Fleur-de-Male

Hi all!!

Once again I have a bevvy of male cards to share with you. I must admit, these cards kind of came together with partially the luck of the proverbial crafting gods. I had these 2 cards on SCS and liked their simplicity.

Now as chance would have it, the croud at Our Creative Corner have a challenge on this time for Masculine Cards/Project. So......I thought I would submit these for this very occasion.

Now I love Carte Postale and it is one of my "go to" make sets. I also recalled that I had an embossing folder with fleur-de-lis' on it. Things started coming together nicely. Then the cherry on top...was that I had actually intended to use the REVERSE side of the gold toned DP which was burgandy tones....and coincidence....MORE fluer-de-lis!!! Too cool!!

These are the masculine cards I came up with.....

I kind of like the idea of changing up the DP orientation to change the look  of the card. I also had so much fun with these, I did another 2 in green tones....

The other bit of fun was layeringup the Curly Label Punches. Even better was that I managed to line up the dark red stripe right down the middle of the sentiment.

Lastly, i have to make mention of the beautiful texture of the DP used in the 1st cards. It was so good to work with. Added a grand kind of luxury to it all. Pretty impressed that I got to use "old gold" 1/2 pearls and brads on a male card. Wonders will never cease.

Thanks for setting such a great challenge guys. This is the 1st time I have plucked up enough gumption to do one of your challenges...and was so glad I did.

Hope you do get a chance to drop by again soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Glod "Stardream" shimmer paper, Imaginisce Timeless/Harlequin Romance DP (#000377), Green plaid I think is an old KaiserCraft one (sorry I cld not find it)

Ink: (SU) Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke

Stamps: (SU) Carte Postale (ret) Vintage Labels (SAB '10), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

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

Other Bits: Cuttlebug "Fleur-de-lis" Embossing Folder, Craft Concepts "In Stitches" Embossing Folder, Old Gold 1/2 pearls (fm Bizzy Becs), Gold brads fm stash

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

Whose Birthday Is It??

Hey there.
Still in steamy Singapore, but now very close to the end of my stay....sniff!! (Sadly I land at 9pm tonight in Sydney). Thought I'd share a couple of male cards today that I made when inspired by THIS card. I had a lot of fun putting this together and guessing the dimensions. Here are my 2 versions....

I had to make a couple of minor adjustments due to the fact I do not have the Woodgrain BGS. I substituted in embossing folders with my Cuttlebug (Distressed Stripes and Branches). The idea was to give the impression of bark on a tree seen here.

I also did not have any twine, so I raided my old DMC embroidery cottons and used them on an eyelet and a 1" circle punch. I used Itty Bitty Backgrounds and stamped off some River Rock to get the speckled background. A simple slip knot and 1/2 a Mini Glue dot behind and all stuck securely!!

I was so very happy with the way these turned out and even moreso that I had a couple more male cards in my stash.

I should have my next post sent from Sydney. I think I am going to have fun adjusting to the cold again after dealing with 28-33deg C heat and humidity.....back to a chilly Sydney Winter....BRRRrrrrrr.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Whisper White. Holiday Harmony DSP (ret) and Kaisercraft Scrapbooking paper - Fun in the Sun "Sunshine"

Ink: (SU) River Rock, Chocolate Chip

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Labels (sentiments), Itty Bitty Backgrounds.

Punches: (SU) XL Owl Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Carla Craft 1" Circle Punch, Sizzix Little Leaf Die

Other Bits: Craft ribbon Dk Brown, Neutrals Brads, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, DMC Embroidery Cotton

Lynda xx

Kaisercraft Scrapbooking Paper: Fun in the Sun "Sunshine

Reverse Nestabilities....

Now I had never heard of this term before, but after watching a video on Stamp TV here it was actually quite logical. I literally stumbled across Stamp TV and Gina K...but I am very happy I did. I have found a couple of things and put them away for things later on.

My cousin's daughter Rhiannon recently turned 15. It is a real milestone as she was not expected to survive even 2 days when she was born. She has many special needs and difficulties, but our lives would be emptier without her. She loves bold colour and texture, so using what I found on Stamp TV and some cupcake fun....I came up with this....

Isn't the paper PERFECT???? It is by Papercraft and called "Sweet Party". I found it in Big W. It went perfectly with Big Bold Birthday. The hardest thing was matching the colours!!

I dry embossed the icing with Devine Swirls and popped it and the heart up on dimensionals to add some fun. To get the frame I used the Nestabilities Scallop Circles on the cupcake paper and then a plain circle on the Summer Sun CS to get the inlaid look. The wee heart on top mimics all the cherries on the DP. I love it...and can't believe I had not discovered this sooner!!! Here tis up close......

To finish it off...I used the same principal with the Curly Label Punch and the Vintage Labels set. A bit of Crystal Effects on the heart....and we were good to go!!

Thanks for sticking with me through this long winded post. Hope you are having a creative weekend. Have fun and thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Summer Sun, Papercraft Brand DP - Sweet Party

Ink: (SU) Close to Cocoa (ret), Almost Amethyst (ret), Rose Red Stamp and Write Marker

Stamps: (SU) Big Bold Birthday, Vintage Labels

Punches: (SU) Curly Label Punch

Other Bits: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large & Scallop Circles, Cuttlebug Devine Swirls Embossing Folder

Lynda xx

Starting off on the Right foot....

In my last post I made a couple of creative promises...so I am upholding one of them here...and that's to give pink a better go than it has previously had on this blog. I went to my (ever increasing) stash of stamps and pulled out Great Friend that I received from Tanya Kitto Christmas 2009. I then went to my case file and found this and this (if it is yours, thanks for the inspiration) as I thought I found it on SCS and now I cannot.

These are my two efforts...

I got to bust out my Square Lattice Embossing folder...and I LOVE IT!!!

And the So Saffron cards are a further testament to my paranoia about not having 2 cards the same!! Opps...just realised I forgot to pop the pearls on.....DOH!!

                                           

Apologies for the inconsistent colour as it has been very VERY bright (and hot) her these past few days. Glare is a real challenfe for my son's small pocket digital camera.

Hope your new year is fun and fabulous!!

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Black, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White, Tea Party DP
Ink: (SU) Regal Rose, Black, So Saffron
Stamps: (SU) Great Friend, Vintage Labels
Punches: (SU) Curly Label, Wide Oval
Other bits: SU So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Black Satin Ribbon fm Alice's, SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Dimensionals.

Lynda xx

RAK - #1

For those of you who don't know, and RAK is a Random Act of Kindness. In Swap Sisters, there are a couple of the most AMAZING women who do the most GENEROUS things out of their own pockets, so we can share in the wonderful world that is papercraft. Sue Denning is one of these women. She is the founder and the driving force behing Swap Sisters and without her, things indeed would be very different.

With this in mind, I decided to pop an RAK in the post to her to say THANK YOU for all that she does. She let it slip in the chatroom one night that she is always taking notes and writing down ideas and sketching ideas for 3D projects. Recently on SCS they had a tutorial for a Matchbox Post It Folder and I combined this with a mini journal and 3 x 3 note tag. This was really the first co-ordinated gift I had done and I was more than happy with the result.

The mini journal....

The matchbook post it front and back.......

 

and the side....

Finally the note card....

It worked a treat and Sue was very surprised. RAK's make people smile (and hopefully) make their day a bit better.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: (SU) Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (stamp and write marker), Versamark

Stamps: (SU) Heartfelt, Vintage Labels.

Oddments: Brown Grosgrain Ribbon fm stash, Mini Journal.

Lynda xx

Robbie's 50th

My wonderful BIL Robbie turned 50 the other week. I wanted to make a card for him that perhaps reflected his life. Back in England he was part of a rock band (and yes from memory he WAS the drummer) and I had recently purchased a new Cuttlebug embossing folder that may help with my quest. I also got another chance to bust out my new Nestabilities Labels 8.

I went for the colour combo of black,silver,red and white. Here is what the cuttlebug folder looked like before I put the rest of the card together. My head is buzzing with possibilities for this folder as it is very masculine.

and here's the whole card together.....

I am happy with the way it turned out. I know that we all LOVE to do masculine cards, so I hope that this may inspire some of you. The bling 50 was a total bargain and the local 'Hot Dollar' shop. Got a massive bag of these numbers in red, blue and pink for a pittance and I think they worked well on the card too. Most importantly is that Robbie liked it...so mission accomplished.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Whisper White, Stardream Silver and Red

Ink: (SU) Real Red

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Labels (SAB '10 set)

Oddments: Cuttlebug Embossing folder - "Gem Rox", Nestabilities Labels 8, SU Pewter Brads, Dimensionals.

Lynda xx