Born Free

 I CASED a friend's card (who no longer blogs) to make this one, and used some remnants of striped papers from my stash along with a snippet of distressed dsp. for the image panel. I stamped the image of the horse (I think it's by Inkadinkado) on the distressed panel, and matted it with grey and placed it off the edge, adding an ancient large metal brad that SU! made years ago. I placed a decorative metal brad inside that for a rustic masculine look. The sentiment is by Mark's Finest Papers (no longer in business) and I added 2 tiny silver metallic stickers just for fun.

Here's how I decorated the inside with another MFP stamped image, sentiment, and a strip of matching dsp.

Sharing with the CardsforGuyz #352 challenge - Metals, Colors, Hardware 

as well as the Snippets Playground #485 - must use snippets

Thanks for the visit and I wish you a wonderful day.

Carol

Happy Father's Day

 I have a simple masculine card to share with you today, made with an unbranded stitched frame and some snippets of paper and cardstock. The woodgrain paper is from a very old Tim Holtz paper pad, and the white panel (cut with a Lil Inker Stitched rectangle) was cut from a snippet of white. The gold embossed sentiment is from SU!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes and was placed on 2 panels done with retired SU! punches. I finished this with 3 copper brads and placed it on a dark brown card base.

Today I fondly remember my father, two grandfathers and my husband on this day we set aside to honor fathers. I hope they are all enjoying a heavenly father's day along with all the other great fathers in this world today.

I'm sharing this with the Allsorts Challenge #785 which is Masculine or the option of A/G

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/06/week-785.html

Some of you have mentioned you're able to link again with blogger but it hasn't happened for me yet unfortunately, so I'll just have to copy and paste the link underneath the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Happy Father's day to all of the dads in the world today as well.

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

 I'm pulling older supplies from my stash and having fun with them. 

I found a half-used pad of Black Magic cardstock if anyone remembers that gem from years gone by? It's heavy black cardstock on one side with pastel colors on the other side. If you emboss and then sand it, those pastel colors magically appear on the black side. I found one piece that was white on the reverse side so I embossed that side with a CB diamond plate EF and lightly  swiped an ink pad of Brilliance Platinum Planet ink over it to add a touch of shimmery glow to the raised portions of the embossing.  Next I took a piece of that same cardstock and flipped it to the black side, cutting it with a Gina Marie Designs Venetian label, embossed it with the same EF, then sanded it to show the off-white colors. I die cut the GMD Birthday sentiment with gold mirror card and added the small deer head done with a DiesRUs die and a snippet of light brown cardstock.

I'll share this with the Male Room Challenge #185 - embossing

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol

Mondays Suck

Happy Monday to you! I am blessed to have generous, thoughtful friends who send me stamped images and die cuts to make cards with, and the stamped image and sentiments for this card came from one of those dear friends. (Thank you again) I have no idea who makes them, but I thought they were hilarious and just perfect to post on a Monday Morning.

I used snippets of green and blue designer papers that I've had for years and colored the image with Copics to match the papers.  The main image was cut with a stitched square and I placed a snippet of matching blue card behind it. I found some tiny white stars left over from previous die cuts and added them to the coffee cup putting an itty bitty blue gem in the center star. I finished the card with some black Nuvo Drops.

 Here's the inside sentiment which I found as funny as the one on the outside.

This might depict just how I feel about rainy day Mondays LOL

I will share this card with the following challenges:

Make My Monday Challenge #218 - use your patterned paper

the Male Room Challenge #182 - Funny/Pun

It's been a while since I've seen the sunshine with all of this rainy, dreary dismal weather lately, so I figured I might as well laugh about it until the sun finds it's way back to us again. Thanks for stopping by and have a good Monday whatever you do. Keep smiling 😊

Carol

Masculine Retirement

 I had a request to make a retirement card for a gentleman who always enjoyed deer hunting and this is what I made for him. I used some retired SU! woodgrain papers along with some gold glitter paper, black cardstock and a die-cut deer stag by KaiserCraft. The card base layer was done with Lil Inker stitched rectangles while the oval scalloped frame was done with GinaMarieDesigns dies while the horizontal stitched panel behind the oval was done with a MFT die. The SU! Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment (2009-2010) was heat-embossed with gold ep and cut with a MFT fishtail banner die.

Sharing this with the following challenge

The Allsorts Challenge week #757 - stitching, Real or Faux

Thanks for stopping by and I hope life is being good to you in your part of the world. Have a great weekend!

Carol

For the Game Enthusiast

 Here's a birthday card I made for my BIL who is a cards/game enthusiast. He likes to play poker, cards and board games, so this retired SU! dsp was made for his card. I cut the paper into strips and fishtailed the bottoms by using a hexagon punch and placed them on a red card base. The main panel and sentiment were cut using Gina Marie Designs dies and the birthday sentiment was cut with some red glitter paper. I added some black Nuvo drops randomly to finish this card.

I'm sharing with the AAA Birthday Game #55 - use a large sentiment.

also the Happy Little Stampers November Birthday challenge - A/G birthday

I hope you're off to a good start of another week and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Rock Star

 I found this pre-printed sentiment in my snippet box and built the card around it. I started with a kraft card base and stenciled some mosaic stars on it with a SSS stencil and some antique linen ink. I also found a strip of dark brown cardstock in my snippets box and embossed it with a tiny hearts embossing folder, then cut it in 2 unequal portions, adding 3 punched stars in between them done with gold mirror cardstock and a retired SU! mini star punch. I added a piece of the gold mirror card beneath the sentiment and fishtailed the ends and called this one done. I think it will make a good card for a teen boy so this will go into my stash of ready-made cards.

I'll share with these challenges:

Cardz 4 Guyz #331 - Stars

Can You Handle the Pressure? - A/G embossing with an optional twist of bees

September Stencil Fun - A/G with a stencil - optional "fall"

The Snippets Playground #463 - must use snippets

Thanks for stopping by. It's a rainy day in PA and we'll have more tomorrow, so it's time to get inky!

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

My friend's husband (who loves to work with wood) is having a birthday soon, so I made this card for him. I kept it simple, adding some woodgrain embossing with a Tim Holtz EF on a MFT die-cut fishtail banner, then doing some stenciling on the bottom panel with a GMD weave stencil. I added a snippet of dark brown cardstock with 2 golden square brads, and tied some copper colored cord around the sentiment panel. For the finishing touch, I added a few dots of gold Stickles here and there.

I'll share this card with the following challenges:

Can you Handle the Pressure? - A/G using an embossing folder with *opt. trees

The September Stencil Challenge - A/G using a stencil with *opt. Fall

the Allsorts Challenge #746 - Masculine or *opt. A/G

That's going to be it for me today and it's a gorgeous day here in PA today! Thanks so much for stopping by and have yourself a great day whatever your weather is.

Carol

Father's Day Card

I made this father's day card for a neighbor of mine who loves the outdoors and hunting. I printed the digital camouflage paper as well as the digital ticket sentiment. I added a bit of green coloring to the sentiment panel to go along with the background. I die cut the card base and background with Lil Inker stitched rectangle dies, and then die cut a stag head with a Frantic Stamper die and some gold mirror card. The embellishments are from SU!

Here's a 2nd photo that adds a bit more light to the finished card.

Here's a 3rd photo showing the inside. This too was a printed digital sentiment

I'm sharing this with the Allsorts Challenge week # 733 - A/G with an option of Blooms, Bees, and/or Butterflies

also sharing with the Critter Crazy Challenge #75 - A/G featuring a critter

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE!

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol

Father's Day Card

 With Father's day approaching very soon, I decided to start working on those cards and here's the first one I came up with. I used snippets of grey and white cardstock to make the panels along with some die-cut blue water and a notched border. Since I don't have many options for Father's Day sentiments, I printed this digital ticket sentiment and colored it in with matching markers. The lower embossed panel was a snippet of grey, done with a Spellbinders M-bossabilities folder that I've had for a long time. I sponged on some Pumice Stone ink to darken the shoe prints a wee bit. The upper panel was a snippet of white cardstock that I covered with a piece of aluminum foil and embossed with a Cuttlebug diamond plate ef. The blue notched border was done with a MFT die, while the watery waves were done with a SNSS die. The person this is intended for loves the water and still works, so I thought all the elements would work.

I'll share this with the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground Challenge #455 -must use snippets

Can You Handle the Pressure? - A/G with embossing *optional twist - birds

the Allsorts Challenge #730 - Use a stencil or alternative A/G

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - add a sentiment

On May 29th we celebrate Memorial day not only as summer begins, but mainly to remember our fallen heroes who gave their lives for our freedom. We should never forget that all gave some; while some gave all. Freedom comes with a cost. Heartfelt thanks to those who served and to those who continue to serve. May God bless you all.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Carol

Turning 75

My husband is celebrating his 75th birthday tomorrow and I quickly put this card together for him after nearly forgetting to make his card as the month of September just flew by in a whoosh! He's always loved horses, so I  stamped a Serendipity horse image on the corner of the card base, coloring with Copics and fine line markers. I used a snippet of SU! retired striped dsp and added a MFT notched die with a snippet of kraft for the border. I used another snippet of SSS white embossed cardstock and die-cut it with a MFT stitched circle die, then added the I.O. die cut numbers cut from a snippet of gold matte cardstock. I added some tiny gold beads along with a pre-printed sentiment backed with a matching snippet of kraft.

 I had another small snippet of striped dsp left so I cut it and adhered it to the envelope flap to make the card a wee bit more festive.

Whew! Just under the wire I have his card made, that was cutting it close!

I'll enter this card into the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #437 - must use snippets

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - card + matching envelope

Seize the Birthday#247 - A/G with an option of food

Allsorts Challenge week 695 - A/G w/option of  spots and/or stripes

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all enjoy this first week of beautiful fall weather!

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

 I made this card for my brother-in-law who will be turning 81 soon. I die-cut the numbers using SU! large number dies (r) and heat-embossed them with silver and gold embossing powder; using an older (r) SU! mini background stamp set. I matted the black piece with some gold matte cardstock, then matted that piece with a piece of mirror silver card. The striped dsp is (r) from SU! and the pre-printed sentiment was purchased from Simon Says Stamp.

I'll enter this into these challenges:

The Craft Rocket Challenge #96 - dots and/or stripes

( I used both dots and stripes)

The Happy Little Stampers September Anything goes with Dies Challenge

(I used the retired SU! large number dies)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one!

Carol

Time to Celebrate with a Cold One!

 I've been working out of my snippets box and trying to use up this insane stash I've accumulated over the years. Today's card makes use of some colorful strips of those snippets. I embossed each one with a WeRMemory Keepers gemstone 3D embossing folder and placed them on white cardstock. The beer mug is a stamp from Just For Fun rubber stamps and I colored it with Copics, adding clear wink of stella to the color on the mug. For the foam topping, I embossed it first with some gold sparkly embossing powder, then colored it in with a white glaze pen, and fussy cut the whole piece to pop up on foam tape to the card base. The sentiment is from Lil Inker, cut twice, layered, and covered with glossy accents for a little shine.

I'm sharing this with...

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #300 - congratulations

 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - make your own background

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is staying cool in this summer heat. I think I could use a cold mug of suds right now but we have none in the house! LOL

Have a great week ahead!

Carol

Father's Day

I pulled out a piece of teal colored designer paper and embossed it with a Spellbinder's Kickin' Rubber embossing folder, then sanded it for a rustic look. I stamped the boots from SU!'s Country Living (r) stamp set, then colored them with Copics and fussy cut them to place on the stitched square die. I dug into my stash to find this SU! hodgepodge hardware ribbon piece, and attached it to the side; adding a snippet of tan checked ribbon. The sentiment is from SU!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes, heat-embossed with gold, and placed on a die-cut Lil Inker stitched banner.

This card is for my husband who had a pony as a kid, and horses as an adult (many years ago) but he still has a love for horses, so I stamped this horse image on the inside...

 That's a very old but favorite horse image stamp by Serendipity, stamped in Smoky Slate ink on a Soft Stone card base.

I'll enter this card into the following challenges:

Let's Squash It! #21 - Make it Manly

Cardz4Guyz Challenge #298 - Father's Day

The Alphabet Challenge Blog - E is for Embossing wet or dry

Allsorts Challenge week #680 - any stamped image

Thanks for the visit and I wish you all a great week ahead!

Carol

Golf Anyone?

 I have a card today made with a person in mind who enjoys golf. He's also one who enjoys carpentry work, so I used a stitched die-cut frame along with a snippet of woodgrain designer paper. I added the green panel in the center to represent the golf course. The Tutti golf bag die was cut from white and vanilla; coloring the white with copics and adding the vanilla behind it. The club covers were cut from snippets of card and carefully glued on top of the clubs. The sentiment panel was die-cut with a Sweet 'n Sassy ticket die and stamped with a Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment. I added 3 star brads in gold, silver, and pewter on the side to give it a masculine touch. I put this on a soft stone card base and called it done.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #423 - use snippets

(golf club covers, sentiment panel, woodgrain frame, green panel)

Shopping our Stash #465 - Full Metal Jacket - use something metal or metallic (star brads)

NBUS #36- Never Before Used Schtuff - the golf bag die

Dies R Us challenge #188 - A/G using dies sold in their store

(the Tutti Designs Golf bag)

The Retro Rubber Tic Tac Toe Challenge #177 must use stamps older than 1 year ( Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment - at least 10 years old)

I used the vertical line on the left :

(metallics, pattern paper, birthday)

The past 2 days we've had weather hitting 70 degrees, and tomorrow morning they're calling for a dusting to an inch of snow. Crazy! 

I'm looking forward to the switch to daylight savings time next weekend regardless of the temperatures!

Thanks for stopping by and do have yourself a wonderful week ahead!

Carol

Birthday Card

 My brother-in-law has a birthday coming up and he has a cat that wandered onto his property several years ago and just stayed, apparently liking the accommodations. This cat has now become his pride and joy, so I thought I'd make him a card with a cat theme. He even added a little door so the cat can come and go as he pleases 😀

I started with a Penny Black image, coloring it with Copics and fussy-cutting it. The framework was done with HoneyBee square stitched frame dies (a gift I recently won in a generous blog prize) and I cut them from black and diagonal striped paper, staggering them slightly for a fun look. I made use of some shiny silver brads that have been lurking in my stash forever, and I used a silver sticker for the sentiment! The cardstock and matching envelope are Island Blue from Simon Says Stamp and I just LOVE this color!

I'll enter this into these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Card + Matching Envelope

Cardz 4 Guyz #280 - Add Some Metal

Seize the Birthday #223 - Faux or Real Stitching

NBUS #30 - never before used schtuff (the HoneyBee dies)

Eastern PA is due for some heavy rain, flooding, and storms throughout the day so it will be a good day to stay home and make cards.

Take care, and thanks for stopping by! Have the best possible day!

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

A friend of ours is a carpenter who loves to make things out of wood, so I made him a birthday card with some wood-themed papers by SU! (R). I used some SSS Island Blue card, and used a set of Lil Inker stitched rectangle dies to cut the dark brown and sentiment panels. The sentiment is an old stamp by Inkadinkado that I heat-embossed with brown ep and filled in with a white glaze pen to make it pop. I added 3 brads of gold, silver and copper, and added a few Stickle dots to coordinate. I kept it simple since this is one for the guys!

I'm entering into these two challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Stamp It!

Freshly Made Sketches #501

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and I wish you a fun day and a relaxing extended weekend!

Carol

 

Two Grumpy Dogs

I guess these cards reflect my state of mind lately with all that's going on in the world 😏 I felt the sarcasm building with each card I made for the final Twofer Challenge #41. I'm sad to see it go, but grateful for having it around for so long to inspire me to use my stash to create cards! Best wishes to Darnell and everyone else who's worked tirelessly to make this challenge so successful for so long! I'll miss you!

First up is Grumpy dog card #1 - from the Tim Holtz collection of Crazy dogs stamps and accessories. I added a balloon, hat and bowtie to make this masculine version, adding a few streamers from a GStudio $1 stamp set (anyone still have any of those?) and embossed them with gold, adding bright glaze pen colors to the confetti bits. The sentiment is a pre-printed one from SSS and the corners were done with an old retired SU! corner punch. I added turquoise/white twisted twine to them for fun. The dsp is retired from SU! and the card base is Island Blue from SSS. My hubby's birthday is next month and I may save this for him just for chuckles since he's been grumpier than me lately! Hah!

I'm also going to enter this card into this challenge:

The Male Room Challenge #153 - make a masculine-themed birthday card

Here is card #2 with Grumpy Dog! I was cracking up laughing as I made this one and found the most appropriate sentiment I could find to compliment his expression! 😊 He doesn't look anything like joyful, which is why I used it! I strung a little bone on some twine and added a little bow - can you tell he's just delighted with his measly "present?" 😇 For fun, I added a die-cut poppy Shasta twig and dotted it with sparkly red Stickles. The plaid paper is from Echo Park and I added some liquid applique to the fur on his Santa hat.

As if the card front isn't funny enough, I added this funny stamped sentiment inside the card for more laughs too. It's by Riley & Co's funny bones collection and I had to have it as soon as I saw it! 

I'm also going to enter this second card into the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #175 - A/G using dies from their store (the Poppy die)

 

NBUS #29 - Never Before Used Schtuff - The Riley & Co sentiment stamp

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Funny/Punny

(They're showcasing Riley & Co products this week)

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a happy week ahead with no grumpy dogs or people to make you frown! It takes less energy to smile than it does to frown anyway 😁

Carol

Summertime Blues

I had a small piece of pre-embossed double sided dual-colored cardstock on my table, so I tore it into strips and flipped the pieces to create some ocean water. I added a couple of die-cut sailboats from I.O. and colored them with blue markers, placing them between the torn strips. The clouds were done with a set of T.E. stencils and some tumbled glass distress ink. I added some Diamond glitter glue to the edges for a little sparkle, then added a stamped SNSS sentiment (Ocean Paradise 2009) on a Lil Inker stitched die cut. The stamped birds are from another SNSS set called "Serene Silhouettes" also from 2009.

I thought a close-up might show the sparkle but you get the idea 😉

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Summertime Blues

Cardz4Guyz #276 - Shades of Blue

the Happy Little Stampers August Stencil challenge - a/g

the Retro Rubber Challenge #164 - a/g must use stamps older than a year

Being near the ocean might be a good place to cool off as it's supposed to get steamy hot again today.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I wish you all a relaxing weekend!

Carol

 

the Happiest Day

 I made this card that will work for either father's day or a masculine birthday! I dug out my old Memory Box deer trio die and cut it from a piece of kraft cardstock. I took a piece of turquoise and embossed it with a retired SU! embossing folder and placed the deer on top, then framed it with a stitched die-cut frame and some dark espresso cardstock. The sentiment is a pre-printed one from SSS. I kept this one simple and chose not to add any embellishments.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - masculine

the Little Red Wagon #604 - make it masculine

The Male Room Challenge #151- Dads and Grandads

R.I. the House that Stamps built Challenge #J221 - all about the boys

the Color Hues Challenge #19 - blue & brown

Wishing you all a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Carol