Nature

Happy Tuesday,

It's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and this week Kim has chosen the theme of

'NATURE'

I am loving being a part of this new challenge blog - it has given me a new found appreciation of male themed cards, something I always avoided where possible in the past. It has been a pleasant change to make more masculine projects, rather than my usual cutie, over-embellished style!

Here's what I came up with for this weeks DT inspiration ...

The size of this project was dictated by the 3.5cm squares of book paper - I punched these out first and arranged them on my cardstock to see what size I needed (matted and layered the project measures 17.5cm x 13.5cm). The book paper squares are tinted with 'Antique Linen' distress ink and edged with 'Walnut Stain' distress ink. The stamped image is called 'Bullrushes' by Inkylicious and is stamped with Vintage Sepia ink - I added a few little mounds of earth using the ink and a sponge to anchor them. I also stamped the birds and the little 'nature' lettering at the bottom. I decided to tear the edges of the card and ink them with matching ink to give a more rustic feel. Finally I added a piece of brown twine around the card before securing it to the background layers. Hope you like it!

If you have a minute, why not pop over to the blog HERE and check out some more fab inspiration by my teamies.

Hugz, Jan xx

Just a Note

Morning,

Well - Day one of my half term break went speedily along with lots of spring cleaning (there I go again!) and some crafting, of course.

Today is the beginning of a new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and this week our theme is

'MUSIC'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I have just about convinced myself that I don't need to buy a new stamp for every challenge, so in the absence of any 'music' stamps, I decided to go with some lovely music score design paper from one of my many paper pads. I kept it reasonably simple, just tearing and inking the edge of the paper (bet you can't guess which colour distress ink I used!) Lol. I made the little sentiment on my pc and added it to a 'Fleur de Lys' nestie shape cut from kraft card to match the background layer. A piece of twine and three coffee coloured brads to finish.

Hope you can join us this week with your musical creations.

Hugz, Jan xx

Clean and Simple at C4G

Hello again,

It's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and this week Julie has chosen the theme of

'CLEAN and SIMPLE'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Now I never used to like this style very much (especially as I am a 'use every embellishment in the box' kinda girl) but more recently I have discovered a love of all things simple. It's a great opportunity to make a quick card and also to use up any paper scraps (which I have a mountain of!)

This one measures 6x6" and is made using a piece of milk cardstock which I inked around the edges using 'Walnut Stain' distress ink. I used one stamp (from an Indigoblu set), a scalloped circle cut from a piece of scrap brown card, a small oval of milk card and a little 'thank you' sentiment, cut from an old HOTP paper pad. Simples! 

Why not come and join us this week with your own CAS projects.

Hugz, Jan xx

Truly, Madly, Deeply!

Hello again,

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and not only is the title track of one of my favourite songs, it's also the theme that Caz chose for the next week

'TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

With Valentine's Day only three days away, I decided to make a male themed Valentine card - so, out with the pink and in with the black and red. This was a really quick one to do and I managed to use up some more of my stash scraps (another tick for my NY resolution)! Lol.

Ingredients include: 6x6" card blank, one piece of leftover design paper, small strip of red pearlised card, a scrap of black ribbon, a small piece of both black/white card and three self adhesive gems. The wording was printed on my pc. Simples!

Why not pop over to the main blog and check out the design team projects.

Hugz, Jan xx

Spots and Stripes

Happy Tuesday,

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and this week Janice has chosen the theme of

'SPOTS AND STRIPES'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I found this cheeky little chappy on the internet and coloured him with my Promarkers. The design papers are from an old 'Hot of the Press' pad which I have had for ages (a bit more of my stash used up - new year's resolution going well so far!) The stars are cut from the paper scraps and the greeting was from the same paper pad.

I hope you can join us this week with your lovely 'spotty and stripy' creations.

Hugz, Jan xx

The Year of the Horse

Welcome back crafty friends and followers,

It's back to school for me today, so this one's scheduled to appear as if by magic - hope the little blogger fairy is doing her stuff!

It's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guys and what a fab response to our Monochrome challenge last week - it was a tough decision to choose the Top 3, but why not pop on over to the blog and see my choices. Now onto this week, and Caz has decided to join in with the Chinese New Year which begins its celebrations on the 31st January - so our theme this week is:

'THE YEAR OF THE HORSE'

We would love to see your male themed projects showcasing anything to do with HORSES. Now, we are only on challenge three and this one gave me a headache - do I own a stamp with a horse on, no! Oh well, a perfect excuse to go out and buy one then! Lol. Here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

I couldn't resist the stamp, which funnily enough is called 'Rocking Horse', from Stampendous - I can't wait to use it on a vintage style card, but I hope this one looks suitably masculine. The music score backing paper is from my stash and is layered onto brown cardstock. I added a little colour to the stamped image with my Promarkers and finished off with a piece of polkadot ribbon.

I can't wait to see your interpretations of the theme this week and shall look forward to visiting your blogs throughout the week. We did comment on how many entries had used horses last week - a bit spooky don't you think, but I hope we see some of those stunning images paying another visit this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Monochrome for Guys

Hi there,

It's so exciting to be part of two brand new challenge blogs - my mojo is certainly being put to the test!

It's time for our second challenge over at 'Cardz 4 Guys' which is run by one of my best crafty friends, Caz. We had a tremendous response to the first challenge - so here goes with our next theme. It was my turn to choose this week and the theme is

'MONOCHROME'

So we would love to see your projects using shades of one colour - now did I follow my own rule? I'm not sure - here's what I made for my DT inspiration (I'll let you decide!) ...

I do tend to think of 'black and white' as monochromatic, but then I thought about shades of one colour! Lol. Anyway, this one is a 6x6" card layered with a gunmetal shade of mirri card, then patterned papers from my stash (one of my new year's resolutions is to try and use some of my mountain of stash!). The stamped image is a gift stamp from a previous issue of Craft Stamper and I thought it was perfect for this card (it makes me laugh every time I look at it!) I stamped it in black archival ink because I wanted a real solid image, then quickly embossed it with clear embossing powder. Hope you like it!

Why not pop over to the main blog HERE and check out what my teamies made.

Hugz, Jan xx

Cardz 4 Guys Launch!

Happy Tuesday everyone,

Well I have more exciting news to share with you today - one of my very best crafty friends is launching her brand new challenge blog today called

'CARDZ 4 GUYS' 

which couldn't have come at a better time after the demise of a couple of male themed challenge blogs over the past couple of weeks.

Caz also asked me to be part of her new design team and I couldn't wait to get started. I think we all find it more difficult to make for the guys in our life, so this brings a fantastic opportunity to hone my skills. The new design team have been getting ready and have made some great male themed projects for our first challenge, which is a great one to start with. Here's my DT inspiration for our first challenge theme, which is

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'

Now who hasn't got a male birthday coming up in the next few months - I know I have, it was my dad's birthday yesterday so perfect timing for our challenge. I used an 8x8" scalloped card blank and covered it with papers from my stash. The cute little chimney sweep is from the 'Cutie-Patooties' range at Little Claire Designs and is called 'Little Bert'. I stamped him in Vintage Photo distress ink and used the ink to colour him with the addition of a blue Promarker (yep, I couldn't step away from them totally!)  The sentiment was created on my pc and the 'Dad' lettering was stamped using the Clarity Letterbox kit. Hope you like it.

If you have a minute, please pop over the the main blog and take a peek at the work my teamies produced too - they would love your comments.

I hope you will join us in our new venture and I shall look forward to popping over to your blogs during the next week.

Hugz, Jan xx