Hello, friends! Card making is my creative outlet and a way to free my mind. Working with leftover stamped paper is very rewarding. I had a large piece of paper I had stamped. It was sitting for a long time and I knew I had to use it of lose it. My fellow stamper Jacqueline de Groot always encourages me to think out of the box. So I decided to turn the summer leaf die into fall leaves. I love how cute they have turned out.

This fall it seems everyone is enjoying the beauty of the changing colors. There are lots of people in the parks, lots of picture on the social media. I have made some memories too for my kids' sake. Blessings, Maria

A short update

Hello dear friends!

I could not believe I was not writing in my blog since December. Probably because I had 3 homeschoolers in my home. The capslock was stuck in my computer keyboard and I did not want to scare people off by typing only capital letters... I will keep this post short. Most of the summer we stayed in the city due-to financial reasons. In late May we took a trip and were part of a wonderful Christian conference. The focus was the fruit of the gospel that we have in our lives. It was very intense but so packed with beautiful truths. I will listen to the audio of the conference again and again.

So I wanted a break from studying and I decided it was high time I finished some of my long time wips. I started sorting our bags of fabric. And taught one of my sons to sew a simple log cabin blog. I could not stop and in a few days I had a new quilt top in Christmas colors...

I was able to finish a few projects I will share later. Many years ago I bought some pretty fabric intending to make pillow cases for my son and I never did. This summer I wanted to finally sit down and make the pillowcases. These are fun and quick projects. Now as I am very short of time, I have to learn how to sew fast:)

I will share the link to the Easy Tube Pillow Case Tutorial - https://youtu.be/MrYWCma9wgM I want to make more of these and teach my friends to make pillow cases for their families. Such a budget saver!

Cheers, Maria

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, dear friends! Our Savior was born! We had a very full year and December is always a challenge. So with years comes wisdom, now if I want to make some special Christmas party for friends, I do it early, in the first half of December. Because many people get too busy before the New Year, some leave the city, others get sick. So the closer it gets to the end of the month, the lower the chances are that we can get together... I had a Christmas party for our friends. We closed our English club for a holiday. We read a story of Christ's birth, solved Christmas puzzles, made a Candy Cane craft and had a gingerbread tea party.

With homeschooling 3 sons this year, I feel more responsibility to do it well. One of my sons has had an eye trauma. He has to wear a patch for 6 hours a day. I need to be creative how to teach him, as he can not read or write while he is training his weak eye. He is more patient now, but I was very hard on us at first. I encourage him by saying that from an early age God is building his character.

We have celebrated Christmas today at our church. We've had a wonderful celebration.

I managed to carve some time for crafting. I colored some pieces ahead of time, so I could just finish cards when I needed them. I have revisited some of my designs. For the first time I have made a 3-d dear card. Why have not I thought about it before? The new Hero Arts Candy Cane cling rubber stamp. It looks pretty cut into a frame. I am not quite happy with the embossing powder falling off. I will need to look for other red ep.

I have made Bible memory gift cards with Isaiah and Micah's prophecies on Jesus' birth.

Some more Christmas cards and tags with Bible verses inside.

Thank you for visiting! Maria

Autumn inspiration

Hello, dear friends! Our homeschooling life is so intense that now it is harder than ever to find some time for crafts let alone blogging. I just want to say "hello" and share some autumn inspiration with my crafty fellows.

These are one layer cards. I stamped a large piece of watercolor paper with distress inks and water. I had some cut out leaves which add a bit of interest to the cards and cut them into card sizes. The stamps are Carte Postale, Envelope pattern and Leaf Prints by Hero Arts and Clock by Heidi Swapp.

Before I decide that they will be quick one layer cards, I cut some of the background into small sections. These look nice against bright cardbases and make a quick gift set! Have a restful week-end. Maria

Wine label cards and a new collage

Dear friends,

May has flown by. I want to share a few cards before I say "good-bye" for summer.

We are blessed with wonderful friends. My husband's colleague and his wife gave us a gift of a free photo session. It took some preparation on my part, but all the work was worth it, as the pictures have turned out perfectly.

My dear friend Jacqueline has come up with the beautiful idea of using wine labels on cards. These labels are printed on high quality paper with some subtle designs. So inks and a bit of water work well on them.

I have white embossed the beautiful blooms on watercolor paper and colored them with watercolor paints very quickly. I die cut and layered the flowers using some 3d adhesive.

Most of the stamp are by Hero Arts. There's one new stamp by Penny Black, Botanical Notes.

These collages are so enjoyable to make and are a wonderful gift too. This is a thank you gift for a sweet lady, our speech therapist, who has done an excellent job helping my 7 y.o. son to have a clear articulation. They both have worked hard! I am so thankful!

Thank you for visiting my creative nook, Maria

Celebrating the prize

Hello, dear friends!

With this beautiful card I am celebrating the fact that I have received my prize from Hero Arts. Thank you, Hero Arts! It was mailed to me twice to Russia in 2014. The first time it was returned to the USA, and the second package was lost. In April I was visiting in CA and wrote to Libby that I was in the USA. The company kindly provided me with a 50 USD of shopping spree in the online shop. I chose the Color Layering Orchid In A Pot and a matching die. I also picked up a 3-D Two-Story House Fancy Die for myself and my kids to play with.

Figuring how to weave the orchards around the card window kept me late into the night. I could not put it aside till I finished it.

I had wonderful time at my friend's house in Paso Robles. All my four kids enjoyed the beautiful weather and hospitality in CA.

CL946 Color Layering Orchid In A Pot DI177 Orchid In A Pot Frame Cuts The sentiment is from My Monthly Hero kit, April 2016 release

The inks used are soft granite, butter bar, orange soda and tomato pale. The I've used glossy accents for the centers of the flowers. The pp is Color Ways by Paper House from Michael's.

Thank you for visiting!

Maria

April monthly kit from Hero Arts

Hello, friends!

I have been away for 4 weeks. I had a beautiful time visiting with my dear friend in Paso Robles, California. There is a lot to choose from to share. The kids had a great time. They studied and took school exams via Internet and spent time with my dear friend Delisa in the afternoon practicing English and learning how to cook healthy meals from fresh produce and essential oils.

I will share about our time in Paso Robles in my next post.

While in CA, I jumped at an opportunity to order an April stamp kit from Hero Arts. This is my birthday present from my DH. I was glad I ordered it on the day of release, as within just two days it was all sold.

Here's my first take at the kit.I have used the beautiful flower set and dies from the set, as well as Daniel Smith watercolor pallet, some watercolor paper from Recollections resist paper pad and an eggplant embossing powder both for the flower and the sentiment.





I'd like to enter this card into Simon Says Stamp April showers bring may flowers and into Clean and Simple challenge by A blog named Hero

Thank you for visiting!

Maria