New Year , New Paths, New Hopes and a New Steampunk Challenge

 Hi, servus and thanks for stopping by my quiet creative corner! I hope you've all had lovely holidays and I wish for us all that 2021 will bring everything we've been hoping for! 

Those who have been following me might already know that I have been struggling hard with health issues (mainly caused by menopause in combination with my chronic thyroid illness) during the last twenty months or so - panic attacks and nervousness with shaky hands having made crafting almost impossible at times. I am now trying to tackle that differently (after having tried different ways of medication during the last months which turned out to cause severe side effects instead of improving health) by seeing a therapist (so much better than flooding the body with chemicals it obviously cannot take) and I believe that things will get better step by step - maybe slowly but for good and with a lot of improvement on the personal side. 

That will very likely also lead to new, different ways of living and expressing my creative side I guess...my main goal with this is that I will get back to enjoying the creative process - free from any pressure or struggle with shaky hands and nervousness. During the last months I have already cut back when it comes to design team work, but luckily my favourite design teams I am on are very understanding and wait for me to return! 

Speaking of design teams - our first challenge for 2021 has just launched over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges and there are some changes there as well: due to Corona pandemic DecoArt cannot send out prize bundles for now. As requests on certain products have exploded during Corona pandemic, they had to adapt to that and cut back on other specific product lines - one of these being our prize bundle paints and products. DecoArt and I have decided to switch to two-months long challenges until everything is back to normal (which we all hope will be in or around April) and prizes can be shipped out again as usual. We will of course draw prize winners for all our challenges, but ask our DecoArt prize winners to be patient as their prizes will be sent out later this year. 

My mojo is still on vacation - not only because of my health issues...but also because I am currently busy with moving in our newly bought holiday home at Lake Atter in the beautiful Austrian Salzkammergut!!! My husband and I were incredibly lucky to find and buy our dream house in our dream location this autumn - I am still pinching myself! It's not a big house - but it has everything we need and is a modern house made totally of wood! I love that! And it offers everything I had wished for - located close to a lot of hiking trails and even a skiing piste, just a two minutes drive from the lake, with forests and mountains and the view at the lake (and the very top of the amazing Dachstein glacier) just around the corner! 

But back to mojo and challenges - I am sharing this older steampunk project to inspire our steampunk challenge players; one that hasn't been shared via the challenge blog but on the Calico Craft Parts blog - HERE. There is a full tutorial to find there as well as loads of images and a list of products used. 

It's a notebook I've made using one of Eileen Hull's cool book dies and Calico Craft Parts. The metal and weathered effects were created using DecoArt and DecoArt media paints and products (more info on these in the blog post over at Calico Craft Parts). 

The covers were die cut from heavy grey board and I found some little journals that fit perfectly as signatures (so I do not need to make my own). 

Well, that's it from me so far! The team over at SASPC are waiting for your visit and entries! 

Make sure you check out the different rules that apply for our two-months long challenges (Maura, your current challenge host for January and February, explains everything in the blog post)! Good luck and joyful crafting!

Hugs and a successful, healthy and happy 2021!

Claudia

xxx