The musings and offerings of a burgeoning greetings master

Saturday, September 26, 2015

2015 Fall Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop!

Well, it turns out I AM alive, after all, and I am still making cards...

I am joining the Fall Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop for their Autumn madness!

And so, sans ado,
I made this--


I began with the "thankful" die cut, which has two, count them, TWO colors of glitter coating the bottoms. I do love me my sparkle!
I wanted the diecut and the coffee cups to be the stars of this card, so the rest went dark, dark brown.
Coffee cups are stamped on the background, and leaf diecuts were passed through some embossing folders add some texture.

My Lawn Fawn "Love you a Latte" stamps and dies in autumnal colors indicate almost all of what I am truly grateful for--COFFEE! (I DID manage to get a "for you" on the inside of the card. Can't have my recipient thinking I'm thankful ONLY for coffee....)

Right at the end, I felt the need for some extra shine, so I water brushed some Delicata golden glitz ink on many of the surfaces. I'm so happy so much of it actually photographed!

So happy to be back with the Coffee Lovers, and I'm loving seeing SO MUCH wonderful work out there!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Mr Cardmaker Gets All Man-Style with 12 Kits of Occasions

Well, I was SO tickled and honored to have Jeanne at A Kept Life ask me to join the 12 Kits of Occasions crew for the May Kit. I have been no where near my blog for AGES, due to our big move to Massachusetts in June. What with cleaning up for showings, and cleaning OUT for the move, my days have been full ones. I had no idea whether I would be able to take the time to make anything, but when things like that are offered, it is hard (and somewhat stupid, really) to say no. So, I said YES!

Anyway, I was able to make a few not-so-short stops during all this madness to make a few cards using this amazing kit.
Oh, the KIT! There were beautiful papers, different and wonderful diecuts, twine, sequins, stamped sentiments and images, and SO MUCH MORE...A veritable cornucopia of fun, inspiration-stimulating goodness! Jeanne, FAB job!

Be sure to go see previews and links to all the rest of the great work  at the 12 Kits page by clicking HERE!

So, I guess I will start with what I made first, and go in that sort of order.
I made this--

Can't get much more masculine that this without adding real DIRT. Note how much good COLOR you can cram onto a man's card with it remaining just as masculine as you please...

I love the detailing on those boot diecuts. I popped out the details, watercolored them with ink, and popped them back into the boots.

The silver foiled horseshoe diecut goes so well with the silver stars, and the wood grain sequins are perfect with the veneer stars. I also hand colored the image with colored pencils.

Next up, I made this--

These birds on this oh-so-graphic background look so hot. Reminds me of city birds perched on some abandoned metal works.

Now, the gems are not the first thing I would reach for when doing a man's card, but they look so SMART here (if I say so myself), I had to do them. I think the dark blue makes it all okay...(these were from my stash. I hope that's allowed...)

Then, off to this--

Now, these lure diecuts were done in these bright, happy colors, and while they didn't exactly go with any of the papers, I loved them, so I had to make them work in a card.

I started with the "dad" diecuts, and originally, I layered up the three that you see behind the red one, and it was looking pretty good. Once the card was just about finished, though, I found them just a bit flat by themselves, so I colored and triple clear embossed the red one, and that puppy WORKED!

Some Glossy Accents on several of the lures really helps give this card some life. Oh, and, more veneer stars, because Dad deserves them.

Oh, and this one has a good inside, too--



And finally, this one--

 
I HAD to use that "epic" diecut collection. HAD. TO.
More triple clear embossing on that top one. SO rich and shiny looking.
More colored pencil on the image. My eraser was as big a tool here as anything else. Softens things up perfectly.
Oh, and since I COULD. NOT. leave the candle flame as the only yellow on the card, I stamped a little banner piece and slid it in. Now I can breathe again. (Of course, I COULD have just made the flame orange instead, but, well, now, that would take some SENSE.)
 
And, the inside of that one, using a couple stamp sets in my stash--
 
 
 
Well, I am sorry that I couldn't devote more time to this kit, but I will definitely be digging into some of my leftovers when I finally get into my new space.
 
Huge thanks to Jeanne for the invitation to play and for the kit! I don't know how you all manage such collections of fab things!
 
I'll leave you with a pic of my collection of cards--
 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard
 


Saturday, April 4, 2015

Mr Cardmaker is CLEARLY a Twelve-Year-Old

   
Hi there. You may be wondering why I haven't posted lately (or not), so I felt the need to share that we are in the middle of a move to Massachusetts, and things have been more than hairy around here. We DID manage a little vacation in the midst of it all, because it was PAID FOR, so that says even more about why I haven't been here in blogland. I will get back to posting more regularly ASAP, but until then, please enjoy this crazy post...
............................................................................................................................................

A few years ago, I read Misadventures in the (213) by Dennis Hensley. Amazon has it HERE.
I read it on vacation in Key West, and I made a HUGE fool out of myself, cackling and ROARING from my poolside lounge chair. One of the funniest books, EVAH. For reals.

In it, the main character talks about the game he plays with his starlet best friend.
It's called smelt it, dealt it, and it pretty much involves what you think it does.

So, you open any magazine, find a photo with two or more people, and decide who is the dealer, and who is the smeller.

Things like this are especially good--


Get it?

The more subtle ones are even funnier--


Teehee...

Ok, before I lose you for good....
I made some cards!
I HAVE mentioned that the kids in my family are almost ALL BOYS, right?
Boys get these things..

I fell in deep, deep love with Tim Holtz's Bird Crazy stamps, and, well, let's say they SPOKE to me (ahem).

Using these wonderful, crazy fowl, I made these--
The "Smelt it, Dealt it" series!

1)

And inside--


Okay, the red-rimmed, glossy eyes on these birds STILL make me giggle like a fool...

2)

And inside-


Next, I limited the amount of coloring I did, to exaggerate the eyes...
3)
And inside--


Trying things in reverse order...

4) 


5)

And inside-
That chick's face just KILLS me. 

Now, these birds stack up nicely, don't they?...
6)



And inside--

Yes, they do indeed sell that stamp...

Well, if you're not COMPLETELY offended, you hopefully got a good laugh here today.
I know my boys will get a chuckle on their birthdays, and I'll save that last one as a good "cheer up" card for just the right person.

Now, go find a magazine and have yourself a laugh!

Thanks so much for stopping by (and for indulging my 12 year-old self)!
All Best-
Richard

PS-See you soon!