Man Oh Man Monday No. 1

Welcome, welcome my friends!  Thank you for joining me on this new adventure.  When I thought about this idea I knew it was so right.  Without further ado, I share with you my first blog feature:

Do you have the blues when trying to come up with cards for guys?  Stumped on how to have fun making something for the opposite sex?  How do you use your beloved supplies to create cards for the males in your life?

I wonder these things too and thought why not devote a day each week to making masculine cards (and possibly projects)?

My number one reason for making masculine cards are for birthdays so at first that is what I will mostly be focusing upon, but should anyone be interested in exploring other occasions in depth, give me a holler. 

I will be using three categories of products:

• Hear Me Roar = male gender specific full of good ol' boy stereotypical guy goods like camping, fire, Western gear, trucks, motorcycles, trains, tools, sports, hunting, video games, comic books, boats, camouflage, rope and the like.
• Easy Going = gender neutral designs which could include chevrons, stripes, triangles, wood grain, nature, maps...most shapes are great here.
• So Secure I Wear Pink = not really either of the above and may involve (gasp!) pink, glitter and hearts because male cards are just not challenge enough for me...haha.  Seriously, some of us have supplies that may not translate immediately to masculine cards, but that shouldn't mean the need to spend more money to create guy friendly cards.  With some ingenuity we can use what we have!  

For the inaugural Man Oh Man Monday, I chose to use a color scheme informed by the Moxie Fab World's Trigger Tuesday: Pattern Play:

an embossing folder, dies and stamps along with Mama Elephant's Sketch Challenge 02:

I would classify the products used as Easy Going.

Card No. 1:

 

 

I used the bull's eye and an arrow from On Target and an arrow from Trifecta to create an interesting clock to play with the sentiment I stamped using Midnight Letters.  I found that the bull's eye fit perfectly into one of the clock faces found in the Pocket Watches texture fade (aka embossing folder) by Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix.  So thrilled with the discovery.

The dies are from a newer purchase from Lifestyle Crafts.  I chose the Tape It Kit collection because there were so many shapes that will work for any occasion, age, style or gender.

Heat embossing is always a great addition to a card.  I chose white on this card.

The banner is colored using my ink pad as it was the exact color I wanted.  I simply used the ink pad to paint on the color and since it was Distress Ink I lightly misted the banner with water to help even out the color making sure to wipe off the color from the white embossed letters.

After adhering the embossed panel onto the white card base with dimensional adhesive I added the last finishing touch with an enamel dot for the center of the clock where the arrow hands met.

Although I used this card for a birthday it would be equally as good for a congratulations of some sort...graduation, getting a job, anniversary, starting a business, promotion, closed on a house, or even climbing Mount Everest (if someone I knew climbed Mount Everest they deserve a card in the very least is all I am saying) for instance.

Challenges Met: Mama Elephant Sketch Challenge 02; Moxie Fab World's Trigger Tuesday: Pattern Play

Card No. 2:

Using the Mama Elephant Sketch No. 2 and flipping it upside down, this card began all about color and pattern...triangles in this case.  Trifecta is an *awesome* stamp set because it is so flexible. Using the small triangle border stamp I stamped it once in each of my 6 colors.  I then cut each line of triangles into a strip.  Using alternating strips I made a new diamond pattern onto my white card base.  The options here are limitless.

Surprisingly, here is where things got tricky.  At this point I was thinking I was going to use another banner.  I wanted a specific birthday sentiment, but I didn't really have one from Mama Elephant (yet) and I had already used Midnight Letters in my last card (several cards recently actually) so I searched through my various stashes for an alternative.  Finally I hit upon using my happy die from Papertrey Ink to make a negative die cut.  The idea of which was pushed into my head by Moxie Fab World's recent The Emphasize the Negative Challenge.  Of course I adhered the happy negative with foam adhesive.  I love how the colors and design peek through the word. 

By the way, inside the card I stamped "birthday!" to finish off this card, but if you wanted to make this into another sort of card you could put any sentiment in that fit your circumstances...even the sadly neglected Arbor Day.

Challenges Met: Mama Elephant Sketch Challenge 02; Moxie Fab World's Trigger Tuesday: Pattern Play; Moxie Fab World's The Emphasize the Negative Challenge

MOMM Tips (I had no idea that was the acronym of Man Oh Man Monday...too funny):

MOMM Tip No. 1: Make it easy for yourself and use a versatile sketch/challenge. I love how classic Mama Elephant's sketch is. An added bonus is that using their sketch dictates I use some Mama Elephant products thus minimizing the stamps I need to shift through and decide upon. I can't tell you how much time I spend simply choosing supplies for a project. I also decided to use the colors from Moxie Fab World's Trigger Tuesday as another way to narrow down my choices. These colors are fun, fresh and quite cool.
MOMM Tip No. 2: Use texture on your card and break out your embossing folders. Many embossing folders have designs that work for guy or gal cards.
MOMM Tip No. 3: Go negative.  Even dies with a little bit of a feminine look like the "happy" in Card No. 2 looks more graphic when only using the negative.

If you would like to play along leave a comment with a link to your creation(s).  I am so excited to see whatever you make.  Also, if you have any suggestions for products, inspiration, themes, colors, etc. please don't hesitate to leave me a comment.

Happy creating,
Shay.

P.S. If you want to see what I did with the positive of the happy die, please visit The Aviary today at 8:00 am (central) for something with a feminine mixed media edge.

Supplies:
Card No. 1
Stamps: On Target, Midnight Letters and Trifecta, Mama Elephant
Ink: broken china, rusty hinge, shaded lilac and seedless preserves, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger; limeaid ice, Papertrey Ink; VersaMark, Tsukineko
Cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific
Other:opaque white embossing powder, JudiKins; Tape It Kit die collection, Lifestyle Crafts; Pocket Watches & Steampunk Set texture fades, Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix; Cuttlebug, Provo Craft; dimensional adhesive; Collectable Remarkable "Handsome" enamel dots, My Mind's Eye; Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, We R Memory Keepers; dimensional adhesive
Card No. 2
Stamps: Trifecta, Mama Elephant
Ink: broken china, rusty hinge, shaded lilac, seedless preserves and pumice stone, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger; limeaid ice, Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific; rich razzleberry, Stampin' Up!
Other: wonderful words die collection, Papertrey Ink; Cuttlebug, Provo Craft

Make It Monday No. 106: Two-Toned Stamped Flowers

Happy Friday (or Saturday)!

Tonight I bring you a card I made for my mom's birthday this week.  She's in love with aquas and turquoises right now so that dictated the monochromatic color scheme.  I was inspired by Make It Monday No. 106: Two-Toned Stamped Flowers by Melissa Phillips (isn't she amazing?  If you haven't seen her work I highly recommend spending some time over at her blog) although I used two colors very similar to each other: tumbled glass (pale aqua) and broken china (turquoise/teal) that blended much more than in the example by Melissa Phillips.

What I did:

1. I colored in solid peony from Pretty Peonies (unfortunately no longer available) with the tumbled glass Distress Marker and then came back in with broken china Distress Marker only coloring in about half the stamp.  I misted the image lightly with water before stamping the flower 3 times.  I over stamped the outline peony with broken china Distress Ink.
2. I pleated a strip of pattern paper.  I cut out the bracket tab from Fabulous Frames Die Collection from white cardstock and stamped the sentiment from Mini Blooms (love, love this font!) in broken china.  I adhered that down and then adhered the pleated pattern paper (I used Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive which worked fabulously) over it.
3. I drew a frame around the top part of the card using my broken china Distress Marker.
4. My peonies needed some leaves so used the leafy Lovely Layers die from the Lovely Layers Die Collection to cut from vellum twice.  I folded them over and then attached them to the cluster of peonies.
5. I added some sparkle to the peonies with Stickles.
6. I adhered two stripes of the pattern paper onto the right and left sides of a 4.25 x 5.5 inch white card base and added my flower panel over that using dimensional adhesive. 

Voila!  Thankfully, my mom liked the card.  And maybe you will too.  Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.

Oh and if you are interested I will be blogging at The Aviary Monday (a mixed media project) and also on Monday I am introducing my brand new (my first!) blog feature that I may be a tiny bit excited about.

Until Monday,
Shay.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pretty Peonies (limited edition and no longer available) and Mini Blooms, Papertrey Ink
Inks: broken china, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Papertrey Ink; vellum
Patterned Paper: Shoreline 6x6 paper pad, American Crafts
Markers: broken china and tumbled glass, Tim Holtz Distress Markers by Ranger
Dies: Fabulous Frames Die Collection and Lovely Layer Die Collection, Papertrey Ink
Other: star dust Stickles, Ranger; dimensional adhesive; Cuttlebug, Provo Craft; Quick-Dry Adhesive, Scotch

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Pattern Play

Good evening!

Tonight I thought I would quickly share a card I created for this week's Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World:

I think my take is pretty literal...again.  I was inspired by the colors and design.  I searched through my embossing powders for colors similar to the Trigger.  Here is what my card ended up looking like:

 

 

Most of the stamping is embossed, with some accents added with Distress Markers, Copic colored gems and a tiny bit of cross stitch.  I hope you like it.

Have a magnificent Monday!  And thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.

Happy creating,
Shay.

Supplies:
Stamps: Delightful Doilies, Giga Guide Lines and Pretty Peonies, Papertrey Ink
Ink: VersaMark, Tsukineko; rich razzleberry, Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: rich razzleberry, Stampin' Up!; pale grey, stash; vellum
Patterned Paper: Census from Basics collection, Basic Grey
Other: old paper and milled lavender Tim Holtz Distress embossing powder, Ranger; powder Zing! embossing powder, American Crafts; Double-Ended Banners die, Papertrey Ink; Cuttlebug, Provo Craft; embroidery floss no. 415, DMC; rusty hinge, broken china and dusty concord, Tim Holtz Distress Markers by Ranger; blue violet (BV08), hydrangea blue (BV13), sepia (E37), Copic; gems, stash; Tiny Attacher, Tim Holtz

Paper Wings Productions' March Design Team Blog Hop

Hello there my friends,

I am so glad you could join me to celebrate the many splendid Winged Things for the Paper Wings Productions' March Blog Hop.  If you came from Carrie's blog you are in the right place.  If not, you will want to check out The Aviary to start at the beginning so you could win this:

All you need to do is:

1. Be a follower of the Paper Wings Productions' blog, The Aviary;
2. Visit each of the design team's blogs including our guest designer and leave them a little love; and
3. Go back to The Aviary and leave a comment letting them know you completed the hop.

BONUS: For extra chances to win, just like the Paper Wings Productions' Facebook page and/or invite your friends to the hop. Then just come back and let us know ! Be sure to leave a separate comment for each of the additional entries.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 5th on The Aviary.

You will also want to go through the blog hop to be inspired by the awesome design team's projects.  I have seen peeks and you will love them all!

Now on to my little Winged Things project.  When I thought of the "Winged Things" theme I decided I wanted to make something using the Wings stamp set (or Butterfly Wings) that would be uplifting...which is something I very much need at the moment. So I picked out a 8x10 canvas to make a little piece to hang in my studio. This size is great as it isn't too large or too small.

I recently received the Simon Says Stamp March 2013 Card Kit and I loved the happy designs and colors in the kit including the Daphne's Closet 6x6 papers by Lawn Fawn.  All of my colors came from those papers.

I stamped the set of butterfly wings on a different patterned paper and then gold embossed them.  I cut them out...luckily, they are an easy shape to cut.  I knew I wanted to make the body of the butterfly from the straws included in the kit and I made attenae with gold thread.  I rolled the edges of the wings to mold them and give them some dimension.

For the canvas I wanted something that the colors would pop off of.  I began by painting the canvas with gesso and then I used a toilet paper roll (who knew they could be so useful in the studio?!) to stamp black paint rings onto the canvas.  After the paint dried I added a light wash of gesso to the middle of the canvas just to soften the circles.  To the bottom edge I inked up the edge and then stamped the solid small circles from Single Dots Border in green.  To the top edge I inked up the edge and then stamped the outline small circles from Single Dots Border in fuschia.  For this application I was really happy with the haphazard stamping of clear stamps on canvas.  I added a frame with my gold leaf pen to pull in more gold (I can't get enough of it at the moment).

Next I went searching online for a quote I liked.  After finding a quote, I shopped my little Thickers collection for the right colors and different textures.  Of course the gold glitter Thickers came out...they seem to show up on everything I make right now.  I may have to start wearing them.  I also pulled out some neon letters from Heidi Swapp because I liked the color and shape.  I only altered the 1 by coloring black to make it stand out a bit more.  Just a note, the Thickers stick but move pretty easily.  I recommend that you adhere them permenantly with something like Glossy Accents, Diamond Glaze or even hot glue if you prefer.

 

After spelling out my quote I placed my butterflies on the canvas to figure out the placement.  I originally made 6 butterflies, but only ended up using 3 for this project.  I adhered the butterflies in place with glue dots and/or dimensional adhesive.  Lastly I added drops of sprays for added pops of color.  Easy peasy.  Just change up the colors, design and quote to suit your taste and style.

I hope this has inspired you to make something that will uplift you or someone else!  And remember to head on over to The Aviary for your chance to win.

For more uplifting ideas for Winged Things or if you get lost along the way here is the full list for the blog hop:

Heather Lynn Novinger - http://heathernovinger.blogspot.com/Dana Tatar - http://datatar.blogspot.com/
Tara Chaussee - http://secretbeesstudio.blogspot.com/
Norma Gomez - http://lilhoneybeestudios.blogspot.com/
Amber Rasmussen - http://sew-ink.blogspot.com
Carrie Avery - http://www.carrieavery.com/
Shay - http://verdigrishall.blogspot.com/  <-----You are here
The Aviary -  http://paper-wings-productions.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for visiting! 

Happy hopping,
Shay.

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Stamps: Wings or Butterfly Wings and Single Dots Border, Paper Wings Productions
Ink: VersaMark, Tsukineko; limeade ice and raspberry fizz, Papertrey Ink
Kit: March 2013 Card Kit includes 6x6 paper from Daphne's Closet by Lawn Fawn and paper straws, Simon Says Stamp
Other: detail metallic gold embossing powder, JudiKins; gesso, Claudine Hellmuth Studio by Ranger; metallic sequin black acrylic paint, Folk Art by Plaid; gold decorative sewing thread, Coats; gold glitter sunrise, orange chipboard flat, yellow foam Eric, pink chipboard bliss, green puffy honey Thickers, American Crafts; day glow neon letters, Heidi Swapp; sherbert, buttercup and Doris Mister Huey's Color Mists, Studio Calico; pink balloon sprinklers, October Afternoon; gold leafing pen, Elmer's; black fine point permenant marker, Sharpie; canvas