More Man Cards

Hi There:

Another day of watercoloring with those fun AI watercolor stamps at Peggy's resulted in these cards:

I find this to be so relaxing. Have any of you tried out the AI Watercolor series?

Thanks for stopping by!

Back Home and on to the Birthdays

I am back in Maryland after visiting my Dad in California. I was happy to spend time with my Dad...we shopped, ate, saw movies and played with the cats.  There are three now, my Dad took in a little stray girl kitten who had been hanging out in the back yard.  She is wild, but has warmed to my Dad. She even let me get a couple of pets in.

As hubs was hunkering down waiting for the ice storm, I had my toes in the sand at Newport Beach. 

My Dad and I attended the BNP Paribas Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells while I visited.  It is a spectacular tennis venue with two stadiums and several side courts. That temp shot was at night, during the day it was 90+ degrees; so glad it wasn't me on those courts.

And no trip to California is complete without a stop at In-n-Out Burgers, its a classic.

Now that I am home and unpacked; I took a look at my April birthday list...7 cards need making and I haven't started the Easter cards either.  Time to get busy.

First up, for my BIL.  I love this embossing folder from Anna Griffin...it is perfect to give an little extra punch and drama to a masculine card.  No bling, but some vellum under the sentiment strip, and a few white Nuvo drops for added texture. I was inspired by Michele's last posting.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oh those Dogs...

I resisted those crazy birds for a long time, then I broke down and bought them.  Neither hubs nor my Dad like them at all...so they need to leave my stash.

Taking their place...my crafty friends thought for sure would be the crazy cats...but no.  They kinda freak me out a little bit--remind me of Halloween, and that is not one of my favorite holidays. I prefer cutsie Halloween over scary Halloween.

However, those crazy dogs...well they are so darned cute and adorable.  Those I definitely LOVE, and they had to join my stash as soon as I could grab them.

Here are a couple of cards:

                                                     Don't ya just love those googly eyes?
                                             

                                     That tongue reminded me of a heart, so this has to go to hubs.


I am sure to have more dog cards coming up. Thanks for stopping by.

I needed a deadline

I have been a bit mojo-less the last few weeks. I had my Halloween cards made early and didn't post them until after they'd been mailed and received.  So for two weeks I haven't done much.  I have had a few crafty get togethers, but I am not getting cards done.  I've got stuff started...but nothing finished.

Today while checking in on Facebook, I found I had forgotten a birthday (so not like me) and the man I worked for before retiring recently had surgery and I thought a card might cheer him up.  I am a night owl and consequently my days rarely get going until after noontime.  After I had made lunch for hubs and I, I had about 3 hours to get the cards made and into the mail.

For the first card, I used the Mojo Monday Sketch #422 and it fit perfectly with the theme from Cardz for Guyz Challenge # 95 Hope you feel better soon .

 

The tall wheat stamp is from Hero arts, the feel better is from Close to my Heart.  The pale woodgrain papers are a gift from blogging friend Michele (thank you!!). The sentiment is heat embossed on vellum and layed on top of a same sized circle of the wood grain. They as well as the grasses panel are popped up with dimensionals.




Next up the Belated Birthday Card:

I love this set by mama elephant, its called unforgettable.  The sentiment reads "you are absolutely unforgettable, it's your birthday that's hard to remember". Well thanks to my faulty memory, I was able to use it for the perfect card.  The image was colored with copics.  The little party had was masked and the balloon is popped up and glittered with some wos. Some enamel dots and a little enamel heart and this one was done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Congratulations

I am getting in under the wire barely over at Case this Sketch 145.

Our nephew has a new job.

Sentiment by Paper Smooches, die cuts by Spellbinders. 
Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp and Spray

Oh this challenge was so far out of my comfort zone...but sometimes you just have to play, and take the advice of your card (more about that below).  This is for the Simon Monday Challenge Stamp and Mist.

I grabbed a piece of watercolor paper, and a TH stencil, two bottles of spray mist by Heidi Swapp and spritzed 4 times. I added two die cut Adirondack type chairs and added a stamped sentiment from Paper Smooches and a die cut from Simons.  I had taped the die cut down, but it moved on me.  Instead of tossing it...because I kinda liked the weirdness of it, I just mounted it higher on a contrasting card base...it says relax, so I did! Just to make that "a" stand out a bit more I added a large sequin to the middle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage and Up in the Air

I had been thinking about the Up in the Air challenge over at The Male Room, and Saturday there was another of my beloved Hero Arts Scrambles the theme Cecilia gave us was Vintage. One of my favorite man-stamp sets is Hero Arts Past Times, and I really love the balloon in it.  ETA-This is also going to SOS-207 for the boys.

This is a smaller card, 3.5" x 4.5".

Supplies: SSS Circle Card Border, HA Past Times, HA All The Time, Distress Ink, Copic Markers, Clear EP, Brad, SU Card base, Foam Tape, Papers by Neenah & AC.

It's funny, I have had that circle card border die for a long time, and never used it.  So I sold it, but I made about 10 die cuts of it first just in case, and they are coming in handy.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

A new to me challenge

  Considering the number of Guy cards I make, I am surprised I hadn't played in this challenge  before.  Of course I picked the washi challenge...geeze what a way to start. I am so washi impaired. I own a small box full of the stuff, but I rarely use it.

I have been back from my visit to my Dad for about 10 days now, so I thought I would make a card for my Dad before father's day so he gets two cards this month.

My blogging friend Betty (thanks so much!), sent me some lovely paper that I used as part of the card, it has a bit of visual texture to it, and I tried it out on a couple of cards. 

First up my The Male Room Challenge entry.

Since Dad and I live on opposite coasts of the US, I thought the compass symbol appropriate. My washi tape is the line down the front...I kept the roll in the picture just for a bit of fun. The paper with the zig zags is from Betty, and it has almost a parchment like look, but took the Hero Arts Shadow ink in wet cement quite well.  That ink matched up fairly well with a Copic W5 marker to color the circle card border outline. Stamps were from hero arts (Zig Zag Background, Past times and Anything can happen). And I think the washi is from Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Edited to Add: I am also submitting this to Stamplorations June 2015 Challenge, using stamps and washi.  Thanks so much Becca and Greta for pointing me in their direction!

A guy thing...

Guy cards...so tough to make.  I have a few things I want to send to my Dad, and he loves getting my cards.  I so love this stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, and now that they have released a coordinating die...more cards are coming!

I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, It's a Guy thing.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Cardstock - Stampin Up, Patterned Paper - Kaiser Craft
Inks - Simon Says Stamp -Dark Chocolate, Hero Arts - Cup O Joe and Soft Sand
Die - Simon Says Stamp - Sending
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp - Sending Happy Thoughts
miscellaneous wood veneer pieces

Meet Up...

I've been here living with hubs for a while now full time.  I miss my Dad back in California, and I miss my girlfriends.  The ones to go crafting with, or to the movies, or even just out to lunch. So, I decided I needed to get out there and see if I could meet some women.  I joined a few meet up groups, centered on crafting.
I attended two meet ups this weekend.

I met some lovely women, and look forward to seeing them again.  I enjoyed myself, the socializing was fun.  I made a few cards, which will appear this week and next on the blog, once they are received by their recipients.  I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

I do have 1 card and 1 project to share today.

Another man card, I made this one for my Dad, in the hot So Cal sun he is probably wishing for a cool scene like this.   This is my second card with this stamp. I water colored it with distress markers and added a bit of glitter.  I used two die cut circles to frame it, and a stacked die cut Hello from SSS for the sentiment.  I added a couple of wood veneer shapes as well to balance it. This time the chairs are red. They stand out a bit more, than in my last card here.

While at one of the meet up's I spied a cute little craft tote one of the ladies had.  I asked if I could take a photo of it.  I just thought it was the perfect size to tote along basic supplies for crafting to a crop or card party. I have one I like in  CA but I keep it out there with my scrapbook supplies.

I made a stop at the fabric store this weekend, and bought a few pre-cut squares of material and made myself a little tote and a tool roll up.  The tote is reversible, which I think is fun. I won't get tired of  it. The tool roll up reminds me of stamping, and might just provide some inspiration for future cards. I thought I would show them to you. They are around 5 by 5 by 5 (or 6).  I don't used patterns, I am not a good direction reader. I had fun making these crafty items, and they make me smile when I look at them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chillin

While Hubs and I were visiting in Ohio mid July, I had a chance to stop in at a local scrapbook store.  I was looking for some stitched dies, but found none.  I did however find this stamp. Its a great guy stamp and I made a card as soon as I got home. It has been sent off in the mail, or I would re-photograph the photo with some staging. Next time I promise!

It was a lot of fun to color, and I added some really sparkly glitter to mimic the sunshine bouncing off the water.  Doesn't this look like a great place to chill out and enjoy a summer's afternoon? It does to me.

The stamp is from Northwoods Rubber Stamps and I can see lots of cards being made with it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Father's Day

Hubs and I both have wonderful fathers.  I always make similar cards for them for Father's Day.  Here is this year's edition, featuring a watercolor panel to hold the stamping.  Hoping you are able to spend some quality time with the Father's in your life.

 

Stamps and patterned papers by Stampin Up.

Punny love

More cards for hubs while I was away.  They are silly punny ones from Stampin Up.  He likes a simple card and these are simple. The blender and the lava lamp both have glossy accents on them to give them a bit of a liquid-y feel. Hope you are all enjoying the early June weather.  Thanks for stopping by!

Once in a lifetime

Another card sent to hubs while in California.  Stamp by Stampin Up.

That's what meeting hubs did for me!
Thanks for stopping by.

Grey Skies

Another card sent to hubs! Embossing folder by Darice, Stamp by Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by!

A new stamp set

While in California visiting, I made and sent Hubs some cards.   I wanted to remind him of our courtship, I used to send him a card weekly.  That was before I was making them. The next few posts feature a stamp set from Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicest thoughts

Nicest thoughts, a photo by Cat Craig on Flickr.

My card for Leni's scramble. The theme was "wood". The scramble is 90 minutes for making, photographing, and posting a card made with the theme announced at the beginning of the time period.

I made this card with hubs in mind. With the wood theme, I thought it perfect for a masculine feel.

The cardstock is dry embossed with a sizzix wood grain folder, the hearts are die cut from balsa wood, and the stamp is Hero Arts K5878. I used a bit of distress ink on the dry embossed panel, hemptique natural twine, and white hero arts embossing powder on the main image.

It's good to scramble again, although it really took me a while, this is version 3. The other two are in the scrap pile parts might be salvageable. Thanks for stopping by.

You Did It!

My Godson just passed his driving test and is a licensed driver now.  He's a great young man; since he is half a foot taller than I am referring to him as a good "kid" no longer works.  So I made him a card, I'll put a little surprise in it for his new expenses. 

Cards for the males in my life are always a struggle...I like flowers and girly things.  

But, I think this works.  

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.

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(")_(")~~Cat