So many times I have heard stampers say that it is hard for them to design a card for a man. Since I have been surrounded by guys most of my life, including my four sons, it has always been easy for me. This comes in handy when my husband, a very active ham radio operator, asks for a card to send to one of his buddies.
This quick and easy card was designed using a dark brown card base, leaf patterned paper, a strip of terra cotta CS which was Cuttlebugged using the branches folder, and a sheer shimmering ribbon edged in gold. Using Elemental Doodles' Autumn Splendor stamps, I stamped the saying on a beige scrap in Marvy Matchables' Dark Brown. Around the edges of the scrap, I stamped the solid leaf stamp, alternating the colors. The ink used was Brilliance Rocket Red Gold and Crimson Copper. After mounting it on a slightly larger piece of metallic gold CS, the finished image was mounted to the card.
Quick ... easy ... masculine.
Did you check out yesterday's blog and look at the Elemental Doodles' sneak peek of new stamps? I can hardly wait to get my hands on the face, ink bottle and quill. I think they will work so well with the postage stamp from the Firecracker USA set.

My apologies to you, Marianne M, for CASEing a card you sent me. Mine isn't as elaborate as yours and is not a true CASE, but I loved the idea!
The stamps I used were from the Elemental Doodles Coffee Cafe set. The instructions for this card are:
Terra Cotta CS base
Ivory CS cut a bit smaller than base and corner punched inked with Marvy Matchables Terra Cotta
Stamp on background was inked with Adirondak's Hazelnut
Layers on coffee cup are patterned paper, ivory CS and burgundy CS
Stamps on coffee cup were inked with Dark Brown Marvy Matchables
Different colors of CS were cut into triangles, mounted on beige CS to resemble steam, and then mounted on burgundy CS.
Multicolored eyelash fibers were used as an embellishment.
And now a word from the sponsor!
If you would like to see a sneak preview of the new Elemental Doodles' stamps which will be available in June, go to: http://www.elementaldoodles.com/pages/sneakpeak.php. These stamps can be pre-ordered after June 1st and should be available for shipping by June 15th. If you go to their web site and sign up for the newletter at: http://www.elementaldoodles.com/pages/newsletter.php, you will receive a larger discount than the one that will be offered to the general public.
I'm excited to be receiving new stamps to play with, and I like the design of the sets. Having sayings associated with stamp sets is always nice, and I also like the fact that there are solid and outline stamps. If one doesn't work ... the other one will!
Have a great day, and thank you for reading my shameless commercial.

This is another black and white challenge. I stamped the flourishes on a white card base with StazOn Jet Black ink using clear stamps by Inkadinkadoo. The main image is from Magenta and is stamped on white with StazOn Jet Black and mounted on black CS; both ovals were cut using Nestabilities. Embellishments are photo corners punched using a Stampin' Up! photo corner punch. The sheer black ribbon is from an unknown source, but I suspect I bought it from my LSS (Local Stamp Store).
For all of you out there traveling home on this Memorial Day holiday, have a safe trip.
For all our veterans, past and present, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service to our country. I have been able to enjoy my life in this wonderful country, secure in knowing that there are men and women willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe from harm. God bless you all.

It has been so long since I posted here, but it has been a month of absolute chaos here. The drain from the a/c unit in the attic stopped up, filled the drain pan, and overflowed, ruining both bathrooms and a bedroom closet. Construction to repair the damage is still ongoing but should be finished this week.
Because of all the mess we have been in for the past month, artistic inspiration has fled screaming for help. The muse has been visiting elsewhere while I wasn't looking. Now that things are coming back together here, my muse has been teasing around the edges of consciousness.
This card was the answer to a challege for numbers. I don't usually work in a larger format, but the clock face seemed to call for it. The card is 8-1/2" wide by 5-1/2" tall. The card base is a light orange, topped with a dark gray embossed card stock. I bought it in a pad of 8"x8" papers, promptly tore all the paper out of the pad, and quickly forgot who made it. The papers in the pad are really cool, though, and I think I bought it at Michael's two or three months ago.
The next layer is a strip of medium orange paper, which I stamped with black ink from Marvy Matchables. The stamp is one of my favorites and was made by Eclectic Omnibus. I then ran it through the Cuttlebug, using the Traffic Jam embossing folder. The large clock face from Magenta was heat embossed with JudiKins' Silver embossing powder on a piece of glossy black card stock and cut out. It is topped with a clock face from B Line Designs which was stamped on ivory card stock with black StazOn ink and cut out. I colored the eyes with a Grayish Olive Copic marker and the lips with a Light Prawn Copic marker.