Stay Healthy

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Posted by Maja Nowak

24 April, 2020 -

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Good morning, dear Maja Friends, welcome to the blog today πŸ™‚

We’ve been locked in our homes for more than a month now due to the deadly virus ravaging the world. Restrictions that it had imposed on us have been tedious and tiresome but I think we can still call ourselves lucky if our only worry is the inability to go shopping whenever we want. There are thousands more miserable, suffering and fighting for their lives, needing help and support. For all those who are sick I dedicate these get well soon cards:

For the “boy” card I used my favourite Denim&Friends collection, adding a hand-coloured stamped image and die-cut patches and a pill blister.

I used similar elements for the “girl” card, but arranged the design horizontally rather than vertically and used the Little Street Cafe collection πŸ™‚

As you can see, I can make flowerless cards too! πŸ˜€

Having made the support-get-well-soon cards, I naturally thought of those who take care of so many sick people these days: doctors, nurses, paramedics – who often risk their own lives to save others. They always deserve respect and gratitude, but especially with this pandemic situation they are the world’s bravest heroes. And so I made a couple of thank you cards too:

I followed the collection and images pattern, but added some flowers this time πŸ™‚

Here are the cards with some medical utensils instead of the images:

While making these cards I was thinking that even though we’re stuck at home we’re so lucky to be alive and healthy, I was thinking of thousands of people fighting for their lives and so many of them losing the battle, and of those who risk their lives to save others.Β  I do pray this pandemic ends soon and that everybody is safe – and free to go outside without fear – again!

Here’s my list of supplies:

Maja Design papers:

Other: dies: Marianne Design, Nellie’s Choice; stamps: Whiff of Joy, Lemonade; flowers: Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls: Basic Grey.

 

While we can’t do much to heal the sick ones, we can still do a lot to make everyone safer. So please stay at home, save lives πŸ™‚

 

Wedding Hearts

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Posted by Maja Nowak

24 August, 2019 - , , ,

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Good morning, dear Maja Fans, welcome to the blog today πŸ™‚

Summer has traditionally been a wedding season and so wedding cards have been in great demand too.Β  I like to keep a small stash of cards just in case, and therefore today I’m sharing two cards that differ by the colour only:

I kept the design pretty simple, so it would be easy to recreate the card in any colour – I used neutral sand as the background for the stencil heart shape filled with flowers:

I also included a layer of patterned paper, choosing the Comfy sheet from the Denim&Girls collection, as it perfectly corresponds to the leafy heart motif:

I completed the design with acrylic opalescent hearts some cheesecloth and an embossed chipboard sentiment:

The same is true for the other card in the turqouise palette:

In the Denim&Friends collection you will find the Jeans&T-shirt paper that has the same leafy pattern but in turqouise πŸ˜‰

And I really like the dimension the flowers give:

I like the way they turned out: simple, yet elegant and delicate. What do you think?

Here’s what I used:

Other: stencil: Agateria; flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts; chipboard: Scrapiniec; acrylic hearts, string, cheesecloth: my stash.

 

That’s all for today, thank you for visiting and see you later!

Happy First Adult Birthday!

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Posted by Maja Nowak

10 July, 2019 - , ,

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Good morning, dear Maja Friends, welcome to the blog today πŸ™‚

In some countries the first adult birthday comes when you turn 21, but in many, Poland including, it’s as early as 18. It’s usually an occasion to throw a big party and celebrate entering adulthood while still being entitled to behave like a teenager πŸ™‚ And it’s a great occasion to give a handmade card too, isn’t it?

I was really happy when my all-time favourite collection Denim&Friends got its girly partner πŸ™‚ I love the images sheet, the colours and patterns that refer to and complete the masculine papers. And to celebrate this new addition to the Maja paper family I decided to make the cards with these two collections. Both feature images in the centre of design and navy blue accents.

The girl’s version adds a touch of pink and a bit of glamour with crystal gems and the digits cut out from gold metallic mirror cardstock:

In the card for a boy I added some steampunk elements also die-cut from gold cardstock. Just as in the girl’s card I incorporated the “You’re a star” phrase – in the previous card it was printed in the background paper, here it’s a snippet of the signature strip:

I really like the way the cards turned out – simple but pleasant to the eye πŸ™‚ What do you think?

And here’s what I used:

Maja Desing papers:

Other: dies: Rosy Owl, Joy! Crafts; flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts; crystals: Prima.

 

And when do you celebrate the first adult birthday in your country?

 

Daddy Rocks – A Boxframe Tutorial

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Posted by Maja Nowak

24 June, 2019 - , , ,

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Good morning, dear Maja friends, welcome to the blog today πŸ™‚

Yesterday we celebrated Father’s Day in Poland. For this very special occasion I decided to make a special gift. But first let me share you a story behind it πŸ˜‰

I make a lot of dimensional cards and therefore use a lot of card boxes too. And being a true scrapper and hoarder πŸ˜€ I tend to collect everything that could potentially be used, altered, reused and recycled, and that includes faulty box pieces. And so I gathered lids and bottoms that were assembled wrong, or stained, or wonky – and felt it was the right time to do something about them πŸ˜‰

Yes, I decided to make a shadobbox-like frame using box elements πŸ™‚ And I’m going to share a step-by-step tutorial with you.

The boxes were of various sizes and colours, so first I inked all the outside edges:

…and then wrapped the sides with washi tapes:

The next step was to decorate the inside of the frames – first I covered the inner sides with strips of papers and then added layers of papers inside. I used the Denim&Friends collection – my all-time favourite papers for masculine projects:

First I decorated the photo frames:

…and then additional decorative pieces:

Once I had all the pieces finished, I tried various element designs to make a frame. When I was happy with the layout, I attached them all together with strong double-sided adhesive tape:

Then I took the largest cardboard piece I had in the house πŸ˜‰ and traced the shape of the frame. I cut out the shape slightly smaller so that the cardboard doesn’t peek outside the frame:

And my Father’s Day box frame was done πŸ™‚

Let’s take a closer look:

I really like the way it turned out: the papers’ colour palette perfectly matches the photos, I used up pieces of boxes I couldn’t use for cards and I made an original gift that can decorate the wall above my husband’s desk πŸ™‚

What do you think of it?

And here’s what I used:

Maja Design papers:

Other: flowers: Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts; metal embellishments: Scrap Hobby; stickers: MAMBI.

And that’s all for today. I hope you liked my tutorial! See you soon!

For Grandma And Grandpa

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Posted by Maja Nowak

23 January, 2019 - , ,

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Good morning, Maja Friends, welcome to the blog today πŸ™‚

I think grandparents are second important people in a child’s life, right after parents. In Poland it is common that retired grandparents take care of their grandchildren when the parents are at work. And so they play a very important role in kids’ life, helping to raise them and spending a lot of time with them. And I think grandparents so much deserve a special celebration! And so in January we celebrate Grandmother’s Day on the 21st and Grandfather’s Day on the 22nd. For that occasion I made two cards:

I used the Denim & Friends collection for both cards. For the card for grandma I used the turqouise hues of the collection, using also some Monochromes sheets.

I used a humorous carved chipboard pieces for my cards, and I decorated them adding a bit of colour and some glitter. Then I put each piece against a background of layered papers:

I also added a flower cluster and some pearl brads to the grandma’s card:

In the card for grandpa, I opted for the brown-navy blue palette:

I added screw-like brads and a star charm tied on plaid-patterned ribbon:

I think grandparents would appreciate hand-made cards from their grandchildren more than anything money can buy πŸ™‚

And here’s the list of my supplies:

Maja Design papers:

Other: stamps: Lemonade; chipboard pieces: Egocraft; brads: Craftmania, Rayher; dies: Rosy Owl, Spellinders; flowers: Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts; button: Lemoncraft; crystal gems: Prima; ribbon: my stash.

And that is all for today – see you soon!