building my 'stashe stash

Men.  love 'em, but hate making cards for them.  It's seriously challenging.  No ribbon, no butterflies, no doilies - not to mention the "cute" factor of the punny stamps that I love so much... harrumph.  Men are like the stooges of card-making.

This is what I've learned so far, as dictated to me by my own man:

1.  harware = good.  When I showed him the card of the day, the first thing that got a positive comment was the mini office clip.

2.  simple is better.  This card is way understated.  Just enough layering to keep it interesting, but not over-the-top, since that makes it girlier, apparently...

3.  patterns:  do I even have to tell you that floral is a no-go? ha.  Newsprint, houndstooth, argyle, plaid, polka-dots, stars, stripes - all good stuff.

4.  graphic elements keep your man-card modern.  Or retro-modern, which is what I was going for!  My mustache is hand-drawn and cut out - not hard to do!  I was going for a whole "barber-shop" theme with this one, I think :)

I hope you enjoyed the card and some of the banter.  Have a fabulous day!

supplies (all PTI, unless otherwise noted)

stamps: it's official, tag-its #1, background basics: retro, background basics: newsprint

paper: vintage cream, basic black (SU), real red (SU)

baby blossoms

I love making my own scrapbook designer paper - so fun!  And also, economical!  I really didn't use many supplies on this project: just card-stock and ink...

If you want to create your own patterned paper, remember this tip:  stamp your larger elements first, then go back in and "fill in the blanks."  I stamped the roses first, and then filled in the spaces between with even smaller blossoms and sprigs.  Another tip is: layer!  I added a layer of - what is it, exactly?  a Moroccan motif? - overtop to unify all of the elements.

The rest of the card was purposely kept super-simple, so that I could show off my baby blossoms designer paper.  100% homemade, baby!




Supply list (all PTI, unless otherwise noted)
stamps: baby blossoms (SU), mat stack 3, background basics: retro, background basics: gingham
ink: (all SU) daffodil delight, bashful blue, pink pirouette, blushing bride, pear pizazz, peach parfait, mellow moss, memento tuxedo black
paper: bashful blue, mellow moss, whisper white (all SU)

You're a peach! (no, really - you are!)

Did ya miss me?  Probably not, lol.  We packed up our crazy family and went to Vermont for a few days of spring break.  Apparently, 3 other families we know had the same idea :)  Our kids had the time of their lives with other little friends in the hotel pool (and when you are 5 and 3 yrs old, there is nothing more fun as swimming in the hotel pool - it's a fact.  Let's not talk about the 10 month old who freaks out over everything... water included.)  We even ran into Sofia's school principal - in her sweats, feeling around for her morning coffee at the breakfast bar... hilarious.

We went to Michaels (I usually schedule trips around where the nearest Michaels can be found, since it doesn't exist in Montreal,) but it turns out I have been tainted.  Way too spoiled by PTI and SU stuff to appreciate much of anything there.  I ended up raiding the dollar bin for the kids so they could stamp in the hotel after their baby sister went to bed.  I thieved one of their new stamps for this card - I thought it was pretty cute!  I stamped it 3 separate times:  once on the notebook die cut, and 2 other times on post-it notes.  I created a mask for the peach and for the leaf out of these post-its, so that I could stamp a pattern inside without adding extra layers to the card.  Here's a close-up shot:

See?  No extra layers.  And by the way, thanks for reading my blog.  You're a peach. xoxo.