The Light Bulb - A Man Card

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog!  I hope you are having a wonderful day!

I would also like to welcome my new followers!!  Thank you so much for joining me on this crafty journey!  I hope I can give you a little inspiration on the way!!

So,  I'm here to share another of the man cards I created a while back.  This one was for a close friend and, I'm happy to say, he loved it!!

For this card, I used a combination of  old and new Kaisercraft papers along with a few strips from different collections.

I randomly swiped some gesso over the base layer and then used a stencil and texture paste for a bit of interest.

Added the paper strips and then topped it with torn, corrugated cardboard.

The film reel was fussy cut from a sheet of Kaisercraft paper and the chipboard fish net chippie is by Scrapmatts.

The fabulous vintage image is a graphic journal card by Megs Garden.
I need to tell you that I was lucky enough to receive the digital option of two sets of these great Journal Cards as a freebie.   I think they are fabulous and, if you wish to take a look at these wonderful cards for yourself, HERE is the link.  I should also tell you that, if you did decide to purchase some of these for yourself, I will not receive any kind of kickback from your purchase.

For the final piece of interest, I added this awesome lightbulb paper clip!  Isn't it great??  Purchased this at our local Office Works .. they have a number of different shapes to choose from.

And, there you go!!!

Another one bites the dust!!  LOL!!

So, that is another masculine card completed and posted for the year!  Got a few more to go yet but they are for another day!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit.  I also wish to thank those of you who left me such wonderful comments on my last post.  You warm my heart with your lovely words.

Have a wonderful day my friends!!
Take care and God Bless.

My Junk Journal Part #3 - Completed!!

Hello dear visitors and welcome to my blog.   Hope you are having a lovely day!!  

 I have finally completed my first Junk Journal.  Gosh, it has taken me such a long time to get this done but I have thoroughly enjoyed creating it.
In a previous post (HERE) I shared the first signature of this journal but I had to change it .. again!!  The cover I made for the original journal was a wrap around and, when I finished the second signature, the two together were way too thick for the cover I made.  I had to make the decision whether to cut off the wrap around section (which I didn't want to do) or, to create a whole new cover (which I definitely didn't want to do) or, the last option was to take some pages out of both signatures so they would fit.  This last option is what I finally decided to do.  So now my book looks different again!!!  Not a lot different, but different just the same!!  LOL!!  Have to say though, I am quite happy with it!!

I was only going to show you the completed second signature in this post but, as the first one has now changed, I am actually showing the completed journal.   Must warn you, there are a lot of photos, so you may want to grab yourself a cuppa!!

A reminder of the cover.

I had some trouble deciding what kind of closure to use and in the end went with a bulldog clip attached to a little bit of chain.  As you can see, I also attached a few charms as well.

I used the pamphlet stitch to sew both signatures into the book.

The inside front cover and the cover of the first signature.  The flower is attached to an altered paper clip which holds a couple of journaling tags.

Below, the page on the left is the same as shown before but, on the right I've added some stenciling, stamping and strips of washi tape.  The tape idea came from Astrid Maclean.  She uses it a lot in her journals and I loved the look so much I decided to use some in mine.  If you don't know Astrid and would like to see her works HERE is the link.  Believe me, you won't be sorry .. her creations are amazing!!
Not 100% happy with the way I added the washi, but I'm hoping that, with some practice, it will get better!  LOL!!

Added stenciling and stamping to the page on the left  but the right side is the same as shown in Part #1 with that ingenious lift up tab idea I pinched .. errr .. borrowed .. from Jenny Marples at Pushing the Right Buttons!  LOL!!

Again, I just added a touch of stenciling and stamping to the page on the right.

Just the cute flower stencil with a little added stamping on the left and the page folds out.

This is where I removed some of the pages ..

 .. and here is the centre of the signature.

 I attached a couple of charms to the ends of the thread I used to sew the signature to the cover.

The stained tracing paper on the right folds out.

Love, love, love those stains!

Added stenciling and stamping on the right side.

Here I've added stenciling and strips of washi to the left side and added an altered paper clip as well.  They are so handy for tuck spots.

A tiny little clip on the left and stencil and stamp on the right.  The right side page folds out as well.  Means there's plenty of room for journaling or adding photos and ephemera.

Here I just added the stencil and washi on the left side ..

 .. and here is the back cover of the first signature and the front cover of the second.  I do hope you are still with me!!!

So, here we are inside the second signature.  As you can see, there is a pocket on the left with a couple of tags and on the right I've left the page clean and just added strips of washi tape.

 This flower is another altered paper clip.

Just a little stamping on the left and more of the tea stained tracing paper on the right.

 Folded a doily over the edge of this page and added a little washi for some interest.

 Another pocket on the left with some tags, one of which is a booklet.  The little banner on the right can be moved or taken out completely as it is simply attached to the page with a small clip.

 A couple of different sized pages here with the usual stenciling and also a touch of lace.

Page on the left folds out.

The middle of the second signature.

 Again, I have attached a couple of charms to the ends of the thread used to sew the signature to the cover.

Page on the right folds out.

Page on the right .. you guessed it!! .. folds out!!  LOL!!

A triangular pocket this time to hold some tags.  I really like this shape of pocket and will certainly use it in other books.

Another altered paper clip (you can see how I make these HERE) and more of the tea stained tracing paper.

On the last page is a small envelope which doubles duty as a tuck spot ..

The back cover of the second signature and the inside back cover of the journal.

And there it is!!  My first Junk Journal done and dusted!!  I hope you managed to stick it out till the end and I really hope you like it!!

As stated at the beginning of this post, this book took a really long time to complete mainly because I didn't work on it all the time.  I only dragged it out every once in a while when I wasn't busy with other things and I also changed it around a few times!  I had a lot of fun with it though because I wasn't in a rush to finish and I could take my time to decide what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look.  I do love how it turned out and am definitely making more of these.

I am sharing this in the August Mini Album Makers Challenge

Update:  I am totally thrilled and delighted (and, let me say, stunned) to tell you that my little book was chosen as the Design Team Favourite for August.  I would like to thank all the members of the Mini Album Makers Challenge Team for giving me this honour!  You made my day!! 

Thank you so much for your visit and for the lovely comments left on my last post.  I really do appreciate it and I must apologise for falling behind again with my blog visits.  This post was scheduled because I haven't been very well just lately and have not been able to get on my computer.  Thankfully I am starting to come good now and, hopefully, I can catch up with all of you soon.

Whatever you like doing, do it lots, and have fun with it!!
Have a great day!!
Take care and God Bless.