Make it Masculine

Hi there crafty friends, On Saturday we got together to work on masculine cards. As we all know, men's and boys cards can often be quite tricky. While it's easy to add a ribbon or gems, it's much more difficult to embellish a card destined for the men in our lives.   We created three very different cards that focus on different techniques that can be used for many other designs.  The first card we made used he Stampin Up Wetlands stamp set.  We created the scene by masking off the top section and blended Dapper Denim ink with a Stampin sponge. Blending the ocean horizon line in blue and using Crumb Cake ink along the base and Center for the sand.  After removing the mask, blend a little ink around the top third for the sky.  Using Memento in Tuxedo Black, stamp the seagulls in the Center of the beach / water. Colour the seagulls on their bellies with a Crumb Cake Stampin Write Marker as well as their shadows.  We stamped the greeting in the top right corner and placed a length or silver ribbon along the left hand side of the card.  Then the card was mounted using Dimensionals onto Crumb Cake card stock base.    

   The next card was a simple triple time stamping technique card.  On a sheet of whisper white card stock, I stamped randomly placed leaves from the Vintage leaves stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black.  Then we stamped over the top with the watercolour background stamp in Sahara Sand.  These two steps are interchangeable as the colour is light.  You can stamp the background before stamping the leaves or after as we did.  We then stamped a sentiment from Guy Greetings stamp set.  Using the square framelits, cut out the two layers.  They are then matted onto basic black card stock leaving a margin of approx 4mm. By leaving this margin, you don't see where these layers have been cut from the card stock. Find the correct orientation and adhere the layers on top of each other. After the first layer, wrap twine and a button around the second layer and then adhere this to the card. When all layers are matched up, add this to a card base of Basic Black.  The finished result is easy to achieve but striking.  

 

The third and final card we made was done with the bleach technique.  The fox from the stamp set, The Wilderness Awaits, was stamped in versa mark and heat embossed with black embossing powder onto Cajun Craze cardstock.  Cut out the fox with oval framelits on the Big Shot.  Using undiluted bleach in an aqua painter, liberally brush onto the embossed fox image and wait for the magic to happen.  The image will continue to lighten as the cardstock dries.  Mat the fox onto Early Espresso cardstock die cut in the next size up oval framelit.  Emboss a sheet of Crumb Cake cardstock using the woodlands embossing folder and then using the direct to paper inking technique, drag the Chocolate Chip inkpad down the length of the trees until you have the colour density you want.  Decorate the card front with a banner of burlap ribbon and a metal button on top.  

I hope you have enjoyed these cards as much as we enjoyed making them.  As a bonus, we made a mini magazine holder which perfectly fits all our new cards.ive included the dimensions for making one of these at home.  Tomorrow I will add a photo tutorial with step by step instructions.  These card holders are great as they line up neatly side by side and can help to organise your cards into different themes.