TMR - Theme .....

... Hi! I know there's a saying that time flies as you get older, well this month has zipped by! It's the last day of the month and time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#78. We have a really fun theme for the next two weeks. We want to see masculine projects and the theme is INSPIRED BY TELEVISION. So what about television inspires you? I like to watch the news on TV and there are so many stations to view. I've made a 'news flash' card:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Boob Tubes; My Favourite Things - Typewriter Text BG
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx, Moonlit Fog; Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - Stitched Circle STAX #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Grey; SU DP - Moonlight; Copics; Glossy Accents; Nuvo Shimmer Brush; White Embossing Powder

I've used the sketch from The Paper Players - PP#378 for the layout of this card. I found some graphic design paper in my stash, stamped the typewriter font background in pale grey on top and attached it to the card. I stamped the TV on white card, cut it out with a die, coloured it with Copic markers and added glossy accents to the 'TV screen'. I stamped the sentiment on grey card, attached it to the card and then layered the die cut TV on top using dimensional tape. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark grey card and added a fun, punny sentiment! I think this is going to be for Jonathan 😊

I was on a bit of a roll with this theme. Another of my favourite genre on TV are hospital dramas - I just love Grey's Anatomy, Chicago Med and The Good Doctor. As so many people have colds or flu at the moment, I thought a get well card would be fun:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Healthy Vibes
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx
Accessories: Copic Markers; Nuvo Shimmer Brush; SU Card - Bermuda Bay

This is a little card, measuring 3½" x 5" and is really cute! I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

• Less is More - LIM#363 - one layer card plus Cute
• MUSE - MUSE#251
• CAS on Friday - CASOF#125 to use markers and/or pencils

I stamped the jolly germs on the card, coloured them with Copics and added some sparkle with a clear Nuvo aqua shimmer brush - you can just about see the shimmer in the photo above! I finished with a simple sentiment. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark aqua card and on the white panel stamped a greeting and another little germ peeking in at the corner. I used the colours from last week's Just Us Girls - JUGS#424.

Do visit The Male Room blog to see more fun projects from the rest of the Design Team and also from our guest designer, Zvonka. You've got until midnight (GMT) Tuesday 13 February, that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. Have fun!

Uniko Challenge - Something Old, Something New ....

.... Morning! It's time for our first challenge of the year over at Uniko - USC#45. Our challenge this month is SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW with the optional twist of LOVE. If you carry the verse on, it goes 'something borrowed and something blue' and is very much associated with a wedding. While I've included blue on my card, it is not a wedding card, it's a birthday card:

Stamps: Uniko - Decorative Doilies, Today Tomorrow & Always Time
Inks: Gina K - Powder Blue, Kraft, Black Onyx; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Sahara Sand; Uniko Stencil - Lattice; Stampendous - Kaleidoscope Embossing Powder; Vellum

I interpreted the challenge to mean an old Uniko stamp set and something from the new range. I used Decorative Doilies, probably my favourite stamp set, along with Today Tomorrow and Always Time for the words, along with the new lattice stencil. I used the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#255, the colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#476, and I'm also playing along with CASology - CAS#283 where the cue word is GLIMMER.

I sponged on some pale blue ink through the stencil fading it out at the edge. I stamped the doily on kraft card in Versmark and embossed with a shimmery embossing powder, and then I fussy cut it out. I stamped the birthday greeting on vellum and adhered it to the centre of the doily. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of kraft card and on the white panel, I added a greeting, along with a clock and another doily. This card is going in my stash as I've got quite a lot of birthdays in the next few months.

Here's a close up of the shimmery doily - love the iridescent colours:

Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and from our Guest Designer - Anita.  We have prizes too, and they are as follows:

• Main winner chosen by the DT - £25 eGift Certificate
• Random twist winner - £4 in stock clear stamp set of winner's choosing
• Random Uniko stamps winner - £4 in stock clear stamp set of winners' choosing
• Top Three chosen by the DT - 150 Loyalty Reward Points

You have plenty of time to join in with the challenge, deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Friday 23rd February - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. Have fun!

TMR - Theme ....

.... Hi! This month is flying by, it's already time for our next challenge over at The Male Room. We have a fun theme that really works well for masculine projects - we want to see VINTAGE - TMR#77. You can make any type of papercraft project; I've made two quite different cards. Here's the first card:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Crazy Talk
Inks: Gina K - Dark Chocolate
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set2 - #1, #8 and #9
Accessories: Cream Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Garage Days; Stampin' Up! Punches - ¾" and 1" circles

This card was super easy to make. I'm sure that I'm not the only person to have a huge stash of design papers and as I was going through that stash, I found this page - it has a really vintage vibe and it makes a fabulous card. I used cream lustre card for the base card. I die cut a panel of the paper and adhered it flat to the card. I think that you can see that each of the little images has been laminated. I lightly sponged ink to the edges of the card. I used punches to create the 'vintage goods' element. I finished the front by stamping a birthday greeting, cutting it out with a die, inked the edges and adhered it with dimensional pads. On the inside, I die cut another sheet of the pad, inked the edges and attached it to the card. On the cream panel I stamped a fun sentiment, I think this card is for my father-in-law and I'm sure he'll appreciate the joke!!! I completed it by adding one of the little laminated images.

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#18 where the theme is Anything Goes. And here's the other card - quite different:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Feeling Sentimental, Gorgeous Grunge, Butterfly Basics
Inks: SU - Dapper Denim, Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist; Gina K - Black Onyx
Accessories: White Lustre Card

This is a clean, simple, vintage card. I know that might seem a contradiction in terms, but I think it still counts as vintage as the focal image is a penny farthing bicycle and I've gone for a more vintage style font on the sentiment. I stamped the lines first and then the bicycle. I created a mask for the bike and then added the spatter pattern. I finished with a simple greeting on the front. On the inside I simply stamped 'happy birthday', added some more spatter and the bike moving off the page.  I used the colours from The Paper Players - PP#376 - I really like the colours.

Now, don't forget to visit The Male Room blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and from our guest designer, Magda. You have plenty of time to join in the fun - deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Tuesday 30th January - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States.

I must apologise to all those who played along with our first challenge of the year, as I've not yet been able to comment. I've been down with the dreaded cold and am only now really feeling myself. I'll be getting around soon. That's all for now. See you soon.

Uniko - Blog Hop and Revisit ....

.... Hello!! I'm so sorry not to have been around much, but I've had a stinking cold since we got back to the States and it's taken nearly two weeks for me to start to feel like me again!!! I had big plans to play in my craft room, but I only managed to get in there yesterday afternoon to make my card for the Uniko Revisit. Bev, owner and creator at Uniko, tends to release new stamps every other month and in the "off-month" we usually revisit a previously released stamp set. However, this month, Bev has given us the choice of any of the new stamp sets and stencils released in 2017 - such fun and so many possibilities. This is the card I made:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents, Simply Said Blocks
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Lovely Lavender
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Uniko Stencil - Lattice; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Aquashimmer Brush

I used the colours from Colour Throwdown - CTD#475 and the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#319 on this card. I've just realised that I totally CASEd Bev's gorgeous ultraviolet succulents!! Thanks Bev for the inspiration 😊

I cut two panels of white card, on the smaller panel I stamped the large succulent bouquet using my MISTI. I masked off the image laid over the lattice stencil and lightly sponged on some pale lavender ink, darker in the corner and fading out to the edges. I removed the mask and coloured the image with Copic markers. I put the finished image back in the MISTI and restamped it in Versafine and embossed with clear powder to give a really crisp image. I used the blue Copic marker to add colour to the edge of the other white panel and then layered on the image panel and adhered the whole lot to the card base. I added some shimmer to the image with a clear shimmer brush. I stamped the sentiment on white card, embossed it with clear powder and cut it out. I used the lilac marker to colour some white card and then layered on the sentiment panel. On the inside, I cut a panel of white card and once again used the blue Copic marker to edge the panel. On the other white panel, I added a greeting and another succulent image.

Don't forget to visit the rest of the Design Team and comment along the Blog Hop for your chance to win a £15 eGift Certificate to spend in the online store. You have until midnight (GMT) Sunday 21st January to comment. Here's the Blog Hop list:

Bev

Carol

Deborah - that's me!

Izzy

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah

I'm sorry the pictures are so dark, but it's late here and I have to do the best I can. I hope to get a little light studio this year to help make my photos better!! That's all for now - thanks for stopping by - see you again soon.

TMR - Theme ....

.... Hello! I hope that everyone has had a really enjoyable holiday break and a great new year. We got back from the UK on 30th December - it was a super holiday and we had a lovely time with all the family. Sadly, Jonathan and I also came back with a stinking cold!! We've had a rough few days and spent most of our time just chilling in front of the TV.  We also came back to some of the coldest weather we've had for some time!

Anyway, I'm here this morning with my card for the new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#76. I had a break from the challenge at the end of last year, and am back now with my mojo intact and full of enthusiasm for all our upcoming challenges. It's also great to be working with our new team members. We have a really fun theme for the first challenge of this year - NEW BEGINNINGS. This gives you so much scope, but for me, I think that a New Year is always a time for new beginnings. Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - It's A Celebration
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Festive Berries, Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn; Gina K - Black Onyx; Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 2 #9
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Shimer Spritz - Frost; Clear Embossing Powder

I stamped some of the firework burst in Versamark and heat embossed them with clear powder. I used my Zig Clean Colour brushes to lay down the colours of the rainbow and went over them with my water brush to blend. Once dry, I stamped on some more firework burst in Distress inks and finished the front with a greeting in bold black. I die cut the panel with a stitch edge die and added a touch of black to the edges and adhered it to the card. As a final touch I spritzed the card with some frost shimmer spray, sadly you can't see it in the photo!! On the inside, I cut a panel of white card, added a greeting and stamped a lot more firework bursts all over.

I opted for rainbow colours and fireworks as so many cities around the world see in the New Year with wonderful firework displays. I'm safe to share this card today, as I posted this card to Ben yesterday, and I don't think he's going to see this post!! I'm submitting this card to TIME OUT challenges - TOC#99, as they also wanted to see New Beginnings!

Now, don't forget to visit The Male Room blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to join in with our challenge, deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Tuesday 16th January. See you again soon.