Masculine in a Softer Tone and some Happy Mail!

Hello my sweet visitors, so lovely to have you drop by.  I hope everyone is having an awesome day and that the weather, wherever you are, is being kind.

I am back today to share another of my masculine cards.  As the title suggests, this one is a more gentlemanly (is that a word???  LOL!!) version.  I have used softer colours and not much in the way of grunge.

The papers are from Kaisercraft's Heritage Paper Pad.  Love these papers, they are just gorgeous and suitable for feminine as well as masculine makes.

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard and all I've done is randomly swiped them with VersaColor stamp pads .. a little black, brown and bronze. 

Found the 'Happy Birthday' die in my stash but have no idea who makes it.  Cut it from the same papers and just mounted it on some brown cardstock.

This chippie is also from 2Crafty and is a piece that was left over from another make.  Coloured it the same as the bubble chippie.

At the back of the Kaisercraft Paper pads they usually add a few pages of pop-out labels, tags and borders.  I added some eyelets and bits of twine to two of those tags and tucked them in under the layers.

Some random closies ..

Swiped some gesso around the card and also splattered it with black and white ink.

Added pockets and did a little stamping on the inside ..

.. and, voila!!  Done and dusted!

So that's my card and now for the Happy Mail!!

A few weeks ago Adriana Bolzon from  AB Inspirations  ran a little competition.  All we had to do was leave a comment either on her blog post or on her fb page and there were three prizes to be won.  Each was a set of four little travel tags .. and I won a set!!!  I was so thrilled because I thought they were so cute .. well, I got them in the mail yesterday and they are more than just cute .. they are absolutely gorgeous and so beautifully made .. I totally adore them!!!  Thank you so much Adriana .. I am stoked!!  Can't wait to use them.

If you'd like to see how Adriana put these little cuties together she has a tutorial on her blog HERE.  I urge you to go over and take a look at her work .. you will love it!!

Well, that's all from me for today.  Thank you so much for popping in and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

We Learn something from everyone who passes through our lives ...
Some lessons are Painful, some are Painless ...
but ALL are Priceless.

A 'Manly' Card

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, so pleased you came for a visit.  A special welcome to my new followers, thank you so much for joining me on my creative journey!!
Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

I'm back to share another 'man' card with you today.   Have seen lots of comments about how difficult 'man' cards are to make and, in a way, I do agree.  Being female, I guess feminine is so much simpler anyway .. I just go with the things I like.  Find some pretty paper, pop on a few flowers, maybe a bit of glitter, etc. but what do you put on man cards???

Well, the basic designs are similar to my feminine cards but I mainly stick with paper layers and then add some clocks, or cogs, maybe some eyelets  .. anything really that is a bit more 'macho'.  The men in my life simply would not like flowers on their cards (they are too 'manly' for that .. LOL!!) so I steer well clear of those or anything else that's considered feminine (like butterflies .. he! he!).  I add twine, maybe some burlap ribbon or some of that dry wall tape that was all the rage a little while ago .. I have even in the past, added small pieces of gutter guard to build them up ..  you could also add in graphics of motorbikes or cars .. all those kinds of 'boy toys' .. as I said, anything that looks a bit more on the manly side.  I don't think  male card are more difficult to make but you do have to put yourself into more of a 'man' frame of mind and that (I think) is the most difficult part.

Anyhow, enough of my rambling, here is my card. 

The papers are from Prima's Cartographer 6" Paper Pad and all the edges have been distressed, as you can see.

Added some metal trinkets.

Think this is only the second time I have actually used some staples .. must say I like it!!  Should do it more often.  The tiny bit of stamping was done with Archival ink and Kaisercraft's 'Arty' stamp.

Popped in some eyelets and attached some twine to the tag.  The little clock was found in my stash.  I must have made it up ages ago.  Not sure where the print came from but, I had punched it out, glued it to a piece of chipboard and then covered it in Glossy Accents.  Comes in handy sometimes to have these pre-made embellies .. will have to make some more.

I tried to heat emboss the greeting but had so much trouble with it.  Did it a couple of times but just couldn't get it crisp and clean.  Was left with all these little blobs around the words .. looked like it had measles .. LOL!!  So I just stamped it instead.  It'll do!

Pockets on the inside for a voucher and a personal message.  Punched the edges with EK Success 'Binding Edge' and the bit of stenciling was done with 'Gathered Twigs' Distress Ink and Tim Holtz 'Latticework' stencil.

A few splashes of black and white ink and ..  voila!!  Done and dusted!!

So, there you go .. another card ready and waiting to be posted off.  Always glad to get another one finished.

Thank you so much for dropping by today.  I do hope I have passed on a little inspiration.

Take care, stay safe and enjoy the rest of your day.
God Bless.

I know God has a plan.
I pray for the Patience to wait for it,
the Direction to follow it,
and the Wisdom to know when it comes. 

A Card for a Very Special Birthday

Hello everyone and welcome!  I hope you are having a lovely day.

A very special welcome to all my followers, old and new.  Thank you all so much for joining me on my creative journey.  I really hope you will find a little inspiration here.

I'm back to share a very special masculine card with you.  This one was made for my oldest Grandson who turned 21 last weekend.  Have to say, it's a bit of a shock to the system knowing I have a 21 year old grandchild.  Where did all those years go??  I must have been having a lot of fun because they certainly flew past with the speed of light.  LOL!!

Not sure of the name for this style of card but it is my fave for special occassions.  The extra fold adds a bit of interest to the front and it also gives you extra space inside if you wish to add some appropriate quotes, etc.

Found some fabulous metal embellies in my stash  .. The word band is from Tim Holtz and the spark plug is Prima but I'm not sure who makes the clocks.

The papers are from Kaisercraft and the green cardstock was added to the front as  that is my grandies fave colour.  Popped some crackle paste and some script stamping on it to add some texture and interest. 

Lined the inside with more of the KC papers and added a little washi tape and some of those quotes I mentioned earlier.

Placing the quotes on the sides leaves plenty of space in the middle for a personal message.  The '21' are wooden numbers from my stash which have been painted with acrylic paint.

The quotes were found on the net ..

.. some good advice there me thinks.

.. and there you have it.  Another of my 'man' cards done and dusted.  This was the most important one this year though and I am happy to say it was well received.

Thank you so much for dropping by and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

The best things in life are the people we love,
the places we've seen
and the memories we've made along the way.

For a Special Man

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a wonderful day. 
An especially warm welcome to my new followers, so lovely to have you here.

I have a new card to  share with you today .. and it was made for one of the favorite men in my life .. my youngest Grandson who has just turned 19.
As I have more male rellies and friends than I do females, I need to make quite a few masculine cards throughout the year.  Even though I love making cards for all of my favourite people, I must say that I much prefer making the feminine variety .. they are so much easier to do and I prefer working with flowers and ribbons and pretty things.

Anyway, enough grumbling .. here is my card. 

I've used kraft cardstock as the base and the papers used are from Prima's Cartographer 6 x 6 Paper Pad.

I do like the way this one turned out, but it ended up fairly heavy, so it's lucky that I don't need to mail it.

Distressed all the edges and then added a bit of crackle paste and some paint splashes.

Washi Tape, strips of paper and chipboard makes up the layers.  The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard.

A small photo frame coloured with VersaMagic Midnight Black and the greeting done in my own handwriting.  My gel pen didn't work so well at the start but it didn't turn out too bad.
That fabulous watch was found on a site called Epbot.  They took photographs of some actual pocket watches and made them freely available for people to copy and use.  HERE is the link in case you'd like them for yourself.
I simply printed it, cut it out, pasted it on some cardboard and covered it in Glossy Accents.  I was going to make some hands for it but decided to leave it as it is.

To finish off I added some metal cogs and some seed beads and also added a little 'rust'.

The inside.  The left side is a pocket where I inserted a Gift Voucher and I added a personal message on the right.

Thank you so much for dropping by, and a special thanks to those of you who have left me a little comment.  I love reading each and every one and I really appreciate you taking the time.

Do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

Green and Grungy .. and a Little Look at My Craft Room!!

Hello again sweet crafty people .. welcome to my blog.  So pleased you've dropped by.
Can't believe it's October already, where has this year gone????

So, I'm back again with another of my 'guy' cards.  Seems that most of my male rellies and friends have their birthdays towards the end of the year and so I end up with a quite a few male cards to post all around the same time.  This card was made a little while ago and I thought it was about time I posted it.  It is a fairly simple make with a little touch of grungyness!!

I've used more of my scraps on this one and I think they are all from Kaisercraft papers.

Added my fave embellie .. yep, more tickets, plus a paper clip!!

Love those keyholes too.  Could be Tim Holtz but I'm not sure as I keep finding all these little treasures while sorting through my stash ready to move them to the new room. 

The chippy is from 2Crafty Chipboard and has simply been coloured with Black Soot Distress Ink and then coated with Glossy Accents.  The tiny piece of mini chicken wire is another little treasure found while cleaning up my stash.  I've rubbed a little of my 'Rust' Patina on them both for a bit of a  rusty look.

The chipboard button is another found treasure.  I actually cut it in half so I still have another piece to use elsewhere.

Added some yummy clear crackle in a couple of spots.  When it was dry I poured a little watered down 'Faded Jeans' Distress Ink over it so the cracks would stand out a bit more.  Really love how it looks.  Also splashed around a bit of gesso as you can see.

The inside .. just waiting for a verse and greeting!!

So, I've been talking a little about my new craft room and have been asked by a couple of people to show some piccies, so here they are!!  Just keep in mind that this is a work in progress!!

The work table and the cube shelves are from my old space. 

Everything in the shelf unit will eventually be moved into cupboards and drawers on the other side of the room and I think I may use the shelves as a display unit. I still have a lot of stuff to go through in my old space so there will be quite a bit more to find room for in here.

As you can see, I have a very bare wall on the other side ..

.. which is where the cupboards and drawers are going to be built to the height of my worktable.
My son is building them for me so they may take a bit of time to complete.  He is not actually a carpenter but he has had quite a bit of experience in making furniture for himself and did it beautifully too.  It's not going to be fancy but it is going to be fabulous!!  Once the cupboards are done, I will get some shelves put in above them for more display space.  I collect Pop Vinyls so that would be the perfect place to display them.  Can't wait for it all to be finished!!  Then I can move my little box of clear stamps off the floor as well .. LOL!!

That's all from me lovely people.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.  To all my Aussie visitors, I hope you've been managing to stay reasonably cool in the middle of this heat wave!!  It hasn't been very  comfortable for me even though we have air con.  Hate hot weather, but I guess I'd better get used to it as we are heading into summer here.

Bye for now.
Take care and God Bless.