Little Corner of Ania

Well actually, it’s just one card…

but lately it seems like it’s pretty much all I do, whenever I get to sit by the scrapping table. Create cards.

Who would have known, eh? I used to think that I could not do cards at all. Not saying that I can now, just saying I do quite enjoy making cards these days..

Especially when I get to play with little bits and pins and trinkets from Maya Road :)

These always enhance any project :)

And that’s pretty much all I get time to do these days, with 2013 being full of part time studies and lots of exciting and fun projects and stuff to do at work..

I did manage to sneak in quite a few simpler, smaller tag/gift wrapping projects for Christmas…but I grew tired of photographing them, they all were on the simple side..although this one was a tad more elaborate…

Right. Here’s to the new year… I wish for continued exciting projects and to get to explore more amazing stories at work… for more time to do the things I find fun, interesting and meaningful… and for a little more creative me-time in between as well.. :)

It’s been a while, yada yada blah blah.

I’m still around :)

Since last time I’ve made a box outta Maya Road’s lunch boxes, decorated’em with more Maya Road embellishments.

The booklet/card is made outta cardboard – cut’em out, adhere patterned papers & decorate..

I’ve also taken some time to decorate more pressies…

Using scraps (the card/background is a leftover page from a mini album w/chipboard pages)

Mixing Maya Road & Crate Paper stuff.

Right!

Be back soon :)

Wrapping all sorts of gifts these days.. well, whenever I get time to drop by the scrapping table, that is.

Here’s one for the Prima Sept PPP, using mostly Prima :)

So, it’s been a while since I played along with the Prima BAP, but the July sketch by Marie-Nicolas Alliot was so inspiring so I played happily along :)

Along with a bunch of my Prima scraps and flowers, I also added some of my fave Maya Road pins..

As well as some red paper twine cording (also Maya Road), and this time I also decided to add decorations along the sides…The Ingrid Bolme resin well was colored with ink, also by Ingrid Bolme. Love these, they’re my fave chalk inks atm…

Feels like I’ve been scrapping and creating with graphic papers only lately, so it was fun to go a bit romantic-ish again :)

Don’t you think life seem to keep accelerating the older you grow?

Hum.
Time to share some more scrappy inspiration, eh? :)

Here’s a little brown bag filled with surprises for a co-worker of mine who needed a little cheer-me-up.

The stamps are from Craft Origine, adore these! Am also testing out new dew-shaped ink from Tsukineko (called Dew Drop I think..?) – got a few boxes with a number of these – and am very impressed by the performance of the ink & the colors.

I also tried to stretch my style & try a little bit of artjournalish stuff for a tag. Fun, but it’s like, just add random stuff… mist and gesso and then dry in between and add rubons and stamps and more gesso and more drying and ink and stuff… fun though!

Pretty much everything on this card is from Maya Road but the patterned papers.

Sort of feeling like that.

Today I figured I’d share a box, a card, and a layout with ya…

Let’s do the layout first, shall we…

This one’s for Maya Road, as you might have guessed from all the Maya Road-ish embellishments used here…. the backgroundpaper’s from ColorConspiracy….they have so many patterns that’s perfect as backgroundpaper – one-ish color yet interesting..sort of…:)

One – love the doily clear stamps – yields such gorg, crisp (im?)prints every single time. Two – kraft butterfly? Yesthankyouplease. Three – see the “bed” of ribbon/fabric that the cluster is attached to? That’s the organza tea garden trim which’s discontinued methinks, so if you see it – grab it.

Added a lil paperribbonthingie from American Crafts (Dear Lizzie).

I’m not one for huge flowers, but that yellow flower (Satin Scallop Edge)? Lovesit.

Right. Over to the card..

Love the elegance transparencies automatically gives (borrows?) to cards when used like this, as an extra folder…The transparency & paper here’s from ColorConspiracy-

Twine and dangling embellishments from Maya Road..

Cluster put together from random bits & pieces from Pink Paislee, Hambly, Maya Road, Heidi Swapp (red chipboard heart!! loved those!) and Prima.

Yeap. Really like the feel the transparency lends to the card. I tried to dot the piece of tulle by the way, didn’t turn entirely the way I wanted, but ahwell…

Gold glitter ftw!

And finally….a chocolate box. Papers and die cuts from ColorConspiracy, kraft butterfly from Maya Road.

It’s a simple box. Just a thinking-of-you-get-well-chocolate-box for a coworker of mine.

It was quickly put together, and well appreciated.

Right.

Almost caught up.

Work’s been keeping me busy as usual, and right now I’m engaged in a project building up & readying the paper I work for, for a new system coming this Fall. Then I’m off to another weeklong course - my 2nd of this years four courses. Then, when I’m back, I should be back to my regular, writing work-self (been away from my regular work for half a week now and it’s I’m so, so itching to do some real writing…eeks….). Not that anybody cares, but ah well… :)

Mkay. I love boxes. Plain & simple.

I'm not sure what it is, but when I get my hands on a sturdy, nicely sized cardboard box, like a perfume-box, it just feels wrong to throw it away (even though it'd go to the recycle/paper bin).

Take this box, previously holding  3.4 oz of lovely Eau De Parfum (She Wood..one of my faves along with Flowerbomb...but I digress).... I figured I'd put this box to good 2nd use, finding some matching patterned paper for the solid pink-peachy color of the cardboard, and a few Maya Road-embellishments to go...

Like creating a small but effective cluster next to a big heart covering almost the whole box. And oh, you can never go wrong with heart shaped linen! In this case a little bit of color was added by spraying some Maya Mist (dragonfruit pink & sunflower yellow washed out w/buttermilk cream).

The cluster started with a tucked in kraft snowflake behind the new Afternoon Tea blossoms in carnation... which in turn was embellished with a scrap of Scallop Chiffon & Tulle Trim and Antique Jeweled Pearl Pendant and a piece of celery green Twine Cording.

On the other side: The lucky number seven (which's this years big birthday number) labeled with the help of some trim adorning a bottle cap and a starburst of different slices of patterned papers...

I made this box for the Maya Road blog, which you can see here.

Right.

Not sure where to start. Had an amazing but really intensive educational week in Fredrikstad last week. Came straight back to work this past weekend, and I feel like I haven’t been able to catch my breath yet (how long since I actually did that?). So many things I need to check off – both workwise, freelancewise and personal. My main problem? I work too slow, too meticulous, too hung up in stupid unimportant details when I should be looking at the big picture, am too scatterbrained and take too many unnecessarily breaks in between, like now, writing this blogpost. Sigh.

Here’s to an extended upcoming weekend where I’ll do NOTHING (yeah right..how to make the brain stop turning the wheels when you’re supposed to just relax?)– as long as I survive this week…:)

Easter’s here…and tbh, to me that means precious days off!

Just wanted to share a little bit inspo for the Easter..like this chocolate box…

it’s based upon this monthly sketch from ColorConspiracy…:

I just flipped it upside down…

Pulled random bits and pieces from my desk…

And used papers from ColorConspiracy, ofcourse…partly from the older collections, and some from the newer ones, like the background paper used on the cover :)

Nothing’s like a decorated chocolate box to brighten up a friends day…

Even got to use the lovely star punch from Martha Stewart! Yay!

The cover + inside paper are from this collection btw:

Right.

Did you see that Maya Road are looking for guest designers by the way?

Do give it a shot. They’re generous with their product packs, and who in their right mind would want to say no to a such a variety of versatile embellishments to play with!?

Also – right now there’s a lot of wreath fun on the MR blog!

(yeah..I chickened outta this one..me & wreaths? Nuh-huh!)

Made a few boxes for someone turning 60. I suppose I should just have done one big box, but…it sort of looked better like this.

Added lots of Maya Road embellishments to the yellow box…

Love playing with glitter…even though it gets a bit messy…still…can’t let go of using glitter every now and then! And adding clear distress crackled paint to wooden pieces yields a subtle yet lovely effect methinks.

The second box was decorated using papers from ColorConspiracy, stamp from Craft Origine and embellishments from Prima, Crate Paper (that cute brad) and Jenni Bowlin (the tickets).

Every box had room for four of these French macarons (recipe by Banglamarie, in Norwegian. Give it a trry. Makes a few quite yummy macarons :) ). Just ask my coworkers, they seemed to like my Valentines gift this year:

Nevertheless.

The third box was the simplest one of them all. Simple, but elegant, if I may say so myself. Stamp by Craft Origine, patterned paper by Basic Grey (anyone recall that collection? Like, 2006 or so :) ).

Nevertheless. Give handmade gifts a try. Just make a simple box like this:

Hmm. Can’t recall the exact measurements I used, but it seems to be like, 5,5x11 inches..the main point is: Trace around your gift(s) and build your box accordingly...

When you have the basic box, just wrap another piece of cardstock around – then decorate the boxes as you please. Sucky explaination and sucky photos, but still – you get the gist..the idea was just to let you know – this is quite simple really :)

Right! Off to watch Corpse Bride with Amalie…we watched The Nightmare before Christmas last night, and she got so fascinated she wanted to watch “more movies like that” today. So pleased she seem to appreciate Tim Burton on her own! :)