Bowties are cool ....

.....  Hello again!  I managed to get a bit more time in my craft room this afternoon and I played along with a few challenges and made this quirky masculine card:

Stamps: Viva Las Vegas Stamps - Plate 925 (Dr Who); Stampin' Up! - Perfectly Penned
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Bermuda Bay
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Cherry Cobbler; SU DP - Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Bermuda Bay; Black Marker

I've used a few challenges in the making of this card.  The colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#332, the layout and theme of bowties are from Fusion - FUSION#29 and the word challenge at Just Us Girls - JUGS#283 is MASCULINE, and I do like making guy cards.

As soon as I saw the challenge at Fusion, I knew I wanted to make a bowtie card, but it's taken me ages!!  I used this wonderful bowtie stamp which is from a Dr Who themed set and stamped it on card and design paper, cut them out, edged them with black marker and then adhered them directly to the card.  Very clean and simple.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper, and on the white panel added a birthday sentiment and another bowtie!  Well, why not?

I think I've mentioned that we are all big Dr Who fans in this family.  When Matt Smith played The Doctor he wore a bowtie and always insisted that "bowties are cool!"  I tend to agree with him.  And if you want to see The Doctor, here's a link to him repeating this several times:

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.

Twins birthday cards ....

.....  Good morning!  I hope you're all enjoying a good weekend.  Kathryn is away at her friends for a sleepover.  Her friends are twins and are celebrating their birthday this weekend.  Kathryn asked me to make special cards for them both - one likes Dr Who (doesn't everyone?) and the other likes Batman.  So I had lots of fun making them these cards.

The first is the Batman themed card.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Perfectly Penned, Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: Distress - Black Soot; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black, Daffodil Delight; Wink of Stella - Black; Cameo - Batman Logo

When Kathryn asked for a Batman card, I had to really think about it.  I have lots of Halloween type bats, but I knew that she wanted the "proper" Batman logo.  Then I remembered that I had the logo in my selection of cut files for the Silhouette Cameo.  This is only the fourth time I've actually used my Cameo (a situation which I'm going to fix).  It was so easy to find the image, set it to the appropriate size and then send it to cut!  I cut some yellow card, adhered it to the card base and distressed the edges with black ink.  Then it was simply a case of adhering the logo and a bold birthday greetings - which I over stamped several times to give a slight offset shadow.  On the inside of the card I cut a mat of yellow and used the negative space of the cut file and stamped a greeting inside.

The next card has a Dr Who theme - in this family we are big Dr Who fans, so this wasn't difficult at all!

Stamps: Viva Las Vegas Stamps - Plate 925; Dare 2B Artzy - Live Life; Craft's Meow - Typically Teen; SU - Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, So Saffron; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Night of Navy; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Blue

I had so much fun colouring in the Tardis.  I used lots of the tips that I picked up while doing the Online Card Class - Copic Markers for Cardmakers.   I coloured the whole Tardis in light blue, then added some darker blue shading.  I used a grey marker on the shadow side - I love the effect that this gives.  I stamped another Tardis, coloured the windows and cut them out.  I used a white marker to add the writing around the top of the Tardis.  I added a touch of sparkle to the Tardis using a blue Wink of Stella brush.  I stamped the background to look a bit like Gallifrian symbols (see below).  I finished the front with a simple greeting.  On the inside I cut a panel of white card and adhered a big bow tie (from Matt Smith's incarnation of The Doctor) and a birthday greeting.

I hope that Kathryn's friends like their very individual birthday cards!!  Below is a photo of some Gallifrian symbols from inside the Tardis (the new version).

Photo credit

I have most of the day to myself - so I think I'm going to be playing in my craft room!  Jonathan is off out to a photo shoot and I'm not expecting Kathryn home for ages yet!!  That's all for now.  See you soon.

TMR - Vintage ....

... Morning!  It looks like spring might be trying to make an appearance in Northville, it got up to 7°C (45°F) yesterday afternoon, and it should be even warmer today, although a bit wet!!  Still it is time for our new challenge at The Male Room.  We had so many lovely submissions for our blue, green and brown theme.  Our theme this time is VINTAGE, and here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Perfectly Penned; Dare to be Artzy - Hot Air Balloons E13102
Inks: SU - More Mustard, Sahara Sand; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Antique Linen
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black, More Mustard; SU DP - More Mustard; Couture Creations EF - Ascension; Lakeland Greetings Banners

I find that vintage style is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm quite pleased with this card.  I used the colours from Dynamic Duos - DD#94, as well as the Dessert option of dry embossing.  I made the base from black card, cut a mat layer of More Mustard design paper and a panel of white card.  I embossed the white card with these fabulous balloons and brayed over the image with Sahara Sand and More Mustard.  I then added more ink by sponging on Antique Linen and More Mustard.  I rounded the corners of both layers and adhered them to the front of the card.  I finished the front with this bold birthday sentiment.  Not a bit of stamping on the front of the card.  On the inside I made a mat layer of More Mustard and on the white panel stamped (using second generation images) several small balloons and finished with a birthday greeting.

For more inspirational masculine cards with a vintage feel, check out the cards from the rest of the Design Team.  Looking forward to seeing what you make!  Bye for now.