For the boys

Between Grandpa and Dad's birthdays and Father's
Day, I had a whole bunch of man cards to make.
I wasn't feeling particularly inspired at the time
so I used layouts from some other manly "man
cards" to get my mojo flowing.

The first card was for Grandpa's birthday. I used
the gift bag on page 62 of the May/June PaperCrafts
to start me off and this is what I camp up with:
I used some old SU! papers from my stash
and a sentiment from Verve. My trusty
Spellbinders dies for the label shape and this
card came together licky-tee-split!
Love it!! And I think this is such a versatile
sketch to work with. I can totally see making
this in fun, bright colours for a child's birthday.

Next up were some Father's Day cards and
Dad's birthday card. Both of these cards were
inspired by ones in the SU! Summer Mini
catalogue, just switched up the stamps and
papers and a few little details.

I especially love how this card turned out!!

It was fun tying in lots of details and textures without
getting overly frilly or bling-y.

After making these cards, I feel a lot more excited about
creating cards for guys. I was glad for the inspiration
I could use to, not only make the whole process a lot
quicker, but to learn some great techniques for 'dressing
up' cards for the men in my life :)
And a special thanks to this gal for lending me SU!'s
Countryside stamp set. I would've never got this set on
my own, but I've used it SO much in the past few weeks,
I just might have to add it to my "Buy Immediately" list :)
It's a crazy versatile set and I'm finding I'm using it for
everything. Thanks, Marn!

June's HCCC

Just a quick post to share this month's challenge

card. It turned out a lot different than I had envisioned
in my head...but I think that's okay
because I really like it!

My 'borrowed' item was the plastic from this tomato
container. I used it to cut out some butterflies with my
Cuttlebug - I love how they turned out and will
definitely be doing this again. I saw a package of
die cut 'ghost shapes' (clear plastic hearts) at the
scrapbook store for $5.99. My tomatoes cost
$2.99, with the added bonus of getting tomatoes :)
Making your own embellishments is a huge
money saver! Plus, reusing the container is
environmentally friendly and feels like I'm
giving myself a good, Dutch, pat on my back. Ha!

Originally, I thought I would use the layout
from the inspiration card. I really liked it
and it was so different from what I normally
do...but it just couldn't get it, so instead
I used the colours from the card: Baha Blue,
Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette and used a
layout from a card I saw online a long time ago.
I copied the sketch, but forget where it's from.
I can't take credit for it, and my apologies to the
original creator!

I used Versamark to stamp the polkadot background (Unity)
and Basic Grey patterned papers for the little butterflies.
The sentiment (Inkadinkado) was heat embossed in white.

Overall, a sweet, happy little card...
that puts a smile on my face!
:)

Loving these Hazzard County Card challenges!
Can't wait to see what you've got in store for
us in July, Marnie!

The Biggest Form of Flattery?

It was our uncle's birthday and I was in a total crunch for
a quick card that would suit him. Thankfully, my friend
came to the rescue and let me borrow the perfect stamp
set...and the perfect card to create with it :)
Using this amazing card for my 'inspiration'
...okay, okay, I totally copied it! Just changed up the
cardstock and patterned paper with what I had on
hand ...
I think I put this together in like 10 minutes:

An absolutely perfect card for our uncle who is
restoring a '78 Chevy.
Happy Birthday, Uncle Garry!!

And thanks, Marnie, for coming to the rescue again! :)

May's HCCC...kind of

Well, this month's HCCC was a great one...unfortunately,
I didn't get my butt in gear soon enough to fully complete it.
This card was supposed to be a Mother's Day card but, alas, it
was not given to anyone on Mother's Day :( It will, however, be
going to my aunt, who is a sister to my mother, so maybe I
can get half points for that? LOL!

Introducing May's Hazzard County Challenge Card:

Our inspiration picture was a beautiful bunch
of gladiolus' and, thanks to my fellow Duke Diva,
while I didn't have a stamp of one of these beautiful
flowers, I did have a picture which I printed onto 3
different colours of patterned paper and pieced for
the final image.

I used some dimensionals to give a bit of depth
to the flower and I love how it turned out.
The layout was taken from this card and while
I really wanted to add a little bit of ribbon and some
sparkle, my aunt is not into that frilly, frou-frouey
kind of stuff, so I left if kind of plain. Even though
I would have loved to 'bling it up a notch' (ha!) I
do think those beautiful glads create quite a
statement on their own.

I've used my computer for card-making before and,
while I prefer good old-fashioned ink, rubber and paper,
I can see how if you don't have a specific image or
sentiment it can be a quick (and inexpensive!) way to
expand your supply stash. So thanks again for this great
challenge, Marnie. I love how they always push me outside
of the box. Stay tuned to find out what we have in store for June!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Rose Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White (SU!)

PP: Basic Grey - Lemonade
Flower Image: found online
Stamps: Old Letter Writing (HA), Thankful Hearts (Verve)
Ink: Rose Red (SU!), Old Paper (Tim Holtz Distress), Versamark
Other: clear embossing powder (HA)

CASE-ing gone bad! ...and a redemption :)

After seeing this super cheery card I knew
I wanted to give the layout a try and create
an equally happy card to send to a friend.
Unfortunately, sometimes even the best
made plans don't work out and this card
is a great example of that:

I don't know if it's lacking the cheerful
cuteness of Kristina Werner's card or if the
colours I chose just didn't quite work out, but
this card definitely falls into the 'scrap' category
of Angela's Scrapyard :(

Wanting to redeem the 'blech-ness' of what
I had just created, and needing a sympathy
card for friends of ours, I set about using what
was sitting out on my desk from the previous
mess to create another card.
Thankfully, I had better results with this one:

After putting together the background pieces, then
adding some scoring and gold brads, I knew it still
needed a little something...Thankfully I remembered
this gem of a sympathy card (that was created back
in January...talk about being inspired!) and heat
embossed the sentiment in gold. The perfect
finishing touch! Still not an epic card by any
means, but a vast improvement over the
previous attempt. It just goes to show, if at
first you don't succeed...have some chips, and
then try again :)

March HCCC: Part One

This month's Hazzard County Card Challenge was

just too good! Such a beautiful inspiration picture.
Thanks, Marnie!
I had so many ideas floating around in my
head for this one, but unfortunately my scrapyard is
slowly being packed up in boxes as we prepare for
moving in a couple weeks :( I got a good start on the
challenge, but I don't have a finished project to
share with you...yet!
So, here's a little peek at what I have so far:

After seeing the stained-glass window,
I knew right away that I wanted to try the
'cracked glass' technique for my project.
I have seen it many times and always thought
it was something I'd like to try. Well, let me tell
you something, unless I get myself some of the
Ultra-Thick embossing powder, I won't be doing
this again in a hurry!! Oh my word! It took forever,
I burnt my fingers off with my heat gun and got
hot, melty, sticky embossing powder seared into my
flesh numerous times. Also, apparently I didn't
put enough coats on (Really?Because I did, like,
six!) as there are no cracks on the left side of
the piece. I'm not a huge fan of how the distress ink
soaked into the cracks and the anal-retentive part
of me doesn't like that I can't control where and how
the cracks end up forming.
ANYWAYS...
I'm still kinda in love with it ;)
Now the problem is, I can't decide what to
do with it!? This baby took so much time
and effort that if I were to put it on a card it
would have to be for someone incredibly special
and amazing before you could pry it out of my
blistered, glazed fingers! LOL! Maybe I'll use
it to make a journal for myself...I am pretty special
and amazing, y'know? Bwaahahahahaha!!!

Anyways, stay tuned for part two of March's
HCCC...it will probably be a few weeks before
we get moved and settled in. But don't worry,
I've got a couple things in the archives that I will
post, for your viewing pleasure, in the meantime.

Can't wait to see how this month's challenge
picture inspires all of you!
Happy stamping :)

A Tag!

This tag was totally inspired by one from
the latest PaperCraft's magazine. I don't
usually make tags, preferring to make a
full-out card, but in this case I didn't have
a tonne of time and really did just want a
little note to tie onto a gift. This turned out
even better than I had hoped!

Using my Nestabilities (I just can't stop using
these babies - I love them!) I cut out the green
layer using some old Basic Grey paper and then a
smaller layer in Ballet Blue. I used the Distressed Dots
background stamp from Unity and stamped the dots
with Versamark. Then I stamped the star (also from
Unity) in Ballet Blue and embossed it with clear embossing
powder and popped it up with a dimensional. I've had
the letter stickers for-ever, I think I got them when
I was in college!, but they were perfect for this tag!
Lastly, I put the eyelet in the top and added some
baker's twine.

Pete's friend is in a band, so I thought this fabric would
be perfect for for his new little rocker. Plus, doesn't
every baby need a skull and crossbones blankie? Ha!
I wrapped up some onesies, a book, and some
Johnson's baby products in the blanket and tied it all
up with some twine. Added the tag to finish it up and
I think it was a pretty sweet gift, from one guy to another!

My sewing machine is getting a work-out lately.
Can't wait to show you what I've been up to! ;)
Hope you're all finding some crafty time during
these grey, drizzly days to keep you cheery!