Tailored Tag Punch and True Gentleman Paper - Masculine Workshop

Today I am showcasing the projects we made at my last Hygge Night, which was a Masculine Workshop.

I know many people struggle with masculine projects so I try to do at least one event on this theme each year, usually in time for Father’s Day.  

We used the True Gentleman Designer Series Paper and the co-ordinating Tailored Tag Punch, combining them with other stamp sets, including Birthday Wishes For You, which you can see here...

... and Guy Greetings which you can see below on this joy-fold card. The nice thing about Guy Greetings is that it has all the men in your life covered, so those who don’t need a Father’s Day card could easily switch this to make another birthday card.

The Tailored Tag punch is pretty versatile; we sliced it in half and inverted the shapes to create a funky bow tie for this box...

This is one of the silver gable boxes from the Spring/Summer catalogue, carefully dismantled and turned inside out!

And for another Tailored Tag punch trick, how about this?

For more tips and tricks like this, please like and follow my Facebook page!

Mix It Up Monday: Waterfront (yes, again!)

Yep, it’s Waterfront again! Sorry! Not really sorry, as it’s a fabulous stamp set and I wanted to show you one of our projects from last Friday’s Hygge Night. 

Inspired by Lydia Fiedler’s Waterfront projects using Brusho, I wanted to see if I could make something similar using just inks (as I haven’t caved in and bought the Brushos yet).

Last Monday’s Mix It Up Monday project used an all-purple combination from my In Color charts. This week it’s almost an all-green combo. It’s fun to play with these “close harmony” combinations, I think. 

To get the effect, we inked our stamps with at least two colours each, then spritzed them with water before stamping onto dry watercolour paper. It really is as simple as that. It’s messy but a lot of fun. 

Come back later in the week to see the framed images we made using the same stamp set. 

Sneak peek: Hometown Greetings Edgelits

What I would like to know is this: how come, when a German demonstrator (any German demo – they all seem to have this talent) creates a project using Sahara Sand (or Crumb Cake) and one other colour, it looks fabulous and stylish and gorgeous... but when I try it, I never seem to be able to pull it off?

But while the cards may not overwhelm, I think the products will. I LOVE the Pinewood Planks embossing folder, which I have only just purchased, and I LOVE these new Hometown Greetings dies.

I made a batch of these for this month’s club ladies, to thank them for their orders. I wanted to showcase some of the new Autumn/Winter products but in all honesty, I’m not quite ready for Christmas just yet. I know if I start on the Christmas cards this early, I’ll be sick to the back teeth of it by November.

But these little die-cut houses are good for lots of occasions. They are part of a border, so I had to cut off another house, and they are one of my favourite products in the upcoming catalogue. I have lots of ideas for these, and a trip to Ikea may be in order.

Mix It Up Monday: Swirly Bird

It’s the final combination from the Dapper Denim In Color charts this week as I rapidly head towards the last few colour combinations for this round of Mix It Up Monday. Soon I will have a whole new set of charts to show you and I can start playing with the brand new colours. 

For today’s post, I’ve made a project using the super-versatile Swirly Bird stamp set. This set will be the subject of my Stamp Doctor clinic this Friday, but this one of the projects that got away. 

It uses three colours from the Subtles collection, which is not somewhere I tend to head too frequently! So it was quite a challenge but thankfully the Dapper Denim is there to hold everything together. 

Mix It Up Monday: Birthday Fiesta

This colour combination from my In Color charts is not a million miles away from the one I used in last week’s Mix It Up Monday project. I really feel like I’m on the home stretch now, as I have seen the new catalogue and the lovely new colours heading our way.

And what’s particularly unusual this year, is that I actually LIKE them. As in, straight away, it hasn’t taken me two years to start enjoying them fully. 

Because that’s exactly what’s happening right now with the outgoing In Colors; I was very slow to warm to them but I’m beginning to miss Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe and Delightful Dijon already. 

But enough looking forward and backwards, how about now? This week’s combo uses Dapper Denim in a patriotic red, white and blue scheme. Yes, there’s grey – and you probably know I’m not a fan – but I’ve kept it in the background out of harm’s way. 

It’s nearly time to say farewell to the llovely llama, too. I normally sell ALL of my retired products but I may have to make an exception for this fellow. 

Mix It Up Monday: Window Box Thinlits boat

How cute is this little boat? I was so excited when I saw this project – and even more so when I realised it had been made with the Window Box dies. And the nautical colour scheme, from my In Color charts is perfect for this Mix It Up Monday project.

How to make the boat? Same method as the Easter basket...

Bookcase Builder Clean and Simple card

This is my new favourite stamp set – and it’s one which has been overlooked by many people, I fear... if the lack of samples on Pinterest is anything to go by.

I love reading so was drawn to this from the start, but resisted in favour of the bundles. I finally caved in last week and took delivery of Bookcase Builder.

I also took the plunge and did the unthinkable...

I confess I struggle with some of the sentiment stamps provided by SU and many of mine lie unused. This time, though, I was brave. I knew I’d use a simple “Thank you” a whole lot more than “Thank you for being my friend” so I took the plunge and separated the words. It wasn’t as easy as you’d think but it went smoothly and now I have the perfect “Thank you” stamp... and can add “for being a friend” to the clear block as and when I need to.

The card above is going to this month’s hostess, Tracey, while her guests get the smaller versions, below. Hope they like them – none of them has ordered the set yet, so at least it will be something new to show them!

Mix It Up Monday: Inside the Lines DSP

A simple project this week as we’ve all been under the weather this weekend, so I made this yesterday and then retreated to the settee with a poorly daughter and an opportunistic black cat. 

If you like colouring, you’ll love the new Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper. It’s part of the Sale-a-Bration promotion, which means you can, if you wish, choose it FREE with a £45 order.

It’s perfect for a colour challenge, as you can make it any colour you wish. So I thought I’d give it a go for this week’s Mix It Up Monday project, using another colour combination from my In Color charts.

This is a bright and cheery colour combination, which uses two of the latest set of In Colors; Emerald Envy and (my favourite) Dapper Denim. The Daffodil Delight IS there, it’s just not easy to see in the photo. The Stylized Birthday stamp makes the greeting the focus, and goes with just about everything, making it a useful addition to your stamp collection.  

Desktop Calendar with Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits

These Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits just cry out for copper foil, I think. They were the finishing touch of this very simple project we created at my Christmas Hygge Night.

The calendar is really easy to make; just half a sheet of A4 (cut lengthways) scored at 10.5cm, 13.5cm, 16.5cm and 27cm. Fold this piece to create the stand-up bit then decorate as desired.

It was such a happy accident that the curved sprig from Foxy Friends fit the shape perfectly!

We added a little pocket for a notepad (I have LOADS of these notepads; they must have been a bargain!) and a calendar tab. We were going to add a pen but I couldn’t find them in time – but the craft room is tidy now so no more excuses!

Mini one-sheet wonder with Hang Your Stocking

Today is Crafty Friday… a relaxed morning class for a small group of crafters. We take things slowly, learn new techniques and there’s usually a freestyle element to the event. 

Today we will be making boxes, just in time for our Christmas gift wrapping needs. 

But before that, I realise I haven’t yet shown you what we made last month, when we created a mini One-Sheet Wonder. This is where you stamp randomly all over a piece of cardstock, then cut it up to make several projects. Usually you stamp on a full sheet of cardstock but, due to time restraints we stamped on a half sheet, A5. 

The trick with a One-Sheet Wonder is always to start with your largest stamp, and work down to your smallest. Also, when you cut up your pieces, don’t feel you can’t add more images if you see any ‘bare’ areas which need filling in. 

These are the three cards I made and showed to the ladies, before letting them loose to copy whichever ones they liked, or create their own designs.  I love these clean, fresh colours - Real Red, Dapper Denim, Soft Sky, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz. 

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] £27.00	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706] £32.00	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25	Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments [119247] £4.50
Hang Your Stocking Photopolymer Stamp Set [142114] £19.00	Christmas Stockings Thinlits Dies [141841] £27.00	Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock [141419] £7.25	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz [131290] £7.25
Real Red A4 Card Stock [106578] £7.25	Old Olive A4 Card Stock [106576] £7.25	Gold Glimmer Paper [133719] £4.50	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad [141394] £6.00
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949] £6.00	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953] £6.00	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] £6.00	Whisper White Mini Pompom Trim [141486] £6.50

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Merry Mice gift tags

Due to lack of time, I don’t really do commissions... but when a friend asked me to make her some boxes and tags, I felt that as I was only working two days a week, I could easily take it on.

What I hadn’t banked on was having my hours suddenly upped to four days a week, which was great... but meant that time was short for the box project.

I haven’t shown the full extent of the project here, partly because I used some retired products and partly because I forgot to photograph them. The challenge was to make four large boxes, and eight smaller ones. Naturally, I used the Gift Box Punch Board... my measuring skills aren’t up to making identical projects without it.

Painting the mice was the best bit for me as I do love watercolouring. These are the tags for the larger boxes; my Stitched Shape Framelits arrived in the nick of time, although not soon enough for me to die-cut the watercoloured layer.

Merry Mice are currently on offer at just £11.75 for the clear-mount set, or £15.75 for wood-mount. Click here to see all the products on offer throughout November

Stitched Shape Framelits are a brand new product, released early ahead of next summer’s Annual Catalogue. You can buy them now but don’t worry, they will be available after the end of the month, too. They’re perfect for Christmas tags, though, so you probably won’t want to wait.

Merry Mice Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142145] £15.00	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] £27.00	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706] £32.00	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £8.25	Gold Glimmer Paper [133719] £4.50
Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £8.25	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [121029] £3.00	Real Red Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [103287] £3.00	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [141399] £3.00
Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [131161] £3.00	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [131158] £3.00	Dapper Denim 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon [141424] £7.25	Mini Jingle Bells [142002] £4.25	Gold Metallic Thread [138401] £2.75

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com