LLC: Once upon a time

Hi everybody and welcome to my place! 

Oh am I exited about this weeks posting for LLC or what? I am , if you saw me now I would be jumping about :) 

This week our theme is "Once upon a time" and that is just a lucky strike isn't it? I seem to have been telling stories a while now ;) 

I immediately knew I wanted to make a somewhat cool card because I had already chosen my fairytale. Its the legend of Princess Alvilda. I doubt that you have heard of her. As the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was launched I watched it just because Johnny Depp was starring. Okay, so come on - so did you right? ;) And then I was soooo sold! That movie is like the bestest...ever ;) Johnny isn't the only one doing an awesome job portraying his character, so is Kiera Knightley. I must admit I had no idea there actually where woman pirates so I started searching and they weren't many of course. BUT there were some and o boy! All texts about these woman said they were some of our first feminists. Alvilda was a viking princess whom was known to defied every man who crossed her path. She immediately fascinated me as I live in the county she did once here in Sweden. 

Most historians agree that Alvilda did exist once however the stories about her has been proven to be somewhat more of a fairytale. 

I found a text about Alvilda in a book written by Anne Wallace Sharp "Daring female pirates" as i was looking into this and of course I had to share a short version of the legend with you all.  

Alvilda's father was the king of Gotaland and she was his only daughter. Once she became of age he locked her up in the tower of their castle! There she was guarded by poisonous snakes and lizards. The first man to get past these animals alive to ask for Alvilda's hand was the only one worthy enough the king thought. However he had also stated Alvilda had to agree to marry as well. Its not known how many men died trying to get to Alvilda. The only one who was successful in his attempts was a prince called Alf, of Denmark. However Alvilda didn't want to marry and her mother ended up helping Alvilda escape and she also managed to talk some servants into come along in her escape. These servants are also supposed to have been against marriage. Together they managed to steal a ship and made it to the sea. She eventually was known as the terror of the Baltic sea. She mostly targeted Denmark. Historians believe it was a form of revenge. The danish king ordered Alf to exterminate the pirates and he was eventually successful. Although the ladies did put up a good fight the were out powered by Alf and his men. As Alf was about to execute the captain Alvilda's helmet fell off and exposed her long hair. Alf couldn't bear the thought of killing her and again proposed marriage. Alvilda eventually caved and said yes because this time she had no other choice. This was years later after being independent for a long time. 

So my choice of image was easy, it was one of the pirate Tilda's that were released a couple of years ago by Magnolia. She is colored with my distress ink pads on 300 g watercoloring paper. The pirate ship card is cut out using my Silhouette Cameo and then I altered it a little adding more sails to it. I hardly don't think Alvilda's ship was this cute but if it wasn't it wouldn't be "me" if you know what I mean ;) I added some truly cool charms to it. LOVE that skull with the rose! I also added some of the utterly stunning sea shells. As always all the products Ive used can be found in the Inlinkz gallery at the end of my posting. 

I hope you will like my make :) 

Lots of love 

MDUC: Tic tac toe

Good (late) evening! 

Welcome to my place :) Im here tonight to let you in on all the deets you need to join the fun of this weeks challenge over at Magnolia Down Under. This weeks theme is a lovely one - I love it! Its a splendid game of tic tac toe! 

Here´s the sheet: 

I managed to use all but poor little Edwin. I really don't think there is enough light shining on him but one of my pretty Tilda stamps won the battle this week too ;) This is cutie "Tilda binding flowers" and I colored her using my di pads on 300 g watercoloring paper. Tilda is placed inside a spellbinder die and I frantaged all edges using the shabby green. The patterned papers is utterly lovely and is also from Magnolia. So is that huge amazing butterfly in the right upper corner. The cute heart charms was a gift from my very treasured friend Chelsea.

Im hoping Ive inspired you all to join in our game of BINGO. 

If not you should bounce by the MDUC blog to look at the amazing creations made by my teamies! They have outdone themselves once again! 

Lots of love, 

One more (Magnolia) princess on Sofiero

Hi there friends and followers! 

Welcome to my blog and todays posting is all about my weekly inspirational post over at Live and Love Crafts blog. This week is all about our fav color combos and well..I knew it had to involve pink cause otherwise it just wouldn't be me ;) Ive worked a lot with the amazing Sofiero paper collection from Maja Design lately and it involves a lot of green as well and since I love the papers so much green is growing on me. 

Ive once again chose to work with a little Magnolia princess. My inking is done with my Copics and is hugely inspired by my lovely, very treasured friend Jane of Jane´s lovely cards. Im so impressed with the way she inks and Ive been wanting to have a go at her technique for a while. She explained it to me and it was noooooot easy. Mine doesn't resemble hers a lot but Im pleased any ways. My Copic inking is hopefully improving a bit because i practice a lot ;) 

The papers are by Maja Design and its a limited edition collection so if you haven't bought yours yet you should before Sandra runs out! 

Since Im such a sucker for flowers I´ve been going a little nuts using the new WOC flowers that are new in stock! Omgosh! Sandra bought all the right ones! :) YAY!! 

And there are two more items I feel I have to mention, look at that amazing little cloudberry! Its eye-catching - love it! And that beyond beautiful princess rhinestone charm was just a must on here. Let me tell you it involved some serious "am I going to use it or not" issues. If i used it I wouldn't have it anymore and then I realized I can just buy a new one! lol ;) 

I hope you liked todays make! 

Lots of love, 

Midway reminder for CLP

Good morning fellow crafters, friends and followers! 

I hope you are all doing fine? I can´t believe we are headed towards autumn with huge steps now! Its been an awesome summer in Sweden though and our vaccy week in Turkey was amazing but still...being the summer lover I am its a bit tough the thought of a looong autumn and an even loooonger  winter before things are looking up again. Please..I don't want the usual comments like: "Oh, but hun...it is so awe to be able to sit in the sofa (I don't know about you but I do that all year long...?) and just enjoy a good tv show (eh hello? During summer its communion singing on tv - is that during autumn maybe?) and look at those amazing candles. (Again..I enjoy candles on my patio as often as the swedish summer allows it and during summer you can stay outside all nite if you like...) Im aware there are people that enjoys autumn because the trees are so beautiful as the leaves turn. Okay, so you are right about that BUT! Im a full-time mum and hardly get to actually look at the trees AND..that lasts like 2 minutes in Sweden...after that its here...the dreaded raiiiiiin...leaving leaves everywhere you're going and let me tell you - that eventually smells...not good! ..and the raiiiin...doesnt ever stop...until its snow...

urgh..you get the picture ha? Oh come on mother nature, please keep it summer for a while more?! 

To keep my summery feeling a bit longer I created a really summer like card for the midway reminder over at the CLP Challenge blog. Adorable Chelsea always creates THE most amazing sketches for us all and here´s what the one for august looks like: 

Isn't that just gorge? You simply have to come join us, promise! You do not want to miss out. Sketches are an amazing thing, I find that following an actual sketch cuts my craft time in half for each card. Its great the feeling of not having to think on my own (at least some times ;)) And with a sketch like this, who can really go wrong? If you need more inspiration my amazingly talented teamies has created some beautiful creations, check them out here. 

Okay, so this is one of my fav Tilda's, I know I say that almost every time but it is! She´s one of those that has grown on me, she was not amongst my first batch from this collection ;) She is just so cute standing there with that cross on her chest and the arms behind her back. 

The frantage I used is the shabby pink one and I sprinkled it a little here and there. Its around Tilda, on the sentiments I cut out with Magnolia Doo hickeys, the beloved little cherub, the key and some of the edges of the patterned papers. The sentiments are so loved by me, I use them a lot, you can find them in the Little Darling Rubberstamp store. Tilda is inked with my Copics. The patterned papers are also Magnolia. Oh and let me tell you: I´ve used a LOT of goodies I was lucky enough to recieve from dearest Chelsea the same day as I decorated this card. The cherub is hers, the cute, cute small flowers (I bet they are handmade!), the lilly, the lace and the cute to the boot key! Thank you Chels, I loooove it all! 

I hope you will like my make and I have maybe inspired you to take the step and join us?
I hope to see you there! Lots of love

LLC theme: "What a wonderful world" + Big news and CANDY!

Hi there friends and followers! 

Its finally sunday again and my turn to host the Live and Love crafts challenge blog. This week we have been inspired by a song and its not just any song its "What a wonderful world".

You can listen to it here: 

Isn't that a lovely version of this amazing song? The lyrics are so beautiful I think. As I listen to it I always get a feeling of happiness so I chose to work with the Tilda image I find to be most happy looking. She´s taking a leap into the air because she cant stand still ;) 

I colored her with my Copics and what do you know, my hands automatically went for the lilac markers ;) lol! 

Around her I´ve used some shabby white frantage and as I can be pretty literal about things in my crafty life I was turning my LLC box up and down looking for a charm I knew I had and thought would work really good with this theme. It called earth but heck, I can call it the world if I want. I also knew I had to once again work with the amazing vintage lilac patterned papers from Pion Design. They were part of the "Alma's sewing room collection".

I worked with an awesome sketch that is this weeks challenge with the lovely ladies over at The sketchy challenges: 

As always you can find all the products Ive worked with at the end of this posting. Before I head off I want to show you some close ups: 

Do you fancy the roses? They are by WOC and listen carefully cause big things is happening over at the Live and Love crafts store right now! Sandra has decided to stock the most gorge WOC flowers! Here´s some of them: 

Dont they just remind you of the sweetest candy? Scrapper candy is the best! 

AND...Sandra also offers some CANDY over at the Live and Love crafts blog: HERE!

I wish I could join that candy but I wish you all good luck! 

Thank you so much for being here with me today! 

Love

MDUC Jane´s choice: Black and white image

Hi and welcome Magnolia lovers ;) 

Tonight is the launch of an all new challenge over at Magnolia Down Under and this week the choice of theme was up to my very dear friend Jane. And her choice is...hold on to your seats..fasten those seat belts because it is...BLACK AND WHITE IMAGE. 

If you are anything like me you love a good challenge, you know the challenges that are just that...the ones that really challenges you and this was one of those for me. Ive never colored in b&w before and as I was going in with my black soot on Tilda's face I first thought it looked pretty ridiculous. I have colored in sepia though and I kind of felt the same way my first time doing that so I knew I´d better hang in there and as Im finished now I think its pretty fabulous - you HAVE to try it! 

And hey..when you're all done reading my post (thank you :)) you have to promise me to head on over to the MDUC blog to look at the amazing creations made by my lovely teamies. I can see why Jane chose this theme, its obviously dear to her heart - her inking blows me away! It looks like a very old photograph! :) 

Today is still saturday here in Sweden and so Id like to CONGRATULATE my uncle Tonny as he has married the love of his life today. Im so happy for them both. The lucky lady is Tina and so that´s why the banner says T&T. They make pretty good dynamite ;) ;) ! Good luck in your future life together. Here they are together after the ceremony: 

As you can see its Tina there on the front and I also chose to work with two Magnolia sentiments. Its the LOVE one behind Tilda..eh..Tina and the one on the spellbinder die is just so adorable don't you think? Its not only that its also true. The beautiful roses are by WOC and they are all pretty amazing gifts. Thank you so much dearest Camilla H. I love them! Ive also tried my beloved orchid doo hickey die for the first time and the amazing light lilac wellum was a gift from amazing Jane. Thanks hunni for fixing me up! :) The lovely seam binding and clay heart are from my fav store Live and love crafts. The papers are by...omgosh..I wish I knew, bought them a biz-zillion years ago ;) The fran-tage is called aged rose. Lock by Melissa Frances and charms from the Magnolia store in Borås. Before I go I want to show you some more pics. 

I have had some questions lately regarding what I do with the rest of my cards ;) Do I always / never decorate the back and inside? And if I do, with what? 

As I love getting questions asked heres the answers. Yes, I do most often decorate the inside and backside of the cards / projects I make. And I ALWAYS do it the same way, thats why I hardly ever show you because then yo might tire of me ;) 

For the backside I use the same layout with papers as I do on the front, I also add a personal rubber-stamp that I bought from Whismy stamps years ago - its still going strong - I love it! 

For the inside I use similar papers as back and front but I like to chose some that are slightly different. And of course for the inside I always add some nice sentiments and a personal greeting. Heres the inside of todays card for Tonny and Tina. These are not stamped, Ive made them both on my computer and just printed them out. 

Thank you so much for being here today! 

Be sure to come back tomorrow for my weekly inspirational posting for LLC. 

Its the lovely theme of "Inspired by a song" and the song is...now I got you seriously hocked ha?? 

He, he, he! 

The royal (Magnolia) family is back at Sofiero

Hi there friends and followers! 

Welcome to my last anything goes themed creation for the Live and Love Crafts blog, this is also a GDT card for Noor! Design.

Ive chosen to work with an utterly lovely little Tilda princess and placed her in a window of a castle released early on. She is inked with Copics. Of course I just had to pair her up with my absolute fav paper collection. Its called Sofiero and is from Maja design. I decided I wanted to challenge myself a little by not using the sheets that are soooo obviously me and went for the also amazing but not that pink sheets. Ive used both front and backside of "Princess Margareta´s garden". For those unaware of what Sofiero is and why thats the name I can tell you a little about it cause it also explains the title I gave my post. 

The summer of 1864 the swedish crown-prince couple named Oscar II and his wife Sofia spent a summer at a friends house in south the south of Sweden near the city of Helsingborg. The both loved it so much they started looking for properties they could buy. It was considered a good thing for them all as they were sick and they needed the fresh air. They soon found a property with a priesting on it called "Skrabelycke" and renamed it "Sophie-Ro". They lived a much more free life on their in their new castle but as they became king and queen of Sweden they moved back to Stockholm and the royal visits to the castle became more and more rare as time went by. The beautiful castle is still there and today its a beautiful park with amazing nature and beautiful plants. Year 2010 it was named the most beautiful park in Europe. 

The castle of Sofiero (picture taken from Wikipedia website) 

So this is why I wrote the royal family is back at Sofiero ;) Princess Tilda is royal indeed :) Don't you think? ;) 

Ive also used another amazing LLC product that I want to mention. Ive always loved the flower sprays and now Sandy of LLC also decided to stock them in  my fav color - pink! OMGosh, I cannot tell you how lovely these are! Stunning! I have also used the amazing tulle :)

As always you can see the products Ive used listed at the end of my post, just click the picture and it will take you right there. 

The Noor! Design products of my choice are these two luscious dies: 

I love them both so much, the first one was a gift from my beloved friend Debbie for my birthday. Thank you so much sweetie! 

That was all from me today, I hope you liked my make :) 

Lots of love