Give a man a fish....

Fonts : Zag Bold, Angelina, Worstveld Sling Extra

Dies: Geometric Style II (CB), Tiny Hearts (SSS)

I needed a card for my b-i-l, a very keen fisherman.  The pun is not my own, but the design is. This is a sentiment that both my sister & I both endorse whole-heartedly! If you google "give a man a fish", there are many, many punchlines. 

I also looked for simple fishing rod pictures, which showed the narrowing diameter of the rod. I achieved the same effect with decreasing sizes of font.  I sketched the rod & line in Silhouette Studio & then dragged the text so it would follow the path of the lines.  The fish body is a bite out of a small circle, with the heart for the tail.

I am submitting this to LiM’s “this makes me happy!” challenge for 2 reasons. I love fiddle-faddling on the computer trying to bend it to my will, & I find it extremely satisfying when an idea works out as planned.  Also it is a good male card, something that I don’t think I am alone in struggling with!

Also entering for SSS Anything Goes.

Merry & Bright

Stamps: Be Merry (Clearly Besotted)

Ink: Aquamarine (AE); Versamark (Tsukineko)

Dies: Ampersand (MFT); Finished Frames (AE)

Other: silver embossing powder; patterned paper (AE); Pale Turquoise card (Papermill Direct)

Can you tell I have made an effort with the photo today?  Trying to channel my inner Debbie Hughes!  Hmmnnn, think it needs a bit more work...

Love the new 'quiet' release from Clearly Besotted.  It meant that there were actually a few items still in stock when I finally got round to deciding what I wanted.  I managed to elongate the AE frame so that its aspect ration fits a UK card size, & have kept the 'outside' piece to use as a template for this in the future.

Have just seen this week’s CAS(E) this Sketch. Talk about serendipity!

Deck the halls with...

...cardboard reindeer.

Not a particularly new idea, but I like it.  I scaled up this template to make the head as large as possible on A4, then printed out on computer paper.  This was temporarily adhered to kraft card & cut out.  I used  only 3 sheets of card for this chap.

 

The antlers & nose were coloured with pro-markers & the moustache was a leftover party prop which I think it rather suits him.  Tried googly eyes but they were insufficiently regal (unlike the facial hair...), so will have to keep thinking.



Deck the halls with...

...wrapping paper.

Yup, plain old red kraft paper from Ikea.  Cuts like a dream on the Silhouette (had to cut into A4 sheets first).  The S & J are A4 size, the rest scaled to look right next to them.  The fonts are Narkism & Halohandletter. And yes, it does owe a more than a little inspiration to a PTI sentiment!  The snowflakes are basics that came with the Silhouette Studio software.

 

 

The whole lot is stuck to the wall using a temporary adhesive.  I used the one from Pritt.  It proved a little too temporary to begin with (we spent many happy hours searching for a missing letter only to find it safe & sound on the sole of my husband's slipper) but a second application took us right through the festive season last year.

 

I love this because it was quick, cheap & made a big impact on the porch wall - an area usually bare of anything other than grubby fingerprints.

Let it SNOW

Stamps: Tag Its #8(PTI)

Ink: Espresso Truffle (Memento)

Die: Framelits Instant (Sizzix)

Hurray! Less is More are doing a festive challenge today, so I can start to share some of my cards for this year. It also works for the upcoming Papertrey Bloghop on 25th of the month, which has a snow theme.

Inspired by IKEA

Have you seen these birdhouses at IKEA?

Look cute enough here, but way too big & heavy in real life. Not sure where you are supposed to hang them, but surely not on a Christmas tree - it would bend the branch right down!

But I do like the idea, so I decided to make a knock off version out of cardstock:

Trouble was, I found I couldn't stop at just one! I had to see what they looked like with other colours or different roofs (side note - I always thought the plural of roof was rooves; turns out it isn't), so I made some more. Now I see them enlarged on the screen, I also want to try out stars & hearts as entry-ways. Can you guess what my friends will be getting for Christmas this year?

Here is my template for you to use:





Merry Muse

Dies: Small Circle Burst, Alphabet Soup (Memory Box)

Font:  Bookman Old Style Bold Italic

Inspired by Marion Vagg at Muse this week, I chose to concentrate on the large grey sentiment & the sun rays.  This MB die is the closest I possess to sun rays & I nearly lost my sanity fitting all those tiny dots; not to be undertaken lightly!

 

 The alphabet soup letters are cute but terribly hard to handle & line up - as you can see.

 

Apologies for the more-dreadfull-than-usual phot, had to use my tablet as the camera has had a nasty accident.

Less is More ~ Use 2

Stamps: Be Jolly, Jolly Wishes (Technique Tuesday)

Ink: Soft Pool (HA); Golden Glitz (Delicata)

Hi there.  Long time no blog.  No reason, just doin' other stuff. But today the planets are all in alignment, the sun is shining & the mojo is back.

Less is More want 2 of something on a card this week, but only one layer. I've got 2 baubles, 2 colours & used 2 stamp sets.  Tried for a long time to get red on here as well, before realising that gold & aqua get along just fine together without a third party interfering!

More sparkle

Fonts: Trocchi, Gasoline Alley, Cafe & brewery

Die: nested squares (QuicKutz)

Other: Aurora ep; glitter (lots); gloss (even more...)



Continuing to take inspiration from Festive Friday, I just can’t look away from the frame over the mantel.

 

I told you there was more mileage in that sentiment too.  Feel free to save it.

Wedding card

Stamps: Hello Sunshine (Lawn Fawn); Free Spirits (PS); Fanciful Flowers (Elzybells)

Ink: Lulu Lavender, Angel Pink (Memento); Sea Glass (Avery Elle)

Dies: Die-namics Ampersand (MFT), Stitched Mats (LI)

Font: Goudy Bookletter 1911



It's 'Anything Goes' at Less is More this week, in honour of Chrissie's birthday.  Here is the card I made for my nephew's upcoming nuptials. 

The ampersand is stacked with 3 layers of lavender cardstock to co-ordinate with the stamping.  I used a whole host of the tiny stamps from a variety of sets for the confetti around the names.

Sparkling Christmas

Dies: Large Geometric Rose (Clearly Besotted); Nesting Squares (QuicKutz)

Font: Trocchi, Cafe & Brewery

Other: Swiss Dots embossing folder (Provocraft); Wink of Stella

Michelle is having a break from CAS-ual Fridays; this is the last challenge until next year.  So I thought I'd do a Christmas card for the tic tac toe challenge.

I've chosen the dots-white-sequins line. But aaarggh, the picture doesn't show the sparkle!  The star is the centre cut out from the geometric rose die, stacked 3x for depth & covered with sparkly wink of stella.  Promise!

Plenty of white, which I hope compensates for the single solitary sequin.  Dots are by way of an embossing folder.

Am liking the sentiment - you may see more from that.

PS Have just realised that this card was subliminally inspired by this photo over at Festive Friday:

And another - Simon Says... Emboss It for this week's Wednesday Challenge.

Cheers, Darnell

Stamps: Free Spirits (PS); Cheers (Woodware)

Ink: Bahama Blue, RoseBud, Tangelo (Memento); Lime Green (HA)

Today is Darnell's birthday (djkardkreations.com) & Ardyth is hosting a party. Darnell has mentioned the occasional little tipple in her blog posts, so I wonder if there is a shelf in the Playhouse that looks a bit like this?  If I had a Playhouse, I think I'd make room for one!

 

Enjoy your day Darnell & thanks for your many kind comments. 

Butterfly love

Stamps: Scripty Sayings (PS); Be Jolly (Technique Tuesday); Hello Sunshine (Lawn Fawn); Elzybells

Ink: Tangelo, Rose Bud (Memento); Soft Pool (HA)
Dies: Tiny Hearts (SSS)

A very simple card for CAS-ual Fridays today.  The challenge is to use hearts in summer colours.

Minecraft creeper card

Stamps: Rad (CAS-ual Fridays)

Ink: Staz-On

Has your house been taken over by MineCraft?  Mine has.  My boys speak a whole new language, & I find myself singing minecraft lyrics in my zumba class, instead of the originals!

 

I have been toying with making a creeper card for a while now, but I was going to do it using the tiny squares from the SSS grid die.  In truth I have put it off because it seemd like too much work & I am nothing if not lazy.

 

However, today I saw this on Ardyth's Pinterest board:

 

 

and remembered this from Mini Eco:

 

 

& my lazy genes rejoiced!

 

I have a whole load of 1/8" ribbon in a variety of colours.  Naturally none were the murky green required, but I soon fixed that wih a couple of pro-markers.  I used random splodges of darker green on top to get the pixellated look:

 

 

These were then attached to some square cardstock & the black ribbon woven vertically for the features.

 

 

Having framed & mounted it, I couldn't get any sentiment to look right, until I hit upon some washi tape.

Am now going to slip in under the wire for CAS-ual Fridays!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Hoppy Birthday

Stamps: Basic Borders (ME); Elzybells

Ink: Bahama Blue, Bamboo Leaves (Memento)

Font: Filbert Color, TW Cen MT Condensed

Other: Frog Die (Provocraft)

Did you ever have a rubber frog which, when you squeezed it, had a long red tongue that unrolled?  My kids did.  Whilst rooting around amongst my dies, this frog came to light, & lo a card was born.

CAS-ual Fridays are challenging us to make a card for a bloke, which uses a ribbon but no kraft, & I think this fits the bill.  Whilst not being overtly masculine, it is certainly not girlie.  Maybe I'll settle on androgynous!

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your day

Stamps: Free Spirits, Scripty Sayings (PS); Basic Borders (ME); It's Your Day (HA)
Ink: Soft Pool (HA); Rose Bud, Tangelo, Espresso Truffle (Memento)
Dies: Free Spirits (PS)
Other: Rock Candy Stickles (Ranger)

Hello there.  I've finally manage to make something worth blogging.  Bit of a no-show mojo situation goin' on around here.  Lots of messing about, with only a full scrap pile to show for it.

 

This is for Less is More this week.  Love playing with dies, especially inlaying.  Have a foolproof method at last.  The secret is Post It tape to hold each item in place while you cut the next one & always work from back to front.  Still doesn't stop me messing up the stamping tho'. 

Smile...

Stamps: Lovely Layers (PTI); Abstract Art (MFT); Scripty Sayings (PS); Geometrics 2 (CB)

Ink: Tangelo (Memento); Soft Pool, Lime Green (HA)

Dies: Stitched Mat Squares (Lil' Inkers)

This card has been persistently cocking a snook at me for a number of days now.  Twice I have walked away, my scrap bin overflowing, but today I became its master!

 

Top tip for masking - use tracing paper, then you can see exactly where you are placing your mask, to make sure the stamped image has an even border all round.

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 170 ~ 3 colours

Birdhouse hi

Stamps: Tweet Talk (Newton's Nook); Scripty Sayings (PS)

Ink: Soft Pool (HA); Tangelo, Morocco (Memento)

This stamp set was an impulse purchase last week from Make The Day Special.  I thought the birdhouses were too cute to ignore.  

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 170 ~ 3 colours
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC131 ~Three Thirds
Make the Day Special: Challenge 2 ~ Colour choice 2 (sorry, can't seem to copy the picture, whatever I try)

3 colours for Less is More

Stamps: Basic Borders (ME); Scripty Sayings (PS)

Ink: Soft Pool (HA); Tangelo (Memento)

Dies: Borders 1 (PS); Stars (MFT); Tag-a-long (Clearly Besotted)

Inspired by this week’s CAS(E) This Sketch & the colour challenge at Less is More, I came up with this card for one of my son’s teachers.  

Can you tell I’ve got a new toy? Yup, have finally succumbed to the temptation the is Wink of Stella.

Edit: have just realised 3 colours in the top third also make it eligible for CFC31.

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 170 ~ 3 colours

CAS(E) This Sketch#74
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC131 ~Three Thirds

Muse 64 / CFC131

Stamps: Geometric Style 2 (Clearly Besotted); It's Your Day (HA)

Ink: Tangelo, Dandelion (Memento); Tumbled Glass (Ranger Distress)

Dies: Lovely Layers (PTI); Borders 1 (PS)

Mojo has been a bit of a no-show this week.  This was inspired by Marion Vagg at Muse, & fits the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge too.

I discovered there is definitely an order to doing inlaid die-cuts.  Start at the back!

As usual, dithered over the sentiment.  Got as far as mounting on sticky pads before I made up my mind.  Still not convinced...  Who said CAS cards are easy?

Linking to:
Muse: Challenge #64
CAS-ual Fridays: CFC131 ~Three Thirds