I’m back with this month’s edition of Man Card Monday! Each month, I put my decidedly feminine style to the side and push myself to come up with a card that has less flowers and more masculine imagery. Masculine cards are much more challenging for me, a girly girl who loves all things pink and flowery, and it’s been such fun to try to come up with new ways to incorporate my favorite things into these manly cards! I have three sons, so I figure it doesn’t hurt me to have some masculine cards in my back pocket. This month, I channeled my inner Opels (that is, sisters Susan and Beth from Simon Says Stamp) and used tons of bold color, some metallic shine, and a little sass to create this vivid birthday card… perfect for a guy. Let’s get started with the details!
I love creating custom backgrounds with stamps. As I was looking through my die stash, I thought what is something that is botanical would create a fun background, but that still gives off a masculine vibe? Enter: the Tropical Leaf Bunch die. Leafy and detailed, it has a very masculine look by itself, and it definitely reminded me of a Hawaiian shirt! I die cut several of these standalone dies using two different shades of super bright green cardstock. I arranged them on my black card front to create a patterned background, twisting them as I would a stamp in order to create a unique pattern and trimming off the bits hanging over the edges. I adhered them with liquid adhesive to create a bold background that was also easily mailed.
For the greeting, I thought the deadpan sentiment from the It’s Your Birthday die was perfect for a guy! I die cut the detailed part of the sentiment three times from black cardstock and adhered them together to add a little extra height, then cut the outline from some Mirror Ball cardstock. I love the texture on this cardstock… so fun and also adds some metallic shine to this otherwise-matte card front.
Most guys like a little bit of snark and humor, and the sentiment card sets from CZ Design have soooo many fun, smart-alecky sentiments that are incredibly unique. I pulled out the CZ Design Reverse Sentiment Strips- Sassy Birthday card set and selected two different sentiments that work perfectly together: “dance like no one is watching” and “just don’t throw your back out.” So funny! I trimmed the sentiment strips down, then adhered both the die cut sentiment and the strips using foam adhesive. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding a little green sparkle to the card (I know, I know, guys don’t like jewels-I can’t help myself) for one tiny bit of shimmer.
Well, what do you think? Do you think a guy would approve of my sassy Hawaiian shirt birthday card? I kinda love it!! That’s all for this month’s round of Man Card Monday. I hope you’re enjoying the series…. I know that I can always use a little masculine inspiration! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!
