You've Got This! Masculine Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time for your weekly dose of manly card inspiration at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is Sports - NO Balls Allowed. I had to do some brainstorming on this theme and then I found this fun bunny image from Zlatoena on Etsy. When I met my hubby 22 years ago he lifted weights all the time and he still does when time allows. So, when I found this image I knew it would be perfect for the challenge.

When selecting my colors I was trying to stay neutral but then decided to add the pop of Coastal Cabana. The papers have been in my stash for awhile and the gemstones are by Darice. I created the sentiment with the computer and used my oval punch and scallop oval. Then I couldn't resist adding the black twine.

I have a quick announcement, this week I'm officially part of the Design Team at Cardz 4 Guyz for the next six months. I'm excited to join this fabulous group of ladies! It's fun to make masculine cards and I hope you will join in and play along. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Creative Card Crew: Twine
• Try it on Tuesday: Animals

Spooky Faces Halloween Card

Hello! With only a few days left in September I decided I needed to get busy making Halloween cards. This Spooky Faces Halloween Card was made using the The Paper Players sketch challenge hosted by Sandy. To create this card I used the Fall Fest stamp set but only used the faces. The idea was ghostly faces in the dark, so I embossed the faces on black paper. The faces were punched using a 1" circle punch and then matted to 1 1/4" circles. For the matting colors I used: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango. I decided to add some Tangerine Tango twine and heat embossed the Inkadinkado sentiment. It was pretty easy to make. What do you think about the spooky faces?

I'm linking my creation to the following challenges:

• Hiding in My Craft Room: Any Holiday 
• Cards in Envy: EnTWINEd

We would love for you to join us this week at The Paper Players. The design team has created some wonderful inspiration for you this week, CLICK HERE to check it out. All paper crafting brands are welcome. You have until Friday, October 3rd at NOON (PST) to enter your card in the gallery. Can't wait to see how you use the sketch.

Here is the sketch:

Fall Tree Sympathy Card

Good afternoon! I hope your week is going well. Mine has been pretty calm and quiet. Earlier today I decided to play around with the Mojo Monday sketch and this Fall Tree Sympathy Card is what I created. I'm hoping I won't need it anytime soon but it can be hard to make a sympathy card when the time comes.

All supplies except the gold brads are by Stampin' Up! Here is the list:

• Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Patterned paper from the Motley Monsters dsp (woodgrain) and retired Sweet Sorbet dsp.
• Stamps: Lovely as a Tree and  retired Simply Sketched (sentiment).
• Inks: Classic Stampin' Pad in Summer Starfruit and Sahara Sand and Stampin' Write Markers in Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso.
• Other Stuff: Oval punch, scallop oval punch, paper snips, gold brads and stampin' dimensionals.

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch
• Paperminutes: Colors of Autumn
• Oldie But A Goodie: Autumn (sentiment stamp and gold brads)

Autumn Colors Card

Hooray! It's officially fall/autumn here in Oklahoma, USA and that makes me very happy. Although the temperatures are still hoovering around 80 degrees, I know it won't be long until the cooler weather is here to stay. This morning I started a load of laundry and decided to make a card while the washer did all the work. It seemed like an efficient use of my time?!!!? As luck would have it the new challenge at SU-Only came out today and the challenge is to use Autumn Colors. Sounds perfect to me! Here is my card made with all Stampin' Up! products. The layout was cased from the Sept/Oct 2014 Stampin' Success from pg. 25. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Autumn Colors Card Supplies:

• Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Mossy Meadow cardstock. Patterned paper from the Color Me Autumn dsp.
• Stamps: For All Things 
• Inks: Classic Stampin' pads in Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow and Soft Suede.
• Other Stuff: Autumn Wooden Elements, Crushed Curry twine, paper snips, 2" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, sponge dauber and stampin' dimensionals. 

Fishing Happy Birthday Card

Greetings! It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guys. This week the theme is WATER. The first thing I decided to use was the image. This cute little fisherman is Barry from StampFairy. The StampFairy store is closing in October, so pop on over and check it out while you still have time.

Once I had the image colored, I selected the patterned papers from the retired Sunshine & Sprinkles dsp by Stampin' Up! Since I colored the boat Daffodil Delight using the new Blendabilities markers, I decided I needed to add a strip of embossed cardstock to match. The layout is simple and I added some twine and three sequins for detail. The Happy Birthday sentiment is by Hero Arts and was stamped using StazOn black ink. That about sums it up. I always ask the hubby what he thinks of my masculine cards and he said it was cute. That definitely made me happy! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Enjoy the rest of your day!

I'm entering this Fishing Happy Birthday Card in the following challenges:

• Crafting From The Heart: Anything Goes
• The Squirrel and The Fox: Happy Birthday
• Wags 'n Whiskers: With our Furry Friends

Casual Masculine Birthday Card for The Paper Players

Hello and Happy Sunday! I'm back with another card as a guest designer at The Paper Players. This week the super talented Jaydee is challenging us with a Casual Masculine Birthday theme. I have to admit that I found making a casual card for a guy a lot easier than making one for a girl.

My card was made for one of my hubby's friends. His birthday party will be held at a local lake. Having a birthday at the lake gave me the idea to use a fish theme on his card. On a base of Whisper White I added a panel of Smoky Slate. Using the By the Tide stamp set I stamped tone on tone using the script stamp. The reef was stamped using Crumb Cake and the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Hey You set was stamped in Black. The focal panel was matted with Island Indigo cardstock and adhered directly to the Smoky Slate panel. The fish was stamped using Memento Black ink onto watercolor paper. I used my Aqua Painters and colored the fish using Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake and Island Indigo classic stampin' pads. Although you can't really see it, I added some glossy accents to the fish's eye. Then the fish was fussy-cut and adhered with dimensionals. The last detail added was the three silver sequins. I'm entering my card in the following challenges: CAS on Sunday theme Sequins Celebration and Addicted to Stamps theme For a Man or Boy.

Now, pop on over to the The Paper Players and check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team. Every week they amaze me with their creativity! Then you have until Friday, Sept. 26th at NOON (PST) to share your Casual Masculine Birthday creation. All brands of paper crafting products are welcome. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Bloom for You Thanks Card

My new favorite Stampin' Up! color is Blackberry Bliss and it looks beautiful paired with Old Olive or Mossy Meadow. This Bloom for You Thanks Card is a combination of two cards I recently made, you can see them here and here. It seems I have a habit of using what is on my craft desk. Right now I really love the subtle polka dot patterned paper from the retired Watercolor Wonder dsp. Another new favorite of mine is the Thanks sentiment from the Another Thank You stamp set. The leaves and butterfly were stamped using the Kinda Eclectic stamp set. Before I chose the accent color for the butterfly and embossed strip, I played around with three different colors, Coastal Cabana, Soft Sky and Pool Party. It was Pool Party that had the right color tone to go along with the other colors. This card was pretty easy to make and I can see it working with many different color combinations. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Bloom for You Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Suzy Bee's: Anything Goes w/ optional Spots or Dots
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls: Anything Goes
• Creative Corner: Favorite Color Combo 

Umbrella Mouse Sorry Card

Hello! I hope you're having a lovely week. Mine has been pretty quite so far. My latest card is this Umbrella Mouse Sorry Card created using the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. Their sponsor this week is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and I was happy to color up this cute Umbrella Mouse to play along. After selecting my image, I started looking through my patterned papers and found what I think looks like big rain drops on a sea of Lost Lagoon by Stampin' Up! (Moonlight paper stack). Perfect! I decided to use Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight for accent colors and punched circles for my embellishment detail. Then I decided it needed a small sentiment and the little mouse looks like it wants to apologize for something so I went with the Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment, I'm So Sorry. Cute critters make everything better! Hopefully, I won't need to say I'm So Sorry, but if I do I hope this card makes forgiveness easy. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

My Umbrella Mouse Sorry Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Lawnscaping: Critters Galore
• Crafty Boots: Anything Goes

Noble Deer Thanks Card

Oh boy! Cardz 4 Guyz has a NO Patterned Paper challenge this week and for me, it was a challenge. We all have our favorite things to use and mine is patterned paper. So, when I sat down to create a card without it, I decided to do a little water-coloring. Searching through my stash I noticed there were zero masculine thanks cards. So I decided that's what I would make. Using the retired Noble Deer for the focal image it was stamped using StazOn Timber Brown ink and then I used my Aqua Painters and classic stampin' pads to add color. Ink colors used include: Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake and Baked Brown Sugar all by Stampin' Up!. The card base is made from kraft cardstock. Then I trimmed a piece of Pear Pizzazz cardstock the same size as the front of the card. To make it smaller and to give it a decorative edge, I used a pair of Fiskars Deckle scissors. To darken the edges I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. The next step was adhering the focal image and twine and adhering the panel to the card. Instead of stamping a sentiment I decided to use my Cricut machine to create the layered Thanks and that completed this Noble Deer Thanks Card.  We would love for you to play along at Cardz 4 Guyz! For more inspiration click here to see what the design team is sharing. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Noble Deer Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Just Us Girls: Water-Coloring
• Cards in Envy: EnTWINEd
• Animal Friends: Use an Animal

Regarding Dahlias for The Paper Players

Maybe it's me, but did last week just fly by??? It's already time for another challenge at The Paper Players. This week the wonderful Anne Marie has a Color Challenge for us. The colors are warm and just perfect for this time of year!

One thing I love to do is make the same card with different color schemes to see how it changes the overall look. That's exactly what I did with this weeks colors. I used a card from last month (click here to see original) and recreated it with the challenge colors. Again, I've used a combination of new, current and retired products. The Baked Brown Sugar background panel was stamped tone on tone with the retired En Francais stamp. For the center panel a strip of Blackberry Bliss dsp from the Park Lane collection was used. The striped Always Artichoke paper is from the retired Designer Series Paper Stacks and the retired Delicate Details Lace Tape adds some contrast to the dark colors. Using Cajun Craze ink the current Regarding Dahlias image was stamped onto Whisper White cardstock. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the retired Morning Meadow Hostess stamp set and was stamped using Blackberry Bliss ink. A piece of textured gold paper from Recollections was punched using an Elegant Butterfly Punch and three small pearls were added for detail. All supplies are by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Here are the colors:

Now, we would love for you to join us at The Paper Players (click here)! All brands of paper crafting products are welcome. The challenge is open until NOON (PST) on Friday, Sept. 19th. I hope you will stop by and see the fantastic creations the design team is sharing this week using the challenge colors. Can't wait to see your card in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Quilt Inspired Feel Better Card

Good evening! It's getting late but once I got started I couldn't stop until my card was done. This Quilt Inspired Feel Better Card was made using the colors and photo inspiration from the Color Throwdown Challenge. I went with a literal interpretation from the quilt photo inspiration. The Stampin' Up! colors I used are:

• Basic Gray
• Lucky Limeade
• Pool Party
• Pacific Point

This was the first time I've used bleach on cardstock. Mainly because I don't buy bleach, but the non-chlorine version didn't fade my cardstock at all.  So, in the pursuit of creativity I made a late night trip to the grocery store. I would love it if you would let me know what you think of the bleached effect?

The focal design for this card was a technique I learned a couple of years ago. However, I haven't used it since and had to dissect my original to figure out how it was made. Here are the directions I followed: Cut two cardstock pieces 2 5/8" square (these will be your matting pieces), cut two patterned paper pieces 2 1/2" square, cut the patterned pieces into square quarters 1 1/4" x 1 1/4". Ink the edges of your pieces and apply adhesive to the backs. Arrange pieces as shown, making sure they will fit onto the backing cardstock squares. To finish the center I used a Martha Stewart punch and a Basic Gray glitter brad.

The Feel Better sentiment from the Sassy Salutations set was heat embossed. Then I added stitching on the border of my card for a little more quilt inspired detail. That's it! Thanks for stopping by.

My card is entered into the following challenges:

• Color Throwdown: Color
• Penny's Paper-Crafty: Stitching, Real or Faux
• Our Daily Bread: Stitch It!

Blended Bloom Thanks Card

This evening the hubby is working late, so I decided to play in my craft room. While looking at cards this afternoon I found a new to me SU-Only Challenge. The current challenge is to use embellishments. Keeping this in mind I decided to make another Blended Bloom Card to use my recently purchased Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities markers. The image created by the Blended Bloom stamp is a lot of fun to color. Eventually, I will probably create a bloom in every marker color.  All the supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! and all expect the patterned paper are current products. The stamps sets used are: Kinda Eclectic, Another Thank You, and the Blended Bloom. The leaves were stamped using the rock-n-roll technique using Old Olive and Mossy Meadow stampin' pads. I wanted a little pop of color so I added the Itty Bitty Butterfly in Pool Party with three Rhinestone Basic Jewels. Then I scattered three additional rhinestones around the image and sentiment. That's it! I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by!

Casual Frog Card

Hello and Happy Tuesday! It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and the theme this week is Casual. For this challenge I dug out my Frog on Lily Pad stamp by Rubbernecker Stamps. I colored the image with my Copic markers and then fussy-cut it. To create the look of water I used a torn piece of blue Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss and added some darker blue with my aqua painters. I used the heat gun to dry it quickly. After adhering the blue piece I stamped the sentiment and adhered the fussy-cut frog with dimensionals. That's it! I hope you will play along with the Casual Challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Yellow Flower Birthday Card

Good evening! I have a quick post to share a card I made tonight using the photo inspiration at The Pink Elephant Challenge. I love black and white cards with a pop of color and the yellow is definitely a nice contrast. The flower is die cut with three colors of yellow: Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight and So Saffron. The die cut is by Sizzix, Flower layers #7 and I used a decorative brad to secure the layers together. I added a bling flourish coming down off the flower but in the photo it blends into the patterned paper. The top two corners were punched using a Fiskars decorative corner punch and the sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up! set. Well, that's about it. I'm also entering this card in the Crafting From The Heart Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Hello Fall Card for The Paper Players

Howdy! It's Sunday again and time for another wonderful challenge from The Paper Players. This week Ann is hostess and has selected fall as the theme! Happy Fall Y'all! is the title and I am certainly ready for fall to arrive. My card has a little bit of everything in it. I've used brand new, current and retired Stampin' Up! products to create this Hello Fall Card. The last couple of weeks I've loved the negative space designs from the design team and participants, so I decided to create my own. I searched for colorful sunsets and found a lovely photo (see below) that inspired the focal image. To create the focal design I used watercolor paper and the current Lovely As a Tree stamp set. Using StazOn ink in Timber Brown I stamped the trees and then used my Aqua Painters and classic stampin' pads to add color. I decided to use the retired Natural Composition woodgrain paper to frame the image. To create the whitewash look, I used Craft Stampin' ink and sponged it all over the paper. Then using a cloth to wipe the ink from the glossy areas. The leaves were stamped using the retired Gently Falling stamp set, this set is one of my all time favorites. I used the rock-n-roll technique to give the leaves a shaded look. To finish the card I added the sentiment from the new For All Things stamp set, an antique brad and some natural jute twine. I really enjoyed making this card and I hope it helps inspire you to play along at The Paper Players fall theme challenge. I'm submitting my card at this weeks Leaves challenge at Just Us Girls.

The design team really went all out this week and have created some marvelous inspiration. Click here to check out their designs. You have until NOON (PST) on Friday, Sept. 12th to participate in the challenge. I hope to see your card in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Photo by: Marcia Breznay

Vintage Floral Wallpaper Photo Challenge

Hello! When I started challenges on my blog a year ago it was meant to be temporary and the time has come for the challenges to end. I really appreciate everyone who played along and shared their talent over the last year. It's been a lot of fun viewing your work and getting to know you. The final challenge is a photo of some Vintage Floral Wallpaper from an office building where I once worked. The colors are a nice transition into fall and could easily be used in a masculine design. For my card I stuck with the floral theme and used the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary for my layout.

The Stampin' Up! colors used are:

• Smoky Slate
• Night of Navy
• Cajun Craze
• Marina Mist
• Whisper White

This challenge will run until Saturday, September 13th at Noon (CT). Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see your card in the gallery! 

Andrea's Inspirational Design:

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Create a New card using the challenge theme/photo, no linking to old posts. 
2. Only one entry per blog address.
3. This is a card only challenge.
4. You must use a stamp, either rubber or digital.
5. You can combine this challenge with other challenges.
6. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to this challenge. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
7. All brands of stamping products are welcome.
8. HAVE FUN!!!

Colourful Feel Better Card

Given the choice between housework and making a card, I seem to always choose to make a card. Although I will have to do a couple of chores later, I indulged myself with some creative procrastination and made this Colourful Feel Better Card. The colours were inspired by this weeks beautiful ColourQ Challenge. I used the sketch challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches for my layout and selected the Feel Better sentiment to play along at Addicted to Stamps. I played around with the colours a lot before I decided on what you see. There were so many terrific options, it made it hard to narrow down. I decided to use bling instead of a stamped leaf to add some sparkle to the design. In the end I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Colourful Feel Better Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White and Lucky Limeade cardstock. Patterned paper from Ivy Lane collection by Close to my Heart.
• Stamps: Bloom for You stamp and Sassy Salutations stamp set.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush, Lucky Limeade and Night of Navy.
• Other Stuff: Spellbinders scalloped oval die, Decorative Dots embossing folder, Fun Flower punch, decorative rhinestones by Recollections, paper snips and dimensionals.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Man's Best Friend for Cardz 4 Guyz

Good morning! I'm excited to announce that for the month of September I will be a Guest Designer at Cardz 4 Guyz. I have always enjoyed making masculine cards and I look forward to sharing my creations with the Cardz 4 Guyz followers.

This week the challenge theme is Man's Best Friend. I had a lot of fun making this card! The image is from Bugaboo Digi Stamps and I colored the cute Rottweiler Puppy with my Copic markers. All patterned papers are from a pet paper stack from DCWV that I found on clearance recently. The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration set. My style is usually pretty clean so I only used three brads for embellishments. I hope you like it and I hope you will play along with the challenge. We can't wait to see what you create.

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Recipe
• The Crazy Challenge: Three of a Kind
• Crafting From The Heart: Anything Goes
• 2 Cute Ink: Anything Goes