Challenge #23 - Cards for Men!

Thank You for you entries for our previous challenge Least & Most, I see some of you really had fun with this one and some fabulous colour schemes coming out. Orange seems to be like marmite, you love it or hate it lol! We do like to stretch you and your imagination a bit here!

We're still doing our rounds so will get to you all soon as we've all been a bit busy lately but we will get round you all and leave a comment! I'm also a bit late with our Top 5 and winners post for challenge 21 due to having 2 poorly ick ick toddlers as I normally get time on the PC in the evenings this hasn't happened so I will catch up very soon!

We've received quite a few DT applications, don't worry if you haven't heard anything yet I will send you a reply before the close date. There's still time to enter the DT call which is open until the 20th, simply email me your blog addy, no need to send pics as we'll look on your blog :)

Thanks also to Stitchy for sponsoring our previous challenge and to Cheryl for being our special guest.

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CHALLENGE 23 - CARDS FOR MEN!

Eeeeeeek!!! Oh yes, its a necessary evil at some point! Its Fathers Day in the UK soon so will tie in nicely for that. It doesnt have to be for Fathers Day it can be any occasion - for a male (including kids and babies!) By the way if you didn't already know there is a challenge blog specifically for mens cards! You'll find Cards for Men blog here!

We're sponsored again by Joanna Sheen who is offering a £10 voucher! She has numerous male themed items in her online shop including cd-roms and stamps. There are some fabulous new african themed ones available now too!

Thank You again for sponsoring us Joanna :)

Onto our challenge! Lets see what the girls have come up with. Janey is also making her debut as a fully fledged DT member so I hope you'll leave her a comment to welcome her to the brood! Sheila is also joining as a guest for this challenge and our Special Guest is Sandy Hulsart.

Guest Designer - Sheila

It was made using an image from My Craft Studio which I decoupaged; matting and layering done with black card and thick handmade card from stash; musical note paper made in Word and guitar strings made with thread (well I thought they looked like strings!).

Janey

Found a really great origami shirt pattern and used papers from the gorgeous Basic Grey Cappella collection to create mini versions and a background. I've added tiny pearl gems for buttons & mounted onto white cardstock with rounded off bottom corners. The message is simply a black peel-off which covers a variety of "Manly" occasions.

Joy

I used a orange card and using dst I added a piece of a local map which I had downloaded from the intenet. I then took several photo's of an ornamental Morris Minor car which we have & using a thicker dst added two cut outs of these to the front of the card.

Judie

I swiped a green distress pad three times across and 3 times down, then sprayed with sticky fingers gold, scrumpled it up and swiped the raised parts with the soot distress pad. I then choose a bird cage stamp, stamped in both black and green, couldnt decide so went with both, added a bird and some branches which I layered up with greens and browns and some embossing powder to give a shine. This card is for my daddy who loves birds flying around and not in cages. But Mens cards are so hard aren't they ?

Julie

For this challenge I went back to basics, decided to do an easel card, I made the easel blank card out of two square cards, the background paper and sentiment I printed myself onto card. The paper I used was from a forever friends pack as was the image. I added the flower and gems to finish the card off. The gems I added on the bottom help the card stand as it should. Just think it shows what simple matting and layering with papers can create.

Lisa

More details on Lisa's Blog

Mandy

The card for this challenge was made to celebrate the 65th Birthday of a special friend. I have used the Hampstead range of papers by Papermania, cut mats using Nestabilities dies and used a new embossing folder by Indentz, distressed the text and inked over the top and around the edges with a Tim Holtz distressed ink pad.

The decoupage is a Forever Friends bear which has several layers. The chipboard numbers have stickles glue added for a bit of bling and the sentiment was recycled from an old greeting card. As the recipient is a gardener for his living I have used FF stickers inside to make it more personalised.

Toria

I decided to create a card and gift for my dad for father’s day. I created a 3D scene using a boat and stamped Pirate images. I created a matching easel card, using a patchwork background of patterned paper and added a boat in the centre. I added another pirate and as well sea scene at the bottom. The text is computer generated and I have added some glitz to the text.
Stamps used:
• Captain Edwin with Sword, Pirate Edwin and are from Magnolia Fairytale collection
• Pier Background Scene from Magnolia’s Lazy Summer Days
• Boat is from Cute Companions – Summer Stories – Sun and Fun
Papers used:
• Boat and Shell papers from Cute Companions – Summer stories outdoor CD
• The Text and clouds are free from http://melstampz.blogspot.com/

Vix

This is really challenging for me, I haaaaate man cards lol! I thought I'd keep things simple and went for a simple stampscaped scene over alcohol ink background which I stippled on and then dropped some droplets of ink on and some blending solution. Its done on plain linen card so has some texture. I've added some glaze to the water and given it a spray with iridescent gold glimmer mist for a shimmer rather than a sparkle :)

May I introduce our Special Guest for this challenge, Sandy Hulsart! Sandy is a chameleon of crafters and has such a massive range of style you never know what is coming next. One minute its cute, the next is a beautiful classical style or a scenescaped card. She helpfully provides recipes for her creations on her blogs, she has two! Both are definately ones for the following list so please do pop over to Creative moments with Sandy and Scenes by Sandy for a real treat!

SPECIAL GUEST DESIGNER - SANDY HULSART FROM CREATIVE MOMENTS WITH SANDY AND SCENES BY SANDY

Hi, my name is Sandy Hulsart. I am honored to have been asked to guest design with Crafty Cardmakers today. I love making guy cards, not much of a pink kind of gal.
I have always been a crafty person; watercolor, oil painting, pen and ink, machine embroidery, picture framing. I have tried almost everything, I began rubber stamping the summer of 2005 after seeing a Stampscapes scenic card in a RSM magazine. I was blessed to have a wonderful stamp store in my tiny home town in mid-Michigan and I learned a lot from the owner. It was not long before I was designing and teaching classes. The summer of 2007 I was introduced to Copic markers and I was in love. I have always loved to color and these are heaven. I became Copic Certified the following year shortly after retiring from 35 plus years in Telecommunications. I now teach both Copic and Scenic stamping classes in Michigan as well as online classes at My Creative Classroom.

I am currently on four Design Teams; Karen's Doodles, Mo Manning, BugABoo and ABC as well as maintaining both a stamping blog, Creative Moments with Sandy and a scenic blog, Scenes by Sandy. My past design teams include Dog Gone Stamps, Repeat Impressions, Simon Says and Stamps and Smiles. I enjoy design team work, it is great fun to participate and share with a team of like minded individuals.

My scenic work has been published in 4 issues of Rubber Stamps Madness as well as their Album of Scenic Art published in 2009. I encourage everyone to submit their cards for publication. It is quite a feeling to see your name in print. And yes, I have been turned down many times, but it only takes one publication to make you forget all those declined cards.

I am very excited that digi stamps have appeared in the crafting world. I just love them for their ease of storage, the fact that you can now have that perfectly sized image and instant downloads. And I love combining images using Adobe Photoshop Elements to make my own little vignettes.
My first card for today is a digi image from Karen's Doodles. I measured my Spellbinders die and then sized the image accordingly. I then printed it onto Cryogen paper and colored it with my Copic markers.

My second card is a Photoscape; a scene that has actually been stamped on a photo. I took this picture of a sunset over my house. I turned the photo upside down, so the blue of the sky is down and the setting sun is up. Then I simply stamped my image, added a bit of color to the mill and grass with water based markers and instant scene. These make fabulous guy cards although most women I know love them too.

Vix asked me what I get out of creating...let's see, affirmation and recognition, great cyber stamping friends, design team perks, and the thrill of taking a blank piece of paper and creating wonderful works of art! Oh, and sharing my knowledge and talent with new friends around the world. What more could you ask for! It is a great way to spend my retirement. Thanks again for having me.

Thank You Sandy for your inspirations and sharing your wonderful work :)