Button It at The Male Room

     Welcome to a new challenge at The Male Room, this time we would like to see you raid your stash for buttons, the DT have come up with lots of different ways you can use them.
     This card is very simple and easy to make. The greeting is die cut from very dark blue card and stuck on to the card blank, then a collection of buttons are added with hand drawn strings, they could have been tied to the greeting but I quite like them drifting across the card.
     Please come and share your button creations with us at The Male Room, we'd love to see what you make.

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

Crafty Cardmakers - For A Special Man

Crafty Sentiments - Kids
Cardz 4 Guyz - At The Movies  (Up)

MHK Designs Challenge #6

     

      Hello and welcome to our surprise Birthday Beach Blog Hop for the lovely Asha!  You should have arrived here from Nana Connie's blog. If not, start at the MHK Designs blog to complete the hop for more chances to WIN!  We are celebrating a very special lady today and we're doing so by creating beachy birthday cards to wish her many happy returns!

MHK Desings Blog Hop Inspirational Photo

     Asha's birthday card was made using shells and a sentiment from Serene Seaside along with a greeting from Beachy Keen.
     The shells were used at random to create decoration around the central sentiment, this was printed out twice. The top copy has had the verse die cut to make a window, after colouring with Distress Ink acetate was stuck over the opening.

      All around the window and the sides of the card topper there is foam tape, before sticking the topper to the card the window has been filled with micro beads to make it a shaker card.
     The assembled shaker topper has been stuck onto an easel card, the bottom of which has been covered with paper from Country Farm because in very pale sepia it looks a little like sand.
     The greeting is die cut, coloured and stuck on with foam pads, in the corners are little paper clay star fish and shells to add to the beachy look.

Beachy Keen

Serene Seaside

Country Farm - July Release

     Thank you so much for joining in our hop to say "Happy Birthday" to a dear friend!  Your next stop on the hop is Sathya's blog.  The complete hop list can be found on the MHK Designs blog.

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

Bunny Zoe's Craft - Summer
Crafty Boots - Summer
Dream Valley - Summer Colours
Melonheadz Friends - Off To The Beach
Ooh-La-La Creations - Sun, Sand & Sea

MHK Designs - Butterfly Elements

     Today is the last new release from MHK Designs, this set is Butterfly Elements. Three great sentiments and three lovely wispy flower sprays with butterflies.
     This image was printed twice on card suitable for alcohol markers, the main image is coloured with a mix of markers and sparkly gel pens and on the second image just the butterflies have been coloured. Each butterfly has been cut out and scored down the middle so it's wings lift up, it's only glued down the middle to fix it to the main image.
     I coloured a white card blank green with Distress ink, layered up with a pearl burnt orange paper and then my main image panel. The sentiment is die cut and coloured with Distress Ink while the die was still in place, this is mounted on thin foam pads. The whole card will go as standard post as it all lies flat in the envelope.
     This may be the last of our new releases but we begin a new challenge tomorrow at MHK Designs blog, so please pop back to see what we have for you. Don't forget to join in with us for a chance to win some of the new stamps.

Butterfly Elements

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

Crafting With Dragonflies - Dragonflies / Butterflies
Cardz 4 Galz - Summer Fun
Cute Crad Thursday - Little Bugs / Butterflies
Hanna and Friends - Butterflies

MHK Designs - I've Been Framed

     Day four of the new releases from MHK Designs is a very versatile set called I've Been Framed, it has five frames and five sentiments that can all be swapped around to give you even more possibilities.
     Hat's Off really appealed to me, it seemed just right for a Father's Day card. I have used it for a general masculine card here and I still have all the other options to try, now that's value for money.
     The hat is an image I already had so I printed the Hat's Off frame and quote quite small, then die cut it ready to tuck in the ribbon band on the hat. It's printed on white card and coloured with Distress Ink while the die was still in place, I've also stamped a crackle over it in the same ink to age it.
     Well Suited has some great papers in it, this one was printed out on cream card after changing it to browns rather than greys. The edges have been distressed with the same ink as the tag and crackle stamped too. There is a small dark brown mat between the backing and the cream card blank.
     The hat is mounted on thin foam pads, there is a small slit cut in the edge of the ribbon for the tag to go in where it's stuck down flat.
     With the addition of some scrabble tiles to spell dad the card is complete. The tiles do sit a little proud of the card so it would be best hand delivered rather than posted.
     We have one more new release tomorrow so you still have a chance to pop over to MHK Designs blog for the chance to win a stamp set.

I've Been Framed

Well Suited

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

Die Cutting Divas - Father's Day

Scrap-Creations - Father's Day/Masculine

Inky Chicks - Father's Day/ Male Cards

MHK Designs - Eat Your Veg

     Welcome to day three of our new releases at MHK Designs. This set is Eat Your Veg!, very useful for making cards aimed at a keen gardener.
     The veg have been printed out and coloured with alcohol markers, then fussy cut. Country Farm paper set has a great rustic looking paper with chicken wire on it, which for me was just perfect as that's what surrounds my veg patch. Mounted on a small dark green layer and then on Kraft card kept the rustic garden look.
     Once the backing was on the card blank the veg were stuck on with the pepper raised on foam pads. The greeting is die cut and stuck on with thinner foam pads so that it sits under the pepper stalk comfortably. The brads are not brads at all, I have coloured the little dots that drop out when die cut and stuck them back in, they're directly over a foam pad so that made it easy.
     We still have two more gorgeous sets to show you so do pop back tomorrow, don't forget to visit MHK Designs blog for your chance to win a new set.

Eat Your Veg!

Country Farm - July release

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

Melonheadz Friends - Masculine
Love To Scrap - It's A Boy Thing
Cards In Envy - Masculine
Try It On Tuesday - It's All About Him

MHK Designs - Open Bloom

     Today showcases the second of the new releases from MHK Designs, this one is called Open Bloom and features a beautiful flower along with three great quotes.
     For his card I chose to print the image extra large so that it filled the whole 6x4 card, it's on card suitable for alcohol markers, I kept the colours simple so the flower size has full impact. It's mounted on a small dark green layer that makes the leaves stand out a little.

      The butterfly is from a beautiful set released last year called Butterfly Wisdom. This is only one of the gorgeous butterflies in the set, printed on acetate and coloured with alcohol markers, for details on how it's made please see here.
      It's a very simple card that will lay flat in the envelope, this image is stunning so needs little decoration which is why I have not added a greeting.
      There are three more new sets to come so please pop back tomorrow, don't forget to visit the MHK Designs blog for a chance to win any one of the new releases.

Open Bloom

Butterfly Wisdom

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Critters & Creatures - Any critter or creature
Where The HeART Is - Anything Goes
Dragonfly Dreams - Say It With Flowers

MHK Designs - Beachy Keen

     Welcome to the first new release from MHK Designs for this month, we have five new digi stamp sets to showcase over the next five days, as well as some great new paper sets. This set is called Beachy Keen and features a lovely beach scene along with five different greetings.
     The image has been printed in black on white card, to make my card square I have cut off the sea snail, it's coloured with watercolour pencils. I had some turquoise card for the mat layer and as luck would have it a perfect match for the colour of the sea.
     The backing paper is from Country Farm paper set, I have altered the colour in my photo package to suit my card, digi papers don't have to stay the colour they are when received. I'm not very computer savvy but I have managed to get to grips with my photo package, which is very simple, to manipulate the papers and increase their versatility.
     With the addition of a die cut bucket and spade and a die cut greeting coloured with Distress Ink the card is complete and it's still thin enough for standard post.
     Pop over to the MHK Designs blog to see all the DT inspiration and find out how you could win a new release set, don't forget to come back tomorrow for the next set.

Beachy Keen

Country Farm - July release

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

City Crafter - Let's Go To The Beach
Robyn's Fetish - Children at Play

MHK Designs - Acetate Butterfly

     This months designer inspiration for MHK Designs is using Butterfly Wisdom to make acetate butterflies. I have seen something similar before but wanted to try and make my own.

     On one A4 sheet of printable acetate I got nine butterflies, with better placing and various sizes I could have got a lot more out of my sheet.
     Two butterflies have been coloured using alcohol markers, the pens don't appear to react with the printer ink once it's dry. All the colouring is done on the rough, printed side so any possible marks won't show when it's turned over to the shiny side. Both butterflies have been fussy cut with only the base one keeping his antenna, the top one has been scored down either side of it's body and had it's wings bent upwards. The two are stuck together along the body only with red line tape, it's very sticky and perfectly clear so doesn't show through.

     The image is from Easter Blessings, it's been coloured lightly with watercolour pencils, die cut and shaded with Distress Ink Broken China.
     The backing paper is from Christmas Past paper set, I've used my photo package to alter the colour. Believe me when I say it's not difficult, one click on a colour change button, nothing to mess up and your original image is unharmed!
     All that was left was to use the red line tape again to stick the butterfly to the image. It will lay flat for posting and for UK postal rates it's a standard letter.
     Thank you for calling in and I hope that this will encourage you to play around with your digi images to see what you get out of them.
     Come and join us at MHK Designs challenge blog where you could win a digi set to play with just by playing along.

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

Crafting With Friends - Anything Goes

Crafty Girls creations - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything With Patterned Paper

Hats Off To You Dad!

     The new challenge at The Male Room is Father's Day, which here in the UK is later this month.
     I have used a new digi stamp set from MHK Designs for this card which will be released on Father's Day, shhhh....this is a sneak peek!
     The image has been altered in my photo package to show brown tones rather than black, it's then printed on cream card. The cream card is mounted on a thin layer of dark brown pearl card and mounted on a cream card blank.
     It's a very simple card but as the design is so nice I didn't want to make it fussy, there are a few hats cut out and mounted on thin foam pads to add a little more interest.
     Our challenge at The Male Room runs for two weeks so why not pop over and join us with your Father's Day creations, we'd love to see them.

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

Cardz 4 Guyz - Father's Day

Try It On Tuesday - It's All About Him

Scrap-Creations - Father's Day/Masculine Card

Tuesday Throwdown - Man's World

Love To Scrap - It's A Boy Thing

Ooh-La-La Creations - One For The Boys

House Of Cards Summer Blog Hop

     Welcome to my contribution for the House Of Cards summer blog hop, full hop details can be found further down this post as well as who to visit next.    

      My main image is from A Day For Daisies called Green Lady. I love the simple elegance of this image, she's beautiful. I have printed her out on white card suitable for alcohol markers and again on two different papers from MHK Designs Damsel In Distress paper set.

     After working out which colour would go where I cut the designer papers, then added a little shading using the markers.

    The image was coloured before adding the papers using Graph-It markers, the paper pieces were then stuck in place.      

     The image panel was trimmed and mounted on a lime green pearl card that has the corners punched. After playing around with several colours I settled on mounting this on a cerise pink pearl card that complimented the pale pink on my lady.

      There is a stamped, gold embossed oriental word in the top left corner to balance the greeting in the opposite corner. The greeting is a stamp from Reverse Confetti set My World, this sentiment seemed to go perfectly with the lady's thoughtful pose.

     I coloured the card the sentiment is on with Distress Ink and mounted it on some more green pearl card, then mounted it on thin foam pads. It should all go through as standard post as it's 5x7 and thin, I don't know how postal services work in other countries but here in the UK we have to stick to certain dimensions to keep postal costs low.

     Below you will find full details on how to join in with our hop and what you could win just by playing along, so thank you for popping in and good luck.

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

Alphabet Challenge - G is for Girlie

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Our Crafty Corner - Anything Goes

Hi everyone!  Can you believe we've are at the end of our fifth term here at House of Cards?!  Unfortunately we are saying a fond farewell to some of our DT members and fortunately we are so happy to those staying on.  To say goodbye and thank you, we're celebrating with a blog hop! 

This hop will run FROM June 1ST AT 6:00 AM CST THROUGH June 15TH AT NOON CST,  ANY CARD STYLE is welcome and we've got a gorgeous photo inspiration for your crafting enjoyment!

***PRIZE WINNERS FROM THE BLOG HOP WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE 20TH OF JUNE.***

***CARD WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONTH ON THE 15TH, AS PER THE USUAL HERE AT HOC.  THANK YOU!***

Please email Mynn at onastampageATgmailDOTcom if you have any other questions!  And now...

Here is the photo inspiration~

So, are you ready to get hopping?!  Yep, it's time, but first we've got some fabulous sponsors to share with you!  Make sure you leave a comment at each person's blog along the way because the prizes are hidden and we'll be doing random drawings from the blogs where they are hiding! :)  After you're done, make a creation to share with us here, too, for another chance to win!

Here are all of our fabulous sponsors.

Our team will be using a variety of products

from these amazing companies!

A Day For Daisies

Prize: 3 Digital Images

A Day For Daisies provides themed categories of over 1000 digital illustrations, including fairy tales and magical mermaids, cutie kids, vintage illustrations, sentiments and lovely designs for all occasions!

Reverse Confetti

Prize: $25 Gift Certificate
REVERSE CONFETTI offers on trend, high quality photopolymer stamps, high quality CONFETTI CUTS steel dies and exclusive paper products to coordinate with our releases…all made in the USA.

Great Impressions

Prize: Prize Package

Great Impressions was founded in 1984 by Ken and Deone Mackenzie.  With a love for stamping, the company grew.  The result is a quality rubber stamp in either wood mount or stickable mount backing for all your stamping needs.  Great Impressions' goal is to provide the highest quality stamps and to inspire creativity!

MHKDesigns

Prize: Any three products of your choice!

MHKDesigns is a vintage digital stamp Etsy shop owned and operated by Mynn Kitchen from On A Stampage.  She creates vintage stamp sets and digital paper packs for all your crafting needs.  Contact her with any requests you have at mhkdesigns.etsy@gmail.com!

And now, here's your hop order~

HOC Blog | Mynn | Sue T. | Cohenna | Donna | Dotty Jo | Em | Emily 

Heather | Jane | Judy | Karen | Katarzyna Ewa  | Katy | Leslie | Linda

Merethe | Merlina | Michele | Paula | Rocky | Rosi | Ruza

Shawna | Shirley | Steph | Sue N. | Susan | Tina | Toni

Now get to hoppin'!  Your next stop is Rosi  Don't forget to link up a project with us after completing the hop for an extra chance to win a mystery prize from one of our fabulous sponsors, too!  

Dot Painted Gecko

     For this months challenge at Altered Eclectics I have made a dot painted mini canvas. This is something I have wanted to try for ages but never got round to it, I'm so glad I finally did because it was so relaxing to make.

     I painted a small 6x4 canvas board with black gesso, I wanted a gecko on it so I searched the web for a free image outline and printed it out. I'm not very good at freehand drawing so I cut out my gecko and stuck him on to the canvas, then I painted over him with some more gesso.
     You can see here he really stands out because he's nice and smooth against the canvas but once painted he will fit in to the design quite well.
     I have used some pearl paints I have in my stash so it will have an added dimension to it when finished.

     As the canvas is only 6x4 I needed a small item to make the dots with, I tried the ends of pencils and paint brushes but they were all too big, a dressmakers pin stuck in a cork proved to be the best tool for the job and comfortable to hold too.
     I drew around the gecko with a white gel pen and then painted small pin head dots all the way around him on the inside of the white line.
     To add other interest I stamped some circles with the paint, using a paper mask I was able to overlap them.

     This paint dried quite quickly so I was able to begin painting with my pin head to make patterns around the shapes on the canvas.
     I did look at some Aboriginal art on line before I started to give me some ideas, they were amazing and this is no where near as impressive but I can understand the calming quality of the action.
     I kept to four colours for the entire painting although in the photograph this doesn't show very clearly.
     Having tried a small project I now wish to make something much bigger, maybe another canvas or maybe a piece of furniture.
     
Altered Eclectics is an anything goes challenge for projects other than cards or ATC's, we like to see mixed media and altered items so get your thinking cap on and come and join us.

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

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes

Love to Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media
Left of Centre Creative - Stripes and/or Dots
Dragonfly Journeys - Polka Party