Ink & Share Blog Hop: Masculine theme

I have always found creating cards for men a bit daunting. One, because I love flowers and colors and sparkles...not exactly manly things. Two, because I just don't know what to create and how to embellish it. And lastly, because I simply do not own alot of stamp sets that scream 'masculine'. True, I can always use nature sets as they are mostly neutral, however I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and explore and try to create something different. Needless to say, this month's Ink & Share blog hop is quite a challenge for me...luckily for me, I love a good ol' challenge!

For my project, I wanted to use my Country Livin' set. I got this set awhile ago but never actually got around to using it! This seems perfect for our blog hop's theme this month. And because I don't make alot of masculine cards, I decided to further challenge myself and create an interactive card this time around. I wanted my truck to move, so I designed this card...my take on the double slider card. 

Here's a video tutorial of how I created this card. I apologize for the lighting near the end, my camera was on lock mode and didn't adjust to the changing light conditions outside! Lesson learned haha. 

PRODUCTS USED:

• Lovely as a Tree stamp set
• Rooted in Nature stamp set
• Detailed with Love stamp set
• Treehouse Adventure stamp set
• Country Livin' stamp set
• Balmy Blue ink pad
• Pool Party ink pad
• Versamark
• White embossing powder
• Embossing Buddy
• Brusho
• Aqua Painter
• Pretty Label Punch
• Thick Whisper White cardstock
• Gray Granite cardstock
• Night of Navy cardstock
• Dimensionals
• Foam adhesive strips
• Linen thread

Well I hope you enjoyed my contribution to our blog hop this month and thank you so much for stopping by! Do continue down the list of awesome crafters for more inspiration on masculine projects, just keep pressing the Next button. Happy crafting!

Deb Naylor

Cindy Mitchell-Clark

Jo Blackman

Ginger Rabesa

Rhonda Waechter

Sandrin Jse

Shirley Merker

*****Phoebe Borromeo-Carr*****

Linda Handford

Sue McDonald

Kirsten Aitchison

Jacqueline Bobeldijk-Schilder

Vickie Kerr

Tricia Butts

Sweet Little Birthday card

I had to make a card for a co-worker's birthday, so I created this sweet little card for such a sweet and thoughtful person! I sure hope she likes it.

I started by sponging a piece of Whisper White cardstock with Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana and So Saffron. Nothing precise, just a quick transfer of color. Then to help blend it all out, I sprayed it generously with good old water. This made the colors soften a bit. 

Once completely dry I started with my heat embossing. I used the cute flowers from the stamp set HedgeHugs, one of the sets that I haven't used in a while! I stamped the images using Versamark ink and then silver heat-embossed them. It looks like such a cute DSP don't ya think?!

I then cut out the center with a die from the Layering Circles Framelits, and also a scalloped piece on a piece of So Saffron cardstock for the frame. I layered my art piece on top of a So Saffron mat with the center cut out, and then this was then adhered to my Whisper White card base. Finally I stamped my sentiment from the Special Celebrations set using my Flirty Flamingo ink pad.

For embellishments I used the bird from the beautiful Petal Palette stamp set and stamped it in Gray Granite. I die-cut it using the coordinating die from the Petals & More Thinlits, and also the leaves on a piece of Shaded Spruce cardstock. Finally I added a bow using our Silver Baker's Twine. 

And that is my card for today. Thanks for dropping by and I hope to see you next time! Happy crafting!

Delightfully Detailed Specialty Paper and Brushos 2-for-1 card

Today I found myself playing with my beautiful Delightfully Detailed laser-cut paper. This specialty paper is simply gorgeous! Add these to any project and it instantly transforms it into a wow-project.

Now of course I had to play with my Brushos as well! So I trimmed up a piece of my specialty paper so that I can use this as a stencil for my Brushos. Because I will be saturating my paper quite heavily, I opted to use a piece of Thick Whisper White cardstock for my art piece. Here's a short video of what I did.

And to turn these into cards, I kept it simple. I trimmed my painted card background piece and layered it on top of Whisper White cardstock before adhering to my Real Red card base (A2 size). My sentiment is from the set Detailed with Love, which I white heat-embossed on a die-cut piece of Real Red cardstock using a die from Petals & More Thinlits. And finally for embellishment I just added some Rhinestone jewels.

Of course being a hoarder, I can't bear to throw away my beautiful laser cut paper that I used as a stencil! I just had to use it a well! So I just added a little more color onto it with my Brushos to make the colors pop even more. My paper was curling up after drying, so I just sandwiched it inside a piece of copy paper and ran it through my Big Shot to flatten it. This made it easier for me to glue it down onto my Basic Black cardstock. I then layered this onto a piece of Real Red, then finally onto my Whisper White card base.

For my sentiment on this card I chose a stamp from the set Floral Frames, which I white heat-embossed on a die-cut piece of Real Red cardstock using a die from Rose Garden Thinlits. I then added some Rhinestone jewels again for a little bit of embellishment.

And that is my project for today...I hope you enjoyed them! Cheers to more experimenting, crafting and creating! :)

Travel & Explore

Hello and welcome! Today I am participating in Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlight for the very first time...eek! It is a monthly challenge, and the top ten winners will get to be part of an international blog hop so feel free to vote for my project! :)  This month the theme is Travel...how fun! I can feel the creative juices flowing! Haha.

Here's what I came up with...

For my project I wanted to create a background using Brushos. I just could not play with these enough...I think I'm addicted! I ended up using all the colors, first creating a wash of the Yellow with my Aqua Painter and then creating my shades using all the other colors. Super easy to make a pretty background with these because I found that Brushos are very forgiving and a lot of fun to use!

Once my background was dry enough, it was time for some stamping fun. I used the beautiful tree images from my favorite stamp sets Rooted in Nature and Lovely as a Tree. The cyclist is from Enjoy Life, another gorgeous set. And the birds are from the set High Tide.

Finally I custom-made my sentiment using the Make a Difference stamp set, and then layered it on top of some Gold foil sheet. To assemble my card, I just layered my trimmed art piece on top of a Basic Black cardstock before adhering to my Very Vanilla card base.

And that is my card for today! Doesn't it make you want to go out and explore? Anyway thank you again for stopping by today and don't forget to vote for me! Happy crafting!!!

Beautiful Preggy You :)

I have been asked recently to make a card for one of my co-workers who is expecting a baby boy in a few weeks. I of course said yes, thinking that I have the perfect stamp set for that...the Wonderful Moments set! Well, imagine my surprise when I found out that I hadn't actually ordered that one yet...that set was on my wish list after all! So what was I to do?! Luckily I owned the gorgeous set Beautiful You, and with just a little bit of tweaking, I was able to make it work! 

Here's my super simple card...I hope she likes it!

For the pregnant look I just wiped the ink off her tummy before stamping my image. This enabled me to draw in her pregnant tummy. I colored my image using my Watercolor Pencils and AquaPainters and then used my Stitched Framelits to cut my oval piece. I also cut up strips of my Springtime Foils DSP (retired SAB item) and sponged them in Pool Party ink to match my cardstock. Finally for embellishment I just added some sequins with some Rhinestone jewels in the middle.

And that is my simple card for today. With just a little bit of imagination, the possibilities are endless! Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to see you next time. Happy crafting!

Doilies & Brusho

Hello and welcome. Today, I decided to participate in the Global Design Project challenge of the week. It has been a while since I last played along with their challenges, and since it's a long weekend (Happy Canada day!!!) I have time to play! Yay!

Their challenge this week is CASE the Designer, and we have a beautiful card to CASE from the talented Charlet Mallett.

What an inspiration, right!? From her card, I decided to CASE her use of the pearlized doily and the banner cut. I wanted to play more with the Brushos, so I took them out and used them to create my background piece, using the doily as a stencil (super quick video down below). This was such a fun and easy background piece to create, reminds me of a tie-dyed shirt! 

To finish off my card, I trimmed my background piece, layered it on top of a Basic Black cardstock, and this whole piece was adhered to my Mango Melody A2 sized card base. My sentiment is from the Love What You Do stamp set, stamped onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock then trimmed one side into a banner. I added a piece of Copper Foil sheet before adhering my sentiment onto my card with dimensionals. For embellishment I just added a piece of Glitter enamel dot onto my sentiment.

And that is my super simple card for the day! It was fun to play along with the GDP again, so much inspiration from lots of talented people! Thank you for stopping by today and hope to see you next time! Happy crafting!