Magical Male Room

     For this fortnights challenge at The Male Room we would like to see anything masculine that falls into the Magical/Fantasy theme.
     This project was fun to make, so much so that I didn't take any pictures during the creation process. I started with a piece of white card and coloured it with Distress Inks Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge then spritzed it with a pearl mister.
     The craggy mountains are made using D.I. Black Soot and a piece of torn paper as a mask. Both the dragon and the castle are stamps from Encaustic artist Michael Bossom stamped with Black Soot, the castle has a few 'lights' on made with a gold gel pen.
     It's a very simple card to make that owes it's impact to the gorgeous dragon silhouette against a blazing sky. All that was left to do was mount it on to a black card blank, it's unmarked so could be used for any occasion.
     Please come and join us at The Male Room, I'm sure you have some amazing ideas for this theme and we would love to see them.

I would like to fly this card into the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

MHK Designs Challenge #3

     Welcome to our third challenge at MHK Designs, this one has a definite Easter feel to it, but if you don't want to use bunnies then we have some gorgeous colours to use instead.

      If you wish to give an Easter gift that will last for years then why not try making paper flowers with the any of the MHK Designs paper sets.
     I have used the papers from Egg-cellent Easter for this project and altered the colours by playing with my printer settings. I really wanted to use the bunny papers again to go with our white rabbit prompt.
     The centre rose is die cut with a Spellbinder spiral flower die, the edges are coloured with Distress ink Spun Sugar. There are three flowers all made using Sizzix Tattered Flower die cut shapes curled and folded, then stuck together. The three origami flowers are known as Kusudama, you can find many tutorials on You Tube for these.
     Each flower is on florist wire so when dry I gathered them into a bunch, they looked nice but needed some leaves. Tattered leaves Sizzix die was used to cut from silver paper several sets of leaves. Each leaf has had veins scored into it before being stuck on to wire.
     Once happy with the bouquets look the flower stems have all been taped together with green florist tape. The bunch still looked lacking in something so I have added two doilies die cut from silver tissue paper just under the flowers and taped them to the stem.
     Ideal flowers that don't need water, will never die and don't cost a small fortune, they can even be posted in a box to friends or relatives miles away.
     Please come and join us at MHK Designs for a fun challenge, you don't have to use MHK Designs products but we would love it if you did. By entering the challenge you have the chance to win a digi stamp set and a paper set too.
   

March / April challenge at MHK Designs

     To see lots more gorgeous papers and stamps visit the Etsy shop here. You can even have papers custom made, so if you want to make wedding flowers why not have a unique paper set designed just for the special day.

I would like to enter these flowers in the following challenges:

CraftyHazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything With patterned Paper

Ecelctic Ellapu - Purple Team-Flora and Fauna

Dragonfly Journeys - Hippity Hoppity (must feature a bunny)

Allsorts - Easter

My Time To Craft - Flowers

Cut It Up - Easter Bunny

Easter Surprise

     After the last challenge at The Male Room I got carried away with making cards that move, my friend Val showed me how to make this one but you can find a You Tube video for it here.  I've also used the goregous Easter papers  and images from MHK Designs.

     I used a large DL card blank but scored either side of the spine to make it a wider fold, more like a book, so that all the mechanism needed to move the card would fit.
     The bottom of the card has an arch cut out using the bottom of the egg die, this is where the pull tab will sit.

     The bunny images were printed on card suitable for alcohol markers although there is very little colouring involved. Egg shaped dies were used to cut out the images after colouring and then the edges were coloured with a yellow Distress ink.

     When the internal movement cards were added to the ribbon slide mechanism it was important to line them up as they would be when the card is closed. I used some wide satin ribbon as that is what I had to hand, wide florist ribbon works just as well.
     The outside of the card blank is covered with Easter paper from MHK Designs, the pull tab also has some of this paper on it.
     Double sided foam tape is added to both sides of the inner frame around which the ribbon mechanism sits. This tape allows depth for the free movement of the slider so make sure it sits comfortably inside the card and moves freely before you stick it shut, how do I know this is important?....don't ask, let's just say we all learn by trial and error!

So this fortnights challenge at The Male Room is an Easter project for a man or boy, I do hope you'll join us with your creation.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania - Easter
Deep Ocean Challenges - Easter
Crafty Boots - Easter
Where The Heart Is - Easter
Great Impressions - Bunny Hop
Robyns Fetish - Easter Cards
Craftin' Desert Divas - Photo Inspiration

MHK Designs - Sneak Peek

     Would you like to know what this is and where to get that gorgeous bunny paper?

Then you need to 'hop' over to MHK Designs blog for all the details.

We have lots of inspiration for you at MHK Designs as well as the chance to win some of our lovely stamp and paper sets by joining in with the current challenge.

Pop Up Postcard

     Welcome to the new challenge project for The Male Room. This fortnight we are looking for  cards that move, they can pop up, slide, twist or fall. We have some tutorial videos to help you get started.  

       This card pops up when gently pulled sideways. There are two parts, front and back, folded at one end only. Inside is a tab of card hinged on one corner, that will pop up as the card is opened out flat.
     The outside of the card is decorated with washi tape and various travel ephemera from several sources. There is a small panel on the back to write a message on.This would make a great card to announce a special surprise holiday, all you need do is change the New York postcard for your chosen destination.

     

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Sparkles Monthly - Something For The Males

Crafty Gals Corner - All About The Boys

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

House Of Cards - Silhouette

     This month's challenge at the House Of Cards is to use a silhouette. I have gone rather traditional with a black and white image.
     I have a small stash of CD Roms from a few years ago, this image is from a Joanna Sheen disc. I have decided to print off a batch of images and papers and pop them in a box while I can still get my computer to run them. Many more updates and new versions of software and these discs will no longer work, such a shame when the content is so useful.
     The image is mounted on black card then onto a white card blank that has half covered with a lace backing paper. With the addition of some punched flowers in black and white with tiny gems in the centre and my stash raiding card is done.
     I like the bold simplicity of this silhouette, although for our challenge at House Of Cards it doesn't have to be black and white. Pop over to the blog and have a look at the DT inspiration, so many variations, I am sure there will be something to spark your imagination.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Boots - Something For The Lady

Come and Get It - Monochrome

Personal Shopper

     Welcome to a new challenge project for Altered Eclectics. Now that we need to take a bag with us for our shopping I thought I would decorate my own. I totally agree with the cut back on plastic bag use, we have become a very throw away society (except for crafters...who throw nothing away!!!!)
     There are lots of great new products this year geared toward use on fabrics, many of them crossing over nicely with papercraft.

    To work out the design on my bag I used die cuts to position the separate elements. I used the stencil created by the die cuts to brush on the inks, these inks are very easy to use with a stencil brush or sponge and they come in a large variety of colours. All you need to do when finished is iron it to fix it, so if it goes wrong don't iron it just wash it and start again.
     I have used two different shades of green with a touch of brown for my foliage, the stencil was cut with Sizzix Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes.

     The flowers are made using a piece of coarse weave canvas ironed on to some double sided adhesive sheet made just for fabrics, then die cut with a Sizzix Tattered Florals die. 

     To colour the flowers I have used  Colorbox Crafters Ink which is made for use on wood and fabric as well as being pretty good on paper too. The pads come in catseye size as well as the full 2x3 size, the beauty of the small ones is you can afford to build a collection of all the colours.

     Again I used the die cut flowers to decide on position, then when happy with the layout I ironed them on to the bag, sealing the inks at the same time.

      The centre of the flowers and the butterflies are made by die cutting the fabric adhesive for delicate fabrics, it has a mesh type appearance which looks great when teamed with foils.
     For the foils I lay the adhesive shape on to the bag, then the foil and then a sheet of parchment (which was used for all the ironing) and ironed. Leave the foil until it is cold before removing it slowly. The foil might wear down over time and will need to be handled carefully if washed but the inks are pretty good at holding fast.
     The wording at the bottom is done through a stencil made using Sizzix Alterations M&S die 'Imagine'.  Just think of all the things you could decorate using the bits you already have plus a few inks and some iron on adhesive sheet.
     Don't forget to take a look at all the different projects at Altered Eclectics, we like to see anything other than cards and ATC's and you have a whole month in which to join us.
   

Materials list - available from your  local craft shop

Woodware Craft Collection - ColorBox Crafter's Inks: Bark, Olive, Jungle, Sunflower, Tangelo, Canyon

                                           R1113-3/4 Stencil Brush

                                           MR14819 Additions Fashion Fabric Square

                      

Stix2 Anything -  S57360 Craft & Mixed Media Iron

                         S57357 Iron On Adhesive - Various Materials

                         S57356 Iron On Adhesive - Delicate Materials

                         S57359 Parchment Sheet

                         Transfer Foils - Various colours

I would like to enter my shopping bag in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/optional twist Lace & Pearls

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

NBUS ( never before used schtuff) -  Anything Goes