The Masculine Card Attempt

Seven male relatives. That's all I have on both sides of the family. I try to make each one a birthday card every year, but it doesn't always happen.  Some years I leave it to my husband to send cards to his Dad and brother. He buys the funny ones that hint to the inside family jokes, and he mails them so they arrive on time. The cards I make for my nephews are almost always late. I figure, "They're in college. They won't care." I should give them more credit.  They're smart, creative, and really nice. And, so go my excuses for my own brother and brothers-in-law.  What's the real reason their cards don't always get made or mailed?  Making masculine cards is a challenge for me. 

It is not as simple as using masculine colors like black and tan, which is really what I was hoping when I made these.  No matter the color, bows are feminine. Period. Pink & green bows are cute, and black & tan bows are sophisticated. Lucky for me that works out just fine for the four women who received these cards.

(I do think the first card would have been fine to send to a man in my family, but the sentiment "Age takes its toll. Please have exact change." was perfect for my sister-in-law.) 

Card Details:  All cards are 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  Paper: Echo Park Paper and Paper Studio.  Stamps: "Age...", River City Rubber Works; HBD square, Stampin' Up; Cupcake, Artful Inkalbes; HBD cake/gifts, Hero Arts.  Punch: Birthday Large Edger, EK Tools

The Card for World Card Making Day

It's World Card Making Day and though my card has no international ties, it is transcontinental. I live in Georgia, but I bought this stamp from a scrapbooking and rubber stamp store called Doodle Bugs in Sequim, Washington. It's a wonderful shop, and I was thrilled to find two stamps that will always remind me of our first (and hopefully not last) family vacation to the Northwest.

"Latte" (© Leigh Hannan; Impression Obsession, Inc) is the name of this stamp. Could anything be a better souvenir from our trip to this corner of the country known for its unique coffee shops? Well maybe, the second stamp that came home with me could.  It's an image of a bouquet of lavender, and Sequim is the "Lavender Capital of North America", but that's for another post.  Happy World Card Making Day!

Card Details: Folded yellow card is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I stamped the coffee cup image (Impression Obsession) once on speckled card stock in black ink; trimmed the image to 2 1/4 x 3 1/4; mounted it on black card stock and trimmed to a 1/8 inch border. I stamped the cup a second time on white card stock.  I used pink, aqua blue, and mint green markers to color the design, and a sun yellow marker for the dots within the image. I fussy cut the interior design and adhered it to the image on the speckled paper. This gave the overall design more depth than just coloring the first stamped image, plus the colors are crisper. I used a metallic gold marker to color the details in the steam and handle.  I embossed a piece of pool blue paper with the dots embossing folder by Cuttlebug; trimmed the paper to 4 1/4 x 3 1/4; used a wave blade on my paper trimmer to trim one long side. I stamped the quote (Stampin' Up) in black ink on the speckled paper and I adhered it to the yellow card with mounting tape for added dimension.