The Male Room Can

     The theme this fortnight at The Male Room is gardening. I knew I had a die cut watering can somewhere in my stash, it's been there for a while so the big question was which box was it in?
 After only ten minutes I found it! Sorting my craft stash earlier this year is beginning to pay off.

     The watering can was cut in dark grey card, all I had to do was glue it together. A small die cut greeting on the front was all that was necessary to finish it off.
     The origami flowers are made using the pictures from a seed catalogue, there are so many gorgeous pictures of how your flowers should look, it's a shame to throw them away.
     Each flower is five squares folded and glued together, these ones have a wire stem put through the middle with a small gem on top of the centre. Different sized squares will give you various sized flowers, these ones are quite small as they are made with a 1.5inch scalloped square.
     The Male Room challenge is open for any masculine project with a gardening theme so please come and join us, we also have a DT call running.

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

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes   (F)

Shopping Our Stash - April Showers Bring May Flowers   (W)

Get Creative - Lots Of Flowers   (M)

Cruising Through The Male Room

    Our theme this fortnight at The Male Room is cars, a nice easy one for a masculine project.
     I have been using my media plates a lot lately, they're so easy to use and I love the backgrounds you can achieve with them. This one was done using the Izinks on smooth white card.
     After I made the oval background I die cut the word into it, this didn't show up too well so I coloured it very pale blue but I'm not sure that's made it any better.
     I decided to layer this panel over a map page to add to the travel theme I chose for my car. The car itself is die cut in black card with tiny silver hub caps. It didn't look right on a white card blank so I've used a Kraft card instead.
     Please come and join us at The Male Room, we'd love to see you masculine car themed projects.

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

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes   (F)

Try It On Tuesday - Stencils/Die cuts or Both   (F)

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes   (W)

Shape Up At The House Of Cards

      My apologies for missing last month, life got in the way. This month at House Of Cards we would like to see a shaped card and we have our usual colour swatch too.

     I needed to make a wedding card so I chose to go with an easel circle. This meant die cutting a square card blank and remembering to leave a hinge!
     For the main image I have used one of Chocolate Baroque's new stamps featuring a heart filled with script, overlapped with a gorgeous flower. This was embossed with gold powder. It was then die cut with a circle shape.
     I wanted to colour the card outside of the circle, so I stamped and cut out the heart on masking sheet, covered the image and used Distress Ink to add a pale pink hint of colour.

     The image was coloured in using alcohol markers. The darker pink from the flowers was used to colour a mat layer cut with a scallop die, just around the edge that would be seen.
     With the same pale pink Distress Ink and a stencil I added a starburst to the inside of the card. The easel needs something to hold it up , so a die cut panel with gold congratulations and coloured pink was mounted on foam pads across the starburst.
     To finish off I used my photo package to create a small card with the names of the bride and groom, printed in black with a pink shadow. Die cut circular, then mounted on a small scalloped circle to match the the image layer and added to the card on foam pads.  I hope the happy couple will like their personalised card, just wish I knew what the wedding colours are going to be but never mind, it's the thought that counts.
     Please come and join us at the House Of Cards with your shaped cards, we would love to see what you make, the DT have lots of great inspiration for you on our challenge blog.

Shaped Card and/or Colours

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

Crafting With Friends - Anything Goes   (F)
QKR Stampede - Anything Goes   (W)
Cute Card Thursday - Pretty In Pink   (W)

MHK Designs - Thank You Mynn Blog Hop

     It's the first of the month which would usually mean it's time for a new challenge at MHK Designs, also time for a new set release. But sadly, Mynn, the very talented owner of MHK Designs and card genius, has made the very tough decision to close the blog (the Etsy shop will remain open for the time being at least, but nothing new will be added to it) to focus on what's important to her, her life as a teacher.
     The news came as a shock to myself and the other DT members, but it's a decision we totally support. As most of us had our cards ready for today we have decided to make it a blog hop to say thank you to Mynn for all she has done for us.
     The hop order is further down this post, but first I'd like to say my own Thank You to Mynn for sharing her talent with me and encouraging me to explore the world of digital images. There are some great videos on YouTube showing how to get even more from your images, something I would not have thought of when I joined the team back in 2015.

Judy

Rocky -You are here

Shawna

Jess

Julie

Dawn

Janie

Em

Asha  

Mynn  (not posting, but please leave her a comment)

Acrylic Pour Coaster

     For this months Altered Eclectics project I tried my hand at Acrylic Pouring. I have seen so many gorgeous images produced with this messy but inspiring method that I just had to try it.

     The acrylic paint I used was an inexpensive brand because I wanted to see what it would be like to try this.. I watched lots and lots of tutorials on You Tube to get an idea of what I needed and how to do it.
     While my first attempt isn't amazing I can honestly say it was so much fun that there will be more to come, you never know just how it will turn out.
     This project had three colours, all mixed with the required ingredients (I won't list them as there are so many different methods). They were added to the cup (actually a shot glass because the coasters are small), the coaster was placed over the cup and then they were both flipped over and stood in a tray before removing the cup and letting the paint flow.
     This is such a messy technique, but totally mesmerising to watch as the paint moved around, no two pours are ever the same. Did I waste all that spilt paint?...heck no, I poured all that over some thick card to be die cut at a later date.

     So now I had two coasters and two mini canvases to play with, some had better cell division than others. The one I chose to decorate first reminded me of flames, so that's why I chose a dragon to go on it.
     Using Versamark and some lovely greeny black embossing powder I stamped and embossed my dragon flying over the flames, then I added a few trees to give some balance to the panel.
     It will need several coats of strong varnish before I could put a cup on it but all in all I'm quite happy with the result so far. More pours to come I think, the only trouble with watching so many great tutorials is I keep seeing stunning work and wondering if mine will ever turn out like that. The only way to go is to try and have messy fun doing so.
     Please come and join us at Altered Eclectics with your projects, you can enter anything BUT a card or ATC.

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

Use Your Stuff - No Challenge, just a showcase
Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes   (W)
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes   (F)