The Male Room - Opens Today

Hello and Welcome to our very first Challenge at The Male Room a new challenge blog specifically for male orientated cards, scrapbook pages, altered art, mixed media, tags, bookmarks, Memory Books, ATC's, Fat Pages, whatever you wish to enter into the challenge as long as it fits with the theme and of course is for a male person, whatever age. Please pop over to our blog to see the wonderful work from the Design Team and of course those all important pesky rules. We are opening with a firm favourite to get you into the swing of things - ANYTHING GOES - no theme, no restrictions. Just dive in with a male project. We would be thrilled if you become a follower of our blog, I look forward to visiting you over the next two weeks.

Recipe for my card.

White card, Dark Brown and Kraft Cardstock

Mixed Papers from LOTV Country Gent 

Crafty Individuals stamp - 3  Wise Gentlemen CI 077

Fiskas Oval punch for Greeting

3 Brown buttons

Tim Holtz DI Vintage Photo 

#56 Anything Goes @ ATSM

Hello, once again we find it's time for Anything Goes ( #56)  at Addicted to Stamps and More. I try during the Anything Goes weeks to step away from making a card, though this is not what the swap means, you can do anything at at all, giving you an opportunity to try something new or show us the latest successful technique you have learnt, as it say ANYTHING GOES. Some weeks ago my small class asked to decorate some boxes, the set above are my teaching sample, they were at various stages for the class, I have since finished them. I am going to put these to an extra use, by sending them to my partner at a Yahoo group called StampersUK, where we hold a monthly swap, this month it too, is Anything Goes,  my partner will receive these before this post appears on my blog. 

Recipe

A set of 3 boxes, paper mache type, cost less than £2

White emulsion paint (cheaper than Gesso)

Green Acrylic paint

White Tissue paper

Stazon ink pad

Diluted PVA glue

Selection of Steampunk style stamps from

Stampendous, Kanban, Non-Sequitor from The Stampman

Flower forming dies, Marianne and Spellbinder.

Paper Piecing

This week at Make My Monday Fliss has chosen for the theme a technique, Paper Piecing. I know it is self explanatory but for those who may be new to crafting, it means, once designed, either stamped or a photo image, areas can be changed by either stamping on a different piece of coloured paper, or re-printing your design with different colours, then adhering these pieces to your first drafted image. In my case I used a Stampendous Stamp of the mermaid and from Crafty Sentiments the rock and seaweed. Using different papers I have covered the mermaid's fish end and tail, the two lower shells, the seaweed and some of the seaweed at the top and bottom of the card. I coloured the remainder with Promarkers. The background was created using Distress inks, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Stormy Sky and Broken China. I added a pearl to her hair and Glossy Accents to the seahorse and bubbles. If you haven't tried this technique before I do hop you will accept the challenge, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the changes you can make. Have fun.
I am also entering this card into the Craft a Scene - Under the Sea Challenge for the month of July.
Also into Quirky Crafts challenges - Octypus's Garden (in the Sea)
PS Pleased to add the card was chosen in 3rd place in the Top 3. Thanks girls.

Garden Pleasures

We in the UK are being blessed with a real summer, dry days, heat and lots of sunshine, best we have had in years, so how appropriate for us to be wanting to spend time for some Garden Pleasures at CD Sunday Challenges.  I have used an image from a Debbie Moore Shabby Chic Gardens CD. There are some wonderful designs on this CD. I really didn't feel it needed much of embellishments so only added a greeting and three card candy dots. I did round off the corners of the main card to fit in with the rounded edges on the image. If you can tear yourselves in from the garden during this unbelievable hot weather to make a card, we thank you, I find it easy to do for I am an indoor plant, I prefer shady areas. 

3 days to go till NEW blog Opens

Only THREE days to go, when the NEW blog  THE MALE ROOM  will be starting it's fortnightly challenge. The design team are so excited, especially after the wonderful response from our visitors during our 7 day introduction period. To remind you if your new today, The Male Room will be setting you challenges, the main theme running will of course be your project MUST be for a Male person. From a baby to a great -grandfather or if on a scrapbook even beyond. Yes, we aren't just for cards, we love to see all forms of paper crafted or mixed media  projects. For my display today I have decorated a gift bag with a matching card,  for a young male. don't forget to pop back tomorrow to see which of our design team will be displaying another project for you. 

The Recipe for my card is;-

Paper lunch bag from any supermarket, mine is from Home Bargains

White and dark blue Card stock

Patterned papers from Grace Taylor Playtime Scrapbook Pad

Stamps - Toby - The Pirate from Crafty Sentiments

Happy Birthday - from Papermania

Skull and Crossed Swords and Doubloons from Tandastamps,

 who sadly are no longer trading. 

Ahoy! Matey - Computer produced from Word.

Tim Holtz DI Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire 

Blue/White Twine

Twinchies Challenge 3 Music & Lyrics

Thanks to everyone who has left me a comment on my first entry to the Twinchies Challenge  HERE . As there is no limit to entries and the challenge closes next Wednesday, I thought I'd enter a second time with a lighter and brighter Twinchie. The music is from a La Blanche stamp and the little bird is a £1 Twinchie stamp from Inkylicious. Coloured with Time Holtz Dusty Concorde and Stormy Sky Distress Inks. As I was colouring it the tune from South Pacific went through my head, 'When ever I feel afraid, I whistle a happy tune' and so on. Hence the lyrics I chose. 

A Taste of Things To Come

We, the Design team of a NEW challenge Blog  - The Male Room - are so excited, it is only a week before we begin our new adventure, a challenge for MALE ONLY cards. Not a new idea, but we believe there are still lots of card makers who are still finding male cards more of a challenge than any other kind. Over the next seven days till our Grand Opening on Wednesday 31st. July, we the team will be showing you a card and giving a little introduction of ourselves. Our challenge will be for any male person in your life, no matter what age, from babies to great - grandfathers. We are going to be a fortnightly challenge, so lots of time to enter into the challenges, we are kicking off, with one which is a firm favourite ANYTHING GOES. Please enjoy the next seven days of our introduction, hopefully we'll be seeing you after next Wednesday.

Here is a recipe for my card

Background striped paper from LOTV Country Gent.

Astronomical stamp (part of) from Inkadinkado

Gentlemen from Tim Holtz

Tim Holtz DI Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain. 

Fiskas oval punch for greeting.