Birthday cards for the guys in your life

Does everyone struggle  a little with making cards for the guys, or is it just me? There seem to be so many options for ladies cards, or maybe I just need to work on my imagination and creativity a little more with the guys cards.
It took a little bit of delving through the inspiration bank for these cards but came up with what I think are pretty cool cards that are suitable.

With the first one for my dad I worked with just words, deciding on the message I wanted and searching my alphabets to come up with the right fonts and colours. Simple but says it all!
This second one came about from putting away sheets of paper from my desk, the frame paper I have had for a long time. I knew eventually I would find a use for it, took a bit of time to cut out all the frames and to work out the pattern but again another simple but effective card.

Will have some ladies cards and one for the tween to share soon.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Mini Christmas cards

Christmas card making in early November, that's strange and just so not me right? Well don't panic I'm not that organised with my own Christmas preparations.
You would of seen many posts if your a regular reader about my work with Sewing for Charity Australia, these cards are all part of our current project.
We are putting together gifts for two different organisations this year and it was decided to add a handmade card to each of them.

I put my hand up to make some, I'm not much help with the sewing of bags and such my card making is perfect for me.
These are mini cards, just a little something we can write a short message in to let them know someone is thinking of them.
I had a handful of Christmas embellishments that  I used on some of the cards, the rest I used my Christmas stamps and some watercolours. Nice and simple yet look great.

Keep checking back there will be more Christmas themed projects coming soon.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Jot Mood Board challenge - October

Since I started  using the Jot Mood board challenges to create cards rather than scrapbook layouts I have gotten back into the groove of card making. Its definitely inspired me to get my card stash built back up again.
Octobers mood board was so pretty, I was inspired by the soft colours. My trusty water colours got a workout again to create a simple but effective background for a few pattern papers and the pretty butterfly.
Nothing flash or fancy just a card that was easy to put together and (I think) looks great.

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Pretty packaging - 21st birthday

We put alot of time and though into buying or making the perfect gift, its nice to make the packaging look pretty too.
Last weekend we were invited to a friends daughters 21st, I got her gift and on the day of the party realised I needed a card. After scouring through all my supplies I found this party girl stamp (don't remember which brand it is) and pulled together a few supplies to make a pretty pink party card.

When it came time to wrap I knew I wanted to make it all pretty and girly but was a bit stumped as to what to do. I didn't want to just do the usual wrap in brown paper and use twine or ribbon to pretty it up. I went through my wrapping drawer and found a heap of tissue paper and remembered the nifty scissors that I found awhile back that multiple cut.
That's when the idea of doing the multi fringe came to me. I took a bit of time to measure the right lengths and then cut all the ends, but it all came together really well and looked so pretty.
I added a piece of lace and wooden heat and pom pom to finish it off.

I did end up with a table (and floor) full of bits of tissue paper but it was all worth it for the finished look.
How creative are you when it comes to wrapping your gifts?


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

September Jot Mood Board Challenge

Every month the girls at Jot Magazine put out a mood board that is totally gorgeous and inspiring. I started doing these challenges awhile back now by scrapbooking but have only recently started to create cards instead. Its been a great way to build up my stash of cards.

This month the girls didn't disappoint with an inspiring blend of pinks, teal, green and browns. The minute I saw it I knew that  feathers were going to be my starting point, I had the perfect pattern paper.

I kept it pretty simple and 'me' using alot of paint splatter and just a few other bits and pieces letting the feathers be the stand out.

One of these is now ready to send of with a gift to a special lady and the other has gone into my card stash.
If you haven't checked out the mood boards then you need to they will have inspired to create.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Jot Mood Board - August

The Jot Mood Board for August was amazing and inspired me to create this set of cards. The blacks, whites and grey with a splash of red is really striking. I was drawn to the abstract art print for the background of all my cards, adding a flower and music sheet and violin to complete the looks.

A little bit of grunge with some feminine touches, not my usual style but think they turned out great.


Thanks for visiting
Lis:)

Jot Mood Board Challenge - June

When I fist saw this months mood board over at Jot I loved it, the whites and greys were sort of peaceful. The lighthouse had me thinking back to childhood holidays on Bruny Island. When I went through my photos looking for something suitable to scrap I realised that I had already done all my Bruny photos and didn't really have anything else printed suitable.
I was stumped for a couple of days until crossing things of my to do list I realised I needed to make some cards. I remembered some old pattern paper I had been saving that would be perfect.

After some tricky cutting out I collected some papers and my cards just came together. I think the multiple bicycles could suit either male or female being a neutral colour. The other card reminds me of a country cottage where you would park your bike at the front fence.

If you haven't checked out the Jot Mood Board challenges then head over to the blog, this month is nearly over but they put one up every month.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

1st Birthday card

Just popping in to share this 1st birthday card I made. Our little grandson turned one last week, oh wow that time went really quickly!
He is such a little monkey so these Autumn Leaves stamps were perfect. I layered some different shades of cardstock cut out a huge number one and stamped on my vine. Then I stamped the monkeys onto cardstock and cut them out before adding them to the page with a couple of party hats.

1st Birthday post and photos to come very soon!

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Baby Shower Card

Whats a better way to spend an afternoon than hanging out with lovely ladies, eating yummy food and talking all things baby? I got to do just that Easter Saturday attending my nieces baby shower, was a beautiful set up hosted by my sister in law Jenni and her dear friend Katherine.
We played a few of those silly games that only come out at baby showers and got to oooh and ahh over all the beautiful gifts that Beck and Matt received.
This little bubba is going to be very spoilt.

 

 I have already or will be sharing the crochet gifts that I  made for them, but wanted to share the card I made.

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Handmade cards

Th creativity has returned! This month I needed to make 5 cards ready for February birthdays and after sitting looking at blank cards for 3 days I finally found some motivation.
A pretty little girls card using a sheet of die cuts I was given, a simple card made cutting up a pattern paper and I finally got to use some new stamps I got early last year.

All ready now to be popped in envelopes and sent out!

Handmade Christmas - Cross stitch cards

Merry Christmas, I hope that everyone had a lovely day however you chose to spend it.
This year I wanted to make a few special Christmas cards and was inspired by the cross stitch ornaments turn some into cards.

I wanted to keep them fairly simple, I learnt that it might pay to use a cloth with a wider weave next time. My designs were quite small and as the cloth had a small weave it looked a little empty.
As much as I liked them, they were time consuming and I think if I did them again I would rethink the design of the card.

Have a couple more Christmas posts to share over  the next few days including a special gift I made a special little man.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Celebrating Dad's

When it comes to celebrating Dads  it can be hard to come up with gift ideas, especially as they get older and already have so much of what they need. Its often so easy just to grab a store brought card with a car or golf clubs and write a short message.

Not all dads are into cars or golf and the range for dads is pretty basic when it comes to cards. Making a handmade one that you can fill with how much he means to you I think might mean more to him than any store brought card. (even if he never admits it).

I made a few simple Kraft cards for Dad's, not fussy with heaps of product, just quick and simple but ready to tell him how much you care for him. 
Wishing all dads out there a happy fathers day for this Sunday, especially my Dad, Father-In-Law, amazing hubby and my eldest son who celebrates his first fathers day!


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Cards for the teen boys

Popping in to share some more cards from my huge session I had a few weeks ago, this time for the teen and younger males in my life.
Nice and bright and a little more funky (I hope) than the ones I shared here.

These ones were super quick (except for paint drying) and easy to do using only a few scraps and some ink. If you wanted you could change the colours up and add herts or flowers instead of stars and they could be for girls as well.

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Jot Mood Board - June

I take my hat of to the  ladies that create the Jot Mood Board every month, they have been amazing! I love seeing what they come up with.
Whilst I loved the mood board this month I did struggle a little with how to create a scrapbook layout based on it. I decided in the end to do a couple of cards instead, one taking the watermelon and colours as inspiration and the other using the pelican as my inspiration.

I don't think these cards did the mood board much justice, but I like them and I think my nieces might too!
I am also thinking of using the mood board each month to inspire me to make more cards and keep my stash full.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Making cards for the boys

What is it with male cards, I never get motivated to have a heap of them made ready for birthdays like I do with female cards. I have more males in my family than I do females so you would think id be on top of it.
A couple of weekends ago I decided to remedy this problem - I was in need of two birthday cards for the following week - and had a marathon session of card making just for the boys.

Checking out pinterest for some inspiration and pulling out all of my scraps in colours suitable for boys I got started. Really pleased with the outcome I  managed to get a whole heap done and ready for all those birthdays I have in the last half of the year.

Today I'm sharing my teal themed cards. It was all about shapes, I am a bit over stars so got a little creative with diamonds and hexagons and think they look pretty cool.
I have some dad themed cards and some for the younger guys in my life coming up over the next few weeks.



Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Cards for the Boys

Hands up who has trouble making cards for older teen boys and men, mines up!  I really struggle with making these cards masculine but not too childish and have in the past given up and just brought cards for my boys.
Not that I think they really look at the front of the card too much but it bugs me, so I was determined this year to make more male cards.
I did a little bit of Pinterest perusing (ok maybe a lot) getting some inspiration and then got out paints and got messy.
It a little splattering, some washi tape a few stars and other shapes and I had two cards that I was happy we're masculine enough.

How do you go making cards for older males? Feel free to share yours with me, would love to see.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

New Baby cards

There are so many ladies I know having babies in the next few months, gifts were all sorted but I needed some cards to go with them.
Now everyone who knows me knows I dont buy cards I make them. I rummage thru my stash for cardmaking to realise that I was pretty low on anything suitable for a baby card.
With a quick look thru some thrift store books I was able to pull together a couple of cards, I think they are pretty cute!

Not long now till our little grandson is gracing us with his presence, we are excited!


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Christmas mail art

So you have your gifts all wrapped up and the tags attached, you have Christmas cards written up and ready to send, you stick them in a boring white envelope.
Let's help make the postman and the recipients day a little nicer by decorating the envelope! Yes I know this takes up more time that you might not have but wouldn't you like to receive something pretty in the mail.

You could use christmas tape and stickers or even cut outs from last years cards or you could get creative like I have and use a black felt pen and water colour paints. You dont have to go all Van Gough, just keep it simple with Christmas lights, trees or presents.

The bottom envelope I used a cut out from a magazine, your options to make an envelope look festive are endless.


Thanks for stopping by.
Lis :)

Creative Christmas wrapping

 It's that time of year again when we have a ton of presents to wrap, tags to add and cards to write. I do try each year to wrap up my gifts creatively and mostly I succeed.
I do have to admit that its only some of the gifts that I take the time to be creative though. The boys and hubby's gifts which just get ripped apart Christmas morning, just get Christmas paper and sometimes curling ribbon.
This year I decided to us plain brown paper and pretty it up with some Christmas themed bits and bobs I already had. Some Christmas serviettes, fancy toilet paper - sssh its pretty no one will ever know  - and lots of ribbons, add some cute buttons and some Ikea tags and I was pretty happy with it all.
 

 Tags have to be the simplest yet most frustrating thing for me to make. I always struggle to work out what to do each year, so I went searching on Pinterest for some inspiration and created some simple but workable tags.

 

I mentioned in my previous post about Christmas cards how I wasn't going to make them this year  but caved and made a handful. Well after wrapping up some zentangle gifts i decided to try out some cards and see how they went. I ended up making a whole heap and didn't have to buy any cards at all.
So simple to make, a good black felt pen and some watercolours.

Do you get creative with your Christmas wrapping ? Please share links to what you have done or anything you are inspired by.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)