Bloggers Give Reading Joy & Our World Our Art

This year the German blogging event Blogger schenken Lesefreude (bloggers give reading joy) took place again at the end of April.

 

I was lucky to win the novel Bruderliebe (Brotherly Love) by Stefanie Heindorf and Karthrin Lange which Melanie from Taya's Crazy World had chosen to give away as prize. She sent along a great postcard showing the Philae Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island in Egypt.

The book is a fresh take on the Rapunzel fairy-tale, taking place in Germany in the beginning of the 19th century. Since I am a fan of Disney's Tangled, it will be just great to read this approach of the well-known story. Melanie, a big thanks for making this possible!

Moreover, I had waited such a long time for the blogging event Our World Our Art, yet then I actually missed its starting date in the beginning of April. Since only 13 bloggers participated, I was was obviously not the only one, as the previous event One World One Heart had drawn in hundreds of bloggers. Anyway, Marion from Bockel24 was one of the talented artists who took part in the event, presenting her amazing mixed media art. I was delighted to be one of the lucky winners, getting this beautiful postcard which is now displayed in my study:

 

A smile on the face is a sign that the heart is at home.

Thanks so much, Marion! Your postcard makes me smile every time I see it.

X is for X-cited

I sure was x-cited (and, voilà, I have my X for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday) when I found a letter in my mailbox with this stamp on the envelope.

I loved the card inside even more:

Just want you to know that

I'm thinking about you...

Anne from Anne's Phamily had sent me the adorable card along with stickers from Disney's Tangled and Brave.

Sure thing I love them!

Thanks so much Anne -- you rock!

Variety of Treats

Back in July, I had a variety of treats on birthday. What better V to use for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday? It all started with fresh croissants for breakfast.

Beautiful gerbera on my birthday table.

Dark chocolate with cassis filling in a lovely pink wrap. Since that pink was so bright, I just have to link to Beverly's Pink Saturday!

Isn't this owl wrapping paper just gorgeous? I love the design and color scheme.

I got macarons in an adorable tin box.

And here are the delicious macarons.

This blank journal has a certain French appeal, too.

I love the illustration on this birthday card!

A close-up of the decoration on my new flip flops. Just my colors!

Well, by now you probably know that I am into Disney and especially Tangled. Here's the Tangled mug for 2013.

One of my favorite Disney animators is Glen Keane. His artwork is amazing! Ariel, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel are Glen Keane's girls. Thus I am happy to say that I now have these dolls from the Disney Animators' Collection. 

A sweet little ladybug -- can anyone resist this smile?

I had a beautiful visitor in the afternoon. Right after taking this photo, I helped the little fellow to get outside again.

Sure thing that I also had a piece of cake -- what a perfect birthday! Do you agree that I indeed had a variety of treats?

New Zealand Goodies

In May, I found a wonderful surprise in my mailbox from a faraway country -- New Zealand.

Isn't it wonderful to see one's name on the envelope?

I found a truly beautiful card inside -- just my style and colors.

And then this amazing keyring with many pretty charms.

Here you see the kiwi, New Zealand's national bird, and a sheep. Did you know that New Zealand has nearly 50 million sheep nowadays?

The silhouette of New Zealand, a coin with the words New Zealand and its Maori name Aotearoa, and the Silver Fern, New Zealand's national plant.

The Silver Fern again, Maori art, and the golden heart of Jeni from A Jeni Design -- the lovely lady who sent me this wonderful gift.

I love Jeni's signature -- and her artwork and photography is outstanding. Be sure to visit her blog. Jeni, thanks so much -- I love all these charms.

My Top Ten Books of 2012 & Book Prize

In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2012:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (5/5)
2. Blue Monday by Nicci French (5/5)
3. Still Life by Louise Penny (4/5)
4. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (4/5)
5. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (4/5)
6. Fear Itself by Elena Santangelo (5/5)
7. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (5/5)
8. Finding Sky by Joss Stirling (5/5)
9. Iron House by John Hart (4/5)
10. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (5/5)

Once again it was hard to pick only ten favorites, but now I am happy with my list. Do we happen to share any favorites?

Another thing which has recently made me happy was finding a book in mail box. It's a prize I won during the German blogging event Blogger schenken Lesefreude (bloggers give reading joy). The first thing I saw was Remy from Disney's Ratatouille congratulating on the envelope.

I was also thrilled to see so many beautiful stamps.

Deborah from Deborahs Bücherhimmel (Deborah's Book Sky) wrote some personal words which made me smile. She had asked to write about a lucky moment for the opportunity to win a book, and I chose to describe how I happened to be in the right place at the right time to take a special photo. As Deborah shares my love for taking photos, she chose me as winner. Thanks Deborah!

So now I own a copy of Das Glücksbüro (The Luck Office) by the German author Andreas Izquierdo. Who knows? Maybe it will end up being on my Top Ten list of favorite books in 2013.

Paris Card

Gail from Mind Wide Open has a new challenge for November. I really like the image of an elegant lady with the Eiffel Tower in the background, but the colors were a bit too pale for the card I had in mind. Thus I first digitally altered the original image.

I printed the picture and found the perfect background to bring it alive -- a soft yellow paper with flowers and butterflies.

I cut out additional butterflies and mounted them on the background for a dimensional look.

I also added gemstones to add some glamor to the black butterflies.

The word Paris got a little gemstone of its own. You can also see the pink and blue accents on the paper which I added with chalking inks.

I really like how the card turned out. I rarely have time to venture into card making, but thanks to Gail's great challenge I had great fun doing just that! For more Paris art, be sure to visit Mind Wide Open. You can even vote for your favorite creation.

Love is in the air

Moo-Mania has the perfect challenge theme for this time of the year -- love. My first moo is a true digital doodle so to speak -- I simply played around with brushes I had previously created. Moreover, I chose colors which aren't normally associated with love.

Everlasting Love is a more traditional approach to the theme. For this moo I used a texture background, a couple silhouette by Dover Publications (do you know their free samples?), and a vintage picture of hand holding a rose which is part of a collage sheet by Retro Café Art Gallery which I received for free taking part in their Valentine's Day contest with my Love Bandit tag.

Another graphic from the collage sheet inspired me to make a Valentine's Day card. I printed the sweet girl in her heart dress, placed her on a heart so that she seems to be balancing on it, and added a few elements here and there to give the card depth.

She looks down at her pretty heart.

A red rose.

A pompom on top of her hat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

K is for Kindness, L is for Love

Last week I didn't get around to post for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday in time, so here's a double post for K and L. Kindness and love -- two great words with Valentine's Day around the corner. Two words which are so much more than words. After all, you can't take kindness and love for granted or rely on them being there forever. All the more, that's a reason to say thanks for acts of kindness and love whenever possible. Today I want to seize the occasion and thank Peggy from Peggy's Mixed-Up Art! I was one of the lucky people who won an art calendar made by her.

Peggy made great use of that keepsake photo album calendar, starting with a cheerful cover.

Don't you want to join these kids playing games?

A Valentine's Day sweetheart.

Dear Marie Antoinette: "She has communication issues."

Spring is in the air!

So very elegant.

A perfect day indeed.

Gotta love Peggy's humor!

Splendid August.

Back to school in September (at least here in Bavaria).

A sweet girl in October.

Pure joy of living in November.

Joyful December.

Isn't Peggy's whimsical art calendar just fabulous? It now has a place of honor in my kitchen. Another thanks goes to Kathy from Running With Rocket. She recently gave away a packet of dark chocolate-covered pecans and walnuts. Delicious -- a great Valentine's Day treat!

I also put something in the mail these days. A friend recently had a baby boy, so a card ...

... and some tiny gloves are on the way to her.

I also put the Oktoberfest T-shirt in the mail and hope that Jo-Ann will like it.