Guy Cards

That was our challenge this week, and I know for a LOT of you out there masculine cards can be a challenge and can make some folk actually cringe! I'm totally with ya! They are HARD TO DO, and a challenge at the best of times. If I had my dithers, I would colour flowers and whimsical little girls exclusively, but the truth is, guys like cards too! My Dad, Uncles, even my hubby, boys and nephews like getting cards that have that personal touch.

Now for the little gaffers, it is usually pretty easy...teens are the hardest but the second easiest of the bunch are those 'mature' men...dads, uncles, grandfathers. Although my Dad and Uncles love my colouring, my next fav thing to do for them is something that I call artsy fartsy with a twist of nature and this is what I created.

How'd I do it? I started on a piece of hot press watercolor paper which has a smoother texture than the more common cold press. Spritzed with some Adirondack color wash and then stamped with Isabelle's Eclectic #8 ticket background and eclectic mini mesh. Sponged the edges with distress inks and trimmed the edges with a gold Krylon Pen. To brighten up the colours I sprayed it with Krylon Matte Finish and then added some texture by spraying some Goosebumps...thanks Kim for telling me I 'needed' this product!

I used the Father Definition block on the tag. Actually I knew the entire definition would not fit into my cuttlebug cut and embossed die so I cut the tag first, then masked the right edge with a post it note and then stamped the definition so it would be 'contained' within the tag. Like who is gonna read the entire definition anyhow! Then I sponged with more distress ink to highlight those raised areas.

Since it was a 'mature' masculine card I had to pull in nature. Somehow maturity and nature seem to mesh for me! This is gonna be deep folks so don't laugh, but I think it has something to do with watching my yard mature and become more beautiful each year that I have that same appreciation of getting older and more mature...we become more beautiful as we age. So embrace those birthdays gals....I know I do!

Enough deepness...you are all probably gagging by now...so I'll get on with the final touch. I bought this SPECTACULAR set of Spellbinders leaf dies at my LSS the Paper Pickle...actually i bought ALL of the Donna Salazar line of dies....they are soooooo {ME}! LOVE these babies! And I pulled out my file folder of 'metalic' papers and came across a piece of glossy paper that I had inked up with some alcohol inks....this was so old I can't even remember the name of the technique! If I recall it, I'll let you know and give you all a tutorial link.

Well, that is pretty much all the details, and if you are are a local...this is a 'hint' of what's to come at my upcoming Pickle class! I hope I didn't give tooooo much away!

Next week our challenge will focus on PAPER PIECING! I KNOW you all love it, and if you've never tried it, now is the time. Create your masterpiece, send it to Emily by next Thursday and you just may win yourself some bella bucks. In the meantime, hop on over to Bloggabella and see what everyone else has come up with for their masculine card! I CANNOT wait to get inspired!

Later, Linda!