Making a Manly Card, Well, Manly

Making a man's birthday card or any occasion, really, is difficult because I always want to bedazzle it or add glitter or add a bow, which most men are not so keen on.

The card here was made with Close To My Heart's new Timberline paper set. I used a retired birthday set for the birthday wishes and added the Lagoon paper as an accent color (not in the Timberline set). Does it count that I added some baker's twine with a knot?

Well it's a manly knot so I decided it would work. I didn't add too many other fancies like our Aqua Dots or Sparkles and though the hardware would have looked cool like our Triangle or Artisan studs, I really felt it took away from the cool tool back ground, created with the "You're the Best" stamp set.

One thing to really dress a man card up or I should say, make it look more manly, is to add some sponging or sanding to the edges of your paper.

And if all of that work on a perfect card and it still looks rather girly, take it out and run it over with the car. Seriously, there's only so much a Stamping Queen can do with the manly genre!

Happy Creating!

I made the top 10!

I'm so proud. I competed in the Heart to Heart Challenge and won top 10 for my pretty flower card:

I'm so inspired by these challenges. They've really helped get my creative juices flow!

Here's the tag I earned and is now proudly displayed to the right:

If it seems like I'm bragging on myself . . . I am. Shamelessly. Wonder what the challenge will be this upcoming week. Bring it on!

Wonderful Fabulous You

I thought I'd start off the week with the Mojo Monday Challenge for this week. Here's the template:

 Here's my version:

I twisted it to be horizontal instead of portrait and used hearts instead of circles.

All products are Close To My Heart. The paper is from the Ariana paper pack and the hearts are from Sweet & Lovely (Artbooking Cricut bundle). I used the phrase from Fabulous You. The white doily is cut using the Cricut cartridge Art Philosophy. The hearts are Sorbet and the phrase is second generation Outdoor Denim. Just for fun I added bitty pearls and glitter tape at the top and to the left of the phrase.

A sweet card for a sweet friend.

Have a great day!

5 Really Cute Owl Cards

Okay, yeah, I know. Elaine made more owl cards. For crying out loud is that the only stamp she owns (no, of course not) and why is she making us look at so many bird cards? It's torture, I know. I promise my next post will be about an entirely different stamp set. Maybe. The owls are still on my stamp table, looking at me with those adorable little beady eyes. I. Will. Resist.

I know you've seen some of them but these are my favorite of the owl cards. I need to stop now. I'll start work immediately on a non-owl card. If I can only pry my fingers off this stamp set. :-)

Whoooo's Your Mojo Monday Challenger?

I decided to play along with the Mojo Monday Card Sketch Challenge for Contest 344. I hesitate to post my card because you are all going to rip my owl set right out of my inky fingers, I've used him so much. But he's so cute, I will protest!!!

I used all Close To My Heart supplies including the fun Lollydoodle paper and the owl and "hoot hoot hooray" is from the stamp set labeled "Owls." I know, kind of obvious. I would have named them "Cute, Adorable Owls." Any whoo, the inks I used to sponge around the edge is Cotton Candy CTMH Exclusive Inks, and Black also CTMH Exclusive Inks for the tree branch and cutie owl (can you tell I love him). I used Pear CTMH Exclusive Inks for the leaves. Oh, I almost forgot the little heart. He's from the Cricut Cartridge CTMH has called "Art Philosophy." They have cute owls on those other CTMH cartridges too. Maybe I need to go make some more owl cards before someone steals my stash. LOL

Have a great day!

A Floral H2H Challenge

The Heart2Heart Challenges blog this week was to incorporate flowers into your project. I love flowers and the world seems to have them blooming everywhere. I have lots of flowers in my stamp studio to choose from too, so I had a hard time narrowing down which flowers to use.

I decided to get out my Cricut and use my Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges. Now there's where there's a ton of flower choices!

The "Hi" quote is from one of the stamp sets that comes with the Artiste cartridge and the flowers and limb with leaves is from the Art Philosophy cartridge. The middle of the flowers and the upper and lower corners are sparkles from the Brown and Tan Sparkle Collection. The paper is Lollydoodle, my very favorite paper, probably because I just like to say "Lollydoodle!"

I love a flower challenge . . . :-)

$5 Paper Packs

During National Scrapbooking Month in May, you can receive the Free to Be Me paper collection for just $5 with your qualifying purchase of $50. The paper collection features exclusive printed cardstocks, vellums, and B&T Duos™ and, with a retail value of $11.95, is a fantastic deal for products you can’t get anywhere else.

Yes, it is indeed another owl card. I can't seem to stop using this set. It's SO cute and I'm not tired of it yet. Hopefully no one else is either. I used the pattern in Make It From Your Heart Card Pattern #8 and the paper is from the Free to Be Me paper collection. Love this paper!!!

 
And don't forget about that adorable Stamp of the Month set, You've Got a Friend. With your $50 qualifying purchase, you will also qualify for the May Stamp of the Month for an additional $5 (retail value $17.95)! This means May is the perfect month to double up on promotions, getting the paper collection for $5 and the May Stamp of the Month for $5—that is a savings of nearly $20!

Double duty! I used the stamp "Merci Beaucoup" from the Stamp of the Month for May plus the special paper collection this month, Free To Be Me.

Yeehaw, I just love a good special deal! For more information about this special or to place an order, cruise on over to my website at: http://stampedbyme.ctmh.com.