Masculine Easter Card

I just revisited a challenge that I participated in a while back and really need to get back on board with them on a regular basis. It's a great masculine card challenge called The Male Room. This round, #197, is, in addition to making a masculine card, is to create one with geometric shapes.

A few years back I bought some Easter dies that would fit this challenge perfectly. Easter cards are usually light and airy with pastel colors, flowers and rabbits, but I thought, why not create a masculine Easter card? I was going for kind of a stained glass look, but in browns with would be the color of the cross. And the leaves in the back are supposed to resemble looking though a window.

Here's my supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Mossy Meadow Card Stock
• SU! Pear Pizzazz Card Stock
• SU! Early Espresso Card Stock
• SU! Cinnamon Cider Card Stock
• SU! Crumb Cake Card Stock
• SU! Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock
• SU! Green Leaves DSP
• Off White Card Stock
• Simon Says Stamp Inlaid Crosses Die
• Simon Says Stamp Clean Line Faith Stamps & Dies
• Versa Mark Ink
• Simon Says Stamp Ultra Fine Cream Embossing Powder

This was fun to make, but a little on the time-consuming side because of all the gluing the pieces together. But I really like the finished product, and I'm so thankful the The Male Room for helping me create something that I normally wouldn't have made! I'm going to visit them much more often, for I'm always needed those ever-so-challenging masculine cards!

I'm going to be looking to send this to a guy in the The Angel Card Project. I hope he'll appreciate the lack of pastel flowers!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Try A Sketch on Tuesday #667

There's a super-cute, whimsical sketch challenge over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday. And although it features a rainbow, a heart and a splash, you can substitute any shapes. I tried to stay true to the drawing while switching out some of the elements. Since it's Spring and almost Easter, I went with one of my all time favorite stamp sets. Here's my complete supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Springtime Joy Stamp Set
• SU! Coastal Cabana Card Stock
• SU! Soft Suede Ink & Card Stock
  
• SU! Daffodil Delight Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• Newton's Nook Sky Scene Builder Dies
• Copic Markers
  

One little note is that I tore the top of the brown card stock so it would look like the flowers and bunny were popping out a little from the dirt. Just a little springtime touch!

It's always a joy to stamp, color and cut these cute critters out each year, and hopefully I've done a fairly good job following this fun sketch! Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Spring!

Happy Retirement to A Wonderful Friend!

Today is a fun and exciting day for me. I get to take a wonderful friend out to eat at Outback Steakhouse for lunch to celebrate her retirement! It's such a big milestone after working for many decades.

I got everything ready with a gfit and a vase of jasmine from the garden, but I forgot about a card. Oh my goodness what's wrong with me!

Thinking more about card making than card sending, I was over at Simply Clean and Simple checking out their newest challenge when my memory was triggered. Their theme is anything goes with an option of "umbrellas." I like to try to use the option because it makes it more of a challenge for me. My first thought was a rain umbrella and I don't think I have one of those. Then I remembered that I do have a beach umbrella. Then I thought about relaxing at the beach and I remembered that this would be a perfect card for my friend's retirement!

So I scurried about making this one, just in time for lunch at 11:15 and in perfect time for the SCS Challenge!

My supplies are:

• White Card Stock
• Stampin' Up! Beach Happy Stamp Set
• Memento Danube Blue Ink
• SU! Island Indigo Card Stock
• SU! Balmy Blue Card Stock
• Darice Embossing Folder
• Sizzix Scalloped & Circle Dies
• Various Copic Markers

Looking at the card now, I wish I had made the circle going around the scallop in a darker blue to make the image pop more, but it's not too bad for a hurry up card! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

A Crazy Camping Trip

Over at Cardz 4 Guyz this time their theme for challenge #369 is "Fun and Games." So I went digging through my stamps to see if anything I had would fit and I came across this stamp set. I thought it was cute when I bought it at a yard sale. I think I'll pick up anything for a dollar! But I never used it, so it's also going to be entered over at the NBUS Challenge #73 this month too.

The funny thing about this set is that, while it's cute, I really didn't know what to do with the card at first, especially for someone that I don't know. Then it hit me: send it to someone who's going through a tough time right now. Inside I can write something like "sorry things are crazy right now." Then another thought hit me. I think I'll send it to my daughter! She loves the outdoors and plans on doing some big hiking trips this summer, but things are crazy for her right now at work, so this will be perfect.

Here's my complete supply list:

• Stampin' Up!
• SU! Early Espresso Card Stock
• SU! Always Artichoke Card Stock
• SU! Soft Suede Ink
• Sizzix Ornate Labels Dies #3
• Darice Embossing Folder
• Various Copic Markers

It was really fun making this card, as long as this doesn't happen in real life! A bear getting a hold of your beans and a racoon getting into your smores is not good! But hopefully it will put a smile on my daughter's face next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful and safe day!

Word Power April Challenge

It's already another new month and that means that Word Power Challenge Blog has a new challenge! My craft desk is usually pretty clean, but when I went there this morning Stampin' Up!'s Biggest Wish was left there-perfect for the Word Power Challenge.

After digging around in my paper bin and finding these stripes, I chose to make a masculine card. I love the colors and I always need more masculine cards anyway. It's ready to go in a craft envelope that will be perfect for any guy!

Here's my complete supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Biggest Wish Stamp Set
• SU! Balloon Adventures Stamp Set
• My Minds Eye Patterned Paper
• SU! Cherry Cobbler Card Stock & Ink
• SU! Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock & Ink
• SU! Mint Macaron Card Stock & Ink
• Memento Black Ink

If you haven't played along with Word Power, it's such a fun monthly challenge. Be sure to check them out and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Colorful Options Challenge for April 2025

Behold, the Lap Warmer! That's a name that I came up with when I saw a Facebook Post for a 95-year-old woman whose daughter was requesting some birthday gifts for her. She said her mother liked things that were soft. So I got thinking about what I could make and came up with this.

This one is actually the second one I made, and the colors were chosen especially for the Colorful Options Challenge Blog. I'm loving this blog because not only can you submit cards of course, but any craft that fits the theme challenge for that month. Plus, they give you a little heads-up for the following month so you have time to create something a little more time-intensive. (I already have my yarn for next time!)

But for now, the Colorful Options inspiration board features soft pastels in purple, pink, green, apricot and off white. I took the picture with me and went to Michaels and found an almost perfect match in a variegated yarn.

The way I've been making these is to use two #4 size yarns and doing a corner-to-corner crochet stitch, but using a large size M/13 hook. This creates a loose stitch which is perfect for draping. Of the two yarns, one is a fuzzy type yarn (in this case it's a solid white color) and the other yarn is the variegated pastel yarn. Using two yarns does dilute the intensity of the colored yarn, but I think it's still visible enough here.

The reason I created a "lap warmer" rather than a more traditional sized "lapghan" is simply cost. If I was making just one of these for a family member, I would certainly make a bigger size. But yarn is getting expensive and I volunteered to make 16 of these by the end of the year so they could be distributed to nursing homes. I love to crochet and it's an honor and joy to be able to do that, but I have to watch my costs too.

You can see the picture of the three yarns that I started with. They all came from Michaels (thanks to Joann's shutting down and totally abandoning me as a customer but I'm not bitter about it!). Just kidding, but I really do miss them, but I'm learning where to get other yarns and I'm really happy with these three. The fuzzy yarn had to be ordered online but the other two I picked up right in the store.

The Loops & Threads and Caron Latte Cakes were used to make the main section and the Caron Simply Soft was used to make the shell border.

The size of the lap warmer is about 24" x 24" which is just right for the average size lap. It took almost the entire skein of Loops and Threads (which was 315 yards) to make this, so that's the amount I have to count on to make others in the future.

I hope that these small but mighty lap warmers will give those in nursing homes a little bit of warmth, softness and comfort this upcoming holiday season.

Thanks so much to Colorful Options for giving me some great inspiration this month, and thanks to everyone for just stopping by today!