Masculine Valentine

 I know it is jumping a season but I am participating in a Valentine Market in January.  So I have to get an early start. Since masculine cards are the hardest, I have started with them. Actually men's card are not so hard. They are pretty minimal--no fuss, no frill.

I frequently use Kraft card bases for men's cards. The mat is a dark brown with a wood pattern E/F.  The 2 wood patterns are from the scrap box. Buffalo check is also a go to for males. The die cut for the heart is from SU. The sentiment is also SU. And it's all tied together with natural trine. 

I used the sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday

Christmas Music

 One thing I like about making my own cards is they can be designed for a person's personal interest. This one is for the Music Minister at church,

I was going through my Christmas papers for inspiration and found a pack of music patterns that were from Stampin' Up! a few years ago. 

I pulled out the black one that has "O, Come All Ye Faithful" I cut a 2" strip and matted it on red. Then onto a white mat that is embossed with music notes. The sentiment is from SU's retired set For Unto Us. I die cut the sentiment and then put it on a punched red label. That is popped up on foam squares. I found some really small black gems for the upper right corner.

Inside is another sentiment from the same stamp set. I love the font on this one. Then added a sticker music note.

I've used the sketch from Try A Sketch on Tuesday

Hello from Santa

I know a lot of kids love Santa, so I made a Santa card for Send A Smile 4 Kids 

Before JoAnn's closed I scored some Christmas paper for 60% off. The candy cane is one of them. Another had a lot of Santa's on it.  I fussy cut Santa and glued him to a die cut oval. The white was too bright so I sponged red around the edges. The stripe was in the scrap box.

My favorite holiday to make cards for is Christmas so I will also submit to Time Out Challenges

Using twine

Let's Craft and Create  challenge this month is anything goes with an option of using twine

I have been spending this week using whatever paper is at the top of my scrap heap. It has worked out pretty well. 

 The background paper from SU is white with white embossed leaves. I sponged on color with yellow, orange, and red. The big sunflower was in my stash also. I punched leaves from 3 shades of green to tuck behind the flower.  The sentiment is SU, stamped and fussy cut. The orange/white twine bow is tucked behind the edge of the sentiment which is popped up with foam squares. 

Sunflower Thank You

Cardz 4 Galz has a challenge to use coloring, any medium you choose. I love the look of water coloring but am just not very good at it. So I tried a new method using finger daubers and ink pads.

I used the sunflowers E/F from Stampin ' Up! I spritzed the paper before putting it though the Big Shot. It gave a nice deep impression. Then using Daffodil Delight, Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie, and Crumb Cake inks, I lightly colored the flowers using finger daubers. To not cover up the flowers, I chose a small sentiment from SU and fussy cut it. To dress up a little more, I added a fold of yellow ribbon. I probably should go back and add a few sparkly gems but I already sent the card. 

I actually liked this so much, I made more for other occasions and I will definitely add some gems to them.