TMR - Retirement ....

....  Good morning everyone!  It's time for our new challenge over at The Male Room.  We have some news - from now on we will have a thumbnail display for your submissions using inlinkz.  Our theme this time is "Retirement" - you can make a card, scrapbook layout, 3D project - anything so long as it has a masculine feel and is based on the retirement theme.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Papermania - It's a Man's World Couch Potato
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Not Quite Navy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Core'dinations Black Magic; Cuttlebug EF - D'Vine Swirls; Kanban - Fishing

I have some Kanban toppers, a set especially for men, that I got years ago and have hardly used at all.  But they are just perfect to make a retirement card.  I had a selection of images - golf, fishing, darts, music, walking - and I decided on a fishing theme.  I used the layout from CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#61, except I didn't actually notice the bit about it being non-rectangular!!!  I really should read things more carefully!  However, that's where I got the layout!

I embossed some core'dinations card with swirls, sanded to reveal the blue core - and I think it suggests waves!  I layered the image onto some more core'dinations card and finished the front with a simple, elegant sentiment which I adhered with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of blue (the reverse side of the core'dinations card), cut a panel of white and added a simple sentiment and another fishing image.

For more inspiration cards based on the retirement theme, check out the cards from the rest of the team.  You have plenty of time to play along, deadline is Tuesday 4th March, midnight GMT.  Have fun!!

I must say that we had so many fabulous entries for our Valentine theme - it's going to be so, so difficult to pick the Top Three!   See you soon.

All you need is love ....

....  and now that you're all humming along with the song, here's the card I made:

Dies: Memory Box - Musicality Collage
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Kanban - Apple Beat

Last week I was browsing at Stampeddlar - they stock a HUGE selection of Memory Box and other dies - and I came across this wonderful music die.  I don't have many music stamps/images/dies, so I thought it would go nicely in my stash.  The current theme at The Male Room - TMR#2:14 is to make a masculine card with a music theme.  Yea!!! 

This is about as clean and simple as it gets!  I cut the music collage out of black card and then carefully attached it to the card base (took a while) and finished with a simple sentiment from some Kanban stash that I've had for ages.  I think one is for my wonderful husband, Jonathan.  I've left the inside blank!

It's silly cold here - I was out this morning clearing the snow (so, so glad that we got the snow blower) - and the rest of the day I'm staying in!  That's all for now.

ASM - Holiday ...

.....  Good evening - it's time for our new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  This week the theme is HOLIDAY.  You weren't very keen on the colour challenge, so we decided to switch to Holiday.  We have a sponsor this week - Deedees Digis - and the winner of the challenge will get three digi images.  This is my card for our theme:

Stamps:  Deedees Digis - In Season (Snowman); Waltzingmouse - Folk Art Christmas Additions
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Pacific Point
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kanban Foil Card; Metallic Cord; Silver Marker Pen; Copics; Glitter

As you can see my holiday theme is Christmas, but it doesn't have to be!!  The holiday theme can include vacation time, Easter, Thanksgiving (this week in the US), New Year, Hanukkah or whatever special holiday you want to celebrate.

I printed three copies of the digital image - one coloured pale blue, one light brown and one white.  I carefully cut out the tree from the brown image and adhered it to the pale blue image.  I cut the deckle edge off the pale blue and layered it onto the white image.  I cut out the snowman and attached him to the blue image, adding some colour to his scarf, ear muff and arms.  I added two types of glitter to the ground and tree.  I cut the mat layer from Kanban foil card and wrapped metallic thread around it.  I attached this layer to the base with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a panel of white card, added silver edges and a simple sentiment.

I used the a sketch from Deconstructed Sketches - DS127 for the layout - nice and simple.

Don't forget to check out the inspiration cards from the rest of the team - as always, they are super.  Looking forward to seeing what Holiday cards you make this week.  See you soon.

Deborah

Elegant birthday wishes ....

.... Morning all!  Time is marching on soooo fast and I have lists as long as my arms - just to make sure that I don't forget anything before we fly on Thursday.  But I've made sure of some "me" time and here's a card I made for a very special lady.  My mother-in-law has her birthday when I'm in the UK, so I've gone a bit mad and made a large (8" ×8") card for her.  I used a couple of challenges to make it:

• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC85 - just adore these colours
• My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Club - MFTWSC127 - sketch

Stamps: Stampendous - Jumbo Dahlia; Hero Arts - Layered Flowers; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud; PTI - Stylish Sentiments - Birthday
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple
Dies: Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax # 3; Spellbinders - Grand Big Scalloped Circles (LF-249) #3
Accessories:  Kanban DP (Grey); Martha Stewart Punch - Arches Border; SU Card - Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple; White Lustre Card;

I had such fun making this card.  I love the colours - so rich and elegant, perfect for my mother-in-law.  I cut a mat layer in raspberry onto which I layered this lovely grey/silver paper - isn't the flourish just wonderful?  I had to trim the grey paper to fit the card, and used the scrap on the envelope.  I stamped the dahlia onto white card and cut it out, layering onto a teal scalloped circle.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card and cut it out with my Die-namics fishtail dies.  I finished the front of the card with a punched border in white and an accent flower, layered with all the colours.

For the inside I cut another mat in raspberry and on the white panel I stamped another dahlia (using second impression for a more subtle look) as well as the flourish from the same set.  I think the sentiment is just right for Madeline's card - she's always in our thoughts, but more so on her birthday.


To complete the look, I also decorated the envelope using the left over strip of grey/silver paper - I couldn't waste it - far too nice.  I punched the arch border in the grey paper and laid it over a strip of raspberry card.  They look great together.

I got lots done yesterday - washing and ironing - making sure that Kathryn and I both have clean clothes for our trip.  I laid out the suitcases in the spare room too - and am starting to pack!  I have to be careful to make sure I don't go over the baggage weight limit!

That's all for now - I hope to have a card to share with you tomorrow.  Bye for now.

Monochrome Christmas .....

....  Good morning everyone - I'm finding it hard to believe that it's June already!!!  It's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas] Card Throwdown and as it's the first Saturday of the month that means a sketch challenge.  Jacqueline has a super sketch for us and I've gone big!!  Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies Large, Dainty Doilies Small; My Favourite Things - Christmas Sentiments
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versamark
Dies: Spellbinders - Resplendent Rectangles (S5-147) #3 & 4
Accessories:  Kanban - Silver polka dot card; Silver card; Vellum; White Lustre Card; Black and Silver Card; Embossing powder - Black Sparkle, Silver Tinsel; Stampin' Up! - Brad; Martha Stewart - Ornament border punch

As I said, I've gone big - the card is A5 (8¼" × 5 7/8") in size.  I decided to make a card with the greeting as the focal point, surrounded by doilies.  I started by stamping the doilies onto vellum and heat embossing with sparkly powder and then cutting them all out.  Next I die cut some white card for the sentiment and a frame in black and silver paper.  I die cut the ornament border and then cut a strip to fit on the card. For the inside I kept it super simple, using the last piece of black/silver paper for the mat layer and white card on which I stamped a very simple sentiment.

Don't forget to go to the blog and check out the inspiration cards from the rest of the team!  That's all for now, I'm looking forward to seeing what you make with this super sketch!

CR84FN67 - Merry Christmas ....

.... Wow, time has gone by so quickly this week, here's my third card with our fabulous CR84FN67 colours of plum, gold and tan.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliements of the Season II; Creative Expressions - Holly
Inks: Distress - Antique Linen, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord; Stampin' Up! - Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake
Spellbinders: Lotus Pendant (S4-269)
Accessories:  Kanban Card; Gold foiled card from stash

Going through my Kanban stash, I found this pretty Christmas tree with baubles and parcels in various shades of plum and purple.  I mounted the cut image onto a gold doily - giving the impression of a multi-point star!  I created the background by shading with distress inks leaving a softer colour towards the centre of the card.  I stamped the holly branches in Crumb Cake to give a subtle pattern and finished off with a simple sentiment.  I haven't done the inside yet!

I was having so much fun with these colours that I made another card!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliements of the Season II, Yonder Star
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum
Accessories:  Kanban Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake

I had some of this lovely gold foiled holly paper left from my card last week so decided to use it up.  I cut a mat in Crumb Cake and adhered the holly paper.  In my Kanban stash, I found this pretty decoupage image - the colours were perfect for the challenge and made another Christmas card for my collection.  The greeting was part of the kit.

As there was no stamping at all on the front of the card, I decided to decorate the inside.  I used my new Waltzingmouse set, Yonder Star - it is simply so beautiful.  I stamped the outline star in Crumb Cake and then stamped this fun sentiment - love the font!  This is such a pretty clean and simple design that I'm going to use it on a set of cards.

Photo Credit

For more inspiration from the team click on the links in my sidebar or go directly to the CR84FN blog.  That's all for now - see you soon.

Holly branch ....

... I promise this is the last post for today!  This is another of the cards I made yesterday using embossed card.  This week's challenge at Do You Stack Up? - DYSU97 is leaves and trees.  In keeping with my theme of Christmas cards, I've used a holly branch on my card.

Cuttlebug EF: Holly
Accessories: Coredinations card; Lakeland sentiment tag; Foiled card, ribbon and card base from stash

No stamping on this card.  I used Coredinations card and ran it through my bug, then sanded the design to reveal the warm pink core.  I layered this onto some gold foil card - rounding the corners of each before gluing them together.  I finished off with a pink ribbon and this sweet Christmas tag.  The tag was made by Lakeland (a UK company) and has been in my stash for years!!!

While I had the embossing folders out, I embossed several pieces of Coredinations card - you've already seen some on earlier cards here and here.  Here's another - again no stamping on this one, but I have used some more of my Kanban stash.  It's a very traditional card which, coincidentally, is the theme for this month's challenge at St Luke's Charity Card Challenge.

Cuttlebug EF: Allegro
Accessories: Coredinations card; Lakeland sentiment tag; Foiled card, card base from stash


There's still plenty of time to join in with the fun at St Luke's - and we have a super prize too!  Come check it out!  That really is all for today.  I'd better go and do some house type stuff!  See you soon.

Tree ornament trio ....

.... Well good morning - what a difference a day makes.  It was cold and grey yesterday, and the best place to be was inside.  I had a fantastic time and really made great progress with my Christmas cards.  I've a set of six cards to share with you this morning - all based on this first card, which was made for these challenges:

• The Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC157
• CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS5

It's not an original idea - in fact three of the Design Team used a trio of Christmas ornaments, but it's sort of classic, so thanks to Therese, Jen and Lisa.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Tree Trimmings (discontinued set)

Inks: SU - Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Kanban - self adhesive sentiment ribbon; Glitter and card from stash

I went for an ultra CAS design.  For the sentiment panel I used some self adhesive Kanban ribbon that's been in my stash for years!!!  I forgot I had these stamps - they're just the right size to make a pretty trio, so I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to position them in a nice group.  I stamped the middle ornament again, cut it out, added some glitter and adhered with dimensional tape.  I liked it so much that I made another five cards - blue (which also fulfils this week's Charisma Cardz Challenge - CCC44 to use blue), red, green, yellow and naturals.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Tree Trimmings (discontinued set)
Inks: SU - Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Riding Hood Red, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, More Mustard, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso; Memento - Cantaloupe, Grey Flannel
Accessories:  Kanban - self adhesive sentiment ribbon; Glitter and card from stash

I have a few more cards to share, but they'll be in a separate post.  See you soon.

Noel in blue ....

.... Morning all!  I've had a really busy weekend in my craft room making Christmas cards, and I've used two challenges to make this one:

• Freshly Made Sketches - FMS60
• Charisma Cardz Challenge - CCC44 - to use blue

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Yonder Star Background, Compliements of the Season II

Inks: Memento - Sky Blue, Flannel Grey

Accessories:  Kanban Card - White Christmas Frames; Cuttlebug EF - Christmas Stars; Coredinations paper; Card from stash

This is another card using Kanban card - this one came with lots of lovely images in pretty shaped frames and card ribbon.  I like the soft shade of blue in the image.  I embossed some Coredinations card (pale blue reverse) with Christmas stars sanding to reveal the colour and detail.  It's hard to see in the photo, but I stamped the Yonder Star background in sky blue - looks really pretty in real life.  I've take a photo of the corner here and enhanced the blue so that you can see the pattern!  I finished off with this simple sentiment in an elegant font - seemed to go well.

I have 60 cards made and need to make another 50!!!  I think the rest of my cards are going to be very clean and simple!!  That's all for now - drop by later to see my first set of ten cards.

CR84FN67 - We've got news for you ....

.... Welcome to CR84FN67.  Not only do we have the most gorgeous colours for you to play with, but we have a new team too!  Please join me in welcoming Helen Berry, Vickie Zimmer, Jody Morrow, Joanne Basile, Mackie Robinson and Lisa Henke to the team.  So excited to be working with these ladies;  the inspiration board is looking so pretty!!

Photos courtesy - Kate Robinson Photography

As always, the photos in our colour graphic are really gorgeous and the quote this week is fabulous.  As soon as I saw these colours I thought of a rich, gold Christmas bauble - here's what I made.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nordic Winter, Nutcracker Sweet, 2011 Holiday Ornaments, Christmas Cottage

Inks: Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake, Elegant Eggplant; Distress - Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord

Spellbinders: 2011 Heirloom Ornaments (S4-334) # 2 & 3, Labels 15 (S4-291) #5, Picot Edged Circles (S4-345) #3

Accessories:  SU Card - Crumb Cake; Kanban Card - various; Card from stash

I used this week's sketch at Mojo Monday - MOJO266 for the layout of the card.  I bet we all have a stash of card that we sort of horde!!  Well, I do and I've decided that I really must start to use it all up!  I have a large collection of Kanban card - they specialise in the most gorgeous foiled card and paper - I've used some here!!

I used kraft card to make the fishtail pennants - stamping patterns from Nordic Winter in matching ink. I cut a panel of the gorgeous purple and gold Kanban sentiment card; for a change the photo really catches the shine and colour.  The square(ish) panel is another piece of Kanban card, cut with one of the shaped label dies.  I stamped the bauble in Versamark, heat embossed with detail gold powder, cut out with Spellbinders die and while still in the die added colour with distress inks; a beautiful gold and purple bauble mounted onto a pretty kraft doily.  I finished off by stamping an accent bauble in purple and added a sentiment.  I decorated the inside too with a really simple greeting.

For more inspiration with our fabulous CR84FN67 colours of plum, gold and tan - click on the links below or go to the blog:

Mona Pendleton, Andrea Mathews,  Heather Jensen, Helen Berry, Joanne Basile, Jody Morrow, Lisa Henke, Mackie Robertson, Pauline Pollington, Shannon White, Sue Lelli  and Vickie Zimmer.

That's all for now - I'm looking forward to seeing all the gorgeous creations with these colours!  See you soon.

CR84FN66 - Together Always .....

... Can you believe that it's almost the end of October - this month has flown by.  The upside is that it's time for our new CR84FN66 challenge.  I think our colours are really beautiful - grey, tan and cream.  The inspiration photos are courtesy of  Magnolia Rouge and are just gorgeous.  And isn't that quote from Dr Seuss just brilliant?

My card could be for a wedding or for an anniversary - I opted for a really luxurious look.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Florentine Frippery, Vintage Labels 25, Fancy Phrases
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake
Spellbinders: Labels 25 (S5-077) # 3 and 4
Accessories:  Kanban Design Paper - Platinum Collection; Embossing powder - clear and silver; Ribbon and card from stash

I've had this Kanban paper in my stash for ages and decided that it was time to use some.  I love the combination of grey with silver flourishes - very elegant and the perfect background for my card.  I stamped the bottom layer of the frame in Versamark, heat embossed with detail silver powder and then cut it out with the matching die.  The top layer was stamped in Versamark and Crumb Cake and heat embossed with clear powder and die cut.  Then I stamped the sentiment "Together Always".  I used dimensional tape to adhere the smaller label to the base label.  I attached some cream satin ribbon to the card and then attached the label.  I finished off with a little satin bow - I actually made one that looks decent!!!  Oh yes, I added a few pearls too.

For more inspiration using our CR84FN66 colours, click on the links below or go directly to the CR84FN blog.

Mona Pendleton, Sue Lelli, Pauline Pollington, Heather Jensen, Andrea Matthews and Shannon White.

We will be having a quiet day today, just chilling together.  Whatever you plan to do today, enjoy!  See you soon.