1st Cards for the New Year

 Morning all,

I had hoped to get this post up a couple of days ago, but it appears that my techno issues of 2012 are more than slightly hanging over to 2013...this time it is in Blogger....so I am now on a very different and unfamiliar server!!

I have a glut of male birthdays in January, so with this in mind I decided to bolster my male stash. In my blog travels, I saw this magnificent trio. I was hooked and knew I had to give it a go and CASE them....but starting off one at a time.

This is my effort.....

 

I did not have some of the product they used, so I winged it. Warning...if you wish to CASE this card...there are 17 individual pieces and each has to be sponged too...well at least I did anyhow. Here they are close up... (you can click on the image to make larger if you wish)

 

 

 

The background is collaged and then the edge sponged. all the clock components are stuck together and then popped up on dimensionals.

 

I did change the colours for one of the cards, making it Night of Navy instead of Not Quite Navy.

Thanks for popping by today. I hope you all had a magical New Year and I will be back soon with the last of my Christmas cards.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Not Quite Navy, Night Of Navy, Early Espresso, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Well Worn DSP (ret)

Ink: (SU) NQN, NON, Espresso, Crumb Cake

Stamps: (SU) Clockworks, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches & Dies: SU Large Scallop Edgelit, CM 1 1/4" Circle, Carla Craft 1", 3/4" and 1/2" circles

EF: Coture Creations Houndstooth

Other bits: Dimensionals, Mini Pewter Brads, Sponges, 2 Way Glue Pen

Lynda xx

Father's Day Card with the LOT!!!!

Morning all.

 

Thought I'd get in with these cards close to time as opposed to my usual sooooooooooo v v much after the occasion kind of thing!!!

 

The Sunday just gone (2nd Sept) we celebrated Father's Day in Australia. I am very lucky to still have 3 "Dads" in my life, them being my DH, my Dad and my FIL. Most women know that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! With this in mind....and also thanks to the amazing punch art inspiration of Kelly Matthews - Indiana Inker (here), this is what the 3 dads in my life received as cards.....

 DH



 

 

My Dad

 

and my FIL

 

Aren't they a hoot???? Kelly used the Lg Oval Punch for her burgers....but I super sized mine and used the wide oval punch instead. The "seeds on the bun" are done by stamping off one of the "Itty Bitty Background" stamps. Here are the burgers and chips close up.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DH did have a wee dummy spit because I put VEGETABLES with his burger (wink!!) All the edges are sponged in the same colour to give them that bit of oomph!

 

So...what did I give my vege-phobic DH for the occasion....a very VERY tongue-in-cheek gift (so unlike me!!).......

 

 

Here are the 3 cards together en masse......

 

 

Thanks so much Kelly for the inspiration for these cards. They were a hit to say the least. I made these cards with one of my netball gals and her Miss 10 daughter the day before Father's Day. Seriously....I have never seen 2 gals have so much fun with a crimper!!! Thanks to Trish and Miss Renee for a fun and fantastic afternoon!!! From all accounts the men in their lives that got their cards loved them too.

 

Thanks for popping by and enduring a long post. Have sooooooooo much more to share it isn't funny. Please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing your thoughts and impressions.

 

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Real Red, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana (ret), Whisper White, CM Cranberry Gingham, Bright Yellow Textured CS (cheese)

Ink: (SU) Island Indigo, Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron

Stamps: (SU) Occasional Greetings (ret), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret)

Punches: (SU) Wide Oval, 1 1/4" square, Carla Craft CP2 1" Circle and Heart, Nestabilities Classic Circles

Other Bits: Crimper, Sponges, Dimensionals

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seaworthy Male - II

Morning all.

It FINALLY feels as tho I am getting a blogging rhythm on. Granted I am still grossly behind on UTD projects to show you, but now at the end of August, I have nearly completed all the May things I created...woo hoo!!!! Very soon a new SU catty or 2 will be out and I have a wish list 2 miles long already...discipline, hard work and a larger bank balance are definitely needed...LOL!!!

Today's card is another masculine one with "The Open Sea". It was inspired by this one found on SCS. I was drawn to all the clean space and how circles were used instead of rectangles. I am also a sucker for dry embossing!! I made 2 versions to bolster my stash. These are they.....

I can hear the "but they look identical" quips.... and yes...the difference is very subtle. Look closely at the concentric circles....

In the 2nd picture, the outer circle is embossed in line with the ribbon, then lined up with the embossing below. It just distressed it a little more I think. Don't you think the dry embossing looks like the deck of an old ship???

Here are the 2 cards side by side.....

I can see this set getting used over and over as male cards are always such a challenge!!

Thanks for popping by. Coming up soon....an unusual birthday card.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso

Stamps: (SU) The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

Other Bits: Nestabilities Classic Circle Dies, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes EF, Brown Satin Craft ribbon fm stash.

Lynda xx

Seaworthy Male - I

Morning all.

Something short and sweet today. I found this card on the amazing Jacque Craig's blog. I love this set for masculine cards. All the images have a brilliant old world charm. This is my version of her card....

As you can see I kept most of the elements all but the compass. Once I worked out the dimensions, it all went together very quickly. You have to love the intricate image of the ship and the easy sentiment stamped straight onto the DSP.

I will be back soon with another "Open Sea" card. Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Nautical Expedition DSP

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso

Stamps: (SU) The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations

Other bits: Dimensionals, Cappuccino Bakers Twine from the "Twinery"

Lynda xx

Baseball Thank You's - #2

Morning all.

Today I wish to share with you the cards and gift card holders that I made for my son's coach and assistant coach. The team he plays for is Macquarie Saints and their colours ate a tealy turquoise, red and black. I had to make them as blokey as possible and I sort inspiration from this card. Here is my interpretation....

Yes....in my never ending quest to not make 2 cards identical....I did change them slightly!!! The "You Rock" banners were elevated slightly in the middle. I was very happy with these....so much so that I made matching gift card holders.....

I tried to be really clever (not) and use a button as a closure....it kind of worked, but I needed to think it through a little better. Here's front and back and the inside......

Needless to say....the cards were from a bunch of 11 and 12yo boys and they thought the cards were "cool" so that was all the approval I really needed. Here is each set together.....

I will try and list all the bits and pieces, but listing them all in my mind....there really were quite a few!!!

Thanks for dropping by. Hope to be back soon.

Stuff Used:
CS: (SU) Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White and Optix Turquoise CS
Ink: (SU) Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Real Red
Stamps: (SU) Extreme Elements, Just Jawing, Dark Room Door - "Noel" (cornices in gift card)
Other Bits: Word Window Punch, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet dies ("Thanks" sentiment), White crochet cotton, buttons

Lynda xx

What do you call the Drummer.......

Morning all.

I must admit that the title of this post is a slight dig at one of my brother's in law. He is a drummer and we all know that drummers one day wanna grow up and be real musicians....hee hee hee. It was his birthday and I was inspired by this card. Sadly I do not have the creator and I have gone back through everything and cannot find the creator, so if it is you...thanks so much.

This is my version of the card above.....

I decided to carry the star theme through from the stamped background, to the brads to the punched shapes.

Now for those regular readers, you know that I do not wet emboss very often, but I braved it for this card. I think it came out OK....but I still need a lot more practice!!

I had a heap of fun putting this card together. I got to bust out Extreme Elements which create a fun and fantastic grunge background in next to no time.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Black, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler and Artsy.licious - fine illustrated paper in Kohl # 31685, Stardream Metallic Gold Paper

Ink: (SU) Versamark, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Black, VersaColour Metallic Gold

Stamps: (SU) Extreme Elements, Extreme Guitar and clear birthday semtiments from stash

Punches: (SU) Large Oval, Large Star

Other Bits: SU distressing tool, Gold Star Brads, Black EP, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

A Blushing 1st Timer

This is another escapee from my "gunna" file.

NB: The BLUSH in this post refers to that of awkwardness and slight embarrassment

Now as some of you may (or may not) know, I have had a brayer for nearly a year and alas it has not seen the light of day....that is...until recently. I am a MASSIVE fan of the brayering queens out there, and know to emulate such feats is batting WAAAAYYYY above my average. So, to embark on my first brayering foray, I went to Michelle Zindorf and her brayered Golf Card. My FIL is a massive golf fan, so I thought it may be a good idea to try it. (Insert far away and wistful sigh) this is the card I gave to my FIL.....

Now, as you can see, it's slightly different to Michele's card (perhaps for the better), but the brayed section is the same dimension. Given that US/Canadian cards are different sizes to the ones we have here, so I amended things slightly. I was happy with the layout of the card. The sentiment is form my Amy R set and I mounted it on a black oval to carry the theme through. I also carried the golf "dots" through on the background.

The golf ball is on dimensionals, and the shadow is sponged.

The things I have learnt through brayering this card are: # Make sure your post it notes are of a good quality. # Overlap (ever so slightly) the post it marks so that no white lines happen. (Perhaps most importantly) # Start off with an easier project!!

Thanks for enduring to the end of this post. I will be back soon with some other (very much) co-ordinated cards and gifts. Ta so much for popping by again.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Versa Black (for golf hole)

Stamps: Amy R - Birthday Sentiments

Punches: CM 1 1/4" Circle Punch, SU Large Oval Punch & Word Window Punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Brayer, Post-it Notes

Lynda xx

I got on the Bandwagon

Yes, yes....I know....I am such a groupie!!!!

I guess I should explain what the heck I am rambling about...shouldn't I??? Do you know when you 'um and ahhhhhh' about whether you should get a stamp or not, then somehow, but way of other talented folk out there showing you the stamp's potential, you end up getting it? Well this is what happened to me and "Sail Away". It is a single stamp and PERFECT for male cards.

These are my first 2 cards with this stamp......

I wanted an old world, vintage feel to them. It is also amazing what you find when you flip a piece of DP over. The paper I used on these cards was on the flip side of the paper I used here. So fitting for a nautically themed card. Here are the cards close up.......

I aged and distressed both these cards the same way. I used the cutter kit to distress all edges on the card and I then kind of fashioned my own labels for the sentiments. I stamped them on a Word Window punch towards one end and the re-punched it to make it smaller. The brown labels are done via the same method but with the Modern Label Punch. Close ups here.....

These have gone into my stash for those male birthdays that seem to come out of nowhere!!! Thanks for popping by and I hope you get the chance to be creative soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, River Rock,  Kaisercraft "Timeless Collection" ~ P657 - World map...flip side is the clocks!!)

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Stamps: (SU) Sail Away, Vintage Labels

Punches: (SU) Word Window, Modern Label

Other bits: SU Jumbo Antique Brass Eyelets, Making Memories Mini Pewter Brads, SU Cutter Kit

Lynda xx

Challenge #3

Over at Inkspirations4U Madeline made special mention of me when she set this next challenge....ie....NO PINK!!! Hence....NO PRESSURE...right??? This callence was not a colour one, but one of a picture....this picture....

I immediately went to the concentric circles and a pattern that I had seen in one of my Punch Art books "Let's Punch IV" by Elizabeth Woolnough. The design is called Watermelon and I have had it in my "ideas vault) for many years but never attempted it. It is a simple concept of concentric circles stuck on top of one another and then cut in half, but then glued arc to arc to give a different geometric feel. This is my challenge card entry.....

Did you notice....NO INK!!!!! I think this makes a great masculine card. The hardest thing to do was to cut the cirles in half (or as close to half as humanly possible), but the effect is rather retro!! Here are the circles close up...

Also, given that the CS was 4 layers thick, it sits up a little. I also reversed the order of the colour combo every second pattern to add a bit more interest. I guess I should thank Madeline for really pushing me with this challenge.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel
Punches: Carla Craft CP2 3/4", 7/8", 1" circles and CP11G Circle (which is abt 1 1/8")
Other bits: Upkit gold sticker "Happy Birthday"

Lynda xx

As Lovely As 70!!

My darling Dad turned 70 recently. Such an occasion warranted a very special card. I broke out Lovely As A Tree which Santa bought me for Chrissy!! PERFECT for masculine cards.

I had 2 thoughts with regards to it. Sadly the 1st....ended up on the REJECT pile (ha...I endeavoured to emboss!!) on black CS with silver EP....not a very masculine result!! Dad is actually quite a shy and quite chap (yeah which makes you think I am recessive DNA!!), and a beautiful soul.

I then turned to this....and thought about what I had and what I couple do to add a personal touch. This is what I came up with....

I am so very happy with the way this turned out. I even decided to take a chance and try and watercolour the tree and the original did. Here's the tree up close.

Just that subtle bit of colour made all the difference. I stamped the image in Basic Brown ink, the pressed the stamp pad to the lid to get a lilttle colour. I dried off a little water from my aqua painter, picked up the ink from the lid and then washed it over the image. I even dragged ou some DSP from the Summer Mini 2008 - Holiday Harmony to get the Artichoke DP. Sometimes hoarding does pay off....hee hee hee.

I hope you like this card. It probably is layered a lot more than my usual style, but i like it all the same. Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Holiday Harmony DSP (2008 Summer Mini)

Ink: (SU) Basic Brown, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip

Stamps: (SU) Lovely As A Tree

Other Bits: Upkit Gold Numbers, "Krafty Savers" Craft Ribbon - Dk Chocolate

Lynda xx