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

Valentine's Recipe Card

 Sorry for the wonky photo, I took this photo on a cloudy day and couldn't seem to get rid of the shadows. This 5x7 card began with a herringbone background that was made with strips of SU! retired designer papers. I stamped the Penny Black Valentine recipe card along with the little mug and pot as well as a Unity Alfie stamped image, coloring with Copics and a red glaze pen. I fussy cut the mug and pot and placed them on die-cut stitched circles of silver mirri card. I backed the 2 images with light grey and dark grey cardstock and added a few glittered punched hearts done with 2 SU! mini punches. The heart borders were done with a Martha Stewart punch and I added pink hearts in the negative spaces. I added some silver sparkly washi tape and embossed the top and bottom of the card base with a (r) mini hearts embossing folder from SU!. This Valentine took a while to put together but it's worth it because it's been sent to a couple who will soon be celebrating their 50th anniversary.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Cardz4Guyz #340 - Love

Try it on Tuesday - Hearts and/or Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Love is in the Air

the Male Room Challenge #183 - Valentine or use a Heart

the Double D Challenge - Heartfelt

The PBSC February Penny Black Saturday Challenge - A/G *optional wings

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day today filled with sunshine and lots of love!

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

Autumn Birthday Cards

I pulled out a very old Spellbinder's leaf die and cut 2 leaves with some glittered green cardstock snippets I wanted to use up and made a couple of cards. I embossed a black strip of cardstock with a Darice Autumn leaves embossing folder and added 2 die-cut green checked panels on the sides by using a MFT notched border die. The sentiment is pre-printed from SSS and I added a twine bow to the leaf. I added some black Nuvo drops to the 2nd card just to add a little interest.

I'll share with the following challenges:

the Allsorts Challenge week #745 - A/G or use die cuts

Can You Handle the Pressure? -A/G using an embossing folder with an optional twist of "trees."

The Male Room Challenge #145 - Leaves

Wishing everyone a pleasant day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

 

Another Masculine Birthday Card

I found it difficult to photograph this card  for some reason, but it looks much better in real life. The Stampendous image was inked with Versamark and stamped on a sturdy kraft remnant; then embossed with gold ep, adding a little bit of coloring with markers and Copics. I used a piece of Pacific Point cardstock for the base and added a strip of matching polka dot paper for the SSS pre-printed sentiment. I found some glitter gold die-cut bits leftover from a previous cutting and added them just for a little sparkle and fun.

 Here's another photo angle but unfortunately neither one clearly shows the card the way I hoped it would appear. 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Craft Rocket Challenges #106 - animals

Critter Crazy Challenge #77 - A/G featuring a critter

We Love Stamping August Challenge - Masculine

Triple AAA Birthday Challenge #52 - A/G Birthday

The Male Room Challenge #177 - Dots and/or Stripes

That's it for me today but here's wishing you a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

 I have a masculine card to share today that was quite simple to make. I used 3 snippets from a paper pad that were small enough to cut into 3 different sized circles and split them in half creating this design. The background was embossed with a Tim Holtz wood grain embossing folder and I added a stamped Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment in Early Espresso ink to match the card base. The snippet used to back the sentiment was also Early Espresso. The final touch was to add 3 gemstones in brown and tan colors.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #460 - A/G - must use snippets

The Male Room Challenge #177 - Use Dots and/or Stripes (Dots are on the tan circle)

Can You Handle the Pressure? - A/G embossing *optional Nautical

Thanks for dropping by today and have a great Sunday!

Carol

Sailing Away

 Thinking of cool water can add a little bit of relief in these hot summer temperatures, so I pulled out 2 different Sweet 'n Sassy stamp sets to make this card.  I colored the stamp with different Memento inks and stamped it onto white, adding Copic marker accents to the image with assorted shades of blue to give it a water colored look without doing actual water coloring. The sky was done with T.E. cloud stencils and some tumbled glass ink. The sentiment was stamped on a Lil Inker stitched die cut and the image was backed with navy cardstock.

I'll share this with the following challenges:

 The Allsorts Challenge Blog Week #738 - Summer Blues

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #327 - On The Water

The Male Room Challenge #176 - Travel

Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge for July - A/G

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're managing to keep cool where you live. Have a great day!

Carol

Birthday Clock

 While sorting through my stash, I found a few pre-printed cards that someone gifted me with a few years ago and decided it was time to use them. I chose this pattern design because the Impression Obsession clock fit perfectly inside of the printed pattern. I cut the clock from grey, black, white and blue cardstock and swapped all the negatives to put it together. I placed it all on a dark green card base which matches the printed color, and added a pre-printed SSS sentiment which I layered on black and fishtailed the ends with a hexagon punch. This went to my cousin who repairs clocks so I thought it was a perfect birthday card for him.

I'm sharing it with the Male Room Challenge #159 which is "clocks"

Thanks for the visit. I hope everyone is staying warm in this cold snap.

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

Father's Day Card

 Yesterday was father's day and this card has been received, so I'm sharing it now. The background was done with a GMD water stencil and some distress ink. If you click the photo to enlarge, you can see the fishnet stamped image along the bottom that was done with some light, sandy colored ink. The image was stamped with Versamark ink on some brown cardstock and heat-embossed with white ep. I colored in some of the elements with glaze pens and added some clear Nuvo drops to represent water bubbles. The starfish was a die-cut from Marianne and I colored in the embossed dots with a white gel pen.

I'm sharing this with:

The Male Room Challenge#151 - Dads and Grandads

The Double D Challenge - Signs of Summer

I hope all the dads out there had a great father's day yesterday!

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a pleasant week ahead!

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

Snow Fun

 I have a fun wintry card to share today, made with a very old SU! set called Holiday Hedgehogs from (gasp) 2001! It's probably the oldest stamp set I have. The image was colored with Copics, adding liquid applique and diamond stickles for snow, along with some clear wink of stella on the hedgie snowman. The papers are from the Fancy Pants Timbergrove paper pad, and the snowflake accent was done with a Lawn Fawn stitched snowflake die. The gemstones are from GinaMarieDesigns and the card base is SU! Pool Party.

I'm sharing this card with 

the Retro Rubber Challenge #150- Winter Wonderland

The Male Room Challenge #146

There's no snow here yet where I live, but I'd imagine we'll have some before winter's over. Thanks for checking in today and I wish you a wonderful weekend ahead!

Carol

Child's Valentine

 While sorting through my box of pre-made "scraps" I came across this stamped image and decided it would make a cute valentine for one of 2 little boys I send cards to. I colored it with Copics and a red glitter pen then cut it with a stitched square die. I found a snippet of Lawn Fawn dsp with tiny hearts that I liked, but it was too small to cover the whole card front, so I cut it into 2 pieces and added a stamped sentiment of X's and O's at the bottom. I used a retired SU! set called "Oh Goodie" for that. Sorry it's a bit crooked - it seems as I've gotten older I stamp or place everything slightly crooked anymore - in spite of using a stamping device to avoid that problem ???

 I'll enter this into the following challenges:

The Male Room Challenge #146 - animals

Addicted to Stamps and More #396 - make your mark (use markers)

Pixie's Snippets Playground #394 - use snippets (dsp)

2 Crafty Critter Crazies January 2021 challenge - use a critter

The House that Stamps Built challenge J131 - anything goes

Thanks for joining me on my journey to sort through my craft supplies and make cards again. I seem to be doing more crafting than purging but that's OK - at least I'm being productive in some small way :)

Have yourself the best possible day!

Carol

Christmas Gnome

 I just love the little gnomes and can't seem to stop using them on my cards. My card today includes a gnome that was cut with a Simon Says Stamp die and placed on a Lawn Fawn die-cut tag, and decorated with traditional colors of red, green, and white. The sentiment is from a retired SU! set and the mini ric-rac is from my stash. The plaid designer papers are from Lawn Fawn.

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

Dies R Us #158 - Christmas

Cardz 4 Guyz #259 - traditional Christmas

the Male Room #145 - use Tartan & Plaid

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fun with Dies

Like a lot of you, I am hustling to finish making and sending my Christmas cards on time, but I seem to go through this each and every year.  😧

Thanks for stopping by and make it a good day whatever you're doing.

Carol

Woodgrain Birthday Card

I thought I had this new blogger figured out, but today it wants to underline everything I type and changes the font color to blue, so I'm going to keep this post brief before I lose my sanity! This is the third attempt at posting it without blue fonts and underlined text! I had to revert back to the old blogger format to get it to do what I wanted it to do!

This card was made with snippets of woodgrain dsp, kraft and vanilla cardstocks, a GMD Venetian Label die set and a Stampendous sentiment. The stars were done with gold mirror card and a retired mini punch from SU!

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

The Male Room Challenge #141 - birthday card

Just Us Girls Challenge #548 - die cut a window

Craft Rocket Challenge #73 - birthday

Snippets Playground challenge #384 - use snippets

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - use your favorite tool (Tonic paper cutter)

Crafty Calendar Challenge - August anything goes

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a good weekend!

EDIT: If you have questions, please leave a way for me to contact you in your comments. For M-A Lynch who asked if there is a technique for making this card, I used this YouTube link.

Carol

Golfer's Birthday Card

I made this card for a friend of ours who plays golf as often as he can. I sponged the sky with tumbled glass ink to create clouds and added some grass and tall grass with SNSS dies. The golf ball is a die-cut circle that's embossed with little hexagons and placed on a hand-cut red golf tee. The sentiment was computer generated.

I'm sharing this with the Male Room challenge #130 - sport

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful weekend!

Carol

Masculine Thanks

I found this cool punched border in my snippets box recently and decided to use it to make a thank-you card based on the Retro Rubber Sketch challenge found here. I altered the sentiment a bit, but I'm happy with how this turned out. I lined the punched border with a black panel and used a Nestabilities Labels 2 die set to make the sentiment panel. I recently treated myself to a new stencil from GMD called Weave Pattern, and used it to create the background with some Smoky Slate ink. The sentiment is my favorite one from SU! and was retired in 2015 so it's old, but still stamps beautifully every time I use it. The enamel dots are also from GMD and that's really all this card needed.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Retro Rubber Challenge #137 - sketch

Retro Rubber is also partnering this challenge with the

Double Trouble Challenge #59 - a 3,2,1 Recipe

NBUS Challenge #15 - use never before used schtuff (stencil)

The Male Room Challenge #139 - use die cuts

Make My Monday Challenge #25 - use stencils

Repeat Impressions Anything Goes Challenge #J2420

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

Thanks for checking in today and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Carol