All Kinds of Fairies for The Butterfly Challenge

I hope you've all had a good Christmas. I managed to escape to my craft room this afternoon to have a play. The Butterfly Challenge wants us to use a Fairy for the month long challenge. I don't have many fairy stamps but then remembered this one from the Lindsay Mason Off The Wall Collection. I've stamped her with Momento and then painted her with a masking fluid before doing the background with Pan Pastels. The masking fluid is rubbed off and then coloured with alcohol markers. The Sentiment is from another Lindsay Mason set - Doo Lally Pip I Can Fly. The butterflies are from the same set and the leaf is from the Off The Wall Set. This is the first time I've used the masking fluid and I'm really pleased with how it worked

The Big Fella at Cardz 4 Guyz

 It's time for our last challenge of the year at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week our theme is The Big Fella. Yes we want to see Father Christmas on your creations. I've been ill most of this last week so I've had to use a card I had already made for my nephew. It's not quite what Caz had in mind when she set the challenge but needs must and all that. The image is Santa is Going To Town by Bugaboo and the sentiment is by Dyan Reaverey. His hat is glittered with Stickles but it looks a bit grey in the photo. I would have taken another picture but it should be there by now

We'd love to see what you come up with for this theme but please make sure your project is suitable for a guy x

Christmas Critters at Cardz 4 Guyz

Our new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz is another Christmas one and this week we want to see your creations with Christmas Critters

I've used some decoupage by Papermania called Pippinwood. I wasn't going to buy any new Christmas stash but I was so tempted by these cute critters and then I saw the paper pad and some decoupage in TK Maxx at a bargain price and couldn't resist. I know it's for a guy (my cousin) but I think at Christmas you can get away with flowers and gems on their cards, particularly when they're blue

I'm also entering this card into he following challenges:
Incy Wincy Designs - Snowy Days
That Craft Place - Christmas
Tando Creative - Festive Fun

Anything Christmas at Cuttlebug Mania

This is our last challenge of the year at Cuttlebug Mania so this time we want to see Anything Christmas so there's lots of scope for you

Here's my card

Spellbinders Floral Oval

Elizabeth Dies Candle

Marianne Design Poinsettia, Branches and Greeting
Papermania DSP

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge and don't forget to let us know how you've used you manual die cutting machine

Cardz 4 Guyz - Favourite Christmas Colours

Time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we want you to make your project with your favourite Christmas colour combination. I've followed this sketch from Kraftin Kimmie

I've gone for Blue, White & Silver for my card. I just love this stamp is JOFY and the sentiment comes with it

What's you favourite colour combo?

I'm also entering this into the following challenges
Vandicrafts - Anything Goes with a twist of Snowman/Snow
Sweet Stampin - Let It Snow
My Time To Craft - Snowman
Inkspirational - Christmas with a twist of no red or green

Iris Folding Butterfly

The current challenge at Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge blog is Paper Pieced Butterfly - I do hope this counts as I've done some more Iris Folding. I've cut the aperture with a Marianne Design butterfly die and found a free butterfly pattern on Google which I adjusted to fit the die shape. The pearlescent papers are by Papermania. Very CAS card using an older technique. I'll add a greeting when I know what I'm going to use it for

Cardz 4 Guyz Food Or Drink

It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and as it's my turn to choose the theme I've gone with Food or Drink. While trying to sort my crafty stash, I came across this old stamp by Personal Impressions. We recently had a class on Iris Folding at Tulip Crafts in Ringwood so it was well timed to find this stamp again. I've not done much Iris Folding before as I've always found it looks quite plain no matter what paper you use but I think the trick is to use coloured card as the base which is what we did in the class. So I've used an old paperback for the papers and kraft card. The bottom strip and top corners are embossed with a small Cuttlebug folder and glossy accents used on the handle as it looked a bit plain

Cuttlebug Mania - There's Snow Place Like Home

We've got a new challenge for you at Cuttlebug Mania and this week we're getting sentimental over Christmas so we want to see your creations with a sentiment and a snowflake

We're sponsored this week by Crafty Sentiment Designs who have kindly provided us with the sentiments we've used on our cards. Pop over and have a mooch around if you haven't been recently as there's lots of new stash

I've been making some Christmas cards for the animal charity with a Hunkydory kit and there were some small images and I wasn't sure what to do with them then I realised this one fitted perfectly in this Build A Scene die set by X Cut. I've used the 5 colours of card from the Papermania Parisienne Blue card stock pack for each of the layers. The top layer is embossed with Silver Pearl embossing powder. I've used some X Cut English Countryside border dies at the bottom and some Cuttlebug snowflakes at the top and embossed these with Kaleidoscope embossing powder

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge but don't forget to tell us how you've used your manual die cutting machine

It's Tuesday so we have a new challenge for you at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week our theme is Christmas Stocking. I just love this Hunkydory so much that I wasn't going to use it then I decided it would be perfect for OH's Christmas card and at least then I can have it back :). The holly leaves and berries are a Marianne die embossed with clear powder to give a shine to them

We'd love to see what masculine cards you come up for with this challenge and don't forget to pop over and see what the other girls have created

Cardz 4 Guyz Thankful

We've another challenge for you at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we want to see your Thanksgiving/Thankful cards. For my card I've used my new embossing folder by Tattered Lace. I'm not over keen on most of the Tattered Lace dies but when I saw this folder I loved that it has 3 interchangeable greeting panels. I've embossed it onto kraft card then rubbed Gathered Twigs Distress Ink over it before embossing with Versamark and clear powder. I was going to give it a couple of coats but liked the way the first one came out so left it at that. Some twine from my stash to finish

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
A Crafty Mess - Anything Goes
Simply Create Too - Thanksgiving/Thank You
Fussy and Fancy - Thankful
Inspirational Challenge - Shine


We'd love to see what you come up with but please make sure your creation is suitable for a male

You Go Girl at Cuttlebug Mania

It's time for another challenge at Cuttlebug Mania and this time we want to see you Girly cards. I much prefer to make masculine cards  so I've gone with pretty rather than girly. The background is made from some snippets of 3 papers and I've weaved them before sticking onto a base card and embossing it. The butterfly die was free with the latest DoCrafts magazine and I've brushed it with Wink of Stella

X Cut Butterfly die
Spellbinders Floral Oval die
Spellbinders Oval die
Spellbinders Ribbon Tag die
Marianne Design Forest Branch and Swirl
Embossilicious Dotty embossing folder
Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose Collection papers

I'm also entering this into the Butterfly Challenge which is to use three papers and Pixie's Snippets Playground

Boys Toys

It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week our theme is Boys Toys. I love this old set by Stampin Up and although the computer is quite old fashioned now, I just love the sentiments that come with it. The backing paper is by Wild Rose Studio and some card candi to finish

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
Seemacrafts - Monochrome
Sisters Of Craft - Anything Goes

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge but please make sure your creation is suitable for a male

Embossed Butterfly

The Butterfly Challenge want us to emboss our butterflies for the current challenge. I've got lost of butterfly stamps so choosing one was very difficult. I've had lots of play with them but wanted something bigger so I've gone with an Imagination Crafts stencil instead. A very simple card but I love the look

Imagination Crafts Butter Love Stencil
Versamark and Clear embossing powder
Tumbled Glass, Broken Chine and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink
Craftwork Cards sentiment
Gems from my stash

Sledging Fun

The current challenge at CD Sunday is Silhouettes. I've used an obvious CD - Joanna Sheens Dancing With Shadows and followed this sketch from Sketch Saturday

 We used to love sledging down the hill when I was young but we used a dustbin lid and it was always such a long walk back up the hill

I've used some transparent crystal embossing powder on top of the image ad snowflake for a lovely glistening effect

Metal at Cardz 4 Guyz

It's my turn to choose our theme at Cardz 4 Guyz so this week we want to see your creations with Metal on them. There are so many ways to go with this but I've gone for a Faux Metal technique. Now I have a couple of friends to thank for this idea - Pam and Cally and they in turn got it from one of Clair's workshops. I wish I lived closer so I could go as they make some great cards

It's really difficult to get a decent picture but I've made this for my cousin's Birthday this week. It's made with plumbers tape and plasterboard tape, cereal packets and alcohol inks

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - For the Boys

I'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge

Incy Wincy Spider at Cuttlebug Mania

It's time for another challenge at Cuttlebug Mania and this week we want to see your creations with a spider on

The image is sewn onto card and then matted onto black card. The cobweb at the bottom is embossed on black card with the Cuttlebug Spiders Web embossing folder and then brushed over with a Brilliance Moonlight White ink pad. This has a lovely sheen making it look silky but it doesn't show up in the picture. The three little spiders are from a Memory Box die. Originally they were going onto the black embossed card so I heat embossed them with clear powder but then decided to put them down the side

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Alphabet Challenge - Stitching
Fab n Funky - In Stitches, let's have a laugh - I hope this counts!
The Male Room - Halloween

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge and don't forget to let us know how you've used your manual machine 

Cardz 4 Guyz Halloween Challenge

It's Tuesday so time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we want to see your Halloween creations. For my card I've followed this sketch from Meljen Designs

I don't have much in the way of Halloween stash but this cute image is a CC Designs stamp called Vampy Hansel which I won from My Mum's Craft Shop blog a couple of years ago so he tends to come out of hiding every year. The papers are from the Bazzill All Hallows Eve paper pack and the spiders are a memory box die. I only have one small piece of the diamond paper (it's the reverse of the lighter paper) so I carefully cut it into pieces to fit the sketch so I'm also entering this into Pixie's Snippets Playground

I'm also entering this into the the Ruby's Rainbow challenge which is to use a freebie or prize

Butterfly Challenge Card

The current challenge the Butterfly Challenge is to use a tag. Last weeks class at Tulip Crafts was Cisioo which is Lacé combined with stitching and I've used one of my pieces as the border on this card. I've been really tempted by the Joy Crafts Fantasy Flowers dies but thought I'd have a go without it so I used a Woodware mini flower punch to make this hydrangea type flower and I'm quite pleased with the result. I was stuck as to what leaves to use and then I remembered these fabric ones

I rescued them from work when they were changing the plants for real ones and these were going to be dumped. As I left work almost 4 years ago they have lasted well. I used a circle of scrap paper and shaped it then loaded it with silicone before sticking to the tag. The flowers are punched from leftover paper from the Cisioo border and I've added pink Stickles to the middles

The imagine sentiment is by Stampin Up although it doesn't show too well in the picture

I'm also taking this over to visit Miss at the Crafty Snippets Playground

Cardz 4 Guyz Easel Card

Well we seem to have stumped you last week with our retirement challenge so we have something extra easy for you this week. We'd like to see your Easel cards

I've used a Kanban topper and sentiment. The stopper card is a snippet of silver mirri card, embossed with the Cuttlebug Diamond Plate folder and then gone over with red alcohol ink to take the brightness off. Some Card Candi to finish

We'd love to see you creations for this challenge but don't forget to make them masculine

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Pixie's Snippets Workshop - Snippets
Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

Anything With A Leaf at Cuttlebug Mania

Well Autumn is well and truly here now with the colder darker evenings and the leaves falling. so our new challenge at Cuttlebug Mania is Anything With A Leaf

I've used a couple of X-Cut dies from their Leaves set. There are 14 different leaves in this set but these two are my favourites for this time of year. I coloured some white card with distress inks then cut and embossed the leaves. The sentiment and foliage stamp are from The Paper Company Autumn Harvest set

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge and don't forget to let us know how you've used your die cutting machine

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Stamping Sensations - Warm Autumn Colours
AAA Cards - Autumn Colours

Butterfly In Autumn Colours

The current theme at the Butterfly Challenge is Autumnal Colours and I'm hoping to sneak in with this very quick card

I decided to get my gilding flakes out and have a play and this is what I came up with

Butterflies - Inkadinkado Patterned Butterflies
Stampin Up Butterfly Prints sentiment
Gilding Flakes

I'm also entering this into the Less Is More Autumnal Colours challenge

Time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Jan has chosen the theme Time To Retire. For my card I've followed this sketch from Sketch Saturday but turned it round

I've used the Retire In Style stamp set by Woodware for the image and sentiment. The papers are by Authentique from the Endless and Fairweather pad

I'll also be entering this into the Scribble & Scrap Anything Goes challenge

We'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge but remember to make your creation suitable for a male

Cardz 4 Guys Sports Challenge - but No Balls!

It's time for another challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week we want to see your masculine projects depicting sport but no balls please. There are plenty of sports which don't use balls as you'll see by the range that the DT have come up with. I've gone with darts and used a Kanban topper and sentiment. The background is made by cutting up cream card and layering it onto black to extend the dart board from the image.

If I made this again I don't think I'd add the twine but it well stuck so no chance of removing it! We'd love to see what you come up with this week

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Craft For The Craic - Something With Circles on it
WeDo Doobado - Something Masculine
Crafting At The Weekend - Anything Goes

With Thanks at Cuttlebug Mania

We had a record number of entries for our last challenge so thank you to everyone who entered but now it's time for another challenge at Cuttlebug Mania and this time we want to see your Thank You creations.

I've used the same colours as my last card as I think they are so pretty. The butterfly is a Marianne die which I've cut from the peach card and then embossed it with  the Embossalicious Die'sire Floral folder and then stuck the butterfly die cut back down at the body so the wings are free. The sentiment is by Stampin Up stamped and layered on scraps from last weeks card so I'm going to enter it into the Snippets Playground and also the Butterfly Challenge which this time is Autumn colours and I think this just about fits in. Ribbon and pearls from my stash

Our challenge is running for two weeks and we'd love to see what you come up with for this challenge

Cardz 4 Guyz Water Challenge

It's my turn to pick our theme and I've chosen WATER. I think this gives lots of scope for a masculine creation. For my card I've used an image from Joanna Sheen's Faye Whittaker Collection - I just love this CD. I've used my Darice Bubbles embossing folder and gone over it with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I would have preffered to use the blue card as the background but I only had a few small pieces so I swapped them around but then the yellow card looked a little bare so I used a pen top to stamp some bubbles. Glossy Accents and a Craftwork Cards sentiment to finish

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
CD Sunday - Birthday Card For A Male
Craft For The Craic - Something With Circles
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Anything with Snippets

I do hope you can join in with this challenge but please remember to make your creation suitable for a male of any age