TMR - Theme ...

... Hi! Are you watching the Winter Olympics? I am! I really enjoy watching it all - particularly the ice-skating, but the skiing is fun too. I have to admit that I only watch - I fall over if I try to go out in the snow and ice 😉 This is all leading up to our theme for The Male Room - TMR#79. For the next couple of weeks, we'd like to see your masculine projects with a Sport/Winter Olympics theme. I actually got a bit carried away - I made three cards, here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #2, Background Builders Seeing Stars, Extra Time
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Blue Denim
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kanban Toppers - Extreme Sports; Stampin' Up! Card - Night of Navy; Clear Embossing Powder

I knew exactly what I was going to use to make my cards for the Sports/Winter Olympics theme. I've had some Kanban toppers in my stash for about 8 years. I got them from QVC and they come out everytime I need something masculine. I clipped out this skiing photo (this works for the Olympic Sports theme) to use on a square card. I didn't want to hide the photo, so I stamped the greeting directly on the image and heat embossed it with clear powder. I adhered the panel to the card using dimensional foam. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark blue card and on the white panel, I added a greeting and some stars stamped in the same colours as the ski suit. This was so quick and easy to make. I'm submitting it to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#19 where Anything Goes!

My next two cards are not based on the Winter Olympics but on more regular sports of football (or soccer to my American friends) and rugby. Here's the football version:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Seeing Stars, Time
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Red Velvet, Blue Denim
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kanban Toppers - Football; Stampin' Up! Card - Night of Navy

This time I clipped out three of the smaller images featuring football. I stamped the stars on the card using colours from the photos and finished the front by adding a fun sentiment. I attached the two images on the side flat to the card and used dimensional pads to add the image in the middle. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of navy card and on the white panel added a simple message along with some red stars top and bottom. I used the sketch from Reverse Confetti Sketch for you To Try - SFYTT#57 for the layout. This was another quick and easy card to make.

And the last card features rugby images, which is sort of appropriate as the NatWest Six Nations Championship is running at the moment:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Gorgeous Grunge, Greatest Greetings; Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments # 2, Fontiments Birthday
Inks: SU - Island Indigo; Gina K - Blue Lagoon
Dies: Die-namics - Circles Set 2 #4 and #6, Stitched Circles #4 and #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kanban Toppers - Rugby; Stampin' Up! Card/DP - Island Indigo

I used the same sketch as before but changed out the shapes for circles. I used dies to cut out the images and card for matting. I stamped the spatter and sentiment directly on the card and adhered the circle images on top. On the inside, I cut a layer of teal design paper for the mat layer, and on the white panel, I kept it very simple with a bold birthday greeting. I'm submitting this card to Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#129 where they want us to use the colour teal!

Don't forget to visit The Male Room blog to see more from the Design Team and also from our guest designer, Laurie. Do have fun with this theme, I can't wait to see what you create. You have plenty of time to join in, the deadline for submission is midnight GMT on Tuesday 27th February (that's 7.00pm EDT in the States).

That's all from me for now - I'm off to watch the ice-skating. I have my DVR set up to record the programmes and I watch them while I iron!! See you soon.

Ghosts and Skeletons ....

.... Hi! I'm here this morning with a sneak peek of a project that you can see over at Uniko. Just for a change, I've made a scrapbook page:

You can see the whole process over at Uniko - with photos of various steps along the way. I'm going to submit this layout to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#15 where the theme is Anything Goes.

Stamps: Uniko - Classic Alphabet, Classic Number, Background Builders Seeing Stars, Background Builders Chevrons, Uniko Style, Festive Sentiments
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxides - Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Violet, Black Soot; Gina K - Wild Lilac; Stampin' Up! - Pumpkin Pie
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frames #3, Corner Cobweb, Dangling Spider, Dancing Skeleton, Cross Stitched Borders #5 & #6
Accessories: Kraft Card 12" x 12"; Purple Glitter Paper; Black Glitter Card; Black Card; Graphic 45 Halloween DP; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear

Over on the Uniko blog, I mentioned that this is going to be our fifth Halloween celebration in the States. Kat has always loved Halloween, so being here and able to take part in Northville's Halloween celebration is a joy for her. Tonight she and her best friend, Alyx, are off downtown. Hopefully, I'll get a picture or two of them dressed up! A couple of years ago my son came over to visit and he got to enjoy it too! I've got a few more photos of all those skeletons and the wonderful Halloween decorations in Northville.

 

 

Above are just some of the skeletons from the 2015 display. Sadly, I've not managed to get around this year and take photos of the new skeletons - and they had some wonderful ones!!

 

 

 

The photos above are from our trip to Three Cedars Farm to enjoy the autumn bounty. Lots of apple cider, doughnuts, and, of course, pumpkins! It's really a fun day out for all the family.

Thanks so much for stopping by - see you all again soon.

Uniko - September Release, DT Blog Hop and Giveaway ....

.... Good morning! Today's the day! The new stamps from Uniko are available to buy today over at the Uniko shop. I've got a few cards to share with you this morning. I'm going to start with a clean, simple and bright card:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Stars, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx , Red Velvet; Versamark
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Stars #1, #2 and #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Silver Tinsel Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear; Vellum

I got the inspiration for this card from the graphic on the Colour Throwdown Challenge - CTD#459 - the stripes on the vase reminded me of the striped stars on the Background Blocks Stars stamps. The layout is based on the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#304. As I coloured the stars with my markers, I'm submitting this one to CAS on Friday - CASOF#116. I stamped the image using my MISTI, then coloured it with Copic markers. Once coloured I stamped the image again in Versamark and heat embossed with silver tinsel embossing powder - I do think stars need to sparkle!! I layered the image on some black card and adhered it to a 4 bar card - it's a bit smaller than an A2 card, but it fits the background block size perfectly. I die cut three stars from white card and coloured two of them to match the stars on the panel and then I added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I layered the stars with dimensional pads. I stamped the word "stars" on white card, cut it out and then layered it onto some vellum. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel added some stars down the side. There's plenty of space for a message.

My next card features lots and lots and lots of little stars:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Seeing Stars; Beautiful Blooms I; Simply Said Blocks; Happy Succulents
Inks: Gina K - Onyx Black, Cherry Red, Red Hot, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion, Jelly Bean Green, Blue Lagoon, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac, Lovely Lavender; Versamark
Dies: Uniko - Beautiful Blooms
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder; Simon Says - Moonshine Confetti

The current challenge at TIME OUT Challenge - TOC#91 is to CASE our very own Beverley Brown - and I had to play along with that challenge. Bev's card has a lovely rainbow of solid colours with the pretty lily outline flower, so I played on that. On my card I've stamped a somewhat larger rainbow of stars and my flower is solid black, as is my greeting. I stamped the flower on white card, cut it out with the matching die and then "enamelled" it using Versamark mark and clear embossing powder. It has a lovely shine. I layered the rainbow panel on black card and finished the front with some clear sequins. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and kept the white panel fairly simple with a fun greeting and lots of rainbow stars!

My last card today has dots and flowers:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Polka Dots, Simply Said Blocks, Beautiful Blooms II, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx, Jelly Bean Green, Sweet Mango, Cherry Red
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Circle Frames #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Vellum; Wink of Stella - Clear

I've used the sketch from FUSION - FUSION#81 for the layout of this card, and the colours are from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#239. I created the dotty panel by stamping the polka dots in all three colours, trimming the panel to size and then covered it with some shimmery vellum to soften the colours. I used the ink direct to paper to colour some card green and then die cut the circle frame. I stamped the flowers and added a touch of colour to the insides. I finished the front with a simple sentiment. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and added a greeting and some stars to the white panel.

It's traditional when we have a new release to have a Design Team Blog Hop - so follow along and leave some comments for your chance to win! You have until midnight BST Saturday 16th September to leave your comments. The winner will be announced on Sunday 17th September. Here's the Blog Hop list:

Bev

Deborah (that's me)

Izzy

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah P

Before I go - here's a look at each of the sets being released today:

Background Blocks Scattered Polka Dots

Background Builders Seeing Stars

Reach for the Stars

Background Blocks Stars

Simply Said Blocks

It's been a long post - thanks for staying with me to the end! I hope you've enjoyed my projects. I think this is one of my favourite releases - I just adore all those stars! There really is endless possibilities with these stamps.

That's all for now - see you soon.