Man Card - Clean and Simple

Hello everyone!  

A very warm welcome to my blog ... so glad you dropped by.
Hope the weather in your part of the world is treating you kindly.  It's actually been quite cool here in Adelaide today, which is wonderful, but they tell me it's going to warm up again.  Just hope it doesn't get too hot.  Hate the heat!!

Anyways, I am back to share another masculine card with you.  This one was made for a close friend.  As the post title suggests, this one is actually quite clean and simple.  Well, for me anyway.  LOL!!

Here 'tis

The papers used are from 7Dots Studio and are part of a give-away I won from Helen Tilbury at 

Scrap Addict.  

Not a lot of layers, and not much grunge happening here.

I did splash a bit of black ink around  and added some washi tape.  I also 'rusted' up the little metal cogs a bit as you can see.

Haven't used an embossing folder in an age so I decided to drag one out for this card and I did ink the raised areas with some VersaColor stamp pads.

   

Heat embossed the greeting, mounted it on some cardstock and then simply attached it to the card with some bits of twine.

Just decorated the inside with some border punched strips of paper.  The bottom section is a pocket ...

...  which is used to hold the verse.  My personal message was written on the other side.

And that's it, all done and dusted!!  As I said, it is a bit cleaner and simpler than I usually do but my grungy mojo has gone west.  Besides, I thoroughly enjoyed making this card and think I will be doing more of the simpler ones.  I also want to try some watercolour cards and have been haunting You Tube for ideas and techniques.  Have been hopeless in the past with watercolour but I'm going to keep trying and, hopefully, will be able to get it done!!  One can dream, can't one??  LOL!!

Thank you so much for dropping by and do enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

A Lovely, lovely Christmas Surprise!!

Hello lovely people and thank you for dropping by at this busy time of the year.

I did think my previous post was going to be my last before Christmas, but today I got a lovely surprise which I simply had to share.

I have been very blessed to have come to know a lot of very talented people out there in blog land and, quite a lot of them I have come to call my friend.  Some, I have even been lucky enough to meet personally but others I have never met and probably (unless I am extremely lucky) never will.  Well, this morning in the post I received the loveliest surprise from one of those friends who lives on the other side of the world and whom I, unfortunately, will most likely never meet.

I received a Christmas card from Astrid Maclean and I am over the moon.  Astrid and I, through a set of circumstances I won't go into here, did exchange cards last year but, as she is away from home over Christmas and as she is an extremely busy lady, I really didn't think it would happen this year so, to my extreme dismay, I didn't actually make one for her and then, this morning, I received this gorgeous card from her.   

I am always amazed at Astrid's art.  She has a wonderful eye for colour and composition and the techniques she uses to make her projects are brilliant.

I love the embossing and the way she blends the different colours so beautifully.

Love the heart with that little twine bow.  Such a lot of work went into this card, these photos really don't do it justice.  

Absolutely stunning work!!

Thank you, so much Astrid!!  It was such a lovely surprise to receive in the mail this morning.  Your card is divine and I will treasure this forever.
I have a box where I keep all my most special cards.  Some were made by my children when they were little and some were made by my grandchildren and also some from special friends (Astrid's card from last year is in this box), some of whom are no longer with us.  Every once in a while I get my box down and sit quietly to look at them all and remember when I received them.  After I finish displaying this card (which will probably be for a very long time) it will go into this box as well.
I am so sorry that I didn't reciprocate this year Astrid, but I will definitely correct that mistake for next year.  I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a really lovely holiday with lots and lots of hugs and kisses for you from your grandchildren.  Blessings to you all.

For anyone who doesn't know Astrid, her blog is Astrid's Artistic Efforts and you can find it HERE.  I urge you to go and take a look, her work is amazing!!

A very Merry Christmas to all my lovely followers and visitors too.
Thank you so much for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless

oxox Marg