year I actually have it all figured out. Just need to pack it up and send it. I'm hoping to get those thigs out of the house so I can start focusing on my sweetie's gifts...

Ok, now I'm just rambling on, but what do you expect at 4am?! lol. Nighty night and I'll "see" you tomorrow. I'll have some more candy to share with you for the week.

Whiff of joy DT call

Phew, with about a couple of minutes to spare I made the deadline for the Whiff of joy DT call. I wasn't going to participate because I didn't get any WOJ images until yesterday. My dear friend sent me some and I thought it would be too late, but I felt so inspired to color some of them in and once I started I couldn't stop. I love the Charlotte and Charlie stamps.

I had a lot of fun doing this card. I didn't want to go with the usual shabby look of Basic Grey papers, but I wanted to do something different. I took out the fushia and blue/green of the patterned paper. I also cut away the cat that is sitting next to the girl to make her fit within the frame. The frame is a die from qk cut in white bling cardstock and then made darker with a distress ink. Lately I've been using my jewelry items for my cards and I thought the beads would look wonderful as Christmas ornaments. The blue/green part is embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder and the girl is colored with alcoholmarkers. The handwarmer is flocked with white flock, it looks so furry and warm :)
Hope you like it.





If you would like this stamp or any of the other great ones that Katharina is selling, go to www.whiffofjoy.com She has a bunch of specials and a flat rate shipping of only €1.30 within europe (until dec. 21:st). And you haven't missed her adventcalendar I hope? Every day you have a chance to win some of the wonderful stamps. Don't miss out! You can find all the info on her webpage.