Urrrg, man Cards are So Difficult

I've been trying to make Fathers Day cards, and I find it so difficult - really hard to resist the urge to add flowers, ribbons, glitter and gems to bling them up!

Inspired by a couple of challenges, I've made a couple of 'man' cards using a Stampin' Up stamp:

This first one was inspired by the following challenges:
Less Is More: 'Sunset'

The Friday Mashup: 'Let's Ombre'

Virginia's View; 'Ombre / Monochromatic'

And here's another card using the same stamp:

I'm entering this one into the following challenges:

Fusion: 'Blue Skies & Smooth Sailing'

My Time To Craft: 'Male'

I'm quite pleased with how these have turned out, but I still want to add some gems... and one or two flowers would be ok, surely... everyone likes flowers....

Lavinia Stamps and Watercolour Pencils

Hi! I love Lavinia stamps, and have had lots of fun trying to make backgrounds with ink dusters and brayers (I can't get on with brayers at all!). However, I borrowed some watercolour pencils the other day, have been having a play around, and I love them! I'm still working out how to use them, but I had a go at a background scene, and I love how easy it is to blend colours together.

Anyway, here's what I came up with:

I put the hills, moon and sky in first, then stamped all the images. Then I added a shadow under the castle, and coloured in the tree. I've left if without a sentiment.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Lavinia Stamps 'Any Colours You Like'

Friday Mash-up 'Watercolor fun!'

Create a project with "Watercoloring".

Create a project using "the Sketch".

or Mash it Up! and create a "Watercolored Project using the Sketch".

Loves Rubber Stamps 'Anything Goes'