Hey, how cool!

This december, the German branch of SciFi channel hosted an online drawing contest to celebrate the launch of the television series "Sanctuary" in Germany. You could draw simple "monsters" online in a small active drawing window. I participated under my name and my husband's name - well, I didn't know back then, that I could post more than one monster ... But as life is, always expect the unexpected!

One of the monsters, I drew and donated under my husband's name - the "Hey, it's me - monster" - actually made it into a real design for shirts, bags and so on which are now sold for a charity project! Just have a look at the SciFi shop.

How cool is that? It's so cool to see your own stuff somewhere in a real shop, on real objects. A nice late Christmas present.

Already over

And again, the Christmas season is over and gone too soon, as it always is. I hope, your holidays had been nice and peaceful. I could not post these photos before Christmas, so I am doing it now - let's just say as a silent goodbye with some impressions from the famous Striezelmarkt in Dresden - until next year.

Playing Christmas elf

In case anyone might have wondered where I have been the last week and what I have been doing, here are some photos. But be aware they are mostly sneaks, and not more than that because you know: Christmas and all those presents ... I don't want to risk anyone seeing the items I have been making for them too early.

;)

I hope you had a nice, creative and productive week, too.

Dreams

I once dreamt of being someone else in someone else's life, a wish burried deep inside me, hidden behind a daily routine - now I have stopped dreaming. From day to day, I am closer to be the person I always wanted to be ...

Never stop dreaming, never stop hoping to be able to create your own world. Your blank dream may grow to become something big one day.

Simplicity

Standing alone in the grey shades of autumn and winter silence, the plants have forgotten their lives and lost their colors. All is reduced, and what remains is pure simplicity.

The flower centers are actually accentuated with a golden color, because I like the appearance of such vivid colors that change their appearance depending on the angle of light. Only it's hard to take an appropriate photo without daylight.

- black ink on shoji paper with acrylic color details, mounted on heavy watercolor paper, size with white frame 14cm / 5.5" square -

On those, I just had to use such a reduced colorscale. In case anyone might have noticed that the drawing I showed in my post Lines is not included here: this is the second, white version. I tried to do the berries in red, too, but so far I am not that pleased with the result.

Too much playing around ...

Well, I have been doodling yesterday evening - again ... Originally, I intended to do something useful while I had to wait for some ink and water dyed papers to dry, but I ended up loosing focus - again ...

*sigh*

And the result itself? Way too swirly in my opinion - not really my style after all - too *unstraight*, but I was reminded of Christmas by the *deer* in the center so I went ahead with *kitsch*. But isn't doodling all about playing with a pencil while trying not to think about it too much? At least, I am still trying to get the concept behind *doodling*, since I only got in touch with it recently. So far, I only knew real sketches to train your view or your imagination, as a prepation stage in a process of creating art, or real artwork ... But where to put something like that? Well, personally, I used to put things like that into the waste bin, considered to be an embarrassment. The way you see it, will be left up to you.

Maybe a colored digital version in a cool color scheme might make it bearable, but I don't think there will be time for such a time consuming process soon.

I feel, like I drifted away too much lately, so I should start to get serious again.

Lines

Playing and experimenting with lines and shades ...

- doodling while watching a film, and well, what should I say ... the film was not *that* interesting to keep my eyes glued to the screen ... -

- black ink on shoji paper, mounted on heavy watercolor paper, but I think, it still needs some more work on it - therefore unfinished -

Blue

... is the color of december - at least when you are looking outside. The skies are blue with all different shades of white and grey in them, the snow and the ice are shining blue in the fading twilight of the evening hours ... With the bright summer colors gone and nearly no green left, blue sometimes seems to be the only color left. So, I tried to be inspired by all this blue ...

This was my view this weekend when I woke up at my parents in law's house - enjoying the misty morning light and a great december *winter wonder land* view. And here are some things I did the last days, besides making again *millions* of different cookies for my mother in law and painting some walls - no, not in blue this time ;):

 Words woven into water - a series of watercolor and ink drawings on heavy, nicely textured watercolor paper and a blue star, whose pattern I found on Ravelry, it is called Celestine Crochet. It will hopefully have found a new owner until Christmas since it will become a present.

I hope, you all had a nice weekend and you are not having a too blue monday ...

;)

Christmas cookie recipe

Today, I will share two recipes for the Christmas cookies I made last week since I was asked for the recipe :). The first one, you can use when you are in a hurry and need the cookies *quickly* - but if you have some time, try the second recipe. Those cookies are even better although they need much more time and have a quite higher content in butter - and we all know, what that means ;). All in all, both recipes are really simple and easy to make.

Good and bad?

Well, at the moment, I am slowly caught up into thinking about the Christmas presents I have/want to make. There is sewing, drawing, bookbinding ... on my list, and of course buying some presents, but I haven't thought about that too much yet. Oh my, and days are flying by so fast currently, that I really wish my day could have 48 hours instead of 24.

Anyway, I took some time to do the decoration for Christmas. The gingerbread men and bisquits of my last post are *in action* now, sleeping peacefully in our Christmas decoration. Although they looked so yummy, they would be a little fuzzy when eating them, so I made some *real* cookies this weekend. Unfortunately, they definitely won't last as long as the gingerbread men, but I am okay with that ;)

Well, that was the good part. Onto the bad one... I am planning to do some ink drawings in the next few days, or at least until Christmas, as a present, therefore I did some little *practice pieces* to get used to ink and pen again, because I feel like I haven't done so for ages ... The outcome is ... well, see for yourself, let's just call it a little bit misshaped - or a happy little accident ;)

Seems like I am having a little hiatus in bookmaking, since I am only posting other crafts lately, but I will return to the books - I promise.

C'est fini ...

Christmas is approaching, and so is the time of the secrets... As I promised yesterday, I finished another more or less green item, this time something for my first swap. The overall look is still a secret until it arrives in its new home. Although green was intended to be the basic color, I have to admit, the sneak photo shows quite much orange in this item... hm....

Anyway, I hope the receiver might like the concept and is looking forward to hold it in her hands ;)

Trying to get into the mood for ...

I`ll give you three guesses ;)

Besides some other things I am currently *crafting*, I just had to use some felt scaps and turn them into some Christmas decoration. First, because I am not planning to use this color anytime soon for something else, and second, because I felt the urgent need to get into the mood for Christmas with our really nice Christmas market already opening tomorrow and the town being already decorated with lights ...

I hope, you are starting to get into the Christmas mood, too, at least slowly.

Seems like I am much in love with this shade of green this year. More of green to come tomorrow in a little sneak *preview* ;)

Back... or: How I have been kissed by a car and turned 18...

Hello out there. I admit I have been a little bit absent lately, but I still exist ;)

The past two weeks gap of posting was not really planned it just happened as days passed by...

The first week was spent at my parents home - I was visiting them for the whole week because it was my mom`s birthday and I had not been there for nearly half a year which made me realize how incredibly fast and unnoticed time flies by. This week was full of non-adventures and an out-of-service access to the internet, therefore getting kissed by a car was literally the *highlight*. Don`t worry, nothing serious happened, but when the grandpa who maneuvered his car precisely into the front of our car just came up with a tiny "Oh, I am sorry, but I can see no damage, do I really need to give you my address?" my "Yes, you need to do so!" included a little bit more than just a polite request for his address - although I wouldn`t have seen any damage myself, too, if I had tried to - dark as it was and with his bad eyes and such strong glasses - however, he also had not seen us in the first place when he was driving and went into reverse for whatever reason (with us lights on and standing still 2 meters away from him...). But enough of complaining...

Well, nevertheless, I was not totally lazy that week and did more than just watching TV and enjoying family ;). Since I had wisely taken some fabric and my paints with me, I managed to paint some more bookcovers.

Well, unfortunately, the last week back home was way less productive than I had hoped it to be. To tell the truth, I did nearly nothing due to a stupid but persistent cold/infection/whatever. Although my stomach still feels like it is enjoying endless private rides on a rollercoaster, I am much better... :)
Being slightly ill also seems to make me look way younger than I actually am (and unfortunately: feel). When I did some daily shopping I added a bottle of wine to the list - and guess what: I was asked if I am already allowed to do so!?!? Buying such things is restricted to matured persons of the age of 18 and above in Germany, so I would not have mind it anyway if I were 21 or even 25. But since I already turned 18 quite some days ago (ahem, more than a decade.... ), I really thought she was kidding me. No joking, the lady was serious!

Well, the moral is that it is at least way better to remain in a youthful stage than to hurry to look your age, isn`t it?

A Tuesday ...

like this one is best spend in a cozy corner with all your best friends.

Boo

Darkness has fallen and so Halloween begins... A happy and creepy Halloween to the monster in you.

Autumn floating in...

... yes, I know, autumn came already quite some weeks ago, but so far I still managed to hold onto the bright summer colors. Well, that's over now. The reason is a present for a book loving friend, who hopefully will become the author of her own book one day - at least this is a dream of hers. So I made a book in a more or less autumnal color scheme (hope she still likes purple!) to put down all of her ideas onto paper instantly - and what is needed besides paper to do so? Pencils, right? Therefor this book has a *built-in* pencil case in the sideflap sewn in a contrasting purple fabric.

Happy birthday D and I hope you will have a great party.

:)

Last weeks ups and downs...

... came for me in a full color scale from purple to red. Some colors in-between were missing, though, mostly due to the new behavior of my personal satan - the new nickname for my sewing machine which definitely ruined some covers during the sewing process. I hope I can overcome this tricky behavior and it will turn into a nice behaving sewing machine again. But when you have a closer look at the red satin book, you will see that the front fabric also looks crumpled, this time mostly due to my lack of sewing experience concerning patches *~*  So, there is still a long way for me to go, to do things right and to make them turn out the way I originally had in mind - or at least close to this ;)

So, no light yellow and green this week except a work in progress piece combining a mellow yellow theme and my personal favorite: a line related theme.

Yes, I definitely love lines. Simple line art can express anything when used in right way as shown in a very impressive way by tape artist Chris Hosmer. All those great images are made with different tapes - which means a real limitation to line itself. Just a tiny glimpse of his work below, called "Africa 2", which I think is really great in perspective and color choice, but there is so much more to see on his blog:

Well, onto fighting the demon in my sewing machine, we will see who won the next few days...

;)

A Tuesday in town ...

was just a typical day in autumn.

It's here

The sweet Fioleta from The Floating Dreams did send me a postcard she picked up at a bookbinding exhibition in Oxford lately to inspire me on my journey in bookbinding. And see what I am holding in my hand: it arrived today, yeah! British post didn't go on strike on this one, and the postman here did really find my mail box (he does not always do so, unfortunately ...).

So thank you, Fioleta - I will see, what I can do not to dissapoint you ;)

You brightened up my day and made me smile :)

Denise

A Tuesday in town ...

feels so grey today.

Mr. Green O'Crab

Let me introduce Mr. O'Crab, Green O'Crab, to you. He might look a bit odd, but believe me, he is quite funny and a very nice being. The only thing with him is that he is always longing for ink or a pencil to tickle his belly full of 200 limegreen and tropical blue lightweight pages. But when he sees no one around, he securly closes his mouth with bright white thick cotton cords - but be aware: he always keeps his limegreen button eyes on anything that goes on around him, they are never closed! But if you treat him well and stroke his flower print fabric back from time to time, he will be a trustworthy friend...

;)

Denise

Tropical snow

What a day... didn't I talk about the *rainy* season lately? Well, replace the rain with snow and here you go. Since I am really not that much into snow - mostly because it is intrisically tied to cold weather - I prefer to hide myself as much as possible behind my desk with a nice huge cup of hot coffee, thinking of something else than snow. There will still be enough time to enjoy the winter, but not yet, at least I am not willed to do so yet ;)

 So, I finished another softcover fabric book whose components laid around for quite a while now, but which was perfect for a little vacation for the eyes - seeing bright tropical blue and limegreen paper in combination with a white cotton fabric strewn with nice flower prints lets you instantly forget the freezing cold outside. Offwhite satin cords, which are used to close the book, bring in a warm shine which reminds me of shells I always pick up when I am at a beach. To add contrast, the edges are stiched with a dark teal that reflects the depth of the ocean where the shadows slowly creep into the light turquoise water....

 
Oh, how I wish I could be at a warm sunny beach now...

Red against Moby

Currently, I am making a miniseries of three softcover notebooks painted in red - ahem, besides all the other more or less book-related ideas and projects, which are starting to form a rising wall around me, so it might be wise to work on those projects rather than starting new ones *ah, focus focus*... Otherwise the piles might silently fall down on me and bury me. Although it would not hurt that much since the piles are made of fabric, it might complicate daily life......

Nevertheless, I try to get the series done. Last time's red poppies became abstract circles, this time's inspiring grass became quiet striped, and the third motiv already drifted away to a completely abstract construct. Maybe it is a mixture of grass and underwater landscape which I am doing in a parallel project. At the moment, I like the poppies the best - perhaps because poppies of all colours are one of my favorite flowers since they are so delicate and fragile but yet intense.

The seastar is part of the underwater project I mentioned above; the greenish-yellowish in-process-something (a sunflower yellow in reality, not as orange as it appers to be on the photo) next to it was inspired by the love for a sixties yellow mellow mood that suddenly overcame me when I was listening to Moby this evening. Ah, and again another project started... *remember: don't listen to the music - focus focus*

Well, I am off to sort things out and get them done ;)

Red ribbons

This time something about my newest adventure - bookbinding. Since I am quiet new to this I am still trying this and that and everthing without a certain direction - well, at least yet. ;) Inspired by red poppies and using my favorite colour scheme of black, white and red, I made a softcover notebook with 120 plain white pages of slightly heavy drawing paper. For this book, I tore all pages apart at all sides to give the egdes some texture and a soft touch so that the egde of the textblock feels somewhat like fabric or as soft as the red felt, which forms the *inside* part of the cover.

The ribbons which are used for closure have a very nice fishbone weave and are made of cotton. They are still very long, mostly for decorational purposes, but for now I will leave them as they are since cutting them off is far easier than  cutting them *on* ;)

And one more important thing: A big thank you to the nice Fioleta who already mentioned me on her blog and contineously supported me right from the start since I made (and am still making ;) ) my first steps into the world of the internet. Thank you, Denise.