Easter for Boys

One and a half weeks until Easter, so it seems appropriate that the new challenge at The Male Room Should be Easter for the men and boys. This card is the brother to one I posted a couple of weeks ago for a different challenge and it's definitely for the boys

I used a generic grass stamp and an egg from Nature Walk, which I fussy cut out, coloured and overstamped with the grass so that it looks like the egg is in the grass, not on top.

These two cute critters are actually felt stickers and the sentiment is from Delightful Dozen. You can see the egg on the grass better on the photo below. You can see my preferred style is CAS, even when going cute, which doesn't happen very often.

Easter is so early this year, but today with the sun shining, I can see the lambs in the field and the golden daffodils are brightening up my garden so I guess Spring is really here...hurray!

Easter Bunny

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, or, dare I say it, a follower, you will know that I don't do cute very often. Nothing against it, just doesn't come to mind, but this week for CAS Colours & Sketches I have one to share with you. I saw these super cute Easter stickers and bought them last year, intending to make cards, but never got around to it. When I found them again in my stash and I looked at the sketch for today's challenge I knew what I wanted to do.

 We are always happy for you to change the shape, as I have done, just as long as the basic sketch can still be seen. I was going to use a double line of washi tape, but then my inner stamper saw Nature Walk, left out on my table from another card and so.....

The Easter Bunny, with his eggs all lined up. The sentiment is from Delightful Dozen.

You can see here that the bunny is a bit 3D. I had to move him over s

slightly as he did look rather odd sitting on those eggs!

Look out for another cute card from me coming soon too, couldn't resist it.

Back To Nature

ive called my post back to nature because I rediscovered an old stamp set of mine, Nature Walk. Haven't used it in ages, but today I need a masculine card for The Male Room and I always thought it made great cards for men. The challenge is keep your card monochromatic

I used shades of brown, specifically Kraft, which I used for the card base, and Chocolate Chip, which I used for the images.

For clean and simple cards I really like the feel of abstract colouring you get by stamping an image over a lock of colour

I used Chocoale Chip cardstock for a minimal border

And my final touch was a single feather stamped on the inside corner

I have to admit this was a 5 minute card, but sometimes that's just what you need. I certainly enjoyed revisiting an old favourite stamp set and teaming it up with a new one for a whole new look.

Freebird

This week at CAS Colours and Sketches we have a lovely CAS sketch for you to have a play with, chosen by Kylie. I am sure you will find it very versatile, my problem was limiting my ideas to one! Here it is

I have made one small change, from a circle to an oval

I have had this DP for ages and I love it, although I've not found anything to do with it...until today. The birds in the cages give such a great background for the free bird, image from Nature Walk, and I've paper-pieced a little cage behind him with some nifty cutting!  I made one of the edges to the mat scalloped and have left lots of white space. The bird has a tiny black gem, giving him a 'beady' eye!
Do have a look at the creations from the rest of the DT.

Inspired By Nature Walk

Lucky me! I've been crafting all morning! I do love those days when there's really nothing else that has to be done so you can craft to your heart's content.  I made two cards but I'm only going to show you one today.  It's for the Inspired by Nature challenge at Make My Monday.

I used Nature Walk and stamped the bird, before masking and stamping the eggs.  I used Promarkers to colour some of the eggs in very pale shades.  The technique I've used is called faux tile, I think.  You cut up your image into tiles and sponge the edges and reassemble the image on another piece of cs.  I've used two complimentary DSPs and added a small blue bow.  I guess it could be for Easter, a birthday or Mother's Day so I have left the sentiment off. I will have a very similar card for you and some exciting news later!

Two Birdy Cards

Hello.  I have two cards to share with you today.
The first one I am entering in a few challenges but it started out being inspired by this sketch from Make My Monday

 This is such a CAS sketch -I loved it instantly and I think I'll be using it again! This is what I did with it

I was intrigued by the theme from this week's challenge at Less Is More, which is Friends, not usually a subject for my cards but I thought of a friend that I really out to make contact with. I used the three little bird images from an SU set called Flock Together., even the name of this set puts me in mind of friendship.I had to make a sentiment as I didn't have one suitable and I used a a mask to get the two little red birds together, but other than that it was quite straight forward.. I am also entering my card into the challenge at Addicted To Stamps and More #5 for a CAS card.
As you will notice from the title of this post there are two bird cards.  Here's the second one - it's for The Merry Monday Challenge, where they want Christmas cards with birds.  If you're expecting a robin take another look!

This time I used another SU set, Nature Walk,and a little freebie hollysprig stamp. So, I can also enter this card in the Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge, where you need to use something recycled or free.  I triple time stamped this card and it's actually a case from my friend Jacqueline's Craft Club blog, you can look at her card here.

I've even decorated the inside this time.
Wow, that was a marathon post! Hope you like my cards.
February Update - just found out my 3 little birds card was chosen for top 3 at the Make My Monday , Challenge - which makes this Monday a little bit special!

Pedestal Pop Up for Hubby

Today is my husband's birthday.  We can't celebrate yet as he's in the States until Sunday, but I thought I would sit down and follow the excellent tutorial on Technique Tuesday to make him a pedestal pop up card. I was helped by the fact that it's snowing here in the UK where I live and so school is shut, the buses aren't running and we all get an extra day off! They are called Snow Days and probably those of you who live out there where snow is dealt with in a much more matter of fact, get-on-with-it sort of way will be amazed!
Any way here is my card

the inside with a pop up bird.

I used two stamp sets, Fine feathers and Nature Walk, and I stamped onto polka dot paper and Naturals Ivory cs, using chocolate chip, crumb cake and soft suede inks.  The Chocolate chip scalloped edge  ribbon picks up the polka dot theme.  I picked up the colour scheme with some burgundy DSP from the Paisley Petals range and I've fussy cut out one feather and raised in on dimensionals to give the front a bit more interest.
OK, so it's not all lovey dovey for the man in my life, but I know what he will like is the 'paper engineering' - the clever pop up pedestal, inside. i rather like the inside decoration too and I think I might be doing a bit more of this.

Nature Walk Christmas

I made this card to enter the challenge at Less is More where it's a one layer card featuring something with wings .  Well, I did go for the obvious - the little bird from SUs Nature Walk, but I stamped him off the page and added a sprig of holly in his beak.  I stamped in Crumb Cake and River Rock and coloured in the leaves and berries with my markers.  I made a double score line to 'ground' the bird image and the card blank is a lovely textured ivory colour. I have made a few of these cards as I'm rather pleased with the design. As it is also very clean and simple I would like to enter it in the challenge at Addicted to Stamps where it's a CAS week.

A Couple of Lovebirds

At last I found a little time to enter this month's challenge at St Luke's Charity Card Blog.  I do like to do this challenge as it's for such a good cause. Well, with one day to go here is my card featuring a couple of lovebirds. I first sponged the edge of my card with Lucky Limeade and then I stamped the little lovebird image and coloured them with my Promarkers.  I masked off the birds and stamped the cage from Nature Walk behind them. I doodled on the lines and added a green organza ribbon.  Finally I lined the inside of the card. The tiny sentiment is from SU's Outlined Occasion set and says 'Be Mine'