Thursday, September 25, 2014

Masculine #4 Navy behind Autumn Leaf


"Anywhere!  
They don't care!
Cats sleep
Anywhere."
                                                                              ----------Eleanor Farjeon

Hi, Friends.....

I am here with #4 of my 5 cards for the MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge - Masculine card with Navy Blue.  As I mentioned, I am departing slightly from the 3 very simple cards I already made.  This one is more colorful because of the Autumn theme, but still simple enough to be suitable for a man.

For this card, I pulled out my favorite of my autumn leaves I cut from some gorgeous K&Co. paper.  This oak leaf is traced from a stencil I made of one of my own free-hand leaf drawings, of which I am inordinately proud.  Ha!!  (Those of you who are skilled and naturally-talented at drawing have no idea what it is like for those of us who are totally pencil-challenged!!)  I ran the leaf through my Big Shot with the Checkered pattern Darice embossing folder to give a hint of texture.  

My background is a piece of SSS Soft Navy cardstock (a very nice heavy-weight paper!) with the same checkered pattern dry embossed into it.  Then I applied my Versamark pad not too evenly all over that piece and heat embossed with gold.  Love the variations in coverage! 


I thought brads seemed manly-looking, so I used them to attach my leaf to the background.  (Besides, they were still out on my craft table from the 1-2-3-4 Challenge....Ha!!)  I like how they allow the edges of the leaf to lift away from the card a bit for some dimension.  My NATURE stamp is from the MFP Nature's Brushstroke stamp set I won.  (THANKS, MFP!!!)  I used the same gold embossing powder for it and I love how it subtly blends in to the background.  I mounted it all on a deep blue card base.

How do you like it?  Is it masculine enough?  I was afraid to ask my hubby!  Ha.  Hope you are having a wonderful week.  Thank you for all your lovely comments!!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges: 
1. MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #230 - Masculine - Navy
2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge #8 - Anything Goes
3. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stencils &/or Stamps
4. Pile it On Challenge #38 - Shiny
5. Wow Embossing Powder September Challenge - My Favourite
6. Vandicrafts Artistry Challenge #9 - Autumn

16 comments:

  1. You just can't help yourself can you ? This card is GORGEOUS >>>>l love the heat embossing and what you did with the leaf is awesome ........Lis

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    1. LOL.....I guess you're right...I just couldn't help myself this week with this inspiring challenge!! Thanks so much for your encouraging comments!!

      <3
      Janis

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  2. Oh very nice card! I am also a fan of all the gold heat embossing and what a fabulous idea for the brads on the leaf!!! :) Thank you for sharing on this weeks Artistry Challenge.
    Melissa - Vandicrafts

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    1. Thank you, Melissa!!! It was fun having a card to enter in your challenge this week!!!

      <3
      Janis

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  3. Janis, this is so wonderful! I love the combination of dry embossing and heat embossing, and your hand-drawn, hand-cut leaf is perfection. The gold adds amazing texture without overshadowing the beautiful leaf. Wow, you're even making me want to pull out my gold embossing powder now!

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    1. Oh, thank you, Karen, for admiring my leaf!!! I am just so proud of it. Ha!!

      I have been using so much gold embossing powder lately, that I actually used my little container of it UP!!! It wasn't an entire jar of it, just my little craft table container....but I was amazed! I portion out my EP so if I get too much crud and cat hair in it, I am not contaminating my whole jar!!! Even though I use a pet hair roller regularly to pick up stray lint, cat hair, glitter, etc from my work surface, I still end up with all sorts of stuff in my EP....(sigh)....

      <3
      Janis

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  4. Gorgeous card Janis :-) the soft navy is one of my fave colours and with the gold embossing it looks amazing ! FAB leaf too ! the whole design of this is stunning :-) LOVE it :-)

    Love the photo of the kitties too, so adorable :-)

    thanks for joining us on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
    luv
    Lols x x x

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    1. Thanks, Lorraine. I love the gold on the Soft Navy, too. Thanks, also, for admiring my leaf. Hehehe!! I appreciate your visit and your nice comment!!!

      <3
      Janis

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  5. Pencill-challenged here as well, it's very frustrating/dissapointing if you have an image in your mind but can't transfer it to paper because of that! Great masculine card without going to the traditional tools or vehicles! The brads look good on it.
    Debbie / Daqa

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    1. Ah, yes....you know what it's like to not be able to draw, either, then. It's amazing the different talents and skills that some are born with and others are completely devoid of!!! Ha. That keeps things interesting, though, doesn't it? Thanks so much for your kind words!!

      <3
      Janis

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  6. Thanks for joining us at Pile it on for the shiney challenge. Hope to see you again for our new challenge this week!! Kimberly DT

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    1. Thank you so much for dropping by!!!

      <3
      Janis

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  7. Love that you have incorporated nature in your beautiful creation, Janis! And the photo, as always, is welcome, happy and sweet! hugs, de

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    1. You are always so sweet and encouraging, Donna!!! Thanks so much for visiting and leaving smiles wherever you go! :)

      <3
      Janis

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THANK YOU so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Your kind words encourage me so very much!!!

Have a lovely day!
<3
Janis