A Manly Beginning...

Hello all, so happy you could drop in today - there's a lot going on as it's the first of the month!  

First of all, I'm very excited to share my news with you.  I'm delighted to be able to announce that I'm joining the team at Country View Challenges - so happy! - and so here's my project for the June theme of Only Men Allowed.

Later in the morning, I'll be back (with a completely contrasting tag!) to share my inspiration offering for the new Our Creative Corner challenge.  But first let's check out the men!  The Country View Challenges team have created some fabulous makes to inspire you, so do hop over and check them out when you're done here...

I'm starting out with a tag - what else?! - and drawing inspiration from my favourite crafty men: Tim Holtz and Umbrella Man.  There's a list of ingredients at the end of the post, so you can click on the product links if you feel an uncontrollable urge to go shopping!

I had a ball creating the background for this... I stuck some Metal Foil Tape Sheets to a Size 8 tag, and then ran it through my BigShot with the glorious Subway folder.









I splurged some paint onto the surface, black acrylic and Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood Distress Paints.  








The first layer ended up far too dark for my liking, so I added more of the two blues, spritzing and drying until I was happy.











Once it was all dry, I sanded the surface of the embossing to reveal the metal tape beneath - v. cool look, I'd say!

Glancing around the craft table, I spotted a steely blue mop-up tag which was hanging out over in one corner... perfect for Umbrella Man.  
Once cut, I blended on Black Soot Distress Ink from the left to create a shadow effect.

He's stamped with grungy numbers from the Ultimate Grunge stamp set, and mounted on padded tape to create a pop of dimension.

He needed somewhere to stand, and since he's trying to work out which way he should go in life, I thought this arrow (a.k.a. a clock hand/Game Spinner) might help.












And I added some other Idea-ology bits and bobs, as well as some other metal pieces to help on the journey - Sprocket Gears and a Compass Coin, for instance.













The ChitChat stickers are edged in Black Soot and have a touch of Weathered Wood DP to add to the stormy steely bluesy look.














The topping is made with tissue tape - Commute, to co-ordinate with the embossed background - stuck to some seam binding to create a stiff ribbon, and it's tied with Paper String.











So, that's my first masculine make for you.  I'll be back later in June to share some more inspiration.  Do hop over and check out what my amazing new (to me!) team mates have created, and we hope you'll come and play Only Men Allowed some time this month.  There's a prize draw generously sponsored by Country View Crafts.

And, as I mentioned, I'll be back all too soon to play over in Our Creative Corner, with something completely different... hope to see you then!

To map out a course of action and follow it to the end requires courage.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'd like to enter this in the following:
One for the Boys at the Pan Pastel UK Challenge Blog
For the Guys at Allsorts

Click to go shopping at Country View Crafts:
Metal Foil Tape Sheets
Size 8 Tags
Subway and Stencil Texture Fades
Stampers Anonymous - Ultimate Grunge
Idea-ology Game Spinners, Sprocket Gears, Compass Coins
Commute Tissue Tape
ChitChat Stickers
Paper String - Solids
Umbrella Man has been discontinued - shock, horror, tears!