(Just a quick post because my friend wants the computer back. )

The idea:
Use old cans to store them. But the cans don’t look so nice.

The solution:
Macabre Monday’s challenge “Metal Mania”.
The finished project:



(I used my mobile phone to take these pics – so they are not perfect, but I think you can see the important parts of the project)

Materials:
Can, leftovers of red wallpaper,
fairy charm that I won at a challenge
crocheted lace (I used a pattern for this lace. I find it difficult to crochet according to patterns, normally I just make up the things I want to crochet. But I got this pattern book at Christmas – actually I bought the book, gave it to my mother and she wrapped it in nice paper and put it under the tree and gave me the money back. The book is a cool inspiration although I’ve found one strange part already.)
ribbon from my grandmother Top Tip Tuesday (Theme anything goes): I think this kind of ribbon was originally thought for sewing. But I think it makes really beautiful bows. I got it years ago and stored it crammed into a small bag. So it was all crinkle-crumple and not in any shape to be wrapped around the can; I not even dared to think about bows. I sprayed it with water and wrapped it around a pen. Secured it with a thread or a rubber band. Two days later it was flat and usable to make a bow. I now store it rolled up so that it cannot crumple again.)

And what am I going to do now? Changing from crafts to science and from writing a blogpost to writing a paper.

Have a nice sunday afternoon and a good start into the week tomorrow!

I used green card stock, golden acrylic paint, napkin that was used to wrap a little gift, some grey kraft paper for the background of the trees, some red paper from a pattern book and some golden ribbon from my safed ribbons box. The snowflakes are cut out from a leftover of kraftpaper coloured with acrylic pait.

What do I want to post? A new altered chocolate box. Christmas is the perfect time for emptied chocolate boxes. I still have some from last year but as I started to make chocolate candy/pralines/chocolate truffles (that’s what my dictionary says – what is the best word to choose?) I alter the boxes and reuse them for storing my sweet give-aways.

This week, the Macabre Monday Challenge at Haunted Design House restarted. Started to miss the challenge, especially as christmas time often is so made-up peaceful: Everybody tries to be harmonic and caring but in the end they all count the presents they’ve got. At least our family meeting is not silent and harmonic – we love to sing the christmas songs all together with some people playing their instruments and all trying to remember the words and singing as loud as possible. We also argue about politics and have a lot of fun because of my aunt’s crazy dog.
But still, it’s good to be back at normal again. And for a normal week, it’s important to have at least one look at the HDH on monday.
This week’s challenge is called “got goth?” and so I had a theme for my newest recycled box.

This time I made a box just for my plesure. I still haven’t anybody to give gothic style presents to.

I used the image of a demonhunter I drew last year. It was the first image I started to print out multiple times. I coloured it several times during the last months. I think, a demonhunter can be considered as a magical creature. That’s the idea of Magical Monday, actually having a “Anything goes” challenge.

For the colours I refer to the Just Inspirational Challenge. They have an image tat you can interpret in way that suits you best. This weeks pic:

Well, there are some nice sweet fairies and a unicorn on the image, but the demon hunter is just behind the trees, using the happy little fairies as a bait for this prey.
I also translated the stars on the pictures into the black little stars.

Enough babble, here is the scanned front of my chocolate box:

For the Top Tip Tuesday (Anything goes, too) I have a tip:
I like to colour kraftpaper with acrylic paints and use it as a cover for my boxes. I find it easier to glue the kraftpaper first and then colour it. It may look rippled first but when I use UHU glue, the ripples go away when the paint has dried up.

Materials used:
recycled: Chocolate box, kraft paper for covering the box, wrapping paper from christmas presents, fused silver plastic bags for the matting, heated again for some extra accent.
new: glue, double sided tape, silver acrylic paint, crocheting yarn, little black stars.

“Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel”

This quote by Sepp Herberger, a famous German football manager, is also true when one thinks about christmas.
So, it’s always good to start making cards as early as possible. I get my motivation from christmas challenges as they have often a interesting theme and then I start crafting. Sometimes I need a push to start moving.

I have to be honest that I haven’t came accross this challenge before. But thanks to Hazel’s candy her blog drew my attention and well, it instantly got bookmarked.

The candy is open until 6th January 10 pm UK time.

I also want to show you a card – not a new one, I am afraid, but one I wasn’t able to post before christmas. Hope you’ll like it. As so often, I am the one to blame for the drawing…

Weihnachten ist vorbei, 2012 hat begonnen. Vor und nach Weihnachten standen viele Besuche an, ich verbrachte einige Stunden in Autos, Zügen und Straßenbahnen. Schön war’s, trotzdem ist es auch wieder angenehm, zu hause zu sein. Ersteinmal für die Weihnachtsgeschenke einen Platz suchen. Zeit, um die ganzen Ideen, die ich über Weihnacten hatte, umzusetzen, ist dann immer noch. Allerdings sollte ich nicht so sehr trödeln, denn einer meiner guten Vorsätze lautet, meine Arbeiten innerhalb der Deadlines fertig zu machen.
Ein gutes neues Jahr euch allen. Mögen eure Wünsche in Erfüllung gehen und eure Köpfe vor Kreativität nur so schäumen.

Some of my friends were in Australia this year and they told me that they would have loved to stay longer. So, I decided to make a christmascard with a Koala for them. Thanks to Paperminutes, this card is finished before christmas – their challenge (X-mas card without a X-mas picture) reminded me of my idea. Hope, you’ll like it.

To satisfy the darker side in me and to pay tribute to the film I decided to make some creepy christmas projects. So, drew some this snowman some weeks ago, coloured it and left it on my stash. Almost forgot it because of travelling, sports exercises, finishing the cards for my grand-mother etc.
But then the Forever Night Challenge brought it back to my mind. I searched my paper stash and put the things together. Voilà, my newest project, inspired by Nightmare before Christmas — and a bit by the snowmen that Calvin (the comic strip boy with his stuffed tiger Hobbes) created.

Well, we know, there isn’t any army of dangerous men-eating snowmen in the film. But think of the posibilities!

Enough text, here is the card:

Hope you’ll like it.
Have a great weekend. And do not let the real nightmare before christmas (shopping stress and unpleasant customers) get you.

(recycled materials: wee bit of wrapping paper, some napkin used for wrapping a small gift, glued to white paper and cut out.)

This time I didn’t make a card. I used some kraft paper, a image from a magazine, some left overs from a cardboard box, acrylic paints, inkpads and a some metallic stars to alter a chocolate box. Nothing special, but perhaps you’ll like it.

And a second scan with a small paper flower. You see, scanner doesn’t like paper flower.

Have a nice day!