King of the Barbecue

Hiya -

Just posting a quick card that I made during a cardmaking get-together with some gal pals. One of them brought along this adorable BBQ die (from Memory Box) that just begged to be used in a Father's Day card.

The funny thing is, and I don't know if it's the same at your house as it is at mine, but guys get all the credit for a great meal cooked on the BBQ. The truth of the matter is, it's the "lady of the house" who cuts, marinates, and preps everything to go on the grill.

The man just throws everything onto the flames, cooks it (and in my case sometimes, BURNS IT), and takes all the credit.

Am I right, or am I right? :-)

Hmmm, allow me to get to my card before I end up creating a bit of marital discourse ... LOL

The die was used to cut 3 diecuts from Real Red, Basic Black, and Tangerine Tango cardstock (all from Stampin' Up). I know, I know ... sorry. That's just the way I roll. I then cut away the various sections then adhered the colour I wanted to the Black base.

The sky blue DP was in my stash, originally purchased from Michael's (Recollections), and suited the card perfectly for my "scene". The Grass die is from My Favorite Things, the clouds are from Papertrey Ink, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes from Stampin' Up. The clouds were lightly distressed along the edges using Pumice Stone Distress Ink.

The inside of the card simply says "You're The Best". Gotta keep the "cook" happy !!!

Hope your day is perfect & thanks for popping in.

Paint Splat Creatures

I'm sharing a fun & easy card today, using paint splotches images from My Favorite Things Abstract Art's stamp set.

Add 2 googly eyes and the splotches instantly become ... what? Creatures? Germs? Friendly Critters? LOL

I'd like to think those on my card are Friendly Critters :-)

The sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays Exclamations (such a cool set!), and the panel was cut with one of the dies from My Favorite Things Stitched Rounded Rectangle STAX Die-namics. A strip of embossed red cardstock, black ribbon, and this card is done!

Have a crafty day!

Topiary Hello card

We just enjoyed a fabulous May long weekend here in my neck of the woods (our Victoria Day long weekend, sometimes called the "May 2-4 Weekend", which is odd considering that day is this coming Sunday, and in fact will be celebrated by our American cousins as Memorial Day weekend).

To be honest, I think the "May 2-4" moniker has more to do with beer than it does with calendar dates :-)

Regardless, it is a time of flower and garden planting, and in my case, some backyard minor landscaping. My upper back & shoulders are reminding me today of how much heavy lifting I did moving bricks and bags of limestone screening, but hey! my backyard is starting to shape up.

Today's card is all about lovely plants - in this case, a 3-tier Topiary using PTI's Topiary Trio stamp & die set.

I ran the kraft cardstock through my Cuttlebug with PTI's Linen & Canvas Impression plate (hard to tell in this photo), then added a border die along the top to add a bit more detail. I diecut the 3-tier Topiary base in cream cardstock, then stamped the pot base with Early Espresso ink (Stampin' Up). The Topiary overlays were diecut in light green cardstock (Certainly Celery - again SU!), and adhered to the card base with pop dots.

To make this card multi-purpose, I kept the sentiment general by diecutting WPlus9's Hand Lettered "Hello" die in Early Espresso cardstock.

Another quick & easy card!

Hope you enjoy a lovely week and thanks for dropping by.

Easy Masculine Birthday Card

Hello, blog friends, and welcome -

The May long weekend is fast approaching for us here in Canada - yay!

Or rather, 'yay' for the extra time off work, but not so 'yay' for the Friday commute, which will be clogged up with cottagers and campers heading to their lake-side vacation spots. This sometimes turns my normally 45 minute drive to or from work into 1.5 hours or more.

Still, I'm thankful for the extra time off - to garden, to sit & enjoy the sunshine, to read wonderful books, to walk with my dogs a bit more, and (gasp!) to maybe spend time in my craft room. Ummmm, maybe I need more than an extra day off to accomplish all that :-)

Without further adieu, here's the next card in my "Masculine" stash - a really easy card that merely combined some old 6" X 6" DP from pads I've had around for a long time, begging to be used. I used to have quite the addiction to lovely DP and hoarded so many of them. It felt good to put one of them to use!

I first stamped Stampin' Up's HARDWOOD Background in Basic Gray on light gray cardstock, which was then trimmed and glued to a Basic Grey panel. Each of the individual flags were hand cut to suit the various heights. The sentiment panel was diecut from one of the dies in Lil'Inker's Stitched Mats: Long & Skinny Rectangles in the light gray cardstock, and stamped with one of PTI's Keep It Simple: Birthday images.

And that's a wrap! Thanks for stopping in, and to my Canadian friends, Happy Victoria Day Long Weekend! Enjoy & be safe.

All Aboard Masculine Cards

Hello ...
long time no blog! LOL

I really have to kick myself at my lack of posting on my blog. It truly wasn't my intent when I had the blog design created.
I think my main "issue" (one of many) is that I lack photography skills to take good shots of the cards I've created. And, don't get me wrong, I'm still CREATING - merely not going the extra distance to photograph them, edit the photos to fine tune them, then take the time to blog about them, complete with all the details.

A few weeks back my stamping group and I enjoyed our semi-annual card-making weekend at the cottage, so I immersed myself in their amazing creativity, as well as the breath-taking scenery of the locale. The large diningroom table that we create at looks out a large window that faces the lake, and this is the view I have as I sit in my seat -

I missed the Fall 2014 event due to my DH's heart attack, so it felt good to go back this Spring. It was a fabulous weekend, with 5 FA-BU-LOUS gals - can't wait for the next one.

So, onto some of the cards I've managed to create and actually take pics of :-)

First up, a couple of Masculine Birthday cards I made with the "All Aboard" stamp set from Technique Tuesday.

I used one of the dies from Avery Elle's Dotted Elle-ments Dies for the 2 flag tags I placed on the side of the stamped image, offset, cut from black cardstock and an old 6"X6" DP pad I have. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics set. To add a bit more detail, I placed 3 flatback Black pearls in the corner, and diecut a small button from black cardstock & wrapped it around the lowest flag with natural twine. All of this was placed on a diamond embossed panel, and distressing was done with Vintage Photo ink.

I've actually made several masculine card designs lately that I'll share with you soon. I have a tough time with these types of cards, as well as CAS cards, but I'm trying to stretch my creative wings and make more of them.

Thanks for popping in - hope you had an amazing Mother's Day weekend. It sure is nice seeing and feeling that warm sunshine.

Until the next time, take care!