TMR - Masculine Ribbon ....

....  I'm very, very late with this post for The Male Room challenge to make Ribbon masculine!  You've seen that my son and his girlfriend have been here for two weeks, well I got all my DT cards done ahead of their visit, but somehow forgot this one!!!  Silly me.

Yesterday morning, before the kids were up, I managed to get an hour in my craft room and made this card for them as a thank you for coming over to visit - it's safe to share now as they will have landed at Heathrow by now and seen the card!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy, Join Us
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Denim
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Rectangles #2 and #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Night of Navy; SU Burlap Ribbon; Wood embellishment (don't know who made this)

I used my favourite set for guy cards - Free Spirit Boy - I love the circles stamp and have used it often for cards for Ben.  I inked it up with Kaleidacolor ink and stamped randomly on white card.  I then cut out a large panel using the stitched rectangle die.  I attached some burlap ribbon and then adhered the panel to navy card with dimensional tape.  I stamped one of the tribal images on white card, cut it out with a smaller die and layered it onto some more navy card.  I finished the front with the fun wooden embellishment with the words "air mail" on it - seemed appropriate.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of navy and stamped a couple more tribal images and a simple sentiment.

For more inspiration of making masculine cards with ribbon - check out our blog to see what the rest of the team have made!  There's still plenty of time to join in the fun.

My plans today include spending some time in my craft room to make a few cards, get some washing done and tidy up a bit.  Jonathan and Kathryn are off to a music concert, at least that's what Kathryn calls it.  It's a local concert in Plymouth called Megafest.  Kathryn is so excited about it as several of her favourite bands are playing - I think Jonathan will be going with his noise cancelling headphones!!!  That's it for now!  Take care.

WMSFC - Sketch ....

...  Hi!  It's time for our new challenge at Waltzingmouse Fanatics Challenge - WMSFC#32 and we have a sketch for you to use.  I ended up making a couple of cards, here they are:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Tis the Season, Yonder Star Background, Festive Foliage, Oven Fresh Gingerbread, Very Vintage Christmas, Big Bloom Poinsettia, Elf Made, Secret Santa Set, Frosty in the Meadow, Alpine Village
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Shaded Lilac, Evergreen Bough, Tumbled Glass, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Sooty Black; Versmark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Pumpkin Pie; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Silver; SU Punch - Hexagon

I really liked the sketch when I drew it - I have to say I wasn't too keen on it once I started working on my cards!  I made the background by stamping Yonder Star BG in Versamark, heat embossing with clear powder and then inking with Distress pads.  I then removed the embossing powder by ironing with a hot, dry iron and lots of scrap paper.  I punched lots of white hexagons and stamped simple, graphic designs in black and then inked them each in bright colours.  I used a silver Wink of Stella brush to add some sparkle to all the images and lightly edged them all with black ink.  I finished the front with a simple, bold sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer in orange and stamped a Christmas greeting.

My second card is a little more clean and simple - but only a little!!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Yonder Star Background, Elf Made, Flurries, Little Deer
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Kaleidacolour - Fruit Cake; Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Smoky Slate; SU Punch - Hexagon
I didn't use nearly so many stamps on this card!  I punched the hexagons from plain white card, put temporary tape on the back to hold them in place and then stamped the Yonder Star background in these gorgeous colours.  On the card base I stamped some tree trunks and added a bird and bauble using the same colours.  I finished with a sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of grey card, stamped a flurry of snowflakes and finished with a bold sentiment.

For more inspiration using our sketch - check out the blog to see what Tara and Kathy have made.  That's all for now - see you soon.

52CCT - Pick a Previous Sketch ...

... Good morning!  It's the last Saturday in November and it's the fifth Saturday, so we have a bonus challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  We have a Pick a Previous challenge and Jacqueline has asked us to pick a previous sketch - you can find our previous sketches here.  I decided to go back to our July sketch for my card:

Stamps: Winnie & Walter - Winter Wonderland, The Big The Bold and The Merry
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Crumb Cake
Dies: Winnie & Walter - The Big The Bold and The Merry Cutaways
Accessories; White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Green Tinsel Embossing Powder; Studio Calico Wooden Snowflakes; Sequins

We did things a bit differently in July with a blog hop and I didn't use the sketch, so it was nice to be able to make a card based almost exactly on the sketch.  I got some new stamps from Winnie & Walter last week and I just love this big fir tree.  I cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the base and stamped the tree in Versamark, heat embossed with green tinsel powder - you can just about see the sparkle in the photo above - in real life it has a fabulous shimmer.  I edged the card with brown marker for some definition and adhered it flat to the card.  I used a new W&W die for the word Christmas - cuts like butter.  I finished the front of the card with some wooden snowflakes and added a few sequins for some more sparkle.  On the inside I cut a mat in Crumb Cake and on the white panel I stamped some fir branches and a simple greeting.

For more inspiration cards using previous sketches, check out the blog to see what the rest of the team have made.  Don't forget we're still running our DT Call - you have to play along with all our challenges this month - add the initials DT after your name when you submit your project.  That's all for now - see you soon.

Ben and Sophie visit ....

... most of my recent posts were scheduled a while ago, as I've been very busy for the last couple of weeks; my son, Ben, and his girlfriend, Sophie, have been visiting us.  It's been absolutely super.  I last saw Ben at Christmas, so nearly a year!  They have experienced cold and snow Michigan style, and also some warm weather!  We've been out to the shops, to Ann Arbor, to Detroit Zoo and yesterday, to the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade.  So much fun.  I've taken hundreds of photos over the last couple of weeks!  Here are a few - I'll put the links at the bottom is you want to see the rest.

 

Ben and Sophie in Grafitti Alley in Ann Arbor.

 

One of the halls at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

Detroit Zoo - water tower and Christmas Tree.

Ben and Kathryn - at Detroit Zoo.

 Family group at the Thanksgiving Day Parade - it was really cold, but no snow!

The photos above are a selection from the parade.

Kathryn - she attended her friend's Bat Mitzvah.  The photo on the left is what she wore to the service in the morning and the photo on the right is Kathryn in her first grown up cocktail dress.

And this is my favourite photo of Kathryn - taken last night just before we went out to have our Thanksgiving dinner.  I love the whole thing.  Sophie (a hairdresser) did Kathryn's hair and her dad took the photo - I know I'm biased, but this is fab!

Here's the list of links if you want to see the rest of the photos:

Ann Arbor - 22 November
Detroit Zoo - 23 November
Thanksgiving Day Parade - 27 November
Kathryn - Cocktail Dress - 22 November
Kathryn - Thanksgiving Day - 27 November

That's all for now - going to make the most of Ben and Sophie's last couple of days.  See you soon.  Thanks for your patience - normal service back soon :)

Scary Easter card at ASM with Rick St Dennis ...

.... Hello all!  I'm wearing a different hat today - our sponsor at Addicted to Stamps and More! is Rick St Dennis and I have the great good fortune to be part of Rick's Elite Design Team, so that's the hat I'm wearing!  The winner of the challenge will get three of Rick's digis - there's a huge choice ranging from cute and sweet through to dark and quite scary!! The theme for our ASM challenge is Holiday - you can pick any holiday, and I had a great time going through Rick's images at Zibbet and Esty - my image made me think of Easter.

Now a quick warning, this is not a cute or sweet image, but it is fun and, I think, suitable for those with a different sense of humour :))))  Here's my card:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Evil Flesh Eating Eggs; Waltzingmouse - Spring Baskets; Stampin' Up! - Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Grey Flannel
Dies: Spellbinders - Mega Rectangles Lg (S4-142) #4, Deckled Mega Rectangles Lg (S5-014) #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Copic Markers

I absolutely love this image and got it as soon as Rick released it, but I wasn't sure how to use it.  When Kathryn saw it - she just loved it!  So I decided that it might make a fun Easter card for a teenager.  I coloured the eggs with Copic markers, cut it out with a die and layered it onto a black mat.  The hardest part was doing a greeting for the front of the card - Jonathan came up with this one!  Normally at Easter you send the kids out on an egg hunt - well this time they're hunting you!!!  I printed the sentiment on my computer using the font Civitype FG at 28 pt; I coloured the word Easter to match the middle egg.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card.  On the white panel I added a sentiment and a few images - those evil eggs have thrown the cute eggs out of the basket!!

For some more inspiration projects based on our Holiday theme - check out the blog to see what my team mates have made.  Have fun!

52CCT - Technique ...

Good morning!  Where is this month going?  Time is flying by.  This week our challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown is a technique, Jacqueline would like to see paper piercing on your project.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Many Merry Stars, Bright & Beautiful
Inks: SU - Bashful Blue, Concord Crush; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Stars Framelits #3 and #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Concord Crush; SU Eclectic Paper Piercing Pack

As soon as I saw the technique I knew what stamps I'd be using!  The colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#317 a couple of weeks ago.  I die cut a backing star from purple card and used the paper piercing pack to put a border of holes around the edge (which you can just about see in the photo above).  I stamped the beautiful star in pale blue (like the purple, this is a discontinued colour) and cut it out.  I adhered it directly to the purple star.  I stamped some snowflakes and stars all over the card base and finished the front with a sentiment.  The die cut stars were attached with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of purple card, stamped more snowflakes and stars on the white panel and finished with a bold greeting.  I took the photo in bright sunshine so that the paper piercing would show, but it has given quite harsh shadows!!

Check out the blog to see what the team made using the paper piercing technique.  Don't forget, we're still running the DT Call.  That's all for now.

SNG - Birthday Glamour ....

.... Hello.  I'd like to share an elegant birthday card with you today.  The layout is quite clean and simple, but it's not CAS as the background is a piece of gorgeous design paper:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Deborah Hat Lady; Stampin' Up! - Perfectly Penned; Uniko Studio - Round in Circles
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Spellbinders - Petit Ovals Sm (S4-140) #6, Scalloped Petit Ovals Sm (S4-141) #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Real Red; Kaisercraft DP - Kaleidoscope; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

Rick has drawn a whole series of wonderfully elegant Hat Ladies, they can be found on his Zibbet shop, and I have several in my collection.  I had to play with this one - she's got my name (and I know she was drawn for one of Rick's friends, but it had to be).  I printed the image onto white card and coloured her with Copic markers using my favourite colour, green, for her hat and then I had to do the gems red - they are, after all, rubies!!!  I coloured the fur to suggest a silver fox (not real) collar.  I added some shimmer to the gems in her hat, the necklace and collar.  I cut the image out with a die and layered her onto some red card.  I finished the front with this fabulous paper and stamped a simple, elegant birthday greeting.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of red card, added a strip of the green design paper and finished with white card on top.  I simply added some decoration, there's lots of space for my message.

I had such fun colouring this image and I'll be making more elegant Hat Lady cards in the future. 

I'm busy enjoying spending time with my son, Ben, and his girlfriend, Sophie.  It's so nice having them to stay with us for a while, such a shame it's so cold!  But that's Michigan!  That's all for now.  See you soon.

ASM - Make Your Mark ....

.... Hello, good evening!  It's time for our new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  This week it's Make Your Mark; you need to make sure that you use markers on your entry - Copics, Promarkers, Stampin' Up!, pencils, chalks - anything that makes a mark!  Our sponsor for this week's challenge is Eureka Stamps and the winner will get three digi images.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Aurora Wings Digi - Catrina Doll Kitty; Avery Elle - Bonjour
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette
Dies: Spellbinders - Rectangles Lg (S4-132) #5, Scalloped Rectangles Lg (S4-133) #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Rich Razzleberry; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella Brush - Clear

I had such a good time learning to use my Copic markers that I've been colouring lots of digi images and I found a new Company - Aurora Wings - recently and got this cute kitty.  She's called Catrina and has a face decorated like the Mexican ladies do for the Day of the Dead festival (and yes, I do know, that I'm late!!).  I simply coloured her with Copic markers, added a ground, let the sun shine around her and added some sparkle and shimmer to her feathers and necklace.  I layered the finished image on some design paper.  I stamped some subtle pattern on the card base and a simple sentiment.  The inside has a mat layer of the same design paper and a plain white panel for my message.  Here's a close up of Catrina's hat showing the sparkle on her feathers!

I'm submitting this card to the Aurora Wings Challenge No 9  where the theme is Anything Goes. I love this image and there are so many other lovely digis to play with too.

Check out the blog for more inspiration cards with our Make Your Mark challenge.  See you soon.

Snowflake Blues ...

... Good morning from a bitterly cold, but bright, Northville.  The arctic blast has really arrived in Michigan now - my friend in Kalamazoo has a snow day, sadly we don't have that here and Kathryn had to go to school!  Still the cold has put me in the mood to make another Christmas card:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - The Hands of Time; Stampin' Up! - Sassy Salutations; Waltzingmouse - Elf Made
Inks: SU - Brocade Blue; Distress - Shaded Lilac; Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Uniko Studio - Snowflakes
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Blue Glitter Paper; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this to the new Uniko Studio Challenge - USC#16, they've changed the rules a bit - you don't have to use Uniko Studio stamps anymore (although they'd love it if you do) on your project.  The theme for the new challenge is Anything Goes or Anything Goes with their sketch.  I used the sketch.  I stamped the large stamp in Versmark, heat embossed with clear powder and then inked over with lilac.  I then stamped a selection of smaller snowflakes over the card, added a greeting stamped on vellum and finished with a large blue glitter die cut snowflake.  I layered the white panel on blue glitter paper.  On the inside is a mat layer of blue glitter and on the white panel a Christmas greeting and more snowflakes.

I have to say that this came together really quickly!  While we have the sun shining at the moment and no snow, the forecast is for snowy squalls blowing in this afternoon.

A quick screen shot from the weather forecast earlier this morning.  I'm not really complaining, we haven't got it half as bad as many in the States - some areas have had over 3 feet of snow overnight, and we're no where near that.

I think Ben and Sophie are finding the temperatures something of a shock.  I took them out yesterday and the walk between car and shop was a shock every time we did it!  Both the kids smoke and have to go outside if they want a cigarette, I have to say that if I were them, I'd definitely be thinking of giving up!!  Not sure what our plans are for today - maybe a quick trip to Northville before the snow arrives.  That's it for now - see you soon.