Your Challenge Cards for Men

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

How are you all this Sunday Morning,  have you had a good weekend so far?  We had a busy day doing little jobs preparing to go away, Paul is on lates this week so are trying to get as organised as we can.  It does seem odd packing for just the two of us, we won't be taking board games, as you need more than two players for most of them, I said we could still take Scrabble but I think Paul gets frustrated because I always want to help everyone else get a good score, so if they are looking like they are struggling I start suggesting places to go 😔 apparently thats not the point of the game,  I think it comes from years of playing board games with the children and wanting them all to get the best result, surely it would be worse if I was super competitive! 🙄.  We have cards and triominoes which is a game we played as children and remained one if Mum & Dad's favourites too.  We won't take the Paddle Board either, Paul said he wouldn't use it without the girls really and there is no way I could get on it, I struggle getting on a bloomin Lilo, which generally causes much hilarity!  The good thing is we don't need to take 18 towels, 5 lots of bedding etc, so hopefully our load will be lighter.  I have bought Paul and I some Organic Cotton Turkish Hammam towels,  I  gave them a wash last weekend and they are so soft,you mustn't use fabric conditioner with them, I am excited to see what a difference they make.   We are also not taking the large amount of food that we usually take,  as I have read a lot about Meat & Dairy being confiscated by Border control as we are no longer part of EU so not allowed to import it.  Janet did you used to take food with you?  We will still take Tea bags, rice, pasta etc.

Now lets look at your lovely Challenge cards....

Maria

Maria's Description:

"The first one I used an embossing folder that has got bottle's and glass for different drinks. I then used this thing that Sue came out 

with for some years ago that changes colour. Had to throw away 3 

of them after they gone rock solid, grrr Happy Birthday from a set

of Stamps and Dies in my stash.

My second card is used with Scrap paper in Black and Grey. I laid 

them in a criss cross pattern I've seen on Pinterest and then Stamped

and cut out Happy Birthday. Hope they are alright for Sunday.

Thank you so much Maria, your cards are both amazing,  I really love the embossing folder you used on your first card, a great one for quick mens cards, I really like the 'Mixed Font' sentiments too.

Your second card is brilliant,  what a great way to use Washi tape, those patterns all work so well together too.  Thank you so much my lovely for supporting the challenge XXX 

Karen

Karen's Description:

Two perfect Man cards Karen,  there is a huge difference between the two when it comes to the amount of work you put in, the first card is a fantastic card that would work for both Men and women but I just want to talk about your second card, its so much more than a card Karen,  its a piece of art, it would look amazing in a frame, the amount of detail you have added means that there is something new to see every time you look at it. 

Thank you so very much for two amazing cards XXX

Janet

Janet's Description:

"My first card for this week's Challenge is made from 'LABLANCHE' papers and cut outs. This set is called 'TRAVEL'

For my second card this week I went to my wonderful standby STAMPERIA using their CALLIGRAPHY set of papers.

Two amazing cards from our Janet for this weeks 'Cards for Men ' Challenge!  Thie first card features a lovely vintage scene,  you really need just a few pieces to create an amazing scene as the background papers have so much detail in them already. 

I 😍 your second card, that stunning script background really appeals to me, the ink pen looks 100% real too.

Thank you su much Janet for two amazing Challenge cards XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

"Birthday card I made for my Nephew. I’ve used one of the Paint Splodges stamps from Honey Doo Crafts and the Happy Birthday die from The Stamp Market. I added a couple of die cut stars."

I really love your card this week Sonia, you can't beat a monochrome card  and it works so well for Masculine cards.  That sentiment really stands out too, thank you so much for taking part XXX

Brenda 

Brenda's Description:

My Challenge card: I’m still dithering should it be brown or beige colour,  but you can see what I have done,  it is very simple card, I used a left over strip of designer paper, Happy Birthday sentiment and a stamped Sneaker roughly cut and coloured with Posca paint markers then mounted on foam pads.

Brenda I love the card exactly how you have put it together,  I think that we are all way too critical of our own work. The converse shoe looks amazing your colouring has given both depth and detail, making it look 3D . Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX 

Lilian

Lilian's Description:

"My card was made from a sheet of paper from one of my Stamperia pads. Fussy cut the hot air balloons and the rope"

Lili\an has been a little under the weather this week, so I found this card from a 'No Die Challenge' a couple of years ago, it works perfectly for this weeks challenge too.  I love this card, such a breath taking scene!  Thanks for a lovely card Lilian XXX

Sue

Sue's Description:

 This card is one that she made for her son 'RJ', I just love the layout of this card, especially the wood effect background. I really love how you have personalised the card for RJ with that cute little tag, I bet her loved this card.

Thanks for a great Man card Sue, I bet RJ loved it. I really like the industrial look of the card, those screw effect brads are the perfect finishing touch for a masculine card XXX

***********************

Ladies, I know I say they same thing every week but it's the truth,  I am so incredibly grateful that you make time to take part in the challenges each week,  without you there would be no blog,  for that part alone I will be forever grateful XXX

Sending you the biggest hug and lots of love,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Well there goes another week, how fast is this year flying by?! 

There are now 19 Weeks and 1 day until Christmas 🎄,  in case you need a reminder.  I know that when we get back from holiday a lot of Christmas stuff will be in shops!  How many Christmas cards have you all made, I think I am going to have to start making more than 1 a week 😅 

Garden Update 

This odd looking trough was already in place when we moved in, up until this year it was buried under a thick mass of Ivy,  we cleared it out and popped sone summer bedding in, it looks so much better. 

This is a group of pots outside my front door, the Geraniums and petunias haven't stopped blooming, they look so pretty.

A few more splashes of colour 

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen! 

And finally just one of our perfect cauliflowers,  we will have quite a few, I am hoping there isn't a heatwave while we are away!  They taste so much better when they are freshly cut.

Cheryl

Cheryl was super excited to open her AMAZING bargain of the year, that arrived just before she left for her little holiday.  Cosmo Cricket is a quality US company, they have had some beautiful paper pads over the years.  Cheryl managed to get all of this stash for £15 posted, there are over 9000 pieces!! One set of chipboard Alpha's is usually £10 so you certainly got value for money, I can hardly believe you have albums too. 

Cheryl's Description:

The seller had only made one card and put the box away til she needed some space in her craft cupboard. As I was scrolling through some Declutter pages this one pinged so I had a look and thought for that price it would worth buying. Glad I did as there are some lovely projects to make that I can take measurements from for future use. Milly-May wil have lovely Christmas presents to make for her other nannies. Xxx

Such lovely ideas Cheryl,  Milly-May will have do much fun working with you using all of this amazing stash.  Thank you so much for sharing my lovely XXX 

That's all for today Ladies, enjoy your weekend,  

Sending love and hugs to all 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

Oh thank goodness it's the end of the week, it's been a busy one, yesterday we had rain, rain and more rain, the Oxfordshire sunshine didn't make it over to Wiltshire Pat !!  It always amazes me how the weather can be so different just a short distance away. 

We had another power cut yesterday, they are definitely a weekly thing now, somebody on the village group called SSE and was told that until the resolve the problem we will continue to have power cuts, but I'm not sure what the actual problem is!  It's now until you have them that you realise how much you take electricity for granted, especially when it powers your wifi !  Yesterday the power cut was at 7am so affected people getting up and ready for work, Paul had long gone by then and the girls are fairly organised so they weren't affected either, I imagine if they needed to use hair dryers, curling irons etc that would have been a whole different drama!  The only thing they had to so different was to heat the water for their coffee on the Aga.  

I forgot to mention yesterday that Sue came over on Wednesday, which was a lovely distraction for me, we were both busy crafting, I couldn't help but smile as Sue puzzled over the many die cut pieces she had for her ⛄ Snowman, I think that she worked out that she had more than one set of dies cut out, we just couldn't work out what one part was meant to be, it was either stilettos or ears, neither of which are normal features of a traditional snowman, I look forward to seeing the finished piece!  I must point out Sue that the delicious Biscoff Cheesecake that you bought with you was delicious 😋, after reading the nutritional information I shared the rest of mine with Paul as that 1 slice was the best part of 600 Calories !!!  Oh it was definitely worth the calories but I just couldn't!!  Thank you for coming over and making such a difference to my week, I hope you enjoyed your Blackberries and French Beans XXX

Lilian & Maria, I hope you both are taking it easy today after your procedures yesterday, sending hugs to you both, I hope you feel much better soon. xxx

Janet, great to read that Jim's appointment went well, Paul sends his best wishes to Jim and says that his second surgery will be worth the wait, as it makes so much difference.  I think that Paul had his surgeries about 3 weeks apart but that was at private hospital, the recovery was super quick though, I remember being really surprised. I am not surprised that you both had a nap in the afternoon, I think we have all got to get used to going out and all the stress and concern that brings, after a year or more of not leaving the house or having conversations with anyone other than your partner. Were you able to go with Jim to his hospital appointments?  I hated leaving Paul at the door of the ward, he has hours to sit and wait, it must have been awful, not that he would admit that of course!  Hopefully Jim's appointment will be sooner than you think xxx

Your Next Challenge

We haven't done a TicTacToe Challenge for a while so I thought that it would be a nice change to do one this week, the good thing with a 'TTT' is they work for so many different occasions!                        I think that this one will work well for Christmas cards as well as Birthday or any other celebration as we have Gold, Bling and Ribbon included. 

I am looking forward to getting started on some cards to give you all some inspiration.   

Now I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, we aren't sure what we are doing as yet, we have quite a list of jobs that need sorting before we go away next week.  Whatever you do, I hope it is fun and you manage to relax and more importantly smile 😄😊

Sending Love and Hugs to all of my Very Dear Friends,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

Lovely Fathers Day Card

 

6ood Morning Ladies ,

We had another lovely day yesterday,  we got 2 loads of washing dry, Tuesday/Wednesday seems to be our weekly wash days now as it's the end of the girls shift, so their uniform needs washing ready for Thursday, mind you its nice not having to do it on the weekend! 

Lilian we are all with you today in spirit, The sooner you are home in your own bed the better.  Sending love and hugs sweet friend ❤ xxx

Janet,  I am so pleased to hear that Jim is on the mend pneumonia can really drag on, I know it takes a long time to get full strength back, I kept my fingers crossed for the Optician appointment and I hope you got the second appointment sorted. You will both need a quiet day after all the excitement of going out, sending hugs xxx

Lynda, how are you feeling my lovely,  hopefully all those exercises that you are doing will make the recovery from your knee surgery a bit quicker, you will be our Bionic woman! xxx

Today's card is one of my favourite 'Cards for Men' its like a 'faux' Aperture card, there is no view better than looking out to sea. Here’s how I made it...

To make the card I used a piece of cheap copy paper and cut an aperture through which I stamped the sea, I then die cut some tiny clouds and put some low tack tape on them and arranged them above the sea, I used the same 'Broken China ' Distress ink to blend across the clouds to create the sky.

I removed the scrap paper and stamped the birds in Black ink. I die cut the Beach chair in wood effect paper and added a touch of shading, I placed that in front of the 'Seascape' and added the 'Happy Father's Day  sentiment next to it.

To finish the card I added a mat of similar colour blue card and then adhered to a card base.

Sending love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra 

xxxxxx 

Some More Man cards

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

We hsd another lovely day here yesterday,  it looked like the Heavens were about to open a couple of times but we must have been on the edge as it didn’t rain! Ooh progress report..out of about 50 tomatoes 🍅 we have one that is starting to ripen, Paul said yesterday that they will probably all ripen while we are away and girls don't eat tomatoes!  They said that the Cauliflower on Sunday was the best they have ever had, maybe going from ground to plate in under an hour does make a difference. It's definitely 'A Good Life' around here! 

Today I have shared a couple of Man cards from last year,  the Train card was made using an Indigo Blu Magazine Box kit.

The Fancy Fold nautical card was made using a mix of a Phil Martin Magazine kit and some stamps from a magazine that had some Crafters Companion Nautical stamps on too. 

Cheryl it was lovely to read that you have had a couple of weeks away,  hopefully your poor foot is healing nicely.   It sounds like your Nephew's Funeral was  fun as these things can be, they certainly don't need to be all doom and gloom, it must have been an amazing sight seeing the sidecar  hearse and all of the motor bikes following, I'm so pleased that the restrictions were lifted in time for you to be able to be there, no rest up that foot my lovely.  xxx

Sonia How fast did those 10 days go, I was shocked when you said that you were going back to work, I hope it wasn't too stressful,  good to hear you have some annual leave coming up, have you got any plans? xxx

Janet, I hope that Jim is on the mend, how is his sight doing,  Paul didn't see the real benefit until both his eyes were done.  I hope the sun is shining for you today, sending hugs xxx

Maria,  its good to hear you got out and about even it was a ride out in the car, sometimes it's nice to get out of the house. Sorry to hear you felt rough at the weekend.  Hopefully we can organise something for October,  it has been far too long since we have seen each other xxx

Brenda you must have been exhausted doing both journeys on the weekend,  the M25 is such a frustrating motorway to sit on!  I also think that getting used to being in groups of people takes some getting used to too, I was so exhausted after Paul's parents Anniversary party and there were only around 18 of us, there are so many conversations to keep up with , I imagine the Grandchildren were all excited to have you atound too. You have also been living with upheaval which is tiring, take a few easy days my lovely xxx

Lilian its good to read that you are back in your craft room even if it was just to clear your desk, Crafting can be a great form of therapy,  just keeping our minds occupied can help,  I wish we all lived close enough to pop round to craft together ❤.  Especially on your baking days 😍.  Have you tried a heat pad for your back? Sending hugs xxx

Karen,  it must have been amazing to get back to dancing,  have you been Salsa'ing around the house to keep your hips limber ?!  I bet you will feel it when you get back into it, it must have been so much fun catching up with everyone XXX 

Michele,  I hope work isn't too hectic and you are able to enjoy some 'me time' without stress Xxx

Pat, I hope the weather brightens so that you can resume your walks, I have seen forecasts of another heatwave,  not sure how true that is though xxx

Sue,  hopefully see you later xxx

Sending Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

Another Man Challenge Card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

How are we all today? What are you all up to today?  

Not much happening here, Lucy is home today which is lovely,  we haven’t planned anything though as she is still struggling to drive, we think she needs to go back to Fracture Clinic as her thumb is still swollen and red after over 2 weeks in a sling.  I am going to encourage her to call them today.   

I will be mostly in my craft room again today, I managed ro get 4 cards made yesterday afternoon,  which is good for me,  I usually only get one made because I 'procrastinate' too much, spending too much time choosing papers, embellishments etc.  I have started trying to not procrastinate and choose a stamp or die set then a colour theme and thats it. Also if I have used a piece of patterned paper to make one card I sm trying to make another card while I have the patterned paper and matching card already out. 

Today's card uses the beautiful 'Expressions ' Designer Series Paper (Stampin Up) which is sadly no longer available,  although I am not suprised as it's gorgeous!  I used a small piece of the 12x12 paper, I put in my Stamp platform and stamped the sentiment from the 'Biggest Wish' stamp set, I used Pear Pizzaz and Shaded Spruce ink for Stamping. I mounted my stamped piece onto a Pear Pizzaz mat and then onto a 4 1/4  X 5  1/2 inch card base.  To finish the card I added three matching gems. Even Male cards need a little sparkle.  I added a second photo to highlight the gold foiling in the papers. 

I hope that you all have a productive day,  I hope it's a good day too,

Sending Love and huge to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

My First Man card for this weeks Challenge

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

Well our Sunday was a real mix of sunshine & showers, we had really strong winds too.  We are in and out getting jobs done in the Garden, Paul vacuumed the car and put the new mats in, which weren't woven in pure gold as the price suggested 🤣! The do look smart though!!  We picked some blackberries from the garden, we have loads and they are huge! I like them in my porridge and smoothies,  I Don't mind them in apple pies but wouldn't eat them cooked on their own.  I might try making some jam with them.  We have 4 cob nut/hazelnut trees absolutely full of nuts, I wish there was a way we could prevent the squirrels taking the lot!! We never see 1 of them, its like there is an undercover squirrel checking each day for ripeness and the moment they are ready he calls in his troops to clear the trees before we get even a sniff of a ripe hazelnut!! 🐿🐿🥜

Today's card is one I made for Paul's younger brother, who had his birthday yesterday, he's not into beer and football so we went for a plain kind of card.   I used my new SU Biggest Wish stamp set to stamp the 'Happy' onto the wood effect paper from the 'In Good Taste' dsp, it was easy to repeat the stamping as I just move the plate down through notches  on the stamping platform and it lines up perfectly. I used different greys for the happy and black for the Birthday, I also embossed the birthday for to add a different texture and a bit of shine.        I layered the card up with Grey Granite card and an Old Espresso card base. To embellish I used some tim Holtz 'Hardware Heads' and black twine. Those tiny screw heads were the only thing that made the card a large letter! Grrr! The inside was another piece of Dsp with a sentiment from SU 'Happiest of Birthdays. 

Paul is on earlies this week, which I prefer, I am going to experiment with 'Leave in ' hair rollers and a head scarf, just like my mother 🤣😂, I will let you know the progress, if these don't work its heated rollers!  Oh and I bought some setting lotion too, not the blue stuff 'Amami' that my Mum used  though! 

Did any of you use this one too?  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Sending Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx