Penny Black August challenges

Hello there stampers!
Are you enjoying a HOT summer, too? It's scorching hot here in the north of Italy, and this damn heat won't leave before the end of the month, phew! Luckily we have our creative activities to keep us busy, right?
I have a Penny Black card to share with you today. I used a couple of my favourite stamps on it, that is CATS! Aren't those images incredibly cute? I coloured them both with Copics, used Spellbinders squares and scalloped squares to cut them out and the new Classic Edgeabilities (ric-rac) for the border. The checkered ribbon is from my stash, while the sentiment is computer generated. I decorated the upper corner with the Whimsy Stamps corner die set. The designer paper is a digital one - I thought those light browns and blues would be perfect for my images.
I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - "Double the Trouble"

Penny Back at All Sorts - "Whiskers and/or wings"

Thanks for stopping by and ... happy stamping!! :0)

Hugs, Vittoria

For a far away friend

Hello there crafters!
And a good afternoon to you. Friday was my last day at work for August, which means I am finally enjoying my summer holidays - can you hear the cheers? LOL Ugh, the last 10 days at work were really tough, and I was truly longing for the break. Today I have a card to share with you which has been made for a dear friend of mine who lives overseas. I've chosen an unusual colour combination this time, that is lilac and aqua. I think they look nice together. I used a few of my nesties for the different layers - pendant fleur de lis, floral ovals and classic ovals. The fake lace was cut with a die from the lace doily accents set - lovely! The aqua flower was once again created with the bitty blossoms biggest die. Ribbon, tulle, pearl and rhinestones are from my stash.
Hope you like how this card has turned out, I surely do. ;-)
Have a nice beginning of week and ... happy stamping!
Love, Vittoria

Green and dark red card

Hello there stampers!
I hope you've had a nice and relaxing weekend - alas, the weekend always flies by much too quickly, don't you think? Anyhow, in spite of the weather which is still VERY hot around here, I have used more autumn-like colours for this card of mine. It was especially created for a friend who had an advancement in her career, and as such I thought I needed a "serious, almost institutional" card, tee hee!! The dark red rose was made using the large Bitty Blossoms Spellbinders die - love that set and the beautiful flowers it can create! The sentiment and leaves were cut using more of my nesties - what would we all crafters do without them? Lace and ribbon are from my own stash.
Thanks for stopping by and ... off to watch the Olympic games now! :D

Love, Vittoria

Asian card

Hi there stampers! :D
I have another card to share with you today which I made for one of my colleagues who loves Japan ans its culture. The geisha image was used as a cameo - I framed it using one of my Floral Ovals nestabilities dies. I love them, they look so great on cards! The tag is a 3-tag punch I've been having for years but which still works great. The gorgeous ribbon was bought at a craft exhibition in Milan - I loved it as soon as I saw it!
Thanks for visiting and have a nice Sunday!
Love, Vittoria

Cherries on a paper dress

Hello there crafters!
Sorry I haven't posted for so long but life (and work!) have been pretty hectic here recently. Moreover, this heat just sucks the life out of me, ugh!! Anyhow, I've just finished to put togehter a card for a lady who is a dressmaker so ....I made a paper dress for her! I chose a cherry theme for the dress as cherries are among my favourite fruits and in season now - I'm eating lots of them! LOL I  hang the dress on a mini wire hanger, mounted it on oval cut out with Floral Ovals nestabilities, added some embellishments et voilà, the card was finished. The dress was quite a challenge to put together but I was very happy with how it turned out in the end.
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy this hot, hot summer!!
Love, Vittoria

Rose card

Hello crafters!
It seems incredible that I didn't post a single message here in May - time really flew by, didn't it? Life has been pretty hectic, as you can imagine, and with almost no time for crafting. Today I have a card to share with you. I made 3 of them for the teachers of one of my colleagues' son. She asked for a floral theme, so I chose a rose as this is that time of the year when roses bloom wonderfully in our gardens. I used this gorgeous clear rose stamp by Crafty Secrets which was so much fun to colour with my Copics. I used my favourite rose combination, that is R81, R83 and R85. Ribbon, button and twine are from my stash.
Thanks for stopping by, have a nice weekend and .... happy crafting! :D
Vittoria

Wedding card

Hi there crafters!
I have an all-white card to share with you today. It was created for a friend's wedding some time ago. I love all-white cards for wedding, they look so elegant, don't you think?
Bride and groom were very happy to get a personilized card and enclosed it in their wedding photo album.
The recipe for this card is very simple, just white cardstock, Swiss dots Cuttlebug folder, some ribbon and pearls, a hat pin and Spellbinders oval nesties. The sentiment is computer generated and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Thanks for visiting and have a nice beginning of week! :D
Vittoria

Another baby card

Hi there stampers! I have another baby card to share with you today. It's for a baby boy named Stefano and it will go with the bib I cross-stitched for him. I bought this mega cute bunny stamp a while ago and I was a bit intimidated by it in the beginning as it's quite big, but then I went ahead and used it, and it was so much fun to colour with Copics. I paper-pieced the buggy. Being a baby boy card I tried to avoid lace, pearls and flowers, but I couldn't resist some bling and added a couple of light blue rhinestones. The card has turned out rather big, but I like it. It will be hand-delivered, so no problem.
Thanks for stopping by.

Have a nice Sunday and happy stamping! :D Vittoria

And here's the bib to go with the card

Penny Black duck

Hi there,
here I am again today with a new card. I've used one of the cute Penny Black ducks and some designer paper in an unusual colour combo for me, light green and light orange. The focal image was coloured with Copics, the designer paper I used is a digital one.
I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday challenge - "Spots and Stripes"

Penny Black at all Sorts - "Oh, so cute!"

Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice rest of the day!

Hugs, Vittoria

Tilda with blanket

Hello there crafters,
last week I was discharged from the hospital. The operation went well and the metal paque has finally been removed from my leg. I still have pain, but I hope it will numb as time goes by.
It has taken me a while to complete the Tilda card I want to share with you today. It's for a colleague of mine who had a baby girl some 10 days ago whom he and his wife have named Alice. It will go with the bib I'm cross-stitching with the baby's name on it.
I've chosen one of my all-time favourite colour combos for this cards, that is pink and brown. Dark brown always looks like black on my photos, aarghh!! Some nestie dies, optical designer paper, a Martha Stewart heart punch, some ribbon and flowers made the rest. It's a rather busy card compared to my usual standards, but I think it looks nice, and then it will be hand-delivered, so no postage worries this time, hooray!! LOL
Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day.
Happy crafting, Vittoria

Easter projects

Hello there everybody!
Last Monday I finally managed to finish the Easter projects I had started and now it's time to share them with you.  I gave the tiny baskets to my colleagues the other day and they seemed to enjoy the surprise – a small chocolate treat is always welcome, right? The bird houses were made for 2 special colleagues from another office and they loved them. They’re so very cute, it’s always a pleasure to put them together!

For the Easter card I used one of my favourite rabbits from Whipper Snapper - he's so very cute, isn't it? I decided to keep the card nice and simple as it had to be mailed overseases, and I didn't want to go bankrupt because of the postage!!

I got a phone call from the hospital yesterday. I still have to have surgery to remove the piece of metal which doctors inserted in my leg when I fractured it over a year ago, and now the time has come, it seems. I hate the idea of another surgery, as that will mean more pain, more days at home, be on crutches again, poor me! But it’s absolutely advisable to get rid of that plaque as it is something extraneous to my body and makes my ankle stiff. Well, I'll go to the hospital early on Tuesday morning and the surgery should be on that day. So if you don’t hear from me for a while you’ll know what I’m after, sob!!

Have a nice Easter and don't eat too many chocolate eggs!! Remember they all end up on our hips!! ;-)
Hugs, Vittoria

Spring violets

Hello there!
It will be my colleague Claudia's birthday in a few days so I thought I would put together a card for her this weekend. As my garden is full of tiny violets, I decided to reproduce them on my card as well using a wonderful stamp by Flourishes. The focal image is coloured with Copics, as usual.
Have a nice Sunday afternoon and thanks for stopping by!
Hugs, Vittoria

Rainy Tilda

Hi there!
It's a dull and rainy day here in the north of Italy today, so here is a rainy Tilda card I made a while ago. This lovely paper with water/rain drops immediately called for this Tilda stamp with umbrella, one of my favourites. The image is coloured with Copics and I added some glitter to the edge of the umbrella and some glossy accent to the water pool to make it look more realistic.
Have a nice beginning of week, everyone! ;-)
Hugs, Vittoria

More chalk creations

Hello there!
As promised, here are a few more of my chalk creations which I enjoy colouring. I created some kitchen clips to close my biscuit or flour bag.
I've also started to make some perfumed chalks for the wardrobe, so stay tune for more chalk items!!

Have a nice Sunday and thanks for stopping by!
Vittoria

Chalk cupcake

Hi there,
half week is already gone luckily and everyone seems to be looking forward to the weekend, right? Well, I surely am! What has kept me busy recently is painting chalk cupcakes with acrylic paint, that's so much fun!! I'd like to put different cupcakes (I have some of different shapes and with various fruits on top) on display in the kitchen, as my Ikea cake-stand looks so sad when it's empty!!
Chalk is an amazing material, it's my craze at the moment, and I've made other things with it using silicone moulds. I'll try to share some with you in the next few days, promised! But meanwhile enjoy my cupcake, it absolutely calorie-free!! LOL

Have a nice evening!
Vittoria

Penny Black Saturday challenge

Ugh, it's unbelievable that almost a month has elapsed since my previous post. But where has time gone? Oh well, the past weeks were really hectic both at home and at work, so no wonder.
Anyhow, I have managed to finish a card for this week's Penny Black Saturday challenge, that is "The young ones". The stamp I've used on this card is called "Baby kitty" and it's one of my favourites, I use it a lot for baby cards and such. I think that delicate stamp would work great with some soft designer paper.
Thanks for visiting and have a nice beginning of week.
Vittoria

No calorie cake

Hi there!
I hope you're enjoying a pleasant and relaxing Sunday. Today I have a 3D project to share with you which I put together a while ago. The occasion was my "back to work" party I gave for my colleagues when I went back to the office after fracturing my leg badly some months ago.a  It's paper cake, so no extra calories here!! It is made of 3 layers, which I decorated with chocolate "frosting" and some paper flowers made with the great Sizzix die by Tim Holz. Some matching ribbon and pearls finished it off. Each cake slice was filled with some great Lindt chocolate balls - love them! It's a very time-consuming project, but the secret is to start well in adavance so that you don't have to rush!
Hugs, Vittoria

And here is also a blue version:



Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi everybody!
What better way to celebrate the most romantic day of the year than making a love card? Here is my take at this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Love and kisses". I love that cute PB stamp, as Valentine's Day surely means love, hearts and chocolate! It was coloured with Copics, as usual, using one of my all-time favourite colour combos, that is pink and brown, love that!!
Enjoy this special day with your significant other!
Thanks for visiting.
Love, Vittoria

Little girl and snowman

It has finally stopped snowing here in the very north of Italy but we still have polar temperatures caused by a stinging cold Siberian wind, therefore it will take a while before snow melts away from the garden and some pavements!! Considering the extreme cold we're experiencing, I made one last winter card with this cute Italian stamp with little girl and snowman. It's one of my favourites. If you are interested in buying it, just leave a a comment and I'll give you the link.
Have a nice day and stay warm! :-)
Vittoria

Raspberries

Hi there!!
We are knee deep in snow here in Milan these days - it hasn't snowed all winter long and then bang!! All of a sudden everything is white all around and moving from home is a total mess, aargh!! Anyway, the best and wisest thing to do in such cases is to sit back and do some colouring and rubber stamping, right? LOL Here is a card I created for my friend Lidia. The designer paper called for some burgundy red flowers or fruits, so here is where raspberries come in!! It's a stamp from Flourishes again - love their fruits and flowers! - which I coloured with Copics.
Take care and have a nice day!
Vittoria