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 

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 

Gone Fishing

I didn't jump on the Best Catch bandwagon right away when the set came out. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it and know some people who fish but I wasn't sure if I would end up using it as much as perhaps I thought I should.  As you can see though, I did break down and buy it.  The dies that coordinate with the stamp set certainly help make the card creation process so much easier. 

As I often do with other coordinating sets, I stamp, colour and die cut several images. From there I will design and build a card.

If you don't already own any of the Stampin' Blends, I highly recommend them.  The more you work with them the better you will get at blending, shading and simply colouring overall :D

As I am not always confident in my colour choices I did the one thing many of us do....I googled images of fish and other peoples creations to see how some of the fish looked.   I love using lots of colour as I find it brings the fish to life!!!

Now I truly appreciate the Copper Trim as this ribbon adds a perfect shimmering touch to just about any design.  When using it on a fish card such as, by simply stretching the ribbon out it looks a bit like a fish net. A simple yet cool technique.

Since this card says "For You, Dad" you could use if for any occasion really - birthday, fathers day, just because!! <3

Do you own this set already? Have you taken the time to sit down and create with it?

Until next time!
Margaret