High Tide you had a Happy Birthday

Sunny days by the sea are fond memories I have of my childhood, so when I saw the Stamp Set, High Tide appear in the Spring/Summer Catalogue, I knew I had to buy it. 

I couldn't grow up by the Sea in Brighton and not own this Stamp Set. 

The Two Step Stamping helps to create this fabulous lighthouse and the Seaside Embossing Folder, adds a great textural matting layer to the background. The sky may not be coloured, but I still love the simplicity of this card and the detail. 

Now to book up a visit to the seaside for a Fish and Chip lunch on the beach ... which was how my husband and I spent our first date together, 8 years ago next week ... ahhh the memories. 

New Items have been added to the Sale-a-Bration offering. Be sure to check it out. 

Lift Me Up Masculine Birthday

We have been without Internet access this week and although some things can be done relatively easily from my mobile phone, not all things have been that easy. I've been issued with a Temporary pass to access a Hotspot this evening, so I'm doing my best to prepare a few posts to share with you.

Masculine cards can often be harder cards to create, but I've not found that to be the case with the Stamp Set Lift Me Up at hand. 

Coupling a few simple colours for a vintage dusky feel and bingo ... a relatively quick and simple card to create ... and who would have thought that I'd used the beautifully feminine Falling In Love Designer Series Paper pack on this card?

Island Indigo couples so beautifully with Sahara Sand and stamped off to use Second Generation stamping, you get some fabulous variations of shades.

Don't want a bow? Then why not simply tie lengths of thread for a threaded knot.

Buy this Bundle and consider getting the coordinated Carried Away Designer Series Paper for FREE. 

I hope you have enjoyed this share and I sincerely hope you are making the most of Sale-a-Bration like my customers have been. There's still time to benefit from the Freebies on offer and the amazing Joining Offer. 

 Use this code at checkout to receive a Gift from me and reserve your copy of Annual Catalogue that will launch in June. 

Going Global for more than just a Masculine Class

    

Apologies for my absence of late, we've had a lot of family issues going on and I've also been preparing to Go Global at the weekend. 

My ladies had been asking for a masculine class, which I thought I'd deliver in time for Father's Day, which seems just around the corner. 

Going Global has been my "Go to Masculine Stamp Set" from the Spring/Summer Catalogue, so the class couldn't use any other stamp set, along with the fabulous coordinating papers called, Going Places. I love them!!

This card was inspired by something that I had seen on my travels around Pinterest. I just loved stamping all over the card base, to give the appearance of yet another patterned paper in the background. It certainly had my ladies fooled.

A long while back we made a little Gift Card Holder, which I thought we'd revisit and freshen up for this masculine theme. Black cardstock gave a fabulous backdrop to the world map and the pop of Delightful Dijon belly band. These really are so very popular to send and so very easy to make. 

This final card had us playing around with Ink on Watercolour Paper. No two cards were the same … every one's creation was on a theme, but different. It was fabulous and the little white embossed stars over the top, just added to the texture. 

We don't often stamp on Designer Series Paper, but this swirly paper was the perfect backdrop to the World, giving a lovely atmospheric appearance. 

A few tiny punched glitter stars for a little touch of sparkle, without going girlie and we were done. Three masculine creations that the ladies thoroughly enjoyed making and were delighted with their work. 

Well, this coming weekend, I myself will be going Global, as I meet up with nearly 400 other Demonstrators from around the globe (just 17 of us from the UK), on this year's Incentive Trip. To say that I am excited, would be an understatement. I feel totally honoured to have earned this trip for doing something that brings me so much pleasure and I look forward to sharing the experience with you all upon my return. I've made my swaps, so that's something I shall share with you in good time, along with those that I return home with. I'm not totally sure what to expect from the experience, but I feel sure that there will be lots of inspiration and fun to be had … and of course, friendships to build upon and others to make. 

In the meantime, don't forget that the Spring/Summer Catalogue will come to an end in just over a week, so if you've seen anything that I've created of late that you'd like to consider making for yourself, then ensure you head over to my online shop and place your order to avoid disappointment. 

If you're going Global … then Safe Travels to you

Mikaela x

Creation Station Blog Hop - Masculine theme

Welcome to this month's Creation Station Design Team Blog Hop and the theme for this month is anything Masculine. 

There's no betting that you'll have already seen some amazing creations if you've arrived from Jennifer's blog and if you're starting the hop here, I hope I'll start your blog hop journey in a good way with what I have to share.

Going Global has to have been my 'go to' stamp set for a masculine card since it's release in the Spring/Summer Catalogue and I shall be sad to see it go.

When designing this card, I had a dear friend in mind who I met during my flying career and who has offered to show hubby and I around Rome later this month when we experience the Grand Vacation Cruise. Having spent our Honeymoon in Italy, we have a love for the place and to have Luigi show us around had me thinking ...

I gave my husband a pair of cuff links as a Wedding present to wear on our Wedding Day. The colour in the centre was just stunning that I thought it would be great to try and recreate it. Hopefully you can see the beautiful colour of them here in this photo above.

I'm so pleased with how the colour came out on the world and the resemblance to the cuff links. A few masculine shapes, coupled with some popping colour of the Delightful Dijon and the Watermelon Wonder and a splattering of gold Wink of Stella and I was done. A thank you card for a world travelling friend, who I feel sure won't see this. 

I hope you have this masculine suite within your collection. You'll be amazed at just how many times you'd turn to the Embossing folder, the stamp set and the gorgeous papers. 

Well, I hope you've liked my share and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the Hop and the shares from the other Design Team members. Next up you have the wonderful Jen Arkfeld … so enjoy!

      

Happy Hopping

Mikaela x

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Going Global with Birthday Bouquet for the man

At my recent Stamp-a-Stack of Birthday's event, I included the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper pack for the kit bags. With such beautiful colours and floral prints, I must admit initially looking and wondering how I'd come up with a masculine Birthday Card for the event, using the paper pack, but I think I pulled it off.

I part stamped a sentiment from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set and coupled it with the globe and sentiment from Going Global. I sponged the world to add the dark and light to simulate night and day and added just a flash of the Pool Party Glitter Ribbon …. Oh how I love that ribbon!!

I'm not sure how well you can see the embossed World Traveller image to the white cardstock, but I adore that embossing folder. That alone is a must have for your collection, as you'll be able to create a masculine card any time using just this alone. 

I hope you like this simple little card. Pop back tomorrow to see another of the cards that we created. 

Mikaela x