Man's Card - Hello

I don't make many men's cards, so thought I'd better try them more often. This fab image is a free one from The Frugal Crafter. Thanks Lindsay.

A simple card with an embossed sentiment and layered with a black matt onto designer paper. The image is on watercolour paper and so is the stamped sentiment, which is edged with distress ink. I like using watercolour paper. It seems to give it a bit more depth or texture.

Challenge Entry:
Fab n Funky Challnege #42 - Is it black or is it white (with a twist)? (black, white and brown) (Closes Wed October 6th.)

Thank You Card For Heart To Heart Alzhemiers Support Card Drive

It's rewarding to make cards for friends and family, but equally rewarding to reach out to those who do so much... the unsung heroes of the world.

Cammie's grandmother, Mamo, suffered from Alzheimers. Cammie is organising an Alzheimers Support card drive, rallying us to send cards to say Thank You to Alzheimers carers to celebrate her Grandmother's birthday, as well as World Alzheimers Day. I heard a man speak just the other day about the impact on the carers as they care for loved ones. Of course, there are many helping professionals who do so much for Alzheimer's patients too. My card has been sent to the staff at the Artman Home where Cammie's grandmother was.

Giveaway
I hope you'll join in the card drive too by sending a card or cards to someone you know, a local group or to the Artman Home. Lots of fab companies have come to the party too in very generously supporting this card drive, by providing prizes for a super mega giveaway. The sponsors list reads like a Who's Who of Papercrafting.... over $1000 worth of craft goodness. Some include Just Rite, Spellbinders, Gina K, Taylored Expressions, Papercraft Magazine and many more. Lots of individuals have contributed too, including making handmade cards, all part of the giveaway.

Join The Heart To Heart Alzheimers Support Card Drive
Head on over to Cammie's blog to find out more and to join this very worthwhile cause. Closes October 3rd. Thanks for organising this wonderful concept, Cammie. I'm sure the carers will really appreciate it, and it bring attention to a very important issue. I'm pleased to be involved.

Gwen's Busy Little Hands Giveaway

Gwen is celebrating a technology win (always cause for celebration!!) and is also doing a craft room clear out.
She is generously hosting a giveaway at her blog, Gwen's Busy Little Hands for goodies including

• a Cuttlebug embossing product
• a Sizzix die
• Papers,
• Stickers
• Ribbon

Thanks Gwen. Closes September 30th. Head on over to find out more and to enter.

While you're there, check out Gwen's blog. I love her banner and tagline... A Place To Spread Your Creative Wings And Fly... a perfect sentiment for crafters. Gwen will be hosting monthly giveaways.

Blogging Keeps My Mind And Heart Dancing - From Cathe Holden

The fabulously talented and generous Cathe Holden at Just Something I Made has come up with this amazing little animation. Great fun.

Talk about mixing the old and the new. Cathe scanned every page of an old time flip book, and with the wonders of modern technology, turned it into an animation.

If you want this for your sidebar or want to check out her other animations or other creative crafty and design ideas, head on over. It's one of my favourite sites to visit.

Autumn Card For A Man

Love these Autumn colours and thought this would make a good man's card with the darker russet tones and the olive green ribbon.The background is stamped with autumn leaves and one additional leaf is popped with multi dimensional tape. The die for the sentiment (stamped onto watercolour paper and heat embossed) is a Nellie Snellen oval from the Multi series.

As an aside, I'm finding watercolor paper with its extra thickness is great for stamping onto, for die cuts and especially for embossing as it leaves deeper impressions than regular paper. I'll be using it a lot more from now on, although I won't go overboard, as it's more expensive than regular card.

Challenges:
Cards For Men Challenge #20 - Autumn (Closes October 10th)
Squiggle Stamps September Challenge - Anything Goes
Everybody Art Challenge - Autumn (Closes September 27th)
Stamp Something - Fall Colors (Closes September 30th)

Birds and Nest Congratulations Card

Apologies first off for the quality of the first image. Can you tell it is birds and a nest - a beautiful image let down by my dodgy photography. The image is from The Graphics Fairy. It's printed on gloss paper and cuttlebugged.

In "real" life it is quite delicate and the embossed Swiss Dots enhance the look rather than detract from it. The second photo shows my first attempt at stamping on ribbon and the layering of my tiny scraps of card with my much loved Martha Stewart doily punch. Next time, I'll leave off the exclamation mark, I think... learning all the time.

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments #36 - Use Your Scraps (scraps of ribbon and scraps of card)
Stamp Something - Digi (Digi birds and nest) (Closes Thurs September 23rd)

Starving Artistamps Backlit Blooms

I love silhouettes and haven't seen too many around in stamp form.

So I was excited to discover the Backlit Blooms series of stamps from Doodle Factory. I was even more thrilled to discover that the full 6 sets of Backlit Blooms stamps are up for grabs. This is a generous blog candy at Starving Artistamps where they are promoting their new releases and where birthday celebrations are in full swing.

Don't you love the card above made with one of the stamps? It looks almost like the Chinese cloisonne effect on the flowers. That's from adding special Prima flowers to the stamped images. Beautiful. And how about the stamps themselves, pictured below. I could really have a ton of creative fun with those and my distress inks. They're a generous 5.75 inches tall and come with sentiments.

If you want to join in the giveaway, head on over to Starving Artistamps and find out more. Closes September 25th.

Created With Love Blogaversary Giveaway

Carin from Created With Love is celebrating her 1st Blogaversary.

She is inviting us to join in the fun with a generous giveaway. I am in love with Distress inks. And do you spy those gorgeous dragonfly and butterfly stamps and other stamps too? I'm just starting to use punches and I spy 3 border punches. Wow... look at what Carin is offering.

• 2 moleskine books (1 sketchbook, 1 watercolour notebook)
• 5 sheets mulberry paper in assorted colours (tan, cream, green, lilac, peach) 
• 5 illustrated pages from classic vintage children's books. '
• 3 border craft punches (1 musical notes, 1 ribbon heart, 1 daisy)
• 4 rubber stamps (1 border of hearts, 1 designed by, 1 brush dragonfly, 1 shadow wings)
• 3 Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads (old paper, faded jeans, pumice stone)
• 1 bottle Glamour Dust

Head over to Created With Love to find out more.  Closes September 24th. Drawn September 26th.

Vintage Distressed Bird Card With Text Background

This is a card I've just finished making for my first ever card swap. The brief was to make 6 cards the same, using birds plus any distress technique.

The coloured background is a digital image from the very talented Vintage Catnip. I overstamped it with a text stamp. I stamped and embossed a bird plus a bird cage on a punched circle popped with multi dimensional tape. Then it was layered onto card coloured with Dusty Concord distress ink and stamped with postmarks.

I'm a bit nervous sending my cards to other cardmakers for the first time, but hope they like them. Best of all, I get cards back and can't wait to see how others have interpreted the brief.

Challenge:
This is my entry into the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #101 - Anything Goes
Also - The Shabby Tea Room Week #27 - Inspired By Nature

Prima Goodness - The First Prima Ideas Book

Don't you just love all the Prima goodies?

Well now Prima has brought out their first ever idea book. It has lots of inspirational ideas, techniques and yummy photos to showcase what can be done with their products.This includes scrapbooking, card making and even fashion.

Of course, you could buy one, and here's the info about the new Prima book from their site, if you just can't wait to get your hands on one

• 18 Artists from all around the World
• Over 130 Projects
• One Brand
• Item #540081

Want to win one?
Just head over to this Prima post to find out more. Closes September 21st.

Hello Across The Miles - Vintage Style Card

I was quite pleased with this card - a bit of a vintage feel to it.

The postmarks background is a digital image overstamped in parts with a background stamp using dark pink ink. I used the Martha Stewart doily punch to edge the layered tag (love that punch).

The gorgeous butterfly is from a Crafty Secrets Pad of images - beautiful and glossy. Then, I stamped a sentiment, added olive green ribbon for the tag, and that was that. Lots of fun. I think I'll use it to send a note to a friend I regularly correspond with by "snail mail".

The blue background is NOT part of the card. I need to refine which surface is best to sit my cards on when photographing, so apologies.

This is my challenge entry for
Shabby Tearoom Challenge #26 - Tag, You're It (Sept 13)

Upcoming 2010 USA Craft Fairs

I was exploring the CHA site and came across this listing of upcoming USA 2010 Craft Fairs. A girl can dream...

Which is your favourite craft fair... anywhere in the world?

SEPTEMBER

September 17, 2010 - September 18, 2010	Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention	San Marcos, TX
September 24, 2010 - September 26, 2010	TACA Fall Craft Fair	Nashville, TN
September 24, 2010 - September 26, 2010	The American Sewing Expo	Novi, MI
September 25, 2010 - September 26, 2010	Heirloom Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival	Anderson, SC
September 30, 2010 - OCTOBER October 02, 2010	Original Sewing & Quilt Expo	Chantilly, VA
October 01, 2010 - October 02, 2010	INDIEana Handicraft Exchange	Indianapolis, IN
October 02, 2010 - October 03, 2010	Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo	West Springfield, MA
October 02, 2010 - October 03, 2010	Heirloom Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival	Fort Wayne, IN
October 08, 2010 - October 10, 2010	Whole Bead Show	Providence, RI
October 08, 2010 - October 09, 2010	Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention	Kansas City, MO
October 09, 2010 - October 10, 2010	Heirloom Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival	York, PA
October 09, 2010 - October 10, 2010	Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo	St. Paul, MN
October 14, 2010 - October 16, 2010	Georgia Quilt Show	Atlanta, GA
October 14, 2010 - October 17, 2010	Pacific International Quilt Festival XIX	Santa Clara, CA
October 15, 2010 - October 17, 2010	Whole Bead Show	New York, NY
October 16, 2010 - October 17, 2010	Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo	Milwaukee, WI
October 17, 2010 October 17, 2010	"Sunday, Crafty Sunday" Gift Bazaar - Dia de los Muertos Celebration!	San Diego, CA
October 20, 2010 - October 24, 2010	Creativ Festival	Toronto, Canada
October 22, 2010 - October 24, 2010	Great! Scrapbook Events Crop & Shop	Gaylord, MI
October 22, 2010 - October 24, 2010	Original Sewing & Quilt Expo	Kansas City, MO
October 30, 2010 - October 31, 2010 NOVEMBER	Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo	Las Vegas, NV
November 06, 2010 - November 07, 2010	Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo	Denver, CO
November 11, 2010 - November 13, 2010	Original Sewing & Quilt Expo	Minneapolis, MN
November 12, 2010 - November 13, 2010	Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention	Seattle, WA
November 13, 2010        - November 13, 2010	Holiday Craft Fair & Car Show	Jacksonville, NC
November 21, 2010	Make it Indie	Cobourg, Ontario
November 27, 2010 - November 28, 2010	Bliss Holiday Gift Market	Oklahoma City, OK
December 18, 2010 -	City of Craft	Toronto, ON

Easy Origami Men's Shirt Card

This simple male card is inspired by a card sent to me by the talented Sue Laufer at Left Handed Crafter. Sue very generously sent me 5 gorgeous cards as her blog giveaway prize.

I've been wanting to make one of these little men's origami shirts for ages after a friend showed me how. You can find origami shirt video insructions here if you want to give it a go.

The cream layer is cuttlebugged and a little loop of Stampin Up ribbon peeks out from under the layer above it.

This card is for the following challenges -

• Corrosive Card Challenge #79 - For The Guys
  
• Simon Says Stamp & Show Your Layers (Sept 7)

Paper Rosette Pearl & Lace Challenge Card

I tried my first paper rosette for this baby card. The paper was first edged with the Martha Stewart doily lace punch. Then it was pleated and folded and made into a circle.

Keeping the rosette together was tricky. Any tips? I need to experiment with the width and length of the paper strip to perfect this. Here's a paper rosette video tutorial if you want to give it a try yourself.

The circle was cut with a Nellie Snellen multi die (love these). The edges were lightly sponged with Shabby Shutters distress ink and some pearls added.

I'm entering this into the

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Pearls and Lace (Pearls plus punched paper lace edge)
•  
• All Sort Challenge - New Beginnings (New Baby)
•  
• Simon Says Stamp & Show Your Layers  (Sept 7)