One for the guys!!!

  Making cards for guys is always hard and one of the biggest challenges for me.  When I first saw the current challenge at the Copic Musketeers, my first thought was, Oh no...this will be a hard one...but I knew I wanted to try and I printed out the challenge and downloaded the WordArt that TLC, kindly donated for the challenge!

   Then, I got so busy, I put it all aside and totally forgot.  Luckily, Melanie reminded me yesterday, which was a good thing, because I had totally forgot.  Thanks Mel!  I am very happy you reminded me and also need the practice of Male cards and not giving up when a challenge seems hard...it IS after all - a Challenge!!

   I still admit, this was NOT an easy challenge, as I still want not sure what I was going to use for an image.  Then all of a sudden I thought of Gus from Bugaboo and thought he would be awesome.  I then started browsing through my digi stamp collection to find out which one I wanted.  I had this one already, so I chose him.  Of course, he came with his own Sentiment, but for this challenge I edited out the original sentiment and replaced it with the TLC WordArt!.   Gus may have a grumpy face and like to complain, but I think deep down, he's a sweet and mushy guy and that's why this sentiment, also seemed to fit quite nicely.

 
   For my card, I started by merging both digi images together in Word and them printed them out onto my Copic Cardstock.  I then colored up Gus with my copies and to make his glasses look more realistic I added a layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer.  I then added a bit of Distress ink to the outside of the image and created the angle corners with my Corner Chomper.   I layered my image onto a a piece of patterned paper, from my stash.  I also created some vertical layers from scraps and finished off the card with two d finished off my card two Glimmer brads from Stampin Up.

   I admit, it not one of my favorite cards and I'm still struggling a bit with my 'Guy' cards, but I'm happy that I did not give up and that I finished it time for the challenge.   I do feel like my Mojo is still lacking a bit, but it's slowly coming back.

   Afternoon Update - I am back with one more card today and this one is for the the weekly Sketch Challenge over at the Stars & Stamps Blog.  This is the sketch we had from this past Sunday --

   And this is my card, which was created all with papers from my scrap bin.  Even the flower in the enter was created from scraps and floral die cuts I had left over from other projects.  Whenever I cut using my Cricut, I tend to cut several extra shapes and then keep them all in a large bin of extra die cuts.  This flower was created with a variety, some of the flowers were cut on my Cricut and others were cut with the wonderful Floral Die from Tim Holtz
 

   I hope to start on one more card this evening and that will be for a challenge over at 'The Outlawz'.   If you want to join me in any of these challenges, simply follow the links to play along.  To join the Copic coloring challenge, you'll want to visit the Copic Musketeers, to join the fun in making cards for  OWH, please go HERE and lastly, you can visit the  'The Outlawz' -- where you'll find a new challenge every day!!