A Cosy Jumper

 Morning all. I can't believe a month has gone since the last Cardz4Guyz challenge went live but it must have as there's a new one!

This month it was my choice and I chose the theme of -

SQUASH IT!

In other words use an embossing folder to do all the hard work!

I love EFs and have a box full of them, though I don't always use them as often as I should. They range from geometrics to florals, those that add texture and even some that create a scene. For this simple card, I've used a cable knit one that was a freebie in a mag I believe. With out much effort you have a very effective sweater.

To begin, I chose some camel coloured card cut a partial circle from the top of an A6 panel, then embossed it, centering the cabled to achieve a balanced look. I remembered just in time to cut the opening as if not you run the risk of squashing all that lovely definition in the embossing! On another piece of the same card, I used two nesting circle dies to cut a piece which I laid over the original opening. A scrap of white linen textured card was then glued behind to suggest a T-shirt. I trimmed the panel to slightly less than A6 before adding to an A6 base card in the same cardstock.  A simple die cut sentiment, Uniko was added to complete. 

I've used this technique a few times to create simple masculine cards, here are links to other projects, here, here and here along similar lines.

So what EF will you incorporate in your designs? We're looking forward to seeing all your MASCULINE makes in our gallery but if you need further inspirationj, please check out the Cardz4Guyz blog.

Color Hues #133

Afternoon all. As we are over halfway through May already, its time for a brand new colour duo from Color Hues. Here's my take.

I was walking around the garden the other day whilst my pooch was on a sniffari and I noticed that the iris I split up 2 years ago were about to burst into full bloom. Last year they seemed to resent their splitting up and didn't make much but this year they have gone mad! Although as of the time of typing this they are still in tight bud, they should soon be in full bloom!

So as I was looking through my stash for inspiration for the latest Color Hues challenge, I landed on Altenew's Build an Iris stamp and set too with my watercolours. Of course the blooms had to be violet but the throat is usually orange or yellow but that's NOT ALLOWED, so I improvised with dots of white toned down with some of the lime green paint I used on the stems and leaves. I'm not sure which iris the designer was looking at for this stamp but mine don't have curly leaves, I suppose it's artistic licence! As usual I painted each petal and leaf in turn as in the peony from last month, keeping away from the last until it was dry to reduce bleeding, adding a little bit of neutral Paynes Grey for the shadow. The papery bud wrappings, are a mix of Burnt Umber and the Violet

After fussy cutting, I mounted the blooms on a panel of embossed white card and then added a die cut stamped sentiment, also Altenew.

So that's me done, but there's lots more inspiration from the rest of the team for your delectation! Looking forward to seeing your makes in our gallery.

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Color Hues #132

Afternoon and welcome to a post for the brand new challenge from Color Hues.

It's a new month, so we have a new colour duo for you, here's my take.

As regular readers may know, a friend and old work collegue is a MASSIVE Leeds Rhinos fan and every year I try to incorporate their colours into her birthday card, along with the odd rhino! Well as the latest Color Hues colours match, here is her 2026 card!

I've used the ever faithful MFT Birth-Yay set, stamping and colouring the stacked buddies. I also fished an older happy birthday background stamp out of the stash, also MFT, which I stamped and heat embossed with white EP before inking all over with Blueprint Sketch DI.

To make the card, I stamped and coloured with Copics the buddy stack and then fussy cut it. The embossed and inked panel was cut to fit my base card and a thin sliver of Copic coloured card was glued against the edge to introduce more yellow as it was a little blue heavy! The sentiment was stamped in black and the fussy cut pals were added on foam pads.

That's all from me but please check out our GD and the rest of the team over on the Color Hues blog page.

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Uniko FB VIP Challenge Reminder

This months Uniko FB VIP Challenge is all about GEOMETRICS. Here is a design I came up with using some of the smaller stamps from lots of different sets and the Postage Die set from Waffle Flower.

I found a ready cut panel of white card in the die packaging, so used that to create my design. The stencil which comes with it was used for ease but I could have easily masked off each section before I added the background inking and stamping.

Each of my rectangles was inked with DI, either Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers or Twisted Citron, then with the masking still in place, the stamp detail was added with the same ink. I used BB Pinstripe, BB Triangulate, Bee Happy, Balloon Bash, BB MOD Circle Builder and Uniko Style stamp sets

Finally all masking was removed and the sentiment stamped. Birthday and Christmas Sentiments and a few small silver die cut dots complete. The panel was matted onto some black card and then on pads onto a 5 x 7ich white base card.

There are lots of fab Uniko geometric themed stamps and stencils to use, if you don't have any, think outside the box. Looking forward to seeing all your different geometric designs in the FB VIP gallery!

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Clean and Simple Birthday Fishes

 Morning all. Another month has flown by and it's time for another challenge from Cardz4Guyz.

This month Helen has chosen the theme of:-

CLEAN and SIMPLE

Well I'm a simple girl with simple tastes, so this suits me down to the ground. I also think CAS is the way to go when you're struggling to make a card for thoses pesky males! Here's my take.

I've used a few of challenges to inspire this make, CAS Colours and Sketches, The Paper Players and AYLI.

Using the sketch from CAS Colours and Sketches and the theme from the Paper Players, I used the smallest fish from MFT's Gill Friend to create this design. The fish always remind me of the films Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, especially the smallest ones.

On a piece of scrap card, I inked some Mermaid Lagoon and blended it with some Peacock Feathers DI, spritzing with some water before cutting a trio of circles out with a die. On some Copic friendly card, I stamped 3 of the smallest fish along with some vegetation from the Birthday Fishes set. After colouring with Copics and fussy cutting I added them to my circles which were then added to my white base card. A simple sentiment from the same set stamped in black completes.

What will you make? We're always happy to see your MASCULINE creations in the Cardz4Guyz gallery, where you'll also find more CAS masculine inspiration from the rest of the team!

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Simple or Fussy

Simple is the way to make a successful masculine card, in my opinion! Good job I'm not a fussy and fancy girl!