…was fond of angling, and was, it seemed, proud of being able to care for such a stupid occupation

I’ve got a birthday card to share today featuring Gnome Fishing from Some Odd Girl.

This is going out to a friend who is a keen angler, although generally he fishes in larger waterways than a barrel!  He isn’t really the gnome type so I cut off the gnome’s pointy hat while fussy cutting him and then added a hat from QKR Stampede I printed on some fabric.  I couldn’t find any other fisherman’s hats as digis so the angle is a bit wrong of the hat but I love how it turned out with a bit of shading with my Copics and the slightly frayed edges.

Over at Some Odd Girl they have their first anything ODD goes with a twist challenge on their blog.  The twist is to use sequins, glitter, or love.  Thought I’d mix it up a bit and not do a Valentine’s card but a very masculine project instead with no pink or red or hearts at all.  I have used the sequins and glitter in my shaker element.  You could suggest I’ve also used ‘love’ as well in making this card especially as I had to hand cut the fish confetti (my Silhouette software has decided to just stop working) and I chose to make this card in my unairconditioned craft room despite the 47 degree heat we’re enjoying (that’s nearly 117 for those of you who follow the Fahrenheit scale)!

I took inspiration for my design elements from the current recipe at CAS Mix Up, which called for corrugated cardboard, stamping and your choice.  I’ve got a few of the ‘choice’ elements such as fussy cutting, alcohol inks and acetate.

Over at Sweet Stampin’ they are looking for masculine projects, which my card is so I am also linking it up there.

Ingredients:

Copics

Skin E000, E00, E11, E21 (E02 cheeks)

Eyes B0000, B02, C00, 0

Mouth E11

Hair E23, E25, E27, E29

Outfit B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, C00, E81, E84, E87, E89

Basket & Fish C0, C2, C4, E71, E74, E77, E79

Fishing Rod G03, G05, G07, YG11, YG13, YG17

Chalks & Powders etc

Tim Holtz Distress Glitter ~ Broken China

Embellishments

Little Things from Lucy’s Cards Shaker Selections ~ Caribbean Dream

Inks & Paints etc

Copic Multiliner ~ 0.1 Black

Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink ~ Alcohol Blending Solution, Mermaid, Stream & Silver Mixative

Tim Holtz Distress Ink ~ Gathered Twigs & Walnut Stain

Papers

Bazzill Criss Cross Cardstock ~ Lily White

Bazzill Prismatic Cardstock ~ Baby Blue Medium

Elizabeth Crafts Shimmer Sheetz ~ White Iridescent

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Textile Surfaces ~ Textured Linen

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Textured Surfaces ~ Corrugated

Yupo ~ 200gsm White

Stamps

QKR Stampede ~ Fishing Hat

Some Odd Girl ~ Gnome Fishing

Challenges

CAS Mix Up ~ February

Some Odd Girl ~ Anything ODD goes with a twist

Sweet Stampin’ ~ Masculine

Thanks for stopping by!

And we envy no landsman his dream and sleep…

My card today features two images, Fishing Rod from Nana Vic’s Digis and Large Fish from QKR Stampede.

It’s probably pretty obvious this is heading off to a fishing enthusiast and, in keeping with my theme of the year, I’ve gone CAS on the card, perfectly suited to a male card.  To make up my card I’ve followed the current sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.

I wasn’t sure how to make up the vertical elements until I saw the current challenge at Country View was to make your own background.  I thought I’d check out Tim Holtz’s blog for some inspiration and found it with this month’s tag and the technique remix.  For my monoprinting I’ve used a stencil that reminded me of a fishing net and for my embossed texture paste Tim’s Measured Layering Stencil as fishermen are always talking about the size of their catch.  I wasn’t sure if Distress Embossing Powder would work for the embossed texture paste technique but it did and gave a lovely rough finish.

While checking out the embossed texture paste technique I really liked the shiny black stamping Tim did.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a fish stamp in my collection and no time to order one in so I improvised by using black foil over my digi.  It’s not something that photographs well but in real life it looks lovely and shiny.  Just to make things easy for myself I decided to use the same technique on my fishing rod in multiple colours, lots of fiddly layering up of foils later and I was really pleased I’d made the effort.  I coloured both images with Tim Holtz Distress Markers.

When I foiled the fish I really liked the relief image that was left on the foil so I cut around it and placed it on some card I swiped with Distress Inks in various colours and popped it on the inside of the card.  A nice way to tie the inside to the outside and add some interest to it, not to mention use up what would otherwise be waste.

  
Ingredients:

Chalks & Powders etc

Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder ~ Walnut Stain

Dies, SVGs & Templates etc

13@rts Stencil ~ Fly Away Numbers

Spellbinders Nestabilities Die ~ LF-110 Grand Ovals

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil ~ THS012 Measured

Inks & Paints etc

Teresa Collins Basically Essential ~ Modelling Paste

Tim Holtz Distress Ink ~ Blueprint Sketch, Bundled Sage, Mermaid Lagoon, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters & Tumbled Glass

Tim Holtz Distress Markers ~ Black Soot, Blueprint Sketch, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Salty Ocean & Shabby Shutters

Papers

Bazzill Fourz Cardstock ~ Rain

Bazzill Monochromatic Cardstock ~ White

iCraft Deco Foil ~ Black, Ocean Blue, Opal & Silver

Papertrey Ink Stamper’s Select Cardstock ~ White

Stamps

Nana Vic’s Digis ~ Fishing Rod

QKR Stampede ~ LargeFish

Challenges

CAS(E) this Sketch ~ Sketch #158

Country View ~ Make your own Background

 Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016 ~ February

Thanks for stopping by!

…when neither fell, though both were loved

This is my final showcase from the Simply B Stamps Steampunk Romance collection and it features Romance Jacob.

This project is the matching pair to my earlier card featuring Romance Grace.  The two images just seemed perfect for a pair of matching cards although it was quite a challenge making this one masculine but matching!  I think I’ve managed it with lots of metal embellies and clocks and gears instead of roses and butterflies.

The current challenge at Creative Fingers has an optional twist of using something old from your craft stash and this card features a few things from my stash.  I’ve had the brads I used in the centre of the clock faces so long I don’t even know where they came from, maybe Stampin’ Up but then maybe not.  The ‘love’ metal embellie is also an old one from a retired Making Memories line and the Papermania clock faces and gears and Tim Holtz embellies have all been in my stash for at least six months.

Metal embellies are also my favourite embellie, I use heaps of them and have at least three on this card, I have more than three different kinds of metal embellies so I’m entering this card over at QKR Stampede.  With my red designer paper I’m also linking this at the current challenge at Stampin’ for the Weekend.

And don't forget our current challenge at Simply Steampunk Challenges, it's a Steampunk anything goes, so colour up your favourite Steampunk image and join the fun.

Ingredients:

Copics

Skin E50, E51, E53 (cheeks & lips R02)

Hair, Boots, Tie & Arrow  E29, E33, E35, E37, E49

Outfit BG93, BG96, G85, G99, Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28

Dies

Spellbinders Nestabilities Grand Decorative Ovals

Embellishments

Bazzill Basics Oak Leaves

Fabscraps Filigree Embellishment

Making Memories Embossed Metal Charms – Love

Metal Brad from stash

Nestaboard Chipboard Fancy Tags 2

Papermania Chronology – Clock Face & Gears

Tim Holtz Idea-ology – Gears & Screw Brads

Inks & Paints etc

Rub’nBuff – Pewter

Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Walnut Stain

Papers

BoBunny Anthem – Patriot

Core’dinations Tim Holtz Distress Cardstock – Old Paper

Stamps

Simply B Stamps Steampunk – Romance Jacob

Challenges

Creative Fingers #15 – Anything Goes with optional twist use something old from your craft stash

QKR Stampede Weekly Challenge #68 – 3 Favorite Embellishments

Stampin’ for the Weekend – Use some red

Thanks for stopping by!

Still Call Australia Home

My card today features UK Betty a retired stamp from Simply B Stamps all in red, white and blue.

I’ve drawn in some white stars in a very bad Southern Cross formation to turn her into an Australian Betty as this card is heading to a colleague who is going to work overseas for 12 months.  It’s to remind him that Australia is home and therefore he has to come back!

I followed a sketch from Die Cuttin’ Diva’s Challenge Blog that resembled the Australia flag too.  The challenge also called for a die cut, I didn’t have a star die so I cut a Spellbinders’ pennant shape seven times to make a Federation Star (the sixth star on the Australian flag).

Ingredients:

Copics

Skin E50, E51, E53 (cheeks E11)

Lips RV25, RV63

Dies & Embossing Folders

Spellbinders Nested Pennants

Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Circles

Papers

Close to My Heart Pemberley Blue cardstock

Papermania Portobello Road

Stamps

Simply B Stamps UK Betty (retired)

Challenges

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards Challenge #42 – 4th of July

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 276 – Stars and/or Stripes

Die Cuttin’ Diva’s Challenge #122 – You’re a Star Sketch

Digi Haven – Red, White and Blue Challenge

QKR Stampede Challenge#46 – Rock the Red, White and Blue

Thanks for stopping by!