Fangtastic Halloween Card

Dracula wants you to have a Fangtastic Halloween! I send Halloween Cards to immediate family and a couple of friends that have younger children. So, I don't need a lot of them, but I love to make Halloween Cards. I especially love using purple in my Halloween designs. The color purple just makes me smile!

To create this Fangtastic Halloween Card I've used an image and sentiment from the Haunt Ya Later stamp set by Stampin' Up!. The stamp set will be available starting next week when the holiday catalog is released on Sept. 1, 2015. I think he is rather fun and will make a great Halloween card for the boys. He was stamped using Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. All patterned paper are from the Eek-a-Boo paper pad by DCWV. I added some glossy accents to his eyes and three orange dot stickers for detail. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Fangtastic Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Cardz 4 Guyz: Myth &/or Magic
• Dragons Lair Design: Three of a Kind
• Crafting with Friends: Anything Goes

Die Cut Thanks Card

Last September I was a guest designer at Cardz 4 Guyz and then joined their team. I have really enjoyed my time as part of the team but today is my last post as a designer at Cardz 4 Guyz. I have the honor of being hostess for my last challenge and the theme is a color challenge to use Brown and Orange. I would love for you to join us to celebrate my last challenge!!!

To create this Die Cut Thanks Card I used a Spellbinders die called Glass Effects with Early Espresso cardstock. The fun background was made using watercolor paper and alcohol inks. First I cut the watercolor paper to the desired size. Then using a spray bottle I coated the paper liberally with water and then randomly dropped Sunset Orange Adirondack ink by Tim Holtz. The process was repeated as needed. I let the inked panel dry thoroughly before adhering the die cut panel. For the sentiment strip I matted a piece of Whisper White cardstock onto a slightly larger Tangelo Twist cardstock and adhered the die cut Thanks sentiment by Stampin' Up! to the center. To finish the card I added three dot pastel stickers by EK Success/Sticko. I think it turned out pretty cool and I hope you agree.

Don't forget to CLICK HERE to view the wonderful inspiration from the team. We would love to see your card in the gallery this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Beach Turtle Card

Hello! It's Tuesday again and time for a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is Something beginning with the letter T. This was the perfect challenge to use a turtle image by Bugaboo and of course it needed to be accented with some twine. I decided to make my card for a younger guy and use bright summery colors. To create this card I used the sketch from Stella Says Sketch (#311) at the Catch The Bug Challenge. The image was colored with Copic markers and I paper pieced the umbrella to give it a subtle pattern. All patterned papers are by Echo Park from the I Love Sunshine Collection. The sentiment was created on the computer and punched with a 1" circle punch then matted with a 1 1/4" circle punch. That's it!

There are lots of crafty possibilities using the letter T and I can't wait to see what you create. Click here for more inspiration from the design team and we hope you will play along. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Beach Turtle Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Incy Wincy: Summer Lovin'
• Digi Galore: Summery/Bright
• Craft for the Craic: Summer Time

Reindeer Peace and Joy Card

Did you know there are only 22 more Tuesdays until Christmas? It will be here before we know it, so this week at Cardz 4 Guyz the challenge theme is Christmas in July. Create a Christmas card for a guy and link it up to the challenge blog HERE.

To create this Reindeer Peace and Joy Card I used the following supplies:

• Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and Island Indigo cardstock along with patterned paper from the retired Festival of Prints paper stack. 
• Stamps: Reindeer image by BoBunny and sentiment from Good Greeting set by Stampin' Up!
• Inks: VersaMark stamp pad, Early Espresso Emboss Powder, classic stampin' pads in Island Indigo and Bashful Blue.
• Other Stuff: Heat gun, silver glitter tape by Recollections, snowflake sticker by K & Company and Island Indigo candy dot. 

We hope you will play along this week. To see additional Christmas inspiration from the design team please visit the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge blog. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Masculine Emerging Color Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today is the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week the theme is NO Patterned Paper. I knew immediately that meant I would make a card using the Emerging Color Technique it's a version of the Emboss Resist Technique. It's a fun and inky way to make a focal panel. If you want step-by-step directions I've included some photos with explanations below. To see my previous cards using this technique click here. One of the best parts about this technique is picking the colors you want to use. Colors can be bold, bright, subtle or neutral. You pick! You're only limited by your imagination and stamp pad selection.

We hope you will join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Click here for more inspiration from the design team.

This Masculine Emerging Color Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Throwdown: Tic Tac Toe (Stamp + Twine + Sequins)
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Emerging Color Technique Directions: 

Step 1: Cut a white piece of cardstock in desired finished size.

Step 2: Select the ink colors to create your panel and randomly ink cardstock.

Step 3: After ink is dry use embossing buddy over entire panel. You will need VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder.

Step 4: Select stamp set and randomly stamp images using VersaMark ink. Apply embossing powder, shake off excess and heat set using heat gun.

Step 5: Select a dark shade of ink and using sponge apply ink to the entire area.

Step 6: Repeat inking process if needed. Lastly, use a paper towel to wipe excess ink off the embossed areas.

I hope the photos and instructions were helpful! Let me know if you give this technique a try. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Cute Puppy Card

It's Tuesday again and that means the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week we have a sketch challenge designed by Julie (see sketch below). It's simple enough for all skill levels to play along. We hope you'll be inspired to create a masculine card for one of the guys in your life.

For my card I used the Cute Puppy image by Bugaboo Stamps. It comes colored which helps if you're wanting to make a quick and easy card. The background paper is from the Go Wild designer paper pack by Stampin' Up! The edges of the paper were inked using Wild Wasabi ink and then layered onto blue cardstock. To highlight the image I decided to double mat with red and blue. The sentiment is by Stampin' Up! in the From the Herd stamp set. When it came to adding the detail next to the center image, I wasn't sure what to use. After much debate I settled on the heart. To finish it off, I added four candy dots to the corners. That's it!

To see the inspiration from the rest of the design team CLICK HERE. I hope to see your card in the gallery. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Cute Puppy Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Anything Goes

Challenge Sketch:

Bear Feel Better Card

Welcome to my card blog! Today I'm sharing this Bear Feel Better Card for inspiration at the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge. We would love for you to play along with this weeks challenge to create a masculine card using something that starts with the letter B. I figured a bear holding a bandage would work! The image is from Stamp Fairy which is sadly no longer available. I colored the image with my Copic markers. All patterned papers are by Little Yellow Bicycle from the Fern & Forest paper pack. The sentiment stamp is from the Sassy Salutations stamp set by Stampin' Up! I added some twine and used the bitty banner punch with some candy dots for detail. That about sums it up.

Click here to see the brilliant letter B inspired creations from the design team. We hope to see your card in the gallery!

My Bear Feel Better Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Use Your Stuff: Anything Goes
• Come and Get It: Cute Cards

Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card

Thanks for stopping by to check out my latest card. Today is the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we would like you to use your Dies and/or Punches. I used this challenge as an excuse to buy the Contemporary Diamonds Shapeabilities by Spellbinders. When I first saw it I knew it would make a cool card for a guy but I didn't have a good reason to buy it, so I didn't. A couple weeks later and the right challenge and I found the "justification" I needed to make my purchase. The hardest part when making this Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card was deciding what colors to use. I ended up using: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Hello Honey and Cherry Cobbler. To add some interest to the background paper I used the Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz with Antique Linen distress ink and Crumb Cake ink. The Thinking of You sentiment is from the Wetlands stamp set by Stampin' Up! and was stamped using Soft Suede ink. That's it!

Click here to see the wonderful inspiration from the design team. We hope you will join us and we can't wait to see what you create for one of the men in your life.

My Manly Contemporary Diamonds Card is entered into the following challenges:

• AAA Cards: Paste and/or Stencils
• Less is More: Stencilling
• Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes

My Dad Measures Up Card

It's Tuesday again and time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. The theme this week is Father's Day. Since Sunday will be arriving quickly, I definitely needed to get a card done for my dad. My dad makes custom cabinets and other custom projects from his home workshop. Growing up I used to tinker in his shop with him and to this day the smell of sawdust reminds me of him. I don't have any tool related stamps and I couldn't find a suitable digital image, so I used this patterned paper by Karen Foster Designs. The Dad was cut using my Cricut machine and I added two silver brads for accents (I wish I had the ones that look like the heads of screws, but I didn't). On the inside I'll use my computer to create a sentiment using the measures up angle. Oh... just so you know, I measured all my papers twice and cut them once when making this My Dad Measures Up Card to follow shop protocol, of course. I hope he likes it!

We would love for you to join up this week! Click here for more inspiration from the design team. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

This My Dad Measures Up Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: For a Man or Boy
• Get Creative: For the Boys or Father's Day
• Come and Get It: It's a Guy Thing
• Tuesday Throwdown: Mr. Handy Man

Fishy Card for Dad

Good day and happy Tuesday! It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week the theme is Texture. I've used dry embossing and twine to create texture on this Fishy Card for Dad. The base of this card is natural cardstock accented with Antique Linen distress ink on the edges and then topped with papers from The Paper Loft. Using the Decorative Dots embossing folder by Stampin' Up! and more natural paper with distress ink I created the embossed panel. Wrapped around the panel is some twine that I recycled from a gift package. The fishy image is from the By the Tide stamp set by Stampin' Up! and stamped using Always Artichoke ink. It's worth noting that the ink takes much longer to dry on the natural paper, in fact I finally took my heat gun to it. Next time I'll use some clear embossing powder on the image to prevent any smeared images. The dad sentiment is part of  a larger stamp that I masked and is by Hero Arts. The finished size of this card is 5.25" square. This fishy card was made with my hubby's dad in mind for Father's Day. He loves to fish!

We would love for you to make a masculine card with texture and play along this week. Click here for more inspiration from the design team.

This Fishy Card for Dad is entered into the following challenges:

• The Paper Players: Masculine
• Crafty Boots: Father's Day
• My Time to Craft: Male

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

Masculine Mallards Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! This week at Cardz 4 Guyz I have the pleasure of being the hostess and I chose the theme Birds for our challenge. I love feeding our backyard birds and recently we woke up to a pair of Mallards in our yard. We have received a lot of rain and our yard backs up to a creek but we were surprised to see them right up by the house. This Masculine Mallards Card was inspired by my backyard encounter. I can't wait to see what bird inspires your creation!

To create my card I used a digital image I recently won from Pattie's Creations Challenge called Mallards. Pattie Gomez is the artist and she has an Etsy shop where she sells her images. I colored the image with my Copic markers and quickly decided that this beauty needed to be a framed piece of art. I used a piece of hardwood patterned paper to make the frame and then adhered over the image with dimensionals. The rest is pretty simple and the finished card size is 5.25" square.

Click here to see the wonderful inspiration from the design team. We hope you will play along this week!

This Masculine Mallards Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Pink Elephant: Masculine Birthday
• Love to Scrap!: Male Call
• The Paper Girls: Father's Day/Masculine

Here is another picture of Mr. Tazzy helping me craft. It never fails, I start to take pictures and he wants to help. The second picture is Mr. Dickens and he likes to nap by the window while I make cards. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Lobster Birthday Card

Happy Tuesday! I can't believe it's the last week of May, it seems the weeks are flying by. This week at Cardz 4 Guyz the challenge is to use Gingham/Checks/Plaid. Hopefully, this theme will make it easy to create a masculine card. To create this Lobster Birthday Card I used the paper stack called Adventure Bound by Stampin' Up! (only available until June 2, 2015) the By the Tide stamp set for the lobster and the sentiment is from the retired hostess Morning Meadow stamp set. The colors used are: Sahara Sand, Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. I've used the sketch challenge PP246 at The Paper Players for the card design. That's it!

We hope you can join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Click here to see more inspiration from the design team. I can't wait to see what you create.

Helping me clean my desk is Mr. Tazzy. His idea of cleaning is knocking everything onto the floor. If given the opportunity he will hide my stamps in his special places. He loves anything that will fit under the pantry door. When I'm not crafting I have to place large sacks on top of my desk to keep him from playing.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

G'day Mate Koala Card

G'day!!! It's Tuesday and the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is World Wildlife and I've used a Koala native to Australia for my inspirational card. Although I've never been to Australia or anywhere outside of the United States, I do think these marsupials are just adorable.

To create this G'day Mate Koala Card I used an image from a set called Aussie Critters by Doodle Pantry and it comes with several images, sentiments and digital papers. The wooden center panel was made using Baked Brown Sugar cardstock and ink and stamped using the Hardwood stamp by Stampin' Up! Then I used my deckle scissors by Fiskars to distress the edges and layered it onto a Smoky Slate piece of cardstock. Next, I added the green paper strip and wrapped the twine three times and adhered entire panel to a black card base. I cut three leaf accents using the Bird Builder punch and Garden Green cardstock and positioned them around the image. The last step was adding the sentiment. That's it!

The next step is for you to find your favorite wild critter stamp and make a card to share with us at Cardz 4 Guyz. Just remember it has to be a masculine design. We would love for you to join us! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This card is entered into the Cards in Envy: Hey Dude! challenge.

Graduation Day Card

Hello again! It's time for a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is Make Your Mark and I've made this Graduation Day Card to share with you (click here for challenge guidelines). Next week many local schools will hold their High School Graduations and I know one very special individual that will cross the stage. Hooray!

Most of the supplies on this card have been in my stash for ages with the exception of the stamps. The stamp set is called Diploma Day and it's new by Close to My Heart. I did have enough Congratulations paper left to see it's by DCWV and the red net ribbon was purchased by the yard. I didn't use many embellishments on this card, just kept it simple.

We would love for you to join us this week. The design team created some wonderful masculine inspiration, click here to view. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

This Graduation Day Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craftin Desert Diva's: Graduation
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes w/ optional Let's Celebrate

Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today, I have my inspiration card for the challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. The theme this week is Gardening and the design team did a wonderful job turning this theme masculine. My Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card is a rarity for me, it's all hand stamped with NO patterned paper. I was afraid at first to use flowers on a masculine card but guys plant flowers, so I figured it should work. The idea was based off Flowerpot or Container Gardening. It's sad to admit that the Create a Garden stamp set by Rubbernecker has been in my stash for at least three years and this was the first time I inked it up. The sentiment stamp is called Every Season by Verve Stamps and was stamped using Memento black ink. The other ink colors are all by Stampin' Up! and include: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Tangelo Twist, Garden Green, Pistachio Pudding, Crushed Curry and Island Indigo. That's it!

We hope you are inspired to join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Click here to go directly to the challenge. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

My Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Cards in Envy: When Nature Calls
• Addicted to Stamps: Flowers
• Life in Details: Flowers
• Suzy Bee's Bloomin': Anything Goes w/ Twist No Patterned Paper

Flying Hi Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time for another manly challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is Flight. Again this week I've used an image by Doodle Pantry called Flying Hi, they have lots of wonderful manly images. To select the papers for this Flying Hi Card I limited my choices to the supplies currently on my desk or in my scrap bin. Luckily I had several in the same colors as the pre-colored image. The sentiment is included in the image set and was printed with my computer. To finish it off, I add added three Candy Dots. That's it!

Click here to see the wonderful inspiration from the design team and to get all the challenge details. We would love for you to join us this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Flying Hi Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Boots: Things with Wings
• Crafting From The Heart: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes

Masculine Football Card

Hello! It's Tuesday and that means another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the theme is Football Crazy where you can use Soccer or American Football to create a masculine card for the challenge. To create my card I used an image by Doodle Pantry called Football Birdie. The digital set has both colored and lined images for you to choose from. To save time, I went with the colored version. The set also comes with digital papers but I opted to use some patterned papers by The Paper Studio. I kept the design pretty simple and only added a couple of banners and three blue candy dots for detail. I'm pretty sure this Masculine Football Card will be sent to my cousin's house, she has two young boys who play football.

CLICK HERE to see more Football Crazy inspiration from the Cardz 4 Guyz design team. We look forward to seeing your card in the gallery. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!  

Hang in there! Card

Happy Tuesday! Today is the start of a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we want to see Exotic/Jungle Wildlife featured on your card. When going to the Zoo, I can watch the monkeys for hours and decided to use a fun digi called Moses the Monkey from SK Digis. I colored Moses with my Copic Markers and cut the image into an oval . The Hang in there! sentiment was printed from the computer. I did go to the store and purchase the Safari patterned paper for this card. The intent was to find a couple of single sheets of paper that would work, however I wasn't that lucky. I ended up buying a 60 piece paper stack called Land of the Sahara by The Paper Studio. It was on clearance, but I will now need to make lots of safari themed cards.

We would love for you to play along with us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Click here to see more Exotic/Jungle Wildlife inspiration from the design team. It seems many of us were inspired by monkeys. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Awesome! Super Hero Card

Hello again! I'm back today to share with you an Awesome! Superhero Card. I selected the theme Superhero this week for the challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. My hubby is a huge Superhero fan and with the countdown to the new Marvel Avengers movie coming out soon, it seemed like the perfect theme for this week. I hope it will appeal to your creativity and you will join us this week. We would love to see what you create!

When selecting the colors for my Superhero outfit I decided to be original and pick my own colors. My hero is wearing green, orange, blue with gray boots and belt.  The digital Superhero stamp is by Kenny K and I colored him with my Copic markers. For some detail on the background I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set by Stampin' Up! and added a small piece of patterned paper. The Awesome! sentiment was stamped using Memento black ink and colored in with a C3 cool gray Copic marker. The hardest part when making this card was deciding what colors to use for the outfit, everything else is pretty simple.

The next step is to CLICK HERE to see the wonderful Cardz 4 Guyz design team inspiration. Then we hope you will join us and link your creation to our Superhero challenge. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!!!

This card is entered into the Child's Play challenge at Cards in Envy.

S... is for Snail

Greetings! It's time for your weekly dose of "manly" card inspiration at Cardz 4 Guyz. This week we want you to feature something on your card that starts with the letter "S". For my card, S.... is for Snail. When I was trying to figure out what to use I remembered that Peppercus Design features several adorable snails and I found the perfect freebie (and it came pre-colored). The design for my card is from this weeks sketch at Sweet Sketch Saturday. It was easy to pick colors that matched the image and all the papers used came from my scrap bin. For the sentiment I decided this little snail had to be thinking "Woohoo" as he road his skateboard with a fire blazing jet-pack.  The sentiment stamp is from Stampabilities and was stamped using Memento Black ink. That's it!

I'm also linking this Snail Card to the following challenges:

• Addicted to Stamps: Stars
• Stamping Sensations: One for the Boys

Now, what will your "S" stand for? Snake, Stars, Scooters, Sasquatch.....so many ideas!!! Click here to see what the Cardz 4 Guyz design team created using the letter "S". We would love for you to play along. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!!!