Boys in blue

A couple more baby boy cards today. Both quick, both using Serif CraftArtist and Louise Tiler Baby Bloom digikit. Simple images, so I thought a bit of decoupage would be in order.

For each one I only need to use one sheet of cardstock. I decide the size and shape of the finished card and then add my ‘material’ (Serif name for a bit of backing paper you can resize) and make bigger/smaller as required for the base card. Then add the ‘Embellishments’ I want and again resize. Once that is done I copy and paste the resized embellishments as many times as required to be able to make multiple cuts for the decoupage. Shuffle everything around a bit to fit, print and craft.

For the ‘washing line’ one I just cut the three main items out again, used a 3d foam pad low down on the cut-out and glued the top part (the pegs, basically!) flat onto the image below. Hopefully to give a breezy feel (thought about saying ‘windy’ but decided against it!). With such simple cards just a little bit of extra detail or interest helps, I think. Maybe?

Hope you like them!

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Can’t sleep, so….

Just a quick one. I can’t sleep and have now given up trying, because I know I will manage to nod off about 10 minutes before the alarm goes, and being forced awake again then makes you feel worse. So I decided to get up and use my time productively, but taking into account the decibel level. No vacuuming then. Imagine my disappointment (!).  Ironing, maybe? Still a little noisy. Not the task itself, just the grumbling about it. If only there was some totally silent little thing I could do….

The universe has spoken. Well, whispered, really. ‘Go finish your card. Go blog it. And type quietly’. I have obeyed the laws of the universe and will now be rewarded with caffeine. And what will feel like the longest day in history.

 

This is made with the Craftwork Cards Toile collection. Lovely china blues and busy patterns with contrasting bleached wood effect in this range. Add in a base of kraft card, a couple of white Card Candi and nothing else, really….

 

More for Men

More from my Louise Tiler kits using Serif CraftArtist. The card is the same kind of layout as the baby one I posted a few days ago. I can’t resist a pennant or banner. Guess I should have been a boy scout. Ah well. Another missed vocation.

I’m not making the most of what the software can do. Adding a drop shadow is about the pinnacle of my achievements with it so far. Oh, and making my own sentiment so I don’t have to keep re-typing Made by… every time (which, I am embarrassed to say, I was doing for way too long). Actually I can’t remember how I saved the sentiment so it might have been accidental! Still, one of my favourite sayings is “luck’s as good as brains, as long as it lasts”. Socrates? Descartes? Confucius? Dick Van Dyke in Diagnosis Murder – you get all the highbrow stuff here.

I need to invest some time in learning CraftArtist better, but for now I am happy to print and stick, same as always.

Oversized tags on gift bags make me ridiculously happy, as do those in novelty shapes. Presents should always be the most fun they can be, right?

It’s nice to be able to make stuff for men in light, fresh colours. I am pretty happy with my afternoon’s efforts. How has your day been?

Ice cream floats and Boy Ahoy!

Yesterday I made and blogged a card for a baby girl, so in the interests of fairness I had to make one for a baby boy too.

I know there are not actually any ‘fairness police’ out there, well not real ones with badges and all, but with due reference to the rule of ‘one pours, the other chooses’ that was drilled into me and my sister, cousins and friends when we were kids, fairness must always come up trumps. If you aren’t fair, there are consequences…

Ice cream floats were the trickiest to gauge just right and make compliant with the rule. As they were an occasional treat you never had much chance to practice. Not like squash pouring. That was for wimps. Ice cream floats were cutting edge, hard core. There is fizzy pop, which you have to pour, then wait for the bubbles to disperse, then even out with tiny, tiny top ups, and wait again. Then the dollop of ice cream to take into account. No science, no scales, just eyeballin’ it.  Trying to drill your way with a spoon into a block frozen solid enough to cause concussion if thrown. Trying to get the scoops even, because you really, really don’t want to have a “double dunker” second scoop in one glass and not another. That would mess up the laws of fairness so bad that the universe might implode. Ah, happy days!!

Anyway, as stated, fairness must rule so here’s the card. I used the Louise Tiler Baby Bloom digikit from Serif again. The little sailor suit is so cute.

I think I prefer this to yesterday’s effort. It was quick and easy and the only additions are a couple of pieces of Card Candi. I was dithering whether to put them on the pennant tails, or either side of the greeting. I plumped for the former, then decided I still wanted something next to the text so just used some punched circles which, sometimes, is the difference that will make you happy with your effort. All that work and two circles from hole punch waste are the defining touch. Go figure.

 

 

In the pink, again

Pink and black again. Like a moth to the flame…no wait, that’s a gory end…why are so many of our day to day sayings actually rather gruesome? Like ‘keep your eyes peeled’? Who on earth would do that?? And yes I know not to be quite so literal, but it evokes a mental image of a nasty encounter with a potato peeler that just won’t quit.

Like a bear to honey…much better. Except now I am likening myself to a big old furry lump of a beast with a sweet tooth. Far too close to the truth for comfort. And I have never even been camping….

Anyway, I love pink and black together and revisit it time and again. Here we have another card made with Craftwork Cards Heritage Rose loveliness, some vellum and Hunkydory Adorable Scorable card. I didn’t try the Adorable Scorable until about six months ago (trying to chip away at Mount Cardstock which had erupted in the spare room), but I bought some when it was reduced in price because the colours were just what I wanted, and now I find it difficult to use anything else. It makes a really good and strong card base and the range of shades is super.

I have been peeking at a few other blogs today and am reminded of the existence of my alcohol markers. I think the black and white paper here might look good with a bit of subtle colouring so I may give that a go. Add it to the project list….