For the green fingered man

Hello, crafting friends!

I'm all about the cards for men at the moment! Here's one that would suit a green fingered one. (By the way, isn't it fun that while we speak of 'green fingers' in the UK, our American cousins use the term 'green thumb'?! Here's a little piece by The Grammarphobia Blog that discusses the matter!) 

I'm busy using the cacti from Woodware's Succulents again. I made a little cloche effect by cutting out an offcut of blue card stock with a nesting label die from The Works; for the base, I backed a snippet of wood effect paper with a scrap of dark brown card stock. These were both glued in place on a card base.

The cacti were arranged onto a weirdly shaped scrap of white cardstock in my stamping platform which enabled me to stamp them all at the same time with Memento black ink. I coloured them all with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and fussy cut them before arranging them in my cloche.

The card was finished with a punched heart, a sentiment from Altenew's Birthday Greetings, and a little label, coloured with green markers and stamped with the words 'to you' from MFT's From Me To You.

CHALLENGES

I'm crazy about The Library Challenge at the moment and wanted to join in again the minute I saw this fortnight's book cover! I'm playing along at AAA Birthday with this card too, going for the Masculine/Die Cut/Patterned Paper column of the Tic Tac Toe board. I'm also linking up with Stamping Sensations' Make It Masculine challenge and, for the second time, with Allsorts where they also have a Make It Masculine theme. This card was made from snippets, except the card base, so I shall join in at The Snippets Playground too :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My lovely eldest son came to visit! We made our arrangements via text of course and during the course of our text conversation he said: "Look at you, using emojis like you were born in 2000!" I'm not actually very good at using emojis at all and have no clue about what most of them mean! Later he said "I hope you didn't take offence at mye teasing you about emojis. I only say 2000 because I didn't really understand them myself until recently!" Isn't he adorable?!

Hope you are finding time for some therapeutic crafting!

Hugs,

What colours to use for male cards?

Hello, crafting friends!

It was the birthday of a tall, handsome and altogether charming young man last week - my eldest son! Naturally I made a card to celebrate. It's so easy to go for muted colours when creating cards for the guys isn't it, but sometimes brights can be the very thing!

I pulled out an old favourite Stampin' Up set called Celebrate Today to make this card. (Thank you SO much for restoring it to me Gill. I think of you with such gratitude whenever I use it!) 

The balloons were stamped across the card stock, overlapping each other and creating patterns of deeper colour. There are two balloons in the set and I made sure I used the balloon with the word happy in it where I wanted my greeting to go. Now that I have a stamping platform, the solid images in the set stamp beautifully every time, with no patchiness.

Once I'd got the balloons where I wanted them, I cut a panel out using a Heffy Doodles stitched rectangle die and added the word 'birthday' in a lovely flowing font using Avery Elle's Big Birthday. The panel was attached to a card base and that was it - quite simple with the colours being the stars of the show.

CHALLENGES
I'm linking this card up with Crafty Friends where I used colours from their gorgeous summer pallette; also Allsorts, where theyy want us to Make It Masculine; and finally, Seize The Birthday, where I've gone for the Anything Goes option.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I'm afraid the Blouse Burglar has been at it again. A selection of blouses were stolen in broad daylight from a bedroom in our house. The bold thief carried them downstairs and strewed them brazenly around the garden!

She was caught red-handed but, when challenged, brought them back in and gave them up in return for a fishy treat!

Hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Hugs,

Happy (summer) holidays!

Hello, crafting friends!

I'm thrilled to bits to have been invited to join the talented ladies at AAA Cards as their guest designer this fortnight!

AAA Cards is a clean and simple challenge (my fave!) and the optional twist this month is Beach - which has just been another excuse for me to go to Fantasy Holiday Land!

Okay, let me see those shoulders relax down! Take a deeeeeep breath in... oops, just about to drift off there! This island is totally deserted but behind those palm trees there's a little cabin fully stocked with the novels you've been dying to read and all the crafting goodies that have ever been on your wish list! There's a fridge run on solar power and a speed boat drops fabulous prepared meals off at regular intervals (this IS Fantasy Holiday Land after all!)

I used stamps from Waterfront by Stampin' Up to create this scene, choosing the brushstroke stamps that suggest sand and sea, and palm trees to give that tropical vibe.

The sentiment is from Silver Bells by WPlus9 and, depending on where you are in the world, you may think using it suggests I have a touch of sun stroke! Here in the UK though, a holiday is what other nations describe as a vacation so no need to panic ;)

Hope you'll check out all the a-maz-ing inspiration by the AAA Cards design team and join in with the fun and link up here!

CHALLENGES
I shall link this card up with The Sisterhood of Crafters where they're looking for Ocean/Beachy themed cards; also Double D Challenges, with their Let's Go To The Beach challenge; and last but not least, the new-to-me Arty Divas, where this challenge Anything Goes!

AND IN OTHER NEWS
For anyone that thinks England is rainy and grey all the time. No. It isn't.

Today it's scorchio again!! Off to get some ice for Eva and me!

Hugs,

Get well soon, Prickly Guy!

Hello, crafting friends!

When my daughter was staying a few weeks ago, we actually went shopping - can you imagine?!! We went in the evening and found there were very few people around so it was easy to socially distance. In some cases, we were the only people in a cavernous store and we became quite giddy with the novelty of it! We popped into Hobbycraft for a gift and, because my inner stamp radar is always on, I spotted a stamp set too!

It's Succulents by Woodware, and I'm loving using it, not only because it's bang on trend and great fun, but also because it is reminding me of my daughter and the fun we had that evening! I thought a cactus would make a great image for a male get well card - what do you think?

The background is a useful 'brushstroke' stamp from Stampin' Up's Waterfront and I topped it with my cactus, stamped, coloured with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and fussy cut. It was embellished with a punched flower, coloured with markers and centred with a black enamel dot. It always seems like a miracle to me when a cactus blooms! The sentiment is from Just For You by Clearly Besotted.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD
How lovely to see this card was chosen as a Favorite at CAS(E This Sketch!

CHALLENGES
I flipped this week's wonderful sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch for this card so I shall link up there; I'm also joining in with AAA Cards where they want to see maximum white space and optional flowers; There's a Get Well theme at Cardz 4 Guyz this fortnight, so I'm playing along there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
I've just realised that this card would be the perfect get well card for my youngest son! Oh no - I hope I haven't jinxed him - I would really rather NOT be sending this to him!!

They say black cats are lucky though don't they?

I shall leave you with this elegant lady that I'm looking after at the moment. Isn't she gorgeous?!

Hope you are all safe and well.

Hugs,

A prickly new home

Hello, crafting friends!

When a young man moves into his new house, it is important to encourage all the good vibes! My youngest son, who has just moved into a shared house ready to start his second year of university, texted me to let me know he's unpacked his bags and made his bed up, so I thought I'd send a card to celebrate ;)

I think I've mentioned that he is a keen cactus grower. I chose a tiny pot from Waffle Flower's Books and Coffee as well as one from Woodware's Succulents. These were stamped, coloured with alcohol markers and fussy cut, ready to place onto the background.

That background was made by sponging ink into one of my favourite Funky Fossil stencils, Funky Circle, and letting it fade towards the edges. I stamped over that with a banner and some hearts from Uniko's Simply Said Blocks, and a sentiment from Stampin' Up's Holiday Home.

A sprinkling of bright enamel dots and the card was done! I shall package it up with a treat for him to share with his housemates.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD
Delighted this card was one of the picks at Freshly Made Sketches!

CHALLENGES
The lovely citrussy colours at The Color Throwdown are my favourites so I couldn't resist joining in there; I've used Jen Mitchell's great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches so I'll link up there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
No time to chat today because Someone is harumphing...

Apparently it was time to go out like FIVE minutes ago!!!

Hugs,

Winter Wear for summer

Hello, crafting friends!

When I bought Winter Wear by Concorde & 9th, it was an indulgence. I knew I could make winter woolly Christmas cards with it, but I like my stamp sets to work harder than that! Well, it turns out that with a little doodling, it becomes a very versatile set indeed and one that has given me HEAPS of fun!

The ladies in the set are the top part of a face with beautiful hair, and they are designed to be used to peep above a sentiment. But it really doesn't take much artistic skill to doodle in the bottom half of the face and some shoulders - the mouth is the trickiest bit. I stamped the specs that come with the set and turned them into sunglasses, coloured my lady with alcohol markers and cut her out.

It's her birthday, so I gave her a pair of pearl earrings. She needed a beach to lounge about on so I masked a square shape on a card base and sponged in a simple sky, sea and sand. I thought she could do with a treat while she's waiting for her pals to bring the cake, so I stamped her a cocktail from Clearly Besotted's Raise a Glass. Cheers!

I'm having a bit of fun combining sentiments from different sets at the moment, and this one uses the banner from Concorde & 9th's Hello Sunshine Turnabout, 'wishing you a happy' from WPlus9's Silver Bells and 'Birthday' from Uniko's Wild. For a little tropical flavour, I decorated the banner with some tiny flowers from Raise a Glass.

CHALLENGES
I'm going to link up with Double D Challenges where there's a fabulous beachy mood board and the theme is Let's Go To The Beach; Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Summertime; Seize The Birthday, where I'm sticking to the Anything Goes challenge; and a new-to-me challenge site Challenge Up Your Life where the theme is Vacation Mood.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
If all this beach talk is making yyou feel like a nice cool dip, you're not alone...

... the beach may be out, but Eva and her pal Jasper are happy with a river party :)

Hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Hugs,

Summer colours for winter

Hello, crafting friends!

Today's card is the result of it being summer, with all its bright colours and tropical vibes, mixed in with the fact that it's the 25th of the month and so a Christmas card is required! Come and see:

I've used one of the trees from Spruce Trees by Inkylicious combined with a beautiful sentiment from Be Merry by WPlus9.

I started with the sentiment, stamping the 'Christmas Wishes' in red ink directly onto a nice thick card base, then adding the banner in black using my stamping platform. I made a mask byy stamping the banner again onto a sticky note, cutting the top of the banner shape out and positioning the mask over the original.

Then it was time to stamp the trees in their lovely bright colours! I chose Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay, all from Stampin' Up. Once the mask was peeled away, I added some coloured gems and voila! What an quick and easy card this turned out to be :)

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD
Delighted to get a shout out from Stephanie and Lauren at Jingle Belles! 

CHALLENGES
I was fascinated by the inspiration photo at Jingle Belles, so I'm joining in there. I was inspired by the bright colours and the bottle brush trees. Less is More has a One Layer Card Christmas in July challenge, so I'm also playing along there. And finally, it's Rudolph Day over at Scrappy Mo's, so I shall link up over there too. Happy Rudolph Day!

AND IN OTHER NEWS
I've taken my youngest son back to his new house where he can settle in and be ready for when his university opens up again in September. He gave me a lovely hug when I left him and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry!" he said bracingly. "I'll be back at Christmas, The 'Rona permitting!" Needless to say, I felt quite tearful on the way home!

There's always crafting therapy though and my adorable assistant...

... pass the glue Eva!

Hugs,

Peace on the beach

Hello, crafting friends!

After a win at the fabulous CAS on Friday challenge, I've been invited to Guest Design with the lovely ladies there. *waves hello* The theme this week is

Summer 

Since there's no chance of me going on holiday this summer, I've gone to fantasy holiday land! Come and see:

A peaceful spot on an empty beach, glorious sunshine, a pile of books, the clink of ice in my Strawberry Daiquiri... YES PLEASE! Sorry, I didn't mean to shout but it does sound like the ideal place to unwind. In reality of course, Eva would be with me and would be scampering in and out of the sea in a very unrestful way and shaking cold salty water all over me!!!

I used one of Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Border dies on speckled card stock for my sand and a pale blue card stock for the sky. This was masked with a sticky note and a sea inked in with a sponge. I added a sunshine from Concorde & 9th's Hello Sunshine and used a Heffy Doodles Stitched Rectangle die to cut them first into a rectangle, then to trim it into a square.

I made a beach towel out of a piece of striped washi tape and then assembled the rest of my elements - the cocktail is from Clearly Besotted's Raise a Glass, the books from Waffle Flower's Books and Coffee and the sunglasses from Paper Smooches' Sunny Side Up. I coloured everything in with alcohol markers, fussy cut them and attached them to the card.

Finally, I found a sentiment which worked perfectly with the shape of my sand: it's from Fly With Me by Clearly Besotted and it made me very happy!

Okay, it's over to you now! What does summer mean to you? I hope you'll join in with us and link your lovely CAS creation up here. There's some amazing talent on the CAS on Friday design team and you'll find some fabulous inspiration here too :)

CHALLENGES
I'm joining in at Time Out where the code word is Peaceful and the Beach/Ocean theme at The Sisterhood of Crafters.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
Eva doesn't need a beach to go swimming. She has a very effective water radar and is always diving into undergrowth and finding hidden streams.

When she gets home, she likes to be rinsed off and rubbed down with a towel. After that, she's more than ready for a square meal. Once that's eaten, she checks to see if I'm good for any chews or other treats but, if not, she settles down for a nice snoozle. This is usually in an area where I have to step over her to leave the house because then she knows if I'm going out or not :)

Hope you are all safe and well.

Hugs,