Kisses and hearts

A while ago I popped into a new technique in paper art. It is called pinhole art. All of the tools used for it is just a usual needle. A small picture can be quite time consuming :)) I made a few samples just to try. Kisses, that is, inspired by Valentine's Day.

And here are some greeting cards I made on Valentine's but could not show before because they were not delivered yet. Some elements are made in pinhole art technique.

And one of my favourites, pop-up ))

I like textures. The photo doesn't show well but those are velvet hearts.

A special card for a special person :) Cross-stitching and a pinhole ornament around the heart. Pinhole technique works really good for decorations.

Never too late to say "I love you" to beloved ones :)

Teddy Bear, the tribute

According to The Most Important Events and Discoveries Russian Digest 15th of February 1903 was the day when the first Teddy Bear, the way we all know it, was sold. The date is quite debatable because different countries celebrate it on different days. 27th of October is Teddy Bear's birthday in the United States, United Kingdom and Scandinavia. They celebrate it on 19th of November in Russia. I am glad to know that because it is my birthday as well hehehehe
Two countries, the United States and Germany still compete for the right to be considered the country of Teddy's origin. The cuddly children’s toy was invented almost simultaneously in the United States and Germany but the United States undoubtedly gave it its name.
In November 1902 Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, 26^th President of the United States, was hunting in Mississippi. The President failed to make a kill so his hosts caught and tethered a bear, presenting it to the President as a sitting target. Naturally the President refused, uttering the immortal words, ‘Spare the bear! I will not shoot a tethered animal.’ Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon of the scene, which was published in the Washington Post.That same month Brooklyn shopkeepers Morris and Rose Michtom made a soft bear toy, which they named ‘Teddy’s Bear’ and displayed in their window with a copy of the cartoon. America went bear mad almost overnight, the Michtoms went on to make their fortune with the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company and President Roosevelt had found a highly effective political mascot.

Meanwhile, across the ocean in Germany, Richard Steiff was working for his aunt, Margarete Steiff, a disabled German seamstress with a soft toy factory in Giengen. Richard, a former art student, often visited the Stuttgart Zoo to sketch animals, particularly the bear cubs. In 1902, the same year the Michtoms made "Teddy's Bear," the Steiff firm made a prototype of a toy bear based on Richard's designs.
Though both the Michtoms and Steiff were working on bears at the same time, certainly neither knew, at a time of poor transatlantic communication, about the other's creation. Besides, the Michtoms' bear resembled the wide-eyed cub in the Berryman cartoon, while the Steiff bear, with its humped back and long snout, looked more like a real bear cub.
A few months later, in March 1903, at the Leipzig Toy Fair, Steiff introduced its first bear—Baer 55PB. The European buyers showed little interest, but an American toy buyer, who was aware of the growing interest in "Teddy's bears" in the States, ordered 3000. In America, people were beginning to get teddy bear fever, and Steiff was in the right place at the right time.
That is when Teddy-Bear-mania has started. A lot of cartoons, fairy-tales and songs about this famous bear were created since then. American historian Charles Panati, author of "Extraordinary origins of ordinary things", believed that the invention of a teddy bear was the starting point for technological progress. Originally teddy bears were made from fur and expensive fabrics. But the massive demand made manufacturers reduce the cost of raw materials. Therefore already in 1903 manufacturers started using plush fabric for bear skins, before used mainly for furniture upholstery. That prompted to develop special materials designed exclusively on children.
In 1930, after the timers have become relatively cheap, bears became the first large-scale mechanical toys. After the emergence of cheap electric batteries in 1950, the first toy, in which they were used, were also teddy bears. In addition, the teddy bear was the first "talking" toy, which you can bathe (sample appeared in 1956).
It's been over a hundred years as our love affair with teddy bear shows no signs of abating. We don't really care where and when it was made first, sometimes we don't know why we love them so much. But a teddy bear, being kept through years and generations, is a favourite toy in many families. In Russia teddy bears are loved too and tenderly called mishka. Every kid knows the poem about plush mishka. We have our family mishka as well, cherished for years. Although it was born in China hehehe and looks a little worn out, it is still loved. So let me introduce Amelia.

It will be one of my projects for the nearest future. Renovate Amelia! :)
Happy Birthday Teddy Bear, Mishka and the bearest hugs to all who loves them :)))

Hearts given and receiven

It is oh Happy Valentine's Day!!! :)) The best way to start treating your special person today is to make a special valentine's breakfast hehehe Hearts, never too many!

Here are some hearts I gave.

I am a blessed mother, having a kind-hearted daughter who I am never tired to be proud of. This is the heart frame she made for me many years ago. A real masterpiece :) considering she was something like 5-6 years old.

She is 15 now and here is what she makes now. She is 15 and I am still proud of her :)

I love you my SweetHeart!
Happy Valentine's to everybody!

Seamus and Sophie

Once upon a time... Wait, it happened just before Christmas )) Someone knocked at our door. When I opened it, there was such a cute little creature. He was very polite. "My name is Seamus", he said. We all could not fail but fell in love with this polite, always smiling, little gentleman and were happy to suggest him to stay with us. I am sure you would do the same just looking at this cute face ))

Seamus was very curious, liked to learn new things. We told him about Christmas. He loved it too because of peppermint candies and gingerbread house. Sometimes we saw that he is getting sad though he never stopped smiling.

It turned out that Seamus felt very lonely in spite of everybody's love. He just could not believe there is no someone else like him in the whole world. He asked everyone he met if they have met someone who looked like him, even our cat.

And Santa Claus ))

But noone ever met anyone who looked alike. Seamus watched the sky full of stars feeling deeply sad and then he decided to start looking. He was very determined and we just could not try to stop him so we just wished him good luck.

Days and weeks were passing by and we did not hear anything from our Seamus. We worried if he is fine and healthy and if his search is successful. One day someone knocked at our door. We happily decided that it was Seamus. And yes, it was him!!! But this time he was not alone... "My name is Sophie", she said. As polite as Seamus. And even cuter than him))

They look so happy together. And we are happy they live with us now bringing us joy each day.

It took Seamus a lot of efforts to find his beloved Sophie and he will never let her go.

Of course it is just a fairy-tale ))) But Valentine's Day is on the way. Send some sights of appreciation to those you care about and let love fill in your hearts.
Happy Valentine's!

Birthday cards, the latest

Two girls celebrate birthdays in February. Greeting cards on these special occasions.

The dress I made myself. The other three are handmade cards 3D stickers. I always liked when a card does not look flat.

One last touch. Mmmmy favourite. Personalize :)

I used pop-up technique in that one.

Makes really interesting effects I believe.

A cute caterpillar sticker was a funny addition ))

What is left? Ahhh... Envelopes to put cards in. Draw...

Cut...

Embellish.

Happy birthday! :)

Tools I use

Proper tools' using is one of the most important parts in making crafts if you want the item look really good. I have been experimenting with a lot of different types. It was a long path full of disappointments sometimes. You can just imagine how one can feel creating something and it looks bad just because they chose wrong glue or paint or whatever ))) A few samples might be just thrown away until you get what you really want to get.

So scissors... I use a lot as you can see. Long blades are good when you need one long cut, small ones for detailed cutting. You need some to be sharp, some not, so experience comes with attempts, mistakes and lessons )))

It is not just scissors I use to cut something off hahaha Roller blade is really good for a long clean cut. I use zigzag scissors if it is necessary to make a nice cut for cards or if I don't want fabric to spill. That small knife is one of my latest purchases. I realized I need it when started making pop-art cards. Really handy. I can hold it as a pencil so it allows me to cut different angles or curves. But finger hurts like crazy after hahahaha

Glues... Most of my craft disappointments are connected with wrong choice of it. So from what I experienced for now white glue is baaaad for cards :) Paper gets moist and loses its shape. But sometimes it is necessary to have it anyway. Still my choice for greetings cards is a heavy duty transparent glue, but not the instant one!!! Instant glue is deadly for paper, goes through it and leaves stains you never get rid off. That violet glue stick you see is really magic hehehe It leaves violet marks and you can see what area is glued and which is not and then it just disappears. Voila!

Glue gun... What is it actually? It is kind of plastic that is melting allowing you to glue one thing to another. It is really good for fabrics if it is no way you can sew something on, but not good for different kind of plastic or metal. Never glues none of those in a proper way. Or it should be such a decent amount of it that it will be just glue in the end hahaha Dries out really fast so you should be faster ))

Paints and pencils... I like silver acrylic paint I have. If you follow my posts you could see it in a lot of stuff I make. Pencils with metallic effect and gel pens of different colors are always good for paper, with one but. It takes longer time for gel pens to get really dry so they have a tendency to smear. Should be really careful making fonts. Mondeluz watercolor pencils by Koh-i-Noor just don't need any comments :) Love them! Not using them much unfortunately.

Brushes, different types and length. Usual pencils of different softness and thickness. And yes... even a dot maker they use for nail art. Very handy at times. Anything is good when you know which effect you wish to achieve. I used a needle recently but it is yet another story to tell :)

Forgot to tell about carbon paper. I felt I needed it sometimes so here we go. Things a greeting card is being born with hehehehe

You will be able to see the results in my next post.

Use proper tools and stay tuned :D