Blokey Cards

Cards for blokes, bit tricky aren't they? Some might contend it's not worth spending much time making cards for the significant males in our life but I like to think it's worthwhile.

My first card (shown above) is inspired by a current paper-crafting trend, hot air balloons. I don't have any balloon stamps so pulled out some spotty paper and put my punches to use. I used dies to cut the clouds and sun and made my own tag with computer-generated sentiment (perfect for when you know what you want to say but don't have the stamp to match).

The second card is to appeal to the home handyman. I also love the bright colour combination. The card elements come mainly from the decorative paper along with some rub-ons but I've dry-embossed the black panel with a tool folder (in the Big Shot) and sanded the paper to make the raised images more pronounced. A home-made sign completes the card :)


This one is my attempt at vintage card, designed for the "young at heart". It's a style that doesn't come easily to me by I think I've pulled it off. I love those cogs. And twill, with metal embellishments, all great for guys. I "aged" or "distressed" my card using Glad Wrap and an ink pad (as an alternative to using a sponge). It's a good if your sponge is missing in action. The little clock face is cut-out and popped up too, although you can't really see it in the photo. I also love the colour combination (yes, another one); rustic red-brown (Cajun Craze in SU! speak) is one of my favourite colours.

Lastly something for the petrol-heads...vroooom. I tried what is termed "motion stamping" which is basically repeat stamping without re-inking in between. Or stamping in a progressively lighter-coloured inks. Each time you shift the image across and up or down (away) from the original image. See those large silver brads, I wanted to put them in the centre of the wheels, thought that would look very cool. But I was advised by the MOTH (man of the house) that it wouldn't be correct. Given he is representative of the target audience, I relented and put them on the side instead. But I wasn't alone in thinking this wheel placement of the silver brads was a good idea, my talented friend, Fiona Redknap (go check out her blog, she's been posting up a storm lately), made the same suggestion to me without any prompting. Note for the keen stampers, motion stamping works best with rubber stamps rather than acrylic - they just stamp-off so much better.

I have this long list of ideas for male cards if anyone is interested to receive it? Just leave a comment with your email address or email me and I'll email you the file.

Just looked at the time, off to bed for me. Hope you're keeping snug and warm in this chilly Sydney-town if you live in my city.

Love from Crafty Kim

Card for Grandpère

Here's the card we gave my father-in-law, Lex, for Father's Day recently. The design was inspired by Kendall Joyce and it uses a technique called Faux Tiling. I've done some other "tiled" cards in the past, click here to view.

We celebrated Father's Day this year with a trip to the footy, to watch Sydney Swans play Carlton. It was good game, full of suspense, with Sydney just beating Carlton in the last few minutes.

Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Father's Day

(Card created by Nicky Adamson)

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.” Mark Twain.

I love this quote, it pretty much sums up how I was at seventeen years old. I thought I knew it all and I couldn't wait to "fly the coup" (my parent's home). Within weeks (or was it hours?) I knew I'd had it pretty good at home. Amazing how one's perspective changes.

Hope all the Dads out there had a Happy Father's Day. The monochromatic card above was made by Nicky Adamson during our weekend away at the beginning of August. I love the simplicity of the card. Sometimes we get carried away with layering, matting, sponging and other special techniques (all good fun) but really, I love a clean look. Nicky is one of my downline demonstrators and has recently launched her own website. Be sure to check it out here. Thanks Nicky for sharing your creation.

Well I'm happy to be back here posting. A crafty friend told me today she had subscribed to my blog which prompted (shamed) me into coming by for the first time in too long. Thanks everyone for your patience and continued interest.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Father's Day

Today we celebrated Father's Day. Fortunately the recent rain cleared and gave way to a sunny day here in Sydney.

Here's the card I made for my husband, Bryan, for this Father's Day. It was inspired by Cambria Turnbrow and I found it quick and easy to do.


I used some scraps of Jersey Shore Designer Series Paper that Karen Oliver donated to me (thank you Karen). This co-ordinates with the colours of Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi and Bashful Blue. I used one of the papers to fold and make the shirt. The buttons are Brilliant Blue Brads. I've used another of the papers to decorate the card base and added Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Ribbon. I've stamped the circular sentiment "Hugs and Kisses" from Circle of Friendship on to Pumpkin Pie card stock, punched it out with the 1" circle punch and mounted it on Brilliant Blue card punched with the 1 1/4 " circle punch. The "Happy Father's Day" is from All Year Cheer II. All are mounted on Brilliant Blue and Wild Wasabi card stock. I think it works and a similar design could be used for a male birthday card.

Time for a quote. In keeping with all those Dads who today received a gift lovingly purchased at school Father's Days stalls around the country last week:

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope." Bill Cosby

My son, Ashley, presented Bryan with chocolates (amongst other things) and proceeded to ask if he could have one. To which his Dad replied, "just one". This suited Ashley who then said "that's okay Dad because I don't like any others". While Bryan had an afternoon nap in front of the car races on television, Ashley and I made triple chocolate cookies for his afternoon tea. Pretty lucky Bryan woke up when he did or there may have been none left for him to enjoy. Is the love of chocolate genetic?

Hope all the Dads out there had a great day with their families. Thanks for visiting and please keep coming back, I've got lots to share this week.

Love from Crafty Kim

A Father's Day Card made with Decorative Paper

Want a quick and simple way to make a Father's Day card? Use Stampin' Up!® Designer Series Paper. This card, designed by Karen Oliver during our weekend away together, uses paper from the Outlaw 12 x 12 inch Designer Series Paper. When I first saw this paper I wasn't sure about the relevance of the Western / Cowboy style for Australia. But I love the colours that co-ordinate with this paper; Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla. And along with the three co-ordinating Boho West stamp sets, it has proven very useful for male cards and scrapbook layouts. SU! paper is a bargain too, at $1 each for double-sided sheets.

To make this card interesting, textured card stock has been used for the base card. Textured card stock is new to SU! this year, and is available in variety packs for each of the four SU! colour families. Again, when I first saw the SU! Jumbo Eyelets, I thought to myself "how am I going to use these?" But I've found them great for embellishing cards for men. And don't be thinking they are hard to set. Not with the handy Crop-A-Dile. Finished with a greeting from Occasional Greetings stamp set, this card is ready for the 7 September.

Time for a Fatherhood quote from Mark Twain, perhaps to offer hope to parents of teenagers:

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

Enjoy creating something special for the Dads in your life.

Love from Crafty Kim

Novelty Card for Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated in Australia on Sunday 7 September 2008. That's not far away. So here's my first Father's Day card suggestion:



This card was inspired by Lorri Heiling. I have used Close to Cocoa card stock which has been lightly sponged with the same colour ink to give it texture and a more leather-like look. I've also used a Jumbo Eyelet set by the fantastic eyelet setting tool called the Cropodile to make the wallet clasp. Paper piercing combined with a Chocolate Chip marker pen has created the faux stitching. Very handy for the likes of me who can not sew.

Once opened, the card looks like this:



The intention is to put a store gift card e.g. from Bunnings where you see the yellow note paper. You could also insert cash or a cheque into the back section of the card. And in keeping with the definition "A Daddy is....A man who has photos in his wallet where his money used to be" I've included a photo of my son, Ashley, with his Dad, Bryan, which has been edged with photo corners made using the Photo Corners Punch from Chocolate Chip card stock.

Please email me if you would like further instructions for this card.

Well I'm feeling rather tired after day 1 of the Stitches and Craft Show at Rosehill but it was great fun. And there's four more days to get in and see us. I'll post some more information on what we're up to tomorrow evening.

Love from Crafty Kim