Altenew Educator Certification Program - For the guys

Hi Everyone,

Today I am sharing another card I made for the AECP. This time, the class is called For the Guys. Do you, like me, struggle with masculine cards? If so, you should definitely check out the class and get some inspiration! 

I was inspired by quite a few of the cards & ideas showcased in the class videos, and I will surely be using some of the tips on my future masculine cards, but the idea I just had to try straight away was to turn the card into a Pop Art like "masterpiece" a'la Andy Warhol. There's something about the bold and crazy colours that immediately drew my attention and got the creative cogs of my brain turning. 

I created a rather simple card for my first attempt, and it will be sent to my dad for Father's Day - I hope he likes it. I didn't use any sentiments, since I don't have too many in Polish (and none of the ones I do have were appropriate for the occasion)... I usually use alpha stamps/dies in such circumstances, but somehow I didn't feel they would work for my design this time... 

I am hoping to revisit this idea very soon, and maybe try a few more but smaller images, to have even more fun colours on my card. By the way, this is also a great way to use up scraps of colourful cardstock! 

Here's my first attempt at this technique/idea. The colourful panel is popped up on some foam tape, but it's not too visible in the pictures: 

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Frame it

Well, what do you think? Fun, right? I am super scared of simple cards with little to no embellishments, but I try to get out of my comfort zone sometimes...

Have a great day,

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

First Father's Day

Hi Everyone,

I hope you're all keeping well. Anyone watching all the football matches?! I don't have the time to watch them all, but I try to watch at least a few... There's a lot of fun rivalry in my family this year, since I come from Poland but have lots of German relatives... the fun will end on Thursday, with one part of the family delighted and the other one not too impressed... although I'd love it to be a tie! :o) But enough about football!

This year, my hubby will be celebrating his first Father's Day, and so I decided to make him a quick card to celebrate it. I don't have a lot of time for crafting nowadays, as you know, and even less so without my husband around (and let's mention here my constant struggle with male cards, too!), however I managed to make something relatively quick and simple. 

I've been playing with some watercolour paper scraps recently, and testing out "galaxy" backgrounds. Since I was relatively happy with my attempts (surprise, surprise!), I decided to turn them into cards. The only problem was, I didn't have pieces big enough for the whole card fronts! I came up with the design you can see below. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm afraid it'll have to do :o)

The background and the bird are coloured with Distress Inks. I used a cheap black watercolour for the final layer, however, since I don't have a black Distress Ink. The splatters are made with watered downed white gesso, some splatters of water mixed with Perfect Pearls, and I also added some golden dots with a gel pen, to tie it in with the golden thread and the bird's beak & tummy. The bird was "paper pieced" in a way - I stamped it on the background first, and then adhered the coloured layer on top.  The sentiment is computer generated.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Inky Chicks - Father's Day / Male card

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Father's Day / For a Guy

I know it's not a perfect card, but it's the thought that counts, right?! :o)

Have a great week,

M.

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Finally back! :-)

Hi Everyone,

I am finally back! It took me a few weeks to unpack the craftroom, but I am now 95% done and ready to go again! Unfortunately, I have to share my room with the hubby now, as the nursery took over my husband's den, but we'll hopefully manage, LOL! Not 100% happy with how crammed everything is now, but hey - one has to compromise! I guess I was just very spoiled with the room all to myself! Here's to hoping we'll get a bigger house in a few years and I'll get some of my old space back... :o)

Today I am sharing a Father's Day card with you. Yes, it's that time of the year again! It's a little easel card, I hope the recipient likes it. I paper pieced this cute image from The Greeting Farm (love colouring and paper piecing these, it's so much fun!), added a little bit of Wink of Stella here and there (at the end of the day it's a masculine card, so not too much space for glitter!), and hey presto - the card was ready in no time! Well, maybe apart from the drying time of those liquid pearls around the card, LOL. 

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

QKR Stampede - Father's Day

I Love ProMarkers - Anything goes

Passion for ProMarkers - Masculine

A Gem of a challenge - Something blue

Hope you like it. Happy Father's Day in advance to all the Daddies out there!

Hugs,

M.

Father's Day Card

Hello Everyone,

I had a few moments to spare, so I thought I should pop over here! We're starting some home renovations this week, and I need to pack away most of my craftroom (eek!), therefore crafty times might be a bit limited in the next 2-3 weeks or so... Wish us luck! :o)

Today I am sharing a quick Father's Day creation that I made for a friend (well, the friend's dad ultimately!). She wanted something with bears, and I thought that this Lili of the Valley stamp would be perfect (sorry, I think the stamp is discontinued by now)! I decided to paper-piece the armchair, and colour the rest of the image. 

It's the usual style of mine - simple, but hopefully nice. The blending around the sentiment somehow looks really awful in the photos, but it looks much better and more even in reality! The friend was very happy, so that's the most important bit for me. Now let's just hope that the daddy will like it, too!

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

LMMC -  Round in Circles

MAWTT -  Let's get reading

QKR stampede - Guy cards

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week afterwards!

M.

Easel card for Dad

Hi Everyone, 

Happy New Year! Yup, I know, I know - it's a bit late for that now (it's almost February, at the end of the day!), but I guess better late than never? I owe you all a huge apology for my recent silence here - but, between the Christmas break and a lot of new year-related commotions (some good and some not so good ones) - there really was not enough time for being crafty or even for blogging... I am trying to get back on track now... The days should be getting longer, so I am sure that will help! Here's to hoping I'll be back here for good now! :o) I have recently had a few commission requests, and the mojo appears to be back, so I think I can keep the positive approach for now!

Today I would like to share a card I made for my Dad - a little cutesy easel card. Kind of Valentine-like (the image by The Greeting Farm is actually from a Valentine's set!), so I thought it would be quite apt for this time of the year! I planned to keep it "male & simple" - didn't succeed too much as you can see from the pearls, lace, glitter and some involvement of Glossy Accents, but my Dad loved it - he said my cards for him were always quite plain and he enjoyed a bit of a "busy" difference this time! 

Have a peek, hope you'll like it, too! I enjoy using stamps that were designed for a particular occasion for a different purpose - who would have thought that a Valentine image will be good for Dad?! ;o)

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

MAWTT - Get your sketch on

Inky Impressions  - Glitter and Gloss

I Love ProMarkers - Purples and Blues

Love to create - Lace/Ribbon, Pearl/Gems and your fav Valentine colours 

(I have Lace, Pearl & the blue/pink combo with some bling and glitter)
QKR stampede - Shaped Cards

Hope your start of the year was great - I have some catching up to do on reading your blogs, too, dear friends! I'll work on all this, promise!

M.