Masculine Birthday Card Featuring Taylored Expressions Argyle Stamp & Stencils

I needed a quick masculine birthday card and had previously created background using my Taylored Expressions Argyle stamp and stencils.  This made quick work of the card created for my teenage nephew.   

Masculine Cards (with a side of the feminine) Inspired by Gina K.For the Boys Challenge

Brandy described this set of cards as an inspiration that came to her.  She was inspired to participate in the Gina K August 2019 Monthly Mix Challenge For the Boys.  The challenge was to create a masculine project with Gina K products.  Of course, she choose to use her Something Good stamp set, selecting the wood slab stamp.  She wanted to incorporate the deer die cut somehow and decided on a shaker card.  Each step in the design drove the next with the selection of the camouflage background stamp to create an interesting background and a tag sentiment to keep it simple (you know, masculine!). 

Once that masculine inspired card was made, she was excited enough to make this butterfly focal point version.

Altogether great cards, but the inspiration didn't stop there.  Then she started to think feminine with a side of pink and these next two cards were created.  Beautiful, don't you think?

Here's a comparison of the different designs.  I prefer the deer on green because green is my favorite color and because the deer is rockin'.

I'm linking this up to the Gina K Monthly Mix Challenge For the Boys. 

Andie for 

A Birthday Card for My Hubby

My hubby celebrated a birthday and I needed a quick card to tell him how much I love him.  This card was made using my Concord & 9th Sketched Stripes background stamp.  The pattern created by the stamp set creates a fantastic background for my simple, masculine card.  I white heat embossed the sentiment which fits perfectly on this A7 card.

Simple and easy, plus a lovely, sweet sentiment on the inside.  Happy Birthday, Dan!

Birthday Wishes

My husband jokes that it is birthday season for us, but there's a ring of truth to what he says.  I'm stopping in to share this masculine birthday card with you.  I paired a chalkboard stamped sentiment with some patterned paper to create a simple, yet effective card with a minimalist style for the dude who celebrated a birthday.

On the inside - a sentiment created from coordinating patterned paper from the paper pad.  One down, several more to go.

Geometric Watercoloring

October and November are infamously known in my family as "birthday season".  We have quite a few individuals who celebrate during this fun time of the year so I typically need to make a few cards, many masculine themed.  I used a geometric background stamp to white emboss some watercolor paper.  I the filled in the sections with Mission Gold watercolor paint.  Such a simple design, but very effective.

Inside, a simple sentiment.  One down, a few more to go!

Tulle Birthday Balloon

I had some pieces out on the worktable and decided to throw them together to make this tulle shaker card.  I've been working these simple sentiment stamps and think that this one fits together with the tulle shaker making something not too girly out of tulle.  The window was cut using my Studio Katia Dotted Balloons die and a mix of silver and royal blue confetti to dot the inside of the shaker.

The bold sentiment was stamped using the MISTI so that I could be assured a crisp, black sentiment.  I'm pleased with how well this turned out and it wasn't made in a hurry.  It'll go in the stash for that day when I need a card, fast!

Celebrating 50 Years!

I'm terribly late in posting this card made for my hubby, Dan, who turned 50 years old this year.  I decided on a very formal, masculine shaker card highlighting silver, gold and black.  The sentiment is from a set of foam mounted black, glitter stickers.  Simple, elegant and enough to let the man know I care about him on his 1/2 century mark.

What milestones have you celebrated recently?

Another Birthday Shaker Card

I mentioned that I had a Queen and Co. foam shaker kit left over as a free prize at the CK Scrapbook convention earlier this year.  Brandy actually won the prize, but make a quick decision she wouldn't be using them anytime soon so she gifted two of the three to me.  I shared this card with you a little while ago.  I was pretty honest at the time that the kit comes with a few shortcomings - namely that the kit isn't precise.

This Foam Front Shaker Stars kit was a little better to get right - probably because there was only one way to bring the card together.  Still - That plaid patterned paper on the left is proof that the cardstock front provided in the kit didn't align with the die cut foam and so I evened everything out with a wrap around "binding".  I also die cut some additional stars and placed them on the front of the card to add a little more interest to the card panel.  The shaker element and sequins are all the same as the previous card.

All in all, I think the card fun and used it for my nephew's birthday - great for a young boy who isn't terribly interested in Auntie's card anyway?!  I'm glad I used this supply up and it isn't languishing away in the stash.  What supplies do you have sitting on the craft table on in your stash that you need to get out and use?  Let this be an encouragement - use up that stash!  You might be surprised at the use you can put those supplies to.  I was!

 

Happy Birthday Shaker Card

So, this is a little story about a free gift at the CK Scrapbook convention.  It is no secret that they give away a prize to all or nearly all attendees to their crop nights.  This year, one of the gifts that Brandy won was a set of Queen and Co. Foam Front Shaker Kits.  She kept one of the three and I took the other two.

I decided to use up this stuff in the stash.  This card was made from the Window Foam Front Shaker Kit.  We've been pretty honest on this blog - plugging the products that we love because we use them over and over.  In the case of this shaker card kit - I can say I was decidedly underwhelmed!  Everything comes precut - the foam pieces , a die cut cardstock window to use on top of the foam, everything.  My beef with it all is the fact that the kit isn't precise.  I will own my own kind of control freak when it comes to crafting - things need to be symmetrical and neat.  This was neither.  You can see if you look close the imperfection in how the cardstock die cut (here I colored blue to match the theme of my card) matches to the white foam that creates the shaker window.  You might say that this is because the die cut is upside down or rotated 180 degrees.  You'd be wrong as I tried my level best to get that sucker on there straight.  Also - the outside rectangles - the foam piece, the die cut cardstock front and the acetate to cover the shaker windows - all were different sizes.  This required a trimming of all to match - but I didn't discover this until the shaker was together so I couldn't simply use my paper trimmer.  You can see the slight "roughness" on the upper right edge of the card where my trimming wasn't so exacting.

The price point is pretty great - running around $2.99 retail.  Not terribly expensive and for the novice or someone who doesn't own dies to use to make these kinds of shaker windows - maybe worth it.  However, I have made many shaker cards in the past.  Though my fronts are limited to the dies I own, the end result when I die cut myself is that everything fits together as I make it.  This was unnecessarily complicated (for me) by the necessary trim/adjustments that were required.

Still, a cute card was made and I intend to use this to great effect on a masculine birthday card need that I have.  So, all in all worth it from a giveaway standpoint, but I don't think I'd even spend $2.99 to buy the kit if I saw it on the shelf.  I have one more kit to use and will try to make that work soon just so I use both up without having the second and last one sitting in the stash for too long.

Hope your week is going well and that you are finding a reason to use that stuff in your stash.

A Masculine Birthday Card

Brandy shared this wonderful masculine card with me and I just couldn't help but share them with you.  There is some really fantastic elements and I can tell you that this card is way more stunning that the photos can capture.  Still, it's pretty great, don't you think?  Here's the details:

• The horse was stamped onto a piece of thin wood "paper" in a rust colored permanent ink.  The paper is made from wood and has the texture and coloring of light wood prior to the treatment.
• Vintage Photo and Walnut Ink Distress Inks were used to create the fade of brown to the edges.  Water was added to create the splatters.
• The sentiment was stamped in black permanent ink and the entire piece cut and embossed with a Spellbinders frame die set.  
• The embossed edge of the horse image was then inked with some more Distress Ink.
• The ornate portion of the frame was adhered to some cream cardstock which was edged in the same brown Distress inks and the horse image was adhered with some foam tape.
• Everything was then placed on a dark blue card.  

Don't you think this is simply fantastic?  I do as well.  If you haven't tried the wood "paper", we both suggest you get some a give it a try.  It works really well when used with a traditional thin die cuts, creating a wonderful image for your project.

I just have to link up this project over at Word Art Wednesday Challenge #220 Anything Goes.

For a Grown Son's Birthday

Just a quick post to share this card I made for my son's birthday last month.  I taped the kraft cardstock card to the work surface with some painters tape and then sprinkled the card with the blue and violet Brushos.  I sprintzed water over the top and created this fabulous background.  If I had to do it again, I'd add a kraft cardstock piece that was watercolored because you can see color bled through to the other side.  Son didn't care though!  I then ran the card through my printer and put this sentiment in block letters over the top.  The printing didn't stand out so I brushed on some black molding paste with a paint brush.  I'm pleased it turned out and my son thought it was a bit funny.  Hit that note just right!

A Masculine Happy Birthday

Of course we always need to make those masculine cards.  Trouble is to get it right so that you aren't that weird, card making lady who sprinkles glitter on all the cards.  Watercoloring makes the job easier.  For this card I used one of the stamps from my Darkroom Door Trees.  I stamped the image in Vintage Photo Distress Inks and then sprinkled some red and orange Brushos onto the leaves.  Using a brush I added water to the Brushos and they covered the Distress ink completely.  I used my Distress marker (the fine tip) to bring back some of the branch definition that could still be seen.  Then it was the sky - watercolored with my Prima Oil Pastels.  Brandy bought me a set as a birthday present.  It was the best present in the whole world!  There are two different colors of blue in the sky which adds a lot of depth.  I scribbled the oil pastel onto a piece of palette paper and wet the media with water to bring it to the watercolor paper project.  For the ground, I drew on the watercolor paper directly with the brown oil pastel crayon and then filled in with three different colors of green oil pastel crayons.  I then used the brush with water to wet and create the watercolor look.

I finished the kraft cardstock card with some brown cardstock (ever do manly don't you think?) and a piece of rough fiber (manly?  too girly?  it is soft- maybe too much?).  All together I really like how this turned out.  If you haven't jumped into the watercoloring, I encourage you to try.  It isn't all the tough and the results are fantastic.  Have a wonderful rest of your day and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday for My Man

I needed to make a birthday card for my hubby whose birthday is next month.  An extra day off is a perfect opportunity to let the creative juices flow.  I've even uploaded photos of cards from the scrapbook convention (my how time has flown).  I'm hoping to get to the blogging of those soon.  Additionally, Brandy forwarded a picture of a beautiful creation she made this weekend as well.  I'm telling you, creative juices baby!

This little card was inspired by the latest Mojo Monday sketch 295.  Given that round is just more feminine, I decided to go with the square look.  Additionally, since square envelopes are rare, I decided to alter the design and go rectangle.

I also decided to reach into the scrap pile and use up some of those scraps available to me.  This strip is quite old and there is little left, just the right fit for my card.


 I found a bunch of coordinating solids to fit the design.  Again, to make it a little more masculine I decided to forgo the flower and leaf motive.  Ms. Jessica over at Errant Scraps inspired the embellishment I finally decided on.  Her layout was just right and the rosette eye catcher fit perfectly- not to girly, not too plain and just the right depth for my design.  The pictures don't really capture the distressing done with my Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  The sentiment comes from my Titled Banners Sentiments stamp set.  The medallion is a 25 cent special in the bin at Michaels and the bird is from a Fiskars set, long stored in the Scrapbox.

I think I hit just the right note.  It will be a few weeks, but this one's ready and no rush will be needed.  He doesn't follow the blog, so it will still be a surprise.

Andie

Homemade Father's Day Card

I put together this Father's Day card for my father-in-law.  It's simple, but I keep looking for opportunities to use the burlap in my cards.  This seemed like just the right card- those Man Cards being so tricky to design.  Here I used a blue plaid printed paper from the Stash.  I probably have owned this paper for more than 5 years.  The card itself is cut from a piece of brown cardstock and inked with a brown chalk ink.  The timepiece also comes from a printed paper that I've had in the Stash.  I fussy cut two different stopwatches out and layered them one on top of the other.  The stop watches are mounted with a pop dot. 

 A quick cut of the D*a*d from Cricut's Nifty Fifties cart and Dad has concrete evidence that we love and appreciate him.  I have the great pleasure of being able to celebrate four separate men (my dad, Dan's dad, my grandpa, and, of course, Dan- the best dad of the bunch) on Father's Day and even though I couldn't be with them all, I do love and appreciate each of them.

Andie