Let's Get Nautical for MOJO Monday

Ahoy, Maties!  When I looked at the Mojo Monday Challenge sketch it made me think of one thing only - The Sea!  Well, sailing ships really and the semaphore flags that were once used to send messages from ship to ship.

Here's the Mojo Monday Challenge # 338 sketch:

So avast and belay, me hearties!  Here's my version:

• Using a nautical palette of Pacific Point, Summer Starfruit, Real Red and Whisper White, I created a design for the sea lovers and anyone who likes the romance of the sea.
• The angles of the design are totally like those found on the spars and sheets and sails on a sailboat.  I added some Summer Starfruit Striped Grosgrain ribbon on the side of the angled piece to add some more vertical lines.

• The little banners were cut out of cardstock using the Banner Punch which is only available for a few more days during Sale-A-Bration.  Quick, easy and fun!
• The ship and world map is from The Open Sea stamp set.  The world map is stamped in Smoky Slate and the ship in Pacific Point.  It was punched using the 2 1/2" Circle Punch, a staple for every stamper's craft room!  I used a Starburst circle die-cut in Real Red for the matte.
• The sentiment is from the Hello, Sailor stamp set stamped in Real Red ink and even the Whisper White flag has a little flag on it!

Thanks for dropping by today and Bon Voyage!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

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More Hybrid Valentines

Well, as you know, I have three little grandsons and I can't send one a Valentine without sending the other two one as well! So I made two more "hybrid" Valentines, hybrid meaning __________??  (Pop quiz from yesterday.)

Here are my three adorable little guys:


Parker, aged 2,

Kesten, aged 19 months,












and Wyatt, aged 7 months

(Sigh!)  As a Grandma, I'm so blessed!  I've seen Parker and Wyatt fairly recently, but Kesten lives quite a bit further north and we're planning on visiting near the end of March when the weather will have warmed a bit and the roads will be better (hopefully).

Here are the other two hybrid Valentines.

The moose is for Kesten, up north.  My daughter, Kris, is creating a book of original paintings of Northern Animals for Kesten, and there is a moose in it, so I thought this realistic image of a bull moose would be recognized.

The whale is for Wyatt because he and his family live on the coast of BC and he has a lot of whale toys.  As well his house is full of nautical paraphernalia, so this is appropriate for him!

Both valentines are hybrids because I created the sentiments using My Digital Studio.  I wanted something more personal than the stamps I have and something that would tie the images to Valentine's Day.

•  I used the Hardwood background stamp for the first time and I am really pleased with the clear, crisp woodgrain.  I have it mounted on some Crushed Curry cardstock and placed on a base of Soft Suede cardstock.
• The 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon is the perfect choice for this texture-rich card.  I love the masculine feel it gives to the Valentine.
• The moose is such a great image from the set Walk in the Wild, which, if I remember correctly was one of the first sets I bought from the Annual Catalogue.  I used one of the Window Frames Collection Framelits to die cut the panel and the same sized framelit to cut another from Early Espresso.  I cut that in half from side to side and mounted it a little offset from the panel to make a very narrow matte.
• The hybrid sentiment was printed on Whisper White card stock and matted with Early Espresso cardstock as well.

• I used a sea-going colour palette of Night of Navy, Real Red and Crushed Curry for this card for Wyatt.  The Crushed Curry Polka Dot paper is from the Regals Designer Series Paper Stacks.  
• The images are from the Hello, Sailor stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalogue.  The whale panel is die cut using one of the Circles Collection Framelits and the Night of Navy backing it was punched with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch.  This makes a narrower matte than you would get with the next largest Circle framelit.
• I created a matte for the sentiment panel right on My Digital Studio so I didn't have to make one from cardstock.  The sentiment panel was printed on Whisper White cardstock. and trimmed.
• The Ahoy stamp is also from Hello, Sailor, and was die cut with one of the new Word Bubbles Framelits.

One more thing I did was send each family some chocolate - Ghirardelli Chocolate, Dark and Mint Squares and I created some cute holders for them that I CASED from Mary Fish.  They are totally cute and really easy to do with the new punches.  The two inch width that we are restricted to with these punches turns out to be perfect for the Ghirardelli squares.

So that's a wrap on Valentine's Day.  I hope you found something over the last few weeks that you could do for your loved ones!

See you again tomorrow with a new As You See It Challenge.

To purchase any of the products listed below used to make this project, simply click on the links which will take you directly to my On-Line Stampin' Up!  Store, where you can view the products and make a purchase if you like.  You can have it delivered right to your door!

• Walk In The Wild Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Walk In The Wild Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Hello, Sailor [wood]
• Hello, Sailor [clear]
• Hardwood [wood]
• Hardwood [clear]
• Regals Designer Series Paper Stack
• Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Early Espresso 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Night Of Navy 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad
• Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad
• Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
• Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
• 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon
• Circles Collection Framelits Dies
• Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• Word Bubbles Framelits Dies
• MDS Download

The Open Sea Meets Hello Sailor for the Paper Players

Ahoy, matey!  In search of inspiration for masculine birthday cards, I dug out The Open Sea stamp set and decided to pair it up with the new High Tide DSP and the Hello, Sailor stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue.  Is it weird that I like nautical themes so much, even though I suffer from sea-sickness.  I've never gone on a cruise and though I like the whole concept, I am reluctant to try it because of my motion sickness and all the nasty reports of epidemics, fires and sinking cruise ships lately.  I'm sure it would be fine, but I'm just a nervous traveller!

The Paper Players Challenge #180 is a very interesting one and one that fit nicely with my nautical theme:

This is my take on it:

• I love the mix of blues and greys here.  Soft Sky is the base, with some Smoky Slate DSP from High Tide.  Pacific Point is the darker blue.
• The images on the front panel are all from The Open Sea and Express Yourself for the sentiment.  The ledger background is stamped in Smoky Slate (stamped off once) and the faint world map is inked up in Soft Sky, but hard to see in the photo.  The ship and the sentiment are stamped in Pacific Point.
• Notice the two types of ribbon used here. One is the new Striped Grosgrain ribbon in Pacific Point from the Occasions Catalogue and one is Stitched Grosgrain from the Annual Catalogue.

• I made the tag using a 2" wide piece of Smoky Slate and punching it with the Scallop Tag Topper Punch.  I added some images from Hello, Sailor to a smaller piece of Whisper White, sponged the edges (as I did, by the way, on the front panel) and added the ribbon pull.
• I topped the whole thing off with some Pacific Point Candy Dots.
• The front panel and it's Pacific Point matte are mounted with Dimensionals around the edge, keeping the side clear for the tag to fit into.

In other news, Stampin' Up!  has reintroduced a new tool called the Texture Boutique. 

It was introduced at one point last year and quickly sold out.  It will find a permanent home in the new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue, but until then, there's a limited supply, so if you want one now, best order right away.  You know how fast they disappear.  It's a baby Big Shot, but it only embosses, it doesn't die cut.  So you can use it only with the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

Here's Brian Pilling from the Head Office to tell you all about it:

          

If you want the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, just click on the link which will take you directly to my On-Line Store for shopping 24/7.  You can also call or email me.

Don't forget that Sale-A-Bration has started and you can earn free stamp sets and other products from the Sale-A-Bration brochure for every $60 you spend, and for every Sale-A-Bration item you earn, you also earn 2 Papercraft Cat customer loyalty points to put towards a $50 gift certificate once you earn 20 points.  So you win, win, win! in so many ways!

• The Open Sea
• The Open Sea - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Hello, Sailor [wood]
• Hello, Sailor [clear]
• Express Yourself Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Express Yourself Clear-mount Stamp Set
• High Tide Designer Series Paper
• Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Pacific Point 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
• Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
• Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pacific Point 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Pacific Point 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
• Scalloped Tag Topper Punch
• Brights Candy Dots
• Stamping Sponges

Hello, Sailor! - Masculine Birthday Card And New eGift Certificates Available

I was looking for a masculine birthday card idea, and I got out my new stamp set, Hello Sailor, from the Occasions Catalogue.  It was perfect for one of my sons-in-law, as he loves nautical motifs.

My husband and I, not long ago, completed watching a set of DVDs containing the TV miniseries, Horatio Hornblower.  Based on the novels by CS Forester, it is the story of a heroic, but self-effacing junior officer in His Majesty's Royal Navy.  The miniseries starred Ioan Gruffudd, one of my favourite actors since watching him in Amazing Grace. I found the realistic depiction of life on the high seas during the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815) fascinating, though I have no desire to live under those conditions!  The life of a sailor has been frequently romanticised, but is far from glamorous, that's for sure!

I set about designing the card, using some great new products and following the sketch from Mojo Monday Challenge #324.  It's been so long since I've done a Mojo Monday sketch, it felt good to get back into it again.  Mojo Monday sketches are so well designed.

Here's my version:

• This card is chock-full of new products!  First is the stamp set, full of nautical images and sentiments. In this card, I used the wheel, the anchor and the sentiment, "Ahoy".  The Happy Birthday was from Bring On the Cake!
• The Designer Series Paper is a new set called High Tide and it coordinates beautifully with the stamp set.
• The bottom front panel of Pacific Point cardstock has been embossed using a new embossing folder called Decorative Dots, which will be available January 28 as part of Sale-A-Bration this year.  You will be able to earn it or a range of choice products free with every $60 purchase.
• Can I hear a loud "Huzzah!!" for the Striped Grosgrain ribbon?  It is seen here in Summer Starfruit, but also available Jan. 3 in Pacific Point as well!  I have waited forever for striped ribbon!  I'm so excited, but also hopeful that there will be more colours available in the new Annual Catalogue in June!

• I stamped the little banners with the anchor from Hello, Sailor and with an old favourite set, Hearts aFlutter.  The big news is that there will be a punch which will punch out that little banner shape!  It's the perfect size for an accent banner at the top of a card.  When?  Jan. 28 during Sale-A-Bration!
• I added some more of the High Tide DSP as an envelope liner, using the Envelope Liner Framelits which are being carried over into the Occasions Catalogue.  Good news indeed!

This is a good masculine card.  The more primary colours work well, but if the colour palette was changed, it could also have a more subdued look.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Check out my post on eGift Certificates for you last minute shoppers!

• Bring On The Cake - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Bring On The Cake Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Pacific Point 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
• Hearts A Flutter
• Hearts A Flutter Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad
• White Baker's Twine
• Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies
• Hello, Sailor Stamp Set*
• Decorative Dots Embossing Folder **
• High Tide DSP*
• Summer Starfruit Striped Grosgrain Ribbon*
• Banner Punch**

*Available Jan. 3 in the new Occasions Catalogue

**Available Jan. 28 in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure.