Boss's Day

 I am a little late getting this on however my Boss's card went all the way over seas and back again before he received it.  Just kidding.  Not really but felt that way as it took a very long time for him to receive it.

Now I can share!

I struggle with making masculine cards.  I am not the only one.  I have heard that a lot from card making friends. On the background, I embossed it and then heat embossed with gold and copper.  Next, I dragged a black staz-on over the top lightly and scratched the top of it with sandpaper.  Looked masculine now to me!

He truly is a 5 star boss! 

 Netta

Supplies:

My Favorite Things Inside & Out Stitched Rectangle Die

Stampin Up Sizzix Big Shot Star Blast Die

Bronze and Gold Embossing Powder

Stampin Up Sizzix  Hexagon Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Black, Bronze and White Cardstock

Black paper with gold stripes

Sandpaper

Paper Studio Heat Gun

Computer to print Words

All Geared Up for a Birthday

Have you ever failed at sending out birthday cards to family members?  No?  Just me?  Hmmmmm

I have a big family and so far this year I have failed miserably at sending out all the cards.  Sad to say but it has been a hit and miss.  (If any of you read this...I still love you! *S*).  There are only 2 this month so I made sure to get the cards in the mail this time.  Here is one of the cards I mailed out!

I die cut a piece of shiny silver cardstock with the Steampunk die that I bought from Amazon.  It was much bigger than the A2 card so I had to trim it off along 3 sides.  The die also comes with the two clock hands.  I used Alcohol Ink to color the big piece and glued it down.  The mat is just black cardstock.  The words were printed out with Microsoft Word. 

Hope my brother receives it in time!

Netta

Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink

 Copper Mixative, Sailboat Blue, Mermaid, Cranberry

Amazon Steampunk Die

Peaceful Ocean Turtles

A woman saw a Christmas card I made my boss last year and asked if I could make her husband a birthday card for her. 

I had not used these dies nor had I inked up the turtle before.  After I was done, I was reminded of the time I once saw a turtle while on vacation.  I was snorkeling by myself in the ocean by Turks and Caicos.  I was giddy with happiness as I spotted a turtle peacefully swimming along without a care in the world!  I followed him at a safe distance away so I would scare him.  It was a pure joy to watch.  

This card was fun to make..especially since it reminded me of that day snorkeling with the big sea turtle.

Happy Crafting!

Netta

Masculine Wildlife Birthday Card

One of my Uncles is turning 70 years old this weekend and for the first time in his life he will have a birthday party that will be a surprise!  (sssshhhhhh don't tell him!  *S*)

 I can't be there so I made him a Wildlife birthday card and mailed it to him.  This is a tri-shutter fold...a little different when you open, so he might need help when he receives it!

The stamps are all from Stampin Up except the sentiment.  That one came from Fiskars Make a Wish Quote Set.  To make the moose stand out a bit more, I covered him in Stampin Up Crystal effects.  Everything was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia.   This fold allows the A2 card to fold flat for mailing.

Back home in NH, it is fall so that is the color theme I went with.   I know he will enjoy the card since he use to hunt all the time. 

Happy 70th!

Manetta 

Kaleidacolor Leaves

I have these leave stamps and 3 color combos of ink that has not been pulled out in over a year so I decided to play with them.  It was time to make more sympathy anyway. While I was at it, I made additional birthday card.  

The inks I used was Kaleidacolor Denim, Blue Breeze and Autumn Leaves.  I was quite sure they would be dried up by now and was shocked to see they were still nice and juicy!  They are made to slide apart so you can re-ink them without bleeding into the other colors.

The leaves are from a very old set from Close to my Heart called Skeleton Leaves.  It is a nice set of 4 different shapes clear stamps.   Not sure why but I have rarely used it.  The ink worked well on the leaves.  Reminds me of fall the way one leaf can have different colors.  Could be used for masculine cards easily enough.

These are very hard for me to do......one layer but I pulled it off.

Cards are already shipped off or used.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Manetta

Whole Lotta Bull....Birthday Bull

Today I am sharing a masculine birthday card which opens a bit differently than what I normally make.

The bird stamp inside and the moose outside is from Stampin Up Walk in the Wild set.

The brown paper with circles and stripes is all one piece that was left over from another project and it fit perfectly.

The card is one that you prop up and the opening is the circle area at the top.  I am not a fan of masculine cards.  Like many, I find them difficult to create.  This card came together pretty easy which is unusual for me.  

The moose was colored with Copics E15, E21 and E33.  For the sky I have a piece of heavy plastic that was cut into cloud shapes.  I sponged it with Memento Summer sky. The grass was sponged with Memento New Sprout and Cottage Ivy.  I did faux stitching around the circle on the inside.

Popped this card into the mail today for a brother-in-law's birthday.
Happy Birthday Steven!

Happy Birthday Boss!

My boss's birthday was on Monday.  We always have a little birthday cake to celebrate the birthday at the office and everyone gives the birthday person a card. I was going to be away from the office on a mini-vacation so I made him a card and left it with a co-worker for him. 

Here is the card I made for him.

We live near the Gulf of Mexico.  He loves to fish.  What a perfect combination for creating a card for him!  The fold technique I used for this card was called a Shadow Box Card.

Here is the inside when you open it.

Top views of the card.

 The card is an A2 card which is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 closed.  As you can see in the photo it closes flat and slips right into an envelope.  A nice WOW card that is easy to mail to anyone!

This card was one I just made...no challenges to submit it too.  Just a fun card!

Thank you for stopping by...have a terrific crafty day!

Feather and Negative Space Scene

Another sympathy card done.  

I used a die called Feathers on the Wind by Spellbinders to cut a negative space in the white cardstock.  The piece I cut out and one other feather was sprayed with blue Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  While that was drying I also sprayed a mat with same color and along the edge of the negative space background.  

 One of the stamps from Crafter's Companion Luscious Landscapes, was stamped on a piece of white cardstock.  I just swiped with sponge across the image with Stampin Up ink colors So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise.  I glued the part of the scene that I wanted behind the negative space and cut the rest off.  Everything was glued down together.

Thank you for stopping by!  I am off to create some more!  Have a good crafty day.

The Fisherman's Birthday

I love October.  It is one of my favorite months and there is a lot going on during the month.  There are plenty of cards to make for Birthdays, Anniversaries and then there is Halloween.

One of the Birthdays is my grandson.  This past summer he spent a lot of time fishing with dad and doing a pretty darn good job at it..catching some amazing fish!  I had already discussed the birthday gift with him prior and we decided on money was the best thing.  That way he could go buy the new fishing tackle that he wants.  I thought it would be appropriate to make him a fishing vest so I searched online for the best way to cut the card.  I came across this site here..  Stamp Away With Me that had a free pattern.  I had to doctor it up a bit to fit with what I wanted on the A2 size card but her pattern was a huge help to get me started.

Before I put anything together, I used a dauber bottle with walnut ink to darken the edges of all the pieces and used a thin black marker for the stitching.  For the two top pockets, I popped them up with pop dots.  One was to hold the money so I had to make sure the pop dots were just used along the very edge.  After putting the card together, I used a sea sponge to sponge on walnut antique ink and old olive ink on the card to get the "dirty" fishing look.  

Long ago, when I pulled the silver cover off of a container, I thought that it would be a perfect for "something" as it was embossed with tiny squares.  No idea what the something was going to be until yesterday!  It was perfect for hand cutting out the lures and coloring with a colored marker.  For the hooks I just used craft wire that I twisted and bent to look like hooks.  Everything was glued down onto and into the 2nd top pocket.  

Here is a close up of the lures and hooks I made.

To get the t-shirt look inside, I used the card itself as the pattern on white cardstock.  It isn't perfect as I had to  trim it by hand to make it smaller than the card.  I used my computer to print the words out on copy paper.  With removable glue along the very edge of the t-shirt cardstock and using the paper against a window to see where I wanted the print to print on the t-shirt, I glued down the t-shirt cardstock.  I placed the copy paper back into the printer with the t-shirt cardstock stuck to it and reprinted the wording again.  

With the money already stuffed, the card is ready 
to go in the mail to him.  
Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great crafting day!
Netta

Spotlight Sunset

Many of you probably remember the technique called Spotlighting.  It is a great card technique when time is short and you need a special card.   It is also a perfect way to color an image where the details are too tiny on the image.

One way is to stamp the image on your cardstock.  Cut out a frame and place it down on top of your image, coloring only inside the frame.  It's fun if you place the frame at different angles.  Make sure you glue the frame down first before you color!

The other way is to stamp the image twice.  Once on the card itself and the other image is on a white cardstock.  You can use a nestability to cut out what part you want to color on the image.  You color the piece you cut out and glue it down on top of the image or pop it up with pop dots.  Now cut a frame out of coordinating cardstock and glue that down over the section you colored.  This is the way that I did my cards except I did not pop them up.

These make great masculine cards!  
Enjoy....
Netta