This challenge required some thinking on my part as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to create. In the end I used a stencil (newly acquired) by Simple Stories and inked up a 6 x 6 piece of CS. I used mostly Sweezed lemonade Distress Oxide with a touch of Twisted Citron and while the ink was still wet added some clear embossing powder which I heat set. Usually I will do it twice to get a smooth finish but in this card the slightly bubbled effect makes the lemons more realistic so I left it as is. I cut the panel down and decided to center it onto the card front. It needed something so I added a fine border with a Sakura Glaze pen and that helped it to pop more. The stamp set used for the martini glass is from Joy Clair as is the lemon slice. I stamped and fussy cut both, added some Nuvo Crystal drops to give more dimension and shine then popped it up with foam tape. The word is a die I’ve had for a while and think is from Sizzix but I’m not certain. I cut it twice once in yellow and once in black so I could offset slightly for more definition. Before I thought about blogging and such, I never figured I would need the product names for sharing with others so some of my older products are a bit of a mystery these days.

I still have another stenciled piece to use which is nice. I’m quite pleased with how this one turned out and join my prestigious stamping buddies in entering into the same challenge. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

My second post using a similar design for both masculine challenges. Actually this was my first attempt and my angled piece is on a different side to the previous post. In fact this card had to be corrected because I forgot to put a border piece underneath. To fix it I cut some thin strips and glued them carefully around the angles. I don’t have much in the way of boat stamps and this one from Hero Arts is technically a silhouette stamp. I stamped a mask first and cut it so that the hull and sails were separated. Then I stamped each section using the masks. The hull was stamped in black and the sails in blue and I went over one of the sails with a gel pen for more colour. Used a glitter pen in red for the flag and the stripe on the hull. I also used a wave stencil to add the water and the bird stamp is from Inspired by Stamping. Sentiment is Hero Arts and PP is from my stash, I think it is originally from CTMH. I’m quite pleased with both cards and they will be used quite soon as I have several masculine birthdays coming up.

Thanks for taking a look.

As I needed some masculine style cards for upcoming birthdays, these 2 challenges helped me to get going and make some. I ended up with two different cards for both challenges and will post the 2nd one after I’ve completed this post. For this one here I used up some old supplies and stamp sets. The PP is from a pad that I was gifted by someone and never really used much from it. I did think that this particular paper would be used eventually and obviously now is the time. As well I had been wanting to try this design style for a while so the challenges helped me with that too. I glued the PP to the card front and then played with the placement of the angled piece making sure there would be room to add my images before cutting it. Stamp sets used are an old GKD set for the truck, Hero Arts for the sentiment and the patterned squares are from an ancient set acquired so long ago I have no idea of the maker. The die cuts are from 2 different sets by MFT and I fussy cut the truck. I also added some Nuvo Crystal drops to the windows of the truck. Note to self is to remember that the liquid drops pick up colour from the inks which isn’t quite what was intended. I stamped the sentiment using an acrylic block which meant I couldn’t stamp it more than once. It wasn’t as dark as I wanted so I went over the words with a fine tip black pen.

Another beautiful day with even more heat has arrived. I love the sunshine and find my mood is always better in the warmer months, but after doing some weeding yesterday I realized that the ground is so dry that even the watering we are doing isn’t enough. I have to say that many are getting nervous and the fire situation is dire in several locations. One is raging out of control here on the island and a community has been virtually cut off due to the only road being closed. It is far enough away from us that we don’t have to worry, but the question is for how long will our area be safe? From our windows we can see the smoke haze over the mainland and we know that much of Canada’s smoke is drifting down into the States. Not nice for anyone.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good day everyone.

Lately I seem to have been collecting bits and pieces that have been made and not used or like this panel is piece leftover from a very different project. It is quite sparkly in real life and is on the darker side of peach but the photograph makes it look a bit orange.

I added it to an A4 card front and then cut some thin strips from a dark gray CS to edge it. Black was too harsh so the gray was a nice compromise. Sentiment is from a Hampton Bay set and I fussy cut it and added a bit of sparkle here and there. The butterfly is from an ephemera package. I added some thread to give it antenna.

A very easy and quick card because most of the work was already done before I started. One of my friends is recovering from some knee surgery so I think I shall send it to her with a nice message inside. Thanks for taking a look.

This is my take on a card I saw on Pinterest recently. I cannot attribute it because the post doesn’t give any information. Initially I thought I would make the die cut background a soft gray and build the other bits around it, but as you can see I reversed myself and made the background purple. I found some blue CS and some light gray CS in my stash that seemed close enough to the colour swatch and die cut several flowers using a Memory Box die called Layered Periwinkles. Then I layered the gray and blue together. After which I added them to the background piece. Using a darker gray scrap I die cut some leaves which are also from Memory Box but this time called Layered Impatiens. The sentiment is stamped in Hickory Smoke ink and is from a Hampton Art set.

I was supposed to go paddling in the Angels Abreast Dragon boat this afternoon, but the wind is too strong making it unsafe. Instead I’m crafting. Although we are having a lot of sunshine along with drought conditions, the wind is keeping things quite cool. A good soaking rain day would be great right now.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day.

In many ways this card happened by accident. I had viewed a couple of tutorials about using up scraps, checked out a card that looked interesting but now I cannot locate it to acknowledge its creator, and I needed a masculine style card for someone. The small banner die is from an unbranded set and is so thin that it is not very useful. Having the idea to use it on scraps seemed to me a good way to get some use out of it. Initially I was going to glue each strip in staggered lines butting each piece up against another. But I had the strips in my hand, which is sore today and promptly dropped them onto the white piece. They looked kind of interesting the way they scattered so I glued them that way. The white piece is the inside of a frame I used a while ago, the notes are stick-on puffy shapes I’ve had forever and the sentiment comes from one of my first purchases from GKD, and is quite old now. When I went to glue the layer onto the gray card front, it also fell and rather than try to straighten it I decided to leave it as is. Then I went around the whole thing with a black fine pen and over that with a glitter pen.

One card for two challenges makes me feel pretty good about myself. As I incorporated the double dare the card also works for a 3rd challenge too.

It is an okay card and in a way I like it, in another I don’t. It is certainly different and with my hands being the way they are it is fortunate I could create anything at all. Thanks for stopping by.

Links to the challenge blogs:

Just Add Ink #655…Add Music! – music notes and sentiment fulfill the requirement here.

Challenge #139 “We Dare You” Masculine Project partnering with Festive Friday – Plaids, die cuts and possibly the shape of the layer qualify this one.

There was almost too much to choose from in this mood board and it took my brain a while to decide what to focus on. In the end I decided on the colours and circles. Using some PP and dies from MFT, I ended up with these 4 circles. I added them to a 5″ square card and then looked for a butterfly to add on top. I chose one from an older StampinUP set that creates a pattern on the image and used a coral ink to stamp it. Fussy cut this and added it as you see. Added a few pops of Color dots to the body and a bit of thread for the antenna. Sentiment comes from the same set and was also fussy cut. As well I added a bit of sparkle here and there with a Sakura pen. I found another tiny butterfly from some PP that I fussy cut and added at the top left corner. I think the gingham PP creates interest without overpowering so follows the mood board in a different way than using a stencil. I managed to get the card finished before the challenge ends thankfully.

The card looks complicated, but was actually very easy to put together. The hardest part was my glue bottle as it decided to clog at the fine tip and it took me ages to free it.

Thanks for dropping in, I appreciate it.

Our current challenge at cardz4galz is to make a slimline birthday card and I came up with this one. For the images I used an old stamp set by Inkadinkado along with a sentiment from Hampton Art. Dies are Hero Arts Infinity and the tiny swirls are from Crafter’s Companion. The swirls and small circles were cut from an inked background I made some time ago and was a leftover scrap. The larger background circles I already had on my desk and I inked them with Distress Oxides to give a border for the other pieces. The two lighter green circles are a paint chip and the dark green is from my stash. The background paper is from an old pad and I added a brushing of gold paste here and there to grunge it a little. Embellishments from my stash. Every circle is popped up, either on a double layer of foam or a single, so the dimension varies. I also added a little perfect pearls shimmer powder so it has a slight sheen when tilted in the light. The idea for this card came from a Pinterest upload.

I am entering the card in the TripleB challenge which calls for birds, blooms and butterflies, either all three or just one element. Mine has the butterflies but I’m not sure if seed heads qualify as a bloom?

I hope you all have a great day and thanks so much for popping in to take a look.

Well one couldn’t get easier than this card or more CAS in my world. The die is a new one from Your Next Stamp that I was looking forward to using, and the bee stamp is from Kitchen Sink received as a thank you gift with purchases. I debated using black CS for the card base but in the end went with white.

First I cut the hive section using a scrap piece of yellow CS. To ensure I kept all the pieces together I lifted it from the machine using low tack tape, added glue and then straight onto the card base. I popped the card into my Misti once glue had dried and stamped the bee in black several times. Added the sentiment which is from an MFT set called itty bitty basics and the card was done. So simple and so quick. There is another idea I had planned to try but it requires much more work and in the interest of time I decided quick and simple was best.

Thanks for stopping by, I do appreciate all of you.

I don’t play in the Krafty Chicks challenges as often as I would like, so it is nice to have a card that fits their current challenge. The embossed background is a new folder that I was given and is unbranded. I ran it through and then used a sponge to add a bit of colour over the raised bubble edges. I also edged the card with ink. The rings were cut in a group using Hero Arts infinity dies and I had done them as a test. They stayed linked together so I separated them just enough to be able to add glue and stick them onto the background. For a day or two I wasn’t sure how I wanted to use the panel but when putting some items away I found my StampinUp otter set and I thought they would look cute. I coloured them with pencils after stamping and then fussy cut the images and added them to the panel as you see. The sentiment was also cut with an unbranded banner die after it was stamped.

The past few days have been spent cleaning my craft room and doing some gardening so it is good to get back to creating for an hour or two this afternoon. And as an aside, otters look cute and are fun to watch in the wild, but they are terrible if they get onto your boat as they did recently on ours. The stink was unbelievable and it took hours to clean up the mess. We brought home the cockpit mats to clean them outside and fortunately Oxyclean worked its magic and all stains came out. Needless to say we have found way to barricade the area we think they got in.

Hope you are all enjoying some decent weather and thanks for taking a look.