Joining the "21" Club!

Today I am sharing a birthday card I made for a special young man.  Austin is someone who I have known a number of years, and I was touched to be asked to make his 21st birthday card by my friend Ruth.  She asked for a coming of age type of card, and so I dug around my stash and found some fun images that I would use.  The large "21" is heat embossed using Ranger Gold embossing powder.

I decided to only add touches of color to keep the focus on the 21 and keep it feeling masculine.

Wishing Austin a very Happy 21st Birthday!!

Until next time!

Happy 40th Birthday (Masculine Handyman Theme)

One of my favorite parts about card making is the ability to customize a card for someone by using their hobbies, profession or even their favorite colors.  My friend Christine asked me to make a card for a special uncle's 40th birthday.  The info I was given was that he is a very handy person, and is always the first to lend a hand on house projects and is great with tools.  This is the card I came up with:

Supplies:
Paper: Core-dinations, Ten Seconds Studio Metal Sheet
Ink: Distress Ink (Barn Door)
Misc.: Tim Holtz Alterations Rulers Embossing Folder, Bringing Crafts to You Embossing Folder
Tim Holtz Sanding Tool, Silver Cord

I used the Rulers embossing folder for the background as every handyman I know has a tape measure and/or a ruler close at hand and used my sanding tool over it to show the core in the paper.  I thought it would be fun to highlight the "40" in the folder with Distress Ink as a way to include his age in a different way.  I used the sanding block over the metal sheet to give the tools a metallic look.

Christine was very happy with it, and I am looking forward to hearing back from her after she gives it to her uncle.

Wishing you a great weekend ahead!  I am hoping that spring will show itself a bit and it will be warm enough to get outside a bit in my yard to assess what will need to be done after this hard winter!

Until next time!

Dude, You Rock!

Hi, guys! Hope you are enjoying the last few hours of the weekend!  It has been a long time since I got to sit down and blog!  Family, work and summertime commitments have had me swamped.

Today I am sharing a birthday card I made for a friend of my husband.  Steve is an actor and performs with my husband monthly in their company's recreations of old-time radio productions in Manhattan. I decided to use some of the goodies from my June Simon Says Stamp Kit, and added the old-time microphones from a Lawn Fawn set I had on hand.  They look just like what the theatre company uses!

For the inside of the card I added the sentiment "You Rock!" I thought it would be perfect for him as well as for the fun paper I used.

Steve signs off the monthly shows with the line "Good night, America, bye-bye and buy bonds!"  The audience all joins in with such gusto and it makes for a fun end of a great evening.

Wishing Steve a very Happy Birthday and as much joy as he brings to so many others!

Some Masculine Cards

Hi, guys! Hope all is well!  Father's Day is rapidly approaching and so I thought I would share some of the cards I have made for this holiday.

I made this first one for a friend to give her husband from their little girl.  Seth is a coach and loves lots of sports, so I thought it would be a fun one for him.

Last year I was asked to make a card for a friend's father-in-law and I made it using lots of metal, etc.  So this year, I decided to go in a different direction and use woodgrain and a cute pup fishing.

The last card up today is one I made for my brother for his birthday.  I decided to make this fun shirt card using some patterned paper that I thought was perfect for a man's shirt in its look and texture.  I added some very tiny buttons as well.

I am entering this last card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Use A Button
If you have some buttons waiting to be used, why not join in the fun!

I will be sharing the Father's Day card I made my dad after he gets it, so it remains a surprise!  I am not going to list all the supplies since I shared a lot of cards today.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me and I will get back to you!

Thanks for visiting!

Masculine Birthday Card Using Metal

Hi, guys!  Hope all is well.  I thought I would share a card I made for a friend whose son is turning 19. Austin is a great guy and I have had the privilege of watching him grow from a sweet boy to a fine young man.   I decided to use metal in this card and to emboss it with letter print, as I understand he is enjoying writing now.  I then sanded the metal to age it and really show the embossing.  The edges were distressed with a distress tool, and Picket Fence Distress stain was used around the edges.  If you haven't worked with this Ten Seconds Studio metal before, I would recommend it.  It comes in great colors and is so fun to use.

Supplies:
Paper: Gina K Designs, Ten Seconds Studio Metal Sheet
Ink: Black Shoot Distress Ink, Picket Fence Distress Stain
Misc: Spellbinders Label, Twine, Tim Holtz Safety Pins, Black Gems, Distress Tool, Cuttlebug Embossing Plate

I hope Austin had a fun-filled birthday!

Have a great day!  I hope you find a few moments in your day to do something you love!