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Numbers Celebrate

This week at Crazy 4 Challenges we were asked to make a birthday card with numbers on it. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that I don’t celebrate birthdays so I made a basic celebration card instead.

c4c 18 numbers celebrate

The sketch is Sketch Saturday #531. It’s a great basic sketch that was easy to work with . I grabbed some older paper, sorry but I don’t remember the names of the packs. I used an Altenew set, Label Love, for the Celebrate sentiment. The twine I tied around the panel loops through the eyelet in one way for the first wrap and through the other way for the second wrap. I like how it balances out the tag so it doesn’t twist funny. I adhered it with some foam tape.

Thanks for joining me this week! You have 5 more days to play along with this challenge so pop on over to the C4C blog to join us!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Dad Hero Card

Our challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges this week was to make a super hero card! I was a bit stumped by this one! I have one super hero stamp but it’s really old so I pretty much gave it to my son who loves it. Sure, I could have used it anyway but I don’t have any papers that would go with it either! Not really my style as you know!!

c4c 18 dad hero

So I looked through my stash and found a hero sentiment. Perfect! The Fun Fasts paper is a journaling tag from Basic Grey; the papers are from the same collection all of which I received in a Simon Says Stamp kit from ages ago. I love the floral paper; it’s pretty but not so much that it can’t be used on a masculine card.

c4c 18 dad hero2

I used the shadow stamping technique for the sentiment. With dark ink like I used, you can just shift your paper and stamp again with the lighter ink. However, if you want to use a lighter ink for the main image or sentiment, you will need to emboss it to keep the shadow ink from overlapping. I didn’t want a shiny sentiment so I used some WOW matte clear embossing powder. I didn’t really need to emboss because my main ink was dark but better to do it when I don’t need to then forget when I do need it!

Have you got some cool super hero supplies? Come on over and play our latest challenge with us!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Time for Fiesta!

Last month Hero Arts sent a really fun Mexican-themed card kit. When I first saw it, I was hesitant as it really isn’t my style. But I get card kits for a reason, to challenge myself, and the images looked fun to colour. Also, the large ornate die was amazing!

Time for Fiesta chibi card

My kids had been begging me to make a Chibitronics card so I combined the kit with some fun lights. The concept was that in the day, the sun in the desert is so hot, it’s practically white hot. But later in the day, it glows orange as it sets. The mouse is coloured with Rather than colour the cacti, I used Distress inks, some Oxide, some regular, to sponge on some colour. After, because the Oxide somewhat covered the stamped lines, I re-stamped using my MISTI.

Time for Fiesta chibi card2

In this photo, you can see that pulling out the tab both completes the sentiment and actives the lights with a switch. I’m not thrilled with the obvious three lights rather than an overall diffused light so I may try to add some vellum over the two layers of tissue I used to see if I can get it to diffuse more. Once you get the switch set up properly, it works really well.

I’m not into scrapbooking much anymore though I always intend to go back to it some time. I kind of stalled out after my second son turned about 18 months. I never got a decent photo of him because he was obsessed with my camera; so every photo has his face next to the lens, massively blurred out, his arm in front of his face as he reached for the camera or was crying from being told he couldn’t have the camera! But it is International Scrapbook Day so I thought I’d wish you a good one!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Seaside Happy Retirement Card

Do you love the sea? The beach is my favourite place! It’s where I would go if I was to retire so I often make retirement cards with this theme. This week at Crazy 4 Challenges we were asked to use a sketch so I managed to combine the two.

c4c 18 seaside retirement

The paper is from a pack by Prima. It’s an unusual collection of florals, vintage ephemera and masculine papers. These papers were ones with a definite masculine feel so they were perfect for a guy card. Only problem is that most of the wording on the ephemera images was love based. Not exactly perfect for a card for hubby to give to a colleague! ha! I’ve recently been redoing and reorganizing my craft room; in the process I found this awesome tag I saved from a pair of Nevada Jeans. I had to cut off the top of the tag as it was too big but this part of it was perfect and just the right size to fill the spot that had a very obvious lovey sentiment!

Do you  love sketch challenges? Be sure to pop on over to our blog to see the main sketch (my version is a bit of a take on the sketch, not exact) and link up your own version!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Retirement Card

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat! Can you repeat that please? That’s the theme of the week at Crazy 4 Challenges! You can repeat any shape, die cut, embellie, image or sentiment as long as you repeat something at least 3 times!

sailboat retirement

Hubby is constantly needing retirement cards, mostly for men, at work. So this was the perfect opportunity to repeat some images! The banner at the bottom was repeatedly stamped with Happy Retirement (PTI) on some old Basic Grey paper. It’s a great way to use a smaller sentiment as the repetition allows the sentiment to stand out and adds emphasis. The focal image is stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured with my hodge podge of professional paints. (many different brands)

c4c sailboat retirement2

I love how both the sky and water fade out towards the bottom! For the foam of the ocean near the boat, I layered my watercolouring. Each layer made the water darker, I started out with a pale wash, but I made sure to vary the top edge. Click on the photo to see it larger. It then gives the illusion of the texture of the water as the boat moves through it. A touch of gel pen helped to add more white to the white caps. If you look carefully at the sails, you will see I added the shadows of the rigging. It seemed like a nice touch to add. It isn’t perfect as I would have liked; I faded out the shadows of sails (on the other sails) when they should be crisp lines but oh well.

Don’t miss a thing! Stay tuned for more colouring, vintage, shabby chic cards and fun tips. Subscribe to get my posts in your in box!

I also used repetition on the background, stamping the captain’s wheel, a companion image to the sailboat, over and over in a ‘random’ pattern. It’s not truly random, start at one corner and stamp in triangles, not straight lines, but it looks random-ish when you are done. This is an awesome and fun challenge. Pop on over to the C4C blog for more inspiration on this theme! Hope you can join us this week!

Coming soon! Crafty Book Reviews and a fun unboxing video! It’s a secret but it’s super trendy and super cute!

Also I will soon be able to reveal 6 yes SIX months worth of cards made for the SplitcoastStampers Dirty Dozen Design Team. I’ve barely been blogging the last 6 months and I’m so thankful for your patience and perseverance. I can’t believe it’s almost over and it was a blast! There are a lot of cards I’m really proud of over there!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Rock n Roll Thank You Card

ETA: Somehow this post got lost! Sorry for the delay!

Welcome back to Crazy 4 Challenges! We took a break for the holidays and now we are ready to challenge you with awesome new themes and sketches.

rock guitar

Our challenge this week was to be inspired by Rocks in some way. I decided to go with Rock n Roll! My oldest son and husband are very into playing electric guitar. This card will be for one of them at some point. I used some very old 12×12 papers for this. I distressed the edges to add to the grungy look and once the card was all put together, I splattered it heavily with watered down black acrylic paint. The stitched die is by SSS, the border die from PTI, thank you from Echo Park and the stamps from Taylored Expressions.

Sorry this was posted so late and you aren’t able to play along. But you can use our inspiration any time!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Masculine Blue Jay Card

This has to be one of my favourite Flourishes l.c. sets ever! The birds in this set are gorgeous, perfect for so many occasions and a blast to colour!

fl blue jay wm

When I looked up blue jay images, I was amazed at how many shades are found in their plumage! I used a ton of markers and still only got pretty close! But it sure was fun trying! I decided on a masculine card as I’m always in need of them and I find them hard to create with little time so having them made ahead is key.

winter birds wm

I hope you like this set as much as I do. And I know that the team has some lovely cards to show you too! A couple members are missing from the list as some changes were made last minute but I’m sure they will show off the set as soon as they can.

Flourishes Blog
Barb Thompson
Beverly Cole
Linda Lucas

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In: Mojo Monday 473

mojo473

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Masculine Cards

Do you struggle to make masculine cards? For me, it depends on whether or not I know what the person likes. I find it especially hard when I don’t know them. But I realized that I had quite a few masculine cards in my ‘unposted’ file waiting to be blogged so I thought I’d give you some tips for making simple masculine or guy cards.

masc congrats

There just doesn’t seem to be a single universal theme that all guys like. For girls, you can always use flowers; I don’t know a single lady who doesn’t at least like flowers a little bit. The first card is much nicer looking IRL. The Congratulations die (SSS) cut doesn’t show the gold embossing very well and it appears to blend into the background paper (Graphic 45) which it doesn’t really. Sometimes a really good piece of patterned paper and a sentiment are all you need. The accents are wooden ‘enamel’ dots.

happy retirement

For this card, a simple layout, some non-girlie ribbon (grosgrain, twine, twill and faux suede ribbon are all amazing choices) and a bit of rustically applied embossing powder work well. This could be used with almost any sentiment (PTI) on it but hubby asked for a retirement for a co-worker who likes to golf.

gentleman congrats

This elegant monochromatic card works well for any occasion for the dapper gentleman. The patterned paper panels  (Graphic 45) are all outlined with a gold paint pen.

ann 2015

Grow Old with Me (MFT) seemed like a good sentiment for an anniversary card for my hubby last year; it was our 18th anniversary. I used a simple layout with a bit of interest added by matting the patterned papers (My Mind’s Eye), stamping some text lightly and randomly and adding a couple of embellishments: a cool metal clip and some of that suede ribbon I mentioned earlier.

grad boy 15

An image (MFT) coloured in with Copic markers to match the patterned paper (Basic Grey) and some Copic coloured stars (Studio Calico) perfectly suit this masculine grad card.

GM get well card

Some quick Copic marker swipes, a simple stamped image (Cornish Heritage Farms I think) and some chevron dies (PTI)make this card well suited to the car enthusiast. This technique works perfectly for any line image and some solid stamps too.

tim ann 2011

Another anniversary card for hubby. I blended reinkers on glossy paper with a baby wipe and added some simple embossed images (Unity). (UGH, before MISTI some of my stamping was quite crooked!) This is a great way to make a quick card without having to colour an image if that’s not your thing.

beach retirement

I’ve posted this one before but it shows you again how patterned papers, a simply stamped image (Waltzing Mouse Stamps) and some twill make for a great masculine card. You don’t have to add the sequins (maybe sub in enamel dots or brads if you wish). My husband gave this one as a retirement card for a co-worker. Ocean, lighthouse and landscape scenes often work well as a card for guys you don’t know.

I hope this helps you with your masculine card making!

Enjoy, Rebecca

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Graduation Card for Mojo Monday

A young friend graduated in the spring and recently had his graduation party. I used the most recent Mojo Monday sketch for his card.

mojo grad ryan

It’s pretty plain, I always struggle to make masculine cards once the recipient is past about 11 or 12 years old. Before that you can still get away with some cuteness!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In:

Mojo Monday 422

RECIPE
Stamp:
unknown
Ink: archival black-Ranger, Vintage photo Distress
Paper: Scarlett Letter DP-Basic Grey, CS-PTI
Accessories: ribbon-stash, brads-Making Memories, buttons-Basic Grey

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SAF Threads

I LOVE using thread to make thread nests as per Laura in her video. But I like ‘em much more messy than Miss Laura! But for this one, I used the twine. I made some thread nests in later projects.

saf 15 threads

I used three types of twine in three different ways on this card. I loved the buttons with the twine looped though them so much that I had to use three!

In case you are wondering, yes, hubby likes it. It’s a thank you for painting our bathroom!

Enjoy, Rebecca