Happy Mail Steampunk and Other Goodness

Hi, servus and welcome to my post for today's launch of our May challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges! 

Some of you may already know that I have spent six days in hospital about three weeks ago after I had to be taken to the emergency room where I was diagnosed of having extremely high blood pressure. I was monitored, checked through and they started adjusting medication (which - as those of you who are dealing with this too will know - can be a procedure of several weeks to months). Back home with the new meds hitting right in I haven't been feeling too well during the last weeks to be honest. Crafting wasn't a choice at all as I have been struggling (besides other symptoms) with very shaky hands most of the time...but gladly wonderful Kerstin, from Scrapbook Dreams, who is on our SASPC design team too and a beloved friend of mine, saved me from having nothing inspirational to share today by sending me a surprise "get well" parcel with some handmade treasures to cheer me up - and I will be sharing her makes today instead for your inspiration (and to show off with them of course ;)

So this is a "happy mail" AND inspirational design team post for our steampunk challenge blog at the same time - the beautiful projects presented are just not made by me, but by awesomely talented Kerstin, whose art I truly admire as I always find it truly inspiring (as it is  highly textural and inspired by nature mostly) and - most of all - wonderfully story-telling and magical.

I received a most wonderful collection of Easter, nature and steampunk themed projects - even the box these came in was a work of art! But let's start with these stunning steampunked Easter eggs!

They came like this: beautifully arranged on a little nest made from various fibres and scraps from old book pages - and each egg a masterpiece by itself!

These are just breathtakingly cool, right?

I already loved how Kerstin had arranged the eggs in the box and decided to leave them like this (and put them on my sideboard), but when I took a closer look while admiring the eggs I found that there were two more gift wrapped goodies "hidden" behind the smaller eggs! Wow!

These were two amazing ATCs Kerstin had created using real dried plants in a most fascinating way. I hope she will some day share on her blog how she did them ;)

I also received a lovely hand made card...

...that shows Kerstin's love for scrapbooking (which is something I can't do and therefore really admire)...

...and this fantastic dimensional Mixed Media Tag on which Kerstin has built a little shelf to arrange some Easter decoration on!

I just love the shabby chic look and the delicately vintage colours she chose and the gorgeous arrangement on that fabulous shelf! So beautiful, isn't it?

Just look at the divine crackle

and all the gorgeous leaves and garlands!

But there was still more to be discovered and to be oooh-ed and aaaah-ed over! The box lid itself was pure eye candy and a true work of art! Kerstin knows that I love bugs and nature in general - just like she does - so she had used a cool plastic beetle on it and created a kind of "natural environment" for it.

So, so freakin' cool! I have now put the box lid up on a wall in our living room (right above my beloved little wooden wren that I found at a flea market in Bad Ischl):

Oh, my goodness! Yummy texture everywhere! 

That reminded me of some other fabulous creations Kerstin had sent me last year. (I was convinced I already had posted these on my blog, but then checked and couldn't find any according post in my blog's archive...so I obviously had just planned to write the post, had already uploaded the images I wanted to use... and then forgot...Shame on me and that lousy scatterbrain of mine! So sorry, Kerstin!)

She had used a bug on one of these projects too:

This is how the whole project looks like:

She had used corrugated card, some of my favourite colours, gears and cogs, nature objects and MDF laser cut pieces and combined all of these in her own unique and beautiful way! Kerstin really knows how to make me happy ;)

Along with this beauty I also got two gorgeous door hangers that I use on my studio door at times. But most of the time they are displayed on one of my shelves right opposite my work desk, so I see them every day.

This is how my sideboard looks right now:

All the love and effort Kerstin always puts into creating all these beauties show through and make her work shine and breathe.

I am afraid I cannot explain any better...but this is something I see with almost everything she creates and shares on her blog (and luckily with me). She puts her heart and lots of thought into her creations and I can see and feel that when looking at her art. This is something I have developed over the years as an arts teacher. I could always tell when a pupil had done a project other than wholeheartedly and my pupils were always amazed by it and wondered how I could tell (especially how I could tell when they had tried to just do their projects as "the job they had to do" - even if they had been done quite neatly)...just from looking at their finished projects. I always said to them that I loved a piece of art when it showed  a quality that made this piece of art "more than the sum of its parts", alive and touching. Something that cannot be defined by a level of artistry or skill. Something much more important! (and I hope that at least some of my pupils over the years understood what I was trying to tell them...and teach them for their own journeys as creatives).

Kerstin's art always speaks to me in this specific way - and that is something I just love so much about it! So now being the proud owner of some of her magical pieces makes me really happy and feeling truly blessed.

Thank you so much, Kerstin! Mwah, mwah, mwah! XXX

***

Dear steampunk challenge friends and blog readers, please, forgive me if I have become a bit sentimental. Jus' gimme a sec to pull myself together...erhemm...yes...the May challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges is awaiting your entries. There are more wonderful inspirational projects created by the design team waiting to be checked out and the team and I are looking forward to be blown away by your entries once again.

I hope you are all well and feel happy and cared for!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx