For the Y Chromosome...

I know how to make gushingly feminine cards, it's become quite the easy recipe but it's when I am commissioned to make a masculine one that my heartrate increases, my palms get sweaty and as my two-year old likes to say "It makes me nervous!!". But with the new nautical theme being incredibly popular, I think I have finally found a pretty good 'recipe' that turns out with rather acceptable results! Here are so recent Y-Chromosome-Centered cards:

Gift Tags...

This is another entry for this week's Make-It-Monday challenge from PaperTrey Ink. A while back
I purchased their superb stamp set To You From Me and just absolutely loved the versatility. While of course it can be used for gift tags, bookmarks and labeling, the designs also lend themselves as wonderful frames for sentiments. Here are a few I recently created:

 In this gift tag, I once again used the texture technique, though it's quite a bit more subtle. I took the tree from PTI's Love and Marriage stamp and swiped it across Hero Arts' Soft Lilac shadow ink. Gave it a beautiful yet soft textured look.

A close up. The wreath, "with love" and the "to" and "from" are all part of the newer stamp set.

Here I used the cake from the "Foodie Fun" stamp set and then embellished with a very muted wreath at the bottom.

This gift tag feel a bit more organic with the kraft cardstock and natural hemp twine. I wanted  a much more simple layout so not too much 'glitz' on this one.

This combined the To You From Me stamp set with the Polka Dot Parade "THANKS" stamp and die set. I absolutely love the coral and mint color scheme, as exemplified by nearly all of the tags here! ;)

Hope you enjoy and craft on!

-O

Another week, another Papertrey Ink Challenge!

This week's challenge is for "textured stamping", where you simply swipe a solid stamp across an ink pad and it gives it this distinct texture. Here is my take on it:

There seems to be babies, babies everywhere... I always need more of these cards so thought it might be a good idea to be prepared! 

Thanks and craft on!

-O

*Of note, this card was featured in PaperTrey Ink's monthly e-newsletter as the top pick of the challenge by the owners and designers! Woo hoo!

Papertrey Ink's Make-It Monday Challenge

As you surely must know, seeing as though I seem to _always_ be using one of their stamp sets, I am quite the Papertrey Ink fan. This post is a submission to this week's Make-It- Monday Challenge, which is "layered embossing resist". The task is to stamp a background or onto patterned paper, then use clear embossing powder for the "resisted" elements. Then, use ink along with a blending sponge to "bring to life" those stamped images. You end up with the stamped image resisting the patterned paper or stamped background underneath! Here is my take:

Here is a closer view

Thanks for stopping by and craft on!

-O