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

In My Planner - February

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you've dropped by for a visit.

This is the next installment of my Planner series.  Not sure if anyone is actually interested but each month I will show how I've completed the previous month in my Planner.  Having never used a Planner before this is a real learning curve for me and I'm afraid I have become quite addicted.  

So, here is February.

I know February is not the beginning of Autumn but I love this page and the colours matched the tag.

The full month on two pages.  I have simply added some quotes, some paper strips and some gold washi tape to pretty this up.

All of these pages are very similar.  Instead of using up all my washi tape, I've added the paper strips instead.  I have so many scraps of paper in my stash and this is as good a way as any to use them up.

Each week has a different quote and different stickers.

I really like my little owl stickers, they are so cute.

As I said before all the pages are quite similar.  Probably a bit boring but I like them reasonably clean.

Next month will be slightly different.  I have added a little stamping to my pages.  Here is a little sneak peek.

There is a little stenciling going on there too.

I am really enjoying this Planner.  It's simple and easy to do and a nice way to record the things that happen to us each day.  I know some people update their planners just once a week.  They have a special night when they sit down to write it all down and also decorate their next lot of pages.  I'm afraid I do it almost every day otherwise I would probably forget the things I most want to remember.  LOL!!

 Well, that's it folks.  A nice quick post.  Hope it wasn't too boring for you so maybe you'll come back and check out next month's pages.

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

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.

Some Colouring in and Sticker Fun!

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are having a wonderful day.

A bit of a different post for me.  Thought I would give you an update on my Planner and show you a bit of my Colouring book as well.   I'm not really crafting very much right now because my mojo has taken a holiday (seems to be happening a lot lately .. hope it's not permanent) so I thought I would share some of the other things I'm doing.
Now that we are almost at the end of February (can't believe how fast this year is going) I thought I'd show you how January finished up looking.  This is my first Planner so it is all still a learning curve for me but I am really enjoying the process.

I found some really cute owl stickers (love owls) and some animal stickers too.  So my Planner will be filled with these I'm sure. LOL!!

I'm adding in lots of inspirational quotes.  It's good to keep oneself motivated and thinking positive.

The main reason that I now have a planner, of course, is to keep track of appointments and social events, but I also want to record the ordinary mundane things that happen in our lives.  Sometimes, they actually turn out to be the most important things and, if I've written them down, I will actually remember when and where and how they happened.

So, when good things occur, and I find that I don't have enough room in a single day section to record all the details, I add in an extra page or half page so that I don't miss out any of the details.  The little page above was added in to record the things we did when my Granddaughter came for a sleepover. 

I have some see-through pockets so that I can add in photos or, as in this case, some more quotes, because I'm really hopeless at remembering to take photos.  Have to hang a big sign around my neck, I think!!  LOL!!

I'll also be keeping some bits of memorabilia such as the tickets from when we went to see Star Wars.  Really enjoyed that movie .. I think Disney did a great job on it.
 

I have some private things written in these pages so I've blurred the words a bit .. don't want to be giving away any family secrets!  LOL!!
So that's my planner pages for January.  I'm starting to get a better feel for how I want this Planner to look so February is looking a bit more organised .. well, to me anyway ,, but that's a post for another day.

So, in the evenings, when we're watching a bit of TV or a movie, I do some colouring in.  Yep!!  I've also been bitten by the Adult Colouring bug!!  They call it 'Adult Colouring', but it's still just colouring in exactly like the kids do,  soooooo we're not really fooling anyone are we??  LOL!! 

I have to admit, I really enjoy it.  I find it very relaxing and I love the fact that you don't have to  be realistic, I mean, you don't see too many plants with blue or purple leaves do you???

Or a multi-colured tree for that matter ..

Or a multi-coloured Owl??

Yeah!!  They're a bit weird, but I love it!!!  I really love the books I've got too.  They are the 'Enchanted' series of Colouring Books by Johanna Basford.  A little more expensive but really good quality paper and really lovely images.

You have to wonder though don't you .. I play with stickers in my Planner and I play with coloured pencils in my colouring book .. so, am I going through my second childhood??  Actually, no, I think I'm going through my third or even fourth!!  LOL!!  Don't care .. I love it!!

This was just a bit of fun so I hope you enjoyed it and don't think me too mad  (I am though! LOL!)

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

Creating with the Chantilly Cream Papercraft Pack - A Megs Garden DT Post

Hello crafty visitors and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a wonderful day.
A very warm and special welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much for joining me on my creative journey.

I have been having a fabulous time working with the new Chantilly Cream Paper Collection which is exclusive to Megs Garden.  I must say I am totally in love with these papers.  They are gorgeous.  Beautiful creamy colours and suitable for so many styles of projects from Vintage to Shabby Chic and anything in between.

I would like to share two cards and a tag that I have created with the Papercraft Mini Pack.  This pack is like a mini kit and is ideal for all of your smaller projects such as cards, tags, ATC's and even mini books.   You get 6 sheets of papers measuring 8.5" x 11".  Three of these sheets have 2 designs at 5.4" square with two matching mini strips on the side.  The other three sheets are full of ephemera and you can order it in either the printed version or the download version.  The download version is fabulous because there is no waiting for delivery.  You pay for your purchase and download straight away which means you can buy your papers and start creating on the same day ..  how awesome is that??  To take a closer look at this Papercraft Pack HERE is the link.

So, on to my creations.  First up is the tag.

I used two of the mini strips for this tag.  To complement the neutral tones of the paper, I decided to use purple and tan .. I think these colours look really great together. I also did a little stamping with my fave stamps and added some texture paste through a stencil.

While the texture paste was still wet, I added some clear micro beads for some added texture.

The large bloom was one I actually handmade a long time ago.  I found it in a forgotten corner of my stash and felt it suited the tag beautifully.   The bow was made with some knitting cotton which is not quite as stiff as twine so it has a softer look to it.

The white rose is the 'puffy paper flower' available from Megs Garden and one of my fave 'go to' flowers.   The cotton lace is also available from the Garden but the fern is from my stash.  I will leave a list of Megs Garden products at the end of this post.

The 'Love' label is from the ephemera which comes in the kit.  It was simply fussy cut and then mounted on some card stock.

I love creating tags but don't always have a use for them so what I usually do is mount them onto some cardstock and turn them into cards and that is what I'll do with this tag.

So, onto my cards.  Here is No. 1.

 I used one of the 5.4" squares for this card.  My go to size for square cards is 5.5" x 5.5" so, as this is double matted, I did need to trim the paper to fit.  Used 'Gathered Twigs' Distress Ink through a Tim Holtz stencil for some added interest and distressed all the edges.

This flower is another treasure found  in my stash.  Have no idea where I got it from.  Originally it was brown so, to match in with my colour scheme, I sprayed it with Afraid of the Dark Glimmermist.  It has a lovely shimmer to it although that doesn't show up very well in the photo.  Swiped it with a little gesso to add some highlights.

I used some of the ephemera from the pack for my layers.

Border punched some Kaisercraft papers (the only purple paper I could find in my stash) and then pleated it and tucked it under the layers.  This was an idea I lifted from Nancy Border Dynes (her works are awesome).  I love that bit of colour peeking out from underneath.

For this next card I also used the ephemera from the pack.

There are several different floral images in this pack and I felt this particular one went well with the other elements on the card.  The pretty lace attached at the side is, of course, available at the Garden.

All of these flowers are available at Megs Garden.  I used 'Sugar Plum Fairy' Glimmermist to alter the colour to match in with the image. 

A little bit of mesh and some cotton thread was added for extra interest and texture.

Megs Garden products used

Chantilly Cream Papercraft Mini Pack
New Cream Lace 12mm
Lace 1.6cm wide
Puffy Paper Flowers
Cherry Blossoms
Gold Pearl Stamens

I hope I have given a little inspiration for you to try Megs Garden papers and embellishments for yourself.  For more inspiration, why not take a look at all the wonderful projects created by my Teamies HERE.  To take a look at all the gorgeous products Megs Garden has to offer HERE is that link.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg