More Black and White

Hello there,

I'm out most of the day today, so scheduled my post for this morning.

It's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Galz, and this time Sharon has chosen the theme of

'MONOCHROME'

I absolutely love this theme, translated as 'Black and White' or 'Varying Shades of One Colour' - I went with the black and white for the second time this week! Here's what I made for a little inspiration ...

I made this one for a friend's birthday later this month and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  I thought it might be too busy, but I think it works.

I used my Spellbinders 'Scalloped Borders One' dies again and layered the pieces up over the background design paper (which is from a really old paper stack with no packaging). I used one of the 'Decorative Labels Eight' dies to cut a background for my sentiment, which is from the Stampin' Up 'Birthday Blooms' set.

I added a piece of black and white ribbon, a couple of stamped flowers, layered up with a little black dazzler in the centre.

Hugz, Jan xx

Black and White

Good morning,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long Bank Holiday weekend - it was nice to have a little extra time at home.

I'm back today with the next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Sharon has chosen the theme

'MONOCHROME'

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

Now, I know 'Monochrome' is translated as 'shades of one colour', but for a male themed card, I don't think you can beat good old 'black and white' (which when I checked are opposite ends of the gray scale).

I used my trusty Stampin' Up stamps - 'Clockworks' and 'Gorgeous Grunge' again  - I love these two sets for male themed designs. I used Versafine ink in onyx black and smoky gray, masking the stamped images as I went along to create a collage effect.

The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is stamped using my SU 'Sassy Salutations' (another favourite). 

Love the houndstooth check backing paper - although it went against my OCD to put the central panel squiffy! Lol.

Hope you can come and play along.

Hugz, Jan xx

May Your Day Sparkle

Hello again,

As we have three Saturdays in April, I have dropped in at Fantasy Stampers today with a little extra motivation for the current challenge - Monochrome.

Here's what I made using just inks and stamps ...

I used three shades of distress ink in Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Denim to create the background, then added lots of stamps from another magazine freebie set (I told you I bought far too many magazines for the free stamps!!) 

We are always on the look out for Guest Designers for the midway motivation on every other Saturday, so if you are interested in joining us just give me a shout - you can find my contact details at the top right of my blog under the 'Contact Me' tab.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Hugz, Jan xx

Something beginning with M ...

Hello crafters,

I have another masculine design today for the new challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz - this week Jane has chosen the theme of

'SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH M'

Here's what I decided on ...

I chose 'Monochrome' and 'Metal' for my letter 'M'. 

I love using this technique to create metal effect embellishments for cards - I used metal tape over a piece of scrap card, then passed it through an embossing folder, then swiped a little black ink over it to distress it. All other embellishments are from my stash.

Hope you can come and join us this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Typography

Good morning,

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

'WORDS or a NAME'

So, we would love to see your male themed cards showcasing wording as the main feature - this can be just one word, a greeting, a name - the choice is yours. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I chose the word 'Star' for my theme and built the card around a word cloud in a star shape. I printed a little extra wording to complete my sentiment and added a hand cut black star (which has a white star shaped brad in the centre). I finished off with a hand drawn border and a couple of black gems.

I hope you can join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz.

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

Jeans and Denim

Hi there crafty friends,

I am loving my time off school - it gives me loads of time to craft without feeling guilty! I have been playing this morning making a card for the 'Graph'It Markers challenge', although I have to say I used my Promarkers as I don't own any Graph Its. The challenge this week is to colour 'Jeans and Denim' - so here's what I made ...

I automatically thought of a boys card when I thought of denim (I know - a bit stereotypical!) so reached straight for my Polkadoodles CDs which I know have a great selection of boy images to colour. I used pale blue, denim blue, cornflower blue and cool grey 4 to colour both the jeans and shirt (I wanted to keep the monochrome effect to enter another challenge). All other items are from my stash.

I would also like to enter the challenge at 

'That Craft Place' 

which is Monochrome.

Have a great day,

Jan xx

Monochrome

Hi there everyone,

It's Friday once again which means it's challenge time over at the Polkadoodles Challenge Blog.  This week our theme is to make a 'Monochrome' themed project using shades of just one colour. I must admit this is one of my favourite styles and my cards are often based around this theme - so this one was easy.  Here's what I made ...

I used the 'All Around & Everywhere' CD and printed off a sheet of mint green polkadot paper, a sentiment and a sheet of matching flowers.  After spending a few minutes cutting out the flowers, I inked and shaped them before assembling the card - then added a little glitter around the edge of the flowers (which doesn't show very well on my photo!)  Extra embellishments include some satin ribbon, a couple of die-cut leaves and some little punched flowers with gem centres to finish the design.

Don't forget to check out the blog for some more inspiration from my teamies and I look forward to visiting your blog and seeing your 'Monochrome' themed projects over the next week :) 

Hugz, Jan xx

Monochrome Pink

Hello there,

Well, I had to speak too soon, didn't I!!  It has been very overcast here today, but still very humid - we have even had the odd rumble of thunder in the distance.  Bring back the sunshine!

I have a card to show you today for a September birthday (woo, look at me getting ahead!) Lol.  I am going to enter it into the 'Lil's Little Fairies' blog challenge, which is Monochrome this week.  I adore the 'Lili of the Valley' stamps and use them lots, so I thought it was time to have a go at one of their blog challenges.  Here's what I made ...

The gorgeous background paper is another 'First Addition' - this one is from my 'Love Letters' paper stack and the colours are to die for.  The paper and image are matted onto a pretty pearlised pink card.  The cute little image is LOTV 'Patchwork Daisy' and is coloured with my Promarkers and the sentiment is also LOTV.  Embellishments include some die-cut leaves, three little punched flowers, two pink brads and a raspberry candi centre for the daisy flower.

I would also like to enter this one into the 'Stampin for the Weekend' challenge which is also Monochrome this week.

Hugz, Jan xx