Guitar Classic

Creating masculine cards can be difficult at times and quite often I tend to think only neutral colours when designing/ creating for men but lately I have been making the cards pop with colour.

Men tend not to like frilly cards so keeping the card clean and simple can be a challenge in itself 😉

Here I stuck with quite a bit of white space. I stamped sheet music and added splatter images in light gray cause you know, splatter just seems fitting on a guy card! On scrap paper I stamped the guitar in Memento Black ink and coloured the guitar using alcohol markers. 

I wanted the sentiment to pop so I stamped in Craft White Ink on black cardstock and used dimensionals to pop up the guitar and the sentiment.

I had fun creating this "musical masterpiece"! LOL So much fun that I decided to enter it in a challenge:

Watercooler Wednesday - Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist

Thanks for popping by!

Until next time

~ Margaret 

Shooting for the Green

SHOOTING FOR THE GREEN

Yesterday was Family Day in beautiful Ontario and while I should be ashamed to admit this, I spent the entire day in my craft room.  Can I just say it was pure and utter bliss?! If only there was more time to spend crafting ❤

I broke out a new stamp set and dies I had purchased in December, yes.... I just opened the new items I bought and used them! I was so thrilled with the way this card came together.  I really had no idea what I was going to make outside of stamping and colouring the golfer LOL  Every good craft project begins with one small seed doesn't it?

I found some dies in my stash that cut out clouds and since the white on white made them disappear, I lightly sponged the edges with a pale blue ink to make them pop and I used dimensionals to pop them up on the card front.

The golfer was stamped in Memento black ink and coloured in using alcohol markers. I die cut a few clumps of grass and placed them in and around the golfers feet to make it feel like he was hitting the ball out of the rough.

I had so much fun creating this card and I love the end result! Since I have been pushing myself to get out there and participate in challenges, here are the ones I entered into with this card:


A Place to Start - February 2020 Challenge
Dream Valley Challenges - Hand Coloured Image

Thanks for popping by and checking out today's creation :)

Until next time
~Margaret 

Prayers

I could not wait to get home from work yesterday to get in my stamp room so I could sit down and craft with new supplies!  I was extremely excited but while sitting in my craft room and designing, I felt a weight had been lifted off me.  For the first time in years, I felt creative freedom without the stress of only using current products sold by one specific company.  I almost didn't know what to do with myself, so I just "wet" my feet a little bit LOL  Here is one of the cards I made ❤

I chose some lovely pink cardstock as my card base.  I love using browns with pink, so I selected a light brown/ craft cardstock to stamp on to layer with the pink.  I die cut the brown cardstock using Rectangle Stitched framelits and then stamped flowers around edge in Versamark ink, applied Gold embossing powder and heat set. I then used Stampin' Blends to colour in the flowers. I really like that alcohol markers work on coloured cardstock as well!

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and this particular stamp set comes with a matching die cut for the word "prayers".  I die cut the word several times and layered to create some depth and dimension.  I learned this from a sweet friend of mine when she sent me a beautiful handmade card featuring this simple technique.

Until next time ~
Margaret

To Catch the Big One!

I'd like to share a fun masculine card using Stampin' Up! products.  I focused on keeping it very masculine with the colours and the design.

I used the Best Catch stamp set and Catch of the Day dies to stamp and cut the images and bullrushes.  I used Stampin' Blends to colour in the fish, hat and fisherman.  I only used two ink pads - Memento Black and Soft Suede.

Since I wanted all the images to be the main focus and tell the story, I added the sentiment on a small die cut circle and placed it up top and "out of the way".

I think this card represents most fisherman's dreams - "catching the Big One"!

Challenges that I am participating in with this card are:

Arty Divas 2W, 5E, C10 - #12 - Anything Goes (week 2)
Lemon Shortbread 2W, E3, no digital projects - #110 - Always Anything Goes (Week 2)
Tuesday Throwdown W -   #448 Something New



I hope to see you all soon with some fresh, fun new projects from me!

Until next time ~
Margaret 

In the Bullrush

At times when creating a card with a lot of white space one might think the card is very simple and basic. Yet, once you begin looking at the finer details you suddenly realize the time put into the final creation.

Today's card does have a lot of white space but let me tell you all the smaller details still took up quite a bit of time.  It was well worth it though as the result is a well balanced, eye catching card.

Several tools were used just create the elements on this card:

• die cutting and embossing machine
• embossing folder -Woodgrain (retired)
• dies - Catch of the Day
• ink - Memento Black, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Smoky Slate
• stamp set - Best Catch
• Stampin' Blends - Old Olive, Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral
• cardstock - Smoky Slate, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Vellum
• adhesive - SNAIL adhseive
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Stampin' Sponges
• marker - Early Espresso

One of the fun things for me when using coordinating stamp sets and dies is being able to stamp and colour a multitude of images, die cutting them and then settling in to create fun little works of art.

What is your favourite masculine set to play with?

Until next time.

Margaret 

Magnolia Embossed

Once I was head over heels for the Magnolia Lane suite I knew that I wished to add the Magnolia 3-D embossing folder to my stash of tools.

I sat down to create cards this weekend and used the embossing folder for the first time!!! Why did I wait so long?  The folder on it's own creates a stunning background but when you add a bit of colour, the image just pops!

I used Stampin' Up! Watercolour Pencils and a Blender Pen to add most of the colour, however I also used a Stampin' Blend to add just a hint of colour to the some of the edges of the flowers petals. I found this extra touch made the petals just pop!

I layered the embossed panel onto Basic Black cardstock that was barely larger than the cardfront. It gave just a hint of a shadow effect and to tie in the black colour, I used the Black 5/8" Glittered Organdy Ribbon. This ribbon is so beautiful!!! You will love it!

Next card I create using this will be a coloured cardstock so you can simply see the lovely effect the embossing folder creates on a card front :)

What is your favourite embossing folder to use?

Until next time!
Margaret 

Magnolia Note Cards

No one ever said that cards had to be more than one layer.  If you are a beginner stamper you can start with a few simple supplies.

Today's design will show you how you can make cards with very few items. (note: I did use one sentiment from another set but you can easily make a set using only the sentiments from the Good Morning Magnolia stamp set.)

Supplies used:

• Note Cards & Envelopes(used here are retired Crumb Cake) 
• current available colours are Whisper White (131527), Very Vanilla (144236), Scalloped Note Cards (149610)
• Good Morning Magnolia stamp set (149298)
• Clear Block F (118483) & D (118485)
• Soft Suede Ink (147115)

Simple steps to create:

1. Fold Note Card in half
2. Ink up large magnolia image using Soft Suede ink and stamp on card front
3. Ink up sentiment you wish to use in Soft Suede ink and stamp on card front.

That's it and don't they look great! 

No one said you needed to break the bank to make cards :D

Until next time!
Margaret