Colourful cards for men

Because not all cards for men have to be navy or brown….

I have to confess to a crime against craft. This week, whilst once again braving Stash Mountain, I came across a couple of sets of dies I had never used. Actually I have quite a few sets like that, but these ones I had also forgotten about. Tsk! I believe I may have mentioned this before, but the rule is, in order not to further upset the Gods of Craft, once such items are discovered, you gotta make something.

These are simple silhouette dies, all of a sporting ilk. I seem to remember they were a bargain, hence the purchase. Also we have quite a few ‘young men’ (translate as ‘significantly younger than us‘) in our family and I am just never prepared with cards to give them. A bit rubbish really, considering how much kit I have to hand. But stuff for younger people seems to date so fast. The ‘technology’ that was a feature of card toppers I bought, say, five years ago now probably looks to them like it might have been used to steer a tall ship in the 1800s. But hey, a shadow remains constant. Well, no, not at all really, always changing in fact…but last time I checked we all still had one…unless you live in Britain, with no sunshine…and I think there was an issue with Peter Pan…heck this is not going well at all…

Ahem. Let’s get this back on track. Anyone want to see a card? I decided to go bright, and bright-ish for these. Why not? Colour is fun and silhouettes lend themselves to a splosh of the primaries.

For the first card I used the basketball player and three different splat stamps in the primary colours. I was OK with it but though it just needed a little more, so stencilled some grey spots at the top for a bit more interest. I also stamped splats onto the envelope and one behind the greeting on the inside. In the photos the red looks a bit pinkish. It isn’t though!

For the second I was considering doing pretty much the same, but in slightly softer tones and with a footballer (soccer player, to my North American pals). But recently I have seen a few examples of cards with a partial circle cut out at the edge and thought this might be fun for a change. Because the black layer looked a little austere just left plain I also used my Halftone stencil, this time with embossing ink (Versamark) and clear embossing powder. This gives it a bit of texture without (hopefully) being too girlie. Again I decorated the envelope a bit. Well, why not?

I still have tennis, rugby and golfer dies to play with! I will probably make at least one blue or brown card. Ah well.

Supplies: Trimcraft Sporting Silhouettes dies; Altenew Birthday Greeting and A Splash of Color stamps, Halftone stencil

 

Open letter to the President of the IOC

Dear Mr IOC President,

I know you are a busy man, so have probably not had time to catch up with my blog. I’m sure you would get around to it as some point, but here I am, saving you a job. You are welcome.

Anyway, the thing is, a few of us are feeling like maybe you have missed a trick, and your (albeit pretty successful and enjoyable) Games could do with modernisation. We have had a few hours to think about it, so it is not ill-considered.

Your Games are flawed. They are elitist, discriminatory, and not fit for a 21^st century society where competition is eschewed and everybody gets to win something. So we demand to be included. Every chip-eating, beer-swigging, glasses-wearing, rheumatic, asthmatic one of us. Those who can’t run, or swim, or jump high or long; those who would suffer vertigo astride a horse, seasickness in a rowing boat, or need stabilisers for their bicycle.

To be helpful, we have come up with a list of events. Please read all the brilliant suggestions in the comments to my previous post. When you prepare for the 21OG (see, I have even given you a catchy new name) these bloggers will be your ‘go to’ people for technical advice and expert knowledge. I would strongly suggest you reward them generously. Again, you are welcome.

As I write this, I am also thinking of current Olympic events which could be made a little more relevant to our world. My further suggestions for regular folk are:

Fencing. I have a couple of ideas here. Either landscape gardeners or everyday builders putting up a garden perimeter. Or, slightly less admirable, the competitive selling of ill-gotten gains. I know this should go against the Olympic spirit, but then again, so does drug taking, right?

Boxing. Putting stuff in boxes. The most stuff, in the least amount of boxes. Timed.

3 day event. Partying big-time, starting Friday, ending Sunday. In the UK I would suggest you look to the county of Essex for expertise. They are pretty good at this.

Jimnastics. Open to anyone called Jim. To do whatever they want.

Judo. Teenager speak. Like “innit doh”. “D’you, doh?” Whole load of teenagers speaking in a language adults cannot comprehend. The least understood wins the medal. Delicious irony. Maybe an iron medal?

Swimming. Against the tide. Specifically, going the wrong way around in IKEA. Fitness, courage and a tough skin required for this one.

Sailing. AKA Sale-ing. Bargain hunters, boot-sale fans, this is your moment. Purchase for your country!

(Re)cycling. Saving the planet, one bit of rubbish at a time. It’s important, so include it somehow.

Wait-lifting. All those times we are hanging around, for someone to finish what they are doing. Give us a medal to lift the boredom a bit.

Row-ing. For gardeners and allotment holders. Sowing lovely neat rows of seeds or plants… Or, OCD sufferers? Lots of tins and cans arranged front and centre, nice and orderly…

Archery. Ability to consume large volumes of peach schnapps… See earlier Essex reference.

Squash. Speed consumption of sugary diluted drinks.

There will be more, I’m sure, but this is something to get you started. I am currently employed but willing to consider a move to act as advisor should you offer attractive terms. I think you need me.

Respectfully,

PaperPuff

A different kind of Olympics

Are you watching, and enjoying the Olympic Games? I have always loved them – all that endeavour and grit, toil and skill. I have huge admiration for every single individual that makes it to the Games, as well as those that miss out, or those that just get motivated enough to go for a run or swim. You are all marvellous.

However, we are not all Olympic material, but nowadays it would seem that any kind of exclusion is not allowed. At school team sports are in, individual success is out. All can join in, and pretty much everybody wins something. So, if those are the new rules of competition, why not apply them to all of us? This means (stretching it a little) that you, me, and everyone else should be allowed to enter the Olympics, if we want, right? Brilliant. Can’t wait. Except I don’t want to have to train….and I am no spring chicken…and a ‘no mascara’ day will never happen…also I am (probably) allergic to lycra…the list goes on.

But I have RIGHTS! There has to be an Olympics for me. So, quick ponder, what are my skills? What would my event be? I should probably give such a major decision a tiny bit more consideration (I had this idea about 15 minutes ago), but I am thinking my events (yep, going for a Michael Phelps multi-medalling feat) would be:

Random word association

Sarcasm

Most pairs of shoes worn in a day

I am nodding my head, pretty confident here that I can do rather well in my chosen disciplines.

So, what would your Olympics event(s) be? You can choose anything. Dog-walking, shoe-polishing, speed ironing or apron-folding, it doesn’t matter. Pick those you can win and live the dream!