TMR - Theme & DT Call ...

.... Afternoon! It's a bit dull and grey here in Northville today, but that's okay, I've spent most of today in my craft room. I've been extremely busy in there for the past couple of weeks - I've been reorganising and tidying - I'll share more of that in a post next week.

I've finally managed to make a card for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#87. We've got such a fun challenge this time - we want you to make a masculine project - any type - focusing on LITTLE BOYS. I've made a fun birthday card for a little lad:

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs - Little Monsters
Inks: Versafine Clair - Warm Breeze; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Our Daily Bread Designs - Little Monsters; Spellbinders - Sm Classic Inverted Scallop Circles (S4-195) #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Copic Markers; Enamel Dots; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear

I have several great-nephews so I always need a good supply of birthday cards for little boys. I kept this one quite clean and simple as I wanted to showcase these cute little monsters. I stamped them on white card, coloured them with Copic markers, put them back in my MISTI, restamped with Versafine onyx black and embossed them with clear powder. I used the matching dies to cut them out. I die cut a black circle background which I adhered flat to the card. I stamped a greeting in dark aqua ink and finished the front by attaching the little monsters. I used dimensional pads to get different levels for the monsters. I added some sparkle to the monsters with a clear Wink of Stella brush and finished off with some aqua enamel dots. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and added a fun greeting and another little monster to the white panel. I'm submitting this card to Colour Throwdown - CTD#496, to CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#201, and to CAS on Friday - CASOF#134.

Before I go, I need to let you know that we're having a Design Team call for The Male Room. If you want to join the team - you need to create a masculine project based on out Little Boys theme - you can create any kind of papercraft project and add the initials DT when you submit your project.

You've got plenty of time to play along, the deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Tuesday 19th June (that's 7.00pm EDT in the States). Good luck!

More Winter Warmers ....

.... Hello! It's snowing again. Mind, I don't think we've got it as bad here as they have in Alabama and in the UK too!! I've got a couple more cards for the Winter Coffee Lovers Challenge - WCLC17:

Stamps: Pink & Main - Christmas Mugs; Uniko - Simply Said Christmas; Hero Arts - Holiday Florals Bold Prints
Inks: Kaliacolor - Carribean Sea, Desert Heat; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Pink & Main - Christmas Mugs; Die-namics - Zig Zag Stitched Oval Stax #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Coastal Cabana, Pacific Point, Flirty Flamingo, Raspberry Ripple; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Copics; Glossy Accents

I CASEd the card I made yesterday - I think they make a fun set! I'm submitting the blue card to Fusion - FUSION#88 and CAS-ual Fridays - CFC#188, and the pink card to Fusion - FUSION#88 and Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#17. I used Kaleidacolor ink pads to stamp the front of each card to give a lovely ombre effect. The inside of each card is basically the same:

 

Here's a photo of both cards together:

Jonathan is off out shortly - he's going to a photo shoot in Pontiac. I think the roads should be okay, but I'll be happy when he calls to let me know he's arrived safely. And I'm off back to my craft room - have a fun day. Be safe and keep warm!

CCT - Colours ....

..... Good afternoon! I'm a bit late with my post for our new colour challenge over at Christmas Card Throwdown - CCT14. We've gone just a bit mad with our colours this time - we want to see a

RAINBOW

You have to use at least 5 colours, but you can go crazy and use all seven if you want. I've kept mine very clean and simple and gone for five colours. I actually made two cards:

Stamps: Uniko - Stunning Snowflakes, Simply Said II, Most Wonderful
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Oxide: Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Lucky Clover, Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Seedless Preserves
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up Card - Basic Black; Gems

I decided to keep these cards ultra clean and simple and just allow the rainbow colours to be the star of the show. The top card is the brights and the bottom is the more muted colours. In order to make sure the snowflakes all lined up accurately I used my MISTI. I layered the finished panels on black card and then adhered them to the card base. I finished the front with a very simple Christmas sentiment. I decided to add some sparkle with tiny little gems in the centre of each snowflake. On the inside of each card I cut a mat layer of black card, and on the white panels I stamped a greeting in black and added some more colourful snowflakes around the words.

There are a couple of Christmas in July challenges around at the moment, so I'm submitting these cards to them. The first is Merry Monday where we can catch up with any previous challenge and I've based the cards on MM#233 where we had to use 5 of somethings. The second is CAS-ual Friday Challenge - CFC#178.

Do visit Christmas Card Throwdown to see more inspirational cards from the rest of the Design Team - we have all gone for totally different looks! You've got slightly longer than usual to join in with this challenge. You have until midnight (BST) Friday 4th August (that's 7.00pm EDT) to play along. That's all for now, see you soon.

Flower Simplicity ...

..... Morning! All that bright sunshine on Saturday inspired me to make a clean, simple and very bright card:

Stamps: CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Mon Ami
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I've combined a few challenges to make this card:

• CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#212 - I used the layout
• CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#168 - to make a one layer card
• Colour Throwdown - CTD#432 - love those colours

I folded a piece of water colour card in half to make a card 5½" x 4¼" in size. I used my MISTI to stamp the card - it allowed me to restamp the images a couple of times to ensure even coverage on the rough water colour card. I stamped the large flower first, embossed it with clear powder and then masked it before stamping the smaller flowers. I used my Zig Clean Colour brushes to colour the flowers, along with a clear Spectrum Noir to add sparkle. I finished the front with this fun sentiment. I kept the inside ultra simple by simple adding a couple of words to complete the greeting.

We all had such a fun day yesterday. It was great to see Kristan - she looks amazing with short hair. Here's one from yesterday:

That's all for today - I've got loads of housework stuff to do. See you soon.

Colour of 2017 ....

.... Morning! It's really cold and crisp here today. And that's okay as I've been in my craft room making more Christmas cards! I made today's card in honour of the Pantone colour of 2017 - Greenery. I love all shades of green and this one makes me very happy! Here's my card - you might recognise this snowflake:

Stamps: Uniko - Simply Said II, Most Wonderful; Stampin' Up! - Twinkle Trees
Inks: SU - Emerald Envy, Mint Macaron, Gable Green, Green Galore, Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Pistachio Pudding
Dies: Waltzingmouse - Folk Art Snowflake
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pistachio Pudding; Green Glitter Paper

To make this card I die cut the snowflake from some white card. I removed the snowflake and used the negative space as a mask. I created a bokeh background using many shades of green, some of them sadly discontinued. I removed the mask, cut the panel to size and then adhered the white die cut snowflake over the green background. I added a simple greeting in one corner and then layered the panel on some pale green glitter paper and attached the whole lot to the card base. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale green card and on the white panel stamped a greeting and added more bokeh greenery!

I'm submitting this card to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#223 where the theme is HOLIDAY. I'm also playing along with AAA Cards - AAA#79 where they would like to see a CAS Christmas card. Finally, I'm submitting this to CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#162 where they want to see SNOWFLAKES and GLITTER. I think this card brings the number of cards in my Christmas stash to 108 which is good, as I need to write the cards this weekend and get them in the post. Some have many miles to travel before they reach their destination! That's all for today. Keep warm and be safe.

Snowflake sparkle ....

... Hello! I'm still on a Christmas card roll. I've got a really clean, simple and sparkly card to share with you this morning:

Stamps: Uniko - Simply Said Christmas, Most Wonderful, Stunning Snowflakes
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo, Sweet Sugar Plum, Raspberry Ripple; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Waltzingmouse - Folk Art Snowflake
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Magenta Glitter Paper; SU Card - Raspberry Ripple; Stick It

I made this card using one of my favourite techniques - inlaid dies. I covered the back of the card with some Stick It adhesive - double sided, very thin and easy to die cut. I positioned the die and using my precision plate I ran it through my Big Shot several times to ensure that all the little pieces were cut through. I removed the snowflake and all the bits from the card panel. I then adhered a piece of bright magenta glitter paper to the inside of the card. Then I simple replace the snowflake die cut. I added a tiny seasonal greeting to the corner of the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark pink card and on the white panel added a greeting and some smaller snowflakes.

I'm submitting this card to a few challenges. The first is CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#162 where the team would like to see snowflakes and glitter. The second is Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where the theme is ANYTHING GOES. Finally, I'm playing along with Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#5 where they too have an ANYTHING GOES challenge. And also to TIME OUT Challenges - TOC#71 - where the theme is CHRISTMAS with optional sparkle!  And this card brings my stash total to 104! I'm getting there.

Thankful ....

.... Morning! I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. Ours was lots of fun. We saw Kat perform in her first public recital. She was so nervous, but she sang beautifully. Yes, I know that I'm somewhat biased, but it was good. In fact, all the singers were excellent. I think Kat is going to do it again!!!

It's Thanksgiving this week, and Kat will finish school mid-morning on Wednesday and be off until the following Monday. It's the only break she gets between starting in September and stopping for Christmas. She's very much looking forward to the break. I've a Thanksgiving card to share with you today:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Day of Gratitude
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Creole Spice; SU - Chocolate Chip
Dies: Die-namics - Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles Stax #4 and #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU - Hello Honey, Photoplay 12 x 12 - Falling Leaves; Wink of Stella - Clear

I used the colours from this week's Colour Q Challenge - cQc#368. Over at CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#161 they have the theme of Being Thankful.

I bought a really lovely sheet of 12" x 12" design paper on Saturday with lots of large panels that are just the right size for making cards (or using in Project Life scrapbooks). I cut out all the panels and picked this one for the focus. I stamped the background using a Kaleidacolor pad - just lvoe the ombre effect with the inks. I layered the panel on some warm yellow card and adhered it to the card. I stamped some leaves, cut them out and attached them with gel. I finished by adding a touch of sparkle to the words. On the inside I cut another mat of yellow card and added a simple greeting on the white panel.

That's all for now - see you soon!