He's All That - Cardmaker Blog Hop

Hello! Welcome to another Cardmaker Blog Hop.  This month the team's blog hop theme is He's All That---masculine cards that can be for father's day, birthday, thank you, etc.

We all know what a challenge it can be to create a striking masculine design so I am especially excited to see what my awesome teammates came up with today.

Here is my father's day card:

I used some of my favorite supplies for this card and really like how they all complimented each other.  I used the Silhouette file Father and Son (Snapdragon Snippets LLC ) for the main image. (Love it!) The paper/sticker is by Echo Park: This & That: Charming collection.  I used a SRM sticker from Express Yourself-Father's Day along the bottom of the card.  The fun background paper was highlighed with some SU! Magic Mesh (remember that stuff?  I still have some!)  Finally, I added some Cappuccino baker's twine (The Twinery) that I wrapped around the card and then used my Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz) stapler to secure in place.  All of the elements were sponged with some Tea Dye Distress ink (Ranger.)

Hope you like it!

If you want to see some really inspiring ideas---head on over to these blogs:
Cardmaker Blog
Kimberly Crawford
Carolyn King--- you are here!
Colleen Schaan
Anya Schrier
Trudy Sjolander
Michelle Woerner

Thanks for stopping by today!

Masculine Birthday

Hello! Hope you are having a good week so far. Mine has been B.U.S.Y!

I love this Our Craft Lounge set-- Golfin' Gramps! He is so cute (reminds me of my dad a bit!) and I have quite a few golfers in my family (yep, including my dad!) so I couldn't pass this set up. It was one of the first OCL stamp sets I purchased and I still LOVE it!
Hee! The sentiment reads "Any way you slice it, have a wonderful birthday!"

The patterned paper is by Echo Park.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back from Vacation and a.....CARD!

Hello! I just got back from a two week vacation at the beach. We had so much fun--For the second week, all my siblings rented houses in the same few blocks and we went to the beach and boardwalk together every day. We all were together with my parents on my dad's 70th birthday. Now we are back home and trying to unpack (again!) and get back to our new life here.

I created this card for my dad's 70th birthday from all of his children. We gave him a gift certificate for custom golf clubs so I created a golf club card: I created the golf bag and clubs by looking at pictures and just designing my own. I added some stitching to make the bag look more realistic. The "70" was cut from Cuttlebug letters. I stamped the background of the card using a sentiment from Our Craft Lounge - Golfin Gramps. It says "Have a Par-fect day!" hee! (I created my dad's birthday card last year using this set too---a definite fav for my golf lovin dad!)

Thanks for stopping by today! Off to do lots a laundry :)

Golfin Gramps

Hello!!! Hope you had a good week!
It ended up being pretty busy around here---ahhh Summer! I did manage to get some cards made but then never had the time to photograph them.
We found out yesterday that my son has an abscessed tooth and needs it pulled. This morning he fell on a plastic chair that was turned upside down. The leg of it just nailed him....and for anyone who knows me....I do NOT do well with the sight of blood. I managed to get it cleaned and covered though and don't think he needs stitches (whew!) Never a dull moment with that one :)

Instead of heading to the pool---we are gonna go to the new Toy Story movie today so he doesn't have to think about getting his neck wet. (His idea!)
Last night I pulled out this Our Craft Lounge set - Golfin Gramps -that I ADORE! The golfer guy reminds me of my dad (even though my dad isn't as stout--he definitely resembles him in the hair area! giggle!)
I love all the fun golf items in this set and because there are TONS of golfers in my family....it is a MUST HAVE. Here is what I created for my dad's birthday (which isn't till August so I am doing well!!) I paired the adorable images and sentiment in this set with some Studio Calico paper and fabric strips! I used my beloved MFT dies--cloud trio and fresh cut grass to create the background for the scene. To add a bit more texture, I sewed a few lines on the top of the card.

Materials used: Stamps-Golfin Gramps (Our Craft Lounge); cardstock- white (Gina K Designs), tan (Bazzill Basics); Designe paper- Anthology collection (Studio Calico); fabric strips-Anthology collection (Studio Calico); ribbon-Chartruese (PTI); stapler; button; Copic Markers; Memento tuxedo black ink; Dienamics dies-cloud trio, fresh cut grass (My Favorite Things); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Sigh! You DON'T want to miss this....

You have probably heard by now that My Favorite Things is releasing a new product tomorrow night. They are starting the Die-namics collection with three three new custom dies and I had the pleasure of playing with two of them to create this card: Every since I saw that little boy from the Dog-Gone Cute set, I wanted to put a kite in his hands. With the help of the dies, creating this card was a snap.

I die cut the clouds (there are three sizes of the clouds on the one die so I cut them all together) and sponged along the edges for some dimension. I cut the grassy hills from the jumbo scallop die. This created the perfect seat for that cute boy.

I created the kite from October Afternoon Fly a Kite paper pad and then I added the sentiment from Fred Bear in Flight to finish this card.

Materials used: Stamps-Dog-Gone Cute, Fred Bear in Flight (My Favorite Things); Memento tuxedo black ink; Copic markers; cardstock-white, ivory (Gina K Designs); Designer paper- Fly a Kite 8 by 8 pad (October Afternoon), Denim Bandanna (The Paper Studio); Die-namics dies-clouds, jumbo scallops (My Favorite Things); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); twine.

Aren't they fabulous? I am giddy with excitement, especially to have a cloud die!!! Woohooo!!!Better head over to the MFT site tomorrow night if you want to place an order. (I have a hunch that they are gonna go FAST!)

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Jungle....

Ever have a day where you feel like this? I love this cute fella! These stamps are from High Hopes and are illustrated by the ever talented Crissy! I LOVE her work!

I had fun just playing around with this fella! Pretty self-explanatory...just some coloring with Copic markers and background stamping. I stamped the sentiment right on Kraft and then again on vanilla cardstock so I could cut out the word "jungle" and pop it on top of the original. The background designer paper is from October Afternoon (Louie).

Hope you are having a great day!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by today!

We are the Champions

Life is Busy...........My six year old son had his first baseball game last night....
Here he is warming up before the game (This was all the action he got in the field!!):

He was so excited to play....to have a uniform....and to WIN the first game!

Tonight, Melanie is hosting a blog hop for her School, Sports, Spirit! stamp set and so I created this baseball card (so appropriate for this week!):

I paired the jacket and sentiment from School, Sports, Spirit! with her Sporty Accessories images--baseball bat, glove, ball. I colored and cut out the jacket and then was able to slide the baseball bat through the arm opening. The little ball is popped inside the glove to add some more dimension.

I colored the images with Copics and prismacolor pencils and used some twine to create little corner accents.
ETA: the background paper - stripes, newspaper print and brown are all from a Sports scrapbook kit by Imagine That (Walmart).

For even more samples of the School, Sports, Spirit! stamp set, please visit the Illustrator of the set, Melanie Muenchinger's blog. Melanie will be offering her new stamp set as blog candy tonight too - comment on her blog for your chance to win this spectacular stamp set!

Want some more inspiration? Check out these links:
Melanie's guest designer Melissa Shultz's blog
StampTV members: Mary Anne , Sharri Seffens
GinaK Design Team Members: Gina Krupsky , Donna Baker , Erika Martin , Jessica Fick , Lee Murphy ,Theresa Momber
GinaK's CenterStage Design Team Members: Geri Utterback ,Tina Gilliland


I have some fun news to share soon.....
In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Gina K Preview Day 1

Well, it's the BEST time of the month again---time for another Gina K Designs release. This month there are six fabulous stamp sets being released, a new color of Pure Luxury paper--Soft Sand, nail head adhesive nail heads/rhinestones, another Vivid ink pad called "Tuscan Sand" and more.....all being added to the store on THURSDAY.

Today the design team is previewing Theresa's new set called Happy Camper and Rupa's new set called 100% Sweet.

Here is a masculine card I created for the fisherman in your life....

All images are from Happy Camper. I used the new Soft Sand Pure Luxury cardstock and stamped the background on it in Memento ink. I stamped and colored the images (and clear embossed the sign) before adhering them to the scene with dimensional tape.

The clouds are freehand cut from watercolor paper (because I liked the texture) and I sponged around the edges to get some depth.

I used some of the new self-adhesive nail heads that Gina will be carrying in the store on the top tabs. Finally, I added some faux stitching around the edges.
Materials used: Stamps-Happy Camper (Gina K Designs); Memento tuxedo black ink; Ranger distress tea dye ink; soft sky ink (SU!); Copic markers; Gina K Pure Luxury cardstock-white, soft sand; watercolor paper; clear embossing powder; heat tool; versamark; paper piercing tool; brown marker; oval punch (SU!); adhesive nail heads (Gina K Designs); mounting tape; hemp.

Next, I created a mini cupcake/muffin holder and used the images from 100% Sweet to decorate the box:
I created this template so that you could see out of the front of the box and into the top of the box....that whole section is lined with acetate (so it doesn't photograph well, sorry!)

I added the little cupcake and candies to the front of the box and then created a little toothpick that goes into the cupcake/muffin with a sentiment from the set.

There are tons of images in this set---and I think all the little candies would also look adorable stamped for a background. (Hmm....will have to work on that one!)

Materials used: Stamps-100% Sweet (Gina K Designs); Memento black ink; Copic markers; designer paper-American Crafts ; Gina K white pure luxury cardstock; ribbon (SU!); Fiskars Threading Water punch; Scor-Pal; acetate; Spellbinders long scalloped rectangles; Cuttlebug (Provocraft). (Additional--cupcake/muffin, toothpick).

Now how about some more inspiration? Head on over to the design team blogs for some eye candy:
Gina, Cathy, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Jessica, Joanne, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, Melanie, and Theresa .
We are also thrilled to have a couple of our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team join us in our previews this morning: Carolina Buchting and Jennie Harper.

Release Party Details: Join us here in our forum on this thread-Thursday, June 25th from 7-10 PM Central Time for all the fun! Then at 10 PM central time, we will release 6 new stamp sets, new Pure Luxury card stock and some great new accessories! Gina will be giving away lots of freebies too, including templates and digital paper! We hope you'll come and party with us!

Stay tuned: More previews tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by!

A Goodbye and Happy Father's Day!

Hello! Well, my two-week stint with LOTSA visitors is now over. (Waaa!) I hate seeing people go but since we will be heading to the east coast in a few weeks and will see them again---parting was not as sad this time.
This past week my sister Maureen was here. She has two children who are close in age to Cara so we had a blast. Here is a picture of us from the Riverwalk in San Antonio yesterday: We were hot and tired but I think you can see that we look a lot alike (despite the fact that she is waaaayyyy older than me. heehee!)


One of the things we did take time to do during the visit was to make a few father's day cards. I only pulled out a few stamps but we all made a card for our dads so we could get them in the mail. Here is the card I put together:

I used Sporty Accessories, Tee Talk and Not Forgotten stamp sets on this card. I wanted to focus on golf since that is what my dad likes to play---but I incorporated lots of sports on this because he likes to watch a lot of sports.

We had a great visit! Now I need a week long nap!!! lol!

Stay tuned: Gina K Designs sneak previews begin this week---lots of amazing new stamps will be added to the store on Thursday.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Father's Day!