Cards for Men challenge 18 and a freebie sentiment...

Well, here we are, almost at the end of August. This time at Cards for Men we have 'G is for...' as our challenge. This one had me thinking to start with, but I eventually thought of green, grey, golf, Grandad, gnome, gardening and the one I finally used- guitar!

I dug out a wood mounted rubber stamp from Jolly Nation that I haven't used for ages for this one! Jolly Nation was my first stamping addiction, but not my last! My son plays electric guitar so I bought this to make a card for him. I coloured him with my Promarkers.
The papers were a freebie download  from No Reimer Reason called 'Americana'. I carried on the star theme by die cutting a star to mount the button on.
I made the sentiment myself and used a PNG file this time which allowed me to print it directly onto the paper. If you would like it, please help yourself!

We are sponsored by Letraset for this challenge and you know how I love my Promarkers! Pop over to the Cards for Men site for details of the prize and to see the rest of the fabulous DT cards. You have until 11th September to play along.



I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Totally Gorjuss- Anything goes
• Challenge Up Your Life- For a man

Indulge...

I thought this image by MelonHeadz was just gorgeous and decided to use it to make a really girly card. The papers are from Summer Driggs 'A little spring in your step' freebie kit which I use so much. The sentiment is also a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times. The flower was cut from DP with a joy crafts die and the swirl was a Marianne die.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Corrosive- girlie
• My time to craft- here come the girls
• Papertake Weekly- dies to die for

Smile! and a freebie sentiment...

I am loving Maurice from Pollycraft at the moment! I coloured him with my promarkers and did a 'dotty' ground for him. I haven't made a sentiment for a while so I decided to make my own sentiment to go with this image- although I think it could work with other images as well- I'm thinking Bugaboo's Gus?! I have made this one as a PNG so it has a transparent background which makes it easier to put DP under it. If you can use it, please help yourself- enjoy!

The papers are from a digiscrap set called 'Snips, Snails, Puppy Tails' by Scrappin' Serenity and a few Card Candi to finish off.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Make it Monday- always anything goes
• Make it Colourful- ground your image

Bright, bold cupcakes...

Not sure I like this now it's finished! I think the cupcake should be smaller. Anyway, the image and sentiment border were both freebies from Bird's Cards. The papers are all printed from Summer Driggs digiscrap kit- Sweet Cakes and I printed the sentiment onto a plain DP and also the cake so I could paper piece it. I didn't plan on making the flower when I started out but it needed something more and I had just enough offcuts of DP left to make 3 little ones!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Allsorts- you've been framed
• One stop crafts- bold and bright
• Craft your days away- cupcakes

You're going to need your sunglasses!...

I'm really hoping my brother-in-law doesn't look at my blog as his birthday isn't until Friday! This card may need some explanation for those who are not as old as me or not in the UK!

 This is Brian the snail from Magic Roundabout. I checked with my husband that he doesn't mind the nickname and that it isn't one of those things that brothers call eachother because they know it annoys the other one! He said It wasn't so I went ahead and made the card.

The image is from MelonHeadz and it had been decoupaged to add dimension. The bright papers are from the Stuff to Scrap blogtrain 'Bouncing Beachballs'. I made the sentiment myself. I followed the sketch at Cupcake Craft for the layout and added faux stitching to all the edges to highlight the layout and mirror the border of the sentiment.

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Pink Elephant- stitching, real or faux
• Spoon Full of Sugar- Happy Birthday

G is for gardener...

I dug out some of my wood mounted rubber stamps today- I'm sorry to say I hardly ever do that nowadays. I wanted this gardener image by Jolly Nation for My Time to Craft's 'G is for..' challenge and another stamp for a card that I can't show you yet!
I used digiscrap papers by Scrapping Sisters called 'one year older' and decided to make a center stepper card. The little pot is part of the image but as I cut them out I decided to use it as a separate element. I made the 'plant label' sentiment from some textured cardstock from my stash. I rounded the top corners with a small corner rounder punch abd cut the other end to a point. I stamped the sentiment then darkened the edges a little with some chalk.

I would also like to enter this card in:

• Stamptacular Sunday- Fancy folds
• Anything goes- Birthday/celebration
• Oldie but a goodie- great outdoors

Note cards...

I wanted some little cards to send to a couple of people from our church to let them know we are keeping them in our prayers.

They are all A6 in size but on their side. As I was making lots I kept them very simple, using Summer Driggs kits for all of them. The toppers are all embellishments from the kits and I have added the sentiment from TLC in Photoshop. The tags just have a couple of little bits of ribbon from my stash in and other cards have had the topper printed out twice so I could layer them.

I would like to enter these cards in the Paper Sundaes challenge 'just saying hi'. I know these aren't quite 'hi' but they are about keeping in touch and letting people know they are remembered, so I hope they will still count.
I would also like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

• Shabby tea room- polkadots ( 3 of these cards are dotty)
• Paper playtime- anything goes
• Make it Monday- always anything goes

Cards for Men challenge 17...

Well we are halfway through the school summer holidays here in England so we thought you might appreciate a nice easy one this time! So, we are having an 'Anything Goes' challenge at Cards for Men this time, but don't forget it must be for a man or boy!

The DT were lucky enough to have some Hope Jacare images to play with so I chose to use Trevor Turtle for this card and team him up with the brilliant sentiment from TLC. The papers are from an LDS Blogtrain called 'Fishers of Men'. I loved all the soft water and sand colours. After colouring Trevor with my Promarkers I cut him out and matted him on a circle of DP which I also used to print my sentiment onto. I made the little starfish 'candy' with a Sizzlet die and drew on the dots with a gelpen.

We are sponsored by Claire who draws the amazing digis at Hope Jacare for this challenge. Details of the prize can be found at Cards for Men. The rest of the DT have also used Claire's images so do pop over and take a look at the wonderful inspiration there and join in our challenge- you have until 28th August to take part.

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Ellephantastic- August- add some layers
• One Stop- at the beach
• Here come the boys- critters

More Meljen's mice!...

Don't say I didn't warn you about these cute little mice! There are quite a few of them in my box just waiting to pop onto cards!
The image is another of the super-cute Meljen's mice. (I have been on the Whimsey Stamps website looking for more!) The papers are from the Blogtrain Blog's August train. The sentiment is from Scrap-a-licious Times and the flower which embellishes it was a white one which I coloured with my Promarkers.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Spoon Full of sugar- Happy Birthday
• Totally Gorjuss- Round and round

Inspired by India...

When I saw the inspiration photo at Cupcake Inspirations it immediately made me think of the bright colours and lavish prints of sari fabric.

I remembered that I had a really interesting pack of 'papers' that I had had for absolutely ages. They are not actually paper- they are made in India from cloth recycled from the garment manufacturers, but I had never had the right project for them until now. I found matching cardstocks from my stash and followed the sketch at I love Promarkers.

The image of the lady in a sari is from Melonheadz and I thought she was so perfect for this card. She has been coloured with Promarkers which give lovely strong colours.

I made the flower and swirl with Marianne dies. I gave the flower lots of dimension by curling it and using 3D foam between the layers. Papertake Weekly are looking for homemade flowers for their challenge this week. A few silver mirri Candi and a couple of gems complete the look.

This is really different from my usual style but I really enjoyed making it. However I put off doing some cards that I really need to get on with now!

Deja vu?...

...not quite! If you pop by regularly you may think you saw this card yesterday. When I was printing out the papers for yesterday's card I ran them off twice, as I love the design and this layout so much. Today I decided to make it up again with a different image and slight change to the layout.

The image is from Pollycraft and I thought it went perfectly with these papers from the 'French Tulips' bloghop from Stuff to Scrap. The sentiment was a freebie from Scrapalicious Times and is quite a favourite of mine.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Dutch Dare- one for the kids
• Craft Your Days Away- birthday celebrations
• Paper Sundaes- sketch (I moved the sentiment and brads around a little)

Happy day...

Well, this was the card I mentioned yesterday and I'm pretty sure it will now have arrived so it's safe to put it up!
It follows the lovely sketch by Paula at Pollycraft again- I can see me using this layout quite a lot. The image is also Pollycraft and is called 'Blue's branch'- so sweet!
The papers are from the August Blog Train Blog- there are some really gorgeous papers in the kits this time and it should still be up if you want to follow it. It takes a while though as there are lots of stops and quite a few use 4shared and we all know how long that takes!
I printed the sentiment from TLC straight onto the DP and this was a particularly useful one for this card as it will be arriving a good few days after the birthday! I love the clean look you get when the sentiment is part of the DP. Finally, I finished it off with a few little pink gems.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Pollycraft- sketch
• I love Promarkers- things with wings

How Old???..

I've been waiting to use this sentiment from Sentiments 4 You for ages and have finally got around to it. I used 'Maurice' from Pollycraft as my image and coloured him quite simply with my Promarkers. The papers are an old favourite of mine from the 'French Tulips' blogtrain from Stuff to Scrap.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Corrosive- Manly
• Cupcake- How old?

Cute little mouse...

I am really loving Meljen's little mice at the moment- there are a few more on the table waiting to be made up too!

I followed the great sketch by Paula at Pollycraft for this card. It is such a simple design yet it works so well- I have another card, also made with the same sketch, but I'm just hanging on before posting that as it is in the post!
The papers are from a digiscrap kit which is called 'Ouch' by Scraps N Pieces. I really liked the colours and the slightly faded/shabby chic look. If my friend Helen is reading this- This is the card that I stuck the strip down by mistake when we were on the phone! I had intended to have the sentiment on a tab coming out from under the middle strip but because I was chatting I stuck it down and realised too late that I had not done the tag! Oh well, I quite like the sentiment where it is now!
The flowers were die cut with a Joy Craft die from some of the DP that I had reduced in size with Photoshop. I was having trouble deciding what to use for centers as none of the brads I tried was right then I tried the cream Card Candi- It was perfect for the larger flower but I can't decide if I like it in the smaller ones.

I would like to enter this card for:

• Allsorts- free and easy
• Pollycraft- sketch
• Papertake Weekly- anything goes
• Stampin' for the weekend- spots and dots

I'm a bad crafter!...

I made this for my friend because I missed her birthday- I knew when it was and sent her a text but the card was a couple of days late. You'd expect crafters to be more on the ball!
The sentiment and image are both from MelonHeadz. Love that sentiment so much! Incase you can't read it on the card, it says 'My bestfriend- I keep her around 'cause she knows too much!' The papers are a freebie from Summer Driggs called 'A little spring in your step'. Finished off with a few Card Candi.

To go with it I made this little tag/sign. Again the wordy is from MelonHeads and I thought it was so true! I tried to do the cat black and white like her one and decoupaged up the images for more interest.

I would like to enter these in the following challenges:

• Allsorts- free and easy
• Stamptacular Sunday- 'Friends are heaven sent'
• Sentimental Sunday- In the garden + a sentiment
• Spoon full of sugar- create a tag
• Papertake Weekly- Anything goes

Cards for Men challenge 16...

This time at Cards for Men we would like to see 'Clean and Simple' cards for men or boys.

I haven't really caught on to the trend for CAS cards, although I don't go mad with layers or embellishments normally either. I used 'Deacon bugs' from Bugaboo as my image and printed him out quite large, keeping some space around him when I cut him out. I coloured him with Promarkers, keeping to a limited pallette of mainly greens and browns. The small piece of DP is from the Stuff to Scrap 'Great Outdoors' blogtrain. I have also printed the sentiment on some plain DP from the same set. The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times, finished off with a button from my stash which has been tied with baker's twine. Everything has been matted on some brown card from my stash.

We are sponsored by the wonderful One Stop Card Crafts website who are offering a £10 voucher for our lucky winner. The rest of our talented DT have made some fabulous cards so do pop over to Cards for Men for some more inspiration and to take part in our challenge.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Delightful challenges- dog days of summer
• Stamp something- summer fun
• Polka Doodles- in an English country garden
• If the shoe fits- summer
• Fairytale challenge- summer
• Crafty Anns- summertime