We wish you a beautiful Christmas!

and a happy new year!
And in case you think we have a house with such posh decorations, let me assure you these are photos taken in the Palace, lol.

Sunny card for a cold day

I've been playing with my new stamp, a Secret Santa gift. I know I was supposed to open it on a big day, but I couldn't wait for so long. :)
It is a birthday card for a forum friend. This stamp was asking for something sunny and hot and almost tropical, hence the orange colour.

Christmas is coming

And I am frantic with worry, I need to do more cards. The list is never-ending. :)
Here are some of a few things I managed so far.

This world of words/Wednesday Stamper

I dedicate this little piece to my beloved son Sasha and all kids who cannot talk.
Sasha will be six next year, and he is not talking.
When Sasha is "tuned", he understands a lot, but there are times when I feel that words go through him like sounds which don't make sense. He is surrounded by words, that are more like a cacophony. He tries to express himself, but words that make perfect sense in his mind, come out as sounds that nobody else can understand. This world of words is very frustrating and confusing.

I thought that the scratchy white Sandylion paper was perfect for stamping the main image. Stamps used: Technique Tuesday and PaperArtsy.
And the word HOPE is essential here, as there is always hope, and we should not give up.

Rub-ons challenge

I have used my favourite Anastasia stamp (Stampsmith) and BG Wholy Cow rub-ons for this piece. I particularly like the antique ribbon, it fits well with the nostalgic look of the card.

Snow maiden

My piece has been inspired by the Russian fairy tales, and shows a Snow maiden or Snegurochka in Russian. The maiden's face is painted with the acrylic paints. It is later attached to a Christmas tree ornament, which is painted with 3d paints. The ornament is attached to the card with a ribbon, but can be easily untied and used as a Christmas tree decoration.

Christmas ornaments

After a long non-creative pause I have finally made something. I took my guys yesterday to the Blenheim Palace (where I work) to see all the Christmas decorations and ornaments. Sasha was enjoying himself a lot. All the splendour and colours gave me a necessary inspirational kick, though my ornaments don't look like anything to do with the Palace itself.
I add two photos, as I can't decide which one is more truthful to the colours of my Russian girls. I will call them Olga and Tatiana. :)

Christmas tag (swap)

My Christmas tag was made using a Lost Coast stamp (on shrink plastic). I have painted the stamped image on plastic with acrylic paints. The little icon is a heart of my church tag, with three added cupolas. I am also entering my little collage into a collage challenge on Saturday Stampers.

Sketch challenge/Friends

Here is a sketch for the challenge and my card. This is the stamp that always make me go awww.

Pirate collection (Stamp Addicts design team)

I have recently joined the Stamp Addicts Design Team, and for my first project I received a set of Clearly Defined Pirate Treasure stamps among other goodies.
I absolutely fell in love with it. The Pirate parties are all en vogue now, and these stamps can be used to make super cards and invitations for children who love pirates. I enjoyed playing with this set, it is funky and just perfect for all me hearties, lol.

Feeling wicked? (Hallowe'en forum swap)

I am not exactly a Hallowe'en person, as we never celebrated it when I grew up in Russia, it was something we hardly heard of. However, I signed up for a forum swap, and here are my two little witches, cackling at their own wicked jokes.

Eye for an eyelet Micro challenge at Caardvarks

I don't think arty stamps and cards would go nicely with my son's schoolmates, so for their cards I bought a very cute little angel from Penny Black. This is not a final version, as I will have to do some 30 cards for the school, so they have to be simplified, but I might add a painted snowflake or two to each one.
Eyelets here are the hearts of snowflakes.

Circle of friends card for October

This card is a double whammy, as it is made for the Sparkle challenge and as the circle of friends gift for this month.
I stamped an Indian woman image on golden shimmery paper, used a sari ribbon and painted golden acrylic on the chipboard swirl, plus added doodles & painted tassels with golden 3d paint.

Pink Tag (forum swap)

"The theme for this months Tag Swap is ...
THINK PINK LADIES!!
As this month is Breast Cancer Aware Month I thought we could go with this theme of Pink ladies, any shape or form of pink and as long as its a lady. "

My lady is a Lost Coast stamped image. The Technique Tuesday tiles are painted with pink oil, and a few doodles and dots of 3d paint are added for extra texture.

SOF unChristmas challenge

"Use your non-Christmas stamps to make a Christmas/holiday card! For example, a beach scene in all red and green, or a valentine stamp turned holiday. Christmas sentiment stamp allowed but the other image(s) should be far-flung from the holidays"

For this card I used a Baby sketch stamp (as you can see from the photo). I dressed up my baby in warm winter clothes, and I already know who will receive this card, as our friends had a baby boy a couple of weeks ago.

SOF Music challenge

"Create a project by stamping on sheet music. The sheet music can be printed off the computer or—even better—se a piece of old sheet music to stamp on. The rest of the project is only limited by imagination."

My chosen piece of music is "Lavender's blue, diddle diddle. Lavender's green.
When I am king, diddle diddle, you shall be queen" Here are my little lavender king and queen. Stamps used: Silences by Paperbag studios, PM & Technique Tuesday swirls.
Lavender is painted with Pebeo paints.

Birdie challenge (SOF)

"Make a card with a bird on it. Vintage birds, whimsical birds, paper pieced birds, stamped birds, silly birds... whatever way you want to interpret the challenge. "

I happened to be in a local stationery shop earlier today, and they were selling all stamps at half price, and though I told myself to me firm, I couldn't resist a temptation and bought a little bird stamp. :)
For my little card I used a PI bird stamp, Technique tuesday Hallo stamp, BG papers and my favourite 3d paints.

Christmas card

I decided I will be a good girl this year and will start doing Christmas cards in advance. Especially that I need to do a million of them, and we might also be moving home, fingers crossed.
This is one of my new stamps from Lost Coast. I love this Angel, so serene and beautiful. The blue and silver paper is Sandylion.
And my ribbon is a great find from an antique shop.

Gone with the wind/ OLW challenge "Gone"

My great grandparents Alexandra and Timofei got married in the whirlwind of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and like butterflies who get scorched by the fire, their wings were burnt and their lives changed forever.
Timofei was a sailor on the battleship Mercury, and in this photo he is young, handsome and wearing his uniform.
Alexandra or Shurochka as she was known among her family and friends served as a cook in a baron's house, was giggly and loved to read. They met and fell in love.

In these photos they are always young, in love and finally together.

Timofei was arrested during the wave of the Stalinist repressions in 1937 and executed.
My great grandma didn't know that he was gone, and patiently waited for his return for over twenty years. His friends who returned from the GULAG told Alexandra that her husband has been dead all these years.
This is my family history.

For this layout I used some authentic vintage items, like an antique ribbon that I bought in the antique shop. The little leather piece with tiny buttons comes from a glove worn by a maid of honour at the Russian Royal court, and was a gift from an old friend to me.

Doodle Doodle challenge on Papertivity

"Doodle Doodle Doodle Doodle and Doodle some more. Take some time to just sit down with a nice pen and go to town!"
Here's my doodle creation called "Memory", using Marvy Le Plume pen on vellum. The stamp is by Stampsmith (From Russia with Love).

Color your world challenge

"Challenge info:

-Make 1 card by using a stamp or stamps. You can use any image(s) you like.
-You can only use colored cardstock.
-You can not use anything with a pattern like: patterned papers, patterned fabrics or patterned ribbons, and so on.
-You can use markers, pens, pencils and paint.
-You can use embellishments like: buttons, brads, eyelets and so on"

That was a tough one for me, as I hardly have any non-patterned papers. I prefer patterned papers for cards and scrapping, and my selection of plain colours is very limited. I used one of my favourite stamps with Pierrot (Invoke arts). I cut out the frame from a vellum and added doodles with a golden ink pen. The swirl is another chipboard from Technique tuesday.

Favourite stamp challenge on Twinspire

I don't have a stamp that I can call all time favourite, but this one from Lost Coast is my favorite at the moment. It is elegant, stylish, and poetic too.

Monochromatic challenge on Stamping Mathilda

"Create a monochromatic card, one color, different shades. All stamps are allowed"
Here's my contribution called "Let it snow". The chipboard is by Technique tuesday.
Snowflakes are painted with 3d paints.

Lime Tart challenge

"
The challenge is for you to make a card using Lime Green as the main colour".
I didn't find it easy at all, as lime green is a difficult colour.

Birthday card for my niece

My niece Alexandra is 6 years old. This is a card for her.

Got Paint? Lots and lots... Caardvarks challenge

Got paint? Indeed I have, and I love to paint with watercolours, acrylics and 3d paints.
The first card is an old re-vamped card. I have painted the little girl with watercolour and acrylics, and attached ribbons to her hat (thanks to Chris for yummy ribbons!).
The second image is a happy mermaid, painted with 3d Pebeo paints. These images decorated many peasant houses in the old times in Russia, and they were usually carved in wood on window sills as protectors bringing good luck to the house.
That's why I thought the wood imitation paper from Daisy D's was an appropraite background for my mermaid.
They weren't your silly zero size girls with skinny tails but happy fat women or more traditionally built, using PC language, lol.

Scallops challenge/Caardvarks

For my Treasure each day card I have chosen the Rubbadubbadoo stamp (yet again).
Papers used: mostly BG and a wallpaper sample. I love the texture of this wallpaper, it is all raised, and very touchy feely, it also reminds me of marble blocks and tiles we have seen in Forte dei Marmi, a little town amidst the mountains nearby Viareggio where we usually go to the sea. I have cut the scalloped edge and painted little scallop seashells with the Pebeo paints.

Doll

This doll has been created for a swap on one of my arty forums. The face is done from polymer clay.
I painted the face with acrylics, cut out a shape from the thick card and used some lovely curtain samples to create the dress.

Yo Ho Ho!

It seems everyone is into pirates now, so here\'s a birthday card made for a young boy. The Obscure range seems to be perfect for all kinds of masculine cards. All materials used are the Obscure range, except the coin charm (origin unknown) and Roxie stamps from Love Elsie. I have cut a hat and attached a chipboard skull with bones that have been painted with buff and gold acrylics. The palm tree is a ribbon (attached with the double tape) and leaves cut out of paper. There are several other chipboard elements that were painted and attached to the card. The map was rolled and a ribbon attached to it, the edges inked to get a distressed look.

My little flower LO/Arty Girlz challenge Flowers

I am not a flower person, and very rarely use them on cards or LOs, and this one is a rare for me LO with flowers all over the place. My little flower is of course my baby. This photo was taken over five years ago, in New Haven CT. I think the paper and textile flowers match the blue of my blouse and an abundance of cornflowers in the background. I remember it was a hot day.
The chipboard heart and letters were painted with powder blue acrylic and decorated with 3d paints. I also added some 3d dots to the flowers.

Here's a link to the Arty Girlz blog.
http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

Dragonfly catcher tag

This is a tag I made recently for a swap on a theme Wings.
I have chosen a poem by a Japanese poetess Chiyojo (1703-1775)(another spelling of her name is Chiyo Ni) selected and translated into English by Daniel C.
Buchanan in his book "One Hundred Famous Haiku" (1973).

Dragonfly catcher,
How far have you gone today
In your wandering?

This is a beautiful and poignant poem, which was composed after her only son died, who was fond of hunting dragonflies.
I painted the little boy with acrylic, so that the leaf is seen through his body, as he is not a real boy, but a dream, a vision from the past. He is wandering in the fields of memory of his mother hunting dragonflies. After all these centuries you can still feel the pain and melancholy.

Papers used: BG and a wallpaper sample

Circle of friends gift

This is my little trinket box made for a circle of friends swap.
I have painted the Sirin bird with watercolour, inks and acrylics and then used a varnish.
Varnish has slightly changed the colour to the lighter shade.
This is the best photo I could do, and I took a zillion. My camera totally refused to co-operate on this occasion.

Sirin is a mythological creature of Russian legends, with the head and chest of a beautiful woman and the body of a bird (usually an owl). According to the myth, they lived "in Indian lands" near Eden or around the Euphrates River.

To read more about Sirin bird, follow the link below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirin
However, the Wikipedia is slightly wrong. It was good luck to encounter Sirin, the bird of joy and happiness, and/or hear its song. However, meeting a bird called Alkonost was a harbinger of sad things to come.

Chipboard challenge at Caardvarks

Here are two cards, totally different in style and mood (one card is removed by me)
One was made for a young girl's birthday, and the person who asked me to make the card wanted a name of the girl on it. The chipboard letters were untreated, and I have painted them over with the acrylic paint. And I also did a party hat (horror! horror! lol)
The second card was made with a PaperArtsy stamp and BG papers. The ribbon was painted over with the 3d paint. Here I used a ready made chipboard word (PM).

Treasure box for Sasha

The Obscure range of papers and chipboard has a very masculine feeling about it, so my immediate thought was to create a treasure box for a boy to keep little bits and bobs. I had an old wooden Sachertorte box from Vienna for ages, and finally it was a time to do something with it. I have painted it with a powder blue acrylic inside and outside, and after it was dry, I made a collage of Obscure paper (6x6 size pad) and Undressed chipboard, which has been painted with powder blue, gold and buff tintanium acrylics. I have also attached two pieces of ribbon to the top with the double-sided tape (one ribbon comes from Obscure collection, another - Urban couture). The same methods were used to decorate the sides of the box. I also used Technique Tuesday/Pieces of Puzzle stamps to stamp several words on the sides...

Caardvarks Micro Challenge/Russian Dream

I liked the idea of a mini-card. The 3d face is painted with acrylics, and the headdress is painted with 3d paints.
Papers: BG

Dolls card

It was a birthday card for a forum friend.
The Venetian dolls are my own artwork.
Stickers used: Jenni Bowlin

Pure challenge

Materials used:
Karen Foster Coral Reef paper
Frances Meyer Deep Sea Bubbles paper
BG blue paper
Rubbadubbadoo Beach block stamp
Technique Tuesday Pieces of Puzzle stamp/ and tiles
Junkitz transparency tag
Embellishment stickers for scrapbooking
Tulip 3-d paint

This is one of my favourite photos of Sasha enjoying the swimming pool last August. It was a pure joy for us all to see him so confident and happy.
I liked the coral reef paper so much, and didn't want to cover it, so just highlighted some bits and details with the 3d paint.

Vintage babies

I love rummaging through the albums of photo cards at the antique market, and these two little guys caught my eye. The sweet melody baby card has been stamped in 1909.

A melancholic birthday boy has a cute verse next to him "The world is fairer, the world more gay, For friendly wishes Received today", and the text on the back made my eyes fill with tears. It is written by a little boy to his Mummy, and he added more than fifty x-s at the end of his message, bless him.

I made these cards for two forum friends, and hope they liked them.

Fabrics/Hunny Bunny LO

This is not a new LO, I did it for the recycled challenge on Mod Scraps several months ago, but never put it on my blog. I don't buy fabrics very often, but would like to suggest using curtain samples from interior/curtain shops that come in books.
I picked up a few books from a local curtian shop, when they were discontinued.
Here I used a curtain sample as my main background, and also cut out the fabric flowers, and attached the fabric backing to some of the chipboard shapes.