Birthday card for my niece

Hi there!

It's me again, sorry for all the posts, but sometimes events in my family and my life are very close, and at other times they are far apart. I've gotten used to that and in the meantime I just keep busy with my house and garden chores, and of course my now daily walks and being creative (more about that another time).

However, yesterday I didn't get any exercise, as I have a defect water safety valve that kept dripping and apparently had done so for 24 hours - resulting in a flod on the floor. So I called a plumber early in the morning and he promised to come around to change it. Therefore I was bound to stay at home and when the shop closed, he'd still not been here and it was raining cats and dogs - I was not in the mood for walking anymore.

Instead I sent my youngest niece, Hannah, a congratulation on Facebook and a text message too, hoping that she had a great day. When the whole family was here for my birthday/retirement my sister brought back her birthday card and present. I hope she remembered to hand them over to her. Well, I'll know in due time, I hope.

Here is my card for her 21st birthday:

I love the vibrant colours on the card. The background is actually cut from a page in an art catalogue I bought when I was in Dubai in 2011. There was a gallery at the Walk - I don't remember it's name - but they had some great catalogues, and I bought one or two with nice pictures in, which I thought I could use on my cards later. This is the first page I've used.

I had a die with the four guys playing instruments, and when I put it through the mashine and I took it our, one of the men was separated from the others. Great, I thought. That's going to be the soloist and he also got my notes die, so it seems that music is coming out of his instrument. I hope Hannah liked it.

This is it for now. More to come soon.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting!

Craft fair and a Birthday Card

Hi there!

On Sunday my "colouring" friend through about 20 years, Susanne, and I went to a local craft fair. It's a tradition we do twice a year, and the only times I spend money on all sorts of accessories for my cards - dies, pearls, inks, papers etc. etc. etc..

She usually arrive about an hour before the fair starts, so we can get a cup of coffee and something to eat first. It's Susannes birthday on this coming Sunday so I had made her a birthday card and handed it to her, while we had our morning coffee.

I had a left over piece of paper from Luna's birthday card from January 17th 2016 (if you'd like to go back to see it). This piece of paper was just waiting for the perfect opportuniti to be used, and this was it, I felt. There were some bushes on it, which were perfect for this image. Then I used my "By Lene" garder dies and made two copies, so there could be one on each side of the card. I placed a garland of flags between them to indicate festivity. A happy birthday sentiment and some birds finished the picture.

After our coffee, we drove to Aars - a town about 15 km away from my house to visit the fair and to get inspiration for our cards and other projects. I always find it soo inspiring to go, and we're allowed to take as many photos as we like, so I always do that. Who knows, I might learn other ways to use my materials and I get lots of tips and tricks.

This time was no different from other visits. I got a few great ideas and wll be trying to make them at a later time.

In a few days time I'll show you another birthday card. this time for my youngest niece.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting!

Kit and Clowder September 2019 pencil class

Hi There,

Having finished my daily exercise this morning (a 3-4 km long powerwalk), I sat down at my kitchen table ready to colour the final item on my pencil class - the gem.

That was a challenge to me, as there were so many extra lines to add, and I did try to do the centre as in the class, but decided that I liked the flat look better, so I erased these lines and started with the flat look.

I have loved doing this class, and Alyce Keegan of Kit and Clowder is so good at finding images for us and also new techniques. Some times she incorporates surplus wishes from our bonus classes into the Create and Learn monthly classes, an this time was both colouring metal and the gem such techniques.

But what surprised me the most while colouring this, was the wings of the dragonfly.

They were so pale and I could see, that Alyce had only put on one layer. "Hmmm, did she forget the second layer", was my first thought, but I followed the tutorial to the point and when I'd finished drawing all the tiny lines on the wings (even though they are very soft) the wings suddenly seemed much darker.

WOW, what an effect and difference these lines made. Unbelievable.

As usual I put my finished project on a black background which emphasizes the colouring so much.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting! 

Birthday card for a family member

Hi there!

Yesterday was my brother-in-laws birthday (he's married to my younger sister), so of course I'd made him a birthday card. He likes to fix things and does a lot around their house himself and if I need something done in my house, he's been kind enough to offer me a hand.

Last time I was at a craft fair, I bought a die set, where you had to assemble a box in which there was room for a couple of beer bottles, bottles, caps and a glass were included in the die set.

Of course I had to add some tools as well and a sentiment for his birthday.

As background I had some paper looking like a brick wall, which I thought was suitable for the purpose, and all was put on blue carton. 

I had much fun putting this card together for him. 

Apart from my class image (where I'm still lacking to do the gem) I'll be back later this week with another birthday card. More about that later.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting! 

Learning to draw

Hi there,

Next step in my colouring journey will start in October, when Johanna Basfords new book will be published. I preordered it - was it March or April? - and am expecting to learn so very much from her and the book.

While I thought it would be self study, Johanna am signing people in to her Inky Drawing School (only until September 27th, so don't wail any longer - go sign up, if you'd like to draw the Johanna Basford way). If you're late, you're left out! Starting October 21st for 10 days.

While waiting, there has been a few "while we wait"-videos instructing us (sign-up exploded in a matter of few days) how to draw a few simple flowers - a few leaves - and how to connect them to a flower garland.

So far the only tools I've used is a pencil, an eraser and a thin marker (Artline no. 01 in my case) and a compas (in Danish: en passer) and some smooth paper. Here I've cut up a packet of Neenah Solar White from Crafters Companion from A4 size to A5 size. That's much easier to turn around when drawing. I also remembered that I have a few Letraset paper pads, they would do nicely at a later stage, when I'm more confident.

I bet you're excited to see how I draw, right? So here come my exersize sheets so far:

The first row of 4 flowers were from the first small video tutorial. Looks difficult eh? Well it isn't.
The next two rows I've added a few leaves  and the last one, I was taught to draw a symmetrical heart.

To the flower garlands I used the compas to draw the big circles and then just adding the flowers that I already had learned how to draw. I wanted to experiment a bit too, so I added a bow on the lower flower garland. I'm quite proud of myself getting to this stage having only drawn what you've seen here until now.

I'm expecting a lot from the new book and cannot wait till it pops into my mailbox beginning of October. From 21st October - 1st November, Johanna Basford will have an Inky Drawing School, which I signed up for, and guess what! IT'S TOTALLY FREE. 10 days of tutorials from Johanna Basford herself, who can wish for anything more??

This is a little sidekick to my colouring journey in Kit and Clowder, I want to be an all round artist - or at least as good as I can get :-). Drawing and colouring.

Well, that's it for now. I'll soon be back with a picture of my latest colouring class "Taking Flight".

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting! 

My first box

Hi there,

Yesterday I went to a craft outlet in a nearby city with one of my crafting friends. We'd been there once before, so I knew that they had some very cheap things such as easy puzzles I can give the kids in my family, when they come to visit me in case they get a bit bored. I bought some which had Disney motives and some with cartoon car motives.
I also got some craft paper and carton for my cards very cheap and some pearls and stuff.

However, the scoop of the day was, that we drove further down Jutland to a craft store, which celebrated their 20th anniversary and thus offered a discount of 20% on all their articles. That was awesome!

A couple of ladies (one of whom I knew and who was a friend of my crafty friend) were demonstrating box templates and how to decorate them. They had some really awesome ideas and I got some great photos of some of their boxes for future reference. I bought a couple of packages with the templates and some nice paper to decorate the boxes with. The bottom and the lid come as a whole. However, I have a plan of making my own template separating the lid from the bottom, as my 30 x 30 cm papers are not big enough to have them as one unit.

After my morning walk today (and where I also got nasty blisters) I tried my hand on assembling and decorating a box. I think I did quite well, even if I'm new at this, it's my very first box ever. Please let me know, what you think:

Here you see to top of the lid. I liked the brown stribed paper very much - the other side has a flower pattern, which is awesome too, but I thought I would do better with the stribed side.

At the bottom of the paper there was a text, which I decided to cut out and only use half of on the chipboard, as it would be possible to use the other half on another occassion - box or card.  I used my distress ink on all sides of the text stribes and also on the stribed carton, which gave it a nice kind of old look.

I put some of my flowers and ivy leaves at the bottom right corner and added a butterfly cut out of glitter paper too.

This photo shows the bottom of the box as well. I chose an all dark brown carton for decoration here to make it clean and simple and added very little distress ink on the corners to make the transition from dark brown to the light template colour less harsh. I don't think that'll show very well in the photo though.

I can say for certain that this will not be my last box. I'm so going to practice decorating on my other templates. It's not exactly the same as decorating a card to me. The box is also bigger than my cards by 1,5cm lenght and width wise. The boxes are perfect for gifts to family and friends.

In two weeks time I and my crafting friend are going to a craft fair in a city about 15 km away from where I live. Lots of different crafts will be represented there. It's a rather new exhibition - only two years old and the fourth fair held in this venue. I cannot wait, I know I'll be so inspired by all I see, and luckily it's allowed to take photos of all the projects there too, so I'll definitly have my phone charged to 100%.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram.

Be happy crafting! 

I'm Back!

I'm back!

It's been 2½ years (almost) since I last posted something in here, and now that I got early retirement on Friday August 23rd, it's about time to revive my blog. I hope I can still remember how it works in here, LOL. 

A lot has happened during these 2½ years. When I temporarily shut down the blog, I'd been working for 7 months at the school in Vestrup and my collegue (also secretary) had decided to change workplace. I was still new to all the computer systems and everything that I had to learn and I felt very stressed about it. So I decided to concentrate on work and to be the best secretary I could be, while I was there. I already new - and so did my boss, that I'd leave on August 23 2019 - but to her that was far out in the future. 

I really enjoyed working there as both my boss and my collegues were so kind and helpful and made me feel like one of them right from the start. I have learned so much at the school and from my boss and the teachers that I'll be forever grateful.  I'll still drop in for a cup of coffee from time to time during their coffee break to hear news, what's happening etc., and if there are any arrangements open to the public, I'll be there if I can. 

As a farewell gift, I received a Garmin Vivofit4 watch, which will tell me how many steps I take every day, how far I walk, how long I sleep and how deep or light my sleep is etc. etc.. And my weight as well, which is nothing to write home about. I gained a few kilos at the school, as chocolate and cakes were quite often on the table, so I had wished for such a watch as my farewell gift. Hopefully, it will help me loose the weight I gained and maybe a few kilos more. 

I am still trying to figure out how to arrange my days. When do I colour, make cards, knit, crochet, do crosswords, read book etc.. So far I've only figured out that I need to get out walking as soon as I've had breakfast, so my butt don't get glued to the sofa and I keep postponing it throughout the day. And I feel this works perfectly. Last week - my first week with the watch - I walked a little more than 32 kilometres. Well done, Kirsten!! While I walk I listen to sound books - great way to read, but nothing beats having a real book in the hands, and I have a lot of books reserved for my retirement. 

I also got a gift card for feet care - you know your feet get sore, when you've walked a lot, so it's very welcome indeed. It's in another city about an hours drive away, but my boss lives in that city and has promised me a cup of coffee after the treatment. :-)

Well, my very first project to show you is my Guiding Light Kit and Clowder pencil class from August.  It's a great project, and since I got the class on August 15th, I've seen lighthouses everywhere, even on my postal stamps. 

I coloured the image with my Faber Castel Polychromos pencils - my favourite medium for my colouring classes. I can see there's room for improvement on the waves, but colouring is a process where you don't have to be perfect the first time you colour something - it's all a matter of practice and I have all the time in the world now - also to spend time on colouring my marker classes where I use my Copics as favourite medium. I might even go back and redo my basic classes as skin/hair, clothes, animals etc.. 

I hope you can see the image properly or maybe it's a better image on Instagram. You can follow me there : @kipekr. 

Please feel free to leave me a comment, if you like my project, and if you want to see my cards/projects etc. on a regular basis, please join my blog or my Instagram. 

Be happy crafting!