Welcome to the Monthly Art With Heart Creative Showcase. Tonight we’re sharing some ideas for masculine cards, something I know many of us can find challenging to make.
I recently made two masculine cards I’d like to share with you: the card I made for my dad’s birthday in July and the card I made last week for him for Father’s Day.
My dad is not a typical card game/car/fishing/treking/BBQ/sport kind of a dad and that can make designing masculine cards for him quite tricky. But there are two Stampin’ Up! stamp sets that perfectly matched the gifts I was giving to my dad: Whiskey Business and Press On.
For Dad’s birthday card I used the Whiskey Business set… no prizes for guessing what I gave him for his birthday!
This card was CASED from the design of the card on page 33 of the Annual Catalogue but I made a few changes to make it my own. I just had to use the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder to emboss the Whisper White card stock because it looks just like the pattern in the cut crystal that the Whiskey decanter and whiskey glasses are made of.
The detailed line drawings of the Whiskey Business are so realistic and the Stampin’ Blends make it so easy to bring these stamps to life. I’ve used light Pool Party for the crystal, and light So Saffron, light Mango Melody and dark Mango Melody for the whiskey.
Here’s a close up showing the detail in this stamp set. I simply fussy cut my decanter and glasses using my paper snips before adhering them to the embossed Dainty Diamonds layer.
Speaking of realistic – how amazing is this wood patterned DSP from the In Good Taste DSP! All of this patterned paper was created from photographs of actual wood, stone, textiles, etc and it’s just perfect for masculine cards.
And finally, here’s the inside of the card.
For my second card I’m sharing the one I made for Father’s Day to accompany a coffee machine and coffee, which is why I decided to use the Press On stamp set.
I kept this card very neutral, using coffee shades (Early Espresso and Crumb Cake) with Whisper White.
The lovely masculine chevron DSP is one you might have overlooked – I certainly did! This DSP is part of the Gilded Autumn specialty DSP which is found on page 45 of the August – December 2020 Mini Catalogue.
The coffee cup and beans were stamped in Early Espresso before being coloured in using Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends and a Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write marker for the coffee beans.
The strip of early espresso faux suede ribbon along the base of the card co-ordinated perfectly and added a luxurious texture to the card.
Inside my card I used a variety of sentiments to create a meaningful Father’s Day message – I’m not sure if it really worked, but my dad seemed to appreciate it and that’s what really counts.
To see more masculine card inspiration from the AWH Team head back to Rachel‘s page as she is hosting our monthly blog hops.
To purchase any of the products I’ve used in my cards tonight simply click on the phots of the products below.
If you’d like me to post you your very own copy of the August – December 2020 Mini Catalogue, the 2020-21 Stampin Up! Annual Catalogue, the 2020-21 Beginners Brochure, or to simply find out about more about Stampin’ Up! contact me.
Okay, so I’m technically a few days early (we celebrate Father’s Day on the the first Sunday in September here in Australia) but I wanted to share an idea for a quick and easy Father’s Day card in case you’re also struggling with ideas for a card for your dad.
When I go to design a card I often begin by thinking of a stamped image that I’d like to use and if you’re anything like me you probably find male cards harder to make than female cards. Unfortunately, most of my stamp sets tend to be feminine in nature and male stamp sets are often sport focused, but my dad is just not a sporty dad…apart from cricket and the Tour de France, which he stays up all night to watch!
So instead of designing my card by beginning with a stamp image in mind, I found it really helped to stop and think about:
what are my dad’s hobbies/interest/passions?
what colours does he like?
what did I really want to say to him?
My dad’s hobbies include gardening, woodworking, astronomy, music and reading so I wanted to design a card that reflected one of these hobbies. I’d already used the awesome Nailed It bundle to make him a birthday card and he really loved this card. I followed a tutorial I purchased from a UK demo, Amanda Bates at The Craft Spa …and here’s the card that I adapted for Dad’s birthday from her tutorial.
For Father’s Day I decided to instead focus on my dad’s love of music, so I stamped some very vanilla card stock using the sheet music background stamp. Because this is quite a busy background (and I wanted music to remain the focus) I knew all I needed was some ribbon and a sentiment to finish this card off.
I wanted to add a little bit of colour so I added some burlap ribbon, tranquil tide ribbon and a matching bow because I know that these earth tones are some of his favourite colours. The touches of nature elements are a nod to his love of gardening and nature.
Finally, I thought about what I really wanted to say to my dad and this is where the sentiment from the new Painted Harvest stamp set was just perfect: “I am thankful for you”. I’m so incredibly thankful to have my loving, generous, kind-hearted and super supportive dad in my life.
I finished the card off with a Happy Father’s Day sentiment inside from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set, because after all, it is a Father’s Day card…I just decided to have the more personal sentiment on the front of the card, but I could also have designed the card with the Father’s Day sentiment on the front and the other sentiment inside. I also used some of the stamps from the painted harvest set to decorate the inside of the card.
Now that I’ve sorted the card…the next tricky question is what do you give your dad for Father’s Day?
This year I’ve decided to give him something I know he really wants and something he’s actually asked for but we’ve never done before. I’m organising a photographer to take a family portrait for us, as all his grandchildren just keep growing and changing. And the rest of us are certainly not getting any younger!
If you’re stuck for an idea for your dad this year I reckon most dads would love the idea of a family portrait, because at the end of the day, that’s what Father’s Day is really about…our dads being with the ones they love the most, their family.
Live in Australia? You can purchase all the supplies I used for this card by clicking on the links below.
Now that I’ve sorted the card…the next tricky question is what do you give your dad for Father’s Day?
