Cards for Men annual bloghop

Another year has whizzed by.  Cards for Men has now been running for two years and to celebrate we have a bloghop running as well as our usual challenge. The theme for our challenge is the number '2'.  Interpret it how you will, two cards, two images, pairs, twinsets (card & gift), etc. We'll draw a random winner and top 3 as usual. You can get all the details and lots more ideas from the Design Team over at the main site. Here's what I made:

Also, we are having an Anniversary Blog Hop. You can get the full list of blogs over at Cards for Men. If you arrived here from Shirley then you're on the right track.  If not, hop over to Cards for Men to start at the beginning.


At each stop there'll be a word to collect and a candy draw. I've got a $10 gift voucher from Digi Doodle Shop to give away

Digi Doodle Shop is the results of a mother and daughter’s love for the arts and crafts.  It was started a little over 3 years ago with a little more than 100 stamps, and has since then grown to almost 500 stamps.  Joy (the mother of this team) designs realistic images, while Judy (aka/daughter) loves the “fun side of life”, and create images with a cartoon flair.  Having these two complimenting styles have enabled

Digi Doodle Shop to offer a wide variety of stamps. 

To be in with a chance of winning this you just need to leave a comment at the end of this post. A random winner will be drawn on 19 December 2011.

Each stop will have a word which you should collect to make a festive phrase. My word is 'the'. At the end of the blog hop you should have 9 words, work out the phrase and leave it in the comments back at Cards for Men. The blog hop will run until midnight on 18 December 2010 and a winner will be chosen on 19 December 2011.

Your next stop is Sandra. If you lose your way you can go back to Cards for Men to get the full list. Good luck everyone.

Fancy Folds at Cards for Men

I can't believe how this year has flown by.  Cards for Men is at Challenge 24 which is our last proper challenge of the year.  In December we'll be having a bloghop to celebrate our 2nd anniversary so make sure you check in for that.

My card is a tri-fold card (I'll try and get an open photo later today).  I used 'Hoodie Jason' for my main image which is coloured with Promarkers. The brown background is a piece of Stampin Up cardstock which I've printed a background on.  My husband made the background using the 'Epic Birthday' image.  The other two designer papers are from Basic Grey - Wags and Whiskers.

You can find all the details of our sponsor over at the main post on Cards for Men, but I want to let you know that in addition to the prize, we also have a 10% discount code.  Simply use the code CFM10 at Whimsie Doodles and get 10% off your order.  This code is valid for 30 days from today so pop over and see what you like.

Pop over to Cards for Men to see what my teamies came up with.   You won't be disappointed, I'm sure.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Paperminutes - #191 Children's Birthday
Bearly Mine - 2W, 2E, SIO - #23 One for the boys 2nd Week

Late entry for Cards for Men

I'm running behind this week and unfortunately, I'm late with my card for the current challenge over at Cards for Men.  Hopefully, you'll think it was worth the wait.  The sponsor for the current challenge is Digital Delights and we were lucky enough to get some images to work with.  I chose this one which is called 'Rodney Reindeer' and he is coloured with promarkers. Isn't he fab?  The cardstock is from Stampin Up and the rest is from my general stash.  Please pop over to the main post on Cards for Men for a look at my teammates ideas and to get all the details.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Shelly's Images - SIO -  Anything Goes
Forever Friends - M, SIO, must include an animal - (October) Use Sentiment (ends 2nd Nov)
Phindy’s Place - 3E, SIO - blue Christmas
Floweret - M, SIO - Christmas
Bah Humbug - must be Christmas - cards for men
Little Claire's  - M, 3E, SIO - #14 Christmas
Scrappy Frogs - 3W - (2nd week) Something that Flies (ends 6th Nov)
Partytime Tuesdays - 3E (2E anything goes wk) - PTT #38 Anything Goes

We're game for a laugh at Cards for Men

Here's the card I made for the current challenge over at Cards for Men where the theme this time is 'Make Us Laugh'.  The image is from the sponsor, Fresh Brewed Designs, and I got my hubby to think of a witty line.  There are other images of a similar theme at Fresh Brewed Designs and, I thought that they'd make smashing Christmas cards for work colleagues.  I coloured the image with promarkers and the base card is a premade card from DCWV.  One of my teammates, Jen, used a 3 dimensional pen to make snow which I thought I might try next time.

Check out the other ideas and all the rules over at Cards for Men.  Also, we're having a DT call to replace a couple of members who've left in recent months.  All you have to do is enter the challenge and put DT after your name.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesday - Make It Minimal
Paper Take Weekly - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - 1E, SIO - #40 No Design Papers
Crazy Amigo Challenge - Animals
Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown - no glitter - Christmas cards
Penny's Paper-Crafty - 2W - #63 anything goes (2nd wk)
My Mum's Craft shop - 3E - all creatures great and small
Crafts and Me - #55 use a digi
Southern Girls - 2W, 1E - (1st week) Boys or Men in your Live
Totally Papercrafts - animals
Simply Create - 2W - older than 6 months
Floweret - M, SIO - Christmas
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days Challenge - 2W, 1E, SIO, must use a digi - Too early for Christmas
One Stop Craft - #152 Anything goes
Marks Finest Papers -#76 No Designer Papers
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Anything Goes
One Stitch At A Time - Anything Goes
I Did It Creations - Anything Goes
CAS Sunday Challenge - 2W, 2E, Must be CAS - (2nd week) Anything Goes (ends 15th Oct)

Sport's Day

Sorry I'm late with my DT card, but better late than never.  The theme over at Cards for Men is 'Sports' and the sponsor this time is the fabulous, Peachy Keen Stamps.  Take a look over at the main post for full details and to see the great ideas that the rest of the team came up with.

I made this card for my middle son to take to his friends birthday party, this Saturday just gone.  The image is 'Harold and football' from Digistamp Boutique which I've coloured using my prismacolours.  The backing paper is from Basic Grey (Origins, I think).

The letters are cut using my Cricut from the cartridge 'Boys will be Boys'.  Joel really liked that his name was on the card which is why we do it, isn't it.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

I Brake For Challenges - Fall
Digistamps 4 Joy - #28 anything goes
Crafting for all Seasons - #10 fall colors
Southern Girls - Anything Goes
House of Gilli - Fall/Autumn

Max's Birthday Card

The current theme over at Cards for Men is 'G is for...' which is pretty open as theme goes.  I've gone for 'G is for GOOOAAAL' with this card for my son's friend Max when he had his birthday recently.  The image is from Kenny K and the soccer background was cut on my Cricut.

I've coloured the image using my promarkers which (for those who don't know) are made by Letraset who are the sponsors of the challenge over at Cards for Men.  Take a look over on the main post for the full details and to get a look at the rest of the Design Team ideas.

Clean & Simple at Cards for Men

Oh my gosh, I've been an absent blogger.  Please forgive me but you know how it is, life just gets in the way sometimes.

This time over on Cards for Men we're looking for Clean & Simple cards and as you can see from my card, I took this very literally, lol.  This stamp was a recent second-hand purchase so I don't know if it's still current.  It's by Anita's if that helps though.  The gold matting was from my stash andthen it's just a plain pre-scored card from Craftwork Cards.  Inside I've written Merry Christmas in gold but my handwriting is not good enough so I'll probably print something else to go inside.

The sponsor this time for Cards for Men is One Stop Card Crafts and we have a wonderful prize of £10 voucher to spend how you like.  If you haven't visited One Stop Card Crafts before, take the opportunity now, it's a real 'Aladdin's  Cave'.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Partytime Tuesdays - PTT#26 Anything goes
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations - 2E - Favourite Holidays
Paper Shelter Challenge - #24 anything goes
Paper Pretties - PPC164 no markers
My Mum's Craft shop - 3E - #16 fab and funky
Creative Belli - 2W - #122 Christmas (2nd wk)
Crafty Creations - #129 Christmas
ABC Christmas Challenge - 2W, Christmas - Older image (2nd wk)
Sassy Studio Designs - SIO - Christmas in July
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - SIO - anything goes
Craft Us Crazy - 2W, 3E - anything goes
Sew Many Cards - SIO - anything goes
Fussy and Fancy - 2W - Christmas in July
Crafty Catz - 1E - Christmas is July
Class Act Insider - 2W, 1E, SIO, must use rubber stamp - Christmas
Totally Gorjuss -  #91 Christmas in July
Sweet Stampin - 2E, must Stamp - Christmas in July
Here Come the Boys - 2W, 3E, cards only, must be masculine - travel
Corrosive Challenges - 2E - male
Come and Get It Challenges - anything goes
Christmas Inspirations - 2W, 2E, must be Christmas - anything goes
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Christmas cards
Happileigh Scrappin - SIO - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes

Natalie's New Home

I made this card for my cousin a few weeks ago to celebrate geting her first home.  I thought the image reflected her lot in life for the foreseeable future.  It's not the best photo in the world but it's the best I've got.  The image is a Joanna Sheen stamp, DIY Lofty, which I coloured using Promarkers.  The base of the card is Bazzil Basics, and the DP is DCWV Nursery range.  The cardstock used for matting is Cored'inations.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

There's Magic in the Air - Photo Inspiration*
Happileigh Scrappin - Bright colours - NO Pastels
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations - Animal or Jungle Themed 
Everybody-Art-Challenge - #147 Anything Goes 
Scrapbook Sisters - #41 anything goes
I Love Promarkers - #71 anything goes
Southern Girls - Anything goes.
Totally Papercrafts - Spots & stripes.
Our Creative Corner -  Your Style 
Just Some Lines - Spots & Dots 
Willow Sketchie Challenge - Sketch

Cards for men are seeing Stars

I quite enjoyed this card for the Cards for Men challenge.  The theme this time is 'Stars' and we are sponsored, once again by the fabulous, Stamping Boutique.

  I'm Tracey Malnofski, the artist and owner of The Stamping Boutique. My team and I are very happy to sponsor Cards for Men. My store has been open since September 2009.I am currently a stamp artist for UnityStampCo. and I've worked for InStyleStamps, Squigglefly, and TheDigiShack in the past. I'm a professional artist and an active member of the Artist' Guild in my community. I have quite a busy household with a husband, 3 teenagers, 5 mini-dachshunds and an Appaloosa mare. It's noisy, but I love them all. I'm truly blessed.

"The Stamping Boutique" is dedicated to quality products and original artwork. We not only provide wonderful digital images in our store, but also several lines of red rubber images. Our designers are chosen for their character and personality,as well as, their beautiful designs. We work hard to give you our very best. Thank you so much for having us as your sponsor this week.

The prize is 5 digis of your choice and you'll have a hard time deciding, I can tell you.  You can get the full details and lots of inspiration over on the main challenge post.

We got some fab images to use from Tracey and I chose this one, Spaceship, which I coloured quite simply with my Promarkers (largely Ice Greys).  The sentiment is a stamp from Pollycraft - the cogs and critters ones.  Inside it says 'Cosmic Birthday'.  The cardstock is from Cored'inations and the backing paper is DCWV - Boys will be Boys.  You can't see it so much in my photo but the backing paper has glittery stars at the centre of each circle.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Paper Take Weekly -  Dads and Lads
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations - Anything Goes
Stamp-N-Doodle - Masculine and NO flowers
Ooh La La Creations - Father's Day/Special Man
Happileigh Scrappin - Bright colours - NO Pastels

A colour combo for you this time

I had a real tough time with the challenge set by my team-mate Wenche for Cards for Men.  The theme is a colour challenge to use Blue/Black.  We had some great images from the sponsor, Heartsong Designs, who are one of our new sponsors this year.  You can find out more about them and see more of their great images over at the main challenge post.

I used this image which is called Cardinal In Tree.  I realise that cardinals aren't blue but it's only us who know it's a Cardinal.  The prize up for grabs is 3 digis of your choice from Heartsong Designs, so pick up the gauntlet and have a go.

I decided I should have a go at a card for my Grandad who will be 85 on the 15th June.  I don't think he'd want the numbers all over the card so I have been relatively discreet about it.  The sentiment is a stamp from Kaiser Craft.  I've used Cardstock from Cored'inations and the patterned papers are from October Afternoon (Campfire) which I am absolutely hooked on.  I've used a Martha Stuart punch for the edge.  I'm really pleased with the finished card which is to be entered in the following challenges:

Partytime Tuesdays - PTT#18 Anything Goes
Digital Tuesday - #113 Animal Friends
Creative Craft Challenges - Restful Colours
Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day / for a male
Freshly Brewed - #49 masculine
Crafting for all Seasons - #2 Father's Day
Some Odd Girl - Masculine.
Stamp Man - Boys & men.
Fussy and Fancy - Card for a male.
Bows 'n Berries - Masculine.

No Paper Here!

I'm soooooo sorry to be late with my post.  Time has been running away from me all week and I just couldn't catch up.  No that the kiddies are all in bed, I can settle down to my blog.

This is my card for this week's challenge over at Cards for Men were the theme is 'No Paper'.  By that we mean we don't want to see any designer paper.  I set the challenge this week and I'm a huge fan of our sponsor, Kenny K.  I'm sure you're all familiar with the wonderful work of Kenny K's Shop but what about the man (and woman) behind those wonderful creations.  Take a look here to see their journey, http://www.kennykdownloads.com/about-kenny-and-elena.php

The very generous Kenny & Elena have provided not one, but three prizes.  Pop over to the main challenge post for all the details and to see the rest of the team's ideas.

We were lucky enough to get images to use and I chose, Cool Kid, which I've coloured with my promarkers.  The apple shape is cut out using my Cricut - 'Just Because' Cards - cartridge and you can see my (terrible) handwritten sentiment.  I'm trying out ideas for teacher cards early this year.  I want something that can be easily replicated since I have to do about six in total.  I'd probably print the sentiments and then cut out.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Truly Scrumptious - #57 Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty - #53 Anything Goes
Digistamps 4 Joy -  #19 Boys/Men
Crafts and Me - #35 Anything goes
Simply Create - Special day/event.
Stamping Scrapping Central - Masculine

Cards for Men DT card

I'm really sorry but I'm running behind this week and won't have my post ready in time this morning.  I'll be back this evening with my card and all it's details.  In the meantime the rest of the girls over at Cards for Men have got lots of fab cards for you to see.  Pop over after 8am to see the latest challenge.

Bye for now.

A Robot Card

I made this card a few weeks ago for Matthew to give to his friend, Kyle, who was 5.  I've been really trying to make use of my Cricut which I got for Christmas so that's where the Robot came from.  I used the 'Robotz' cartridge.  I was really pleased with the way it turned out but it took a long time because there are lots of layers.

The base card is Bazzil Basics folded to make a 'Gatefold card' of about 6"x6".  There's a 'Happy Birhtday' peeloff and a couple of puffy stickers from ATD.  At the end of this post there's a picture of the inside for you to see.  I used a sentiment stamp from Pollycraft called 'Critters and Cogs'.  The Design Paper is from DCWV.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Tuesday Throwdown - Die-cuts 
Partytime Tuesdays - Gate-Folds
Paper Take Weekly - Punches Or Die-Cuts 
Paper and Such Design - #1 - Birthday Card
Penny's Paper-Crafty - #53 Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft shop - #5 Die-cuts
Divas by Design - Anything goes
Crafty Creations - #118 Anything Goes
Art Impressions Stamps Challenge - Decorate the inside of your card.
Crafty Ann's - Challenge #40: Happy birthday.
Scrappy Frogs - Anything goes
One Stitch At A Time - Anything Goes
Emerald Faeries - Anything Goes
Ooh La La Creations - 2W, SIO - Fancy folds

Inside the card

Challenge 10 at Cards for Men

This week at Cards for Men we want to see cards for 'Someone Special'.  this theme was chosen by Sarah and it was quite a challenge because I don't do 'soppy' cards for the men in my life and also because all of my men's cards are for someone special (husband, sons, father).

We were given images to use by the sponsor, Digital Delights, and I set myself a challenge to use the 'Groom' image.  I know it's unusual to have a Wedding card that is not to the happy couple, but I thought it could be from the Groom's Parents wishing him well on his new path, or from the Bride-to-be.  Either way, I thought the sentiment 'Cherish each passing moment' fit particularly well.

To see more of the fab images from Digital Delights take a look at the main challenge post to see what the rest of the Design Team came up with.  The challenge is open until midnight on 22 May 2011 and the prize on offer is 3 digital stamps of your own choice.

I started my card with the fab sketch over on Willow Sketchie Challenge.  the image was coloured using promarkers.  I didn't have a piece of blue card in the right colour that was big enough to mount my image so I used a piece of white card and coloured the visible edge with promarkers to match the blue I'd already used.  I did the same with the ticket sentiment.  The ribbon was from my stash but the black ricrac is a 'paper frill' from Doodlebug Designs.  The ticket is a stamp from Whimsy Stamps which I recently bought after a friend gave me a voucher.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Willow Sketchie Challenge - Sketch
Here Come The Boys - Anything Goes
Paper Take Weekly - Anything Goes 
Clear It Out! - Ribbon/Trim
Divas by Design - anything goes
Digistamps 4 Joy - #18 Celebration
Crafty Catz - Include a quote/sentiment.
Card Makin' Mamas - For a loved one.
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days Challenge - Challenge #7: Weddings
Catch The Bug - Anything Goes
Scrappy Frogs - Anything goes
Creative Cowgirls - Anything Goes

A Birthday Card for Patricia

Here is a card I made for one of my Cards for Men team mates a few weeks ago.  I know she's received it so I'm safe to blog it, lol.

The image is Joanna Sheen Garden Flowers - Lilac.  I have a number of these flower stamps which I'll be listing in my 'leftover stuff' blog later today.  Please pop over and see what bargains there are.

I coloured the image with Promarkers.  The backing paper is a Kate Knight set that came free with a magazine.  I used a Martha Stuart doily punch on the purple paper.  The flower was made using an X-cut punch.

Inside I used some really nice 'flower' papers as an insert but I couldn't get a decent picture.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Partytime Tuesdays - Anything Goes 
Scrap-Creations - Flowers
My Mum's Craft shop - #3 flowers
Little Miss Muffet Challenges - Challenge #8: Die cuts and punches.
Crafty Purple Frog - Purple & lace.
Craft Us Crazy - Mother's Day and/or flowers.
Wags 'n Whiskers - Challenge #53: Use die/punch.
Mami Doodles - Challenge#25: Let's get girly.

Going dizzy on Cards for Men

The challenge this time at Cards for Men is 'Circles' and I was certainly in a spin with this one, lol.  I had a really hard time getting going for this challenge.  I'll tell you a bit more in a minute.

First though, I should say that this challenge is sponsored by the wonderful Heather over at Fresh Brewed Designs.  Heather has been a long standing supporter of our blog since the early days and always sends us a selection of images to work with.  Here's a bit more from the horses mouth, so to speak,

Hi. I am Heather Dennis. I am a homeschooling mother of 2 wonderful children, the wife of 12 years to the love of my life, a Christian and the owner of Fresh Brewed Designs. I have loved to draw and create ever since I was a child. My daughter has inherited my love of art and recently inspired me to start creating again.
All the images in my shop are hand drawn. I offer a wide range of images from coffee, cute and inspirational.I also love to create custom drawn images, so if you are looking for anything in particular, please feel free to drop me an email.

The prize is 3 digi images of your choice from Fresh Brewed Designs and the challenge will run from now until midnight (BST) on 8th May 2011.  I can't believe it's almost May!!!!  Pop over to the main post for the full details and also for a whole lot of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Anyway, back to my card.  As I said, Heather kindly lets us have a choice of images to work with and I decided on this little car.  I had an idea I my head, but didn't really have the right papers and I'm really trying not to buy any more stuff until I go to the craft fair at Aintree in May.  I finally settled on some papers out of the Echo Park 'Little Boy' range and coloured my image using Promarkers.  I fancied doing a slider card (with an arc motion) but had left it far to late for such experimentation.  So I ended up cutting lots of circles and moving them around a lot.  I used my Sizzix embossing folder - Large Snowballs- on the dark blue card.  The cardstock is either C'oredinations or Dovecraft (I used both).

I'm pleased with the overall effect and have left off a sentiment as it's a good standby card.  The only thing is that in my efforts to make sure everything was stuck down in the right place, I neglected to check the orientation of my card and it opens the wrong way.  Never mind, we all make mistakes.

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Tuesday Throwdown - Polka Dots
Top Tip Tuesday - Open Challenge
Scrap-Creations - Digital Image
Creative Craft Challenges - Embossing
Your Next Stamp Challenge - texture
Simon Says Stamp - embossing
I Love Promarkers - anything goes
Southern Girls - Green & blue.
Shelly's Images - Show us what you got.
The Rubber Cafe - Polka dots.
Meljens Designs - Masculine.
Delicious Doodles - Anything goes.
Sugar Creek Hollow  - Circles
Sparkles Forum - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - use a Digi.
Crafty Pad - Circles.
Card Cupids - use Punches
Stamping Scrapping Central - Anything Goes
Stamp-N-Doodle - Masculine
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - One for the Boys