Teenage boy card!

Every card maker knows that mens cards are hard to make, but I had a real dilemma last week when trying to work out what to do for our step-nephew's 15th birthday. Luckily he does karate and I managed to find an old Elzybells stamp that I owned of a bear doing karate (this has now been re-released so is available from Elzybells). Otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue what to do for his card. I tried to keep it quite simple so it wasn't too cute, it was horrible not being able to use adhesive gems or ribbon! The stamped image is Elzybells, coloured in with Copic Ciao markers. The red card is core'dinations. The Happy Birthday message is from Elzybells and the background stamped image was from Elzybells some time ago so may not be available. The brads are Dovecraft.

Wedding Card

I had to make a wedding card for my Brother-In-Law this week. They went to the US to get married so I made it a "Just Married" card as they will be getting the card afterwards. I bought three new wedding stamps and in the end decided my favourite was the Elzybells bride and groom. After I coloured the image, I chose a pink theme to go with the colours and then the whole thing just turned out to be VERY PINK!! I usually add the inside message onto an insert inside the card, but I decided to make it a bit more interesting (and colourful) this time. I stamped the message onto white cardstock then added it to the Bazzill dotted cardstock. I then added the punched out flowers and hearts to keep it all flat inside. All of the rubber stamps I used were from Elzybells, the pink cardstock is Bazzill, the ribbon is Dovecraft, the brads are Papermania, and the flowers are Prima. The image was coloured with Coloursoft pencils.

News...

One of my favourite blogs to follow has some great Blog Candy on offer! Michelle Short has loads of amazing inspiration on her blog called "The Card Grotto" and at the moment there is some gorgeous blog candy up for grabs. Michelles blog can be found at: http://cardgrotto.blogspot.com/ or directly from the bottom of my blog.

Magnolia girl

I haven't been using Magnoia long, but I have found the versatility of them so useful! This is the card I made for my Nieces birthday, she is four today. I chose the girl with puppy as it is so cute and added the swing to the picture using the masking technique. I coloured the picture with coloursoft pencils and added Glossy Accents to the boots. I also decoupaged the head and puppy. I added a smile to the girl as I don't like them without a smile! I also used pink pearlescent card, a 12x12" background paper, Prima flowers and a Papermania large brad.

Elzybells Cookies

This card I made when my children were still at the zoo. I have quite a few new gorgeous Elzybells stamps that I haven't had time to try yet so I finally got round to using this set. These stamps (the girl, wording and cookies) all came from the Elzybells "Just Desserts" clear stamp set. I coloured the girl with coloursoft pencils and used Core'dinations cardstock. The only thing I'm not happy with really is my choice of card colour, I couldn't find a colour to match the girls dress!

Sarah Kay (again!)

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have my husband take the kids to the zoo for an afternoon so I was able to get to work on a card idea that I had in my mind. I had pulled out a turquoise-ish paper that I thought would go with a Sarah Kay image that I had coloured and I wanted to put it together. Anyway, I am quite happy with the result as it is again a bit different to anything I had made, which was the aim again. The only thing I wasn't so happy with was the ribbon.. it was the wrong shade of turquoise! The stamped image was again the Sarah Kay "Precious Moments" clear stamp, coloured in with Copic Ciao markers. The wording stamp was from Elzybells; the paper was from Doodlebug; the cardstock was Core'dinations; the flowers from Prima and the large brad from Papermania.

Sarah Kay cards

I was so happy when I discovered Sarah Kay clear stamps! I used to have a Sarah Kay sticker album when I was young, probably around 7 years old - actually, I still have it! I loved seeing those images again so jumped at the chance of owning some of the stamps. My first purchase was the one used in these three cards: "Precious Moments". As it has the chicks, I thought of Easter first of all, but then I thought I'd try it for other uses as it was so cute and I came up with these. They were an absolute joy to colour with my Copic Ciao markers. On the Lilac card, I decoupaged the hat so it stands out more but on all the cards, I tried to keep them quite simple as the image is a generous size.

Penny Black Frolic

I don't know what to think about this card. I enjoyed colouring the picture but I'm not sure about the background paper. I was trying to come up with something different, which it is, but I'm not 100% happy with it. The Rubber Stamped image is Penny Black "Frolic" and it was coloured in with Coloursoft pencils. The paper was from a Papermania 6x6" pack and the flowers are Prima.

Another male card...

This card I am pleased with as I came up with a card sketch first and tried to push my boundries a little. I wanted a card that was different to my normal layout (see below) so I was pleased to try something new and have it work. Also, I tried something new (for me) with the border of the picture and wording with the rough lines. Normally I am a perfectionist and have to have everything lined up and straight so I had to leave my comfort zone to do the squiggly imperfect lines, but I was pleased with the result as again, it was a change to my normal cards. The rubber stamps used are: Funstamps "Racing Ted" and Stampendous "Montage Birthday". The spotty card is Bazzill swiss cardstock and the image is coloured with Copic Ciao markers.

My old style

This card I am putting on as an example of what my card layouts used to usually be like. I used to half cover the card with background paper, the image was matted and layered at the top and the wording matted and layered at the bottom. Although, they used to be more plain I suppose without the brads and flowers! Since discovering such inspiration on other peoples blogs, my card making has changed. I discovered other rubber stamps (such as Whiff of Joy on Michelle Shorts blog) and Prima flowers! Card sketches have also been great for pushing my creativity.

Cupcakes!

This card was made for my Grandad (to give). I tried to go for a more grown-up design. I used the Hero Arts clear stamp set of Cupcakes and coloured them with Copic Ciao markers. The wording is also from the Hero Arts set. The tag was cut with a Quickutz cookie cutter die. The foiled paper is by Penny Black and the flowers are by Prima, held on with a Dovecraft flower brad.

Wish Big!

This card I made when trying to think of ideas for a male birthday card. I started with the image as I thought it is really suitable for men and cute but not too cute. I think this image came from my box of "Images ready" so this is coloured with chalk pencils (my old way of colouring) with Sakura glaze pens for the candles. The stamps used are all Penny Black.

More cards coming...

My blog is still looking pretty empty so I have now added my name to several cards and I'm about to add them to my blog! I have hundreds of stamped images already stamped and waiting to be used. I also have hundreds that have been coloured in and are ready to use. A few weeks ago my Grandad asked me to make some cards for him so I grabbed my box of images and started a marathon of card making. It was quite a challenge actually as I tried to make some not-so-cute cards and some male ones too. This card is made with the following: Penny Black rubber stamp "Spotty", Stampendous window box stamp, WHSmith 5"x5" white card blank, Papermania cardstock and red organza ribbon.

Another card!

As I have now worked out how to post with a photo, I now have a lot of catching up to do so here is another card. The picture isn't perfect as I scanned the card and because of the bow, it didn't sit flat on the scanner. This is all a learning curve though and I have now learnt it is best to take a photo! The stamp is by Penny Black and is called "Wind Caressed". I bought it from The Glitter Pot after seeing their gorgeous example in the shop... I wouldn't have bought it otherwise! I coloured the image with coloursoft pencils and used a pale pink pearlised card for the background which I stamped with the Penny Black "Portraits" stamp in a pink ink and embossed with clear powder. I cut the scallop edge on the pink card with the Woodware trimmer and scallop blade. The flowers are Prima.

Penny Black Acrobat

Here is my first uploaded card to my blog. This is with a Penny Black rubber stamp called "Acrobat". I had the idea for the layout when I was making it but I'm not totally happy with it, I can't see how I can change it now though! The image was coloured in with coloursoft pencils and the flowers are Prima flowers.

New to this!

Hi, This is my very first blog so I am just finding my way! Hopefully soon I will master this then I will be adding pictures of my cards. Thanks for visiting!