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.

Chantilly Cream Sympathy Cards - Megs Garden

Hello my lovely visitors and welcome to my blog.  Hope the World is treating you well.

Creating sympathy cards is always a bit difficult and when you have to make them for someone who is very close to you it makes it even more so.  I needed to make cards for two very close friends who had lost someone dear to them amd I used Megs Garden's Chantilly Cream Collection because they are such lovely papers and the creamy tones were just perfect for these cards.

Triple layers of paper for the base with some different laces in between.  I will list all Megs Garden products at the end of this post.  Distressing and crumpling the edges slightly, I think, gives everything a softer look.

The small tags and the frame were cut from the ephemera pages.  All the flowers are available from Megs Garden.

The leaves and doily are from my stash.

Printed the greeting on my computer and simply cut it into a small banner.

The next card only has a single layer of paper for the base.

I added some book paper, a doily, some ribbon and a piece of lace for the layers under the cluster.

The Puffy Paper Flower flowers are available from Megs Garden and I added a bow made from knitting cotton to my cluster.  The leaves are from my stash.

I used a lot of the same elements on both of these cards and the insides are the same as well.  I haven't shown you the right hand side as I had already added a personal message.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I did find these a bit difficult to make and, as they are quite personal, I really had to think twice about posting them.  I am hoping that, by doing so, I have helped those of you looking for some ideas.  I found the Chantilly Cream Papers  were the perfect choice.  As I wanted a monochrome look, the lovely creamy tones and subtle patterns were ideal.


Thank you so much for visiting and I urge you to hop on over to the Megs Garden Blog HERE to take a look at the gorgeous creations by my Team mates.  You will find some wonderful inspiration for using this fabulous paper collection and more.

A special thank you to all you sweet visitors who have left me some words of encouragement  and love.  I really do appreciate each and every one. 

Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

My first Christmas Card for 2016 and an Update on my Planner

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

I am in shock!!!  I have actually made my very first Christmas Card for this year  ..  I think I might be really sick and just don't realise it yet!!  LOL!!

For a long time now I've been  trying to convince myself that I should be making Christmas cards right through the year and I have finally listened!!  I actually found a Challenge site for making Christmas Cards and that has given me the incentive to get cracking on this.  The site is called Christmas Card Challenges (surprise! surprise!  LOL!!) and the current Challenge is Anything Goes!

HERE is the link and here is my card ..

Used some Kaisercraft papers on this one and actually popped it through my sewing machine to stitch the edges.

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard.  I simply painted it with a paint dauber and, while it was still wet, sprinkled it with some glitter.

Used crackle paste through a stencil and again, while it was still wet, sprinkled on some micro beads.

The larger bloom is the Carabella Rose which is available through Megs Garden.   It was pink originally .. I simply sprayed it with a mix of acrylic paint and Cherry Pie Dylusion spray.

The inside with some blank space for a personal message ..

.. and my first Christmas card for 2016 done and dusted!!!  So now I just need to stay focused and make sure I make at least two per month.  Then, hopefully, I won't be so rushed at the end of the year.
With that out of the way, I thought I would give you a little update on my 2016 Planner.  I haven't done a great deal on it yet but I have completed the dividers for January and February and decorated a few of the January weekly pages.  

This is the January divider ..

.. and the full month on two pages.

The little plastic pocket was meant to hold some photos but, as I keep forgetting to take photos (Duhh!!), I have inserted a couple of quotes instead.

So, on the full month pages I will record appointments and reminders, etc.

and then on the week pages, I will write about  those in more detail and, hopefully, remember to take some photos and place them in there as well.  By the end of the year, I should have a really good record of what we actually did.  

Here is the divider for February.

 The plastic pocket here holds the strips and quotes I will use for that particular month.  I have decided to colour code each month to match with the tabs on the side.

I was going to purchase a whole heap of Washi Tape to decorate these pages but , as that would be quite an expensive exercise, decided to simply use strips of scrap paper from my stash.  A little more work but will look just as effective and I get to use up all of those pesky scraps!!

I should point out that I'm not really happy with those dividers and I may yet decide to create some art journal-like pages instead.  Will have to see how enthusiastic I am whether that happens or not.  LOL!!

That's about all for now folks.  Just a reminder about the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.  Why not join in and start making your Chrissy cards now.  Would save a lot of hassle at the end of the year!!  HERE is the link again.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.  Happy crafting everyone!!

Take care and God Bless.

An Anniversary Card

Hello again everyone!!  A very warm welcome to my blog, so pleased you came for a visit and I hope you are all having a wonderful day!  I have some new followers as well.  A very warm welcome to you and thank you so much for joining me.

I am quite busy making my Christmas cards at the moment and really enjoying the process.  Will start showing them soon but not just yet.  Gotta keep you in suspense just a bit longer.  LOL!!

My oldest son and his beautiful wife celebrated their Anniversary a few days ago and so I am here to share the card I made for them. 

The papers used are from Prima's 6 x 6 Timeless Memories Paper Pad.  I  simply tore it at the top and bottom, rolled the edges and added a small piece of black lace behind the openings ..

.. then inserted my flower clusters along with some stamens and bits of twine.

Added some Prills, did a little doodling and splashed a bit of white gesso and black ink over the paper.

The flourish was cut with Die-namics Framing Flourishes die.  I actually cut two and glued them together for a bit more dimension.
I'm really enamored of this staggered style of card at the moment.  That extra bit at the side just makes it a little more unique!!  I think so anyway.

The inside edged with strips of  the same papers.

I really liked this colour combination .. will definitely have to use it again!!

Thank you so much for coming to visit. For my South Aussie peeps, hope you keep your cool over the next few days, it's going to be HOT!!!

Take care everyone and I hope you have a very enjoyable week.
God Bless.

Man Card #2

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I'm here to share the second of two male cards I created just recently.  If you haven't seen it, and you'd like to, the first one is HERE.   

This card, and the previous one, were both made predominantly with Prima's Engraver Collection.

I really love these papers .. my fave colour combo!!
This card was actually made first and took me a few days to complete.  Then I used the left over bits, and some things I decided not to use here, to make the other one and that only took an hour or so to make.  This one is a bit more involved than the other card but still ... not sure if there is a lesson to be learned here or not.   

 

I've never used staples before but thought I would give it a try and, I like it!!  A great way to attach the twine from the labels so they don't just dangle every which way.

Had to add some crackle and, of course, swipe some gesso as well.

Cut out the Happy Birthday with my Silhouette Portrait.  I actually cut two and glued them together for some extra depth/height .. whatever.  I also covered it in Glossy Accents, although you can't really see that here.

The inside .. of course.

The stamp is from the 'Pearls of Wisdom' Set by My Favourite Things.

A couple of closies showing the layers.

 .. and another front view (just in case you forgot what it looked like LOL!!).

So, that is all my 'man' cards done for this year .. Yayy! .. and now I can get started on Christmas!!
That's quite freaky actually, because I have never started my Christmas makes before the end of November.  Hopefully this means less stress!! ..  or not!! .. LOL!!

Thank you so much for visiting and special thanks to you sweet people who take the time to leave me some love.  I really, really appreciate it!!  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.