Birthday cards

There is something about making birthday cards...it is not important if it is  for someone I know or if I make it for some friend's friend....I am always trying to make them personal and I like making them funny...although there is something special in those elegant ones I always make for my dear Granny :)

Since I was at home not feeling well this week I made two birthday cards just to occupy myself and to stop for a while with my marathon of "Reign" and "Once Upon A Time" (I am a fan of both shows) and OK I have to say I also watched "Devious Maids" :) (Guilty pleasures)

I decided  to post them both, although one card is still not with its recepient, but she will forgive me... it is for a good cause ... two birthday related challenges I would love to apply my own birthday cards :)

So the first one that I am applying is for http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.hr/2016/01/week-345-ribbon-and-lace.html

I believe it is really appropriate :)

My dear friend Tina stamped and sent me this little creature ...I believe it is a wolf and umbrella from ME Up and Away stamp set ( http://mamaelephant.com/products/up-and-away) and I also added sentiments from Avery Elle Bring On the Cake set (http://www.averyelle.com/bring-on-the-cake-clear-stamps/). This set is so special to me cause I got it as a thank you note from a person I truly admire..Mrs Lucy Abrams...I swear I feel like a stalker when I talk about her but that girl truly inspires me....she makes cards that are so beautiful and I just wish I will be able to be as half as good as she... She is such a nice person....and I thank her for being so nice to me....

The paper and lace I used are from my own stash, lace sent by my dear Tina and ribbon taken from crafty store here in Zagreb....I hope you like it...

Also this card will also be applied to the:

http://avenue613.blogspot.hr/2016/01/challenge-158-3rd-annual-block-party.html

The second card is also for the:

http://avenue613.blogspot.hr/2016/01/challenge-158-3rd-annual-block-party.html

It is a birthday card and it is a shaker one (I love love shaker ones).

Once again my Tina sent me this ME Tiny heroes (http://mamaelephant.com/products/tiny-heroes)  stamped on paper (that girl is a treasure I tell you). I even used my Distress Inks and stars she cut out for me and paper I won in Create a Smile giveaway and I really really hope the girl who got this card is happy now :)

I apologize for bad quality of my photos. I am still learning how to make good ones with my phone :)

Hope you like them both, if you do leave some love

Majtolina xoxoxo

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, dear readers, may 2016 be the best year of your life...I wish you health, happiness, love and lots of nice things..............

My New Year started with a health scare and I hope it is just a reminder for me to slow down, listen to my body and to stay at home and rest when I need to........

But on a more better note, I have extra good news. I consider myself an amateur here and for me to be invited to be a guest designer on a blog such as craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com is a simply a dream come true. This is my first attempt at being presented somewhere so I consider myself honored to be chosen among many talented crafters.

So go ahead there http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.hr/2016/01/january-anything-goes.html and leave some love for me and my fellow crafters! Thank You all for joining me..

All my love, Majtolina

Weddings, birthdays and christenings

What I learn from this experience of writing a blog, is that you have to really try and write something ever so often, cause you know... those two readers will lose interest pretty soon if you don't write something once in a while.

I have excuses, I really do...I was super busy with work, making cards for friends and family, taking care of Stella, enjoying unsually warm autumn here in Zagreb and somehow I just didn't know what to write that will sound smart enough and still don't know :)

We spent afternoons outside till dark and I have made several great cards and also got several beautiful happy mails from different people and somehow that made my life more rosy, inspite of all the tragic things happening to world right now...My role model replied to my mail, even took time to send thank you card with wonderful gift and what an amateur like me would want more than have her personal hero send gifts :)

I got to meet new lovely girls in this crafting world and I am privileged to call them my friends now....Love to meet them in person!

I will try to write more often and try to enter more challenges but for now I just wanted to share several cards I made during my blog absence.....



I am especially proud of the last two cause they are made for my best friend's son Christening Day and the last one with bears is made for my parents for their Birthdays (which are accidentally on the same day)!

Love to hear your thoughts, guys...Am I improving? Do let me know! Christmas is coming and I need to make Christmas cards so every yes or no is ever so welcome :)

Till next time,

Love, Majtolina :)

Is it too early for holidays?

Well, if you are wondering we are still having rainy days and when I mean rainy...I mean pouring like 24/7. The weather forecast is pretty glum, but now I have more time for my little hobby when we go home directly after the work and kindergarden.. :) So there is something good about rain :)

I see many cards already made for Christmas holidays and I kinda like it, although it can be rather crazy when you are ordering Christmas things in the middle of August like I used to do at my previous work. Now I don't have many clients with Christmas things (I work in the import department of a retail company), but my colleagues go through the same thing right now....Christmas balls and tinsels in August, bring it on, we will pretend to be in Australia :) but neverthless I like Christmas cards sooo much, so when I recently won the Instagram giveaway by my lovely crafty friend Jocelyn Baltazar (@creationsbyjoce)  I jumped with joy because it was Christmas set by Lawn  Fawn (http://www.lawnfawn.com/products/toboggan-together)..And guess what, yesterday I came home to this:



She is so kind, she made a card and sent beautiful sequins, and she is like all my crafty friends and that is why I love this little crafty world...You find friends in the most unusual places of our Earth ;)

And that is how this evening while browsing cartoons online to watch with Stellina, I came out with the idea of a card which was easy to make...I embossed sentiment Happy Holidays in white several times and one time in sparkly black and stamped and colored little penguin and his hat, put some baker's twine in red and white, placed it on red coloured card and guess what...One Christmas card done... I feel proud of it and love it, although the photos are terrible...I will work that somehow eventually....



I was pretty much inspired by this poster:



I am applying my card for the following challenges:

http://lawnscaping.blogspot.ca/2015/10/lawnscaping-challenge-sentiments.html



http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/work-it-wednesday-september-2015/

http://ttcrd.blogspot.hr/2015/10/ttcrd-challenge-october-13-19-2015.html

http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.se/2015/09/month-long-anything-goes-in-october.html

Hope you like my little penguin and now...back to Autumn and falling leaves :)

Love,
Majtolina

Rainy Sunday afternoon

It is raining here in Zagreb all day and I tried to keep Stella and myself occupied while we are at home...she likes drawing, watercoloring and making cards with Mama and she says she will have her own graphit markers when she grows up..so watch out for new crafter on the block...Anyway, I tried watercoloring with distress inks (again) and I took the wrong kind of paper for this, but practice makes perfect and I will get there eventually :) Here is the result of stamping and watercoloring afternoon:

 The stamp is by company called Stampendous, it is really high quality rubber stamp, the sentiment sweet is from Ali Edwards Kids are cool set...and sticker party time is SRM sticker. I browsed for anything goes challenges but since the computer and mobile phone are often taken in our home, my search was short and not sweet,  I am applying this imperfect card on two challenges:

http://www.craftindesertdivasblog.com/2015/09/craft-it-up-link-it-up-things-with.html?m=1
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.hr/2015/10/week-332-no-design-papers.html?m=1
thanks for reading my amateur blog,  I hope you are staying warm and dry somewhere, hugs from Majtolina xx

Pink black and white and everything else...

Hello, my dear readers!

I am so happy to say that getting  comments on my blog was really, really encouraging and in overall completely great! I am so happy my fish card was noticed and yesterday my friend Tina informed me that I actually won something which was completely crazy surreal!! My third challenge application and the prize!! Here is the link of my happy news: http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.hr/2015/10/nature-winners.html and Brenda is one kind lady who I hope will visit Croatia again and see more of my country's beauties...Cannot wait to choose my prize:)

And now on to some new challenges...I am always looking at room decorations and combining pink, black and white is looking so good to me that some of these interior ideas (thank You, Pinterest!!!) inspired me to apply for: http://aeiheartuchallenge.blogspot.hr/2015/10/challenge-29think-pink.html and this is what I am talking about:

: 



Basically it was quickly done, I just stamp masked little elephant, colored them with graphit markers and stamped sentiment friend from http://www.averyelle.com/ellie-clear-stamps/ , then just used my colored card papers that I have and the frame is actually a sticker for photo phrames from local supermarket and I know my die cutting board needs sharpening, but for these things, I will use my husband's skill and hope this little errors don't undermine my card...

I am also applying for: http://ttcrd.blogspot.hr/2015/10/ttcrd-challenge-oct-6-oct-12.html

This week was really great for me cause I got a special happy mail from a dear friend of mine...She lives in Sweden but is actually born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina and her name is Kristina. We met online ( I was happy to see name and surname from this area among blog comments) and have to say that girl is really something...Crazy talented, hard working and the best of all, one of the kindest ladies I have had the pleasure of meeting...In the crazy world of crafting I am happy to say I hit the jackpot with several ladies and she is definately one of them... She sent me so many die cuts, stamps on paper and embellishments and last night I finished sorting them all...that is how many there were...Please check her blog https://kristinasartcorner.wordpress.com/...And look who else was happy to open her mail....My little girl and lover of cardmaking Stella was beyond happy to tear the package apart:



So thanks, Kristina for doing this...You know we love you to the Moon and back :)

With her little help, I will be doing new cards soon and I am going to learn more and more and enjoy myself while doing this..
Thanks for reading, your comments, critics, compliments are all welcome :)

Your Majtolina

Fish are happy...Life is good!

Hi, reader(s)!

Happy World Card Making Day which was actually vesterday but nevertheless.... Hope you crafters celebrated in style and craft! I hope you are doing fine. I have been pretty down lately due to a nasty cold and have spent my Saturday in the house reading (a huge fan of chick lit) and then I tried making something....Just for me...These cute fish http://www.amazon.com/Inkadinkado-Cute-Fish-Cling-Stamp/dp/B004TRLBJO are sent to me by lovely Jessica  in one big happy mail (I have to write a special post on people who inspire me) and I decided to try them. Since fish live in mostly blue environment the base is blue and the corrugated cardboard is sprayed with glitter because it reminds me of  the Sun and the sea sparkling and summer which is already gone and I miss it a lot....

I colored with my Graphit markers and then embossed sentiments Yes and Life is good from ALi Edwards Kids are cool clear stamp set (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/19914423329783298/) with black glitter powder and used Distress Ink Dusty Concord to stamp little stars from the above mentioned set cause they remind me of star fish :). I only have two Distress Inks but I loove them and need to learn to watercolor with them and to start those shading thing that my friend Tina knows very well :)

Anyway, here is my card:





The challenges are:

http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.hr/2015/09/month-long-anything-goes-in-october.html

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

http://avenue613.blogspot.hr/2015/10/challenge-144-anything-goes-or-use-pink.html

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.hr/2015/10/week-331-nature.html

http://ttcrd.blogspot.hr/2015/09/through-craft-room-door-challenge-sept_29.html

Hope you have a good Sunday,

xoxo Majtolina