Maculine Birthday Card - Masculine Motifs

Hello all,



Well, I wanted to take a break from all my Christmas card and gift making to make a non-Christmas card! Yes, I know... very Scrooge of me, but I just needed a break from greens, reds, and sparkly blues. Shoot me. ;)



That, and I needed an excuse to try my very first WaltzingMouse Stamp set, "Offbeat Backgrounds". I've been searching for a good plaid-making stamp set since I've begun this crazy hobby and I think I've found it. I blame Michele (Derbylea) for that! I'm now going to be hooked on WMS! :P I love this stamp set! One of the patterns makes it VERY easy to make a plaid. Here's the masculine card I created for my dad's or a buddy's birthday:

Now, I realize I could have done a better job on the plaid, but it was my first try! I'll do better with consecutive tries, I promise! :)



Now, I'm proud of many things on this card, first of them being the twine and button. In the past, I thread a button with twine and use a Zot to adhere it. This time, I tried something different and actually had the twine go THROUGH the button. :) Love the look!

Now, I'm not sure if you can make it out in this picture above, but I used the trees image from Masculine Motifs (Papertrey Ink) to clear-emboss them on the plaid. I know, I know... you can hardly make it out. In my head, it looked a LOT cooler! LOL Live and learn, I reckon! :)



Check out that leather tag above the button and twine. Actually, it's not leather. For the first time, I used the reverse side of the Canvas/Linen Impression Plate (also Papertrey Ink) and I love the results - it does look a bit like leather to me. If you look at the background paper, that is with the Linen side of the plate. Very cool, eh?



Here's a close-up of the deer (from Masculine Motifs). I wanted to emboss him, so I pulled out my newly discovered black embossing powder and went to town. If I had brown, I may have used that. :)

If you look closely at the green mat behind him, you can make out that I used my new Tim Holtz ink applicator doohickey (I'm sure that's the official name) to shade it. So much nicer than my old way of using a sponge to brush at the edges. :) Also, I wanted to add a little somethin-somethin to the focal image... thus, the two ribbons.



Overall, I'm quite pleased with the results of this card. :) I can see it as part of a gift set geared towards the men of our lives.



Thanks for looking and/or commenting!





Stamps: Masculine Motifs (Papertrey Ink); Offbeat Backgrounds (WaltzingMouse Stamps)

Ink: Versamark; Onyx Black (Versafine)

Paper: Close to Cocoa, Handsome Hunter (both Stampin' Up!); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Other: Dark Chocolate buttons, Rustic Twine, Linen Impression Plate, Vintage Cream twill ribbon (all Papertrey Ink); Labels 1 Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug (Provocraft); Key Tag Punch (EK Success); Dimensionals, ATG



 Happily Ever Yours,