More Manly Fun - All Occasion Cards

I picked up the mosiac punch from Stampin' Up to match the stamp set I bought several years ago.  I just had to give it a try and considering I'm always looking for a solid man card, I planned to use muted tones and some of that paper sitting in the stash.  I liked it so much that I made a set.

The cool part with these stamps is that there are three different patterns.  I ended up stamping a bunch and punching them out.  The striped pattern paper has been in the stash over a decade.  I remember the "flash sale" where I bought a whole pack of them (along with a bunch of other paper sets).  You'd think I'd just give this stuff away, but no, it's still there and I think works great on these cards.

I can't decide which one is my favorite, can you?

I am linking this up over at Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: Make a Plan since I made a plan to use up my stash paper and my new punch.  I'm  also joining Word Art Wednesday's Challeng #195: Anything Goes.  Come join the fun or just be inspired.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Wishing you all much crafty goodness this weekend.

Happy Birthday Card

A while ago- while I was distracted with my scrapbooking effort- one of my blog friends graced me with an unexpected gift.  You might remember Loly.  She was the winner of our first ever blog candy award. You can check out Loly's work at her blog, Card Ville.  I recognized her name in a post at Paper Crafts Connection as a winner.  In part because I like to live vicariously, I promptly jumped over to her blog and posted a comment congratulating her on the win.  She responded graciously offering me one of the prizes.  Apparently Loly already was the proud owner of a set of Stampin’ Up!’s Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Pierce Mat, and Paper-Piercing Tool.  I couldn't let it stop there, so I ended up shopping on the Stampin' Up website. 

Thus, this card was born.  The sentiment frame is made using Loly's gift and the matching frame die I picked up at Stampin' Up.  The sentiment is stamped with Worn Lipstick Distress ink which was also used to color and edge the frame.  I just love how this made a perfect match to my patterned paper which came from the stash- so old that no manufacturing information is printed on it, ha ha.

The medallions were stamped using my Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and the Mosaic Madness stamp set and colored with my Scattered Straw Distress Marker.  The frilly crochet ribbon is a small leftover scrap I picked up at a local ribbon store (can you say ribbon and fiber heaven?).  The bow is made from a piece of white ribbon that I colored using my Worn Lipstick Distress ink.  I used a piece of paper to press the ribbon down onto the stamp pad and colored both sides.  It ended up a little ombre, happy accident!


On the inside I thought to take a page from another blog friend, Karon who blogs over at Karon's Krafty Korner, and decorate the inside.  That little medallion was fussy cut after stamping and coloring.  All papers are edged with Scattered Straw Distress Ink.

I really like how this card turned out.  I wanted a chance to publicly thank Loly for her generosity and let her know how useful I'd found her gift.  Thank you, Loly.  You're one classy, generous lady.

I've linked this card up over at Make It Monday: #154.  They have a weekly Anything Goes challenge just for fun.  It's a great place to go for inspiration and to share your creations.  Check them out.  

I've also linked up to the Creative Corner Challenge: Anything Goes and Word Art Wednesday's: Challenge #94.Come join the fun!